9 weeks today and some pictures

It's been awhile since I last posted, so I'll give an update on what's been going on with us. I've also decided to finally post some pictures. John and I had a great Christmas with my family. Unfortunately, I got sick the Tuesday before Christmas. It started out as a bad sore throat and then progressed to a bad cough and chest congestion. I felt like I was running a low grade fever, but when I took my temperature it was 101.4, which was very alarming. I took Tylenol over the next few days to keep my fever down. By Friday when we got back from visiting my family, I was feeling much better other than a really bad cough. I was trying not to take any medicine, so I was pretty miserable especially since my cough kept me from sleeping well at night. I finally took the lowest suggested dose of Robitussin, which helped a little. It took me about a week to recover fully, which is not so bad I suppose. One of my concerns is the high fever so early in pregnancy, but I saw in one of the books I have that above 102 is the major concern so hopefully it didn't cause any problems.

On Tuesday, December 30th I got to see my doctor for the first time. It wasn't a full first OB appointment though because I was only able to get a walk-in appointment. I have my first full appointment next Tuesday. I absolutely love my doctor!!! I feel so blessed to have him as my doctor. John is a nurse in the same office as our doctor and even though there were many excellent doctors to choose from, John really felt led to Dr. S. After meeting him, I can see why. I really feel that the Lord led John to choose Dr. S. He has additional training in high risk pregnancy and has a heart for another major issue I have been dealing with (I will go into this more at some point when I am ready to give my full testimony). At the end of our appointment, he prayed with us. I left the appointment truly amazed at the Lord's goodness to us in providing this doctor. We also got to have a second ultrasound. We got to hear and see baby's heartbeat, now 176 bpm. We could also got to see the umbilical cord. The area where there appeared to be a second gestational sac was now smaller than on the previous ultrasound. It appears that what is likely to have happened is that both embryos implanted, but only one made it. Several people have asked me how I am doing with this loss. I am okay, I think that right now the excitement of the one that is growing inside me overshadows the sadness of the loss of our other four. Also, I have prayed, and I know so many of you have been praying for all of our babies. I prayed that the Lord's will would be done in each of their lives, and I have a peace in my heart that His will was done. In some ways, I had hoped for twins because it would have been "two for the price of one" and I don't know if we will ever be able to afford another IVF cycle. The reality is, short of God doing a miracle, John and I will never conceive naturally. So from that perspective, twins would have been nice since I have always wanted more than one child. On the other hand, twins would be very difficult, especially with John starting school in June. I also like the idea of being able to focus on and bond with one child.

We had a fairly low key New Years. On New Years Eve, we drove to Defuniak Springs to check out the Christmas Reflections light show they put on every year. They have 3 million lights with all kinds of decorations set up around a lake. Well worth the drive in my opinion. The lights were great, but both John and I were actually more interested in the beautifully decorated homes on the other side of the street. Most of the homes were white clapboard with black shutters and beautiful wrap-around porches. This is my ideal house type. I just love them, especially when decorated very traditionally for Christmas with garland and wreaths with white lights and red bows. After we got back, I fell asleep on the couch well before midnight. New Years Day we just relaxed and then went to see Valkerie. We both really liked it and I would definitely recommend seeing it. Friday we went to Eden Gardens State Park and Seaside (where they filmed the Truman Show). We had excellent tacos at Bud and Alleys. If you are ever in Seaside, I would highly recommend Bud and Alleys. Saturday we took down our Christmas tree and all of our Christmas decorations, the house seems so empty now without them. Other than church on Sunday, we've just been relaxing. I have found that I was more tired at eight weeks than I was at 5-7 weeks so I have been having trouble getting motivated. I did go to my first Moms in Motion exercise class yesterday. It was fantastic and I am so happy to have a class like this available. I think I would have been afraid to work myself as hard as she worked us and when it comes to strength training I need the push. I have always been able to push myself at cardio, but never at strength training.

Overall, I am feeling pretty good other than the expected pregnancy symptoms, some of which are TMI so I won't list them. I have occasional queasiness, but no morning sickness. My mom had six kids and never had morning sickness, so maybe it runs in the family. Having the two ultrasounds has definitely eased my nerves a great deal. I think the fact that several concerns can be crossed off the list helps a great deal. I have also been focusing more on the Lord again (more on this in an upcoming post), which is taking away my fears.

So here are some pictures:

Me at the hospital just before egg retrieval - a
huge step of faith for me to take a picture.

Baby's first picture, 3 days old

Me at the hospital for transfer

John at the hospital for transfer - he was allowed in the room with me for transfer.

John brought these home on transfer day, which was also my birthday. He had the florist put five white roses in to represent our five babies conceived through this IVF cycle.

My first BFP on Nov 30th, it was difficult to get a good picture, but there is a faint line.

John and I celebrating our BFP - with sparkling cider of course!!

I had to take another one so I could get a better picture, I may never see this again!

1st ultrasound on Dec 22nd, 6 weeks and 6 days, heartbeat 126 bpm.

2nd ultrasound on Dec 30th, 8 weeks, heartbeat 176 bpm.