Woo Hoo!

We are very, very proud to announce that Lady L is 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant with our baby! Okay, I know you already knew this, but we got to see him or her today on the ultrasound, and there was no mistake, it really is a baby:) Until this point, if you tilted your head a certain way, tried to imagine longer limbs, etc., you could sort of visualize it, but now, we have proof! Lady L is doing an amazing job of taking care of herself, her family, and bebe. We are so lucky to have her in our lives and in this role. We thank God every day, and are loving this very non-traditonal route to become parents.

Our little alien baby waving at us (and all of you:))

Profile shot!  Pretty sure this little peanut has my overbite.

Top one is of his or her little hand by the face, and I think I accidentally scanned a double, the bottom two look the same.

Baby measured in size at exactly 12 weeks and 3 days.  He or she is 5.93cm, and has a heart rate of 158.  We saw a whole lot of moving and wiggling around in there today.  I asked Lady L if she had some red bull before the appointment, but she denied it;)  Life is good.

Xoxo,

Heidi

Celebrate

We know we are not out of the woods by any means, but we are very happy that Lady L is now 11 weeks and 2 days pregnant!  We will go back for another check up and ultrasound in one week from tomorrow, and hopefully at that point I will be able to talk to more people about what's going on in our lives:)  I still haven't told a lot of  co-workers, and even some friends that I don't talk with often. 
The best news is that at 10 weeks, Lady L was able to stop taking her estrogen (oral medication), and the progesterone (the giant intramuscular shot that she managed to endure for so long.)  That was so nice, because she no longer has to make plans around her "shot time." 
Today also happens to be the anniversary of the day I bumped into my Mr.-Perfect-For-Me. Aaron and I met 7 years ago, and neither one of us has any sign of that crazy 7 year itch people keep talking about:)

Our little monkey is now able to kick, stretch, and is nearly fully-human looking.  No more tail, and her (or his) bones are starting to harden.  Bebe is about the size of a fig, about 1.5 inches long:)  All of the fingers and toes are now developed, too.  Although we are never really quick to speculate, I am having girl vibes somehow.  We would be thrilled either way to have a full-term baby, so we won't be anything but excited when we find out gender.  Which is really only about 2 months away, and then I have a feeling I will be a shopping fool, lol.  This has been 5 years coming, so I may go the tiniest bit overboard I guess.
We are so grateful for Lady L, and how she and her family have come into our lives in such an unexpected way.  I will never take any of this for granted, and know that someone is watching over all of us.

Happy Mother's Day

Today is a very special day, as we honor all of the mothers in our lives.  It's a bit of a bittersweet day for me, as I had hoped to be celebrating in a very different way many years ago.  Anyway, it's a great day to honor my own mother, whose strength and wisdom in many areas inspires me each day.  I honor her mother, (my grandma) who helped her grow in to a lovely lady, and all of the mothers before them.  I honor my dad's mom, who is gone but not forgotten, and who I believe has a hand in how our journey with Lady L has transpired (she was also a grandma to her.)  I remember Aaron's delightful mom, who I imagine is taking good care of Savannah, Charlie, and the five other sweet angels we lost too early.  I honor all of the Mamas who don't take parenthood for granted, and love their children each day.

I read this poem, and cried, well, probably sobbed, as there are so many of us who sit in limbo waiting patiently for our turn.  Enjoy this glorious day, and celebrate for all of us.

Xoxo,
Heidi

A Mother's Day Wish From Heaven

By Jody Seilheimer

Dear Mr. Hallmark,

I am writing to you from heaven,
and though it must appear
A rather strange idea,
I see everything from here.
I just popped in to visit,
your stores to find a card
A card of love for my mother,
as this day for her is hard.

There must be some mistake I thought,
I saw every card you could imagine
Except I could not find a card,
from a child who lives in heaven.
She is still a mother too,
no matter where I reside
I had to leave, she understands,
but oh the tears she's cried.
I thought that if I wrote you,
that you would come to know
That though I live in heaven now,
I still love my mother so.
She talks with me, and dreams with me;
we still share laughter too,
Memories are our way of speaking now,
would you see what you could do?
My mother carries me in her heart,
her tears she hides from sight.
She writes poems to honor me,
sometimes far into the night
She plants flowers in my garden,
there my living memory dwells
She writes to other grieving parents,
trying to ease their pain as well.
So you see Mr. Hallmark,
though I no longer live on earth
I must find a way to remind her
of her wondrous worth.
She needs to be honored,
and remembered too
Just as the children of earth will do.
Thank you Mr. Hallmark,
I know you'll do your best
I have done all I can do;
to you I'll leave the rest.
Find a way to tell her,
how much she means to me
Until I can do it for myself,
when she joins me in eternity.

The News

Last week, Lady L and I went in for our second ultrasound, the first at the ob. department:)  The baby is doing well, and measured exactly where he or she should be.  The heart rate increased from 160 to 178, both which are considered to be good.  Baby measured 2.11 cm from crown to rump (I have always thought that is the most adorable term of all the ob terminology:)  We are now exactly 9 weeks and 3 days, and there are a lot of great things happening.  Baby is about the size of a grape, and now has all 4 chambers of it's heart. He or she even has little earlobes.

We will go back to check on things in 3 weeks, from today, when Lady L will be 12.5 weeks!  It's so hard to believe that in just 4 weeks after that, we will be headed in for the big anatomy ultrasound (and yes, we will find out gender.) 

Not much else to report.  We are praying hard every day and night that God watches over all of us- our friends and family, Lady L and her friends and family, and of course our sweet little grape.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Xoxo.

The above pic is above baby, head is on the right side, and little legs and arms are sticking out.

Ehh, same thing, but showing the crown to rump:)

Those little dashes in the middle of the stuff on the bottom are the baby's heartbeats!  178 last week.

8 Weeks

Well, I think I'll probably quit with the weekly updates now.  Since I had been in the habit of updating on Tuesdays, with the weekly updates, I'll stick to it today.  Last Saturday, Lady L was considered to be 8 weeks pregnant.  I guess we were off by a few days;)  Here is the 8 week info, so exciting!:

“Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways.”

We will go back to the ob this Friday, and are hoping things continue to look good, with our sweet, strong, and healthy babe and Lady L.  I know the above picture is a little blurry, but the white spark in the middle is the heart.  He or she is still pretty tiny, only about the size of a kidney bean:)