Gettin' the Goods

We registered for the peanut yesterday. Who knew something so little could potentially need so much?!

21 weeks

Well hello week 21....we are so happy to see you! Each week we love to see what our babe is up to. This week Baby C is gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid to practice swallowing and digesting. C has also settled into a little sleep cycle, sleeping 12-14 hours a day (or so they say). The cutie can now also hear outside noises as well. Sweet!

My sister brought over the cradle this weekend and Peyton just had to give it a try!

Yup. We have a belly.

4 Million Babies

Today, Dr. Robert Edwards was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for medicine. We are thankful to our Creator God who enabled Dr. Edwards to fulfill the vision of in vitro fertilization. Thank you Dr. Edwards and all of the staff at The Fertility Center....we appreciate your diligent efforts to help make families.

(The first "test tube" baby, Louise Brown, was born on July 25, 1978.)

Trusting

I received a call from my OB yesterday that was a bit unexpected. After reviewing our ultrasound it has been determined that our baby has what is called Echogenic Focus on the Left Ventricle. So, what does this mean? After speaking with our OB we will be going to Grand Rapids to meet with a high risk specialist at the maternal-fetal hospital in three weeks. Why do we have to wait three weeks? We have to wait to see if the "bright spot" will take care of itself in the meantime. Many bright spots can be calcium deposits that simply disappear during weeks 20-25 and our doctor is hopeful that this will be the case for our little one.
We are focusing on the many positive outcomes from our ultrasound. Baby C had perfect measurements and its organs were in perfect condition for a baby at 20 weeks. The ultrasound also showed that Baby C's ventricles and aorta had good flow and output which is another positive.
Three weeks is going to seem like a long time to wait but we will receive peace by trusting God during this time. Thank you for your prayers.

"And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you."
-Psalm 9:10

Is Baby C a he or a she?

Today was our 20 week ultrasound and we are happy to report that Baby C is looking FANTASTIC! The ultrasound tech was able to peek between those little legs and determine if Baby C is a he or a she but.....we didn't find out :) We are keeping it a surprise until our gender reveal party at the end of October. It is a little difficult knowing the results are right in my kitchen but I know waiting to find out with our family and friends will be worth the wait.

Here are a few videos from our appointment. We are in love :)

back to school

I headed back to school this week and it already feels like I never left :) It was a good week and so much fun to see my kids again and meet new ones too. I was going to hold off telling my classes that I was pregnant but the belly is getting big and I was starting to get some curious teens asking each other questions. So...I shared our exciting news.

Every morning I start my class with 3 good things. It is a way for us to get the day off to a positive start. After two students shared their "good things" I proceeded to let them know that I had some good news too. Immediately they asked if it had anything to do with Peyton (they love my dog like I do). Sure thing, little Peyton is going to be a big brother! After sharing this I heard, "Peyton is having puppies!" "You are getting another dog!" After taking some time to digest what I said they finally realized that it was not Peyton having puppies but I was going to have a baby! They were all SO excited.

On Friday morning one of my new students handed me a folded note. She could not contain her excitement...I just had to read it. She informed me of her song writing abilities and that she is a country singer. She personally wrote me a song about the baby while she was on the bus home from school. The song is so cute I just had to share it with you. Remember....read it with a country twang to get the full effect :)

Mother Instincts

Verse 1:

She went to the doctor today and found out she's having a baby.

She knew what she had to do to get ready.

Chorus:

Whether it's a hare or a bear or a monkey a momma cat or a dog a human woman

a teenage girl on the street, they have mother instincts.

Verse 2:

She's excited because now her dog will be a big brother.

She can't contain her day, she had to share.

Chorus:

Whether it's a hare or a bear or a monkey a momma cat or a dog a human woman

a teenage girl on the street, they have mother instincts.

Chorus x 2

Mother Instincts

Look at our baby grow!

A picture of our three frozen embryos. Aren't they cute?! 6 week ultrasound

7 week ultrasound

8 week ultrasound

10 week ultrasound....starting to look like a baby!
We had our first ultrasound at our OB office this evening. It was SO much fun to see our little one moving all around. We are not taking one second of this pregnancy for granted.

A requested belly shot :)