It’s so easy to get caught up in the idea that this time of year belongs only to us.
Newsflash: the existence and acknowledgment of other beliefs does not damage or diminish your beliefs – unless you choose to let them. It’s all on you.
If you think that your Governor acknowledging the existence of other beliefs is oppressive to Christians, you’re lucky that you haven’t experienced real oppression and you don’t really understand what oppression is.
At week 20 of 40, we’re halfway through this pregnancy adventure and halfway to holding baby in our arms. We had the anatomy scan last Friday and, despite baby’s hiccups, we were able to take a close look at the brain, spine and kidneys and even the tiny little fingers and toes. After assuring that everything looked healthy we got to move on to the little tidbit of information everyone has been desperately waiting for: It’s a Girl!
Here’s a picture of our beautiful baby girl’s head and shoulder in profile.
I’ve been doing really well. So far still no nausea or morning sickness although I sleep all the time. Aaron is starting to understand what life will be like with a little one: every five minutes it’s “I’m hungry,” or “I’m tired,” or “I have to go Potty,” or just unexplained tears. We have also discovered the “three minute warning,” or the range between “I could eat” and “If you don’t get me food this instant, I’m going to eat your eyeballs.” He’s doing fine and adapting to this strange new world quite well. He gets extra brownie points for singing and talking to my belly on a regular basis (although that is occasionally the source of the unexplained tears).
We had our first prenatal visit on Friday. We’ll be having the baby at UW Medical Center. I love the Clinic, and I absolutely love my new doctor. Everything about the appointment and all the support I’ve received from UWMC so far has been amazing.
Baby Update
The baby is doing very well. So far the baby is 3.5 cm long and has a very strong heartbeat which we could see in the ultrasound. There is one thing we are going to have to keep an eye on, I seem to have a cyst on my right ovary that at this point is bigger than the baby. At this point the plan is to watch the cyst and see what it does. Hopefully it will shrink and go away.
I am humbled and wowed by your response to my Wanna-Be-Mommy post about infertility. We’ve been trying to conceive for four years and I was feeling hormonal and tired and cranky and quite frankly nearly giving up hope when I wrote that piece. Your response lifted my spirits.
It is amazing to me that I can post a message to the internet and receive such an outpouring of support and comfort and hope. So many of you I could not pick out of a police lineup, yet given a paragraph of your writing I’d know exactly who you are. Thank you, all of you.
This week has been busy for me. My world has been turned upside down and sent spinning. I’ve fallen behind on my blog reading and commenting, in fact at the moment I’ve got well over a thousand posts in my reader. I’ve been extended another award, to which I have yet to respond. Thank you, My2Boyz! And I’m trying not to let myself get too far behind on my homework from school.
You see, the dizziness, and the hormones, and the fatigue were not just in my head. What I didn’t know when I wrote that post last week, was that I was already
pregnant
[happy dance]
Thank you, all of you, for your support. You have no idea how much it means to me. I imagine I’ll need your support and advice even more over the coming months and years.
I haven’t talked in this blog much about my infertility issues. Sometimes I have to wait till I’m ready to open the door on a topic.
We’re starving college students with no money. We haven’t really tried much beyond Clomid, Metformin and lots and lots of practice. On the other hand, I’m not that far off from 40, in fact she’s openly mocking me. I’m starting to feel the old biological clock speed up.
I know the vast majority of my readers are Mommies. I also know that for many of you, conceiving that little bundle of joy was not quite as easy as we were led to believe in health class.
One of the questions I ponder is: if we don’t have enough money, or even a house to mortgage, for fertility treatments or adoption, how on earth are we going to have enough money to properly care for a child? I know that’s not helpful. I know there’s a big difference between shelling out $10 to $50K up-front and shelling out the same amount over an extended period of time. What is it that makes us so susceptible to self-doubt?
We’re also considering adoption or fostering, but my husband’s work, once he finishes this Master’s degree, will most likely involve us living abroad. We need to be able to take the kids, possibly permanently, out of the country.
So here’s the point: I’m asking for your advice. What do you suggest? What worked for you? Any words of wisdom you want to share with me and all the other wanna-be-mommies out there?
Yesterday I was introduced to a new blog. I don’t know who directed me there because the moment I landed on this blog, time stopped. This is the heartbreaking, achingly beautiful story of matt, liz and madeline. Liz gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in March, and died the next day. This blog is about everything that happens after: a day by day account of Matt learning to be a father and grieving his wife at the same time. He has a strong community of friends, and a larger community of strangers reaching out to him from around the world. Madeline is lovely at a little over a month old and Matt is doing a great job with her. Every person in this story is beautiful, yet each new post brings more tears.
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