The Newest Little Lamb

I guess the story really starts a year ago in the Fall of 2011.  We knew we wanted another child and figured we had 3 options

#1  Find a new adoption agency.  Our last 2 were through LDS Family Services and they now have a cap on how many kids you can have and 3 is the limit so we couldn't use them again.

#2 Try and find a birth mom on our own and then go through a lawyer.

#3  Try and get pregnant.

Leaving no stone unturned I started working on all 3 options.  

#1 I asked around about agencies and did some looking up on the internet and found one I felt good about.  I gave them a call and they were so kind and promised to send me information in the mail right away...nothing ever came.

#2  To find a birth mom on our own meant we needed a blog of some sort dedicated to that and pass along cards.  Both of those required updated family pictures.  So I found us a photographer and coordinating outfits and we got ourselves some family photos.

#3  I made an appointment with my OBGYN

After hearing nothing back from that agency I didn't have warm fuzzies about using them so I decided to forgo option #1 for the time being.  

We got those family pictures and I was glad we did them but my motivation pretty much ended there and so did our pursuing option #2.  

My OBGYN referred me to a fertility center down the street.  The down the street part is pretty amazing because whenever we had looked into stuff like that before it was never as convenient as down the street but a new center had just opened up.  I did my homework on the center and decided to attend a free seminar that they were holding.  It was informative and they fed me dinner so we decided to look into it further.  As we researched it and fertility in general we discovered that our new insurance would cover a large amount of fertility stuff.  That was AMAZING!  Previously we had NO coverage for those kinds of things so that was pretty exciting news for us.  By now we had decided to pursue option #3.

It started with an introductory visit and some tests and before we knew it we were on the road to trying to get pregnant.  I ended up having to give myself a shot at home which was an experience in itself as I tried to mix the medicine and suck it up in the syringe.  All this after I had finished my new Jillian Michaels workout and my arms were already shaking.  I'll skip all the details but after 4 weeks I had a blood test (pregnancy test) and waited for the phone call.  The nurse said my name way too cautious and kind for it to be good news so I wasn't surprised when she said the test came back negative.  I had already had a chit chat with myself before all this started and had decided that it was a blessing to be able to try this and that I would not let myself get upset and cry if it wasn't meant to be (I have spent too many tears over the years).  So with that decided I just texted the sad news to those who knew we were trying and then grumped around for a day or so.  That was as long as I got because it was time to try another round again a few days later.  This time they found I had a cyst so I was put on some drugs for a month to try and get rid of it.  Which worked out ok because we went to Hawaii that month.

Then came March.  We started again with the drugs and stuff and when it was time to wait I just had a feeling that it was not going to work out that month but I tried to keep a positive attitude.  The time came for the blood test and the phone call in which they said it came back negative.  I guess I had seen that one coming.  What I didn't see coming was when my friend Sandra came over with donuts just to tell me she was thinking of me and was feeling sad with me.  Then of course Sandra starts crying and so that one little time I broke my own rule and cried with her.

And finally came April.  3rd times a charm right.  Well 3 attempts is what we had before we needed to go back to the fancy dr's office and make a new plan (which I did NOT want to do) so it was do or die this time.  Everything went well right from the start.  The only hitch was when my ovulating conflicted with Spring Break.  It was annoying but we cut our trip short for it and I had to give myself another shot while on spring break if you can imagine me in a bathroom with my ipod watching a you tube video on how to mix the medicine and get it in the syringe since I forgot my instructions.  Anyhow, we gotter done and sat back to wait our 2 weeks till the blood test.  I was feeling pretty good this time.  I think I had made peace with whatever the outcome was positive or negative and that brought its own sense of relief.  When I got the call Jason was in Hawaii (as I mentioned in a previous post) and it was so amazing and so much more fun to hear that it was a positive result.  I almost couldn't believe it and wanted to burst! 

And so the adventure began...or continued depending on how you look at it.  I had an ultra sound at 7 weeks and they found a heartbeat and just one heartbeat.  Then I had another ultra sound at 10 weeks (on my birthday) and everything looked good and they graduated me from the fertility center to the OBGYN's.  On the down side my normal OBGYN doesn't deliver at Timp where I apparently have to go with my new insurance (can't be bugged though cuz they paid for most of the fertility stuff). So I had to find a new dr. 

I had my first visit with the OBGYN and Jason was with me.  We were laughing because we felt so out of place there.

It was so fun telling friends and family.  When we told the boys we had a surprise for them Graham was super excited.  Jonah said, "Ah, I wanted an iPod".  

At my 15 week appointment my dr. said he could peak and see if we could tell the gender.  I thought that was a GREAT idea.  He wasn't sure we'd be able to see anything but after looking around he said he was 75% sure it was a GIRL!!!!!!  We would have been thrilled to have a boy but I was totally high fiving myself and could not stop smiling.  On the ultra sound pic above it has the arrow pointing at the girl parts and it says GITL.  Should I be concerned that the dr. who will cut me open (I'm having a c-section) didn't notice he spelled girl wrong????

This is the picture Jason sent to his family trying to show our new little lamb modestly haha.

The day before school started I had my official ultra sound.  Graham and Jason came along.  Jonah was invited too but got jealous when Beck got to go to Grandmas and decided he'd rather stay with them.  Everything looked good and the dr. said he hadn't been wrong about a gender in 20 years and that he wasn't going to be wrong on this one.  It is definitely a girl!

She has been a wiggly little thing.

And I just keep growing...

and growing!

I'm now 28 weeks.  I lost count somewhere along the way and spent 2 weeks at 27 weeks but now I'm back on track.  Maternity clothes have been an adventure since I'm starting from scratch and it took me forever to buy my first girl item.  Still not sure how we'll do bedrooms.  She'll probably have to share with Beck.  Everything has been so fun and since I haven't been pregnant in 11 years I am so surprised by how uncomfortable it is!  Maybe it's because I'm old or have 3 busy boys I'm trying to keep up with.    Overall it has been such a miracle just like Graham, and Jonah and Beck's arrivals into our family.  We are so blessed!