Wow! So much has happened since our last post! Where to begin, where to begin?? I guess I will try to begin where we left off without writing an entire novel--and if you're reading this, you know me and just how much of a challenge that may be! Keep in mind its been 9 months since I last posted.... ; )
Our last post was written on the heels of the absolute worst experience of our lives, and we would like to thank you all so much for all of your encouragement and prayers during that difficult time. I cannot begin to explain the heartache that comes with losing a baby, but for those of you who have had miscarriages, you can understand. People like to believe that everything happens for a reason, but in the wake of such sadness it is extremely difficult to fathom what reason there could possibly be for such a tragedy. After dealing with the pain and devastation, we found that rather than being left empty and depressed, time does actually heal you and there were, in fact, some valuable lessons learned. Lessons in empathy, patience, and gratitude, among others... I can truly say that this horrible experience has forever changed me, and perhaps that alone is the reason I had originally searched for.
After our ordeal, we were sad to learn that my doctor had recommended not trying to become pregnant again for a year, due to continued risks to my health. There was a slight risk of cancer associated with partial molar pregnancies, and I would need to have monthly blood draws in order to rule out the presence of cancer. Unfortunately, the only way to determine if the cancer was present was a pregnancy test. Therefore, if I were to become pregnant, they would not be able to detect the presence of this particular cancer. While this news seemed like yet another blow and it saddened us greatly, we were soon to be distracted with yet another chapter in our lives.
A few months later, our attention was turned to a new opportunity that had arisen for Jared in Texas. He had been offered a job with a Houston-based company in the Abilene area, that was both a promotion and a pay raise. We debated on whether or not we wanted to leave Utah because we truly had fallen in love with it after a year and a half there. It really and truly is such a beautiful part of the country, and has so much to offer. Not to mention all of the wonderful friends we had come to know and love! Jared had become an avid snowboarder, visiting the mountain more than 30 times throughout the ski season... Honestly, the only reason it wasn't twice as much was because of the ole ball and chain begging him to stay home!!
Our house in Utah--Mom, Grandma & Sky during their visit May 2010
The view from our front door in Utah
Our visit to Zion National Park May 2010--Grandma, Debbi, and me
Jared snowboarding November 2009
However, we decided that it was an opportunity we could not pass up, and looked forward to being closer to family again and back in the great state of Texas! We packed up our life once again, said goodbye to Utah, and moved back to Abilene in mid-October.
Our house in Abilene
Once in Abilene, Jared began his new job, and we began getting as many visits with the family in as possible to make up for lost time. We visited Houston in November for a week while Jared attended training downtown--we spent the week with my parents, and spent a day at the zoo with Jared's Dad, Stepmom, and the kids...
Our visit to The Woodlands November 2010
Houston Zoo November 2010
We had Thanksgivings in Winters and Waco...
Waco Thanksgiving 2010
We visited Dallas for a week in December, again for training for Jared--I was able to tag along and we visited Lacey and Kyle, and went to a Cowboys game!...
Cowboys vs. Eagles December 12, 2010
We made the rounds for Christmas--Beaumont, The Woodlands, Waco, Winters.... Basically, it was AWESOME to be back!
Things were going really great back home in Texas, and we were very happy with the decision to return, but the best news arrived on Christmas Day! That was the day we first realized that we were pregnant yet again!! I know you're probably thinking, "I thought she just said they had to wait a year!" But in the meantime, my doctor here in Abilene had given us the go ahead in November to start trying again. It turns out my Utah doctor was quite conservative in his approach, and it should be perfectly fine to start trying again sooner than we had expected! And one month later, we got the good news! We decided to err on the side of caution, and not announce to the world we were again expecting just yet based on our previous experience. However, we did make the announcement to our family since we may have just exploded from excitement if we had tried to keep it a secret! We waited what seemed like forever-actual time, only five weeks-until our first OBGYN appointment, and were given yet another lesson in patience when our appointment was cancelled due to a snow and ice storm in Abilene--I guess Utah missed us too!! ; )
Four inches of snow in Abilene February 1, 2011
So we waited another agonizing two days before we were able to finally see our baby and hear its sweet little heartbeat for the first time... The doctor said that everything looked great, and the baby was measuring at exactly its age. We were so happy and relieved to hear the great news, and excited to be able to share the good news with everyone at last!!
Our baby's first picture February 4, 2011
We still felt like we weren't quite ready to celebrate considering the dreaded Quad test was still hanging over our heads another six weeks down the road... This is where things began to go terribly wrong with our last pregnancy. We carried on with our day-to-day trying to stay positive, and prayed for the all clear when the time came. I have never been more anxious to be stabbed with a needle in all my life, but I was ready to get the results that we had been waiting for for four long months!! Of course, it took yet another week to get them, but they were exactly what we had hoped and prayed for, and I swear I gave a little involuntary hop when I got the results and restrained myself from hugging the nurse!! We could finally be truly excited because we were expecting a healthy baby, and that's all we cared about!
Two days after receiving the good news, Jared and I were laying on the couch enjoying a RedBox movie when I felt a distinct little poke in my belly.... An hour or so later, I was sure that it was our little baby making itself known, and it's just gotten stronger and more active every day since. Two weeks later, Jared was able to feel the baby kick for the first time.
Almost 18 weeks March 30, 2011
And here we are only two days away from our 4 year anniversary AND our 20 week ultrasound, where we are looking forward to seeing and hearing our baby once again... I can't think of a better way to celebrate four years of marriage! Hopefully the little guy will sit still long enough for us to figure out if we'll be seeing blue or pink in the coming months!! I'm going to go ahead and throw out there, that I am predicting a boy..... We'll see soon enough though! ; )
Well, if you're still reading, then you made it to the end of my post!! Congratulations! I will do my best to not go so long in between postings so you don't have to take an hour out of your life to catch up on ours!! I will try to post again on Thursday when we get the big news!!
