Snowflake on the Way!

Praise the Lord! The thing for which we have been fervently praying for nearly two years now has finally been answered with a YES! We couldn't be more excited to announce that I am expecting a baby and he/she will arrive on or around August 19. Again, praise God from whom all blessings flow!

As many of you know from my last adoption update, very sadly, our first transfer was unsuccessful. After that we decided to keep things closer to the chest and didn't tell anyone when our second transfer would take place (except the family who helped us take care of Kinsley during the transfer and the few days after as I rested - and we're very thankful for them!). As much as I love to have everyone up to date and praying for us, for the sake of our emotions, it seemed easier to let things happen privately this time.

So, on December 1st we, once again, transferred two embryos. (Side note: After first feeling twins would be too difficult, we both prayed about it, discussed it with our doctor and each other and decided our chances of pregnancy were greater if we transferred two. We both felt strongly in deciding that that we wanted both babies to live. Obviously we're doing this because we are pro-life and know these are already human lives, just in their earliest form.)

Our two snowflakes on the day of the transfer.

After the transfer, I followed all the protocols: rest for 24-48 hours, no heavy lifting, no hot baths or showers, maintain all medications which I'd begun in the weeks leading up to the transfer. Those include daily progesterone injections, estrogen patches, prenatal vitamins and a few other things thrown in there. On the tenth day following the transfer, I had my first HCG blood test to test for the pregnancy hormone in my body. (for those who don't know, HCG is a hormone your body releases when pregnant. A level of 5 or above indicates pregnancy)We got the call mid-morning that I was pregnant! My level was a very healthy 365 (compare that to the first transfer where it was a very low 24 and then three days later at a 4 showing the pregnancy had not lasted). At that point I was 4 weeks pregnant. From there I was instructed to continue my medications and wait for the next blood test.

I took this picture on the day we found out.
Kinsley is officially a Big Sister!

The second test was one week later. (I kept myself busy that week buying a new van as I discovered the week before that my trusting car from high school graduation had given up the ghost. But I LOVE my new van!) My second blood test showed that the pregnancy was progressing as needed and my levels were up to 6,665! Very healthy! At that point we scheduled our first ultrasound with my fertility doctor. Then we enjoyed a fun Christmas with family.

On December 27 we got to see our baby for the first time! It was a day of mixed emotions. Of course we were elated to see our baby and his/her heart beating and even get to hear the heartbeat (I didn't know it was possible at six and a half weeks pregnant, but it is!) However, we were very saddened to learn only one baby had survived. We wanted both so badly. We may not understand it, but we accept that God is in control. And we couldn't stop feeling excited about our growing baby.

First photo of Baby! Hard to see, but the top blue hatch is the top
of the head and the bottom hatch is the bottom of the rump.

Two weeks later we had our second ultrasound at the fertility clinic. By then Baby had grown and we even got to see a little foot kicking. It was exciting! From there my fertility doctor told us how pleased she was with everything and I was released from her care to my OB's. In the ultrasound we were also able to see the placenta had set up nicely. This meant my daily injections and medicines were no longer necessary. At that point my body was perfectly capable of providing everything Baby needed. In any IVF or frozen transfer situation, when your body's ready, you continue meds for more week just to be safe. So I finished those off after one more week and I can tell you that was a happy day for both Luke and myself. I was tired of the shots and Luke was tired of giving them to me!

Baby has grown! The head is facing down on the right and a little
foot is on the left. And you can see the placenta below Baby.

Since then I had my first OB appointment at 10 weeks with the OB nurse. She took medical history, answered questions, etc. They also did blood work including checking my thyroid which has to be monitored throughout pregnancy because of my Hashimoto's.

Then this past Thursday, at 11 weeks 6 days, we went to see my OB. She's the same doctor who delivered Kinsley and I am very happy to have her again. We got there just expecting a normal OB appointment with a doppler check of the heartbeat, but we were happily surprised to get another ultrasound! Since this was my first OB visit with the doctor we had an ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy and heartbeat (even though they already knew all that from our fertility clinic, but I wasn't going to complain). So we got to see Baby again and he/she has grown so much! We could see him/her moving around. The heartbeat sounded great and everything is progressing just as it should! We are so thankful to God for that. My blood work also came back normal with my thyroid levels being just where they should be. Yay!

So this is a picture of pictures. Sorry for the bad
quality, but you can see how big Baby is now!

But we are also so, so, so thankful to all of you who have supported us throughout this entire process. Thank you so much for all who have prayed for us and this baby, for those who donated money and/or participated in our fundraisers! We seriously would not have this baby without you all. So you are a very real part of this! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Now, please, continue those prayers for a healthy pregnancy all the way through out!