Let's take it back to the beginning

Warning, this is going to be long. My apologies in advance.

We found out we were expecting this little miracle on Father's Day weekend. I didn't know for sure that I was expecting until I took that first (or second... or third) test, but I thought that just maybe I was. So I found the perfect Father's Day card, and planned to tell Hunter by giving him this sweet card with a note in it sharing our news. However...I was so dumbfounded and shell-shocked when I saw that first glimmer of a positive that every last hope of a plan that I had to tell my husband went s-t-r-a-i-g-h-t out the window.

It was between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning, on a Saturday morning. I woke up because...well, I had to potty if we are going to be honest, and I knew that it should be "time" for me to take that special test. I tried convincing myself to go back to sleep, but that doesn't really work when you have a full bladder and a special test waiting to be used. So to recap, it was around...let's just say 5:30am on a Saturday morning, it was dark, and rainy, and super duper stormy outside. The perfect weather for sleeping in. I mean, it doesn't get better than that. But I got up, did my business, and then proceeded to wake my husband up from his perfect sleeping storm as well. There was NO way I was going to be cool, calm, and collected for a few more hours with my new-found, life-changing knowledge. Absolutely not. So I politely woke him up, by shoving that delightful piece of evidence in his face and telling him I had something we needed to talk about. Once he came to, he responded with, "What does this mean? I don't understand." I think I said something along the lines of "Me either!" Ha!

The rest of that day (and week, and month, and next 2 months if we are going to be honest), we both tried to wrap our minds around what this "meant" and how in the world we were so fortunate to be blessed by such a sweet little miracle.

Fast forward a few weeks. And this happened:

Not a big deal, just a slight fender bender on 65 at 4:00 in the afternoon. Normally, I probably would have gotten shaken up about this for a few minutes and then gone about my business. However, now that I have to think about more than just myself and my car, we called the doctor's office just to be on the safe side. They had closed for the day, but encouraged me to go ER, just to be on the safe side. So we go, we get to see that sweet little baby via ultrasound, and we go on our merry little way. They mentioned to us that I was measuring a couple of weeks behind, but didn't seem concerned. I just brushed it off because that wasn't a surprise to me, given my, shall we say, irregular history.

Our itty bitty baby, who resembled more of a little shrimp than a baby at this point!

A couple of days pass and I hear back from a nurse at my doctor's office, who tells me they need to see me right away because of the lack of heartbeat on the ultrasound. Whhhattt?? Talk about your world stopping in front of your eyes. I explained to this lovely nurse that I wasn't as far along in my pregnancy as she thought I was, but she felt sure that we should have been able to hear a heartbeat, regardless of what I was telling her. So I spend the rest of the afternoon and evening in a daze, trying to figure out what this meant for us, for our baby, and honestly just praying for a miracle. Shamefully I admit that I didn't have the faith I should have at that very moment in my life, but I knew ultimately God was in control, and there was no amount of tears or worry that could change the plans that he already has laid out for us. Like most couples, having a baby of our own was something that we had dreamed about and had prayed about for a very long time. It was absolutely gut-wrenching to have that type of fear hovering over that special moment that you have waited for your entire life.


The next morning I go in, expecting the worst, but praying for the best. They call us back to the ultrasound room, and before I knew it, that sweet baby's heartbeat was beating loud and clear through the speakers. I've never heard such an incredible sound in my entire life, and of course, the waterworks started yet again. Like ugly tears. That day, the doctor told us this was promising, but we weren't exactly in the clear yet, and they weren't positive this was a "normal" pregnancy. They were still concerned with the how small the baby was measuring (6 weeks and 1 day at this point), and that the heart wasn't beating as fast as they thought it should (109). They told us they wanted to monitor the babies growth in 10-14 days, and for me to continue everything I would for a "normal" pregnancy in the meantime.

We went back in 13 days, and sure enough, that sweet baby had grown perfectly- and was now measuring exactly 8 weeks with a strong heart beat of 161! I've never heard such great news in my entire life!



Our slightly bigger cute little blob of a baby, proving to us that he/she IS growing and thriving right on track!

So needless to say, this pregnancy has already been on a sweet little roller coaster ride, but as of yesterday we are officially "in the clear." We had our 12 week appointment yesterday morning, and both mom and baby got a great report, with Baby's heart rate hanging out at 160.

We are still in such awe that we have been given such an incredible gift, and are absolutely thrilled to be starting a new chapter in our lives!