Almost there

I am 39 weeks along as of yesterday.  I don't feel at all like I thought I would at 39 weeks.  I'm not swollen or uncomfortable yet, but that could still be coming.  I had a doctor's appointment today, and I have made no progress in the last three weeks.  I don't want to go early, so I am okay with the lack of progress.   I am going to want to have this baby eventually, though.  The doctor does not want to induce anytime soon, so that is good.  He said I can go one week over for sure, and then we'll have to talk.  As of now, it looks like we'll be holding this baby in two weeks or less.

 

I didn't realize how much I'd grown in the last month until I saw this picture.

Sleeping arrangements

Before we move the beds back, I wanted to get pictures.

A couple months ago Zach moved from our bed to the couch because neither of us were sleeping well.  His constant movement, which previously I didn't notice, was keeping me up.  And, he thought my pregnancy pillow took up too much room.  

Over spring break, though, we were complaining about the sleeping arrangements.  I jokingly suggested that he should move the bed from the spare room into our room.  The next thing I knew he was taking it apart and bringing it in.  Who knew that our room could hold two queen sized beds.  This is how its been for about a month, and we've loved it.  We're going to have to move it back soon, though, so that my family can sleep there when the baby comes.

We're having a baby!

Pregnancy has had its ups and downs.  For the first 11 weeks, Zach had to give me shots in my hip.  The medicine prevented a miscarriage, but the shots were not fun for Zach or me. I was also one of the lucky ones who got morning sickness.  I was sick from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed for 12 weeks.  Even on prescription nausea medication, I threw up everyday from week 7 to week 19.  I was extremely thankful when that ended.  Then pregnancy got fun.  

Zach and I had a continuous debate about whether or not to find out the gender of our baby.  In the end he won, and we decided we would find out.  I had a condition, though.  We were going to find out in a fun way. On the 20th of December we had an ultrasound.  We had the doctor write the gender of the baby down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope.  We then took it to the bakery and had them make a cake that was either pink or blue on the inside.  Neither of our families knew we were finding out, so it was a surprise for everyone.  We cut into the cake on Christmas morning in front of Zach's family.  Then we put the cake back together and had my parents cut into it that evening.  It was so much fun, and we were completely shocked.

Before we cut into the cake 

Our first glimpse of pink

Everyone's reaction

I am now 35 weeks along.  I have loved feeling her move around and hiccup inside.  Zach has enjoyed watching the "alien" moves.  We have also enjoyed decorating her room.  We are expecting her arrival around April 6th.  We can’t wait to meet her!

20 weeks

25 weeks

30 weeks

35 weeks - almost there

Our difficult journey to parenthood

When Zach and I decided to start a family, we thought getting pregnant would be easy.  However, after a year and a half of trying, we decided to go to the gynecologist and run some tests.  After the first round of tests, our doctor immediately referred us to a fertility doctor.  After more tests, the fertility doctor recommended In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).  We obviously were not thrilled with the news.  We were looking for a much cheaper answer.  IVF only has a 50% success rate, which is not the odds you want when the procedure is $15,000.  We decided we would think and pray about it and save money in the process.  

Zach and I saved money for nine months, and then decided to go ahead with IVF.  We had saved enough to pay cash, which made the decision much easier.  IVF involved many trips to Omaha for Ultrasounds and prescription refills.  Zach was giving me shots in the stomach a couple times a day to increase my egg production.  On July 9th we went to Omaha for the extraction of the eggs.  The doctors were very pleased with how many eggs they retrieved and how many took to the fertilization.  We were notified later that we had seven viable embryos.  On July 14th, we went back to Omaha for the implantation.  We decided to implant two.  Because the embryos could split, we had the chance of getting anywhere from 0 to 4 babies.  We then had to come home and wait for a few days.  

On July 27th, Zach and I got a phone call.  The nurse told us we were pregnant.  We could be excited, but cautiously so, because we had a large chance of miscarrying.  Even though we weren't supposed to, we told our family and many friends right away.  They all knew we were doing the procedure, so it would have been difficult to keep a secret.  At seven weeks, we headed back to Omaha to find out how many babies we were pregnant with.  We were very thankful to find out it was only one.  
Infertility had caused so much heart ache in our lives, but it had also done so much to strengthen our marriage.  Praise the Lord!  We were pregnant with our miracle baby!  What a blessing!

Everything you need to know about us

Zach and I met at Hastings College.  We were both music majors at the time.  We spent a lot of time flirting in theory class, which later turned into dating.  He proposed on Thanksgiving day in front of our family and many of our friends.  We were married that summer at the Hastings College chapel.  We then spent a wonderful week in Jamaica.  A few weeks later, I started my first teaching job, and Zach returned for his senior year at Hastings College.  After a year, we moved to Grand Island.  When he graduated, we bought a house here

Zach and I have now been married almost five years.  He is in his third year teaching seventh grade math at Westridge Middle School, and I am in my fifth year teaching fifth grade at Newell Elementary.  Zach loves golfing, coaching football, and taking stats for the Islander football team.  I love reading, gardening, and going on walks.  We both enjoy playing with our puppy, Sawyer, and hanging out with the great friends that we have here.  We feel very blessed.