Good news and bad?

Well, I'm having a bit of a roller-coaster. Everything seems fine from the sonograms, but I'm still having a bit of bleeding (it's been on and off for a month, but seems to be getting worse, and I've had my worst episode yet on Saturday). This "getting worse" trend precipitated the latest sonogram on Wed. (which otherwise, I wouldn't have had). Since everything looked great, I'm not super-worried, but any bleeding, of course, is a concern, so I've been instructed to stay off my feet and keep them up for the weekend. I suppose I'll go back to the Dr. tomorrow. So please pray that everything is ok and that the bleeding stops and that some of the herbal remedies I've been taking will be helpful and not harmful (kelp and raspberry, which a few friends of mine swear by for such things). For reference, I'm just over 12 weeks, and in the latest sonogram, there was a heartbeat and I did see the baby move. What a relief! I still don't feel anything though.

Good news and general stuff

So, the next blood test is back and the results were negative: meaning that the first test that showed antibody M was a false positive. Basically what this means is that we don't have to worry about my blood attacking the baby's blood--much like an Rh factor issue. Thanks again for your prayers on that one. The Lord is good.

I was reminded that I've never given a due date, although I think from the info I've given one could calculate, but that's too much work. :) Officially according to measurement it's March 10, but according to dates, it's March 3, so I think it's safe to say early March. This puts me at 10.5 weeks.

Other details you may or may not be craving: Yes, I am sick, but not too bad--and it's worse at night and after meals. Not really showing yet, and I've actually lost weight so far (altho I could use to lose more). Yes, we are planning to find out gender when the time comes (20 weeks). No, I'm not planning to go natural. (We're so untraditional.) For various reasons, I think it's a boy, but, hey, I've got a 50/50 chance of being right. We do still have the nursery set up nursery-ish, but we don't have a lot of stuff we kept. I've still got to go through some stuff in the attic and see what we've got (too hot now). Everyone's been great and supportive. I'm really blessed. Other details are probably still to be decided.

Update #1 (not much yet)

Just had my latest ob appointment. Looks like it'll be a while before the next sonogram, but things are going fine. Waiting on results from my M antibody titer to make sure it's not going up (please pray that it stays down or goes away--it was so low at 7 weeks, it could have been a false positive). I'm currently at almost 10 weeks. Still a little sick, but not bad at all most days, and I've actually lost a little weight (I needed to!).

Just got this scanned from our 7-week sonogram when we saw and heard the heartbeat, so I thought I'd post it (see the little spine?). Next visit in early September, we get to hear the heartbeat again via a doppler against my tummy. S'all for now. Thanks for the prayers!

18 years in the making

We're on vacation in lovely Gatlinburg, but I brought my laptop and found some time to post. Good thing, because I have some big, BIG news. Those that know me well know that my husband and I have been infertile for nearly our entire almost–21-year marriage. The Lord had blessed us with one adopted child, and, thankfully, only 1 miscarriage. But that's changed. I'm pleased to announce that, after 18 years of actually pursuing (and nearly giving up on) a biological addition to our family, the Lord has blessed us again: I'm actually pregnant and have seen and heard the baby's heartbeat in a sonogram! Lord willing and provided we have a healthy baby from this, it will truly be the best of both worlds: a baby by adoption and one by birth.

Given our somewhat older ages, this is a bit of a surprise--along the lines of nearly 1/2 Sarah and Abraham, and, so, Rog is considering the name Isaac if it's a boy. :) Given the age factor, we, naturally, are a little concerned about how things will go and covet your prayer for a healthy body for me and a healthy fullterm baby--boy or girl (we don't care!). But nothing is too hard for the Lord, and His timing, as always, is impeccable. May He be glorified through this.

I supposed I'll have occasional updates to post, but feel free to ask whatever between posts. We've got a lot of decisions and work to do over the next few months, and I'll try to keep up. :) Thanks for your prayers!

The not-so-great flood :)

Things have been a little crazier than usual here recently due to a little flood we had. Our water softener tank cracked and allowed water to continue to pump into it and out into the basement last weekend. Our weekend, and part of our week even, had been devoted to the cleanup process. At least that's part of my excuse for not blogging. Been doing a lot of appointments and end-of-year things as well. I'll put pics of the flood below, but since it's hard to see the water in some shots, I'll post a video, too. Also in the news, Ri needs braces. Sigh. Just when we were hoping to pay everything off. :) Oh, well. I'm sure the economy will be forgiving. Not.

Ahh, Springtime

When you think of Springtime, what do you think of? I'll bet kites and flowers are high on the list. Well, in keeping with that, and to update you on my tulip planting of last Fall, enjoy these pictures of Springtime--guaranteed to help you forget your worries of finances and flu. :D




Ri and I jokingly refer to these as my "goth" tulips. I'm not much for dark colors normally, but I just love the "black" tulips (Queen of Night).

Happy Springtime everyone!

I knew I was missing something

Lest my avid readers who by now have already read the latest blog miss this (lol), I meant to also post this audio of Ri singing at church a few weeks ago. Steph used Scripture and put this together, composing and then accompanying Ri. Had a bit of trouble getting it to a format that would play here, but enjoy this first "performance" of this new song.