she's here!

Our baby girl, Cora, arrived on July 31, 2017 at 6:17 am!

(I'm sorry that I'm so late in posting this. Chasing after a toddler and nursing this newborn have kept me quite busy. I've had this post saved in draft form for a few days because every time I tried to update and post it my son would run into the room and want to jab at every button on my computer - so then I had to hide my computer.)

We are so thankful for our embryo donors and embryo adoption. I can't write it enough! When I look at my kids I'm just stunned with thankfulness! Our journey to become a family is a miracle.

I got my VBAC! I went into labor in the early hours of July 30. I went back to sleep and called my mother in the morning to pick up Logan and bring him to her house. That being done the only thing my husband and I worried about for the rest of that day (Sunday) was keeping my labor going and stocking up the house for the new baby.

By midday Sunday I was having contractions every 10 minutes or so, they progressed to become 5 minutes apart at around 5 pm. I got in the tub. I thought the contractions were pretty strong, but when we called our doula and she dropped in she said that they could get a lot stronger and she stayed with us and helped my labor progress.

I didn't know that labor naturally intensifies in the evening, but that makes sense. My contractions continued to pick up and get stronger between 5-7 pm. At that point they were 3 minutes apart. My doula had me walk around the block and swing my legs in a half moon in front of me pivoting from my hip joint. She also rubbed my feet with clary sage and jasmin and put some clary sage on a cotton ball and had me inhale it as I walked. By the time we made it around the block my contractions had doubled in intensity.

I then sat on the birth ball and let the contractions keep coming. With each contraction my doula pressed on a pressure point in my lower leg and my husband pressed on a pressure point in my hand. She then had me walk up and down the stairs - doing the same time of movement with my legs that I had done on my walk around the block. At this point it was after 11 pm and I was just howling with each contraction and trying to breath.

Sometime after 11 I felt the urge to push. I sat through a few contractions on the toilet and then we headed to the hospital. (Which was only 7 minutes away.)

At check-in I was 4 centimeters, but the time we made it to the room and I got an epidural I was 6 centimeters. I had my bloody show between getting into bed and getting the epidural. A few hours after I got the epidural the Dr. broke my bag of waters because I wasn't progressing.

At that point everything went into hyperdrive. My body started shaking and I was fully dilated a few hours after my waters had been broken.

I pushed for a few hours and we started to see her head, but due to the fact that her heart rate was going down the Dr. wanted to use forceps if I couldn't get her out in a few more pushes. I tried a few times and then let the Dr. use the forceps. Out she came - beautiful and perfect and howling to beat the band.

Her cord was wrapped around her neck 2 times.

There wasn't a mark on her from the forceps. (I on the other hand needed a few stitches.)

So that's our birth story. It worked out for the best! Healthy baby and healthy mommy.

I'm holding her now and she's nursing like a champ.

Praying for all of you on this journey.

xo Jill

37 weeks

It's a quiet Sunday morning and my little man (now almost 20 months old) is sleeping in - despite the fact our sheltie raised the roof at 6:20 a.m. to alert us that a neighbor was walking his dog down the sidewalk in front of our house.

We have all been doing very well.

Baby girl is measuring right on track and is kicking and squirming what feels like all the time - especially at night!

I'm currently 37 weeks 3 days pregnant. With my son I went into labor at 38 weeks five days. Because of that fact everyone's bags are packed. Baby girl's diaper bag is packed for the hospital. Son's bag is packed for grandma and grandpa's house. My bag is open with some items in it - and ready to be tossed full of stuff at the last minute when we get ready to leave for the hospital.

This time around we hired a doula to help with my labor.

I've also been doing spinning baby exercises to try to ensure baby is in the optimal position for delivery. She's head down, but I'm hoping she's facing my spine when I deliver. (She was in that position at my last ultrasound - but babies shift all the time.)

Son was sunny side up and that could have been one of the contributing factors to my 59 hour labor with him and unplanned c-section.

We're hoping for a VBAC, but want a healthy baby most of all, so we're just trying to do everything we can to tip the odds toward a vaginal delivery.

It's been a hot weekend around here. We stayed inside all day yesterday I got a lot of housework done. I'm in hyper clean mode. I washed the interior side of the windows and cleaned out some of the kitchen cupboards.

I tossed a bunch of the supplements that my husband and I took 4-5 years ago when we started our journey toward our babies - I can't believe how many bottles there were! It's nice to chuck them and forget about them!

It's nice that infertility treatments are not taking up so much space in my mind anymore!

Prayers to all of you on this journey! (Hope you get to chuck the supplements very soon!)

xoxo JILL

19 weeks - baby girl!

We had a level two ultrasound yesterday that went great. We found out that we are having a baby girl. I was stunned. I really thought we were having another boy, but I'm over the moon to have a daughter.

When we had our ultrasound for our son I saw his penis right away. This time I didn't see that, so I wasn't surprised when the ultrasound nurse told us about 3/4 of the way through the exam that she was a girl. I'm so excited!!

I'm so grateful that she's looking healthy and strong. Embryo adoption has changed our lives. It is such a precious thing to be able to be pregnant with our children.

Sending prayers to all of you on this journey,

Jill

12 weeks

[Fit Pregnancy says the baby is the size of a jelly donut hole]

:) :) :) :)

Going on 12 weeks here.

Things have been going good. I have my final blood draw tomorrow to confirm that I can finally stop my PIO shots. I'm really looking forward to that.

I had my first appointment with my OB yesterday. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat. She found it right away.

It's the first time I've heard it this pregnancy!

I attempted to go to a midwife for this pregnancy, but she said that her practice did not take on patients who are on lovenox, so I decided to go back to the OB and practice that I went to with my son and I actually felt really happy and safe to be there.

I was told that I can try for a VBAC and that I will be monitored more closely in my third trimester because I'm on blood thinners.

So far so good!

I'm starting to feel a little less tired and I think I've already felt baby bumping around in there.

Praying for you all on this journey.

xo Jill

9 weeks

Merry belated Christmas!! And Happy New Year!

We made it through Christmas. We saw both sides of our families. It was a joyful and exhausting experience.

Logan is right at the age where he doesn't like to sit still and gets into absolutely everything. None of the houses we were at were baby proofed. So one of us was always chasing after the baby and making him put down whatever breakable he currently had in hand.

How lucky I am to get to chase after my baby.

We are 9 weeks pregnant today.

We had an ultrasound on Tuesday that went good. Baby was measuring right on track if not even a little a head. The baby had a heart rate of 147. My doctor refuses to use the stronger ultrasound that will calculate the heart rate automatically so we all spent twenty seconds staring at the ultrasound screen counting the baby's flickering heartbeat. Then we all tried to do the math in our heads for what the actual heart rate was. It was moving for me to calculate such an important number. The number of times my baby's heart was beating in that minute.

I've been throwing up and gagging pretty much every day. Yesterday I barfed on the street corner while waiting for the light to turn. It was in the AM and still dark so I don't think anyone saw me.

I'm starting to show a little bit - either that or I'm really bloated. With my first pregnancy I really didn't start to show until 12-13 weeks.

Praying for all of you on this journey.

xo Jill

7 week 1 day ultrasound

This past Friday we had our first ultrasound and we saw one perfect baby just where it was supposed to be with a strong heartbeat. My doctor did not run the heart rate part of the ultrasound, because he said if he could see the heart beating nice and strong he didn't want to blast our tiny baby with more intense ultrasound waves. So we didn't get a heart rate. But I did get to see this little one's heart flickering on the screen. It was surreal.

I'm currently 7 weeks 4 days pregnant and I'm really feeling it. I've just been so so worn out and I've had some minor uterine tenderness a sore back and just PMS symptoms in general all weekend long.

I think I'm worn out because my husband is home and I've been staying up longer than I was when he was gone to just hang out with him, but it's become pretty obvious that I should just go to bed when our son does.

So that's what I'm doing tonight. I'm writing this update in my PJs.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and well wishes!

We have another ultrasound in a week, then we will get released to my regular baby doctor.

Prayers to all of you on this journey.

xo Jill

6 weeks 2 days

The early part of week six has been exhausting!

I'm a single mom for two weeks because my husband is away for some training and we've been sick. First it was head cold and a cough, then I got the call from daycare on Monday afternoon that my son was throwing up. Yup, stomach flu for my one year old.

That night he woke up at 1 am and was crying having rolled in vomit. His entire crib had to be stripped, washed and remade and he needed a bath. Then I ended up with the flu on Tuesday afternoon. I started throwing up and really have not stopped, because all day morning sickness has kicked in. I throw up once or twice a day. Usually in the parking ramp in the morning because I can't stand the smell of the place. (I know it's terrible! I gag all the way to my office.)

So, the week has felt like a marathon.

Then on Friday morning, I started spotting. (I also got some minor, tingly cramps that lasted all day.)
I spotted at this time with my first pregnancy, but this bout was a little more severe. With my son, it was a watery brownish discharge. This time it was a watery pink/red and there was more of it. Not enough to fill a panty liner, but enough to set my frazzled brain on edge. I worked a half day that day and then went home and napped all afternoon before picking my son up from daycare. (I missed out on my office Christmas Party, but I would not have had fun if I stayed.)

It's Saturday night and the spotting has stopped. I'm so grateful! Now I've got heartburn :( :( I'll take that over spotting though.

I guess somewhere around 80% of FET pregnancies experience spotting. I knew it could happen to me again, but you never like to see red when you whip when you're pregnant. Scary. Scary.

I can't wait for my husband to get home because I've been doing way more lifting of my son than I would be doing if he were here. On Friday morning I stood holding him for around 5 minutes, because he was having a rough morning and he just wanted to be held and swayed. I think the extra lifting might be part of the reason for the spotting.

I hope it's gone, never to return this pregnancy!

We have our ultrasound this upcoming Friday - I will be 7 weeks 1 day pregnant.

Every new day I wake up pregnant is a miracle. Thanking God. Please pray for a healthy sustained pregnancy for us and a good ultrasound this week.

Praying for all of you on this journey.

xo Jill