Tyra took this picture of Lily today. I thought it was cute so I'm posting it!

Two days left - Time to pack my bags!

My due date is in two days, but I have a feeling I will have her a little later then that. My original due date was November 3rd. My 7 week ultrasound due date was November 1st and my 20 week ultrasound was October 29th. The midwife told me that the very best due date is the one given at the earliest ultrasound. Which actually would work out okay because then all of the Halloween celebrations would be over with. My mom seems to think I will have this baby on Halloween day, which this year would be the year to do it, since it's on Sunday. All of the trunk-or-treats and carnivals are on Friday and Saturday.

Tomorrow morning I will be getting checked again. The midwives said that since I am already 100% effaced, that if I am dilated to a 1 then they will strip my membranes. My problem is, is that I am not quite sure that I want them too. Either way it will happen soon enough and at least then I won't have put myself into more pain in the mean time, right? My only problem is that I really don't want a November baby. But the only reason why is because I don't like November's birth stone. I really don't want a yellow stone in my Mother's Ring (if I ever get one!). But I am gradually getting over that, because really at this point, I would rather have her after all the Halloween partying is over then worry about the color of a stone. Either way, I just can't wait until it's over, the labor and delivery part, I mean. So ANYTIME is okay, it would just make things less complicated if she came on Sunday or later.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited to meet her. I hope so badly that I can be strong and make it through this. It would be really nice if I could do it all natural, mainly for the baby's sake, but I am not promising anyone anything. Never having been through this before, I have no idea how I will bare it. But we shall see soon enough, right? The next time I post will probably be after she is born. Wish me luck and please pray for me to have strength and for our safety.

YAY! Another sigh of relief!

Last night was crazy. I spent the whole day yesterday with my sister and didn't get home until about 11 p.m. I didn't get to bed until after midnight. Then at 2 a.m. I woke up with a terrible ear ache. I took some Tylenol and used some pain killing ear drops and tried to fall asleep on a hot pad. I didn't get back to sleep until after 4:30 a.m. Then I woke up again at 6 with a terrible tooth ache. I lay their for about an hour and finally decided that I needed to go to the doctor. Luckily Tommy is so sweet and watched the kids for me so I could go in. Come to find out, I have a terrible ear infection. They had to put me on an antibiotic.

For about a week now, I have been getting more and more nervous because people keep asking me if I've felt the baby move yet. When I tell them no, they tell me how early they felt theirs move. I have also been reading some pregnancy books recently and they say by now I should have felt something. UGH! It's been so nice not having anything to worry about the past several weeks. But from this I have started getting a little paranoid again.

So when I was at the doctor's this morning I asked if they had the equipment to listen to a baby's heart beat. They did and sure enough, right off the bat she heard it. It's heart rate was at 142! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, I think I did a HUGE sigh of relief when I heard it. Now if I can just wait one more week until the ultrasound. I can hardly wait!

Other than feeling somewhat like I'm being run ragged, I am actually glad this summer is so busy, because it's going to make it go by REALLY fast. Although while I am feeling good, I'd love this pregnancy experience to last forever, I am also REALLY REALLY excited for this baby to get here! Only one more week and I'll be half way there! :D

The word is out!

I finally posted something on Facebook about being pregnant and it's been fun hearing every one's comments about it. I figured that I might as well now, since it was announced to several hundred people at my daughter's dance recital about a week ago.

It was so funny because two teachers plus the owner of Down Town Dance have all gotten pregnant during this dance year and they would joke about there being something in the water. When I called Amy to tell her I was pregnant I said, "Well Amy, what ever is in your water at the studio apparently is pretty strong!" She was so excited for me and has been so great about it all. So at the recital she joked about the water again, especially if after us adopting four kids and trying for SEVERAL years to get pregnant, that I was now expecting. Then she said, "But if Billy Reid comes and tells me she is pregnant, THEN I might get pretty worried." Billy was my gymnastics teacher when I was a kid. Her kids are all grown up now. So it was pretty funny! Of course since then, everyone keeps coming up to me and telling me congratulations, so I guess now the cat is officially out of the bag!

For the past few days I have been getting heart burn so bad and I still just don't even care. I think it's all so fun! As long as I don't feel like I am going to puke, everything else is great! My three FAVORITE things about pregnancy so far are:

1 - Not having a period and having to deal with terrible cramps! That one will ALWAYS be at the top of my list.

2 - My crazy dreams! It's like going to a movie every night. Although, some have been a little too crazy even for me. Tommy, you know which one I'm talking about.... eew!

3 - My bigger boobs!! HA! HA! It is so weird actually having a little cleavage now. Although it's kind of sad that the rest of my body isn't staying cute to match my boobs.

I can't wait until it's obvious that I am pregnant instead of just looking like I am gaining a lot of weight and getting fat! It's so funny when I tell someone that I am pregnant and then they say, "Oh my gosh, are you showing a little?" Then I think, "Oh my gosh, if they didn't know I was pregnant then they just thought I was getting FAT!" Ugh. Oh well, it's all for fun! I am still loving all of it. They say that the 2nd trimester is the best and so far I'd have to agree. It by FAR beats the 1st trimester.

My absolute favorite thing of all is seeing every one's reaction when I tell them though. It has ranged from screaming with excitement to teary eyes and heartfelt hugs. Much much funner then the first time I got pregnant so many years ago. It was cool then too, but nothing compares to this. I want to thank everyone for your support and congrats and also for your prayers and best wishes. It is so good to have such wonderful friends and family!

Now it's time to vote. At the top of my blog you can click on whether you think we are having a boy or girl. I think it will be fun to see how many of you get it right. I go in on the 17th for my ultrasound, so we have about 2 weeks to get all the votes in. Not many people know about this blogspot yet, so I will post it's link on Facebook. It's going to be fun to see the result. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE ULTRASOUND! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got our ultrasound date!!

Tonight was my first appointment with the midwives and other pregnant women as a group. Tommy couldn't come because he had to take TJ to a baseball game. He is the assistant coach and feels bad when he can't be there. Plus, I figured that it was the first one so it probably wouldn't be a big deal for him to miss it. Although now, I wish I had asked him to. We don't have them that often, so I hope he can go to the rest.

It was really fun meeting other girls that are all due around the exact same time I am. I do think that I was the oldest in the class though. I was also the only one who has four kids already. This is the first pregnancy for most of them. My sister-in-law's sister was even in the class. That was cool. Of course they all brought someone with them. They had snacks for us to eat while we were there and thank goodness because I think I ate the whole tray of tomatoes by myself. I was STARVING! Oh, by the way, I have only gained one pound since last month, but if I keep feeling so hungry, I'll have gained WAY more by the next appointment. Scary!

Just before class started we all got to go and hear our babies heart beats again. Our baby's heart rate was at 157 tonight. As soon as I heard it I let out a big sigh of relief. It was good to hear it again. I know it sounds dumb but I REALLY needed to hear it tonight. In two days I will be 16 weeks along and now that I have finally made it past the very critical 1st trimester things are finally starting to get exciting. I had such a hard time getting too excited before.

Plus, I felt so pukey sick all of the time that I didn't ever want to do anything. I remember when I first found out I thought that I wanted this 9 months to last FOREVER, just for the experience of it. Then I started feeling sick and was just feeling good to get through the next day. I first started reading every pregnancy book under the sun and pretty quickly anytime I'd even think about reading one, I'd feel like I was going to puke. One REALLY good thing that has come from me being sick though is that I have over come my addiction of FarmVille! I must have played it one too many times when I was feeling like crap because now just thinking about the game literally makes me sick. I know it sounds weird but it's really the truth. Good thing! I have much better things I need to spend my time on the FarmVille.

The day before my 14 week mark I started feeling better. I felt great for 5 days and then had a few bad ones again and since then I only get sick once in a while. Usually when I haven't eaten anything. So now, it's back to being super fun! I love being able to enjoy this. I am still pretty stinking tired all the time, but I am finally starting to make it all the way through the night with out having to get up and pee. So that's good. I love all of the pregnancy symptoms. Smelling everything a mile away is one of my favorites. I have never had a great sense of smell, so it's fun to smell even the faintest scents. My worst though is car exhaust. It makes me dry heave every time.

Anyway, class was fun but I am even more excited about what happened after class. I got my appointment for our 20 week ultrasound. It will be on June 17th. We should be able to find out what the baby is that day. I am SOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!! Only a little over 5 weeks from now, I will be able to refer to our baby as a he or she instead of an "it". That will be nice! Well, until next time.....

The Beating of a Baby's Heart is so Precious!

I went to the midwives this morning at 8:20. Surprisingly I have lost 1 pound since last month. I'm not quite sure how though, because I look like I have gained at least 10!

She found the baby's heart rate right away. YAY! It was at 161. The baby kept moving all over so she had to keep trying to find it. The little stinker. I guess it better enjoy the space now, because pretty soon it's going to get pretty squishy in there!

So, apparently, Tommy was right AGAIN! I guess I didn't have anything to worry about, since my spotting the other night. I haven't had any since, so that's good. Of course he hasn't had any FUN since then either. Poor guy. A while ago he said, "I don't know if I can do this for 7 more months." (Or something to that affect.) At the time he was talking about how pukey sick I had been and that he was having to take on all of my duties too. Now I think he is thinking that for a DIFFERENT reason! Like I said..... poor guy. If it's not one thing, it's been another. From head aches, to nausea, to cramping and now to yeast infections. UGH! I'm not quite sure he's going to make it either. :)

My next appointment is going to be on May 10th. It will be a group appointment with several other women who are due around the same time as me. I think that will be interesting.

Oh, one REALLY good bit of news is that they said I could quit taking my prenatal vitamins that make me so pukey and I can just take a Flinstone vitamin and some folic acid and omega 3 pills. YAY!!!!!! Hopefully that will help me feel a lot better then I have been lately.

Here's to 11 weeks along............... only 29 more to go!!

One Scary Night

Last night was a very difficult night. I woke up at 2 a.m. and went in and changed the laundry. Then I went to the "little girls room" and saw some blood. Not tons, but enough to scare me half to death. I immediately called Tommy (who is almost always out in his office working at that time in the morning) and told him about it. He came in and gave me a blessing, if for nothing else, just to help give me some peace and comfort. The blessing was so sweet and really did help calm me down. He told me again that he didn't think I needed to worry. He has felt very good about this pregnancy from the beginning. He said that he understood why I was so worried, but he really believes that everything will be fine. I have loved to see, hear and feel his faith in all of this. I have really relied on his strength. I feel he is my ROCK. Without him I would probably crumble to dust and blow away some days.

A few minutes after he went out to his office he called me and read me a bunch of things off of the Internet that helped ease my mind too. He ALWAYS does his research. It's so cute! Eventually I fell back to sleep and then was up again at 6 a.m. to help the kids get ready for school. After they left I went back to bed, not wanting to think about anything. When Dylan woke up I fed him and layed around for a while. Then I finally called the doctor.

My 11 week appointment is already set for tomorrow at 8:20 in the morning, so I've decided just to try and make it until then before going in. Which now, I am very glad I did, because I haven't spotted at all since. Thank goodness. Although, when I asked the midwife what the main purpose for tomorrow's appointment was and she told me, "to hear the heart beat" and then she told me that quite often you can't hear the heart beat until you are 12 weeks along though, I cringed. Why in the world would I want to go to the appointment to, by chance, NOT hear the heart beat? UGH. That would be TERRIBLE.

I hadn't taken my pills for two days because they make me SO sick, but when that happened last night I hurried and popped them all in. Now I am back to my same old pukey self. I haven't figured out if the Glucophage is making me so sick or if it's just the prenatal vitamins. Usually when I feel so sick that I can't take my pills, I just don't take any at all. My sister was teasing me because I am such a wuss with the morning sickness. She had to get IV's every day and puked all of the time. I still haven't puked yet. I have dry heaved several times but that's it. But I do know that in the last month, I have said or thought to myself, "Oh my gosh, I think I'm going to puke" more times than I have in my entire life. Poor Tommy has had to do SO much. When I don't take my pills (which by the way, I've only done that 3 times) I usually get bad head aches the next day. Which stinks because really, I'd rather deal with a head ache then feeling like I'm going to throw up. I can get more done.

Well, enough whining. I know things could be worse, but never having gone through this before I guess I just didn't know what to expect. As much as I try not to, I still always have that lingering feeling of, "What if I am going through all of this for nothing?" That seems to make things much harder. I wish I knew for sure that everything was going to turn out okay and then I think it would be easier to say, "But it's all going to be worth it in the end, so just ENDURE."

I need to thank everyone for your prayers. They have meant a lot to me. I love all of you and am so grateful for your support. Please continue to pray.

No more pain... good or bad????

Today I woke up and my breasts weren't hurting anymore. Needless to say, I freaked out just a little bit. I called the doctor and they told me not to worry about it because my hormones are probably just leveling out. Although, I am not quite sure how since I am on Progesterone right now. But either way, ultimately it comes down to.... 'What Will Be, Will Be'. So I guess there is no point worrying about it. It has been nice feeling nauseous, tired, constipated and full of heart burn this morning though. That helps me feel a LITTLE better about things! Any pregnancy symptom is better then NO pregnancy symptom, right? Well, only time will tell. Please keep us in your prayers.

We found the heart beat!!!!!

Here I am getting my ultrasound. Sorry, I know it shows a little skin, but come on.... under the circumstances, I can't just NOT post it! :)

Tommy took this picture of the TV screen but as soon as I get my computer back I will scan a good picture of the ultrasound and post it instead. Either way though. Still looks like a little bean!

Oh yeah, and by the way..... there was only ONE! No twins. So for whoever voted twins on the poll, you need to change your vote to either boy or girl. I took the twins option away! :)

Here is a video clip of the ultrasound. That way you can hear the heart beat too! It was at a rate of 160. Pretty good!! YAY!

These are the "Signs of the Times"!!

My family keeps asking me if I've been sick yet. Well, about 4 days ago and every day since, I've realized what it feels like to have morning sickness. I always thought it was like the flu and wondered how pregnant women would seem fine one minute, then leave the room and come back saying that they'd just puked. Now I know! I haven't thrown up yet, but I have been VERY queasy off and on. I kind of feel like I have constant motion sickness. It's really strange. But I am VERY grateful that the pains of the stomach flu don't come with it. I can deal with just being nauseous.

Also, today, I got my first heart burn! Ha! Ha! I know it's ridiculous of me to be happy about having heart burn, but any signs of pregnancy right now are a blessing in my eyes. They may get old a few months down the road or even a few weeks, but for right now, I am LOVING it!!

For my favorite "Sign of the Times", I am happy to say that my bra is getting too small already!! :D This is where I can hear my dad saying......... "Lorraine, TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!" Ha! Ha! Sorry Dad! I can't help it. It's all just SO exciting to me! (He didn't think it was very cool of me to put pictures of my insides on my blog from my last surgery.)

As of tomorrow I will be 6 weeks along. Then only one more week and I will have passed my miscarriage date from the last time. YAY! Please pray with me that this will work out. I am having so much fun with this already, and as grateful for the few weeks I have had being able to be pregnant again, I sure would love it to continue.

Tommy was teasing me the other day because I was reading the book, "What to Expect When You're Expecting." But I thought, as many times as I have lent this book out to people, it's about TIME I get to read it myself!! So, I am loving that too! I haven't gotten very far in it though. I'm always so tired, I usually fall asleep after just a few pages. I can't believe how tired pregnancy makes you, even in the very beginning. CRAZY!!

Speaking of crazy, did I mention.......... "I'M PREGNANT?!!!!" :)

I over did it. UGH

Last night I went to teach gymnastics not thinking anything of it. By the time I got done I was cramping a lot. It made me REALLY nervous. I talked to my boss and I am thinking that maybe I shouldn't teach the older girls right now. Some of them weigh more then I do. Spotting them takes a LOT of muscle. I think I just over did it, I guess. Plus, Alison and I did our round off back hand springs for the year! :) Each year we do it at least once so we can make sure that we still can!! I'm not quite sure if that was the best idea either. It made me see stars.

Plus, yesterday I also had the runs. I thought that maybe I was getting sick or that it could be the start of morning sickness, but I found out that Glucophage does that to you. Supposedly it'll only last about a week though, so I guess we'll see. Although, eating a whole can of olives probably didn't help matters! I couldn't seem to find anything good to eat. :)

Every morning I wake up, my boobs are aching too. I love it! I think it's AWESOME!!!! It couldn't hurt to have a little extra in that area! :D

Tommy has been such a wonderful support. He knew I was concerned about my cramping and he gave me several reasons why he thought I was. Then he said that he just really feels like everything is going to be okay. That made me feel SO good. He always knows just what to say to make me feel better. I sure do love that man!

So far this morning I haven't been cramping but I sure don't feel up to par. That could be due to a number of reasons though, so I guess only time will tell.

First ultrasound scheduled!

Today I made an appointment for my first ultrasound. It's going to be at 2 p.m. on March 16th. By that time we will be able to hear the baby's heart beat, which I think will be SO awesome!!! I've decided to go with the midwives down in Pocatello. I have heard such good things about them. I really can't wait! I hate to get too excited because you never know what will happen, but on the other hand, I don't want to be puting bad energy out into the Universe about it either. I don't ever want to think that the worst will happen because then it might. From now on, I think I am just going to act like everything is going to work out and have faith that it will and if something happens and it ends up not working out, then I will deal with that when the time comes. But until then, let's just ALL be EXCITED!!!! YAY!!!!!!!! :)

Test Results!

Well, every time I have talked to my sister-in-law, Alison, since I found out that I was pregnant, it just about KILLS me not telling her. I think Tommy was annoyed that I had told a few people and he hadn't so I told him that he better hurry and tell her before I accidentally slipped. So he told Alison and his parents on Sunday.

Although I hate to have every one's pity if I miscarry, it couldn't hurt to have some more prayers on our side too, so I figured it would be okay. Tommy let me talk to Alison after he had told her and her reaction was great too. Although she DID say that she hopes I get stretch marks!!! :) I am so glad we told her. She is another one that I have a hard time keeping things from.

I was working out at my friend Cherie's house when the nurse called with the results. She said that my levels were at 2091!! YAY!!! She said that was great and asked if I knew a good day to make an appointment for my ultrasound. I told her I'd look at my calendar and call her back. That was partly because she was the nurse from the other doctor that I saw and not mine. But it also gave me an 'easy out' from both of them, because I am really thinking seriously about going with the midwives down in Pocatello. But we'll see.

Right after I hung up, Ali called. She was happy to hear the news! Then Jeanne called. She said that when Tommy told her that I was pregnant she got the chills. He asked her why and she said that about a week ago the thought came to her, "Lorraine is pregnant and she's having a girl." She quickly dismissed the idea having known my fertility troubles in the past. The odds weren't really in my favor, having miscarried the only pregnancy I'd ever had 13 1/2 years ago at 7 weeks, having already adopted 4 children, and in the meantime having went through two laparoscopy's just to find out that I had severe endometriosis and that my right ovary was completely embedded into my ureter and my left was VERY misshaped. I can see why she dismissed the thought. So she was very happy to hear the news too.

After we got done working out, I called Tommy and my mom and sister to let them know too. They were all happy. Now I just need to figure out what I am going to do about doctors. I guess I'll have to do some more research. I'm still leaning towards the midwives though.

2nd HCG blood test

Today after a crazy morning of teaching gymnastics and running around I finally made it to Idaho Falls around 3 p.m. TJ and Tyra stayed home so I just took Dylan and Braxton in with me to get my second HCG test done. This time it went much faster, thank goodness.

On my way out I saw my doctor. Dr. Baker wasn't the one I went to on Friday because he wasn't in. I told him that I was pregnant and so we talked for a few minutes. He said to use the Prometrium vaginally instead of orally... eew! He said that it works better and faster right through the skin instead of having to go all the way through the digestive system.

He also prescribed Glucophage for me. He said that the miscarriage rate is drastically reduced with people who are on it. Fine by me! At this point, I'll try ANYTHING that might help me keep this baby.

He also told me that my first test came back with a count of 962. He said that was great. Let's hope so!!! If the second test numbers have doubled, then I get to make an appointment at the end of my 6th week for an ultrasound. He said we'd be able to hear the heartbeat by then. WHAT??? That soon. How awesome is that? Results should be back tomorrow!!

1st HCG blood test

Last night was TERRIBLE!!!!! Since I stayed at my mom's house, I slept with Dylan because he doesn't have a crib here. He has been getting sick. He was up crying or coughing every 15 to 30 minutes. At 4 a.m. I just lay there dying with a head ache and couldn't get back to sleep. A half an hour later I finally went in and asked mom if she had any Tylenol, which she didn't. UGH! But, being the sweet mom that she is, she let me lay in her bed and she went in with Dylan. I actually got 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Nice!

After my mom made a yummy breakfast, I gave her a foot zone and my headache actually went away. YAY! I took Braxton and Dylan over to JaNae's house to play. TJ and Tyra both stayed at their friend's houses last night. Shortly after I got there JaNae took me back to Rosemark. When they drew my blood it took forever to fill the vile. Apparently I haven't been drinking enough water lately! They said they should have the results by Monday. We've decided not to tell anyone else about it until we get the results back from the HCG tests. There is no point in telling anyone if it's not even a viable pregnancy. So here's to waiting! Please pray for us.

I'm PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night I was counting the days from my last cycle and I realized that I was late. So first thing this morning I took a pregnancy test. It turned out positive, but the test expired in 2002 :) so I didn't know if it was trust worthy or not. I took a second one and it was a definite YES!

I broke down and cried in gratitude for such a wonderful blessing and then once I'd composed myself I started freaking out a little. I hurried and made an appointment with the doctor and rounded up some prenatal vitamins that I'd had. I found my progesterone cream and rubbed in on my tummy.

My mom was the first to know, of course! I can't keep ANYTHING from her. (I didn't tell Tommy yet because I wanted confirmation from the doctor first. No point in getting excited for no reason.) I met my mom at 1:15 p.m. at Rosemark and she went in with me. Sure enough the doctor also said I was pregnant!!! He prescribed me some Prometrium (which is Progesterone) and told me to take baby aspirin and some omega 3 with my prenatal vitamins. He said to come in tomorrow for an HCG blood test to see where my levels are and then to come in again for a second one on Monday to see if they have doubled. If so that will mean that this is a viable pregnancy.

Wow, after 13 1/2 years of never getting pregnant, this is a little CRAZY!!!! I guess we will see if it all works out though. I hate to get too excited because I just don't know. The only other time in my life that I've been pregnant was about 1 1/2 years after we got married. We had been trying for 10 months at the time, but I ended up miscarrying at 7 weeks. We've never had anything since................ until NOW!

After the doctors appointment we picked up my medicine and then went to my sister's house. When I walked in I gave JaNae a hug and then slipped the test into her view only. When she realized what it was she started jumping up and down screaming with excitement! It was so cute!! What a wonderful reaction. Of course all of her daughters were wondering what in the heck was going on.

This morning I asked Tommy if he thought it was weird that I was two days late. He said, "Lorraine, nothing is weird with you." I thought, "Yeah it is, especially when I am always 3 to 6 days EARLY. But I didn't say anything else.

Shortly after visiting my sister I met Tommy at the temple. When we were finished and were sitting in the Celestial room I said, "So, would it be a bad thing if I really WAS pregnant?" He said, "There's no way you are." Then I told him that I really was and that I had been to the doctor and they had confirmed it. He said, "Well, if you are... then it's a girl!" I thought that was so sweet.

We celebrated by eating out at Applebees! YUM!!! Then we went back to my parents house and my dad and Tommy gave me a blessing. It really gave me a lot of comfort. I am so grateful to have a father and a husband who hold the Priesthood. That means the world to me.

I am staying at my parent's house tonight because we were out so late and all of the kids were already asleep when we got here. Plus my mom wants me to give her a foot zone in the morning. But as for right now I have a terrible headache though, so I'm going to try and get some rest. What an AWESOME day and what a WONDERFUL surprise!!!!