Next Appointment Set

On August 12 at 12:30pm is the next OB appointment. I'm hoping they do another ultrasound at that appointment and actually pin down a due date. It's difficult to not have a correct date since we know she has to have another c-section, and they won't want her to go into labor at all. We're excited to get her up here so that we can go to the OB appointments with her!

We talked to one of the apartment buildings right down the road, and it appears they are going to work with us on a short term lease. They did call back saying they were going to have an apartment opening up in early October, but it's a 2nd floor....NOT HAPPY about that! I think we're going to hold off and do our best to find a first floor one, because we're just not sure about her doing stairs with two toddlers, a baby, a dog, and being pregnant! So, we're going to look a bit more and see what we can find. :)

That's about all for now.

Great Dr. Visit!

Well I just talked to Amanda and her followup appointment went great! The baby is doing wonderful! The heart rate was 158 bpm, which the Dr. was pleased with. One thing which was odd, was the baby was measuring completely different this time! Now, Amanda has three others, and said that this has happened with each pregnancy (one visit the baby will measure 8 weeks, and the next one a week later the baby is measuring 10weeks and some odd days...and usually on the third, she falls in between....something about her babies tend to grow fast right in the beginning? IDK). Anyway, the baby measured 10weeks and a few days, which would put us in a February due date (about the 20th). All that matters though is the baby is growing and doing great!

So, that's our update. I'm so releived that things are looking great, and our baby is growing and doing fabulous! We are so in love and we haven't even seen our little bean yet!

So according to the Dr. today, our baby is:

We'll have to wait until the next OB visit to see which one is right, and get a solid due date, but no matter what, we couldn't be happier!

A Scare This Morning

This morning, Amanda woke up to find that she was bleeding. She obviously freaked out, and headed straight to the ER to find out what was going on. Her neighbor drove her in, and she kept saying, "Call my aunt Gail, you need to call her!". But her neighbor, "B", said that wasn't a good idea, to wait until she knew more. In a way, I'm really glad that "B" talked her into waiting, because I would have been a nervous wreck waiting for updates! So, Amanda called us this afternoon after spending all morning in the hospital being checked out. She's home, and so far all is fine.

Well, the baby is doing well, the heart rate is still up around 167 beats per minute, and her cervix is still closed. The doctor thinks that because she didn't have a chance to have a true period after having Jacob, that her body just needed to "shed" some excess. She is to call her OB on Monday and get in early next week for a follow up.

We're hoping and praying that's all it is, and that the baby continues to thrive and do well. Please send prayers our way. Thanks!

The Word Is Out

So last night, we let the news out to friends and family via MySpace and Facebook. We're happy to be sharing our news with everybody!

I'm also excited to have made my first baby purchase this evening! I bought two slings from Kangaroo Korner. I got an adjustable pouch, and also a padded sling. They were on sale, so I didn't feel too bad about spending the money :) We may make a trip to Harrisburg on Sunday to Baby's R Us to check out nursery furniture, and we're starting to look at paint samples too!

We Have A Due Date!

Wonderful news!!! The ultrasound finally happened this morning, and the baby is measuring at 8weeks and 1day. The heartrate was 167 beats per minute! We have a healthy baby! If she can get a babysitter for tomorrow, she will be going back in to have a more in depth ultrasound in radiology to double check the measurements, etc. since it's very important to have an accurate due date because this baby will have to be born via c-section without her going into labor (she'll be less than 12 months after Jacob's birth/c-section).

We're so excited!

Still No Ultrasound...

Well, yesterday Amanda had to go back to have more blood drawn for another set of beta's. While there she decided to go to the OB floor and speak with the nurse/Dr. about having an ultrasound since she was having such an issue getting them on the phone. The Dr. said that with numbers that high, she didn't need to have any more beta's drawn and she wanted to get her in STAT for the u/s. Now mind that she is there with all three kids... The nurse says, ok, can you do it now? Ummmm, I have three kids here with me?!!!! So the nurse tells her not a problem, to go to radiology and set up an appointment that it needs to be done ASAP. So down to radiology she goes only to be told by that person, "Oh, well ASAP just means within the next couple of weeks. We can get you in on the 24th." WTF?! That is NOT acceptable.

Today she goes back to speak to the Dr. and see if they can fit her in for the u/s. They couldn't, and told her to come back tomorrow. Thing is, they're not even sure if they can fit her in tomorrow! ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!! She's getting the run around and it's driving me nuts! We need to know if she's carrying multiples or not, becasue if she is, we are not going to do our IVF cycle this month... Why are things never easy?

No News

I don't really have any new news right now, but I thought I'd pop in and put a few things down.

First of all, it's driving me nuts not telling anybody IRL! Yes, our parents know, and two VERY close friends, but that's pretty much it. Thank God I have my internet friends to talk to, and they let me be excited, and are excited with me. We still don't have a due date, so we're skeptical to say anything. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep quiet though!!! I'm just so damned excited, that I want to shout it to the world! I may not be the one who is pregnant, but in my heart I am... Does that even make sense? Our baby is alive, with a beating heart, just not in my womb...

Dan and I have looked at some baby stuff already and it's so exciting. We've checked out some strollers, travel sets, carseats and the prices of formulas and diapers. We're on the fence about cloth diapering. I'd LOVE to do it, but I'm afraid that I'll fail....We're still thinking on it :) As for formula...well, I really want to breastfeed. We've researched the option, and it seems as if it's a really viable option! Who would have thunk it??? From what we've read, it appears that I have a few choices to begin lactating. The first option (what we hope works) is that I actually become pregnant on the next IVF cycle, which means I will be lactating anyway. The second option is to start pumping on a regular schedule ASAP, and that should start lactation, when the baby arrives, I can use a system called Lact-Aid to help supplement as well as help boost lactation. The third option is medication along with pumping. It takes dedication, but so does breastfeeding a biological child. It's amazing the number of adoptive moms out there who have been able to do this, it really gives us hope! I want to add here, that if I'm unable to do this, it's OK, I was a formula fed baby, and I turned out just fine...

Is it awful that I also constantly want to look at baby things, and can't wait to start shopping and getting the nursery together? I had to go to the store today to pick up some prenatals to send to Amanda with the other stuff we sent her today, and couldn't leave the store until I walked through and looked at the baby clothes and accessories :) I already feel like an expectant Mom, and I know that Dan is excited too because of little things he says and does. An example would be this evening while we were at Sam's Club getting a few things. He happened to spot a car seat across the way, and said, "oh hey, look at this!". I think that he's going to be a little more reserved for a bit, but I totally understand that after all we've been through.

Still No Due Date :(

Well, today was supposed to be the first OB appointment with an ultrasound to date the pregnancy. I'm so upset that the Dr. she saw would not do the ultrasound because she feared it was too early. So, the Dr. drew a beta to check her HCG levels stating that they needed to be over 6000 in order to preform the ultrasound and be able to see the baby and date the pregnancy. She drew the blood today, made an appointment for another draw on Wednesday and again on Friday. :::SIGH::: So here we are waiting again.

Well, the office called and told her that her levels are 16,743! That's up there! So, I'm thinking she'll do the ultrasound now! Nope! The Dr. wants to do the second draw on Wednesday to make sure the numbers are doubling (my question is when they get this high, do they continue to double?), and then they'll do the ultrasound on Friday instead. Man, this waiting is killing me! I'm like a little kid on Christmas Eve that can't go to sleep because I'm so excited!!!!!

We went out and got my niece a laptop so that we will be able to communicate easier and closer which we'll hopefully ship to her tomorrow or Wednesday. We've also picked up some preggie pop drops, and pops for her morning sickness, and I need to get a bottle of prenatal vitamins to send to her as well since she's almost out.

Come on Friday!

I talked to the attorney again today. We found out that living in different states shouldn't be an issue at all, especially since she's coming up here for at least the third trimester.

The first OB appointment is on Monday, and that will include an ultrasound for dating purposes! We're so excited! On Monday we're going to officially have a due date!

That's about all for updates today.

Attorney Consultation

Today we had our consultation meeting with the attorney we are interested in using. It was a phone consult, and that was great because Dan could still work today, but was able to take time out of his day for the phone call.

She gave us a lot of good information, and made us feel even better about the situation. The costs are going to be MUCH less than we ever expected if all goes as planned as well! We've still got to get some answers about her residency (right now she lives in GA), and how we can get her set up here in PA to make things easier on all involved.

She said we would need to figure out how to get the e-dad's (expectant dad) rights terminated since he will be deployed at that time. So we don't know if he will have to come home to do that, or if we can email him information which he can sign and mail back...etc. We do know that there will be documents drawn up and signed right before the birth that will give DH and I temporary custody so that we can make all decisions, be there, etc. when our baby is born. The father is able to terminate his rights immediately, and the mother has to wait 48-72 hours. After that they have 30 days in which to appeal their decision before we can officially adopt and have a new birth certificate issued, etc.

The attorney is going to do some research about the location thing (GA to PA) and then get back to us tomorrow morning. But it appears that we are well on our way to adopting our little baby.

We still don't know an exact due date, as the pregnancy has been confirmed by the physician but she hasn't had her first OB appointment yet. We're thinking it's going to be somewhere between the end of February and beginning of March.

And the Journey Begins

We received a phone call on Friday afternoon from my niece, Amanda. It was a total shock, since we haven't talked to her in over a year, but a nice surprise to just hear her voice. What she had to say shook our world, and had me in tears for the rest of the day. Amanda lives in GA with her husband and their three babies (ages 3, almost 2, and three months), and they just found out that she is pregnant again. The reason she was calling us was because her and James decided to ask us if we would adopt the new baby. WOW... Talk about a lot to digest in a small amount of time. Of course we are interested, but there are so many questions that need to be answered. Not only that but there's the thought that I really can't be heartbroken again....not after multiple miscarriages, and two failed IVF cycles. She tells us that she's willing to sign anything we want her to, to eat any special diet we request, etc. We obviously had to talk this over and figure out what the best decision was going to be for all of us involved. We decided that YES YES YES, we absolutely want to do this!!!! We've always discussed adopting, but never thought it would be from a family member, or happen as such a surprise, but it is obviously a blessing.

While we are excited, at the same time we are scared that something might happen. I mean, this pregancy is still very early, and we have experience with early miscarriages... There's always the fear that they will change their mind, but we really don't think that will happen. There are a lot of things to think about, but we already love this baby as if I'm carrying it myself.

We have a phone consultation with an attorney tomorrow morning at 10am, and hope to get some answers to questions we have, and get some understanding for how to proceed.