Ohhh Pregnancy

I am NOT one of those women who loves being pregnant.

I hate peeing 7 times a night and not being able to get comfortable.  And, of course, when I do get comfortable, baby starts kicking me and I can't sleep anyway.  I hate being so tired and running into things with my belly.  I am not a fan of swelling everywhere- my feet don't appreciate being crammed in my shoes, I miss my wedding ring, and I hate how my nose grows like crazy.  Waking up in the middle of the night and having to munch on pretzels to subdue the nausea isn't my idea of a good time, and heartburn is miserable.

hello HUGE belly!

check out those swollen feet!

However, as much as I loathe being pregnant, I am SO grateful to be able to have children!

When Andrew and I got married, we decided we'd wait for 2 years and then start our family.  However, 4 months after we said "I do," I got a very strong impression that there was a little child waiting to join us and that we needed to start our family NOW.  I talked to Andrew about it, hesitantly, and he (also hesitantly) agreed that was a good idea.  We prayed together and went to the temple (a very sacred place to us where we feel closest to God) to think about such a big decision.  We both felt strongly that it was time.

Yikes.  I really didn't want to get pregnant.  In fact, I prayed every night for the first 6 months or so that we wouldn't have a baby yet.  Then my heart softened and for the next few months I prayed that we'd have a baby when the time was right.  After 10 or 12 months, I started to get a little worried that we might not be able to have kids.  Why was it taking so long??  When we hit the year mark, I started praying that I would get pregnant and told Heavenly Father how much I wanted to have children.

As soon as we had been trying for a baby for a year, I made an appointment with my doctor to discuss infertility.  My doctor wasn't that impressive, but Andrew's doctor was so great that I started seeing him as well.  I feel like we saw him SO much, but he was so nice and helpful that I didn't mind all the medications, blood work, and ideas he had for us.

We started to discuss the possibility of adoption, and I started to (kind of) accept the fact that we might not be able to have children of our own.  The infertility care was so good at BYU for such a great price.   We knew we wouldn't be able to afford to continue with the medical help once we left Provo.  The last month we were there, the doctors at the BYU Health Center decided they would do everything possible to give us the best chance of getting pregnant that month.  I was on a handful of medications, had multiple ultrasounds, and was given shots.  The last week we lived in Utah, we did artificial insemination.  I remember walking out of that appointment with so much hope, but getting negative pregnancy tests for the past 18 months was hard!

We left a week later to move to Chicago for the summer, where Andrew completed an internship for Abbott.  The doctors told us exactly what day I could take an accurate pregnancy test, and I can still remember the anticipation of that day 2.5 years later.  We stopped at a WalMart in Wyoming on our move across the country for an extra pregnancy test the night before the big "testing day."  The lady who rung us up said with so much sympathy, "I'm sure you're not pregnant."  I smiled and said "probably not," but she was wrong- I wanted a positive test SO bad!

I took the two tests I had the next morning in our hotel room.  The first test showed the SLIGHTEST positive (maybe, it was hard to tell), and the other came back invalid!  Ahhh!  What are the odds?  So we hurried back to WalMart, where I bought 4 additional tests.  I went and peed on all 4 of them in a bathroom stall at the store.  Classy.  I know.

I wrapped the peed on tests up in a plastic WalMart bag, then Andrew and I went to the car to see our fate.  We opened them up in the parking lot, with all the wordly possessions we owned stuffed in our little Mazda3.  Sure enough, all of them were positive!  I thought I would dance and jump for joy and cry when I finally got that positive test, but I was in such shock that I couldn't believe it!  I called my sister to tell her, and almost didn't want to say I was pregnant out loud because it just didn't seem like it could be true!  I'm sure she was confused why I didn't sound happier.

But sure enough, 8 months later, Jake joined our family!  I am SO grateful for that little boy!  He is such a stinker sometimes, but I prayed and prayed for him, and I love him like crazy.  I know he's a gift from God.  As awful as pregnancy, childbirth, and the recovery seemed, he was SO, SO worth it!

When he was just less than a year old, we decided we wanted to try for #2.  Surely it'd take at least a year to get pregnant, right?  WRONG!  Apparently Jake set things straight in my body, and I was pregnant before I knew it!

mini golfing at 38 weeks (Andrew pulled my sunk shots out of the whole, thank goodness!)

January 23rd, less than a month after Jake's first birthday, I ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  Then I ate half a can of olives.  Forcing myself to not finish the can, I wondered if I was pregnant!?!  Sure enough, all 7 zillion tests I took came back positive.  I realize 7 zillion is an exaggeration, but not by as much as one might think.  It was closer to 20.  But now, I'm at week 39 and excited for our baby girl to join us!!  As much as I dislike being pregnant and don't look forward to the recovery from getting her out, I am SO thankful for this little girl being sent to us from heaven!  What a blessing it is to be a mom!!  I hope Jake finds her to be a blessing as well :)  At this point, the poor kid has NO idea what's coming!

37 weeks and full-term

It is so clear to me that Jake and this baby girl are gifts from God.  Remember how we planned to get pregnant 2 years after our wedding?  Sure enough, I got the positive pregnancy test within a week of our 2-year anniversary!  Coincidence?  Definitely not.

I know that God watches over us.  I am grateful for the experience we had to rely on Him more than we otherwise would have through our infertility.  Also, because of that experience, Andrew and I plan to have foster children when our own kids are old enough.  I also have so much more empathy for those who are going through a hard time.  It's not easy to go through trials, but God knows what's best for us and I am 100% confident (which is a strong statement, as I'm married to a statistician!) that God is with each of us as we go through hard times.  Lean on Him!!

End of Summer

The last month or so of the summer was so fun!

We went to Red Robbin with Kim and Darrell and had the yummiest burgers!  Jake DEVOURED a ton of all of our plates, including the fries.

We had a lot of fun at parks around Columbus.

Jake went to his first birthday party at a fire department.  I think Andrew I found the fire truck tour as interesting as he did!

Jake is getting more interested in all his toys, playing with them by himself for quite awhile.  He especially loves anything that lights up and makes lots of noise.

We played on the porch- Jake's favorite.

We visited the library a lot.

Jake is getting much better at block stacking- and destroying.  He can even say "blocks" now.

He can officially color without eating the crayons!  I thought that day would never come!

We fed the missionaries A LOT.  About weekly.  We got to know Elder Strong and Elder Mallory pretty well.

Our little grouch loves the trash can we got for baby girl's room.

And Jake's favorite thing the past week or two has been blowing dandelion seeds.  We've been going on lots of walks and he grins and does the goofiest excited laugh when we pick them for him.

We also got to go to Dayton to see Kim finish her marathon.  Actually, she ran faster than we had anticipated, so we waited .2 miles from the finish line for about 50 minutes before realizing she had already finished. The poor girl was just sitting and waiting for us to find her :(  But we were SO proud of her!

Jake was NOT excited for Andrew to start back to school, but his schedule this semester is awesome, especially for welcoming a baby home soon (hopefully tomorrowish :) )  He isn't taking any courses, so he spends his time mostly researching for his dissertation and teaching.  We get to see a lot more of him, which Jake and I both love.  Life is going great, and I can't wait for our family of 3 to meet the 4th member!

Columbus Zoo

Aside from our king-sized bed with a great mattress, I think our best purchase has been zoo passes.  Ohh how we love going to the zoo.  We spend so many mornings there!

We have passes that allow us into the water park as well as the zoo, which also have a few extra perks- the ones we use the most are touching the sting rays and riding the rides.  Jake is just barely tall enough to ride the kiddie rides, so late this summer he experienced "carnival" type rides for the first time.  We weren't sure if he liked them or not during the rides, but he cried when we pulled him off, so he must have enjoyed it.

We do know, however, that Jake does NOT like the merry-go-round.  I'm not sure why, but every time we pass it, he points and gets excited.  However, every time we drag him on, the poor kid is as nervous as can be.

For how much Jake loves running around, he does GREAT in his stroller for up to 3 hours or so at the zoo!  It's fun that this summer he started noticing the animals, and even knows what noises a handful of them make.  It is so fun to watch him learn, grow, and discover new things!

We typically go to the zoo about weekly, but now that I'm trying to get this baby girl to come, it's been more like 3 times a week!  We speed-see a lot of it, stopping only when the animals are active.  Lots and lots of walking, but unfortunately still no baby!

Jake's absolute favorite area of the zoo is the playground.  It really is quite impressive.  And unlike most other playgrounds, there's an area that's the perfect size for him.

We love the zoo- hopefully one of these days my water will break or contractions will start as we hurry through the exhibits!  Either way, it's a great way to spend our mornings.

Water Fun

We definitely got our money's worth this summer with our season passes to Zoombeezi Bay, the water park attached to the Columbus Zoo.  Jake and I spent countless hours going around and around the lazy river.  We also spent a lot of time in the kids area, letting Jake go down slides and splash around.

Jake hated swimming at the beginning of the summer.  It was a chore to keep him anywhere even close to the water.  However, by the end of the season, he was running in by himself, putting his face in the water, and crying when we left rather than when we arrived at the water park.

We had a lot of fun on days that Andrew was able to come, as well as my mom, who also bought a season pass.  One day at the end of the summer, we even had my sister Kim, brother-in-law Darrell, and both my parents with us.  That was definitely Andrew's favorite day because he had people to ride the slides with.  It's no fun being pregnant and stricken to the "boring" areas where you can't get hurt.  And it's no fun being married to someone who can't ride the slides either!  Next summer :)

We also had fun visiting splash pads when the water park closed for the summer.

Jake made an AWFUL "water park face" at the beginning of the summer when we'd drag him on the lazy river.  Ohhh how we loved laughing as he looked like he swallowed a lemon.  The splash pad brought it out as well, and I actually caught it on camera.  Silly kid!

I'm so glad we were able to spend so much time in the sun this summer!