Our first POSITIVE at home test! - One for every year we suffered!

No, we haven't lost our minds. Yes, we already know I'm pregnant, ha ha.

But we still NEEDED to do this! I think we deserve some "normal people" pregnancy fun after all these years of struggling! ☺ The life of infertility/fertility treatments can often make you feel left out still, not normal. Even if your treatment is a success. You experience things so differently than all the lucky ducks out there whose bodies actually work correctly. So we thought this would be fun, and it was! This has to be the most fun we have had so far, besides our first ultrasound, of course. 

Finding out it was positive via blood test from the fertility center was obviously exciting, but this was SO MUCH better. We have waited a long time to have a positive at home pregnancy test. I can't stop looking at them! ♥ Blake joked that we should frame them on the wall, lol. Not gonna lie, I'm tempted...just so we can look at them everyday in amazement. Can't even tell you how much money we've spent over the years on pregnancy and ovulation tests, but it's A LOT. Two years ago on Valentine's Day we got a positive ovulation test...that's it...for eight whole years. Obviously nothing ever came of that, so it's very fun to FINALLY have these. To hold something in your hands (that's not a piece of paper) that says "YES, YOU'RE PREGNANT! YAY FOR YOU GUYS!" is so awesome.

Thought it'd be fun to do one for every year that we suffered, infertility sucks! Couldn't afford to do one for every month that we were let down, because that would have been over 90 tests. SAD. We are so grateful to have that behind us and finally be starting a family. Blake has said for years that "2015 is going to be our year, I can just feel it!", but I was like yeah right, dude. SO happy he was right. We pray constantly that things continue to go well.

By the way, we didn't have to wait the recommended 3 minutes on the tests, the results were immediate, lol. I can only imagine what my hcg level is now, since it was 1,836 on the 10th. It doubles every few days, so fun! We had no idea that the home tests can detect a level as low as 25.

From carnivore to meat hater, common questions answered (including baby names!), and a little update!

I loved meat, LOVED meat...
Burgers, bacon, sausage, turkey, chicken, tuna, polish sausages, hot dogs, you name it. Not anymore. I can still stand certain turkey lunch meats and chicken once in a blue moon. But other than that, eww! That's how I lost my 35 lbs before the treatment, was the low carb/low sugar diet. Got to eat meats which I loved, salads, etc. I felt great, slept better, and totally de-sugarized myself. It was awesome. Now I almost puke at the smell of meat, it instantly nauseates me. Blake had a hot dog for lunch today and I gagged the whole time he was eating it. I made him light a candle half way through his lunch, ha ha. I ordered some protein shake mix so that I still get my protein because it's very important, but I'm very sad about the meat thing! I started the late fertility treatment and very early weeks of pregnancy with a spaghetti sauce obsession, moved on to pea soup, and now have Costco sliced pineapple and a sandwich with TONS of mustard for almost every meal. It's been interesting, he he. I  also wake up daily at 6am on the dot and am absolutely starving. Feels like I haven't eaten in years. It's soo weird!

I will be 8 wks on Monday...
The baby/babies will no longer be considered an embryo. They're now a fetus (hate that word)! Their tongue, eyes, and other facial features are taking form. And their little arms and legs are starting to look less webbed. I look forward to reading the progress update online every week. So amazing, the body is an amazing thing! Slinky, our dog, has started to notice some changes in me. He smells my arms and belly quite a bit. He's going to be in for quite the surprise, ha ha. And Blake said the other night, "you smell different!" while laying on my arm. Not a bad different, just different. So funny. I've been feeling pretty nauseous still, but vomiting isn't a daily thing anymore. Definitely more tired, been taking more naps. And I drink water like you wouldn't believe, but that's a good thing!

Not much else to report of until our next ultrasound on the 6th, 
but I thought I would answer some questions that we have been getting asked a lot :) 

1. Do you have names picked out yet? YES! YES! YES! We have had names picked out for EIGHT years! Can't wait to use them...it's been a long time coming. We have a few for each gender but here are our favorites...

 GIRL: Claire Isabelle. Claire because it's just beautiful, and we both love the older and less super trendy names. Have been waiting YEARS to use Claire! And Isabelle because my great great Aunt Isabelle "B" was very special to me. Still playing with middle names though.

BOY: Cameron Blake. We both love Cameron, which is good because Blake is super picky ha ha. I have had like 2 pages of boy and girl names for several years, and he likes a total of maybe 6. And we like Blake as a middle name because of the obvious reason ha ha. I have loved the name Blake since I was little. My baby boy dolls always used to be Blake, ha ha.

There are other names we like as well, but these will be used first! ♥ Basically, we like a lot of C names, lol.

2. So you had a successful IVF treatment finally? No, we did not do IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization). We adopted someone else's embryos. A couple of them were thawed out and were transferred into me, just as if they were our own. We can't have children with our own DNA. We did not have any embryos that survived when we did our own IVF cycle 7 yrs ago.

3. Did you do a sperm and/or egg donor? No, we did not use a sperm or egg donor. Although this is a great option for many, we adopted embryos - which is when someone else's sperm and eggs have already been combined, the embryos started to grow, were then frozen, and then donated because they weren't going to be used by our donor couple. Their family was complete.

4. When are you due? October 12th, for now... :)

5. What do you want, a boy or girl? We honestly don't care, either would be SO much fun!!

6. How many kids do you guys want? 3 or 4

7.  Do you have to fill out a bunch of adoption paperwork after you have these children? No, adoption laws only apply to babies that are already "born". This is simply a donation, no actual baby in hand when the embryo transfer occurs. There is no adoption paperwork now, or ever (for our situation anyways - not all embryo donations are anonymous. Some are open and have agreements). And no one else's names will ever be on the children's birth certificates but ours. Our situation is the same as ones who have had to do both donor sperm and donor eggs. It's not our DNA, but does not require any traditional adoption paperwork.

8. And lastly, I know some are wondering this because it's normal to wonder, but no one would ever dare ask probably...so here ya go.
No, we don't feel like we are having "someone else's babies". Even though I'm literally pregnant with a baby/babies that aren't from either mine or Blake's DNA, it does not feel that way at all. This is OUR baby! The spirit has confirmed that to us. The remaining frozen embryos are OURS for as long as we want them. It just feels as if our IVF treatment in 2008 actually worked and we were able to freeze embryos for later. Feels as if we are just picking up where we left off :) All of our children from this opportunity will still be blood siblings, which is just amazing. This is more than we could have ever hoped for! What a special form of adoption, very early on adoption ♥ My grandma said it perfectly, and I love her for that! It has brought us so much comfort..."the spirits of the babies that are meant to be yours, it doesn't matter what bodies they come into!" I just envision our children waiting in heaven and the angels saying, "Slight change of plans kiddos, your mommy and daddy can't have their own babies. So you're going to have to wait just a little bit longer for a different body. Not a big deal at all."

TWINS OR NOT TWINS? That is the question lol - Ultrasound results ♥

TWINS OR NOT TWINS? That is the question, lol...

Our hearts are so full they could pop! We have waited 8 long and very hard years to have it finally be OUR TURN to be in a room getting an ultrasound and sharing the wonderful news with everyone. I was so nervous last night, but today was better than we ever could have imagined! While they were not able to tell us for sure today if both embryos attached (insert big sad face here), we are so unbelievably grateful for the precious little one that we know for sure did! You could see that one very well on the screen and he/she measured perfectly. I will be 7 weeks on Monday, and my due date (for now) is October 12th. I thought I would bawl my eyes out today, what a wonderful experience. But I couldn't take my eyes off the screen long enough to think about crying, ha ha. We were glued. It was so exciting, I think I can finally let myself totally believe that I'm pregnant now. It was fun to see Blake so excited also! As we left he said, "well that made it much more real for me!". We get to go back in 2 weeks to see if it's twins or not. She said it could be a small blood pool from the placenta attaching (explains my spotting/light bleeding issues bc she found another small pool), but it was too far up to tell if it was that or if there's another little baby hiding up in there, so to not rule out 2. We will keep you updated, but won't know much for 2 weeks though. At first we heard "there's only one in here for sure", but then it turned into, "well actually I'm not 100% sure that there isn't another one up here!" STILL in limbo, ahhh! Ha ha. Our ultrasound tech also did fertility treatments and they ended up with twins. She said "if it ends up being twins, don't be scared. Just think, what's better than one baby?...TWO!" Thought she was cute. Anyways, here are some fun pictures from today though, even though they could never fully capture our excitement, love, and gratitude...because it's just too much! ♥ So very very thankful to our Father in heaven today! So happy to see a baby with a strong heart beat, and excited for our next appointment. I'm still on bed rest for another couple weeks, but my morning sickness (all day sickness more like ha ha) comes and goes now, that's better than 24/7! But I will gladly be sick because we are just so happy to be pregnant!! Thanks for all of your support!

Blueberries, maternity pants, and spaghetti sauce!

By the time we have our first ultrasound at the end of this week, the baby (or babies) will be about the size of a blueberry! So fun to think how much they grow in the first several weeks, amazing little things. At 7 weeks: they have a regular heartbeat, they're starting to look less like an alien baby, their little brainwaves can already be detected, their facial features are starting to form, and even though we can't feel it yet they're already starting to wiggle around! Below is a pic I found online of a baby at 7 weeks (parents.com), so crazy to think that we ALL looked like this at one point, the human body is a miracle! In this picture I especially love it's little arms and legs! They don't look like little paddles anymore.

I haven't gained a pound according to my scales (yay because I worked my butt off to lose those 35 lbs!) but I already can't fit into my favorite pair of jeans! My lower abdominal area is soo puffed out, so I already ordered some maternity pants ha ha. Only $18 a pair on Wal-Mart.com, brand is Planet Motherhood, and they're well made. The sizes run big, but they're freakishly comfortable!! I can't wait to wear them Friday for our ultrasound appointment, who cares if I'm wearing them before I'm almost 2 months along. No need to be miserable, I had to have my pants undone the whole drive home ha ha. Makes me wonder if there's more than 1 in there?! Or if these hormone injections that I still have to do til I'm 10 wks along are just making me extra puffy...

 I can't seem to get enough apple juice, water with lime wedges in it, peaches, and spaghetti sauce. It's crazy, I seriously could drink the spaghetti sauce! While I was at my grandparents and parents houses before coming home, I had spaghetti, or these little homemade gfdf pizzas we make, probably twice a day. It didn't matter if I had just thrown up, I wanted spaghetti. Anyone want to guess what is for for lunch today? Lol! I think it's neat though, my mom craved spaghetti with my last 3 siblings. We used to have spaghetti a few nights a week when I was little. I guess we know one thing for sure...I LOVE SPAGHETTI SAUCE! Prego brand to be exact, which makes me laugh! But the more robustly flavored ones I usually get don't settle very well. Kirkland marinara is really good too! And thank you to Grandma for sending home some of your bottled peaches with me, I think they're going to be gone in record time! :) YUMM.

For those who have asked, I am doing really good. I have only spotted/bled a total of like 3 days over the last few weeks. And it doesn't last very long. While it's still nerve racking, resting seems to be doing the trick. When I spotted I had been out shopping and doing errands, every time, so just taking it easy :) Thanks for all of your concern, love, and support! ♥

1st store run for hubby! - being pregnant is fun

Sent Blake on his first "pregnant wife run" and he did so good! Love this guy to pieces, he even came back with extras! A redbox he knew I wanted, new toys for the dog, and my beloved dairy free peach bars! I was so happy to see the peach bars that I could have cried! Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't ha ha.

Home sweet home, a little bed rest, and Valentine's Day! - so nice to be home

Got home yesterday afternoon, Slinky and I were so happy to see Blake!!! Feels like the whole treatment trip was just a dream. So fun to be home and pregnant! Traveling alone while pregnant and with a pet is not ideal though, ha ha. I'm exhausted to say the least, but Slinky was so good. I missed my hubby so bad, forgot how cute he is!! :) Also missed my comfy bed, squishy couch and Netflix. Blake surprised me with some beautiful flowers, a clean house, and he also had fun opening his baby gifts/Valentines from me. My sister spotted this onesie at Old Navy and Blake loved it. He loves anything motorcycles. If it's a girl, she can just wear a yellow headband, ha ha. We got some Chili's curbside to go and are going to watch a movie to celebrate Valentine's. What a fun and relaxing day, never thought I would be celebrating it pregnant!

  I'm on bed rest for a few weeks due to some spotting/light bleeding. Doctor said my HCG level is really high and to not worry, it's just better to be safe than sorry. Spotting is pretty common in the first trimester, so we have been trying to not stress, but it's so hard. Lots of changes going on in there, we are going to have to be patient. So nothing serious for now, but please keep us in your prayers :) 

We have our first ultrasound this coming Friday, we are SO excited!!! We have been waiting yearrrrrs to hear a little heart beat and to have sonogram pictures to hang on the fridge! Can't wait to see how many are in there! So very grateful to our donor couple! Without them we would not be here and would have lost all hope of ever having a family ♥ Never give up!

Final bloodwork is done! - can go home to my hubby!

Got my last round of blood work done for the fertility center today, hooray for that! My wallet (and arm veins) are very happy lol. Was so worried I would get my results and they'd say "sorry, your levels have gone down", but all is well! My HCG level went from 275 on the 2nd to 1,836 today :) She said they hoped it had made it's way toward 1,000, so we are more than good! What a relief, I can finally get home to my hubby. So excited to finally celebrate our exciting news with him IN PERSON (instead of on the phone!) and Valentine's Day. We have missed each other terribly. It will be the best Valentine's Day EVER! Hopefully I will feel good enough to venture out. If not, we can still rent some movies and lounge together at home, and enjoy the fact that
WE ARE GOING TO FINALLY BE PARENTS!

I had a few good days of not throwing up or feeling too nauseous, but I'm back at it and thrilled! I have never been so happy to feel so gross :) Hopefully all continues to go well! We can have our 7 and 9 week ultrasounds in the next few weeks, we're SO excited for those! This still all seems so surreal! I'm officially 5 weeks :)

Got to have a fun lunch with my grandparents and some of my sisters today after my appointment. I think I could live on french fries and honey mustard dressing! YUMMM. Old Navy was so fun, could spend a fortune on all the cute baby stuff I saw! Also, had the lab registration employees take a picture with me, I saw them more than anyone at the fertility clinic, ha ha. While I didn't like getting the blood work done every week, they both were so sweet to me and were really rooting for us!

Sesame seeds, heartbeats and potty breaks!

I read today that the baby is the size of a sesame seed! So itty bitty but it may already have a heartbeat, so amazing! It will grow more rapidly over the next few weeks, we are SO excited for our first ultrasound! My body already has an increased blood volumn and I make more trips to the bath room. I have been feeling icky still but am sleeping much better. We are still in shock, but it's getting more exciting! It feels so foreign to say "I'm pregnant". Hopefully my blood work will come back great again on Monday and I can relax some, ha ha :)

We have waited a very LONG time to say this!!!

Well we have waited 8 long and very hard years to announce this...

!!!!!WE ARE EXPECTING!!!!!

We got the amazing news yesterday afternoon and are still in TOTAL shock! So glad we didn't give up on our dreams and that we were blessed with these embryos. There are no words for how we feel or how grateful we are to our anonymous donor couple. I will give them the biggest and longest hug someday in heaven ♥ We love these people  even though we will never know them. They so selflessly donated their embryos because their family was complete, and it just melts our hearts and souls. They gave the gift of life and family to US, who have have struggled so badly, and wouldn't have had it otherwise. We are already in love with this little baby (or babies)!

When the girl from the clinic called and said, "well congratulations, you're pregnant!", I laughed out loud and said "I am?!! Oh my gosh! I have waited so long to hear those words!" Then I cried and couldn't talk, ha ha. I called Blake at work because I couldn't wait til he got off! He's not allowed to be on his cell phone at work but luckily he happened to be at his desk! He said, "so what's the news?!" I said, "I just wanted to tell you that you're going to be a daddy! It worked!" He was so happy but in shock and said "it did!?!" Ha ha.

A positive pregnancy test (Beta-HCG) level is 80 - 100, and mine was 275! Doesn't necessarily mean that there's more than one but it could be possible since we transferred 2 :) I'm officially 4.5 weeks, and we can find out how many are in there in a couple of weeks at our first ultrasound! Maybe then we will finally believe that we are really having a baby, lol. For those wondering how I'm already that far along...as soon as they implant, you're considered 3 weeks instantly. We got to skip the ovulation, fertilization, travelling down the fallopian tube, etc!

I started throwing up only 4 days after the transfer ha ha, and the clinic couldn't believe I was sick already and said I just had to have gotten the flu. But no! I'm sick because of a sweet baby (or babies!). Very nauseous, horrid heartburn, throwing up, bloated...all happily welcomed! We have waited SOO long for this! We were going to wait to announce until next week because I still have to do my blood work again to make sure my levels are rising as they should, but we are SOO excited! 
Hopefully all continues to go well, stay in there little baby (babies)! Thanks for all your support!

!!!HOORAY FOR EMBRYO ADOPTION!!!