Three

James boy...how is it that you are already three? And also, how is it that your mama is 2 months behind on blogging about your birthday? Sigh...


Three. Where do I even begin to describe you at three? Here are some things that instantly come to mind.

• You are funny. So funny! You crack jokes, make up new remixes to songs with random words, and are a jokester. A day is never dull with you. Ever!
• You are becoming more sensitive and aware of feelings. You don't like to be reprimanded for things and sometimes get really teary if mommy and daddy have to get after you about something that is unsafe.
• You are completely potty trained (and have been for several months). You still wear pull ups at bedtime, but otherwise rock your big boy underpants throughout the day with minimal accidents.
• You say some of the funniest things. I think my favorite phrase to date is "Mommy, what's this called 'bout?" (aka- Mommy what is this about.)
• You are full of energy! From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed, you are 110% energy!
• Sleep- for the most part you do great. You occasionally have some random nights where you wake up, but for the most part you do great. You still want to snuggle at bedtime and read a lot of books. Lately it's been close to 9:00 most nights when you are finally in bed and asleep, so we need to work on that before baby brother arrives. :)
• You are smart. So smart! You daddy and I are legit starting to worry that you will be so bored in Kindergarten. You know all of your colors, shapes, numbers, and alphabet. You can spell some basic words and just have an overwhelming knowledge and awareness for anything around you. You seriously amaze us daily with something new! :)

All-in-all, we couldn't love you anymore than we already do! You make us proud on a daily basis and fill our lives with so much joy! We are so grateful for you each and every day and pray that you continue to grow into a healthy young boy and always lean on us and God through your life.

We love you, James Michael!

1 Day Old

1 Week Old

One!!

Two!!

Two!!

Three!

Three!

Three!

Life Lately with the Leaches

Well, here I am again. Severely behind on my blogging with James, Baby L and just life in general. Life has been busy and we are all just trying to stay afloat. Some major recent highlights.....

• I have finally reached my third trimester with Baby Leach. I'm 29 weeks today and just grateful to have made it this far and praying our next 10-ish weeks are smooth. We are slowly (and I mean slowly) but surely making progress with his room, etc.  And when I say progress, all I've done so far is hang curtains and bug John to move furniture and clean out the closet, etc. We finally decided to move all of the "nautical themed" items from James' current room to the baby room. James agreed to hand them over so we've started planning a new theme for his room and have let him be involved. As of right now he wants trucks, trains, and construction type things in his room. John's cousin Brittany will be paying us a visit in January to make all of these changes come to fruition! :)

• We spent Thanksgiving at the Widmer's with the boy cousins and Grammy and Grandad. The boys had so much fun together and played hard. Many good plates of food and desserts were had by all!

• James turned 3 (back in October)! I am in the progress of working on his special birthday post and will get that updated asap!!

Our big 3 year old!!

• We are busy prepping for the upcoming Christmas holiday. James has been so fun to experience the holidays with this year! His awareness and understanding of everything that is going on around him makes me in awe. We've been reading a lot of books about Christmas and talking about Santa. James is really into the Grinch (original version) and does a good job of pointing out that the Grinch is mean to steal all of the presents and is mean to his dog Max. The kid clearly doesn't miss anything! I love to hear what is on his Christmas list and I hope he will be excited on Christmas day to see what Santa brings him.

• James also had his Christmas program last night at school. As to be expected, it was absolutely adorable! He did great and I will get some pictures up in a separate post.

• James saw Santa. The verdict this year? He loved him!!! He ran right up to him and gave him a hug. Total 360 change from the last two years!

2018

2017

2016



Baby Update

I hit the 22 week mark this week and things are starting to feel more real each day. This pregnancy has been quite the rollercoaster so far. I had my anatomy scan on the 3rd. Things were relayed to look great until the end when the sonographer shared that there were some "spots" in baby's abdomen raising concern. This alerted the high risk doctor and the genetics counselor to do more testing. Also worth noting- I went to the appointment alone. John and I had been I the ER until 3:00 in the morning with James that day for Croup. It was a rough night for all of us. James had finally fallen asleep at 5:30 that morning and we both felt it was best he slept, so John stayed home and I went to the appointment solo assuming all would be fine.


I left the doctor a complete sobbing mess, terrified that something terminal was wrong with this sweet peanut. They drew blood for the genetics tests that I wouldn't get back for a few weeks, which felt like pure torture to my anxiety. Here we are a few weeks later and all of my testing came back normal...praise Jesus!!! I will still have another scan on the 31st just to see if the spots have resolved, or what could be the cause. Otherwise this peanut is doing great and growing/developing appropriately.


My belly is really starting to expand now and starting to make me a little more uncomfortable. This babe often dances on my bladder and likes to kick my cervix from time-to-time. But, I can't complain as I love to feel his movements!


I'm hopeful that in the next few weeks we'll start to work on his nursery. We have already migrated the rocking chair from James' room to the baby's room. next step will likely be to clear out the bed to make room for the crib and get the closet cleaned out so mama can start nesting.


This pregnancy has felt so fast and so slow at the same time. I can't believe in just 6 weeks I'll be in my 3rd trimester....crazy!


Keep on growing little man! We can't wait to meet you.

Life Lately

Summer has come and gone and Fall is quickly upon us! Our Fall schedule seems to be rapidly filling up. And although we go into weekends not anticipating any plans, we end up with a weekend full of plans. That being said, here is what's been going on in the Leach residence lately.

James continues to keep us on his toes! He is opinionated, independent, and funny. The kid truly is a riot. From conversations with friends at school to asserting his own opinion just in everyday life- it truly is fun. Right now, he's super into pretend play, dinosaurs, Toy Story, and PJ Masks. He continues to love peanut butter and anything sweet (just like mama!). I love watching him develop a passion for something and really dive in and give it his all. I believe that trait will serve him well in life!

Baby Leach continues to grow! I will be 17 weeks tomorrow. It's crazy that I'm almost "halfway" in this pregnancy. I only continue to pray that things continue to go well. We have our 20 week anatomy scan in a few weeks so I think it will be helpful to get through that milestone. We are anxious to start feeling consistent movement from our sweet babe!

James is also excited to be a big brother. We do a lot of talking about the baby, etc. He is always interested in discussing the baby, where the baby is, and what his/her name will be. Still assuming we are having a boy, James has named his baby brother, which I find totally endearing. I love that we will have that story to share for many years to come.

Pregnancy Update

Here we are, 13 weeks pregnant today! We feel so blessed to have gotten this far to date. I'll admit, I've done an awful job of keeping up-to-date this pregnancy while chasing a toddler, but I'm going to do my best to catch up. Here goes....

This pregnancy has brought forward a whole new level of emotions. I'm trying my hardest to not let my fear taint my joy and excitement, but will say IT. IS. HARD. I'm trying my best to just take it one day at a time and celebrate each small milestone. 

I'm starting to feel a little more human. The fatigue this week hasn't been as bad, and the nausea seems to be letting up a little. I've been doing acupuncture, so I think between that and my medication it has made a different. I'm looking forward to getting even more energy back as I get into my second trimester. 

I've had a few OB apts and scans so far. Last week we had the 12 week scan and all looked well! We left feeling so upbeat and relieved. We were even surprised that it's possible we have another sweet BOY brewing. :) I had my 13 week OB appointment today. Baby's heartbeat was 158 and the visit overall went well. We scheduled my next several appointments through November and then scheduled my 20 week anatomy scan on October 3rd so we'll know officially if we are having another boy. 

James has been so fun to talk about this pregnancy to. He is excited to be a big brother and is always interested in the baby whenever I listen for the heartbeat. We keep talking to him regularly about it to keep him engaged. 

Again, we are thankful for this journey so far. Keep growing little one! We love you to pieces already!

8 weeks!

Sweet baby at 12 week scan- arm and spine picture.

12 week profile

13 week bump picture with my assistant.

"Shhh, mommy, do you hear da baby?"

Toddlerisms

There are so many challenging moments of being a toddler parent. However, despite the challenges of the tantrums and strong willed personality, I find this age to be so fun and so charming. I'm going to strive to keep up better at blogging so that I can remember all of the funny things that come out of James' mouth these days. Here are some of my recent favorites.

• Currently his "F's" are pronounced with an "S". Example: "Daddy, look! That hairtplane (airplane) is "slyin'"! or "Mommy, look at that "slag" (flag).
• James is learning more about days of the week and what things like "this weekend" and "next week" mean (as best as a 2 year old can interpret). Last night he told me, "Mommy, I want Daddy to snuggle me in bed next week." and "Mommy, I want to go to Boo Boo's pool next week." At least we aren't demanding things right now?
• We listened to the baby's heartbeat at home last night thanks to a friend for letting us borrow their Doppler. I finally got it to pick up so James wanted to also listen. He was rather concerned that I was laying on the floor with my shirt up, but proceeded with the following. "Mommy, I want to tell hers a secret." as he got closer to my belly and started digging in my belly button. He is currently stuck on the fact that the baby is a sister. We'll see!

Those are all that stick out this morning amidst my foggy pregnancy brain. I'll continue to update as more funnies come in!

Catch-up!

Here I am, yet again, way behind schedule. I'm going to do my best to re-cap the last 2 months for our family.

We wrapped up April with Daddy's birthday. It was fun to help James pick our decorations and celebrate our main guy!

Mommy and Daddy also managed to sneak in a date night to The Rock Chalk Ball. It was our first time attending it was super fun!

May started with a Cinco de Mayo party at our house! We had friends, good food, and outside fun to kick off the event. May continued to be busy with John training for his triathlon. We went to support him as he did KC Triathlon. James had fun watching daddy race!

Post race, we enjoyed some quality family time for Mother's Day. My boys spent the day spoiling me with love. This Mother's Day was bittersweet as we were missing our girl, Grace. It was a good day to reflect on having a healthy boy and having Grace be our angel watching over us.

We took a big trip to San Francisco so John could do the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon. It was a fun, action packed trip for all! I'll post pictures of the week in an alternate post.


Once back from our trip, we started June off with a pleasant, unexpected surprise.....we're expecting again! So, we've been juggling all of the excitement, emotions, fatigue, nausea, and appointments that we have been going through the last few weeks. It's been stressful but we are taking it one day at a time and trying to soak it up while we can. If all goes well, we'll have a February 2019 addition to our family. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Boys and Briefs

James is totally rocking potty training these days. He is not only in a pull-up or diaper for nap and bedtime. A few times, he surprises us and wakes up from nap or bed totally dry! Yay! He has been experimenting with his preferred method of using the potty whether standing up or sitting down- totally depends on his mood at the moment. I'll say, him standing is quite comical although lets be honest....my bathrooms are now getting cleaned 24/7 due to the unpredictable aim. Ha!

I will say though, I think boys in brief underwear is absolutely the cutest and one of my favorite things these days.  He gets so excited to pick out his pair of choice for the day and is so excited about the characters.

That being said, here are some pictures to prove the cuteness! :)

Issues Continue

If you'd ask me, I'd tell you that the last 7-8 weeks have undoubtedly been the hardest days/weeks of my life. While I don't wish to bog down the family blog with posts of sadness of our baby girl's loss, I also firmly believe that this is a piece of our family's puzzle. Part of our story. This is real. Raw. And believe is something that will shape our family regardless of the hardship(s) we face.

The end of February is what we believed to have been "a new beginning" for our family as we began to hurdle and work through the loss of our daughter. What I thought were weeks of rebuilding my strength and mental status was really taking us down yet another path of grief.

Post procedure in the ED and in the doctor's office, I had been told that I had everything from our pregnancy removed. That there was now a clean slate to move ahead. I thought I was getting stronger and able to look ahead when the inconsistent bleeding had me suspicious. After a few weeks of irregular bleeding I finally decided to call my doctor for a plan. Her recommendation given my current symptoms was to do another ultrasound to check for any abnormalities. Another ultrasound and another reminder that I wasn't pregnant- but okay, I obliged. I was off for a few days for Easter to visit family and was able to be squeezed in (pays to be friends with the OB manager at work!!). While I went in anticipating a normal ultrasound I left with the opposite. The physician came in the room to read my ultrasound live, only to inform me that I likely still had retained products of conception. I left feeling so confused. So frustrated, yet still trying to go about my day/weekend with family.

Fast forward to the next day, I decided to call my doctor's nurse to see what the plan was. My doctor, who happened to be on vacation, called me herself. The recommendation was to this time have another procedure- a full D&C so that she could clean everything out. Insert whirlwind of emotions here!!! How? How could we possibly be back to square one? We thought we were moving forward, trying to grow our family again and now this? I kept asking, why God, why!?

Pre-op called me on Monday to talk about the D&C that would take place on Tuesday. I was coming down from a cold and they were telling me not to be surprised if anesthesia would cancel it until I was better. I had so much anger built up inside. "Why did I have to be sick? Why didn't they get everything the first time? WHY!??!" Also, the thought of being put under as a mom is completely unnerving. I think that had me torn up more than anything- leaving James that morning and just praying to God that the medical staff would keep me safe and allow me to wake up and go home to my baby boy who so desperately still needs me.

We got to pre-op on Tuesday morning (thank goodness John could be there as he was supposed to be in Kentucky for work). My heart cringed every time someone asked me what procedure I was having. It was almost always followed with, "Do you have other children? How far along were you?". So hard. The pre-op staff were great and I'd have to say that undoubtedly, God knew I needed him that day. While emotionally waiting in pre-op, for anesthesia to assess me, my pre-op nurse popped her head in my room and handed me a piece of paper which stated this in the picture below.



She definitely didn't have to write that, but she did. Whether she truly knows or not what it's like to be in my situation, just knowing that she truly cared meant so much to me in that moment.

Here we are about two weeks out from that procedure. I've had a f/u with my doctor and she said all looks good and healthy at this point, which is much improved from before my procedure. Although I am battling some other health concerns physically, I am doing my best to make myself the healthiest and best person, wife, and mama possible.

I hope and pray that we have overcome this obstacle. Has it been difficult? More than I can even describe. Will it change things going forward? I certainly imagine. I started seeing a new therapist a few weeks ago and I absolutely love her. My favorite interaction with her from my session was the fact that she told me she wants to continue seeing me even through another pregnancy. That she can help me conquer this hurdle so that I can hopefully someday enjoy being pregnant again.

To all mama's out there that have lost a baby- I get you. I may not get the stage that you lost your sweet baby at, but I get that you "lost". You lost a piece of your heart that can never be replaced. Sending big hugs and prayers.

Loss is hard, loss is real, but I pray that the storm of our loss will eventually lead us to a bright, sunny day.

Happy Half

Sweet James,

Here we are on the eve of your half birthday. I don't know what else to say other than I have no idea where the last six months have disappeared to. You have grown so much these last six months- physically (more height than weight) and cognitively! Some things that I am loving about you at this age.

• You are funny! You are starting to play jokes on daddy and I and they are truly endearing. You think you are so funny at times and we love to play along.
• You are definitely getting taller. Gaining weight is a different story- still stuck around 28 pounds, but not sure how you could possibly gain weight when you are constantly running from point A to point B. You are, however, getting taller and are around 34 inches tall.
• Eating- you are still relatively picky. You have your favorite foods and we are ok with that. Rather than just fighting you at mealtimes we will literally give you anything that you will actually consume.
• You have turned into a TV addict. Largely because you still have to do breathing treatments. but admittedly sometimes because your mom is tired on a Saturday morning and wants to consume a hot cup of coffee.
• You are smart. Gosh, you are so smart. You can count to an insanely high number for your age, talk in sentences, understand emotion, and are so, so ornery!!
• You are basically potty trained- aside from diaper/pull-ups at nap and bedtime. You are totally rocking it and we are so proud of you!!!
• You love: Paw Patrol, Dora, Trolls, Peanut Butter, Dove chocolates (this is mommy's fault!), Routine, Being outside, Baseball (The Royals), Bananas, Carbs, Elmo and Blankey, Riding the Street Car, Books....and so much more.
• Amidst the loss of your baby sister, you have really been a trooper while Mommy and Daddy sort through all sorts of emotions and medical complications. You are flexible whenever we need you to be and are always happy to have the help of others when we have had to recruit it. We are so grateful and appreciative of this, son!!

James- you are truly the light and love of our lives. We are so grateful for you and your challenging toddler ways. We love you to the moon and back!!

xoxo

Mommy and Daddy

Belated Easter Pics

'Tis the season for (belated) Easter pics. Here are some shots that we had taken of James a few weeks before Easter. Although a bit unsure at first, he seemed to love it!!

Not pictured: the potty accident and tears as daddy hauled him to the car while mommy picked these three pics. :)

More Potty Updates

Here we are about another month into potty training. Admittedly, I didn't think we would be this far or this successful into the potty training business. We really owe a lot of it to James' teachers at school. The peeing in the potty has not been the issue, and we are even getting creative now with standing and using the potty. Pooping in the potty (or lack there of) is what had me scared for a while that we would never have a social life again. Many pairs of underpants were lost in the transition and duplicates of character underwear were Primed.

Now, our guy is a potty rock star! He is only in pull-ups/diapers for nap and bedtime, and often wakes up dry. We are so, so proud of him and could not have envisioned this going any better (despite a few hiccups)!

James, we are SO proud of you! Keep it up big boy!!!

Potty Training and Potty Humor

'Tis the season and age for potty training! I feel like this post has been a long time coming since last fall when James started expressing more interest in potty training. Back in the fall when James started in the two year old room at school we started putting him in pull-ups. He was interested for a while and then regressed. We haven't pushed it at all, just letting him run the show.


Fast forward to last week (week of February 26, 2018), James' teacher told me that he had been using the potty all day every day, even asking to go potty. She said he seems ready for underwear and to start the process. This was a total shock to me, and admittedly I was a little hesitant. I took Thursday night to ponder it and then talked to his teachers again on Friday to which they replied, "Bring him in underwear on Monday, we've got this!". So, we did just that.


Saturday morning James and I had a "Mommy/James date" to Target to get more underwear. After much coaxing to stay away from the pink/flowery Elmo underwear, he settled on Thomas the Train and Lion King. :) He was sooo excited! We trial the underwear a little on Sunday afternoon with no success, but he was still excited to try the underwear.




Come Monday, we sent him to school in Thomas underwear per his request. When I picked him up the teacher said he did great the whole day, only having a tiny accident right as I was picking him up (only requiring an underwear change, pants were ok!). We were soooo proud of him and he was so excited!


On Tuesday, I picked him up from the gym. His teacher said he might need to potty before we head home, so we made a pit stop by his classroom for a bathroom break. HE sat for a few minute and then finally peed. Upon inspecting for any "dribbles" he told me, "Look mommy, there's pee pee on my tail (aka- penis)!" John did share the other night that he had been referring to his penis as his "tail". Oh boy, the potty humor is just beginning...

All proud of himself after a good first day in big boy underpants!

Thus the life of a boy mom. :) Keep up the good work, James! We are so proud of you!

Angel Baby

I am running a month behind on blogging yet again, but this time for valid reasons. February turned out to be the hardest month for our family as we lost our sweet baby a day shy of 12 weeks.


Without going into detail at this moment, our sweet angel baby girl, was born into heaven on February 11, 2018. I (we) want to be able to share the full story, but I do want to be sure to share it, including her name, etc. To date, John and I have decided that we do want to name her (and have named her) what we had planned to name a future daughter, but aren't yet at the place where we can share it publicly.


What we do know is that this obstacle has taught us so much about ourselves individually, as a couple, and as a family. We never imagined that we would be in this situation, facing this difficult time. but we are so grateful for those that have loved us and helped carry us along day-by-day.


What we also know is that without James we would feel emotions on a whole different level. He is truly the light for us right now and is helping us cope and see life in a new way that we are eternally grateful for.


While our loss was still tragic it is comforting to know that we do have an Angel Baby watching over us and we pray that she will continue to love and protect us from above.


To be continued....

The Truth Comes Out

I have to blog about this funny encounter with James before I forget as it is simply too cute not to share.


I picked up James from school yesterday. When we were about to leave his teacher informed me that he had just gotten out of timeout right before I had arrived so it was good timing. Ha! We got home and were carrying on about our evening. When John got home he asked James about his day to which he share the usual, "played with fends (friends) at school". I then elaborated that Miss Joyce had told me that he had a timeout right before I arrived. The following dialogue then took place.


John: "James, did you have a timeout at school?"
James: "Yes...."
John: "What were you in timeout for?"
James: "Xavier." (Xavier is his new BFF at school)
John: "What about Xavier? What happened?"
James: "Fell down."
John: "Oooh, did he fall down because you pushed him?"
James: "Yes....(as he looked away with a sheepish grin)"


Then John goes on to educate him on how we nice touch our friends and that we don't hurt them, etc.




When I went to pick up James on Wednesday I asked his teacher more questions about the event. I asked her if his timeout was related to pushing Xavier and she confirmed. Not good that he pushed his friend, but hey, at least he owned up to his actions and admitted it.


Oh James, life is just never dull with you. :)

Potty Training in Progress

We seem to be in a positive streak of potty training currently in the Leach residence. I hope that this blog post isn't going to jinx us. Back in October, James was super into potty training and then we hit a lull and some resistance. John and I decided we weren't going to push it and let him decide when he was ready. In the past few weeks something triggered and he started using the potty again at school, so we took that as an opportunity to help push him along. We have been using bribery such as stickers and M&Ms and have so far had some luck. We are still very much on "James time" in terms of when he does/doesn't want to potty. He has pooped on the potty a few times which has totally shocked us, but he was SO excited and you could tell he felt so accomplished with our praise afterwards. He has even taken it so far to a few times around 4:00 AM letting us know he needs to potty, so we oblige (and it's quite the process).


I will say, potty training in my opinion has been one of the hardest and frustrating things to date. The patience it requires....so much patience, it is definitely challenging this mama. But, hopefully we can get the job done before this baby makes it's appearance in August.


I will say though, sometimes the funniest and cutest things come out of his mouth during potty time and admittedly his excitement with his accomplishment makes us proud.


Keep it up little buddy! You're doing great!

The Terrible Two's....They Have Arrived!!

Oh, James. I don't even know where to begin with you lately. You are so fun and exhausting in the same sentence and to date, you are truly acting TWO! Some things about you right now....

• You are independent. Man, are you independent. You want to do everything yourself. Pick our your cup, your plate, your clothes, your towel, your food, etc. You name it, YOU want to do it. Or as you say, "Do it big boy!!!" (Do it like a big boy). I guess this will serve you well later in life, right?
• Your language development is seriously booming! You are dropping sentences like no other and putting adjectives with verbs. Seriously blows our minds.
• You are still full of energy. SO full of energy. Your mama cannot keep up with you despite my continued efforts and I try to hard just to be on YOUR program.
• Tantrums....whoa, the tantrums. These have been happening a lot at bedtime and your father and I seriously leave your room at night so baffled at the sequence of events. I don't know if it's just you being overly tired from the day, but you seriously give us a run for our money.

But ultimately, you're still cute, sweet, loving, and the darn sweetest boy around. Even on the hardest of days you are still our sweet little babe and we wouldn't trade being your parents for the world!


So, to soften the blow of the terrible two's, here is a picture of just how charmingly cute you are!


We love you!

High-risk Consult

John and I headed back to the OB office on the 25th for a high-risk consult due to my Factor V. Since I have a new OB this time around she wanted us to see the high-risk specialist just for good measure. It was pretty cut and dry appointment with the outcome that I won't do anything differently other than fewer ultrasounds (waaaaaah!). I'll do Lovenox injections post-partum for a few weeks and that'll be all.


I go back to the OB on the 13th for another appointment and ultrasound. We are excited to see this sweet babe again!


Overall, I've been feeling about the same. Still pretty nauseated and tired, but taking it one day at a time. One of these days I'll catch up on my belly picture postings to date!

First Prenatal Appointment

John and I ventured to the OB for my first prenatal appointment. It was pretty routine, going through all of the basics. My doctor asked me if I had any concerns to which I replied, “I just need to know my due date.” She laughed and I think she probably thought I was a little crazy. She tried to see the baby with a handheld sonogram but it was too hard to see. Luckily, she pulled some strings and was able to get me a vitality US just down the hall. Yes!!

The appointment with my Doctor ended and we ventured to ultrasound to sneak a peek at our babe. After some measurements it was determined that I am 8 weeks (today) along. Baby’s heartbeat was 164 and was already forming arm and leg buds.

We left the appointments on cloud nine with the realization that this is finally happening. We are so excited!

We were excited to get home to show James the pics of the baby and talk to him about it. He was very excited and immediately pointed to the white little bean shape in the picture that is the baby. He is going to be an awesome brother!

I go back to my OB on February 13th and will see the high risk doctor for a consult due to factor V on the 25th of January.

Keep on growing sweet babe. You are already so loved!!

Baby #2 Update

We are a week out from our new big news and the thought of #2 is slowly sinking in. We shared our news with Boo Boo, Uncle Mikey, and John's Dad's side of the family on Christmas. Everyone is excited! It is eating at me that my family doesn't know yet, but it will be very fun to tell them in person on New Year's weekend we are all together.


From last week my ultrasound appointment is now pushed back. My doctor called me on Thursday to confirm that I am pregnant (HCG jumped from low 200's to upper 600's in 48 hours). She wants me to wait until I see her on the 12th to do an ultrasound. It is eating at me not knowing an official due date yet. But, assuming our calculations are right we are looking at a late August baby!


We are already in the early talks of how we are going to finagle bedrooms in our house (do we move James into the guest room and make a new "big boy room" and keep his room as the "nursery"?...decisions, decisions!). Time will tell...


I've been feeling ok other than some occasional nausea and feeling tired. I will say that now baby #2 gives me an extra excuse to nap with James on the weekends and I do not mind at all! We are getting excited and just pray that all goes smoothly.

Here we go again!

Well, just when I think life couldn't possibly throw us any more curve balls, God continues to surprise us in wondrous ways!


Back story: We had been planning on a second child for a few months now. After some failed attempts and frustration I established care with a new doctor (my old OB with James left her practice and moved). Upon establishing care at my appointment on December 15th and talking through some things, my doctor suggested we do some testing then plan for "Clomid" since I'm likely not ovulating. So, I left and went on my merry way to talk through all of the madness with John.


Then comes the weekend- spent mostly trying to comfort James who was sick and needed extra TLC. We discovered Sunday, 12/17 that he has pneumonia.


Monday, December 18th I stayed home with James to take care of him. I spent a large part of my morning juggling him, work and trying to get future fertility appointments scheduled. After much frustration and a trip to the doctor with James I had all of my future appointments set.


Here comes the funny part....


I don't know what truly prompted me to take a pregnancy test, but I randomly thought my right boob hurt so I thought, "what the heck, might as well!" (I had also stocked up on ovulation kits and pregnancy tests over the weekend preparing for the fertility madness- jokes on me!!). In that moment I chuckled as it was instantly positive. I texted John immediately who shared his humor and was not a bit surprised. I peed on 3 more sticks before I finally convinced myself I was pregnant (FYI- they were all positive).


The funnier part comes when I had to call back the OB fertility nurse and tell her I was pregnant. haha! We both had a good chuckle. She said my doctor wanted me to get labs asap- so since James refused to nap I drug him along with me.


My nurse called me this morning and said I am indeed pregnant. I will get more labs done tomorrow (12/20) to confirm even more and will get an ultrasound done on the 29th to confirm a due date since my cycles were all over the board.


We are ecstatic and are ready for the journey ahead! When I asked James during bath last night if he wanted a baby at our house, he replied, "YES!".


So now the adventure begins!