Coping with Another Loss

As I sat there feeling the little life we had created slipping from my grasp, I started pleading with Heavenly Father, "Please don't make me go through this again." I said it over and over and over. Tears started streaming down my face, and I began to sob. 

I later found comfort in the scriptures. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

As traumatic as this sixth miscarriage is, I understand and accept that it is my burden to bear. We may never know why I keep having miscarriages, but we understand that God has a plan for us and that he hears our prayers. We also lean on the shoulders of our family and friends during this difficult time. We don't expect anyone to fully understand what we are going through--I don't wish that on anyone! But we do need your support to keep moving ahead. 

We cry as we mourn the loss of yet another pregnancy, but we find immense joy in being parents to Grant. He is such a sweet boy, and we are so thankful for him. 

As I reflect on the past year that we have had Grant in our family, I remember the complete happiness that we felt when we made it so far with a successful pregnancy! I am SO grateful that we were blessed to be Grant's parents. While it is difficult at times (mainly between the hours of 12am and 4am), it is so wonderful to watch him learn and grow. 

I know that Jesus Christ suffered for my pain, and that he knows exactly what I'm going through. I know I can be healed through His Atonement and become stronger from this experience. 

10/2/13

I had another ultrasound and it looked great! The sac had grown, and we were able to see the yolk. (Sorry, no pictures--they didn't give me one!) No fetal pole yet, though, so the doctor put me back a few weeks--5 1/2 weeks. I go again for one last ultrasound (at least for a little while...) on Monday. So far, it is looking good, though! Not really many side effects except for excessive tiredness.

Grant has started walking! He is now into pretty much everything. He doesn't like to be held (or pinned down for diaper changes!) unless it's time for bed. He still likes to snuggle with me! I weaned him on the 25th--so we made it almost 11 1/2 months! Let me tell you, breastfeeding is a lot of work! It is something that takes SO much dedication and time, but I am so glad I was able to do it. It was rough in the beginning! I probably had the roughest time of anyone I know, but I think it was worth it. I will definitely nurse the new baby, but I think I will invest in a neck pillow. My neck will never be the same!

9/25/2013

5 Weeks 6 Days

We had an ultrasound today. The doctor wanted to check to make sure there was a sac, and that was all we saw. He was a little concerned that it was so small, but since I only had one cycle, we aren't sure exactly how far along I am. We go on Oct 2 for another ultrasound to (hopefully) see growth in the sac. 

9/21/13

5 Weeks 2 Days

Hi, everyone! It's been a little while since I've posted an update! You will be excited to know that we are EXPECTING again! 

We just found out today (and I am farther along than 3 of the miscarriages!!) and while I am feeling a little overwhelmed at the thought of having 2 children, we are SO excited. A few bumps that we have to get over first, though.

I went to see a doctor last week to mention to him that we wanted to try to get pregnant soon and took him a very detailed sheet of everything that I've been through. If you ask me, the list was WAY too long. He basically told me that we would need to wait until I've completely weaned Grant before we can start actively figuring out what we need to do. 

My sister was recently diagnosed with a few things I need to be tested for, which means those tests need to happen SOON. When I told Grant today that he was going to have a little sister (I'm still hoping...) he smiled really big and started clapping. Maybe he understood me...;)

As of right now, my due date is May 23, 2014. Grant will be 19 months old when this baby arrives. 

No symptoms this week (except I noticed myself saying "I'm so tired." over and over again).

Happenings (with pictures never seen before!)

Howdy y'all! It's been too long since I've updated!

Things are going great around these parts--graduation is nigh and Grant is growing (albeit slowly...more on that later...)! I only have 15 days of school left and Brandon is down to 12. We are so excited to be graduating!! We have not yet decided where we will be moving to for law school, but we should be making that decision shortly. We are still waiting to hear back from a couple schools.

Grant is doing great! We have had a bit of an issue with weight gain, though. At his four month appointment, we found out that he had only gained half a pound since his 2 month appointment. His length was fine as well as his head circumference. But since he hadn't put on the pounds, we had to change the way we were doing things. I have been losing weight pretty consistently since I had Grant, so I upped my fat intake. We were also instructed to add a little bit of formula powder to a bottle of milk (which I was a little reluctant to do, but I agreed...) and the good news is, is that he gained another half a pound in the next two weeks! We had him checked a week and a half later (3/27) and he had gained a little more than half a pound. Luckily we don't have to go back until May for his 6 month check up. I surely hope he has gained a lot of weight by then...

Grant is smiling and giggling a lot for us now. He is so fun to play with and he has such a fun personality. I have decided to switch over to cloth diapers with him. We started yesterday, and so far so good. Obviously I only do it when I'm home, because I'm pretty sure the babysitters won't want to deal with it. We'll see how it goes--I'm hoping it will help save a little bit of money. In reality, it's really not as bad as you might think.

My senior recital went wonderfully! I couldn't have asked for a better performance. I'll post some videos later for those of you wanting to see some of it.

 We just got him a tray and some blocks yesterday!

He loves knocking them down.

 Cute curly toes!

 Here are some smiles!

He is too cute for his own good.

My little burrito is getting old!!

My cute little baby will be 3 months old this week! Everyone always says that time flies, but honestly...I think it has crawled by slowly. I'm glad I have been able to enjoy what I can and not feel like it's rushing by. It's been a very rough 3 months, but I am happy to say I am all the way healed from my surgery and I am back to exclusively breastfeeding, which is awesome!! It was so difficult, especially since about 90% of the people I talked to thought I was crazy for trying to nurse again. But I did it! Yay for me! I am really hoping Grant starts sleeping through the night (or at least for 5 hours at a time) consistently that way I can start to function on a somewhat-normal level. I feel so out of it sometimes!
Grant has started smiling and laughing this past week! Every time he does, I keep telling him what a cute boy he is over and over again. He is!! He is so adorable!! I just can't believe how cute he is. He has also started swatting his toys when we dangle them in front of him and he can stand up on his legs for a few seconds at a time. He can sit in the bumbo for a few minutes and then he'll start to slouch over, but I can tell he is getting a lot stronger. It's so fun to see him discover things! He loves it when we take him around the house and tell him what everything is.
We also think he might be teething. That or some growth spurt has made him cry a lot. Poor baby! It breaks my heart to see him cry. But overall, he is a very happy baby. Being a mom is so much fun! I just wish I could stay home all day with him. I just have to remember I only have about 3 months left and then we will have all day every day together!
We are so excited to be moving in a few short months! We still haven't made a final decision yet, but we are leaning towards Baylor in Texas or Kentucky. There are a couple more options and we're still waiting to hear from a few more schools, so we'll let you know when we decide. But until then, please enjoy some cute pictures of my baby!

He he!

Post-surgery

Warning:
Please do not read if you have a weak stomach.

Wow, what a week! For a few months now, I have really been looking forward to Thanksgiving Break so I can relax, knit, drink hot cocoa, and listen to Christmas music. At least I have been able to listen to Christmas music...
So here's what happened to me...
About a week and a half after Grant was born, I got what felt like a plugged milk duct. Well, I massaged it, kept nursing, and it never got any better. On the 4th I came down with my first fever. It only lasted a day, so we didn't think much of it. I kind of self-diagnosed myself with mastitis since the pain was getting worse, it was turning red, and nursing wasn't helping. I nursed, pumped, massaged, put heat on it, and it didn't get any better. I developed another fever the night of the 11th. By this point I would burst out in tears when I nursed because it was so painful. On the 12th I finally called the doctor and they had me start on an antibiotic right away. They didn't want to see me, they just called in the prescription, because of course it was mastitis, right? Well a week went by and there was absolutely no improvement--in fact, I'm positive it got worse. The pain was so much that I felt like screaming all day. The thought of nursing the baby would make me cringe because now, it felt like the baby had bruised me and that on top of the swelling was no bueno. I called the doctor again on the night of the 25th and he told me I should have called if the antibiotic didn't work after a few days. Well, I learned my lesson. He told me to go to the emergency room, so that's what we did. The doctor there told me it was mastitis and gave me stronger pain medicine and a different antibiotic. They also gave me a shot of something heavenly and I was on top of the world Sunday night. I was feeling really good. Well, my fever came and went and came back on Monday so I just stayed in bed all day. Monday during the night I started puking up all the water I drank during the day. (Ew!) Tuesday came and I had a high fever still. The antibiotic wasn't helping at all. I called the doctor yet again and they said to go back to the emergency room because they thought I might have an abscess since the antibiotics weren't working. So we went at about 4 in the afternoon back to the ER. I was scared for my life...and, well, it hurt so bad I thought I was dying. They did an ultrasound on my chest and sure enough found a big abscess that was fairly deep under the skin. For small abscesses, they can usually just poke you with a needle and get the pus out, but this was too big and too deep for that. They called a surgeon while we stayed in the room for over an hour. The surgeon came in and took a look and his reaction scared me just a little. He was surprised it was so red and swollen. He says he sees these types of abscesses only once or twice a year. So they prepped me for surgery. By this time I was so scared I didn't know what to think. I've never had a surgery before, let alone a surgery where I've been put to sleep. Well I don't remember a lot after that. I woke up in the recovery room and was very cold and I remember asking the anesthesiologist a ton of questions but I don't remember what they were. I eventually got moved up to a regular room and stayed there overnight. I was very sad that we had to start feeding the baby formula. Who knew there could be so many complications from breastfeeding!? I now have a drainage tube sticking out of my chest connected to a bulb with blood, pus, and milk in it. Yeah, you think that's gross? You have no idea!! It's coming out of me!! I think it is extremely gross and I have to clean it out. Anyway, I go back to the surgeon on Monday, when he hopefully will take the tube out so I can feel normal again. I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue breastfeeding at this point. I am still pumping a little bit for the baby right now.
On a happier note, please enjoy this picture of Grant :)

My Labor Experience

First off, let me just say that I am thoroughly enjoying being a mom and I think it's the most wonderful thing I have ever experienced. I have loved every second if it!
Ok so here's what happened:
Tuesday, October 16th
We had our weekly checkup in the morning. I was dilated to a 2 and about 80% effaced with the baby at a 0 station. My doctor told us that since my cervix was ripe enough, he could induce me on the coming Thursday. I had a little panic attack when he said that, but Brandon got really excited. We talked about it between the 2 of us for a few minutes and decided to go for it! I had already been to the hospital a few days prior for some serious stomach pain so I was ready to have the baby come out. We had them schedule the induction for Thursday morning.
Wednesday, October 17th
I freaked out pretty much all day.
Thursday, October 18th
7:00am-We both woke up before our alarms went off because we were so anxious.
8:00-Brandon left for his volleyball class and I was left to freak out at home.
8:10-Brandon was back from his volleyball class because his teacher told him to go have a baby.
8:30-We left for the hospital. Let me tell you, that was the LONGEST ride to Orem I have ever experienced. We listened to pandora on the way there and the song "Don't worry 'bout a thing" came on. How appropriate.
8:50-We arrived at the hospital.
9:00-The nurse came in the room to get me all hooked up. She first put the IV in my left arm, but she didn't get it in my vein so my arm started hurting really bad. So she ripped it off and changed arms. The ripping off of the tape was the worst part of the morning. She eventually got it all right and we were left to be. By this time it was 10:00. (Oh, and now I have a huge bruise where she put the first IV...it is about 5 inches long on my arm. She really didn't have it in the right place.)
10:00-She started the oxytocin on a very small dose so I wouldn't get intense contractions right away. When we started the oxytocin, I was dilated to a 3 and still about 80-90% effaced. I decided that I didn't want the epidural until I was feeling pain, so I could still move at this point. The nurse came in every half hour to up the dose of oxytocin and to check my progress.
2:00-We were watching the Lord of the Rings and playing Phase 10 when she came to check me again. I hadn't progressed hardly at all so she decided to call the doctor to see what he would like to do. The contractions at this point were strong but not painful.
3:00-My doctor comes strutting in and says that he's come to break my water. I wasn't really prepared for that but we probably would have been there all day since nothing was happening.
3:10-My water was broken (what a weird feeling!) and everything was fine and dandy. I was expecting it to hurt when he broke my water but I surprisingly didn't feel anything except the gush of liquid. Almost immediately after my doctor walked out of the room, the contractions were very near unbearable. I told the nurse to get the anesthesiologist in there to give me the epidural as soon as possible. I only had to writhe in pain for about 10 minutes and he was all set up and ready to go. I was surprised how long it took for him to get everything set up and working, but I'm sure that's because I was in a lot of pain.
A few minutes later-My blood pressure dropped as well as the baby's. The alarm for code red was going off and a ton of nurses came running in the room. I couldn't breathe, I started shaking, and I got very light headed. My blood pressure was already very low during my whole pregnancy and epidurals lower your blood pressure even more, so that caused some problems. I think it got down to something like 70/40. The baby's heartbeat got down below 80 as well. I was put on oxygen and they gave me something to make my heart rate increase. This whole ordeal lasted about 30 minutes and then things were, for the most part, under control. Every time I had a contraction the baby's heart rate would drop alarmingly low. Because my water had been broken, we assumed that the cord was around the baby's neck so they went ahead and pumped me full of liquid. That helped a ton! By this point, both Brandon and I were scared and nervous. Brandon was glued to the monitors after the blood pressure fiasco and I was just praying everything would be ok.
6:00 pm-The nurse checked me and I was at a 6.
6:20-Dilated to an 8.
6:30-Ready to push!!
6:35-Doctor was ready, so we started pushing.
6:56-Baby was out and crying very loudly.
I did have to have an episiotomy, but other than that I am very happy with how the pushing went. I was very surprised that it was so easy. I was expecting the pushing part to hurt, but it was completely pain free. The baby didn't have the cord around his neck and other than just being a little small, he is absolutely perfect in every way.
The epidural took a long time to wear off. I wasn't able to move my right leg until a couple hours later, but the feeling in my left leg came back a little faster.
We stayed up pretty much all night just watching and gawking at the amazingly beautiful child that came to join our little family. We feel so blessed that he is healthy. We had a nurse come in and tell us that we were the only one of her patients that got to keep the baby in our room with us--all of the others were in the NICU. The only time the baby left was when the pediatricians had to check him out.
We stayed in the hospital until Saturday afternoon. I was feeling awesome (probably from the Percocet) so we went ahead and left. I am still pretty sore, but I feel much better than I did a few days ago. The baby is eating very well (which kind of surprised me because I've heard so many horror stories about breastfeeding) and we'll see tomorrow at the doctor's appointment if he's gained back any of the 6 ounces he lost during the hospital stay.
We absolutely love and adore Grant and we are excited for the years ahead. Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers in our behalf. We are so happy to finally have our rainbow baby after the long struggle with miscarriages. We know that the Lord truly blesses those who continue to be faithful even in times of discouragement and grief. We have definitely learned all about patience over the past 2 1/2 years and that things happen for a reason and when the Lord sees fit.

Only 2 1/2 weeks away!!

As I sit here bouncing on my yoga ball trying to induce labor, I figured it was the perfect time to update the blog since I've slacked off lately.
Things have been really great the past few months. I really can't complain because I know so many women have things far worse off than I do. Everyone keeps telling me I'm so small, but I am measuring exactly where I should be so I have no idea what they're talking about. I feel huge and that's what really matters, right? We finally have everything we need for the baby (except a stroller.....) and we are just getting excited for the day to finally be here! We made our predictions for when we think he'll come a few weeks ago. Brandon says this Thursday (which would be cool because it's 10/11/12) and he will weigh 6 lbs 4 oz. I said the 15th (which I promise has nothing to do with the fact that I have a midterm that day..........) and he'll weigh 6 lbs 10 oz. We will see who is right! (I secretly hope Brandon is right because that means we will see him this week!)
We have been taking long walks lately and I have been bouncing on my ball in hopes that it will speed things up a little, but to no avail. We also went out for Chinese food the other night and that didn't work, either. I guess we just need to be patient.
I've been reflecting a lot lately on our journey to have a baby, and I'm extremely grateful that Heavenly Father decided it was time for us to raise a child. We thank Him every night for the baby and are aware that this is a special opportunity for us to learn and grow. Thank you so much for your support and love through this long journey--the prayers and thoughts have been much appreciated.
Anyway, until next time...(we will have a baby next time!!)

22 Years and 29 Weeks

Yay for being a year older! Now I'm feeling really old since both my mom and Brandon's mom had their first child when they were 19 and here I am at 22 having my first one. Oh well! Let's just say we hit about 5 road blocks on our journey to start a family. Anyway, the past few weeks have been good for the most part. Sleeping has really gotten quite uncomfortable, but what can you do? We took our summer vacation this past week to Oregon. Neither of us had been there before, so it was quite the experience. The humidity was a very nice break for us. It almost felt like home, except for the extreme amounts of cloud cover we experienced. We had fun traveling around the city and going to Todd and Jessica's wedding at the Portland temple. The baby kicked me pretty much the entire time and I had quite a few braxton hicks contractions which made me a little nervous. 

My birthday was pretty awesome. We stayed in a little town called Astoria in Oregon which is really close to the beach. We traveled up to Long Beach, Washington and Brandon actually thought it was a good idea to stick his feet in the water. We were wearing pants and coats, so I don't know what made him think that would be at all fun, but hey, boys will be boys. Needless to say, his feet were very cold once he got wet. It was fun to see the ocean, though. We had some seafood for lunch and then headed back to Astoria for the evening. We went to a really nice restaurant for dinner that was sitting right on the big river there (I think it was the Columbia River) and had a delicious steak dinner. Then, Brandon surprised me and got us a room at a bed and breakfast for the night. It was pretty cool! I definitely think we'll stay in another one. On our way home, we got to stop by Brandon's grandparents house and stay with them. It's always fun visiting with them. We played games and ate lots of food and watched the Olympics. Nothing too terribly bad happened on our trip and we had lots of fun so we're calling it a successful summer vacation! We do think, however, it was a little too much driving...especially with how uncomfortable I am these days. 

Enjoy some vacation baby bump pictures!

25 Weeks!

Holy cow! I'm 6 months pregnant...and people still can't tell. Hmm. Not so sure what to do about that. Maybe I should walk around intentionally pushing out my belly. I may not look huge, but I really do feel huge. I am now fitting snugly into the pants I normally wear not pregnant. (I really don't like wearing tight clothes, so my family always makes fun of my "saggy butt" pants). How funny. Anyway, we had a checkup last week and it seemed as though everything was normal. I'm just a little underweight, but my doctor didn't seem concerned at all. He said I should consider myself lucky I don't have to deal with extra weight during the hot summer. The heartbeat was good--I can't remember the exact number, but I remember it was in the 140s. I went in today to get my blood drawn to see if I have gestational diabetes. Whatever it was that I had to drink before made me a little sick and the baby was kicking pretty hard.
For the most part, things have been really great. I have felt really good and been able to do a lot of things. However, on Sunday, something really strange happened, and I still don't know what it was. We were at the garden and I was just minding my own business weeding. I suddenly got a shooting pain in my right side so I got up and out of the garden. In just a few seconds it was near unbearable pain. I couldn't bend over and I felt like I couldn't move. Soon enough, it had spread into my neck and my right arm. Oh, and by this point I was crying because it hurt so bad. So I painfully walked over to the picnic table and sat down for a while. I seriously have never been in so much pain. It was terrible. But you know us Rodmans, we never go to the doctor--even if we're dying. After about 20-30 minutes, Brandon and his brother were done watering the garden so it was time to leave. While I was sitting there, I had managed to stop crying, but as soon as I stood up the pain was back, as were the tears. On the way home, things calmed down a bit and the pain eased up. I think maybe the baby kicked a nerve or something and laying down in the car helped on the way home. By the time we got home, the pain was completely gone and everything was back to normal. Now I know my parents would say that I just made that all up to get out of weeding the garden, but seriously...I thought I was going to die. So I plan on asking the doctor next time I see him about it. Everything has been normal since then, other than the occasional foot cramps, so I'm not too worried. I still feel the baby move (and might I add, A LOT!) so I know he's doing just fine.
Other than that, there hasn't been too much excitement. We watch the baby do somersaults every night, which is extremely weird to feel and see, but it's really fun. He kicks me really hard sometimes and my whole body will jerk. Those ones are always fun. My baby app says he's 13 1/2 inches long and the size of a rutabaga. Whatever the heck that is. I've never heard of a rutabaga.

As far as other news goes...
We bought a piano! Yes, a real acoustic one. It's a pretty old junker, but it works! The lady who tuned it said it was the 2nd flattest piano she's ever tuned (for you music people, it was a whole step flat in the high register). But now it sounds great. Ok, not great, but bearable.

Brandon took the LSAT and got his score back. He's starting applications now for law school. Hopefully the wait won't be too bad to see if he gets accepted to the ones he wants.

This thing has been in the oven for 20 weeks and it's still not done!?

20 weeks!!!! That's halfway!! Can you believe we've made it this far? It seems like just yesterday we found out I was pregnant! Time has seriously flown by! Anyway, enough chit chat...
We had our 20 week ultrasound yesterday--they check to see if the baby has arms/legs/brain/heart and all that good stuff. The tech said everything looked great! It was amazing that we could see all 4 chambers of the heart. I had no idea ultrasounds could do that. Oh, and she confirmed it was a boy again.
The baby has been super active the past couple weeks. He kicks me quite a bit, but it doesn't hurt. Sometimes it just surprises me. Brandon felt the baby kick a couple weeks ago and while he was kicking last night I totally saw my belly move! It was so incredibly weird! I guess normally, you can't feel the baby kicking on the outside for a couple more weeks but we asked the ultrasound tech about it yesterday and she said it was because I am so dang skinny. I have gained a total of 6 pounds this pregnancy. That doesn't seem like it's been enough. So for the next 20 weeks, I will be accepting cookies, cakes, pastries, and other fattening foods to try and fix this situation (I like chocolate). :) The baby has 10 fingers, which I pointed out to the tech was great because that meant he could play the piano--I was afraid if he only had 3 then we would be stuck with a trumpet player (gasp!). As we were getting our things together, the tech nonchalantly said "Everything looks great, just a little big." I laughed really loud and said, "WHAT!?" {Those of you who I have not talked to personally--I will NOT have a big baby}. She told us he weighed a little over a pound. WHOA!!! HANG ON! A pound!?!? My little pregnancy tracker app on my ipod says the baby should only weigh 10 1/2 ounces. And my baby weighs over a pound!?!?!?!? As you can see, I am quite distraught over this. That is waaaaaaaaay bigger than what it needs to be! And the funny thing is that I really don't have much of a bump yet...so I don't know where this big guy is fitting in my tummy! Anyway, I just have to take deep breaths to try and deal with it.
I have been having some pains in my side all day today. I haven't had anything like these yet, and I haven't been able to find anything about them. I really hope they will be gone by tomorrow.
I have had a lot of trouble sleeping lately and I know it will only get worse with time. I need to get some more pillows!
Oh, another bit of sad news--the ultrasound tech said we don't get another ultrasound! I guess unless my doctor is worried about something. But looks like so far we're doing pretty good so our chances are slim that we'll get another one. Oh well! We were pretty spoiled getting so many so we'll just have to deal with it (although Brandon has expressed he may twist their arm so we get another one).

Brandon takes the LSAT on Monday--be sure to wish him luck (and say a prayer, too)!

Oh, boy...

Well, there ya have it. We're having a boy. Not going to lie, just a little disappointed since my side of the family is very much dominated by girls, but I'm sure by the time October rolls around I'll be mentally prepared. We went to the doctor this morning expecting an ultrasound and turns out that they weren't going to do another one until 20 weeks. We must have been really spoiled at the fertility center because we got one every week over there. To top it off, the doctor wasn't even there because he was delivering babies so all we got to do was listen to the heartbeat again (don't get me wrong, that is fun...just not what we were expecting). So at the office, you can request a gender scan earlier than 20 weeks so that's what we did and they fit us in this morning. Luckily someone didn't show up, so we got their spot! The tech had some trouble getting the cord out from between the legs--she had to push down on my stomach quite a bit (ouch!) but it finally moved out of the way. I can't tell you how excited Brandon is--there are no words to describe that kind of excitement. The tech said as we were walking out, "at least boy diapers are easier to change!" Ha. Funny.
To those of you asking about a name, we have not yet decided. I'm not a fan of the whole naming-your-baby-before-it-comes-out thing. For now, we will call him baby.

17 Weeks

Yay for almost being halfway!! I'm beginning to feel like a whale and have had a lot of growing pains these past few weeks. Nothing too exciting has happened...other than actually being pregnant! We went and listened to the heart beat 2 weeks ago since we were over at the doctor's and it was at 146 which was quite a bit lower than what it was in the first trimester (usually it was 160-170). Our ultrasound is on Monday and we're nearly positive they will be able to tell us what we're having. (You should guess by voting over on the right.) If we do find out on Monday, you probably won't have to wait long before we announce it to everyone! Until Monday, you can enjoy another lovely baby bump picture.

Belly Photo!

Wow, look at that belly! Looks a little weird on the picture, but maybe that's just me. Anyway, we'll hit 15 weeks tomorrow!! That means only 5 more weeks until we can find out what we're having. Maybe, hopefully, possibly sooner, though. We have a checkup near the end of the month and if they do an ultrasound we may bribe them to see if they can tell that it's a girl ;) We finally started cleaning out the piano room and tackled cleaning the desk. That was quite a chore! Now it's time to clean out the closet and make room for more baby stuff. Not much else has happened in the past week. We are just enjoying relaxing (me more than Brandon) and the warm weather. We are still trying to get rid of the organ, so if you know anyone who knows anyone who knows anyone who really is dying to get an organ (who does that?), let us know. Otherwise the baby will be sleeping on the organ bench when it's born. 

13 Week Checkup

Well, we went to a new doctor today. It was very interesting. He was...an interesting guy to say the least. We got another ultrasound and the baby is looking more and more like a baby! The subchorionic hemmhorage is still there...and still bleeding out. The doctor said the bleeding will stop at 20 weeks. That seems like forever away!! They didn't really tell us anything new that we hadn't already heard before. Oh, except that they are moving my due date up 3 days to October 25th, but that really isn't a huge deal. Morning sickness has pretty much been non existent this week, which was a huge relief. I only got nauseous a few times (mainly when Brandon was cooking........). This week is finals week, and oh boy, I am ready to be done! I have 3 more performances this week plus 2 finals and then freedom for the summer!! We are so excited that the weather is so nice now--Brandon is already planning a camping trip with the neighbors. We don't have another appointment for a month, but I may decide to update next week or the week after depending on how things are going. They may have little to do with the baby....like cleaning out the piano room to make room for the baby or something along those lines. Until next time!

It is official! Baby Riches will be here in October!

Well, we are at 12 weeks so I can officially announce that we are expecting! The end of the first trimester is over!! We are so excited that things have gone so well up to this point and we have faith that come October, we will have a beautiful baby girl (um, I mean Brandon will say boy...but I say he doesn't have those maternal instincts like I do) Anyway, we had our doctor visit today, and she said everything looks perfect! She could still see a sliver left of the subchorionic hemmhorage but it actually took her a little while to find it. I was so excited to finally have a regular ultrasound! And it was surprisingly clear, contrary to what we thought. Today was our graduation day from the fertility center, so we will be seeing a new doctor next week! The doctor said she wants a picture of the baby when it's born and everyone who works at the clinic was so excited that we were on our way to bigger and better things. We are a little sad to leave, though, because that means we won't get another ultrasound until 20 weeks! Luckily we got a Doppler so we'll be able to listen to the baby's heartbeat once in a while for some reassurance. This past week has been a really rough one as far as morning sickness goes. It didn't help that I had the flu on Thursday, but today was totally different and I felt the best I have in a long time. Maybe it's the fact that I only have 4 days of school left...I don't know. But anyway, until next week! I really hope the doctor we chose is a good one!

Cheerio, darling

Wow, what a day! So all day yesterday, I was having some pains in my stomach. I wasn't sure what they were, but they hurt pretty bad. I decided to eat some cheerios, because those always make me feel better. It was a really strange feeling I was having, but I just kind of shrugged it off and went about my daily activities. (I did take a nap for all you that were worried about me...) We tried calling the doctor a few times to see if they could tell us what the pains were, but no one answered, so we had to wait until this morning to call again when there were people in the office. We got an appointment early and headed in. We were a little nervous, but these weren't the same miscarriage pains I had had before. So we got in to the ultrasound and she had to stick the awkward thing up me again (even though last week she said we were done with it!!) and  she about jumped out of her chair!! I couldn't see the screen from where I was laying, so I exclaimed, "What!?!" She turned the screen to where I could see it and I about jumped off the table! I couldn't believe my eyes! Brandon was laughing in the corner of the room with a confused look on his face and then it just got silent. I mean, how do you tell someone that the baby they have been carrying for 11 weeks has turned into a cheerio??? I surely wouldn't know how to do it! Obviously there wasn't a heartbeat, so she just kind of put the ultrasound stick away and stared at us. I never knew that eating that many cheerios would turn it into one!! I guess we will definitely have to name it Lester now. 

Click here for the real update :)

11 Week Update!

Well, first of all, I want to wish you all a Happy Easter! I hope yours was much much much more enjoyable than ours! Yesterday morning I started getting a lot of pains in my stomach (no, they weren't hunger pains). It kind of felt like someone was poking my with something but they hurt. So that was slightly alarming. Well, they say "as long as you're not bleeding then there's really nothing to worry about." And guess what happened...yep I started bleeding. Awesome. So I came home from church early (I was a little bummed because of the whole Easter thing, but you gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose). Anyway, the pain never let up all day but the bleeding did. Until right before I went to bed. And this time it was enough to make me scared. I've been through 5 miscarriages...I know what it looks like and I tell you what, this had me scared. So we went to bed nervous, and I tossed and turned all night hoping and praying things were all right. We had tried to call the doctor on Sunday afternoon but no one answered the after hours emergency line and I really didn't feel like this deemed a trip to the emergency room. So I woke up this morning and the bleeding hasn't stopped. So we waited until the doctor's office opened and got an appointment for this morning do we didn't have to wait until this afternoon to figure out what was wrong. The funny thing is that my normal doctor was not in the office today. Of course the one time I have a problem, she isn't there. But the NP that helped us was really nice and she knew exactly what she was doing. We started the ultrasound and it took her a couple seconds to find the heartbeat (it felt like 10 minutes!) and then the baby started moving around. Oh my gosh, can you say a sigh of relief!! So she said that the bleeding was because of the hemmhorage, so it was a good thing that it was bleeding out and she told me to expect to bleed a little more over the next few weeks, but that everything was completely normal and the baby is growing as it should. We could see its tiny hands and feet! It was pretty awesome! The pain is round ligament pain, just my body getting ready to get bigger, I guess. So, next week I think we are going to have a huge party celebrating 12 weeks...because that's a huge milestone, right?

 you can see the little arms!

 the heart beat was 160, which is perfect!

5 cm long!

1/4 of the way!!

Well, we've finally hit 10 weeks! It feels like it has been forever since I found out I was pregnant!
I'm still nauseous pretty much all the time, and I really haven't found a food that consistently sounds and tastes good. I still have pretty bad heartburn.
We saw the baby kick pretty hard on the ultrasound this morning, which was really weird, but pretty exciting! The heartbeat was 160 this morning and the baby has grown since last week! It's also turned all the way around so now it's sitting upright. I really need to go and get some new clothes, especially some summer ones since it's getting warm outside. If you have any clothes you would like to donate to the cause, let me know! We are also still trying to sell our organ to make room for the crib, so if you know anyone who wants an organ for cheap, send them our way! I'm so excited that it's finally April and I will finally have a degree after 4 years of college! We enjoyed General Conference yesterday and heard a lot of talks on raising children and being good parents. Brandon is working hard right now. He's the campaign manager for a candidate running for the state house and he's also a maintenance worker for a bunch of apartments, so his days are pretty busy. We are ready for the warm weather and all the fun summer will bring! Only 3 1/2 weeks of school left!