The Results are in ...

We will be welcoming ONE little Baby Smith to our family! Yesterday we were able to see the lil' beebe and see the flickering of the heartbeat. Then, the doctor said "hold on" and flipped a switch to sound and we were able to hear the heartbeat. It was music to our ears!

The heartbeat was 120bpm and the beebe is about 2.3cm big. We go for our next ultrasound on Sept 11 to make sure everything is still on track. At that time, he will release me to go back to my OBGYN for the rest of my care. The predicted due date is one day earlier than I had predicted, so we are supposed to meet our lil' miracle on April 19th. This is a day before my parents wedding anniversary! :)

Last night we went to dinner with both of our parents and my grandma. At that time, we suprised them with ultrasound frames that had a picture of Baby Smith - the little blog at this time. The frames read "Our Little Blessing." Each time that we have an updated ultrasound, we will give them an updated picture to put in their frame!!!

We couldn't be happier, yet it seems sooooo surreal. I was so worried once we got there that something was going to be wrong or not end as we had hoped - but everything is fine and Dr.G said everything is on track!

Thanks for voting - it looks like 3 of you were correct! I was really suprised to see only one in there, but one is all it takes - our lil' miracle!!!

Vacation Tidbits

The Smith Team

Check out those scores!

Scootastic on wheels!!!
(sorry it is sideways)

So our vacation has come and gone and Jason and I are back to work today! We didn't do much on our vacation - other than hanging out around the house, enjoying a few meals out, and going on a bowling extravaganza. Scootastic enjoyed exploring the outdoors in his cart - with his sister D-gurl. People have been asking for a video of Scootie in his wheelchair - so here you go (sorry it is sideways).

As you can see above, we went bowling on Monday. We were wanting to do something a little more interesting, but every museum and attraction in Kansas City seems to be closed on Mondays - go figure! So we went to NKC Bowl, put on our colorful yet dorky bowling shoes, and let the games begin. Jason, who not-so-long ago bowled a score of 34 in a fundraiser for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, was on fire - bowling a score of 112 and 102! With a little instruction from his #1 bowling coach! :)

Other than that, we just relaxed and I slept a majority of each day. Unfortunately, I was feeling extra yucky. Seems that if I even move, I am getting the pukey feeling - so I just go back to sleep. I am a little worried about going back to work, just the fear of not feeling good and not being able to just lay down and go to sleep. I am refusing any medications at this time, at least until we are out of the 12 week crucial period. We are half way there, so let's hope it doesn't get any worse!

Predictions for Thursday (with those 6 mature follicles)!!!

So as most of you know, our first ultrasound is this Thursday! More than anything, I pray to see at least 1 heartbeat flickering on the screen! We have been counting down the days and hopefully we will be floating on cloud nine with great news.

Many of you have already voiced your opinions on what you think the outcome will be on Thursday - so I thought I would open up and let everyone make their predictions. How many do you think that we will see on that screen? One? Two? or more?

I have started collecting things and am going to start putting together a little scrapbook of memories from the past 16 months, up to this point. I would love to have something to show our children, so that they can understand how special they really are and how they truly are miracles made possible by God! It has been a long journey, and we hope that we can end this with a healthy baby(ies) in our arms!

I plan on taking a camcorder to our appointment so we can remember every aspect of this pregnancy, for it may be our last. I will try my best to learn how to upload it to this blog, but no promises!

So for now, please humor us and tell us your predictions on how many and the sex(es)! We want to keep a poll and tally it up for the future. Just another fun addition to put in the "Our Journey to Conceiving Our Earth Angels" scrapbook!!! :) You can vote for how many and the sex(es) on the right hand margin. If you are wanting to leave a comment, you may do so on this post! Good luck at your predictions!!!

Just another update

For all of the ladies that read my blog as a nightly ritual at work - just let me start off by saying that I miss you guys! I cannot say that I miss work itself, but I miss all my buds! :)

So Jason and I have been off since last Wednesday and will be off together until this Wednesday. Although we had some big plans for this vacation, we haven't really done anything except sleep in and be lazy. I think I am the instigator of all the sleep. I have been waking up feeling nauseated so I just go back to sleep. I have been getting a good 12 hours of sleep each night. But I have a million dreams, which I have read is from all the hormones!

The next couple of days we are going to explore Kansas City and visit some sites. If all goes as planned and I am able to stay awake and not feel nauseated! :) The kitchen has yet to be completed, but we have plenty of time for that.

Well I know that this is not a great post, but what can I say??? I haven't been doing anything interesting at all. But it has been great to spend time with Jason doing NOTHING!

Moving up in the world!!!

I am going to forewarn a few of you that this will be a post with Too Much Information. Today I finally made the decision to go bra shopping. I was spilling out of my others, which is very exciting for me! We all know I am extremely lacking in that department. So I have finally moved up to a C cup - which I never thought I would be able to say!

I had a really good day yesterday, will little nausea. However, this morning I woke up and went right back to sleep after having a really bad case. I ended up sleeping until 3:00 this afternoon. But tonight I was able to eat a normal meal with good portions. I am craving a Mc Donalds double cheeseburger and the wonderful sweet tea (which my husband refers to as my crack). I love it!!! I do not want to start eating like this all the time, but I am actually craving something for once. That sweet tea seems to help my stomach, maybe more of a comfort for me. But whatever - it works!!!

Only 7 more days until the ultrasound - we are super excited and cannot wait! Jason is predicting 2 boys, I am predicting boy and girl, mom is prediction 2 girls, Christina is predicting twins and April is predicting triplets!!! ha ha ha

Nausea is taking over ...

At about 3:30AM this morning, at work, I was heavy breathing and focusing in hopes to keep from getting sick - again this morning in the car, and once I got home to lay down. I am nauseated mostly all day long - especially after eating and at certain times of the day/night. Not to mention that 2 days ago, the heartburn set in, causing me to feel even more nauseated.

So I called Dr.G's office to see if there was anything that I could take for the nausea and heartburn. The nurse told me that I could take Tums, which would also give me more calcium as well. If that doesn't work, they have some pills that dissolve and give you comfort - however, she mentioned they are pricey! So for now, we will stick with the Tums.

I must say that I have become close to the women in Dr.G's office. My favorite nurse, Jane, is wonderful and reminds me a lot of my mother. She always makes you feel comfortable and answers all my questions - no matter how stupid they are. I have only seen 2 nurses, but have been with Jane all the times I have went, except for 2 times. She is like my own little personal nurse. I love it!

Morning sickness - more like all day sickness

Well for those of you who have been asking, I thought I would post a blog on how things are going so far! I have been feeling pretty yucky lately with nausea all day long (since conception) and bouts of some major heartburn. I have only gotten sick once, and I hope it stays that way! :) Who actually decided to call it MORNING sickness? That is an understatement by far. My boobs are so sore that I think I could cut them off it couldn't possibly hurt much more. However, with that pain - I have moved up in the boob world. I have to go bra shopping this week to get a high B or low C. Wheeeeewwww hooooooo! I want to sleep, eat and sleep some more - tiredness has set in. And I have never gone to the restroom as much in a single day than I have been. Waking up every 4 times in the night/day to go to the restroom just cuts down on my sleep. I feel like a walking zombie! :)

Jason is loving that aspect of pregnancy, along with the fact that my craving so far is pizza. I never eat pizza, but I have ate it 3 times since I have been pg. Something about it just sounds good now - but I hated pizza before. What else???
Everything seems to be going good so far, not to jinx myself. We only have 10 more days until the ultrasound - my mom is counting down the days with Jason and I.

Although I have been feeling yucky - I am glad to be feeling that way. I would much rather feel sick than not feel anything at all. I say 'bring it on!' This weekend has been a little difficult since I am only getting 7 hours of sleep before coming back to work each day. I am tired as soon as I get to work, trying to stay up thru the night without any caffeine. Which I should probably mention that I have not had in nearly 2 weeks .... huge for me! I did however cheat and drink some coffee at breakfast with Whitney about a week ago.

So things are as they are supposed to be thus far. We are excited for the 28th to get here. Jason and I are off for 9 days together starting the middle of this week, which will be very nice. We have no plans to go anywhere special - maybe on a date or two! I am going to love being able to sleep in, lay around, and spend time with my hubby. Our only plans are to redo the kitchen - adding some brown paint, re-painting the cabinets and putting down a new floor. Jason will be fixing the gutters and wood rot on the back of our house - with his dads help, of course! Otherwise, we all know how it would turn out ... disastrous!

Great bloodwork results!

After leaving work this morning, I made a trip to North Kansas City Hospital to have my bloodwork drawn to check my HCG level. They are checking it again to make sure that my level is doubling in 48 hours. If it does not double, there is a problem. My HCG level on Monday was 84 and my level today (Wednesday) was 200. So it more than doubled, almost tripled!

The nurse was very pleased with my numbers! She then scheduled my first ultrasound for August 28th. She said we may be able to see the heartbeat at that time - very exciting!!! At this time I will be 6 weeks, almost 7 so we will find out how many are in there. We are both hoping for twins, but will be just as ecstatic for one!

Jason is really excited now that we have gotten good numbers and everything looks stable up to this point! He was a little slow to come around, but we are both scared of heartbreak again! We just hope and pray (constantly) that our lil' bean will stick! "Morning" sickness has officially kicked in - although I have been having nausea since I conceived. Although I only got into 6-7 weeks with my last pregnancy, this time around is much different! So we are hopeful that the outcome will be a little earth angel or two to add to our family! We will keep you posted with details!

It is confirmed .. WE ARE PREGNANT!

Does this sound familiar? ... See I am NOT the only one! :)

Although I already knew what the outcome was going to be today, I went for bloodwork at Dr.G's office today. I got the call in the afternoon that WE ARE INDEED PREGNANT! I was soooo excited to hear a professional confirm it and say it out loud. I called Jason at work and he is now getting a little more excited. We are both optimistic that this will be a healthy pregnancy and the bean will stick, however, we do not want to be completely positive and receive bad news again. We were both heartbroken and let down and are just wanting the 12 week wait to be here and over. After 12 weeks into the pregnancy, a miscarriage is highly unlikely!

I got many text messages from people wishing me luck - just wanted to say "THANK YOU" and please keep us in your prayers! I even had some company to go to my appointment today. My friend Whitney, who also goes to Dr.G, asked if I wanted company. Of course! So we took the journey to Olathe Medical Center, had a yummy breakfast at IHOP, went shopping at the Great Plains Mall, and then ventured on to the Legends shopping area. It was a great day, and I got to spend it with a great person! Thank you Whitney for being my sidekick and support today! We need to do it more often!!!! :)

I will return to get my bloodwork done on Wednesday morning and then again on Friday morning. They want to continue to watch my HCG and make sure that it is doubling every 2 days! I am not sure of the plan for the first ultrasound, but I am sure it will be around 6 to 7 weeks. We need to see how many of those little beans are in there! :) I am due on April 20, 2009 and am currently almost 4 weeks - according to my calculations. We will know more when I have my first appointment with Dr.G, after all the bloodwork is back!

OMG ..... NO WAY!!!

After leaving work this morning, my mother and I met for breakfast at Corner Cafe! Yummy! After eating and visiting, I went home to go to bed with my full tummy. I woke up this afternoon and decided to go ahead and take one of my digital tests. Although I was nervous to take the test, even after getting multiple faint positives, I took it. To little surprise - the test looked like this ....




It was as clear as could be (although the camera we have took a not-so-great picture)! It said the magical word - "PREGNANT!" I am much more confident after taking the digital. After waking up this afternoon, I got a wonderful wave of nausea again. I have been having nausea off and on since 7-8 dpo. My boobies hurt soooo bad - I do not think it could hurt much more if I even cut them off!



So now we wait for Monday, which will seem much closer now that I have some confidence and am pretty sure that we are PREGNANT again! I will keep everyone posted!

Hopeful and excited (just a little)! :)

Well last night at work was an eventful night! I had my first Code Blue experience, and boy was it just that - an experience! The kido ended up being sent off the floor and is doing well. So after getting home, exhausted and all, I decided that since I had an exciting night - I would continue the excitement and pee on a stick! Yes, yes, I know ... I told April that I would stop testing, but I hadn't tested for 1 day and I couldn't take it. On Tuesday (10 dpo) and Wednesday (11 dpo) when I tested, there was nothing - no line, no shadow, no sight of any color.

So I got all of my 'supplies' together and did the test. Within 4 minutes, I could see a line. A very, very, very faint line - but a line, is a line, is a line in the "pee on a stick" world. So I went to bed, slept all day and woke up at 0400. I got up to a message that I was able to pick up my car - THANK GOODNESS! I have missed my lil' ride and was happy to get her back! I went by Outback on the way home and got Jason and I dinner - you know how much I hate to cook! It was delicious! So I ate, showered and got ready in 15 minutes.

So tonight I decided that I would take a test at work - since I had been up for awhile and hadn't went to the restroom in awhile. And to my surprise - it was +. And although it was still considered a faint positive - it was much brighter! I used the top of the line test too. So I am trying to keep my composure, but getting a little excited inside. We will not consider it a pregnancy until we hear so from the bloodwork they are going to draw on Monday! I will keep you all updated. I think this could possibly be it .... we will see!!!

A better day ... so far!

Well today I woke up at 4:00am from a light sleep. I kept having to swallow and felt something trickling down my throat. Then I tasted the metallic taste and ran to the bathroom. My nose was bleeding again, much slower than yesterday morning. It only took about 3 minutes to get it to stop. However, I was not nauseated when I got up, although I went to bed with raging heartburn and intense nausea last night.

Per the advice of my dear friend April, I decided to stop taking a million pee tests a day. I am just getting myself more stressed out. Wondering where the nosebleeds are coming from, especially since I downed multiple Mercy mugs of water yesterday! Water is my least favorite drink EVER! I'm hoping and praying that is one of my signs.

As the day has progressed, I have been getting a little more nauseated. I am wanting to get out of the house and go to work so that I am not focusing on not feeling up to par. Just hoping that I am not bending over one of my minature patients in the morning, to take labs, and my nose starts unloading on them! :) Maybe I will enter the room with a tissue up my nose for comfort! he he he

Sad that I am not going to see Jason before going to work tonight. He is going out for one last happy hour with Scott and the work crew. Scott is going away to school and leaving the wonderful crew at Sonnenschein. We will miss you, Scott! Especially your love for 80's and you little funny demeanors. Have a rum and coke for me tonight!!! :)

Could it be? Can it really be happening?

Well just a little *update* since I haven't posted since Saturday. I have to make a confession, I have taken 6 pregnancy tests in the last 5 days. It is very sad that my life line consists of peeing on a piece of plastic! With that said, I have gotten a few very faint positives - last night being dark enough to not have to squint. Jason even saw it - so did Alexis and Whitney!!! :) This morning I took a test and it was way more faint. I take a test in the morning and one in the evening. The ones in the evening are darker than the ones taken in the morning. So, we will see!

My morning was a little hectic. I got up at 5:00am to Scootie whining to go out and for some 'foodies.' I got up and felt like I was going to get sick - the worst nausea I have had so far. I bent down to get their food and I felt my nose running and then ... a drip, drip, drip! I looked down to see blood on the floor and rushed to the bathroom. I had blood running down my nose and face! It took about 10 minutes to get it to stop - sitting on the floor over the porcelin throne while trying to get my nose to stop. The last time I was PG I had a nosebleed and that is the only other time for over 15 years. I'm hoping this is a sign - it is indeed a pregnancy sign! Just ask Tiffany! :)

I have been laying around all day nauseated off and on. It seems to be getting progressively worse as each day passes. I called Dr. G's office to let them know what was going on, checking to see if it could be from the progesterone. The nurse said not to get my hopes up but it could definately be a good sign. She also went on to say that increased hormone circulation and blood supply occur at the beginning stages of pregnancy, which can cause nosebleeds and nausea.

So I guess we will see. I am just wondering: Could it really be? Can it really be happening? I have that intution about this month, but everyone thinks I'm crazy for saying that! Keep everything crossed for us! We still have 6 more days until the blood test! Uggggghhhhh.....

Not getting my hopes up .... but .... !

Well last night I got a wild hair to pee on a stick! :) It seems that I am not the only one who is obsessed with doing this. I took a test last night to see if the trigger shot was still in my system. I got the faintest positive I have ever seen. I had to get in a bright light and look really, really hard - but I know it was there. So this morning, I used another to see if the line today would be gone or lighter (if that is possible). However, it was darker and I did not even have to squint to see it.

Here's the kicker .... If the trigger (causing my HCG to read positive on the pregnancy test) was still in my system, I could take a test each day and it would get LIGHTER each day. Until eventually it will be out of my system. Then, if we are pregnant, the line will then reappear and get darker every day. BUT the ones that I have taken were lighter yesterday and very visable today.

So after doing some research, the earliest that most pregnancy tests can detect HCG is 7 days post ovulation. Today is 6 days post ovulation. However, I read many posts where people had a faint + at 6 dpo and it ended up being correct. With that said, these people had twins or triplets - causing the HCG to be elevated early on.

So I am going to pee on another stick tomorrow to see what the result is. I am not getting my hopes up, but a part of me cannot help but be a little optimistic. I have been saying that I feel this is going to be our month since we found out we had 6 follicles. I have been much less stressed and have enjoyed this cycle way more than others. I will give you all an update of tomorrows results. Thank God the $1 tree has pregnancy tests so that I am not going broke with my obsession. And yes, they are just as reliable as the $7 tests. As always .... keep your fingers crossed!!!!