Week 13 & A Last Party.

After a long week of school and work I was pleasantly surprised when I was sent home early from work on Friday and was able to go to dinner and a movie with Lance.  It seems like forever since we've had a date night of just the two of us.  Saturday was filled with a trip to Buy Buy Baby and us spending literally 15 minutes figuring out how to disconnect the car seat from the base.  We tried an assortment of carseats and for whatever reason couldn't figure it out.  Finally Lance got it, and with a beaming smile he said, "well now that I'm a pro we can try out any car seat you want."

Saturday night we went to West Jordan High where the All-Star High School Basketball game was being held.  It was so fun to watch Chandler and Brandon, along side other high school seniors, play for one last time.  There were a few trick moved and dunks throughout the game making it quite the show! Afterwards we enjoyed a fun filled dinner at the Pie with our Jordan High family.

WEEK 13

Total weight gain: 5 pounds (somehow...this week I lost 2 pounds, but the bump is looking more pronounced)
Maternity clothes? no, but I am using the rubber band trick on 80% of my pants.
Stretch marks? none.
Sleep: decent, but with some super weird dreams
Best moment this week: Spending the weekend with Lance running errands, seeing a movie, and going to the All-star basketball game and to dinner with our Jordan High family.  Also, passing all of my ATI and Kaplan practice tests and feeling a little more prepared to graduate and take the NCLEX.
Food cravings: DONUTS, Banberry donuts was the fix for the week. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: brushing my teeth! I don't understand it, but every morning it makes me gag.
Gender: We find out in a few weeks!
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.
Looking forward to: Graduating in a week, seeing my mom and dad and spending a lovely 6 days off from work :)

Time to Get a Cane

Lately I feel as if I have been surrounded by people who are in the midst of divorce or conflict with their spouse.  Their husband doesn't respect them, love them, or appreciate them as they deserve.  Each and every time I hear a new story of such injustice my heart breaks, but at the same time is so full of love and gratitude for my husband and the amazing man he is.

Lance turned 28 last Friday and of course celebrated with TWO birthday dinners, because one just wasn't enough ;)  We went out to Bonsai Friday night with some of our basketball friends and spent Saturday night at Chili's with our best friends.  Both nights were absolutely lovely and we enjoyed the company of all of our friends.

Who's is whos??

Yup... me 2 scoops.  Lance 1 scoop

Here are just a few reasons why I love and adore this man who is now twenty-eight years old.

1. He is so fun. He makes me laugh and we always have a good time. 

2. He is romantic and remembers the little things like my favorite dessert and favorite flowers.

3.  He's like a big kid always down to get goofy.

4.  He is such a great caregiver to our puppies.

5. He's a worthy priesthood holder.

6. He is supportive.  Especially through all of our fertility struggles.

7.  He's straight up handsome.

8.  He loves me unconditionally.

9.  He's passionate and pursues his dreams.

10. He's great with children of ALL ages and is going to make the best father EVER.

I love you Lance Aaron and I can't wait to spend forever with you!

The Last 12 Weeks

Week 5- 
The week we found out. I got up 3-6 times each night to pee.  I had some shoulder/back pain and knew something was up ;)

Week 6-7
HELLO little bean.  I saw you for the first time because I was so anxious there was going to be TWO or more beans... but there you are. All alone.  Making a cozy little home in my belly. 

HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPO!! I ate like a crazy person.  I wanted a meal every 2-3 hours.  I was also a little nauseous each morning and took some zofran.  Between eating constantly and being constipated I gained about 7 pounds during these two weeks.  In addition, towards the end of week 6 I started to have some tailbone pain when I moved around.

Week 8-
We went on our cruise.   On our way to Miami I had SEVERE tailbone pain almost to the point where I was crying with each step I took.  I settled down on how much I ate, but still needed to eat frequently and FRUIT was heaven sent.  I ate fruit at every meal.  My tailbone pain continued throughout the week.  Overall I wasn't nauseous at all during our cruise which was quite surprising.

Week 9-  Tailbone pain continued making going to work torture.  I would come home from work and lay down with a hot pad on my back and of course have to get up to pee every 20 minutes. :)

Week 10-11 Our first doctor's appointment where we found out we were actually almost 11 weeks, not barely 10 weeks... :)  Our due date changed from October 28th (what I estimated) to October 24th (what Dr. later calculated).  Our little bean was measuring at 10 weeks 0 days, but he wanted to keep my due date at October 24th.

Week 11-12
Hello belly that is popping out a bit and goodbye 90% of my jeans/pants which no longer button comfortably and my cute Victoria Secret bras that are now too tight even though I haven't gained or lost any weight.

Total weight gain: 7 pounds (the same since week 7).  
Maternity clothes? changed my bras and into leggings and yoga pants for sure.
Stretch marks? none.  
Sleep: Some days are better than others and I truly feel it when I wake up.  If I haven't gotten enough sleep my back hurts, I feel a little nauseous, and I can hardly function.  Most days I feel just fine though. 
Best moment this week: letting everyone know we're expecting.  
Food cravings: sweets, fruits, soups, and refined breads such as muffins and bagels. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: dog pee, trash, opening the fridge, most food that's being cooked, food courts, brushing my teeth. 
Gender: unknown!!
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.
Looking forward to: getting through nursing school and finding out if you are a boy or girl!!
Funny Story: Today I went to get dressed and thought of just putting on one of my pre-prego bras.  Just as I was "adjusting" the bra decided to rip in half.....

telling those we love

Telling those we love was nearly as exciting as finding out we were pregnant.  We wanted to share this amazing news with those who have supported and prayed for us throughout these last two years.  These are just a few of the stories...

--RONA--
Lance and I were so excited after we found out we were pregnant.  We were both giggling in the bathroom of Rona's basement (Lance's Mom) with her sitting in the family room.  We knew there was no way we could get away without telling her so Lance decided to take the pregnancy test and have her read it.  She stared at the test for 2 minutes until finally pointing at Christine and said, "is this a joke?" She was in utter shock. 

--ANDY-- 
 The next morning Andy (Lance's stepdad) came down to say goodbye to Rona before work.  Rona asked, "so what are you going to do once you aren't a grandparent to just puppies?"  Andy responded with, "Landon and Nicole?!?"  (Rona shook her head no), then Andy pointed at our bedroom and Rona shook her head yes.  Andy was so excited he did cheerleading jumps all the way up the stairs.. and even tried to post it on Facebook!

--NORMA--
 Most people already know that Christine's mom has a fortune teller.  When Christine went to tell her mom she was pregnant, her mom responded with, "hold on one second (as she rummaged through papers)... ah yes... the fortune teller did say that would happen."

--ROBERT-- 
Christine called her dad and told him he was going to be a grandpa and his response was, "OH NO! NOT DANIEL!!" (Christine's unmarried older brother).  After laughs were exchanged he continued to have funny one liners such as, "I'm too old to be a grandpa, I mean I'm too young to be a grandpa!"

--ELLIOTT, ANGIE, KELSEY, & JARED--

 

What are the odds?

Written on February 27th, 2013

What better way to go on a cruise but period free... yes. I do in fact mean the feminine kind.  Lance and I are set to go on a cruise in the middle of March, and with how things were going without fertility treatments there was a 90% chance I was going to be on my period while on the cruise.  I thought back to my last fertility treatment and my Dr. said since my natural cycle is 33 days instead of the typical 28 it was totally fine for me to start my fertility medications on day 7 rather than on day 3.  By postponing my fertility meds my date of ovulation would also be postponed and therefore my next period would be delayed.  Who wouldn't want that?!? In my mind I thought I was a genius for strategically using my infertility to benefit me in some aspect, well it's benefiting me in more than just a delayed period. 

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!

Because I took my meds late I was expected my period 3 days late.  Well that day arrive and my period was no where in sight.  Day 2 went by.  Day 3, 4, 5, 6 and finally day 7.  By day 7 I just felt like something was "up" so on my way home from the state tournament I picked up 3 pregnancy tests from the dollar store and then stopped at Smiths and got a digital test "just in case" the dollar store ones were in fact positive.  

I rushed home and just as I was placing the drops on the test Lance came barging into the bathroom and with his eyes fixated on the test he slowly watched the two lines appear and said "dang it its negative.. there are two lines"... I quickly jumped over to where he was and said "no Lance! two lines means it's positive!"   his response, "NO WAY!! THATS IMPOSSIBLE!!!" I quickly pulled out the digital stick and Lance stared at that while it developed an answer...... "pregnant."

It took awhile for both of us to fall asleep, since we were giddy with the great news!  I woke up the next morning, grabbed my phone, and remembered oh yeah... I'm pregnant!!!

Just to make sure the tests were true I went to get my blood drawn.  The scale goes as follows...
>5-50 0-1 week
50-500 1-2 week
100-10.000 2-3 week
1000-30000 3-4 week
3500-115,000 4-5 week
12000-270000 6-8 week
1500-220000 12 week

My number was 6660 placing me in the 5 week category I thought I was in!

What a complete miracle! To look back on the last almost 2 years and to have gone through all the struggles and hard-aches associated with negative test to finally see a positive was absolutely surreal.  We were dead set on having to do in vitro and were more than willing to commit financially to conceiving a baby, but the Lord works in mysterious ways and blessed us with this miracle without having to undergo even more fertility evaluations.