National Infertility Awareness Week

Today marks the start of National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). I can't help but think back to last year's NIAW. Brian and I were in the middle of an IUI cycle and so scared and unsure about what the future held for us. We so desperately wanted to be parents and we were so unsure of what path would lead us there. This year, we are a more than 1/2 way thru our pregnancy which was the result of an IVF cycle. We are so blessed and words can not describe what a miracle this little one will always represent to us.

The video below shows the journey that Brian and I traveled and so many other couples. It's a tear-jerker....beware!


http://www.tearsandhope.com/

25 Weeks!

Bad picture from my cellphone..but you get the idea.

How far along: 25 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Up 16 pounds from pre-ER weight
Maternity clothes: Yes, everything is maternity now.
Stretch marks: Nope, and praying it stays that way.
Sleep: Like a rock! I am tossing and turning a bit more than normal.
Best moment last week: Feeling Mini Kenny kicking like crazy after I drank a Sprite! I hardly ever drink soda, but apparently Mini Kenny liked it!
Movement: Yeap! Everyday now....especially after I eat and when I'm driving home
Food cravings: nothing really. Still loving my avocado and cucumber sandwiches!
Gender: I am thinking boy! Felt that way since the very beginning.
Labor Signs: Um, no. But, I've had a few Braxton Hicks contractions.
Belly Button in or out: In, but very shallow.
What I miss: Nothing, really. I'm loving every minute of this!
What I am looking forward to: Finishing the nursery (we'll post more pictures, I promise!)Milestones: completing 2 more classes....breast feeding and baby basics. All that's left is the Birthing class in June. Yikes!

This and That

Here's a random posting of pictures.....

From Brian's birthday last month. His cake from our favorite bakery....yummy! And part of his gift, a Bama Diaper backpack. I got a cute girlie one, so I figured he deserved a more manly one. He loved it...if you can't tell from the picture!
My friend, Jenn Ovitz, from college. She's having her 3rd...but her first girl. So, we had fun showering her with girl things.


Finally, little Belle. We call this her, "when you say "baby", you're talking about me, right?" look!now, we're off to Part II of our Prepared Childbirth classes. Today, we have Baby Basics and Breastfeeding.

Dear Little One, Please Know...

Dear Little One... reaching and stretching inside my belly... listening and dreaming and floating in your warm and cozy bath, there's so much your daddy and I want you to know. But, for now, please know.....

Know that I have loved you since you were a mere thought. That I have dreamed of feeling you move beneath my skin from that first moment when your daddy and I talked about the possibility of you. That through months and years of wishing and hoping and crying and praying and pleading... I never lost sight of you. Your tiny spirit was there all the while, reaching out to guide your daddy and I through every moment of despair......and every moment of hope.

Know that I have loved you....your little hands and feet and perfect beating heart. I have loved you even more since seeing your first photo.....one of those two microscopic spheres of potential, dividing and growing and very much alive.

Know that I have loved you with a ferocity and vigor since those days waiting to find out if you were still there. Do you remember the day as I drove to work? I cried and choked out "please hang on"... and you, knowing it was time, knowing this was our path... listened. When I heard the doctor ask me if I felt pregnant and told me the beta numbers, the evidence of your continued existence, I knew you were such a good baby... you hung on alright.

and that day... I loved you so much more.

Know that I have loved you with a quiet awe, since that first time your daddy and I saw you on the ultrasound screen... and the Dr. smiled and pointed and your daddy practically burst from grinning... to see you... to see your little heart beating...so small, but so amazingly alive...to watch you grow from visit to visit, until we saw your little arms and legs flaps moving and swaying in that dark orb of liquid...

Know that I have loved you with a depth I can't describe, since the day we learned you were healthy and strong, the little miracle I had seen in my dreams for so many long months... carrying me through cycle after cycle of crushed hope... to know, to actually see that you had come to us... to know that we had dreamed of you, your name, your face, your hair, your eyes... for so long now....so long before you came to be. That day my heart could have exploded from loving you.

Little one... know that I love you more than I could write or say, more than you could even imagine... and that I only love you that much more as we begin to feel you kick and twist and grow, as we get your home ready for you, as we humbly wait and watch, still in awe of you... this love grows and grows.

You are something for which there are no words. You are beyond miracles, beyond hope, beyond comprehension... and we wait... and we watch... and we love you.

Know, little one... that we have forever loved, and will forever love you.

We can't wait to meet you in July!

xoxo, Your mommy and daddy