We had such a fun day in Dallas at North Park Center. We went for the trains exhibit where all of the proceeds go to support the Ronald McDonald House. It was such a fun display of trains surrounded by beautiful holiday trimmings. We walked around the mall afterwards, adoring all the festive decor, heard a live band playing Christmas music and then ended with some Pho and Bahn Mi in the food court. Have ya'll had this yummy vietnamese food?
Jack Henry had the best time with the trains, his highlight seeing Thomas, and Hadley enjoyed herself, but not nearly like Jack Henry. Its so amazing how God creates little boys and girls so differently. If you live in the DFW area, I would highly recommend supporting the Ronald McDonald House and having fun with your little ones seeing over 1,600 feet of train track. 

 

17 Weeks with baby #3...

So, I messed the chalkboard up AGAIN this week. I am only 17 weeks :)

Maternity Clothes? I can still wear some regular tops but definitely most comfortable in maternity cloths.  

Stretch Marks? No.

Sleep? Still sleeping great

Movement? I think I MIGHT have felt a few flutters, but no DEFINITE movement.  

Cravings? Nothing specific really, cheese and crackers have been a fave. 

Gender? Boy!

Belly Button In or Out? its now "flat" about to pop out 

Weight Gain: +8 lbs so far

Symptoms: Nothing new really. 

Favorite Moment: Enjoying thanksgiving, soaking up the joy and gratitude we have for this sweet boy. 

16 Weeks with baby number 3...

Total weight gain: +6
Stretch marks? none yet!
Sleep: Sleeping great
Best moment this week: Finding out our precious baby is a boy!
Movement: None yet
Food cravings: Nothing specific but starting to be able to eat veggies again! 
Symptoms: Sciatic pinching 
Wedding rings on or off? on!
Looking forward to: Thanksgiving with parents who haven't seen me since I have been pregnant. 

Catching up: Our 6th Anniversary Getaway (June 2014)

WOW! What can I say, I am super behind on blogging and tend to get caught up from these last 5 months over the next week or so! 
These pics aren't that exciting, but it is just to help me document memories :) We celebrated 6 years on an overnight in a beautiful lake house. We are SO embarrassed to say that we had NEVER spent the night away together apart from the babies. This was my first night away from them, Luke has been on several trips away, but together, this was a first. We plan on being much better about this, and the reason is not because "we just can't leave them", that is very far from the truth. We of course miss them when we are away from them, but our marriage is our number one priority and we love being together alone. The hard part is, when you don't live close to family, leaving your children over night with someone else is a lot to ask. Our precious friends Mindy and Markus kept them overnight and they had a blast. They didn't miss us a bit because they were having so much fun! We spent just one night away in Grandbury which is just an hour or so outside of DFW. The town was quaint and we had a lovely time together. We had great food, got a pedi together, and spent long hours on the dock just having deep conversation and enjoying each other. God has done so many good things in our lives the last 6 years.

15 weeks with baby #3...

Total weight gain: +5 still
Stretch marks? No new ones yet! 
Sleep: Sleeping great, still sleeping some on my back but I don't feel like I am big enough yet to put on bad pressure yet.   
Best moment this week: Starting to feel better/more normal. ALMOST wanting a salad.
Movement: None yet, I don't think. I think I might be feeling things but then always convince myself its just by stomach.
Food cravings: Food is still not super craveable at this point yet. 
Symptoms: Getting sciatic pinches on one side and still pretty tired/sleepy. 
Wedding rings on or off? On
Looking forward to: Gender ultrasound, this thursday the 2oth! We will be finding out with my community group at a little gender reveal night but will be keeping it secret on here until next week when we tell my parents in person :)

14 Weeks with baby #3...

Total weight gain: 5 lbs
Maternity clothes? Yes. Full on everything maternity at this point. I began wearing a band since  8 weeks and now the attractive full panel pants :) 
Stretch marks? No
Sleep: Sleeping hard.
Best moment this week: Still just enjoying my ever growing belly
Movement: None yet, at least I don't think. Sometimes I feel like I might have felt it, but pretty sure its just my tummy rumbling. 
Food cravings: eh, not really. Not wanting many sweets like my usually self. Mashed potatoes have tasted pretty good to me. 
Symptoms: Might have to start going to the chiropractor a little more often, I get little sciatic pinches here and there. Still not eating normally, but getting better each day!
Wedding rings on or off? on, and still a little wiggly 

Looking forward to: Gender ultrasound, November 20th, less than two weeks!

14 weeks pregnant with the twins

My bump so far

They say you show more your second time around, and I think since I was stretched to maximum capacity with the twins, my body knew JUST what to do. That, and the muscle separation I still have allows nothing to be held back, which is why I started wearing my maternity band at 8 weeks this time around. I don't think I had to wear my band until 10 weeks with the twins. I think its so fun to show and sport the baby bump so I wasn't sad when it decided to show up so early. Here is my growing belly so far..  

8 Weeks

9 Weeks

10 Weeks 

11 Weeks 

First Trimester almost finished!

So I have read that the second trimester starts on day one of week 13 but then I have also read it ends with week 13. Regardless, I am 13 weeks and 3 days so I am either out of it or almost out of it :) 

SYMPTOMS:
I am INCREDIBLY lucky to be one of the few that has dodged morning sickness. With the twins I had food aversions, but no nausea. This pregnancy has been a little "worse" on that front. I was TOTALLY fine in the beginning. If ya'll remember I did a 7 day clean eating challenge that I had announced I was doing on Instagram for accountability the DAY before I found out I was pregnant. It was too late to back out and I couldn't say why! But I did fine with it! It wasn't until eight and a half weeks that the yucky tummy kicked in. And it lasted pretty hard core until 11 weeks. I call it yucky because it wasn't bad enough to be nausea. When I am sick with a stomach bug and have nausea, I literally can't function, I have to lay down and let the misery pass. This was NOT that bad. It was totally manageable and it was easy to push through my days and function but it was bad enough to just make me feel pretty puny. I wanted to eat, and actually I am always VERY hungry but everything sounded REPULSIVE. I choked a lot of food down, and starchy, carby, non-nutrient foods were the only foods I wanted, which was hard for this lover of health and wellness. I'm still not back to normal but its definitely getting better. 
With the twins, if I didn't eat enough, I would get really gaggy, but then I was relieved immediately once I ate, and I haven't had that issue this time around. 
Another weird thing, I am a lover of sweets and the dreaded evil sugar, but I have only been wanting savory things this pregnancy. 
I have also been very tired. Like, I take a nap almost every day when the babies do. It is an exhaustion very similar to carrying the twins. I still am very tired and haven't gotten my energy back, but again, it is better.
Also, a funny thing, during my 2.5 week period of feeling super yuck, we ate out like, every, single meal. During that time I did no cooking and let a few produce items go bad in our fridge. When I opened the fridge, I smelled rotten celery and to this day, I get wiffs of it or tastes of it in certain foods. Like chic-fil-a BBQ sauce tastes like straight up rotten celery to me. I know thats crazy and I'm wondering if its some weird additive or yucky preservative that is coming out like that? Anyhow, food just doesn't taste that good lately, so I am very ready to be normal on that front again.
I used this time to do lots of praying for this sweet baby and I am reminded of how lucky I am to feel these things as it is a reminder I am carrying life, even when it is hard. I have two very dear friends who are pregnant with me that had SERIOUS nausea and vommiting and my heart breaks for them. I truly think I am too big of a nausea WUSS to endure. I seriously HATE it ya'll. I try not to complain but remember that this is great joy because there are plenty of women who would LOVE to go through the yucks of pregnancy to be carrying life. I am blessed and over all, it has been very smooth.   

Halloween 2014

This was SUCH a fun Halloween! What a difference a year makes, you can see our little gnomes last year here. They couldn't walk, and only could "sign" please for candy to the 10 or so homes that we trick or treated to in our cul de sac. This year we have really been enjoying the season. Every time we drove in the car, we would spot out pumpkins and spiders and fun decorations. There were two spiders in our neighborhood that we purposefully went out of our way to drive by each time coming or leaving our home, the "bis spider" and the "spider in the tree with the kitty who was gonna get him!" They also loved talking about "sister be Minnie and brother be Micky" weeks up to Halloween. I'm not sure they even knew what that meant until we dressed them up for our church's fall carnival. They LOVED being in character and did perfectly keeping on their ears, although we had to tape Jack Henry's on, on Halloween. We trick or treated all around our neighborhood, almost 2 hours worth. They loved every minute but were pooped by the end of the night. They did so good saying trick or treat and thank you to each house and even said "happy halloween." Life is such so much more fun and exciting when your get to live it through the eyes of your children. Jack Henry carries his candy filled "paaaawn-kin" around everywhere, even to the car but likes to keep his candy in his pumpkin :) Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween 2014. Now that Halloween is over, I start incorporating Christmas music into my playlists :) We are definitely anticipating Christmas through their eyes this year! 

Only took some blurry iPhone pics this year...

13 weeks with baby #3...

Hey friends! I wasn't sure how I would capture my weekly bump growth this time around. I felt like the chalkboard thing is kind of done, and tried to think of other fun ways to share this but at the end of the day, so many of you found my blog because of the chalkboard and it just seemed only right to do it all again. I'm thinking this time around the chalkboards might not be as elaborate as I am a momma of two 2 year olds now, but I want this baby to know that they were as special and loved by me as the twins, and deserved a chalkboard of their very own :)
I am excited to say I am 13 weeks along now, which I feel like should be the 2nd trimester but I think it is actually once you have completed 13 weeks that you get to move on to the 2nd. I will do a first trimester in review post very soon but lets just say it has been relatively very smooth, but I am still really ready to go ahead and get out of the first and onto that more pleasant 2nd :) 
I am SHOWING ya'll! Like, earlier than I did with the twins. But they always say you show quicker your second, and lets face it, ya'll watched me grow last pregnancy, so my bump knew how to pop right out with out any hesitation.
Nothing really to report this week, just enjoying each and every minute carrying this sweet babe. 

And I thought it would be fun to compare my pregnancies each week too... 

Finding out I was pregnant...

Finding out I was pregnant with baby #3 was such a joy. I was in the 2 week waiting period and am usually searching for any symptom that might give me hope of good news! It was funny, the month before, when I wasn't pregnant I had a tingly chest, and a super sore tummy, I thought for sure I was pregnant but turns out, that's what getting ready to start my period feels like. This month I felt NOTHING. The only thing that I had read was a common symptom that I had were cold like symptoms. I had a runny nose and the like, just three days past ovulation, which would be before implantation which seems impossible to me, but that was all I had. I felt nothing, until 10 days past ovulation I felt REALLY tired. I think this was the day I implanted because I remember feeling that exhaustion with my miscarriage. I am a serial "early tester." I usually start testing around 9DPO so this time I decided I would wait until 14DPO which would be right around my missed period. 
The night before I decided to test, I felt like a kid on Christmas. I was so excited and nervous, and barley slept all night. I woke around 7 and rushed to our bathroom to test. I seriously felt like it could go either way. I KNEW I was pregnant with my miscarriage but this time I wasn't sure. But I also knew that feeling nothing could be good, since the month before, I had many different symptoms. 
I set a timer on my phone for 3 minutes and set the test to the side while I waited and I closed my eyes and just prayed the whole three minutes. I thanked God for my children and told Him I will praise Him just the same, if I get a negative test. When the three minutes were up, I looked down at the test and BOOM there was that beautiful 2nd line. It wasn't so faint where I had to squint to see it either! I ran in our room and jumped on our bed, where Luke was still laying and starting crying and told him the good news. It was a sweet sweet moment that we will always remember. I called and texted my closest friends and family that day to share in our joy. We are still SO very thankful!

Here's a sweet note Luke wrote on my mirror :)

Getting pregnant the second time around...

I just want to thank all of you sweet friends for all of the encouragement, support and joy that you have shared with us after our announcement this week. We are beyond thrilled and feel so very blessed. 
At the same time, I know friends, that many of you are struggling to get pregnant. You may look at me with two 2 year olds and one on the way and feel like I can't relate to you. And while I know that my road is not the hardest, and I have been so lucky and blessed to be pregnant, I still understand the struggle. I have very close friends who still don't have baby #1 and I know my journey may pale in comparison to many of you readers. But please know, I understand the frustration of waiting longer than you would like and wondering what steps you will have to endure to conceive. I am NOT one of those lucky women who can get pregnant the first month they try. But know that each one of us have struggles in life that are unique in our own stories. Just because you are super fertile doesn't mean you have your whole life together, just as taking me a year to get pregnant seems SO no big deal when I look at my sister in law and best friend, a 38 year old widow and mother of three who I am SURE would love to go through a year of trying in a second in comparison to the unimaginable road she is on. Its all about perspective friends.
With all of that being said, I know those pregnancy announcements that seem to pop up in your news feeds on the daily when you are trying so for a baby can be so hard but please know I will not stop praying for all of you and will rejoice when you one day receive your good news. Please keep sharing with me your stories!   
So many of you know that I have PCOS which you can learn about here. You can read about the beginning of our road to number two and my miscarriage here. Much of the beginning of our story for baby number three is written in my miscarriage story but to give you the rest of the story and to sum it up, I will tell it here...

The day after the twins first birthday was the day we decided we would "not-prevent." I was winding up nursing my twins and still had not had a period. The day after their birthday I got my first period since having the twins which I felt was such confirmation from God, as we were a little scared to start trying so early after having twins, but knew we would regret not trying if it took us a while to get pregnant like with the twins. That period was in August and I got one more in October all on my own but when January came and I still didn't have a period I went to my new OB to discuss options.

Since it had been almost 6 months of trying and still no regular periods we decided to get started on meds. I had to be put on provera which is a 14 day progesterone drug and within 14 days of being off the drug, you get a period. I started on that and then we chose to try Femara, a new drug that is being used to help ovulation happen (lower chance of twins than with my previous clomid.) I got put back on metformin and started my first round of femara and BOOM! I was pregnant. I couldn't believe how fast it was! So I got my period in February and found out I was pregnant in early March but miscarried soon after.
I had to wait a whole cycle to get put back on provera to get a period all over again and this time I took my femera but never got a period, which means I didn't ovulate. 
I then got put back on provera again. This was the hardest part. I feel like if I had a chance every 28 days like most women things would be SO much easier but the waiting to induce a period thing, really stinks. I got a cycle and my doc upped my femara dosage. I was in Louisville (late July) when I was supposed to test and I really felt like I was pregnant. I had all the right symptoms BUT what I didn't know was that I was not pregnant but just PMSing. Since January of 2011, I have only had 3 natural, un-medically induced periods. So I don't really know my body all that well when it comes to knowing when a period is coming and believe me I am in touch with my health and body. During the twins party in Louisville, I started my period. I was sad because I was really hopeful I was pregnant, but I was also excited to get a period because that meant no waiting for an extra month to get a period to try all over again. And sure enough the next cycle I would be pregnant!
To sum this up:
It took 12 months of total trying.
It took 8 months of trying with meds.
It took 4 cycles of meds to get pregnant. 
In the 24 combined months of trying to conceive the twins and baby number 3 I had FOUR chances to be pregnant. That means I ovulated only four times in twenty four months, but the good news is, I got pregnant three out of four of those times. I rejoice that I get pregnant really easily if I can just get the help needed to ovulate.
Each month on femara I had ultrasounds to look at my follicles. With the twins, when I was on clomid I never had ultrasounds, so I will never know how many follicles I had with the twins but each time this time, I had one mature follicle except for the month that I conceived this baby, that month I had two. 

As far as WHAT I did on top of taking the meds to get pregnant....
Eating well and exersizing regularly. Most of you know I lost almost 40 pounds before conceiving the twins and have maintained that loss. I wanted to give my body every chance on its own as well as be at my healthiest for baby. 
DRINK WATER. Tons and tons of water. I hear the more hydrated you are, the plumper your follicles and the more fertile cervical fluid you will have.
Pomegranite juice which is good for your over all uterine health. 
We used preseed (sorry TMI) fertility friendly lubricant. 
And this is KEY and what I really think seals the deal.... 5 days prior to ovulation thru the day after ovulation I took mucinex. You want to make sure the ONLY active ingredient here is guaifenesin. I just bought Target brand and took around the clock. This helps thin your cervicle fluid, making it easier for sperm to travel. My aunt did this after years of infertility and I have recommended it to many friends having a hard time and they have gotten pregnant!
So there you have it I hope that helps those of you who are struggling with fertility. 
Know that God has your story beautifully planned and purposed. I came to realize that while God could make me pregnant at any time, he wasn't CAUSING my infertility. My body is flawed in this area because we lived in a fallen world where there is sickness and sin. When he blesses me with children I know it Him pouring out the magnificent on someone who is sick and sinful. While it may not always be easy, rest in his perfect will and trust Jesus through your waiting and when you see His plan unfold, it will be all the more beautiful. 



 

Big Announcement...

There are no words to express our joy! We are expecting our third baby, due May 8th, 2015. We give God all glory for this blessing we are so undeserving of! I have lots and lots of blog posts to come to sum up these last 12 weeks! Thank you readers for sharing in our joy. 

And BIG thanks to my friend Kayla of Pure Joy Photography for taking this amazing photo. If you are in the DFW area, you have to book her! Check her out HERE