July 30, 2014 "Rex"

Our visit to UNC Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Rex for a prenatal genetic counseling and high risk consultation was interesting. We met with Dr. Goodnight for about 45 minutes. He discussed all the different tests they could perform from blood work to amniocentesis. Michael and I decided to do the Harmony blood test because it was less invasive than an amnio. It would even tell us the gender of the baby! In order to do the test Dr. Goodnight said he must first perform an ultrasound to look for abnormalities in the babies neck. Oh boy! Another ultrasound! Michael and I enjoyed seeing the baby flip around and around. He/she was so active. Dr. Goodnight stated that all looked good and they didn't even see any signs of a fibroid cyst. Things were looking up all the time.

Now we just have to wait for the genetic counselor to call us back with the test results. Of course, with two boys we are really hoping for a girl. But we are praying for a healthy baby more than anything else. We came home and I went to tell our church family the news. 

July 17, 2014 Initial prenatal visit

I went to Dr. Grays office for an initial prenatal visit. Although he did a little ultrasound July 7th, he could not seem to find it in his computer. He had to do another ultrasound, which was fine with me.
 
All seemed fine, but he was concerned about a fibroid cyst he found in my uterus. My age, 41, and B12 deficiency, were also cause for alarm. So, Dr. Gray decided we might need to go to Rex to have some genetic testing done. Yes, I was a little nervous so I started researching genetic testing on the Internet. We decided it was time to tell the rest of the family. Michael's mother, Linda, was in SC helping take care of her sister so we traveled there to tell her and Glenn together on July 19. We drove on down to Alabama to tell Michael's brother, Jeffery, as well. I also visited my side of the family that weekend. July 27- we had dinner with our best friends to tell them the news. Everyone seemed so excited and happy. I was still in shock I believe. This certainly wasn't what we thought empty nest syndrome would look like!

4th of July Fireworks!

Yes! I had successfully lost 20 pounds. I was ready for our family cruise. Even though I had been feeling sick, weak, and nauseous for about a month I thought it was all due to the stress of a very hectic school year and sending both our boys away to college.  After returning from a wonderful family cruise to the Bahamas, of which I was sick most of the time, Michael and I decided to take a pregnancy test. Michael and I have two fabulous boys, Justin (22) and Alex (18). I have been taking birth control pills since Alex was born so the thought of being pregnant was almost silly but we took a test anyway just to rule it out. July 3-We took a pregnancy test that night. The test was positive! I really didn't believe it, and seeing as there were two tests in the box, I waited to take the second test in the morning. July 4- After waiting wide awake all night I took the second test, positive! "No way!" I started thinking something had to be wrong! Seeing as it was the 4th of July holiday weekend we couldn't really go see the doctor and didn't want to alarm any of our family until we knew what was going on. I started searching on the Internet, like everyone would! I found that they now have digital pregnancy tests. So Michael and I went searching for one. July 5- We took the digital test and it revealed that we were more than 3 weeks pregnant! I could not believe this! July 7- I was sitting in my OBGYN's parking lot at 8:30. I waited all day, no kidding! (Dr. Gray had three emergency C-sections) My mind was going 100 mph. When the doctor finally arrived I called Michael. We saw Dr. Gray about 3:00. He stated that we were pregnant and he really couldn't explain how. I could not believe it so I made him prove it to me. I thought it had to be cancer, or pregnant in the tubes. Anything but pregnant! To calm me down he decided to do an ultrasound. He stated it was probably too early to see anything but he would try. As soon as he touched the camera to my stomach we could see the baby! He even stated that I was farther along than he thought. I was 8 1/2 weeks! How could this be? I've been taking birth control pills for 18 years! We had a family meeting with Justin and Alex later that night. It took a little while to convince them that this was true, but eventually they were holding my hands with their heads on my shoulders. The only thing we could figure is this little child must be meant to be and must have an awesome reason for defying the odds and coming to the world anyway.