The Details.

{Welcome to the first of what will be many pregnancy posts! I'm documenting this for our journey and totally get that not everyone will care to read, so feel free to skip over it you'd like! If you do read though, know that I'll be honest but will give warnings if I cross into TMI territory! Thanks for being on this journey with us!}

I've been sitting in the same spot on my couch for the last 4 hours and I'm not even embarrassed by it! We've had some crazy busy days and I am so looking forward to being all kinds of lazy this weekend. In the midst of my laziness, I thought, what better time to finally share! Oh my y'all. I have been dying to spill the beans for sometime now, but wanted to keep quiet till we were a little further along.

We have been hoping to start a family for a while now {me longer than Cody!} but things certainly didn't go as I had planned in my mind. If things had worked out like I wanted, I would be sitting on the couch right now ready to pop with a February baby. Luckily, the Lord has a much better plan that I ever could have imagined and knew what truly would be the perfect time for us to start our family. I actually found out on December 29 {my parent's 32nd wedding anniversary!} that I was expecting. We had just come back from the holidays with both our families and I had a slight inkling that I might be pregnant, but there was no way I was going to test around my mom as I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it a secret!

I can't even begin to try and find the words to describe that moment when I found out. After many months of negative tests, I really had my mind prepared for another no. So when the test very quickly popped up and said "PREGNANT" I didn't know how to react. I always assumed I'd start crying, but instead I ran around the house like a crazy woman trying to find another test to confirm.

Cody was at a doctor's appointment, so I actually had a few hours to myself to soak in the news. I went to Walmart, Hobby Lobby and several other places and felt like it had to be written all over my face. I had good intentions of making us a special meal, but once Cody made it home we were both hungry right then, so he headed to go pick up Diary Queen for us. {I know, so fancy!} We ate, watched several shows off of our DVR and finally I knew I couldn't keep it in anymore.

I directed Cody to our tree, where one last present was waiting.

And once he opened it, I was finally able to share a gift I've been holding on to for a really long time:

Bless his heart too, he had such a sweet reaction.  Cody's told me many times over the past few months, "Abby, I'm going to be excited, but there's still probably going to be a part of me that freaks out when you actually get pregnant."  Luckily, there was no freaking out to be found, only excitement from both of us. And the one statement from Cody that I'll never forget:

"I have to be honest, I'm so thankful that it's all going to be on one deductible!"

Yes folks, that sums up my husband to a t!

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We had our first official appointment on January 25.  I am blessed to have such a great doctor here in Abilene, but her greatness is a slight curse, as she is extremely popular and busy. So when we checked in and saw 5 people already in the waiting room, I knew it was going to be a long wait. Once I finished the paperwork, they actually asked if I was ok seeing the Nurse Practitioner so I wouldn't have to wait as long.

I think I actually laughed out loud when I walked into the room and saw the sonogram machine, ready and waiting for our appointment. It just felt so surreal. Looking back on that first appointment isn't really one of my favorite memories at this time. As the NP started the sono, I just remember that I felt like it was taking her an eternity to say anything. She finally said, "Well I found your baby and see the heartbeat." I do remember asking if there was just one, and she finally turned the screen around so we could see. It was then that she explained to us that normally, the baby is usually in the center of the screen, but our baby is in the lower left hand corner and a little hard to see.  She showed us a few other areas, saying, "I am pretty sure that the baby is not in your tubes, but I just can't tell what is going on over here (pointing to the center of the screen) and if there might possibly be a wall dividing it.

She ended up going to grab the doctor to take a look. Once again, it felt like forever as the dr was checking everything out, but she finally told me that it looks like I have a fibroid tumor the size of a lemon in my uterus, which is pushing the baby over to a different spot than it should be. As we asked what exactly that means for my pregnancy, she was great to emphasize that the main issue is that most time, these fibroids cause women to have to have c-sections, because they can either block the way or keep the baby from being able to turn head down. She then explained that her main concern was that the baby was either located in the muscle of my uterus, or was not actually in my uterus at all, {we didn't ask for her to emphasize more on these, nor did we goggle it. we could just tell it was bad.} so she wanted to send me over as soon as possible to see the high risk OB in town. After she left the room, the NP reemphasized some of the complications that the dr covered, but also added that these fibroids can get very, very angry and painful during pregnancy as the baby takes away from it's hormone and blood supply. Then to top it all off, she was holding what we thought was a picture of our baby, but she looks down, says, "Huh, it looks like we didn't get a good picture of your baby. The high risk OB can do that for you." crumples the paper and walks out.

It was all I could do to make it to the car before I broke down crying. There are just no words to describe the feeling in the pit of my stomach. We called our families, cried with them, asked for prayers, and waited. Thankfully the nurse called quickly and let me know my appointment with the High Risk OB was the next morning at 9 am, so at least we didn't have to wait long. Our next appointment was still nerve wracking, but we at least got better news than the day before. Not only did we get to see the baby, hear the heartbeat and get pictures, but the H.R. dr was confident that the baby is at the back of my uterus behind the tumor.  He did confirm that I have a fibroid tumor in my uterus that is actually slightly bigger than a baseball {at the point, the baby was about the size of a raspberry. It is just shocking to see the size difference on the screen.}  We left feeling in much higher spirits than we had the day before.

In the past three weeks since my first appointment, we've actually had about 6 sonograms, appointments, many ups and downs and one trip to the ER that I'll write about later. Yeah, we're meeting that deductible really quick this year! But, I am so thankful to say that I'm 11 weeks, {official due date Sept 2}  the baby is measuring great, and we've had a strong heart beat every time. I've mostly been feeling ok, just the normal tiredness that everyone talks about. I've had some pretty major nausea that has kept me clingy to saltine crackers and Sprites, but praise the Lord I haven't had any morning sickness yet. (Please God! Don't curse me now!)  I really do consider this one of the biggest blessing. My mom had major, major morning sickness with both my brother and I and I've been so afraid it was going to be passed on to me, but it's looking like I was passed by.

We did announce a little earlier than we thought we would, because we are so ready for people to know to be praying not only for a healthy pregnancy, but also that the fibroid will shrink over the course of the coming months. I've got much more to post on, including telling our families and starting the weekly updates, but this post has already gotten super wordy so I'll leave you with Ten  from our last appointment!

{10 weeks 5 days}

{and in case you're wondering, we have nicknamed the baby ten because we're the neins +1!}