Guess What??

Today I'm exactly 28 weeks! Whooo-hoooo!!!!

That means 90% chance survival rate, and less than 20% chance that anything would be wrong with her if she would be born right now. (Which she won't be!)

Many of you knew that 28 weeks was the next milestone that I've been shooting for, so I am SOOOO thankful to be here!

This also means that for the first time ever, I am now in the THIRD TRIMESTER of pregnancy! LOVE it!

Mike and I have really loved feeling her move late at night lately. Actually, forget feeling, we can see her move and roll just by watching my belly. We are amazed at how active and on-the-move she is when she's awake. Last night, I laughed and said I thought she might have "restless leg syndrome." :) Or maybe Daddy's ADHD. (He does't really have that, although I've diagnosed him with it! ;)

So here's to the THIRD TRIMESTER!! Thanks for your prayers and to God for getting us this far. We would appreciate your prayers for continued safety for both this baby and myself. Ideas are also being tossed around about how and when the next c-section should be scheduled. There are a lot of factors that go into it, so we would also really appreciate prayers for that as well!

Thanks and love to all!

(Love this song, by the way...can you hear it? Although she will never be "the only one." Tyler will always be a part of our family too.)

Our Baby Girl

I am so happy to get to share this picture with all of you! Words can't even describe how amazing it is to see her on the screen during the ultrasounds. Yesterday, Mike and I just held hands and laughed as we watched her wiggle and squirm in 4-D during the appointment. She has already brought us SO much joy, and we thank God every day for that!



And I have to give a big thank you to our friend Jen, who is also my sister Melissa's neighbor, who so kindly and creatively designed the above picture. Thank you, Jen!

This Moment

I have been savoring the many precious moments I have had so far with this Baby Girl of mine. From the moment I found about I was expecting her, to the unforgettable moments we shared the joy of that news with our family and friends. Then the moments of the pregnancy becoming real...feeling the nausea and the extra tiredness; yes, I even treasure those moments. Then the AMAZING times of feeling her move and kick so early at 14 weeks, followed by that exciting moment where we watched the ultrasound screen to see if we were having another son or a daughter.

And we found out it was you, Baby Girl. And we've been calling you by name since...

Soon following were the down moments as well, trips to the hospital due to hyperemisis and contractions; but even in that there was still the good. Hearing her amazingly strong heartbeat on the monitor that sounded like a horse galloping through the hospital room. It was worth the trip for me just to hear that.

And then recently, there was the follow-up appointment to check on what-appeared to have been my premature shortening cervix. During that appt, a friend of mine held my hand and I know she was silently praying with me for good news while we waited.

And good news we got that day. All was well- Thank you, God.

But right now, this is such a special moment as I type this for a completely different reason.

Last pregnancy, our precious baby boy Tyler was born while I was 24 weeks and 5 days pregnant, at 12:13 am.

I started writing this as I am 24 weeks, 5 days pregnant, at 12:14 am.

I have prayed for this moment.

Right now, with each passing second, minute and hour, I am further along than I have ever been...and I expect to keep treading these new waters in my pregancy in the next weeks and months.

I am in a place in my pregnancy where I have never been before, and I am SO happy to be here.

SO happy for this moment...

And so thankful to the God who has brought me here.

"Dear Lord, thank you for this moment. Please continue to protect this little girl of mine and keep her safe inside of me. Protect my body until it is safe for her to join us, and live a healthy life with us. Tell Tyler we love him. Amen."

Good news!

Sorry this update has taken me so long to post! I don't do much sitting up these days, and Mike needs the laptop at school for football during the week...

Anyway! I was so anxious for that appointment...had NO idea what news I might hear. Before checking measurements, the ultrasoumd tech checked the baby out first. She looked SOOO cute, and I have the sweetest 4-D ultrasoumd picture of her little face. That part was very emotional for me!

Then the ultrasound tech checked measurements, and all checked out fine after all!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, God!!! Can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that. That relief will not even compare to the relief I will feel when Baby Girl is safely here though!

So, I'm officially 24 weeks now! My next goal is to get to 28 weeks. Please help to pray us there!

Thank you so much for your prayers, thoughts, and support!!!

Please Pray

We just got back from our weekly check-up. We are seen by our high-risk dr on a weekly basis with this pregnancy. They specifically measure the cervical length to make sure it is not shortening. It's been good all along, measuring right around 3.6 cm. But today it measured at 2.6 cm. We were not happy about that at all, and of course it makes these days very scary for us. The doctor wants to see us back on Friday to check the length again.

I still have random and infrequent contractions, so please pray that they stop in case they are causing my cervix to shorten.

Some of you already know this, but this is the exact week in my pregnancy with Tyler when we went into preterm labor. It is already a scary week for us, and we weren't expecting this news today. I remember when I had to go into the ER around 19 weeks due to contractions. I was wanting so badly to just be here nearing 24 weeks, and it just felt like a lifetime away. Some of you offered to specifically pray me through to that first milestone that I had set.

And now I'm here, and I am soooo thankful for that.

I would appreciate it SOOO much if you could pray that things will look good during Friday's check-up. Then my next milestone that I'm shooting for is 28 weeks. I am confident that we can get there! With God's help and with prayer, we are going to get this little girl there!

Thanks more than words for your prayers!!

Love to all,
Mike, Jenn, and Baby Girl

Our Baby GIRL

That's right! A few weeks ago we found out that we are expecting a girl! We are very excited, but we really had no preference either way. We already have her named, but we'll announce that after she arrives. I LOVE the name!! I have to tell you that I have the cutest little profile pic of her that will be posted soon!

I am so happy to be almost 21 weeks now! I really hope the next few weeks fly by! I always knew being pregnant again would have its hard/scarey times as we near the point when we had preterm labor with Tyler. And of course, along with the joys, we have experienced that. I randomly have contractions, sometimes several an hour, that send us to the hospital. Although the hospital trips are tiring, we would much rather stay on the safe side. They are usually able to get the contractions quickly under control with IV fluids. Honestly, we rarely tell anyone when we are enroute to the hospitl these days, as I hate to drag everyone on the roller coaster every time.

I share that with you now for one reason...will you please join us in praying that our sweet little girl stays put for a long while yet, and does not join us until her little body is prepared to? I can't even explain how much those prayers mean to me and Mike. Considering what we've been through, it's just a scarey time for us.

With that in mind, I'm closing this post with the verse I heard on the radio soon before finding out I was pregnant. It's a verse that brings me much peace that I remind myself of again and again...

"Forget the former things; Do not dwell on the past. See? I am doing a NEW thing!"

Isaiah 43:18-19

Will You Please Try???

Where do I even begin? My sister Melissa is in increasing pain from the growing tumor and lymphoma. She sounds weak when I speak to her on the phone...possibly from the pain, or the pain meds, or the lymphoma itself, or a combination of the three. She said she literally feels like she is waiting for a new heart or a new lung....that's what it is like to be dependent on the generosity of donors.

I'm not just trying to encourage you to join the National Bone Marrow Registry because it's a wonderful, humanitarian thing to do.

I'm asking you this because I don't want to lose my sister.

Out of the 7 million people in our country on the registry, only ONE appears right now to be a possible match for her. And that's not even definite yet. Her nurse just told me that yesterday.

THAT is why it's so imporant that I get tons more people to join for her sake right now.

Most people hesitate to become a donor because they think either--
a) it's painful (No pain involved--it's a simple cheek swab.)
b) it's complicated (It's 30 seconds on the internet. We easily spend 30 minutes just here on blogs or email.)

Here is the SIMPLE process:
1) Go to www.marrow.org
2) Click on "Join Registry"
3) It will ask you to agree to terms, give your name, email address, create a password, and give your mailing address.
4) They will mail you a cheek swab kit. You collect the cells and mail it back in.

Once they receive and test your sample, it AUTOMATICALLY goes into the system. Then it is immediately checked to see if it is a match. If you have any questions at all, call 1-800- Marrow2. They are very kind and helpful there. Feel free to message me too.

The registration process usually costs $50 for that initial testing, but is FREE now until June 22nd.

There will never be any other cost for you. If you are a match for my sister, her insurance will cover it.

Please take a moment to do this for my sister...
for her husband who is so in love with her...
for her 3 smaill kids who need their mommy...
for the rest of us, as her family and friends, who want nothing more but to have more years with her.

Thank you BEYOND words...

Jenn