Safe in His Arms....

We have been so overwhelmed, humbled, and overjoyed at the number of people who have prayed for all of us. Our world had a complete turn of events last Thursday. I slipped down some stairs and landed flat on my bottom that morning. I thought nothing of it because I was not in any pain. I called Joseph on my way home from work and he suggested I call my doctor. I am SO thankful that I did. I was not expecting to hear that I needed to go to the hospital, but we went ahead and went. I was hooked up to several monitors and was not expecting to hear the word "contractions". Although I was not having any, they were concerned they might begin since I had fallen and my uterus had been jarred. I tested positive for fetal cells being mixed with mine. There was a concern that since I am positive, if she were negative my body would fight her off. But, it appears she is positive since she looks perfect from every doctor visit. The doctor did an ultrasound in the hospital and there was no tear in my placenta, which was fantastic news! I was sent home on bedrest until Monday to prevent contractions.

Well...Friday contractions began. I was a nervous wreck. I went back to the hospital and was put on medicine to take every 4 hours to stop them. The doctor then told me to not go back to work until I had been cleared after I saw her Wednesday.

We had another scare (it continues), on Monday afternoon. I thought I was leaking amniotic fluid so she told me to come in the next day. The ultrasound showed there was a lot of AF around her and she was perfectly healthy and normal. I had a contraction during the ultrasound because the doctor commented on it when she came in. That evening when I went home I began having very intense pains that had me doubled over. I was better the next day and did not have many contractions.

Today, I called my doctor (again) because I was experiencing those really bad pains. I am very confused now as to what is a true contraction, a Braxton-Hicks contraction, or just muscle ligament pains. To me they have all felt the same. She told me that because I had two laporascopies so closely together and so much scar tissue, when the muscles stretch it will cause doubled over pain. She told me to stop worrying and to relax. She assured me that all the ultrasounds and tests run have shown that Ady is perfect and very healthy. The contractions I've been having have not caused a change in dilation. She did, however, tell me to continue the medicine to stop the contractions. I was not aware of this-but she told me that some women have contractions start about now and they don't deliver for 16 weeks or more because the contractions are not very strong. When she said, "your worrying may cause more contractions", I began to listen up a little more closely. I have become such a worry wart the past few days (well I already was one....) because I just want her to be okay. Ady is a miracle and we tried so long for her. She was a pleasant surprise after being told we'd never have a baby. So any cramp, contraction, unusual feeling I have, I begin to worry. I am resting in the promise that she is safe in Jesus' arms. He loves her so much more than we do and He has a plan for her. We just have to trust that.

"Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.
For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name." Psalm 33:20

On a wonderfully lighter note, here are some pictures of my precious little Ady. We got to see her face in 4D. When I have my next ultrasound on June 9th, she will have more "fat" and we'll get an even better picture. She is so beautiful :)

This is a side profile of her face. If you look closely you can see her ear, her forehead and her arm up over her face.

In this picture, she has her knees bent all the way up. You can see her eyes, nose, and mouth.

Waving hello to the world!

And this is just precious. She is SMILING! As soon as the tech said, "Oh look! She's smiling!" She stuck out her tongue. She is also incredibly active and every ultrasound or doppler check, someone makes a comment about how wild she is! The next picture is just a little closer of this one. I just love it :)

Ribbons and Curls

Well we are not sure Ady will have curls, but chances are great that she will :) One thing is for sure. This precious little girl will have plenty of ribbons all around her. Here are pictures of the updated nursery. Minus the changing table (we were going to get that last weekend, than I was put on bed rest) and the cute pink and white polka dot chair that should be delivered in 2 weeks! Woo!





I am not sure she will need any clothes once she gets here. Looks like she has a closet like her mother's already!

The fun just keeps on coming!

The belly at 16 weeks! The belly at 17 weeks. Feeling like a HIPPO already! I am having SO SO SO SO SO much fun planning for her room. We ordered her crib yesterday: We also called our friend who painted our entire house last summer. He told us he'd paint the baby's room for us when we were ready. He was very excited when we called yesterday and said as soon as we're ready-he'll be there to paint. I have to get the swatch of fabric from my mom so we can find the PERFECT pink and then we'll go buy pink and call our friend to paint. I'm ready to get this room finished so I can sit in it and dream of my little miracle for hours and hours! My mom is making her bedding. It is going to be pink/white seersucker with baby green/white polka dot ribbon sewed on the border of the quilt. She's making the dust ruffle, bumper, curtains, diaper stacker. She is so talented. I am going to get her initials monogrammed on the quilt too. I found this yesterday online and can NOT pass it up: http://www.ivgstores.com/IVG2/Y/ProductID-132882-.htm

Grammy also bought Ady her very first baby doll: I've also registered for most things at Target and Babies R Us. This is what happens when you're plan ahead Polly. Ady's room SHOULD BE COMPLETE before school gets out for summer. This way when I really am a hippo and tired and miserable, I can just sit in her room and enjoy and not have to worry about anything but taking care of my sweet pea, Ady!

It's a GIRL!

I have officially become a very bad blogger. A lot has gone on and there hasn't been much time to blog. I had a GREAT time in Destin with my friend Heather. We got lots of sun and did some serious relaxing :) But, the BIG news is we are going to welcome ADY!!!!!!!! It's a GIRL! It was the hardest secret I ever had to keep. We found out on a Tuesday and couldn't tell until Saturday at our party. My mom's face was priceless. She was so excited. I had convinced her (without trying) that it was a boy! The party was a HUGE success! A lot of thanks to my mom for helping come up and cut up the food and help clean my house. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it, but it was oh so worth it! Here are some pictures to recap :

With Tatay and Biggie :)

Mom watching to find out!
Caden cutting the BOY balloons because it's a GIRL!

We are just so excited to welcome Adyline Margaret. She is named after the most precious and godly woman that I know, my Tatay, Margaret Kimbrough. I hope she will grow to appreciate how strong her name is and the family that she comes from-a LONG legacy of truly devoted Christians. Come on September! I'm ready to see my baby girl :)

The countdown is on!

I have gone way too long without posting. Time has just flown by. We've been so busy with a lot of things that I just haven't taken the time to post. We had another ultrasound done on Thursday, March 11th. Little sweet pea was just sound asleep but that heart was beating so strong! We couldn't get him/her to move, but that heartbeat was enough :)

I have officially lost my shopping stamina. I feel great out of this first trimester, but the tiredness remains. After a weekend of some serious shopping (and I mean serious)-I started on Wednesday and then finally ended up yesterday, I was exhausted at the end of each night. Today I have been even more worn out. But...so worth it. I bought a lot of cute unisex clothes for baby and even cleaned out and organized the baby's closet. It's sad that I plan ahead this much!

I've been busy planning away for the gender revealing party we're having on April 10th. I have ordered the most adorable balloons ever for the party and can't wait to see them. Already made a list for the food that we need. Invitations were mailed last week and turned out so so so cute! Now just waiting on the date to get here! The jury is still out on whether or not Joseph and I will wait until that date. Our appointment is for that Thursday, the 8th. He wants to wait and open the envelope up with all our friends and family. I, of course, want to know that day. I can't imagine having an envelope in my home for over 24 hours and not being tempted to opening it. Regardless, it will be such a surprise to the wonderful friends and family we've invited to share in our happiness.

I can't believe how close we are to finding out. It seems just like yesterday that 16 weeks seemed like a lifetime away. Now-it's just around the corner! This time next year Sweet Pea will be 6 months old! It still doesn't seem real to me. I've had 3 ultrasounds and still find it hard to believe. I'm sure this is all so normal. And especially since I was told it would never happen. I still find myself pinching myself at times. I did it today when I finished in the baby's closet. I went to close it and opened it back up again. I saw diapers, wipes, clothes hanging, bibs, stuffed animals and the thought really came to my mind, "Is this serious???"

I'm gearing up for a busy week at work with lots to finish up at home, but a very relaxing break next week with my friend Heather. We're headed to Destin on Saturday with the hopes of lots and lots of sun!!!!! I had to check with my doctor and make sure it was ok to travel. She said as long as I stop every 2 hours to walk around I will be fine-just don't want me to get any blood clots. I went up to Cincinnati with my mom on Friday and started having horrible leg cramps. We might have to up it to every hour and 1/2. Luckily Heather is very patient and we're not really on any timetable! We'll get back later Saturday evening with Easter the next morning. Then that week we find out what baby is! It will be here SOOO fast!

I'm learning that I can't do it all. For those of you who know me well, you know I plan my meals out a week in advance. I organize what needs to be bought at the grocery and even make a grocery list to have ready when I come back from Destin (it's called OCD, I think). I cook, clean, wash, bake, and repeat. I don't take much time to sit down. I'm learning that it's ok to not have everything perfect. I know it will take me a while but it will be worth it. I have to learn to say "no".

The names are still set in stone: Adyline Margaret for a girl or Baker Newman for a boy. The cribs are the same as posted earlier, but bedding is still up in the air. For a boy I'm thinking of painting the room blue and using black and white polka dots for more of a simpler look. For a girl....I just still don't know. And as you know I think it will be a boy :) These are a few hunches friends/family have:
Me-Boy
Joseph-Girl
Mom-Girl
Dad-Boy
Caden-Girl
Tatay-Girl
Joanna-Girl
Valerie-Boy
Kelsey-Girl
The Nauert's-Boy

We will see in only 18 days!