Harper Paige is 3 months old!

This week, Harper turned 3 months old! It is hard to believe that she is already growing so much and changing everyday.  Here is a little summary of our lives with this sweet girl over the past 3 months!

1 Month!
For the first few weeks, we had several doctors appointments each week to weigh Harper because she had lost more than the doctors wanted to see and it took awhile to gain back the weight.  Here she is at 1 week old, such a sweet little miracle! Thankfully after about 3 weeks we were able to stop the weigh ins and cleared from the doctor until her 2nd month checkup!  During her first month, Harper loved to snuggle (and still does).  She also loved her swing and I almost think she would stay there all day!

Lots of firsts during this month including:

Harper's first selfie!

And Harper's first wedding!

 

 

2 Months!

Harper is definitely starting to look more like her daddy, I think! She weighed 10 pounds and 10 ounces! She started holding her head up so much better and started tummy time which she likes (for short periods of time)! We love acting silly and trying to make her smile.  She has started "talking" to us now and being very observant!  She loves bath time, but getting out of the bath tub?? Not so much! Mommy also went back to work when she was 11 weeks old which was a big adjustment on us both and we are still working on that! ;-)  It definitely makes all the time I do have with Harper that much more special!

 Nothing much better than a good nap with Dad :-)

 

3 Months!

Our girl is growing so much!!  She loves to be free and kick those sweet, chunky legs around when laying down.  Still smiling and talking when she is happy! Although she does have her moments of being fussy and maybe somewhat "spoiled".  ;-) She is holding up her head very well these days and even tried out the Bumbo seat for the first time! I can't wait to continue watching her grow and play. 



 

 

Harper girl,

Your daddy and I are so in love with you and so blessed to be your parents!!  I thank God everyday for the opportunity to be your mom. These past 3 months have been busy, sometimes tiring, and lots of learning for us as new parents.  Your sweet smile brightens our day!! We are so, so thankful for you and can't wait to watch you grow and learn new things! We love you more than you will ever know!!

 





 

 



Blessed....

It has been quite awhile since I have written an updated post so I think it is about time because we have received the most wonderful early Christmas gift this year!

 

These pictures were taken the morning we were headed to the hospital to by induced, our last time leaving the house as a family of 2.

 

On December 2nd our sweet girl, Harper Paige finally made her grand entrance into this world! She arrived at 6:30 pm, weighing 8 pounds 10 ounces and she was 21 1/2 inches long.  I don't really even have words to explain how grateful and blessed we have been with her arrival and only having her with us for 6 days.  Time is already flying by so I can only imagine how time with continue to pass to quick.  We had lots of family to welcome her into this world and the most wonderful nurses and doctor.  We are truly blessed with this precious little miracle and I still can hardly believe she is mine!

 

 

We have made it through our first week as a family of 3, with all the days running together but we are loving every second with this sweet girl! She has met so many friends and family that have been a blessing, bringing us food and praying for us.  I can't seem to get enough of this sweet baby girl! So thankful that God brought her into our lives at just the right time.

 

 



 

 

Harper,

 Your mom and dad love you more than you will ever know and you have brought so much joy into our lives in only just 1 week.  We are so thankful that God gave you to us at His perfect timing and that you arrived safely and healthy.  A lot of times we just stare at you while you sleep and wonder how we in the world you are ours!? We can't get enough of your sweet snuggles and those big bright eyes! We are looking forward to all the new adventures that you will bring to out lives.  I pray that we will teach you about God's love everyday and that we will be the best parents to you as you grow! We love you baby girl!! 

Almost Halfway There!

I can't believe we are almost at 20 weeks and halfway through this pregnancy! Wednesday will be officially 20 weeks and we are thankful for reaching another milestone with good doctor reports and a healthy baby! Until last week, there wasn't much going on except for my belly that has been growing and growing!! Here is a picture at 18 weeks with baby furniture that was delivered in the background! :-)

We had already painted our spare bedroom before I even found out that I was pregnant with my plans of making it into a "craft" room.  I am so glad that with God's perfect timing we are getting to change this room into a nursery instead.  So we are going with that same color (so I don't have to have CJ paint...again ;-)).  We did get Baby Lewis' furniture put together over the past week or two!! So exciting!!

 

Then last week we had our next doctors appointment, 19 weeks! And thankfully Baby Lewis cooperated and they were able to tell us that SHE was healthy and moving all over the place just like she should be! CJ and I were both in shock to find out that it was a girl because I think I had us both convinced that is was a boy for sure...we had even started discussing and trying to decide on a boy name! All of our friends have had boys over the past few years so I was just sure that we would follow in those footsteps.  But God has something else in store for us and I can't wait to see CJ with a baby girl, already knowing that she will have him wrapper around her tiny little finger.  So now we get to try and agree on a girl name, wish us luck! ;-) And this journey seems so much more real, as we can finally call the baby "she" and can start to picture what we think like will be like with a little girl around! God is really, really good!!

 

Here is one last picture at a little over 19 weeks... We are so blessed for a healthy baby girl and can't wait to hold her in our arms!!



 

We go back to the doctor to check on the little girl at the beginning of August so keep praying that she continues to grow and stay healthy!! See ya next time!



Sixteen Weeks and Growing!

Last week marked the 16th week of pregnancy and we are feeling so blessed to have made it to this point! In just a little over two weeks we will be able to find out the gender of this little one and can then hopefully soon put a name with this sweet little baby!  I had a doctors appointment at 15 weeks and everything continued to look great.  I didn't have an ultrasound, just checking the baby's heartbeat which continues to be around 152-154.  Here is an updated picture of this growing belly :-)  It's a little blurry because of my poor computer skills! ;-)

 

We have ordered baby furniture this week, our first big baby purchase!! Can't believe I was able to even wait this long to buy something for this sweet baby!  We also got the results back from the integrated screenings where they test for neural defects and everything came back normal.  God is realllly good!   That is such a blessing and we are thankful that this baby is healthy!  Hopefully the next few weeks will go by quickly so we can know whether to buy blue or pink! :-)

 

 

This is a side note but June is "Move Over Awareness Month" in Virginia where the state is stressing the importance of moving over for first responders.  Trooper families have been sending in pictures as a way to spread the word so here is our attempt. 



So thankful for all my husband does and how hard he works every day! Even more thankful for every day/night that he comes home to me!!

"For This Child We Have Prayed...."

After what seemed like forever and the loss of two babies, I cannot even accurately describe how I am feeling now that there is a healthy baby on the way to join our family.  We kept this secret (from most people) for 12 weeks which seemed to go by so slowly!! Now we can finally say we have reached the second trimester and there is some sense of relief about this pregnancy.  For the first trimester I had a difficult time getting excited about the idea of a baby because of our past experiences and I didn't want to get my hopes up....again.  But after lots of prayers and what seemed like forever, Baby Lewis will hopefully be making his of her appearance at the beginning of December. 

Thanks to my sweet friend Summer, we were able to take pictures and make this pregnancy "facebook official" last weekend.  She did an amazing job as usual! We were able to put to use the tiny little Sperry's that I quickly had purchased during my very first pregnancy and that had been collecting dust in my closet, just waiting to be able to use them finally.  Here are some of the pictures Summer took for us. 

 

 

We have had wonderful doctors and nurses working with us! Lots of bloodwork which is showing that everything is moving along just perfectly and so far we have had four ultrasounds.  Here are a few pictures of how this little munchkin has been growing over the past 12 weeks.

This is Baby Lewis at 8 weeks...Not much to see but seeing that little heart flutter was enough for me!  Baby's heart rate was 154.

 

9 Weeks.  Baby's heart rate is 174.

 

 

After a little scare, we got this sweet picture at 11 weeks. Everything was just fine!!

 

 

Baby Lewis at 12 weeks.  Moving around all over the place during this ultrasound! We had never gotten to this point with the other pregnancies and could hardly believe what we were seeing during the ultrasound! So thankful for this growing baby!!

 

 

13 Weeks.  I won't be able to hide this belly anymore! ;-)

 

Thank you to everyone that has prayed for us so far and please keep the prayers coming! We are so blessed that God has answered our prayers this far.  I know He has had this perfect plan in store for us all along!  Next doctors appointment is in two weeks!

 

"God's timing is always perfect, never early and never late.  It just takes a little patience and a lot of faith."



 

Life Throws You Curves....

I have been amazed over the past year all of the random dates I have remembered.  Today is one of those dates that brings back so many emotions.  This exact day one year ago I found out that I was pregnant with our first baby.  After 14 months of trying with no luck, I'm sure you can only imagine how excited we both were.  We weren't sure whether to tell people or keep it a secret "just in case".  We did end up telling some of our family and close friends the exciting news never dreaming that a year later we would still be waiting for a healthy miracle baby. 

I have also been amazed at how God has used this opportunity to make me stronger in so many ways that wouldn't have been possible without dealing with these trials.  I have met some of the most amazing people who share a similar story to mine and I have been able to provide some comfort (I hope) to others dealing with the same situation.  I feel like CJ and I have become closer as a couple and we truly cherish all the small things life has to offer.  I have learned (and still working on) patience, thankfulness, and feel like I have a better understanding of what it means to be humble. 

I have come to better understand that as a family we are right where God wants us to be at this point but I'm also trusting that He will bless us with little ones when the time is perfect.  Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us this past year.  It means more to us than you could ever know!

"The moment you are ready to quit is usually the moment right before a miracle happens. Don't give up."

Another Unexpected Adventure....

Here is a little update for those who have been keeping up with our story.  Today I got the results back from the "specialized" bloodwork I had done three weeks ago to determine the cause of the miscarriages.  I honestly felt like everything would come back completely normal, with the past two miscarriages just being a fluke.  But, the results actually came back with an abnormal blood clotting gene.  This gene is called Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (good luck pronouncing that my friends), otherwise known as MTHFR.  It sounds like there are treatments for this gene mutation which could include blood thinner injections, baby aspirin and/or increasing my folic acid levels.  I don't know much about the mutation other than I will be meeting with a genetic counselor to figure it all out.  This will also mean that once I do get pregnant again, it will be considered a high risk pregnancy.  I am thankful there are specialized doctors in this field.

I am not quite sure how I feel about actually have something abnormal show up in my bloodwork.  I knew it would be frustrating for them not to find anything wrong at all but probably in a way would have also been relieved that there was not an issue that needed to be addressed.  Now this brings a whole new level of stress, emotions and questions.  But for whatever God thinks I can handle it, so here we go.

Dealing with infertility and pregnancy loss is emotionally exhausting....and after two years, this girl is so very tired.

Thanks for reading and we would certainly appreciate any prayers as we begin this next adventure.

"God has perfect timing; never early and never late.  It takes a little patience and whole lot of faith." 

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord.  "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."