"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give her him to the LORD. For his whole life she he will be given over to the LORD.”
I Samuel 1:27-28
Lord forgive me for changing the pronouns to fit our situation :)
It's so hard to believe that a year ago we were preparing for this journey just HOPING and PRAYING that it would result in a precious baby. I never would have imagined that we would be blessed with the sweetest angel! I wanted to take a look back over the past year just to remind myself of what we went through to bring us to where we are today...so here goes....
October 2, 2011 I received an expensive box FULL of needles, hormones, medications, gauze pads, alcohol swabs, etc., etc., etc., that would forever change our lives.
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| More than $2,000 worth of medications, needles and supplies |
October 9, 2011 our IVF protocol begins: injections, injections and more injections!
October 19, 2011 our Egg Retrieval is scheduled. The mommy's part is pretty invasive and includes doping me up with Propofol to sedate me prior to the procedure followed by inserting an 8" needle inside of me in order to retrieve as many eggs as they possibly could. Many prayers were said for enough healthy eggs which would then be injected to form embryos.
October 24, 2011, we sat (well I laid) in a little waiting room at REACH staring at this picture wondering if one or both of these little embryos might be "sticky" enough to latch on and become our son or daughter.
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| Our sweet little Embryos ready for 5 day transfer - I wonder which one is Nicolette! |
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| We are "patiently" waiting for our transfer! |
October 31, 2011 - while at our annual neighborhood Halloween get together I mentioned to the Italian that I really was not feeling well. Feeling nauseous and not wanting to eat anything - not the pizza at the party and not even a bite of Halloween candy (for those who don't know me well, that is not like me at all...I don't turn down pizza OR candy). Looking back I now see that this was a sign of the morning sickness to come.
November 4, 2011 - I waited and waited for a phone call from REACH to confirm whether or not we were in fact "pregnant". I received the call while at lunch with co-workers so they were the first to know...even before daddy! I called the Italian from the restaurant and I went home that night and bought a test just so that I could finally see the POSITIVE results for myself! After years of seeing Negative, Not Pregnant, Frowny Faces, Minus Signs, this was like a sweet victory!
We were thrilled and excited however the waiting was not over as Dr. Katz and team wanted to ensure that my HcG levels continued to rise at the correct rate and we were blessed to have rates that TRIPLED! Our baby was here to stay!!!
November 23, 2011 - Our first ultrasound at REACH when we saw our little hummingbird for the first time with her heart rate of 150 beats per minute. Still continuing daily progesterone injections.
December 7, 2011 - Graduation Day - we had our second ultrasound at REACH and sweet little girl's heartbeat was racing at 170 beats per minute. I even got to see her dance on the screen! Daddy unfortunately had to miss it due to his own Dr's appointment. We got our "graduation present" from REACH ~ a "Made in Charlotte" Onesie and orders to stop my progesterone injections and were placed back in the capable hands of Dr. Bale - my OB. I'm down 14 lbs from my pre-IVF weight and Dr. Katz writes a prescription for Zofran and threatens to put me in the hospital for IVs if I don't take it. I oblige :) (and it helps - not cures, but helps). Finally given the ok to discontinue progesterone injections...it made me super nervous to stop (just because everything was going so well with them, what if that was the "glue" holding everything together?) thankfully everything went perfectly!
December 19, 2011 - Our first appointment with Dr. Bale...sad not to have an ultrasound (as I had gotten so used to having one every time I went to REACH). But we were able to hear the sweet baby's heart beat! Still taking Zofran and never would have made it through our drive to Connecticut for Christmas with the Randazzo's without it. Still not much of an appetite, but finally finished losing weight for a while.
January 17, 2012 - We have a "bump sighting" - makes me giggle now that I thought that I was getting HUGE when this photo was taken at 15 weeks :)
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| 15 weeks |
February 14th, 2012 - We have our Anatomy Scan and the tech and doctor both agree that everything looks GOOD! Praise the Lord. At this point only our ultrasound tech, doctor and the oh so talented Cake Lady Jill know if the little hummingbird is a boy or girl....
February 22th 2012 - 20 weeks and the Bump is GROWING
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| 20 weeks |
February 24th, 2012 - Nicolette's first party - her Gender Reveal Party! We were so happy to be surrounded by friends and family as we found out that we were welcoming a sweet little GIRL into our lives!!!!
March 4th, 2012 - Nicolette gets to meet the First Lady. While working on a very high profile fundraising event for the upcoming Democratic National Convention being hosted in Charlotte the Secret Service and White House Advance teams were nice enough to schedule in a few moments for us to chat with the First Lady and have a photo taken. She asked several questions about Nicolette and my pregnancy.
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| Nicolette meets the First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) |
March 28th - 25 weeks
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| 25 weeks |
April 2012 - what a difference 2 weeks makes!!!!
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| 29 weeks |
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| 31 weeks |
April 22nd - Baby Shower with my work family
June, 2012 - funny to see how it changes depending on how and where she's curled up from week to week!
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| 35 weeks |
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| 36 weeks |
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| 37 weeks |
June 3rd - Baby Shower with my TopCat Sisters
June 23rd - Baby Shower hosted by one of my dearest friends, Laura
July 4th - my last HDBD - we went to a cookout at our friends'/neighbors' house. I had been feeling a little tired but still pretty good. Little did I know that I would be in LABOR shortly afterwards.
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| 39 weeks |
July 5th, 2012 - you can read the full birth story
here but to make a long story short, my contractions began shortly after midnight on July 5th and I labored at home until nearly 8:00pm that evening. Less than an hour after arriving at the hospital, sweet Nicolette was in my arms!
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I was still in awe at this point - I couldn't believe that less than an hour
after arriving at the hospital I had this sweet little person in my arms! |
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| Gosh, she's beautiful!!!!! |
July 7, 2012 - Welcome Home Nicolette...
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| Welcome Home Nicolette! |
...and they all lived HAPPILY EVER AFTER!
THE END*
*which is actually its own new beginning...
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