12 Weeks Blessed

Today is the day that I wish we were announcing our pregnancy. We are 12 weeks today, but given that it's April Fool's and I have a HUGE problem with pregnancy announcement jokes, I have refrained. But it's been SO HARD. Oh. So. Hard. Because this is literally the best secret ever.

I posted a status on fb today & I've gotten so many beautiful, supportive messages from people I've NEVER met saying they're praying for me. If you're reading this, you have no idea how much you've blessed me today. I hope you're not offended by my pregnancy announcement today after posting such yesterday. Though pregnant, I still remember the heartache of April Fools past, and I still long to raise awareness for infertility and the men and women still in the middle of their battle. I have not given up on you, and I will NOT stop talking about it.

Onto little baby perfection. I got to see my little precious today!! It was our first trimester screen which consists of an ultrasound and a blood test. The ultrasound looked great, but little baby Lipsey (Clinkscale, if you'll remember) is an acrobat!!! Clinkscale was moving SO MUCH we had a hard time getting pictures of him/her. He/she was literally JUMPING. He/she put his/her little feet on my uterine wall and took off! JUMPING!! I'm also pretty certain there was some twerking happening at some point. Because of this act I will ask that everyone try not to buy my baby teddybears because I do not want a little Miley Cyrus on my hands. Please and thank you. Clinkscale is his/her mother's child and was very agitated with being disturbed by the US wand. There was kicking, smacking, and head butting at the wand when Clinkscale was prodded. Our US tech was cracking up and said it was the most entertaining ultrasound she had seen in a long time! That's Mommy's baby!! I'm so very blessed, but sad I didn't get my little gymnast/swimmer extraordinaire on video!

 

How far along: 12 weeks, 0 days (measuring 12w1d, little overachiever)

Gender: Mama is sticking with boy in spite of the elevated heart rate (161) 

Weight gain: +0.8lbs...apparently we are fluctuating

Maternity clothes: My mama bought me some, but I'm still in regular clothes + belly band 

Stretch marks: No

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Knock on wood it's been better this week!

Best moment this week: Seeing my precious miracle via US!! 

Miss anything: Not that I can think of

Movement: Baby is moving like a wild child, but I can't feel it yet 

Cravings: Whatever you're having still.  

Queasy or sick: No! I am blessed!

Looking forward to: Announcing my miracle!!! AHHH!! Roughly 12 more hours!

Thanks for praying with me and blessing my heart, friends. I love you!
Hannah


11 weeks bumpdate!

Hello all! Mama & Clinkscale here, reporting in at 11 weeks, 2 days! Nothing major going on this week aside from the fact that I'm down to 5 more shifts at the hospital and Clinkscale is doing some serious development in utero. From what I read Clinkscale is growing fingernails and tooth buds...here's hoping he/she isn't born with teeth because Mama really wants to breastfeed without getting bit! He/she is the size of a lime!

This week I peed in a little cup that supposedly told me Clinkscale's gender! I'm not sure it's accurate, but Aunt Tab gave it to us, so we used it! It said to wait 5 minutes to read the test, but mine immediately turned the color of fresh stomach bile from a patient with a small bowel obstruction, so I knew the answer was boy.

In other news, I got a belly band! This morning I couldn't comfortably button my jeans and breathe simultaneously, so I knew it was time. Oddly I have lost weight instead of gained, but I can still tell a difference in my abdomen...I'll let you be the judge based on photos.

I also tried on bathing suits today, which made me painfully aware of the changes Clinkscale has made on my body. My breasts no longer fit in anything you could call "cute," and I certainly can't wear anything that doesn't have an XL in the tag. I took a picture, but I really don't think it's appropriate to share with the world at large, so I'll keep it to myself. My darling Meghan had a good time laughing at/with me, it was surely a reality slap! And we're only getting bigger from here!!! I'll take it though, any day of the week. What a blessing my swollen body is! I am thankful!

Without further rambling, I give you week 11:

 



How far along: 11 weeks, 2 days

Gender: Mama and Intelligender (thanks Aunt Tab) say boy!

Weight gain: -1.5lbs but I don't know how

Maternity clothes: Won't be long, Mama's got a belly band!  

Stretch marks: No

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: Maybe a little better this week. I woke up last night from 0315-0430, but I didn't work today so I was able to catch up.
 

Best moment this week: Bathing suit shopping, it was nice to be able to see the changes Clinkscale is making in my body...a reminder that he/she is really there! Also I took the Intelligender test which confirmed my suspicion that Clinkscale is a boy...if it's accurate:)

Miss anything: Copious amounts of caffeine, mostly

Movement: From what I read baby is moving, but I can't feel it.

Cravings: Everything. Sometimes Zaxbys, sometimes Chinese. It varies.

Queasy or sick: No! I am blessed!

Looking forward to: First trimester screen and ultrasound next Tuesday, 4/1/14, I can't wait to see my little bitty miracle again!

Can't wait to share our big news with yall, it's almost time!!!

XOXO,
Hannah

Mom & Clinkscale reach week 10!

Hello all!

Today is 10 weeks into our official journey as parents!! And, coincidentally, I have 10 more shifts left as a med-surg nurse!! After the day I had yesterday, the latter seems more immediately exciting. Not sure I should admit that, but yesterday was truly horrendous...this may be why mama looks SO tired in this week's picture.

I read somewhere that at 10 weeks gestation the miscarriage risk decreases to 3%. Because of this I can breathe a sigh of relief, and I also find it remarkably more difficult to keep this secret. We will overcome the silence though, and hopefully be able to tell you in about 2 weeks!

How far along: exactly 10 weeks

Gender: Mom is still sticking with boy, Dad still doesn't know

Weight gain: 0, I think? I haven't weighed myself. I feel fatter, so I'll just stick with that

Maternity clothes: Not yet, but I'm almost exclusively in scrubs, so who knows 

Stretch marks: No

Belly button in or out: In

Sleep: What is this sleep you speak of? Between the million bathroom breaks and the wild, vivid, sometimes inappropriate dreams, I don't sleep anymore. Couple that with the anxiety I have toward my job, I've been awakening between 0345 & 0400 every morning I have work. This morning (my ONE day off) I woke super early, but I was able to go back to sleep and rest a little. You know you're pregnant when you dream about BOGO bakery treats and double fisting them, your 2 year old niece singing wrecking ball, and simultaneously punching someone while putting gum in their hair. Thanks, little Clinkscale, Mommy thinks your imagination is as vivid and crazy as her's.

Best moment this week: I've been working a lot this week, so my best moment is that I'm still pregnant in spite of the insane stress. Also coming home Saturday evening to find my precious husband cooking both dinner and breakfast and having laundered my scrubs...he sure knows how to make me feel special and cherished.

Miss anything: SLEEP.

Movement: From what I read baby is moving, but I can't feel it.

Cravings: Whatever you're having. Seriously. And by you I mean in real life (even cafeteria food at work?), on TV, and in pictures. I want all the food.

Queasy or sick: No! I am blessed!
 

Looking forward to: Going home for the weekend for a 5K and a pregnancy announcement photo session! You'll get to see those as soon as we hit 12 weeks!

XOXO,
Hannah

Week by Week

Now that the big secret is out, I want to share the photos I've taken in the meantime. I wish I had done a blog post for each week, but I'll catch up now and do them every week from now on.

Here's a picture from the day we found out (February 14, 2014), we thought we were closer to 6 weeks, but it turns out we were only 5 so the board isn't 100% accurate!

That day we were shocked and ecstatic and not even sure what to do!! So we had some dinner, bought What to Expect When You're Expecting, and bought a marker board to document the occasion!

 

7 Weeks

February 27 we FINALLY got to go to the doctor and get a little peek at our little miracle. Little bit was confirmed to be 7 weeks and 2 days old that day. I don't have a picture of my belly (it hadn't changed much), but I DO have some pictures of this precious baby of mine:



Heart beat going strong at 141 beats per minute!! I cried like a baby and couldn't believe this uterus was mine!!! What a bountiful blessing for our family!!

8 Weeks

Week 8 brought no real changes in my body aside from some constipation, which is what accounts for the belly you see in these pictures. That's not the miracle of life, folks, that's the miracle of poop all backed up in your colon where it isn't supposed to be. Thank God for Colace, I say!

9 Weeks

And now, I bring you to today. March 13, 2013, at 9 weeks and 2 days:

How far along: 9 weeks 2 days

Gender: Mama's guess has always been boy

Weight gain: 0

Maternity clothes: No maternity clothes yet...I can still wear my old ones, plus I live in scrubs which are elastic waisted & don't require me to stay one size.

Stretch marks: No

Belly button in or out: In. No change yet

Sleep: Nothing like it used to be. I stay up later and wake up earlier, and I wake up at least once per night to go to the restroom. When I wake up in the middle of the night I also have a very difficult time falling back to sleep.

Best moment this week: The colace is working and the constipation is resolving...at least for now!

Miss anything: Regular sleep and regular poops.

Movement: Too small to feel yet

Cravings: Chickfila chicken sandwiches, hashbrowns, and Taro froyo...the more condiments the better. Also Mexican food is creeping into my thoughts very often this week.

Queasy or sick: Not really. I've been blessed with no morning sickness, just a tiny bit of queasiness when I take too long to fill up my empty belly--this baby wants me to eat all the time!

Looking forward to: Sharing our good news with the world! I am DYING over here trying to keep this most wonderful secret!!

 

XOXO,

Hannah



Love Like No Other

Dear Sweet Baby Lipsey,

Welcome to fetushood! 9 weeks and 1 day ago, the Lord spoke you into existence and blessed us with the most precious gift of your life. I'm crying just thinking about it. About you. About the abundant grace of our Savior and how He loves US. Your daddy and I are just so happy. Overjoyed. I've heard that term so many times and never thought I'd feel it myself, but here we are. You're a tiny, precious ball of perfection with eye-lids, teeth, and fingernails, and though I can't see you or literally feel you, I carry you right in my heart. You, little one, are always on my mind. Everything that happens in my life requires careful consideration of how it will affect you first. My heart is so full it feels like it just may burst, and I know that the love I feel for you will only be magnified as we move closer to your birth and your life outside of me. I simultaneously look forward to and dread that day...I can't wait to hold you in my arms and share you with the world, but I also want to keep you right with me so I can keep you safe.

I have often wondered what I would want to tell you first when you're here. I'm sure that on the day of your birth neither of us will be up for one of my classic lectures, so I'll just have it all here for you when the time comes and you want to know how things were before you were born.

I want you to know how much you're loved, sweet baby, because you are oh so loved. I love you so much that it hurts. And I've loved you as long as I can remember--long before your 9 weeks of existence began, even before I met your daddy. I have always, always wanted to be your mommy, and I can't believe that time has finally come! How blessed we are, little one!! Your daddy loves you too. Though he's more subtle and less wordy than I am, I know you will always know that he loves you. You'll see it in the way he looks at you and in that smile he reserves for those of us he loves the most. You'll know because your daddy shows his love by performing acts of service...he will do things for you that you may not even deserve. He will be such a good daddy to you, my darling. I'll try not to be jealous when he becomes wrapped around your finger instead of my own. We are so very lucky to have him. He wasn't an easy catch, but he was worth the wait, just as you will be. My greatest prayer is that you are more like him than you are like me because he is a beautiful, wonderful person. We are blessed to share a life with this man, just wait and you'll see.

I need you to know how much God loves you, baby. He created you from nothing, my little miracle. When the doctors said no, God said yes! He surprised us all by breathing life where there was none and placing you in an empty space to prepare you for this world. He has a purpose for you, precious, and for me. You, weighing in at less than an ounce, are my most powerful testimony, and I cannot wait to share our story with the world! One day when you're older and want to know where babies come from I will go into more detail, but for now I just want you to know how truly special you are. When my body wouldn't do the ONE thing I needed to get you here, God brought you here to me anyway. I know that is difficult to process, because it is for me, but all I need you to learn from that right now is that you are LOVED. So loved that you exist when science said you shouldn't. God is sovereign, precious one, and He loves you. Once again I say we are blessed! My prayer is that you will come to know Him and to love Him as well, and that I will be able to honor Him while parenting you the way I should.

I can't end this letter without noting that we are not the only people who love you. You've got a ton of grandparents and great-grandparents, a few aunts and uncles, and some very special friends who love you, too. You have been loved on and prayed for so long already! I can't wait for you to come into this world and experience all the love and cuddles we've set aside for you. Stay in there long enough to be healthy, though, mommy doesn't want you out to soon! I can't wait to meet you!

All my love for all my life,
Mommy

PS: Your daddy's daddy (who thinks you're going to call him Mr. Lipsey Sir, but you're totally not) has requested we name you Clinkscale after his most favorite cat. As a compromise we will be calling you Clinkscale on this blog until we know your name for real. I hope you don't hate me for this when you're a teenager. If so, please direct all complaints to Sharpsburg at your "Mr. Lipsey Sir."

This Valentine's Day

I used to hate Valentine's Day. I thought it was over-commercialized and stupid, and I love my husband 24/7/365, so I didn't need a holiday to show it. No cards, roses, or expensive chocolate at my house. We save the chocolate for the day after when it's 50% off at Wal-Mart. We're quite romantic.

But this Valentine's Day everything changed.

This Valentine's Day I realized that I had been especially moody and hateful.

This Valentine's Day I noticed that the menstrual symptoms I had been experiencing had been present far longer than a week...and more like 4 weeks.

This Valentine's Day I gathered all the strength I had and went to Wal-Mart to pick up a test before my courage gave out.

This Valentine's Day I prayed....and prayed...and prayed.

This Valentine's Day I rallied the troops of my closest friend to pray with me and give me encouragement.

This Valentine's Day, I peed on 2 sticks, which offered me a new outlook on Valentine's Day altogether.

This Valentine's Day, against all odds, I became a mother.

This Valentine's Day changed our lives, and brought with it the promise of tomorrow and the proof the our Lord is still doing miracles. What a blessing we have received and Baby Lipsey isn't even here yet!!

Please join us in praying, friends, for this precious miracle on the way. See you October 14, little one, you know your Mama (and Daddy too!) loves you!

27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there. 1 Samuel 1:27-28 NIV

THANK YOU, sweet Lord, for your blessings on me!!

Writer's Block & Big News

It appears I've been a horrible blogger as of late, but I really just don't have much to say. Or perhaps I've got TOO much to say and I can't figure out how to say it. Something like that. Either way, I've been absent and in case you're the type of person who is concerned with my life, I apologize.

Not much to say on the Operation Baby Lipsey front, but I am thrilled to finally announce that I've got a new job! I have officially turned in my notice at the hospital and will be starting April 14th with a hospice company in Dalton. As I'm not currently aware of their social media policy I won't mention the name, but if you're super curious you can message me and I'll share it with you. I am so excited!!!

I'm excited to delve into the adventure of hospice, something I've always been intrigued by but simultaneously afraid to approach. I found out about the job from someone I had never even met on facebook (one of the million reasons it pays to be a social media junkie like myself), blindly sent my resume, and had an interview within a week! Despite some negative comments from other people regarding the difficulty and sadness associated with hospice care, I truly think it will be a great fit and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to gain the experience myself. I'm nervous (who isn't nervous when starting a new job?!), but I'm honored to be able to provide end of life care to not only patients, but the family unit as well. We have had a number of hospice patients on my floor at the hospital, so I will not be going into this blindly. Though we all know that death can be [is almost always] sad, I think it is also a blessing to have the ability to assist in the journey and carry some of the burden.

I must also share the answer to my most frequently asked question and tell you that Tyler has not yet found a job. It's still early when it comes to school systems hiring new teachers, but we are not concerned. I've got peace like I haven't had in a long time (thank You Lord!), and I just know everything will be okay and he will find something. Or I'll get to be sole provider for my family for a time, which would also be considered a blessing...may we all take a moment to remember that this precious, perfect man supported our family independently while I spent time back in school to become a nurse. It would be a privilege to allow him some time to find the best fit for his career, too.

That's about it! I'll officially be back in the Dalton/Chatsworth area mid-April, and the love of my life will still be here, so please make plans with my lonely, drifting heart! I can assure you the distraction would be nice as I'm not always excellent when it comes to big life changes.

We also need a place to live so if you know of any 3bed, 2bath homes for rent in the area PLEASE let me know!

Please keep us in your prayers as we move toward all of these big transitions, and as always, send up a few for the future Baby Lipsey too.

XOXO,
Hannah