Welcome to your lodge
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Welcome to your lodge
Welcome to your lodge Michelle!
Welcome! Can't wait to hear all about you!
welcome to your lodge! :woohoo:
Hee hee!! Thanks so much gals!!! I've been really looking forward to this experience and sharing everything with you. I hope to post more later. :)
And just as an fyi... my home computer died recently. So I use DH's when he gets home from work. Hoping to get back up and running soon on a daily basis. But yeah, tha's all.
Welcome!
Welcome to your lodge!
It's way late but DH is out of town tonight, so I thought I'd take advantage of the quiet time to myself. :)
((I wrote SO much!! EEK! Sorry! I didn't expect to write out so much. Feel free to jump ahead. DD1s birth story is down a few posts. ;-) )
I grew up in Southern Cali and after having done 2 years of community college, I moved out to WI to finish up my college career. I didn't know anyone, all my family was in Cali. I found the little school I ended up at through my stepdad. He grew up in the Chicago area and once he and my mom met, they were out this direction often. They eventually bought a house here to retire in. Well, here it is some 8 years later and they're not living in that house, but I am! :cool:
Brock was one of the first guys I met and I immediately liked him.:rolleyes: We were in all the same groups and organizations. But he hardly knew I existed! He was the Homecoming King and everyone on campus knew him (yeah, it was a small campus, but still... he's just that kind of guy... friends with everyone). Anyway, it wasn't until we had a class together that we even hung out. For some reason, he chose to sit with me and study with me. It was a silly class too... something everyone has to take... it was some Physical Ed class. He graduated that year and I doubted I would see him again. Well, he stayed in the area for Grad school and came on campus often to volunteer in some of our groups. He also frequented my room for some homemade PB&J! ;) But mostly, we would talk about his relationship with another girl. Bittersweet days... I liked other guys kinda. But as long as I got to hang out with him, it was cool. :confused:
Fast forward to the next year, I'm finally graduating (took 5 years total) and I feel called to work overseas as a teacher. So I go through the praying and discerning process, he is right by my side, supporting me and just being a great friend. Then, one night it all comes together and I decide, "Yep, I'm going to spend the next 2 years, at least, in Turkey teaching." I will never forget the look in his eyes. Something had changed that night... the way he looked at me was SO very different. He pulled me to the side and said "I want to be happy for you and I want to support you. Just know if I don't seem like it I'm working on it. I want to be sincere in my support and prayers for you. But it's going to take some work." After that, I get an email telling me that he's going to be fasting and praying for a given amount of time. And he was asking some friends for prayer. That was it. At the end of that time, he and I had dinner and talked. It was official. We both felt it and knew it was right... He told me he loved me and that he would wait for me those 2 years as I went to Turkey. :yahoo: So, that summer, off I went to Turkey.
Engagement Photo
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...engagement.jpg
We spent the two years traveling back and forth to see each other and lots of time on Skype. But I had an incredible time there and I knew it was where I was supposed to be. The summer between my two years there, we were engaged. The following summer, when I returned, we got married. :D
We got married in July 2008, just a little drive up from our college campus. The location of our reception is where he proposed actually, on the rocks of Lake Michigan. So beautiful! We spent a week in Maine for our honeymoon. We can't wait to go back someday!
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...lle11742-1.jpg http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...708-6593-1.jpg http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...-0708-6190.jpg
We never wanted to use artificial birth control. But we had hoped to wait a few years before getting pregnant. That wasn't in the plans for us though!
Going to post this and start up another so I don't lose it! :)
Welcome to your lodge! :wavehello:
So, DH and I both knew we didn't want to use the Pill or any other form of BC. Just wasn't jiving with us and our personal beliefs. We got a LOT of feedback on that one though. GEESH! You'd think people would leave things alone like that. But while I was still in Turkey I got an email from my grandma saying everyone in my family was talking about it and they couldn't believe it... what? Did we want to have a ton of babies?! I was so irritated by their lack of tact and support. UGH! But, still, it's not the norm and so we live with it. (That was a tangent... sorry!) Well, I heard that at our wedding people in my family were making bets as to when we'd get pregnant... if it'd happen before the end of the year or not. :confused:
That fall, I was feeling more ready than DH to have a baby. But no pressure. We were newly weds and all. Well, come November, I could tell something was different. I *knew* at Thanksgiving that I was pregnant but he insisted that we wait 18 dpo until I POS! So I waited. And once I did POS, it didn't take long to tell us...
DH took it OK. But I strongly believe it's with great purpose for all involved that it takes 9+ months for the baby to actually arrive. ;)
By then, I was a good 6 weeks along. The very next week was my birthday and, again, I knew something was up. This time, not a good something. Since I was still new to the area and didn't have a doc yet, we went to the ER. I was beside myself with worry. All my symptoms had stopped. At some point, can't remember exactly when, I had started spotting too.
The ER got us in right away, did all the blood tests, urine tests, and then an U/S.
Baby had a HB but it was low. 74 bpm. ER doc said...
"I am sorry but you are having a miscarriage. Read these pamphlets and know that there's nothing you could about it. Oh, and the U/S showed that you have a heart-shaped uterus. It shouldn't effect future pregnancies, but just so you know."
I was devastated. The nurses were very kind and hugged me. My DH didn't know how to respond. :confused: I spent a few days just crying and praying. Crying and praying.
Well, follow up U/S and doc appt, after another showed nothing but a wonderful, healthy growing baby!! :yahoo: After all the heartache of thinking we were losing this baby, it just seemed unreal! The joy seemed to take a little while to come back. But each passing day and month, we just grew more and more in love with our sweet daughter.
I was monitored closely by a perinatologist throughout the second tri, since that is when I am most at risk for premature labor, incompetent cervix, and IUGR (growth restriction). But all checked out well throughout my time with that peri. It was awesome getting to see our daughter every two weeks though! Here she is at 14w:
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...o14w1d3D-1.jpg
At 18 weeks... hiding her sweet face though
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...D-nolabels.jpg
At 33 weeks, though, I woke up not feeling quite right. My lower back was achy, like I was on my period. I rested and drank lots of water. Tried to wait it out. But by the end of the day I knew it wasn't right. So we went to the doc's office just before it closed. The OB that we saw was almost beside herself when she examined me... I was 3 to 4 cm and she felt something bulging but immediately stopped the exam as to not cause any further problems. She sent us to L&D. The peri's office there did a quick U/S... baby girl was fine and from their point of view, the cervix was doing OK. Once in L&D triage, they hooked me up and I was contracting every 3 to 5 minutes. I wasn't feeling a thing. And I knew what they felt like because I had been having BHs since 20ish weeks. After some fluids, things calmed down. One last check, I was just about at 3 cm and stable to go home.
Baby girl stayed put until 40w, 2d! No one thought she would stay in so long! I was so happy she did though. I felt great while pregnant and didn't want it to end! Of course, I wanted to meet my baby, but I loved being pregnant!
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p.../maternity.jpg http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...maternity3.jpg
The same photographers did our engagement, wedding, and maternity photos. Here is a similar shot from our engagement and maternity pics. :)
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/p...engagement.jpg