Changing Directions...

Hi! Yep, I realize that I haven't posted in three months. Yep, I have a good excuse! We have had an exciting time in the Daniels house since I last posted about our ten year reunion. So exciting, in fact, that I'm changing the theme of my blog! Now, don't worry, I'm still going to post recipes from time to time...and I'm still going to share pictures and crafts and all that fun stuff, too. There's just one BIG, new thing that I'm adding in, since, as I mentioned, our life has gotten a little more exciting these days. So...let's pick up where I left off...(warning:this is long)

Right after our reunion, two days to be exact, something happened to Justin and me that completely changed our lives. For this to make sense, I need to back up a little bit, about a year...

October 2010: Justin and I are recovering from what was one of the saddest, most confusing, and scary things that had ever happened to us. In April of 2010, we lost a baby at about ten weeks. We were devastated. But to make things even more scary, we learned that I had what is called a "partial molar pregnancy". You can google it, but basically it means that there is a chromosomal problem where the baby begins to develop (we had a good ultrasound and saw that precious heart beating at seven weeks), but the fetus is not viable. There are also placental abnormalities. (This is where it gets scary.) If any tissue is left behind after a miscarriage of a molar pregnancy, it can grow into a form of cancer known as choriocarcinoma.

Not only had we lost our first baby, but I had to be closely monitored (weekly, then monthly blood draws for SEVEN months) to make sure all the tissue was gone and I didn't have signs of choriocarcinoma growing. To make it worse, we were told that we could not get pregnant for at least a year to be safe. It was a dark and heartbreaking time, but little did I know it was only the beginning of our bumpy road.

November 2010: Luckily, all my bloodwork was normal to this point. I decided to see a new doctor to get another opinion on when we could try again. So, I went to see Dr. Sims, armed with research articles, praying for good news. God answered my prayer! My new doctor cleared us to go ahead and start trying again.

June 2011: Sadly, no luck in the baby department! I was starting to get worried that something was wrong, so I made an appointment to start seeing a fertility specialist in Jackson, Dr. Isaacs. I went in for a consultation and he mapped out a treatment plan. This is where the real fun began...pills, accupuncture, utrasounds, books, needle sticks, weird yoga moves, "relaxing", more pills, more needle sticks...but, nothing was working. Ugly negative tests every month.

October 2011: A busy month! (FINALLY, we are back to the month leading up to our class reunion) I was keeping my mind busy by planning our reunion and trying not to think too much about the (almost) year of failure under my belt. We had a new plan with Dr. Isaacs, though. Two days after our reunion, we had a procedure called an IUI done. I'll save you the details, but if you're interested, google "intrauterine insemination"...

November 6, 2011:
This happened



I cannot begin to describe to you how it felt to finally see that sight. It took a few blood tests at the doctor for me to believe it was real. We were absolutely ecstatic, but scared to death something bad would happen again. I prayed constantly (as I had been for quite some time now) that God would let this be it.

Today: I am 15 weeks and 1 day pregnant! God is so good! I still pray constantly for this little miracle and for the person he or she will become. Justin and I are so, so excited to finally meet our little one in July.




I promise to update more often and look forward to sharing our little family's adventures! From now on, this will be more of a general Daniels family/ baby/ life blog...which will include recipes, because what is life without good food?

If you read all of that, you should get an award. :)