9 Week Update

Wow, I can't believe I'm 9 weeks already. Actually, I'm 9 weeks 3 days -- but who's counting? :) Here's an update on what our little monkey is doing this week.

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

What I've learned

I learned a lot during my journey to conceive. I am well versed on ovulation tests, hormones, herbal teas and supplements to induce ovulation, Clomid, acupuncture, home pregnancy tests -- you name it. I can explain, in detail, all the fertility tests and how to chart your temperature to determine if and when you ovulated. But learning how to get pregnant was not the most important lesson I learned along the way.

As the months went by and trying to conceive got more stressful, I began to ask God why. Why me? Why couldn’t I get pregnant? I am a firm believer that God presents us with challenges to teach us important lessons, but I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to learn here. I knew I was ready to be a mom and would make a good mom and felt pretty sure that was not the lesson I needed to learn.

So I started praying. I prayed every night and begged God to help me understand what I was supposed to learn. And then one night, after a few months of praying, it came to me.

You see all along I had been under the mistaken assumption that I was in control. I forgot that ultimately, getting pregnant was in God’s hands. I realized that I was doing everything humanly possible to get pregnant (at this point I was taking Clomid and undergoing extensive testing) but that wasn’t enough. I needed to have faith that God would provide for me when it was time.

That was one powerful revelation. From that night forward I began to relax. I continued to pray, but I had this intense belief that God would provide for me and Allen. And you know what? He did. The next month I found out that I was pregnant.

Every pregnancy is a miracle of sorts and this one is no exception. I am so grateful to be pregnant and will forever remember the important lesson I learned along my journey to conceive.

The fortune that changed our lives.

Last month Allen and I met up for lunch one Friday afternoon at a little, local Chinese restaurant. After lunch we opened up our fortune cookies and Allen got a big surprise. His fortune said:



The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Allen - Wow, this is cool. Check out my fortune.
Sara - ::smiles::
Allen - What does yours say?
Sara - ::shows Allen the same message::
Allen - ::looks confused::
Sara – Do you know what this means?
Allen – No
Sara - ::pulls out a positive pregnancy test::
Allen – What does that mean?
Sara – It means we’re going to have a baby in March

From there, it was 15 minutes of “Wows” “Cools” and “Oh My God’s.” Allen was so shocked he couldn’t get over it. At one point he even got his phone calendar out to see how far away March was. This was the exact reaction I was hoping for since Allen loves to surprise me.




Pregnancy and having a baby is something I have dreamed about for years. But after trying for so long, it began to seem like something that only happened to other people.

In Allen’s defense, I was just as shocked as he was when I saw that beautiful second line pop up on the home pregnancy test at 5 A.M. on Friday, June 26. In fact, I tested for FOUR days in a row and carried the tests around for a week like a baby. I kept checking to make sure the line didn’t disappear. Our due date is Marc 8, 2010.



Now that I’m 9 weeks pregnant, the reality of pregnancy has sunk in. I’m going to be a mom! I feel like the luckiest woman in the world. I have an amazing husband and a baby on the way. The biggest turning point was definitely seeing our little sea monkey’s heart beat at 7 weeks. It was the most beautiful thing I think I’ve ever seen and it brought me to tears.



Truth be told, this is the original reason I created this blog. I wanted a place to share all the adventures of starting a family with my closest friends and family. I just never imagined that it would take so long to get pregnant. But good things come to those who wait, right? And so I’m here. I’ll try to post regularly and keep you all up-to-date with the progress and funny stories.

Love,
The Savats