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

I'm back

Dear Blog,

Before you begin lecturing me, I can explain. You see I started this blog because I thought I’d have all these interesting things to write about and it would be a great way to share what’s going on in our lives with family and friends. As it turns out, I don’t have that much interesting going on in my life. But I felt a little guilty when Grandma Lamb asked me about my blog yesterday, so I’ll give it another shot.

The past couple months have been crazy busy. I’m half-way through my first semester of teaching. Besides the insane amount of work that goes into it (making lesson plans, creating assignments and grading) I am really starting to enjoy it. I have founds ways to get more comfortable in class and I’m feeling a lot more confident. I also think most of my students generally like me (anyone who knows me well knows how important this is to me).

One of my favorite things in life is planning parties. Allen understands this and allows me to throw one big party every year (although sometimes I can sneak other small parties in!). This year I chose to have a Mardi Gras party. I’ll have to post pictures later, but all in all it was a great party. I made lots of Cajun food, had hurricanes, beads, decorations, you name it. I think every one had a good time and I’m already thinking about next year’s party (I want to make it an annual event).

Other than that, I’m just anxiously waiting for spring to come and stay. I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately and I think sunshine and warm weather is just what the doctor ordered.

TGIF!

Man my last post was depressing but to be quite honest, it was pretty reflective of the way I was feeling earlier this week. Fortunately, class on Thursday was much better. Sure I still have some tweaks to work out, but it was only the second day, right? Anyways, I’m feeling a lot more confidant now. Thank you to all of you who have encouraged me and told me that I can do this!

I’m really looking forward to my three day weekend (paid holidays is the best part of winter for me!) and have a lot of fun things planned. Tonight I am going to a happy hour with some old sorority sisters, many of whom I have not seen in nearly 10 years. I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks and I can’t wait to catch up with them.

Tomorrow my future sister-in-law is coming up and we are going bridesmaid dress shopping. Afterwards, I am hosting a little luncheon for her and the rest of the bridal party. Of course, no party I ever have is “little.” I’m particularly excited about my fancy menu and gorgeous floral centerpiece :)

Throw in a hockey game, lessons plans and hopefully a nap or two, and I have a pretty nice weekend planned. I hope you all do, too.

By the way, if you like following this blog, you should click on the bottom right to become a follower. By doing this, I think it automatically lets you know when I post new messages.

At least they didn't throw tomatoes

Yesterday was my first day of class. I waltzed into class proud of my syllabus and plans for the class and ready to bestow my wisdom on these eager PR students. I left feeling a little embarrassed and very deflated.

I know I’m probably making the experience out to be worse than it really was. But their blank stares were awful. You would have thought I was speaking another language or had some weird growth protruding out of the side of my head. The more they stared, but more uncomfortable I got. And before I knew it I was jumbling up my words and feeling like an idiot.

On the bright side, if they don’t start getting more engaged I can fail all of them…just kidding :) But seriously, it’s got to get better than this, right?

Last night I came home and treated myself to a big glass of red wine to help me relax. And then I got back to work on Thursday’s lesson plan. I’m working in more questions that will hopefully encourage them to speak or at least show some sign that their still living.

I'm also working on positive thinking. For example, only 30 more classes to go!

Long time no see

Hello friend. I’m sorry I’ve neglected you for so long. You see I was busy with the holidays and then I was busy RELAXING and couldn’t be bothered to blog about the wonders of being off work for 12 days straight (pretty amazing – I know). But now I’m back to reality so I guess I should get back to sharing that reality with you. Here’s a quick update about what I’ve been up to since we talked last.

I know people generally complain that the holidays go by too quickly, but when you have divorced parents that is not a problem. Christmas started on Tuesday (Christmas Eve Eve) at my step-grandparent’s and continued through Sunday. Counting Christmas morning, we had 7 different family functions. I know it sounds hectic, but it was really fun and I wouldn’t have missed a single one of them.

Santa was really good to us this year. Allen (I mean Santa) gave me a video camera that will come in handy when we have kids. I’m already trying to figure out how I can use it to make short videos to post here. And my big gift to Allen was a classic iPod. He already has every CD we own downloaded to it –he’s in heaven. Ironically, his favorite gift was from my dad and MaryLynn (floor mats for his new truck) and my favorite gift was from his mom (a GPS – you’d be amazed at how easily I can get lost).

While Allen returned to work the Monday –Wednesday between Christmas and New Year’s, I was off the entire week. I have not had a full week at home since I started working at 16 – it was WONDERFUL and I highly recommend it. Sure, I got some work done for my class (which starts next Tuesday – yikes) but mostly I shopped, read books, cleaned and organized the house and took naps. I can’t remember the last time I felt this balanced.

We spent New Year’s Eve with my friend Meredith, her husband Aaron and another couple their friends with. It was a low-key night. We went out for a nice dinner and then back to her house for chocolate fondue (yum!) and games. The good thing about getting older is that New Years Day does not have to be spent nursing the WORST HANGOVER EVER with greasy cheeseburgers, Coke and lots of Advil! Instead I took down all of the Christmas decorations, cleaned the entire house and had dinner at my dad’s. Geez I’m getting old :)

You will probably be impressed to know that Allen and I are still working out. Actually we’re on a pretty good schedule right now and I’m already seeing a difference in my ability and definition! Come this summer I expect to look pretty amazing!

So now here we are… it’s the middle of the first week back and everything is back to normal except that I’m all refreshed and stress free. What a great way to start 2009. I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!