~A little update~

I'm so sorry that it's been well over a week and I have not posted or updated all of you amazing readers. Last week was a pretty difficult and hard week for me. I unfortunately had some complications after child birth and was down and I'm actually still taking it easy. Then with Christmas and family they've kept me pretty occupied as well. :)

I will just let all of you know that "he" is beautiful! Every time I picture him or see his little face, it makes my heart melt.. The "moment" was everything I had ever imagined, if not more. I would not trade this experience for anything in the world!

He was born on Monday the 16th. Weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 inches long and was just breath taking! I promise I am working on his birth story and will post this pretty soon. Thanks to all of you for your amazing emails and words of inspiration. And for all of you who take the time to read my blog, I really appreciate all of you!

~B & C's little Miracle~

~My Letter to Baby S~

                                                      December 16th, 2013

I do not know how to start this letter.. Before even starting this letter I am sitting here overwhelmed with tears of joy. It has been longer then a year that I first found out that you were just a little bit of hope in your Mommy & Daddy's hearts. That they were praying for you to join their beautiful little family. Not everyone has such an amazing story of how they came into this world, thought of, planned, wished for, prayed for, and tears were shed for. You were this little glimpse of hope in their eyes. Your Mommy & Daddy knew that with a little prayer and faith they would soon be able to hold you in their arms.

I cannot even begin to express the emotions that ran through my body and my heart the moment I heard that your Mommy & Daddy were looking for someone to help them bring you into this world. I prayed, I cried, I fasted, I prayed some more and I knew that there was a reason that your Daddy called his friend Nick, my husband that day. There's a reason I could not get your Mommy and all her trials out of my mind that day. The reason I felt to go to the Temple to listen clearly to my heart and to receive guidance from Our Heavenly Father above. It was you, you were guiding me, he was guiding me, my heart was guiding me. I have never, been more sure in my life as I was at that exact moment in time. And with a small text to your Mommy, "I hear you have an amazing service project for me??? :)" The "Miracle" began.

I still remember the day that we went for the transfer. I had this amazing and overwhelming feeling that your Mommy & Daddy were soon going to get their wish. Their Miracle that they've been hoping and praying for, for so long. Everything went smoothly and I have never been more careful in my life to take some down time to let you get all snugly in there. A couple of weeks later we found out that it had worked! You were making a home in my tummy to get strong and to come to this earth to be with your family.

I remember the medicine, the sickness, the weakness, the exhaustion. I remember the very first time I felt you move.. I had to immediately text your Mommy and share it with her! Although, this saddened me.. I knew that she would love to hear that you were getting stronger and healthier. :) I wished everyday that it was her that was experiencing all these amazing things with you. But I knew that she would soon be able to look into your eyes, hold you, feel you and smell that beautiful scent of yours and she will know the Journey you took to be here with her. With them..

I remember the look on your Mommy & Daddy's face when the ultrasound tech said, "It's a Boy!" The shock, the disbelief. It was so cute. They almost looked a little scared, but were up for the challenge of boy names, boy clothes and boy colors! Oh.. and that sweet big sister of yours. You are going to look up to her in so many ways. She will pick on you, make you cry, tease you, but love you, teach you, guide you and you two will grow up to be the best of friends.

I have kept a weekly tab on your growth week by week. My belly of course, it amazes me how much bigger, stronger and hungrier you have gotten these last 8 weeks. I'm sure you can hear all the commotion that is going on outside your little incubator. Well, those are all my kids.. All 6 of them! They talk to you, sing to you, rub you, feel your little kicks and most of all, they pray for you. My whole family, my friends and my church members have fallen in love with this little miracle baby that will be soon making his debut. They want you to know that you have touched each and every one of them. You have inspired them, you have given them hope, faith and belief. The timing could not be more meaningful this time of year with the birth of our Savior. There is something so special bringing you into this world right around the time Mary brought him into this world and gave him a body. You are a blessing, a miracle!

I wish for you to always stay true to Our Heavenly Father, to your faith. Your faith will guide you and lead you. It will give you opportunities you wouldn't believe. I pray you will have a strong testimony and that one day you will grow up and share that testimony with so many people around you. Know that your parents love you dearly, they wished for you, prayed for you. You may not always think they are right or you may think that they are hard on you one day, but they love you so much and they only want what's best for you. They are both such amazing and loving people, cherish them. As they will cherish and adore you.

As I sit here at the close of this letter I cannot help but be full of joy, love, hope, inspiration and even heartache. I have loved you from the first day I knew you existed. I have treated you as if you were one of my own. I have wanted the best care for you from day one. And I continue to want the best for you. The time has come for me to watch this "Miracle" take place. That moment I hand you over to your Mommy & Daddy who have waited so patiently for you! They are so excited to see you and meet you! I pray I will be able to watch you grow and know how much I loved you and will always love you. You have this special little place in my heart and always will. Thank you for choosing me, thank you for making my testimony even stronger than I could imagine, thank you for allowing my kids to see the good in people, the miracle that our bodies can do and most of all.. Thank you for always keeping my heart full and for making me cherish life, my kids, my marriage and my faith.

Love Always,

Alvina~

~39 Weeks~

Well, here we are very very pregnant at 39 weeks. :) I honestly was thinking that the weekly post might stop at 38 weeks, but I guess he's enjoying it in there way too much. Where we live, it's desert weather and we just experienced a huge snow storm and temps well below average around here!

I am beginning to think that this little boy is very, very smart! I wouldn't want to come out in this weather either! LOL

We had our weekly appointment on Wednesday and it looks like there has been absolutely no change in progress. :( I am still only a 2 and 80% thinned out, well I guess that is 5% more effaced then last week. I have contemplated all week whether or not to get my membranes stripped. But have finally come to the conclusion that I will just use the Pitocin for induction. Although I would've given anything to have allowed my body to go natural with a little bit of help from my Doctor instead of going straight to Pitocin. Which I absolutely despise.. But I decided it would just be the best route for all of us.

So, it looks like we are going to get induced on Monday the 16th! We are still waiting on a time. I have so many feelings that are running through my head. So many emotions.. I will keep everyone updated as soon as I can. Wish us luck! I cannot believe we are finally going to meet this Miracle Boy!

*Unfortunately, I haven't downloaded a pic for 39 weeks but I will post as soon as I can!*

Weight: 25 lbs!

Cravings: No real cravings anymore.. I eat whatever is cooked by me by my amazing husband! :)

Symptoms: Ditto from last week! :) This week I have a ton of butt pressure though, more then usual. My feet and hands are still swelling pretty good. Tons of bathroom breaks. He has dropped a ton so now I feel his every move right on my bladder.

Their baby's the size of a watermelon!

Baby keeps growing, despite being so crowded in there. He probably weighs around 7 to 9.2 pounds and measures about 18.9 to 20.9 inches.

 
 Their baby at 39 weeks!

• He's probably able to flex his limbs now.
• His brain is still rapidly developing -- he's getting smarter by the week!
• His nails may extend past his fingertips.

~38 Weeks~

38 Weeks and we are still going strong.. All along I kept having this intuition that we would go early so we'll see. I think a lot of it was because up until 3 weeks ago he was always sizing 2-3 weeks larger then he should've been. But now it looks like he is slowing down his growth spurt.

He seems to be doing great! Moving around as much as possible but still tending to sleep a lot better then he was last month. I could feel him really down low and wonder how he hasn't broken my water with as active and aggressive as he is?! It's amazing how he can push and stretch so much in there. Most days I have to grip onto something and take a deep breath!

As for me.. I keep telling myself that I am doing okay. I feel really great for about 3 hours a day and then I get hit with exhaustion or intense contractions. I am eating about 5 small meals a day with snacks in between and apparently that still isn't enough for this little munchkin! ha-ha! I believe he is going to have a hefty appetite for his Mommy & Daddy! :) My hands and feet are still continuing to swell and some nights I have to wrap my legs with ace bandages just to keep them from cramping. I also noticed that my hands and feet are starting to go numb at odd hours of the day? This has never happened before so it's so strange to me. This week has been really rough on me for sleep. The problem is.. I'm just not getting any! I am averaging about 2.5 hours a night of sleep? I cannot get comfortable, whether it's in my bed, the floor, the couch, a recliner, nothing. :( Lets just say I may or may not have fallen asleep at work!...

We had our weekly appointment and it looks like I've put on 3 more lbs. Not too bad this far into the pregnancy though. :) Blood pressure is good. Dr. says I am dilated to a 2 and 75% effaced. We are moving along! He looked at my cankles and legs and said the swelling is pretty normal and he's surprised I didn't swell with any of my last pregnancies. Thank goodness! :) He says we are measuring right on, exactly. So, glad cause last week he made me nervous by saying he was measuring a few weeks behind? But things were looking great today. Oh, and it looks like my Group B test is negative so that's good!

Weight Gain: 24 lbs!

Symptoms: Back Pain, Leg Cramps, Swollen Feet, Potty Breaks, Hard time sleeping, Pelvic Pressure, Exhaustion, varicose veins :(.

Cravings: Ice Chips, Ice Water, Bananas, Apples, Dried Fruit, Carrots, Broccoli, Tomatoes, Bread... I got a strange craving for Rolo's the other night too! I will eat anything I don't have to cook at this time! :)

38 Weeks and counting!

Their baby's the size of a pumpkin! 

Baby Boy is about 18.9 to 20.9 inches long and weighs about 7 to 9.2 pounds. His head is now about the same circumference as his abdomen.

Their baby at 38 week!

• He may have about an inch or so of hair already.
• He's slowly shedding that white goo on his skin (called vernix caseosa) but you might see some of it at birth.

~37 Weeks~

We are 37 weeks!!! December is sneaking up on us! I am so excited to "attempt" to get my tree and decorations up. Mostly because I let my kids decorate for Halloween and I have not one item for Fall up in my house. Hopefully I can work on that this weekend!

As for this little guy he is doing amazing! Very cramped, but still very active. No more kicks and jabs, just a ton of body rolls! He has found a great sleeping pattern, which I am loving. Also, I think I am going to blame my starving issues on him. :) I am hungry all the time. I have to eat at least every 2 hours. I go to sleep eating and I wake up starving! I can tell that he has started moving downwards. I thought I've had a ton of pelvic pressure the last 2 weeks but now I know I was lucky then.. Cause now.. yowzers!

We had our 37 week appt on Tuesday and C was able to make the trip down. She also brought her father with was the sweetest, most gentlest, loving man. Something about him just gave me warm feelings inside. Maybe it was Baby S? Maybe he sensed his Mommy & Grandpa were near!

Dr. says baby is looking perfect and I am looking great as well. Nothing to worry about! I only put on 1 lb. this week! Which amazes me cause I thought for sure I would be gaining a ton more right now. Dr. K gave me my Group B test, so lets hope it comes out negative. Also, he checked me and it looks like we are 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced! That's a start! After our weekly appt. we headed over to labor and delivery and met with some amazing ladies in the Labor and Delivery Unit. C & I went over and gave them our Birth Plan. It was so nice to see them so intrigued and interested in what our request were! I have a feeling that we are going to have a great experience with them! They said everything on our plan was do-able. So, that gave us a ton of peace of mind. :)

Weight Gain: 21 lbs!

Cravings: Ice Chips, Water, Bananas, Strawberries, Ice Chips, Dried Fruit, Cottage Cheese, Cashews, Pistachios, Ice Chips, Licorice, pretty much anything and everything I can get my hands on. Oh, and did I mention Ice Chips?!! I just found out that eating ice is a low iron deficiency? Again, I don't know why. This little guy must take every last drop of my Iron from me! :)

Symptoms: Fatigue, Exhaustion, Back Pain, Pelvic Pain, Pelvic Pressure, Tail-bone Pressure, Absolutely no sleep (well maybe a total of 3 hours a night), Extreme Potty breaks, Leg Cramps. And I almost took a pic of how swollen my feet and hands were getting this week! I seriously was sporting some serious Shrek feet! Didn't take a pic cause I was pretty embarrassed of them, I almost didn't recognize my own feet! LOL

37 Weeks! Very uncomfortable when this pic was taken, hence the expression on my face! :)

Their baby's the size of a winter melon!

Yay! Baby has reached full term. He likely measures around 18.9 to 20.9 inches and weighs about 6.2 to 9.2 pounds. He's gaining about 1/2 ounce each day.

Their baby at 37 weeks!

• He's practicing some skills: inhaling, exhaling, sucking, gripping and blinking.
• He's getting his first sticky poop (called meconium) ready for his first diaper.