...and then a miracle occurred...

The idea that a man and woman can have sex and get pregnant is completely foreign to me. It is so natural and common, yet I honestly cannot wrap my mind around it. Our miracle occurred(isn't the above picture funny??) but not without countless doctors appointments, drugs, blood tests, screening follicle ultrasounds, uterine lining measurements, intrauterine inseminations, progesterone supplements, hysterosalpingogram, disappointment, tears, frustration, many, many prayers, etc, etc, etc. But it was all worth it! I am 19 weeks pregnant and Josh and I have both felt baby Docken kick! Amazing!!
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Our first ultrasound was at 6 weeks 6 days (we knew the exact date with confidence due to the above mentioned procedures). We saw a little tiny white line with a flicking light- the heartbeat!! It was .5 cm long and already had a heartbeat of 126 bpm! Incredible! Unfortunately the baby was only measuring 6 weeks 2 days. The u/s tech said not to be concerned, but who was she kidding?? Of course I was concerned. I thought maybe the baby took after its mama and was just on the small side.

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Our next appointment was exactly 3 weeks later. It was supposed to just be our first appt with the OB. Dr. Song checked for the heartbeat on the doppler. She warned me that "we should be able to hear the heartbeat but if not, that doesn't automatically mean you miscarried". Errr, thanks. She tried for several minutes before she gave up. I was laying on the table completely scared. She said, "well, this either means you miscarried again or it's too early". My eyes welled with tears and I fought to keep it together. I told her that I needed to know. Today. She said that she could try to get me in for an emergency u/s, given my history of miscarriage. She wrote a note on a piece of paper that we couldn't find the heartbeat and I had a past miscarriage and asked me to bring it to the front desk. The woman at the front desk said the u/s tech had a full schedule but they would try to get me in. I told her that I would wait all day, I just need to be able to get in. We waited for just about 20 minutes. I concentrated the whole time on not losing it. When we got into the u/s room, the tech put the wand on my stomach and we instantly saw a beating heart. My tears started flowing freely then! It was so amazing. Our little guy/girl had grown so much in 3 weeks! It had little buds for arms and legs and bright white parts that were its nose and chin. We were sooooooo relieved and thankful. What a scary morning but great ending!

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Our third ultrasound was 3 weeks later. It was for an optional NT Scan where they test for down syndrome and trisomy 18. I honestly wasn't worried about either one but just really wanted to have another ultraound! It feels like an eternity between each doctor's appt. This ultrasound was the most amazing one yet. Baby Docken was HUGE (relatively speaking!) and incredibly active! That's the first time I had a feeling about a gender because with dance moves like that, it had to be a little girl! The u/s tech changed to the 4D mode, which was even more surreal! At one point the baby did an acrobatic move and totally flipped from its back to its stomach! The u/s tech needed the baby to lay flat so she could take measurements. The baby would have none of it so she gently pushed on my stomach, which made the baby jump. Ever since Josh saw the baby jump high from just a little push, he has been very protective of my stomach. He always tells me to not push on it and to be gentle. Thanks for the reminder, honey. :) The pictures from this u/s are in a previous post. We felt so in love!

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So there are my three ultrasound stories. I am still writing about previous events because I want to get it all down before I have a chance to forget any of it. Now I need to really stop procrastinating and write my darn paper for grad school. Tonight we're going to Carbones to watch the Vikings defeat the Bears and celebrate Chris' 30th birthday. He and Becky got engaged last Monday! Yay! I am so thrilled for them and for Becky to join our family!