LONG AWAITED....

Yes, both of those sticks are mine and they are positive!

I have to take a really deep breath writing this post. A deep breath for many reasons. One reason is that I am going to share some personal & spiritual information. I don't usually put that out there but the reason why I blog is for documentation. All of these experiences I share are ones that I want to be documented. I also take a deep breath because Jake and I hadn't planned on sharing this news publicly yet but seeing as how I am popping right out and everyone is staring at my belly I guess it's time. My first few pregnancy posts may be long and detailed but like I say it is for the sake of documentation! 

A small handful of you know that it has been quite the journey to get here for various reasons. I won't share all of them but one of them is that I have health problems. I have Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia. I am actually doing quite well but raising a child is another story. I am going to need a lot of help and it will require a lot of courage.  

The Beginning

 My journey began October 2010. I started having a few thoughts about starting a family but pushed them right out because I didn't think it was possible yet. Jake and I were hoping for a good 5 years. Our insurance wasn't that great and I could work but not full time because of my health. We had a cute but small apartment, I hadn't even started college yet and we both felt like I needed several years for my health to improve. On top of that Jake still had a few years of school to go. 

In November Jake's grandpa was in the hospital. He was in his last few weeks of life on this earth and I spent a lot of time with him there. I always felt the spirit so strong when I was with him and I think it is because he was so close to leaving. There was one particular time I was sitting in the hospital that I felt a very strong, clear sense of urgency to start a family. I knew from that point on that everything would fall into place and that this was a prompting I needed to act on. 

After that a lot of things fell into place but other things did not. I continued to receive promptings and guidance along the way to encourage me to keep fighting for this but it was a bit of a fight. The challenge I said I would share a little about was my health. It took me about a year of changing medications and sleep habits just to get to the point where it would be safe to carry a baby. Unfortunately a lot of the medications that were helping me so much would be harmful to a baby in the womb so it was difficult to try and find a way to go off of them and remain healthy myself. I had a lot of doctors visits, prayers, and chats with fellow CFS patients. I knew it would be difficult to raise a child with what I have but I had to at least get to the part where I can get a kid here! I didn't realize that part would be so tricky. I had a few relapses but am so lucky to have so many supportive friends and family around me. I know a lot of women have challenges for one reason or another and to all of you I just want to say hang in there. Besides my health challenges a lot of doors were opened and I could never doubt that this baby has been anxious to join us for quite some time. After all the preparation I am pregnant and feeling good! My Chronic Fatigue is not bothering me much at all right now so I am really enjoying that. 

I am exactly 3 months along today. Our due date is December 23rd 2012. Oops kind of poor planning but I guess I didn't think it would happen that soon! Jake's birthday is the 26th so we could have: baby's b-day, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Jake's b-day all in a row. As crazy as it will be I actually think it will make for a very special Christmas each year. Bring on the madness! I have much more to catch up on but that will have to be saved for another post! 

Here are some pics:

10 week photo

12 week photo