Memorial Day weekend

This pictures sums up the Memorial Day weekend. We went out to see Dan's cousins in Lodi on Sunday afternoon. We ate dinner together and then checked into the hotel about 9pm. Since the room had 2 queen beds, that was no problem- just we weren't tired at 9pm- so the three of us stayed up to 10:30pm. Russell loved his bed and the TV right in front of it;-)

On Monday morning, we went back to the cousins' house and the kids played and we had the BBQ at 1pm. We left for home shortly after 3pm since we knew traffic would be heavy. Yes, that was an understatement. We sat (or drove about 5 mph) in 4 to 6 lanes of traffic for almost two hours. Good times in California! Russell zonked out in the car and was back to his energetic self once we got home. It's always great to be back on the Peninsula!

The Belly

It is an emotional struggle to weather the storm of secondary infertility (IF) because there is the guilt of already having one (or more) child(ren) and then desiring another when other women struggling with primary infertility don't have one child. A woman with secondary IF has one foot in the fertile world and another in the IF world. It is difficult to attend baby showers and still, you hope that if your day comes, your friends will be there for you as well.

For this reason, I've been more hesitant with this pregnancy to talk about it too much on this blog. In the last two years, I've become a faithful follower of the IF blogs listed on this page. Some of the women have m/c'd multiple times, and some have carried to term since I 'met' these women. Like others that have had loss, I want to be sensitive to my online friends.

At the same time, as time passes, we have more reason to hope that this pregnancy will end with a take-home baby:-) Friends and family check this blog as well, and it is nice to share with them our progress, as they are faithful prayer warriors for us...

I am beginning to feel the movement of our Little One on occasion. My belly only looks 'poochy' during the day but by 5pm, I feel 41 weeks pregnant and the waddling sets in (I'm guessing gravity has a lot to do with this;-). I'm still hungry every 2 hrs which Russell doesn't mind because he loves snack time with Mom. I've been buying more apples and oranges for snack and once peaches come into season, we'll be stocking up on those as well.

At 17 weeks, this is what the Belly looks like:

My next OB appointment is Wednesday the 27th, and from there, we'll schedule the 20wk gender/anatomy ultrasound. And this time, we are not keeping secrets. It was too hard to remember last time who wanted to know and who didn't. Way too stressful for us;-) A girl would be a definite change in toys and clothing around here but in all honesty, I'd love for Russell to have a brother. Thank-you all continually for your prayers for this baby and the ability of my body to carry/deliver this pregnancy in health and safety. Thank-you.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

No, it wasn't Russell's birthday, but he celebrated like it was! From 6am when he woke up and I told him it was Dad's birthday, he asked, "Can we eat cake now?" Due to our oven dying on Friday evening, there was no plans for a b-day cake so I told Russell that we'd go to the ice-cream shop after his nap and maybe there would be cake there.

With the temperatures hovering around 95F this weekend, ice cream was definitely in need:-) Russell's had more candy toppings than ice cream but as you can see from the bit in his hair, he enjoyed every bite.

Maddie and her mom (and Dad) joined us for the treat:-) Beautiful little girl.

As we left Baskin Robbin's, Russell said he still wanted cake. This kid doesn't forget anything we say. Since I had promised him cake, we drove over to the grocery store and bought one piece of carrot cake in the deli section...

Russell insisted on a candle and then we both sang "Happy Birthday" to Dan very loudly;-)

Again, I should remind you that it was Dan's birthday and not Russell's, but I can tell you who enjoyed the celebration more!

I love you, Dan!!!

Mother's Day on Saturday

Since Sunday really isn't the best day for us to celebrate birthdays or other events due to commitments at church, we celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday. Dan and three of his friends planned out the surprise afternoon for us four gals: lunch at a nice restaurant then manicures and pedicures at a local spa/salon. It was so nice to have a relaxing afternoon. I wish someone could massage my feet every day!

Prayers for Aiden

Friends of ours in Oregon have an urgent prayer request on behalf of friends of theirs, the Fredette's. The Fredette's little 21 month old son, Aiden, fell out of a three story window onto concrete below. For the last two weeks, Aiden has been in a medical induced coma to slow the trauma to his body. He is slowly coming out of it, but may have some degree of brain damage. Please uphold this family... this was accident that happened only in a blink of an eye...

http://www.prayersforaidan.blogspot.com/