Half-Way There!

This week I dreamed of our baby girl for the very first time.  I’m not sure if it was spending time with my little cousins over the past two weeks, or if it’s simply the fact that we’re half way through this pregnancy, but it was awesome.  I remember being surrounded by family and friends and looking down into sparkling baby blue eyes.  I woke up with the warmest feeling.

It’s hard to believe that I’m already 5 months – or 21 weeks – along. At last week’s appointment, the baby’s heartbeat was strong and steady, as were my vitals.  As we move forward – just growing the baby, as they put it – they’ll want to see me a little more frequently to make sure nothing's going on that I can't feel.  We got to meet the new midwife at my doctor’s office and we really liked her.  She’s positive, happy and excited to be a part of a pregnancy that’s pretty unique.  I love educating people, so I’m glad to have another person involved that’s eager to learn.

I continue to be amazed at how much more in love I am with Jacob as each day passes.  He’s such a good man and I can’t begin to imagine doing this without him.  With my growing belly, I’m finding moments where I’m less confident transferring into and out of my wheelchair or unable to reach something that I could manage before, and he’s always there to offer assistance – without  making me feel “unable.”  Plus, while my body’s changing and I’m experiencing random little side effects of being pregnant, he never stops making me feel beautiful.  I’ve got to be the luckiest girl in the world.

We’re having a blast preparing the baby’s room.  We’re still nailing down a theme – but knowing us, it will probably be something beachy.  It’s exciting just sitting in the room and dreaming of creative ways to make things as accessible as possible for me.  So many people are asking me questions that begin with “What are you going to do when…” or “How are you gonna…” and my answer is usually the same: We’re not sure, but we’re really excited to find out.

We’re loving every second of this and can’t wait for what’s to come.  I hope that my experience can inspire other women to do what some think is impossible.  Life is a miracle and the possibilities are endless with the right attitude.

A Precious Baby Girl

Yesterday will go down in the books as one of my favorite days. We had a great appointment with the high-risk doctor and found out that we will be having a precious baby girl. The moment the nurse told us, it felt like my heart skipped a beat. It was surreal looking into my husband’s eyes and coming to the realization that we will soon have a daughter.

On top of the wonderful news of our baby girl, we also found out that both the baby and I are right on track and very healthy.  Every time the nurse took a measurement during the ultrasound – of the brain, the spine, the heart and various bones – she would say, “perfect.” It was music to my ears.  The high-risk doctor even indicated that he doesn’t feel like he needs to see me anymore.  He feels that the baby and I are so healthy, that we don’t really need to be considered high-risk.  That’s pretty amazing.

I’m still feeling really great, too.  Aside from a rapidly growing belly, a little more back pain than usual, and more acne than I ever had going through puberty – I pretty much feel like my old self.  I even got out to the lake this weekend and spent some time on the water and in the sunshine with some great people.  Jacob and I have been super motivated – keeping ourselves busy cleaning out, organizing and building things around the house to prepare for our sweet baby.

In the coming weeks, I’ll have to become more and more creative as I hang on tight to my independence and try not to fully rely on everyone around me to help with small tasks, such as picking stuff up off the floor.  Even transferring into and out of my wheelchair is beginning to become a bit more challenging.  I know I can handle it, though. Between my dogs (who are both a big help to me), the awesome people around me and my drive to overcome challenges, I know this will be just another fantastic learning experience that makes me appreciate the abilities that I do have.

As we count the days to bringing our little girl into this family, I continue to thank my lucky stars for the love and partnership Jacob and I share.  Furthermore, I am overwhelmed by and so grateful for the love and support we are receiving from our family and friends.  There couldn't be a better environment to bring a child into. 

Thanks so much for following our journey. If you know of anyone who would benefit from hearing our story, please feel free to pass this along - or you can email me here.  Happy Summer!