Where has the time gone... SO many updates!

13 weeks have come and gone... so fast! I'm so sorry I've been MIA!  I am sure some of you may have thought the worst, but thankfully we are all doing well!

After my last post at 12 weeks, we shared our BIG news with the world...

After every storm, there is a RAINBOW of HOPE

With the greatest joy and humbled hearts, we are so beyond blessed to announce that we are expecting our rainbow baby BOY, due January 13, 2018.

The four white roses represent our angel babies in heaven.  We will never forget them or this journey. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, as we know how precious life is, and this miracle baby the Lord has blessed us with.  And for those of you who have prayed so fervently for us, Thank you.

"I did not give up waiting for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.  he lifted me up out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.  He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see what he has done and be amazed.  They will put their trust in the Lord."  

Psalms 40:1-3

We had an outpouring of love, prayers and support.  It was overwhelming.  I was in tears after sharing... because it is scary putting it all out there.  But this is our story and I want God to get the glory!

And Where Are We Now?
Its hard to believe that 13 weeks has flown by!  I'm now 25 weeks pregnant! Praise God!  I'm feeling him kick, roll, and nudge me all the time now!

The first time I felt him I was ALMOST 13 weeks. I know earlier than with the twins!  I didn't believe it myself at first, but there was little popcorn popping in my tummy! It would come and go, some times I wouldn't feel it for days... then I would worry!  I ended up purchasing a doppler... BEST. THING. EVER. It took all my worry away. After RPL (recurrent pregnancy loss), you are damaged. I of course, remind myself constantly of what the Lord said the morning of our transfer, "Trust Me Anyway..."  That has been the BEST thing for this pregnancy, because things are constantly going wrong.

At my 16 week appointment, my OB, for what seemed like the hundredth time, pushed more testing on me.  I reluctantly took the forms.  With my twins, I never did any testing, knowing we wouldn't terminate the pregnancy if something was wrong.  I didn't want to do any testing with this pregnancy either for the same reason and plus I know these tests are wrong all the time and give mothers undue stress.

 I ended up taking my second trimester screening test, just to get my OB off my back.  He called me two weeks later and said our test was positive for down syndrome.  Our anatomy scan was due the following week so he suggested I call them to let them know our test results and schedule a genetic counseling appointment. I was in tears. Praying. Having my friends pray for me and our baby.

C and I talked about it. Chose to NOT go to the counseling appointment, but believe and trust God, that either way, a baby with DS or not, THIS IS OUR BABY.  We did not want to do any further testing and of course we would not terminate.  PLUS, our little one was a genetically NORMAL embryo.  This just shows you how wrong these tests can be.

We went to our anatomy scan, and there were ZERO soft markers that would flag there was a problem or possibility of DS.  He looked perfect, measured 8 oz at 18 weeks.

After all the stress from that blood test, it ended up being a good thing that we did it!  Maybe it was a God thing! The reason the test flared positive is that I have some proteins in the placenta that can cause IUGR (Intra Uterine Growth Restriction) later in pregnancy.  It tends to happen more closer to third trimester.  Of course, again, I worried and prayed like crazy, and again was reminded to, "Trust Him Anyway..."  

Because of our history of RPL and Maximus being so small, 3 lbs 12 oz at 35 weeks, and he started veering off the track at my 30 week appointment, our perinatologist is now monitoring us closely!  I go for a growth scan every four weeks, just like I did with my twins!  Because we didn't do any testing with the twins, it makes me wonder if that is what happened with Maximus' placenta, or was it my whacky immune system attacking it, or was it just a twin thing?  We will never know, but I'm thankful for the extra monitoring.  I go every two weeks, alternating my OB, and now perinatologist.

At my 22 week appointment, our little rainbow measuring right on track again, at 1 lb 1 oz...  And this face... Soooo in love!  I could stare at it all day!  One HUGE benefit of going to the peri,  next to making sure my baby is safe, is getting 3D ultrasounds! Seeing this face makes it so much more real! There is a real baby in there... 

We can't figure out who he looks more like, Rocco or Maximus.  The picture above, he looks just like Rocco, even acts like him!  He is always SO mellow, sleeping in every ultrasound!  He was covering his face the whole time!  I have yet to see him kick around, although I do feel him  so much more now, thankfully!

All my immune stuff is going well.  I just did labs last week and should get the results again tomorrow about my next IVIG.  The last few months I only needed one infusion. I had to wait to start weening fro the prednisone because my ANA's and APA's were still elevated.  My face is SO puffy and I feel so horribly unattractive from them, but they have helped give us our miracle.  I'm not taking too many selfies these days, but I just started weening from them!  I read it takes getting down to 10-15mg to where I will notice a difference in the moon face. I'm going down super slow... 2.5 a week so I don't flare and have any issues.  I'm at 22.5mg a day still.  

Here is the latest bump date, taken yesterday.  I'm not looking at the camera, because honestly, my face is SO puffy.  I'm glad I didn't blow up everywhere else!

Total weight gain so far, 18 lbs!  I feel GREAT!  I LOVE being pregnant!  I am SO thankful for this miracle and second chance!  All the glory to God!