We Won Valentine’s Day: Our Pregnancy Story

Thank you for all the well wishes! We are pretty stoked!

Baby 4

Here is the story of how we found out. It really is the best story ever, but I could be biased.

I am going to talk about some bodily functions, nothing too graphic. Just know that before you keep reading, however the craziness of the story will be worth it.

Let’s start with my last real period was in the beginning of November.

We had at least 6 negative pregnancy tests from before Christmas to the first week of January since no period came. We also had two negative tests from the doctor around January 8th. There was something so devastating about each one of these because I just felt that this time was different. Something told me that this time we made it happen.

A few days later after the results from the doctor and feeling defeated, I started bleeding. You may remember me complaining about the worst period ever. And if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my seriously depleted diet and several sick days. Y’all, I don’t take sick days, so you know it was bad! It wasn’t like my most recent periods, but I continued to bleed for the next 3 weeks and was so sick to my stomach ALL DAY LONG. Because of the negative test results, I didn’t think anything of pregnancy spotting. I just thought that my awful periods pre-birth control were just coming back. (Before I took BC, I would pass out from feeling so sick, cramps were a nightmare, and I would bleed for more than a week, have a week off, then start the next one. Awful, I tell you.)

So again, we just consulted the doctor.

At the same time, we had already set up our first appointment with the fertility specialist. My doctor suggested to talk my period issues over with them, since hormone therapy will be one of the first things they try, and we would go from there.

Valentine’s Day happened to be when our first appointment was with the specialist. We don’t generally celebrate this holiday, but we did find it kind of funny that we had an appointment about baby making on this day.

We trekked it down to Nashville for this three hour appointment.

They poked and prodded me taking blood/urine and doing a pap smear. We then sat for an hour listening to the doctor talk about all the different routes we could go, all the while telling jokes and wise cracks. He is a super goofy guy. Then Tom had to sit through a financial briefing, as I was being briefed that the last thing they wanted to do was an ultra sound to check to make sure there was no cancer or abnormal growths.

Talk about swing of emotions here! Going from talking about infertility, money, then possible cancer?

Obviously a sane person, would have been a little less on edge, but I think both of us were wound up at that point that we just hung on to those trigger words.

So here I sit in this cold room half naked waiting for what seems like hours for them to stick a giant probe in my lady bits to see if I have cancer. I know dramatic, but it’s where I was.

Finally, Tom joins me, then the doctor and nurse follow in after.

Tom leaned over just before the doctor started the ultra sound and said, “Isn’t a chance she is pregnant is there?”

And then the world stopped.

“Yep, you knocked her up. Good job.”

WAIT. YOU. SAID. WHAT?!

“You are 8 weeks pregnant. You did it.”

I could not see the screen, so I sat up and said, “You are not joking are you? There really is a baby in there? There is no way!”

I thought it was a cruel prank the funny man doctor was playing on us. I probably said this 3 or 4 times before I believed that the little blob on the screen was our baby.

OUR BABY!

Then both Tom and I were crying from shock and joy. This is probably a moment that I will relive forever. So sweet for us.

I told the nurse and the doctor that they were the best fertility specialist facility ever since we just had to walk in the door.

We asked if this happened often, and they said no, and we have since become famous at the clinic with our story. Pretty crazy.

The next hour is kind of a blur. We watched our baby on the screen through tears and disbelief, and they told us that the heart beat was strong and healthy. Then once I got dressed and found a quarter in my pocket (luck was on my side apparently), we were rushed into the conference room to discuss how to get the bleeding under control and get my hormones in check. My body was reading as if it wasn’t pregnant because my hormone levels were so low. This baby is a trooper! They gave me several things to get my body with the pregnancy program, and we now have to go in every week to get checked out.

Because of my hormones being out of whack and the long period of bleeding, I am still considered at-risk, which is why I cannot do anything above a walk or lift anything above 10 lbs. The good news is though that I am no longer bleeding, and I am now reading positive for a pregnancy. Now if only the nausea would go away…

Baby 2

We are just a little over 10 weeks pregnant now, and we are still kind of in stunned mode. Besides the nausea for the past 2 months, you can’t tell that I am pregnant. However, every visit we have had the doctors have been positive about the growth. The last ultra sound we saw the little bugger doing the old man shuffle, and the heart beat has been great every time.

The whole thing is still mind boggling, and sometimes it feels like a dream. Like I said, we were preparing ourselves for the worst at this appointment. We even had the discussion on the way there of the possibility of one of us being infertile and how we would proceed with adoption. To go from that, to seeing a human in my belly, was absolutely nuts.

Prayers are answered in God’s time is all I can say.

We are over the moon excited. We told about every stranger we met that weekend because we were so excited. Tom has been showing the ultra sound picture to anyone who has eyes. We are just giddy with joy right now.

When we got in the car after the appointment, Tom went into prep mode as you all could expect. He claimed we needed to go get diapers, a stroller, and that I needed to sit in the back seat in a car seat for the rest of the pregnancy.

So that my friends, is how we found out that we are going to be parents!

Also this is how we came to win Valentine’s Day, which means we will probably celebrate now in the future.

Baby 3

Our Roster Is Expanding!

We have an announcement!

Baby 1

And let me tell you this little rookie is having a lot of batting practice right now.

Come back tomorrow for the full story on how we found out, because you may remember that a month ago my doctor assured us that we were not pregnant.

It may be the best story you ever read, seriously.

Friday Filter-Film “Changeling”

I know I am a bit behind in seeing this movie that came out in 2008. Thanks to Netflix, I can get with the program though.

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This is a film about a mother’s love. Angelina Jolie plays a single mother in the 1930s who comes home one day to find her child missing. She reports it to the LAPD and does a crack job at investigating. They find a boy who matches the description loosely, mostly just meeting “lost boy,” and says that he is her lost son. She insists that he is not, and that her son is still missing and to keep the investigation active. LAPD doesn’t want a scene or bad press, and ensures that the boy just underwent “dramatic” changes while he was lost and sent him home with her. The mother doesn’t ever believe this is her son, and continues to try to get the LAPD to see her truth. They end up sending her to a mental ward just to shut her up.

I won’t give any other parts away. You will have to watch to see whether she ever reunites with her son or not, and for what other surprises are thrown in.

I think why I waited so long to watch this is because I am not particularly fond of Angelina. I don’t really have a reason because she is a decent actress, she just doesn’t strike my fancy. It comes fairly close to my hatred of Nicholas Cage.

I will admit though, that I really enjoyed this movie. It was gripping and emotionally intense. It was a mystery story that kept adding layers as you go through the plot line. You have themes of a parent’s love, women’s issues, corruptness, and more.

The acting was really great. I felt the emotions they were portraying. A review I read said, “rarely is the truth pretty.” That is so perfect to describe this film. It’s not a pretty film. It is cold and dank mostly. But I still was in awe when it was over. It gave me chills.

What I was most impressed with was the way they filmed the scenes. Being set in 1928-1935, they depicted a pretty drabby time in our history. And you could see that in every way they shot the frames. There were no rosy tints or bright sunny colors. It was all blue and industrial. It really set the mood for other themes to come out more fully.

I love when pieces of a film come together. That is what is so great about the movies. Everything from the costumes, music, to the hue of the frames can affect our mood and how we react to the story. These can affect us just as much, if not more at times than what is being said by the actors themselves. So the contributors and masterminds behind this particular movie did a great job making sure all the layers intertwine for a power punch to the viewer.

Have you watched any good films lately?

Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

Being Still

This week Tom has been out at the range with overnight training, so the dogs and I have had full reign of the house.

I have been taking advantage of the time to myself and making myself be still.

I don’t do still very well.

But a month long episode of nausea will make a person not want to move.

Because of my health concerns over the last month, my doctor has restricted me to no activity over walking or yoga for a few weeks. (A doctor restriction sounds a lot more serious than we believe it to be. I just need to slow down a bit to keep it that way. No worries friends!)

So I have to be still.

This is so hard for me, but it has been really good for me at the same time.

I have taken the time to breathe more, to sleep more, to not worry about connecting online as much.

It’s just me and the dogs.

While I like being busy and having things to do, it is so important for us to take time to be still. You can reconnect with yourself and listen to what your body needs.

So I am still here. I am just taking some time to be still.

Now if I can just get the dogs to be still, we would all be great in the Whitener household. Just kidding, I enjoy watching their energy.

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Talks with Tom #19

My husband often says some hilarious things that revolve around food and eating.

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Here are just two example of his statements.

Tom-I know what love is. I have eaten Cheezits.

(If you haven’t eaten White Cheddar Cheezits, this statement may not ring as true to you as it does for us. They are the bomb.com.)

On a separate occasion…

Tom-I have fluffy abs. They are like regular abs but better because they have a layer of meat on them. Regular abs are like a muffin. Mine are like a cupcake with icing.

(I am not exactly sure where he went from talking about a layer of meat to baked goods…)

These are the real conversations we have on a daily basis.