Friday Favorites 07/08/17

Hi everyone! Happy Friday!! I have been out of the habit of doing any social blogging lately, but I always enjoy looking back and posts like these to see what we were doing during a certain week in the past. I'd love to get back into the habit of more social blogging, as time allows. Anyways, today I am liking up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci for Friday Favorites to share all of my favorite things from the week.

Yesterday marks week 22 of my pregnancy... woo hoo!! I haven't taken week 22 pic yet, but here is my pic from week 21. Each week we are another step closer to meeting our baby boy, and that is definitely one of my FAVORITE things! You can click here if you want to read my 5 month pregnancy update.

Earlier this week I made this Baked Spinach Dip, and it was delish! Lee and I have been snacking on it all week, and it makes me feel just a little bit healthier than some of the other snacks I would normally go for. Its a little healthy bc it has spinach in it, right? Comfort food is always a FAVORITE of mine. If you need a yummy dip recipe for this weekend, this one is great!

This evening I will officially be off work for a 4 day weekend! We are hoping to spend the 4th of July boating and watching some fireworks, although there is a chance of rain on Tuesday. Celebrating the very best country in the world is definitely at the top of my FAVORITES list. I don't have a pic of myself in it yet, but I'm planning to rock this festive maternity tank this weekend. *I am not being paid to promote this shirt, I simply share links on my blog to items/products that I genuinely like.

Lastly, my favorite thing from this week is this great weather we have been having! It has been warm, but not too hot or humid. I've been eating lunch outside and enjoying the weather as much as possible. The last 2 nights, Lee and I have gone on a walk after dinner. I'm hoping we can keep this beautiful weather through the holiday weekend! Check out this short snapchat video I took at lunch yesterday:

Happy 4th of July! THANK YOU to all of the men and women who have served/are serving to protect our freedom. I am so thankful to live in the beautiful US of A, and I know this country would not be as great as it is without the sacrifice of our armed forces. God Bless America! Stay safe this weekend, friends!

Pregnancy month 4

Pregnancy month 4... how is it possible that we are halfway to meeting our baby already?! 2017 is flying by! I am torn between being wanting it to be Nov. so we can meet our baby boy and wanting time to slow down so I can enjoy every moment of pregnancy. This past month we got to have our anatomy scan, which is a longer ultrasound that gave us all kinds of good pics of our baby. We got to see many of his organs, all 4 of his limbs, a good look at his head, and even got pics of his tiny little feet. It was incredible! He is developing right on schedule, and we are so thankful. He is very active. I have recently started feeling lots of little kicks and flutters.

I'm still fortunate to be feeling well as far as nausea and morning sickness goes, but I am getting to a point where I'm starting to feel more discomfort when I move certain ways, and at night when trying to sleep. Lee ordered me a Snoogle Pillow, and let me tell you... I am a huge fan! I am listing the Snoogle near the top of the list of fav gifts Lee has given me.  I had a few days this past month where the weather got pretty hot and my hands and feet started swelling... there was a period of 2-3 days where I had no ankles whatsoever. I was afraid I wouldn't get rid of those kankles until Thanksgiving, but thankfully, the swelling has gone down for now. I have no doubt that it will come back as we get deeper into the summer. 

As far as plans for the baby go, you're probably wondering about his name. Lee and I are so stumped in this department. There are a few names that we like but nothing we are sold on yet. We've decided to keep our name ideas to ourselves. We don't want to be swayed one way or another by all kinds of opinions, so we're keeping everyone in suspense until we decide. Once his name is set, we will probably share. :) 

In other plans, we haven't really done anything to the baby's bedroom except clean out one of his closets... Our plan is to finish our basement remodel and then start on baby's room. This his been a long project, but Lee has made some strides in our basement recently! My mother-in-law is a rockstar, and she painted almost all of our living room/stairway for us. It looks awesome!! Lee has recruited a few friends to help lay our floor this weekend, so a few more weekends, and we will be on our way to spending lots of family time downstairs this winter. I am SO excited for this! Also once we finish this project, we can focus on putting together our son's bedroom.

Typing 'our son' is still so awesome. Every time he moves or wiggles I am reminded of how REAL this is, and I am just so thankful. Are you guys tired of reading that on every post yet? I don't know how else to describe all of this... somedays I am overwhelmed (in a great way) at the reality of experiencing pregnancy and planning for a baby. There were so many days where I wondered if this would ever happen for us, and now that it is, I still have a hard time believing it even though the pregnancy is more than halfway through. Pregnancy is so temporary, and it is going by so fast... for those of you who are still waiting and praying for this miracle, don't give up. It is worth every tear, every shot, every pill, every sleepless night, etc. It is already worth all of it, and I haven't even held this precious little baby yet. It's crazy how we can love someone so much without ever having met them.

I'm a little late getting this post finished, so by now, we are only 18 weeks away from meeting our little guy. Here are a few pics of his growth during month 4:

17 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks, halfway to meeting our baby boy!

P.S.  I am NOT getting paid to promote the Snoogle pillow... I just really love it that much! :) 

Pregnancy Month 3

Hi everyone! Month 4 of pregnancy has FLOWN by, as we have been pretty busy these past few weeks. Despite our busyness, I am so happy to share that this month has gone smoothly in the pregnancy realm. I am still crossing my fingers and being extra thankful that other than some occasional nausea, I've not had any morning sickness.

I'm now in the 2nd trimester and the exhaustion of the 1st trimester has mostly passed. I'm starting to get some energy back. It's good I've gotten some energy back because in the past month we have celebrated my mom's 50th birthday in Nashville, spent Mother's Day cooking out with all the the wonderful momma's in my life, threw a little birthday shin dig for my hubby's 30th birthday, and finally planted my garden for this year.

My 16 week appointment with the doctor showed that baby's heart rate was strong, baby is growing right on track, and my blood pressure is looking good. We didn't initially have an ultrasound scheduled with this appointment, but Lee and I didn't know that.... We've had an ultrasound with every other appointment so far, so we just assumed that was a normal thing. The doctor explained that our next ultrasound isn't scheduled until our anatomy scan, which happens around 18-20 weeks. She knows we are always anxious to know that baby is doing well, so she said she'd check to see if someone was available to do an ultrasound.

It was late in the day, but thankfully someone was available for an ultrasound, and it was the same woman who I saw previously when I went in due to some bleeding. When I went in bc of the bleeding, I was a crying, nervous wreck and she was incredibly sweet. She was incredibly sweet once again, and she asked us when we went in if she was allowed to say what she knew, etc. and we told her to tell us what she saw... so she started scanning and went right to the pelvic area of our baby. She explained what was being shown on the screen. Our baby's little butt, two legs, and then the moment of truth: our baby is a.... BOY!!!! We are thrilled to know the gender of our baby boy! We also got to see his spine, his little ribs, and his facial profile. We are already so in love with our little boy!

Finding out the gender of our baby has been an incredible surprise this month. We thought we wouldn't know gender until later in the pregnancy, but we're thankful we got to know sooner! So now you can find me on Pinterest creating boards for our baby boy's room, and Lee and I are throwing out ideas for all kinds of different boy names.

We shared the news of our baby's gender with a some of our friends and family during Lee's 30th birthday cookout. Although we've known for over a week now, we are still in shock, and so thankful and excited!! We get to have a baby boy! Is this real life?!

We get to have our anatomy scan in early June, and we are looking forward to seeing more of our little guy and see all the growing he has been doing! I'll let you guys know how the anatomy scan goes with my next blog post. We are still thanking God everyday for this experience, and continuing to pray for our baby boy and his health, growth, and development. Everyday Lee and I look at my baby bump and are just so thankful. We are so lucky that the pregnancy thus far has been so smooth. We are loving being able to plan for our future as a family of 3. We are now in week 17 of pregnancy, but I'll leave you with pics from weeks 13-16.




Here I am at 13 weeks pregnant. 

Here I am at 14 weeks along.

                

Here is another from 14 weeks. A friend gifted me this tank for my birthday, and I love it!

I failed to take a 15 week photo, but my mom snapped this one Mother's Day weekend. My brother did an awesome seafood boil for all of us ladies, and our baby boy made his way into the pic! :) 

Finally, here is my bump at 16 weeks. We are excited to get to use the gender card now!



Pregnancy Month 2

Hi everyone! I am almost finished with my 12th week of pregnancy, and have so much to share with you!

These past few weeks have been pretty great. I almost feel guilty typing this, but I have been so very fortunate with my pregnancy symptoms so far. I have not thrown up once (yet)! I have to add that 'yet' in there so I don't jinx myself. I've been tired, which I hear I can pretty much expect for the next 18 years or so, and I've had a little nausea here and there, but over all I'm feeling really great.

As of tomorrow, I will be 13 weeks pregnant. I'm SO CLOSE to being done with my 1st trimester. The 2nd trimester starts on my birthday, and I can't think of a greater gift. I have had a little spotting a few times, so we have had several ultrasounds just to make sure all is well. Our ultrasounds have confirmed so far that our baby has a strong heartbeat and is growing right on schedule. Seeing the baby move around on the ultrasound screen is a dream come true! We go back for our next appointment around 16 weeks.

One of the most exciting milestones from this past month was that I have been released from my Reproductive Endocrinologist, aka fertility doctor, and am now seeing my usual OBGYN. Although I am going to miss our doctor and the nurses that have been here for us for over 2 years, I am so excited just to be a normal pregnant woman! I have also gotten the green light to stop taking the estrogen and progesterone, so for almost 3 weeks I have been sustaining this pregnancy  all on my own! Woo Hoo! Every little step forward is a huge victory for Lee, myself, and our precious little miracle.

Lee and I are so thankful for all that we have to look forward to. Finding out the gender of our baby, preparing the nursery, and choosing a name are all at the top of our list! A lot of people are asking if we are going to find out the gender... The answer is YES!! We have been waiting a long time to experience this pregnancy, and we want to know as much as we can about our child! So we are definitely hoping to find out the gender. We haven't decided if we are going to do some type of fun gender reveal or if we will share our good news right away.

Everyday I am thanking and praising God for this experience. There were days (months, years) where I wondered if this would ever be a possibility for us. Now that it is, we are both so excited. Some days I am still pinching myself just to make sure this is real life. Other days, I don't have to pinch myself, because the fact that most of my jeans no longer fit is a good reminder! haha. Never have I been so thankful to be gaining weight!! That being said, bring on the bump pics! Here are pics from weeks 9-12, and a few funnies. :)

I already shared this pic on my Instagram account, but its too good not to share again. This is one of my fav. baby  purchases I've made so far. I got this prior to us getting our IVF results, and prayed that we would get to use it someday. 

Here I am at 9 weeks pregnant. 

Here I am at 10 weeks along. If you're thinking that I look rough in this pic, that's because this pic was taken the same day I woke up with some spotting, and I was a crying mess most of the day. Thankfully the ultrasound showed everything is great with baby. In the morning I cried bc I was terrified that something was wrong, and in the afternoon I cried bc I was so happy everything was ok. It was an all around emotional day :). 

Here I am at 11 weeks, and 1 whole week hormone free!! You might notice the cute little signs I'm using. My cousin sent these to us and we love them! 

Here I am last week at 12 weeks pregnant, wearing maternity pants and a maternity shirt! I can still squeeze into a few of my normal pants, but I'm mostly embracing maternity pants bc they are way more comfortable. 

For funsies, here is Lee 12 weeks into my pregnancy... of course he is staying his usual handsome self and isn't gaining any sympathy weight so far. 

Lastly, another funny. Here I am estimating what I might look like in the next few months, haha!


Thank you for following along with our blog and your continued prayers for a safe pregnancy and healthy baby. We appreciate you all so much! 

IVF Round 1: Results

Well... As you all know, we had our embryo transfer last month. What many of you don't know, is that our transfer was done on Valentine's Day, the day of love... How perfect is that? Brace yourselves for a really long blog post, but if you can make it to the end, I think you will enjoy this one.

 I'm just going to jump right in and share, because I know our faithful blog readers are dying to know: After 3 years of trying to conceive, 7 rounds of fertility treatments, more hormones than Lee ever imagined he could tolerate, lots and lots of tears, and even more prayer.... I. AM. PREGNANT!!

Can you believe it?! Being able to finally type those words is incredible. I have never been more overcome with emotion than the day I finally got to see the word 'pregnant' on a test, and share that moment with my husband. Getting to this point has been a long road for Lee and I, and we are so thankful to be able to experience pregnancy and parenthood together.

I am still very early in my pregnancy. At 9 weeks along, Lee and I realize that anything can happen at anytime, but we want to embrace and enjoy every moment that we can of this pregnancy... even the ones that involve exhaustion and nausea! We debated to wait until later in the pregnancy to share our news, but we decided that it only makes sense to share our good news. We know that many of you have been praying for us throughout this process... some of you have been praying for 2+ YEARS with us, and we are so appreciative. We knew that you would want to celebrate our good news with us as well. So for now, I am enjoying pregnancy and praying daily for continued health of both myself and the baby. We have had 3 ultrasounds so far, and all 3 confirm that there is just one baby, and he/she has a strong heartbeat! The heartbeat continues to rise with each appointment, and the baby's growth is measuring on par. We haven't gotten to hear the heartbeat yet, but we've been able to see that little flicker on the ultrasound screen.

As we celebrate our pregnancy, and all that is to come, I think it is most important that we celebrate how BIG and how GOOD our God is! We are very thankful for our doctor, nurses, and modern technology, but we are most thankful for our Lord. We know that only He can create life, and we are so happy that our prayers (and yours) have been answered. God has provided for us in a way that only He can do, and we owe him all the glory and praise.

THANK YOU for everyone who has read our blog, prayed for us, sent us words of encouragement, etc. To say that you are appreciated would be a huge understatement. Most of my family lives out of town, and initially I created this blog as a way to keep my family updated on our fertility treatments. Especially during my times of sorrow, it became difficult to share the same stories over and over again. Posting updates here where I could explain once and be done with it was a huge relief for me... It was also a great outlet. I never dreamed that Lee and I would receive so much support not only from close family and friends, but from extended family, high school friends, acquaintances, and even strangers through this blog. I know many of you have become faithful followers often watching for updates posted on social media, and know that I enjoy hearing from you as much as you have enjoyed following along. Your support has been a huge blessing to Lee and I.

For any of my friends reading who are still waiting for your miracle, please know that you are not alone! I wish I could say that doing X, Y, or Z is the perfect solution for healing, or the best way to cope, but I just can't. I know that every situation is different, and there's no magic involved here. What I can say is to cling tightly to your faith, and remember God's promises to us. He promises to give us hope, to bless us in  abundance, and to provide for us. If you are struggling with infertility and are feeling lost, frustrated, defeated, or anything else, please reach out to me. I want you to know that even if you are private with your struggle, you are not alone, and most  importantly, there is hope. We serve a God who redeems, and sometimes its nice to be reminded of that.

Below are a few baby bump and other pics we have snapped along the way. Our due date for Baby Fehrenbacher is November 2, 2017.We are so thankful for your continued prayers for a healthy baby and healthy pregnancy. I'm going to try to keep blogging about our pregnancy each month, so stay tuned for more details!


The first two photos were taken during the IVF process. One the morning of our egg retrieval, and the second was taking right before our embryo transfer.

This was taken super early the morning of our egg retrieval. 

We snapped thus pic right before our embryo transfer. 

We totally spaced on weeks 4 and 5, but here I am at 6 weeks along.

7 weeks along! 

Here I am last week at 8 weeks pregnant.