I've got a feeling...

That it's a boy! I've had 4 dreams and Mike has had one that it's a boy. We really have no preference....beside healthy. So, there you have it....my "feeling".

March Madness

We had an exciting March!

~First off, Mike's best friend, Daniel tied the knot! Daniel was the best man in our wedding and Mike had the honor of returning the favor to Daniel. He married a gorgeous girl....inside and out, Jill. She has 3 beautiful children....2 girls and a boy. Everything was perfect!Congrats Daniel & Jill!

And now for the Lewis List....

~$14,500 and 2 1/2 years later...we are credit card debt FREEEEE!!! WHOOO-HOOOO! Thank you Dave Ramsey!

~We said goodbye to Mike's Toyota Tacoma. :0( He sold it for a good cause....BABY LEW! He needs a vehicle that can carry a carseat!

~We paid off my car! (with the sale of the truck!)

~We bought new couches! We have been looking for so long....3 years probably. Annnd we love them!
~We bought a 2006 4 door Tacoma for my baby's daddy! It's pretty and Mike is LOVING it! :0)

Room progress...

Baby Lew's room is off to a beautiful start!

We (and Baby Lew) were blessed with this beautiful set by Mike’s parents and grandmother.

We picked up the furniture several weeks ago. Our neighbors to the left helped Mike get the boxes inside. After we opened the box and dumped the 227 nuts and bolts on the floor, our TOTALLY AWESOME neighbors to the right (Crystal & Joe Knight) walked over to check it out….and then so graciously offered power tools, their time, and of course good company to put it together!

What's on your plate?

The most common question I get asked after "how are you and Baby Lew?" is "what are you craving?".

I have had quite the journey with food and pregnancy. Before I knew I was pregnant, I had a sudden (intense) aversion to sweets. I typically packed a cosmic brownie or gummies of some sort with lunch. It was so weird to me. Around this same time, I weighed myself only to find that I had dropped 6 pounds...for no good reason to my knowledge. Mike swore it was because I had gone to the gym twice in one week, bahahahaha. That was so funny to me! :0)

Anyway- it wasn't long after those noted changes that we found out we were expecting....and about a week after that.....HOLY ROLLER COASTER! I woke up one morning, made my cup (because I eat in the car) of cereal and took one bite and thought I would spew Lucky Charms or whatever I had that day. If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE cereal. LOVE IT. Every kind...minus the one with cinnamon. I was in total disbelief that such a thing would or could EVER happen to me! ha! I tried Saltines. Disgusting. I tried Wheat Thins. Gross. I tried Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches. Never felt so sick in my entire life. Looked at eggs. They all of the sudden had down feathers in them. Graham Crackers...with ginger ale. PERFECT. Now, these weren't just any graham crackers...they were Great Value graham crackers. I bought the name brand next grocery trip....barf. SO, for the first 10 weeks.....from 6am to 12 noon....graham crackers and ginger ale. I went thru approximately one box every 3 days...much like cereal. :0)

At my check up, the doc asked me if I had any concerns. I didn't really....other than my eating. For the most part...I ate pretty healthy. I have always been very conscious of my carb intake as my body is very sensitive to them. Welp, let me tell you how quick that went right out the window.... I (still) cannot stand the thought of any cooked veggie. And fruit cravings come few and far between. The only way to get me in a room with those and from my plate to my mouth is a salad. The doc assured me that I was ok. :0) YESSSS! To continue to eat what I craved, as that was obviously what I had deprived my body of for so long and it was now in desperate need of....until 20 weeks.....FOLKS, that is next week. EEEEEEEK!

In the mean time, I really haven't had "cravings" necessarily, but strong aversions and only a few things that sound really good everyday. I guess that means it's a craving?!? My first bizarre craving was original corn nuts (I think I just felt the baby move just talking about it!) and a coke mixed with cherry slurpee from 7-Eleven. Haven't given up the Slurpees since. My Corn Nuts craving turned into salt and vinegar chips. And that has since changed to Funyuns....and avocado. I know, I know....weird, disgusting, gross....I have heard it all and all I can say is, I'm pregnant. :)

Cereal breakthrough! FINALLY, I was in the grocery and wanted some good junk cereal. So, Trix and Cookie Crisp were the picks for the week. The following week I made a healthier choice for a bit....Frosted Mini Wheats. Now in the pantry.... Corn Pops and Rice Krispies (I like those with a teaspoon of sugar).

So, there you have it....that's what's on my plate! :0)

Bubblegum, Bubblegum in a dish...

I must say....I am getting the hang of this whole throwing a baby shower thing! I had a blast throwing this bubblegum themed shower together for a coworker and friend, Bernadette! She had her baby last week...welcome Aaron James! Here are a few pics from the luncheon.

Bernadette & I

Bubblegum machine mini cupcakes made by Erin

The invite...by me :0)

Favors

Centerpieces...my favorite!

punch table

Love Letters

I just LOVE to get mail! ...not bills, but letters. :) Since I have been pregnant, I have received a love letter from Baby Lew each month. They each are absolutely adorable and it seems everytime I get one, it's just what I needed to hear. I hope you enjoy them and think they are as neato as I do!

Month One "You Just Found Out About Me"

You Just went to the doctor to find out if I'm for real
So now that you know, here is the deal
I'd first like to introduce myself as your baby
You can be certain now, there is no more maybe
Soon I will be sharing with you my new trick
It is to change moms sleeping habits and make her sick
Sorry Mom about making you queasy
But life in the womb is not always easy
The next time I write mom will start to show
Right now I have some growing to do so I must go

Love, Your Baby on the Way "Baby Lew"

Month Two "My First Photo Shoot" (Although, we at this point have had THREE!)

Hi, it's little ole me with message number two
My first photo shoot, what is a baby star to do
I was minding my business just getting some rest
Then a flash came, they didn't even give me time to get dressed
At first I was wondering to myself why
Then I said "who cares, I am not shy" (<-- already taking after it's mom!)
So show me off if you must
Don't worry, I won't fuss
I hope it was as good as you thought it would be
Do not forget to hang up the first sonogram picture of me
Very soon I will write you again
Just keep telling me that you love me as often as you can

Love, Your Baby on the Way "Baby Lew"

Month Three "God Checks On Me Every Day"

I figured I would write just to say hi
I also wanted to tell you I met an important guy
Meeting someone here can sound a little odd
But He is everywhere, his name is God
He told me that it does me no good to scream and shout
It takes nine months to figure my way out
He said "I know not seeing your parents is tough...
Be patient my child, first you must grow some more stuff"
This God guy is pretty o.k.
You would be happy to know he checks on me every day
So as you wait for me to write you the next letter
Just remember that I am not alone, it will make you feel better

Love Your Baby on the Way "Baby Lew"


ps- the little angel behind the love letters is Mike's Aunt Pam. :0)

Baby Lew (WARNING: SMALL NOVEL AHEAD!)

Mike & I are ECSTATIC to announce (to the whole ENTIRE world!) that we have a little on the way! "Baby Lew's" expected time of arrival is August 27th!

The news of Baby Lew definitely made an entrance .... a bumpy road to start us off, for sure!

Our story/adventure/roller coaster/vallies/mountain tops...and GO!

Mike & I tried for about six months to get pregnant....not very long considering the average couple takes about a year. However, if you have ever "tried" to get pregnant and didn't on the first or second try....any length of time can become frustrating. We knew this chapter of our lives had the possibility of being difficult as I had endometriosis and scar tissue from surgeries to work against. Much to my surprise, at first, it wasn't either of those things to begin with. For some unknown reason (at first), over the past year, I would go 3 and 4 months without a cycle. This did not change after stopping birth control.....after 5 months, I made an appointment with my doctor.

The doctor prescribed me a 10 day pack of Provera to jump start my system again. After completing it, I started my cycle 5 days later. I honestly have never been so excited for it to come in my ENTIRE life! My mom & sister had arrived the night before and I greeted them the next morning with "I started my period, whoo-hooooo!". I think they were a little confused, as we had been trying to get pregnant, and a period would obviously indicate the opposite. I broke out the calendar and marked day 1!

There is so much to know about your body and your cycle when you start trying to conceive. 28 days never in my life meant a thing to me until now. My body showed no signs of ovulation when on the calendar said I should...around day 12? I think. So, I just sighed and went on with life. Honestly, at this point, I was sort of over it. I started looking at "the brighter" side....the longer it takes, the more money we will save before the little one arrives! Who knows if that's really how it goes, but for me then, it sounded good.

Thursday, December 2nd....Mike & I had plans to attend the infamous Lakeland Christmas Parade with our small group. It was that day that I, for the first time, showed signs of ovulation. Jenny DeAngelis joked that we should skip the parade...but there was no way we were missing out on that! :0) Besides, I wasn't sold on the fact that this was "it"....after all, my body was slightly off course.

Thursday December 9th...the day I should have started my period for a typical 28 day cycle. I had instructions from my doctor to take a test on the first day of my missed period and if it was negative to take another on day 7 of my missed period. If they both were negative, I would be seen again to possibly do another round of Provera in hopes to get mother nature back on track. Well, the impatient person I am, called the doc as soon as I got my first negative. I really wanted to get in before Christmas if I was going to have to go through this 15 day process again. She pleaded with me (basically).....just wait. Call me back on day 7 if it's negative. I TRIED to convince her that I was not pregnant...I was even a little crampy.

Saturday December 18th....Liz, Rebekah, & Stephen were in town to have Christmas. I woke up because I was cramping so terribly bad. I got up expecting my period. Nope. So, I peed on the stick (only because the nurse told me to)....left it on the toilet and joined Liz for a cup of Santa's White Christmas coffee (my FAVORITE!). Sleeping beauty (Mike) wakes up, comes to the bedroom door....and here is how it went.

Mike- "ummmm, babe, i think you need to come here."

Me- "ooooook."

(Mike leads me to the bathroom....and seriously, I have NO CLUE as to what he's gonna say)
(Mike holds up the stick)
Mike- "I think you're pregnant"

(I laughed it off....no really, I did)

Me- "nah, it's just been sitting there ENTIRELY too long and all the lines showed up"
Mike- "wellllllll, don't you think you should take another one?"
Me- "I guess, but I only have 4 drops of pee in me"

Mike- "well, try it anyway"

INSTANTLY, both lines appeared. Mike and I hugged, but I honestly was in so much shock, I didn't know how to celebrate. I called Liz in, held them both up and she agreed that I was pregnant, haha. I wasn't convinced, apparently. I threw on some clothes and headed to wal-mart to but the most expensive test I could find and took two more that afternoon and one again the next morning. It was true. We were having a baby!

Monday December 20th....Liz and the siblings headed back to Madison. That night around 10:30 I was cramping so bad I was in tears. I woke Mike up and told him we were going to the ER. I felt like everything in me was going to come out (gross, I know). Mike's mom came over quickly and we headed to the ER. We were taken back almost immediately. They pulled blood and did an ultrasound.

Tuesday December 21st....Weeee hours of the morning.....the doctor comes in and explains HcG (human chorionic gonadotropin..how's that for a big word?) to Mike and I. It's the hormone in your blood that turns pregnancy tests positive. They dated my pregnancy from my last cycle which put me at 6 weeks. At 6 weeks, your HcG levels should be over 1,000. Mine were 389. He also said that SOMETHING should be seen in the uterus on the ultrasound.....and there wasn't. And after more talking...basically told us we needed to see our doctor because he didn't know if we were having a tubule pregnancy or if we had already lost the baby. Devastated doesn't even touch how I felt....I was disappointed. I was mad. I was scared. I was confused with the fact that I was SO devastated about something I had only known about for 3 days. I could talk to NO ONE without absolutely losing myself. The support from our family and close friends that knew already was unbelievable. I got texts all day long with words of encouragement and prayers. We even had a few people visit just to share a hug and tears.

Wednesday December 22nd....Went in to see my OB, Dr. Lavar in Orlando. He, on the other hand, heard our story and was so very optimistic. I explained to him how wacky my cycle had been and that I was sure I ovulated 2 weeks later than the "normal". He thought that explained everything. I wasn't 6 weeks pregnant. I was 2 weeks and 3 days pregnant! How is that for finding out early? Dr. Lavar told us that he felt good about this pregnancy....that there was hope and we shouldn't be so devastated just yet. He ordered HcG levels to be repeated the next day and expected that they should be doubled if the pregnancy was at all viable. In addition, it was noted that sometime over the past couple of years, I had developed polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Dr. Lavar looked Mike & I both in the face and told us that it was a miracle that we even got pregnant, not necessarily because of my pre-existing conditions, but because of my "newest " one, PCOS. Ok...physiology lesson.....there are 2 hormones that are related to a cycle...FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) & LH (lutenizing hormone). FSH matures follicles (eggs) in ovary...LH tells the ovary to release the egg. If I remember correctly, LH should be higher than FSH. Mine were backward....that explained why I had been missing cycles (the hormone to produce an egg wasn't high enough to trigger the hormone to release it and get rid of it thru a cycle)....what it didn't explain was my pregnancy (REALLY/TECHNICALLY, I should have never ovulated....but, I did) (<--miracle) (<--those come from God) (<--and He answers prayers)

(there will be a test at the end of this BOOK! ha!)

Thursday December 23rd....HcG levels pulled in the morning. I had to wait ALL DAY to hear the results. They had gone from 389 to 1080. Doctor was very pleased, but we weren't out of the woods yet....a tubule pregnancy could not yet be ruled out. He wanted me to come in Christmas morning with an empty stomach to repeat HcG levels and ultrasound. If they had not doubled and there was nothing in the uterus, he would take me into surgery.

Saturday December 25th....Merry Christmas! Mike went in to work...I went over to pick up Mike's mom, Cathy, and Gram to go with me to Orlando. I was so nervous, but knew that God had a plan either way and that was the best plan. Well, on the ultrasound was Baby Lew....and he/she was hanging out in the uterus! And my HcG level was 2625! Dr. Lavar was and I quote "pumped!". 5 weeks here!

Monday January 3rd....We went in for a follow-up ultrasound and first OB workup. Baby Lew had a heartbeat! We were excited until we saw the nurse practitioner and she wasn't so much. She thought 108 was too low. She suggested that it may be because the heart hadn't formed completely orrrrr that it could be a miscarriage in the happening. Sigh. I honestly was speechless. As if the past 2 weeks were not the longest weeks of my entire life, we had to wait another week. 6 weeks 2 days

Monday January 10th....Baby Lew grew a lot! And so did the little heart! 142! Dr. Murvis was extremely happy and sent us on our way! I wanted to stand on a roof top and tell everyone right then, but my husband hid the ladder! 7 weeks 2 days

Wednesday February 15th.....Hellooooo second trimester! How I have been waiting on YOU! :0D We had an ultrasound....and I won't lie, my heart was TOTALLY guarded. I had prepared myself for the worst. Little faith of me, I know. I almost couldn't help it though with all we had been through. However, almost instantaneously....jelly on the belly....BABY on the screen! OH MY GOSH....ELATED! Mike and I have ONE....never been so relieved! TWO.....never been so amazed! THREE...never thought that the entire baby would be FORMED....like then, that week.....AND he/she was MOVING ALL OVER!!! I mean, flipping, rolling....hands in the air....in the face! We saw 10 fingers and a nose! She asked me to cough one time and it appeared I woke a giant sleeping BEAR! The baby threw it's arms in the air and push it's legs out.....can you HEAR THE EXCITEMENT through the screen here? :0D For the first time, we both ARE so extremely excited! Mike has lost sleep over what to do with tax return money, selling the truck, etc.

Reflecting back on this all...I see God's hand all up in our business! ....and I am so grateful. I am a child of little faith. I was unwilling to accept His confidence....so, what did he do for me? He instilled His confidence in everyone around me. Jenn Stiverson visited the morning after the ER. We just cried at first. She went on to tell me that she had been praying so hard for Mike and I and every time she prayed, she kept seeing the star of Bethlehem over us. She said that she just felt like that was God saying He had us taken care of. There were many others....and all were right. And prayer...I didn't know what to pray....or how to pray, but I didn't have to. My family, my small group, my friends near and far.....they all did it for me. And to all of you who did, thank you for letting God use you to minister to me during a time when my faith was almost gone.

last few months...revisited!

Oh my goodness, it has been so very long since I have blogged! Ok, so here is a recap of the last 3 months!

October....remember the owl baby shower I hosted for Jenny & Mike DeAngelis? Well, on October 30th, we welcomed 9 pounds and 5 ounces to the best small group EVER....Isaiah Joseph! He is so friggin cute....and growing up SO fast!

November...Happy 26 to me! Mike got me THE BEST birthday present EVER. I'm really concerned about the years to come because I can't imagine what could top this year! My all time favorite theme park is SeaWorld....and my all time favorite exhibit is the Penguin Encounter. I LOVE those little guys....their waddle, their wittiness, their loyalty to one another.....they are just a whole lot of fun to watch! So, back to my birthday....Mike got us backstage passes to the Penguin Encounter! It was SO much fun! It lasted about an hour. We actually got to step into their (quit chilly) world...and the best part was touching a REAL King Penguin. Not only are they more beautiful than I ever imagined up close, they are so very soft.

I continued my birthday celebration with a visit from Momma & Karah. Along with shopping, cooking, and hanging out....a good friend of mine from work, Erin, got us all in to all of the Disney parks for a day. Of course, we had a blast! We ended the night at Rainforrest Cafe!

At the end of November, I completed my first half marathon! I crossed the finish line hand-in-hand with 3 girls that played a major part in my accomplishment....Megan, Rhonda, & Holly. On the sidelines cheering us on was my mother-in-law, Cathy, and 2 good friends, Bonnie & Breanna. All 13.1 miles were SO MUCH FUN! I would TOTALLY do it again! The half marathon was held in St. Pete. We ran along the water, on the pier, and inside Tropicana Field! We stopped along the way to take pictures...and some stopped to take them for us! I was so grateful to Holly & Erin for the inspiration and to Megan & Rhonda being such dedicated running buddies. We trained together, stopped together, laughed together, and crossed the finish line together.....

December....Christmas season is my absolute FAVORITE! We, again, were very blessed this Christmas season! Mike & I both are so grateful for the family and friends that support and love us through thick and thin! One of my favorite gifts, tho there were many....is my new Cannon EOS camera! Gram also threw in the bag and a 50 mm lens! I am excited to learn more about how to use it! Here are a few things I have captured.....

January....new things (not necessarily by choice)! I was washing a load of clothes just before new years and the washer was making a noise similar to what it what sound like if you were to wash a load of kitchen knives. Well, I continued housework in denial that anything could possibly be wrong with the piece of crap set that we bought off craig's list. I heard the spin cycle click in and then it filled itself with water again, so I really thought nothing of it after that. Later, when I went to put the clothes into the dryer, I opened the lid only to find the clothes still sitting in a full water bath. Hmmm. So, I tried to click the different cycles to make it spin....I got nothing, not even a click...just the smell of wires burning. Awesome. So, my WONDERFUL husband cupped the water out and off we went to find a new set. Now, the dryer worked....you had to put a load of clothes on two 90 min cycles for them to dry completely, but it worked. But, I am a little funny about things matching, soooo we just got a new set. :0) Last week, Mike's xbox got the "red ring of death"..... so, we got a new one of those too! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY MY LOVE!! :D

Welp, there ya go.... :0) I won't be a stranger long .... more to share in a couple of weeks!