Infertility tried stopping us, 

but we won the battle!!!

~Our Journey~

Our infertility journey started with tracking my basal  body temperature (BBT)

After several unsuccessful attempts, we decided to move forward with our first IUI

Waiting patiently at the RE office for our IUI appointment 

IUI done; let the waiting begin...

Faint Positive HPT

Hubby's present! YOU ARE GOING TO BE A DAD!!!!

Checking out strollers after our BFP :)

Mother's Day Card from hubby and the baby...

Pregnancy

Hubby reading 'The Hunger Games' to our baby!

My pregnancy bump! Growing, growing...

Hubby's new bookmark :)

A big breakfast? or pregnant? :P

17 weeks pregnant #blessed

Loving pregnancy!

Hubby working on the baby's nursery!

Chloe stole the baby's duck!!! Silly doggie :)

I can feel the baby's kicks #inlove

A glass of wine in the nursery while learning about babies

Loving my bump!

I truly love being pregnant!

and the crib is here!!!



Hubby is putting together the crib

Almost done!

Way too excited about parking here! I waited too long for this

Last doctor's appointment

Last pregnancy picture!!!!

We are at the hospital!!!!! :D

Baby Shower, Part 1

When my husband and I decided we were ready to get pregnant, I started pinning ideas for our 'Baby Shower'. I spent endless hours looking at invitations, favors, decorations, etc. I dreamt about the day I get to celebrate my baby's life for a long long time. I became obsessed with finding just the perfect theme, the perfect color, everything absolutely everything needed to be perfect. Then I found out I needed fertility treatments and suddenly my desire for the perfect baby shower went away. My obsession quickly shifted to searching all about fertility treatments. That was until I found out I was pregnant after our first IUI attempt. So my obsession began again...

A story from my childhood... Ever since I can remember, my grandfather's first priority was me. He was my father, my best friend. He did everything in his power to make me happy. He always was there for me not matter what. He was there when I was born, when I took my first steps, my first day of school, attended all my school plays, helped me with homework, took me places... there is no a single meaningful event in my life that I don't remember seeing his smiling proud face. The last time I hugged, kissed him was back in 2004. I miss him, but all the memories I have of him and I make me feel proud of who I am today.

When my husband and I got married, we decided to have a few minutes of silence during our wedding ceremony as a dedication to my grandfather. During this time, I remembered all the wonderful things he taught me. I knew he was smiling and so happy I found love... I found the man he always wanted for me, a man who would treat me with respect, love, and will always treat me as a princess.

It was really important for me to somehow incorporate a memory of my grandfather for the baby shower. I spent hours thinking of a meaningful way to honor him again... That's when I ran across this invitation on Pinterest:

Source: ohsobeautifulpaper.com via Anailim on Pinterest

It was PERFECT! and here is why: all my family members and I were at a birthday party. I remember how much fun I had. That was until everyone EXCEPT me got a balloon to take home. I cried, cried, and cried. I wanted to take a balloon home with me. My cousins did a darn good job reminding me that I was the ONLY one without a balloon. I kept running to my grandpa and telling him how sad I was I didn't get a balloon. I cried on his shoulder. I remember he got so mad I didn't get a balloon that he tried convincing one of my older cousins to give me his balloon. I just wouldn't stop crying. I was devastated!!! My grandfather hated seeing me cry. I remember he came over to me and in a very funny voice said...

"A****, tu no tienes bomba!"

Translation: "A*****, you don't have a balloon". You may think I am crazy or why in the world would she write about this. Well, the thing is the translation makes no sense, but when you say it in Spanish, it fits the situation perfectly. I remembered everyone was laughing... so was I! and just like that... I wasn't sad anymore. From that moment on, my family always referred to me as the girl without a balloon... I have so many great memories with my family about this phrase, "Ana, tu no tienes bomba!".

So, when I found this invitation my first thought was, "I have a balloon now". I started crying... It felt very honest to say that, "I have a balloon!"... It was almost like my grandfather always knew I would end up getting my balloon one day. I sent several texts my best friend and told her I NEEDED this invitation. She ordered the balloons... and we started making the invitations for my baby shower. And just like that, my dream baby shower started to become a reality.

My interpretation of this:

My grandfather knew I will be a mom one day!

...

I won my fight against infertility,

I finally got my balloon!

...and my baby shower invites were a huge hit :)

So, to my family members, who doesn't have a balloon now?



Life lately is amazing.

 Our baby was born on 12/01/12 at 9:04am, weighing 7lbs 2oz, 20 inches.

My husband is the best father ever. 

Parenthood is incredible. 

I will never truly understand how you can love someone you just met so much. 

The meaning of unconditional love, yeah! that's the kind of love you have for your child.

All the struggles, all the cries, absolutely everything we went through has been worth it... Never, never give up hope. I thought I would never have the opportunity to be a mother and here I am, enjoying every second of our baby's life.

I wanted to do a post for each event during our pregnancy (gender reveal, baby shower, ultrasounds, etc) but I did not have the time or energy to do them :(   There was so much going on during my pregnancy that I neglected the blog. But I think I am ready to start blogging again. I am ready to share all about pregnancy, the baby shower, the birth, and parenthood :)

WE ARE PREGNANT!

Miracles do happen to those who believe in endless possibilities.

 I always dream to be a mother, to give my husband the joy of parenthood.

 To create a life with our love.

 Infertility stopped us for a while but we ended up winning this battle.

 I have no words to express all my feelings, but I am happy to announce:

WE ARE FINALLY PREGNANT!

On Thursday, March 29, 2012, I needed to use the bathroom. As I walked into our bathroom, I had a huge desire to test. I was prepare for the worse... you start thinking this way after seeing so many single lines. I grabbed a test, peed on the stick, and waited. I went to see what my puppy was doing... I came back to this.

Call me crazy, but there WAS a line. I kept taking the test around the house to put under different lights to make sure I wasn't crazy. So, even though there was a line, I just couldn't believe it. I remember I couldn't wait for my husband to come home. When he finally came home, I tried asking him if he saw a line, and he said, "Ana, I am not riding this roller coaster with you, I am going to wait until Monday for the blood test". I don't blame him for not wanting to even take a look at my positive test... it has been a single line for years, but I was pretty sure IT WAS POSITIVE! We made dinner and watched TV. 

Over the next few days, I became obsessed with testing. If you don't believe me, take a look at this:

On Saturday, March 31st, 2012... I was online while my husband was mowing the grass outside. THEN, I remember... "I have a First Response Sensitive Test". I quickly looked for it, peed on the stick, and there it was... A SECOND LINE! Yet another faint line. But it was there. I went to twitter and asked, "how reliable are first response pregnancy test"... everyone said, "pretty reliable". I don't know why, but I ran downstairs with no pants, and told my husband, "I think I am pregnant!". He was so mad... he looked at me and closed the door! Oh yea, I forgot he didn't want to know until the blood test day but I couldn't help it. I ran back upstairs, after doing a little dance, and sat on my bed, and just CRIED! Could this really be it? Here is the First Response picture, once again, you can't see the line, but I promised you there were two lines there:

I kept testing and testing until and even after our blood test. By Sunday, April 1st, 2012... I was convinced that I couldn't get that many faint lines in so many different tests if I wasn't pregnant.I went to Walmart and bought more 'First Response Tests". So I took one on Sunday morning and the test line was DARKER!

 I told my husband that my friend, Isis, wanted to hang out. He went skating and I went shopping for a present. I knew he didn't want to know until the next day, so I started watching a show on the computer very loud so he would kick me out of the room since he was too online. I politely offered to go to the office and got his present all ready. 

On Monday, April 2nd, 2012, we went to the fertility clinic at 8:00am. My blood was drawn, and we left. I forgot my progesterone at home so we had no choice but to drive back home. We came home, and took a nap. The day was going by so slow. The doctor told us if we come before 10:00am, we would get the results the same day. Before leaving,  I told my husband that I wanted to take my baby diaper bag for good luck, he thought I was crazy, but little did he know, his present was there. We were driving to the skate park, when my husband saw an electric car drive by Wegmans, and then suddenly, I find myself sitting in a car dealership.  I kept staring at my phone; waiting for the call. My husband did tell me he wanted to be there when we received the call. We were together the whole time, and the minute he walked away to talk to someone, the phone rang. I tried getting his attention but he was engaged in a conversation with the sales person and someone else. I answered the phone and Nurse L sounded so happy... 

This is what she said, word by word, no joke:

"Hi Ana, I am calling you about your blood work. 

It's positive... 

Congratulations, you are pregnant"

Did she seriously just told me, I AM PREGNANT! Is this a joke? I couldn't cry... smile, jump! Nothing, I was literally SHOCKED! I go back inside to see if my husband is done talking. I asked him if he wants to go outside with me. He didn't want to; he was in car shopping mode. He kept asking me if everything was okay. I told him I got the call... He said, "Oh I am sorry". I guess I just didn't have any emotions left in me. My eyes got teary, and I said "we are pregnant".

He quickly reached for my cellphone and called the fertility clinic. It was the funniest conversation EVER!... It went something like this, This is Nathan, and I want to know my wife's blood results. She is not around me so she told me to call you guys. WHAT? She is pregnant, like RIGHT NOW pregnant....

He later told me that the nurse said, yes pregnant as of right now, yesterday, tomorrow! 

We hugged! We just couldn't believe it!!!! We finally went to the car where I gave him his gift.

For that day on, we started a new chapter in our lives.