I'm baaacckk-with BIG news!

Well it's been a while, but I'm here now after taking a few months off from blogging. I didn't really plan it, I just went on vacation this summer and never quite picked it back up....then it felt good to not feel like I had to write something for a while too. I love to write, but y'all know what I mean, sometimes its just good to NOT have to do something for a while. But boy, how life has changed....and I do mean BOY!

Yup, the Mr. and I found out at the end of August that WE'RE PREGNANT!!! Since then we found out we are expecting a little baby boy and he's due to arrive May 5, 2012. Cinco de Mayo...this kid knows how to party already ;) Thrilled and excited do not begin to describe our anticipation for this child! We are just so, SO overjoyed to know in just 4 months we'll be holding our son. Here are some pregnancy pictures for ya...

Months 1-4...I'm not sure where month 3 is and we took month 5 pictures with my new camera...that my husband doesn't know how to work...and they were very blurry. So we will be re-taking those and I will share when we do. I've just started to "pop" out a little bit, but up until Christmas Day it didn't really look like anything from the front. Here's a picture of me right at 5 month's with our cousins the weekend before Christmas and I don't even look pregnant!

So, I am kinda happy that now the belly is starting to kinda look like a pregnant belly and not just like I'm getting fat. 

Well, this pregnancy has been quite eventful, to say the least. At my 9 week ultrasound my doctor found a large, grapefruit-sized ovarian cyst. Apparently they are normal in pregnancy but mine was already double the "normal" size they usually are. So at 14 weeks she did another ultrasound and it looked to be either two large cysts or the one had grown into one enormous cyst. I was sent to Duke a week later for more specific measurements and at that appointment the doctor said I needed surgery to remove this as soon as possible. What???!!!! Excuse me? I'm pregnant, I'm not supposed to be having surgery! The doctor didn't agree :/ He said if we didn't remove it now then it would continue to grow and eventually rupture or cause my ovary to twist and either would be an "emergency situation", extremely painful and would require emergency surgery. Obviously that would also be a higher risk to the baby's health than if we would have a calm, planned surgery to remove it. So, on the day we found out this baby was a little boy, we also found out that on November 30th I would also be having major abdominal surgery. No tiny laproscopic incision's here.

VERY begrudgingly I had the surgery. I had never even been put under anesthesia let alone been operated on before. The day before the surgery I was told I was going to have a vertical incision that would run from the bottom of my belly to my belly-button and maybe over that. Not only that but I was told about their worries that this cyst was cancerous because of it's abnormal growth and appearance. So it would be sent off to oncology to be tested and I would get results a week later. Oh, and they also said they were going to remove the ovary that the cyst was attached to. Well, with all that new information it put me in one.bad.mood. all day long and scared me even more. And I was most scared that the baby wouldn't survive! I was only 17 weeks along the day of the surgery and they said if I went into labor and delivered then there would be nothing they could do to help the baby to survive because he was just too early.

However, God blew our socks off! He was so good to me and our baby! The surgery was over in an hour-it was supposed to be two-and the doctor had great news. They didn't know until they got into surgery but I did not have an ovarian cyst at all!! Nope, it was a really rare and benign tumor growing from behind my uterus. So that means they didn't have to remove my ovary, and that it was not cancerous!!! Amazing. Also, the best news of all, my little baby is quite the tough little guy. He survived and his heartbeat stayed so strong through everything. Praise the Lord! He was actually taken out of my body {still in utero} for them to perform the surgery and they wrapped it in warm wet cloths in order to not shock him. Isn't that wild!? So does this mean I have to throw him a birthday party every November and May??? And if all that wasn't perfect enough as is, God cares about even the small things too. The doctors at the last minute decided to not to a vertical incision, but rather a low, horizontal one more like a C-section. It is higher than a C-section and longer too, but its better than looking like I had been gutted! The Lord answered all our prayers and even more and we couldn't feel more blessed.

Since then I've been out from work and won't go back until January 16. I have been so blessed by family and friends who have cooked for us and provided us with gift cards for meals, and helped us out in any way they could. But I really couldn't have made it through without Daniel. The first 5 days after surgery were hell. It was just awful. I was in extreme pain and I literally couldn't do anything on my own. He had to do everything for me, and he did and he never complained but was such an amazing rock! Daniel was cheery and encouraging and offered to do anything before I even asked. I am SO lucky! After 3 days I went home and he continued to take care of me, the house and work full-time. 

I kind of feel like even though it was terrible our church got struck by lightning back in June leaving the pastors without an office until the building was repaired, it has been a blessing in disguise for us. Daniel has been working from home and because of that he could still work and just check on me in the next room then get right back to work. It has been so nice to have him around too.

So even though I took a long break from blogging, I feel like maybe it was God's perfect timing knowing I was going to have more than enough to worry about. I have followed everyone else, especially now that I've been home, but I'm glad to be back. I'm recovering well and feeling closer to normal everyday-the hard part is over now :)

Ugh, I'm so long-winded. I was trying to make this as short as possible. Tonight we are going out with friends to ring in the New Year!!! I'm so excited for this since I missed all the Christmas parties and fun festivities because of recovery. We are excited for 2012 because it is the year we will become parents, and life will forever change for us. I hope you all have a Happy New Year! Stay safe!