social media - 8 weeks - 4/24/2013

I blame social media...I realized that it has been almost four years since the last time we updated this blog and I have to admit that it was about the same time we acquired Facebook accounts. However, it is important to document this stage in our lives as we are expecting again! We have been trying to grow our family ever since Nick arrived but it was to no avail. We spent the last four years exploring other avenues such as infertility treatments, adoption, foster care/adoption, and finally settling on embryo adoption. This is a relatively new procedure where the doctor got in touch with one of his clients who did IVF and they had leftover embryos that they gave to us. So, on our first round of this embryo transfer I was implanted with 2 embryos in September of 2012.  After waiting almost two weeks the verdict was in and I was pregnant!! Three days later I went in for a blood test that said that I was no longer pregnant. Reluctantly we started the whole process over again and by March 2013 we found out that we were pregnant again. This time we made it to our 6 week ultrasound and this is what we saw:

Not 1, not 2, but 3 babies! We were happy and scared at the same time. We went in to the ultrasound thinking about the possibility of twins, because the doctor transfered 2 embryos into my uterus with the hopes that at least one might stick. Never did we think that we might have triplets and by his reaction, neither did the doctor. Once he regained his composure, he explained that one embryo had split.

Nick is so excited! He cant wait to be a big brother again. When I ask him how many babies he wants me to have he tells me, "Ten!" God blessed us with a little boy who has such a big heart full of love. I realize that some of you might not know what I meant by "big brother again," but about a year ago we had the joy of welcoming two beautiful baby boys into our home through the foster care system.

                                            Matthew was with us from birth to 8 months

and Zane who was with us from birth to 3 months.

Unfortunately, both of these little beauties could not stay in our home and I know that when they left it not only crushed Rob and I, but Nick as well. However, we serve a wonderful and powerful God who knows every hair on our head and was gracious enough to provide comfort and joy for our family in the midst of such a dark time. 

We went through a period of unexplainable spiritual turmoil, trying to figure out why we couldn't seem to keep any of the babies we loved, first Matthew, then Zane, then the first embryo transfer. We wondered if maybe we just weren't supposed to have any more kids and just be content with Nick. Little did we know that God was preparing our hearts and lives to take in three at once!