BUMPDATE: 12 WEEKS

Every few weeks I will answer this little survey to show changes and keep everyone up to date.

How far along: 12 weeks

Size of Baby: 2 inches (about the size of a lime)

Maternity Clothes: I had to wear maternity pants to a wedding last night because none of my dress pants fit comfortably. Other than that still in all my regular clothes

Gender: Guess we'll all find out in May cause we're going to let it be a surprise!

Movement: Too early...but I'm really excited for that moment to come

Sleep: Sleep has been ok, I'm a stomach sleeper so this week I have really tried to sleep on my side. It is definitely  not as comfortable for me. Also, I'm waking up about 1 or 2 times a night to go to the bathroom.

What I miss: I really miss my Diet Pepsi. But not having it is totally worth it.

Symptoms: Week 6, 7, and 8 I had "morning sickness" pretty much all day. Nothing sounded good to eat, lots of smells bothered me, and I felt like I was dizzy and going to throw up constantly. Then I felt tired and couldn't get enough sleep...this sometimes still hits me and I just want to sleep all afternoon.

Cravings: McDonald's french fries dipped in Mayo! I liked those before I was pregnant but some days that is all I want to eat!

Best Moment of the Week: Brent got to hear the baby's heartbeat. Heart rate was 170. I think I could listen to the sound of our baby's heart beat all day every day! Also, not having to be on progesterone anymore!

Faith in God includes Faith in His timing...

As you can tell from the picture above YES WE ARE PREGNANT! We have been smiling from ear to ear for a few weeks. I can't not express how much the power of prayer works. This is a miracle and we couldn't be happier.

Our story begins about 2 years ago when we found out we were going to struggle getting pregnant. When I heard that I didn't let it bother me because we were NOT ready to start a family so I didn't realize what our lives were about to endure.

We went through tests, procedures, blood work, you name it we endured it trying to figure out how to get pregnant. Finally April 2010 we found out we were pregnant, that ended in May 2010 with a miscarriage. But, we tried to keep positive and realize God has a plan for us. This summer we went to a fertility clinic and met Dr. Victoria Maclin. She told us enough of the Clomid treatments since I had gone through 9 cycles of Clomid. Since I was already being prescribed 200mg of Clomid (highest dose they allow) every cycle she said if we want to be parents its time to go a different route. That route was IUI (Intrauterine insemination) We decided we were going to go that route even though it meant giving myself injections, medications, and an expensive procedure it was worth it to both of us.

BUT..we wanted to wait a few months. So, as soon as I got my "cycle" (sorry guys if that's graphic, but its our story) I was to start the birth control. Well, no period came....so they prescribe Provera (induces a period...after 10 days of that...still NO period) SO, blood work it is. My progesterone level was elevated, but not enough for them to consider pregnancy so they had me start the Nuva Ring even without getting a period so we could get our cycles going!

After about 2 weeks of the Nuva Ring I felt like CRAP, I kept asking the Pharmacist that I work with if I felt this way because of the hormones in the birth control, that usually doesn't happen so she thought maybe I was just getting the flu or something. I started to feel better so I decided to go to Minnesota with my in-laws for our nephews Peyton and Maddox's birthday parties. When I got home after a weekend away (late Sunday night) I felt HORRIBLE, so I took it upon myself to take a pregnancy test. If it was negative (and I was betting it was going to be) I would just throw it away and hope I felt better soon. While reading the package it said wait 3-5 minutes (why I was reading the package I don't know, I've used plenty of those lately) OH MY GOSH....Not even 10 seconds had gone by and there were 2 lines! I FREAKED!!!!!!!! I had never in my LIFE expected it to be positive!! I yelled for Brent and made him inspect it to be sure...he told me to take another, of course I only had one! So  we drove 10 minutes one way into Harlan to buy some more! Yep, they were all positive. At this point we both have tears in our eyes, confused how on NO meds we were pregnant.

I can't tell you how it worked, but all I can say is the POWER of God and prayer from all of those who knew to pray for us works in mysterious ways. Our dream has come TRUE! WE ARE GOING TO BE PARENTS! Baby Schumacher is due in May!

So, thank you to every single person who has said a prayer for us on this journey to become parents! We have dreamt of the day to say we were pregnant and it was here! Everything is going great. We have had 2 ultrasounds saw the heartbeat twice and saw our little Jelly Bean (that's what it looked like to me). I should say other than being SUPER sick, everything is GREAT and right on track! We go in for our second OB appointment next Monday!

So, we ask that you switch your prayers from getting us pregnant to keeping this a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby! We both know this is an act of God because there really is NO way I should have gotten pregnant, but I am .... I AM PREGNANT and that is all that matters.

However, my heart still aches for all the friends I have made along our infertility journey still struggling with infertility. Infertility affects 1 in 6 couples, and yes even though we're pregnant now, we are still one of those couples.

I leave our friends who are struggling with this verse. Brent and I have lived by this verse our entire journey and I hope you can find comfort in it also!
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11

Curly Hair Tutorial

I have struggled for YEARS with my curls. I hear all the time how blessed I am to have such beautiful thick curly hair. However, those saying that do not have THICK CURLY HAIR!! We always want what we don't have!

I like to tease my mom about when my sister Ashley and I were younger she used to spend lots of time on Ashley's beautiful thick straight hair and then when it came to my turn to get my hair done for the day I got a couple sprays of water and sent on my way! Yes, that is a little exaggerated, but kind of true! My mom will argue back then they didn't have the product for kids like they do now..ok ok...I survived, just took me many years to figure out how to style it!

I think I've tried just about every type of product out there for curly hair. From leave in conditioners, gel, mousse, spray gel, etc. etc. etc. I also went through the stage of loving crunchy curls....makes me almost gag now! YUCK!

People with curly hair have to realize their hair has mind of its own, and if it wants to be crazy its going to. Also, mother nature doesn't help in that department.

With a mother in law who is a hair stylist, I use her discounts to my advantage! Otherwise I don't think I'd be able to try all the different products I have used.

The last few months I have been trying to figure out a way to not need gel or mousse and barely any hairspray. I FINALLY FOUND IT!!! What I think is the best product out there for curly hair if used right! Here is how I do my hair from start to finish:

• Wash hair and condition. I use different shampoo's and conditioners so for me the products doesn't matter.
• Rinse hair in cold water. It helps with shine and to set the curls.
• Squeeze hair dry so it's still pretty wet but not dripping. I pretty much keep my head upside down the whole time
• Put a small amount of Tigi Catwalk Curls Rock (curl amplifier cream) in my palm, add a little water so it spreads around more easily, and then just kind of scrunch it all over in my hair
• Then (while head is still upside down) I use some cold water to wet my curls some more to get them to the consistency I want. Blot dry any drips. The ends of the curls should be pretty wet.
• Blow dry hair upside down wish a diffuser. Starting at roots and going to the ends. Don't scrunch curls up into the diffuser or mess with them too much with your hands, otherwise they'll look  unnatural. You just want them to form naturally.
• When its mostly all dry, still upside down I give a quick spray of hair spray to the roots to keep volume.
• Then flip over and DONE!!!

Sorry for the yellowish pictures gotta love the bathroom lighting

Sorry I didn't take a before or during picture, I didn't really think about it until after I had finished my hair for today.

HAPPY CURLING!

Friday Night Storm

On Friday nights I usually get excited to have the house to myself because Brent is gone officiating high school football. Last night I had just started the movie Tangled when the power flickered at about 9pm. I knew it was supposed to rain but had no idea what I was in for!

Turns out that the cell of rain had blown into a nasty storm that resulted in 83mph winds at our house. I realized it was bad and and went out running in the wind/rain to find Wrigley. He was down in the barn but I had him come inside with me because I was freaked out. My mom also got a phone call of me freaking out cause I was home alone and had no power and couldn't see much of anything. Finally found a candle to light and a flash light and Wrigley and I hung out on the kitchen floor. I was too scared of our basement in the dark so I opted out of going to the basement last night. I probably should have been in the basement but I survived! Here are a few pictures from around our house. Brent took this on his phone so sorry that the quality isn't that great!

One of our already dead pine trees snapped (notice the top is on the ground to the right of it)

limbs down around our yard and Wrigley checking out whats going on

A closer view of the corn

This limb smacked into the windows on the left. No damage was done to the windows or house but scared the living lights out of both Wrigley and myself!!!

More limbs down

Tonight Brent and I are heading out to Prairie Rose Lake to grill out burgers and do smores with my friend Christa and her family. She was one of the pharmacists I worked with at Martin Health Services. I am excited to see her and her family! Tomorrow Brent and I are heading up to Twin Lakes (near Fort Dodge) to go camping with more of our friends from the Harlan area. Hopefully we'll get some jet skiing in if the weather permits! Those are our plans for Labor Day weekend.

Hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday!

Wrigley

There are alot of times I have a pitty party to myself about not having any kids yet. I think wow, its possible we'd be trying for our 2nd if we hadn't miscarried. However, God has other plans for Brent and I and I need to keep an open mind. But please keep us in your prayers as it is a daily struggle for the both of us to stay positive about it.

Since I work at a Pharmacy I see lots of pregnant women, women who just found out and aren't telling anyone yet but have many questions, and of course I am jealous. I want that feeling of having so many unanswered questions. Someday, whether its a child of our own or we adopt we WILL be parents! In the mean time I have Wrigley. I know I drive my dad and mom and you might as well add my siblings to the list of annoying them about Wrigley but he's all we've got. When he does something funny I want to share it with the world. However, there are only a select few who find it even remotely funny. Some of those include my Grandpa and Grandma Bolsem who spoil their dog WAY more than we do.

However, yesterday Wrigley had quite the situation. Brent and I went for a walk and Wrigley followed us the whole way. On the way home he noticed a creek down a steep embankment. He took it upon himself to go and try to play in the water. However, he couldn't get back up!!! I was freaking out and I could tell Brent was a little nervous (Not freaking out) on how we were going to get him back up to the road. Wrigley disappeared from sight and I heard a YELP...Broke my heart (dad stop rolling your eyes I was scared) Finally Brent slid down the steep embankment and helped Wrigley find a different path to get out. It didn't help that the non-steep parts had a fence where he couldn't get out. I was so happy when they were both back on the road. OK, so that is my annoying Wrigley story.....

But what I was getting at with this post is he is ready to greet me every time I get home from work, go outside to do ANYTHING, and he is always ready to play with his tail wagging. I can't wait to have that feeling of one our kids getting excited to see me after work, but until then I'm so glad we have Wrigley. He makes all those days where there have been so many pregnant women and babies at work totally worth coming home to!

Flooding of I-680

These pictures are of Intersate 680 on the Iowa side. According to the DOT they don't think this portion of the interstate will be open again until sometime in 2013. It is so sad to think this is just the intersate but think of all the homes along the way ruined from the flood this year.

Hard to believe there is an interstate under there!

Infertility

This video explains what Brent and I are dealing with. I came across this video this morning and we can relate to it 100%.
http://www.tearsandhope.com/emptyarms_video.html