The first doctor’s appointment…
David and I felt so fortunate to be accepted to the high-risk specialist OBGYN, Dr. Landwehr. I was not necessarily high-risk but I felt confident that if anything happened out of the ordinary, Dr. Landwehr would be able to handle it. Our first appointment was at 9:00am on Wednesday, March 2nd. We were prepared for the first appointment to be pretty uneventful…basically a health history of both of our families and some education. Our nurse was Karen Renner, one of the deacons in our church. Knowing the struggles we had been through in order to conceive a baby, Karen was extremely excited to see us. We weren’t expecting to see the doctor that day, since that was typical of an initial appointment. However, Dr. Landwehr happened to be on the floor and we had the opportunity to talk with him briefly. He was so kind and reminded us to call if we had any questions or concerns. We left the appointment with a due date of October 15th, 2005 and a second appointment scheduled for Thursday, March 24th where we will have our first ultrasound. At that point, we will feel freed to share our exciting information with the world!
8 weeks and 8 pounds…
At only 8 weeks, I had already gained 8 pounds. This seemed odd since I was still exercising almost every day. I was beginning to wonder if I was gaining so much because there was more than one baby. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
The First Ultrasound…
At 10 weeks 6 days, we were scheduled for our first ultrasound. I was slightly nervous. Since it had taken so long to get pregnant, I had started to fear that there was actually no baby inside of me. I badly wanted to see the baby and detect the heartbeat. Becky, the ultrasound tech, was very good and understood our nervous anticipation. David and I anxiously watched as Becky looked around in my tummy for Little Buddy (the endearing name we had begun to call the little creature inside of me.) Becky pointed to the baby and soon we saw something flickering in the chest area. It was the heartbeat. Little Buddy was alive. We started to cry, cry, cry. We could actually see Lil’ Buddy bouncing around on the video of the ultrasound because David and I were crying so hard out of joy and relief. This was the coolest thing ever. We were so excited. What an amazing experience!
Lucky us…the ultrasound had actually been scheduled one day too early. The doctor wanted to get the measurement of Little Buddy’s neck thickness to determine a risk of Down’s syndrome. This is called the nuchal translucency. The measurement had to take place between 11 weeks and 13 weeks. Because they were accidentally one day too early, we were scheduled for a second ultrasound 2 weeks later. Having the first ultrasound was so cool that we couldn’t wait for the second one.
A Happy Easter (March 26th)…
Since we had received the first ultrasound and got to see for ourselves that there is really a baby inside of me and that it does have a heartbeat, we decided that it would be safe to start telling the masses. Easter Sunday was so fun for me. I happened to be leading worship that morning. In between practicing with the choir, practicing with the band and doing other things to get ready for the morning, I joyfully shared the news with friends in the church by showing them our first ultrasound pictures. Everyone was so overjoyed for us.
Immediately following church, David and I traveled to Ohio to share the news with my mother’s family who was gathered at my Aunt Penny’s house for an Easter celebration. After the younger kids had finished the Easter egg hunt, I asked if everyone would come into the living room so that I could show them a video of “something from Hawaii”, which wasn’t a lie since that was where Little Buddy was conceived. Everyone watched as a started to play the video of our first ultrasound. All of my aunts were crying and everyone was so happy for David and I. They knew that we had wanted a child for so long and that we had started the adoption process. They were completely shocked that we had this kind of news!
Am I Feeling Movement?
On Thursday, April 28th (2 days before 16 weeks), I was sitting in the basement talking with David, Danny and Nichole and I thought I felt something. I am not sure if it was the baby but I think it could have been. I tried to be still and wait for the same sensation but I did not feel it again that night. The next night when I was lying in bed, I think I felt the same thing again. I am sure that I will start to understand what it is soon.
16 weeks…
At 16 weeks, I am still hardly showing. Funny that I was so concerned in the beginning thinking that I had gained 8 pounds in 8 weeks. In actuality, I have only gained 5 pounds in 16 weeks. I am anxious to start looking pregnant but I have a feeling that it will happen soon. The next three weeks are supposed to be a time of major growth for Little Buddy.
“It’” is a “she”…
At 17 weeks, another ultrasound was performed. Becky, the ultrasound tech, feels fairly confident that Little Buddy is a girl. She saw nothing to indicate that our baby is a male and she said that the pubic bone structure appears to be a girl. This makes me happy. Though I truly would have been content with a boy, something about having a girl sounds right. I have always told David that he will be a wonderful dad to a daughter and now he will have the chance. We have decided on the name Zoe Dawn and are beginning to refer to her by her name. Zoe is a name that we fell in love with during a sermon at church. Zoe is greek for life. Dawn was chosen in honor of my sister, Michele Dawn. Zoe Dawn is becoming a real person to David and I both.
Amniocentesis…
(May 6, 2005)The 17 week ultrasound was performed because we had decided to do amniocentesis. During the initial tests of the triple screen, Dr. Landwehr felt that there was an increased risk for Down’s syndrome and that it would be best to do amniocentesis in order to provide peace of mind for David and I or to prepare us for having a child with Down’s syndrome (Trisomy 21). The amnio would give us results with 99.9% accuracy. It would also screen for disorders like Trisomy 18 and Trisomy 13 as well as tell us with 100% certainty if Little Buddy is indeed a girl.
Though unpleasant, the amniocentesis went fairly smooth. It is an odd sensation watching an incredibly long needle go through your stomach and into your uterus. It is a bit unnerving watching the needle via the ultrasound screen inside the womb. It seemed so close to Zoe but it never touched her. Dr. Landwehr removed enough fluid for the test and then removed the needle. I felt cramping but was told to just take it easy for the next day in order to heal.
Waiting for the results…
We were told that the results would take 10 business days. So now, we would just have to be patient and wait. I believe both David and I were feeling positive about the results we would receive. During the ultrasound that accompanied the amniocentesis, Dr. Landwehr pointed out that Zoe Dawn has two kidneys and that her heart looks strong. This made him feel as if Zoe was a healthy little girl.
Honestly, I really did not worry much during the waiting time. I realized that there was nothing worrying would accomplish. On Sunday, May 15, I remember waking up knowing that I had dreamt that we had received our results and that everything was fine with Zoe. It was a peaceful feeling. That morning in church, I told David that I thought I felt Zoe move 3 times.
My first Mother’s Day (5-15-05)…
This is my first Mother’s Day and I am not quite sure how to feel. All I know is that I have been waiting for this for a long time. My parents sent me a nice Mother’s Day card and several people at church were excited to tell me Happy Mother’s Day for the first time. David made me a really adorable card listing 10 reasons why I will be a great mom. David said that each of the 10 characteristics are true because I do them with him and he knows that I will also do them with our children.
10. You will play with our children.
9. You will be willing to have hard conversations.
8. You will be proud of our children.
7. You will help our children with homework.
6. You will set boundaries for our children.
5. You will encourage our children’s interests.
4. You will support our children in their activities.
3. You will be patient with our children.
2. You will make our children feel special, important, loved, cared for,
and safe.
1. You will be a great example of a godly mother.
David and I felt so fortunate to be accepted to the high-risk specialist OBGYN, Dr. Landwehr. I was not necessarily high-risk but I felt confident that if anything happened out of the ordinary, Dr. Landwehr would be able to handle it. Our first appointment was at 9:00am on Wednesday, March 2nd. We were prepared for the first appointment to be pretty uneventful…basically a health history of both of our families and some education. Our nurse was Karen Renner, one of the deacons in our church. Knowing the struggles we had been through in order to conceive a baby, Karen was extremely excited to see us. We weren’t expecting to see the doctor that day, since that was typical of an initial appointment. However, Dr. Landwehr happened to be on the floor and we had the opportunity to talk with him briefly. He was so kind and reminded us to call if we had any questions or concerns. We left the appointment with a due date of October 15th, 2005 and a second appointment scheduled for Thursday, March 24th where we will have our first ultrasound. At that point, we will feel freed to share our exciting information with the world!
8 weeks and 8 pounds…
At only 8 weeks, I had already gained 8 pounds. This seemed odd since I was still exercising almost every day. I was beginning to wonder if I was gaining so much because there was more than one baby. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
The First Ultrasound…
At 10 weeks 6 days, we were scheduled for our first ultrasound. I was slightly nervous. Since it had taken so long to get pregnant, I had started to fear that there was actually no baby inside of me. I badly wanted to see the baby and detect the heartbeat. Becky, the ultrasound tech, was very good and understood our nervous anticipation. David and I anxiously watched as Becky looked around in my tummy for Little Buddy (the endearing name we had begun to call the little creature inside of me.) Becky pointed to the baby and soon we saw something flickering in the chest area. It was the heartbeat. Little Buddy was alive. We started to cry, cry, cry. We could actually see Lil’ Buddy bouncing around on the video of the ultrasound because David and I were crying so hard out of joy and relief. This was the coolest thing ever. We were so excited. What an amazing experience!
Lucky us…the ultrasound had actually been scheduled one day too early. The doctor wanted to get the measurement of Little Buddy’s neck thickness to determine a risk of Down’s syndrome. This is called the nuchal translucency. The measurement had to take place between 11 weeks and 13 weeks. Because they were accidentally one day too early, we were scheduled for a second ultrasound 2 weeks later. Having the first ultrasound was so cool that we couldn’t wait for the second one.
A Happy Easter (March 26th)…
Since we had received the first ultrasound and got to see for ourselves that there is really a baby inside of me and that it does have a heartbeat, we decided that it would be safe to start telling the masses. Easter Sunday was so fun for me. I happened to be leading worship that morning. In between practicing with the choir, practicing with the band and doing other things to get ready for the morning, I joyfully shared the news with friends in the church by showing them our first ultrasound pictures. Everyone was so overjoyed for us.
Immediately following church, David and I traveled to Ohio to share the news with my mother’s family who was gathered at my Aunt Penny’s house for an Easter celebration. After the younger kids had finished the Easter egg hunt, I asked if everyone would come into the living room so that I could show them a video of “something from Hawaii”, which wasn’t a lie since that was where Little Buddy was conceived. Everyone watched as a started to play the video of our first ultrasound. All of my aunts were crying and everyone was so happy for David and I. They knew that we had wanted a child for so long and that we had started the adoption process. They were completely shocked that we had this kind of news!
Am I Feeling Movement?
On Thursday, April 28th (2 days before 16 weeks), I was sitting in the basement talking with David, Danny and Nichole and I thought I felt something. I am not sure if it was the baby but I think it could have been. I tried to be still and wait for the same sensation but I did not feel it again that night. The next night when I was lying in bed, I think I felt the same thing again. I am sure that I will start to understand what it is soon.
16 weeks…
At 16 weeks, I am still hardly showing. Funny that I was so concerned in the beginning thinking that I had gained 8 pounds in 8 weeks. In actuality, I have only gained 5 pounds in 16 weeks. I am anxious to start looking pregnant but I have a feeling that it will happen soon. The next three weeks are supposed to be a time of major growth for Little Buddy.
“It’” is a “she”…
At 17 weeks, another ultrasound was performed. Becky, the ultrasound tech, feels fairly confident that Little Buddy is a girl. She saw nothing to indicate that our baby is a male and she said that the pubic bone structure appears to be a girl. This makes me happy. Though I truly would have been content with a boy, something about having a girl sounds right. I have always told David that he will be a wonderful dad to a daughter and now he will have the chance. We have decided on the name Zoe Dawn and are beginning to refer to her by her name. Zoe is a name that we fell in love with during a sermon at church. Zoe is greek for life. Dawn was chosen in honor of my sister, Michele Dawn. Zoe Dawn is becoming a real person to David and I both.
Amniocentesis…
(May 6, 2005)The 17 week ultrasound was performed because we had decided to do amniocentesis. During the initial tests of the triple screen, Dr. Landwehr felt that there was an increased risk for Down’s syndrome and that it would be best to do amniocentesis in order to provide peace of mind for David and I or to prepare us for having a child with Down’s syndrome (Trisomy 21). The amnio would give us results with 99.9% accuracy. It would also screen for disorders like Trisomy 18 and Trisomy 13 as well as tell us with 100% certainty if Little Buddy is indeed a girl.
Though unpleasant, the amniocentesis went fairly smooth. It is an odd sensation watching an incredibly long needle go through your stomach and into your uterus. It is a bit unnerving watching the needle via the ultrasound screen inside the womb. It seemed so close to Zoe but it never touched her. Dr. Landwehr removed enough fluid for the test and then removed the needle. I felt cramping but was told to just take it easy for the next day in order to heal.
Waiting for the results…
We were told that the results would take 10 business days. So now, we would just have to be patient and wait. I believe both David and I were feeling positive about the results we would receive. During the ultrasound that accompanied the amniocentesis, Dr. Landwehr pointed out that Zoe Dawn has two kidneys and that her heart looks strong. This made him feel as if Zoe was a healthy little girl.
Honestly, I really did not worry much during the waiting time. I realized that there was nothing worrying would accomplish. On Sunday, May 15, I remember waking up knowing that I had dreamt that we had received our results and that everything was fine with Zoe. It was a peaceful feeling. That morning in church, I told David that I thought I felt Zoe move 3 times.
My first Mother’s Day (5-15-05)…
This is my first Mother’s Day and I am not quite sure how to feel. All I know is that I have been waiting for this for a long time. My parents sent me a nice Mother’s Day card and several people at church were excited to tell me Happy Mother’s Day for the first time. David made me a really adorable card listing 10 reasons why I will be a great mom. David said that each of the 10 characteristics are true because I do them with him and he knows that I will also do them with our children.
10. You will play with our children.
9. You will be willing to have hard conversations.
8. You will be proud of our children.
7. You will help our children with homework.
6. You will set boundaries for our children.
5. You will encourage our children’s interests.
4. You will support our children in their activities.
3. You will be patient with our children.
2. You will make our children feel special, important, loved, cared for,
and safe.
1. You will be a great example of a godly mother.
