My Pregnancy Highlights

I would describe pregnancy as an emotional roller coaster. Every day, week, month, and trimester has its own high points and low points but it is all very exciting! I have grown to appreciate every minute of my pregnancy and am so grateful for the ups and downs that have helped me turn to my Savior and rely on His infinite atonement. This whole experience is a beautiful miracle! I believe in a God who knows me and knows what I am going through and I am so grateful for His hand in my life. I know that God has a plan for me and my family and I trust in Him. I can't wait to meet my little boy soon - He is due in a little over a week! This post includes some of the highlights and a picture of each week of my first pregnancy! I can't believe the end is near! :)

9 Weeks: Tiredness begins

11 Weeks: I LOVE CREAMERY CHOCOLATE MILK! I dislike pulled pork, peanut butter jelly/honey sandwiches, and marinara sauce right now.

12 Weeks: I survived fall semester! 17 credits of senior level chemical engineering classes made for an insane finals week. I had 5 three-hour scheduled finals in 3 days with two of the finals scheduled at 7am and the other three finals scheduled at 11am. That meant I only had an hour break between the 7am and 11am finals on two of the days. Throw on being an extremely tired and emotional pregnant lady without telling anyone that I was pregnant... what a semester! But I did it!

13 Weeks: 2nd Trimester! I announced that I was pregnant on Christmas Day to friends and family

14 Weeks: Winter semester begins and I'm only taking 15 credits - 9 credits of mostly general education and electrical engineering and only 6 credits directly related to my major - BEST SEMESTER TO END MY SENIOR YEAR!! :)

15 Weeks

19 Weeks

20 Weeks

21 Weeks: Ultrasound #1... It's a BOY! Placenta is in the front so ultrasound images weren't that great. That also explains why I haven't felt the baby at this point. Boy name brainstorming begins!

21 Weeks: Ultrasound #1, It's a BOY! I have a 2 vessel umbilical cord (should be 3 vessels). Couldn't get a very good image of the heart so a second ultrasound is scheduled 6 weeks later. Hopefully everything is ok!

23 Weeks: Michael felt baby for first time!

24 Weeks

25 Weeks: I am a bottomless pit - eating everything and never feeling full.

26 Weeks: DYING OF HEAT! It was hot at church and the heater was on... starting to get hot due to pregnancy now. Baby started kicking my front rib cage this week - first time noticing it at school!
27 Weeks: Ultrasound #2, still couldn't get a very good image of the heart but doctors said things looked ok, nothing to be concerned about.

28 Weeks: First day of the 3rd Trimester! This week I decided on the name Ethan William Chamberlain and texted Michael. He approved. I finally have a name to start telling people when they ask :) This week was also the first time that I screamed in pain during the night and woke Michael up - my right leg always cramps up but this was the first time I screamed.

29 Weeks: Prenatal baby class with Michael and FINALS WEEK!

30 Weeks: Graduated from Brigham Young University in Chemical Engineering. Feet officially started swelling. Packed up apartment and moved to Oregon this week too!

31 Weeks: New doctors in Oregon - decided to go with the nurse midwives in the area. Since I have a 2 vessel umbilical cord they wanted to do a routine ultrasound. Last doctor said everything looked good but still didn't get a great look at the heart... not excited to pay for another ultrasound but this is important.

31 Weeks: First trip to the beach and mommy and daddy's 2 year anniversary. My wedding ring no longer fits :(

32 Weeks: Happy Mother's Day. House hunting begins this week. 

33 Weeks: Ultrasound #3 went well but baby didn't cooperate again so no pictures... the nurse midwife took a while reviewing the ultrasound and then came in apologizing to be the bearer of bad news. She told us that our son has a heart defect but she couldn't tell how serious of a defect. She scheduled an echocardiogram with a cardiologist the next week to get a better look at just the heart. I was shocked and had to hold back tears as we left the office. Daddy started work at Intel.

34 Weeks: Echocardiogram #1, baby has a congenital heart defect. The left side of his heart is significantly smaller than the right side and will most likely need surgical intervention after birth. Scheduled another echocardiogram 4 weeks later to see how severe the defect is before birth. I was given a book to read and the research began along with the tears. I switched doctors from the nurse midwives to a moderate risk OB and will deliver at a different hospital on the other side of Portland.

35 Weeks: House hunting in a seller's market is hard. We've made 3 offers and none have been accepted. With baby's heart defect we've lowered our upper price range limit greatly limiting the number of houses in our search in an already low inventory market. Mommy starts to get discouraged.

36 Weeks: Offer accepted on our NEW HOUSE! After a month of searching and 4 different offers on 4 different houses, our offer was finally accepted! The house is in the area we want and the price we like - it's PERFECT!! It takes daddy less than 10 minutes to walk to work from this new house so we don't need to get a second vehicle yet - yay!

37 Weeks: Echocardiogram #2, baby Ethan has hypoplastic left heart syndrom (HLHS) and Aortic Stenosis. He will need surgical intervention after birth through 3 open heart surgeries. I cried a lot the next morning after the second echocardiogram. This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever experienced but I have faith that things will work out.

38 Weeks: Happy Father's Day!

We can't wait to meet our little boy soon!! We love you baby Ethan and are praying for you every day! <3