Monday, September 30, 2013

Baby Details

Thank y'all SO much for all the sweet comments! Russell and I are more and more thrilled each day!
I wanted to share our story with y'all that I never shared before, simply because I was not ready to share our hard journey, but definitely well worth the wait.
Russell and I wanted to have kids together since we dated and wanted to wait one or two years to try for a baby after we married in 2007. In September 2008, my Daddy was diagnosed with brain cancer, and passed away in February 2009, plus Russell lost his job due to a layoff. Obviously, that put our baby plans on hold. I was not aware that I had any problems at that time. Early in 2010, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). After the diagnosis, I knew it would be harder than we planned to have a child. We really began trying for Baby Price about three years ago. After we moved back to NWA in September 2011, I soon saw my doctor to discuss fertility issues and everything. She said after I lost some weight, then we could talk more about taking fertility medicine. I really began praying more and more about the right time to take anything. I did want to lose a significant amount of weight because I wanted to be as healthy as possible, in order to have a healthy pregnancy. I lost about 50 pounds on Weight Watchers, and in April of this year, I took the first round of Clomid. Unfortunately, my body did not respond to 50mg of Clomid, so we couldn't move on with trying in April. A couple of months later, we did 100mg of Clomid, plus hcg shot. Late in July, I found a wonderful Bible verse that really spoke volumes to me. I began praying Psalm 5:3 over and over.
 August 1st, I changed my cute little kitchen calendar with verses for each month. Guess what verse it was??! In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice, in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3.
The Lord gave me such a peace, right then that everything was going to be okay. So we did another round of Clomid, plus hcg shot for this month. August 31st, a day after my birthday, I took a test.
 OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! Yes, this picture really shows our true excitement. Honestly, I was very calm and expected a negative, but truly believe that God has HIS perfect timing. We trusted, we prayed. God answered!
With the shot, the hcg hormone can give you a false positive if you take the test too early. So I was SO nervous that it was a false positive. But we were still ecstatic and did not tell anyone the news for a few days.
 Yes, I took FOUR tests. Mostly because I wanted to make SURE that the hormone from the shot was out of my system, plus I had to wait four days to get a confirmed blood test from my doctor.
Nonetheless, they ALL FOUR say PREGNANT! Can y'all hear my excitement? Yes, I know you can!
Tuesday, September 3rd, I got the blood test from the clinic and I was just itching for a call back. I saw my doctor in the hallway and walked up to her and said, "I am here for a blood test to confirm, but I took four tests, and they all said positive!" She said, "Oh my gosh! How exciting! You took four tests?" HA! That right there gave me even more peace it would be for real.
Finally I got the call that said for SURE!
 I could not wait to tell Russell the OFFICIAL news. I decorated the table with kids books, a family picture, pink and blue candles, and of course, a cake!
When Russell walked in the door, I RAN to him and screamed, "We're PREGNANT!!!"
 Russell decorating the cake with sprinkles
 Pink and blue!

 We told our families on the phone and facetime and they were SOOO thrilled!!!!
Amy and Tony sent us these beautiful flowers to congratulate us. So sweet.
 Our anniversary is September 8th, so here we are celebrating our blessings.
We had dinner at River Grille. It was fabulous!
 We had dinner one night with Amy, Tony, and family, and this was a sign Amy decorated for us!
September 16th, we went to the very first ultrasound! Here we are with pictures of our baby. He or she was the size of a sweet pea then. Now the baby is the size of a raspberry and growing every day! I am 8 weeks 3 days today and honestly have loved being pregnant so far. It is amazing to know everything about how baby is growing and developing, and even at six weeks, the first ultrasound showed us the heartbeat. It was fluttering like a butterfly. Amazing!
I know this post was LONG, but I wanted to share with you our journey. Praying for those our there who are praying for their miracle. Love y'all!
 
I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, in 1985, there lived a cute baby girl named Meredith.
 
There was also an adorable baby boy named Russell.
 
Meredith lived in Camden with her Mama and Daddy. Russell lived in Magnolia with his Mom and Dad.

Nineteen years later, Meredith and Russell met on a blind date, had dinner and went to see the movie, Sahara.
 
They fell in love very quickly, went on a few adventures that Summer of 2005. Meredith and  Russell went to college together at Southern Arkansas University. The couple knew that they would get married someday.
 

A few years later, in September of 2007, Russell and Meredith married. They had a beautiful, romantic, and traditional wedding at the church where Meredith grew up.
 

The couple traveled to Walt Disney World for their honeymoon. They even met Mickey and Minnie Mouse! It was such fun!
 

They moved to Northwest Arkansas and lived in an adorable apartment, perfect for two.

A few months later, they went on a fabulous and memorable family vacation to the beach. It was amazing to spend much needed time together.
 

In October 2008, the couple bought the perfect house to have a cute little puppy, but most of all, to raise a family in. They loved living there and it didn’t take Russell and Meredith very long to start new traditions and share memories there.
 

In November 2008, the couple got a new member of the family, a dog! They named her Belle Diana Price. Belle was instantly loved from the moment they met her.

Throughout Russell and Meredith’s marriage, they prayed so much that the Lord would bless them with a baby. They yearned to be parents someday and trusted in the Lord’s timing. They both had strong faith that God would answer their prayer.

On August 31, 2013, Meredith and Russell realized their dream had come true!

 


We are going to have a baby!
 
We are absolutely thrilled and thankful to God for blessing us! More details to come!
 
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14