Pregnancy Week 15

15 weeks and finally starting to look different :) Little one is the size of an apple now. That is big if you ask me, but only a small portion of how big he/she is going to get. Oh boy!

How far along: 15 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: none, perfectly sitting at my starting weight
Stretch marks: no
Belly Button: in
Maternity clothes: I am still wearing normal clothes with the exception of needing the belly band to wear jeans. I have started wearing maternity tops or big t-shirts though.
Sleep: Still pretty tired. I do have bouts of insomnia at night and that can be annoying.
Food cravings/aversions: Peaches and lemonaide
Gender: Don't know and not going to find out, but my guess right now is girl.
Movement: Nothing yet, hopefully in a few more weeks.
Best moment this week: having more good days than bad days with nausea
What I miss: feeling good
I am looking forward to: my next doctor's appointment next week. I am anxious to hear the heartbeat again and hopefully get the mid pregnancy ultrasound scheduled!
Weekly Wisdom: Don't worry about cleaning the house - nap when Malachi naps!
Milestones: 37.5% Done!

First Trimester

First Trimester Recap:

June 23rd - Found out we're pregnant. Still processing what this means for us. Found out our babies will be 10 months a part and we are due in late February. Not sure what even made me test, but I just felt "different". I tested then went and laid down and fell asleep - very very tired these last few days and went back a few hours later to a positive test. I was so shocked to actually see two lines. Took another one and it instantly turned positive - guess it must be true!

June 26th - Told our parents. Sent them a picture of Malachi with Big Brother in Late February written on it. They didn't get it. Thought we were continuing with our original plan of adopting again early next year. Everyone is super excited as we are still processing the news.

June 27th - morning sickness hit. I am not excited about this but hopefully it will be kind and will not last too long or be too bad.

June 28th - Made first OB appointment for July 22nd Peter's birthday! Also figuring out that I need to eat all the time in order to keep the sick feeling away. I am definitely feeling very sick in the mornings. I am also so tired! I am constantly going back and forth between wanting something with meat and wanting chocolate.

July 15th - I am 7 weeks today. Still struggling with morning sickness and exhaustion. I haven't thrown up yet and I hope I can survive without throwing up. One more week until our first ultrasound. I am very nervous about it but hopeful that everything will look good. I have become very picky with food. Most things do not sound good and I can't handle the thought of eating them. I also have a really bad cold right now and have had a very hard time sleeping. I really miss my Nyquil with being sick. Too nervous to take anything for it so trying to let it take its course - but a sore throat, cough, body aches, back pain, morning sickness, and exhaustion are no fun at all. Looking forward to that second trimester.

July 19th - Had my first appointment with the nurse. She asked me a bunch of questions and ran some tests. It is so strange that everyone carries on like everything is okay with this pregnancy. I definitely hope it is, but just want confirmation that everything really is alright before I can relax. I am really hoping that everything looks okay on the ultrasound.

July 22nd - Today was my first ultrasound visit. I have been very nervous about it. I wasn't thinking when I made these appointments for first thing in the morning. It is proving very hard to eat something and feel okay in time for the appointments. The receptionist that checked me in congratulated me and was very excited. I was still nervous and wanted to save the congratulations until after the ultrasound. This was the first time I saw my doctor. She walked in the room and said "Congratulations, you did it!" She was very excited for us. We talked about our adoption and she urged me not to let the adoption agency know at this time as she would hate to see our adoption put in a dangerous position since we are so close to being done and in love with Malachi. She said I am still early and there are still risks so no need to tell them yet. As she started up the ultrasound she started laughing and said it would be so funny if it were twins. I told her she was cruel. Right away she found one baby and pointed out the heartbeat. Just knowing there was a heartbeat made me relax. I asked her if everything looked okay and she said yes. She had the baby measuring at 7 weeks 5 days and gave me a due date of March 4th. It was surreal to see this little tiny baby with a heart beating away inside my stomach.

August 1st - I am 9 1/2 weeks. Today is the first time I looked at my tummy and saw that it is starting to change. There is definitely an undeniable small bump forming. I am definitely going to have to start wearing a little bit looser shirts in order to keep this a secret. I don't want people to start thinking I am getting fat :) Week 8 was definitely the worst with morning sickness. Nan gave me a prescription for Zofran which helps a lot and I am relieved to have it for when we travel. Week 9 definitely feels like I might be over the hump with the sickness. I still feel sick if I don't eat often enough, but overall I feel much better than I did a week ago.

August 19th - It has been a whirlwind past few weeks! We have made it to Ethiopia and back and while I did have some very rough moments on the airplane and while in country, overall I was very pleased with how I felt considering I was only 10 weeks while in country. Today I had another OB visit. It was pretty basic and simple, but I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time! She warned me that she was just going to check and see if she could hear anything yet and immediately after putting the doppler down we heard the swooshing of the heartbeat. She nudged me and said "There's your baby!" I am one day away from 12 weeks! Hearing the heartbeat and knowing that everything is okay really made my day! Now we can start telling people that baby #2 is on the way!

August 27th - I am 13 weeks today! Got an email stating this is the official start of the 2nd trimester! One down, two to go and hopefully this second one will be much better than the first was. I am eager for the exhaustion and morning sickness to disappear for good! The report said that the baby is 3" long and weighs about an ounce and is almost the size of a lemon. I am starting to show a very little bit but am amazed that the baby is that big and is still able to hide out in there! Probably not too much longer though!

A day at the beach!

Now that the 4 day flu bug had passed through the house, we were able to enjoy a day off to the coast where Malachi met his great grandma Goodman for the first time. Malachi is just so full of firsts and even though he has crossed a few ocean's this was his very first trip to the beach!

What an incredible journey he has made from the mountains of Africa all the way to the Oregon coast!

Lots of First's

We have had Malachi Segni in our arms for 1 1/2 weeks now and it has been a time full of adjustments and firsts! For our full trip report please check out our adoption blog www.bringinghomebabykeyser.blogspot.com, but for everything else stay here :)

Here are a lot of our first's with our precious Malachi:

First time we saw each other:

First time I held him:

First time Daddy held him:

First time I fed him:

First time we gave him a bath:

First passport and visa:

First trip on an airplane

First time eating cereal:

First doctor's appointment:

First time in his exersaucer:

We are looking forward to a lifetime of first with our boy!!!

4 Years

4 Years Ago today we started our life together. We made a huge lifetime commitment to one another and trusted that the person we were standing next to would honor that commitment and was worthy of our trust.

This is one of my favorite wedding pictures. It wasn't one of those posed smiley, kissy pictures that everyone does. This was where we started. Sure, we had the big wedding, we had the reception. We spent 18 months planning the wedding and the marriage. The wedding was the first day of many. This picture shows us truly starting out. As soon as we left that reception - life truly began as husband and wife. We'd done our homework, now it was time for the test.

When I think about the past 4 years, a lot of life has happened. We've had some truly amazing memories that will last a lifetime and we've also had some really difficult times that we grown closer through.

The good times are awesome and fun! The not so good times have tested our relationship and fortunately we have grown closer through those days. We still face many good days and many hard days as we continue on through life together.

Some of the best of memories:

This past year we have spent preparing for the next great adventure. In 1 short week we will get on a plane and go to Africa where we will meet our son and bring him home!

We know this will be another wonderful memory that we will cherish forever. We also know that there will be serious trials we will face in the next year. I have often heard that the first year after adding a baby to the family is often the hardest year of marriage as once again the marriage must adjust to changes. We are preparing now, and know even as tough days are before us, that we will grow closer together.

The first four years have been amazing! We've struggled through 2 years of college and REALLY celebrated when it was behind us! we've bought a house, sold a house, bought another house. We've struggled and waited to bring our first child into our family and will celebrate in one week as that dream is fulfilled! We've dealt with a job change, a layoff, a new job and most recently switching over to a one income household! We've traveled - multiple times to our favorite Disneyland, Disneyworld, Jamaica, and several weekend getaways and in this coming week we will travel all the way to Africa!!!

We have lived life to the fullest in these first 4 years and year 5 is looking to be no different. As I can see ahead into this 5th year of marriage, I am excited! We have some awesome things planned for this coming year! I think every year of marriage has been amazing, but this year is going to be truly special for our family!!!

BabyMoon

This past weekend we took advantage of our last open weekend before Baby Malachi comes home and left town for a few days.

We headed down to Central Oregon to Eagle Crest Resort for a couple of nights for our final hurrah just the two of us before a baby joins us on our vacations. It was fun and hot and very relaxing.

We went for an evening walk down into the canyon and talked with a guy who had 2 schnauzers. The one schnauzer was off in the bushes spying on the deer. As we continued on our walk we saw several deer standing in the bushes around us. We spent some time in the pool during the day. It was so hot out that the only thing we could handle in the heat of the day was relaxing in the pool! Peter made a very very yummy steak and buttery mashed potato dinner - yum! We didn't do anything to exciting - just spent lots of time relaxing which is just what we needed before embarking on the adventure of our lives to Ethiopia to bring home our son.

The next few weeks are going to be very busy. We have Peter's birthday next week and Old Fashioned Festival too. We also have our 4th wedding Anniversary coming up the week after that and then we hope to be leaving for Ethiopia. We don't have confirmed travel dates yet but we are hopeful that we are just 3 1/2 weeks away from picking up our sweet son! Lots and lots to do in the next few weeks. Unfortunately I picked up a nasty sore throat and cough while we were on our babymoon and I have been very worthless today. Hopefully it will pass soon and I can get started on my very long to do list.

Half A Year

As we look back on to the first half of 2010 we are not exactly where we thought we would be. The first 6 months of this year have not been what we expected. The definite highlight of the first half of this year was seeing our son's face! We were hopeful that we would have that little guy home before July hit, but adoption never goes as expected and so we continue to wait.

As we look ahead to the next 6 months as we finish 2010 we are very excited about all the things that lie ahead! Our 4th wedding anniversary is just around the corner and it won't be long before little Malachi is home and we can start our lives as parents. It is going to be amazing and we look forward to everything that the next 6 months hold. Here's hoping for an incredible final 6 months of 2010!!!