The Harkers

GIRL!!! We are so excited!

Elijah has maintained all along that it was a boy, and then this afternoon on the way to my appointment, we had this exchange:

Me: Okay, Elijah, you have one last chance to guess. Is our baby a boy or a girl?

Elijah (sounding resigned): It’s a girl.

Me: What?! You’ve always said it’s a boy! Why did you change your mind?

Elijah: I just wanted it to be a boy.

So apparently he’s known the truth all along and it was all just wishful thinking!

Everything looked great on the ultrasound, and the tech commented on her long legs. That’s a Harker baby alright! But we’re sticking with the O’Neill baby order trend. I come from a family of six, and it’s boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl. My older brother had a boy, a girl, then a boy. My younger brother has a boy and another on the way that’s yet to be determined. And my sister has a boy. We even have several cousins that have followed the trend. So the news was no surprise to my family!

On the way home we stopped at Old Navy and got our first little girl outfit. And for those of you who know me well, it is most definitely NOT PINK!

By popular demand, here is my halfway-point belly picture. Awww…. We have the big ultrasound next week, on the 2nd, so I’ll definitely be updating with the answer to the big question – BOY or GIRL?! You have a week to guess if you want to get in on the baby poll over on the right sidebar. Happy prognosticating!

Today is Jim’s 34th birthday. And I am even more crazy about him than I was when we met eleven years ago. I looked into those gorgeous green eyes and was a goner. I am incredibly lucky to have married such a sweet, funny, kind, patient, and just plain cool guy. I am proud to call him mine and love being his wife.

Happy birthday, Jim. YOU are the best.

Just a quick update as to what’s going on ’round these parts.

1. I’m 16 1/2 weeks along now and successfully got past the barfy stage without ever throwing up! I definitely went through a queasy period and couldn’t eat chicken for weeks, but I’m feeling great now. Energy back, house clean(ish) again.

2. My second appointment with my midwife is tomorrow, so I imagine we’ll schedule my ultrasound then. Jim and I think it’s a girl, Elijah thinks it’s a boy. Most of the time. (If you want to make a guess, we’ve got a baby poll going here.) Can I just vent about the insurance business for a second? Apparently my health insurance won’t pay for a dime of my maternity costs since I’m not going the O.B./hospital route. Going to a midwife and delivering at a birthing center is a fraction of the cost, but they won’t cover it. I did the math and it will be roughly the same out of pocket cost as we paid with Elijah. It’s just incredibly irritating how much we pay for health insurance every month and get so little in return.

3. I just got released from my visiting teaching calling and called as Relief Society secretary. I love the ladies I’ll be working with and was visiting teaching coordinator for over two years (plus a supervisor before that), so I’m looking forward to the change.

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet around here. I haven’t been taking any photos this summer as I’ve been feeling monumentally lazy, but I’m hoping to make better use of the rest of our summer.

Random things I tried to help me get pregnant (in no particular order):

1. Eating an entire pineapple. Yeah, I read online that cutting a pineapple in five pieces and eating them (one a day) after ovulation increases your chances of implantation. All it did was make me really sick of pineapple.

2. Taking a cocktail of herbal remedies said to help in conception. Documented here. Also tried a different herbal concoction a bunch of girls in the neighborhood swore by a couple of years ago. It tasted so gross I could only take it for a couple of months, no results.

3. Taking Robitussin the week before ovulation. I’m not going to explain why this is said to help. It’s a little TMI.

4. Quit drinking caffeine altogether. And made Jim quit for the first half of every month.

5. Made Jim take a multivitamin.

6. Took prenatal vitamins. A few months ago I got tired of doing everything right and quit taking prenatals and started drinking caffeine again. A friend convinced me that I shouldn’t stop with the prenatal vitamins even if I was tired of it all. I listened, and I’m glad I did. (Thanks Amber B!)

7. Spent a lot of money on tests and procedures that found absolutely nothing wrong with me or Jim. For a girl who likes to know the answer to the question WHY, this was extremely frustrating.

8. Kept track of my basal temperature (off and on)  and charted my cycles faithfully. It gets really old keeping track of everything every month. It just keeps your mind on your monthly failures and gets really depressing.

9. And last but not least, one of my sister’s co-workers insisted that I try her “fertility afghan.” When I asked (a little grossed out) what exactly I was supposed to DO with it, I was told that just having it in my possession would ensure that I got pregnant. It had apparently been successful in helping several friends and acquaintances conceive. I left it lying around for several months and then gave it back to my sister the next time she was in town. She got pregnant.

Needless to say, I am very grateful to finally be pregnant and not worrying about it all the time . And also not having to rely on the internet for medical advice!

At long last, I have an unbelievably exciting piece of news to share.

I’M PREGNANT!!!

It has taken a massive force of will not to shout it from the rooftops, but Jim really wanted to wait until I was 12 weeks to spread the good news. And today is the big day! Like right now. Because it’s midnight and I couldn’t wait until morning.

On May 1st, I reluctantly approached Jim with the guarded announcement, “I’m a day late. Should I take a pregnancy test? If I do and it’s negative, I’m just going to be really depressed. Maybe I should wait another day.” Forty consecutive months of disappointment inevitably brings that sort of cautious response. Jim told me to just go for it, so I did. I peered at that little test for a minute before I called Jim upstairs. “Jim, I need a second opinion!” By the time he got upstairs, I sobbed out, “There’s a line!” and then proceeded to start bawling. Jim hadn’t ever given up hope, so he just smiled and hugged me and gently reminded me that he’d told me so. It was my last month on Clomid, and I’d said that I was giving up if it didn’t work. It must have been Jim’s, Elijah’s, and lots of other family and friends’ faith that did it, because I ran out months ago.

We went to the doctor when I was eight weeks along and verified that there’s just one little one in there and that my due date is January 6th. Elijah is really excited and has seriously impressed me with his ability to keep a secret! And boy, I’d heard that you start showing lots earlier with your second one, but this is ridiculous! I’m down to just one pair of jeans that actually fits. (Not that I’m complaining!) So far I’ve been feeling pretty good. I’ve definitely been tired and am almost always starving, but no real nausea yet, which is great! I didn’t get that sick with Elijah, so I’m grateful that this pregnancy is going smoothly as well.

A heartfelt thank you for all your thoughts and prayers, and please keep them coming our way!

…Snow. Apparently. Let’s forget current weather conditions at present and talk about what I’m putting in my flower garden once it warms up, since that’s about all I can think about this time of year. I have regular dreams about gorgeous gardens every spring. Seriously.

I’ve been trying to find something to put in front of my porch for the entire five years we’ve lived here, and I’ve finally found it. The Invincibelle hydrangea. Behold.

I have no illusions about the fact that those are probably fertilizer-enhanced mutants and won’t look anything like that in my garden, but that’s okay by me. Aren’t they gorgeous? I’m putting in three of them. Assuming I can find them, since local nurseries apparently don’t believe in answering phone calls or emails. I’ll mail order them if I have to.

I’ve also found it difficult to find something to put in next to my porch, in an area that’s almost full shade. I pretty much don’t plant anything that doesn’t flower, and most flowering shrubs don’t like shade. But this one does!

This is a Limelight hydrangea. And yes, it’s the year of the hydrangea around here. Wish me luck!