The Big Reveal

Alright everybody. It's the big moment. We are finally going to reveal if we are having a boy or a girl!

But first let's take a walk through our experience today. Our appointment was at 9am at Condell in Libertyville (this is where we will be for delivery). For our exciting morning I was given strict instructions to drink 16oz of water 1 hour before and could not use the bathroom! I was in utter misery trying to hold it in. Especially on the drive there and while waiting for our names to be called in the waiting room. Here is a pic of our hospital as we were walking in. Isn't it a pretty building.

After our names were called we met our technician who was the sweetest lady ever. She was so friendly and made sure we were completely comfortable as we settled in for our great experience. The room was dimly lit with calming music playing, felt like I was in a massage room. After getting cozy she told me the fantastic news that I would be able to go to the bathroom after she got a few quick initial pics. I was more than delighted to hear this.

After I was relieved.... she came back with some warm blankets for comfort and we got ready to see our baby (I felt very taken care of) The appointment was about 45 minutes and we got so many awesome shots of Baby Till. But as we were nearing the end of our appt our technician had to admit that the baby was staying modest and she was having a hard time seeing the necessary parts. I told myself this morning that we might not be able to find out boy/girl and I would have to be OK with that. When she was saying she was having a hard time seeing I heard Matt say exactly what I was thinking, "well, it's just not meant to be." Our technician was so sweet and kept trying to find out, but with no luck she decided to take a break. In the mean time here are some of the great pics we got of our baby today.

Isn't our baby so cute!!! I was definitely shedding a few tears... I couldn't believe how great of a miracle was happing right inside my tummy. What a blessing. Turns out baby is very healthy and everything is in order. Praise the Lord!

After taking a break our tech came back and tried again.... And again no luck. We have a very modest baby! In a last effort she asked me to lay on my side. And after a few maneuvers we got the picture we were hoping for!

And so, without further adue... Ladies and Gentelman, Friends and Family, Dearly Beloved... Matt and I are very proud to announce that we are expecting a beautiful baby GIRL!!

Alyssa Marilyn Till is expected to arrive September 3, 2012.

We are absolutely thrilled about our baby girl and can't wait to meet her! In our last few moments during the ultrasound I thought, "Alyssa, next time I see you will be on your birthday." Can't wait to hold this little precious one!

In all our excitement we headed straight to Target and bought her her very first dress. Matt picked it out. He said, "this is so Alyssa" and I could have cried. Isn't it perfect?!

Please continue to pray with us that Alyssa would grow healthy. And we are praying even now that by His grace she would come to know Jesus as Lord. Thank you for your love and encouragement... we cherish it!

Baby Heartbeat

Here is Baby Till's heartbeat at 17 weeks.

The little "clicks" you hear is the baby moving.

Baby Bumps

12 Weeks // February 20, 2012

16 Weeks // March 20, 2012

18 Weeks // April 3, 2012

Better Days

Within a week of entering my second trimester I began to feel my pregnancy symptoms ease up. And by week 14 I was feeling like the energizer bunny! I didn't realize how exhausted I had really felt until I had my energy back and I felt like I could zip around all day. Unfortunately, I try to be busy all day and then it all catches up with me. I have learned to pace myself a bit better now.

With my energy up and an anticipate busy summer Matt and I decided to get a head start on preparing the babies room. By mid-march we had picked out paint colors, bought the supplies and covered those walls! By the close of the month Matt changed all the outlets and put in a new light fixture. The room is 70% ready! All we need is to cover the windows and fix up the closet with some new shelves and we are ready for some furniture and then a baby! Can you tell I am excited? :)

By 16 weeks I was beginning to see a bit more progress in the "looking and feeling like I'm pregnant" department. I had a mini bump to show off and I began to feel some baby flutters. I'm pretty certain it wasn't gas but who knows ;) I felt the first flutters the night before my sister Paige's choir concert and then felt pretty confident in the new discover at the concert when Baby Till decided to dance a little to the beautiful voice of their auntie :)

At 17 weeks we had our 3rd prenatal appointment. I was thrilled to not be sick this time around. The appointment's highlight was hearing our baby's heartbeat again. This time it was so much stronger, louder and faster. I was not expecting it to sound so different. It is definitely an awesome and reassuring experience to hear that "wooshing" sound confirm your baby's safety and health. Also, at our appointment we received our orders to get our ultrasound done within the following 2 weeks.

I am 18 1/2 weeks today and our ultrasound is scheduled for Monday, April 9th at 9AM. I made the appointment today and did not expect to feel so giddy about it. It's hard to believe I made an appointment to see our baby! I cannot wait!!

The big question we are being asked now is, "Are you going to find out the gender???" And the answer is, "YES WE ARE!" I have also been asked if I have a feeling if it's a boy or girl. Until 15 weeks I had no feelings one way or another. But one day I thought to myself that it's probably a boy. We are excited for either boy or girl, we don't mind either way. We just want a healthy baby!!

Before I close let me say a HUGE thank you to all who are praying for us and our growing baby. We have had a very smooth experience so far and are very thankful for the Lord's provision in all of it.

Closing out the first trimester

At the close of the first trimester Baby Till was the size of a shrimp. I wasn't looking pregnant yet but I was still experiencing some minor symptoms that are common for the first trimester including; gagging, nausea and extreme fatigue. I was beginning to wonder if any of these symptoms would subside. Granted I had a very easy but it is frustrating to always be exhausted.

On top of my lovely symptoms I got sick at the end of my 13th week. And by sick I mean I was at home, on the couch, not even well enough to watch TV. You know your sick when you can't bring yourself to watch TV. After almost a whole day of dealing with body aches I finally called my Dr. and asked if I could take any kind of medicine to relieve the pain. He let me take some Tylenol, which was a miracle worker. I was still sick but body aches always make any sickness a million times worse.

After a long weekend of feeling ill I had my 2nd prenatal appointment. By this point I developed an ear infection and was glad to get a baby-safe RX to clear it up. But that's not all I was glad for at that appointment.

1st we learned we could get an ultrasound between 18-19 weeks rather than wait until 20 or more weeks, which is what Dr.'s normally say. But our Dr. said its easier to get a full picture of the baby if you go a little sooner.

2nd WE GOT TO HEAR THE BABY'S HEARTBEAT! It was the sweetest sound! It gave me a huge relief and a sense of this pregnancy being very real. When you don't look pregnant yet and you don't really feel pregnant it is easy to wonder if its "real". But hearing the heartbeat was just what I needed to close out my first trimester.

11 Weeks

Today we are 11 weeks into our 40 week journey. Here are a few notes on how it's been so far:

Week 4

This is when we found out we were pregnant! I felt extremely tired and couldn't stop wondering if we were pregnant. So I grabbed a test and it came back positive! In an instant my body started overheating and sweating... after a few months of seeing negative tests I think my body went into shock :) And just to be sure I wasn't imagining things I took 2 more tests.

This whole time Matt was working on fixing our bathroom fans with two buddies. I had to wait for Matt to finish working, go drop something off, take a shower and then we ate dinner all before I felt like it was an opportune time to share the news with him... it was a long few hours!!

Since it was just past Christmas I decided to wrap up one of the tests and a card that said SURPRISE. I gave it to him after dinner. At first I think he was wondering why I was giving him a Christmas gift but (I found out later) he soon began to wonder if I was telling him we were pregnant. It was a great moment with hugs, tears and a bunch of "WOW's" :)

Week 9

Up until week 9 I was suffering from some nausea but mostly fatigue. I was so utterly exhausted by anything. And I started to crave foods. It wasn't the iconic pregnant type of cravings; it was mainly me getting really hungry and wanting one particular thing with a very strong urgency to have it.

In our 9th week we had our first appointment with our doctor. I had never met him before and was pretty nervous about liking or feeling comfortable with him. The key word in all this is "him". I was a little leary of it being a "him" but he was the only doctor under our insurance that was in Grayslake and delivers at Condell. SO, I decided we would go to the first appointment and decide afterwards if we would continue to see him. I got close to just switching doctors anyway and almost didn't want to bother with "trying it out". But I am SO SO SO glad I have him for a doctor. I'm serious when I say that I don't think I could have a better doctor. He is very kind, patient and spends tons of time with you if you need it. One of the first things he said was that the downside to his practice is that he spends a lot of time with his patients. He explained that he usually runs a little late because he will spend as much time as he needs. But the upside to all of that is he will always be very attentive and wants to hear all my crazy questions. I wish you all could meet him! Best doctor I've met, hands down. (Except my uncle of course... uncles beat out other doctors any day of the week ;)

At our appointment he confirmed our due date to be September 3rd and we got to see our baby's heartbeat!! It was such a precious moment, I will never forget it. It was a little blog with a super fast fluttering heart in the middle of it... super cute! :) The miracle of life and the gift our Lord has given us blew me away. I felt so humbled to be carrying and soon be caring for such a delicate baby. I love my little squishy :)

Week 11

Here we are half way through our 11th week. Nausea has gone done but cravings have gone up. Not only that but I am always so hungry! My new routine includes second breakfasts and many snacks throughout the day. All this eating amounts to a very puffed up tummy by bedtime. I guess I am making space for baby... at least thats how I see it ;) Usually by morning my tummy is back to normal but I have noticed that it stays just a little pouchier every day. It's nothing anyone else might notice but I can see some changes in my waistline.

This week baby squishy is about the size of a fig! It's kicking and moving around... apparently. I'm told I won't feel any of this for a few months, seems too far away. Baby has completed most of its development of major organs and we are hitting the growing phase. By next week he/she will grow from 2 inches to 2.4 inches and just think, 6 weeks ago it was roughly the size of a sesame seed! Our God is so creative and awesome!

God's Plan

Dear Friends and Family,

We have officially made it public... we are expecting our first child! We are absolutely thrilled to share this news with you and invite you to join us on this beautiful journey as we blog our way through the next 7 months.

It starts at the beginning...

Truth is that Matt and I said we would wait until we were married 5 years to start building our family. This May we will be married 4 years, close but not exactly 5. So why the change of mind? A few things. #1 I caught the bug. I have always wanted kids and just a little over a year ago I was really feeling ready. #2 Some of you might have done the math and made the connection of me catching the bug to our nephew Caleb's entrance into the world. Thank you, Amanda and Eddy, for helping us see that "sometime in the future"/"when we grow up" has turned into TODAY.

Lots of business meetings

Matt and I frequently have serious conversations about life. This started early in our relationship. We quickly titled these talks as our "business meetings". It's a time for both of us to share what's on our minds about where we are and where we are heading in life. October 2010 marked the start to a long series of baby business meetings. We wrestled through all the typical topics that are effected by babies: finances, marriage, housing, jobs, family, etc. And after our first few times talking about all things baby we decided to table the conversation to see where God was really leading our hearts in the matter.

Enter Caleb

November 27, 2010 our awesome nephew entered the world. I definitely didn't need warming up to the idea of a baby, however, Matt has had little experience with babies. I was really banking on Caleb to show Matt the ropes. And sure enough Matt started to melt. You can't help but love our precious nephew. As the weeks and months passed Matt and I took a turn in our baby business meetings; we were seriously considering starting our own family in the near future.

Summer and Maternity Coverage

One very important piece of the baby puzzle that had to be sorted out before taking this big step was making sure we had maternity coverage. Since starting our own business Matt and I have been paying for our own insurance, which won't give you maternity coverage until 365 days after your first day of coverage. Yikes! Fortunately we like to plan ahead and elected for the coverage in June 2010. And wouldn't you know it, we decided to start trying to give ourselves an excuse to use this coverage in June 2011.

A house and 7 months later

I wasn't sure what to expect when we starting trying. I starting asking myself a host of questions that I am sure goes through every hopeful couple. Do we get pregnancy right away? Will this take a while? Will we be able to get pregnant ever? And as the months and negative tests passed I was beginning to really wonder. But I knew to be patient, we were wanting to try for 1 year before we started to ask serious questions. Then one day Matt came home and told me we should go looking at houses to buy. I was thrilled but questioned if he was being serious. I tried to keep my head level. But before I could blink we found a great house for an amazing price and God basically handed it to us in 45 days. November 15, 2011 (my birthday) was our signing and a few days later we moved in. For the holidays we found ourselves in a pretty big empty house with no sign of a baby. But God clearly wanted us to have this home and we were putting our trust in His provision for all things. And POOF we were pregnant the next month!

God's Sovereignty

I am in no way saying that buying a home was the formula for getting pregnant. And I definitely don't think you need to have a spare room in order to bring a child into the world. Remember, we started trying to build our family while renting a 2nd floor condo and were happy to host our family there for as long as God would desire. But what I am saying is that God knows the plans He has for our lives. I believe all our efforts were failing because He, for some reason, needed us to be in this home first. NO IDEA WHY! But I hope that in all life's confusion I will always submit to His ways because they are far better and sweeter than my imagination could ever dream. And now I can say with my whole heart that my plans failed but God's plans were perfect in bringing us the good news of a coming baby.

Thanks for reading the story God wrote for us. Hope you enjoy the next months of updates on how our little "bun" is doing.

Blessings