3 Months

10.13.2015

It's month number three! Holy cow time is flying. Liam is getting sooooo big! At his last check up he weighed in at 12.07 lbs (84%) 23.75 in (90%) 16 in (88%). Although this was quite some time ago he probably closer to 15lbs haha! He's a big kid!

In this last month he's started smiling and cooing A LOT! Borderline laughing. He's so close! Maybe this next month he'll show us his laugh. He's started playing more with his hands and feet as well. He's also discovered sucking his fingers. He can't suck his thumbs because he keeps them safely tucked in his little fits but he'll happily suck away on his middle finger and index finger. It's really cute.

His biggest accomplishment this month happened last night. He rolled for the first time!! Earlier during the day we had been doing some tummy time and he was getting so close to rolling but would stop. So when Garrett got home that night I was showing him how close he was getting and then BAM! During the show and tell he rolled! There were lots of tears and cheers!

Another huge milestone was that last night we took down the Pack N' Play and moved Liam to his room. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Don't get me wrong it's a good thing.... But I was a mess. He slept like a champ too! He's getting so big! And I'm loving him more and more everyday!

Dos Meses

My little man has now been here for 2 months! Holy cow! The time has flown by and I can't even believe it! With this milestone in his life I feel like as his mother I need to share a few things about him.

One: He started sharing his smile with the world when he was 2 weeks old. The first time I saw it I cried. I'm sure it wasn't intentional yet. Like how his smiles are now... But seeing it made all the hard times so worth it!

Two: He's a fussy guy. Most people who know him know he cries. Although he's doing sooooooooo much better we still call him a "Grumpy Gus". Part of his fussiness is just because of his acid reflux but I think he's just kinda high strung... Like his mom? Haha

Three: He loves to snuggle! The only way he'll sleep is if he's being held. When he's awake... Still loves to be held. This week he started doing this thing where if I set him down he'll intentionally start crying so I pick him up haha. It's amazing that he can't even control his own body but he has total control over me!

Four: He's a noisy little guy. Aside from his tears, when he's happy he's usually talking to the wall or ceiling fan! It's so cute and I die when he talks back to me... Even if it isn't intentional haha.

Five: He has a nicer shoe collection than me. This is partly due to his fathers sneaker obsession but I mean he's a 2 month old child who can't fit into any of them. Either way it's cute.

So there you have it. Liam is growing and growing everyday. Each day he's becoming a little more aware of his surroundings. He knows me and Garrett really well but is still figuring out other people. It's amazing how much I love him and how I live to serve whatever need he has. I never thought a child could change me so greatly but I was completely wrong. To say I love him will never express just how much that love is.

Meet Liam Bryce Jones

It's only taken me a month and a half to do this but I finally finished it today. It's rather fitting that I'm sharing this today. It was 2 years ago around this same time that we started this process and now look where we're at.

Here it is... Liam's birth story :)

It's was just like any other day. July 13, 2015 started just like any other. I went to work, came home hung out with Garrett, went and looked at a new car, ordered pizza and then bam. The contractions started. (7:00 pm)

As I sat on our couch trying to time each contraction I realized there wasn't a break between each one. It's at this point I realize we need to go to the hospital.

We check into the hospital, get connected to all the monitors, and the hour long wait begins. Garrett and I watch each contraction come and go. Each coming with a little more intensity. (8:00 pm) It's after the first 5 minutes of being monitored when the nurse comes in and tells us we have a possible red flag. Liam's heart keeps bouncing. Going from 160 and then dropping to 125 then going back up. She says it's not cause for concern just yet, but that they'll monitor it and then decide what to do if it doesn't go away.

At about five to the hour the nurse comes back in and tells us that Liam's heart is still bouncing. She tells us Dr. Gatherum's has been monitoring it from home and is on his way here now. "We need to get the baby out now." I've never been so scared. I look over at Garrett and realize that my life long dream of delivering my own baby won't be happening tonight. I'm going to have a c-section.

Garrett gets on the phone to tell our parents what's happened and how there's been a pretty drastic change in our plans. We're going to have to have the baby before they get here. The realization of having to have my baby without my mom by my side kicks in and I begin to cry.

Dr. Gatherum's arrives shortly after the nurse told us the news and by then I had my IV in, the paper work was sign, and Garrett was given his ER clothes. Dr. Gatherum begins to explain that he's worried about the baby. He's not sure what's causing his heart to bounce so much but its better to be safe then sorry. "It's been quite the process for you guys to get this far and I don't want to risk you not being able to take this little guy home. He's a very special baby!"

Dr. Gatherum and the nurses clear the room and Garrett begins to give me the most comforting blessing I've ever received. I knew immediately following the blessing that everything was going to be fine. That I had pick a wonderful doctor who was going to take excellent care of me and Liam. I knew that Garrett was going to be fine standing by my side while our baby was born. I knew that everything was going to be alright.

By 9:15pm I was in the ER being prepped for surgery. They gave me a surgical cap and gown then had me sit on the table with my head on a nurse's shoulder as the anesthesiologist gave me a spinal block. From there the nurses helped to lay me on my back as they put up the curtain separating me from viewing my lower half.

As Garrett walks in I'm so relieved! Finally my main support is here. He grabs my hand as they begin to cut. I'm watching his face and I realize that they're pulling parts of my body that have never been touch before. Garrett's face says it all... They just took out my intestine. Garrett takes a break from watching and sits for only a second because they've reached Liam. The doctor begins to push extremely hard on my chest and abdomen. The pushing seems like it last forever! But then finally I hear Liam for the first time. He's here. 9:43 pm my baby boy, Liam Bryce Jones is here.

The over whelming feeling of joy, relief, excitement, and love immediately fill my heart as I hear him crying. Garrett leaves my side to go tend to our new baby. He returns in what seems like hours later with our baby. He puts him down next to my head so I can see him and kiss him. As I talk to Liam he quiets down and I realize he already knows my voice. He knows that his mommy is talking to him. "I love you honey, it's going to be ok!" It's the first thing that comes out of my mouth. I keep saying it as tears continue to come. This new baby is mine and I love him so much!

Garrett leaves with Liam and the nurses to get cleaned up while the doctors close me up. As they're finishing on me, all I can think about is the new baby that is mine. I'm a mom. I'm responsible for this little person who I don't even know. What? How did this happen and how do I already love this little thing so much? Dr. Gatherum calls down to the nursery to get his stats. "8 pounds 11 ounces! He's 19 and a half inches long! Wow, it's a good thing he came when he did Chellcee, otherwise you'd a been having a ten pounder!" The doctors move me from the surgical table to my hospital bed and begin to wheel me to my room. I beat the boys back to the room so I call my mom to let her know everything went well. In the middle of the phone call is when Garrett pushes the hospital crib carrying Liam into the room.

Finally holding Liam for the first time I have another round of love, joy, and relief wash over me. Looking at him I keeping thinking "He's mine... This is my baby! I love him. He's perfect."

Liam was the result of miracles that Garrett and I got to witness first hand. He's the result of so much love and Christ like charity. It's because of so many that we have him in our family. Thank you will never be enough to return the kindness we've experienced but know that Garrett and I are forever grateful!

One Week Old 

One Month Old

Today

Third Trimester!

It's been quite a few months since my last post and figured it would be a good time to update everyone on the progress of Baby Jones as well as our family!

Baby Jones:

This week I'll be 28 weeks on Wednesday. My last appointment with Dr. Gatherum I had my Whooping Cough vaccination. My arm was sore for 3 days! haha This week I get to do my Glucose test as well as the Rh blood test as well because I'm O-. Yay! My next appointment is later this month and it's my last monthly appointment. After that I'll be going in every 2 weeks! Seriously, I feel like my pregnancy has flown by! Thank goodness! haha

Baby J is just a growing and growing in there. I've started to kind of get uncomfortable but for the most part I'm loving being pregnant and can't wait to meet this little kicker. The other night I was laying in bed having a conversation with Garrett and every time Garrett would talk, Baby J, had to kick me. It wasn't until Garrett got down and actually talked to him that he relaxed a little and I pretty sure went back to sleep. He already loves his daddy :) His movements are getting stronger every day! He's started moving my whole belly when he moves. It's incredible! I love it! I know not everyone loves it but it is one of the best feelings and experiences I've ever had.

School:

I graduated!! Yay!! After 4 years of school I finally have a Bachelor of Science in Family Life and Human Development, my emphasis in Family Services! I'll be taking what's call the NCFR later this summer so I'll be a certified family life educator and be able to teach people about families! I'm so excited that it's finally here.

Garrett will be taking summer classes and then this fall will be the start of his senior year of college! YAY! We are almost completely done with school! He's loving his major and also can't wait to be done haha. Depending on if he has a job next year will be whether or not he starts his Masters of Accountancy the fall of 2016... Fingers crossed he gets a job! :)

Everything Else:

Nothing. haha Other than working and trying to grow a baby... We're just boring folks :) I'll do better to update more recent events! No promises but I will try! haha

Breaking the Silence!

Let the silence be broken...

Yesterday was a very special birthday for me. Yes, I turned 22 and I'd like to quote Taylor Swift by saying, "I'm feeling 22..." but I'm not. I feel like this last year of my life has aged me another 22 years haha just kidding. I'll always be 18 in my eyes haha. But celebrating this birthday meant so much more knowing how much I've accomplished and been blessed this last year of my life. I've had 3 of my grandpa's pass away and my young cousin, on top of going through this whole process of IVF. I think I've been able to finally understand that God has a plan for everyone. Period. Not my plan but his. I've really reflected on this year and have to thank my Heavenly Father for the wonderful people, blessings and strength he's given me. It was around this time last year where we were meeting with Genetic Counselors and picking Dr. Peterson for this whole process and now it's almost come full circle. So in nut shell, I feel extremely blessed, loved and am so lucky to know so many wonderful people who have such big hearts!

Sooo we've had lots and lots of people ask us how everything was going and if we had any news.... Well we certainly do. We snuck up to Salt Lake on November 11th, where they transferred one embryo. On November 23rd we took our official beta test, which is just a blood test to show whether or not you're pregnant. Later that day we got the phone call annnnnnnd!!! {Drum roll}

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V

WE'RE PREGNANT! 

Our due date is July 29, 2015 :). So far I've been ok. Morning sickness is definitely in full swing and my emotions are insane... Sorry Garrett...  I've bitten his head off quite a few times. :) A week ago we had a viability ultra (because we did IVF they have you do an earlier ultra sound to get a heart beat and check on development). Our new doctor, Dr. Gatherum, said that everything looks great and we're right on track!

Yay!!!! We're so excited and feel so incredibly blessed! It seems so surreal that this is finally happening. For some reason I keep thinking someone needs to pinch me and usually when I do I have another wave of nausea come over me to remind me it's for real. ha But really thank you all! Everyone who donated and continuously shared our GoFundMe. We appreciated it all and you've answered so many of our prayers. God bless you all! 

{{An Attitude of Gratitude}}

I've said it before and I'll say it again and again and again. We are so grateful for everything everyone has done on our behalf. Prayers, thoughts, donations, shares. You name it. We're so grateful for it. We're still recovering from the shock, excitement and emotions from yesterday, but I think we've settled on the overwhelming amount of gratitude we feel. We don't want to over shadow everyone else who donated with Bryce Harper's because it wasn't just him. So many people pulled together and gave what they could. There is no way to express how that feels. But yes, Bryce's donation is incredible and brings about a whole other round of emotions for me. He was just the last piece to the puzzle of helping us out. It truly was everyone who has helped us get to where we are today. So Thank all of You and thank you Bryce Harper.

We also want to specially thank Abbey Kyhl. Had she not come forward and offered her talents, connections and time, we wouldn't be where we are today. Bryce Harper would've never seen the video Kim and Jesse Moore made. Our story wouldn't be reaching the amount of people it has reached. So Abbey, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You are so amazing in every way! And even though I'm not an AK Bride, I feel like having worked so closely with you on this and sharing the hard and good times, I qualify as one! ;) haha We love you so much and are forever grateful for you!

Now, that the fundraiser is over, I'm sure you all will go back to your lives and back to your routine. But I will forever be changed by the generosity Abbey, Bryce, and everyone else has shown to us. This is a once in a life time kind of experience. It's truly been life altering. I can only hope that someday we'll be able to repay, or pay it forward to those who have helped us over this last year.

Abbey took the words right out of my mouth, "To the 639 people who shared [our] story…THANK YOU! To the 125 people who donated…THANK YOU!" We truly love you and are so amazed at the generosity, love and support everyone has given us.

Yesterdays Story:
We've had quite a few people ask what happened yesterday and how it all came about so I think it's fitting to give credit where credit is due.

As everyone knows who reads this blog, yesterday was the deadline for Abbey's give away. This meant that yesterday was the last day to donate and enter to win. So we were all sharing and re-sharing everything on Facebook. So yesterday at around 2:00 PM we got a message from Kylie, Garrett's sister, asking if we had looked at our GoFundMe recently. We're both working college students so we hadn't been really checking it. I had just got to work, logged on to my computer when I discovered we'd reach our goal of $20,000. I quickly scanned my screen,

"$11,000 Anonymous"

What people don't know is that when you log into your account on GoFundMe you can see the names of people who donate, anonymous or not. So I quickly log into our GoFundMe to figure out the mistake on our account! I see,

"Bryce Harper"

It was around this time Garrett called me and we're both bawling. "Bryce Harper the Major League Baseball player for the Washington Nationals. Yes, that Bryce Harper." When I realized who it was I become more hysterical! I thought, "Why would someone who has no idea who we are, who has never met us, give us THAT MUCH MONEY?" It really is a testament to who he is as a person. After this tear-filled phone call, students started coming into my office and I really had to try to pull myself together. But whenever I had a break of students I was on the phone with Kylie getting the rest of the details as to how he found our story.

I am so thankful for social media. Without those outlets, no one would have ever seen any of our story and we would have been left to bare this financial burden for years to come. Thank you all so much for sharing it once, or many, many times. I'm sure some of our friends were sick of seeing our story pop up again and again but it was ONLY because of that, that we accomplished our goal.

This has been such an incredible experience. Thank you all, so much.

It's Another Waiting Game

It's been quite the couple of weeks, with school starting, injections every morning, the egg retrieval, and the fundraiser! It's been so busy! However, we just want to again, thank everyone for the donations. We really can't say it enough! Thank you thank you! I still struggle with the fact that people have been so great throughout this whole process. We just want to again thank you! For those that don't know what's going on this is the last week of the fundraiser. It ends Sept. 30th. Abbey Kyhl is doing a $500 giving away for those that enter by giving money to our GoFundMe account. (abbeykyhl.com) She's been so amazing throughout this process. And even though we may not get to our full goal, the amount of money we've received has been so much more than we ever thought possible! So thank you all! :)

So as I mentioned, over the last couple of weeks I've been doing injections that have been progressing the maturation of my eggs.

 

Like crazy needle injections. No I'm just kidding they weren't that bad. 

WARNING: Kind of graphic???

Two weeks ago I had two ultra sounds and in just two days my eggs doubled in size. My ovaries were the size of a 50 cent piece then grew to the size of a tennis ball... It's incredible what medication can do! I took my HCG shot, which is a booster shot, Tuesday the 9th. And my egg retrieval was Thursday the 11th. That day they took 13 eggs. 9 out of the 13 were actually mature and ALL 9 fertilized! Yay! From there 5 out of the 9 grew to the blastocycst stage. And all 5 were biopsied. Biopsy means that they took a couple cells from each embryo, froze the cells and the embryos, then sent the cells they took from each embryo to be tested for the Marfan Gene. So the cells are in California, and the Embryos are in Salt Lake. Haha So now we wait. The testing takes about 7-10 days and then we should have the number of embryos that don't have the Marfan gene. Fingers crossed none of them  do :) Statically though, about half will have it because it's a 50/50 chance.  Hopefully though, none will have it!

Once we get the results we'll decide where we go from there. I'll either begin my next round of injections to prepare my uterus for the transfer, or if we end up not getting any viable embryos... Then we'll come to that bridge if we need to.

This will probably be one of my last blog post on this subject because from here on out things maybe needing to be a little more private. But I just wanted to say thank you to all of the people who have messaged me, texted me, or just left comments of encouragement. This really is such a difficult thing to go through and I would never wish it upon anyone. But to see and experience the kind of support and love people are willing to give amazes me. It really made the hard days not as hard and the happy days that much more happy. God worked through all of you to help me get through this. So thank you! :)