Pregnancy Pics - 18 weeks and Exciting News!!

Here are some pregnancy pictures for 18 weeks:



These are not the best pictures, but a lot of people have asked for some pictures so I thought I would put some up real quick. There is not too much to show... I am really looking forward to when I am bigger because that means that I will be that much closer to holding my little baby in my arms!!!

EXCITING NEWS: Ryan had two big interviews today for an ICU position and an ICU step down floor. He did very well and both of the nurse managers hinted that they would have a job offer ready for him this next week!!! We are really excited!! Then another nurse recruiter tried to get a hold of him today to sit up another interview!!! It is neat to have options! We are very blessed.

Our Move to Ohio and Our Life

First of all, I would like to apologize for my lack of communication over the last few months. I have not been feeling well enough to talk on the phone and concentrate on a conversation, but I am getting a head of myself. Wow, I guess, I have a lot to update everyone on...This is the easiest way to do it, so I am going to explain everything that has happened in the last 10 weeks or so.

On July 3, 2010 we found out that we were pregnant!!! We have been trying for a LLLOONNNGG time and couldn't believe that we finally were pregnant. Ryan was actually a little dubious and it wasn't until I got my HCG levels (pregnancy hormones) drawn at work the next night that he could accept it. We were soooo excited!! The moment I found out that I was pregnant I just felt really calm and at peace that everything was going to work out (I have always been a little worried about miscarriages). I am now almost 18 weeks (4 1/2 months) along and the baby is doing great!

I told myself that I was going to be super healthy during my pregnancy. I was going to be one of those pregnant women who made pregnancy look fun!.... ha, well our Heavenly Father has His own plan and His own agenda. The day I turned 7 weeks was the day we flew home from our camping trip in Idaho. That day I started vomitting early in the morning and haven't quite stopped since then. I am going to explain how sick I was to give a background for our move to Ohio, not for sympathy because I KNOW women have had it worse and I am grateful for the tender mercies from the Lord that have helped so much!

My mom was sick with all of her pregnancies and come to find out different grandmothers and aunts have all had hyperemesis gravidarum (excessive vomitting during pregnancy) to some degrees during their pregnancy. Well, I have inherited the same problem. At first I was super sick, but would only throw up 3-4 times a day and could make it to work and just be miserable. After a week (about 8 weeks a long) I started feeling worse. Well, one of those tender mercies I talked about popped up and my brother Nick, 16 years old, and my sister Katrina, 17 years old were able to fly out to Abilene and stay with us for 3 weeks. They were incredible help! I was overcome with how unselfishly they served and loved me. When Ryan was away at work and I would start to throw up Nick would instantly be by my side and hold my hair back for me then quietly clean up my vomit. That is real love!! Trina was amazing at making me eat food and making things that I could keep down. I know if it weren't for their presence I would have been hospitalized. I quickly got to the point were I couldn't go to work anymore and had to go on to medical leave. Around this same Ryan and I realized that we were going to have to come up with a solution for when Nick and Trina would leave. I was so sick that I couldn't care for myself. Getting up to use the restroom was the biggest trial. I remember many times crawling to the bathroom on my hands and knees, scooting my throw up bowl with me for pit stops along the way. I was in no shape to care for myself when Ryan had to go to work.

Right after I went on medical leave, Ryan and I knew we had to make a decision. We had a couple options that seemed to make sense. After praying about it and talking about it, we received an undeniable answer. It was very amazing and comforting to receive such a sure answer so fast, but the answer that we received was definitely not one of those options we thought we had or even something that made logical sense.... We both we told that we would be the most blessed and the happiest if we moved to Ohio to live with my parents....What??!?!?!! I mean, don't get me wrong, I LOVE my family and to live with them would be a dream, but what?!?!! to uproot from our jobs and lives when I was so sick I could hardly walk 10 feet let alone move 1200 miles. Well, when you get an answer, you get an answer and there is no denying it. So both of us started to figure out how we would make this work.

I'd like to take a minute and explain what an incredible sacrifice this was for Ryan. I mean for me, this was a dream come true. I have always been so close to my family. I have never been one of those people who couldn't imagine living with my family; my family is the unique collection of some of the most incredible people and spirits I have ever known and to be around them is a wonderful thing. Here Ryan is, on the other hand, the provider having to give up his job relying 100% on faith that he will find a job in the Cincinnati area, leave friends he made in Texas and move farther away from the West. On top of all that, he was the one that would have to pack everything up himself and deal with all the moving details all by himself, because I was in no condition to deal with any of that. I think that it is a real testimony of his faith and his love for his family that he was so willing to sacrifice for us. He is the most incredible man ever. I had NO clue what I was getting myself into when I married him, I knew he was great...but had no idea to what degree he was great. He has taught me more fully of what the true love of Christ is; he has taught me that love is truly the most unselfish thing you can do.

Well, move we did. To make a long story not as long. I flew to Ohio and was nursed by my mom while Ryan finished work and packed up the whole house. My wonderful dad sacrificed his time and money and flew out to Abilene to help Ryan finish packing then drove our car back up to Ohio while Ryan drove the moving truck with our pick up truck attached to the moving truck. I was so touched when my dad volunteered to do that. He said he was just so thrilled to have us live with him he would do anything to help us out. He has always been the best dad :)

Every member of my family has done sooo much to help us during this time. Each one of my siblings has taken their turn in cleaning out my throw up bowls and feeding me. While Ryan was back in Abilene and I was here I shared a bed with my little sister Anna, 9 years old. When I would wake her up in the middle of the night vomiting I would apologize and each time she would roll over and start patting my back and whisper, "It's ok, Jeni, it is totally worth it", then fall back asleep. That sweet gesture of love would at times bring tears to my eyes. Now Anna and Levi love to come up to me and rub my belly and talk to the sweet baby. My dad has continued to be an incredible. More often than not he comes home from work with a blue slushy in hand ( I keep those down really well). When Dad found out that chocolate milkshakes are something else that makes me feel good he went to the grocery store and bought 3 gallons of chocolate ice cream and commenced to make shakes on a nightly basis.

One of the biggest blessings has been my mom. She has been an angel during this whole time. As soon as she heard about what I was going through she immediately offered her home and resources to us. She has so much empathy for what I have gone through because she went through the same thing and she is simply, one of the most incredible women I have ever known. I really started to turn the corner when I came here because my mom wouldn't let me not eat and drink. As soon as I got here she immediately went to the grocery store and bought out the store of soups, crackers and granola bars and juice. She would push food and fluids every 2 hours around the clock. One day, a few days, after we got here she sat down and counted the calories I was eating and realized that most days I was consuming less than 900 calories a day. So she started pushing more calories. That was such a great blessing. I had lost what fat I had and a lot of my muscle and my body was just getting more and more worn out. With mom being the most incredible nurse, nutritionist, support, counselor and coach I got through the worst of it a lot better off then I would have been. I have always known how wonderful my mom is; she has always given everything she has and devoted her whole life to those she loves, and this experience was another reminder of just how incredible she is. Thanks mom, I owe my life and who I am to you many times over!!

The Good News:
I have started to turn a BIG corner. I have gotten to the point where I can get up and move around the house and a couple times a week I can make it to a grocery store and get a change of scenery. I feel like a child though, because, I know I have to take at least 2 long naps a day and I know when I reach a point where I have to get off my feet for the rest of the day, but it is such a blessing that there has been improvement. It is a very odd feeling to go from pre-pregnancy days, where I was running 6 miles a day, to know where walking around Wal-mart can make me feel close to passing out. There are still days when I can't keep anything down, and those days just make me more grateful for where I am at now. Ryan and I are really loving Ohio. It is soooo BEAUTIFUL and makes me wonder how I survived out in the West for so long. The people out here are great. The Church is so wonderful and supportive. My family has been incredible and we fit in here like we were supposed to be here. We have a big room in the basement. It is pretty much like a studio apartment complete with a refrigerator and microwave (we even inherited a Sleep Number bed!) It definitely has not been the nightmare of living with the in-laws that you hear about. My family has been so grateful for Ryan being here. He fits into the family better than I do, sometimes. If I could get a nickle every time my younger siblings told me how grateful they are I married Ryan, I would be a millionaire! I am so grateful for what an incredible guy Ryan is. This whole ordeal would have been impossible without such a supportive husband.

So I apologize to all my friends and family who's sweet and supportive e-mail's, messages and phone calls I haven't had a chance to return. As I return more to normal, I will get caught up and catch up with everyone. I love you all and am soooo grateful for all of your prayers!!!