29 Weeks: Christmas

Christmas 2016!

Merry Christmas little lady! Well we're off to Utah this weekend to visit your Grandpa and Grandma Pope, uncle Brady, aunt Emily, uncle Chris and aunt Carla! They are all so excited to one day meet you and we are so anxious as well. But we have to be patient and wait a couple more months.

On Friday December 23rd we went with everyone on the Salt Lake trax up to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights it was so magical. We wondered around and bought hot cocoa and then headed home to get to bed.

Saturday December 24th Christmas Eve! Today we spent most of the day lounging around Grandpa and Grandmas house. Later that evening Grandma and I prepared our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with Ham and mashed potatoes and a few sides. It was a lot of work but fun to spend that time with my mom. After dinner we read a Christmas book put on pajamas and then took some family photos.

Sunday December 25 Christmas Day! Merry Christmas, you are the only gift that we wanted this year and we finally have you. I know you're not here with us to hold but we're still so grateful to have you. During church today you were kicking so much that dad and aunts Carla and Emily got to see my belly move it was so fun! You liked the meeting because it was all music and I enjoyed feeling all the kicking or dancing as I like to call it. Grandpa and Grandma Pope gave dad and I some money to buy anything we wanted for Christmas but we're still trying to figure that out. Grandpa and Grandma Almond helped us buy a rocking recliner for your baby room that I am in love with, we'll pick it up after the Holidays. Grandma Almond also made you two beautiful quilts and bought a few outfits for you, I can't wait to dress you up in them! Grandpa and Grandma Pope bought us your bassinet so that when you are born you can sleep in our room. We are getting even more excited for you!

We love you little one!

Love Mommy and Daddy.

Babies Christmas from the Grandparents!

28 Weeks

December 15th:

Christmas is coming we're so close its coming so quickly this year, and speaking of that you are growing so fast. The weeks like I said a couple weeks ago are just flying by, this week you are 2 1/4 pounds and you are 14.8 inches! You are helping me put on weight but I don't mind because that means you are gaining weight and getting ready for delivery. This last weekend you came with dad and I to my work party and it was so fun. We did an ugly sweater party, played some games and ate lots of yummy food! You continue to show off your dancing skills which makes me so happy, I love feeling you move it's really cool! You are a tease though, your poor dad tries to feel you move but you usually stop kicking when he tries until he moves his hand. Little stinker! :) Well don't worry we still love you and we know you love us too. 

Love Mommy and Daddy!

27 Weeks

December 8th:

Well hello 3rd trimester! It's crazy to think that we only have 3 more months to go. Little Lady you are getting so big! You are now 2 whole pounds, its so crazy how fast the weeks fly by. You are 14 1/2 inches and are starting to have regular sleeping patterns in my belly and I am actually starting to get the routine down. All the Christmas decorations are up at our little home and we are getting ready for all the festivities that will be coming up in a few weeks. We can't wait until you get to join us for the holidays, I am hoping you will love them just as much as I do.

Love you little lady!

Mommy and Daddy.

26 Weeks

December 1st:

Hi Baby Girl, your mamma is behind again on these posts but I know you'll forgive me. Well it's December so we are setting things up for Christmas. I love Christmas the beautiful decorations, the lights and trees its just all my favorite. We've been listening to Christmas music and you have really enjoyed that as much as your mamma does. Lots of kicking and moving in my tummy, we just love feeling you move! This week you are 14 inches and weigh 1 2/3 pounds. :)

Well little one we sure love you and can't wait to meet you, but it's too early so keep growing!

Love Mommy and Daddy.

25 Weeks: Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving baby girl! We are so thankful for you and the sweet blessing you have already become in our lives. We can't wait until you are here so we can snuggle you and watch you grow even more. This week marks 25 weeks and we got to spend the whole week with daddy's family. Grandma Almond came on Monday and then Grandpa, Aunt Kristin, Uncle Artie and your cousins Dillon and Caleb joined us Wednesday. We helped aunt Kristin celebrate her birthday Wednesday night by playing games and having pizza and Chinese food for dinner. Then on Thursday Grandma Almond had a fun craft for mommy, Kristin and Dads aunt Dorothy to do for Christmas. We celebrated Thanksgiving and more of daddy's extended family joined us for dinner, games and of course pie.

 This week you are 13 1/2 inches and 1 1/2 pounds! Daddy has been able to feel you more and more this week, and its so fun to watch his face light up when you kick. We love you more and more each day and are trying so hard to be very patient but we can't wait to have you here with us. Keep growing strong our sweet baby!

Love Mommy and Daddy!

24 Weeks

November 17th 24 weeks:

We are now 24 weeks! You are getting bigger and bigger each week and stronger too. I have really been feeling a lot of thumps and bumps from you. This weekend we saw Aunt Emily perform in her dance companies Nutcracker performance. It was so much fun for mommy to see her little sister dance. She is really good and is so excited to teach you some day if you'd like. Next year you will be 8 months and you might be able to join me which would be fun. Emily will be a senior in High School so that means that her last Nutcracker performance with her company will be next November. :( That makes her sad but we will be even more excited to go see her dance next year too. This week we also celebrated Daddy's birthday! We made him a birthday cake and a fun shirt and a onesie for you that the two of you get to match in some day soon. :) This week weigh 1 1/3 pound, keep growing strong sweet girl. We love you little lady! 

Love Mommy and Daddy! 

Week 22-23

Well little one I did it again, life has got your mom so busy that I haven't had a minute to sit down and write.

November 3rd 22 Weeks:

This week marks 22 weeks and you are sure growing! This week you are 11 inches and you weigh a whole pound! This weekend as strange at is sounds we celebrated Halloween with mommy and daddy's closest friends. Every year for Halloween we get together and either watch a movie, carve pumpkins or do a dress up party. This year we went to Nolan and Kori's house in costumes and had treats and just hung out. Your dad and I dressed up as skeleton's and I was able to show you off again (my baby bump)! We had so much fun!

November 10th 23 Weeks:

Hello little one! Mommy has been able to feel little movements from you! Its been so special knowing you are growing makes me so happy! Ever since I was able to start feeling you kick I have felt so bad because you dad hasn't been able to feel you. But this week on November 15th daddy got to feel you kick for the first time! It was so special, it even made me cry a little! I know how much daddy loves you and is even more excited every week as I tell him how far we are and how big you are getting. We also get to see you a lot more than normal because we've had more and more ultrasounds which is also super fun! This week you are a little over 11 inches and weigh just over a pound as well!

{no 23 week picture mommy missed a week :( }

We sure love you little lady!

Mommy and Daddy

21 Weeks!

Happy Halloween little lady!

Well we're 21 weeks this week, you are 12 ounces and 10 1/2 inches long the size of a carrot. This year since we can't dress you up we decided that daddy and I would be Skeleton's for Halloween and aunt Kori helped mommy make a vinyl cut out of a baby Skeleton. You look so cute as a vinyl cut out with your sparkly silver bow that I can't wait to hold you and dress you up!

Daddy had school today

and a big test later to study for, I went to work and participated in my works Halloween festivities. Every year my work has skits that we do with our teams and after that I wore my fun Skeleton costume for everyone to see. Everyone told me how cute it was and I was so proud of all the work your dad and I put into this years costumes. Well baby girl we sure do love you, keep growing healthy and strong!

Love Mommy and Daddy.

20 Weeks!

Hi there little lady!

You are 20 weeks, you are 6 1/2 inches and 10 1/2 ounces this week! We are half way there! I can't believe it in 20 more weeks we'll have you here with us! I don't want to say this too loudly but I wish that would hurry up! Everyone says you need to cherish this time and I mean I am but I've waited so long for you I just want to hold you.

Your dad and I spent the weekend in Boise/Nampa with his family minus his brother Matt's family. :( We played with the kids and played some really fun games. Of course we ate some amazing food too. Your mom is not going to be as good a cook as your 2 grandmothers are but I'll do my best. :) Your dad was playing with your cousin Claire one night and leaned over to me and said "okay I am ready for our little girl to get here so I can play with her too." Your dad is so excited about you and it makes me so happy!

We love you so much little lady!

Mom and Dad

19 Weeks!

Hello Baby Girl!

Okay I have to admit that is still so weird for me to say, don't get me wrong I am so happy but I seriously thought you were going to be a Boy. But little lady we're so excited about you! Ashley and Aria are also so excited, you two will hopefully be as close as your mommies are. Well little lady you are 19 weeks and growing so big! You are 6 inches and 81/2 ounces this week, seriously we are just so thrilled and can't wait to meet you even more now that we know your gender.

Keep growing little lady we love you so much!

Mom and Dad.

Friday October 14th: Gender Reveal!

It's finally Friday and your dad and I are so excited to find out if you are a Boy or Girl!

I got up early today and headed off to work at 7 am. so I could get off at 3 pm. I luckily had enough to do at work to keep myself busy so I wasn't going stir crazy. Your dad had to go to school so I know that kept him busy enough as well. Once it was finally 3 pm. I excitedly clocked off and headed home to get ready.

I called aunt Ashley and she told me she would be heading over in a little bit to keep us company while we waited for 5:30 when the guests would arrive. Your Grandma and Grandpa Almond were able to come from Nampa but sadly Grandma and Grandpa Pope weren't able to drive up from Utah. I was able to reach your Aunt Emily (who by the way says she will be your favorite aunt) and she will be able to watch using FaceTime (I'll explain that to you later). I started curling my hair in order to keep my busy and then Ashley, Nathan and Aria came over around 4 pm.

Ashley had came over earlier while your dad and I were gone to decorate, it was super cute! She had blue and pink streamers on the ceiling, a football and tutu on our kitchen table with the drinks and cupcakes. Ashley and Kori decided to use an idea we had found where you take a black balloon and fill it with confetti in the color of your babies gender. I was so excited when I saw it, but I wont lie I almost popped it as she put it on the kitchen table.

I finished getting ready and then we hung out, talked and shared our guess as to what your gender was. Your dad was dead set that you were a girl and I had no doubt that you were a boy. Our theme for the gender reveal was Touch Downs or Tutus, so Ashley and Kori also made a cute football field for us to cast our votes with either a football or a tutu. We were almost 50/50 on the votes by the time everyone voted. Nathan, Ashley and Kori set up a Facebook page that was able to show the reveal live. It was so neat to see how many friends and family were able to log on to support us.

Finally it was 5 minutes to 6 and Ashley moved the black balloon that had your gender inside it closer to your dad and I in our living room. I opened up the box of pins that Ashley brought and we picked a color to use to pop that balloon. It was finally 6 pm. and your dad and I popped the balloon.

The confetti was PINK! You are a Girl! I was so shocked and happy I started to cry! Your dad just hugged me tight and told me he knew it, we are so excited!

We love you baby Girl!
Mom and Dad

October 11th: 18 Week Gender Ultrasound

Well today is the day we will be able to find out for your Aunts Ashley and Kori if you are a boy or girl. Let me explain what I mean. Your dad and I have decided to not look at the ultrasound and Ashley and Kori have offered to throw us a gender reveal party. Our appointment was at 1 pm after daddy's class got out for the day. We decided since he was already at school and close to the Hospital that he would meet me there. I worked until 12:45 pm and then headed off to the Hospital. I was so anxious but nervous that you wouldn't cooperate.

Well I was right! As the song on Tangled (Disney movie we'll watch together one day I am sure) says "Mother knows Best" haha I jinxed us! I never should have thought it or said it out loud because you must have heard me. When we got in the ultrasound tech wasn't able to see what you were. You politely had your legs crossed and were tucked in a ball sleeping, you little stinker (wink, wink). Sadly our ultrasound tech wasn't as nice as the one we had at 13 weeks and she wasn't really into trying to poke or shake my belly to get you to move. I was really disappointed because we had told her we didn't want to know the gender as we had a reveal scheduled for this coming Friday. She told us she couldn't get you to move, that you were measuring at 17 weeks and 5 days and that we should come back around 20 weeks. But you did wave at us and give us a thumbs up even though you weren't willing to reveal your gender.


So we went and talked to the receptionist Morgan who is amazing we just love her, and she was able to get us scheduled with Heather our tech from 13 weeks for tomorrow 10/12, I just hope you will be more up for revealing your gender tomorrow.

10/13 2nd Ultrasound for Gender Reveal:

Okay little one I gave you a little pep talk so I hope you were listening (there will be more of those throughout your life I am sure). We were scheduled this time for 11:15 am since dad didn't have class in the morning. I went to work like normal and then your dad picked me up for the appointment at 11 am. He brought me an orange Fanta soda to drink because I heard that can help as well. We got there at 11:13 am and Morgan checked us in, Heather came out right at 11:15 am and we went back for the ultrasound. I told her that we didn't want to know the gender due to our party and that you were stubborn yesterday. She assured me we would get the gender today, so that helped me feel more at ease.

Once again you had your legs politely crossed and you weren't willing to budge. She tried pushing, poking, prodding and shaking my belly and you still didn't budge. She told me she was 85% sure she knew but didn't want to be wrong.We eventually got out this buzzer that they have that makes a vibrating sound to see if that would agitate you enough to move. Nope....you were pretty adamant about not giving up the gender again. But Heather was so sweet and she had me empty my bladder and try laying on my sides. We kept shaking and pushing and I even drank some soda. We gave it a few more good pushes, and trust me they were good because they hurt! And then you flinched and straightened out your legs. Haha. Well that was a lot closer than we were at the beginning. Heather had me roll over on my right side towards her again and then we shook my belly and pushed on it a couple times and Heather quickly said "close your eyes." We were finally able to get some good gender pictures. By the end she sounded a lot more confident in saying on the picture what you were and I was so excited. I had her put it in the envelope and seal it and then we drove to Ashley's work and gave it to her.

We are so excited to find out this Friday 10/14, Ashley and Kori have put a lot of work into this party and I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends for you to call Aunt! Well my stubborn sweet little baby I hope you know how loved you are, your dad and I are getting more and more anxious for March but we are willing to wait patiently for you to keep "cooking." This week you are 5 1/2 inches and 7 ounces, I read that the next few weeks will be growing spurts for you I am excited to hopefully start feeling more consistent movements. We love you little one!

Love Mom and Dad

17 Weeks

Hello little one, I am so proud of myself I am actually writing this a lot sooner than I normally do yay! :) You are growing so big and guess what?? I can feel little flutters from you moving. I can't really tell if its a kick or not just yet but when you move sometimes I feel little "butterflies" or what would feel like gas bubbles people say. But sometimes if I don't remember feeling flutters I get a little nervous, which is totally silly because you're not big enough yet for it to be consistent. Luckily we have the heart beat monitor which has really saved mom from freaking out. Haha.

This is such a fun feeling for me, but your poor dad is anxious to feel your movements.  I am so lucky as your mom I get to experience a lot of your firsts while you're still growing but trust me daddy will be right there for all the others once you get here. We can't wait to find out if you are a boy or a girl! Everyone keeps asking if we have a preference but all I care about is a happy healthy baby. This week you are 5 ounces and 5 inches so about the size of a Turnip. Well little one we sure do love you!

Love Mom and Dad.

Weeks 13-16

Time is sure flying by, I tell myself each week that I will write and the next thing I know that week is gone and the new one started. I am going to keep trying to remember to get something at least written during the week but we'll see.

Week 13: Mommy and Daddy had their first ultrasound with Dr. Jones, since we officially graduated the fertility clinic Dr. Jones will be seeing us each month. We were so anxious to see you since we had just announced the day before our ultrasound that you were coming in March. My appointment wasn't scheduled until 1 pm that afternoon, mainly because Daddy has school until Noon Tuesdays and we wanted him there. I met your dad upstairs at the Women's Health Clinic and we both were so excited and anxious to see you.

The ultrasound tech came and got us at 1:07 pm. and we were got full of smiles when we entered the room, she asked if this was our first baby and we said yes. She told us this was going to be the best part of our day, and it certainly was. You were so cute, you kept moving and doing somersaults in my belly. I wish I could've felt you but she told me it would be a few more weeks before I could actually notice I was feeling you move. I took your pictures to work and everyone kept saying how cute you looked already, Aunt Melissa even thinks you look like your daddy. :) Well little one we sure do love you keep growing! 

Week 14: You are changing more and more each week, you are now 3.5 inches long and weigh 1.5 ounces. You are the size of a Lemon this week. I am so anxious to feel you move, and also to find out if you're a boy or girl. But we have a few more weeks before that will happen. We love you sweet baby!

Week 15: You are now the size of an Apple, mommy's co worker Lindsay is loving that this week. She calls you baby A since you were once a Twin but also because our last name is Almond. Anyway you are getting bigger each week, you are now 4 inches long and weigh 2.5 ounces. Our friends Ryan and Caitlin Fauvell let us borrow their heart monitor and we were able to hear your heart beat this week at home! Which of course made mommy and daddy's whole night even better! We love you little one!

Week 16: Wow, it is so crazy to me to think in just 3 weeks we will know if you are a little boy or girl, it's starting to feel more real this week. Since mommy and daddy have waited so long for you up until now this has felt like a dream to me. I am starting to feel you move! Its hard to describe but it feels like little flutters and it tickles from time to time. But I love it so much! You are 4.5 inches long now and weigh 3.5 ounces, this week you are the size of an Avacado! :) Love you sweetheart keep growing!

Love Mommy and Daddy!

Weeks 10-12

Well mommy did it again, she got behind in writing. Mainly because I have been super tired and nauseous but in all reality you haven't made me that sick so thank you! So really I don't feel like I have that much to report, I have been craving pickles and radishes a lot, and honestly I started craving that while I was on bed rest after IVF so I guess that is why you want it so much. :) Here is the run down of the last few weeks.

Week 10:

You are growing little one, according to the app that I am using you are the size of a Kumquat (yeah I didn't know what that was either) so its a fruit. It looks like a tinier version of an orange, you are now 1 1/4 inches long! Yay! We are getting so excited to finally announce to all our friends and family. Some close friends know and I think some family but not everyone knows. :) Well our sweet miracle we sure love you, keep growing strong!

Week 11:


My goodness where do the days and weeks go? I swear I have had good intentions of writing but by the time I get home from work, make dinner, do laundry or go to Young Women's I am so tired I forget to write. Well this week you are continuing to grow, you are now the size of a Fig and 1 1/2 inches long. Every time I open my app to see what you look like I am amazed by how much you change each week. Mommy is still really tired and Daddy has started his 2nd year of Pharmacy school now, we're so proud of him! Keep growing little one! We love you!

Week 12:

We made it! This is a milestone in pregnancy, usually once you hit 12 weeks the chances of miscarriages go down. Also this is usually the time when mommies and daddies announce to the world of social media (we'll talk about that when you're older because heaven knows its changed since I've posted these for you.) Anyway your dad and I have decided to wait until we have our ultrasound with Dr. Jones September 6th. You are now the size of a lime! You have all your fingers and toes and according to what my app shows you look so cute! Next week you get to join mommy and daddy and attend uncle Chris and aunt Carla's wedding! We can't wait for you to join our amazing families, they are all so anxious to know if you'r a boy or girl. Honestly so is mommy and daddy! Mommy tried on her bridesmaids dress this week and you are definitely starting to make me show, so aunt Carla is happy to have you showing in the wedding pictures. :) Well little one until next week we love you!

Love Mommy and Daddy

August 5th: 9 Week Ultrasound

Today we get to see our little ones again, this time we had to be up even earlier than we are used to. I got up at 6 am and started to get ready for the day. I woke your dad up a little after 6:30 since we had to be in Idaho Falls by 8 am. We ate breakfast and headed out the door. We got to the clinic 8 minutes before our scheduled appointment. The clinic had moved by the ER in there new facility so it took us a little bit to find it. When we got there I was pleased to see Dr. Conway was there, I hadn't seen her since our transfer day. But sadly she was busy with other patients and we didn't get to see her.

Stephanie brought us back at 8 and as usually I used the restroom before we began the ultra sound. Stephanie didn't waste time checking the measurements of our babies. She started with Baby A and told me the baby was measuring right at 9 weeks and then showed me how the baby was moving. We could see your little arms and legs wiggle and your heart fluttered. Then she moved over to Baby B and spent some time trying to get measurements. I sensed that something was wrong because she didn't turn the screen towards me as quickly as she had with the first baby. Then the worst words I could've heard came out. "Melissa, I can't find this babies heart beat." All I could think to say was "really?" She then flipped the screen and showed me the difference between both babies. Baby B was in fact measuring smaller and wasn't wiggling.

She told me that Baby B was measuring at 8 weeks and 1 day which means the baby stopped growing then. She wasn't able to get a heart beat, but informed me we would need to get a second opinion. I started to cry! I asked Justin for a tissue and she informed me it was okay to cry a loss is a loss she said. She let me get dressed while she made some calls to schedule us another ultrasound. When she came back in she told us we'd have to go to the imaging center to get another ultrasound. My appointment was at 9 am and that I needed to drink at least 32 oz. of water for a full bladder.

I cried the whole way to the lab Justin kept trying to consul me and told me it would be okay, that we would see our baby again someday. I knew he was right but all I could say was "I just want my baby back!" When we got there the receptionist informed me our appointment was actually at 10:15 not 9. I tried to keep calm and asked her what we should do, she told me to come back at 9:45 and we could check in. We got back in the car and I started bawling again. I was so frustrated, didn't they understand I just lost my baby and wanted it confirmed? We both sat in the car and cried, at this point I knew we needed to let our jobs know what was going on. Unfortunately I had left my phone at work so luckily Justin had my co worker Eric's number and I was able to text my boss Russ to let him know, Justin let Kim know and everyone gave their condolences.

By 9:45 we went in to check in, unfortunately the older gentleman that was before us was handicapped and had had an accident in the room with the ultrasound. That delayed us more than we thought it would. I started to cry while waiting and the receptionist sweetly asked me if I thought I would be okay enough to answer a few questions for insurance. I did my best to hold it together and she was great at distracting me with small talk. By the time we got in to see the tech it was already after 11 am. The tech wasn't allowed to give us any information which Stephanie warned me would happen. She did an intrauterine and over the belly ultrasound. Even though she couldn't tell me anything I didn't need to be a doctor to tell that my second baby did not have a heart beat. She had me get dressed and told me that she would talk to the radiologist to see if he was going to speak with us or if Dr. Conway was going to call. When she came back she informed me that she couldn't reach Dr. Conway so we left a message with her to call Justin's cell phone.

The drive home seemed longer than normal, I cried the majority of the drive home. I knew that we had lost our sweet miracle baby B and that was too much for me to handle at the time. When we got home my sister in laws had texted to check in and Ashley too. I informed them that it didn't go as well as we'd hoped and that we had more than likely lost the second baby. Everyone was so supportive, I ate a yogurt, some cheese and crackers and tried to nap while waiting for the call.

At 3 pm. we still hadn't heard anything so we decided to just pack and head down to Utah earlier than we had planned, our nephew Dillon was getting baptized tomorrow 8/6 and we were going to leave after work but decided to get there earlier. While we were driving we got a call at 5:30 from the clinic saying they still hadn't received results, she informed me that with them switching offices the fax machine may not have been working, but that she would call me as soon as they knew more. She told me again how sorry she was but to hang in there and that we had one miracle baby growing strong. That was good enough for me, I was starting to come to terms with the loss and concentrated on helping our baby grow. We are so grateful for our the love and support that we've received from those who knew about our twins. We will always remember that sweet angel baby and know that one day we will see him or her again. Until then please continue to keep growing our miracle baby.

We love you,

Mom and Dad

Aunt Ashley bought mommy these beautiful flowers after losing baby B.We sure love her! 

8 Weeks pregnant with Twins!

OK so I think its getting harder and harder for me to fathom that we are having not one but two babies next year! I know we always knew there was that chance and both of us thought it could happen but to hear it is a whole other thing. I couldn't be more excited. Well kids you are making me one tired mamma, I knew that pregnancy made you tired but I guess I didn't realize how tired I would actually be.

I have been really liking salty foods which everyone says means boy. Haha so we'll have to see if those old wives tales are true. Ashley thinks that you are both girls and dad and I hope you are one of each. But we will be happy regardless as long as you are both happy healthy babies we are good! Mainly I've been wanting pickles and radishes and mommy's boss even bought her a tub of Jimmy John's pickles which are so yummy! This week you are the size of kidney beans and you are starting to get webbed fingers and toes! I haven't had much morning sickness thankfully you cuties haven't made mommy too sick. But the other morning while I was packing some snacks for work I ate tiny and I mean tiny bit of cauliflower and bam I threw it up! Needless to say you're definitely your dads kids. :)

Keep growing little ones we love you both so much!

Love Mommy and Daddy!

July 22: 7 Week Ultrasound

Oh man I still can't believe that we are having a baby! It feels like a dream, we've been wanting this for so long its hard to believe its finally happening. Today we get to go to the Fertility clinic for our first ultrasound that wont just be to check my ovaries haha. We will find out today if we have one miracle or multiples. Before I left work yesterday I asked my team to take a poll, I wanted to see how many people thought I was having. Twins seemed to be the winner for sure.

Well just like the day I took my blood test I was able to sleep the night before but was so nervous and anxious all morning. We got up and got ready and then drove up to Idaho Falls for the appointment. When we got there luckily we were only 5 minutes early so it wasn't much of a long wait. Stephanie was ready for us and we were able to go right in. She asked me if I was ready and I said yes but also very nervous and she just laughed and told me it would be exciting. I used the restroom real quick and we headed in to start the ultrasound.

At first when she entered intrauterine I didn't see anything that looked like a baby, she assured me she was just checking my endometrioma and then we would get to the baby.  As soon as she scrolled to the right I saw it there was a sack and a little tiny bean was in it. We had a baby growing in there, and then she kept scrolling and I saw another sack with a tiny bean. I laughed and then she said she needed to check to see if there were any more. There wasn't and she confirmed that we were having twins! The minute I heard baby A's heart beat I started to cry, I couldn't believe it, that was the best thing my ears have ever heard. She told me the baby was measuring right at 7 weeks and that the heart beat was 133 very good. She then measured the other baby and told me that Baby B was a little squished so it was harder to measure the baby. She did her best and told me it was measuring a little small but still where they wanted to see me. When I heard that second heart beat I could tell it was slower but she assured me that was normal. Baby B's heart beat was 122, but all I could focus on after hearing that was the fact that I wasn't have just one baby we were having TWINS!

first pictures of our sweet miracle babies! 

She had me get dressed and then went and got me some paperwork, when she came back we scheduled my 9 week ultrasound which would be my last one with the clinic in Idaho Falls. After that I would go to my OB Dr. Jones. We were all scheduled for 8 am on August 5th, we left the clinic and began to call our family. My mom didn't waste anytime asking me what the news was, I made her tell me who was home with her and she informed me that it was just her and my sister Emily. I had her wake Emily up and on the way she forced me to tell her. She was so excited especially when it wasn't more than 2 haha. Emily wasn't happy that I woke her up but when she heard the news that quickly changed. I then called my dad and instantly I started to cry when I told him. We both got emotional and cried before he had to get back to work. Justin then called his mom and dad and more tears were shed. While he drove us back to Pocatello I called his sisters and our sister in law to share the news. Everyone was so happy!


When I got to work everyone was anxious to hear, I wanted to wait for everyone to be there but no one was patient haha. So I told them it was Twins and we all cheered! It has been so neat having so much love and support from friends and family. The Almond family will be growing by 4 feet March 10, 2017. (more than likely February since we're having Twins!)

July 1st: Pregnancy Blood Test

Well today is the day that we find out if the transfer was successful, I was pretty surprised that I was even able to sleep last night. When I work up I was a nervous wreck, it was all I could do to keep myself composed. I started off the morning by saying a prayer for peace and then I thought I should read my patriarcle blessing again for peace. I pulled it out of the envelope and instantly began to cry, there were some words of encouragement that before this trial I didn't quite understand. I felt so blessed that I had been given that blessing. Afterwards I put the envelope back and decided I better start getting ready in order to be first to the Express Labs so I wouldn't have to wait long.

I left the house at 7:45 am and headed up to Express Labs by the Hospital, when I pulled in and parked I started to get sweaty palms and my heart was racing. I remember telling myself "It's going to be okay, just breathe." When I got inside there was someone before me and the computers weren't quite up and running, my favorite phlebotomist was working again and after checking both of us in she took me back. I told her how nervous I was since this was the test to tell us if we were pregnant. She was so sweet and supportive and even volunteered to take the picture of me holding the vile of blood for my blog.

I left a little after 8:15 am and headed off to work, before I left I asked if there was any way she could send me the report and she told me she would email it to me within the hour. So now all I had to do was get through the next hour and I would know more. That was painful, I remember getting to work and explaining to my co workers how nervous I was. Michelle one of my co workers told me if I wanted her to she would be happy to read the email, and I agreed because I knew I would be a wreck.

Well the report finally came in at 10:15 am, I went and grabbed Michelle and everyone huddled around me for support, she opened the report and told me that my levels were 260 and that according to this paper I was anywhere from 3-5 weeks pregnant. Of course I was in shock and without my Fertility clinic being the one to tell me I told them I wouldn't believe it until I asked Amberlie. I promptly picked up my phone and called her number, when she answered I told her that the lab sent me an email that said my levels were 260 and I asked if that meant I was pregnant. She told me Yes and congratulations! She asked me to email her the results and that she would call me back with more instructions.

I was so happy I started crying and told everyone that is was confirmed and I was pregnant, there were lots of tears and hugs from my wonderful work family. My co worker Sara convinced me to go home and take a pregnancy test for proof, so I went home and did that. When I saw the positive I couldn't stop laughing it was probably shock but it was so amazing to finally see a positive pregnancy test, something I have been wanting for 5 years! I went back to work and my co worker Tori videoed me calling Justin to tell him the good news. I tried really hard to not sound too excited but to also not sound like i was upset. When he got on the phone he asked me what was going on and I told him that we were pregnant. All he could say was "really?" and then asked if Amberlie had called me. I explained how I asked the lab to send me the email and that when I got the results I confirmed with Amberlie. He then started to cry and of course so did I. What a wonderful day, we are finally going to be parents! Baby Almond is due to arrive in March of 2017 and we couldn't be happier.

Finally a positive test! 

This is how I was going to announce it but we were too excited so we just called/texted family and really close friends. 

Embryo updates, Transfer Day and Princess Days

So as everyone read we were able to collect 15 eggs during our egg retrieval, and they told us that they would start fertilizing them and then would call us on Day 1 and Day 3 to let us know how we were progressing.

6/18: Day 1 Embryo Assessment yesterday (6/17) we collected 15 eggs, they noticed 11 were mature eggs (which is what we want) and after fertilizing them we have 9 eggs going strong. We will hear more on Monday and transfer day will be Wednesday June 22nd.

6/20: Day 3 Embryo Assessment was today, on Saturday we had 11 mature eggs 9 of those fertilized. Today when they called they told me anything that is 6 cells or higher would most likely make it to day 5 which is the day we implant. So out of the 9 mature eggs today we have 8! On Wednesday we will decide how many to implant. Yay!

**Side note if you read my Facebook you already saw those posts but I wanted to share for those who hadn't read them. 

I found this on Google and got a laugh.

6/21: Day before Transfer day- Well to start off we got a phone call from Amberlie, she told me that I would need to arrive at the clinic at 12:30 pm (tomorrow) to take my Valium and that the procedure would be at 1 pm. I asked a few questions and then went on with the day. I got some great news today my best friend Ashley had her sweet baby girl, they named her Aria Noel. I was able to see pictures of her but didn't want to bother Ashley too much so she could recover. My mom, Emily, Justin and I went and saw the Jungle Book and went to The Blaze pizza for dinner.  After that my cousin Kristen invited us over to watch the USA Men's soccer game. The game was a let down. :(

I had trouble sleeping that night, mostly anxious and some nerves kept me tossing and turning. I think I finally fell asleep by 2:30 and woke up around 8 when Emily left to the temple with some friends. I got up and washed my face the normal wake up routine, but I was so tired I laid back down to try and get some more sleep. I wasn't successful, instead I went downstairs to eat breakfast and then got ready for the day. After that I was able to FaceTime Ashley and see baby Aria it was good to see them both. 

12:20 pm.- We arrived at the clinic and checked in, the nurse told me to go ahead and take the Valium if I hadn't already. Boy did it work, any nerves or anxiety I felt was soon gone. I just laid on Justin's shoulder and watched Tv until Lindsay called us back. Side note she is one of my favorite nurses! She told me the normal routine undress from the waist down and that Dr. Conway would be in to talk about our Embroys in a few minutes. While I sat on the table waiting I remember looking up at the screen of the ultrasound machine and bursting into laughter, confused by this Justin asked what was so funny? I told him I didn't know but that for some reason I couldn't stop laughing. He just laughed at me and Dr. Conway came in a couple minutes later.

My lucky socks the clinic gave me, super cute! 

She let us know that out of the 8 embryos we had two grade 2 embryos which is strong, no one really ever gets a grade 1. She said they wanted to "Blast" (not sure what the exactly meant) the remaining 5 embryos tonight and that they would call me to let me know how many we would be able to freeze once they knew. After that she said "so you want to transfer both today?" And we both agreed that was what we would like to do. Dr. Conway stepped out to put on her hair net and mask and gloves and then came back in prepared for transfer. The embryologist came in shortly after and we were able to watch Dr. Conway transfer our 2 embryos.

Waiting for the Dr.

our strongest embryos

its hard to see but the bright air bubble is where the embryos are (towards the left)

After we were done I had to lay on the bed for 15-20 minutes, once that was over we drove back to my parents house and I went straight upstairs to begin my bed rest "princess days."  The first half day wasn't too terrible as most the day was gone anyway but I am not someone who can sit still for very long especially not in the same place. But lucky me I had my amazing husband, mom and sister to keep me busy.

Princess Day 1: My morning started off with my sweet husband making me breakfast, followed by Emily and I catching up on 2 of our favorite tv shows the Bachelorette and Pretty Little Liars. After that my sweet family entertained me with playing a couple board games with me in bed. We played "Sorry" and "Disney Trivia" (of course if you know me I love Disney). After that I took a little nap and then we watched a movie as a family.

Emily french braided my hair

Zupas for dinner so spoiled! 

Princess Day 2: I was really wanting waffles and Justin promptly went downstairs found a recipe and made them for me. He's a sweetheart! After that Justin and I watched Elementary and had lunch. His sister was moving into her new house that night so he went to help her move and my mom and I watched Downton Abbey. So all in all my 2 days of bed rest weren't as bad as I thought.

My yummy waffles

So what's next you ask? Well we will be taking a blood pregnancy test on Friday July 1st. I know that I have been pretty open during this whole process and haven't left much out. But since this is pretty big to Justin and I we have decided regardless the outcome we will wait until we are ready to let everyone know either a yes or a no. We will tell our family most likely that day, but you will probably not see anything on Facebook or this blog for awhile. I hope you call all understand and appreciate our reasons for waiting. I want to take this time to let you all know how grateful Justin and I are for your continued love and support. The outpouring of love and prayers on our behalf have touched us! We are truly grateful and feel so blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends. Please continue to pray for us, we are excited, anxious and a little nervous but mostly EXCITED! Again thank you so, so much for everything we love you all!

The Almonds