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.