This has been one incredible year for Monica and I! I have said this every year since we've been married, but this year really was the best one yet! Here's a look at all the stuff that has happened in our amazing lives in 2012! If you see something highlighted blue, it will take you to a blog post about the topic!
January: We were supposed to start IVF but decided to push it back to March or further so we could have spring babies. We were still working hard at our Total Money Makeover journey of being debt free!
February: This was actually a very scary month for us and our family. I had to be admitted for 2 weeks of IV's. I had never felt that sick. It was a HUGE reality check. My PFT's had hit an all-time low. This was the first time I ever had gotten emotional about my CF since "growing up." The night before I was to go to the doc and be admitted, I actually lost it a little. Monica and I were sitting on the couch, just snuggling and talking. I had a moment where I let fear sneak in. I had been wheezing for a couple days, which I had never had happen before. I was coughing up ridiculous amounts of secretions, and feeling very crummy. I got scared. I started wondering how long I would actually have here on Earth. I knew I wasn't dying or anything, but began to really think about how long I actually would have. The thought of leaving my wife a widow is incredibly scary, and we were going to be going through IVF later in the year. This month brought many challenges. My relationship with God was strengthened. My relationship with my wife was strengthened. I had to overcome several mental & emotional hurdles that I had never encountered before. My cousin who was 3 was in the hospital and had to be intubated for respiratory problems. He was in the hospital for close to a month if my memory serves me correctly. It was a scary, challenging month, but we made it through by the grace of God and came out stronger on the other side!
March: Monica and I began running in late February after I was finished with my IV's. I was determined to change my lifestyle and make it a habit to exercise regularly. Monica and I started this blog in the month of March! I went to my sister's work, a daycare in Springfield, MO, where they held a CF Mini March, it was a blast! I admit I was fighting back tears seeing all these kids and workers do so much to raise money to fight CF! I celebrated my 28th birthday this month, I'm getting old :)
April: I had the privilege of getting to speak at the Missouri State Respiratory Conference about CF. It went phenomenally well and was a nice weekend getaway for Monica and I! We were going to start our IVF journey this month but decided again to push it back a little further after we calculated the due date if it worked. Might I add this was very difficult for Monica. She was very eager to start the process so we could begin our family. Especially after the month we had in February, but we kept praying and felt God would direct us to when the right time was.
May: In May I started taking Hypertonic Saline. Most CFers already took this medication, but I had not yet been put on it. I asked my physicians about it and they said yes you should definitely start taking it. They hadn't yet put me on it, out of worry that I adding another med would cause me to drop in my compliance. I began taking it though and I'm a believer!
June: This was the BIG month! Monica and I began our IVF journey! Monica started taking the pills this month, and the journey was off! We had received all the meds and had scheduled two vacations back to back to help lower our stress levels as we endeavored on our marvelous journey! On our trip to Florida Monica and I went to Universal Studios where I got selected to be a participant in their Fear Factor Live show! It was just like the real thing and very cool! I also was asked to talk to the kids of Barnes-Jewish Hospital workers on their annual Kids to Work Day. It was awesome getting to talk to all the kiddos, hanging out and letting them try on the vest and take some normal saline treatments!
July: Monica and I were enjoying our summer! We were still going through the IVF process, and Monica had started taking shots this month. We were having fun swimming and hanging out with friends! My brother-in-law was in town from med school so we did our usual tradition of chopping down a dead tree! It was a good, relaxing month!
August: On August 1st, Monica's estradiol levels were off the charts, over 3,000! Her egg retrieval was August 2nd where they were able to retrieve 14 eggs. Twelve of those eggs were able to be fertilized and 6 had made it to the following day! We started her progesterone shots that same day. Two days later and it was time for the REALLY BIG day..... embryo transfer! I gave another presentation about CF in Cape Girardeau, MO. A buddy of mine had gotten on board the running train with me and we were running 3 days a week, and I posted my fastest 5K time to date of under 30 minutes. After a very long 2 week wait, we received the phone call of a lifetime! We found out we were PREGNANT! Words we never thought we would hear! It was the best day ever! God is good!
September: We had our first ultrasound at 6 weeks. We found out that we were going to be having TWINS!!! We got to hear both beautiful heartbeats! It was another of many monumental days in 2012! I had made a new pal at work, and took him fishing with me and some buddies. I had purchased a morphsuit and had some fun trying to scare Monica in it! My buddy Matthew and I were continuing to run 3 days a week and had a very memorable run in a monsoon!
October: Monica and I made the BIG NEWS public announcing our pregnancy and shared a video of our IVF Journey! We had our 10 week ultrasound where we saw our twins move for the first time! Monica and I participated in the 9th annual Second Wind Lung Walk to benefit those who have had lung transplants. We had a lot of family and friends come out with us to support both us and the cause. I posted my fastest 5K time yet of 26:55. We started posting pictures of Monica's belly growth, starting with her 14 week pictures.
November: We had our 16 week and 18 week Belly pics posted! Monica and I were off to New Orleans, LA for 5 days where I was speaking at the AARC Congress, which is the national respiratory conference. We had a great Thanksgiving spent with our families!
December: We showed off our Christmas lights. We took pics of Monica's 20 week and 22 week pregnant belly. We had our 20 week OB appointment where we got to see our little Baby A and Baby B for the first time since 10 weeks! We threw a Gender Reveal Party where we found out we were going to be having 2 Boys!!!!
It has been a great year! I can only imagine what next year will have in store for us as we look forward to the birth of our baby boys! 2012 has been one GREAT year full of blessings! Thank you to all who have endured my long-winded posts and continued to come back time after time to follow our journey through this thing we call life! I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and a very happy, safe and healthy 2013! Love you all!
- Jeremy, Monica and The Boys!
Monday, December 31, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Thankful Thursday: Neti Pot & Rambunctious Babies
Well it's Thankful Thursday again! Another week in the history books! We all have so many things we can be thankful for. Monica and I enjoy taking the time to think of all the things we are thankful for! We would also like to give a shout out to Ronnie and Mandi Sharpe for getting us started on this awesome new tradition of ours! They have been doing it for quite some time and it's a fantastic idea! Check out their blog here!
Monica is working on a 3 tier cake for a party tomorrow so she will be passing on this week, unless she edits herself in later. A friend of ours just returned home from his 3rd(?) trip overseas with the Army, and his family is throwing a big shibang! Anywho, here's my list!
Jeremy's List:
I'm thankful for Neti pots! A lot of CFers use them from what I hear to help with sinus problems. I have never really had problems with my sinuses until I get sick. I just always thought it was part of getting sick to have really clogged sinuses, sinus headaches and some mild pain across the cheeks, between the eyebrows and across the forehead. I was talking to a CFer friend of mine who said she uses a Neti pot more frequently and especially when sick to help clear them out. Yesterday I felt pretty crummy. My sinuses were very clogged and hurting a little more than usual when I'm coming down with something. I say hurting only because I don't know what other word to use. To me hurting means you are in a lot of pain, but it was not bad at all. It was more annoying than anything. I went to Walgreens, bought me a Neti pot and used it. Whoo buddy! I like it! It worked really well! A little on the weird side, but effective! My left side cleared up completely and my right side felt much better. I'm pretty sure I have another polyp in my right sinus but that's another story. Today I feel much better. Hopefully I have diverted this cold!
I'm thankful for active babies in mommy's tummy! My boys have been moving and grooving in there! As I mentioned in our 22 Week Belly Pics post a lot of our family got to feel them moving over Christmas and I've gotten to feel them almost every day! I absolutely love it! Feeling the little "bumps" and rolling against my hand is miraculous! God never cease to amaze me with his creations! The way women can carry tiny little human beings inside them and the way they grow and develop is nothing short of a miracle! Feeling my boys bumping, punching, kicking my hands is my way of feeling connected to them right now. Monica is carrying them and gets to feel every movement, so I'm excited when I get to feel them too! I also could not be happier that my wife gets the blessing of carrying children! I love seeing her tummy grow and hearing her talk about them moving inside her! We are extremely blessed!
So what are you thankful for?! Let us know will you?
Monica is working on a 3 tier cake for a party tomorrow so she will be passing on this week, unless she edits herself in later. A friend of ours just returned home from his 3rd(?) trip overseas with the Army, and his family is throwing a big shibang! Anywho, here's my list!
Jeremy's List:
I'm thankful for Neti pots! A lot of CFers use them from what I hear to help with sinus problems. I have never really had problems with my sinuses until I get sick. I just always thought it was part of getting sick to have really clogged sinuses, sinus headaches and some mild pain across the cheeks, between the eyebrows and across the forehead. I was talking to a CFer friend of mine who said she uses a Neti pot more frequently and especially when sick to help clear them out. Yesterday I felt pretty crummy. My sinuses were very clogged and hurting a little more than usual when I'm coming down with something. I say hurting only because I don't know what other word to use. To me hurting means you are in a lot of pain, but it was not bad at all. It was more annoying than anything. I went to Walgreens, bought me a Neti pot and used it. Whoo buddy! I like it! It worked really well! A little on the weird side, but effective! My left side cleared up completely and my right side felt much better. I'm pretty sure I have another polyp in my right sinus but that's another story. Today I feel much better. Hopefully I have diverted this cold!
I'm thankful for active babies in mommy's tummy! My boys have been moving and grooving in there! As I mentioned in our 22 Week Belly Pics post a lot of our family got to feel them moving over Christmas and I've gotten to feel them almost every day! I absolutely love it! Feeling the little "bumps" and rolling against my hand is miraculous! God never cease to amaze me with his creations! The way women can carry tiny little human beings inside them and the way they grow and develop is nothing short of a miracle! Feeling my boys bumping, punching, kicking my hands is my way of feeling connected to them right now. Monica is carrying them and gets to feel every movement, so I'm excited when I get to feel them too! I also could not be happier that my wife gets the blessing of carrying children! I love seeing her tummy grow and hearing her talk about them moving inside her! We are extremely blessed!
So what are you thankful for?! Let us know will you?
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Belly Pics: 22 Weeks
Monica is 22 weeks pregnant with our twin boys as of last Friday! It's so exciting to watch her belly grow! I love it! We had a fantastic Christmas, spent with family and friends! Some of our family hadn't seen Monica in awhile and it was nice to see everybody and their reactions to her pregnant tummy! Her older brother, her sisters, her mom and several other family members got to feel our two little rockstars rocking out in mommy's tummy! The little punches and kicks keep getting harder and harder! It NEVER gets old for either us!
Enough about all that though, here's the long awaited 22 week Belly Pics!
Baseline 22 Weeks
20 Weeks 22 Weeks
Enough about all that though, here's the long awaited 22 week Belly Pics!
Baseline 22 Weeks
20 Weeks 22 Weeks
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Thankful Thursday: Generosity & Moving Babies
It's another week to stop and reflect on all the many things we can and should be thankful for in our lives. Life can get crazy busy and it gets so easy to overlook all the things in life we can be thankful for. So let's get to it folks! Here's what Monica and I are thankful for this week....
Monica's List:
I am thankful for movement! We learned at our last ultrasound that both placentas are anterior. This means they are between my belly and the babies. My doctor said that was the reason why I hadn't been feeling them move very much up until that point. She told me as they continue to get bigger I will be able to feel them more and more! Well this past week that has been the absolute truth! I feel them move everyday, for most of the day! It is the most AMAZING thing! I pretty much smile every time! :) So far it's looking like A is going to be our rambunctious lively one and B is going to be more chill and calm. It seems like baby A never stops moving and only every once in a while do I feel a slight bump on my right side from B. Matter of fact ...A keeps bumping me as I type this! lol! Oh man...I have a feeling that boy is gonna keep us on our toes!
I am so thankful that Jeremy has been able to feel them too!! We were both so excited for that day to come! He has felt A at some point every night for the past several days! I'm so thankful God has given us the gift of our twin boys and we get to bond over them! It makes me feel even that much more close to my hubby knowing that the boys are a mixture of the two of us! It is such a miracle!
Jeremy's List:
I'm thankful for the generosity of others! It's no secret that Monica and I are extremely blessed, which I think is an understatement. Monica and I just purchased a 4 door vehicle a few weeks ago. It has been running like a champ! It's such a nice car and we're extremely grateful for it. I'm a dork when it comes to cars. I like to do little stuff to them to make them "cool." Every vehicle I've ever owned has had tinted windows, an aftermarket head unit (radio), subwoofers, and an eyebrow (tinting or vinyl across the top of the windshield). Dorky I know, but I like it. Money has been exceptionally tight around our home with buying the new vehicle unexpectedly (we were not looking to purchase a car, it was a great deal and fell into our hands, couldn't pass it up). We had to pay taxes and license and insure it. We just got our car insurance bill for the next 6 months, which now has 3 cars on it. So what we set aside every month to pay it is not enough and we'll have to scramble to sell her old car so we can take it off. Anybody looking for a 2000 Toyota Solara? :) Anyways, I said all that to say this... we had two people give us a total of $150 so we can have the windows on our new car tinted. They said it was for the babies so they didn't have to deal with the bright sunlight, lol! So now we'll be able to tint the windows! Normally I would use the money for necessities or to pay down debt like we do with all our extra money, but it was insisted upon by the givers that the money be used as intended.
Also, this past week, we were given a total of $200 that is supposed to be designated to purchasing stuff for the babies! Monica and I have been too busy to shop yet and were very excited that we now know what we're having and can shop appropriately. However, as I said, money has been snug. Now thanks to 2 people, one who we know and have thanked and the other who is anonymous, we can shop for our boys. These 4 people will never know what their gifts mean to Monica and I. It's extremely humbling and makes me feel bad to an extent knowing that they worked hard to earn that money to turn around and selflessly give it to us. We are extremely grateful, and so will our boys be someday!
I think I've rambled enough for a day. So.... what are you thankful for today?! That's not a rhetorical question either. Share your thoughts and comments! Have a great weekend and Christmas everyone!
Monica's List:
I am thankful for movement! We learned at our last ultrasound that both placentas are anterior. This means they are between my belly and the babies. My doctor said that was the reason why I hadn't been feeling them move very much up until that point. She told me as they continue to get bigger I will be able to feel them more and more! Well this past week that has been the absolute truth! I feel them move everyday, for most of the day! It is the most AMAZING thing! I pretty much smile every time! :) So far it's looking like A is going to be our rambunctious lively one and B is going to be more chill and calm. It seems like baby A never stops moving and only every once in a while do I feel a slight bump on my right side from B. Matter of fact ...A keeps bumping me as I type this! lol! Oh man...I have a feeling that boy is gonna keep us on our toes!
I am so thankful that Jeremy has been able to feel them too!! We were both so excited for that day to come! He has felt A at some point every night for the past several days! I'm so thankful God has given us the gift of our twin boys and we get to bond over them! It makes me feel even that much more close to my hubby knowing that the boys are a mixture of the two of us! It is such a miracle!
Jeremy's List:
I'm thankful for the generosity of others! It's no secret that Monica and I are extremely blessed, which I think is an understatement. Monica and I just purchased a 4 door vehicle a few weeks ago. It has been running like a champ! It's such a nice car and we're extremely grateful for it. I'm a dork when it comes to cars. I like to do little stuff to them to make them "cool." Every vehicle I've ever owned has had tinted windows, an aftermarket head unit (radio), subwoofers, and an eyebrow (tinting or vinyl across the top of the windshield). Dorky I know, but I like it. Money has been exceptionally tight around our home with buying the new vehicle unexpectedly (we were not looking to purchase a car, it was a great deal and fell into our hands, couldn't pass it up). We had to pay taxes and license and insure it. We just got our car insurance bill for the next 6 months, which now has 3 cars on it. So what we set aside every month to pay it is not enough and we'll have to scramble to sell her old car so we can take it off. Anybody looking for a 2000 Toyota Solara? :) Anyways, I said all that to say this... we had two people give us a total of $150 so we can have the windows on our new car tinted. They said it was for the babies so they didn't have to deal with the bright sunlight, lol! So now we'll be able to tint the windows! Normally I would use the money for necessities or to pay down debt like we do with all our extra money, but it was insisted upon by the givers that the money be used as intended.
Also, this past week, we were given a total of $200 that is supposed to be designated to purchasing stuff for the babies! Monica and I have been too busy to shop yet and were very excited that we now know what we're having and can shop appropriately. However, as I said, money has been snug. Now thanks to 2 people, one who we know and have thanked and the other who is anonymous, we can shop for our boys. These 4 people will never know what their gifts mean to Monica and I. It's extremely humbling and makes me feel bad to an extent knowing that they worked hard to earn that money to turn around and selflessly give it to us. We are extremely grateful, and so will our boys be someday!
I think I've rambled enough for a day. So.... what are you thankful for today?! That's not a rhetorical question either. Share your thoughts and comments! Have a great weekend and Christmas everyone!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Honesty is the Best Policy
REASON # 546 THAT I LOVE MY HUSBAND
I could make a HUGE list of the reasons why I love this man.......
HAHAHA...
He makes me laugh like crazy!! He is unselfish, kind, tenderhearted, Godly, upright, sweet, romantic, level headed, smart, compassionate, caring, generous, giving, optimistic, humble, organized, hard working, forgiving, loving, easy going, fun... the list could go on and on...
Reason # 546 ;) is that he is HONEST! I could come up with several stories to back up this trait in my husband, but today I will only share one.
Jeremy and I were recently Christmas shopping at Jcpenney's and we found several things we wanted to buy. I don't remember what the total was but Jeremy gave the girl cash. She handed him his change and he paused for a second. I hadn't realized anything, but he noticed that she gave him too much change back. She typed in that he had given her more cash than he had. (As you see above, another reason why I love my husband is because he is smart! He is quick with numbers and noticed it was wrong immediatley. I didn't notice a thing. LOL!) He then nicely explained to the cashier that she had typed in that we gave them more money than we actually did... so it was too much money back. He helped her figure out the right amount and it was a difference of $8 or so. Would Jcpenney ever have noticed that measly $8? No, probably not! But Jeremy knew it was too much change and he made sure to do something about it.
Jcpenney is doing this thing right now where they give away these little buttons when you buy something. There is a code on the back and you enter it in on the website to see if you won anything. I have gotten several of these this season and they have all been "sorry try again's". But of course! The cashier thanked Jeremy for his honesty and said, "Here, have a few extra buttons! I hope you win something for being honest!" And guess what?!! Yep, we won $20 to Jcpenney! Not only did God pay back his honesty, but he doubled it! That's how God works! He is always faithful! Luke 6:38.
I am so proud of the man I get to call my husband! They say, "Don't marry a man unless you would be proud to have a son just like him!" My prayer for our boys is that they will be Godly men of strong character and integrity. That they will love God first and love others before themselves. That they will be kind, caring, generous, humble, hard working and strong men of God...... just like their daddy! One thing is for sure, I sure am a blessed blessed girl!!
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