Welcome, 2013!

2012 was definitely an interesting year!

In January I was diagnosed with endometriosis  and my husband and I made the decision to hold off treatment until June. We were expecting that the earliest possible month for us to even have a chance of getting pregnant would be July, and that was if surgery and recovery went perfectly. I spent January through the beginning of May feeling mostly sad and hopeless (and, let's be honest, angry, jealous, impatient...). To help me through the waiting period, I began really paying attention to what I put in and on my body. I went officially gluten free, ate more organic produce, stopped using bath and body products that contained icky chemicals, and started a new vitamin regimen (how hard is it to keep buying prenatal vitamins without actually being pregnant? I was thankful for a break from those!).

In April, my Grandma called me on tax day (I don't know why that stands out to me so much!) and told me she had been praying for us and talking to her grandmother (so, my great-great-grandmother) and that "these next few days are THE days, if it is convenient for you to spend some time with your husband." I kind of giggled and she got annoyed, telling me that she wasn't joking! I didn't even tell my husband about that conversation, but it ended up that he was home from work earlier than usual several days that week which allowed for us to "spend some time together."

On May 4, I wrote this post about the stress of infertility and talking to the surgery scheduler about my laparoscopy. Little did I know that on the very next day, I would take a pregnancy test and would see my first ever "Pregnant" on the display. We were in utter disbelief, to say the least! And as for the timing, this little baby that gave us the biggest shock of our lives was conceived the week of tax day!

Now, on December 31, 2012 we are 13 days away from my due date. One year after I was finally diagnosed with the cause of our infertility. To say we know we are blessed doesn't even begin to describe how we feel.

As we usher out 2012, a hard year for so many, I am hopeful that 2013 will be a better year!

A non-fertility related update that some of you may enjoy...remember this Kindergartner from last spring? Well, the Monday before Christmas vacation began she came into my classroom with the biggest, cheesiest grin and said, "Mrs. BiiiiiiiIIIIIiiiiiiiird!" I noticed the change right away...she was missing a tooth! "Oh, A!" I said, "You lost a tooth!" "My first tooth!" she exclaimed through laughter. We had an extended conversation about how long she had waited, how exciting it was now that it happened, and what the Tooth Fairy left for her in exchange for that perfect little tooth (a golden dollar and a My Little Pony, in case you were wondering!). THAT, friends in the blogospere, is the kind of moment I dream of 2013 being chock-full of!