13 weeks and counting! February 19 here we come...

I will officially be out of the first trimester this Sunday! Funny how my OB said that was going to be the fastest trimester of the three. I don't think so, especially when you know from before conception that you're hoping to be pregnant and start counting on day 1 of the actual egg fertilization. So, here's our quick story:
After 4 + years of not conceiving we met with the fertility specialist. We tried one round of insemination, unsuccessfully. Then we went straight to in vitro with ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection), where they inject one sperm into one egg. Nate gave me lots of shots (about 4) every day for 2 1/2 weeks, making me very fertile. For over 1 week during the meds I had to go in for daily blood draws and vaginal ultrasounds to monitor the growth of the eggs. Then the morning of May 30, under sedation the MD poked through the vaginal wall to get to the ovaries and remove all 14 eggs I had. Of those 14, eleven were mature enough to fertilize, which they did that day, or day zero. On day 3, June 2 the fertility clinic called and said it was the day to transfer the embryos into my uterus. Of the 11 eggs fertilized, 5 started to divide, but only 3 were actually good enough to implant. So they implanted all 3. I was on bedrest for the rest of the day. My sister Abby came over to stay with me since Nate had to go to work that night. Then we just had to wait 2 weeks before going in for the blood test to see if it worked. That was a very long 2 weeks, especially since I wasn't working and wasn't doing a whole lot here at home. On June 12 I had my blood drawn and was told the MD would call me by 5pm with the results. He didn't call until 6pm due to emergencies at their office. He told me the blood test was positive (that actually surprised me, not that I was being pessimistic, but negative is so normal for us, positive is abnormal!) BUT that my hormone levels were exceedingly low and he was concerned. I guess normal HCG levels are in the 50s and mine was 17. He did tell me that he has seen a successful pregnancy with a level of 12 before. So I had to go in for more blood tests the next Tuesday and Thursday to see if my hormone levels were increasing at a good rate. Fortunately they were. I went for my first OB ultrasound June 23 and saw a nice sized blob of growing cells. Went in again for 2 more ultrasounds over the next 2 weeks and on the last one saw the heart beating! The MD was really excited, as were we. He did tell us to be "emotionally guarded" until we got past the first trimester. Which I guess we have been.
I have been to the normal OB doctor twice now and he says the baby looks good, growing well. This last appointment was really neat because the baby actually looked like a baby in the ultrasound. We think next month we should be able to find out the gender.
Everyone asks if we have a preference. I just say "beggars can't be choosers!" Just joking. We don't really care, we'll pretty much take anything, obviously. I have had lots of dreams about girl babies throughout my life, so I guess we'll see if there was ever anything to those dreams. Ryan's wife is pregnant with a girl, and 2 of Nate's siblings just had girls, so it would be kind of fun to have lots of girl cousins. We'll see in 4 weeks. Abby however I think will refuse to change any diapers if it's not a girl! She is very ready for pink in the family.
So due date is February 19.
I have gone back to work and now Nate is off following his knee surgery last week. We just never seem to slow down. I do plan on going part time once we have this baby. Bring it on. I am so ready to not work 3 nights a week. Nate is still working on his Bachelor's in nursing, will be done next August. We are taking a trip to upstate New York at the end of September. We got super cheap tickets and decided going to Niagara Falls and Palmyra would be really fun.
Well, this has been long enough.

My brush with death, or at least a bad crash

On my way to work tonight I truly was only feet away from getting hit by another car. As I was going East on the I-10 I saw a car make a HUGE swerve into my lane. He was about 2 car lengths ahead of me. I looked to my right to see what he swerved for. It was a huge piece of metal the width of an entire lane. Looked like a fender from a big truck. As I looked back to my lane the car in front of me came to a sudden stop to avoid being hit by the swerving car. The car that swerved lost control and spun around. As it came around I was now even with it and it was still turning and right into my car. I quickly (and without looking to the lane next to me) swerved to my left to avoid getting hit by the car. Thank goodness there were no cars near me to my left. The other car I believe finally came to a stop, and was facing the oncoming traffic. I prayed that the driver would be safe, and then I started bawling, realizing just how close I had been to getting hit by a very fast moving out of control car. I thanked Heavenly Father for keeping me and our car safe, thankful for Nate's prayer before I left that I would be safe while travelling. It took me a bit to get myself under control so that I didn't look a mess going in to work. I called Nate later to let him know that his prayer was answered. I've been in fender-benders before, but this would have been severe.
After this I was thankful that, even though Nate messed up his knee and can't work for a few months, he is not maimed or unable to continue to be our provider in the future. Kind of put our situation in perspective.