How Did We Get To The 3rd Trimester?!
In 3 days I will officially start my third trimester. It's crazy how time flies! There was a time not long ago when I wondered if I would ever be pregnant. I want to share my story if you're interested. Here's my journey...
Ray and I always knew that we wanted to have kids. We would love to have several children. I am an only child and I always wanted a brother or sister. Ray has one brother, but he wants to have more than two kids. We would both like to ideally have three (or maybe more). At least that's what we're thinking now - before we even have one.
We wanted to do the "responsible" thing and finish our education, save some money, and invest in our marriage before we jumped into having a family. I am definately glad that my master's degree is completely done before Baby Bower arrives. I am also glad that we were able to save some money, buy one house, sell that house, and now be comfortable in our second house. Most importantly, I am so happy that we were able to take over four years to just be the two of us before another Bower moves in with us for the next 18 years. We have been able to learn how to love one another and we are much closer and have a better marriage now than we did when we were newlyweds in 2008.
All that said, after about 3 years of marriage, we were ready to start trying to have a family - I just had to stop taking birth control. Right before we got married, I went on birth control. I did the "responsible" thing so that we would not get pregnant on our honeymoon or anytime too soon. I never thought about the possible negative impact of birth control. I had always been healthy and had regular cycles before we got married, so I thought that I would be able to get pregnant right away when we decided that it was time to start a family. Wrong. Ladies - let me tell you - you may want to think about all possible implications and complications before going on hormonal birth control. I do not believe that I will ever go on a hormonal birth control ever again.
So, in August of 2011, I went off birth control. To make a long story short, I had very irregular cycles. I would go months without having a cycle at all. I felt like I did not even have the chance to try to get pregnant because I was not even having a cycle. I began to realize that birth control had some bad side effects that were lingering in my body. Before I went on birth control, I would have a cycle every 28 days. It was like clockwork. Now I had no clue. I began to wonder if I would ever be able to get pregnant. It had always been a dream of mine. Now I questioned what God wanted for me in my life. I wondered, "God, why would you give me such a strong desire to be a mother if you won't allow this?" Nevertheless, God reminded me and encouraged me with His word:
"I know the plans I have for you... to give you a future and a hope. You will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart" - Jeremiah 29:11-13
I found peace when I would read my bible and when I committed my worries to God. I knew that He cared for me, yet at times, it was still difficult to trust. I really wanted to be pregnant by Christmas, but Christmas came and went and there was still no glimmer of hope. By the beginning of the new year, I felt very uncertain about a variety of matters. I wrote this in my journal on New Year's Eve:
"I have no idea what this year holds. I thought that I would have a baby this year, but it's looking like that will not happen. Will I have bad health this year? Will we try to get pregnant without success? Will I go to a fertility doctor? Will I get treatments? Will we seriously consider adoption? This year has so many uncertain aspects. In everything I know that I must trust God and draw near to Him. I need His wisdom. I need His peace. I need His joy. I need His comfort."
Shortly after the new year began, I decided that I wanted to see midwives rather than doctors whenever / if I got pregnant. So, I left a practice with doctors and I went to a practice where I would see midwives. In the midst of trying to get pregnant I decided that I would rather have midwives as my primary care provider over doctors. In general, midwives just seem to be more concerned about the whole woman rather than doctors. I was very happy about my decision to switch practices.
After seeing the midwives, reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility, and a lot of prayer, Ray and I decided to try a drug that the midwives suggested. You have to take the drug for 5 days and if it works, it makes you ovulate. Little pregnancy lesson - if a woman does not ovulate, it's impossible for her to get pregnant. Birth control does not allow you to ovulate and after being on birth control my body still had no interest in ovulating.
I took the drug for the first time at the end of February. Since I had read Taking Charge of Your Fertility, I knew that the drug was working and that I was ovulating. A few days after ovulation I started having several symptoms that made me think that I was actually pregnant. I was still in disbelief, but I kept telling Ray - "Hey, actually, I think I'm pregnant." Or I would say things like "if I'm not pregnant now, I have completely lost touch with my body and I don't know what's going on." Sure enough, I was indeed pregnant after taking just one dose of that drug. It worked and I was actually pregnant. It was surreal to see those two lines come up on the test! It was on March 25th after church that I took the test. We were staring at it together as the lines appeared and it was a sweet moment. God was so good and in retrospect, I can just see that His timing was perfect.
So now we're in the third trimester and it seems like this pregnancy has flown by. I can't believe that I'm less than 3 months away from my due date! I am much more thankful for every moment of this pregnancy after the wait that we endured. In that waiting time, God was able to show me that all gifts come from Him and not from my own doing. I don't know what the future holds, but I still hold on to these certainties - verses that are close and dear to my heart:
"Trust in the Lord and do good... Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart... Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it... Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him... The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. When he falls he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand." - Psalm 37:3-5, 7, 23-24
Here's a picture at 27 weeks in the nursery. My parents gave us the chair - it rocks and swivels and it's super comfortable. And the chair is filled with clothes that a friend of a friend gave us! Now we have lots of little boy clothes 0-3 months and 3-6 months. He's going to be well dressed for at least the first 6 months of his life :)
All the 0-3 month clothes:
And the 3-6 month clothes:
I don't think we need any clothes for the first 6 months. God has been providing and He is so good!
Ray and I always knew that we wanted to have kids. We would love to have several children. I am an only child and I always wanted a brother or sister. Ray has one brother, but he wants to have more than two kids. We would both like to ideally have three (or maybe more). At least that's what we're thinking now - before we even have one.
We wanted to do the "responsible" thing and finish our education, save some money, and invest in our marriage before we jumped into having a family. I am definately glad that my master's degree is completely done before Baby Bower arrives. I am also glad that we were able to save some money, buy one house, sell that house, and now be comfortable in our second house. Most importantly, I am so happy that we were able to take over four years to just be the two of us before another Bower moves in with us for the next 18 years. We have been able to learn how to love one another and we are much closer and have a better marriage now than we did when we were newlyweds in 2008.
All that said, after about 3 years of marriage, we were ready to start trying to have a family - I just had to stop taking birth control. Right before we got married, I went on birth control. I did the "responsible" thing so that we would not get pregnant on our honeymoon or anytime too soon. I never thought about the possible negative impact of birth control. I had always been healthy and had regular cycles before we got married, so I thought that I would be able to get pregnant right away when we decided that it was time to start a family. Wrong. Ladies - let me tell you - you may want to think about all possible implications and complications before going on hormonal birth control. I do not believe that I will ever go on a hormonal birth control ever again.
So, in August of 2011, I went off birth control. To make a long story short, I had very irregular cycles. I would go months without having a cycle at all. I felt like I did not even have the chance to try to get pregnant because I was not even having a cycle. I began to realize that birth control had some bad side effects that were lingering in my body. Before I went on birth control, I would have a cycle every 28 days. It was like clockwork. Now I had no clue. I began to wonder if I would ever be able to get pregnant. It had always been a dream of mine. Now I questioned what God wanted for me in my life. I wondered, "God, why would you give me such a strong desire to be a mother if you won't allow this?" Nevertheless, God reminded me and encouraged me with His word:
"I know the plans I have for you... to give you a future and a hope. You will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart" - Jeremiah 29:11-13
I found peace when I would read my bible and when I committed my worries to God. I knew that He cared for me, yet at times, it was still difficult to trust. I really wanted to be pregnant by Christmas, but Christmas came and went and there was still no glimmer of hope. By the beginning of the new year, I felt very uncertain about a variety of matters. I wrote this in my journal on New Year's Eve:
"I have no idea what this year holds. I thought that I would have a baby this year, but it's looking like that will not happen. Will I have bad health this year? Will we try to get pregnant without success? Will I go to a fertility doctor? Will I get treatments? Will we seriously consider adoption? This year has so many uncertain aspects. In everything I know that I must trust God and draw near to Him. I need His wisdom. I need His peace. I need His joy. I need His comfort."
Shortly after the new year began, I decided that I wanted to see midwives rather than doctors whenever / if I got pregnant. So, I left a practice with doctors and I went to a practice where I would see midwives. In the midst of trying to get pregnant I decided that I would rather have midwives as my primary care provider over doctors. In general, midwives just seem to be more concerned about the whole woman rather than doctors. I was very happy about my decision to switch practices.
After seeing the midwives, reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility, and a lot of prayer, Ray and I decided to try a drug that the midwives suggested. You have to take the drug for 5 days and if it works, it makes you ovulate. Little pregnancy lesson - if a woman does not ovulate, it's impossible for her to get pregnant. Birth control does not allow you to ovulate and after being on birth control my body still had no interest in ovulating.
I took the drug for the first time at the end of February. Since I had read Taking Charge of Your Fertility, I knew that the drug was working and that I was ovulating. A few days after ovulation I started having several symptoms that made me think that I was actually pregnant. I was still in disbelief, but I kept telling Ray - "Hey, actually, I think I'm pregnant." Or I would say things like "if I'm not pregnant now, I have completely lost touch with my body and I don't know what's going on." Sure enough, I was indeed pregnant after taking just one dose of that drug. It worked and I was actually pregnant. It was surreal to see those two lines come up on the test! It was on March 25th after church that I took the test. We were staring at it together as the lines appeared and it was a sweet moment. God was so good and in retrospect, I can just see that His timing was perfect.
So now we're in the third trimester and it seems like this pregnancy has flown by. I can't believe that I'm less than 3 months away from my due date! I am much more thankful for every moment of this pregnancy after the wait that we endured. In that waiting time, God was able to show me that all gifts come from Him and not from my own doing. I don't know what the future holds, but I still hold on to these certainties - verses that are close and dear to my heart:
"Trust in the Lord and do good... Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart... Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it... Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him... The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. When he falls he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand." - Psalm 37:3-5, 7, 23-24
Here's a picture at 27 weeks in the nursery. My parents gave us the chair - it rocks and swivels and it's super comfortable. And the chair is filled with clothes that a friend of a friend gave us! Now we have lots of little boy clothes 0-3 months and 3-6 months. He's going to be well dressed for at least the first 6 months of his life :)
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Thanks for sharing this! So many people don't know or think of the repercussions that BC has on your body, sadly it's given out like candy these days. I tried it when we were 1st married and it turned me into a crazy lady.
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