"Do you remember the 21st night of September?"
Name that Band....
Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with the 21st of September.
It seemed like once Labor Day hit up here, Autumn showed up. It has been cool ever since. Which I love! Autumn also means apple season. I know everyone seems to love pumpkin in the fall, but I love apples.
Josh and I made our annual trip to Mackinac Island this month. A member gave us ferry tickets, so we were able to go and make a day of it. The free ferry tickets allowed us to finally pay to walk the grounds of the Grand Hotel. I can see why they have a fee. That place was hopping for it being the "off season".
Stain glass window at the Little Stone Church. Name that flower...
Me picking some important guy's nose.
The Grand Hotel's porch.
Panorama of the Grand Hotel that Joshua took.
The flowers we really liked.
My cheesecake on a stick from Sanders.
The next day I was off to St. Louis. My BFF, Carolyn, was preparing to move to Charleston, South Carolina. Her and her husband, Jason, had dreamed of moving there and decided life is too short to wait. Jason found a job and everything else fell into place. I mostly, helped wrangle her kids while she packed. We also just had some good old BFF time. One night I watched their kids and Noah, her 4 year old said the sweetest and most random thing to me.
Noah: I love you.
Me: You love me? I love you, too.
Noah: When I move to the beach you will be sad, but I will be in your heart.
He pretty much summed it up. Noah and Nora have been in my heart from day one.
We also celebrated Nora's 2nd birthday. I love watching her grow. She is getting such the personality.
Nora relaxing in her chair eating an apple.
Noah asked me to take his picture and this is the pose he gave me.
This girl loves to climb. And eat apples.
Another picture request from Noah.
We also had an OB appointment this month. We heard T-Rex's heartbeat and he/she kicking me. On October 10th we have the anatomy ultrasound and gender reveal. And the half way point of the pregnancy. Woo hoo!
God's Blessings,
Stefani and Joshua
One year ago today, we received the heart wrenching news that our first child did not have a heartbeat. This news brought us the most physical and emotional pain we have ever been through.
Being pregnant now does not take away the sting of this loss. As a good friend who is walking through a similar journey said, "miscarriage has a way of taking away your innocence."
To me that little guy will always be my first child. For those of us that believe in life at conception, it is impossible to think about it any other way. What brings me comfort is knowing that our child is in heaven. He never knew suffering, only the love of his family and the love of his Lord.
For those of you that have experienced miscarriage, my heart is with you. For those of you pregnant with your "rainbow baby", I understand your trepidation in sharing the news or getting "too excited". I understand how anxious every doctor's visit can be. Please know that you are not abnormal, weird, or alone.
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
Week 14
Hello 2nd Trimester!
Size using a Fruit/Vegetable:
Lemon
Ailments:
Excess Saliva
All Day Sickness
Acid Reflux
Car Sickness
Cravings:
Still don't have much of an appetite, so pretty much the same as week 13.
I had a doctor visit this week. We heard T-Rex's heartbeat for the first time. (My doctor and ultrasound tech do not feel it is safe to use a Doppler until the 2nd trimester. And after doing our own research we agree.) The doctor found T-Rex's ticker quickly. Heartbeat was at 170.
I also received a prescription for a med to help with Car Sickness and bad nausea days. Here's to hoping it works. There is no way to avoid car rides and this sickness is getting out of control.
God's Blessings,
Joshua, Stefani, and T-Rex
Week 13
Size using a Fruit/Vegetable:
Peach
Ailments:
Excessive Saliva
All Day Sickness
Acid Reflux
Surprise Development:
Car Sickness, more like Car Nausea, regardless, riding in a cars does not agree with me.
Cravings:
At this point there aren't cravings as much as this is about the only thing I can stomach...
Fried Chicken Tenders
Mac n Cheese
Dill Pickles
Apple Juice (Old Orchard concentrate and Minute Maid in a bottle to be exact)
Pineapple Orange Juice
God's Blessings,
Joshua, Stefani, and T-Rex
My doctor, being the fabulous one that she is, scheduled another ultrasound for me 2 weeks later instead of the usual 4 weeks. She did this solely to put our minds at ease. During those two weeks it was discovered I would need to take the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. I scheduled it the same day as the ultrasound. It was a LONG day, but amazing. They were able to get my ultrasound in during my test instead of after when it was originally scheduled. It was then that we discovered we have a T-Rex. We saw our little one wave their arm buds like a T-Rex. The nickname has stuck. We find it better than "it" since we obvious do not know the gender yet. The heartbeat was strong at 168. Also, I do not have gestational diabetes! I will need to do another 1 hour test at 28 weeks.
Next step was telling...well everyone.
God's Blessings,
Joshua, Stefani, and T-Rex
We had our first appointment July 18th and determined I was about 7 weeks along with a due date of March 2nd. (I seriously I had no clue due to "cycle issues" I was having.) The heartbeat was strong at 160 and everything looked great. It was pretty much love at first sight during that ultrasound.
Even with the great news, I was still hesitant, because our first child was called to Heaven at 7 and half weeks. After our first appointment, much of my fear and anxiety was slowly being replaced with excitement. It also helped having such great family and close friend support.
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
The positive pregnancy test completely blindsided us. We had gone to St. Louis for vacation which turned into attending my Grandpa Marrah's funeral. While we were there we planned a lovely "double date" with my best friend, Carolyn, and her husband at Hendel's. The restaurant's special of the evening was half priced bottles of wine. Since, I wasn't entirely sure if I was pregnant, I thought I should take a test before I consumed some wine. Well, lo and behold it was positive. No wine for me!
We kept the news pretty close to the vest considering what happened with our last pregnancy. I'll be honest, I didn't let myself get too excited until I had seen a doctor and saw a healthy baby.
God's Blessings,
Joshua and Stefani
Crazy math, I know. Turns out 1 Joshua plus 1 Stefani can equal 1 baby.
If you haven't figured it out, we are expecting a baby Team Ketelsen Member at the end of February.
We want to thank everyone who has kept us in their prayers. We selfishly ask that you continue those prayers.
At the insistance of my best friend, Carolyn, I shall be doing weekly updates as well as a post about how we found out and summaries of the first 2 doctor's visits. I will probably post more baby related things here and not on Facebook. So, check back weekly to see what is going on.
We really can't thank people enough for their prayers, encouraging words, shoulders to cry on, and general awesomeness.
God is Good!
Joshua and Stefani
