The Tough Times Make You Stronger: The Best Birthday Present

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Best Birthday Present

Today is my birthday and I am spending the day putting together invitations for Whitney's birthday party next month (THANKS, LAUREN!)

And watching this video over and over.....and over.

Whitney - Finish from Amanda Millhollin on Vimeo.

....A HUGE thank you to Mandy, one of the best girls in the whole wide world, for making this video and to Lauren for making the birthday invitation! (i could NEVER have chosen the pics myself! The video would be 5 hours long!! haha)

Tonight, we are going to dinner at The Grand Floridian at Disney with my parents. Citricos is one of my favorite restaurants (and I used to work there :)), and I'll be spending the night with some of my favorite people :)

Hope everyone is having a great day! :)

6 comments:

Janice said...: Happy Birthday Katie!; March 23, 2010 at 9:23 AM
Lauren said...: Happy Birthday Kathleen!!! Have a great day!!!! I love watching that video!; March 23, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Sha said...: Happy Birthday Kat!!!! Hope you enjoy your day to the fullest!!!!!; March 23, 2010 at 2:20 PM
Ani said...: Happy Birthday!
What a wonderful day to spend YOUR day :-); March 23, 2010 at 2:42 PM
Nellie's Cozy place said...: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHLEEN,
Hope you have a wonderful time tonight. and the video..........
I need a kleenex now, it was so
beautiful. You two are doing a great job, just like we knew you
would!! lol
Love ya, Nellie; March 23, 2010 at 3:52 PM
The Saunders Family said...: Love that! A testimony that God is faithful in answering our prayers. God bless you and your beautiful family on your birthday:); March 23, 2010 at 4:52 PM

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The Road to Whitney....and Grady

July 2005- start TTC
December 2005 - cyst, gyno says "IVF is the only way"
January 2006 - first RE says "lets jump in feet first"
February/March 2006 - First IVF failed (one ovary with "bad eggs", 26 yrs old)
May 2006 - cyst aspirated, new RE
June 2006 - IUI canceled, poor response
July 2006 - March 2007 - lose weight, focus on work, move to new house, busy busy busy
January 2007 - cyst aspirated
March 2007 - IUI, failed
April 2007 - IVF, failed
October/November 2007 -IVF, failed ("great eggs, beautiful embryos...dont need IVF")
January 2008 - cyst aspirated
February 2008 - IUI, failed
March 2008 - cyst aspirated, more testing ordered, (MTHFR, AKA cells, among other blood disorders), treatment not approved by FDA, excited to get off fertility rollercoaster and get on adoption rollercoaster
April 2008 - attend adoption seminar at agency
May 2008 - fill out paperwork, get physicals, fill out paperwork
June 2008 - fill out paperwork, background checks, complete profiles
July 14, 2008 - hand in paperwork and profiles
August 11, 2008 - Home Visit from agency PAPER PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!* *wait while profiles are shown to potential birthmoms
January 27th, 2009 - MATCHED with expectant mommy and daddy (T and L)

February 13th, 2009 - lunch with agency, T and L

March 10th, 2009 - 3D ultrasound
March 19th, 2009 - T having "second thoughts", red flags
March 23rd, 2009 - my 30th birthday and T forgets about counseling appointment
March 25th, 2009 - T misses ob/gyn appointment
March 31st, 2009 - rescheduled counseling appointment, missed due to hospital visit
April 1st, 2009 - re-rescheduled counseling appointment
April 6th, 2009 - dinner with T and L
April 21st, 2009 - scheduled C-section *Baby Born April 21st, 2009, 8lbs 5oz, 19inches, PERFECT
April 23rd, 2009 - met with T and L in the hospital, held baby for the first time, fell in love instantly *
April 24th, 2009 - got call to head to hospital, paperwork had begun. Briefly saw T in hospital. T handed Whitney to me and we all hugged. Whitney was forever our daughter.

Fast Forward to 2011:

February 2011- after visit to primary care doc, head to ER for shortness of breath and suspected pulmonary embolis, where ER doc yells at me for taking BCP since my blood work has shown blood clotting issues in the past. No embolis shown on CT Scan, but likely broken up somewhere in my body. Demands I stop taking BCP immediately.

March 2011- See regular OB to discuss cyst situation if I decide to stop taking BCPs. Says I have to stop and he wont prescribe anymore until I see a hematologist who clears me of any blood clotting disorders.

April 2011- Go to hematologist and dump 2928 files of blood to check for blood clotting factors and, presumably, get the green light to take BCPs again, as I fear a cyst will form any day.

Results: My numbers show "barely low" levels of Protein S, a blood clotting agent. Normal is 70+, my numbers were 63. BARELY deficient. Wants me off BCP for 6 months to retest Protein S in October.

PRAY PRAY PRAY for no cysts in the mean time.

September 12, 2011- attempt a run on the treadmill, but have to stop less than a quarter mile in, as my boobs were about to fall off they hurt so bad. Look under my sink for an old (i mean, OLD) pregnancy test. No luck, so take an old ovulation predictor test. Negative. Not sure what I thought I was looking for. Talk to BFF who convinces me to buy a test before picking Whitney up from school. Fine. Whatever.

Come home, pee on the stick expecting to see "Not Pregnant" in the window: SURPRISE! "PREGNANT"

Huh? No way.

No clue how far along, as I wasnt paying attention AT ALL, so doc gets me in the next day.

September 13th, 2011:

ultrasound confirms heartbeat, strong baby at 7 weeks gestation SHOCKED and THRILLED

12 Weeks Pregnant: It's a boy!

20 Weeks Pregnant: Still a boy! Very healthy and "textbook pregnancy".

38 Weeks, 2 Days: healthy baby boy, Grady James born at 8:38am, 7lbs 14oz, 21", on April 19th, 2012.....just in time for big sister's birthday party!