The journey to 12 weeks

{Lincoln acted like he had never seen leaves before when we took this. Hence, his face and amazed stare}

Ever since Daniel and I got married and talked about our one day family we knew we wanted kids and we wanted them close together. When we thought about close together I never thought that would mean 13 months apart. I thought maybe 18 months apart or 2 years a part. The thought of having another baby wasn't even on my mind  because hello, Lincoln was only 4 months old. When I found out I was pregnant I actually thought I was making it all up in my mind and I was psychologically pregnant (I had heard of people doing that). I took a test one night while Daniel was at work and I was shocked when after about 30 seconds it read pregnant. After about a minute of pure excitement that I get the chance to be a mother again, the panic set in. How the heck am I supposed to handle a one year old, a new born, and my last semester of school all at the same time. Not the mention Daniel working nights and being in school. After a minute or two sitting alone in a bathroom the panic subsided and the idea of having a 1 year old and a newborn seemed so exciting to me. Lincoln would never know life without his new little sibling. Being so close in age the friendship that I know will bloom made my mommy heart feel so full. Although Lincoln had been the only baby on our mind we were so excited that this little surprise was joinging the Welch clan. Over the next few weeks things calmed down, Daniel and I kept our little bean a secret and we just patiently waited for our doctor appointment. Then it happened. Late one night I went to the bathroom and I saw what every pregnant woman never wants to see. Blood. My heart felt like it stopped. So I told Daniel and we called my doctor and he told us to go to the ER right away. Right then I had a break down. I knew that I was scared to have my babies so close but the thought of losing this baby scared me even more. So we told my parents that I was pregnant and needed to go to the hospital, which was not the cute way I had planned to tell them and that we needed them to watch Lincoln since he was already in bed. We got to the hospital and they got me back as soon as possible. I think I got special treatment that night because Daniel works in the ER sometimes but I can't be sure. Anyway, by the time I got into my patient room I had stopped bleeding. Which was a relief but the fact that there was blood was still a problem. After a few hours, tests, blood draws, and reassuring words from my nurse I was sent home with strict orders to take it easy and be on pelvic rest until I could see my doctor in two days to get my HCG test results. HCG is an enzyme that the baby lets off into the mothers blood and every two days that number was supposed to double. We went home, and just waited. The next two days were misery. I dreaded going to the bathroom because I was afraid of seeing blood again. Or even moving because I thought I was going to do something wrong and hurt my baby. Although I had stopped bleeding I had no idea if everything was okay. Well Monday finally came and I called my doctor and I didn't get the answer I had been praying for. He said that my levels hadn't risen normally so I needed to come in for an ultrasound. After another breakdown we were off to the doctors. They got me back as soon as possible and all set up. The doctor came in told me that my numbers went up but they didn't double so we were going to look for a heartbeat. When that little bean showed up on the screen with a heartbeat I thought that my heart was going to explode out of my chest. My doctor said not to get too excited because everything wasn't okay yet. With the bleeding and the weird HCG numbers there was still a really high chance of miscarriage. The word high risk pregnancy came out of his mouth a couple times. All I could think though was that my baby had a heart beat! So we went on our way with an appointment in a week for another ultrasound. After another week of waiting and walking on egg shells we went back and the heart beat was still there and stronger than ever, with normal development! And the same thing happened the next week, and the next. Although I knew that I still had a high chance of miscarriage I knew that I needed to make it to 12 weeks. Then I would be in the safe zone and not be considered High risk anymore. So after lots of prayers from us and our sweet family we made it. Our sweet one is 12 weeks! It's like a weight has been lifted off of our shoulders. So even though this little one has surprised us with the unexpected timing of entering our family, it has also surprised us with the little miracle that it is. We're not totally out of the woods. A baby born less than 15 months apart from their older sibling often has a high chance of coming early. With Lincoln I started dilating at 32 weeks and was 90% thinned by that point too so I can't do any kind of strenuous activity this time around or else I increase the chances of a premie but I am willing to do anything for this sweet one to join our family in June!