Prenatal Visit & a Visit to WI

So far so good, as we have had an ultimately uneventful pregnancy so far! The only concern at this point is that I have Rh negative blood, and although I was treated with 3 doses of Rogam in the last pregnancy, there are antibodies showing up in my blood. The concern is that if these antibodies continue to increase, ultimately it would be attacking the baby's blood. However, our awesome doc said not to lose sleep over it. In the unlikelihood that this may become an issue, a blood transfusion can be performed on the baby in utero.

The doctor is wondering if perhaps I became desensitized to the Rogam after receiving so much of it. In either case, they will be keeping a close eye on this situation as we progress. We heard the heartbeat for the second time yesterday, coming in loud and strong at 160 bpm! :)

The kitties are doing well, and growing fast... it seems as tho Nathan has likely reached his adult size or at least close to it. Madaline remains noticeably smaller than him, and we wonder if she might be the runt. They both are extremely affectionate and cuddly, minus the few hours a day they spend in play mode, attacking each other's tails, paws and any other accessible body parts. They are endlessly entertaining and heartwarming.

We will miss our babies this Labor Day weekend, as we head for Wisconsin for a quick 4 day visit home. Because of the pregnancy, this will be our last trip to see my family in 2010, but all are welcome to come visit us for the holidays here in Arizona, and of course, anytime after the baby arrives! Our official due date is March 13th, a slight adjustment from our original due date of March 11th. 3/11/11 sounds cool, but anytime in March is highly desired over another early baby.

Please keep our little Jemma or Aidan in your prayers! We are very excited to redesign our lives once again as parents. :)

Silly kitties, they spend at least ten minutes every day, watching the bath water swirl down the drain, and then another ten minutes after its finished, trying to attack the mysterious creature they think is sucking it down in a loud way!

Baby #2 on the way!

Well, last week the test result was just one pink line, but today was a different story! Becci is pregnant again! After spending a few moments feeling irritated that I haven't gotten a second period, I remembered to go take a test. According to the calendar, however, that means this baby is already 5 weeks and 4 days along! Kind of bizarre.

Our hearts are filled with joy! God is so great! Our only concern is that we got pregnant too quickly. We were advised to wait 3 cycles, after Gavin was born. I guess that VCF doesn't work very well! We are hoping and praying that my uterus can do the job in the shape that it is in!

We have also recently decided to start making movies in our spare time, of which Jeremy has little, and Becci has all-too-much. Jeremy took some convincing to realize his own acting skills. He is much funnier than he thinks he is. So we have a few ideas in the works, but for now, the themes will have to remain a trade secret. ;)

We are looking at purchasing one, or possibly even two homes in Gilbert. They are dirt cheap, and we cold pick up two REO's, and still be under a quarter mil on the mortgage. We can rent one out, and that would cover both mortgages, or at least darn close! All those bratty kids who were so quick to buy up a big glamourous home when they landed that loan shark position at the age of 23... now lost their own home, so now we will trade them our apartment for their condo. Oh well, live and learn. Ha! Sometimes being "broke" is a blessing in disguise. Sometimes we have to have our egos hurt to become humble. The cream always rises to the top.

This reminds me of the conceptual story of two mice. Its told in the movie, Catch Me If You Can... a great watch for anyone suffering in this economy....

Two mice fell into a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up, so he drowned. The second mouse never gave up. He swam and swam until he churned that butter into cream, cream which he could stand upon, and climb right out the bucket. ;)

Please pray for our family, so our second baby can stay here with us for the rest of our earthly lives. :) Hopefully that is at least another 50 healthy years, and then Jeremy and I die peacefully, in our sleep, holding hands like they do in The Notebook. LOL

PS~ I got the job! :)

Rough Draft Honeymoon Plans

Although it would be just awesome to go to Europe and see all the castles and art that I'm just dying to experience, we've been highly considering an alternative kind of honeymoon. I learned somewhere a while back that the highest cause of death in many third world countries is bad drinking water. Paired with this bit of knowledge, we were told that to build a well that would pump clean, fresh water costs as little as $3,000. (I'm sure that doesn't include airfare or labor but that is besides the point.) Just one well can save a huge number of lives. I don't remember if it was in the hundreds, or even quite possibly, the thousands. The number slips my memory, yet I know it was astonishing.

I told Jeremy about it, and we've both been toying with the idea... of course, there are risks involved, but I think the rewards would be quite worth it. Now we just need to decide where, when, and all those other details. Oh, and HOW DO WE BUILD A WELL ANYWAY???? Any info or ideas are welcome. :)

We're Engaged!

On my 28th birthday, May 27th 2010, Jeremy officially proposed to me, even though he knew what the answer was for quite a while. :) He intentionally came home without so much as a card or flowers... and proceeded to act like it was just like any other day. I wondered if he forgot it was my birthday, and despite the fact that I wasn't expecting any sort of pricey gifts (being that I hadn't worked for a month after we lost Gavin), I still found myself just a bit dissappointed he hadn't done so much as pick up a 99 cent card! But to my delight, this was all part of his plan. After a few hours of these shenanigans, he disappeared into the bedroom and returned a few moments later with his hands behind his back, and a smirk on his face!

I knew right then, or at least, hoped i knew, what was about to happen. He pulled a tiny box out from behind his back. I burst into tears, even though we'd talked about it many times. Now we just need to decide on a date! We have so much to do... get married, have more children,... I think I need a Xanax!

I think might be the luckiest girl in the world. True, honest, mutual-respect kind of love is awesome! Not to mention, he's incredibly handsome; he's a wonderful, thoughtful companion, he's creative, he's funny, he's motivated, and the cherry on top: he's a great cook! Finally, I found myself the "keeper"... Finally, after searching for so long... I've found the one my soul loves most.

p.s. I'm not a huge jewelry freak, but I have to say, the ring is gorgeous!

p.p.s. If you want the long, unedited, tear jerker version, visit my blog, Letters to Gavin... there is a link to it on the top right side of this blog... and find the post titled "Crooked Souls". I would not recommend this site for young children; it can get intense.

Gavin Kent Binder... born Friday, April 30th, 2010

Our son Gavin was born on Friday morning at 9:16 am. He is more beautiful and perfect than our wildest dreams. He couldn't stay with us because he was born too prematurely, but we had two hours with him before he went to Heaven. He weighed 15.5 oz. and measured 11 inches in length. On Saturday, we had a little gathering with friends and family, and we released blue and white balloons into the sky. We know he is up there now, playing with his balloons. We hope you'll help us to pray for him. We appreciate all your love and support.

WE ARE HAVING A SON!! :)

Baby Names

Well, we have to wait til Monday now to do the ultrasound, but we FINALLY settled on some names!

If its a she, her name will be Jemma Eve Binder.

If its a he, his name will be Gavin Kent Binder.

And if baby #2 down the road happens to be the opposite gender, then whew! We are officially done picking out names forever!! The baby's room is actually getting under way now... its cleaned up and the monkeys are already dancing on the walls. :)

at the ghetty museum in february 2010... santa monica, ca

in our new apartment on moving day... mesa, az... home sweet home!

at becci's first (and Jeremy's 1,087th) Phoenix Suns game, march 2010...

Baby Binder will have a first name tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the big day, our mid-term ultrasound! The best mid-term I will ever take in my life :) We'll find out the gender. If its a girl, she will finally have a name. And if its a boy, well, we'll see... we haven't agreed on a name yet for a boy... and more people think its a boy than a girl, but everyone has their two cents to throw in about that! Finally, we'll be able to start painting and decorating the nursery, (which is currently looking more like a storage unit, don't tell the baby!) and buying clothes! The baby is kicking a lot now, and I felt the first kick through my skin with my hand yesterday. Mostly they are just feelings inside... but with the baby having nearly reached its final birth length, it has some serious legs in there! The next half of pregnancy, the baby mostly just fattens up. In the meantime, here are a few new pics of mommy and daddy. Check back tomorrow for the third photoshoot!!

Kicks and Heartbeats

This weekend, Jeremy and I went to a Suns game and had a lot of fun. Jeremy says the baby must like the Suns too, because I believe I felt the first two kicks!! Later on Jeremy put his ear to my stomach and was listening very carefully... he could hear the heartbeat without even using the doppler.

Our mid-pregnancy ultrasound is coming up (around 20 wks) and then we can finally start buying pink or blue stuff!!! Next Tuesday, we'll be moving into our new apartment, and we will start to decorate the baby room as soon as the doctor tells us what color pallette we are going to be working with :)

BOY or GIRL!??

Well, we don't know quite yet, but the last doppler reading was 160 bpm. That is much higher than the previous ultrasound at 138. According to trends, they say boys are usually 130's and 140's, and girls are much higher, 150+. Well, the Dr. thinks its a girl now after yesterday, but of course there is no way to really know. Jeremy thought he may have seen a little glimpse of something otherwise on our third ultrasound, when our technician zoomed in for a sneak peek. We were able to see the baby in much more detail now that its grown to over 6 cm! In just five days the baby grew over a cm! We could see little teeny tiny toes and fingers. The baby had its legs crossed at the ankles for a while, and then started to kick like a frog. Its VERY active right now, and should take advantage of all the space it has because at the speed its growing, it won't have room for long!

In the meantime, we're growing very anxious to get to Arizona and get established before 2 become 3! We'll likely be finding a place in Mesa, AZ which is outside of Phoenix. Its going to be a hot summer! We'll definitely be finding a place with a nice pool. :)

Photoshoot Number Two!

We went in for our second ultrasound today, and got some great images this time around, thanks to our super sweet nurse. Baby was doing some crazy stunts! Crunches and backflips!

Our First Ultrasound!

Our first ultrasound was on Monday, January 25th, in Newport Beach, CA. Since it is so early in the pregnancy, they had to go in with the camera rather than on top of the belly! We could see the litte tiny heartbeat of our baby, going so fast, it was just a blinking light on the screen. The coolest part was when the baby turned its head toward us and back! At the time, the baby was just over 9 weeks in development and was roughly the size of a cashew! Now just a couple weeks later, its measuring around 2", or the size of a plum! Baby is growing like a weed :)