Our growing family

So I basically keep a blog as a document for us to look back on and remember. I started it right after Ty and I got married so it is fun to look back at the past years and see how life has changed. I'm not really sure who follows along with my posts to keep up with the Stanton's. I mainly do it for me but I'm happy for all those who do follow along.
With that said. I guess it's time to announce our news that we are expecting! Our little family is growing! Due December 6! We are so excited! Ivy can't wait to be a big sister.
I am about half way through the pregnancy. Well 19 weeks to be exact. Time is flying by. The pregnancy has been pretty good so far. It really has been a whirl wind of emotions.
Back in February we miscarried twins. We took the news very hard and it was a difficult time for our family. I just thought we were done suffering in that way. We miscarried twice before we had Ivy. Looking back I understand why we went through those trials. We learned so much, grew closer together and it really did make us become better parents. After we got pregnant and had Ivy I felt like I made peace with those babies we lost and was able to move on. I was ready for a new trial.
Once we got pregnant with the twins we were so excited. We always know its a possibility to miscarry but I was hopeful that things were looking up for us. Sadly at my 10 week check up we were informed it was identical twins and they were measuring only 7 weeks. My doctor said the dates could just be off so they ordered special blood work to be done to find out what was going on. They sent me home with many unanswered questions. Two days later we went back to the doctors where they determined we lost both babies. Since the babies were identical they were carrying the same chromosomal abnormality resulting in losing both of them.
Now, there is a silver lining to this story. After a miscarriage you are told to let your body return to normal and take a few months before trying to conceive. Ty and I decided we were going to give it some time because we were still grieving. About a month after the miscarriage I got sick. Every morning I had an upset stomach. I just could not figure out what was wrong. After a few weeks, I thought ...could I be pregnant? I thought there was no way so I decided to take a test so I could move on from that crazy idea. I took the test and it said positive. I thought that can't be right, so I went and bought another test. And again it was positive. We couldn't believe it! We were so thrilled but also very nervous. We were still getting over the lose of the twins that it was a lot to process to be pregnant again. We wanted to be hopeful but after all we had been through that was difficult. I couldn't bear the thought of losing another child. We decided to wait a few weeks before going to the doctor. To get passed the 7 week mark, which is when I miscarried all three times. But I started having some heavy bleeding soon after that. I thought I was miscarrying for sure. I went into the doctor expecting the worst. I got an ultrasound and saw a healthy and strong heartbeat of a nine week old baby! We were blown away with happiness and joy. We thought I was around five weeks or so, we had no way of knowing since my body was so out of whack. So we were so excited to be passed the seven week mark and know that the baby had a heartbeat.
Since then things have been great. I was sick for a few weeks but nothing too awful. It was hard taking care of myself and ivy and getting enough rest, but we made it through. I was diagnosed with placenta previa right away, which is why I had some bleeding. So I had to really take it easy. Luckily it went away on its own so we don't have to worry about that anymore. We went to our ultrasound appointment this past week to find out the gender and the baby did not cooperate for us. He or she would not show us their face or open those legs. We will have them check at our next appointment. After everything we have been through we can wait to find out the gender. All we care about is that we have a healthy baby.
Sorry, this ended up being a long post. All and all we have learned a ton going through these experiences and I know we are only dealt things that we can handle and get through. Although hard to realize in the moment, I know that my Heavenly Father knew I was strong enough to deal with the lose of my four children. And it has only made me a better person for going through it. I understand and know that I will have the opportunity to raise the children we lost and we look forward to it and for now we have four little angels looking over our growing family. And that is pretty cool.
So with ALL that said...to say we are excited for this new addition would be an understatement.

Congrats if you made it through my long post!



Also, this picture is of our flower pots. You can't tell in the picture but on each pot is the due date of each baby we lost. Just a little thing we did in remembrance of our lost babies.