Tests, tests, and more tests!!

Today I got to experience that of a pincushion. They drew 6 vials of blood (which felt more like 4 liters!!) and I got to do a tasty glucose test for gestational diabetes. The 4 liters... I mean, 6 vials, weren't too bad. And actually the glucose test was not nearly as bad as I had made it out to be in my head. I got the pleasure of drinking a tasty glass of mystery fluid, which tasted a lot like cough syrup without the kick. Then I spent a leisurely hour in the waiting room after which they took ANOTHER vial of my blood. Don't have any results, of course, but am most concerned about the diabetes test. Some of my medical history makes me susceptible to it.

Jaska is TDY for a few days and David and I are on our own. It's been pretty rough the last few days. I've had no energy and the mood swings are running rampant!!

Please pray for a NEGATIVE for gestational diabetes and Jaska’s quick return. He should be home Friday night, but he's flying a Herk so that drops the probability down to about 50% since most of the planes are older than he is and anything from a wing falling off to a burned out light bulb can ground the thing!!!

I'll be 9 weeks tomorrow!

First Photos of Baby Cason!

Here are the first images of Baby Cason!

Had our first OB appointment today! How exciting it was to see our baby's heartbeat for the first time! His (no gender bias, just can't bring myself to call the baby "it") heartbeat is great (the photo on the top shows the heartbeat) and the doctor said everything looks good. I've got lots of bloodwork and the like to get taken care of in the next week.

We'll (or probably I'll) go back next month and every month after for our checkups. We also have another ultrasound scheduled in January.

Our official due date is June 20th. So tomorrow will be the 8 week mark.

The pregnancy symptoms are starting to show themselves now. Besides the run down feeling I've had, I'm also getting sick a bit more now. Not everyday, thankfully, but enough for it not to be much fun.

We ask that you continue to pray for all of us during this time. It's quite a transition for all of us and we're adjusting slowly.

The newest Cason news...

God is GREAT!

After 7+ years, lots of praying, wishing, hoping, dreaming, crying, sobbing, (some cursing), drugs, doctors, poking and proding, we are proud to announce that we are PREGNANT!!! And the miracle of all miracles, with NO medical intervention what-so-ever! I've always heard that all you need to do is adopt and then you'll get pregnant. And I always thought, "yeah, right, for everyone else, maybe!" But, once again, we've become a statistic!

Ok, for the guys, that's the big news, thanks for visiting and check back for pics as I delve into the world of blogging. (There are prayer requests toward the bottom if you are so inclined!) For you ladies who have to have details, read on!

I'd been feeling a bit run down over the last few weeks, attributing it to a head cold that won't go away and running after a toddler all day long. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then I came home from lunch with Jaska on Tuesday to take a bit of a nap and thought, "I've got 1 test left from the 40-million that I've bought over the last 7 years. It's expired. Can't just throw it away! Might as well just SEE what happens before I pitch it." In a matter of seconds, I was shocked and stunned to see the plus sign staring back at me. So, of course my first thought is, "That CAN'T be right. After all, the test is expired!" So I did what any good wife would do in this situation...I called my friend Karen! After all, Jaska would have been no help. He would have been just as dumbfounded as I was. I got on the phone and composed myself enough to convince Karen that no one had died and explained the situation. Since she had given birth to the lovely Bella only 5 months ago, she had an extra test and offered it to me to dispell the myth that was growing in my head. So off the Karen's I go. Oddly enough, the test that she had said the exact same thing, imagine that! So began the denial.

Figured that I needed to clue my husband in on the gravity of the situation to our family as we know it, so I headed home to prepare him a surprise. Backtracking a bit, 8 years ago when we started the grand process of starting our family, I bought a book called "The Expectant Father" and hid it away thinking that giving this to him would be a great way to break the news WHEN we got pregnant. After David came along and I had come to terms with the fact that I would never conceive, I grabbed the book out of my drawer and stuck in on the shelf with the rest of the books that we never read. Back to present, took the book off the bookshelf, blew off the years of dust and wrapped it up for Jaska. When he walked in the door from work, with the most serious face I could muster I told him that we needed to talk. So we sat David in front of some Veggie Tales (gives us a good 1/2 hour to do ANYTHING) and headed into the bedroom. I began with "There's something I've been meaning to give you for a long time and the timing has just never been right. But I think it's a good time to give it to you now." He took the present and began to unwrap it. As he unwrapped the spine of the book and read the title, he just stopped and said, "Are you serious?!?" The pregnancy hormones kicked in, the tears began to flow and I just nodded yes. We hugged and kissed and hugged some more. He had the biggest grin on his face for quite a while afterward.

The next day I headed to the base clinic to get the "official" results thinking they would draw some blood and really work me up. To my surprise, I was back in the restroom with a plastic cup thinking, "I did this TWICE yesterday..." But I guess if the 16 year old looking flight dr. says he wants a urine test, that's what you do. After stalling for a while with basic questions and brushing up on his stethoscope use, the lab had the results. As he was about to let me know, Jaska walked into the clinic and I whisked him into the room. When we got settled in the room, Doogie Howser said, "Congratulations, you ARE pregnant."

We've got to get through the military red tape before going off base to see an O.B. so I don't have a definite due date as of yet. According to our lay calculations, I'm about 8 weeks along. I've been feeling no nausea as of yet (Praise be to GOD!) but just VERY tired and run down which I can't attribute to a head cold anymore. It has been a whirlwind last few days and I'm not sleeping much anyway.

The grandparents were sent the picture above to let them know about the news.

One disadvantage is that I've never dealt with a pregnancy and not only am I dealing with that, I have a very active almost-2-year-old at the same time. One advantage, after the baby's born, we already know what to do! Been there, done that. We just like to do things backward!

Prayers that we ask for are:

• Rest and energy for me to deal with David and a pregnancy with pregnancy hormones AND no anti-anxiety meds which I am VERY accustomed to taking.
• Energy for Jaska to deal with me with pregnancy hormones AND no anti-anxiety meds.
  
• Health for the baby. (I was on alot of medication for a while prior to finding out.)
• That we stay in Abilene until after the baby is born. (Our current assignment will end in June, the same month the baby is due. They could send us on early or keep us longer. But it is the choice of the Air Force. We have such a good support system in place here and I'd really like to keep the same doctor all the way through.)

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support that I know we will receive. We praise God for the MANY blessings that he has given us and continues to give to us.