This is a pretty big day.

Today is the anniversary of my embryo transfer. (I blogged a bit about it on my main blog too, which includes a little tribute to the embryos themselves.)

To celebrate the day, I have decided to do a picture tribute (with a video at the end) in which I posted one or two pictures for each month since the big day one year ago. I hope my little trip down memory lane is even a fraction as cool for you as it is for me.


These are The Fab Four. We believe Karl is the top left embryo. (It's weird how I feel about all my little embryos. Although only one stuck, my heart feels each and every one was just as important as the one who is sleeping behind me right now.) ...




I was receiving BFNs through 10dp3dt. On 11dp3dt, I got a BFP on a digital and my beta was a mere 15. The next day, on 12dp3dt, the FRERs started picking it up...




After one hell of a rocky start where I was told my pregnancy was non-viable and ectopic, this is what we saw, along with a tiny little heartbeat, at 7 weeks...




It was the 4th of July and my body was starting to show. I was still in the 'fat' phase, but if you knew I was pregnant, you could tell it was a baby belly. To help people get the idea, I wore a shirt which read "The Future Lies Within"...




August came and went and Labor day brought the balloon festival. It's early in the morning, but we go every year...




I still can't believe my luck. To have two beautiful little girls and expecting another baby. I wonder why I have such terrible medical problems with my body. Maybe it's to "pay" for them. If so, I'm okay with that ...




In September, my best friend in the world (widow of Karl) married one of the greatest guys in the world. I was lucky enough to be a co-maid of honor with another friend of mine (the girl on my left)...




After the wedding and still in Arizona, another great friend of mine (since Jr High!) threw us a "baby shower", which was really a simple BBQ. I didn't expect a shower, especially for a 3rd baby, but the chance to celebrate Karl was so awesome. It was a swimming party and as you can see, I certainly took part in the swimming aspect and wore my suit ...




We already knew the gender of the baby, but at the beginning of October, and at one of my 28 ultrasounds, we got the money shot ...




This is what I looked like from the outside just two days after the ultrasound in the previous photo ...




A month later, at 29w, this is what I looked like ...




And this is what I looked like naked ~wink~ ...




December was already here and one of our friends came over to take some pictures. She's amazing. Here are the girls in their punk rock element ...




There is something about black and white photos that can really change the mood of a photo session. I know I already picked a picture of the girls, but I can't help it ...




Yet another "naked" picture of myself. I was 35 weeks ...




It was Christmas and each year I get a pair of pajamas. I wasn't going to change the tradition of wearing them the next night just because of a big belly ...




It was suddenly January 9th and I was scheduled to go into the hospital to have the version performed. This is when the doctor tries to manually turn the baby around inside my belly, so I could try to deliver vaginally. I was a day away from 38 weeks and was headed to the hospital within minutes of this picture. I would have the baby by the next morning ...




The Version worked and Karl was head down and on his way out. I was fully in massive labor here and managed to smile and look like I was having a good time. I'm actually just 3 hours from delivery here and due to my journaling, I know I was +1 station, 95% effaced and 6cms dilated. I can guarantee I was ~not~ as happy as I look ...




And then he was here ...




I was rushed into surgery minutes later and wasn't there to see my husband hold his son for the first time. But thankfully it was captured on camera ...




When I was out of surgery and through recovery, I was able to introduce Ella and Allison to their brand new brother ...




We got him home and tried to settle in. We pretended these little newborn smiles were 'real' smiles, but we knew better. But so what! They sure are funny nonetheless ...




Without blinking, he was already a month old. Breathe in. Breathe out ...




When you catch an expression like this on camera, it's pure gold ...




At 3 months old, he is still spending a lot of time sleeping. We know it won't last ...




It's now the beginning of April and he can chill in his bumbo seat. How in the world is time going by so fast? ...




Three months old and bath time = camera time ...




I just took this picture this evening and he is 5 days away from being 4 months old, although as an embryo, he was transferred into my belly exactly 1 year ago. I know it's a cliche, but it's true - the days are slow but the years are fast. Happy Cinco de Mayo my baby boy ...




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This video was taken last month and it's got to be one of my favorite videos ever. It's just a video of me lulling my little one to sleep, as he starts out completely awake and a little over a minute later, he's sound asleep. The quality is low due to the lighting, but it doesn't matter to me. And maybe this will be boring as watching grass grow to everyone else, but I can watch it over and over.




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If you got this far (wow!), thank you for taking the journey of this last year with me!