We are so excited to announce that we are having a baby BOY! It came as a bit of a surprise because I (Melissa) was convinced it was a girl. Even though I was surprised, I couldn't be happier! As we sat in the room watching our baby on the ultrasound screen, I couldn't help but be amazed at the number of times they used the word "normal." I think Tyson and I can safely say, that we will never take having a healthy baby for granted. We will go back to the high risk doctor one more time so they can take a closer look at the heart. I was a bit surprised they wanted to do this because we could see all 4 chambers and the blood flow was good. But it is better to be safe and we will get another ultrasound... can't resist that. :)
I can't say thank you enough to everyone who has prayed for our baby's health. We feel beyond blessed to be having another baby and we can't wait until he is finally here!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Good News
We went to our high risk doctor on Friday and had an ultrasound. They said everything looked great. The main things they were looking for were neck thickness (needed to be below 2.5), a nasal bone (in DS babies, these are not visible at 12 weeks), and a good measurement from head to rump. The neck thickness of our baby measured in at 1.2, they found a nasal bone very easily, and he/she measured perfectly from head to rump! They took blood to do testing as well. We got the results back yesterday and they were AWESOME! Because of Noah's down syndrome, we had a 1 in 136 chance of having another baby with DS. After the testing, we now have a 1 in 2700 chance of DS and a 1 in 10,000 chance of 2 deadly genetic disorders. Obviously, we are thrilled with this news. It definitely helps us sleep better at night. :) We go back for a follow up ultrasound on November 12th. They will be able to tell us the gender which is especially exciting since we will only be 16 weeks pregnant and they usually don't do that until 20 weeks. As long as that appointment goes well, we will not have to go back to that office again.
I (Melissa) just returned from Maryland and had a wonderful visit with my mom and other family. We did some shopping (of course!) and unpacked a few more of my mom's boxes. She is well on her way to making a beautiful new home for herself. I especially love the paint colors (that one's for you Aunt B!). This afternoon, we are heading to South Dakota to meet our new nephew, Tate. We are excited to meet Tate and see our family there.
Once again, we are thankful for all of your prayers as we go through this journey. Hopefully, we will be much less drama in 2011! :)
I (Melissa) just returned from Maryland and had a wonderful visit with my mom and other family. We did some shopping (of course!) and unpacked a few more of my mom's boxes. She is well on her way to making a beautiful new home for herself. I especially love the paint colors (that one's for you Aunt B!). This afternoon, we are heading to South Dakota to meet our new nephew, Tate. We are excited to meet Tate and see our family there.
Once again, we are thankful for all of your prayers as we go through this journey. Hopefully, we will be much less drama in 2011! :)
Friday, October 8, 2010
Here We Go Again
Tomorrow we will be 11 weeks pregnant... wait didn't we just do this?!??! That is how I (Melissa) am feeling about being sick again. :) While I have been sick (and pregnant) most of 2010, I am so thankful for the blessing of pregnancy. I find myself anticipating the arrival of this baby more everyday and that helps me get through the tough days. We have SIX doctor's appointments over the next 2 months that we are anxiously awaiting. We will see Dr. Stettler (high risk doctor) 3 times as well as Dr. Voss (regular OB) 3 times. Next Friday, we will have the first trimester screens done and then in November, we will get a 16 week ultrasound. Hopefully, after those 2 appointments, we can have some peace of mind that everything is going to be ok. Its so hard to believe that after what we have experienced but we are trusting God that He will give us a perfect, healthy baby.
In other news, we welcomed our new nephew, Tate Noah Johnson, into the world yesterday. I have only seen 2 pictures but he is SOOO CUTE! He definitely looks like a Johnson. :) We are honored that Tyson's brother Cory named his son after our son.
Next week is my fall break so I am headed to Maryland to see my family. The day after I get back, we are headed to Aberdeen, SD to meet Tate and visit with our Johnson family. Can't wait! We are praying I feel well enough for both trips. We'll see!
Next week is my fall break so I am headed to Maryland to see my family. The day after I get back, we are headed to Aberdeen, SD to meet Tate and visit with our Johnson family. Can't wait! We are praying I feel well enough for both trips. We'll see!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Thankful
Although most people already know, I thought I would post on the blog for those that haven't heard. We are pregnant!!! :) We are beyond excited. We found out VERY early on because the signs were so clear. We will be 7 weeks along on Saturday and our approximate due date is April 30th. We have our first doctor's appointment on September 22nd. We will get a confirmed due date then. We are nervous, but we are trusting God that everything is going to turn out great.
September is a difficult month for us. The 19th marks the one year anniversary of Melissa's dad's death. The 23rd was going to be our due date for Noah. We are thankful to have the distraction of a new baby, but we still mourn the loss of an incredible father and a baby we will never know. We would appreciate prayer over the next few weeks.
Melissa is starting to get evening sickness. It isn't too bad yet and we are praying it stays that way. :) For those of you who don't know, Melissa was miserably sick until week 20 last time. We are hoping EVERYTHING about this pregnancy is different. :)
In other news, we enjoyed an amazing vacation to San Diego and Las Vegas at the end of July. We spent some time on the beach and were able to see some of our best friends, Sheila and Jeff, and their 2 kids Logan and Savannah. We had SO MUCH fun. We definitely needed a break and this was the perfect getaway. Tyson posted pictures on Facebook yesterday if you want to see a few highlights. We also went to Yellowstone National Park over Labor Day weekend. We spent some great time with Melissa's best friend Jessica and we saw some amazing sights in the park.
We don't have a lot going on in the next few months since we are planning on Melissa being sick (we aren't pessimistic, just realistic!). :) Melissa has a trip to Maryland planned for October to see her mom's new house and hang out with family and friends.
We are so thankful to have amazing family and friends that have stood by our sides in both the difficult and the good times. We are blessed.
September is a difficult month for us. The 19th marks the one year anniversary of Melissa's dad's death. The 23rd was going to be our due date for Noah. We are thankful to have the distraction of a new baby, but we still mourn the loss of an incredible father and a baby we will never know. We would appreciate prayer over the next few weeks.
Melissa is starting to get evening sickness. It isn't too bad yet and we are praying it stays that way. :) For those of you who don't know, Melissa was miserably sick until week 20 last time. We are hoping EVERYTHING about this pregnancy is different. :)
In other news, we enjoyed an amazing vacation to San Diego and Las Vegas at the end of July. We spent some time on the beach and were able to see some of our best friends, Sheila and Jeff, and their 2 kids Logan and Savannah. We had SO MUCH fun. We definitely needed a break and this was the perfect getaway. Tyson posted pictures on Facebook yesterday if you want to see a few highlights. We also went to Yellowstone National Park over Labor Day weekend. We spent some great time with Melissa's best friend Jessica and we saw some amazing sights in the park.
We don't have a lot going on in the next few months since we are planning on Melissa being sick (we aren't pessimistic, just realistic!). :) Melissa has a trip to Maryland planned for October to see her mom's new house and hang out with family and friends.
We are so thankful to have amazing family and friends that have stood by our sides in both the difficult and the good times. We are blessed.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Continued Blessings
I got a phone call from Human Resources this morning and there is a FACS job for me at Castle Rock Middle School! It is definitely through January and possibly through the end of the year. This is such a HUGE blessing! The odds of this happening were SOOO small. The only bad news is that we have to cancel our trip to Mexico and our trip to MD to help my mom move. We are planning a weekend getaway to San Diego. We leave (hopefully!) on Thursday! My first day is August 4th... less than 2 weeks! I am feeling a little overwhelmed, especially since I haven't taught middle school since my student teaching in 2005. But I am incredibly excited! Teaching is my passion and I am so thankful to be able to teach for at least the next 6 months. It is such a good reminder that God cares about the little things.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Melissa's Job
I had a meeting today with HR to discuss what this next year is going to look like for me. In the original plan, I was taking a one year leave of absence with the guarantee of my same job when I come back for the 2011-2012 school year. In this plan, I was going to get paid out all of my sick days, get 6 weeks maternity leave, and health insurance for 12 weeks. Normally, I would not get all of this but since I was doing them a favor, they made exceptions for me. (I would tell all the details of how I am doing them a "favor" but that gets complicated.) Essentially, I would get a full-time paycheck for just over 3 months and not have to show up... GREAT deal for me!
Obviously, the situation has changed drastically so I had no idea what to expect when I went in there today. They can't give me my regular job back because someone else has already been hired for the position on a one year only contract (this we already knew). As a result, my best bet is to sub for the year. If a FACS job comes up, I will have first dibs but since that is not likely to happen, I will be subbing. Subs make GREAT money in our school district ($150 a day) so financially, this is an awesome option. Also, the school district is sticking with the original plan so I will still be getting paid for all of my sick days, maternity leave, and get 12 weeks of health insurance. WOW! I am so thankful that they are willing to stick with our agreement even though they don't have to. I can't start subbing until my maternity leave is up (sometime in early October) so what's my plan until then? Iwill probably get a retail job at the Gap Outlet in Castle Rock or the Gap at Park Meadows mall (where I worked when I first moved to Colorado and was waiting for my teaching job to start). Oh and I still get my regular job back for the next school year. :)
Even though this next year looks NOTHING like what we had planned, we are so thankful for how God is already providing for us. For those of you that prayed for this job situation, THANK YOU! This is definitely the best case scenario for a terrible situation.
Obviously, the situation has changed drastically so I had no idea what to expect when I went in there today. They can't give me my regular job back because someone else has already been hired for the position on a one year only contract (this we already knew). As a result, my best bet is to sub for the year. If a FACS job comes up, I will have first dibs but since that is not likely to happen, I will be subbing. Subs make GREAT money in our school district ($150 a day) so financially, this is an awesome option. Also, the school district is sticking with the original plan so I will still be getting paid for all of my sick days, maternity leave, and get 12 weeks of health insurance. WOW! I am so thankful that they are willing to stick with our agreement even though they don't have to. I can't start subbing until my maternity leave is up (sometime in early October) so what's my plan until then? Iwill probably get a retail job at the Gap Outlet in Castle Rock or the Gap at Park Meadows mall (where I worked when I first moved to Colorado and was waiting for my teaching job to start). Oh and I still get my regular job back for the next school year. :)
Even though this next year looks NOTHING like what we had planned, we are so thankful for how God is already providing for us. For those of you that prayed for this job situation, THANK YOU! This is definitely the best case scenario for a terrible situation.
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