Mini Baby Shower

On Saturday December 27th, the Corey family had our christmas party. There was so much food and fun. It was great to see everybody. We got the chance to talk about Elise to everybody. They saw our ultrasound pictures and everybody fell in love with her. We all exchanged christmas presents and it was so fun. After the official christmas party, they had a surprise mini baby shower for us. That was so thoughtful. We received such great gifts. Elise got her first outfits, bibs, stuffed animals, onesies, blankets, brag book etc. The outfits are so tiny and so cute. James' mom gave me James' baby bood that talks about the very first contractions she had with James, to his first sunday school, to when he lost his first tooth, etc. That was the greatest gift I received. She also gave me James' baby blanket. Last Christmas, I received some of James' baby blankets and his favorite Scooby Doo when he was growing up and I'm glad that I received more of those. Elise also received a huge,pink pony from Maria. It is such a beautiful pony but we could not carry it with us on the plane because we had so much stuff. Elise already has almost a closet worth of stuff. We need to get her a closet. I use the big walk-in closet in the master bedroom and James uses the other closet in the second bedroom which is now going to be Elise's room so I guess he has to move...No just kidding...we will just buy another closet from Ikea or some other furniture store for our baby girl.Yesterday, when I got home from work, James had laid out all of Elise's clothes and separated the bibs from the blankets and from the stuffed animals and so on. That mad eit so clear to me that she needs her own closet. she cannot share with mummy or daddy. Talking about Elise's room, we are planning on having a nursery with a Safari theme. You know with paintings and pictures of Giraffes, monkey, birds etc. We want it to feel like an african safari in there. She is going to see so much of america that we thought we would surround her with some african spirit this way.

New Year, Big year, Big movements

Its the last day of 2008. 2008 was a great year for James and I. It started out well. Great things happened in the year and it also ender with great thinkgs. As usual, I have to go back and write about what happened a couple of days ago when I was so busy to write. I was so busy traveling and visiting family. On christmas eve, I missed the candle light service at church because I had to work. On Christmas day, we got up around 6AM because we had a flight to catch at BWI airport. We were on our way to Reedsburg, Wisconsin to see my in-laws and the rest of James' family. This was an exciting trip because we had not been together with the whole family at christmas since 2004. We wre so excited to be there and so was Elise. I guess the joy of meeting her grand parents and aunts and uncles made her very active. She started making really big movements over the weekend. It felt weird but wonderful. Everytime I feel her move, it brings a smile to my face and my heart rejoices. I had been feeling little flutters every now and then but over the weekend, they were no small movements. James was so thrilled to feel his daughters movements. When James sang at church on Sunday, she kept moving and moving. She likes the sound of her father's voice...so does mommy. Everytime James kisses or rubs my belly, she moves.

Maternity Clothes

I am growing bigger and bigger everyday. I have been fitting into my pre-pregnancy jeans and can still fit in them but they are no longer comfortable because they all range from size 0-3. I loved to wear my pants tight before I was pregnant but now they are getting so uncomfortable. My work pants are size 5 so they still fit alright. My favorite jeans was a size 0. Well, yesterday, it was so cold that I needed to wear long Johns under my jeans. That is when reality hit me- I need maternity pants!!!!! After James and I went to get ourselves a new video camera in preparation for Christmas with the family in Wisconsin and also in preparation for Elise, we went to motherhood maternity to get some new jeans for me. They are so comfortable and it has a big band. They are not exactly cute but they work. I'm happy I made that transition. Yesterday, our christmas tree and lights went up. We have been so busy that we got to that late. I made a photo album from all of our ultrasound pictures of Elise. The album was a wedding gift. Now it is the home of the very first shots of our precious Elise. It is under the christmas tree because it is the sweetest and the biggest Christmas present ever- not from Santa but from God. Today, I went for a tour on the Johns Hopkins Labor and Delivery unit. The environment is calm and the rooms are welcoming. I think I like it.I know its kind of early to do that but I want to do those things before my christmas break is over.

Elise

Oh, I haven't written anything in days. Well, a lot has happened. Well let me begin with Why we chose Elise. Elise means " an oath or promise or vow to God". It can also mean consecrated to God. The name Elise just came to me one day. It was like a revelation from God. I was so bitter about not getting pregnant early enough that while in a conversation with God one day, the name just came to me. And I said to God, if you give us a little girl , we will name her Elise. I quickly went upstairs and looked up the meaning. I loved the way it sounded and the meaning of it. James and I had been discussing names even before we got pregnant and could not agree with one yet. When I mentioned Elise to him...he fell in love with it too. I had only heard of one person called Elise...Kimberly Elise...she is and actress but Elise is her last name. I recently met another person called Elise and I work with her. Well we cannot wait to meet our Elise. We love her to death. We also wanted to give her a local and native Ghanaian name. James and I both believe in making sure our children know and are part of both of our cultures. James really wants to name her Adwoa, or Afua, or Ekua which are all names that are derived from the day a child is born in Ghana. So Elise will have one of those names depending on which day of the week she is born. I wanted more than just that and wanted a unique native name. I could not choose any other than " Ahenfoah" which means Royalty. That is my beloved mother's name. So now we have both agreed on those....unless we change our minds.

A boy or a girl?

Well, I've always dreamed of having a little girl first and then a boy after. I really wanted a girl first but James and I both just hope our baby will be healthy. We went for another ultrasound on December 19th at 1pm. This was the ultrasound to determine any structural abnormalites and the sex of the baby. Jennifer, the technician asked us if we wanted to find out the sex. James was quick to say yes. I wanted to know it too. Oh my God, the baby was so active and flexible and kept moving. It was so amazing. This was the first time we had seen our baby looking like a real human being. The last time we saw the baby, it was just a blur with a yolk sac. This time it had bones and everything. It was even waving at me. Guess what? It is a girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I can start using "she" instead of it. That was so exciting. I would have been grateful and happy and joyful with a boy but I just preferred a girl first. James was also very excited. She was playing with her toes, and then her umbilical cord. At one point, she was scratching her back, it was so cute. She was even drinking and we saw her little chest and belly moving. She first had her fingers closed and then she waved at us. She would not turn around so Jennifer had me jump around a couple of times but she only turned slightly. We had to let everybody know that we were going to have a little girl. We are already so in love with her. We count our blessings everyday and we are so grateful to God for giving us such abundant grace and love. Here are a couple of the very first shots of our baby girl...Elise...

Almost Christmas

James and I just went to downtown Baltimore to do some christmas shopping last saturday. We got stockings stuffers for our family christmas party in Wisconsin. After that we went to the Indian Buffet at Indian Delight. I think the spices did something to the baby. The baby was 18weeks at this point and I could feel some movements like butterflies but I'm not sure what it is. I can't wait to really feel it and I couldn't wait to find out the sex. The first picture is at 5months and the second picture is at 4months. I probably look bigger in person.

The Early Experience

It wasn't until thursday, September 18th 2008, that we were able to get another ultrasound. I went through so much trying to schedule this appointment. I guess everybody needed an ultrasound at that time. They were fully booked. Finally, around 1pm on this day, we saw our little angel for the first time. It was nothing but a yolk sac with a heart beat but it was the most beautiful creature we had ever seen. It felt so wonderful, no words can explain. It measured 6weeks and 1day old. The lady performing the ultrasound asked me if I was getting sick and I replied....NO.... I should have knocked on wood. I did not start getting sick until around the following weekend. I would get so nauseous and weak I could barely do something around the house. I could't cook...I couldn't clean...I couldn't exercise....and all I did was throw up. I hated all kinds of food and smells. I even hated how James smell. I did not want him close to me. I had just changed jobs and at this time I was working on the geriatric psychiatry floor at Johns Hopkins. My new co-workers probably thought I hated the job because I was so miserable. The pictures here show when Audrey was just weeks pregnant. Oh the swimsuit one was just days or maybe one week pregnant.

Being a nurse at that time was the hardest thing to do. I hated the smell of all the pills I had to give my patients and watching them take the pills was so difficult because it made me want to puke. The worst part was when I had to assist a patient get washed up. The smell of all perfumes or colognes or body gels was so overwhelming. Not to mention the smell of my patients' urine and poop....Yuck...It was a battle to even brush my teeth in the morning because I hated and still hate the smell of mint. I stopped brushing my teeth at night because I just couldn't bring myself to do that twice a day. I knew all the bathrooms at Johns Hopkins Hospital just in case I had run in and puke my guts out. This was horrible but James was always there to help me get through it. He did all the cooking and the cleaning and the running around. And oh...he had to make a lot of runs to the grocery store to get me my cravings. I could only eat the things that I craved. It started with pineapple and then I hated pineapples, then I was craving all sorts of unhelathy Ghanaian dishes like palmnut soup, but of course I was too weak to make it and James doesn't know how to make that so I lived on cerelac for a while and then all I ate was mangoes. I could eat mango after mango after mango. I don't know what I would have done without James during those days. He helped me so much and showed me so much love and never complained about anything and I love him for that ( I always love him).

Onthe 29th of September, James and I went for another OB appointment. We heard our baby's heartbeat for the first time. We had see it the first time around but this time we could hear it. The heartbeat was strong and 156BPM.

On November 6th, on my sister Sandra's birthday, we had another OB appointment and everything was fine. I was feeling better at this point. My morning sickness was history and I had my energy back. I was back to doing all the things I used to do including going to the gym and eating my salads etc. My life was normal now. Well not all that normal but special because my body is the home for a very special baby and thus I have a lot of restrictions.....I can't wear my favorite heels, I can't eat too much of my favorite tuna salad sandwich, and I can only exercise moderately and lift weights moderately. But that is okay because my life has so many things that make me feel blessed and special and fills my heart with joy. Everything means so much more to me now. I see christmas lights and I cry...weird?

On December 9th, I went for my OB appointment alone because James had to work. I missed him so much. He is my support person and not having him there created a void. I felt the cold gel on my abdomen, then the wand. Very soon, I heard our baby's heartbeat nice and strong and again it was 156BPM. It felt so wonderful and again, words cannot explain.

Our Journey

Oh my God! I can't believe this is happening to us. In April 2007 we decided we wanted to start a family. This idea was mostly exciting to us but we were nervous at the same time. We went back and forth with this idea until we got serious in September. We thought getting pregnant would be very easy because we are young. However it took us longer than we thought. When it did not happen for several months, we got frustrated and scared. Research says, one in five couples suffer from infertility. Were we going to be the one in five? Of course not. We had so much faith in God but there were many times that we got discouraged. It was difficult to answer and sometimes heartbreaking when people would always ask '' When are you going to have kids". We would always find an answer but the fact was, we were dying to say something like ''in 9 months". Well, my doctor kept saying it will happen when it happens so relax. It was easy for her to say.

I really started getting nervous when my doctor said if we tried for a year without success we would have to look into what the problem is and perhaps start fertility treatments. "What? Are you kidding me? No, fertility treatment is for 40-year olds, I'm not that desperate yet" I would tell myself. Well our year mark was coming up quick. We gave up trying because it was frustrating. We took a couple of vacations to Ghana and Canada in May 2008 and August 2008. When we went to Ghana in May 2008, James stayed to volunteer for the West African AIDS foundation while I returned at the end of May. James was gone till July 21st and came back to Baltimore right in time for our wedding anniversary and my birthday. We went to Toronto and Montreal for our anniversary and had a great time. It was so fun. But unfortunately we had to return to Baltimore in early August.

On Wednesday, Semptember 3rd, I woke up with an excrutiating abdominal cramping. I never knew how cramps felt like so to me this was severe and unbearable. I sucked it up and went back to sleep and then to work at my oncology unit the following morning. On thursday, Semptember 4th, I continued to have excrutiating abdominal cramping that kept me awake all night. I woke up wailing and crying. I tried to wake James up but he was still sleeping. I took some ibuprofen and decided to call my OB/GYN in the morning. I knew she would ask me " are you pregnant?". I knew that was not possible but I decided to do a home test anyway. I stared at the test strip. The first line appeared, then there was a second line. Oh My God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could not believe my eyes. The test was positive. I was so overjoyed that I forgot I was having pains. I was so excited and crying uncontrollably. My heart was filled with joy.

I told James the next morning and his heart was filled with joy too. We just hugged and kissed. We were so grateful to God for his grace, mercy, and blessing. I called my OB/GYN about the pain and she told me to go to the emergency room if it was severe. I kept telling myself the pain was not bad until around 2:30pm. I finally went to the ER but the pain was gone by the time I got there. Isn't that how it always works? In the ER they told me they needed to rule out ectopic pregnancy ( that is when the baby is implanted in the fallopian tubes instead of the uterus). That scared me. I could not rejoice about our baby anymore, I was just worried. They did some urine and blood test and an ultrasound. The ultrasound did not show any signs of a baby in the uterus. This worried me more. My HCG level was 300 and they expected it to double in 48 hours if it was a normal pregnancy. I was asked to come back to the ER on saturday. That was the longest 2days ever. I was so nervous at this point. At work on friday, I told Karla about this. Karla was the first person to know about the baby. It was cold and rainy on saturday. James and I went to the ER. My HCG level had more than doubled and we were happy with this. This meant the baby was in a condusive environment and growing well. Thanks be to God. The first picture with Audrey in yellow was when we went to Ghana this May. We were at Kakum National park with Audrey's childhood friend Maame Ama.