Baby Whitmore

I am still in shock and need to start writing down my thoughts before I forget!!  It's true, another baby Whitmore is coming!  There were more days than not when we thought this was never going to happen.  But there was a lot that went into this decision.  Let me start from the beginning... Most of you know by now that I was born with a congenital heart disease called, Transposition of the Great Arteries.  I was born with a 7% chance of living at birth.  But I beat the odds and was able to go on and a lead a pretty normal life.  In 2007, I was serving a mission for my church and went into congestive heart failure and had an infection called Endocarditis.  It was pretty traumatic, to say the least, but after having to come home (six months) early, receiving home health care, and having open-heart surgery to replace my tricuspid valve, I was on my way to recover and again, live a pretty normal life.    Three years later I married Josh and tried my hardest to explain what I have been through.  Although he has heard it now a million times, I don't think he quite grasps what it all entails.  In 2012, I had an amazing pregnancy and delivery with Charlotte Lyn and all seemed to be right in the world.  The team of doctors who delivered her had faith that I could do it again and be fine.  I was so hopeful.  We moved to North Carolina in 2014 and the cardiologist I met with there told me to not get pregnant.  I was devastated because we were hoping to get pregnant soon.  Charlotte was 1 1/2 years old and such a great baby.   I started to look into other options.  Surrogacy, adoption, embryo adoption.  Although it was all very expensive and would be a long process, I continued to go to meetings, met with IVF doctors, talked to agencies for countless hours.  Josh had a very demanding work schedule and was not really able to do any of these things with me.  I did everything I could and would relay all the information, but nothing ever felt 100% right for our family.  Josh and I could never get on the same page at the same time.  Things would come up, and nothing ever seemed to progress.  We also did our fair share of research.  We read several peer reviewed journals and published essays, learning as much as we could about pregnancy and Transposition. We wanted to know we were doing everything we could to educate myself.  We also did countless praying and relying on the Lord and reading my Patriarchal Blessing.  I started to think that we would only have one child and I was content with that.  Honestly, I love having one child.  I love the freedom Charlotte and I have had.  Josh and I were very content with our life.  Life was easy.   We never once felt pressured that we needed to have more children.  I can honestly say I have never been jealous or bitter when someone would get pregnant or have more children than me. I have learned earlier in life that Heavenly Father has a plan for everyone.  Everyone's plan is so specific to them.  Over the five years of only having Charlotte, I realized that if I were to have another child, the big age gap would be a good thing!
In May, I went to a heart conference in Orlando with my dad.  There I met several other women with TGA that had more than one child.  I met a doctor who had a patient with TGA pregnant with her SEVENTH child.  WHAT??  I just want one more!!  They discussed family planning and how most of the issues I would face could be handled with medication.   I really started feeling better about the decision to get pregnant.  When I returned home, I talked to Josh about everything that was discussed.  He always had faith we could get pregnant.  But I was truly nervous and scared about getting pregnant...until this summer.  I made an appointment with my Cardiologist soon after the conference.  She switched one of my medications that causes birth defects, just in case I did get pregnant.    During the summer we planned to get pregnant in August or September to have a spring baby.  Even though I got pregnant right away with Charlotte, I thought it would take a while since I am older.  But nope, first try (TMI??) we got pregnant and I thought, "ok, Heavenly Father has another child to send to our family."  Our decision was even more confirmed.  We moved to South Carolina but I would keep my doctors in Atlanta.  They want to see me often and the commute isn't horrible.  It's a small price to pay for the reassurance of excellent doctors.  I am being seen by a perinatologist, OB/GYN, and cardiologist.  They will work on my case together and all discuss a plan for me and baby and how to keep us safe and healthy.  My due date is May 9, 2018.  
In the very beginning of my pregnancy I had so many weird emotions.  When I got pregnant with Charlotte, I was excited from day 1!  With this pregnancy, I had a really hard time accepting I was pregnant.  I was not excited and kept questioning our decision.  I realized that these feelings were of selfish reasons.  Starting over with a baby is a lot of work.  Charlotte is so independent and can do pretty much everything by herself.  But the more I would tell people and the more real this pregnancy has become, I would get a little more excited.  Now I can say I am 100% excited and cannot wait to meet this bundle of joy!!
Doctors are expecting the worst and we are hoping for the best. My next appointment will be December 8.  That will be the anatomy appointment, along with the routine check-ups.  They want to see me every month until I deliver.  They are mostly concerned with week 20, and the few weeks after.  That is around Christmas.  I have been told not to travel to Utah due to the high elevation.  So we will be spending the holidays in our new home and I am really looking forward to that!  I am trying to take it easy (as much as you can when you move).  The first 6 weeks I was exhausted to the point where I felt I couldn't do anything!!  Luckily, Tahnee was still living with us and was a huge help during our move.  What would I do without her??  I have been feeling much more productive, but by the end of the day, I just crash!  My parents have been here for the past few days and really have been a huge help as well.   My parents arrived on Sunday and didn't know I was pregnant.  We told them as they walked through the front door.  Monday we had a 3D ultrasound to find out the gender and it's a GIRL!!!  Charlotte was so excited.  She needs a sister!!!  We were totally surprised because we were all convinced it was a boy.  I couldn't sleep at all that night because I was so excited and still in shock.  We have a lot to do to get ready for this little girl and cannot wait!  If you have any more questions or want to know anything, you know I'm an open book and would love to chat.  Feel free to reach out.   I will be doing my best to keep everyone updated on the progress of this pregnancy.  

Rocking Horse Ranch

Each year, Josh’s Family gets together for a family reunion/vacation. Most of the trips have been in the summer at a beach, but this year was spent in the beautiful fall foliage of upstate New York. We stayed at the all-inclusive Rocking Horse Ranch. Everyone arrived on Sunday and stayed until Friday. Unfortunately, Josh and Dan’s girlfriend, Laura Jane, had to leave earlier to get back to work. We all had a great time being together and enjoying what this season has to offer!

We were the first to fly in with Yvonne, Josh’s Grandma. Rick and Eve only had a short drive up from Connecticut and had arrived right before we did. Perfect timing! We got situated in our rooms and then went around touring the ranch. The weekends are the busiest time of the week, but even then we didn’t feel like it was crowded. There were more families when we first arrived. 

Throughout the week we did activities like mountain tubing, “bungee jumping,” paddle boats, mini golf, lots of swimming, played in the Fun Barn, Horse back riding, pony rides (for the little girls), ate a lot of great food, went to the shows every night, won every trivia game we played and even ventured off the ranch.

At the beginning of the week, everyone except me, Charlotte and Tess, went and walked over the longest walking bridge over the Hudson River. I was bummed to miss it, but Charlotte was not having it and once Teas found out she was staying, she didn’t want to go. Kind of a bummer because this was the only group shot we got all week. 

Another day we drove over to Storm King. I had never heard of this place but it was pretty cool! The grounds were gorgeous and there was actually a lot to do. You could spend a whole afternoon there. Riding bikes, grabbing lunch at the cafe, taking the tour, looking at all the sculptures. If you are ever up that way, I would highly recommend it. It’s not far from NYC either. 

On our last full day, Thursday, my father-in-law fell of a horse during an advanced horse back riding session. They took him to the local ER, where they found out he had a concussion, five broken ribs, and a broken collarbone. He had to stay overnight at the hospital and be monitored. He ended up coming back to the ranch and eventually was able to go home.  He is in our thoughts and prayers daily and we hope for a speedy recovery!

Overall we had a great time.  Our flights were booked from Atlanta (before we knew we were moving), so Charlotte and I had quite the journey back home.  Luckily we still had our apartment!  The next morning, we loaded the car with random stuff we had left, knowing we were coming back, and headed home.  We were missing Josh a lot and couldn't wait to see him!!