How did we get here??

WELL. Funny story. Just kidding, this is a family show. It was a stork, duh! In all seriousness…I do want to say how blessed I feel. Something I didn’t share with anyone but my parents, and Sarah, was our first story: loss. In July of last year, we found out we were pregnant for the first time. (Yes, this one is now our second.) I was supposed to be measuring about 8-10 weeks for our first visit and initial sonogram. Our doctor, Dr. Wynne, thought she found a faint flicker of a beat. A week later we had an “official” sonogram with a Sonographer. We walked in excited and ready to get a better look at our growing seed but left feeling uneasy when he didn’t have anything significant to show us. The next day I got the call from my doctor. We were having a miscarriage. I was confused and angry and so unbelievably sad. What had I done wrong? Why was this happening? What was I supposed to do now? I had already disclosed the information to my employer since my nausea and exhaustion was starting to affect me at work. How was I supposed to go back and tell them it was all coming to an end already? Dr. Wynne told me that it could pass naturally within two weeks. Otherwise, we would have to have a “medical intervention” OR could go that route to begin with. I was too upset to make that sort of decision and also wasn’t ready to let go. So…we waited. Two weeks came and went without a budge from my body. We were now in the beginning of August. It was time to intervene. I went the path of taking a pill where I could let it pass at home with Steven. The first two days were painful and exhausting but Steven never left my side. On the second day he informed me that my mom was going to make a surprise trip that weekend (just two days away) to come and be with me. Oh, mommy ❤️ Having her here helped me a lot. After her visit I had a lot to think about for my future. How was I going to prevent this from happening again if I don’t even know what went wrong? If y’all don’t recall, I was still at Le Coin at this time. Working in the kitchen was difficult on my body in many ways: standing for hours at a time, constantly reaching for things too high for me, carrying heavy things, stressful mornings running brunch, and worst of all—the heat. Steven and I knew in our hearts we wanted to try again. I knew in my heart I was meant to be a mother. We’ll never have the answers as to why it happened, but it was time for a change. Restaurants would never be a healthy environment for me to successfully carry through with a pregnancy. I gave them a month’s notice and did my best to leave them with all the tools necessary to replace me. (Cause lets be honest…there’s really no replacing Tori hehehe) I was sad at first, but honestly so glad I did it! I found a new job with great benefits and is less taxing on my body. Fast forward to December 4th—I hadn’t had a period all of November. This was strange since the previous two cycles after my miscarriage were exactly the same day a month apart. COULD IT BE?? Test time. You can imagine our elation and surprise when we discovered we were pregnant again! (Photo pictured above) Since I had changed jobs and was on a different insurance plan, I had to make the difficult decision of finding a new gynecologist which meant a small wait as a new patient. There’s also the required wait until at least 8 weeks to have my first sonogram. This was EXCRUCIATING. I felt panicked and nervous and impatient. After researching and finding a doctor (Dr. Coad), setting an appointment, and waiting until the proper gestational period——January 17, 2025 we found out our baby was not only measuring at 11 weeks…but it had arms? AND LEGS? AND A HEARTBEAT!!!! *cue waterworks* Now here we are, sharing the sunshine after our storm. We hope you enjoy being able to follow along as much as we are enjoying this creative way of getting to share. We love you and have updates coming sooner than you think!