Back in the Saddle!

Before I knew that I was pregnant, I had decided to stop trying for a while. It had been about 20 months of unexplained infertility, and I was tired of constantly waiting. I had always wanted to get back into riding, and a recent trip to Kentucky, which is basically Horse Country, really awoke those feelings in me. I started looking just for fun online for some horses, and I found it odd that my parents kept asking about the progress on the horse search. Finally, I got one of the biggest surprises of my life. My dad told me that he would LOVE to buy me a horse. No strings attached, no paying back-which we couldn't afford, just plain and simple, he and my mom wanted to buy me a horse. Lots of our happiest times were at the barn, getting ready for shows, doing Pony Club events. It was wonderful!

He gave me a price range and the search was on! I found one that looked very promising, but was located in Montana. Not that Montana seems so crazy far for me. Most of my family either grew up there or is still living there. But, for a horse, yeah its kinda far. Then I found one that seemed super promising near Houston, but he was recently a stallion and he was only 4 years old. Translation=crazy man horse. I called my trainer both to tell her the good news and to ask her to come along and take a look at this horse. Then she told me some even better news. 

She had decided to sell HER horse. You see, this horse is one that kind of grew up around the barn while I rode. She seemed like a magical horse. She was beautiful, like a horse from a tack shop catalog. She was HUGE. I have a thing for big horses. And she had been trained her whole life with my trainer. I had always wanted to even just ride her. The best part? Before I even told her my price range that we were looking in, I was told her price. The bottom end of my range. It was like it was meant to be!

I had a 3 day weekend coming up at work, so I rode Phaedra (trainer's horse) on Sunday, and scheduled to try the 4 year old on Monday. The ride with Phaedra went as to be expected, awesome. But, I had made rash decisions before when purchasing a horse, and I didn't want to do the same here. I rode the other one and was really excited about it. He was a really pretty cremello color, which looks like gold in the sunlight. He was young, so there was the potential to get trained together, where as with Phaedra I would be the one getting trained, she would be the expert. I would feel like I was cheating in the show arena! 

I rode the cremello and he was NOT what I was expecting! He was very hard to get going, which is the exact opposite of what I had expected! He was smooth, and super sweet, but I just felt more at 'home' on Phaedra. Even my mom mentioned that the cremello seemed like a horse that she would ride (she likes a little slower, dependable, easy going horse... one that needs a whip and spurs to move forward from the walk).

A decision was made on Phaedra, and I began taking lessons right away after the vet gave her a clean bill of health. I was so excited to get back in the saddle! I was already planning on a few shows in the spring! 

2 weeks later...

PREGNANT!!!!! Me, not the horse! I rode for another 3 weeks until I went to the doctor, and she really does not want me riding. With this being such a long awaited pregnancy, I was not going to do ANYTHING that may negatively effect the baby. So, I had a good month back in the saddle, and now I am taking a 9 month break! 

Here are a few pictures of me and Phaedra on Thanksgiving:

First big SCARE....

I woke up this morning and started my morning as usual. I turned on the shower to warm up and went to use the bathroom. I found lots of bright red blood. I kept wiping and it kept coming. I woke up Tim, and told him what was happened and that something was wrong. I cried in the shower and prayed harder than I ever have before. I checked again after the shower and was still bleeding so I started googling. Not a great idea.

I called the on call doctor and she said that I could either go into the ER or wait until 8:30, and they would see me there. I decided to head to school to get my classroom ready for a sub, and headed to the doctor to be there at 8:30. Luckily, I have some of the best team members in the world, who listened to me cry, prayed for me and the baby, and helped get my classroom ready for the day.

Tim met me over there and we waited for the ultrasound. We were both so relieved to see that our little baby has grown even more, has longer arms and legs now, and was very active! The doctor also took a look at me, and luckily the bleeding had stopped by then. It is so hard to relax and be happy after you are so worked up! I was very tired from worry and crying, and was happy to hear the doctor say that I should rest.

I do NOT want another scare like this, and I will pray every minute for the health and safety of our baby!

So this post doesn't end on a somber note, we did have a few positives! We got an extra ultrasound, yay! When I went to pay, I was expecting a $100 bill for the ultrasound, but we already met the deductible because of the crazy pay for delivery in advance at my doc's office, so I was ELATED when I only had to pay $19. I am going to beg for one very time!

13 weeks!

At 13 weeks, the Monday before Thanksgiving, Tim and I had another appointment. This one was for out NT scan, which tests for Downs Syndrome and a few other disorders. Of course, I was totally positive, thinking our risk must be really low, and the day of, all I can think of is, OMG- they are going to see a huge nuchal fold!

Baby Thompson actually had a very small nuchal fold, only 1.1 mm. They consider up to 2.5 healthy and anything over that is when risks go up. I also got brave and asked the ultrasound tech if she would take a peek at the gender. She did, and she thought she saw..... a girl! I was overjoyed and Tim was in a little bit of denial. He would be so happy with a little girl, but he has made all of these mental plans for a little boy! Of course, we still have not purchased anything for either gender because we are trying to be realistic and know that 13 weeks is super early for a gender guess!

I acted like a big baby for the finger prick which is the second part of the NT scan, but luckily Tim was there to hold my hand!

We were so thrilled to see our baby bouncing around, kicking and punching in his or her little sac! The heartbeat was a strong 167 bpm. Tim took a video on his phone, but when it gets enlarged the image is a tad distorted! Now I am always stealing his phone to watch our baby. I am in love. I LOVE my little growing family!