Are we having a GIRL or BOY?? 90% chance Baby Yonkel is a...

Shout out to Emily Miner for making this AMAZING cake that we used to tell my Senior High Orchestra students if we are having a boy or a girl!

And then comes baby.

I found out I was pregnant the day before my grandfather passed away. Later, we would learn our April 17th due-date was one-day before my grandfather's birthday!

I had taken a pregnancy test, and was surprised to see it wasn't just a little-bit positive, but that it was blaring positive. I was kind of in shock and I remember yelling to Scott "Oh my gosh, I think we're pregnant!" Folks, I have never seen my husband run faster in his life. The first thing Scott said when he saw the test was "Quick! Pee on some more tests!" So, three tests later, we were pretty sure I might be pregnant.

My grandfather, Zaydie Alvin had been in hospice for many weeks, and knowing he was at the end of his life, at that moment, all I wanted to do was to go be with him, even if he couldn't talk or was even aware we were there with him. So, Scott and I drove over and spent most of the evening with my Zaydie and my family that stayed there. He passed away the next day. I made an appointment with the Dr. office on Monday, and just after confirming I was indeed VERY pregnant, I headed over to Hodroffs to be with my family as we made funeral arrangements.

I honestly can't remember if it was the day of the funeral or the day before, but I returned to the Dr. office for another blood draw. Not only was I VERY pregnant, but my levels of HCG (the pregnancy hormone) had exponentially increased and were off the charts... as in measuring at a woman who was 6 weeks pregnant. The Dr. told us that it might be likely that we were carrying multiples.

Our first ultrasound was at 7 weeks, 3 days! The nurse showed us a baby with a beautiful heartbeat, and we were over the moon! Then, the nurse said "Oh, we're not done... here's the other one!" I'm pretty sure I said "What?" about three times before it clearly went through my head that we were pregnant with twins! We were lucky enough to see both heartbeats again at 8 weeks, 2 days.

But then, tragedy struck. At our 11 week appointment, only one heartbeat could be found. The other baby was doing wonderful, but we were devastated. We had lost "Baby B" to genetic complications. As sad as we were, we were still so thankful to have a healthy "Baby A" and we moved forward as best we could during a bittersweet time. Over the next 4 weeks I was monitored very often and was on a no-anything other than sleeping, short shower, 4-6 hours of bed rest/day, and work IF I agreed to lead rehearsals sitting down. In the meantime, I learned having to slow down was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. We are currently waiting on a series of genetic tests for Baby A, but things are looking good.

We wanted to tell everyone so badly what was going on in our lives... but we wanted to wait to make sure things were going OK first. I was worried my students would figure out I was pregnant as I wore baggier, and baggier clothing as my stomach became obviously round with a baby. For the first time in my life, I prayed people would just think I had been having some stress eating.

But, the days went by, and soon enough, we were (Thank G-d!) out of the first trimester. We had a series of follow-up appointments, and with everything looking great, we decided it was time to make "Baby Yonkel" public. We decided we would tell our close family and friends first, then the night of my first concert (The Halloween Benefit Concert), I would tell students by wearing the shirt to the right. It was a pretty exciting announcement telling my orchestra students! There was a series of excited screaming, followed by hugs, and my favorite comment "You mean, were having an ORCHESTRA BABY?!!" It was such a blessing to be able to share joy in this pregnancy with others!

So, for now, we leave you with a picture of "Baby Yonkel" which we've titled "Lounging Baby" and a picture of my ever-expanding belly from almost 15 weeks!

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