Our Journey to Baby Bishop

Fair warning...this is LONG, but I promise I made it as short as possible!
Many of you probably know all or most of this, but I feel like I need to start at the beginning.
On October 11, 2010 our lives changed forever...our first positive pregnancy test!  We had only been trying for a couple of months, but if you know me at all you know patience is not one of my strong points.  I was so excited and overwhelmed as was Marty.  The next morning (again with the patience thing) we went to the Dr. and our pregnancy was confirmed via blood work and an ultrasound.  We told our family that day!  The next day we were overjoyed...however, everything changed on Thursday.  With early pregnancy, the way to tell that things are progressing correctly is to check HCG levels 48 hours apart.  The levels should double, ours did not.  Devastation kicked in.  The Dr. reassured us that it was still early and sometimes this could be normal...I never had a good feeling about it.  Anyway, after many, many, many, many more blood draws it was determined that our beautiful pregnancy was a blighted ovum.  I choose to refer to it as a "failed pregnancy" because that was and still is easier for me to deal with, but all in all it is a very common type of miscarriage that can't be prevented or predicted.  Boo:-(  We thought our journey would soon end, but we were very wrong.  We wanted to avoid surgery if possible, but after many medicines, procedures, etc...we ended up having to have a DNC on March 3, 2011.  The whole ordeal seemed to drag on and on and on and on...but looking back I know God had a hand in every aspect.  We had so much time to grieve and deal with things before the surgery that the surgery really brought us a sense of peace to know that this hard but beautiful chapter of our lives could finally close. 

With all of that said, I now am trying very hard to be more patient and trust in God's timing and plan.  It is so hard because my maternal instincts are crazy strong, but I know that God will bless us with the child meant for us at the time He so deems appropriate and how could I hope for anything different!

Now to the good part!
On May 8, 2011 I was not feeling so well, I thought I was coming down with a cold or some sort of sinus business (that would've been nice...we'll get to that in a bit).  Anyway, in a moment of self pity, I decided to take a pregnancy test...it was Mother's Day, and I decided if I was pregnant I should at least get to know.  Much to my surprise it was Positive!
I immediately ushered Marty in, held up the "stick", and said "Happy Mother's Day to ME!".  Then of course I cried.  We were both elated! 
The next morning I went to the Dr. about my "cold"...turns out it was shingles!  Who would've guessed?  We also went to the baby Dr. and our pregnancy was confirmed with blood work and an ultrasound.  This time was very different...I was still terrified but I have always had a sense of peace that wasn't there before.  So, to skip some details...everything is going great!  The shingles (that were on my face by the way) cleared up in about a week...both Dr.s said it was probably my body responding to the pregnancy...a small price to pay in my book!  And, more importantly our beautiful little baby is doing great!  Here is our first picture...it was love at first sight, and we fall more and more in love each moment!  God is so good!