The dogs have something to tell you......

Yep, they speak the truth! 

We are indeed pregnant. If you are a close friend or family member you know that we have been trying for a little over 3 years and have suffered 5 miscarriages. Apparently we have a winner in lucky number 6! We are due in early November. This is the farthest we have made it in any of our pregnancies. I'm not gonna lie....I worry everyday that I will lose this one too. But so far our ultrasounds and tests have all come back with positive news. Our doctor says if you make it past 12 weeks with a heartbeat that our chance of miscarriage goes down considerably. We had some genetic tests done last week checking for Down's Syndrome and a couple of other conditions. I got the word today that those came back negative. Hooray and thank you God!! I know the rest is out of my hands so I'm trying to stay positive and stay healthy. Nathan is of course cautious but excited. 

Our ultrasound at 8 weeks checking for viability. We both went to this doctor appointment with heavy hearts hoping we see good news. We've been through at least 3 viability ultrasounds before to end up getting bad news. I was hopeful as this was the first pregnancy that I have actually had any 'morning sickness'. I was pretty nauseous weeks 6-9 and completely lost my appetite...which if you know me well is VERY abnormal for me! I'm always thinking about food! But the image above popped up on the screen and we saw the flicker of the heart and my exact words were 'Holy Shit! We actually have a heartbeat!' The ultrasound tech kind of looked at me funny. 

Also, if you know me well...I'm not into mushy expressions of emotion...so I told my parents and brother via email.  Well...the dogs told them too...

My mother was at the eye doctor when she checked her email...and started crying in the waiting room. She said...'at first i thought the dogs were having a baby but I knew that wasn't possible...so I was confused!' lol! I think she would have preferred a phone call....but I just couldn't handle all the questions at that point. 

So we went to the University of Iowa last week for more genetic testing and another ultrasound which all looked normal. So it looks like as of now we are full steam ahead! We do plan on finding out the sex and will let everyone know soon! 

Head and arm...13 weeks

Baby at 13 weeks....about 7 cm long

feet!

Keep positive thoughts and prayers coming our way! 

Rolex 2013

So a couple of weeks ago I took a girls trip with Nathan's Gma, Aunt and Mom. We drove down to Lexington, KY to attend the Rolex 3 Day Event at Kentucky Horse Park. The horse park is a beautiful place. Nathan and I had gone to this event about 10 years ago when we were in vet school (when Nathan wanted to be a horse vet). After our trip, his grandmother got interested and has been going every year since. Her trip has now evolved into an annual girls trip. 

Kentucky Horse Park

The Rolex is the only 4 star event in the US...which means the top riders in the country show up and it's quite the party! Spectators and competitors (including the horses) travel from all around the world to compete at Rolex. 

We had tickets in the Patron tent where we had great food and drinks! 

The grandstand where dressage and stadium jumping take place. 

The first day consists of dressage. Dressage has been called ballet on horses. Each horse has to perform the exact same routine and they are judged on how well they respond to the rider and how well they execute each move. They don't ride to any music...the grandstand is very quiet during each test. They start out with about 40-50 horses entered into the competition. Each horse and rider has to qualify to enter Rolex. 

Day 2 consists of the cross country course. The course is about 4 miles long and contains about 27 different jumps and water features. The course claims a lot of victims....horses are eliminated from the competition if a rider falls off or if the horse refuses 3 times to go over a jump. The cross country day is definitely the most exciting day. The course takes about 11 minutes to complete. A four star event means that each jump is as high and as wide as they can be. The jumps are at least 4 feet tall if not taller and the wider jumps can easily be at least 6-7 feet across. 

The horses are inspected each day by the competition veterinarians. They are trotted down and back and evaluated for lameness. If the vets don't pass them as sound, they are eliminated. This is this year's winner- Quimbo. He and his rider were from New Zealand. Apparently it's been a long time since an American won at Rolex. The horses are simply gorgeous and my pictures definitely do not do them justice. These horses are probably worth more than my house!

The third and final day is stadium jumping. Again the jumps are high and wide. There are many difficult combinations and if the horses knock down a rail they are penalized. The horse with the lowest score at the end of the 3 days wins! There were only about 25 horses left competing on the third day. The rider wins a Rolex watch, $80,000 and gets to drive a Land Rover for one year....I'm sure there is more stuff too but those are the highlights!

We had a great time watching the amazing riders, shopping, and just enjoying the scenery of Kentucky Horse Park!