And here she is...

Here is the beautiful result of our infertility journey! Thank you so much for all your love and prayers! We have been blessed!

Our little Eva Gloria Martins. Born March 31, 2011! She is a perfect fit in our little family!

Lots and lots of love!

Niki

Free Mini-Family Sessions!

Go to my new and improved web-site for details ;)

http://www.nikimartins.com/general/2-free-mini-family-sessions-and-a-brand-new-website/

Lots of love,

Niki

Here they are...

I was able to set up my camera on my tri-pod and have Flavio help with the pushing of the button :) They turned out cute I think.

Two more weeks to go! Yay!

lol

niki

Advice...

So, I have to admit, I am stressing out a little here. March is in less than a week and I am not sure how I am going to really do this...3 kids? I am wondering if any of you have some good advice when it comes to having 3 small children, one of them being a newborn. I don't have any family close by...so, relying on family is out. I have a few really nice neighbors, but they all have their own families to take care of and it is really hard to call on anyone else but family in my mind. My mom will be coming for just a few days when i have the baby to help, but she works for the school district and can't get very much time off. Flavio will stay home as long as he can as well, but his position is such that he can't be away too long.... Now I am not trying to have a pity party, although some days I do, but I will really be on my own soon after having this baby and want to know how to handle 3 in such a way that I don't turn into a crazy, scary mommy :)

Please let me know your thoughts.

Lots of love,

Niki

Time

It is amazing how time becomes a bullet train when you are trying to get so much done! We are so excited for this little girl to come and I cannot believe how fast the time is flying! I went to the doctor yesterday (I am at my every two week appointments now) and our little Eva has already turned! Meaning, her head is down and she is getting ready to come out :) We are scheduled to be induced on March 31st! It is funny, Flavio is so nervous for me. He is always asking if I am scared about having Eva...going through the delivery and labor and such. I'm not. I feel pretty excited actually. I know there are a plethora of things that could go wrong, but I feel more excited than scared. He says he would be crying already and would want the doctor to just knock him out for the whole thing :) Honestly, I am not one who wants to feel the whole thing, so I will be getting an epidural as soon as possible, but having Hannah was amazing and I can't wait to hold this little bundle of joy in my arms!

LOL

Niki

Belly time

So, as my pregnancy has continued to progress, I am once again amazed at how a woman's body is able to grow a human being. It is amazing that our internal organs are able to get squeezed and moved and logged into areas that I know are not natural (at least they don't feel natural). Yet, our little babies are able to snuggle themselves right into our middle area and live for a full 9 months! It is truly a miracle and I feel so blessed that I have been able to experience this transformation at least one more time in this life. As uncomfortable as I am getting...there is nothing more amazing than feeling my baby girl move and grow inside of me. I love her so much already and in only 9 short weeks, I will have her in my arms! Hooray! I am now 30 weeks pregnant! And this is what 30 weeks looks like...

I do plan on doing some "real" maternity pics...It is just a little tricky when I am doing them myself. So more to come! As I grow and grow and grow....

Taking things for granted...

Now, I know this may sound like I am going to get all mushy and sentimental...because I do tend to take many of my blessing for granted. However, right now I am suffering with a head-cold. My head hurts, my nose is a permanent drain (where does all that stuff come from anyway?) and my throat is all itchy and dry. Which brings me to my title: the one thing I wish I could do right now and that I know I take for granted when I am not pregnant, is take some REAL medicine that would knock me out and dry my nose up.

But alas, I cannot. So I am stuck trying all the "natural" remedies and blowing my nose until it is raw.

However, I will admit, the reason I can't take the medicine is totally worth it. :)

lol

Niki

P.S. Does anyone want to see belly pictures? Or is that just weird?

Not sure...

...If anyone is still listening, but I thought I would write a few words. I am 29 1/2 weeks pregnant! That is almost 7 months pregnant. I will be starting my 8th month next week! The last few weeks have been filled with sleepless nights, lots of eating and a big, growing belly :)

I have also had the urge to purge. I am tackling one closet and drawer at a time...Flavio helping along the way. I hope to have gone through, thrown away and given up everything that I haven't used, seen or missed for over a year. It is such an emotional cleansing.

Hope everyone is well and that you are having a wonderful New Year.

LOL

Niki

5 months!

I am officially starting my 6th month of pregnancy! I can't believe it! This pregnancy has gone by so fast.

I am really starting to show now, which makes me excited. I think I will take a few pictures and show my progression from here on out. It takes me about 5 months before you can really see my belly (one of the good things about being tall) but for me I can't wait to show off my belly, so I wish I would show earlier. :(

Baby Eva is moving around like a little bouncy ball inside my belly. She has even let Flavio and Hannah feel her kick! I love this time of being pregnant! We are so very happy and feel so very blessed! And I am starting to get the "nesting" bug, so my house better watch out!

Lol

Niki

Has it sunk in?

Many of you know that I have two crazy, but adorable little girls who are the sunshine of my life. When we went to go see what this baby was going to be, I will admit, I was hopeful for a boy. There are a few reasons for this, first, it would be nice to have a boy due to the fact that I am an only child and happen to be a girl, we have only had girls, so on my side of the family we have never experienced a baby boy. Second, having babies is not an easy task for us...so with this little bundle of joy being a boy, being "done" would have been a lot easier to deal with...now we are not so sure we are done. Third, the only dream I have ever had of having a child, is about a boy. So it seemed logical to me that we would be having a boy sooner than later...well, as most of us know, our way does not usually match God's way. :)

So, when the ultrasound tech finally got around to telling us that we were going to have another girl, I thought for sure that I was going to be totally disappointed. But I wasn't. I was thrilled...and shocked. But thrilled. And now the idea that I will be having 3 daughters has really sunk in. I am thrilled for and envious of them. I hope that they are best friends. I hope that as they get older and have their own families they will have each other to call, to go out with and help one another. There are MANY days I wish I had that. Therefore, I am very excited that they will have not one, but two sisters to call on and share their experiences with.

I am so excited to have this little baby girl and we are doubly excited and blessed that she is healthy and strong. She is exactly where she needs to be in measurement and health. She is getting more and more active and I love feeling those little bumps and pushes. And I love how every day, Hannah wants to see my stomach and every day she tells me how huge I am :) I am grateful I get to share this experience with my girls. And although Hannah was the most vocal when it came to sharing her feelings at the ultrasound..."But I wanted a boy!" she shouted, as soon as the announcement of a another girl was made. (I think she was confused in the idea that we get to choose what we want.) But she is very excited now and prays for baby Eva every day and night.

Thank you, once again, for being a part of this journey with us. We are thrilled and excited. We are already half way and so in just a short 20 weeks, I will have my third miracle baby in my arms. And I can't wait.

Lots of love,

Niki

And we are having...

A GIRL!!!!!!

We are very excited!

And the winner of the contest is Arianne!

Congratulations!

Lots and lots of love,

Niki

Contest

So I am not usually into these types of things, but I thought why not? So I want to see what everyone thinks I am having...if you guess right and you are the number we pick from a drawing, I will give away a mini photo shoot for Christmas cards. This would only be a family picture with no singles, but you would get a CD with a few photos to choose from! For free! So let the guessing begin!

(You must be in Utah or Salt Lake Counties to win)

End date for this will be November 12, 2010!

LOL

Niki

Technology

I love that technology is now telling me that my baby really looks like a baby now. He/she can open and close his/her hands, is starting to hear noises and moves all over the place...I have felt a little jolt now and then :)

It is amazing how you can be in love with someone you can't see, really feel or know. But I am in love with this little person and can't wait to meet them :)

lol

niki

Hello

So it has been a few days since I wrote. I am not sure how many people check this blog, but I have appreciated all of the love and comments I have received from so many :)

I am now 13 weeks pregnant! I am still sick with nausea and headaches quite a bit, but I think it should only be a couple more weeks of this and then my second tri-mester...yay! I LOVED my second tri-mester with Hannah.

And in two weeks we get to go to San Diego for a family vacation. I am looking forward to getting away and spending some fun time with the family. I just pray I feel great by then ;)

lol

niki

What a beautiful sound!

So yesterday we had a doctor's appointment. We were able to hear the beautiful little sound of our baby's heartbeat. I forgot how comforting this is. He or she is doing great. We are 11 1/2 weeks, so we have almost made it to our second trimester! Yay! With what I can remember, the second trimester was great. I felt great, I could start to feel the baby and we get to find out what we are having! YAY!

So happy being pregnant!

lol

niki

What a headache...

I have been getting these horrible headaches with this pregnancy...does anyone have any advice for me on how to treat them? I know you can't take anything but Tylenol...which doesn't work. Let me know if there are any safe tricks out there to help :)

lol

niki

Last...but not least...

My last shot is... TODAY!

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am that I have made it this far! We are so blessed. What a journey it has been getting our cute kids. As much as I hate infertility, it has also taught me how to be strong. I have learned so much about my strengths and my weaknesses from this experience. I know that God has helped me through it all.

Thank you for all your love and support! We have loved having you on this journey with us :)

lol

Niki

Count down...

Just a little fun note, I get to stop my progesterone shot September 9th! Hopefully I will feel well enough to go out and celebrate! If not, I guess just not taking another shot will be super enough. :)

I will have taken 53 IMC shots by the time we are done...let me tell you, my hips are feeling it. ouch.

lol

niki

Our little peanut...

And here is a picture of our little peanut.

lol

For sure

So we had our second ultrasound yesterday, as we were not absolute on how many babies were in my tummy. :)

Our first ultrasound showed two sacks and one baby. We were not sure if we just couldn't see the baby yet or whether the little embryo had arrested early on.

This ultrasound showed us our little peanut again, and once again a little empty sack. The sack had grown closer to our little peanut and the doctor said most likely it will just be absorbed into the other placenta.

So, we have ONE, for sure. One little peanut to love and adore. One little peanut to add to the craziness. We are truly excited and grateful for this little miracle.

Lots and lots of love,

niki