The Long Awaited "Announcement"

That's right....

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

I am almost 15 weeks along, and the baby is due around June 26. We've been trying to get pregnant for 3 years now, so we are VERY excited.

(Clearest ultrasound we have. 11 weeks. Round object on top is the head. Two dark circles in head are the two hemispheres of the brain. White marks are the cheekbones and jawline. You can also make out profile of eyes and nose. Possibly hand at mouth, getting ready to suck finger!)

Since many of you or your friends have experienced infertility, I'll tell our story. Otherwise, you can stop reading here and just scroll through the pictures. This is a really long post, mostly for me and posterity's sake, so don't feel obligated to read.

Accepting Infertility

Even before we went off birth control, I had a feeling that I would have some fertility issues. So I made a personal commitment, of which I kept, to never get depressed about our infertility. Every time that we prayed or fasted about getting pregnant, we always felt that there was no need to worry, everything was in the Lord's hands and timing. So we remained very patient (although the same can't be said for our parents, haha.) And even though it seemed like ALL of our friends were having their first and second and even third babies without us, we weren't in any super rush to get pregnant.

I guess you can say my teaching job helped keep me from getting too worried about it, as evil as some may think that sounds. But truly, I can't imagine getting pregnant any sooner than now. I know from many personal witnesses that the Lord has guided me in my career and I have specific missions on earth to fulfill with teaching other children. So I know that there are many divine reasons why we have not become pregnant until now.

Getting Help

After about 1 1/2 years, I got this awesome book called Taking Control of Your Fertility. And I learned so much about my body and I learned to chart my cycles. Then, this past summer we felt it was time to get some professional help (by this point it was more than 2 1/2 years of trying). We got tested and to my surprise, everything came out normal.

Right before one of the tests (called the HSG), I asked Jeremy to give me a blessing because the procedure involved shooting die up into my uterus. In the blessing, I was told that Heavenly Father was aware of our desires and this procedure was the right thing to do in going forward.

This test also came out normal, so we weren't really sure what to do. We basically had "unexplained infertility." There were several options like clomid, in vitro, or adoption, but school started before we got a chance to sit down with our doctor to discuss them. The only thing I knew was that I personally did not want to give myself shots in order to get pregnant.

An Unexpected Discovery

Shortly after the HSG procedure, I had my first normal cycle. This was the first time in years! I started thinking that maybe I wasn't charting my cycles correctly and I probably ovulate every few months. But the next cycle seemed back to my usual 38-42 day length. This took us to the end of October, where I was on day 44, still no period. I remember telling Jeremy, "I don't know what my body is up to! I guess the normal cycle was just a fluke. I'm obviously very infertile." Day 45, day 46 and still no period!

Finally Jeremy suggested we take a pregnancy test. I didn't really want to since I knew it would just say no again. Plus, what if it was positive? Then our whole lives would change! Was I ready for it? Of course I was, we obviously have wanted this for a long time. But was I really ready!?!

(ultrasound at 7 weeks)

The test came out positive. But it was a really faint line. So we waited until the next day to take another test. It came out positive again! Still in partial disbelief, we called our fertility doctor. He asked me the day of my last period and figured I must be 7 weeks pregnant! He ordered-literally ordered- me into his office the next day. Sure enough, there was our little pinto bean baby! We were 7 weeks, and 1 day pregnant!

Making Sense of it All

We started rewinding our lives to figure out when the baby was conceived. Now it made sense why I was craving comfort foods like mac&cheese, PB&J, hot dogs and even spaghetti O's, of which I hadn't eaten since I was 6 years old! And now I knew why I was SO exhausted at work all the time and emotionally unlike myself.

Also, it was pretty obvious that the HSG procedure is what allowed me to get pregnant. Actually, it is quite common for women to conceive 2-3 months after this procedure. So we knew from the priesthood blessing that God's hands were in this entire process.

So our fertility doctor tracked us every week to make sure things "stuck." Even though we had to be at his office at 6:30 AM every Monday morning, it was worth it because we got to see 6 consecutive weeks of ultrasounds! We heard the heart beat at 11 weeks and graduated from the fertility clinic at 12 weeks.

(ultrasound at 10 weeks)

Now that I am in my second trimester, I feel a lot better. No more feeling nauseous at lunchtime everyday. Now we have an OB, but are looking for a good midwife and birth center/hospital that we feel will support a natural birth. As Jeremy puts it, I want to go "hippie" style with our birth.

(Green top: 10 weeks

Red top: 12 weeks)

This experience has taught (or re-taught) me a few important things:

1) When we do what's right and trust in God's timing and wisdom, He will not let us down. He can't because He has promised us that He won't, and God cannot lie.

2) God has his own timeline and plan for each family and each couple. It is not our place to compare or judge.

3) Heavenly Father understands our individual needs perfectly. He knew that Jeremy and I needed to grow in certain ways (personally and as a couple) before becoming parents.

4) Love for your spouse grows stronger through challenging times. Many times Jeremy and I would ask each other, "If we can't get pregnant because of me, will you still love me? Will you feel cheated in this marriage if I can't bear you a child?" And every time we would answer the other with true love and compassion, "I will always love you, no matter what! I married you because of who you are, and whether or not you're fertile won't change that."

5) There are a lot of righteous women in the Bible who could not get pregnant. What great examples they are of having faith in the Lord and enduring to the end!

6) Being married without kids is a precious, precious time. We are so blessed to have had so much fun together as a couple. We will be married for almost 5 years when the baby is born. This is a special gift of time for us that we have never taken lightly. Now that a baby is on the way, we are starting to wonder where all the time went!!

7) Adoption is an amazing thing. If we didn't get pregnant by the New Year, we would have started to enroll in adoption agencies. And we still plan on adopting children in the future.

8) Our bodies are amazing, and conceiving a child is truly a miracle! No matter what this pregnancy brings (as we are still aware of the possibility of miscarriage) we are grateful that we have had the opportunity to conceive a child! No matter what happens, because of temple blessings, this baby will always be ours!!

Pacific Coast Road Trip

We took the long and scenic route to Sacramento this December. We spent 4 days and 3 nights along the PCH. It was a wonderful trip!

Monday: Headed to Santa Barbara after work. Luckily no traffic the whole way. Stayed in a darling guest house with homemade banana nut bread. Watched TV!! (we don't have TV anymore, so that was a treat).

Tuesday: Lunch in Old Town Santa Barbara. Explored an old Catholic Mission, which was surprisingly fascinating and educational. Jeremy and I keep realizing how nerdy we are because we keep finding ourselves liking historical things! Continued our drive up the coast through pretty orchards and hills. Minimal rain. Paid $27 for a medium pizza (the lowest point of the vacation). Watched TV and enjoyed our private, real fireplace.

Wednesday: Enjoyed green rolling hills, enchanted trees and the misty weather--felt like England. Spent almost 2 hours watching the wild elephant seals on the beach. Great free entertainment! They were bellowing, fighting, mating, sleeping, snoring, scratching, nursing, and birthing. Incredible!

Then, we went on a tour of Hearst Castle. It was like a trip to a fairy tale.

Thursday: Spent more time with the elephant seals--couldn't get enough of them! Headed to Monterey with sunshine and clear skies. Had to keep stopping to take pictures of the GORGEOUS views of the ocean and cliffs. Spotted several whales blowing out in the ocean. Could have spent the whole day stopping and watching along the PCH.

Then, we explored the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Most fascinating to me were the cuttlefish (kind of like mini octopus that kept changing color), the jellyfish, and the kelp (seaweed). Jeremy had to drag me away from the kelp booth because I overstayed my welcome with a few too many questions...but I couldn't help myself! Kelp has to be the most fascinating seaweed there is. It grows 12-24 inches a day and the holdfast (roots) contains almost all the necessities of life for the entire ecosystem. And kelp only grows in moving water, is used in ice cream and toothpaste... okay... I'm getting carried away again, sorry!

We made it to Sacramento by Thursday night, with enough time to visit family before going to bed. What an awesome vacation for just the two of us before the Christmas festivities!

Thanksgiving Highlights

We were in Sacramento for Thanksgiving, which featured:

• All 5 Zavoral kids together
• Decorating church Christmas trees as a family
• Lots of meals out- including Spaghetti factory with Granma Ginny and cousins
• Boys playing basketball
• Katie got engaged to Steve Garrett
• Football bowl on Thanksgiving day with hot chocolate
• Family "howling" contest with Cody (the family dog)
• Big turkey dinner at Gramma Davidson's house
• Pie party at Brian Hill's house
• Wii sports games
• Pancake breakfast made by Jeremy and Steve
  

What Happened?

This is what our back door looked like on Friday afternoon when Jeremy came home from his business trip. Submit your guess to what happened. The person that is closest to being correct will be the winner!

The Interview

Interviewer: Jeremy

Interviewee: SarahLynn

Question: So SarahLynn, it's been a while since you've blogged about anything. What is your post going to be about?

Answer: Well, nothing has really happened to us in the last few weeks. I've literally just been at work, and you are always at work or school. So there is nothing really interesting to post about.

Q: Well, why don't you tell them about the shows you are directing at school?

A: I don't think people want to hear about that.

Q: Well, they might. What's your show about that you are doing this Wednesday?

A: Oh, it's the 2nd grade show, called DinoStars. It's going to be SO cute. The kids basically sing and dance about dinos, and they will each be dressed up like a different dinosaur.

Q: Cool! Who makes all the costumes?

A: The parents do. It's really great because it makes each child look unique, and it's one less thing I have to worry about.

Q: What about the next show?

A: Well, two weeks after Dinostars, the 4th graders will be doing a play I wrote called Gold Fever.

Q: Wait, YOU wrote it? I thought you've been buying all those kids' musicals. Other people can write the plays you know.

A: Yeah, I know. I bought two different gold rush plays, but neither of them were that great. So I took what was best from each play and then kind of meshed them together to fit my own artistic preferences. It's probably not legal, so don't tell anybody.

Q: By the way, where were you Friday night?

A: Oh! I was at the 8th grade girl over-night bonding trip!!! I got to be one of the chaperones. We stayed at this huge mansion on a hill in Orange. There were 19 girls, and they gave me hand massages and braided my hair.

Q: Didn't you make them wear you underwear or something?

A: Huh?

Q: You said earlier that they were passing around your bra and trying it on?

A: You're making me sound like a pedophile! Okay. It's kind of long story. All the girls were sitting in a circle confessing who they liked. Then they decided to confess their bra sizes to each other. When they asked me, I honestly didn't know because I haven't shopped for bras in like years. So one extra spunky girl volunteered to go get my bra and check my size. When she came back, she had gotten both mine and another teacher's bra and put them on over her PJ's!! It was hysterical! Then, a bunch of other girls passed around the bras and tried them on. It was late at night. Haha.

Q: 8th grade girls are kinda insane.

A: Not as much as the 8th grade boys. Luckily, they went fishing with the principal.

Q: So, who are you voting for on Tuesday?

A: Uh....I'm just gonna vote for all the people you vote for. I don't really have time to learn about each candidate.

Q: You should at least know about the education candidates.

A: Oooo. Good point. I don't trust you on that subject. Okay, let me get out of this blog window so we can do some research on those guys.

Project Bandaloop

We found a free performance at the OC Fine Arts Center last week. It was a show where people dance outside, on the side of a building, hanging from ropes! They call themselves project bandaloop. It was really cool!

We were able to make a triple date out of it, so that was an added plus. We haven't done a group date in a really long time, so it was definitely a hallmark in our social life!

Seriously, how cool is this? I want to learn how to dance while hanging from buildings, too!

Laguna Wilderness Hike

Last week, we joined Jeremy's MBA friends on a hike through Laguna Beach Wilderness. The hike was short-5.5 miles- but it was 108 degrees out that day, with no shade on the entire trail. Plus, the night before the hike I got 3rd place in my school's teacher-pie-eating contest (out of 26!), so that made it pretty interesting.

Even though it was boiling, we had fun and there were wonderful views of rolling hills with deserty wildlife. When we made it to the hill that overlooked the beach, it was so relieving! We hiked into town and ate lunch together at a yummy restaurant.

Can you see Jeremy's beard in this picture (above)? He grew it out for an entire week to see exactly where his beard line is. Since he's a "ginger," his hair grows in red, and it has a funny pattern to it. Here's a closer picture for you to see the areas where the hair grows long and where he has what we call "desert patches."

ships, bouquets and cousins

Our Saturday, we began our trip with a tour on the USS Midway. Mom and Dad R were in town for the wedding, so they came with us and some of Jeremy's friends from work. It was really, really cool. I can't believe how huge the thing is and how they were able to get planes to take off and land on that thing. The craziest part is how they cram all the military guys into the ship. I would never be able to do that.

It was funny to see them show planes and ship technology from 1991...as if it was ancient artifacts.
There was so much to see and learn! I wish we could have stayed on the ship longer, but we had to go to a wedding!

The wedding was for a distant cousin on my mom's side. It was really nice, on a beach in la Jolla. The best part is that- thanks to Uncle Lyman- my cousin Amanda was there!! She has always been one of my favorite cousins because of her spunk and energy. I still laugh out loud thinking about her as a four-year-old sauntering around grandma's backyard, purposefully being sassy and silly all at the same time. Too cute! Anyway, Amanda has truly become a beautiful young woman. She is SO ambitious and proactive. It was awesome to catch up with her!! I love you Amanda!!!

books, projects and possibilities

Jeremy and I have officially made it through two weeks of craziness with the new school year. Other than me not coming home from work before 8:30pm, things are going pretty well. I've still managed to make us nice meals for lunch. I make 5 meals on Sunday and put them in lunch packs for the week. And I've kept up on laundry and housecleaning, so that's super!

Jeremy is in full swing with his MBA program. He is currently taking 3 classes: microeconomics, financial accounting, and management communications. He goes to class TTH nights and works with his group of classmates for projects and homework assignments on Fri&Sat.

He's been learning about some neat businesses, and today he read a chapter about the effects of child labor in developing countries. Now he is pretty convinced it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be!

This week, things might get crazier because my new Children's Chorus will start. I have a whopping 62 students that have agreed to come before school to rehearse as a choir! We will meet 3 days a week, 40 minutes before school starts. The student hype is really huge, but several teachers are very doubtful the kids will stick with it. (I just love how supportive people can be sometimes, don't you?) We'll just have to prove them wrong! Granted some students will drop out, but I'm still really excited, trying to stay realistic with my goals, and overall just really gitty about the possibilities that such a huge chorus could have at our school! Please wish me and the students luck!

Getting Publicity

Since I was hired at my school, I've been very fortunate to have multiple articles in the press about the music program that I've built. It's a wonderful opportunity to be a part of it! I've had two neat appearances most recently...

In July, an article in the Orange County Register was written about a Preschool Music Event that I helped host at our school. You can click here to read it.

This September, in the Orange County Family Magazine, an article that I wrote was published on page 84!! It's an advertorial section called "Experts Speak Out." Don't get too excited for me, as "advertorial" means that our business paid the magazine to put the article there, but it's still pretty neat to see my words in print. The school marketing director said that she wanted me to be featured. That's quite a compliment considering there are 9 music teachers that teach at all of our school's campuses. Below is the page with a picture of my students and me drumming, and the text of the article. Enjoy!

Experts Speak Out

Music Boosts Brainpower

SarahLynn Zavoral is the Music Specialist at {school name removed by blogger}. She holds a BA in Elementary Music Education from Brigham Young University and has many years of experience sharing her love of music with children of all ages.

I have the best job in the world because I get to bring children joy through music! Children need the freedom to sing, dance, bang on a drum, and express themselves through music. It helps them grow socially and emotionally and does amazing things for the brain and for learning.

When children learn to read music, keep in time with beat, and improvise new melodies, they are developing literacy skills, mathematical skills, and problem solving skills. Scientists have discovered that when a musician is playing his or her instrument, multiple areas throughout the brain are highly engaged—a feat that few other activities can accomplish.

The music program at {school name} focuses on developing music literacy through joyful musical experiences. In our sound proof studio, students in JK-8^th grade sing, dance, and play a variety of percussive instruments, including our Orff xylophones and 20 African drums. Students also read, write, dictate, and compose musical rhythms and melodies.

While many public and even private schools are eliminating regular music instruction, our program is growing. This year, we are excited to start our first children’s chorus, which is already 50 students strong.

As a parent, you can greatly influence your child’s musical growth. Here are five simple ways to get started.

1. Spend 10 minutes a day singing folk songs, lullabies, or religious songs with your child. Children who are sung to are more likely to develop acute listening and singing skills, making it easier for them to read music and play instruments.

2. Create a music playlist for listening to in the car. Include selections from all genres, especially classical music and children's folk songs. Avoid music that substitutes real instruments for electronic sounds.

3. Sign yourself up for instrumental lessons. If you want your child to learn to play an instrument, the best thing you can do is set the example for your child by learning to play that instrument.

4. After you've set the example, a great time for your child to start piano lessons is in first grade or when your child can read. Make sure your child has opportunities to improvise and create his own songs at every level of instruction. This will help keep him motivated.

5. Enroll your child in a school that offers music education as part of the school day or choose an after-school program that offers developmentally appropriate music instruction.