36 weeks, 3 days~ Maternity Pictures

I had the hubby take some pictures today of the big ole belly and then I edited them. There aren't a whole lot but I am super happy with them! I never took any "pretty" pictures when I was pregnant with Kameron so this  is something special to document what will probably be my last pregnancy. Enjoy!

36 Weeks!!

Hopefully I will get a picture taken and posted tomorrow at some point. Honestly I'm not liking taking pictures at this point because I'm not feeling my best, but I really want to document how much this belly is growing! And boy is it growing! I seriously feel like I am full term and that he is close to 7 pounds already. This thing is getting hard to tote around all day and still being able to function. I am taking a lot of breaks throughout the day to just sit and sip water because I get wore out so quickly. I have also been instructed that I am not to go anywhere by myself anymore due to more signs of labor and a possible early arrival of Landon. :-/ I am still in shock that we are so close to the end now! :-)

Now the stats:

Total weight gain/loss: 12 pounds. I was up to 14 pounds but lost 2 pounds in a week. I think I was retaining fluid and I have been battling bad nausea again; so this means not so much eating going on.

Maternity clothes? oh course!

Stretch marks? Kind of hard to avoid at this point

Sleep: still kinda blah. I am exhausted so I go to sleep, but I wake up so much to pee it is ridiculous! And of course once I get back in the bed I have to try to go back to sleep only for the whole process to repeat itself in an hour or two. My bladder feels like it is the size of a pea right now. haha

Best moment this week: watching him squirm around in my belly

Movement: his movements are slowing down but definitely becoming more pronounced. My belly always seems to have a lump somewhere on it

Food cravings: Still craving ice. I have been checked for anemia and don’t have it, but goodness I love me some ice! It is soooooo good!!! :-D

Gender: still a boy!!

Labor Signs: most definitely. Dilated to 1 cm now and having contractions all day long. They are nothing consistent at this point but I am even having them sitting down so things are definitely changing.

Belly Button in or out? Half in and half out. I only know this because I asked my hubby. At this point my belly is so low that sadly I can't see my belly button anymore. hahaha

Wedding rings on or off?  On!

What I miss: my bones not hurting. Holy moly does my pelvis hurt!!! My doctor said that Landon is definitely engaged in my pelvis so this is what is causing the majority of my pain. I have a definite waddle going on when I walk now.

What I am looking forward to: having this baby!!! 3 more weeks!!! Or less if he decides to come early.

Weekly Wisdom: rest as much as possible because once the nesting bug hits it is almost impossible to sit still! I was up till 2am last night cleaning my bedroom because it HAD to be done! lol

Milestones: getting this baby out! And getting his room finished. No his room still isn't done but we are getting there!! I hope it is done before he gets here but if it isn't that is okay too since he will be in our room for at least the first 8 weeks anyways.

Eventful Weekend

I will do my best to type here but part of my eventful weekend involves a busted finger so it is hard to type, so I may make some mistakes.

Friday: nothing to big happened. The hubby got off work that morning, took a nap and I hung out with my mom.

Saturday: The hubby and my dad worked on Landon's room. Yay!! So we are making some progress in there. After they were done we decided to hit the road and go to the Premium Outlets in Gaffney, SC. The ride up there was pretty good. We got some good deals and headed home. On the way home we stopped at McDonald's to pick up something to eat. After we got our food, I was trying to get Kameron her sandwich when I dumped all my fries on the floor!! Ugh!!! Shortly after that I tell Freddie that I have to pee and we begin the look for a rest area. Finally the rest area has arrived, at this point I'm about to bust and feeling kinda sick. We park, I slowly get out the car and close the door..........ON MY THUMB!!!!! OMG!!! The worst pain....I scream "OOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHH" and then burst into tears as I open the door to remove my thumb. My thumb has a huge dent in it and the nail is quickly turning colors. awesomeness. my finger throbs all the way home with occasionally sharp, shooting pains in it. When we get home Freddie tries to help me wrap it up so I don't bump it while I'm sleeping, I bump it in the process and end up throwing up from pain. my night is full of awesomeness at this point. Surely my weekend can't get any worse. hahaha

Sunday: wake up with throbbing finger which hinders everything I do. I feel yucky most of the day and even fall asleep on the sofa. I make it through most of the day and we finally get ready for bed about 10pm. As I laid down to go to sleep, I had the most severe pain I have ever had and it was on my c-section incision scar. I was in so much pain that I was crying, sweating, about to pass out and almost threw up. Freddie was scared, I was scared and the pain lasted for 15 minutes. After the pain quit my uterus stayed hard, would not let up and Landon stopped moving. We quickly got Kameron ready and dropped her off at my parent's house and went to the hospital. In the mean time I started having contractions every 3-5 minutes and they were lasting 45 seconds. Got to the hospital and the contractions were showing up on the monitor. They didn't think it was pre-term labor or anything, just irritability and they think my pain was round ligament pain. ooooooooooookkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaay. Whatever....guess I'm an idiot but that was some scary stuff, the worst pain ever and did not feel like round ligament pain. So they gave me a liter of fluid....my contractions spaced out and they sent me home.

That concludes my weekend. As of today I'm still having random contractions and my thumb is worse. Kameron has bumped it twice and the finger is really swollen. So swollen that most of it is numb or tingly. Looks like I'm going to the doctor tomorrow about it. I sure hope I get some relief because this thing is killing me!!!

WE HAVE A DATE!!!

If little man cooperates and we make it; we will be meeting our son on April 9th! :-) My c-section is scheduled for 7:30am that morning. I really, really hope that he sticks to plan and the 9th will be his birthday, but I have come to understand that babies come whenever they are ready. If he wants to come earlier than he will. It is so much more real now that we are in fact having another baby and in 4 weeks he will be here. 4 weeks in general seems like such a short amount of time but it will probably drag by. :-( This week in fact has been super slow. Maybe because I was/am sick and the hubby was on night shift. I sure hope that is why because I might pull my hair out if every week from here on out is this slow! lol

Here is the latest bump picture that was actually taken at my shower last weekend. If I look tired in the picture it is because I was starting to get a sinus infection and didn't know it. :-/ A week later and it is still hanging out; everything takes longer to get over when you are pregnant.

Kameron insisted on being in the picture! And Landon is definitely making his presence known!

New bump picture!

I figured since it has been 8 weeks I should probably take another bump picture. So here it is!!

32 weeks & 2 days!!

32 Weeks!

32 weeks?!?! How did this happen? I can't believe that it is almost time for Landon to be here. There were days that I thought that I would never get here. Some of those days were long but mostly this time has gone by so fast. I feel prepared and also completely unprepared! lol. I feel prepared to have another baby, I kind of know what to expect with a newborn, feel confident in nursing again and not as scared as I was with Kameron. I am completely unprepared as far as having stuff that he needs (clothes, diapers, etc.), what to do with the peepee/weewee when he gets home and how to go from having one child to having two. Of course you can never really be prepared for having a child. I learned that with Kameron! You can have everything you think they need only to realize that you have unnecessary stuff and you don't have everything you need! Now I guess we will get to the stats part! :-)

Stats:

Total weight gain/loss: 10 pounds. I haven’t put on any weight in 2 weeks. The doctor didn’t mention that is was a problem so I won’t complain!

Maternity clothes? oh course!

Stretch marks? just the old ones. lol

Sleep: still blah but at this point in pregnancy it is pretty normal.

Best moment this week: re-watching the video from his 3D ultrasound or as Kameron calls it "Landon's movie". I love to watch him moving, smiling and smacking his lips. So cute!

Movement: this child is so active!! I don't really remember having Kameron hurt me when she would move but boy does he hurt me! I have actually been brought to tears several times because it hurts so bad. He is definitely a mover and a shaker!

Food cravings: I had an insane craving for pizza last night right before I went to bed. I swear I could actually smell the pizza but of course no pizza was in the house. Woke up this morning and the craving is all gone.

Gender: still a boy!!

Labor Signs: yes. Braxton hicks and also real contractions. Ended up back at the doctor because of them and my cervix has changed some. She said that was normal for this gestation age but with Kameron my cervix didn't change until week 38. So contractions combined with a uti equals an irritable uterus; which in turn equals that I need to take it easy and try to do as little as possible. Trying to avoid a baby being in the NICU!

Belly Button in or out? in but super shallow

Wedding rings on or off?  On!

What I miss: seeing my feet!! lol. I trip over stuff all the time because I can't see the ground. Typically Kameron's toys and Kameron herself are what I trip over.

What I am looking forward to: meeting my little guy. Hard to believe that in 7 weeks or less that I will be holding him in my arms. I can't wait to see him, feel him in my arms, smell him, nurse him and see Kameron's face when she meets him for the first time. And since I'm totally about to cry I will stop talking about it right now before I start blubbering! 

Weekly Wisdom: drink water, get rest. Rinse and repeat! Yes, this was my wisdom last time but it remains the same.

Milestones: getting this baby to stay in until full term!! 5 more weeks buddy then you can come whenever you want to until then stay in my uterus!!! lol

Can't escape it.

One thing I have learned through my miscarriage is that there is loss everywhere. Every time I turn around I here another story of someone who has lost a child or children to either miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death. It breaks my heart every.single.time! Today is no different.

In my Social Psychology class we have to post a journal from our weekly activities every Sunday. While I assume we are supposed to document how we view society throughout the week many people have posted about their day to day life. Today was a day that I actually sat down and read some of the entries, today my heart broke for a family that I do not know. One of classmates has been posting about her nephew that was due on March 22nd, she was obviously very excited about his arrival and was even planning the baby shower for her sister. Sadly on Thursday her sister lost the baby. I sobbed as I read her journal, though her words were short you could feel her pain over this loss. She called her nephew their "little king", she even talked how about she got to see him and hold him after he was delivered. She was brave for posting this journal. Many people do not know of stillbirth, many people do not talk about it. I commend her for doing this.

I hate to hear of someone losing their child; this is pain that I wish no one had to experience. Being who I am I sent her a message with my condolences and with a link to Faces of Loss, Faces of Hope. Every time I hear of someone going through a loss I share this site because of the impact it had on my life and still has on my life. It pulled me from my darkest spot and helped me see the light. It has introduced me to many great people.

It gives me great hope that I can still have joy even with the anniversary of my loss quickly approaching. It amazes me every day how much life can change in a year. A year ago I was still newly pregnant, talking about baby names and happily writing in Kameron's journal that she was going to be a big sister. Today I sit here big and pregnant anticipating the arrival of my son. This pregnancy has been hard but is still a blessing. I still have fears, mainly from the knowledge that I have now that things can still go wrong, but I also have faith. I have faith that my beautiful son will arrive healthy. I have faith that everything will be okay. I have come so far in a year, and I am so thankful for the people that have helped me get here.

3D Ultrasound!

We had our 3D ultrasound today and Landon did great!!! He cooperated and we got some great pictures! It is amazing to me how much he favors my daughter. The experience was wonderful even the part where I almost passed out/threw up from laying on my back for too long. All this time I totally thought it was a myth that pregnant women shouldn't lay on their backs because of the pressure it puts on your arteries. Boy was I wrong!!! Luckily the ultrasound tech noticed what was going on and quickly got me sat up, put a cold rag on my neck and got me some cold water. And now without further adieu......my handsome fella!!!

Yep....big ole foot by his head!!! lol

So handsome!!

Then he moved his arms by his head

Smiling!!! :-)

And just for comparison....here is a picture of my daughter's 3D ultrasound..................

I am so incredibly happy today!!! And so incredibly blessed!!!!! I love these 2 children with a love I never knew existed. :-) My smile is so big today!!! :-)

U/S picture

Sweet profile!!

Totally forgot to post this earlier! Here is the latest picture. I can't wait until next week for the 3D ultrasound!! Lawd I hope he cooperates and we get to see his sweet face!!!!! 6 more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

29 weeks 4 days~ Growth Ultrasound

Since at my last appointment my belly was measuring super big I had to have a growth ultrasound and that was today. Landon did great and cooperated with the ultrasound tech but once he got tired of the poking and prodding he gave her a good solid kick and rolled over. hahaha. At 29 weeks, 4 days he is weighing in at 3 lbs 6 ozs putting him in the 63rd percentile. In the doctor's words he is perfect! Ahhhhh.....so happy!!! My amniotic fluid also looks great so he has plenty of cushion even if it doesn't feel like it when his little heels are poking me. ;-) I am still spilling sugar when I go to the doctor but they aren't concerned. I spilled sugar the whole time I was pregnant with Kameron and am following the same trend this time. Every visit it has been +2 and today it was +3; but since I passed my glucose test and I have a history of doing it they aren't concerned. Whew!!


Time for some stats!

Total weight gain/loss: 10 pounds. Only a 1 pound gain in 2 weeks. woohoo!

Maternity clothes? oh course!

Stretch marks? just the old ones. lol

Sleep: blah....I can be super exhausted but can't go to sleep thanks to my mind that won't shut down. Thankfully yoga breathing helps sometimes.

Best moment this week: Seeing my little guy again today.

Movement: oh man does he move!!! He pops around; and pokes his feet, elbows and knees out all the time

Food cravings: lemon water with crushed ice.

Gender: still a boy!!

Labor Signs: I have been having a lot of braxton hicks. 2 weeks ago I even had contractions for 2 hours that were 5 minutes apart but thankfully after resting, drinking LOTS of water and taking a bath they quit. Thank goodness!! Thankfully all these contractions aren't making any changes to my cervix so I'm good to go!

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off?  On!

What I miss: feeling comfortable. I wanna be comfortable sitting, standing, laying down, in my clothes, etc. Oh I miss being comfortable!

What I am looking forward to: 3D ultrasound next Wednesday!!! I sure hope he cooperates and we get to see his sweet face!!!

Weekly Wisdom: drink water, get rest. Rinse and repeat! ;-)

Milestones: uh...pretty much the only milestone I have left is delivery! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH............I have nothing done!!!! We are so not prepared for this baby! But as my mom said all you need for when you bring him home is a little bit of clothes, diapers and boobies! lol. At least I have 2 out of the 3!

Sorry no pictures for a while. Hopefully I will take one soon but really by the time I remember that I need to take one I'm too tired to even think about it! I must work on that!!

OMG I'm pregnant......

.....and apparently with a big baby!!!! I will get to that in a bit.

But first here are my stats for this week:

~I'm 27 weeks pregnant.

~Total weight gain is still 9 lbs (this was with my clothes, coat and shoes on!). So no weight gain in 2 weeks. Woot!!!

~I didn't spill any sugar today. I was super good and only drank water before my appointment since I barely passed my 1 hour glucose test and I sure don't want to spill sugar and have to take the 3 hour one.

~Blood pressure was 124/80. Eh.....a little bit higher than normal. I have been staying around 115/75 ish but it is still in the normal range.

~Landon's heart rate was in the 150's! :-)

And then the doctor measured my belly. Her words "hmmm....you are measuring a little big". I ask her how big am I measuring and she says "about 31 to 32 weeks". WHAT?!?!?! Measuring a little big?! That is like a whole month ahead!!!!!!

Due to my apparently big baby they will be doing a growth ultrasound at my next doctor's appointment on February 2nd to see how big he actually is. I'm not sure why they didn't try to do that today. She seemed concerned but apparently not enough to do the ultrasound today. I know he feels big already, I know I look REALLY big but I thought maybe a week or 2 ahead not a month!!!!

Part of me is a little concerned due to my shortness (5 ft 2 inches on a good day!), I'm not sure how much baby I can really carry. Kameron was only 7 pounds 5 ounces and felt huge! I also had pre-term labor at 35 weeks with her. Landon has to stay in until at least 35 weeks!!! I would prefer 37 weeks but 35 will get me done with my semester in school.

I guess we will have a better idea in 2 weeks as to how big he is and what our plans will be. For now me and my big ole baby boy are going to take a nap! :-)

26 weeks

How far along? 26 weeks!!

Total weight gain/loss: total gain of 9 lbs. Woah...I put on 4 lbs in 2 weeks! When I went for my doctor's appointment I talked with her about my concern of putting on this much weight in such a short amount of time and she reassured me that is perfectly fine. Her words "you are more than half way through so 9 lbs is a good weight gain. Not to mention that shows he is growing like he should" Whew....okay...but it was still hard to see that weight jump up so fast! lol

Maternity clothes? oh course!

Stretch marks? definitely....no new ones...just reusing the old ones! lol

Sleep: I slept 9 hours last night and only got up one time to pee! Yay!

Best moment this week: Kameron feeling Landon move. Her face lighting up was priceless!

Movement: I might as well call him a jumping bean. He constantly moves causing my whole belly to rock. :-)

Food cravings: none.

Gender: still a boy!!

Labor Signs: nope.

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off?  On!

What I miss: being able to bend over! haha...picking up toys off the floor is proving very difficult some days.

What I am looking forward to: 3D ultrasound on February 8th!

Weekly Wisdom: drink as much water as you can. I have begun to notice that if I don't drink enough water that I get to feeling very yucky!

Milestones: Third trimester starts next Sunday! I can not believe it!

24 weeks~ Merry Christmas!!!

How far along? 24 weeks!!

Total weight gain/loss: total gain of 5 lbs. Woot!! First time I ever had a doctor's appointment where the doctor told me "Your weight gain is great!". :-)

Maternity clothes? Yep. Always wear maternity pants but sometimes I can get away with some of my non-maternity shirts

Stretch marks? definitely

Sleep: eh. Most of the time it is good; I just can't seem to get enough of it! lol

Best moment this week: getting stuff for Landon's room, getting his little bit of clothes that I have washed and getting to see him on the ultrasound again.

Movement: All the time!!! He was moving up a storm when I had my ultrasound this week.

Food cravings: none.

Gender: all boy!!!! Confirmed once again at the u/s.

Labor Signs: Nope.....thank goodness!! And it can stay that way until our scheduled c-section!

Belly Button in or out? in

Wedding rings on or off?  On!

What I miss: being able to eat. Or maybe I should say keeping food down! lol 24 weeks and the morning sickness is still going strong!

What I am looking forward to: 3D ultrasound on February 8th!

Weekly Wisdom: Never eat crackers and drink sprite before a doctor's appointment or you might spill sugar in your urine. This results in a really long doctor appointment and getting blood drawn to make sure you don't have gestational diabetes. Next appointment I am only drinking water and eating protein!!! :-D

Milestones: Made it to viability age!!!!!! :-)))))))))))))))) And Landon is tipping the scales already at 1 pound 7 ounces making him almost 2 weeks ahead of schedule.

24 weeks! Yep, I'm huge but my baby is healthy! :)

Preparations.....

For a while I haven't wanted to really prepare for Landon's arrival. I guess maybe my miscarriage put me in spot where I wasn't ready to put the cart before the horse so to speak. I think things are finally starting to set in and I'm beginning to feel safe with preparing for my baby. So...some clothes have been purchased and planning the nursery is underway.

His bedding has been purchased:



A moby wrap has been bought:

This is even the print I got. I'm super excited about it. :-)

Now the next big part that will be tackled once Freddie gets off work for the holidays....cleaning out the extra bedroom. Oh boy!!! It will make it even more real then.

One thing I haven't done this time around being pregnant.....reading a pregnancy book or even brushing up on my breastfeeding knowledge. I nursed Kameron for 18 months so surely I should know what I'm doing....right?! But I still feel like I need to brush up on the basics just in case. I will add that to my to-do list. :-)

I can't believe Christmas is in 5 days and I get to celebrate my 24th week of pregnancy on Christmas. I am so excited about Christmas this year!! :-)

22 weeks!

How far along? 22 weeks 1 day.

Total weight gain/loss: total gain of 5 lbs. Guess it has to happen at some point!

Maternity clothes? Yep. Always wear maternity pants but sometimes I can get away with some of my non-maternity shirts

Stretch marks? definitely

Sleep: not too bad. Getting 5-7 hours a night and sometimes not waking up to visit the bathroom

Best moment this week: Freddie feeling Landon move. I love sharing those moments with him

Movement: He is a mover and a shaker! I absolutely love it even when he is kicking my bladder (weirdest feeling ever!!)

Food cravings: I really don't have any. But I guess that's why I have only put on 5 lbs so far.

Gender: all boy!!!!

Labor Signs: Nope.....thank goodness!! And it can stay that way until our scheduled c-section!

Belly Button in or out? Still in but extremely shallow.

Wedding rings on or off?  On!

What I miss: not walking like an old lady! lol. This fella just lays right on my sciatic nerve so I have a nice limp most days.

What I am looking forward to: seeing my little guy again on the 22nd! :-)

Weekly Wisdom: try to enjoy every moment even the uncomfortable ones. Some days I have a hard time doing this but there are so many women that would love to be in my shoes right now; pain and all.

Milestones: Getting to viability age. Might seem crazy to some people but at least I would know that if something did  happen (god forbid) that at least he would be given a fighting chance instead of being told that there was nothing to be done. 


And another milestone; figuring out how I want to do my maternity pictures. Freddie and I started practicing last night and I have a lot more research to do to get the right effect I'm going for. I know it is early but you can never be too prepared! :-)

Anatomy Scan and my Birth plan

So I've been slack...I had my scan and I haven't even updated my blog in almost 3 weeks. Speaking of slack...I've taken 1 belly shot and I have yet to start a journal for Landon or even write in Kameron's that she is going to be a big sister. Yep...slacker...that's me.

The scan was short but was amazing as always. Landon was all balled up and transverse and try as she might the tech couldn't get him to move. Every time she pushed on him, he pushed back! Lil Stinker!! So far everything looks great but due to his position she couldn't get 2 views of the heart so we go back on the 22nd for another ultrasound. At this point I have lost count of how many ultrasound I have had. During the exam she of course had to check my cervical length and it was 6cm long. Yep....you read it.... 6cm!!! Her words "you have the longest cervix!! Did you have a c-section with your daughter?" I respond with "yep" and she said "I can see why!"

After having the ultrasound I got to visit with my doctor. Even though I had a c-section with Kameron I had hoped and prayed that I would get to have a v-bac with my next pregnancy. For some reason ever since I got pregnant with Landon I have had feeling that I wasn't going to get that dream. My ultimate dream was to have a drug free, natural delivery. With Kameron I went drug free for 28 hours, got an epidural when they said I may need a c-section and she was finally born via section after 35 hours of labor. I never got past 4.5 cm, she never dropped below zero station. My body crapped out on me. I talked with my doctor, told her my previous experience and she told me my options; Vbac: they will not induce, you have to go into labor by yourself by 40 weeks and they highly recommend an epidural just in case you have an uterine rupture which requires an emergency c-section or Scheduled C-Section: deliver at 39 weeks, controlled environment, get a spinal, my doctor delivers the baby versus the on-call doctor doing it. I asked her what she thought my chances would be of actually being able to have a v-bac; based on my medical history and my body my chances are small. Pushing my dreams to the side and trying to think about what will be best for my body and my baby; I decided on a repeat c-section. For the most part I am very happy with this decision. I still have days where I am overcome with emotion that I won't have that dream that I want to so bad. But I have to face reality; I wasn't made to conceive babies without medical assistance and I definitely wasn't made to bring them into the world in the normal way. But that's okay; I will still get to have my baby in my arms when it is all over with.

Now the fun part....pictures!

Sweet profile

Still a boy!!! :-)

Hands up by his face.

My first belly picture, 20 weeks 3 days.

Time for an update: 18 weeks

How far along? 18 weeks!!! Wow I still can't believe I'm this far along.

Total weight gain/loss: down 5 pounds so still below my pre-pregnancy weight

Maternity clothes? Yep. Shirts and pants. My belly has just exploded this week.

Stretch marks? I mentioned my belly exploded right? Yeah....so hello stretch marks!! lol

Sleep: better! Only getting up once or twice a night to visit the bathroom

Best moment this week: Kameron kissing my belly and saying "I love baby brother". Although I'm sure she doesn't completely understand what is going on

Movement: yep!!! Love this part...in fact he is popping around right now. He definitely has his certain times that he moves a lot and other times when either I can't feel him or he is napping.

Food cravings: none. :-(

Gender: as far as we know still boy. We will verify it on the 29th!

Labor Signs: Nope.....thank goodness!!

Belly Button in or out? Still in but looking weird. lol

Wedding rings on or off?  On!

What I miss: food!!! haha....I'm really hoping I can enjoy Thanksgiving.

What I am looking forward to: April....seriously I can't wait to meet this little one.

Weekly Wisdom: I have baby brain; I need lists to remember everything so I doubt I'm in the position to give out wisdom right now. lol

Milestones: Getting to the halfway mark and the anatomy scan on the 29th.

It's a ....................

BOY!!!!!!! 

Now I'm sure that many of you are wondering how in the world does she know so soon. Well this pregnancy has been an experience for sure. One that has involved a huge ovarian cyst (at one point was 10 cm and is now down to 8 cm) and random bleeding/spotting. Yesterday was a day of bad cramps and then spotting today. Ugh!! So after talking with the doctor's office they asked me to come in for an ultrasound. I believe this is my 6th ultrasound so far this pregnancy. The ultrasound showed the baby with a great heartbeat of 156 beats per minute and measuring in at 15 weeks. My big ole cyst is still hanging around and my doctor said that it may be there until after delivery since it seems to not want to leave. But the fun part was when the ultrasound tech said she was going to try to see if we could see what "it' was. Swing around to the business end of things and she says "do you see what I see?" and I say "I'm pretty sure I do" and then she does a measurement of the baby again and rechecks between the legs. This time I say "That's a penis!!" and she says "it sure is!". hahaha Of course this early on she won't say 100% that it's a boy but she is 95% sure that it is and so far my doctor's office has a 100% gender prediction rate. Not too shabby! :) So here is my little guy.....Landon Frederick.

Chilling out upside down. :)

His turtle! haha

Now my stats so far:

How far along? 14 weeks 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Still down 2 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. woohoo!!!

Maternity clothes? definitely!

Best moment this week: finding out that "it" is a boy! :-)

Movement:  Yep! And the hubby has even felt him move too. Definitely a soccer or football player in there!

Food cravings: absolutely nothing!!!

Gender: Chinese gender calendar said girl and the heart rate had everyone thinking it was a girl BUT IT WAS WRONG!!! BOY BOY BOY!!!! :) Now I gotta buy all new stuff!

What I miss: nothing. I am so completely happy right now!

What I am looking forward to: seeing my baby again in 2 weeks and feeling him move more everyday

:)

The sweetest sound...

the sound of my baby's heart beating. I smile so big as I listen to the sound and I smile even bigger when I see my little one wiggling around on the ultrasound screen. There were days where I wasn't sure that I would be able to experience this again. My miscarriage earlier this year shattered my world and I wasn't sure if I would be up to this roller coaster again. So I waited till emotionally I thought I could handle the thought of trying again and here we are. 


12 weeks pregnant! What a miracle. The road to this point has been bumpy (you can read about it here) **. We have had some scares and combined with the fear of last time I waited to a "safe" point to announce our news. Our baby is growing (ahead of schedule) and our baby's heart is beating so strong! Things are so much different this time. My sorrow is slowly being replaced with joy. There are times that I am completely overwhelmed with the blessing that has been given to me. I have a miracle growing in my body right now; I have a miracle moving, waving and kicking in my belly. I have already felt the little thumps from my sweet baby. What a joy to feel my little one already moving.


There are no words to express my happiness. There are no words to express the love I already have for this child. My sweet rainbow baby.

"Rainbow Babies" is the understanding that the beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. When a rainbow appears, it doesn't mean the storm never happened or that the family is not still dealing with its aftermath. What it means is that something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of color, energy and hope."

What a beautiful term. A storm changed my world in March and the appearance of my rainbow baby changed my world even more.

My sweet baby due 4/16/12.

**If you follow the link above it will take you to a different blog, a blog I started as I went on my journey to conceive this baby. It goes into detail about my struggle with infertility, my feelings along the journey to conceive this baby, the struggles I have had so far with this pregnancy, etc. Not everyone has an easy journey to getting pregnant; some of us actually have to work for it. I am one of those people. An "unplanned pregnancy" will never be in my vocabulary. My struggles have only made me stronger and only made me appreciate each and every pregnancy even more.