Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Meet Jack

Introducing our precious baby boy, Jack Joseph, born Saturday October 3rd, 2009 at 3:16am.

Jack Joseph
Born October 3rd, 2009 3:16am
7 pounds 8.7 ounces
21 inches


We've spent the past 19 days getting to know our precious baby boy and could not be more over joyed with his arrival. The past nearly three weeks have been the best days of my life and I could now not imagine Joe and I's life without him. I look at him and can't even begin to put into words the love I feel for him.

I realize this post is very long over due but finally below is our birth story.

I had planned to work up to my due date, September 24th, but decided to cut it short and started my maternity leave September 23. I'm extremely glad I worked as long as I did as Jack decided to make quite the fashionably late appearance 8 days after his due date. I was fully prepared to go past my due date but never did I imagine he'd end up being an October baby.

Those 8 over due days were the longest most anxious days of my entire life. I would torture myself with afternoons filled with never ending episodes of A Baby Story, Birth Day, Bringing Home Baby and Deliver Me.

40 Weeks

At my 40 week and 1 day appt an induction was scheduled for October 3rd 6 AM. Thankfully we never made it to that scheduled induction. Friday October 2nd, around midnight, I began having regular mild contractions that were about ten minutes apart. Around 2 am I decided to try getting some sleep and was able to sleep off and on throughout the night. My sweet husband spent the night watching over me just waiting for something to happen . . he later admitted routinely checking the couch I was sleeping on to check for some sort of sign that my water had broke.

Friday afternoon at 1:30PM we had our last doctor appointment. At this point contractions were still mild but timeable at about 7 minutes apart. Thankfully they had been doing their job as the doctor proclaimed I was now 3 centimeters dilated. After checking availability at the hospital she sent us over to labor and delivery. We hadn't eaten lunch yet so we decided to grab a quick bite to eat first and then made our way to the hospital.

Waiting to be admitted

I was checked and admitted at 3:25 PM Friday Afternoon, 4cm. I met the doctors that were on call, was hooked up to the monitors and set up in my delivery room. I was still able to get up, walk around and use the bathroom at this point with a good amount of ease. At 5:30PM they broke my water. At this point contractions began getting much stronger. They were still bearable but stronger. It was interesting watching the monitors as each contraction came and went. By 7 PM my nurse offered me an epidural as the contractions were much stronger at this point and the anesthesiologist was in the room next door administering another epidural. 7:30 PM my epidural was started. I was checked again at 8PM and was still 4 cm dilated. Joe and I tried getting some sleep at this point and dozed off and on for the next couple hours.

At 2:30 AM my amazing nurse, Mindy, checked in on us and determined I was finally 10 cm dilated and could feel the head very low. She asked if I was ready to do a few practice pushes. This was the point where everything hit me like a ton of bricks. The reality of having a baby, being a mother, the outcome of the last nine months . . it finally hit me I'm going to be someones Mom. And with that my answer to "Do you want to do some practice pushes?" became "No, that's ok." My anxious, sleep deprived husband looked at me in disbelief. After 8 days of anxious over due waiting I was now apparently in no hurry. Mindy agreed to give me a little more time and said she'd be back in half an hour at which point we'd need to start pushing. I agreed. While I wasn't in any pain I could feel the pressure of each increasingly intense contraction and though I felt like I could push I didn't feel like I had to push . . yet.

As Mindy left the room Joe gave me a lecture about how it was time to finally meet our son. I remember some guilting was involved, as well as mention of my ten years deceased Great Grandmother. He really knows which buttons to push when he needs to. And with that Mindy was back in our room at 2:45AM and I was actually pushing. Joe with one leg, Mindy with the other. At 3AM they called the doctors in and we continued pushing. Joe was amazing through the entire thing. Very supportive and encouraging through each push. I was blessed to have him by my side.

7 Pounds 8.7 Ounces

At 3:16 AM Jack Joseph entered the world grabbing and tugging at the umbilical cord wrapped around his tiny shoulders. Having him placed on my chest the second after he was born was the single most amazing experience of my life. My exact words were "He's beautiful. I know everyone says that but seriously he really is beautiful!" He weighed in at 7 pounds 8.7 ounces and 21 inches long (a far cry from the 9 pound baby we were continually warned about). Perfect.

Meeting Jack

Following delivery there were a few complications. While I managed to fair pretty good without any external tearing thanks to the wonderful doctors perennial massaging, I unfortunately had some extensive internal tearing that needed to be addressed. They tried repairing everything in the deliver room but weren't making much headway and needed better lighting and equipment. So just as Joe was arriving back from giving family in the nearby waiting room the news of Jack's arrival I was being wheeled out to the operating room. Admittedly at the time I didn't think much of it. My doctors were very convincing to me that my tearing was not a big deal and I'd be fixed up in no time. Looking back it was actually pretty scary for Joe but I'm thankful my doctors were able to keep me as calm and relaxed as they did since I obviously had no idea how bad it was.

I was back in my room by 5:30am and we finally were able to call family back to introduce Jack.


I had a wonderful experience delivering at Penn State Hershey Medical. I had amazing nurses and doctors (with the exception of one first year resident who simply lacked confidence in herself) who contributed to a really positive birth experience for me and my husband.

I hope to update more about our first days home with Jack soon.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

37 week observations

We're full term today! I'm still amazed at just how fast this year has gone by. It seems like just yesterday we were breaking the news to family and friends.

For the majority of my pregnancy I have felt wonderful and I do still feel relatively good. But over the past 2-3 weeks thing have gotten increasingly more difficult. I can't walk as far or as long as I used to. I now have to force myself to take breaks which I'm really not used to. My abdomen is in a constant state of tightness. Over the past 2 days I've started having some mild painless but uncomfortable cramping accompanied with what I think are some Braxton Hicks contractions.

Some observations . . .
-Going to the bathroom is not only often but is quite a chore. Getting down there to wipe completely is a feat in itself. Seriously God should have rethought perhaps growing my arms a couple inches as my belly increased in sized.

-Sleeping is no longer straight through the night and anything but comfortable for more than a little while before needing to re-adjust my position (I'll admit I'm probably pretty fortunate that my good nights of sleep lasted as long as they did).

-Strangers now stare instead of just glancing at me and my protruding belly. This could just be my own paranoia but it seems as though I'm my own little mobile freak show. I could/should start charging admission. :)

-Jeans are no longer my friend. I know people cringe at the thought of being pregnant in the summer but honestly its been a god send to me. I've been able to live in yoga capris, long tanks, comfy cotton skirts and flip flops. I wore jeans the past couple of days (after a little bit of a hiatus from them) with the more comfortable weather but regretted it by the end of the day as they started to dig badly into the bottom of my belly. I think they're past their expiration date and/or he's dropped considerably.

And with 37 weeks comes a completed nursery! Here are some pics of the little guys new room all completed (minus his name letters that will be hung this weekend). I must say he's already a pretty lucky little boy. :)








A Beautiful Shower

I'm quite behind on posts so I'm just getting a chance to update on my amazing shower two weeks ago.

I feel so blessed to have such amazing family and friends in my life. They all went above and beyond to make the day special for me. The decorations were beautiful and perfect, the food was good, the atmosphere was great, the games were fun and I think the guests enjoyed themselves as much as I did. I still can't believe the amount of gifts we received and feel so thankful for everything.

The most touching moments for me were the photobook my Mom and Mother in Law put together with pictures of Joe and I as babies and growing up and the copy of my favorite children's book my parents bought me with a note about how much they enjoyed reading it to me as a child. I will cherish both of these things.

I was so caught up in the day that I didn't get many pictures taken but here are a couple a friend of mine shared with me until I get some more.


Beautiful diaper cake and table.
I loved the hand painted little wooden toys - Charlene did a great job!
They're now on Baby Doran's shelves in his nursery. :)


Adorable clothes line

YUMMY favors!
Matt did a great job helping Christina with these. ;)

We're lucky I didn't stuff all of these in my bag to take home.


Thank you so much to Charlene and Christina for everything they did to help my family make it a memorable day :)

Friday, August 21, 2009

DVT, FVL, Lovenox, Heparin . . .

I've been meaning to do this post for quite some time but never seemed to have the time. With my pregnancy nearing the final weeks I thought now would be the best time to try to get it out there. My hope isn't to bore those of you who already know my story but to get everything documented and hopefully help just one person who finds themselves in my situation by telling my story and journey.

In mid-June of 08 I began seeing what I thought to be a few tiny pimples develop on my abdomen. Two weeks later those same pimples had developed into quite a disturbing looking rash. Sunday, June 28, 2008 we decided it was time for a trip to the ER just in case I had been bitten by something. After a lengthy wait I was checked out by the ER doctor. I explained the only symptoms I had were the rash and a little cramping in my right leg. Honestly I've had leg cramps my entire life but for whatever reason felt the need to mention this to her. She examined my rash and determined it was nothing more than dermatitis and prescribed me a topical cream. She then went on to say she was more concerned that I had cramping in my leg and wanted to have a doppler performed on my leg to check for blood clots.

Monday June 29 I visited the cardiovascular dept and a deep vein thrombosis (DVT or blood clot) was found in my lower right leg. I was sent back down to the ER to see the same doctor that treated me the previous day. I was taken off my birth control pill immediately and prescribed lovenox injections as well as coumadin (the lovenox was to protect me until the coumadin reached the appropriate level in my system). I was set up with a follow up appt with my family doctor to discuss a long term course of treatment and monitoring.

I self administered 3 doses of lovenox until my appointment with my family doctor. He felt the risks/inconvenience of taking blood thinners outweighed the benefits. His long term plan was to follow up with another doppler in 3 weeks to see if the blood clot had grown or moved and to start a low dose of aspirin daily. (I will admit I did not take the aspirin daily) The thought was that since my DVT was below my knee I wasn't at risk for a pulmonary embolism (blood clot traveling to the lungs). I was leary but the thought of regular weekly blood testing to check my INR levels on coumadin wasn't appealing either. I decided to follow his plan for the time being but also requested a second opinion. I was referred to a hematologist and scheduled an appointment . . next available appointment when calling at the end of July was for late August - this appointment will go on to be rescheduled two more times before I meet with the doctor in early September.

A week later was my yearly gynecological check up. I explained to my mid-wife that I had been taken off of my birth control pill because of the discover of my blood clot. She was concerned and said she felt there was a need for me to be tested for any possible clotting disorders, especially if I had planned on trying to conceive. My test results came back positive for a thrombophilia know as Factor V (five) Leiden - FVL. I was found to be heterozygous, meaning I have one mutated gene making my blood more susceptible to clotting.

Three weeks later my DVT hadn't moved, grown or changed at all. My rash that caused the discover of my DVT still hadn't cleared up either. In fact it had at this point grown to a diameter of about 8 inches across my stomach. I met with my family doctor once again and we talked about the possibility of Lyme. Test results came back positive. After a month of anti-biotics my rash had cleared up and I was "cured" of Lyme disease.

Early September I finally met with the hematologist. He not only agreed with my family doctor's plan to stay off coumadin but when the discussion turned to any future plans to get pregnant his opinion was disheartening to say the least. He initially felt that since I hadn't had any past pregnancy losses no treatment for my disorder was necessary during pregnancy. This went against everything I'd read online concerning women with FVL and who had a history of clotting as I did. I did not feel comfortable at all going into a pregnancy knowing I have this disorder and knowing about all the dangerous things that could happen to me and the baby - all things that could be prevented with proper treatment. I didn't want us to have to suffer a loss just to make it clear to him treatment was necessary. I communicated this to him and he agreed it was important that I was comfortable with any treatment plan we set forth and said we'd discuss specifics when the time came.

Fast forward to January 17, 2009. We receive our first positive pregnancy test. :) We get an ultrasound at week 6 and week 7 to check for heartbeat. Once everything is confirmed as ok we have our appt with the hematologist to discuss when to start lovenox. I started 40mg of lovenox once a day at week 6. At 22 weeks my dosage was increased to 60 mg once a day to account for weight gain.


Lovenox


At week 35 I then switched to 1.5 mL heparin twice daily. The switch to heparin is in preparation for labor/delivery. The heparin can reversed easily while the lovenox cannot be. Heparin also remains in the system for 12 hours as opposed to the 24 hour coverage with lovenox.


Heparin

After delivery I will switch back to 40mg of Lovenox once daily for 6 weeks post pardum.

Initially the injections caused some major bruising (dark and the size of a quarter) but they became tolerable and with practice I was able to determine what caused bruising and what did not. Taking the injection slowly and being sure to pinch the skin helped cut down on bad bruising for me. Tiny bruises the size of a pencil erasure (and smaller) became common a few times a week however. I never used ice to numb the area as some people recommend. It just seemed too time consuming. I have gotten very used to giving myself the injections in my abdomen. It just became another part of my morning routine . . like brushing my teeth. With the recent switch to heparin I can tell a definite difference in the medication. Not only was the lovenox already conveniently measured out into pre-filled syringes but it also didn't cause me to bleed afterwards at all. The heparin on the other hand is not pre-filled. I have to measure out the dosage and the injections usually cause me to bleed slightly at the injection site following the injection. I've had to either do my shot before a shower or just cover with a band aid to prevent bleeding on my clothing.

With 3 weeks to go I feel very fortunate to have had a great doctor who understood the potential issues with my disorder and who then closely monitoring me throughout my pregnancy.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

33 Weeks

Today is 33 weeks. I'm still continuing to feel relatively great. I do have a few gripes (including heartburn that is only satisfied by milkshakes, major increase in bathroom trips - up to 4 times a night now and rib discomfort) but nothing major or debilitating.

We had a growth ultrasound last week. I had asked my doctor for it in order to check for clots and check on growth . . and I selfishly also wanted to see our little guy and maybe get an updated picture of him. No go on the picture but we did get to confirm he's still a little 'guy' and is very active and looking great in there.

The nursery is still coming along good. I'm waiting on some things we ordered to get here for the walls and will have updated pics to add then. Until then here is a pic of a little project I put together this past weekend. I really like how it came out. It was a good addition to the built ins.



And finally an updated belly pic.


33 weeks

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Nursery . . A Sneak Peak

The whole room isn't near completed yet but this corner is all ready for its close up :)





The pictures of the frames on the wall really do not do them justice. They look so much cuter in person. We plan to add his foot prints and birth announcement in the two smaller frames.





I'm so pleased with how everything looks together. I'm especially proud of how the curtains came out.




It's coming along nicely. Hopefully this weekend leads to more progress on the other side of the room.


Sunday, July 19, 2009

Making Progress

What a great productive weekend! Saturday we finished up class 2 of 3 for our child birthing classes. I think we've both been enjoying the classes for the most part. I will admit I can't completely take the relaxation techniques all that seriously right now but I'm sure they may come in handy while in labor. There's just something about relaxing with a room full of strangers that seems foreign to me. We're both really excited for our next class this coming Saturday . . July 25th . . because it includes the hospital tour.

After class we took a ride out to Blue Ball to over indulge in the smorgasbord that is Shady Maple. And boy did we! We both went in their starving and left feeling like we never wanted to look at another edible thing for the rest of our lives. Well worth the trip. After our moment of gluttony we stopped at the Flower and Craft Warehouse. I'll admit this stop turned out to be a complete bust. Their basket selection was severely lacking this time around. It also may not have lived up to its potential because we were both stuffed to our gills and ready for a nice long nap. Once we got home I took what was probably the longest nap of my life . . 5 hours. It felt like heaven. :)

Sunday we spent the first half of the day running some errands and picking some things up for the nursery. Its been so much fun, for both Joe and I, picking different things out for the room. It really makes me happy seeing Joe is just as excited as I am about the smallest details . . like a cute little white piggy bank (even if it has a tiny chip in his little ear . . Joe says it gives him character). I feel so blessed to be going through this with my best friend. He's going to be an amazing father and I can't wait to see him and our son together.

We spent the evening working on things in the baby's room and just sitting in there taking it all in. Its slowly becoming our favorite room in the house. I hope to take some pictures this week of the progress . . . a crib and glider fully assembled, some curtains and decor on the walls. Its all coming together!


This is all setting in as reality for me now. Not that I wasn't very aware of everything before but now I seem to have mini-panic attacks about the fact that in just 2 months I'll be totally responsible for taking care of another human being. No matter how much I've looked forward to being a mother I don't think anything truly prepares you for just how mind blowing it all is. Here I sit, day in and day out, watching my belly bounce around like I swallowed a little mexican jumping bean wondering what he'll look like, what he'll be like, who's eyes will he have, will we be good parents, what will he think of us and his childhood 20 years from now . . so many things running through my head.

One thing I read that seemed to calm some of my fears about being a parent has been this - "Bad parents don't think about whether they'll be good parents or not . ." It may be total non-sense but it made me feel that perhaps Joe and I were at least on the right track.

Right now we're at a point where everything is a clean slate with our child. We haven't made mistakes yet (granted we haven't yet had the opportunity to either). Its like the night before football season starts and no one has 1 in the loss column . . . yet. I'm trying to come to terms with the reality that we're going to make mistakes. Not everything we do is going to be absolutely perfect or the absolute right way. All I can do is pray daily that those mistakes are trivial ones.

I'm looking forward to a shortened work week, a Dr appt Friday, seeing my favorite 6 month old (I know I had to edit this after I thought about it . . wow where did 6 months go!) :) and the DMB concert Friday. Hope everyone has a great week! I promise an updated belly pic and nursery pics soon.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Bedding!

I've been spending the last couple of weeks working on different ideas for the nursery. Everything seems to center around the bedding though and that has been holding things up a bit. I was having trouble finding something that would both work with the green already in the room as well as bring in some blue and other colors to break things up - without being too cutesy and full of characters. I was so happy when we finally found something we liked that will really work great with the current color in the room. We won't be getting the bumper (since they're sold out) but I didn't intend on using one anyway. We will be getting the skirt, the quilt for in the room, as well as a euro sham for a pillow on the glider. I'm hoping it will all tie everything together nicely and give me a lot of options with other things in the room.






A few weeks ago we also ordered our crib. We took a trip out to Rock-A-Bye Baby Furniture in Annville to check out their selection and decide what kind of styles we liked. I was really impressed with their selection and set up. It was really nice to see the actual crib in person before deciding. We ended up ordering Munire's Essex model in white. I can't wait for it to arrive.




I'm really excited to get started with decorating the nursery and getting everything organized. The past month has been very productive as far as organization goes. I managed to clean out 3 closets, get things put up in the attic and unwanted things off to the salvation army.

An Eggplant . . .

Today we are under 100 days until my due date. I can't believe how fast time is flying and that in two weeks I'll be moving onto the third trimester.

Last Thursday we had our monthly checkup and everything is looking great. Weight gain is on track, everything is measuring well and his heartbeat sounded great. I also had my glucose tolerance. The glucose solution they have you drink wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. They haven't called with the results so I'm hoping that is a good sign that I passed. I'm going to call tomorrow to confirm everything came through good. Next appointment is July 8th.

At a little over 6 months I am feeling really great. The only recent change is I feel hungry more often and its becoming more difficult to get a good nights sleep. I got a couple of leg cramps last week and have tried to stay more hydrated hoping that makes a difference. Of course staying more hydrated means more trips to the bathroom.

Updated pic . .


26 weeks

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

1095 Days . . .

or 3 years since the most beautiful day of my life.



1095 days ago, today and tomorrow . . my whole heart for my whole life. Love you.


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The start of summer . . .

The long Memorial Day weekend always seems to mark the beginning of summer for me. I'm excited for warm weather, picnics and late sunsets. :)

Sunday we had tickets to see Coldplay in Hershey. Baby's first concert. :) It was a great time with friends and the rain cleared up early enough to not put a damper on the night. The set list and seats were perfect. From the butterfly confetti to the big balloons during Yellow it was an amazing show. Such a great time.

Monday we used the extra day off to take a day trip to NYC. We got to Port Imperial in Weehawken, NJ around 8:30AM. We took the ferry over to the city and spent a little time walking around before heading down to Soho to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex. We got discounted tickets from goldstar.com (which was flawless and I do recommend). My main reason for visiting was to see the John Lennon NYC exhibit put together by Yoko Ono. It was amazing and I highly recommend it to any Lennon or Beatles. It was great seeing some of his well known outfits (the famous New York City shirt to his military jacket) and the many pages of hand written lyrics up close. It was extremely saddening to see the unopened bag of belonging the coroner gave Yoko though but at the same time it also opens your eyes to the gun violence people experience everyday. There was also a wall people could leave notes on and reading some of the messages about others who have experienced something similarly as tragic in their lives made me emotional. I left the exhibit tearful that it even existed in his absence. So sad.


Outside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in Soho.

After leaving the Rock and Roll half of fame, about 2 hours later, we headed East towards Little Italy and grabbed some awesome pizza at a little pizza shop for lunch. We took a little stroll around and then took the subway up to Union Square for a bathroom break and a little shopping. Afterward we made our way up to the south end of Central Park. We walked up past the carousel to Sheep Meadow. There was an amazing amount of people on the lawn just sun bathing and enjoying the beautiful weather and a day off.


Sunbathing in Sheep Meadow. I love this picture.

After taking a little break we made our way up to the bow bridge.


On the Bow Bridge in Central Park.

After a quick stop at Strawberry Fields to see the Imagine Mural we made our way towards Midtown to one of my absolute favorite restaurant in the world, Basilica. I discovered this little Italian restaurant in the heart of hells kitchen with two great friends about two years ago and it has yet to disappoint any of us. I had my usual yummy Chicken Romano (a grilled chicken breast sauteed in a garlic butter sauce with a side of al dente pasta) and Joe had the Penne ala Vodka with chicken. Both were delicious as usual. It was nice to get a different experience here in the day light and open window front. I can't wait to go back again.


Basilica on 9th between 46th and 47th.

After a tiring 2 days Joe and I were both ready to call it a day
and headed back to Times Square to catch the ferry bus back to the Port and head home. It was a great day and a trip I'm glad we made together before the baby arrives. I did realize this past weekend that I can't push myself the way I'm used to pushing. Little sleep, lots of walking, long car rides and heat are even less fun now than they were when I wasn't 5 and a half months pregnant.

Below are some more pics from our trip. :)


Waiting for the ferry this sweet little boy, there
with his grandfather - a veteran, offered to take our picture.
He told us "I own a camera of my own and everything."




Joe's first ferry ride.



Yes I realize I look huge here.



The obligatory shot near times square.



In the midst of people watching in Central Park.



Joe wishing I'd just put the camera away for a bit.



Great day but happy to be heading home.


Thursday, May 21, 2009

A Papaya . . .

We've graduated to a papaya this past week . . week 22. :)


It seems the weeks are flying by. I worry I'm going to wake up one day very soon and he's just going to be here . . . ready or not. A few nights ago I was plagued with dreams of delivering my baby boy only to rush off to run a few errands immediately after. Quite a strange dream that left me feeling like 1. a terrible Mom . . even in my dreams and 2. very unprepared. I feel I've moved on from constant worrying about the pregnancy itself (not subsiding altogether though . . trust me) to now worrying about what we'll do once he gets here. Starting a registry, picking out bedding and starting to organize things in his room are all my to do list in the next few weeks.

I've started feeling much more movement lately which I'm really loving. I've begun cheering him on in there. My belly has also been growing and I think I'm finally looking a little more like a pregnant lady and not someone who loves a dozen too many daily donuts. :)



21 weeks

I'm back to craving peanut butter this week as well. The only food that has really hit the spot has been an occassional peanut butter sandwich. I don't think I've eaten one of those since I was in elementary school prior to this pregnancy. I also feel hungry all the time. Then I end up feeling guilty for all the extra calories I'm taking in. So far my weight gain has been under control so I'm not stressing too much about it but its always in the back of my mind when making choices on what to eat . . which I guess is a good thing.

Our next OB appointment is 3 weeks from now, which seems like an eternity. Today we had a surprisingly successful appointment with my hematologist. He agreed to increase my lovenox dosage without any pressuring from me. Like everything else to this point I fully expected to have to be my own advocate on the matter. He also eased my concerns about being forced to be induced early because of my risk factors connected with Factor V Leiden and reaffirmed the doctors desire to have women go into labor naturally. I hope to cover my clotting disorder and current treatment plan in an upcoming post. If nothing else but to share my story with others who may share my disorder.

I'm really looking forward to the end of the workday tomorrow and the long weekend. Joe and I have tickets to see Coldplay Sunday night at Hershey with friends, which I'm really excited for. And if the weather cooperates we're hoping to use the extra day off to spend the day in NYC celebrating our three year wedding anniversary a few days early. If not Monday we'll make the trip next Saturday. Basilica here we come!! ;)

Hope everyone enjoys the long weekend!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The Big Reveal

Last Wednesday April 29th was our big ultrasound. Our day started bright and early around 6:30. I remember waking up thinking about everything we'd find out that day.

Here we are before heading out . . .


As we drove over to the hospital I started to get butterflies thinking about all we'd learn in the next hour and how much it could change things.

It wasn't long until we were done sitting in the waiting room and were back getting ready to start. I was so amazed to see just how big our little peanut sized baby had grown since our last U/S 2 full months ago. I was even more amazed when the ultrasound tech pointed out our baby's little boy parts on the screen. I turned to Joe and the tears started from both of us. I went into this appointment fully expecting to hear our baby was a girl and can't even convey how surprised I was to hear the word penis. Obviously we would have been ecstatic either way but this came as such a surprise since we were both expecting to hear it was a girl.

The rest of the ultrasound went great and it was wonderful just watching him move around on the screen. We ended up having to go back again today to get more pictures of the heart because after rolling on my side and a bathroom break we still couldn't get him to roll over. Our U/S today was just as amazing . . confirmed he is definitely a boy . . and showed the heart looks great too. Everything feels so real knowing I'm carrying my little boy and being able to see how much he's grown and progressing. I feel so blessed right now.

Here is a pic of our little baby boy . . .



We held off sharing the news with our family until the weekend when we could tell them in person. We decided to put together some cupcakes to share the message with them.


They went over great and were a fun way to tell everyone the big news. Everyone seemed to echo the same response though . . . Girl or Boy it doesn't matter as long as they are healthy.

I'm so relieved everything is looking good. I'm feeling great (pregnancy wise - I could do without this nasty cold) and can't wait to start moving on to planning the nursery and getting prepared for our little guy's arrival.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

18 weeks

Today is 18 weeks . . and 5 days away from the big ultrasound!

I've finally started getting my energy back the past two weeks. The past few days I've had moments when I've thought I've felt the baby moving. I'm so excited to start feeling this more regularly and to know for sure its the baby I'm feeling.

Between really strange dreams, bathroom breaks and just randomly waking up throughout the night to toss and turn, a good nights sleep has already started to become more difficult in the past few days. I hope its just a phase for the time being.

I'm really looking forward to the great weather this weekend. It will be wonderful to have a couple of beautiful days in a row. I'm excited to get the windows open and let the fresh air in.

Updated Belly Pics on the way . .

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Funny the way it is . .




I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am for the release of the new DMB album, Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, June 2nd. The 2 songs I've heard so far have been great. Today they released a free download of the first single - Funny The Way It Is.

My favorite lyrics from it . . "Somebodies heart is broken, And it becomes your favorite song"

July 24th can't come seen enough. :)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

A few Belly Shots

I really need to get on the ball with taking more pictures. It seems like everytime I grab for the camera the batteries let me down. I then turn to the laptop to snap a quick pic. Below are 2 pics thus far.

13 weeks 3 days












15 weeks 3 days


I feel like my belly is growing in a weird way that doesn't look natural but perhaps its just the fact that I've sat here staring at these pictures picking them apart. :)

Here are 2 pictures from out in the yard this weekend. One of me chasing Lucy around and one of Joe taking a pic of my growing little bump. It was a great weekend to get some stuff done outside and we even cut the grass once already.



Hope everyone has a great weekend and the Easter Bunny is good to them :)

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