26 Weeks

Pregnancy is coming along well. 

Feeling baby girl move a lot more and each kick makes me smile. Steve was able to feel her move too!

Baby girl is a little over 2 lbs. She is the size of a head of lettuce.

Weight gain has been about 7 lbs (according to my scale).  I've been a little more lenient with my gestational diabetes this time around.  But it's time to get back to business because as I get further along, the numbers are reflecting my slacking!

Sleep is still being interupted by the frequent trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

We are slowly getting the nursery ready.  The theme is pink and grey.  Paint has been purchased and a few decor items.  It's a bit overwhelming and I have to remember that it doesn't have to be perfect BEFORE baby comes! Or perfect at all! 

Matthew is getting excited for his baby sister.  He's already said that he will teach her how to walk, mommy will feed her and daddy will change her poopy diapers!  I can't wait until he gets to meet  his baby sister. 

23 Weeks

Baby profile

Baby leg

High five!

(Hand or elbow on her nose)

23 weeks today! 

Baby is the size of a grapefruit.

I am finally getting over the cough/cold I had for weeks!

We had the fetal echo earlier this week.  Baby's heart is beating nice and strong. Cervix is good too!

Still on modified bedrest.  It's hard at times, but I can't imagine being on strict bedrest. And I have the best husband who does SO much for our family.  Love him!

I miss shopping and being able to go, go, go whenever I want.

I love feeling the little flutters as she moves around.

I am grateful for friends who have brought dinners over.  So helpful!  My mother in law came over yesterday and cleaned our house.  She is the best!  I've learned to accept help when it is offered.  Not only am I blessed by the service of others, I know that they are also being blessed too.  It really makes me want to do more for others (when I am able to)!

Each passing day is truly a blessing!

20 weeks - NOT the Appt I was Expecting

I had my 20 week appt last Friday.  We took Matthew so he could see baby sister.  Yeah, he was over it in like 2 minutes! Ha.

The appointment started out fine.  The tech measured my cervix and took measurements of baby.  Baby girl was faced down and did NOT want to turn over.  The tech kept poking my belly, but baby was not phased by it at all. 

The tech left and the dr came in.  That's when everything kind of changed.

The dr said my cervix had shortened and they would have to go in and sew it up (cervical cerclage).  He showed me the ultrasound picture where we could clearly see baby's foot kicking at it.  (Baby girl was trying to kick her way out!).

I was like, so when do I have to get the surgery done?  He said, TODAY! It was already 3 pm on a Friday afternoon!  Alrighty then.  So we had to rush to my mom's house and drop off Matthew, then rush to the hospital.  

The surgery was scheduled for around 6 pm.  We got there and went thru registration and ended up in Pre-Op.  They had me change into the hospital gown and the nurses were asking me a million questions.  Then they tried to put in an IV and it hurt SO bad.  After the 4th attempt I was crying!!  It really hurt like a mofo!

The second nurse tried a fith time and the anestesiologist came in and got it right away.  So six pokes later, they finally got an IV in!

And then it was on to the Operating room where they had to do the spinal anestesia!  Ouch!!

The surgery took about 20 mins and recovery was about 5 hours!  I couldn't get released until the anestesia wore off.  Finally at 12:30 AM, we were able to go home. 

I was put on modified bedrest so the whole weekend was spent resting on the couch.  I have a follow up appt Friday with the dr. 

I am praying that baby will keep growing and will stay put!

I'm not one for just sitting around so this modified bed rest is hard for a mover and shaker like myself!  But of course, I will do what is required for the safety of my baby!

My husband has been such a trooper.  He has done so much for our family.  I am learning that I have to let go of some of the little things (like if the house is a mess).  He tries so hard to do everything that NEEDS to be done.  Everything else will just have to wait.  Love him!

Boy or Girl???

Our gender reveal shoot was this past Saturday. 

It was super windy so Matthew was not really in the mood.  It took some bribing (a DVD present and a promised trip to Chuck E Cheese afterward) to finally get him to hold the sign!

This was our FB announcement. 

 He got a Team Umi Zoomi DVD for being a good little model! Ha!

Then it was on to the big reveal!

It's a GIRL!!

We are SO excited to add some pink to our family! 

I won't go crazy and start buying any girl things until I can get confirmation again in the next few dr visits to confirm and reconfirm it's a girl! But the ultrasound tech did say she was pretty sure!

I guess I should start learning how to make hair bows versus bow ties!

I am feeling so blessed!

15 Weeks - Gender Sneak Peak ?

Baby profile

Baby arm!

I had my 15 week check up yesterday with the Perinatologist.

They didn't take any measurements of baby.  Just a quick scan and then they checked my cervix. 

Apparently I have Placenta Previa (the placenta lies low in the uterus, very close to the cervix). I have to go back again every two weeks until about 24 weeks.  Hopefully by then the placenta would have moved up, away from the cervix. 

The ultrasound tech was able to determine the gender of baby.  I had her write it down and seal it in an envelope so we could open it with Matthew.  We are planning a reveal photoshoot this Saturday so we will all find out together as a family!  I'm anxious to find out and it's taking a lot of will power not to sneak a peak at the envelope!

Stay tune and I will update next week!

Picking out baby names with a Toddler

Found this little selfie picture on my phone.

That little face cracks me up. He's always taking a million pictures on my phone.

Matthew really wants a baby sister.

And there are days when you ask him if he wants a baby sister or brother and he'll say, 'mommy, I don't want nothing'.

We don't know the gender of the baby yet (hopefully will find out this week) but we have agreed on one girl name and can't decide on a boy name.

If it's a girl, we like the name Katherine (Kate for short).  Matthew is already excited for his baby Kate!

Boys name are harder to agree on.  I like Luke and so does Matthew.  Steve's not a fan. I also like Mark, but he doesn't like that name either!  So here's a conversation we had the other night with Matthew as we were discussing names:

STEVE:  Matthew, what about the name Thomas?

MATTHEW: No, that's a train!

STEVE:  What about the name Peter?

MATTHEW: No, daddy, that's a rabbit!

We laughed so hard when he said that! 

I guess we can't pick out any names that are T.V. characters he knows. 

He cracks us up!

I am excited to find out this week!

12 wk Scan

I had my 12 week NT scan on Tuesday.  I was SO happy to see baby moving around!  The dr said everything looks good and baby is growing on track. 

I expressed my concern/fear of having another subchorionic hemorrhage and he said that I am almost out of the first trimester so I should not worry.  (I guess I should stay off the internet because I keep reading horror stories about them!). 

I will go back to see the Perinatologist again in three weeks and then every other week from then on.  That's a lot of appts, but every chance I get to see baby puts my mind at ease. 

I am so grateful for each passing day that baby is growing!