How on earth am I already 17 weeks along?! Goodness, time really does fly. Monday is our big ultrasound. The one where they count the fingers and toes and make sure all the body parts are there and accounted for. Oh and also the teeny tiny thing about finding out whether we're having a boy or a girl!!! This morning Matt asked how long we had until our appointment to find out the sex. He was excited when I said it's THIS coming Monday! The hope is to find out and then keep our lips sealed until Christmas. I'm not sure we can do it! But we'll try our very best. It would be so fun to share the big news in person with our families all at once. I heard of the cute idea where you order cupcakes filled with either blue or pink frosting. You serve the cupcakes and everyone takes a bite at the same time! I sure hope we can keep it a secret so its extra exciting come Christmas time!
Overall my first 17 weeks have been, well, fairly easy. My biggest challenge was finding foods that didn't completly repulse me for the first 10 weeks. I couldn't be in the kitchen or anywhere near meat. Matt was a rockstar and cooked meat for me. I was okay with beef once it was cooked but looking at it raw, yuck!! Chicken has been the enemy throughout my entire pregnancy. Some say it was because I ate copious amounts of chicken prior to being pregnant. Others would argue it's just a pregnancy thing- some things sound good and others don't. It's crazy to think I loved chicken so much before you sweet Baby B, and now I can't stand the thought of it! Hopefully I'll enjoy chicken again after you are born :)
Weeks 10-14 were filled with the most awful headaches I've ever had. If I didn't wake up with a headache I'd develop one during the day or even worse I'd get one right before bed and lose sleep over it. I tried every remedy (safe for pregnancy of course) that I could think of but nothing seemed to give me much relief. I visited a chiropractor 3 times but still got headaches in between visits. That's when I decided to try a prenatal massage. It was a lifesaver! My first prenatal massage relieved a lot of the stress and tension I felt in my shoulders. The therapist said that blood flow was restricted due to my "rock-like" shoulders and she wasn't surprised I was suffering from daily headaches. I was headache free for almost a week after that first massage! Halleluyah!
My second massage was a different story. I visited the same therapist but what I thought would be another relaxing visit turned into a whole mess of added stress. She massaged, with a fair amount of pressure, my lower back as well as did some reflexology on specific pressure points. After reading up on prenatal massage I found that you are supposed to avoid the lower back, especially with any sort of pressure and you are not supposed to target pressure points connected to the uterus. My therapist had done both! I was a boohooing mess the morning after my massage worried I had done something to cause harm to my sweet Baby B! After a frantic call to my nurse she reassured me that as long as I wasn't bleeding, cramping or experiencing any out of the ordinary symptoms, I should be fine. Lesson learned! I will still continue to get massages (because really they do feel amazing) but I'll be very specific about which areas I want her to avoid. Whew, catastrophe averted.
Week 15 and 16 were for the most part uneventful. I felt pretty normal and other than being a higher temp at night (hubby calls me his little furnace) and needing to get up at least once a night to use the restroom, I felt great! We've had to turn the air up at night. We were at 73 and now we are at 71. Matt says the baby must have inherited my "furnace gene" :)
Baby Bump: It's been a very common question in my pregnancy, when is your baby bump going to arrive? Up until week 16 a stranger would have no idea I was busy baking a sweet Babe in my tummy. But after a weekend trip to visit Aubry and Drew in Houston I came home to hubby saying, "are you sticking your stomach out?" I responded, "nope! We grew a baby bump over the weekend!" It's so fun to finally be showing a little. Although at times I wonder how on earth I can double in size! As long as baby is healthy, grow I will!
I have another prenatal massage scheduled for tomorrow. I can feel the tension building back up in my shoulders and I have a headache today. I've also been feeling some pain on my lower left side of my pelvis as well as some on my left side (I've heard it might be sciatica pain?). I'm hoping the massage will help relieve some of it. The lower left side pain could be round ligament pain from my uterus growing and stretching. Apparently Baby B will double in size from weeks 15-20! It's incredible how so much growth can occur in such a short period of time.
I am still in awe at all that happens in my body each day. God is amazing. I can't wait to meet you sweet B! Love, Mommy and Daddy
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Happy Halloween 2011!
Halloween felt very different this year. I'm not sure I saw a single child dressed up. We didn't get a single knock at the door for trick-or-treaters. I'm glad I didn't pick up that bag of candy I was eyeing at the store earlier today! We did however dress up the girls! Let me tell you, they loved every minute (sarcasm). Stella didn't mind her costume actually- she sat like a perfect little puppy for pictures and wore her helmet like a champ! Lola on the other hand couln't get out of her costume fast enough! She kept trying to rub off her costume on the ground. Poor baby. She sure did make a cute bumble bee though! Our friend Jeff took some photos for us! Enjoy!
Oh Happy Day!
Sometimes I go through my ordinary day and then it hits me, we are going to have a BABY! It's still surreal and everytime I see our sweet Baby B on the ultrasound monitor I am in awe that there is a human forming inside of me. We found out we were pregnant at 5 weeks. We went in for an ultrasound later that day. Did I mention how thankful I am for an amazing clinic? We saw a perfect little yolk sac forming. The doctor wanted to make sure my HCG levels were going up and they also ran blood tests and checked my progesterone level. I had to go back two days later to have blood drawn again to match the HCG levels. Nurse Eva called while I was out shopping and she reported my HCG levels looked great! Praise God! I had to wait a few more days for my progeterone levels to come back because the lab missed the note to check progesterone the first time around. Those results came back normal as well! After miscarrying at a little over 6 weeks last year, the healthy numbers were a huge relief. We went in for another ultrasound at 7 weeks, 2 days. Matt and I were both shocked to see a little tiny form of a baby on the screen that early! Things were really progressing.
As far as pregancy symptoms I've had food aversions since day one. Just walking into the kitchen was a struggle! My number one food aversion is chicken. The thought of chicken makes me want to yak. Matt has been quite the trooper. He has done a lot of the cooking and has been flexible with my many food complaints! Other than food aversions, headaches have been my other major pregnancy symptom. They started at 10 1/2 weeks. I took a trip to Sioux Falls to do my fall photography sessions and had nights I couldn't sleep because my head, shoulders and neck were aching so much. Tylenol doesn't begin to touch the pain. Since then I've had a headache almost daily, until today! I have been headache free all day. I try to stay hydrated and also started drinking Powerade today. I hope this headache free situation stays! I've used relief cream which provides a cool tingling sensation and when I develop a headache at night it helps me to fall asleep. I've also started making trips to the chiropractor. I will continue to go this week but may stop after that if I remain headache free.
Sleeping has become interesting. I read it's best to sleep on your left side for the best blood flow and oxygen to to the baby. However, I've found that I need more cushioning under me because I wake up with a very sore hip every morning! I get up at least once a night to use the restroom which isn't too bad. I suspect it will get worse as baby grows. Speaking of growing, I'm still waiting to grow! At 15 weeks I can still wear most of my pants, although I need to wear tanks over them so I can leave the top buttons undone. I dont' have a noticeable belly and many people comment that I don't look pregnant. I am okay with that as long as baby is healthy! Hopefully I don't explode later in pregnancy!
I consider myself blessed in this pregnancy. Sweet baby B has caused me little distress as far as symptoms go and now that I'm getting further into my second trimester I hope even the minor symptoms go away. I had vegetarian sushi for the first time today! I couldn't believe it even looked appealing. I brought it home and it was delicious! I hope today is a sign of good things to come- less food aversions and relief from the headaches.
Baby B- we are so excited to watch you grow. We get to see you again in 3 weeks! We aren't sure if we'll find out if you're a boy or a girl yet. We might wait to find out the news with everyone at Christmas. We'll see if we can make it that long, though. Mommy and daddy love you so much!
That's all for now- 15 weeks tomorrow!!!
As far as pregancy symptoms I've had food aversions since day one. Just walking into the kitchen was a struggle! My number one food aversion is chicken. The thought of chicken makes me want to yak. Matt has been quite the trooper. He has done a lot of the cooking and has been flexible with my many food complaints! Other than food aversions, headaches have been my other major pregnancy symptom. They started at 10 1/2 weeks. I took a trip to Sioux Falls to do my fall photography sessions and had nights I couldn't sleep because my head, shoulders and neck were aching so much. Tylenol doesn't begin to touch the pain. Since then I've had a headache almost daily, until today! I have been headache free all day. I try to stay hydrated and also started drinking Powerade today. I hope this headache free situation stays! I've used relief cream which provides a cool tingling sensation and when I develop a headache at night it helps me to fall asleep. I've also started making trips to the chiropractor. I will continue to go this week but may stop after that if I remain headache free.
Sleeping has become interesting. I read it's best to sleep on your left side for the best blood flow and oxygen to to the baby. However, I've found that I need more cushioning under me because I wake up with a very sore hip every morning! I get up at least once a night to use the restroom which isn't too bad. I suspect it will get worse as baby grows. Speaking of growing, I'm still waiting to grow! At 15 weeks I can still wear most of my pants, although I need to wear tanks over them so I can leave the top buttons undone. I dont' have a noticeable belly and many people comment that I don't look pregnant. I am okay with that as long as baby is healthy! Hopefully I don't explode later in pregnancy!
I consider myself blessed in this pregnancy. Sweet baby B has caused me little distress as far as symptoms go and now that I'm getting further into my second trimester I hope even the minor symptoms go away. I had vegetarian sushi for the first time today! I couldn't believe it even looked appealing. I brought it home and it was delicious! I hope today is a sign of good things to come- less food aversions and relief from the headaches.
Baby B- we are so excited to watch you grow. We get to see you again in 3 weeks! We aren't sure if we'll find out if you're a boy or a girl yet. We might wait to find out the news with everyone at Christmas. We'll see if we can make it that long, though. Mommy and daddy love you so much!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Two years later and I'm back.
I can't believe it's been nearly 2 years since my last post. I just re-read my past posts and I will be much better about blogging from here on out. It's so fun to read and relive the past via blog.
The Update:
Presently we are living in Tyler, TX. We left Sioux Falls and arrived in Tyler on June 8th. We went from a 4 bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment. Granted we live in a community with lots of great amenities (3 pools, workout facilities, free golf and a beautiful clubhouse). The puppies have started to make some new puppy friends and I got to work on meeting some friends of my own almost immediately after moving. Kjersti has been a dear friend and I am so thankful for her. Jacque and Sachi are wonderful girls I met through church and I am excited to start a bible study with them soon. Matt is busy with Locals Love Us and we are waiting to hear if we will move again in January or not. I am working part-time at a company called Mentoring Minds and the people there are great.
The Exciting News:
We are having a baby! Due April 24, 2012! We will find out the sex on November 21st (unless we decide to wait until Christmas to find out when the rest of the family does). We are so excited to be pregnant and can't wait to meet our little bundle of joy.
The Truth:
In some ways this move has been the hardest one yet. While we have friends and a nice place to live in Tyler, finding out we were pregnant changed a lot of things for me. We accepted this position (yes, the one where they told us up front we'd be moving every 2-4 months) with the intention of eventually having a baby.
But here's the thing. Thinking about it in a futuristic way and actually being pregnant realizing this relocating thing is going to be our life are two different things. Knowing there is a sweet babe growing and knowing we are so far from family/old friends is brutal. I have had so many mixed feelings about continuing in this lifestyle of constantly moving. I've also realized how good we had it in Sioux Falls. I had a job I LOVED, I was surrounded by people I LOVED, and Matt and I had hit the best point in our marriage since meeting with our fantastic counselor Dave. So why did we leave it all? I've asked myself this question often.
Sometimes I honestly feel like we were led to Tyler to pursue this new job venture. Other times I think we rushed into things and are now left inbetween a rock and a hard place. Our Sioux Falls home is under a 2 year lease. We still have a year and a half to go until we can return to that home. We don't know the future of Matt's job and may not until right before we have to make a decision about whether or not to move. It's all too much for me at times. I've been told I am mourning the life I had and must learn how to accept my life as it is now. What makes that so challenging is that I had full input into this decision. But of course I believe in the leading of God, so would he have let me make this decision to move to Tyler if it wasn't His Will?
My current theme song is Revelation by Third Day, here are the lyrics (I don't feel this strongly all the time, but generally speaking it sums up my feelings quite well)
The Update:
Presently we are living in Tyler, TX. We left Sioux Falls and arrived in Tyler on June 8th. We went from a 4 bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment. Granted we live in a community with lots of great amenities (3 pools, workout facilities, free golf and a beautiful clubhouse). The puppies have started to make some new puppy friends and I got to work on meeting some friends of my own almost immediately after moving. Kjersti has been a dear friend and I am so thankful for her. Jacque and Sachi are wonderful girls I met through church and I am excited to start a bible study with them soon. Matt is busy with Locals Love Us and we are waiting to hear if we will move again in January or not. I am working part-time at a company called Mentoring Minds and the people there are great.
The Exciting News:
We are having a baby! Due April 24, 2012! We will find out the sex on November 21st (unless we decide to wait until Christmas to find out when the rest of the family does). We are so excited to be pregnant and can't wait to meet our little bundle of joy.
The Truth:
In some ways this move has been the hardest one yet. While we have friends and a nice place to live in Tyler, finding out we were pregnant changed a lot of things for me. We accepted this position (yes, the one where they told us up front we'd be moving every 2-4 months) with the intention of eventually having a baby.
But here's the thing. Thinking about it in a futuristic way and actually being pregnant realizing this relocating thing is going to be our life are two different things. Knowing there is a sweet babe growing and knowing we are so far from family/old friends is brutal. I have had so many mixed feelings about continuing in this lifestyle of constantly moving. I've also realized how good we had it in Sioux Falls. I had a job I LOVED, I was surrounded by people I LOVED, and Matt and I had hit the best point in our marriage since meeting with our fantastic counselor Dave. So why did we leave it all? I've asked myself this question often.
Sometimes I honestly feel like we were led to Tyler to pursue this new job venture. Other times I think we rushed into things and are now left inbetween a rock and a hard place. Our Sioux Falls home is under a 2 year lease. We still have a year and a half to go until we can return to that home. We don't know the future of Matt's job and may not until right before we have to make a decision about whether or not to move. It's all too much for me at times. I've been told I am mourning the life I had and must learn how to accept my life as it is now. What makes that so challenging is that I had full input into this decision. But of course I believe in the leading of God, so would he have let me make this decision to move to Tyler if it wasn't His Will?
My current theme song is Revelation by Third Day, here are the lyrics (I don't feel this strongly all the time, but generally speaking it sums up my feelings quite well)
My life has led me down the road that's so uncertain
And now I am left alone and I am broken
Trying to find my way
Trying to find the faith that's gone
This time i know that you are holding all the answers
And I'm tired of losing hope and taking chances
On roads that never seem
To be the ones that bring me home
Give me a revelation
Show me what to do
Cause I've been trying
To find my way
I haven't got a clue
Tell me should I stay here
Or do i need to move?
Give me a revelation
I've got nothing without you
I've got nothing without you
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