October 1, 2008Today I am 37 weeks 3 days and it's finally OCTOBER!! I'm due in 18 days, Oct. 19th. It's been a while since I've wrote and I'm already regretting not writing more often. I hope I'm able to cover everything and not forget. I never want to forget any of this, it has been truly amazing and a gift from God.
Since I last wrote a lot has happened but there has been much of the same as well. On August 16, we had our baby shower at home. It was a huge success and we're really blessed with excited, giving family members and friends. We had it at Emma's Restaurant in Chickamauga. It was a little cramped, to say the least, but the food was good, as was the cake and all in all it was a great day! Some of my favorite gifts are the monogrammed bibs, burp cloths, onesies; the pack-n-play, the keepsake box, my mom's quilts, Baby's First Christmas scrap book-I can't wait to put it together, my girlfriend's clothes basket FULL of goodies, the stroller...gosh, I could go on and on.
On Sept. 5, I went in for a regular Dr's appt. and found out that my blood pressure was high. I had a migraine the week before and this was of some concern to the doctors so they sent me to the hospital for observation. At the hospital I was hooked up to a monitor to check baby's movements, heart rate and if there were any contractions; had TONS of blood work done, my blood pressure was checked every 15 minutes and I got a steroid shot. They were looking for pre-eclampsia which is pregnancy induced hypertension. The Dr. said she was being a little aggressive with all of this but it was a Friday and she said this could creep up on people pretty rapidly and be dangerous in a matter of hours and she was afraid with the weekend coming up that would all be a dangerous combination. Once the nurses got me lying on my left side and Brent got there to calm me down, all was well and I was sent home 4 hours later. I went back Saturday for my second round of the steroid shot and to turn in some labs that I had to do overnight. My blood pressure went up and down that whole weekend and some during the week, especially when I tried to do too much but since then it has remained pretty stable and hasn't affected me at all. I'm not sure what caused it to be that high at the Dr's office and I haven't changed my routine at all but all seems to be back to normal. I'm back to my usual housewife duties that I "had" to put off for several days.
I've been to the Dr. every week since then. At 35 weeks I had my group B strep test done and they checked me for dilation. I wasn't dilated but soft and thinned out and they said Logan had dropped some. I haven't been checked since then but I have an appt. tomorrow and I think I'm going to let them, so I can see if anything has changed! Hopefully in almost 3 weeks there has been some change!!
We had a UGA/Low Country Boil party at our house on Sept. 13. It was lots of fun and was probably our last gathering for a while. Last year we had a Halloween costume party and hoped it would become an annual event but we don't plan on doing that this year for obvious reasons but maybe next year we can. My girlfriends showed up with lots of gifts for baby Logan. They brought me TONS of diapers, bath accessories, wipes, etc. They are the greatest and I couldn't ask for better friends down here, I'm so glad I have someone to hang out with here, if not-I'd be miserable-like I was when we lived in Woodstock. They are so excited about Logan and I can't wait for them to meet him! I especially can't wait for Tristyn (Taylor's daughter) to meet him, her mom tells me that she talks about him all the time.
We've been to several birthing classes. My favorite was Childbirth Educations and Baby Basics. Brent was the class clown, of course and asked the nurse during the birthing center tour, where he was going to stand since he wasn't holding a leg and he wasn't watching what was going on "down there". I hope he changes his mind cause I'm not sure I'll be able to do it without him. He's my rock and he gives me strength and I'm probably going to need one of his silly pep talks he always gives. Plus, when else do you get to see one of God's miracles first hand?! Brent also learned how to put on a diaper and give a baby a bath-he's got a long ways to go, but I expected that and can't wait to teach him everything he needs to know!
So, I've basically got 2-1/2 weeks til my due date. I was told at my last appt. that since this is my first pregnancy they will not consider induction (unless necessary for medical reasons) until 41 weeks. I really don't want to be induced but I can't say it wouldn't be enticing if they mentioned it, I would probably not be so strong if it was offered to me. I wouldn't say I'm miserable, but I'm damn near close. I'm getting up sometimes 6 times in a night to go to the bathroom, I can't sleep unless I take 2 Tylenol PM's which I don't like taking but don't really have an option right now, my back hurts pretty much all the time, my appetite is gone for some reason-I think because my stomach is squashed, and the simplest things (like walking upstairs) wear me out! We went shopping the other day, we were gone for about 5 hours between driving, shopping and eating out and I was EXHAUSTED! We got home around 6:15 and I was in bed asleep by 7 and slept til the next morning. My emotions are getting the best of me. Apparently, my hormones are raging, once again. I cry over the stupidest stuff. Sometimes I cry cause this is almost over and I don't want it to end cause I've loved being pregnant sooo much, especially when he's moving around and then the next minute I cry cause I can't wait to get this over with and meet my little man...sometimes I feel so over it and other times it's the best feeling in the world. It's humorous at times how my mood will shift in a matter of minutes. Poor Brent, I feel sorry for him, but he's been great dealing with me and waiting on me hand and foot if I'm not feeling well. I couldn't ask for a better husband!!
July 31, 2008 Today I'm 28 weeks 4 days, which is 7 months and either the first or second week of the third trimester, depending on which book you refer to. If Logan was born now (heaven forbid) his survival rate has jumped to 90%, which is a relief in itself. We went to the Dr last Tuesday and his heart rate was in the 140's and I measured right at 27 weeks (I was 27 weeks 2 days at the time).
We've been back from the Bahamas for a little over a month now. We had a good time but it really wore me out, I slept for days after we got back and my feet were swollen for a couple days too. But all in all, it was totally worth it and I'm glad we got a last vacation in with just the two of us before the baby gets here. We went to Grand Bahama Island to an All Inclusive resort called Viva Wyndham. It's the same place we went to last year and honestly it has gone downhill a little since then. The beaches were still beautiful and the water was crystal clear and warm! The snorkeling on the reef about 40 yards off the beach at our resort was amazing! There were all kinds of fish there, especially a really pretty parrot fish eating some of the coral that I could have spent hours following around. We spent a lot of time in the casino on the island as well. The first trip to the casino, I was about 4 spins in on my first slot machine and I won about $200! I should have quit then but instead I put that $200 right back in the casino, minus enough for our cab ride and dinner in town..so all in all, the first trip to the casino didn't cost us anything and provided hours of entertainment! One day we decided to do a cave tour which included a trip to a secluded beach. The caves were nothing special, it was nothing I couldn't have seen at Ruby Falls in Chattanooga or The Lost Sea in Sweetwater (actually wasn't even as cool as The Lost Sea) but the secluded beach was amazing! It was called Gold Rock Beach and they shot some scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean there. Brent almost stepped on a huge sting ray, luckily he scared it instead but when he did it headed straight for me and another couple out in the water! Luckily no one was injured and the sting ray headed out to deeper waters. Brent had heard of a shark siting nearby the day before so he wasn't in favor of being in the water for more than a few minutes. Brent also attempted to do the trapeze! They had it at the resort and it was part of our all inclusive package. After about two attempts he was able to get his feet up and over but was too tired to do anything else! I think he realized he's not the lean, mean college football player he once was! The flight going down to Ft Lauderdale was a little scary, to say the least! The pilot got on the loud speaker and asked for everyone to buckle up because there was a storm near and they expected turbulence. About 2 seconds later the plane took a huge free fall, it felt like we were in a roller coaster right when you start going straight down and you come out of your seat and your stomach is up in your throat--it was that exact same feeling! Luckily the pilot got it under control and all was well. The Saturday before we left for the Bahamas Brent finally felt Logan kicking so the entire trip his hand was glued to my stomach trying to feel more kicks! I got all kinds of crazy looks from other guests because the bartenders didn't put virgin drink in a different cup so it appeared as though I was drinking alcohol and was obviously pregnant so I got lots of stare downs and evil looks. Apparently that is also the time where I became noticeably pregnant to strangers. The security guard at the airport told us congrats and told Brent Happy Father's Day (we flew out on Father's Day). Before that trip there had only been one stranger to acknowledge the pregnancy and she was really taking at chance because I was only 17 weeks at that time, she could have really embarrassed herself, lucky for her-I really was pregnant! So all in all it was a good trip but I don't think we'll be going back to Grand Bahama Island in the future. I think we've seen everything there is to see there and it almost became boring this time around.
My mom came down Sunday and stayed til Tuesday. I really enjoyed her visit and wish I got to spend more time with her and my dad. That's one downside to living away, I don't get to see them as much as I'd like. Hopefully, we'll be back in the Chattanooga area within the next year, I don't think I could take much more than that! Mom and I did lots of baby shopping! I finally found the plug in swing that I'd searched all over for at Baby Depot! I also found a car seat that's not one of the ugly one's you see out in the baby departments right now but they were sold out! I'm going back this weekend to see if they have it in! Hopefully they do! Mom also got to see Logan's room! It's almost finished, I just need to find some stuff to go on the walls. I'm going to go through all of Brent's sports stuff that's at my parents when I go home for the shower to see what I can find! I'm pretty sure I have his HS jersey that I want to put in a shadow box and then there's some other things I think I can frame as well. Brent won on the sports theme for the baby room! I was totally against it and was trying my best to find something else but couldn't and actually liked the sports theme that we found. Mom got us a glider as our baby gift and it came in the other day and is up and ready too! His crib, changing table and book shelf thing are all up and ready! His closet is full of clothes! It's the most organized closet I've ever maintained! All his clothes are in order of size and style and are all washed and ready to go! I'm seriously not sure what I'm going to do with all the stuff I'll probably get at the baby shower! This little boy is spoiled rotten already and he's not even here yet!
On Tuesday, before Mom left, we went and had our 3D/4D ultrasound done! It was truly amazing what all we could see! We could see him opening and closing his mouth, moving his arms, opening and closing his fist, running in place and the movements weren't just spastic like I thought they would be, these were coordinated movements! He looks just like Brent! We thought he had my nose but nope-he is an exact copy of his daddy from nose to forehead, chin, mouth, cheeks...everything!! The only thing he has from my side of the family is what appeared to be big feet, which is a Johnson trait! He weighed 2 lbs 14 oz and his measurements averaged 29 weeks 0 days which is normal since I was 28 weeks 2 days at the time of the scan. The EDD according to his measurements is Oct 14 which is a full moon, so I find that a little coincidental and bet that's when he makes his appearance! His actual due date is Oct 19 so the 14th is just fine with me! The ultrasound tech said that she saw as pattern of boys on full moons and girls on new moons but I have no idea how true that is. This ultrasound made me realize how great God is and what a miracle babies are and how truly blessed I am!! I could never ask for more! Brent was so giddy during the ultrasound! Mom said he was grinning from ear to ear, of course I couldn't see him because I was glued to the TV screen they had hanging on the wall, but he was loving all over me, kissing me, squeezing my hand-it was really sweet! You could tell just how excited he was about his baby boy, the love he already has for him, how attached he already is and what a great daddy he is going to make! Brent is almost terrified of newborns because he's never been around one but I'm sure as soon as the shock and nerves wear off he will be the best daddy in the world! I'm so glad I get to experience this with him and that he's just as excited as I am! I never would have imagined my sophomore year of high school when we started dating that this is where we'd be today, but I'm so glad things have turned out the way they have!
Blood work Update 6/12/08:
The blood work came back negative!! There are no signs of Downs, neural tube defects or a whole list of other defects! What a relief! Now, off to the Bahamas on Sunday for some rest and relaxation before the baby gets here!
May 28, 2008
The Ups and Downs of Pregnancy
There's been a lot going on in the last week, pregnancy wise. We found out Last Tuesday that we're having a BOY!!! How exciting. We've decided on Logan Kamp as his name. Logan is Brent's middle name and Camp is my grandmother's maiden name but we are spelling it with a K because Brent's mom, who passed away when he was 10, and his dad's initials are both LKP. That ultrasound was the neatest thing I've ever seen. I just fell even more in love with my little man and I'm so glad I can quit referring to him as an "it". I would have bet money that we were having a girl and had even been referring to him as "Mackenzie" but a boy is really the ideal situation and I couldn't be happier! Brent is totally over the moon!! He's already got a ball glove picked out but I talked him out of getting it because I'm left handed and we hope that Logan is too, at least from a sports perspective. Both of us were really involved in sports as children and Brent even at the college level and we hope that our children are the same way....but if not, that's ok too, we just want them to be involved in something extracurricular to help keep them out of trouble and from being glued to the TV or whatever gaming system is out at the time.
We had to see a perinatologist for the ultrasound because my sister had a congenital heart defect and my cousin has Down Syndrome. The baby's heart looked wonderful! I wasn't really concerned with it, but I am glad that they were being extra precautious. The tech asked us if we wanted to know the sex of the baby and of course we told her YES!! I did ask her to wait til the end though because I might get too excited and not be able to lay still for the rest of the ultrasound. Well I recognized the "boy parts" right away!! I don't even think she was trying to do that at the time, I think she was trying to get the femur length and it was just too hard to miss. I said "Oh Look, Its a boy!" and she was just baffled that I could tell (little does she know, I've worked in Radiology for 6 years now and see these things all the time)! The girl finished her part and the doctor came in to look for himself to make sure the tech didn't miss anything. Logan wasn't cooperating too well and the doctor told us he couldn't see his nasal bones because the baby wouldn't turn his head around for anything! We were lead to believe that it wasn't anything to worry about, just that he couldn't identify if they were there, small or missing. Babies with Downs have small or missing nasal bones and that is why they were trying so hard to see if they were there or not. We thought "no big deal", the baby just wouldn't turn his head and there were no other signs of Down and we didn't worry much about it once we left the Dr's office.
A week later I had my followup appointment with my OB. Luckily I got to see Amy, the Nurse Practitioner. She is awesome and really takes a lot of time to explain things, etc. I really think she should go and get certified as a midwife and deliver babies because I would do anything for her to be the one to deliver Logan. She is pregnant herself so I don't see that happening anytime soon. Maybe, though, that's why she's so understanding since she's pregnant herself, she understands the fear, concern and hormone craziness that happens in pregnant women firsthand. She went over the perinatologist findings from the report that he sent to my OB's office. In his report he stated that the nasal bones were in fact small, which totally contradicted what he told us in person the day of our ultrasound. I have no idea why he wouldn't have told us that in person other than he wanted my OB to do his dirty work instead of him having to do it himself. I seriously will never go back to a male physician again, especially if it has to do with pregnancy or female related issues. They just don't get it, even when he was doing the ultrasound he had extremely poor bedside manner, was huffing and puffing during the ultrasound and would not explain anything, even when I asked questions he acted as if I was interrupting him. There is blood work that I can do to determine if I am at a higher risk of having a baby with Down Syndrome and a whole bunch of other birth defects. The blood work will not tell you that in fact the baby does have a birth defect, it just measures the amount of hormones in your blood and certain amounts of a certain hormone is sometimes found in women who had a baby with a birth defect, it does not tell us anything certain. I had 2 days to decide whether or not to do this blood work. It has to be done before 20 weeks, after 20 weeks it has an extremely high false positive rate, even before then it still has a higher than normal false positive rate. After lots of discussion with Brent and sleepless nights I decided to go ahead with this blood work with the hopes that everything comes back normal. Either I've set myself up for a huge relief if everything comes back ok, or I've set myself up for tons of worry over the next 20 weeks. If the blood work comes back negative then we have nothing to worry about. The ultrasound findings just mean that Logan has my nose. The OB even pointed out that I have a petite nose and that the baby just may have gotten my nose instead of his daddy's. I wasn't going to do the blood work at first but the past couple days have been extremely emotionally draining on me just wondering if anything if wrong or not and I hoping for negative results so I don't have anything at all to worry about and I think if I get positive results that it's not going to change my level of worried. The baby is a blessing and will be perfect to us regardless and against my better judgement have already done tons of research and it's not as bad a people think. I did read a really alarming statistic that 80-90% of people who used amniocentesis to confirm Down's end up doing a second trimester abortion which I think is totally ridiculous! I have chosen not to have the amniocentesis regardless of the results. There is a 1 in 200 chance of miscarriage and even though the risk is small, it's still not worth it to me. I also read that for every 1 baby that was diagnosed by amnio, 4 were lost in the process, meaning that Down's is rarer even with the indicators than first believed by doctors. I don't think it's a chance I want to take, even though I will be filled with worry for 20 weeks it's still not worth the risk of knowingly putting my baby's life at stake. I can deal with the worry but I could not deal with myself if I lost the baby over a diagnosis that is not going to change anything anyways. It's not going to change the way I love the baby, prepare for the baby or care for the baby when he does arrive. There are no additional preparation that need to take place. He would be just like any other baby and need love, attention, food and diaper changes. Nothing would be different. Let's just hope for now that the bloodwork comes back negative and then I have nothing to worry about at all!
April 22, 2008Today I am 14 weeks 2 days. We had another Doctor's appointment today. It was eventful to say the least. I met a new Dr today, her name is Dr Smith. She was very nice and I liked her a lot, very personable person. She went over a couple thing with me and then tried to find the baby's heart beat....Yes I said TRIED! Some reason she couldn't detect it with the Doppler. I seriously wanted to freak out! That was probably the scariest two minutes of the pregnancy thus far. I can't even describe what was going through my head other than telling myself to keep it together....Luckily Brent was with me and he kept really calm and really reassured me. The Dr. went and got an ultrasound machine and she was finally able to find the heart beat almost immediately with the ultrasoud. Although you couldn't hear it and this machine wasn't set up to give a rate it was definitely there and going fast! What a relief, you have no idea! She said the baby was moving around a lot and that is why she couldn't track it down (probably had something to do with the Mountain Dew I drank before my visit, hehe). The baby looked sooo much bigger since the last ultrasound. You could see eye sockets, arms, legs.....it was truly amazing and although it was a scary moment, I'm glad I got to take a sneak peak at the baby for a minute or two! I had tried to talk Brent out of going to this visit because I felt it was unnecessary and he had missed a lot of work last week because of a business trip. I also had some things I wanted to get done while I was in Athens and I knew he wouldn't have time for that, but he insisted that he go and I'm soooo glad he did. I seriously might have had a break down if he hadn't been there. Even after the visit I was still about to break out crying just thinking of what would have happened if she hadn't found that heart beat and what all I could have lost and what a wreck I would have been. It still kind of chokes me up now just thinking about it. After the visit, Brent told me how freaked out he was...I'm so glad he held it together for me during the visit! Bless his heart, he's so strong for me! Also, during the visit, the Dr. told me that she is going to set me up with a perinatologist to do the anatomy (18-20 wks) ultrasound since I have a family history of congentital heart defects. My sister, Pia, was born with a heart defect and they just want to be very thorough in evaluating this to see if it has been passed down in anyway. I knew this was coming and I knew they would be extra precautious, at my first visit they told me they would monitor it, but it still scared me a little. I guess just having to see a specialist can do that to you!
I've been feeling great since I last wrote. No morning sickness, etc. I still need to nap all the time but other than that I'm feeling great! My belly is growing by the minute and I went out and bought some new maternity clothes last week...I already had a ton that a friend loaned me but I still wanted some of my own! Since Thursday, my belly has been kind of sore, just tender to the touch. I guess the baby had a growth spurt or something! They told me at my last visit to expect some pain similar to that so it didn't worry me any. It was just a persistent ache, I guess is how to explain it. But all in all, everything is going great! The Dr said at the next visit there should be no problem detecting the heart beat, so I'm looking forward to that!
April 3, 2008
So, apparently it’s been a while since I wrote anything. A lot has happened in the last 8 weeks or so....I am now 11 weeks 4 days pregnant with my precious little one. I have a really strong feeling that we are having a girl...of course Brent is wishing for a boy though. I really could care less but that is my gut feeling and usually mother’s instinct is correct but we will have to wait 6 more weeks to find out! I have made an appointment with Nestled Newborn for Tuesday May 13 at 10 a.m. to have an ultrasound done to determine the gender of our baby. That is the day of Laura’s graduation so Mom will be in the area and I really want her there for the ultrasound. I really want our parents to be a huge part of this child’s life even though we aren’t that close to home, I think I can still make it happen.
I haven’t had any morning sickness since 7 weeks 2 days. It ended two days after we announced the news to our families and I think that me being anxious over sharing the news is what caused the nausea in the first place. I never threw up or anything, I would just get a wave of nausea here and there. I have been extremely tired but downing a Mountain Dew usually does the trick to fix that. I have to eat about every 3 hours and I feel like I’m starving all the time but I can’t get too full cause then I feel sick! Apparently I’m not eating too much though because I’ve lost almost 10 pounds since our first doctor’s appointment.
We told our family starting on February 29. We wanted to wait until Easter but through Frito Lay Brent’s best friend’s dad found out and we knew it was a matter of days before all of Chickamauga knew so we went up early. We drove up to Chickamauga on Friday to start spreading the news. We of course told my parents first since we were staying at their house. I found a double picture frame with a poem on one side and a place for a photo on the other. I found a poem online and added it to the side for the poem. I don’t remember what it said and need to find it and add it on here but it said something to the like of "you will get to meet me come October because that is when I’m due". It was basically a letter from the baby to MawMaw and PawPaw. Mom of course was extremely excited and daddy actually got up out of his recliner to give me a hug which is extremely unusual for him to do. Then the phone calls began and I think mom called everyone but the president to inform them of the good news! The next day we had lunch with my girlfriends at TGI Fridays. It was very nice but Misty was forever late and I had to hold it in until she got there which was really hard for me to do! But when the news came out it they were really excited and of course had tons of questions regarding the due date, etc. After lunch we headed over to Ryan and Esthers to tell them. They were excited as well, but I think they were a little more shocked because I don’t think they knew we were trying. On Sunday we headed up to Julie’s to fill her in, she was moving into her new house and this was the first opportunity we had to go up. We had the same picture frame and poem except it was addressed to Granny. Apparently that has been her nickname since she was a child and so that is what she wants to be called, which is fine by me, I could care less, not in a bad way, it just really doesn’t matter. Brent’s Aunt Lisa (Julie’s sister) was there as well so she called her daughters to tell them! Callie said "glad it’s not me" which I thought was funny. Her and her husband, Chad, got married a month or so before we did. We tried to meet up with Larry on Saturday night but he was unreachable. During the day we had spoke with him and he wanted to meet for dinner but then he wouldn’t answer his phone for the rest of the weekend. Brent finally got ahold of him sometime that next week and had to resort to telling him over the phone, which was fine, no big deal. Also, on Sunday we called Brent’s Ma-Maw Jeanette who was in Madisonville recovering from knee replacement and she was thrilled as well. Of course she spread the word to everyone up there who she says is thrilled too. Brent also called his Mimi who also seemed excited.
Our first doctors appointment was exactly how I expected it to be. They gave me the due date of October 19 and I was 6 weeks 1 day on the day of that visit. They scheduled an ultrasound at 8 weeks 2 days to check the size and dates of the baby to ensure that my recollection of my last cycle was correct. Of course they did the usual testing for all STD’s/HIV and all the pregnancy bloodwork. They also told us tons of information that of course I’ve already forgot except that I’m suppose to avoid the artifical sweetner aspertame, that’s really all I remember! Apparently, our insurance will not cover an ultrasound done in the OB office so we have to go to St. Mary’s to have that done which is fine because they told me I will still get pictures which actually turned into a story itself that I will share in the next paragraph, lol! Brent wouldn’t stay in for the "exam" which was fine by me, it was not necessary that he be in there for that anyways. He was in the room to meet the doctor and ask questions, etc, and it was nice to have his support since I was so nervous and excited about going! I think he was just as nervous and excited as I was though, he can just hide it better, lol!
We had our ultrasound March 11, 2008 at 10:30 in the morning....I was extremely excited to see our little miracle. I had looked up info online so I knew what I was suppose to see because I knew at the hospital they would not tell me if something was wrong or not! I had to drink 32 oz of water before I got there which was a task in itself since water makes me feel nauseous. I quit after 24 oz because I could tell my bladder was already full as we pulled into the parking garage and that I probably wouldn’t be able to hold it if I drank anymore! Once we got checked in, the waiting game started. It seemed like forever but really was only about 15 minutes....15 minutes feels like 60 with a full bladder and a baby pressing on it! So, I ask the girl as we are going back if she is going to print me lots of pictures (this was my way of making it known that I wanted more than one).....she said "oh, no, we don’t print pictures, you can only have that done at your OB". This really upset me since we were unable to have any ultrasounds done at the OB office. This baby has been in the works for over a year and I wanted a freakin picture of it! About that time my pregnancy hormones kicked in and I cried almost uncontrollably. It is humerous looking back. Brent was trying to make excuses for me to the ultrasound girl which was funny to me, even at the time. Apparently, she had a change of heart and decided that she could print pictures of the baby and we ended up with 6 really nice shots of the baby! At first I was afraid there would be nothing more than a blob, which some of the info online told me was all I would see and some said I would see the form of a baby. It turns out that we could make out the head, body, arm buds and leg buds and an AWESOME little flutter of a heartbeat! The heart beat ranged from 170-180 which is normal. The baby measured 22 mm in length crown to rump and was the most precious thing I have ever seen in my life! After the ultrasound of course I called my mom to tell her that everything looked fine.I also called Taylor to tell her the details of my little miracle and Brent called his mom. It is so nice to have people happy for you! The baby measured two days further than my dates according to my cycle so they are not going to change my due date, it is set for Oct. 19, 2008! After the ultrasound, we stopped by Chik-fil-A so Brent could eat lunch before heading back to work...I was hungry and tried to eat but couldn’t due to the excitement. Apparently, on the way back Brent ran a red light. We were in my car and about 3 weeks later we recieved a ticket in the mail for ME because the car is registered in my name! Apparently there was a camera at this red light and the fine is a nice $70...luckily it can’t go on my driving record or be counted against me by my insurance so I’m not even going to bother getting it changed to Brent’s name even though I’m making him fork out the money for it, lol!
We’ve also had our second doctors appointment. At that appointment all they did was check my urine, blood pressure, weight. We also got to listen to the heartbeat on the Doppler for the first time which was absolutely amazing!! At ultrasound, it wasn’t very clear and you really had to listen to hear it but this time it was loud and clear! The doctor said it was nice and strong and it was in the 160’s. I had a couple of questions for her and then she let me go. I saw Dr. Puplampu this time and I wasn’t really fond of her, she acted as if she was extremely rushed and didn’t have a lot of time but all in all, she answered my questions and let us hear the heartbeat! My blood work from the previous visit was fine and of course I was relieved to learn that I didn’t have AIDS, which I don’t even know why I was worried about that in the first place, lol. My anemia is under control but borderline (12.3) to my standards so I may try to find my refill of my iron pills that I have taken before. Brent went with me so it was nice to spend a few minutes with him as well.
I officially started wearing maternity clothes last Wednesday, March 26. My pants were just too uncomfortable to wear anymore! Of course I took pictures and they are sooo cute if I must say so myself! I’m loving every minute of this pregnancy stuff and as much as I can’t wait for our little miracle to get here, I also want to cherish this time I have and enjoy the miracle that is growing within!
February 10, 2008Well, today is the day that we found out that we are finally pregnant! We have been trying for pretty much a year and I had almost decided that it wasn’t going to happen without some professional help but boy was I wrong. I wasn’t even expecting the test to be positive, I just took one out of curiosity like I did often during the last year. God has everything planned for us and it makes sense now why the timing is what it is.
According to my calculations, I am due October 20 although I haven’t been to the doctor yet. I will have to call tomorrow to schedule one because today is a Sunday.
Our day today was pretty hectic and hopefully I will never forget it but I am going to write down every detail just in case. The day started out as a lazy Sunday morning. We did not go to church today and we were planning on doing absolutely nothing but napping and watching movies. The only thing planned for me was to cook breakfast because I have been out of town and Brent hadn’t really ate much but hotdogs and pizza while I was gone so he asked that I make him pancakes and eggs, which is a typical weekend breakfast for us. After breakfast and a little rest we decided that we wanted to get out and ride around and maybe look at flooring and get ideas to redo our bathrooms. We made a couple of stops along the way and one of those was Freds. Now Freds is not the typical place to get a pregnancy test but I decided that since we were there I should check to see if they carry them and of course they did. Brent paid for them as well as bought us a Snickers ice cream bar to share. The cashier was a little rude and was trying to embarass me about buying a pregnancy test which did not work at all, after all this is a wanted pregnancy, not a mistake. She would say things like "First Response, huh?" and "I’ll put this in your own bag" --like I was some stupid teenager or something. I didn’t say anything but I really, really wanted to tell her that not all babies are mistakes and that being pregnant in my situation was not a bad thing....but anyways, enough about her. After that we headed to Athens to the Lowes. At Lowes we find some enormous sales. We ended up buying a new double vanity top for the master bath, new tile for the upstairs and downstairs bath and the supplies to lay it. We also picked out but did not get today, new faucets, mirrors and light fixtures for all three baths and a new vanity top for one bath and a pedestal sink for the downstairs bath. We were suppose to go back in a couple of weeks with Brent’s bonus to get the rest but now we found out we are pregnant and I think all we are going to do is get the pedestal sink, mirror, faucet and light fixures for the downstairs and wait on the rest for now because we have to get a nursery ready, which in my opinion is much more fun! So after our visit to Lowes, which lasted about 3 hours, we decided to go to Cracker Barrel to eat dinner, time had slipped away from us and we were starving. After that we headed home. At Cracker Barrel I drank 3 glasses of sweet tea so needless to say when we got home I was about to bust. I darted into the bathroom with my test thinking that there was no way it would be positive even if I was pregnant due to all the tea I had drank and also disregarding Brent’s request to wait til after we unloaded the heavy stuff from the car so he would not feel guilty for me helping him with it. After about 10 seconds, TWO pink lines emerged on the results screen and I could not believe it!! I raced out into the garage where Brent was unloading the heavy stuff (hehe) and I could barely even get out that we had two lines. I think he understood what I meant though and we had a tearful long hug right in the middle of the garage. I don’t think he has ever hugged me that hard. He didn’t really respond that much other than disbelief on his face but he did make a comment at one point "I’m going to be a daddy". I know it’s cliche but I think it was him telling himself outloud and it was cute nonetheless. I ended up taking the other test (the package came with two) after we had ripped out the downstairs bath, just before bed and it was positive also! I wonder how many times I’ll do that before the doctor’s appointment?!
We haven’t told anyone yet and are trying to come up with some creative ideas to tell our parents. Brent mentioned making them an Easter basket since we won’t see them until then and if we’ve had a ultrasound by then, placing it in the bottom or if not buying a little baby photo album or something for the grandparents to have or a picture frame with estimated date of arrival in it.....still thinking though.
February 11, 2008
Last night was extremely restless for both of us. Neither of us slept more than a couple hours and when we were sleeping the other one was contantly interupting it with the tossing and turning. Brent sent me the cutest text today, it said "Be careful with my baby today, love you!!!!" I don’t really think it’s hit him yet though. Maybe once we go to the doctor or hear the heartbeat it will sink in a little more for both of us.
Today is Monday and I called this morning to make my doctors appointment. I made my appointment with Classic City OB/GYN which is an all female practice, which I am extremely excited about. When we moved here a year ago I researched all the hosiptals and decided on delivering at St. Mary’s (from what I hear, you can’t beat it) and the chief of the OB/GYN department is the owner of this practice which also makes me a little relieved. I only want the best for our baby!
Our appointment is set for February 25th at 9:45, they said they usually wanted the first visit between 6-8 weeks and this is right at 6 weeks for me. I already called Brent and he is arranging his schedule so he can be there and I have asked some people if they would cover for me at work, which shouldn’t be a problem.
So far I’ve not had any morning sickness. Hopefully I won’t have to deal with that, my mom never had any with her two pregnancies, so maybe that was passed on to me. I also read that sometimes finding out you’re pregnant is a source of stress and can cause nausea but since this was planned there is no stress what-so-ever, just complete joy and excitement! But who knows, in a couple of weeks I may be worshiping the porcelian gods after all. I have been watching my caffine intake as well as water and salt. Usually I drink 3/4 of a 2 Liter a day of Pepsi (OMG, I know) but so far I’ve only had one glass and no coffee either. Apparently, in a low risk pregnancy, you are allowed two servings of soda/coffee per day, but I’m going to try to limit mine as much as possible. I’ve already read the first 6 chapters of What to Expect When You’re Expecting and haven’t learned all that much that I already didn’t know, probably because I have read it before but that was a year ago and wanted to freshen up on anything that I had forgotten. I told Brent today that I wanted to tell our friends, Josh and Taylor, some time this week. Taylor has been through this twice already and I feel like she will be able to help me most with my crazy questions and concerns, and she is close by and just a phone call away if anything wierd or unexplained happens. Plus, I’m going to wait over a month to tell my mom so I have to tell someone or I might explode and there is no risk of it getting back to Chickamauga that way either!
