25 Week Update

Has it really been 5 weeks since my last update? Time is really flying.

First things first, I can finally feel her kick! I was right around 21 and a half weeks when I could feel her for the first time. I was helping an incredible mama through transition and was sitting at the foot of her bed. How fitting that the midwife feels her baby move for the first time while helping welcome another little blessing into the world. Since then her movements have really increased. I don't know if I've ever had someone explain exactly what it feels like but here is my take. Do you ever get a muscle twitch and you can't control it but your muscle just keep sort of flickering? That's what it feels like to me. Pretty amazing. I can't wait to see how it changes with time.

We attempted to get a few photos but baby snowflake was very shy. Still has her arms up by her face and was facing my spine. I can say with full confidence that her right ear is really cute. At one point her knees were up to her chest and she wrapped her arms around them. It looked like she was doing a cannon ball. Maybe she will be a little swimmer like her daddy and big sister.

I probably won't feel 100% confident until we are signing the birth certificate but baby snowflake has a name! We have decided not to share so everyone will just have to be surprised. Let me just say hearing Brennan say her sisters name is one of the sweetest things I've ever heard. This morning Brennan said "I want [baby snowflake] to come out of your belly". I think she's getting excited.


 2 big prayer requests:

Please help me in praying for Newspring Church. We got news that our pastor was asked to step down last week and our church is in a bit of a tizzy, please pray for his family and our church!

Also please pray for my friend Heather. She did her last IVF with her final 2 frozen embryos earlier this week. Praying her baby (or babies) find her!

Read More

Half-Way Point - Already!?

I can't believe I'm already 20 weeks pregnant! We had our anatomy ultrasound this week and baby snowflake is perfect. She's roughly 12 ounces and as healthy as can be. She's now the size of a banana, about 8 inches long. She was moving like crazy during the ultrasound but I am still not feeling anything. I have an anterior placenta which means the placenta is implanted to the front of my uterus. There are 3 centimeters of "cushion" between baby snowflake and I so it's going to take longer for me to feel her. She had her hands up by her face the entire time.

There are so many moments when I don't feel pregnant at all but today at church I felt like my belly really popped. My belly is starting to get a lot of attention but I'm still in that part of pregnancy where no one would say anything about my belly unless they already knew.

We got an awesome video of baby snowflake waving. Before I started filming we watched her sucking down amniotic fluid. She had the best suckle. She's going to be a great little nurser.

We have a name we've liked for a few weeks but I'm afraid we will still change our minds another 5 times before October comes along. We haven't decided if we will share the name before she is born. Adam laid his head on my belly the other day and talked to his daughter for the first time. Afterwards I told him he could name her whatever he wants if he keeps being that sweet. Men tend to have such a hard time bonding with their baby during pregnancy, some even for months after. I think our unique situation sort of amplifies that. But witnessing my husband's joy and excitement during the 20 week ultrasound is something I will never forget. I felt like this was the first step in his being able to bond with his (2nd) little girl.

Read More

18 Weeks

I wonder if this is going to ever start feeling real?  I still feel like I am living in a dream. Well, ok, the vomiting is very real but it's still hard to believe there is a baby growing inside of me. I've spent so long feeling like it's never going to be my turn that it's just so hard to believe that it IS my turn. Here are a few updates:

Baby Names: We have NONE!  We have tossed around a few that we sort of like but nothing we love - feel free to send us your suggestions

Movement: Not feeling anything just yet. I can hear her moving on the doppler but definitely don't feel it when she does (it's still weird saying she!)

Body changes: I swear the sterile gloves I wear to catch babies are already starting to feel snug. My danskos feel tight too. Pregnancy is full of changes. My husband commented this week that my belly is starting to look more and more like a baby (rather that a growing too much ice cream belly).

Brennan: We are trying to get her used to the idea of sharing her mama. She likes to say "no! my mama!!". Today at school she was caring for one of the teachers 10 month old son. Talking to him, feeding him, etc. According to the teacher she was being a great little mommy. I think she will be an awesome big helper. 

Here is the newest belly pic. Baby snowflake is around 5 1/2 inches long, has hiccups and yawns. I'm excited to figure out a name for this little girl.

Read More

(almost) 16 weeks!

I misled you. I let you all believe that we wouldn't be finding out baby snowflake's gender. I'm sorry, but it was necessary! Here's why:

On Mother's Day we went to brunch after an incredible church service. My church gave a house to a single mother with a special needs child!  Check it out here. After brunch we asked my father-in-law to come to the office and help us pick up a piece of furniture, since I can't lift it. When we arrived at the office the ultrasound machine was warmed up and our Peek-A-Boo expert April was waiting for us. As they followed me into the ultrasound room they began to suspect something was up.

We had my sister Michelle, my mom and grandma on Facetime as I climbed up on the table for an ultrasound. Next thing you know we are looking between baby snowflake's legs!  I was so set on seeing a little penis that I was really shocked that "it" was so small. April said, do you want me to say it?  I said "YES!".  She said you're getting what you've already got it's another girl! My reply? "No way! Keep looking!"

We all cheered, laughed, and cried. Especially Brennan who's got her hair stuck in her GG's (her grandpa) shirt buttons. We proceeded to facetime all of the sisters and let April show them the view then once they were sufficiently confused she typed in "It's a Girl" on the screen. We all laughed and cried together!  It was great.

Here are all of the bogus reasons I thought it was a boy:

The Ramzi method which predicts 97% of genders based on early ultrasound said boy.
The Chinese calendar said boy.
The genital tubercle was very prominent at 12 weeks.
2 girls at work that are due within a week of me are both having girls, figured a boy would balance the world out.


I always try to guess the gender of my patient's babies at the early appointments. If the heartbeat is hard to find I call it a boy (too busy moving to be heard). If the heart rate is less than 160, I guess boy. You would think with only 2 options for gender you would be correct 50% of the time. Right?  Well I AM ALWAYS WRONG!  So it's no surprise that I can't guess my own baby's gender either.


Here SHE is!

Check out those arms and legs. The donor dad is 6 foot 6. She will outgrow me in no time. 

Read More

Toddler Room

I'm excited to get Brennan's big girl room done before baby snowflake arrives this fall. 

We have 1 room in my house that we have painted 3 times since moving in. We moved in 2 years ago!! I refuse to continue repainting rooms so I'm now very careful to make sure that I test the paint colors in the actual room on several different walls before painting.

They make a product called Swatch Right to help with this problem. You apply your paint to their mats and then place your mat on the wall to evaluate the color. Smart, right?

Here's the problem. They charge $14.99 for 3 workmats of 2 swatches.

I found s cheaper, easier, faster alternative. Press 'N' Seal!! For 3 dollars you can save yourself a lot of time and money. Plus you can use it to cover paint when it's not in use, brushes and rollers between coats, and to protect items from splatter. You can also move the swatches from wall to wall to test the color in different light, even different rooms.

Happy Painting!!

Read More

15 weeks

2nd trimester has been interesting to say the least. I always reassure my patients that most women turn a corner at 14 weeks. I've gone backwards. After brushing my teeth (and tongue) every morning for roughly 32 years it's hard to remember to take caution! Aside from a few rough mornings in the last week I can definitely start to feel my body changing.  I've never been so aware of my uterus in my life. Between the cramping, ligament pain and just general pressure it's a constant reminder that something is growing in there. The female body is incredible.

We scheduled our ultrasound for June. Can't wait to see how much this little one has changed. Brennan says "Mommy, I want a baby brother!" Guess we will see what God has in store for us come fall!! 

I've finally begun to accept the fact that my belly is no longer mine. I will never be one of those mamas with a little basketball belly but I love thinking about my little one getting bigger. We have now graduated to the size of a lemon. Pretty fitting since fresh squeezed lemonade has been my only true pregnancy craving. After taking this photo I found a recipe online for a single glass of fresh squeezed lemonade. Thought I'd share it with you all too.

Single Glass Fresh Lemonade

Ingredients

• 2 scoops granulated sugar
• ¼ cup hot water
• 3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice (I used 1/2 of a large lemon)
• ¾ cup cold water
• Ice

Instructions

1. Stir together the sugar and hot water until the sugar is dissolved
2. Stir in the lemon juice and cold water
3. Fill with ice and enjoy! 

Trying to Reach the Rainbow

Read More

12 week - ready to kiss 1st trimester goodbye!

Finding out that you are pregnant at 4 weeks along can make the first trimester feel like a year! Fortunately the all-day sickness really only lasted about 2 weeks, the hypogrlycemia only a week or so and now I'm feeling pretty good. Evening heartburn/nausea is no joke but it's not every day.

My husband and I started taking our daughter for walks in our neighborhood almost every evening. We are fortunate enough to have the Intercoastal Waterway just a mile and a half down the road so it makes for a nice little outing. Brennan loves to ride in her stroller, point out and touch every fire hydrant and throw rocks into the river. We look for fishies, alligators (or as she calls them alligatorts) and birdies. Here are a few photos from last night's walk.

As for baby snowflake "shim" (named by my mother-in-law) is doing great!  Nice strong heartbeat and very active on ultrasound. Adam still wants to keep the gender a surprise and I want to find out like yesterday!  All babies start out as "boys" then the genital tubercle (which looks like a penis) becomes either the shaft of the penis for a boy or the clitoris if it's a girl.  Well at 12 weeks baby had a very prominent tubercle, so who knows maybe it will stick around and we will have a boy!!

There is a theory called the Ramzi method. It can predict the gender of a baby based on the yolk-sac/placenta location at 6-7 weeks. According to Ramzi it can predict the gender of 97.2% of males 97.5% of females. According to this theory we are having a boy!!

Baby is about the size of 2 pennies side by side. I haven't gained any weight yet (thankfully) and I'm not yet showing. The 2nd trimester begins the end of this week. I can't wait to see what the next trimester holds!

Looking forward to 4 more weeks of begging my husband to let me find out the gender and I can't wait to feel those kicks!!

Read More