Belated OB check up appt update (17w4d)

Yay another pregnancy update! :)

Baby Kit Kat is doing great! Dr. Lasting couldn't get a heart beat on the Doppler for long enough again so he had to do another ultrasound. Kit Kat is measuring right on track and doing awesome. He tried to look for the sex at the appointment but the baby wasn't cooperating.

I finally got a number on his/her heart rate even though I still haven't got to hear it. The magic number: 162! That is sooo much higher than Brodie's heartbeat (135-140) and leads me to believe girl. I am also having a TON of heartburn (I only had heartburn like 10 days total with Brodie).

My blood pressure was good and I gained back 2 more of the pounds I had lost previously this month. I am still at -1 pound total from what I was when I started this pregnancy, which I'm pretty happy with. Seems like I'm gaining at the same rate as with Brodie. *With Brodie I was -2lbs from starting pregnancy weight at 18w3d and with this one its -1lb at 17w4d* (That last sentence is merely for my own comparison purposes :P)

My uterus is measuring ridiculously huge (I don't know the actual measurement but the OB measured 3x with the tape because he couldn't believe it either. I think it's a combination of my tilted uterus and my anterior placenta combined with the fact that it's my second pregnancy. But seriously, its like 2 inches above my belly button already and it's supposed to be AT the belly button at 20 weeks. Weird.

We are finding out the sex at an ultrasound on Dec 22nd! WOOT! Hopefully Kit Kat cooperates then and we can get a good reading. We will have the doctor write the sex on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope for us that way we can open it on Christmas morning. :)

Luckily, we have already decided on names this time (something we didn't do until wayyy later with Brodie). If we are having a girl her name will be:

ZOEY BELLE

and if we are having a boy his name will be:

EVERETT ALAN

Lastly, here is a picture of me and bell pepper baby Kit Kat at 18weeks. I'm also doing the side shot belly pictures like I did with Brodie but I think I'll wait to post one until the 20 week halfway done mark. That will be Christmas day and we can actually incorporate the color of the sex into it :)

Til Christmas!!!!

~Heather
:)

Belated 14 month post!

Urg this last month went so fast. Brodie turned 14 months old on the 2nd. I'm trying to look back and see what happened since it seems like such a blur. I didn't take very many pictures and I think it's simply because I was chasing after my now incredibly mobile child.

Brodie went from not walking to walking between his 13mo-14mo days. He started walking his first independent steps on Nov 6th and he is literally running around now. I have to run after him many many times a day and he would rather walk than crawl (I'd say he only crawls 5% of the time now if that). It's amazing how fast of a change it was. He can even get up in the middle of the room by himself now so there is NOTHING stopping him from going.

Another HUGE change that happened this last month is the end of breastfeeding. It was a bittersweet transition but now I'm very happy with how much of a big boy he is. His last time nursing was November 20th, in the morning. So, we made it 13months, 2 weeks, and 4 days of nursing without any formula. :) He just never asked for the boob again and instead went straight to 2 full sippy cups a day of a milk type thing. We started out with rice milk because he wouldn't take soy or regular milk. Then, he went to soy effortlessly one day for no reason and from there we kept adding milk to the soy until he was on full milk. I feel like he's officially not a baby anymore and so independent because he doesn't need me for my milk or to help transport him around anymore. He can walk around the house with his sippy cup and go wherever he likes whenever he likes.

He climbs a lot more now...see picture below.

He also is talking more and communicating with us more effectively. He says "apple" (with his version of the sign). He says "please" constantly while signing it and "more" a million times a day while signing as well. He understands sooo much. I can tell him to go get me something and he can get it. I can say we are going to change his diaper or go eat or go to grandma's and he gets excited and follows me to where he should go. It's awesome to be able to have more of a dialogue with him and not just have screaming and crying for everything.

Lastly, we got family pictures taken by the amazing Heather Winters at the end of November and I LOVE them. Here are my 2 favorites :)

Done with the 1st Trimester!!!! WOOHOO! (13w4d)

I am FINALLY done with the dreaded first trimester of this pregnancy, and BOY am I glad! :) I was much sicker this time than I was with Brodie, and tired to the umpteenth degree. I'm sure having a one year old didn't help with the tiredness factor ;o)

My morning sickness is GONE! It was almost a "here all day every day" to "gone totally forever" overnight change. Of course I can't find the day that it stopped now, but I'm going to say around October 25th (at about 10wks2d). I'm SO grateful that I'm feeling better because that has resulted in a LOT more housework getting done and a LOT more food made.

I had a check up with the OB Tuesday (at 13w2d).  It started out a bit scary because Dr. Lasting couldn't find Kit Kat's heartbeat even after 5 minutes of searching meticulously with the Doppler. He said he thought the baby was hiding and said that he wanted to do an ultrasound to get a good reading. Well, that freaked me out right there because I thought something was wrong. I had to go back out into the waiting room until the ultrasound machine was available and just wait wait wait. When Dr. Lasting finally got me on the table for the ultrasound and fired it up we immediately saw a very squirmy and active baby on the screen. Kit Kat wouldn't stay still long enough to let Dr. Lasting get a heart-rate for more than 3 or so seconds! Dr. Lasting even seemed surprised at how active the baby was being. I mean, I'm talking kicking me repeatedly, waving his/her hands up and down, and completely squirming out of the ultrasound shot! I guess the reason that the doctor had such a hard time getting a heart beat (in addition to squirming baby) was because Kit Kat was hanging up near the top of my uterus (just below my belly button) instead of near the pubic bone like most babies. Also, my placenta is apparently anterior, I have a thick uterine lining, and I have a tilted uterus. All of those facts combined with squirming just made too much of a distance between belly and baby to get a good read. He said next time should be easier, because Kit Kat will be bigger and the heart will be bigger as well.

I'm so glad the ultrasound was a good experience, and that everything is alright with baby. I've never had an ultrasound at this stage so it was very cool to see how the baby looked at 13ish weeks. Dr. Lasting got a head/abdomen measurement of the baby while he had the ultrasound on and said Kit Kat was measuring right on track at between 13-14wks.

In terms of me, I'm doing well on the pregnancy front too. I gained 3lbs (making me at -3 lbs from starting weight) which is a good indicator that my appetite is back and I'm not nauseous all the time. My blood pressure was 128/80. Oh, and Dr. Lasting measured my uterus and I'm already at 16cm! The second he touched my stomach he exclaimed, "Oh ya, you are DEFINITELY showing!" He let me feel where my uterus was (it's like a hard ball that goes from my pubic bone up to a few inches below my belly button). I love my doctor and how chill he is with everything.

I have another check up appointment in a month (Dec. 8th to be exact). At that point I'll be 17w4d and at that time we will schedule the 20week anatomy/sex reveal scan with either Dr. Lasting or Pomerado. We are going to have whoever does it write it down on a card and we are going to open it on Christmas morning (if possible). I asked Dr. Lasting if we could do it before Christmas and he seemed pretty on board with it :) Just another reason I love him. <3

Oh one last thing. For the past 8 days (Since Nov 2nd, when I was 12w3d) I've been feeling the familiar little flutters and popcorn pops occasionally. :) I was hesitant to believe I was feeling Kit Kat move since I was so early but there is no mistaking it. The feeling is very unique and distinct. I personally think it's because of the way my uterus is angled, and because of it being my 2nd pregnancy with a feisty baby. In fact, just while writing this post s/he gave me a nice strong flutter. This is when I really start to get excited about pregnancy because I can verify daily if my baby is doing OK and be reassured that they are by kicks and punches.

I'll write when there are more updates but for now, that's where we are at. I have been taking biweekly pictures since 8 weeks but I'm not too pleased with my belly yet so when I have a bump bump I'll post one. The biweekly pics (so far at 8,10, and 12wks) are more for the progression collage I'll do after I give birth. :)

Til next time,

~Heather

13 Months

Brodie turned 13 months old on Nov 2nd and is really starting to show his personality. No longer is he a "baby," but instead he is turning into a little boy with his own thoughts and ideas about what should be happening in our house. I'm going to keep this short and sweet since I think Brodie is going to wake up for the day in a few minutes. So, in pictures, here is what we've been up to this past month:

 "Cooking"

Learning to feed himself




















Practicing brushing his teeth




















Picking pumpkins

Carving pumpkins















Dressing up for Halloween

And learning to walk!!!!! That's right, Mr. Brodie Cole started to just take off and go all by himself (like at least 10+ steps multiple times within an hour) on 11/6 (last Sunday). I guess that technically happened 4 days after his 13 month day but it's very notable so I'm including it. :-P I haven't been able to get a good picture or video of it yet since he is very independent and decides to take off when and where he wants. I'm sure I will get it eventually!

It is SOOOO much fun being in this phase of motherhood. Brodie is talking a ton and really being an awesome child! :) I'm loving it.

Until next month:

~Heather

And now for something (or should I say someone...) new! :)

I wanted to wait until Brodie got his 1 year alone on my blog before he had to share the spotlight....

We are pregnant again! :) I found out on Sept 1st that we are expecting another little bundle of joy and although not totally expected (we jumped the gun about 5 months) we are extremely excited!

I'm due May 14, 2012 and am currently 9w2d pregnant. I've had 3ob appointments, 2 of which I got an ultrasound at. 2 weeks ago I had this ultrasound and the saw baby's heartbeat and baby measured 10mm.

Just 2 weeks later (today) I got this ultrasound and baby is doing great! This time baby was 23-24mm, had a great heartbeat, and was measuring right on track at 9w2d. I could even see little arms/legs. I have a check up appointment in a month.

I am feeling much more nauseous with this pregnancy than with Brodie. The nausea hits worst in the morning and around dinner time, with waves throughout the day as well. I haven't thrown up, but at times I think it would be better if I did. This nausea has resulted in me actually losing 6 pounds since I got pregnant, which I'm not complaining about. :P I started the pregnancy at 6lbs less than I did with Brodie so I don't have baby weight left over from him that I'm tacking onto this one.

I am also WAY more tired this time than last time. I attribute this to having to chase Brodie around and not being able to nap as much as I was able to with Brodie. This is also obviously a symptom of the first trimester, so hopefully both the nausea and tiredness subside in the next month or so! :)

This time we are going to find out the sex just to see how that experience is. We should find out right around Christmas and if it's before I'd like to unwrap the sex on Christmas morning. I'm totally thinking girl this time and Nick is thinking boy. I'd love 2 boys but the more I think about it I would love love love a girl too. I don't know what else to say except that we are very excited to be adding to our family again (and final time). Since this is my last pregnancy I will try to enjoy every phase of it and document it carefully. :) I can't wait to meet our new little one.


Until next time!
~Heather