Saturday, December 15, 2012


how far along:
22 Weeks

symptoms
Nothing really. 
I get pretty tired when trying to get stuff done around the house but that is about it.

cravings/aversions :
Not much here either. My diet has pretty much stayed the same since before I was preggo.

movement :
Yes! I can totally feel her moving around in there. I really notice it at night when I am laying in bed. I can't wait until the hubs can feel her move!

sleep
Pretty good thanks to my Chubby Hubby. Totally worth the investment.

looking forward to :  
Christmas! All my siblings start to trickle home over the next week and I love it when we are all able to get together.

worries
Still waiting on the results of the genetic testing. We should be getting the results soon. 

best moment this week :  
The ultrasound. Her little heart was beating away at 160 beats per minute and she is weighing in at 1 lb and 1 ounce. It was our most positive ultrasound to date! Good work baby v! 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012
We had our 22 week follow-up ultrasound with the perinatologist today.

I always get nervous heading to appointments but today both the hubs and I left feeling really good! The ultrasound tech and the perinatologist were different from the last two times we were there so it was a new prespective on our baby girl and the report was good! There were no structural abnormalities in her brain (no hygroma and no variant) and her heart looks good too! She is right on track for her growth and development for 22 weeks gestation. It did appear that one kidney is larger than the other but the perinatologist said it would be something that we just keep an eye on. They tried multiple times to get a good image of her little face with the 3D machine but the little stinker kept her hands in front of her face the whole time! 

What a relief to hear something positive about our little one. 
It is always so neat just to sit back and watch her move...what a little miracle! 








Snoogle!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Two pretty big things happened this week and I am so excited to share...

First, sleeping started to become a little bit more of a challenge so I was waking up a lot at night to reposition. Sleeping on my stomach is not an option anymore and all the books tell you sleeping on your back is not safe at this point so I found myself flipping from side to side all night. Lack of sleep for me, means lack of sleep for the hubs. So we made a trip to Babies-R-Us and made a little investment....


I call it my "Chubby Hubby" and it has proven to make sleep a little more peaceful in our home! It comes highly recommended from me!

The second big thing that happened this week...
I felt our baby girl moving! I think I have been feeling her for a couple of weeks but since I am a first time momma, I wasn't really sure what I was feeling. Well, the hubs was not home on Saturday so I was laying in bed and there was no denying that what I was feeling was our baby girl. It was the strangest yet most incredible thing that I have ever experienced. I texted the hubs to tell him and then I just layed there and experienced the moment. 
What an incredible feeling. What an amazing little miracle.

O Christmas Tree

This little momma has been so tired lately! 
Usually over Thanksgiving weekend, the hubs and I go to the Christmas tree farm, pick the perfect tree, cut it down, and then bring it home and make that baby look magical with decorations. Well, Thanksgiving weekend was busy for us! I was on call for work so I had to go in for a couple of hours and then between venue shopping and wedding dress shopping with Emily, Christmas shopping, and being in St. Joe for Thanksgiving day I was worn out and a tree just was not happening. We debated the idea of an artificial tree but something just didn't seem right about it for me. We always had a real tree growing up and next year when our baby girl is here, we want to carry on the tradition of going on a tree hunt with her so buying an artificial tree seemed a little silly to me. Being tired but yet not wanting to get an artificial tree led the hubs and I to a hardware store to get a tree. In 10 minutes, we were in and out and had a real tree tied to the top of my car. 


The hubs put the lights on the tree and I handled the ornaments. 



O pretty Christmas tree!

And just because I love it so much, here is a pic of our mantel.
 It is decorated the same as it was last year but I just really love it. 



Merry Christmas time to all!

20 Weeks

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Half way there!

On one hand it seems like the first 20 weeks flew by but on the other hand it seems like I have been pregnant for a year. Strange how that works, right? I have felt great through my whole pregnancy...no morning sickness, no nausea, no weird food cravings/aversions (expect one really weird week where I ate 3 fish sandwiches from McDonald's. I have not had McDonald's in years and I don't really like fish but apparently I needed 3 in one week).  My doctor did prescribe migraine medication to me as I had pretty intense headaches around 14 weeks but I think it was a combination of stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep. Overall, I can't complain about how I have felt!

We want to say again that we are so very grateful for all of our friends and family who have been thinking of and praying for our baby girl. We are so blessed.

Here is to hoping that the next 20 weeks go a little smoother for our sweet baby girl!

Super Cheap Chalkboard!

Thursday, November 29, 2012
I had a few questions about the chalkboard that we are using 
for our weekly bump checks...

 I made it and you can too! It was super easy and cheap!


I picked up a frame at a thrift store ($3) and a can of chalkboard paint from Hobby Lobby (~$5).


I read a couple of tutorials about just using the glass as the chalkboard but that made me a little nervous so I took the glass out and replaced it was a scrap piece of wood from my grandpa's garage. I primed the frame and the board with a spray primer.


A couple of coats of chalkboard spray paint on the scrap wood and a couple of coats of regular black spray paint on the frame and it was finished. 



Total: $8! Happy Crafting! 







Thankful

Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thank You! 

I am truly overwhelmed by all the kind words, notes of encouragement, and prayers lifted. The hubs, Baby V, and I are so very grateful for our family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving All!

We Have Some Big News:

Sunday, November 18, 2012

We are expecting a baby girl in April! 
We are so excited to hold our precious little girl. We know she will be just perfect but the pregnancy has been anything but...lets start from the beginning...

 We were so excited (and a little surprised too!) to find out that we were pregnant! 
I had been really tired so while I was at work, my friend Casie encouraged me to take a pregnancy test. I tried to convince her that I was not pregnant but I took the test anyway.

The hubs patiently waited for the timer to go off so that we could look at the pregnancy test! 

 One positive test was not enough for me...four tests later, it was confirmed...we were having a baby! I was beside myself with excitement! I was a mommy!


We had our first appointment with our OB at 8 weeks and everything looked perfect! We told our family our exciting news over Labor Day Weekend. To say they were excited would be an understatement! My mom was squealing, my grandma started crying, and the hub's momma was is disbelief! Our baby was instantly loved!


At 12 weeks, we went back to our OB for our next checkup. Our OB was attempting to find the baby's heart tones with the Doppler but the baby was not cooperating. To ease our anxiety, the OB decided that we would just get a quick ultrasound to make sure all was well. 

The ultrasound tech instantly found the heart tones and we heard our baby's little heart beating away at 164 beats per minute. We thought we were good to go, but the tech said she was going to get the OB. They both stared at the ultrasound monitor with concerned looks on their faces. Finally, the OB said that she found something that she thought was "concerning" so she wanted to send us to see a perinatologist. I bawled.  She made lots of calls and they were nice enough to get us in to see the perinatologist immediately. The perinatologist did another ultrasound and she told us that it appears that our baby has a cystic hygroma
We were overwhelmed, confused, sad, and scared. 

We met with a genetics counselor and she explained what a hygroma was and what it could possibly mean for our baby. We faced the potential of a miscarriage, chromosome abnormality, genetic mutation, or heart defect. We had a chorionic villus sampling (CVS) to look at the baby's chromosomes to see what we were facing. 

48 hours later, the genetics counselor called us and told us that the baby's chromosomes were normal and that we were having a girl. Normal chromosomes meant that the hygroma was not a result of a chromosome abnormality like Down's Syndrome, Turner Syndrome, or Trisomy 18. We learned that just because her chromosome were all normal didn't rule out the possibility of a heart defect or a genetic mutation. We also learned that the risk for miscarriage is very high in babies with a hygroma. We were given all our options but we were so confused.  The unknown is so overwhelming. 

The next ultrasound was scheduled at 18 weeks so for the next 6 weeks we tried our best to keep going. There were lots of tears and sleepless nights. As a pediatric nurse you see and know too much to stay sane when you find out that something could be wrong with your child.

We had our followup appointment with the perinatologist on Thursday (11.15.12).  The plan was to look at the hygroma (to determine if it was getting bigger or smaller and if any hydrops had developed) and to look at the structure of the heart. The tech measured every single thing on our baby girl. The ultrasound lasted an hour and a half!  I laid there for an hour and a half watching her click and zoom on the ultrasound while simply nodding at the machine. When she finished she said, "it looks like the hygroma has resolved and the baby's heart looks structurally normal."  I waited for the "but" and sure enough that was the next thing that came out of her mouth, "but there are few things that I think are concerning so I need to get the perinatologist." 

I immediately started crying. 
The perinatologist came in an did his own ultrasound while mumbling to the machine. I heard him drop a couple of terms. I could not keep quiet any longer so I started the string of questions. He said that he was concerned about a possible Dandy Walker Variant on her cerebellum. Again, as a peds nurse when I hear Dandy Walker I immediately get an image in my head of a patient that I once took care of. He assured us that she does not have Dandy Walker Syndrome but could potentially have a variant. He said that he can't confirm that it is there because at some angles it looks normal. I asked what a variant would mean and he said worst case would be slight development and motor function delay but that sometimes a variant doesn't even present with symptoms.

The other thing that he mentioned was that she has a bilateral cleft lip. Twelve weeks ago if you would have told me my baby would have a bilateral cleft lip, I probably would have been crushed but given what could have been with her, I will take a cleft lip. It is something that is surgically repaired and she will be set. That, I can handle. 

Because of the possible variant and the history of the hygroma, I will have an MRI at 24 weeks to better visualize her brain. We will also have an ECHO at 24 weeks to confirm that she does not have any minor heart defects. Unfortunately we can't rule out any genetic mutations yet but they don't have any reason to believe at this point that there is a mutation. 

I am sure that I will never stop worrying until I can see her for myself but the baby girl got her first outfit this week, we finally started the name conversation, and I looked into starting her registry. It is time to prepare!

I am going to be a momma to a very precious baby girl.
She is so very loved (yet grounded for all the stress that she has caused this far). 




Date Night

Sunday, November 4, 2012
The hubs and I had a really fun date night last night! We went to Lawrence to see Matt and Kim at Liberty Hall but  also managed to squeeze in a trip through the KU campus, burgers and wings at Jefferson's, a stroll down Mass Street, and of course a slice of pizza from The Wheel!  Totes love my hubby!


A Weekend of Celebrating

Sunday, October 28, 2012
Emily flew home for a visit this weekend. Little did she know, it was no ordinary visit. My little Emmy got engaged this weekend. She is all grown up and she is going to be a bride! Lucky for her, I have a Pinterest wedding board and I have been pinning away ideas for my sisters to use. 

Chad proposed in Parkville where they had their first date...precious. 
After, they came back to my house where friends and family were waiting to celebrate. 


The celebrating continued on Saturday when we traveled to Columbia to tailgate for the MU Homecoming Game.

What a fun weekend! 
Congrats to Emily and Chad...now on to wedding planning!
 
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