10+ weeks later

Wow, I've really done a great job at keeping up with this blog.

Baby Boy #2 who still remains nameless is doing well. Just causing his Mama all sorts of problems; back aches, sciatica, pubic bone pain, ankle pain and just in general uncomfortable. In all honesty, I have not enjoyed this pregnancy nearly as much as Landon's. Things are no longer new and exciting to me and unfortunately I am just ready to be done.

Current names that we are throwing around: Logan, Noah, Jaxon, Braxton, Rylan, Ryan, Kai. I don't love any. Not like I did with Landon. So at this point I just feel like I'm settling on a name and I hate it. There have been plenty of arguments over this baby's name. I LOVE the name Kade, however, Mike has found every reason not to name baby boy Kade. I also like Nolan which has been shot down. His name list that I don't like is Gunner, Hunter, Brodie and Colby. Not my style at all.

Little brother is already very different from big brother just in how they move. Landon was always very active and hitting or punching. I remember watching my belly vibrate from his kicks and punches. Instead, now I sit here watching my belly warp. This one is not nearly as active though I have to say it has picked up a bit in the past few weeks. I swear I have Thumper sitting in there. I feel like sometimes I get these vibrations like a rabbit who is scratching its ear. I also get the feeling baby is spreading all 4's at one time which is uncomfortable. He also takes what seems to be his heel and drags it up and down my belly causing me to wince a lot now.Seriously child this is a problem! Stop it!

I'm also carrying much higher than I did with Landon. I think has also made me more uncomfortable in general.

Work is horrible and knocking me out right on my ass most nights. The constant up, down, up down, peeing every hour on the hour and all the aches and pains make it hard to get around and get things done.

Landon has no clue as to what is going on but is adorable and plays with my herniated belly button pushing it in and saying Ba-by! I'm starting to have that Mommy guilt that he's no longer going to be the only one and it makes me sad some days.

The nursery is coming along. I hope for it to be done by the end of June, beginning of July but we'll see if that happens. I'll post pics when its done.

For now here is a picture of Landon and I taken last weekend.

Officially Team............

BLUE!

Oh boy, oh boy! Baby is breech which I think is causing a lot of my aches and pains. This also explains why all the movement I feel is very low because low and behold the resident at Hershey had absolutely no idea what he was talking about and told me my placenta was anterior...WRONG! I have a posterior placenta which would explain why I feel all this "rolling". I never felt that sensation with Landon. Baby Boy #2 is measuring right on time between 21-22 weeks and is 1 lb.

Here are two pictures.

Spine photo requested by Daddy.

Sucking his thumb just like Big Brother did in Utero.

20w6d - Half baked!

Its been an eventful past few weeks. Mike is in the midst of buying out a chiropractic practice and possibly a building. We are getting Landon's big boy room ready and thinking of the possibility of potty training this coming weekend. (I'm very intimidated by this and am nervous he won't do well.) Not to mention the abdominal pain I have been experiencing.

Two weeks ago, I was at work and noticed that I felt like I had done an extreme ab work out the night before. Obviously, I didn't. I called around 9 AM and left a message for the triage nurse. At 10:30, the soreness increased to cramping which freaked me out. I called back at 10:30 to relay the message. By 1PM I still had not heard anything. I got myself in the car, drove myself to my ob's office but before I got there I called and the nurse had just got off the phone with Dr. Manning. Took 'em long enough! So the nurse told me that Dr. Manning wanted me to take the afternoon off and rest. She thought it was just "normal" pregnancy pains and I was possibly coming down with a GI bug.

I was a mess. Called Mike crying and upset because I did not feel this was what was going on. I went home though and rested the entire afternoon. It took awhile for everything to calm down but eventually my symptoms did.

Tuesday I went back to work as normal and within an hour on my feet I was doubling over in pain. The last time I had this kind of pain was when I was miscarrying and the time before that was when I was in labor with Landon. In other words, something that does not happen frequently to me. So I called and asked to be seen.

To make a long story short, Dr. Manning said she did not see anything alarming and my cervix was long and closed. She diagnosed me with RLP, round ligament pain. Really!?! I'm still not convinced, despite belly supports helping fairly well. I don't have classic RLP. I don't get sharp pains on the sides of my uterus. I get pain right around my belly button area (remember I have an umbilical hernia) and its horizontal not vertical.

So that was some excitement that I really didn't need.

Babe has been moving around more frequently but I wouldn't say that he/she is as active as his/her brother was. At least not yet.

Tuesday is our anatomy scan. I'm a bit nervous but more excited than anything. I will try to post Tuesday night.

17 weeks 1 day

So baby was super cooperative at today's 2nd ob appt. We saw Dr. Manning who is super nice. She found baby's hb right away with the doppler. Moving a bit and kicked the doppler once that I could feel. This is unlike big brother Landon who would squirm away from the doppler. Dr. Manning said according to the old wives tale and the hb of 140-155 this baby is a girl. ;-)

I asked about the pressure I've been feeling lately. Just this uncomfortable pressure and she explained this is normal for second time Momma's. Good to know but I thought all that uncomfortableness (is that a word?) would have been the first time around.

I also found out that I have an umbilical hernia which I discovered a few weeks ago when my belly button was beginning to pop out. Its ugly and I will probably have to have it repaired after this babe is born.

I've gained 3 lbs since last visit. :::wipes brow::: According to my calculations (meaning my scale, no heavy clothes, same time of day) I've gained 7 lbs. So I'm on track for 30 lbs. We'll see. I look like I've put on at least 10 lbs this time. I'm also carrying very differently. With Landon I had a basketball for a belly and this time I feel wider, thicker.

Food is still rather disgusting at times. By evening my m/s is in full force if I don't eat like I should and sometimes I have no appetite for dinner. UGH! So with Landon I had a chicken aversion which really didn't exist this time. I've been craving wings, carbs, sweets, chips and some sour things. With Landon the first 12 weeks all I wanted was Chinese; I think I've had it twice this entire pg. I'm not going through 3 gallons of milk quite yet either but I don't think that happened until my last trimester.

I've been feeling movement for a good 2-3 weeks now. Babe definitely has a different personality from big brother Landon and does not kick back when I push and prod at my belly.

I'm still fairly tired but not nearly as much as I was. I began nesting this past weekend and found a $50 gift card to a local spa. Guess who will be spoiling herself soon? Yes, that would be me and I cannot wait. As much as I want a massage...I can't shell out $80 on top of my gift card. So a chocolate sugar scrub it will be.

And last but not least we will be finding out what we are having in 4 weeks. April 3rd. We chose to wait until my new insurance kicks in. I can't believe I said ok to waiting a week longer. ;-)

Boy vs Girl

I'm so torn about posting this, its a confession that is worthy of flames!

As sad as it is I not only want a healthy baby; I want a healthy baby girl. :::flame away::::

I have no business asking God for more then a healthy baby. I have no business wanting anything but a healthy baby after all the losses I have suffered.

I remember going through my losses hearing women say, "I want a boy," or others who wanted a girl. I couldn't help but scream in my head, "ALL I WANT IS A HEALTHY BABY!!!!"

I worry that I'll be disappointed at our big ultrasound and I don't want to be. I'm trying to convince myself I will be happy with a healthy baby and no matter what I will be. I can see us having another boy and its exciting in ways because Landon brought me so much joy that I would love to give him a baby brother to play with. However, I don't want to miss out on having a little girl. I miss not having barbies and baby dolls in the house. ;-) And of course I would love to have a little dancer on my hands.

However, I need to be grateful for whatever God has decided for us.

As of now we are not discussing names. Last time we only had boy names that we agreed on and for the life of us we could not agree on a girls name. I'm ok with waiting. In fact, I'm hoping it will be less stress.

Babe is definitely moving a little more each day which is really assuring. I cannot wait for the constant kicks and punches. Landon was a super active baby in the womb. We'll see if he or she takes after his or her big brother.

2nd Trimester

:::whew::: Surprised? I am. It still doesn't feel "real" to me. The tiredness, morning sickness etc sure feels real but having another baby, well that doesn't feel real yet.

So my 2nd NT scan went ok. I still hate the Med Center. Babe was not cooperating at first and was facing my back. The same tech that came in last time did this u/s and asked if I could go to the bathroom which was a no brainer. After I did, babe flipped and we were able to get all the measurements needed. The nasal bone was present and the nuchal fold measured between 1.3mm-1.78mm. If I'm not mistaking anything under 2.5mm is good. Hopefully, I will hear sometime in the next week.

Here are some pics:

Baby not cooperating and facing my back. Head is on the right and if you look closely you can see the spine at the top of the picture.

Profile picture.

Heart beat: 164 bpm

Super Bowl Weekend - 12w6d

Good news! I'm still pregnant and I was able to see our little one's HB at a rate of 160bpm! Two days ago I had my NT scan and baby was measuring 12w4d-13w according to CRL. Right on time.

I was terribly disappointed with my NT scan experience. My ob/gyn practice sends out to another hospital in the area, weird huh? I think so. Anyways it is the same place I went for my ex-RE appts. That made me uneasy to begin with so it was going to take a lot to win me over before they even got started.

Who ever came up with the new design and especially parking for the Med Centers patients should be fired immediately!!! I had to park in a parking garage and walk to the OTHER side of the hospital. Not cool, especially not cool for a pg woman let alone someone who may be in much worse health than I.

So first I met with a genetic counselor who was genuinely nice and explained things thoroughly to me. A resident ob/gyn was in the room as well and he was ok. Didn't say a lot but he was there mainly to observe.

After that meeting and a quick bite in the cafeteria I was called back for my ultrasound by a fellow who spoke English but with a thick accent. Strike one. He asked me the normal questions DOB, pg # (6 remind ya) and how many children I have at home (1). He was pretty surprised with my answer and did say, "Oh I'm very sorry." It was nice that he had the courtesy to say sorry because some techs/doctors/nurses don't even acknowledge it. So I do give him a point there.

So as he is performing the u/s he keeps looking at this paper which I'm assuming is a "cheat sheet" or instructions on what measurements were needed. Because he would do one thing and look at the paper, another and look at the paper again. REALLY? Strike two. This is ridiculous, I've had too many u/s to know he has no clue as to what he is doing.

The first thing I realized (not that he pointed any of this out to me but) was the babe's heart beating. Woo! :::wipes brow::: I was most nervous about not finding a hb. So I was thrilled when it was still there and strong at 160 bpm. While he was trying to measure the hb babe kept "jumping" up and then it looked like he was "floating" back down to where he/she was. It was cute! Babe was definitely moving.

So then in walks an u/s tech as he is trying to look for the nasal bone (had no idea what he was doing) but I was able to decipher from the conversation the fellow was having w/ the tech. So guess what! They were unable to see it because of the way babe was laying. She/he was almost at a 45 degree angle instead of laying flat. Seriously I know these things happen but really? They stopped the test here.

I'm not sure why because I don't think they ever measured the fluid behind babe's neck. At least I didn't see them measure this and I watched every move he made.

Also why I'm thinking of it...at one point I saw a black spot outside of my uterus and I was thinking "Oh shit what is that?" Then I asked is that my ovary and he said yes and I said so it still has the cyst on and he again said yes. :::whew:::

So...needless to say I have to go back to a place I really don't like. :::sigh:::  Before I left I asked the fellow if what he saw looked good so far? Do you know what he replied? He said, "Well you saw the same black and white images I did." WTF?? You are going to be a d-o-c-t-o-r??? Strike three! You're out!

The only good thing? We get to see babe again in less than a week. Actually 3 days from now. Hopefully they will be ready to cooperate!

On a happier note here is the furniture we ordered. Its from BRU. It is the Baby Cache Essentials Collection. We got 25% off the crib and got a $150 gift card from BRU for spending over $1000. How generous? ;-)

Now we are working on Landon's big boy bedroom. We are going to do a  nautical theme. I'm pretty excited for it. We currently have the room stripped down and have a few things to touch up on the wall and someone needs to come in and re-do the hardwood floors because we decided on pulling the carpet up.

Here are my inspirational pictures from Land of the Nod.

Hopefully we'll get his room done before finding out what sex babe is and then we can work on the nursery. I'm thinking a woodland/forest theme. I'm obsessed w/ owls right now. However, if we have another boy I don't see myself convincing Mike on a new nursery theme. But just for fun here are some ideas I've been throwing around in my brain.

I also really like the tree ideas...

I'm hoping in the next few weeks I will start feeling some movement. That would really help to reassure me. However, I did ask where my placenta was located and at first the fellow said its posterior. Well, after looking back on the u/s pics the fellow determined that it was anterior. I was also asking because of this study on obgyn.net. However, he was worthless to get an answer out of. He wanted to know why I wanted to know.

11 weeks 4 days

Wow! I've been doing a fantastic job keeping everyone updated. LOL.

I'll bring you up to speed. Fast forward the past few weeks that have consisted of non-stop all day sickness, fatigue which added up to me being extremely lazy. Really, I am wiped. This child is sucking the life out of me already. I am also not thrilled with food. In fact if I didn't have to I wouldn't eat but I would be chucking if I didn't. BLAH!

We saw the mid wife two Thursdays ago at 10w2d and baby #2 was measuring perfectly. Still there and heart still beating strong. It was great to see and hear. I don't have any doubts that I'm pregnant but I just wonder when the bomb is going to drop. I'm terrified that this babe will not be my 2nd healthy take  home baby. Its scary. I know all too well what could happen even though I've passed all my personal milestones. Obviously I know that at this point things are in our favor but what if...

So my NT scan is this Friday at Hershey Med. I didn't have one done with Landon so I'm not totally sure what to expect. I'm hoping this might put my mind at ease some.

I'm also starting to sport a belly bump. Its not nearly as cute as last time for things are soooo stretched out. LOL. Oh how naive I was......never thought my body would change so much.

At this point Mike is saying its another boy. I however am saying its a girl. Its odd, with Landon I was pretty convinced he was a boy. This time I didn't get that strong intuition and that's why I'm thinking girl. Only time will tell.