Baby Shower number TWO! :)

My second Baby Shower was thrown by my Sister-in-Law Annmarie. It was a laid back afternoon of delish brunch food, family and friends!!!

West Seattle Pee Wee

Watching Noah play Tee Ball for the first time was quite amusing. The attention span of a 5yr old is about all of 10min max. After that you could typically find most of the kids digging in the dirt or picking at the grass. One particular game a fellow team mom says.." who is that in the out field spinning around with a cone on his head?" I looked up to find my darling son wearing a orange cone for a hat in the out field twirling about until he got so dizzy he fell down-n then got up and did it again.

My boys and their hospital shirts...

Baby Shower number One~Pink, Pink and more PINK!

My first Shower for Gracie was in the end of March, thrown by my Mom and Big Sister. It was a wonderful day with Family and Friends, Grace and I are both so blessed! It was so wonderful to have my handful of tried and true colorguard friends at the party. We have truly seen each other through all of life's wonderful good times! and bringing me to tears was the unexpected appearance from my Best Friend Michelle who said "she couldn't make it."

Don't drink the water!

Lizzie, Mikaela, Robin, Shelley & Ellie

So apparently there is something in the water these days as SEVEN of my friends are all pregnant right now! To treat our poor swollen, neglected piggies a few of us preggos and Ellie ;) got together for a spa day. We were quite the site waddling down teh street together! One commment we over heard was "Holy Pregnant Ladies!" It was pretty funny!

Rewind....

Ok so I didn't keep this up very well toward the end of my pregnancy. It was all I could do to get myself to work, and partly function as a mother and wife the past few months so I'm going to go back in time and try to update things a little.....

Feeling good

I'm feeling the best I've felt this entire pregnancy. I know my window is small however as my belly grows bigger each day I grow a little more uncomfortable. But other than the expected fatigue I can say for the first time I’m not experiencing any other random issues as I have the past months! My shower is this weekend and I'm really looking forward to seeing some friends I haven't seen in a long time!




Gracie is VERY active!


At times I have to just give in and position myself the way SHE WANTS. Sometimes she just doesn't want me to sit down, or lay on a certain side and she let's me know it!! :)


Tomorrow Dan and I take our VBAC (vaginal birth after Caesarean) Class so I'm sure I'll be thoroughly freaked out this time tomorrow! I guess at this point she's gotta get out one way or another! so I might as well get use to the idea ;) wow it seems like forever since I went through all of this with Noah, and with him...well sometimes ignorance is bliss :)

I Suck!

As most of you know this pregnancy hasn't been quite as easy as my first was. I all but gave up on this blog but I've recommitted myself and I'm going to try to keep it up to date from here on out.
So the past few months....The day of our ultrasound we asked the ultra sound tech to wisper the sex of the baby into Noah's ear so he could be the first to know!! and then he would be the one to tell us! He smiled from ear to ear and said "it's a girl!" I immediatly burst into tears! :) we were all very excited about this news! My Headaches finally just went away one day in early to mid Jan. I could finally function again! Then I started having these wierd episodes of rapid heart beat. I had to wear a heart monitor for a week but my OB said it was nothing to really worry about. She said it's basically due to the fact that your blood volume doubles when your preggo yada yada. So other than that I'm just dealing with the typical pregnancy uncomforts :( Hip pain, back pain, heart burn....
Things are slowly coming together in anticipation of Gracie's arrival. We have the car seat, stoller, pack n play and high chair. Not to mention a closet full of pink clothes!!!

Tomorrow is the big day!

So excited but nervous at the same time! I was so naive with Noah I didn't fear much but now that I'm older and wiser :) I'm so scared the US will show us he/she has three arms or something! :( Hopefully all is well and baby looks wonderful-and shows us between his/her legs! :) we are going to have the Ultrasound tech whisper the sex into Noah's ear so he can be the first one to know! and then he can tell us. Noah says all he wants to know is if it has a penis or not! lol
My niece Julia says Girl because she did eeny, meeny, miney, mo between her two dogd-boy and girl and she landed on Megan the girl dog :)

Boy or Girl???

Ultrasound is set for friday! can't wait to find out!

How it's going.....

in one word...rough! As most of you know from my FB updatess I've been struggling with terrible daily headaches! I've tried everything from the chiropractor, massage therapy and now acupuncture. I will see my OB again tomorrow so we will decide what the next step will be. For now I'm just trying to get by as best I can. Is it June yet?????

2nd OB appointment!

Had my second appointment to day- All seems to be perfect! :) I got to hear the heart beat for the first time. Sounded like a little horse galloping away!!! I've been given the green light to resume my workouts and a thumbs up on telling the world! She said at this point the chance of miscarriage is very little. YAHOO!! We are having a BABY!!!!

Headaches have replaced the nausea!!

my nausea has been getting better little by little over the past few weeks. Now I only have the occasional bout vs. the all day sickness!! but to replace that misery is this headache I've had for 9days now! :( I'm going to the chiropractor is a half hour, hopefully that will help. Other than that we are getting very excited to make our announcement next week!!!
and thank goodness it's finally time because I'm totally showing! So I think it's almost safe to say that this baby has stuck! another week and the percentage of miscarriage goes (for me) from 20% to 1%!! I can't wait to be able to talk about it without fear anymore!!

been awhile......

nothing much to report other than SICKNESS!!!!
It's been a miserable few weeks :( the second trimester is in sight though and I'm just looking forward to it and hoping I feel better by then. Ok gonna barf gotta go.........

First OB appointmetn went well

I woke up this am and felt like a Human Being! Symptoms were gonE! I went to bed feeling like death as I have for the past weeks and then I wake up and feel normal?! I had almost forgotten what normal felt like! But then worry set in. Why are my symptoms gone??? it was a long monring before my appointment! and when my OB walked in to the room all of the questions I had been thinking about these past few weeks to address with her were out the window and I was in a state of panic that my symptoms had vanished in the night. She reassured me that symptoms come and go throughout the pregnancy but that we were going to do a US for a peace of mind. So she rolled in the POC us machine, nothing compared to what they use in radiology, and she attempted to get me a glimpse of my 'healthy baby'
The picture was terrible and through "my baby is going to die" goggels I couldn't see anything but she and Daniel say they both saw the baby and a heart beat so I guess I have to believe them :)She did all of the other necessary exam poking and proding and told me everything looked good BUT I just won't be able to truely enjoy this until I have safely made it into my second trimester. Sad but true I'm just far to afraid to fully embrace this right now....

Pregnancy Dreams I mean NIGHTMARES!!!

It is a seriously wierd thing that you have wacko dreams when you are pregnant! I had forgotten all the odd symptoms of this beautiful journey!!
All week I have been having the craziest dreams! Dan has divorced or left me five times! and lastnight, well lets just say I woke up disturbed that my mind could be that violent? :( ugg

Happy Meal Bandit!

Ugg today I was SO SICK! I had to have Dan come pick me up at work because I couldn't even drive myself home! I came home and slept all afternoon. When I picked up Noah from school he wanted McDonalds which I was perfectly fine with because I didn't feel like cooking and actually as sick as I was SALTY french fries sounded great! :) Noah's main concern with our McD's stop was to get a battlegon toy in his meal so when we got the meal I gave him his cheeseburger and toy and I proceeded to wolf down his french fires and then I washed it down with his chocolate milk! mmmm
He didn't seem to care- he said he knew the Baby needed it.:) good guy!
a few minutes later he asked me if I would not be sick anymore once the baby was out and I told him yes, then he proceeded to say "Mom,  I wish I were a girl x-cept for the having babies part, I don't like barfing!"

Appointments went well....

So Noah's appointment went well. The cardiologist thinks he has what is called a Sinus Arrhythmia~ He had to wear a heart monitor for 24hours and we will know in a few weeks if this is indeed what he has. If this is the case than we actually don't have much to worry about :) The cardiologist says this is actually fairly common, especially in children. My appointment went good as well. We saw a heart beat and our  'DOT' measured exactly 6weeks. I guess I'm just not ready to be overly excited as we had a US at 6weeks 5days last time and had a heart beat, only to discover we were loosing hte baby a few days later so basically I just want this first tirmester to be over with! The "good news" though is I've been really sick! so things seem to be going well......

Nerve wracking Day!

I had so many nightmare last night!


Today we have Two very important Doctors appointments. Last week at Noah 5yr Well Child Exam his pediatrician decided she didn't like the rhythm of his heart so she referred us to a pediatric cardiologist. Today is his appointment and Dan and I have NO IDEA what to expect? Could it be nothing..something?


Then I have my first ultrasound appointment. I had nightmares of no heart beat to two heart beats! I just need to PRAY that both appointments go well today! I'm sick to my stomach and I don't know if it's the baby or nerves :(

Our first look...

I'm feeling great for the most part! all the little 'side effects' are welcomed at this point and none of them are really knocking me out so We are cruising along. We have our first ultrasound appointment on tuesday. Not sure we will see much more than a dot at this point but we should be able to see a heart beat if all is well!!

ZZZZZ...

first Baby Dream and it was PINK!

if it's a girl

if it's a boy....

the numbers are in...and GOOD!

For the first time I actually have the pregnancy Glow!. For the first time I can take a deep breath and sigh... perhaps things are really going to be ok this time! My HCG level came back looking good- here is the email from my OB

So, Mikaela - this looks good! value:401 on 10/1- value: 2284 on 10/5 What we look for is nearly doubling every 48 hours (up by 80%) and your level has gone up 5-fold in 4 days.Let me know how you are doing. Sara

last pregnancy one of the big indications that things were not progressing well was that my numbers were not climbing like they should have been, indicating the baby was not thriving and in retrospect we were loosing it. So these numbers are good and I'm feeling so wonderfully happy but still cautiously optimistic :) I'm 6weeks pregnant tomorrow and we lost the last one at week 7 so the next few weeks will be tough but I will do my best to stay positive! I have no reason so far not to be! My first official OB appointment will be on the 20th of Oct but I will have an Ultrasound sooner. Just waiting for them to get back to be with that date. At this point Dan and I have told a handful of people because we are just so excited but I just can't wait to get through this first trimester so we can spill the beans!!!

I want to suck your blood!!!

SO I went to the lab first thing this am an had EIGHT VIALS of blood drawn! oy! One test being done today is my follow up HCG, we should know the details soon. Pray for high numbers!

HCG level

So I had my first HCG level tested yesterday. This was one of the things we tested last time that gave us a hint that things were not progressing correctly. My OB wanted to make sure and do this test as soon as possible this time around. My level came back at 401- according to my OB this is a "respectable" number. Umm what the Hell does "respectable" mean!? ugg Sorry I'm a nervous wreck! This problem with these numbers is they GREATLY VARY from person to person, pregnancy to pregnancy so it's hard to say with just the one result where I'm at. The range I should be in right now at 4weeks is somewhere between 5 and 426 so I guess I should relax at the fact that I'm at the high end! I will try but can't make any promises! ;) anyhow the best way to know things are progressing well is to re-test in a few days. Your numbers 'should' about double every two days. SO I will test Monday and we will go from there. When do I get to relax and enjoy this pregnancy? :( I so want to tell people and start enjoying this process...

5boxes of Cereal!

Once again I was allowed to wonder the isles of the grocery store un-attended! My craving for cereal has officially been full filled with the purchase of 5boxes! But I can explain, really! A few days ago I wanted Raisin Bran and it was nearly 5bucks a box! So poor pregnant girl went without, however I've been craving it every since! today Safeway had a sale that if you bought 5boxes they were only $1.99 a box, so clearly I needed to buy 5 boxes! :) perhaps all the fiber will be a good thing! I did manage to slide some veggies into the bag right next to the mini Charleston chews ;) and then I went for a 45min walk! give and take right?

adventures of pregnant girl at QFC....

So Noah and I stopped at the new QFC in West Seattle on our way home tonight- one, to check it out and two, because mommy was craving Cereal!! So while the pregnant lady wondered each isle 'checking out ' the new QFC, which is quite nice btw, I managed to fill my cart with poptarts, more saltine crackers, red velvet cake and EXTRA SHARP TILLAMOOK cheese! ever had it? it's amazing, especially on a saltine :) (oh and I did grab the cereal too!) Anyhow thank goodness all of my cravings are gone now that we are home , in fact I'm kind of nauseated and not even hungry so I won't be consuming all the fattening crap I just listed off but now it's in my house and... hmm well someone is gonna need to eat it at some point! ;) perhaps Daniel should do the grocery shopping for the next 9months! I'm not going to fall into the 'eating for two' thing this time around! :) oink.....

mmmmmm

for the record, Saltines are little bits of Salty heaven!!! xoxoxoxo

oh and it's officially on the books, I got my positive test on file today with my OB :)

and the EPT says......pregnant

and if it hadn't I would be rushing off to the MD right now to figure out if I had developed Narcolepsy! I didn't even go into work today due to this insane fatigue! I hope this phase passes soon because I can't even function. To add to that side effect I think the psycho hormones have kicked in as well. I have no patience for my husband or son :( poor guys, hope this phase passes quickly as well because they don't deserve the crazy woman I've been the past few days! Oh the joys of pregnancy!!
BTW I just put the laptop down and chased my cat across the house yelling and screaming at him for clawingmy furniture! Noah was like "Mom why are you running after Bailey??" Yes I'm a mad woman!!!!!

Our little secret....

So we won't officially be telling anyone our news for a few weeks due to what we went through last January however I really wanted to start this now to start recording our excitement! We actually haven't even had a positive test yet but I know without a doubt I'm pregnant! My energy is zapped! Last week I fell asleep numerous times just sitting up at my desk at work! and we are not talking about how you nod off and wake yourself up when you head starts to bob. This was all out head on my desk asleep for over 20minutes at a time! lol I was so exhausted! I even went out and crawled into the back of my Jeep and slept on my lunch breaks! I seriously frightened a lady out for a walk when I popped the back hatch and crawled out! lol Besides my onset of NARCOLEPSY my 'chest' is in some seriously pain. Can't even let the shower water hit me! Thankfully the waterworks have not kicked in just yet. Last time I was crying from the word go! anyhow of course we are both really anxious to get through the first 12weeks. according to calculations we are almost 4weeks into it. I will take a test tomorrow at work and expect the positive result at which time I will give my OB a call to get things mov'n. The beauty of working with my MD is that I've already talked to her about the symptoms last week and she says we will do labs to monitor my HCG levels and even a US right away to make sure things are going good and to give us a piece of mind! We are doing our best to stay positive and optimistic but at the same time we haven't really allowed ourselves to get super excited yet. :( kinda of sad since we have been trying for months and now that we are we kind of afraid to get to excited. Anyhow hopefully this first trimester will go smoothly and we will be sharing the good news with you all soon!