21 Weeks!

21 Weeks with BS2!

We have made it past the half-way mark! WooHoo! I had a friend at work take this picture this morning (not a great hair day, but oh well). I haven't taken a picture YET with BS2 so I just said, "It's time!" Not much to report, but we do have our FOURTH ultrasound next Thursday so I'll for sure have a more in depth report then! But for now, here are the highlights!

Momma Stats

How Far Along: 21 Weeks

Weight Gain: 3 Pounds

Maternity Clothes: All my bottoms are maternity, but dresses and tops are still primarily my pre-pregnancy stuff.

Gender: Baby GIRL - I think we are close to a name announcement as well!

Movement: Tons! This little girl is constantly movin' and groovin'!

Symptoms/Complaints: Just tired and using the restroom non-stop!

Cravings: Still spicy stuff for the most part, NACHOS with tons of JALAPENOS.

BS2 Stats

Food Size: Carrot

Weight: 3/4 of a Pound

Length: 10.5 inches head to toe

Development Info: BS2's eyebrows are now present! And her vagina has begun to form!

xoxo

Potty Training

We started potty training Jack last Monday (9/19/11). Tonya (his daycare provider, we love her) told me the end of the prior week that Jack had started asking to go potty. I wasn't sure if it was because Tonya was just finishing up potty training another little girl so it had sparked his interest or if he maybe was really ready...either way Tonya said she thought we should at least give it a good try and see how he did! Well I'm happy to report he is doing GREAT!

Tonya didn't want to use Pull-Ups (she said in the past with kids she has done the pull-ups with that once they figure out that the pull-up will hold pee/poop it usually deters their progress), so off to JC Penny we went to get some of the thicker training underpants (we refer to them as "unders". Chris and I were going out of town for our anniversay so we decided to wait until we got home Sunday to give them a try.

Sunday night Jack wore his unders for about 3 hours and used the potty one time to go pee. I was excited that he didn't have an accident on our first try! So Monday was the real start of training and to say he didn't do great would be an understatement!

Here is the timeline of the week...

Monday - 7 accidents (6 at daycare, 1 at home)

Tuesday - 2 accidents (both at daycare)

Wednesday - 2 accidents (both at daycare, one during quiet time)

Thursday - 1 accident (at daycare)

Friday - 1 accident (at daycare)

Saturday - 1 accident (at home)

Sunday - 1 accident (during his nap - although he was in Columbus all day with Chris so who knows what really happened)

Monday - ZERO ACCIDENTS ALL DAY!

We are really pretty proud of how well he is doing! He doesn't always tell you when he needs to go, but it's obvious he can hold his pee (most of the accidents later in the week were poop) and will hold it until you take him to the potty! We do a jumping high five and a cookie as a reward (he doesn't like stickers/tape/sticky things so we didn't do the more common sticker chart)!

A friend that has a little boy a week older than Jack asked me what we were doing and what the key was...I told her number one is consistency. We (either at home or daycare) would take Jack to the potty about every 30 minutes and have him sit on the potty and try to go - every 30 minutes! The second thing, I think is, is not doing pull-ups or diapers at all during the day! Jack has only had a diaper on at night and not until he actually gets into bed. He doesn't even wear a diaper during nap time and has only had 2 pee accidents during his nap - awesome! Third and probably tied with second is having an awesome daycare that works just as hard as you do at getting them potty trained! Tonya is awesome and she even works harder than we do/did because she has him the majority of the week while we are at work! I think if your child goes to daycare and the daycare isn't totally on board and you aren't using the same methods it will never work or at least will take a lot longer!

I will say Jack is no where near trained at night time. He still has quite a big of pee in his diapers in the morning, but hey I can do 1 diaper a day, that's nothing - especially when little Miss is slated to arrive in 4 short months! :-)

Way to go Jack, you are an all-star potty trained boy! We are so proud of you!

xoxo

IT'S A GIRL!!

That's right! Jack is getting a little SISTER and we couldn't be more excited! As a friend wrote on my FB wall, "A perfect pair!" Here is BS2 Girl's "money"shot from yesterday's ultrasound - definitely a girl! :-)

After we had our ultrasound we saw Dr. Shaw and she said baby looked great and was measuring perfect and that my placenta seems to be moving away from the cervix. At the ultrasound we had at the hospital the placenta was covering the cervix and yesterday the tech measured it at 1.5-2cm away from the cervix! Dr. then explained that as long as the placenta isn't covering the cervix and is still just low lying then it's my choice to attempt a natural delivery. She said we could try, but if I were to start bleeding then we'd have to do an emergency c-section. OR we could just do a planned c-section, but she said we don't have to opt for either choice right now because we have plenty of time and she feels good that the placenta will keep moving up and we will be good to go for delivery!

She also said at this point since the placenta isn't covering the cervix that my "restrictions" could be lifted as long as I'm not bleeding, but if I start bleeding again then I have to go back to the home, work, no exercise, no heavy lifting, no sex, etc. But I have to admit I'm still scared to really go back to "normal".

We also hit 18 weeks yesterday so here is a recap!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 18 Weeks

Weight Gain: 2 Pounds

Maternity Clothes: Bottoms - YES!

Gender: Baby GIRL

Movement: Starting to feel a few flutters and jabs here and there but nothing consistent yet!

Symptoms/Complaints: I've been going to the bathroom NONSTOP this week!

Cravings: McD's (takes me back to my HS days)

BS2 Stats:

Food Size: Bell Pepper

Weight: 7 ounces

Length: 5.5 inches head to rump

Development Info: BS2's uterus and falopian tubes are formed and in place! WooHoo!

17 Weeks!

Today we hit 17 weeks! Yea! Not alot to report, but we do have our follow-up ultrasound next Thursday so our 18 week update should be a good one! ;-)

Pregnancy Highlights!

How Far Along: 17 Weeks

Weight Gain: 0 Pounds - I somehow am right back to where I started!

Maternity Clothes: If I wear pants, then yes, but I can still wear my normal dresses!

Gender: We know, but it's a secret until confirmation!

Movement: I swear I'm starting to feel some flutters!

Symptoms/Complaints: Tired, Fatty Fat Fat!

Cravings: Dt. Dr. Pepper - YES I've been giving in!

BS2 Stats!

Food Size: Turnip

Weight: 5 ounces

Length: 5 inches head to bottom

Developmental Info: Baby can move their joints and sweat glands are starting to develop!

xoxo

Pictures of BS2

This is a cute profile picture of BS2 that we got yesterday at our "stat" ultrasound! Baby was bringing their hand up to their mouth and then started sucking it's thumb! Too cute!

xoxo

A Scare...

Today we had a scare with the baby...I was at work and started bleeding. Not like spotting, it was full blown, gushing, dark red bleeding...a total mess! I immediately called my doctor and they had me come right in. My doctor wasn't at the office so I saw her nurse practioner, Kaye. She came in asked what was going on and then felt my tummy and then grabbed the doppler. A rush of fear came over me, I wanted to know, but I didn't want to know - thankfully she found the baby's heartbeat fairly quickly and also said the baby was moving around.

She next did a vaginal exam and determined that the bleeding wasn't urinary, like she had thought/hoped, but that it was coming from the vagina. She said she couldn't tell why I was bleeding from the exam and that I needed an ultrasound done over at the hospital. So I got dressed (oh and Chris was out of town working, but on his way back so he wasn't at the doctor's office) and was then given my "stat" order to take to the hospital at 1pm (it was 11am when I left the doctor's office...so much for "stat"...)

My mom was on her way in town and we met at my house and then headed back to the hospital for my appointment and Chris met us there. I think I was pretty numb at this point, not really thinking one way or the other about what was potentially going on. Kaye made sure that I knew it was a good thing that we heard the baby's heartbeat, but that it also didn't mean that we were in the clear. I was definitely on auto-pilot. I expected our ultrasound to be one of those where they don't talk to you, don't show you the screen, that they would just do their thing and send Kaye the report. Thankfully our ultrasound tech was awesome! I wish I would have gotten her name! As soon as she saw the heartbeat she turned the screen to where we could see and walked us through the whole ultrasound - it was just like our "big" 20 week ultrasound with Jack, she took all the measurements and pointed out all the body parts and organs for us. Now, when she started she asked if Kaye had said what she thought might have been the problem, and I said she just said that sometimes the placenta can be too low and cause bleeding. She paused the screen and said, well I think she is right and it was clear as day that the placenta was sitting, covering my entire cervix! I immediately felt a bit of relief, the ultrasound tech said that she sees this alot and that more times then not she sees that the placenta will move on its own as the pregnancy progresses! Which is good news! She also said she was pretty sure the worst case scenario is that if the placenta didn't move it would mean a c-section at delivery - I was thinking, if that's the worse I'll take it!

Now, most of the time ultrasound techs aren't supposed to give so much info, but I appreciated it and after we talked to the doctor she confirmed everything the tech had said so that was nice! So what does all this mean? For now I'm on a "modified" bed rest I guess you can say...I can go to work and come home and that's pretty much it. No exercise, I'm on pelvic rest (if you know what I mean!), and can't lift Jack (we'll see how that one goes, I think I'll just have to be selective about when it's absolutely necessary to lift him b/c Chris travels and he has to get in his crib somehow...). We have another ultrasound scheduled in 2 weeks on September 8th to check the placenta's position.

The doctor did confirm that there were no tears in the placenta, that it was fully attached to the uterin wall and that my cervix was closed - all good things! She did say I should expect more bleeding off and on and it would probably tie with how active I was being. If I do start bleeding I'm supposed to call the doctor and let them know so that they can note it in my file.

Everything I have read (which I tried not to Google too much b/c somehow you always manage to find the worst case scenario) has said that if you are diagnosed with Placenta Previa (the technical term) prior to 20 weeks (we are almost 16) then only a small percentage of women still have the condition at the time of delivery! I did read that it can lead to pre-mature delivery in some cases if the bleeding is heavy and uncontrollable and lasts for a prolonged period, so that really makes me want to take it easy and PRAY that the placenta will move on it's own!

The best part of the day was definitely getting to see the baby AND finding out the gender! But I'm not telling just yet, I want confirmation in 2 weeks at the next ultrasound! :-)

xoxo

Extra Lines!

If anyone knows why I'm getting all these extra lines in my posts, PLEASE let me know! It's super annoying and I try to fix them over and over again and it never helps...

14 Weeks! & Doctor Update

Hello 2nd Trimester! It's so good to see you! :-) We have officially hit the 2nd trimester as of today, woo-hoo! Nothing really new to report, I go to see Dr. Shaw tomorrow so I'll update more then, but here are some stats!

Pregnancy Highlights!
How Far Along: 14 weeks

Total Weight Gain: 1.5 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Only some shorts and capris and primarily for comfort - although I definitely have a majorly growing bump!

Gender: Hope to find out in 4 weeks from tomorrow!

Movement: Nothing yet

Symptoms: Not sleeping well, yuck!

Cravings: Jalapenos!

I also still need to take a belly picture, but I'm trying to wait until my weeks catch up to my gut b/c I definitely look more like 5 months pregnant than 3.5!

xoxo

I went and saw Dr. Shaw this morning and baby sounded great! I think she said the heart rate was 155, way lower than at 10 weeks - which is normal, but I think Chris was hoping that is was still high - I know he wants a girl! But we shall see and the best part is that we don't have much longer to wait! Dr. Shaw said that at my 18 week appoinment we will do my Quad Screen and then we can do our BIG ultrasound the following after she gets the screening results! Yea!
I also was telling her how INCREDIBLY itchy I've been so she had some blood drawn to run a few labs, she said it could just be the dry, hot weather but that it could be something pregnancy related - primarily an elevated bile acid level? IDK, but I'd sure love it if she found a reason for my itchy's! It's driving me nutso! And her scale showed I'd only gained a pound since my last appointment 4 weeks ago so that was nice, with Jack I think the scale went up about 4 pounds (at least) every time I was there! :-)

Hide and Seek

Someone needs to explain the concept of hide and seek to Jack, because obviously I don't know how to get the point across! He has recently developed a love of playing hide and seek, but he is the world's worst hider! He usually just hides his face so he can't see you, but you can definitely see him! Or if he does manage to actually hide the majority of his body, all you have to do is say "Where's Jack?" and he promptly replies with "I don't know!" It's really very cute! He also has a tendency to use the same hiding spot over and over (under our bed pillows that are usually still laying on the floor because Momma isn't great at making the bed). He likes it when Daddy hides and he gets to find him! George usually actually finds him and then Jack just follows George, but it still totally counts! Daddy gets mad at George for always giving him away, but it's still fun! Jack just laughs and laughs when he gets found or when he finds Daddy - it's so cute to see him walk around saying "Daddy? Daddy? Where are you?" Love this kid!

xoxo

Fun in the Sun!

With the steaming temperatures lately, Jack has gotten alot of pool and sprinkler time at daycare!

xoxo