BABY # 2

So...since I found out that I was pregnant (almost 6 months ago) I have been slacking on my blogging. So here is my attempt to catch you up on what has been going on with us lately and the whole baby thing. I will try to make this short... telling the first part mainly in pictures.

May 20th- 22nd Jesse and I took a trip to Vegas to go see the GLEE concert and lets just say, what happened in Vegas, didn't stay in Vegas. A couple weeks after we got home, my doctor told me to take a pregnancy test before I came in to start my fertility tests and medicine. Little did I know that it was going to come out potitve. I believe I took 6 pregnancy tests, just to make sure. I guess I should have known with all the Dr Pepper and Sonic ice I had been craving. Not to mention, my new liking for hot dogs and easy mac. Gross


I wanted to surprise Jesse and tell him. So while I was giving Braxton a bath, I spelled this out with his bath letters (see below) I believe his first reaction was "Are you serious?" which was better than mine, "Crap."


The next week I had an appt with my ob who confirmed my pregnancy by blood test, but because my numbers were so low. I had to come in for weekly blood tests and ultrasounds. We finally saw baby at 6 weeks. It was the best feeling in the world. But now bring on the extreme fatigue, nauseousness, and throwing up. Little did I know that it would last the next 2 months (unlike with Braxton who I didn't get sick at all with)
6 WEEKS


My doctor continued to monitor me closely because of all the problems I seemed to be having, mainly all the pain and cramping I was having. Despite all the problems, everything looked fine with baby. He was growing just as he should. These couple months were difficult for us though... multiple trips to the ER, in constant pain, and my every other thought was if I was having a miscarriage or not. I'm happy to say I didn't have any complications, then.
8 WEEKS


When I was pregnant with Braxton, I heard about this "at home" gender test you could do as early as 10 weeks. It was right with Braxton, so I decided to do it again this time since I was dying to know what baby # 2 was. Sure enough I got a BOY result again! Supposedly they are like 90% accurate and so far they have been right for me both times!(You can find these tests at Walgreens/CVS Pharmacy is you are wanting to do one... they are just something fun to do and buy time until you have your gender ultrasound)
10 WEEKS

12 WEEKS


Because of all my pain (and my previous history of preterm labor), my doctor decided to transfer my care to a PPA, a strictly high-risk ob/gyn. They are suppose to be the best in the Valley. One of the first things they did was a detailed ultrasound to rule out different abnormalities. I'm happy to say that everything looked good. We also got to find out the gender early (at 13 weeks). It is... ANOTHER BOY! I was actually a lot more excited about this that I thought I was going to be. (although, I had a feeling it was a boy the whole time, so I had mentally prepared myself) Jesse, on the other hand, I think was a little more disappointed. He was hoping girl so we could be done having kids. Which he may still get his wish, but I will get into that later.
13 WEEKS


At my 15 week ultrasound, they were able to tell us it was a BOY for sure.Like I didn't already know that.
15 WEEKS


My doctors had been seeing me every 2 weeks to monitor my cervix and check the baby since I started going to them at 13 weeks. The day before my 19 week appointment, I felt like I started having contractions but I wasn't sure. Something just didn't feel right. I got in early to my doctors the next day who confirmed I was having contractions and told me my cervix had shortened a significant amount in the past 2 weeks. They sent me to the hospital to be checked out and I was then admitted for the next 4 days. The had initially talked about doing a cerclage (sew me shut) but wanted to put it off until my contractions stopped. While I was there they pumped me full of fluids, had me on strict bedrest, monitored my contractions and gave me all sorts of different medications to try and help. After 4 days, they sent me home and told me to take it easy. My contractions had stopped and they still didn't want to do the cerclage yet. Everything was perfect with the baby though. They did my detailed ultrasound at the hospital. Everything looked perfect and was measuring how it should. I couldn't have been more relieved. They now would be monitoring me weekly to make sure everything was ok.
19 WEEKS




I finally decided to take a picture of "my baby bump" even though I still didn't have much of one at this point and I still don't right now, although I am getting bigger each week now. My belly is measuring on track and the baby is actually measuring 1.5 weeks ahead. He is over 1 lb now. I can proudly say that I haven't gained any weight which is way different than my pregnancy with Braxton( I gained almost 20 lbs the first couple months but leveled off until I had him). I honestly don't know how I've been that lucky so far with all the junk food and take out I crave and eat and especially now that I am not allowed to do anything but lay around.
20 WEEKS


22 WEEKS
These past couple weeks (since the hospital) have been rough. It has been hard trying to "take it easy" with a 18 month old. Especially when Jesse is out of town Monday-Wednesday for work every week. I honestly don't know how I would do it without him or my mom. They are the ones taking care of him 24/7. I have had contractions on and off the past 3 weeks (on top of all of the pain I had already been having.) They get worse when I am up and doing stuff, so I try to not do much. My cervix has been getting shorter each week, and at my appointment yesterday they actually sent me over to the hospital to be monitored because they were so worried about it. I am now on strict bedrest. Which I am really trying to do because I do NOT want to have this baby early. I want to make it to at least 32 weeks at the earliest. I'm not sure what their plan is for me... there is still talk about a cerclage but I don't know if they want to do it if I keep having contractions on and off. I am just glad that everything looks good with the baby at each appointment. His heart rate is always good, he measures what he should, and he is definitely a very active baby! He moves constantly... maybe too much. He sits SUPER low, at every ultrasound they always say "he is so low, he is right on your cervix" my reply is, "I know, I can feel it" I told Jesse the other week he sits so low that it feels like if I were to jump up and down he would fall out already. I wonder if this has anything to do with whats going on with me. He definitely sits way different than Braxton did and maybe that's why I haven't been showing much. We were suppose to go to Texas last week to visit for Kellan's (my nephew) baby blessing. But because of all my problems, I am not allowed to travel.We are just happy that it is Matt and Beth's year for Christmas here so we can finally meet Kellan and get to visit with all of them.

I just want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers, especially this past month. This pregnancy has been a really hard on us so far and things just keep getting harder. I never had the feeling that this baby would be early like I did with Braxton, but with the way things are going, there might be not be another option. I am hoping that I can make it past 24 weeks, which is like the magic number for babies. They have a better chance of survival each week after that and especially after 32 weeks. We meet with a neonatologist this Friday to discuss the baby. I will definitely keep everyone posted. I hoping to get more answers and a game plan at my appointment next week. Thanks again so much for everything!