29 Week Update

I'm officially in my last trimester! It doesn't seem like I should be that far along already. I went for another check up last week and everything is great. My sugars have been good, and my blood pressure was fine. Tristan kept trying to get on the scale with me and I was too busy trying to distract him that I don't remember what my weight

was. I had to get a shot of rhogam, and that did not feel so good! The most exciting part of the visit was the 4D ultrasound. It is amazing the technology these days. Anna Kate was very cooperative during her photo shoot, and even gave us a smile. She also poked her lip out and frowned, and opened her eyes at one point. And she is definitely still a girl. She wasn't very active, so the video clips are mostly just her practicing her facial expressions. Her estimated weight was 2 pounds and 14 ounces. I looked back at what Tristan's weight was on his 4D ultrasound at 28 weeks and it was 2 pounds and 13 ounces, so hopefully that is some indication of what size she will be when she is born. Tristan was 6 pounds and 8 ounces, and I will be perfectly happy with another small baby! And as her and I previously discussed, she has flipped upside down. But also like her big brother, she is face up. So hopefully she will turn

around by then. Just as long as she doesn't flip back right side up!

Tristan is starting to acknowledge Anna Kate a little bit more. He likes for me to go back and forth between the picture where she is smiling and the one where she is frowning. He will say "Anna's happy" or "Anna's sad." A coworker had given me a boppy with a girly print on it for Anna, and it is sitting on the desk in Anna's room. Tristan spotted it and asked what it was, so I told him it was Anna Kate's boppy. He repeated me and then he went and got his boppy and quickly let me know that it was "Tristan's boppy." He has done that several times the last few days and I tried to assure him that Anna Kate would not be taking his boppy away!

29 week belly

Tristan wanted to be in the pic too :)

chubby cheeks

tiny foot

peeking her eyes open

perfect little profile

half smile

frowning

poking her bottom lip out. We have a picture of Tristan shortly after he was born where he is poking his lip out just like this!

our beautiful baby girl!

27 Week Update

Hi everyone! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We definitely did. We had several different Christmas dinners with various family members and it was great seeing everyone. It was also a lot of fun with Tristan this year because he really enjoyed getting to open presents. He was pretty good at handing them out, too. Anna Kate had a nice and cozy Christmas as well :).

I went for another check up last week and everything still looks good. My blood pressure is fine and her heart beat sounded great. I even lost a few pounds since my last appointment! Ha ha, that's the funniest thing I've heard all year :). No, I actually gained five pounds, but I'm blaming it on all the yummy Christmas dinners! So, 19 pounds total so far, which is well within the normal range. I have been checking my sugars a few times a day, and most of the time they are fine, but I have had a few on the high side lately. So I guess I'm really going to have to do a better job of watching what I eat. We eat pretty healthy in general, but its the sweets that get me in trouble. The really hard part is that box full of chocolate Christmas candy sitting on my kitchen counter. Guess I'll have to use it for Tristan as treats for going on the potty (which he has done once, yay!). Tristan has become quite a good little helper when its time for me to check my sugar. He opens the case for me, gets the monitor out, and puts the test strip in and turns it on. He also like pushing the button that makes the lancet prick my finger. After the meter reads my glucose, he likes to talk on it like a phone, and he tells whoever is on the other end that he just checked Mommy's sugar. Its quite adorable.

Anna is still a very active little wiggle worm, so hopefully she will flip upside down and stay that way! I'm still having a few contractions here and there, but nothing labor like. My feet get a little swollen after working a few 12 hour shifts in a row, but they are fine when I'm not working. And other than a few minor aches and pains, which are all normal, I really can't complain! Except I need this pregnancy to slow down a bit! We got our new computer cabinet (thank you Grandmother and Aunt Sharon!) all set up in the living room, so now we just have to get the enormous desk taken apart and out of Anna Kate's room. Then clean out the closet (the scary part), clean the carpet, and we will be ready to make it a little girl's room. Of course somewhere in there we have to transition Tristan into the twin bed before we can move the crib to the other room, but I'm not in a real big hurry just yet. I'm sure he will do fine, but that just means he is one step further away from being my little baby!

I go back to the doctor in two weeks for my next check up. Hopefully I will get my sugars under better control by cutting out sweet stuff, but if they are still high even with me eating a perfect diabetic diet, I might have to do insulin. So hopefully it won't come to that! I also get to have another ultrasound. We are doing a 4D one like we did with Tristan, and I am super excited to get to see what she looks like!

25 weeks

23 Week Update

Its hard to believe I'm over half way there! It seems like the time has been flying by now that I'm not sick everyday. We need it to slow down a little though, because we are definitely not ready! Anna Kate's room is currently still the office but we are planning on getting it ready after Christmas. I had a Dr. visit last week and it went very well. Anna's heart rate was good and I only gained two more pounds. This was the first appointment that I haven't had an ultrasound, but since everything has been going fine, there was no need to do one. I like having ultrasounds though because I get to take a peek at her. My next appointment is a few days after Christmas. I will have to start checking my sugars a few times before the appointment and depending on what they are, I may or may not have to check them the rest of my pregnancy. Since I have my own glucose meter I will probably check my sugars periodically even if she says I don't have to, just to be sure. I won't, however, be checking my sugar after any Christmas meals (or after eating the candy in my stocking)!!! Anna Kate is quite the little wiggle worm, especially when I lay down to go to sleep. Justin has gotten to feel her move and she kicks Tristan a lot, but he doesn't seem to notice. She seems to get hiccups a lot too. I have had a few contractions here and there, but the Dr. said that was ok as long as they aren't regular. I started having contractions eary with Tristan too, and still ended up being induced past my due date.

23 week belly

19 Week Update

Hi everyone! We had another doctor visit last week and had our official anatomy ultrasound. And we are definitely still having a girl! Anna Kate had the hiccups at first so it took a few minutes to get all the needed measurements. She looked great and had all the right necessary parts: four chamber heart, two kidneys, abdomen intact, back intact, no cleft lip or pallet, and we even saw a closeup of one of her feet with five tiny little toes. She was breech, so her and I had a talk, and she's got about 20 weeks to flip upside down. She weighed about 9 ounces and her heart rate was 140 bpm. My blood pressure was fine and I've gained about 12 pounds so far. 12 pounds isn't bad at all, its just kind of hard for me to grasp because I only gained 15 total with Tristan. I'm finally feeling a little better. I haven't had to throw up in about two weeks, but certain smells still make me gag. And I can now unload the dishwasher without getting sick, but I just can't seem to reload it still, darn :) I am feeling Anna move a lot, but of course she is perfectly still when Justin tries to feel. If I ask Tristan what's in my belly he will say baby, but I don't think he really gets it yet. We still have a ton to do to get her room ready, so I guess we better get to work!

18 week belly

Anna Kate

perfect little spine

picking her nose, just like her big brother, lol

tiny foot

little girl

We are having a girl!

The other day at work, one of my friends who works in the ultrasound department did a quick scan on me to see if we were having a boy or girl. Justin and Tristan came up there too. I was worried about Tristan wanting to get into everything, but he did really well, despite the lemonade Justin gave him :) He even wanted her to do an ultrasound on his tummy. The baby was moving all around and looked pretty squished in there already. Luckily, the baby was cooperative this time! And we found out that Tristan is going to have a little sister! That is what the tech thought a few weeks ago, but now we know for sure. Her name is going to be Anna Kathryn, but we will probably call her Anna Kate (there is still a bit of a debate between that and just Anna). We are very excited, but a little nervous too. I'm so used to my little boy, I don't know what to do with a girl! I just feel bad for her if she ends up with my hair!

Anna Kathryn

bottom of her foot

little girl!

15 week update

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated, but we have been quite busy these past few weeks. Justin and I celebrated our four year anniversary by going to dinner at the Wash House, a delicious restaurant in Point Clear. Then Tristan had his second birthday, and we had a great party at the park. Its hard to believe that he is already two! I had a Dr. appointment last Thursday, and everything looked great. My blood pressure was fine and I've gained seven pounds so far. I figured I would have gained a lot more than that by the way that I've been eating! We heard the baby's heart beat with a doppler and it sounded great. We also got to sneak in an ultrasound. The baby looked good and was moving all around, and weighed a whole four ounces. They also looked at the baby in 4D. It was slightly creepy looking, but very interesting as well . But of course when it came time to find out if it was a boy or girl, the silly little thing was sitting Indian style and wouldn't budge. The ultrasound tech said she got a quick peak, but couldn't be 100% certain. Luckily, one of the ultrasound techs that I work with said that she would be happy to do one for me tomorrow. So hopefully the baby will be cooperative. I will be happy either way, I just want to know! As far as how I've been feeling, well..... Some days I feel pretty good, but there are still days that I feel like I got hit by a train. I was hoping I would feel better by now, but no luck. It has gotten better in the sense that it isn't everyday all day at least. Certain things still make me sick, but I have been able to unload the dishes a few times. I don't want to push myself too hard by trying to reload it though :). I'll let you all know as soon as we do about whether we are having a boy or girl!

12 week belly

14 weeks, 5 days

mouth open

4D ultrasound

Our new Baby!

Well......as many of you may know, Justin and I decided that we felt it was time to add another member to our family. And we are thrilled to announce that our new baby is due April 2, 2011! I actually found out that I was pregnant while I was out of town. I was at my sister's house in Columbus , MS, visiting my brand new niece Zooey Marie. I was thrilled when the test was positive, and very excited about calling and telling Justin. He was very excited as well, but it still took a little bit of time to set in for the both of us. I made a doctor's appointment as soon as I was back in town. I had been having a lot of abdominal pain, so they went ahead and did an ultrasound. The baby was too little to see, but I did have a cyst on my ovary, which was causing the pain. I went back two weeks later, and they did another ultrasound. The cyst was gone (Yay!) but there was a beautiful, tiny little heart beat! It brought back a lot of memories of seeing Tristan's heart beat for the first time. Four weeks later (I was 10 weeks), I went back for my next checkup. The doctor was able to hear the heart beat with a doppler, but I also had an ultrasound just to make sure everything looked ok. Instead of a blob, there was a baby! It had a pretty big forehead, but that is perfectly normal at that gestational age. You could see arms and legs and it was moving around a little bit. The heart rate was 164, which is perfect. I go back again in four weeks, but it will most likely be at my 18 week check up that they do another ultrasound and we will find out if we are having a boy or girl. As for how I've been feeling......not so good. I've been exhausted and nauseous, and puking lots. My sense of smell is hightened, which is just pure evil. Even the smell of the clean dishes makes me gag, and just the sight of the refridgerator or trash can pushes me right on over the edge. I can't even make the grocery list without getting sick, much less go to the store. I did survive when I went a few weeks ago, but luckily Justin was with me because it was a struggle and I kept having to close my eyes and cover my face. And just the thought of brushing my teeth makes me ill (but don't worry, I still brush them). Justin has been absolutely wonderful. He has been doing all the cooking, dishes, grocery shopping, and cleaning the kitchen. He even bought me roses one day when I was feeling miserable. Tristan has been a little trooper, too. He lets me nap on the couch occasionally, and one time I even woke up with a paci half hanging out of my mouth. He pats me on the back and says "Cough you, Mommy" when I have to puke and then he flushes the toilet for me. Sometimes he says "All done?" But his tone sounds more like "Enough already!" He has even started fake puking. He is quite proud of himself. You would have thought he pooped in the potty or something. Hopefully the nausea and tiredness will start to fade soon. I was 15 weeks with Tristan when I started feeling better, but I started feeling sick sooner this time, so maybe it will go away sooner too. One can only hope. Hopefully I will get a belly pic taken and posted soon, even though there's not really much belly yet. And I will definitely update after my next appointment!

6 week ultrasound

tiny heart beat

10 week ultrasound

how sweet!