3D Ultrasound - 18 Weeks

Today I had my 3D ultrasound.  The place was called A Miracle To Behold.  I cannot think of a more appropriate name for this business.  I saw Chloe as if I was looking through a window in my belly.  It was amazing!  She is definitely a girl :)!  I must admit I was anxious to get that confirmed, I've heard too many stories of the regular ultrasound being wrong.  She is beautiful and so busy!  I'll get to go back for a second session between 27 and 29 weeks.  I can't wait to see how much she's grown. 

My precious baby girl.

I love how she's holding her little hands under her chin.

Look at those sweet little feet!

This is my favorite......She thought something was very funny!



It's A Girl!!!! (17 Weeks)

On Thursday, December 13, 2012 I found out we're having a baby girl.  It was one of the happiest days of my life.  When the nurse told me "it looks like we've got a little girl," I couldn't believe it.  Then she said "yes, it's a girl."  I wanted to jump up off the table and hug and kiss her!!  I was so happy I couldn't wipe my silly smile off my face.  I hugged everyone in the doctor's office including the doctor (several times).  I immediately texted Chris and then sent out many text messages letting everyone know we were having a precious baby girl. 

Watching her on the sonogram was amazing!  She was opening and closing her little mouth, kicking her legs and waving her arms and hands.  I think she was a little hyped up from the giant piece of chocolate cake I had for breakfast that morning!  It was a moment I'll never forget!  She's growing and developing perfectly.  They said she weighs 6 ounces! 

After the doctors appointment I went to lunch with my good friend and then stopped back by work to let everyone know it's a girl.  Everyone was so happy, this little one will have many people in her life that love her!

I left the office and was feeling a little drained but decided to stop by TJMaxx just to check out the baby stuff.  Of course I came out of there with several pink things and then Target was right there so I had to go in :)!  Needless to say I came home that day with several things for our little girl.  While finally driving home that day I suddenly felt overwhelmed with emotions.  I began to sob, tears streamed down my face and I couldn't help but laugh and cry and thank God out loud for this amazing gift and all his blessings.  Well, that was it, the flood gate was open and I didn't stop crying until I fell asleep that night.  It was starting to sink in, Chris and I are going to have our little girl, our Chloe.  I don't know why our lives have been so blessed, but there will never be a day go by that I'm not grateful and blessed for this miracle!

As for the rest of the weekend, Chris made it home and unfortunately he's been sick.  I have continued my baby shopping (pictures below) and started to sew.  I can't wait to get the nursery all put together. 

She's going to be one well dressed little girl :)

I finally got back to my sewing machine.  I bought the pink, minky fabric and used white silk binding to finish the edges of the blanket.  It's the softest blanket there could be!  I also made a few burp clothes that had to be personalized :).  I'm so happy I have this wonderful embroidery machine.  Chloe will be monogrammed frontwards and backwards!!

16 Weeks (A Little Late)

Well, I'm a week late posting this, so if we're lucky I'll get another one up this week.  Here we are at 16 weeks and although you can see a baby bump this picture does not do it justice.  It seems like this past week I've just "popped" out!  I'm still feeling good, just tired.  I do have indigestion pretty bad, tums are my new best friend! We're really excited about my doctor's appointment this Thursday.........................we'll find out what this little peanut is!!!!!

I'm ready either way!!  I made these today and think they turned out so cute!  I'll be by myself for the big reveal.  Chris is away for his annual hunting trip.  I'm not too upset, my two good friends are going to meet me for lunch and then I'm taking the rest of the day off to do some much anticipated baby shopping!!

We've started changing things around in the house.  My beloved pink sewing room is no more, that room will still be for sewing, but it will also be Chris' office and guest room.  We've painted and started moving things out.  Chris' office will be the nursery.  I'll post pictures as soon as it's photo worthy.  I still can't believe that we're making all these changes for a baby.  I'm so happy and excited, but sometimes feel like I'm dreaming! 

I've started to feel the baby move some.  It's the most wonderful feeling in the world!  I can't wait for Chris to be able to feel it!

I did a little Christmas shopping this weekend and finally got the tree decorated. 

Thought you might like to see a little of what the living room looks like now.  You can see Lilly between the table and couch.  It's starting to look like Christmas around here.  I didn't get my baking done today, so I'll work on that each night this week. 

Well, stay tuned to find out if it's a girl or boy this week!! (Keep your fingers crossed for a girl)

13 Weeks

It's hard to believe our little peanut is now the size of a peach!  This has been a busy week and I know I'm late posting, so you may actually see 2 posts this week!  I'm still feeling great.  We had our doctor's appointment on Thursday and we're all doing wonderful.  The baby's heartbeat is still strong and fast.  I did gain 5 pounds (whoops).  I just can't help it.  I'm hungry all the time.  I do need to do better about what I'm eating.  I've been eating way to much junk food.

I made an appointment for a 3D ultrasound on December 22nd.  I've been so excited knowing that we should know what we're having before Christmas!  I was even more happy to hear from the doctor that he'll be doing another sonogram on December 13th and expects to know the sex then!  I can't wait!  I promise to let everyone know as soon as I do.

We went to Houston this past weekend to celebrate Chris' grandfathers 80th birthday.  We had a really nice time.  Now I'm trying to get ready for Thanksgiving.  I'm really looking forward to the food!  Even though it will just be me, Chris and Tyler I have to have all of mom's dishes I grew up with. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for this year! 

Thankful

As I was driving into work today I couldn't help but think about how much I have to be thankful for.   Most of all I was thinking about this little life I'm carrying inside of me.  I've prayed so much since finding out about this baby.  In the early days I was so worried and so prayerful I couldn't seem to pray enough.  That's when I started writing my prayers.  I have a million pads of paper on my desk at work and one day I just started writing the prayer I was saying in my head.  This has continued to this day.  My little pad has prayers for this child and pregnancy all through it.  I don't know why, but writing them made me feel better. 

Someday I hope this child of ours reads these prayers and knows how wanted and loved they were from the very beginning.

12 Weeks

Well, we made it to 12 weeks.  I'm so happy to be feeling good and have no more sickness.  I've even started to get some energy back.  I would say I'm feeling like my old self, but that would not be completely true.  I've gained 5 pounds in one month and although our baby is the size of a lime, my stomach is the size of a small cantaloupe!  My baby bump seems to be growing by the minute.  I think by now pretty much everyone knows we're having a baby.  We didn't really keep it a secret.  I went by the thinking that the more people who knew the more prayers we would get.  Thank you everyone who has prayed for us.  I have felt it everyday. 

1st Trimester Recap

Finally the first trimester is over.  It was a rough time for me.  There is no question that being pregnant at 42 is much harder than being pregnant at 20!  I've been sick, very sick every day.  Sometimes all day long.  I've had NO energy and basically felt like death warmed over (not to mention looking worse than that)! 

We found a new doctor and love him.  His staff is wonderful!  They made me feel so welcome and not abnormally old to be having a baby.  I have to say, however on our first visit when we walked out of the doctors private office I felt like Diane Keaton in Father of the Bride II.  There were all the ladies in the office with gift bags saying congratulations.  All I could do was burst into tears (something that happens all too often lately).  The whole experience felt like a dream. 

Ok, so the doctor was cautiously optimistic with us.  The first order of business was 2 blood tests 48 hours apart to be sure my HCG levels were doubling the way they should.  That came back positive - check.  Next our first sonogram.  This just so happened to be on a day Chris would be out of town on business.  I have to say, I was more than a little nervous.  All I could think of was what if something is wrong and I'll be there by myself.  I prayed almost every second of every day until that sonogram. 

When I arrived at the doctor's office that morning I was escorted back to a room with the familiar equipment, but then the technician asked me to undress from the waist down.  This took me by surprise, I never had to undress all those years ago for a sonogram.  I refused to show my stupidity so I did as I was told and then before I knew what was going on a small probe was inserted inside me and I couldn't stifle the surprised yelp that escaped my throat.  My surprise was quickly taken over by relief and total jubilation when I saw and heard the most precious sound in the world.  My baby's heartbeat!  Our little peanut was exactly where it was suppose to be and had a strong beautiful heartbeat!

I wouldn't have normally been allowed to video tape this but the wonderful nurse in the office did it because Chris wasn't able to be there.  (Sorry the video is sideways, I couldn't figure out how to change it on the blog).

During my 1st trimester we made a trip home to Maryland.  My mom was celebrating her 70th birthday and it was wonderful to be able to be there with her and the rest of my family.  I so enjoyed being home.  It was great to do absolutely nothing and let mom and dad take care of me for a week.  Thank you mom and dad!  You're the best!

The whole gang!

The happy mom & dad to be!

After our wonderful trip it was back to reality.  Working during this time was a real challenge.  It's so hard trying to get ready for work in the morning in between throwing your guts up!  Thankfully I have a great job and an even better boss.  So, I made it through.

We had our second doctor's appointment the week after our trip and during this visit we were presented with what I knew would come our way..............................genetic testing.  Our doctor talked to us about a new test that is the equivalent to an amniocentesis without the risk.  It's a blood test that looks for all sorts of genetic abnormalities.  Given my age our doctor highly recommended it.  So off to the lab we went to have blood drawn.  Chris and I never really talked about it or what the results could mean.  I just silently and fervently prayed for 7days.  Finally, the call I had been waiting for and dreading all at the same time came.  The results were 100% negative on all counts...............................our baby is perfectly healthy!  At that very moment I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders and for the first time since that little stick said "Yes" I felt relaxed and completely happy.

I don't know why God decided to give us this amazing gift, but I'm so glad He did. 

Life Changes

This little blog started out being a place to share my sewing projects for my family to see back home.  I've never been good about updating and keeping this thing going, however now there is a change in direction and my family is counting on updates here and regularly.

You see, Chris and I had the shock of our lives on September 19, 2012........................

We're Pregnant!

It's not an exaggeration to say that we would have been less shocked to win the lottery!  Here's what happened.......

I had noticed that my period was late and I'm really good about keeping track of it.  I wasn't too concerned since I had been experiencing what seemed to be PMS.  Although the PMS had been going on for more than a week and I was feeling bloated I didn't really think too much about it.  Then one day at work I looked in my calendar to see when my last period was and realized I was 3 weeks late.  Still not too concerned because we had a permanent birth control procedure done a year ago, I decided to pick up the cheapest pregnancy test I could find on my way home from work.  Chris had worked from home that day and when I got there he was busy cooking dinner and completely unaware of a little test I was about to preform.  I went upstairs to change my clothes and secretly took the test.  It was less than 3 minutes when I saw the faint but distinct positive results on this little stick I had just peed on. 

The short time after that still feels like a blur to me.  I didn't know what or how to tell Chris.  I quietly laid the tests on the bathroom counter and slowly walked downstairs.  Chris was happily chatting away while in the kitchen and I just sat on the couch feeling like I couldn't speak.  He looked around the corner and said with concern "What's wrong?  Are you ok?"  I didn't know what to say, so I just blurted out that I had just took a pregnancy test and it was positive.  The next thing I remember was Chris sprinting up the stairs to see the peed on stick for proof.  He studied the lines and the directions and determined that although it looked positive it was faint and we should immediately go to the store to buy the most expensive test we could find.  Without a second of hesitation the dinner was turned off and out the door we went to Wal Mart.

An hour and 2 (expensive) pregnancy tests later it was confirmed we were pregnant.  I don't think either of us ate any dinner that night and I know I didn't sleep at all.

It turns out that the permanent birth control procedure I had went through last year was not so permanent!  So here we are 12 weeks pregnant and so relieved to have the first trimester behind us.

Oh I forgot something very important......................We are both over the moon happy and excited!