20 Week U/S

Last sat 5/19 me and the IP's went to the hospital for baby K's big 20wk U/S. As usual all was great. Baby K was still a boy :) and was actually measuring a week ahead of schedule. The tech said she was getting an EDD of 9/30...I seriously doubt that te doctor will change his due date since he was obviously not concieved a week earlier, but who knows? I know I wouldn't mind meeting the little guy a week or so early and neither would his parents ;)
So here he is...what a perfect little profile he already has!!

I am REALLY Bad at this :)

Yeah I know I never update...but something else always seems to take priority. Anyways, today I went in for my 18WK check-up. Yep you read that right....18 WKS already. This pregnancy is seriously flying by, which in someways I find very unfair because with my own kids it seemed like every trimester took FOREVER. Oh well I guess I shouldn't complain, fast is good right??
Since I am a bad blogger and never updated after my 15 wk appt I guess I will start there....well actually it was pretty much the same as the 12 wk. Quick U/S to show one perfect lil baby...here is that pic

Today's OB appt was a little more interesting. To start off Dave and Jenn were able to make it down for this one, so it was the first time they were able to hear the lil ones heartbeat in person. Doc says HB is perfect at 150bpm. They were also able to determine that the lil bean is in fact a wee LAD!! YEPPERS Doctor believes they indeed have a BOY!! For anyone who knows how to see those things on U/S maybe u will see it too.



There you have it...baby K's boy parts.?! and Here is a less provocative picture of him waving hello...

And last but not least a belly pic of me this afternoon. Finally getting a noticeable baby bump.

How am I doing?? Well thanks for asking...:) Still not feeling much different, very few flutters that are indicative of baby movement, but not too much activity as of yet. Still having slight cramping mostly at nights which I am pretty sure are just BH Contractions.

Overall this pregnancy has been quite easy for me. I am currently recovering from what proved to be a very bad sinus/respiratory cold...Mucinex is my new best friend.

I have also been having a rough time with recurrent anxiety attacks(anxiety is something that I have battled for years)and even though I swore that I would make it through this entire pregnancy antidepressant free, it is becoming clear that I may have been overly optimistic. It is to the point now where I have to wonder if the emotional stress is actually going to do the baby more harm than any medication will. The main problem with this is that my old Psychologist decided that they wouldn't accept my new insurance plan so they dropped me about 2 yrs ago, Since then my family Dr. was treating my anxiety if/when it gave me problems...however they will not See me for this problem while I am pregnant....

The OB, upon hearing this news, gave me the name of a local Psychologist that may be able to provide some options that I can live with for the next 20+ wks if I do in fact decide to tough it out with/out meds. So i guess it is worth looking into.?? Only time will tell, and when it does tell...So shall I tell you all! Until next time.....................................................................................:)

Casino Night

Had a wonderful time at the New Blossoms New Life Foundation casino night benefit on Saturday! It was fantastic to see so many people come out to support such a great cause. This was my families 2nd year to attend this event, our first as family members of recipients who were blessed to benefit directly. As you may recall, thanks to NBNL my IP's were given the opportunity to take this one final attempt at having a child via IVF/surrogacy.

With this organization, the founders, Chris and Renea, have created a living legacy for their beautiful little girl who was taken from them at a very young age. It is people like them that continually reassure my faith in the Lord, and we will all be forever grateful to them for what they have done for my brother and sister-in law as well as so many other families who have battled infertility for so many years.

I think IM put it the best when speaking at the benefit..."Although we will never be able to repay them for what they have done...Chris and Renea along with their daughter Maggie will live in our hearts and the heart of this child forever..."

In other news...15wk OB appt tomorrow morning, just a few more wks and we will know if D&J are having a boy or girl :)

12 Wk U/S

Yesterday I went in for the big 12 week check-up and the OB decided to do yet another U/S just to check the lil one out...once again S/He is perfect, slightly alien-like but I guess u will have that at this point. Looking forward to having a less-stressful 2nd trimester, but short of secluding myself on my own happy island somewhere I doubt that will happen. It is however already a lot better not having to take those darn shots every day, and immediately after stopping them I noticed that my energy levels definately increased 3 fold. OK, OK here is a pic...

Hands up eyes and mouth open!! Kinda cool and creepy at same time :-) I gotta say I love this new OB mostly because she loves her little U/S machine, so we will prob be seeing him/her again at my 15 wk appt...
In other news, Went to court on Monday with the hopes of finding out that the little girls would be heading home with their parents by the middle of my 3rd Trimester at latest...only to find out that that most likely won't happen. So I am sad for them because they really do miss their parents and scared about not knowing what will have to happen if for some reason it becomes too much for me or I have to be put on long bedrest/hosp stays etc...gonna talk to the caseworker today to see about having someone else certified as a kinship/foster, just in case.

Well since I am a horrible updater, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter now because I will probably forget with all the holiday madness and travel that usually comes with family holidays!!

10 wks :)

10 wks today!!! WHoooo Hoooo. You know what that means?? NO MORE PIO!!! Actually I am really worried about not using them anymore, and I actually even called the RE's office today just to be sure they were 100% positive that this was when I should stop and that they were sure that I didn't need to wean off or have a blood test first...they chuckled at me and assured me that it is really fine to just stop any time now. I felt better after talking to the lady there though because she told me that from 8-10 wks is really just a safeguard and is not really needed. From what their studies are showing they are soon going to lower the recommended time for PIO altogether.
Oh yeah...I had a great and relaxing weekend away from home! D&J even surprised me with some new shirts and a bumper sticker...they love to spoil me :)

9 wks

Well another week has flown by on me, which means that D&J's baby is now at a little over 9 wks gestation. I checked out the baby growth ticker today and happened to notice that the lil lad/lassie is now growing nails on it's newly formed digits!! Pretty cool! Of course this also means just a few more days of the PIO injections left to go and as much as I am looking forward to being done with those, I have a feeling I will be a nervous wreck when it actually comes to discontinuing them. It just seems wrong that after so many wks of being an essential requirement that they can just be stopped cold turkey.?? I do have trust in the RE tho so I'm sure they know what they are talking about.

In other news, I woke up this morning with a migraine and a toothache. I am hoping that the migraine is causing the tooth pain and not vise verse because I still have a good 3+ wks left of this 1st trimester and I know that most dentists won't do any non-emergency dental work until the 2nd trimester. Being someone who refuses to take even a Tylenol for pain unless nearing death this could be a long couple wks. I am getting a much needed escape from my normal life this wkend. Leaving tomorrow on a 3 day long trip with the kids to my sisters and also to IP's will hopefully do some good for my insane anxiety and moodiness.

8wk Check

Finally got in to the new OB's office today...she was at the hospital on a delivery this morning so I had to wait a while for her return, but the alternative was to reschedule for  different wk and I just am not that patient. So wait I did, and it was worth it because she was great! I was a little surprised because she decided to do another U/S today and I was just expecting a paperwork/meet the Doc type of appt that you normally have with any doctor's office.

But, anyways...our official Due date is Oct 10th ish, the U/S looked great, and I am happy to announce that Baby K at 8 wks has a definable head now :-)...and is starting to look much more humanoid-like.

As for me I am still feeling fine. I have always been kinda lucky with pregnancy, as far a morning sickness etc. For now I am just trying to avoid this crazy flu bug that everyone is getting. Yesterday I had two kids home sick and today one of the lil girls is hacking up all kinds of goo. So today has been a day full of trying to teach a 2 yr old how to cover her mouth when she coughs.

Still have to take the PIO for 2 more wks, which is becoming more difficult since my butt muscles seem to be running out of good spots and I often have to restick a few times to avoid ridiculous spasms and or blood flowing from the site of injection...but i made it this far, I figure there is no sence in switching to to the suppositories now. The new OB plans to see me every 3 wks for basic checks/blood work etc so time should go by pretty fast since Baby is already 20% done baking :-)