14 Weeks

I dont know about you guys but I love reading about other people’s pregnancies and seeing pictures of their growing bellies. I think it’s so exciting and fun! So thus, I am determined to do a better job with documenting this pregnancy than I did with Ethan. I like to use the excuse that I was so busy with work and school at the time but I am still sad that I don’t have hardly any prego pics and don’t have very many memories to go off of! So hopefully I will have many more post coming full of pictures of my growing belly and all the details of this pregnancy…

So I had my 14 week check up with the doctor this last Tuesday and everything seems to be going well! Here is what’s going on:

-I heard the little heartbeat pounding away at 161 beats per minute and couldn’t be happier to know that baby is going to make it!
-I’m now off of the progesterone supplements since my placenta can now take full responsibility for making all the progesterone I need, but I'm still taking the baby aspirin to help with blood clots.
-I haven’t gained any weight yet but Im not too worried. The doctor said that it’s normal especially if you were sick in the first trimester and lost a few pounds. I didn’t really start gaining my weight with Ethan until the second trimester anyways.
- I am however starting to thicken around the abdomen very nicely although I'm not quite picture worthy yet. It really is amazing how much faster you feel fatter the second go round… Anyone else agree?? I remember starting to feel like this with Ethan at about 20 weeks! At least the baby is growing well!
-I have so much energy and am loving being able to eat again! The only things I don't want to eat are toast, pasta, peanut butter and tortillas since that is all I ate during my first trimester. It’s ok, I really don’t miss them.
- We have a ultrasound scheduled for mid-October to see what the gender is of our little baby! I don’t have any preference… I would happy with a boy or a girl!
And last but not least…
-The doctor took me off of pelvic rest since the amount of blood behind the placenta is getting smaller and no longer poses a risk to miscarriage! Hooray! I can now go back to the gym and resume all of my normal activities and stop worrying about our little miracle! I am so happy!

Thanks again for all of your support and prayers during these past few months. We are so excited and so happy that our little family is expanding! Stay tuned for more updates!

Big Boy Bed

I know it's been forever since I have posted anything but our kind neighbors (we have no idea who they are) who were unknowingly were letting us mooch off of them for our internet, finally got smart and put a password on their access leaving us without the internet. We have looked into finally breaking down and buying our own internet, but we can't believe how expensive it is! So anyways, we have become frequent visitors at the library so I can use the internet there... seriously... how cheap are we?!

Well we have reached and passed another milestone with our little Ethan in introducing him to his very own big boy bed! We debated between toddler bed/twin bed and decided on getting him his very own twin sized bed. We bought him a nice one at Sams Club and are counting on this one to last him until he moves out someday- long term investment, right?! We found some awesome Wall-e sheets at Wal- Mart and he was so excited to sleep in it! We havent had any problem with him getting out of his bed for either nap or bedtime. Well, at least not consciencely (sp?)....

We did happen to find him out of his bed one morning, but we are pretty sure it was unintentional :)

He is so happy to sleep in his big boy bed , even if he looks a little frightened in the picture below... Please notice not only his cool Wall-e sheets but also the matching pj's to go with it!

Both Justin and I are super happy that this whole milestone was a breeze to go through! Next stop.. potty training... dum dum DUMMM!!!!

So Handsome...

So is this not one of the most handsome little boys you have ever seen? Justin tells me I should probably start letting other people tell me how handsome he is instead of me informing them of it. He is probably right, but I can't help it. I think he is pretty darn cute. It's ok to be a proud mama right?!

I found this picture of Ethan on my mother in laws computer from when we went to the water park about a month ago. I think it is beautiful.....

Here are some other fun pictures from that day at the park..

Ethan was scared of that huge bucket pictured below. It would fill up and then dump water everywhere and he couldn't keep his eyes off of it the whole time we were there....

But we finally got him to look at the camera...

All wrapped up and ready to go home...

This is such a cool water park and it is SUPER cheap as well! I must remember this spot for next summer!

Ode to First Trimester

Dear First Trimester,

I will not miss you. I will not miss the nausea and tiredness that you bring. I will not miss feeling like a lazy mom because I have no energy to play with my child or even bring him outside of our house. I will not miss not being able to eat anything but dry toast. I will not miss how many movies my child has watched because of you. I will not miss thinking everyday of whether I will miscarry or not either. In later trimesters however, I will probably think longingly of how I could still wear my pre-pregnancy clothes during this time. But thank you for keeping this baby alive and thank you for giving me at least a little bit of strength to make it through some of the harder days. Now that I am feeling so much better, I will not miss you but I'm so grateful that I got to experience you the whole way through this time! I would have liked to think of a more articulate way of saying good-bye to you but for now all I can think of saying is, "Peace Out 1st trimester!" and "Bring It On to the 2nd! I'm ready for you!"

Love,
Ash

Ultrasound

Today I had another ultrasound to what that sac of blood behind my placenta is up to and I didn't really get much news. I was hoping to go in and have them say, "Oh wow! The blood has completely dissolved into the placenta so you are now off pelvic rest! You can now go to the gym, go shopping, be a fun and playful mother again, and you will never have to lay down on the couch again!" Unfortunately none of this was said. The lady did the ultrasound and after she was done she said "Ok, well just continue to take it easy..." I was like... Umm... so, what about the blood sac?" She basically said that the sac is still there but she doesn't know if it's gotten bigger or smaller and that the doctor will have to take a look at it. She said that I should continue pelvic rest until the doctor tells me otherwise. Yuck! So, thus continues my laziness of not being able to do much for at least another 2 weeks until my next doctors appt. Oh well!

On a positive note, the baby still has a strong heart beat and is growing just fine! I was really relieved! He/she is now looking less like an alien and more like a baby with litle arms and feet moving around everywhere! With every ultrasound I have had, it has put me as being due March 12th or 13th, so that's when we should be able to meet this little miracle! That would put me at about 11 weeks along with only one week to go until Im out of this danger zone! I am so thrilled!

Im feeling great, except for the horrible nausea, that I have all the time, but it loves to hit me like a semi at about 9:00pm everynight and doesnt relent until the next morning which equals not much sleep but it's ok... for a healthy baby, I would go through just about anything!

Ethan is doing great considering he is stuck in the house most of the day. He is such a good boy and cracks me up everyday. Yesterday we were outside talking and Ethan came running outside like this...


He found Grandma's page markers and had a blast putting them all over his body! He kept pointing at them saying "Owie. Mommy owie!" This kid seriously can always bring a smile to your face and melt your heart!

I Can't Think of a Good Title For This Post...

Sorry for my lack of creativity with the post title but I wanted to do an update on a little bit of everything!

First things first. So far I'm feeling great on pelvic rest, which I'm probably not doing enough of but it's hard with a little 2 year old! I have been able to get some good reading time in though and also I am becoming educated in the wonderful world of old romance movies such as: North & South, Pride & Prejudice, the old 6 hr. one (which I have never seen. Sinful I know), and hopefully my sister-in-law will bring more for us to watch when she comes down from Utah tomorrow! I haven't hardly any of the cramping and I have stopped spotting as well! Im still pretty nauseated but it let up a little today and I could actually eat something besides toast! Hooray! I'm hoping that those continue to be good signs that everything is going well with the baby. I will go back in for another ultrasound in a week and we are praying everything will look good. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

I wanted to document just a few things with some pictures as my last two posts look pretty boring with no pictures.

A few weeks ago, we had a ward camp out up in the beautiful pines of AZ- unfortunately they dont look so pretty in the pictures due to a nasty forest fire a few years back- but it was so nice to escape the heat of the valley for a day or so. As we were leaving the camp out, Justin took us to Black Canyon lake to play in the water and him and Ethan had a blast throwing rocks in the water....

Isnt that sky beautiful?!

It was a short trip, but it was so nice to get Justin away from laptops, email, blackberry's etc (aka work/school) for a day or so!

This next picture was also taken a few weeks ago when I could semi stomach the smell of wheat bread....

I was so proud of these beauties. You would have been proud of me too if you would have seen/tasted the last batch I baked. I felt oh so domestic :)

Well, that's all for now. I haven't taken very many pictures lately probably because we haven't done all that much. I have this huge list of "things to do when Im done being sick" and I plan on taking Ethan out on some fun excursions!I also just wanted to thank you guys for all of your sweet and uplifting comments on my blog. I love getting comments and I appreciate the prayers on our behalf. I know everything will work out just fine. Thanks for being such wonderful, caring friends.

Dr's Appointment

Well, I figured I should follow up on the doctors appointment that I had yesterday which brought both good and bad news. Let me start off by mentioning that earlier this week, I was having horrible, very severe cramping for about 2 days and I thought for sure I was miscarrying. Luckily I didnt but the cramping was seriously so bad that I was just doubled over in pain. I told my doctor about my consistent spotting that I've been having since I became pregnant and also about the cramping and he was a little concerned since that is not the norm in pregnancy. He examined me and said that the cervix is closed (which is good and is a sign of no miscarriage for now)and everything seemed fine but he set me up for an ultrasound that day. In the ultrasound I was able to see our little miracle and even got to see and hear the heartbeat! It was so cool to see his little heart fluttering and I cannot even describe the relief I felt that this little baby is alive! After the lady was done with the ultrasound she said that she would be right back and that she needed to talk with the doctor real fast. I didn't think anything was wrong so I was surprised when she came back in to inform me that there is a big sac of blood behind the placenta that is considered a threat to miscarriage. My heart dropped and I almost broke down in tears. Luckily I held my composure and was more shocked than anything. She told me that I have to be put on pelvic rest for two weeks, which is basically like bed rest but I can walk around every 30 min or so for a short amount of time, until I come back in for an ultrasound to see if the blood sac has gotton bigger or recessed into the placenta. She didnt really give me a percentage of how many recess or bust but told me if I start heavily bleeding to rush to the ER and informed me of other signs of miscarriage. I wanted to just stop her right there and let her know I knew perfectly well what the signs of miscarriage were and didnt need to hear them again, but instead I thanked her for her help and she sweetly put her hand on my leg and said "I hope to have better news for you in two weeks. Good luck hun."

I got in the car and called Justin, who is my little marathon traveler and is traveling the world this whole month for business, to tell him what was going on. I couldnt get a hold of him and just went back to my in-laws to pick up Ethan. I wasn't very emotional telling them the news and tried to remain positive but last night when I got home and put Ethan to bed, I just finally broke down and cried. I wanted Justin to just be there with me and be my shoulder to cry on but had to use the pillow instead. Bless his heart, I know he wishes he was with me just as much as I do. I guess I have tried to be strong through these miscarriages and months of dissapointment and it all caught up with me last night. I was so excited to see that little heart beating and was so devastated to learn that it might not be beating for too much longer if that blood sac bursts. I had a nice long talk with Heavenly Father last night and felt comforted and I know that whatever happens is in His hands and I am willing to follow His plan for me. I just sure hope that His plan involves the blood sac dissolving into the placenta and that we can have this little miracle baby.

So for the next few weeks I will be staying at my in laws home so I can have help with Ethan and be surrounded by lots of people to talk to :) Im so grateful that we are living close to family who are more than willing to help us out. We are praying that everything will work out fine and that that little heart just keeps beating. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on here as well. Thank you for your support and prayers. In those quiet moments, I can really feel the power of others prayers for us- I cant thank you enough.

Hopefully in March 2010...

Hopefully in March 2010, baby #2 will make his/her debut! That's right there is a bun in this oven and we couldn't be more thrilled! After over a year of trying and 2 miscarriages, we are really hoping that I will be able to carry this sweet little baby full term. I debated with myself whether I really wanted to make the announcement on my blog without being out of the "safe" zone and only 8 weeks along, but I really feel as if it is important that I document in some way my feelings, thoughts, excitement, the whole works since this is basically my journal. And plus, if I end up having another miscarriage, I will most likely write about it on here anyways.

I really feel as if this next baby has a certain time that it is to come join our little family and hopefully this one is it. We are really hoping and praying that this pregnancy works out but if not, I have complete faith in the Lord's plan for us and I know that everything will work out how it is suppose to and for what is best for us. This is something I have learned a lot about this past year and I am so grateful for the opportunity that Heavenly Father has given me to learn about faith and how to have faith in Him and his plan, even if it meant having a few miscarriages. I have gone through life pretty challenge free and would consider this to be my greatest challenge I've ever had. But after meeting many people who cant have children, I have realized just how blessed I am to have a beautiful little boy and how small and minor my challenges with this have been. Thank you to those people who have inspired me with their unwavering faith.

This pregnancy has been way different than the last two pregnancies I have had. I never felt the nausea, tiredness, heightened sense of smell and the body changes that I have felt with this one. Even when I was pregnant with Ethan I didnt really get sick and was pretty energized my first trimester. With this one, I knew I was pregnant before I even missed my period because the nausea hit when I was only 3 weeks prego. I have been consistently nauseated ever since and it has only become worse since I hit week 6. Although I haven't thrown up, sometimes I wish I could to just relieve myself from the nausea for at least 10 min! I've lost just a few pounds from not being able to eat a whole lot and I stick to eating tortillas, bread and dry pasta. It's the only thing my stomach thinks sounds good. I'm pretty sure I can smell a rotten smell from up to at least a mile away as well. I cant stand the smell of our water, my body wash, Justin's soap, our dishwasher, Ethan's diapers (I've dry heaved several times changing him), the smell of our house (its the new house smell- yuck!), nor various other things that blow my way! I've also been super tired and could probably sleep 12 hours at night and then take a 2 hour nap everyday! Dont newborns sleep that much!? Now please do not think that I am complaining... I would gladly be a toilet hugging, bed-ridden, sick the whole 9 months pregnant lady if that meant that I could have a healthy baby. It would be worth every single moment to have a precious little miracle in my arms to hold and care for. So please dont think that Im not so grateful to be constantly nausiated, able to smell everything good or bad, or can sleep for 14 hours a day, becuase I know all of that is a good sign and Im so grateful and happy for it!!!

My first doctors appointment is the Thurs and hopefully I can convince him to give me an ultrasound so we can see a little heartbeat. I just have to know if there is one. When I was about 5 weeks along we had a little scare. I was spotting pretty badly and sometimes with red so we went to the doctor (we were in Minnesota at the time) and everything checked out so far so good. My blood levels and hormones were good and the ultrasound turned out good as well. I am hoping for the same this time around. The spotting has never stopped but they say that the progesterone can cause some spotting sometimes. I'll let you guys know on Thursday if everything's ok and we will just hope and pray for the best! Whatever happens though, I know we can make it through anything with the Lord's help.

We are so excited and hope that this March we will have a beautiful new baby to love and care for! Wish us luck!