Jack & B

Brooke is becoming more fascinated with Jack! Pretty soon they will be tearing up the apartment together! Our future trouble makers? What do you think?! :)

Brooke's Christmas Pictures

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We had such a difficult time. Brooke's reflux was not cooperating, therefore she was in a bad mood! We got a few smiles out of her!!

Enjoy!

B's Third Month

* Her reflux is not any better.
* She constantly chews on her hands.
* She has learned how to twist/pull her hair.


With Love,

B's First Thanksgiving

We spent the day at Nina's eating yummy food and playing with the family!!

B's Second Month

* October 31, 2009 ~ First Halloween
* November 3, 2009 ~ Wearing Size 1 in diapers
* November 4, 2009 ~ Mommy went back to work & left Daddy to watch me all day!
* November 14, 2009 ~ B's first sleep over at Nina's
* November 15, 2009 ~Nina & Lulu claim B laughed out loud. I don't believe them!

B's First Month

* October 7, 2009 ~ Umbilical Cord fell off
* October 22, 2009 ~ First BIG Girl Bath

Brooke at 3 weeks old. Pictures taken by Nicole Goodsell

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2 months behind.... SORRY

Well, Brooke is getting so big! She will be 2 months old tomorrow.
Here are some things to catch everyone up:
* She weighs 11 lbs 10oz
* She is 23 in. long
* She has acid reflux. She is taking Prevacid & her formula is Enfamil Nutramigen. She drinks it with rice
* She eats 2 to 3 ounces every 2 to 3 hours
* She is constantly spitting up
* She smiles all the time & it's not gas :)
* She is very noisy & grunts all day!!
* She sleeps about 6 hours at night
* She fights her sleep & only naps about once a day
* She had her first sleep over at Nina's on November 14, 2009 & loved it!
* Nina & Lulu said she laughed out loud on November 15, 2009, but I refuse to believe that!! ;)
* She is out of newborn clothes
* Tony watches her since I've started back to work on November 4, 2009. She cries all day with him.
* She loves to be held & rarely lets us put her down!
* SHE STILL LOOKS LIKE TONY

5 days in the hospital

First picture with Brooke

5 hours later & I am finally getting to hold my little girl

Round 2 at the hospital for fever



Where to begin. I went in for my C-section at 9am on Tuesday September 22. I was in my room waiting for them to take me back. Finally, at round 12:45pm, they wheeled me back to get started. I have o say I was very nervous. Mostly about the spinal block. I got into the operating room & the anesthesiologist wasted no time sticking that needle in my back. Surprisingly, it did not hurt at all. Little did I know that this was the least of my worries. I was behind the blue curtain, just listening to what all was going on & waiting for Tony to come in. Tony came in and asked how I was doing. By this time I could feel pressure and tugging, but nothing worth mentioning. Then they said that I would feel some pressure. SOME pressure. They starting pressing down on my stomach under my ribs. They pressed down so hard that it took my breath away. I started crying and Tony kept telling me to breath. They kept pressing all the way down my stomach until Brooke was out. That was the worst pain I had ever felt. No one told me about that!! It was not fun. Tony was holding my hand and did very well making sure I was OK and breathing!! Finally Brooke was out and we heard her cry!! It was the sweetest thing I ever heard. It was not very loud and you could hear the fluid in her lungs. It was perfect. She didn't cry much at all. Tony left me and went to see Brooke. He cut her umbilical cord and after they got her cleaned up, he brought her over to me. I was still crying at this point! Tony brought her around the curtain so I could see her. I could not believe all of the hair she had!! It was black. She also had an olive skin tone, which was not what I was expecting at all. I thought she would be fair complected and bald!! She was the most beautiful thing I ever saw :) Tony leaves and they take Brooke to the nursery and start stitching me up. It's about 1:50pm when they finished up and wheeled me to the recovery room. I was already starting to get my feeling back and was in a little pain. They said no problem. We are going to get you on a morphine drip and you will not feel anything. So, I go in the recovery room and they give me some morphine. I felt it go in and it burned and then started itching, but I forgot to tell the nurses. I just sat there for about 10 minutes until they came back over and noticed the rash on my arm and figured out I was allergic to morphine. GREAT! They had to order another pain medicine and my IV was messed up, so they wanted to start a new one. A lady came to try and find a vein for 30 minutes, but couldn't. This whole time I could feel everything. They were pushing on my stomach to make sure my uterus was OK. This was horrible pain. I cringed every time they came over to do this, which was often because they noticed I had a blood clot. They had to keep pushing to get it out. During this time, about 4 other nurses, my doctor and an anesthesiologist were in the room looking and talking about my situation, but I had no idea what they were saying or what was going on. They gave me a shot of benadryl and phenagran because I was turning white and about to pass out. I still had no pain medicine and I kept hearing my nurses on the phone saying we have not been able to manage her pain since she left OR It is about 4:00pm now, and I still am in tremendous pain. I have not seen my baby or family and come to find out all they were told was I was allergic to morphine. The anesthesiologist decided to keep my IV in and flushed it out with something that made my whole arm feel like it was on fire. It was insane. Finally, around 5:00, I got Demerol and who knows what else and started to feel better. I seriously thought I was going to die. The nurse brought Brooke back so I could see her. She was just beautiful. I asked to see Tony and they finally let everyone come back to see me one at a time. Around 6:00pm I was in my room and holding my little girl. I don;t remember much at this point. I'm glad everyone took pictures, otherwise I would have no recollection of who came to see us! Who would have thought a simple hour procedure would have turned into a 5 hour one. I will never do this again!! Everything went fine with my stay in the hospital. I breastfed & also had to supplement formula. Brooke lost 10% of her weight. Any more & we would have had to stay longer. We got discharged in Friday September 25. We got home around 3:00pm and I ended up getting a fever, so we went back to the hospital at 7:00pm. My lower back was hurting and I was having bladder spasms. Apparently, Brooke thought my bladder was a punching bag throughout the pregnancy.Dr. Harvey said that she really did a number to it! They did urine & blood cultures because it sounded like I might have a bladder infection. They hooked me back up to an IV, pumped fluids and antibiotics through me. My fever went down and we were discharged again on Sunday around noon. Turns out my cultures were negative, so I have no idea why I had a fever. Finally, after 6 rough days, we were home!!!

Welcome Brooke

I'm just going to give everyone a quick update.
Brooke Kinsley Manning
Born September 22, 2009 at 1:01pm.
She was 8lbs 9oz & 19 inches long.

SHE IS PERFECT!!

I will post pictures and discuss my labor experience whenever I have more time. It was definitely a very rough week for us, but I am happy to say we are finally home and enjoying our BEAUTIFUL little girl!

If you would like to view her hospital pictures, here is the information
www.Our365.com
Look me up by customer # 0822127785870
Click on my name
Password is the customer #
Last name is SHUG

Last appointment

We went for our weekly check-up today. I lost 2 pounds this week. Dr. Harvey sent me to get a sonogram to get Brooke's estimated weight to see if she was going to need to induce. We went and got a sono and Brooke's estimated weight is 8lbs 12oz. The funny part about this is that her belly measured bigger than her head!!! Must be all those donuts I keep eating!! I went back to give Dr. harvey the update and she suggested we go ahead and schedule a C-section. Brooke is in position to be delivered vaginally, but Dr. Harvey thinks the outcome of a vaginal delivery will not be good for me since she is almost 9lbs. Brooke will be here Tuesday September 22, 2009 at noon, unless she decides to come on her own before then!! It is very weird having an actual date scheduled for when I am going to be a MOM!! :)

Another stop at the hospital

I was having contractions all day yesterday that were in my lower back & lower abdomen. My contractions were stronger, but I was having a hard time timing them. So, at 3am this morning, I decided to wake Tony up and head to the hospital. I knew I wasn't in active labor, but since I was already dilated to a 3, I wanted to make sure these contractions weren't making me dilate any more. I want to be sure to get to the hospital in enough time to receive an epidural! The nurse hooked me up to the monitor and of course my contractions were very erratic. She said no wonder you have a difficult time timing them! The nurse checked me and I was still at 3cm. I walked for an hour and then she checked me again. No change. Imagine that! They gave me an ambien which would either help me sleep or relax me to make me dilate, and sent me home. Which do you think it did for me? Yep, sleep! Brooke is determined to hang out in there a little longer :) I'm pretty sensitive to medicine and as I was walking out of the hospital at 6am, I could already feel the effects of the drug. It made me very disoriented and emotional. Throughout the night I kept trying to move this big hard bump off of my stomach, until I realized it wasn't going anywhere!I It was really weird. I will not be taking that medicine again. I also found out my blood type is A- , which means there could be an Rh incompatibility with me & the baby and I should have received a RhoGAM shot at 28 weeks, but didn't. When I go the doctor tomorrow I am going to discuss this with her. Supposedly you're supposed to have one at 28 weeks as a precautionary step and then one again 72 hours after delivery. The nurse said it is more important to receive the one after delivery so there will not be complications for future pregnancies. I will let you know how everything goes tomorrow!

Another week goes by

Had our doctors appointment yesterday and I weighed 154lbs. That is 4lbs in the last week and a total of 33lbs. so far. She said it was probably water weight, since I am actually drinking a lot more water!! She estimates Brooke to weight about 8lbs. She has not dropped yet and I'm dilated to 3cm. My contractions have been stronger, but they are still not close together. I'm having a difficult time timing them because my stomach constantly feels tight and they are always worse at night. Other than that, everything is the same and we are just waiting on Brooke to make her entrance. COME ON BROOKE!

No change

Went to the doctor on Aug. 26th and I still weigh 150lbs. She didn't check my cervix because she said it wouldn't change how she is managing my pregnancy. My stomach was measuring big though. She said that once my contractions get closer together to go to L&D. So, I am still on bedrest, which is extremely BORING!! My contractions are about the same. I have one to two an hour and they last about 5 minutes. They are getting a little stronger. My legs and hips are starting to hurt. Other than that, things are the same and we are still waiting!

So soon...

We went to the doctor yesterday for a check up and I have officially hit 150lbs.!! :) WHOA!! I've gained 29lbs. so far. The doctor checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 1 1/2 to a 2. WOW! All in a 24hr period. At that rate, she will be here this weekend. I am still having contractions, but it's about 1 every hour. It doesn't matter what I do, they still keep coming. I am having false labor right now and it's just a matter of time before it becomes "real"! Dr. harvey suspects she will be here this weekend or early next week. If she comes in the next two weeks, she will be considered preterm, but Dr. Harvey thinks she will be fine & there shouldn't be anything to worry about. She said babies born at 35 weeks are usually just as healthy as a full term baby. The bad thing about her coming so early is Tony has no time off from work until Sept. 6th. So, we need her to come during the week or after the 6th, otherwise he will be at work. Keep your fingers crossed and let's hope she hangs out in there a little longer! Plus, I do not have a bag packed or an outfit picked out for her to come home in. I thought I was going to have a little more time than this!! I guess I did have 9 months :)

A little scare

I started having contractions after work yesterday around 5pm. I had a constant contraction from 5pm until about 5am. I drank some water this morning and had breakfast and the contraction seemed to stop. I called the Dr.'s office at 8 and they told me to go to L&D. So, Tony and I went at about 8:30 this morning. They checked my cervix, which really hurt, and said I was about a fingertip and it was still really thick. They put me on the monitors and noticed my contractions were erratic. I was also dehydrated so they started me on an IV. That wasn't helping the contractions, so they gave me a shot to stop the contractions. I had 2 of them; one every 20 minutes. Thank goodness my contractions stopped and I didn't have to have another one. They burned when they went in, increased mine & Brooke's heart rate and made me extremely jittery. Brooke did not seem to be in any distress. They kept saying, "Wow, you have a happy, hyper baby. Does she ever sleep?" She would not stop moving. I guess since my uterus was relaxed she had more room to move around! :) So, after about 4 hours they said we could go home and that I was to take it easy for the rest of the week & drink LOTS of water. No work! Dr. Harvey thinks that she will be here within the next week or two. I have an appointment with her tomorrow for my Strep B test and to make sure I'm still not contracting. I have been laying down since we got home and I have had about 3 contractions. This whole experience made me really nervous and realize I am NOT ready for labor!! I don't think Tony is either!!

So much to talk about

Everyone at the shower!

My beautiful, wonderful, yummy cake :)

Me with the hostesses (Nina, Stephanie & Beky) They did an amazing job!


Well, we had our last childbirth class, baby shower and a doctor's appointment since I last updated. I can't believe I haven't kept this updated :) First things first. Our last childbirth class was really good. A pediatrician came and talked with us about all of the things to expect when we bring Brooke home. I feel very confident in now ;) I'm really glad we decided to take these classes. I think they were a big help and gave us a lot of information on what to expect on the big day!! I had my baby shower Saturday August 8th!! It was hosted by my wonderful aunt's Beky, Nina & Stephanie. They did such an amazing job! Everything was beautiful and so much fun!! Thanks to everyone who came out and made this day very special for me!! I will never forget it!! If you were at my shower, please don't forget to send me Brooke's letter :) I have to get all of the pictures from Nicole & I will make a slideshow and post them. Until then, here are a few that I have!!
Lastly, we had a doctor's appointment last Thursday the 13th. This was my first 2 week appointment. I gained one pound in two weeks! Can you tell I cut out the donuts?!? Brooke is growing and I am healthy. It was about a 5 minute visit and she said see ya in two weeks!! I tried to have her put me on bed rest, but she wouldn't have it!! hehe There were a few things I was concerned about. I have this really sharp pain that shoots down the front of my leg. I will be walking or standing with pressure on it and it will just give out on me. Not fun! She said it is normal and Brooke is just sitting on some nerves!! The other thing I was concerned about were my contractions. I had been having them really often, but she said 6 or more in an hour then I need to go to L&D. I think I was getting them so much because I wasn't staying hydrated like I should. It's hard to drink 8 glasses of water a day :) I really have to get better at this because I am going back to the doctor today because I think I could possibly have a bladder infection. We will see what she says. Other than that, my next appointment is Thursday the 27th & then I start going every week! I can't believe it is almost time!! I have my work baby shower this Thursday & Tony's coworkers are throwing him a shower next month!! We have so much stuff for Brooke. I can't wait until we have a house and she has her own room!!! Also, they have moved me up to 40 hours a week at work. It is good to have the extra money, but very tiring too.

Waiting to meet Brooke

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I can't stop eating donuts!

Tony & I at my Dad & Kat's for our dinner!

OK, so I went to the doctor Wednesday for a check up & everything looks great, especially my weight!! I gained 10 pounds last month. I now weigh 146lbs. WOW!!! She told me to start watching what I eat, so I am trying to cut back on the donuts, but it's really hard!! They are Brooke's favorite :) My glucose test & blood work came back with no problems. I asked her about my sonogram & if it looked like we needed to move up the date. She said we are keeping the date at October 1st, but if it looks like she is getting too big, we will induce. SO, 2 more months to go :) I really am not sure how I am going to do it!! I feel like I am about to POP :)  The lady at the donut shop asked when I was due and I told her in 2 months. She was so shocked. She said are you having twins?? haha People are constantly asking me this!! I have been having sharp pains shoot down my legs. Not fun, especially when I am standing and my legs give out on me. I have also been having a lot of contractions. About 2 to 3 an hour for the passed 2 days. I think I might be a little dehydrated :( I have been taking it easy and resting when possible. Wednesday we had dinner at my Dad & Kathie's with some close friends & family!! It was so nice to see everyone!! I will post pictures soon! 

We are taking maternity pictures Tuesday & my baby shower is next Saturday!!! YAY!! I can't wait :)

We've got a BIG one!

I got Brooke's sonogram results today and she weighs 3 pounds 6 ounces! I'm thinking she will be here sooner than expected!! We will see what the doctor says at my next appointment :)

Busy Bee

The pictures I drew and painted all by myself!!
Back of quilt

Front of quilt

WOW! This passed week has been so hectic! We went and had another sonogram on Thursday. We still have a little Brooke in there and she is growing, growing, growing! Growing so much that they are estimating her to be 2 weeks ahead of her actual due date. This puts me delivering on Sept. 16th, so we will see what the doctor says when we go back July 30th! It definitely is freaking me out a bit!! That is only 2 months away!! Also, I scheduled my appointment at a time where she is usually active. I also had some caffeine so she would be moving. I think caffeine has the opposite effect on her because once again, she was sleeping the whole time!! I hope she continues doing that when she arrives. Nina thinks she is just resting up :) She has her chin resting on her hand and she was licking her lips, which was really neat!! She is still in the anterior position and hopefully she stays that way!! I will try and post the pictures of her sonogram later. I haven't figured out how to scan pictures onto my MAC. :)

Now, Thursday night was our first childbirth class and I know everyone can't wait to hear how that went and how Tony reacted!! The class is 2 hours long every Thursday night for 5 weeks. We were both not sure what to expect because for the first class they asked us to bring two pillows and a blanket. What did we need a blanket for? :) It actually wasn't that bad. The nurse that teaches the class is really upbeat and I think we learned a lot. There were a few times when certain things were mentioned Tony had a funny reaction and would laugh, but overall it went well. At the end the "coach" had to give the mothers a massage and we had to practice our relaxation and breathing techniques. We did this to music with a lady talking and I have to admit it was not relaxing. There were a few times where we both couldn't help but laugh. At the end of the tape it said tell your baby bye for now and Tony told me later that in his head he was saying "Bye Bye Baby!" On a more serious note, I am very happy and thankful that Tony is going with me to these classes!! I want him to understand more about the experience I will be going through and to understand what will be expected and needed of him while I am in labor :)

On Friday morning I went to Nicole's to work on the baby bedding. I got there at 8am and we started working, after we went and got donuts of course :) She already has the fabric cut, which was really helpful and saved a lot of time. We began pinning the fabric together and she started sewing. I started working on the pictures that I wanted to paint for her room. I didn't want Nicole to do everything, so I thought the pictures should be simple enough. Little did I know this would turn into a 2 day task :) I painted the 4 canvases and ended up having to hand draw the animals. It was such a mess because I am not an artist!! I also made a picture board for her room, which was a pretty simple task!! Nicole finished the quilt and started working on the bumper. She finally got that done when I left Saturday night at 11. We had such a long 2 days and were both worn out! Thank goodness Felicity is so good!! She is 10 months old and sat in the living room and played with her toys. She is very low maintenance, which is awesome!! You could not ask for a better baby :) I will be going back to Nicole's next weekend to finish up the bedding and paint her letters! It is going to look so good.  I have attached a few photos of the quilt and pictures! Enjoy!

Just another routine check up!

                                                              27 weeks and 3 days

The Doctor's appointment went great! No big news besides my weight gain! :) I gained 5lbs., so I am now up to 136lbs!! That is a total of 15lbs. I have gained since my first prenatal appointment! Brooke's heartbeat was great and I measured right on track. Due date is still October 1st! We just talked about the things I should be experiencing now and to keep track of Brooke's movement, which will not be hard at all :) I am going to take my glucose test tomorrow and I scheduled another sonogram for next week. We want to be sure we still have a little girl in there!! I had my first pretty big contraction at work on Wednesday. I had to stop what I was doing and put my hands on my knees until it was over!! WOW! I bet that was a sight to see :)

Nicole and I are making Brooke's bedding next weekend, I can't wait to see how it all turns out! I can't believe my baby shower is in 1 month & I will be having a baby in 3 months!!! OH MY GOODNESS :) 

Busy Day

Today Nicole came over to go shopping for baby bedding. After Felicity's little allergic reaction to Jack,  we went and bought the fabric for the baby bed!! It is too cute.  I can not wait to see the finished product!! We also found some really great deals on decorations at Hobby Lobby!! I am so excited that some things are getting checked off of my "to do" list!

Also, we have finally picked out a name for our little girl!! It is Brooke Kinsley Manning!! We can not change this because I just bought the letters that spell her name for her room! :)

Now I am exhausted, so I am going to eat then go to bed!! :)

What a belly :)

23 weeks 3 days
Just when I think my stomach is stretched as far as it can go, it keeps going...

I'm officially wearing stretchy pants

We had our doctor's appointment today. I weighed in at 131 pounds!! I gained 6 pounds last month. The doctor said I'm right on track! We got our lab results back from the quad test (tests for downs and other birth defects) and it came back normal! Our little girl is healthy and growing as she should be! :) We go back to the doctor on July 2nd. We thought we decided on a name, but of course I keep changing my mind! Picking a name is very difficult!

I have been feeling much better. I am still having headaches, but I think that is from work. :)

The little one is kicking and moving like crazy now. She is waking me up all through the night :) I guess I better get used to that! I am tired all of the time and lazy too! I just can't seem to get motivated to do anything!! I know I haven't posted any pictures, but I will try and post them more often. Tony has not been doing a very good job keeping up with the picture taking and of course, I forget to remind him! 

I am now registered at Babies-R-Us and thanks to Tony, Wal-Mart too. He registered all by himself and did a GREATt job! I was shocked! The baby shower is going to be August 8th, so mark your calenders :)

It's a girl!!

Tony & I after the news and a long day of baby stuff!! Her hands are by her head and possibly sucking her thumb!

Isn't she cute?!? :)

We went to the doctor today for our 4th appointment. I weighed 125 lbs., which means I gained 5 lbs. this month! The doctor measured me at 20cm. One I was done with my doctors appointment we went downstairs to have a sonogram. I drank a lot of water because I needed to have a full bladder. Well, it was full alright. I almost wet my pants in the waiting room! I also drank a little coke to hopefully increase her movement for a better view, but no luck. She was sleeping the whole time!! They took lots of pictures and measurements. The sonographer said that her private area looked flat and there were no "turtles," or boy parts showing. She is pretty confident it's a girl, but her legs were crossed the whole time!! This is the second sonogram we have had with her legs crossed, but at least the gender has been the same each time. I just hope no boy parts pop out on the next one!!  She weighs 11 ounces, not far from a pound!!  Tony got to see all the pictures and measurements with me. He said he knew what he was looking at before she told us! 

After our sonogram we went to register at Babies R Us. WOW!! There are so many things to register for. We were in there for about 3 hours! You can go online to view our registry. If you see anything that we forgot that is a necessity, please let me know. We can add and delete items at any time. After that, we went to Wal-Mart to register, but they only had one scanner and it was being used. We will try to register there next week. We don't have nursery colors or theme yet because I still haven't decided on baby bedding. I know what I want, but it's a matter of finding the material to make it! I am pretty sure it's going to be light pink and brown though.

 Now that I know it's a girl I am on the hunt for her name!! I have one in mind that I REALLY like and Tony likes as well (initials would be KBM), but I want to make sure it is "the one" before I announce it!! Once it's on here, there is no going back!! ;) 

Well, I think that is everything. My next appointment is scheduled on June 3rd. Until next time...

18 weeks

I'm almost half way there!! I'm getting really bad migraines, so the Dr. prescribed me Tylenol 3. I took one last night for the first time because I had a horrible headache that was making me nauseous. The Tylenol3 made me feel really funny. I hate to take medicine and I hope the headaches stop soon, because I really don't want to have to take that medicine again. It helped a little, but it made me feel weird. It's hard to explain. Other than that, things are going good. I'm getting bigger and growing out of all of my clothes. The pants I have on in the picture are being held together by a rubber band!! I need to start shopping for BIGGER clothes! 

One more week and we find out boy or girl!!! I can't wait! Once we find out, we are going to go register. I have been looking for bedding, cribs, strollers, etc... There are so many options out there and everything is so expensive :(  If anyone has any advice for me, let me know! I found this really cute bedding at Babies R Us that is very modern, not very babyish, but I love it. I want bedding that the baby will be able to grow into and use in their later years. Trying to save money where we can!! My cousin Nicole and I are going to make the bedding for the baby!! I am so excited! It is going to be so cute! I will talk to everyone in a week! :)

3rd Appointment

 I have to say, if it is not one thing, it is another. The morning sickness is pretty much gone, but now I have horrible headaches. When I get bad headaches, it makes me nauseous.  I have had a headache now for 2 days. The doctor said she could prescribe me Tylenol 3, but that has codeine and it will just make me sleep. I really don't want to take anything unless I absolutely have to. With the way this headache is going, I might just have to. Will I ever get a break?!?! :)

Now to my appointment! I gained all most all of my weight back. I am now at 120 lbs.!! I finally got to hear the baby's heartbeat! I asked the doctor when we could look to see if we could find out the sex of the baby? She didn't have a patient waiting, so she said she would take a look right now. It is still a little early, but I just wanted her opinion. Plus, I wanted to see what the baby looked like. She did a sonogram and the baby was moving around like crazy. It had its knees touching, so it was hard to look for the "parts" from the front, so she went underneath to see what she could find. Every time she went to freeze the picture, the baby would move!! It was doing kicks and punches. I think it was practicing karate!! :) It was so cool!! I couldn't believe how much it was moving!! SO, back to the gender. She finally got a picture and predicted that it is a.........................................................GIRL!!!!!!!!!! :)

Now, this is just a guess, but she said she did not see any boy parts and was pretty convinced it is a girl! My next appointment is May 6th and I also have my actual sonogram that day to determine the sex! Hopefully the baby cooperates and we can find out for sure if it is a girl!

Second trimester

14 weeks

I finally made it out of my first trimester!! The medicine I am taking seems to be working. However, I have noticed that if I don't eat every 2 hours, I am nauseous. This is especially bad in the mornings. I have been extremely tired the passed 2 weeks (as you can see in the picture). I have a doctor's appointment on April 8th ad I will update you on the new developments. I'm sure I have gained some weight back (again, as you can see in the picture) and I hope to start taking my prenatal vitamins again. They had been making me extremely sick, so I stopped taking them. Here is a picture of my little baby bump at 14 weeks. I am feeling better, so most likely there will be more updates and pictures now. :)

Also, I wanted to mention that ever since we gave Tony's dad, Ronnie, the BIG news, he has significantly cut back on smoking. He is on his way to being a non smoker!!! Both him and Gena decided to quit smoking so they could have the baby over at their house!! This is great news and we are very proud of them!!

Back to the Doctor

As I said in the last post, my doctor did not check the baby at my last visit. It was a bit shocking because I have been so sick and I thought for sure she would want to make sure things were good with the baby. I was really upset about this and everyone kept telling me that it was not normal and that she should have at least listen to the heartbeat. So, I called her today and she got me in. Good thing I work at the hospital :)
I went over and they did a sonogram to see the heartbeat to make me and my family feel better.
She apologized that she did not do this during my original appointment. She said she got so caught up in my weight loss and trying to get me healthy that it just slipped her mind. She knew the baby was healthy and had no concerns about it, just concerns with me! I feel much better now that I saw the heartbeat and know the baby is doing well!

I started my new medication tonight, so I will keep you updated on if it works or not. Let's pray that it does!!

Our 2nd Appointment

As most of you know, I have had a pretty rough 2 months with morning sickness. The morning sickness is not just in the mornings, it lasts all day. I am usually sick 3-4 days out of the week. Now, when I say sick, I mean sick! I have not been able to keep any food or liquids down. When I am able to, it is a very small amount. This is why I decided to go to the docoor today instead of Friday when my appointment was originally scheduled. When I went into the doctor on my first visit, I weighed 121 lbs. Today I weighed 114 lbs. I lost 7 lbs. :( I have also lost a lot of muscle mass. My legs and arms are getting really small and I still have no baby bump. The docotor answered all of my questions and assured me that the baby is doing fine. She did not check the baby's heartbeat, which was a bit of a bummer, but she was more concerned with getting me healthy and gaining weight. She gave me another perscription. This is the third one. If this does not work, she is going to admit me into the hospital. I am very dehydrated and am not keeping enough food down. So, needless to say, I hope this medicine works and I am over this morning sickness in the next couple of weeks! My next appointment is Wednesday April 8th.

First Picture

I know that this is really blurry! It was copied and then I scanned it, so it's a little hard to see. The baby is between the two stars (* *), if you can see them! The next time I will be sure to get a copy of the actual picture!!

My morning sickness is still horrible. I am nauseous all day long. All food taste really bad, but I make myself eat!! Right now it is pretty much oatmeal, fruit, and sandwiches. Hopefully tomorrow I feel well enough to go to Dad & Kat's so we can eat at Galligaskins :)  YUMMY!

First prenatal appointment

Friday February 13, we had our first doctor's appointment. The hospital where I work recommended Dr. Harvey. She is a female doctor who is very sweet and kind. I really like her. She did an ultrasound to measure the baby and make sure my dates were correct. I was right on! 7 weeks and 3 days. The baby looked great and everything went really well. I saw the baby's heartbeat. It was fluttering so fast. That moment really made the whole situation real!! Dr. Harvey came out and showed Tony the picture and explained everything to him. I have to tell you that Tony's theory about this appointment was that it was just a gas bubble. He said "You're going to go in there and find out it's just gas!" Well, we know that's not the case and it blew his little theory right out of the water! Our due date is October 1, 2009 and as of right now, there is only one baby in my belly!! After the appointment I went to work and I was thinking about everything. I forgot to get a copy of the ultrasound. Of course I am going to need that for scrapbooking! :) I also forgot to ask her questions about what I can and can't do, eat, etc... WOW! I wasn't prepared at all!! Our next appointment is Friday March 13. Yes, another Friday the 13th!! Monday I will get a copy of the picture and post it so you can see the little peanut! 

I had a feeling...

On January 27th, 2009, I was laying in bed telling Tony that I thought I needed to take a pregnancy test. A few minutes later, Nina text me and told me she had a dream that either 2 people were pregnant or someone was having twins. The last time Nina had a dream about someone being pregnant it was true. Nicole was! So, I showed Tony the text and his eyes got really big. I knew what I needed to do. Wednesday January 28th, which was an ice day, I drove 10 mph all the way to CVS to buy a pregnancy test. I came home, ate breakfast, then took the test.  The test had a plus sign. I was thinking it wasn't right because when I opened the test it already had a slight blue line on it. I thought for sure it was tampered with or something. So, I took the test to Tony and said what does this look like to you? He said, it looks like you passed! Ha Ha, real funny! I called Nina to tell her her dream was right and that I was pregnant. I was freaking out at this point. She said take another to make sure. We went to the store and bought another. I wish I would have bought more then one the first time! We got back home, took the test, and what do you know, positive. Well, I was still not completely convince. I was thinking that I needed a blood test. I realize these tests are 99.9% accurate and finally gathered my thoughts and came to the conclusion that I was pregnant! I couldn't tell anyone right away because it was so crazy. I waited and waited. Nina finally said you have to tell the family. What are you planning on doing, waiting until your going into labor to tell people you are pregnant? I knew I couldn't wait that long, so I called my family on Saturday and told them the news!

Everyone was really excited which made me excited!