A little bit about me....

Hi! My name is Amanda, my husband and I have been married since March 2005, we tried for 8 months before getting pregnant with our precious baby girl! She was worth the wait! I work as a CAD Tech 45 minutes from home, it's very hard for me to be away from my daughter. If we could afford it I would quit in a heartbeat to be a SAHM, not that I don't like my job, I just like my daughter better! :-) I am happiest when I am at home taking care of my daughter, and my house, taking care of my family. I'm finding I'm more old fashioned than I ever thought I was in that I feel like I should be staying home taking care of my family, I always thought I'd want to go back to work after having kids, but it kills me a little bit each day leaving my daughter. I'm torn between my responsibilities at work, and my desire to be home. My boss has been great, he's very flexible with my hours, he understands how hard it is to be away from your kids, especially when they are so young. My husband and my daughter are my life! They mean everything to me! I have a twin sister who I'm very close to (she's on this site too). Her husband and my husband work together and are best friends... needless to say we spend a LOT of time together! I have 5 cats and a dog. I am excited to add to my family now that we are blessed again!

AND

April 1, 2009

I am excited to announce that we are pregnant again! and no, it's not an April Fool's Day joke! We are expecting our second child sometime in December, I have just guessed the 4th from an online calculator, but my cycles have been screwy since they came back after my daughter so I really don't know how far along I am. I am calling the doctor's office tomorrow to get a test to have it on their records, just in case, heaven forbid, something goes wrong. I am hoping to get an early ultrasound to date the pregnancy because I honestly do not know how far along I am/when I ovulated as I didn't think we BDed during when I thought I was supposed to be the most fertile. It took 2 tests for me to believe it, but they both turned positive REALLY quickly! like within about 10 seconds, so yeah, definitely pregnant! I'm excited and a little nervous as the babies will be only 19 months apart, which means I'll have a newborn and a 1 1/2 year old to handle at the same time, I am sure we'll make it through, and it will be lots of fun! We weren't actually trying to get pregnant this time, but we haven't been preventing for the last 3 months either. I know YHVH won't give me more than I can handle! He has blessed me and my family so much!

April 3, 2009

I called my OB/GYN yesterday, they don't need to do a test in office to confirm the pregnancy anymore I guess, they trust the home pregnancy tests, and since I had 2 positives, we're definitely pregnant! I have my intake appointment on the 17th of this month, which is just some blood tests, paperwork, history etc, but you have to do it for each pregnancy at my clinic. And my first appointment with my doctor is scheduled for May 18th, 8 days after my daughter's first birthday! It'll mostly just be resutls from the blood tests they take at the intake appointment and my pelvic exam. I'm going to ask at my intake if I can get an early ultrasound to date the pregnancy, this clinic is pretty good about that, especially when you're fuzzy on the dates. The 18th sounds like so far away, but I know it'll be here before I know it! Especially with my daughter's birthday to plan! On May 19th I get to go to my sister's 3d/4d ultrasound and see her little man for the first time! I'm really excited for that! I think May will be a good month!

April 25, 2009

So it's been a pretty busy few weeks! Lots to update. On Monday 4-13-09 we lost our bunny, had to put her down, this was surprisingly hard on me as she had been going downhill, I didn't think it would upset me so much since I knew it was coming. I found out that day that Bekah has started to learn compassion, she kept hugging and cuddling me the whole time I was crying! Even the second time I had a little breakdown and started crying again she let me just hold her on my lap and rock her while I cried, when I'm sure she would have rather been playing on the floor! She's a real sweetie pie! That Thursday April 16th my husband had a minor surgery on his neck to remove a lump that had in there that had been there for a while, but was bugging him more (no worries it turned out benign!) The next day, Friday April 17th I had my intake appointment, it went pretty much as expected, answered lots of questions, peed in a cup and got some blood drawn (which took THREE attempts to get my blood! One lady tried twice, once in each arm and then she had someone else come over and that lady got it on the first try!). I found out the following week that I had a UTI (urinary tract infection), which is what they were testing the pee for, so now I'm on amoxicillian 3 times a day. I also got an order for an early ultrasound to date the pregnancy since I didn't know how far a long I was. I got in quickly, I got my appointment for Monday April 20th at 2 pm. Saturday April 18th I went to this huge sale called Bellies, Babies and Beyond, which is kind of like a huge garage sale of gently used baby/kid/maternity things. I got some great deals! A double stroller for only $50, a Playpen for only $30 and a bigger diaper bag for only $10!! Plus lots of other great stuff, those were just the biggest purchases! Sunday April 19th we took Bekah to the beach, it was actually her second time there, but the first time was SOOOO windy that the sand stung when it hit us so she stayed bundled up the entire time, she only got peeks at the ocean and the sand because I had her covered to keep her protected. She was only at most 3 months old so she slept most the time anyway, she seemed to enjoy this time at the beach though. She watched the waves and my sister's dogs running around on the beach. She looked at all the people we passed and went back and forth between me and daddy. If it had been warmer I would have dipped her feet in the ocean to see what she thought of that, but it IS the Oregon coast and it was still chilly... maybe later this summer we'll get over there on a warm enough day! We sat her down and let her play in the sand, at first she didn't know what to think of it, but after a few minutes she started thinking "this is pretty cool!" You could see it on her face! :) Monday came around and it was time for my ultrasound, I went in figuring we were just shy of 8 weeks... turns out we were really only 6 weeks and 4 days... that was a little disappointing since the morning sickness started SOO early this time around!! I started getting queasy about the time I got pregnant! fun fun! I'm hoping it goes away before the 13 week mark, I'm not looking forward to another 6 weeks of it! That night we went to a BBQ at a friend's house, it was nummy but unfortunately I was only able to eat about half my burger! (thank you ms!). The next night we went to my sister's for kabobs, they looked fabulous... but again I was unable to eat when it was all ready! Kevin and I went grocery shopping after dinner with Bekah, she did good as always in the store, and fell asleep on the way home. We let her sleep for a little bit in her car seat after we got home so we could get some stuff done (it was garbage night), got the dishes done, and I went to the bathroom before I sat down to nurse her, when we woke her up, her whole body was burning up. Not having dealt with a baby with a fever before it didn't even occur to me that that was what this is and that I should take her temp, I just assumed she was way warm from being under the blanket in her car seat and our house was really warm (it had been a warm day and our house really holds in the heat). I feel like an idiot even admitting that it didn't occur to me that it was a fever until the next day, but I can be honest here! The next morning she woke up at 4:30, she NEVER wakes up that early! She was burning up! So I gave her some Tylenol and nursed her and put her back to bed. When she got up she was cooler. She did fine for the rest of the morning, she didn't get hot again until she got up from her first nap of the day, so when she got up, I took her temp and it was 101.6. I called her doctor, but her doctor wasn't in that day, so we saw a different doctor at that clinic, he was nice, checked out her ears and throat and listened to her breathing and said "It looks like a bug, if she still has a fever Friday morning, bring her back in to get her re-evaluated" and to keep her on Tylenol to keep the fever down. That night we were supposed to have my friend Aimee and her hubby Jason over, and my sis and her hubby over for dinner, but Aimee and Jason forgot (and honestly it'd been such a busy week that I would have too if my sis hadn't reminded me the night before) so only my sis and her hubby came over.. Kevin made salmon and while it was good, I still only ate half my plate (what is up with that?). Thursday morning her fever spiked back up, but I gave her Tylenol and it brought it down pretty quickly, the rest of the day her fever seemed down, it only spiked when she was ready for another dose of Tylenol, and when she was on Tylenol it was only a very low grade fever (99._) throughout the day. I thought she was getting better. We went to my sister's house for a birthday party for my best friend. Bekah took a late nap and slept through most of the party, but I guess she really needed the sleep. The next morning Bekah woke up at about 6, she was burning up again. I took her temp at it was 102, so I gave her Tylenol, nursed her and we fell asleep for a while, she kept waking up sleeping with me though so I put her back to bed in her bed. When she got up the next time she was still really warm, and a good half an hour away from when I could give her meds again, I took her temp and it was 101.6. I brought her back to bed and we nursed and slept and nursed and slept for a while. We woke up about an hour after she was due for Tylenol again and I took her temp, it was 102.5! I gave her her Tylenol and called the doctor to make the appointment as I'd been instructed. I had to wait for the triage nurse to call me back... they said it would be within the hour.. it took almost 2! I was so frustrated! and when she did finally call she did give me the appointment but she made sure to talk down to me before she got off the phone... her: "you DO know that 102 isn't that high right?" me: "yes" her: "You DO know that we don't treat the fever, we treat the cause" me: "Well then I'd really like to find the cause" her: "ok" and then we hung up... rude much!?! I got the last appointment that Bekah's doctor had that day and I love her doctor, she checked her out, said her throat looked really sore, there were some red bumps in it, she didn't think it was strep as she was a big young for strep, but she was going to have her tested because she had come across a case with a little boy recently who was a little young for strep, his throat looked similar to Bekah's but a bit more irritated so she went a head and tested. It was negative, she said it is probably viral and to bring her back Monday morning if the fever still persisted. I did get them to make a mark in her chart so I wouldn't have to go through the triage nurse again! Her doctor told us that we could add motrin in to help if the Tylenol doesn't seem to be bringing the fever all the way down or if she still seems achy/uncomfortable. Have I mentioned that I really like her doctor? She listens to our concerns and address them every time! She's super sweet and takes even us first time mommies seriously! (which I've come across doctor's who don't so I really appreciate that she does!). This morning Bekah woke up at 9, she didn't have a fever!!! Yay! We might have chased it away finally! I'll watch her throughout the day of course, but I'm very relieved that she doesn't have one so far! And each morning has been when it soared in the days past, so yay for no fever so far! I think that's about all I have to update for now! My next appointment isn't until May 18th. Bekah's first birthday party is on the 9th and her first birthday is the 10th, on Mother's Day this year! Oh, Thursday my sis and MIL came over and helped me make/put together her invitations for her birthday party! I'm super excited, they turned out super cute! Yay! :) ok, that's really all for now! :)

April 28, 2009

So today scared me a little, I woke up, ate some breakfast and was sitting at the computer writing e-mails for work and I got this sharp cramping.. I thought at first it was diarrhea about to hit but I went and sat in the bathroom for a while and nothing. It hurt so bad! I remembered having the same feeling right before my water broke with my dd and got really nervous that something was wrong with the baby. Thankfully no blood. My MIL who is a nurse was even concerned, she suggested I lay down and take it easy for the day and try to take a nap, if it was still going when I woke up she wanted me to call the doctor. After a little bit I finally fell asleep and thankfully it wasn't there when I woke up, just the mild cramping I've had throughout this pregnancy (didn't have it with dd) She suggested I take it easy and let hubby take care of me for the rest of the day. He did, bless his heart! :) it hasn't come back and I'm really hoping that everything is ok with the baby! too bad it's still to early to hear a heartbeat with at-home dopplers!

Bekah's fever is gone, has been since Saturday, unfortunately Saturday she broke out in a rash all over her head, neck, abdomen, chest and back, poor baby! By Monday it was starting to fade off her face and neck but was worse on her core and had spread to her arms. We called the doctor and they said to go ahead and bring her in so we did, by the time we got there it had spread down into her genetals, butt and onto her legs, they checked her out and again told us it was just viral and sent us on our way, telling us to come back in if it isn't significantly better by Thursday or Friday. I'm so glad it seems to be better today though! Hopefully she's finally kicked this bug!

May 19, 2009

So yesterday was my first baby appointment for this pregnancy! (other than the intake obviously!) I got there a little late due to construction, but they kept my appointment which is great! I was worried because when I checked in they couldn't find my chart in the reception area, but it apparently showed up so it turned out alright. I had to drink the glucose drink (I chose the orange... not quite as good as I remembered it, but honestly not too bad). I got weighed in and was 3 lbs lighter than my last appointment, which I was excited about! then I had to go pee in a dixie cup so they could dip their little stick in it. I didn't get much in the cup cuz I was peeing in squirts and every time I'd get the cup under the pee it'd stop and start in another direction! lol! I found it kind of amusing (annoying but amusing) but I got enough in there for them to dip the stick. my blood pressure was fine, and I asked how the dip went and the nurse said looked good. She told me to get dressed in the gown and drape the blanket over my lap and the doc will be in shortly. When my doctor came in she game in with a big smile on her face and said "Welcome back!" She went on to say how she is expecting that this labor should be shorter (she said second babies are usually half the length!) and that she didn't expect that we should have the fever or the bleeding issues we had last time around with Bekah. We talked for a little while, she asked about my symptoms so far and I told her I'd been more sick this time around and she said that's not necessarily indicative of it being a boy this time, I told her I knew that, she asked if we were finding out this time around and we said yes, I said I didn't know if I could not know the whole time this time and she said it was fun to have a surprise and I said it was but we have a small nursery that both babies will be in so we want to be able to decorate it accordingly and she said she understood. We talked about the possiblity of gestational diabetes and she aksed if I'd need to go back to Sweet Moms (the program we have locally at the hospital for women with gestational diabetes) and I told her I had no problem with the diet and I definitely was fine with checking my blood sugars and so far and that so far my blood sugars have been fine when I'd been checking them. She pulled out the doppler and put some gel on it and put it on my tummy (ok, a little below my tummy, but you get the idea) and about 2-3 seconds later we heard the heartbeat, didn't even have to move it around at all! She seemed a little surprised! We told her we had heard the heartbeat about a week ago and she was DEFINITELY suprised about that, she asked me what brand I got and I told her and told her that I only paid a little over $100 for it but it has definitely paid for itself now since we used it for Bekah, my best friend was able to use it to hear her babies heartbeats (both with her son and her last daughter) and my sister was able to use it on her pregnancy and now we're using it again! She said she's spending way too much and apparently buying the wrong brand! lol!! Next she did my pap (my favorite part of the appointment), and then was done. She gave me the order for my 20 week ultrasound (already! I was shocked, it's just a bit early!) and then gave me a hug and was on her way! Yeah, my OB gave me a hug! :) I love her! I adore my doc, she is SUCH a sweetie! She's also really easy to talk to and ask questions to and she always makes me feel welcome and like my questions are valid (even if some of them are stupid! :)). On my way out her nurse stopped me, said there was some protien in my urine so they were sending me to the lab to get a clean catch sample while I was over there getting my blood drawn for the glucose test.
I'm still waiting for the call from them, but I took my own blood sugars right before I went back and they took my blood, I got 219, that's a massive fail, when I got home I took it again and it was still 171 (still a massive fail) and that was 20 minutes later. So it looks like I'm diabetic again already! I'm really disappointed that it has hit this early, it's not like I expected to avoid it... I couldn't beat the 7% odds of getting it in the first place, I could beat the 1% chance of getting PUPPPs last time, so there's no way I figured I'd beat the 75% chance that I'd get it in all of my future pregnancies, but I didn't expect to have it at 10 1/2 weeks, I was hoping to not have it till later in the pregnancy, like around week 20! Now I'm fighting ms still AND still need to eat frequently and watch what I eat... and no more sipping on Sprite to calm my tummy, it's WAY too many carbs! It's frustrating, but I'll take care of it because it's for the baby and I don't want to do anything to hurt my baby!
Today was my sister's 3d/4d ultrasound and I got to go! I got to see her little boy! He is going to be SOOOOO cute! the ultrasound tech says he already has some hair so he's not likely to be a bald baby at birth! He was kind of a pill though, he wouldn't look at us, we only saw profile pics and all of those had a hand in them, or a foot... or two feet! lol! little stinker! But he definitely looks adorable! and I can't wait to meet him and hold him! Congrats on the cutie pie sister! I love you! and love the little man growing inside of you too! :)
I think that's all there is for now! I'll update ya'll when I have something more to update!

July 16, 2009

Ok, so this is a little outdated. I had my 2nd appointment for this baby June 17th, I saw the nurse practitioner and went through the normal stuff, weighing in (only 2 lbs gained! Yay!), peeing in a cup, measuring the belly, listening to the heartbeat etc. Everything looked good, I measured at 16 cm so about a week ahead of where I was, but I'm not worried about that, a week up or down isn't unusual. I also asked about my glucose test I'd taken at the previous appointment and the urinalasis because I never heard back on them, she said the urine came back fine, but my blood sugar was a little high, and because it was so early in the pregnancy she didn't think it'd be necessary to do the 3-hour test... so she went to go ask a doctor (as mine was on call at the hospital) and he wanted me to take it anyway. The nurse practitioner kept insisting that she thought it was silly to have me go through that so she actually called my doctor and my doctor agreed. Unfortunately my doctor also decided to send me back to Sweet Moms to see the dietician and the nurse again.. ugh! Probably only because my doc wasn't looking at my chart, she just knew the history that the NP told her, if she had known it was me I'm sure she wouldn't have sent me since we'd already discussed in my previous appointment how I knew the diet and was already spot checking my sugars. Anyway, so I've been watching my sugars and until just recently I've been able to eat pretty much anything without any problems, but recently my breakfasts have started getting a little sensitive so I'm watching them closer now. My next appointment is tomorrow (which is why I felt I really should tell you about the 2nd one now, before my 3rd one! lol!) and I see the doctor again. I don't expect anything exciting to happen tomorrow, just a normal appointment, hopefully I haven't gained too much weight! My big ultrasound is on Monday! Only 4 more days! I'm so excited! We're finding out what we're having this time and I haven't seen this bean since 6 weeks 6 days!!! I can't wait to see him/her moving around and looking like a baby! (at 6w6d they just look like a blob!) I will be sure to be on here updating ya'll on what we're having! I'm guessing girl, this baby just doesn't seem as active as my sister's baby boy was at this point, or any of my friend's baby boys were by now... and hubby and I can't settle on a girl's name while we have 3 boys names that I adore and would love to use. Hubby is guessing boy, said he it's just a weak feeling this time, but a feeling of boy, last time he swore up and down girl from the very beginning and was right. Of course I thought girl the whole time last time too... so we were both right! This time I keep going back and forth, so I may be wrong! :) Any guesses??

In other news, my mom found out finally that what was going on with her on and around Mother's Day were Occipital lobe seizures and they were caused by her diabetes being out of control for so long. Apparently when your blood sugar is high sugars build on the neurons and after so long of her blood sugars being out of control enough had built up to start causing seizures. I think it seems to have scared her into taking care of herself a little better, but it's hard to say as I'm not around her regularly (don't live with her). She's in Illinois right now saying good-bye to my grandma who is slowly dying of a slow internal bleed. They are trying to get her strong enough to operate and possibly fix it, they say with older patients who have the slow bleed a lot of the time it is the spleen, so they want to operate but they're not sure if she's a good canidate for the surgery, or if it would hurt her more, so we're waiting. I hope they can do it, and save her for a while longer, for my own selfish reasons... I can't afford to get back to see her and I haven't seen her for 4 years and I really want to see her one more time. I've been praying extra hard for her lately, and if any of you want to send a prayer her direction that'd be awesome!

In happier news, my baby girl is almost weaned. We only BF once in the mornings now, and some mornings she doesn't even want it. It is bittersweet, I'm glad, and my doctor wants me to have her weaned before my 3rd trimester, but it means my baby is growing up and won't need me as much anymore! She's getting so big! She says "car" (sounds like ca ca ca) and "doodle" (my MIL calls one of my cats that), those are her newest words, she still says "mama" and "dada" and "dat" (that) and she says "bubba" now for my best friend's son, she used to babble "bababa" but now she points at his picture on the fridge and says "bubba" too cute!

I think that's all I got for now! I'll update at least on Monday if not tomorrow!

July 20, 2009
So Friday was my 3rd baby appointment, it went well, I'd gained 5lbs which was a bummer, but not bad. My blood pressure was 102/64 and everything seemed great! Doc said sugars were looking good but I need to start calling them in. Bummer, but really not a big deal.... just means I have to remember to call every week, since I'd forget my head 90% of the time if it weren't attached, well, let's just say this is going to be a challenge! lol! The heartbeat was between 140 and 150. That's about it for now, I'm off to my big ultrasound!!

July 20, 2009

It's a GIRL!!!

October 12, 2009

Ok so I wrote a blog that explains the crazy weekend we had, but it was overall good! I will copy and post the blog when I put this page into Sarah's page. I'm 31 weeks now and into my every 2 week appointments. I had an appointment on Friday (Oct 9th), and everything looked great. I have gained a total of 10lbs since where I started the pregnancy (20lbs if you count the 10lbs I lost in the first trimester due to sickness), so yay for that! Sarah's heartbeat was around 150, fundal measurement wsa 32 cm (so a week ahead, but perfectly normal), blood pressure was good 120/80 (high for me, but still fine... I had a stressful drive to my appointment and was 12 minutes late... lucky they still saw me!). The NP, Mori, said everything looks perfect! Just what every pregnant mommy wants to hear! At my last appointment with Dr. Peterson she said we'd be getting one more ultrasound this pregnancy, so I'm excited to see my little girl again one more time before I get to finally meet her, but we haven't scheduled it yet, so I'm not sure exactly when it's going to be. Sarah is a very active baby! I love feeling her move around! She had the hiccups for the first time last night! While I don't know that I'll miss pregnancy in general quite as much after this time (more aches and pains than last time), I will for sure miss feeling her move in me, and I will miss knowing that I can keep her completely safe inside of me! We had our 3d ultrasound on September 14th and she was TOTALLY uncooperative! Little stinker! She had her arms infront of her face almost the entire time! They had me get up and jump around and empty my bladder and wiggle around to encourage her to move around more (she was moving around a lot, just not into a cooperative position) and what did she do? She pulled a leg up to help block her face! Little stinker! But from the pictures we did get, she looks a lot like Bekah did in her 3d ultrasound... except with even chubbier cheeks! :) I'm so excited to see what she looks like in person! I'm curious if she'll really look a lot like Bekah or how she'll look different! I'm curious to see if she'll have eyebrows like Bekah did or if she won't like I didn't as a baby (and my sister's son didn't)... I wonder if she'll have as much hair as Bekah or if she'll be bald (like daddy was)... though if heartburn is really an indicator she'll have hair, just not as much as Bekah! :) I'm excited to meet her, and not really scared of the labor (though a little nervous about how it'll start), but I am very nervous for the delivery itself... after last time... I'm just really hoping things go nice and smooth this time around! And that Sarah won't be sunnyside up, because I don't know if my tailbone can take it! It still bugs me often... Anyway, I'm off for now! I'll update again when I have more to update! Take care!

November 2, 2009

We had our last ultrasound last Thursday and they estimated Sarah at 6 lbs 6 oz! Wow! She's gonna be a big girl! I hope they're wrong! lol! She has hair though, so no bald babies for us yet! My next appointment is my last one with the Nurse practitioner and then I'll just be seeing my doctor, it will be this Wednesday. Next Tuesday my baby girl turns 18 months old! I can't believe it! When did she grow up so much? We'll have her 18 month appointment that day too.

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com