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Hello! I am pregnant with my second child. My first is 9 years old, so it's been a while. I'm Due Nov 27th and am very excited and nervous. I had a miscarriage at 8 weeks right around this time last year. My husband Lynn and I have been trying for a baby for almost 4 years now, so we are really thankful to be pregnant again, just a little scared. This will be Lynn's first biological child as my daughter is from my first marriage, so you can imagine his excitement. He's 36 and has wanted a baby for a really long time. He's been a great dad to my daughter and I feel so blessed to be giving him the baby that he wants so badly.

I seem to have all the usual symptoms, sore breasts, gained weight already, extremely tired, nauseaus all the time. The only thing different with my first pregnancy is that I threw up quite a bit, but this time I just feel sick all the time without ever throwing up. I'm not sure which is worse, because at least when you thow up you fell better for a little while. Oh, and the first time, I developed toxemia (preclamsia) in my last trimester and was ordered to bedrest and swelled up like a puffer fish - it was aweful! I just pray that I don't get that again. I'm scared about labor too. I was in labor for 21 hours last time - what a nightmare! I must sound like a real whine-bag.

I am really excited though, I've already been picking out names and nursery themes. I just wish I knew the sex already. I'm so impatient. I've really enjoyed reading all the messages on this sight. It's so nice to know that others have the same fears and worries that I have. I don't want to talk to my hubby too much about it, because I'm afraid I'll scare him and stress him out. Congrats to everyone!!!

This is a picture of our wedding day in 2003. We got married on a cruise ship in Miami, FL and took a cruise to the Bahamas for our honey moon. It was lovely.

This is the little Peanut at 10 weeks! It's kind of blurry b/c he/she was wiggling all around. My daughter and husband went with me to see the ultrasound. It was so fun and they were very amazed to be able to see the baby already. We could even see the tiny little heart flickering it was so cool! The heart bpm were 170, good and strong, and the doc said everything looked great. I go back in 4 weeks, but they may not do an ultrasound unless a reason comes up. Then the appointment after that, we should find out the sex, Yea!!!!

My tummy at 10 weeks - front view. Not too much of a pooch, but getting there.

Here's the sideview at 10 weeks. I know it doesn't look like much, but my tummy was perfectly flat thanks to pilates twice a week, hehe! I can't wait for it to be perfectly round!

This is my daughter Tatum. What a cutie, huh. I hope little brother or sis gets those pretty blue eyes!

this Website said I have a 58% chance of having a boy. 58% is really close to 50/50, so I think I'll hold off on buying anything blue for now. lol.

Labor and Delivery prediction: I sure hope this thing is right, my last labor lasted 20 hrs and 47 minutes!

You won't need to try any secret recipes to bring on labor. Have your emergency numbers ready. Don't wait until the last minute to get your nursery ready. We predict your baby will come 1-2 weeks early. Your baby will most likely be born in the morning. Justmommies predicts that your baby will weigh approximately 7.2 pounds and that your labor will be about 12 hours long.

May 23, 2007 - Okay, I have to share this with you guys. It's something I've done lately that I feel has completely turned my pregnancy around for the better. I started out the pregnancy just eating whatever. It would usually be fast food because I'm so busy working full time and running my daughter all over the place. I also completely stopped working out because I was just so tired. I wasn't throwing up, but I pretty much felt queazy all the time, like I could throw up at any minute, just never did. I also would wake up sore with back pain and stay sore all day, not to mention the complete lack of energy. I was having to come home at lunch and take naps at least 2 days a week if not 3 or 4 days a week just to be able to function at work. I had all the typical symptoms of pregnancy, as I'm sure many of you are familiar with. Oh, and I failed to say that I managed to pack on a whopping 10 lbs in just the first 6 weeks! I was already coming home with some swelling in my ankles too. Well getting on the scale at the doctors office scared me, and I knew that what I was eating could not be healthy for the baby. Perhaps the biggest motivator though, was the fear of another long, hard labor. I looked into it and found that science has proven that excercise throughout your pregnancy highly increases your chances of having a healthy baby with a better labor and dilivery. So...........a couple weeks ago I decided to make a commitment to myself that I would have a healthy pregnancy. I started working out again, doing pilates, walking, playing tennis with my family, some weight lifting, etc. I keep it moderate, I don't ever over do it. I also completely changed my diet. I haven't been eating anything unhealthy. I've been eating 5 small mini-meals a day consisting of lean meats, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. I have a fruit smoothie in the morning that I make in the blender and then healthy snacks like nuts and seeds throughout the day too. I've also been drinking nothing but water and an occasional glass of juice (I crave cranberry juice sometimes). I still get all the calories I need, but they're healthy, nutritous calories. I cannot begin to describe how much better I started feeling right away. My energy level began to increase too and now I feel like I'm back to normal, I also haven't gained anymore weight. I haven't lost any weight, which I feel is a good thing, but I have notice that I'm fitting better into my clothes and now I'm back to wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans! I do realize that every pregnancy is different and that some women are bound to be sick the whole time and retain water and whatnot, but I truly believe this change in my eating and excercising habbits helped me tremendously, and if could help someone else feel better, then I'm so glad I posted it. The other great benifit of a healthy pregnancy is that it will be so much easier to bounce back and recover after the baby is born. I know it will be hard to stay motivated throughout the rest of my pregnancy, so if anyone else feels the way I do about this and wants to help eachother out with advise and encouragement, I would love that!

This is a picture of the results of the at home genter test I ordered on line at www.intelligender.com. It claims to be 94% accurate. You test you first morning urine and it turns dark green for a boy and orange for a girl. It tests the testosterone levels in your urine. It turned a very dark shade of green in about 3 minutes. I can't wait to find out if it's right from an ultrasound. I'm pretty sure it is though, I just have a feeling this baby is a boy.

Here's my belly at 14 weeks. Got a little bump going, yippeee! I can't wait until other people can tell that I'm pregnant and stop just wondering if I'm pregnant or getting fat. I still don't really look pregnant underneath clothes, just like I've put on a few lbs. Oh well, I suppose it'll happen soon enough.

June 1st, 2007 - 14 Weeks, 3 days. - Okay, went tothe doc yesterday, and I must say it was a very uneventful visit.I didn't get an ultrasound, but they did set up the next one for July 5th.I'm going to see if we can move it up a few days because my daugter leaves for summer camp on the 3rd and I really want her to be there because that's when they will try and see the sex.We did here the heartbeat again, it was 158 pbm.The doppler picked it up right away and then it faded out a couple of times.My doc said that was the baby moving.I didn't have any complaints or questions form my doc, so it was all in all a really quick and easy appt.They did go over our payment contract with us, and it turns out that we have the best possble insurrance for having a baby.They cover 100% of everything aside from one $15 copay to the dr.'s office and one $150 copay to the hopsital.I was in shock.I said, you have to be kidding me, you mean this whole thing is going to cost us $165?Yep.I still can't believe it.We will have to pay for the 3d ultrasound that you can get around 23 weeks if we want to, and it's like $175 - but that's still extremely cheap for having a baby!I feel so blessed,especially since my husband is the worlds biggest penny pincher.I'm the opposite, I like to spend - well, I like to shop.Well, I hope everyone is doing well.God bless all of us!

16 Weeks

Tuesday, June 12th 16 weeks - okay, either I was really bloated when I took that 14 week picture, or this excerising and eating healthy is really working. I look less pregnant now than I did two weeks ago. My goal is not for my bump to shrink, but for the rest of me to stay small while the bump grows. Oh well, at least my boobs didn't shrink, they're still growing. Look at the size of those jugs! I'm normally fairly small chested, so this is a real treat. I've felt so good since starting to excersice that I've upped my working out to 5 days a week. I take a 30-45 minute class at the gym each weekday. Pilates on Mon & Fri, Step aerobics on Tue & Thur, and a Weight Rep class on Wed. Still eating 5 small meals a day including a blended fruit and protein smoothie each morning. I wish I had a better baby update, but honestly I don't feel him move much yet and aside from feeling him, I hardly realize I'm pregnant. I am so excited though. I can't wait to go to our next ultrasound appointment on July 5th so I can see the little peanut again. My husband and daughter are both really excited too. Unfortunately Tatum will be at summer camp during the next ultrasound, so she'll have to miss it, but I promised to email her a picture of the baby if we get one. I have 2 business trips coming up in July and another one in August, so looking forward to that - sort of. I'm sure I'll get tired from all the traveling and it'll be wierd not being able to drink which seems to be my company's faforite past time. Oh well, the sacrifices we make, lol. I hope every one of you is doing well and enjoying your pregnancy. God bless!

ITS A BOY!

July 6th - 19 wks 3 days - We found out from our ultrasound yesterday that we are 100% positively having a baby boy. My husband and family are so excited! Here are the ultrasound pics!

His cute little profile, awwe!

His Winkie!!

And Wittle Footsie!

The ultrasound was so much fun; We had Lynn's mom and my grandparents there. The tech was great, she showed us all the little features and said our baby weighs about 12 ounces (wow, that's almost a pound!). She was showing us his little wee wee and the family was all huddling in to get a close look and all of a sudden, baby grabbed his wee wee with his hand, it was so funny. I turned to my husband and siad, well he's definitely your son. The tech tried to make me feel better by saying all little boys do that, but I really wasn't worried about it, I have two little brothers, I know the drill. Anyway, we really enjoyed the ultrasound and then saw the doc after that, everything looked great, baby's heartbeat was 156 bpm; baby and I are just as healthy as can be, thank you God! God bless every one of you mommies to be and your little ones too!!

n

19 weeks 3 days - here's another belly shot, little bigger.

July 20 - 21 weeks 3 days - I'm feeling really good, having trouble sleeping at night sometimes, but not too bad of a problem right now. We're going to get started on the nursery this weekend. My mother-in-law is coming over to help me paint. I've never painted anything in my life, so we'll see how it goes. the room will be yellow, the furniture will be cherry wood, and the theme we've chosen is a travel theme in primary colors. It has little cars, helicopters, sailboats, and airplanes. My husband really digs helicopters and i love primary colors so that's why we chose it. I can't wait to get it all done and post a picture of it on here. I hope it turns out as cute as I think it will. My appitite has kicked into full gear the last couple of weeks, I wish it would slow down a bit. Anytime I see anything or hear of any kind of food, I want it bad and I keep wanting it until I get it. I had to travel for work last week and we did all of our eating at restaurants, so I think sidetracking from my usual healthy diet is what threw the cravings into high gear. I didn't get to go to the gym last week since I was gone, and this week my daughter has been really sick, so I'll be going back to my pilates class today after not being there for almost 2 weeks, I hope I don't have a heart attack, or get a cramp or something. I really don't feel like going but I'm afraid if I don't make myself, that I'll stop going altogether and that would just be tragic. Baby is kicking all the time now and the kicks are really strong; I love the feeling so much. It's definitely the coolest part of being pregnant. Oh, this is cute: my nephew was at my house last night (he's 2) and he kept saying "get your baby out, get your baby out" " I want to see him" It was so funny and so cute. About a month ago, I was having a hard time getting him to understand that the baby was in my tummy, now he doesn't understand why I can't just take it out, lol. I love kids! God bless!

21 week belly shot......still growing.

6 Month Belly Shot !

I had to post 2 pics of the 6 month belly - I'm so proud of it!!!!

Wed 8/7/07 - 24 weeks

Went to the doc last week on thursday. Everything was fine, just routine checks on the blood preasure and such. Baby's heart rate was 152 bpm. My doc gave me a strange look when he saw that I've had a 9 lb weight gain since my last appointment only 4 weeks earlier. I was worried at first when I found out I'd gained 9 lbs in just 4 weeks, but as you can see from the pictures, my belly has suddenly popped out and it's obvious where the weight is going. None the less, I'm going to try and not gain more than a pound or two between now and my next appointment on Aug 30th. Doctor will see me in 4 weeks and from then on it will be every 2 weeks! Wow, I can't belive I'm almost on the home stretch already. This is flying by so fast! The nursery is coming along nicely, the wallpaper and border look so cute with the yellow paint. The only thing it lacks now is the crib. My husband is nesting too, I think. He bought a big hot tub last Friday and over the weekend started building a 40 ft deck in the back of our house. Actually, he hired someone to build the deck, but that's just his way of doing things. He had the front porch repainted too, I think it's cute that he's nesting with me. I've been doing all the inside stuff like the nursery and redecorating my daughter's room, so he took on the outside stuff I guess. Well, I feel good and Baby is great, life is good. God Bless!

28 Weeks! Nice Belly!

31 Week Belly Shot!!

9/27/07 - saw the doctor today. Everything looked great, I measured right on target and I've gained a total of 28 lbs so far. The Baby's heart rate was 139, my bp was good, and it was altogether a really routine appointment. Hope every one esle is doing well too!!

10/10/07 - 33 weeks 1 day I lost a bunch of info and some pics from my page that I posted during the month of September. Oh well, maybe I'll try and repost the pics when I get time and feel like doing it. I had a doctor's appointment today - same old thing - boring and routine. I think I was there a total of 15 minutes. I know I shouldn't compain about being so healthy, but I really look forward to the appointments and then it's like, is that it? I gained another 1 and 1/2 lbs. Baby's heart rate was 144. I measured at 32 weeks and my blood pressure is normal. All is well and right with the world! Oh, I had my shower over the weekend, it was outstanding. My friends did such a great job with it. My friend Kara drove all the way from Dallas and my step mom and step grandmother drove all the way from St. Louis, so it was great to have them there. I figured they'd just mail their gifts, so I was thrilled they actually got to come! I got a lot of very nice gifts - and there are only a couple things I still need to buy. I'm ready for baby now! Can't wait!!

34 Week Belly Pic!

10/29/07 - One day shy of 36 weeks. I had my 35 week doctor's appointment last week. Had the group B strep test, which I assume went fine, since I haven't heard otherwise. Also got my cervix checked and I'm dilated to 1 centemeter!! I'm so excited about that. Hopefully it means I'll be having baby sooner rather than later. Over the weekend, I had a few contractions that were painful. Nothing regular though, so it's probaby just my cervix dilating a little more, at least that's what I'm hoping. I think the baby has dropped a little cause yesterday, I bent over to pick something up and some liquid gushed out of me. I though my water broke, but it turned out that I just peed myself! How horrible! I didn't even feel the urge to pee, it just happened. The baby must have hit my bladder or something. Ahh, the joys of pregnancy. Well, I've been really crampy today, so I'm going to skip my pilates class. I think I need the rest. I did quite a bit of housework yesterday. Aside from all that, I feel really good. I measured 34 weeks at my 35 week appointment, so maybe baby will be little and I'll push him out with ease (wishful thinking). My blood pressure was good and baby's heart bpm was 140. Only a few weeks to go now!! Yippie!! I'll miss being pregnant, but I can't wait to meet my son!

36 Weeks!

11/7/07 Ahhhh! I just got back from my 37 week appointment and I'm sooo excited!!! I am now 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced!! And even better news.......my doctor said if I haven't had the baby by next Wed (1 week from today) he'll strip my membranes! This means I should have a baby by next weekend! I can't believe it - I'm in a bit of shock now cause this is working out so well. The baby should be here for Thanksgiving like I wanted, I'm so happy!! Oh, and baby's heart bpm were 148, I measured 36 weeks(1 week small but nothing to worry about), and my bp was normal.

38 Wks!!!!

11/14/07 Okay had the not so fun experience of false labor last night. Contractions started at 2pm yesterday and were 10 minutes apart, they kept coming and got to 7 minutes apart, then never letting up, they got to 3 minutes apart and at 6:30 pm we went to hospital. They monitored them for a few hours, but they weren't increasing in intensity and my cervix wasn't changing, so they sent us home. I was so sad and felt like I had made a stupid choice to go up to the hospital, but with the contractions I was having, I really thought it was the real deal. I could feel them in my lower back and my entire abdomin would harden up like a perfectly round basketball. The contractions did finally let up around midnight and I was able to get some sleep. I go in a couple hours to get my membranes stripped, so we'll see what happens - fingers crossed! A couple good things did come from it - it was great practice for the real thing - I did a good job of breathing though the contractions. The other is that I learned that I do not want all those people up there when the real time does come. There were so many friends and family in the room, I was overwhelmed and stressed out. My family means well, but they're just way too excited and hyper for me. I told my dh that I didn't want him calling anyone next time until I give the okay. Maybe when I'm almost to the pushing stage, they can come hang out in the waiting room, but I dont want to see anyone while in labor except my husband and maybe my daughter occasionally if I'm not in too much pain.

11/20/07 - Had baby on Nov 15! Pics are on my picture page and birth story is up on my kid's page by Colten's name!