Boy has this been a whirlwind of a year! My husband and I got married in September 2006. Began building our house in November 2006 and then found out that I was pregnant the beginning of June 2007. My first reaction to seeing the double blue line was awe and disbelief. In fact, it took me 7 positive pregnancy tests to finally convince myself and believe that I was indeed pregnant! Even walking into my first ultrasound appointment at 9 weeks, I was sure that the technician was going to tell my husband and me that I was not pregnant, but thank goodness we walked out the door with a printed out photo of our little one.

For me the weeks have been going by slow. Perhaps it is because I wake up every morning anticipating looking more and more pregnant. I view pictures of other women's pregnant bellies and dream of the day that I too will look pregnant, as opposed to just looking as if I spent a little too much time at the dessert table!

My husband and I have decided not to find out the sex of our baby. The main reason for my wanting to wait is that I always ruin surprises by either opening up the corner of a wrapped present or just plain guessing. I figured that this was the one and only thing in life that could remain a true surprise; that is as long as one of the ultrasound technicians doesn't blurt it out by accident!

Shortly after I found out that I was pregnant, I had a dream that I was having a little boy. The following week I had to stop by a rental shop and dead smack in front of my parking space was for rent, a 4 foot tall wooden stork exclaiming "It's a Boy!". So I have taken those signs and have convinced myself that I am having a boy. That and everyone I know has guessed a boy. No one on earth thinks it will be a girl. What a shock that will be if the Dr calls out "It's a Girl!"

As for how my pregnancy is going....pretty good overall. I was one of the lucky few who didn't have to deal with morning sickness. I was a bit tired in the very beginning and my appetite increased over night. In my mind I was hoping that the more I ate, the sooner I would be able show-off my pregnant belly, but that hasn't been the case! The only main problem I have had thus far was a slightly elevated AFP reading for Spina Bifida. I have had two level 2 ultra sounds since getting the test results back and the Dr's have examined everything and said that the spine and brain look great! But let me tell you, I was worried sick over that fool test.

I am now 21 weeks pregnant and still waiting to show-perhaps next week??

Okay, so it is now next week (22 weeks) and although my husband says I look pregnant and I think I look pregnant when naked, I am still not sure that strangers can really tell that there is indeed a baby growing inside of me...and not just a growing waistline!

Boy is the baby kicking now! I first felt the baby kick at around 18 weeks, but it wasn't really anything I could rely on feeling since the kicks went almost unnoticed. But now in my 22nd week there is no mistaking the little "guy" moving around inside.

Week 23! There is no mistaking my being pregnant now! From my head down to my toes, I look pregnant- I was really hoping I would be all belly, but at 5'2'' there really isn't much room for the weight to spread out. But it's worth it- I have a beautiful and wonderful miracle growing inside and before I know it my pregnancy stage will be over and I will be back in my skinny jeans- Yippie!

I have another level 2 ultrasound tomorrow. The doctors are keeping a close eye on my blood circulation (since they had noticed that it had not matured when I went for my AFP reading) to the baby and making sure the baby is getting enough oxygen and nutrition. As much of a drag as it is to go to the Dr every 2 weeks, I am very thankful that they take such care and interest, providing the baby and me with the best care possible. Not only that, but I have great ultrasound pictures to document my baby's development.

Overall my Dr appointment went well. I had a level 2 ultra sound to follow-up on my blood circulation to the baby. The Dr told me that the blood flow in the umbilical artery, the one that feeds the baby was great and that the baby is growing as should be (weighs 1 lb 5 ounces). However, there was a notch in the ovarian artery indicating that later on in my pregnancy I may develop preeclampsia. There is not much that can be done just yet, just wait and keep an eye on things. I was just happy to find out that the artery feeding my baby is doing it's job! My Bestfriend Kimberly and Me!

This past week has been a tough one. I had the flu shot 2 weeks ago and have been suffering symptoms from that for a whole week now. I finally decided to go to the Dr.today due to an unbearable earache. The Dr. prescribed me some amoxicillin and I can't wait for it to take the pain away from my earache and hopefully clear up the cough that has been haunting me for the past week as well. Aside from being sick the past week, I have made it to WEEK 24! I have noticed strangers being extremely polite and going out of their way to assisst me- I guess they are able to notice my pregnant belly!

25 weeks pregnant and showing!

After 2 full weeks of being sick with the flu, a terrible cough and fluid in the ear, I am finally feeling much better. I was hoping to lose a few pounds over the course of being sick, since most people do- But me, of course not! When I am sick I tend to eat more- What's with that?

So I am beginning to feel a bit overwhelemed with all the jobs that still need to be done on the house. Like I said, my husband and I built a house and we have yet to complete the upstairs. We had a carpenter come over the other day to help design the layout of the upstairs. I am really excited and pleased with what we decided to do. So now that we have the design, we need the framing, sheetrock, carpeting, plumbing, heating, lighting, painting and of course decorating! My the list never ends! On top of that, there is still quite a bit that needs to be done on the downstairs. I suppose I need to stop looking at the HUGE To Do List and focus on one thing at a time. Thank goodness we have families that like to help, otherwise I don't think there would be any light at the end of the tunnel.

Little Scooter (that's what my mom has named the baby) has been kicking all the time. I love feeling Scooter move because it reassures me that he/she is doing just fine. I am really starting to feel pregnant now. Although I don't feel as if my belly is as cute as most of the other women's. I feel as if I am carrying extra low. In fact, last week Scooter was kicking all the way down by my pelvic bone. I thought for sure he/she was on the way out! LOL! I know that sounds ridiculous, but then again, I am a first time mom to be. 15 more weeks to go!

I am now 26 weeks pregnant and can feel baby Scooter kicking all the time. Sometimes Scooter kicks so hard that I actually let out a little yelp! Most of the time I feel kicks in the lower region of my stomach, down near my pelvic area. I am going to ask my Dr. if that could possibly mean that the baby is in a breech position. When I look in the mirror at my belly it appears that I am carrying low, perhaps that could be related to the baby's postion. I guess I will have to ask my Dr. at tomorrow's visit.

My Dr's appointment went well. I addressed my concern about the baby kicking extra low and my Dr told me that it was normal. But wouln't you know that as soon as I left the office, I began to feel kicks up by my bellybutton and around my ribs!

I had to have the sugar glucose test and I have to admit that the sugar water wasn't all that bad. Mine was Fruit Punch flavored, one of my favorites, so I had no problem sucking it down.

My husband has been able to feel the baby kick for the past few days. It is so neat that he can finally be a part of the pregnancy in a more intimate way. However, one thing he teases me about that he can do that I can't is that he can kiss the baby. I find it so sweet and endearing when you talks and kisses my belly. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who takes so much interest in the baby and me. In fact, he makes it a point to be at all of the Dr. appointments. I know he is only tagging along because he knows I hate the fact that he gets to watch me step on the scale and see just how much weight I am gaining! LOL! In all honesty, he could really care less about my weight gain. He just wants his wife and baby to be healthy. He tells me all the time that I am beautiful and he loves every inch of my body. The only problem is that I have a hard time believing that, but I guess most women do. I suppose we need to learn to embrace ourselves and stop comparing ourselves to the stick skinny models on the cover of magazines. Most of the time they have been airbrushed and their bodyparts rearranged by computer!! LOL! I am beginning to ramble so I am going to put a stop to all my nonsense....until next time~!

I guess I got a bit tired of journaling........

RYLAND CHASE

February 14, 2008

3:28 pm

5 lbs 14 oz

20.5 inches

I ended up being induced a week early due to our baby measuring a bit on the small side. My Dr said it was protocol to induce if an ultrasound revealed that a baby fell below the 10Th percentile. I was admitted Tuesday, Feb. 11Th and the induction process began Wednesday morning. The whole process was very slow and grueling. It took my body forever to kick in and go into labor. Up until Thursday afternoon, my cervix remained locked and stayed at a steady 1 cm dilated even though I was having extremely strong contractions every minute. Around 2 pm Thursday it decided to loosen and measured a bit over 2. At that point I had a stadol to help with all of the pain. An hour later (3pm) my nurse decided to check me to see if I had made any progress and to our surprise, I was 9 cm dilated and the baby was crowning (which meant I missed the window of opportunity for an epidural). My nurse ran out into the hall and called the resident nurse in (since my Dr was at his office at a different location) the neonatologist and the OR doctors. I managed to hold-off delivering until my Dr arrived (ten minutes later). During all of this, the baby`s heart-rate dropped to 60 beats per minutes, so it was crucial to get the baby out quickly-The Dr`s were on the verge of performing an emergency C-section right there in my room! My Dr arrived just in time and with a few hard-core pushes and the help of a vacuum, our baby was born. Ryland was checked over and taken out of the room, so I missed out on the whole initial bonding process, something I was really looking forward to. After 45 minutes of being stitched back up(I had extreme tearing), Ryland was brought back into my room and I was able to begin bonding. We have been home for a week and a half now, and our little man couldn`t be doing any better. He is the love of my life and I would do it all over again :o)