22 Weeks!!

I can't believe we have made it to 22 weeks already! Tonight was a very exciting night in the Baker household. I have been telling Bruce for about 3 weeks now that the baby loved to move around a kick (especially late at night). Bruce was never able to feel the baby, but tonight Evelynne finally gave us a good kick and he actually felt her! He pulled his hand away really fast and said "that felt weird!" I love feeling her kicks!!

Not much else is really going on right now. We are ready for Christmas and are expecting to have another u/s sometime after the holidays and are excited about that. I can't wait to see how much Evelynne has grown!! 

January is just around the corner and its scaring me to death. I begin taking an anatomy class January 11 on Tues and Thurs and am also working PRN (as needed, fill in, coverage) for the clinic on base. I am hoping to take as many working days as they offer me to save the money for Evelynne's arrival. I'm mostly scared to death because once January gets here I will only have 12-14 weeks left of this pregnancy. 

It seems so crazy that time has flown by so quickly! January will be a busy month, as Bruce, myself and some of my girlfriends start getting the nursery ready. We have to move our computer and desk and all of Bruce's military gear to another location in the house. (which we still cant agree on where to put things) The spare room with the bed and dresser will stay the same, but the computer/military room will now become the nursery. 

I cannot wait to get started on all the little crafty decorations my friends and I have been waiting to accomplish. I am also very excited that I was able to find the cross stitch that my mom made for me when she was pregnant with me 23 years ago!! She had it framed right after she finished it, and I always had it in my room growing up, and now we get to put it in Evelynne's room! (I know I'm such a sap for sentimental things, but I still think its cool) I will be using the colors in the cross stitch to make the other decorations and pick the bedding for her nursery.

Also, we are starting Minnie and Achilles on some baby boot camp. We play videos of babies laughing and crying and cooing and let them listen to try to get them familiar with the sounds. We are also getting a baby doll and will be doing things throughout the day with the baby doll such as having the doll in the crib, swing, laying on the floor on a blanket etc. and teaching the dogs when to "leave it"(that is their command that they are learning...Achilles already knows this command, but Minnie does not) Minnie pretty much sticks to herself, so we arent as concerned about Minnie being around Evelynne as we are Achilles. Achilles is just one big puppy that loves to explore and PLAY PLAY PLAY. He does not realize he is no longer a 14lb puppy, but we are working with him and have been researching the best way to introduce a new baby into the family. If you have any tips or tricks yourselves please let us know. 

Well, I believe that is all for now folks. Will update again after the holidays or if anything exciting happens. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!! 

ITS A GIRL!

After going back to get an ultrasound twice, the tech believes the baby to be a girl. The tech told us she was 80% sure it was a girl. We are hoping to confirm this at our 20 week ultrasound. We are so excited and for now have decided on the name Evelynne Christine. The morning sickness is finally 100% gone for which both Bruce and myself are VERY thankful. Next week marks 20 weeks, I cant believe we are almost half way there already! 

I am starting to feel some movements, the hits and kicks feel funny, but I love feeling them. Bruce can't feel anything on the outside yet, but I'm sure it wont be too much longer. Not much else new is going on with the pregnancy. Both baby and I are happy and healthy. Below is a picture of Evelynne laying on her belly at 18wks. Her head is on the left side of the picture, you can see her left arm, and her spine as well. Doctors said she looked great! 

Sorry it has taken me so long to update the blog. Life has been crazy at the Baker household. Bruce broke his toe, and then had to have surgery on his hand. Taking care of him, 2 dogs, and myself is like having a full time job again! 

Hope you enjoy the pictures. Will try to keep up with all the posting through the holidays. 

16 week ultrasound!

Well today was the big day. Bruce and I were so blessed to get to see the baby for over an hour while the tech patiently tried to get baby to cooperate and let all of us see the goods. The baby looked amazing! Bruce couldn't believe how much the baby had grown in just 8 short weeks. They had a couch in there for him to sit on, but he didn't sit for very long. He was so captivated by what was going on with the baby. The baby kicked and wiggled like crazy! We were also able to see the arms, fingers, legs, toes and heartbeat.  I am looking forward to feeling all of those precious kicks we could see on screen, but I'm sure after a while, my rib cage wont appreciate them. After an hour and twenty minutes, the tech finally told us that we needed to reschedule and pray that the baby would cooperate next time. We were a little disappointed that we weren't able to determine the gender, but we were so thankful to be able to see the baby for so long! 

We rescheduled another ultra sound FREE OF CHARGE for Thursday, October 29 @ 11 AM. Everyone please pray that baby will let us see all their goods so we can start shopping!!! At the very top of the post is a picture of the baby from today's ultra sound.

We have a baby bump!!

Above: 14 weeks, 6 days

Above: 13 weeks, 2 days 

Good news, Good news!! I have finally stopped getting sick on a daily basis, for which I am VERY thankful!! Bruce I and were wondering if the oh so famous "baby bump" would ever make an appearance, and this week it did!  We are so excited!! 

12 weeks and counting...

We had our 12 week check up on Monday. Of course, our first stop was the scale. I lost 8 lbs since our 8 week visit and of course, they didnt like that. They gave me some nausea medicine and it is now my new best friend and I no longer despise food. They went over all the blood work, and everything looks great. They told us that my blood type was A negative, so I will receive the rhogam injection around 22 weeks. We were able to hear the heart beat on the doppler for a few seconds, but that was it. The baby kept running from the doppler, but I was so glad to hear the heart beat, even if it was only for a few seconds. The doctor said it was between 150 and 160 and that it was a nice strong heart beat and was happy with it. The doctor told us that because of our insurance (tricare) we probably wont be able to have another ultrasound until 22-24 weeks, and even then we have to make up an excuse to get one. In the mean while, Bruce and I plan to go to a place in Fredericksburg, VA called "sneak a peak" at 16 weeks. We do have to pay out of pocket, but we will be able to see the baby, hear the heart beat, get pictures and of course find out the sex of the baby :-D We will be 16 weeks the last week in October, so we are anxious for this month to pass by quickly.

Week 7, 8, and 9

WOW!! We can hardly believe Sunday will mark week 10 for us! It really feels like the time has gone by very fast! The morning sickness and nausea still continues, but is definitely getting better. I am learning what my "trigger foods" are and am staying far from them. Also, I have stopped taking pre natal vitamins for the time being. They seem to make me the most sick, and without them I don't get sick nearly as often as before. I am taking flinstone vitamins that I seem to tolerate better for now, until the sickness subsides a little. Hopefully by week 14 I will be feeling better with  no more sickness!! 

This week we decided to have a little fun and do the "intelligender" test. You can get it at CVS or pretty much any pharmacy and you collect a urine sample and mix it with the chemicals they supply. You swirl and leave for 10 minutes. The results were GIRL but of course this is just a fun test, that really has no definite answer, but we are now even more anxious to find out the sex of the baby. 

Bruce is still very much wanting a boy, but is coming around to the idea that it may just be a little precious princess in there. Only time will tell. We plan to have an u/s done on week 16 to find out the sex of the baby, so the countdown begins....6 more weeks and hopefully we should know if we are going blue or pink!! 

Other than that nothing else is really going on in the Baker household. I keep begging Bruce to let me shop for the baby, but he says no, not until we know if the baby is boy or girl. Hopefully we will be making a trip home to Delaware soon to see the family. We sure do miss everyone!!

Stay tuned for future posts.... 

First Ultra Sound

Well today we had our first ultra sound. It was amazing!! As soon as they put the thing on my stomach we immediately saw that precious flicker of a heart beat! The baby's heart beat was 160 bpm. They measured the baby at 8 weeks 2 days and our due date is April 11, 2010. The u/s tech kept snapping away at pictures and was able to show us the amnion, yolk sack, and the baby even wiggled a little for us. Bruce is more than convinced it is a boy, and hopefully in 12 more weeks we will know for sure :-D  The tech told us that everything looked great, but that a report would be sent to our OB and we would get a call from them later this week. 

The first 4 weeks (playing catch up)

Week 4, 5, and 6 were a breeze. Mild to moderate nausea but no tossing my cookies, yet. I felt like I could sleep all day, and did every chance I was able to. Week 7 rolled around and HELLOOOOOO MORNING SICKNESS!!! As I hovered over the toilet at my Grammy Lil's house, I thought "welcome to week 7...it's going to be GREAT!" Bruce of course laughed at my sarcasm and helped me get myself straight and ready to go for the day. As week 7 continued so did the morning sickness, or rather, the all day sickness. Some days are better than others, and I rather enjoy my better days. I continually try to bribe Bruce into being sick for me for just one day (as if it would ever happen) He of course declines, but I suppose the thought alone is comforting. 

August 28 was our first OB appointment. As we were driving in the pooring down rain, doing 35 mph on I 95 Bruce asks "Am I going to be bored in there". I chuckled and said "I don't know, this is my first pregnancy, I don't know what they do in there" He replies "Thats right, I forgot you've never been pregnant before" DUHHH!! Silly man! :-)  

We get to the appointment right on time. We are called back and immediately, the fun begins. "Mrs. Baker, lets go ahead get your weight first" says the nurse (I always knew me doing this to my patients would come back to haunt me!!)  I step on, and like any good woman would do, completely blocked my husband's view of the scale! Of course this is AFTER I take off the flip flops I was wearing, as if it would make a difference!! We get my weight and head to the exam room. 

We quickly do our health history and the health history of our parents. Easy peasy! We receive a gift bag with all sorts of goodies in it. Different types of nausea candy, I believe they are called "preggo pops" (by the way, they are nasty and will more than likely make you hurl more so than keep you from it). We get all kinds of prenatal vitamins, pregnancy magazines, parenting magazines, a list of medications I can take and a list of food I can't eat or have to limit eating. 

The nurse practitioner, Shawn, comes in and introduces herself and the exam begins. We get all the routine stuff out of the way and she feels my uterus. She thinks we are further along than 7 wks 5 days so decides to order an ultra sound to date the pregnancy. After the exam was finished we were sent down the hallway for blood work. Seven vials of blood later, we were headed to the front desk to make our 4 week check up appointment.

Tuesday, September 1 at 10:30 a.m. will be our first ultra sound. We are so excited to be able to see the baby :-D  Our 4 week check up will be September 25.  As we leave the office, I ask Bruce "so honey, were you bored in there" to which he replies "No, that was actually really interesting!" Boy and I in for a ride!! Hopefully he will continue to think this pregnancy is "interesting" and not "repulsive"  we shall see....

SURPRISE!!

We are PREGNANT! After seeing a Reproductive Endocrinologist in August 2008, we were told we would need fertility treatments to conceive. Little did we know that one year later, August 3, 2009 we would receive our first BFP on HPT!! 

My mother and I had gone to a Women of Faith conference for the weekend, and I felt lousy all weekend. I complained of being tired, and heartburn the whole time. I caught a few Z's whenever possible and was particularly picky about my food. (my poor mother! guess some things never change when you're a mother) I thought all of this feeling badly was due to a kidney infection. The weekend ended and back to work I went still not feeling well at all. I decided to do a U/A to see what was still going on with the infection. I had been on antibiotics for 3 days so surely I should have been feeling better, or so I thought. The U/A came back with a trace of WBC, but not near what it had been. I was due for my cycle that day and it was nowhere in sight. For the heck of it I decided to do a pregnancy test. As I saw the test line pop up pink I was breathless and my heart stopped!! "This test cant be right!! The control line hasnt even come up yet!" I thought to myself.

Could this be real?? Is it really my turn to have a baby?? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?? As I tilted the test every way possible to see that second line, risking a neck injury I decided to walk up to the receptionist, Amanda Smith, with the test. I put it down on her desk and said, what does that say? She replied "who is pregnant?" With the biggest smile on my face I shouted "ME!!!" 

After hugging and doing all the girly things women do when they find our they're pregnant, I then realized I had to wait until 9 o'clock p.m. to come so that I could tell Bruce face to face. All night between seeing patients, I would stare at those beautiful 2 pink lines. "We did it! WE REALLY DID IT!!" I thought to myself. 

My next thought was, "how will I tell Bruce? oh what does it matter, he wont believe me anyway!!" After work I went straight to CVS where I bought a regular pregnancy test as well as a digital, no way could we possibly read a digital one wrong! I come home happy as a clam and tell Bruce to meet me upstairs. 

I then proceeded to draw a hang man game on our white board in our bedroom. Bruce began guessing, and I was about to burst! HURRY UP! I kept thinking...finally after giving him a hint of a "+" he said "NO YOU'RE NOT!" I then proceeded to show him the test from work. He of course wanted me to take another (as I knew he would). I ran to the bathroom and busted out the digital test, followed the directions and handed it to him. Roughly 20 seconds later I hear "PREGNANT!!!" I walk in the bedroom where the digital test read "pregnant". 

I had wanted to wait until 12 weeks to tell our families, but Bruce couldn't hold it in. He called his parents right away, sent picture messages to EVERYONE. Before 10 o'clock, all family and friends shared our exciting news. 

And so began our pregnancy journey....