Kick, kick, kick

Today I felt Baby Boy Frey kick. He is kicking just left of my belly button. I was reading him some of the the children's Bible when I felt him kick.
I sobbed and called John into the room. He couldn't feel him. I called Zach and he thinks it's "cool."
I am very happy!

Growing Belly

Our poor baby keeps getting bumped into all of the time because I keep forgetting that my belly sticks out! Last night, he got hit by the fridge door. Every time I go to the bank, sit at my desk at work, go anywhere with high table/desk, I walk up into it and then realize my tummy is pressing so much into the table that I need to step back. That poor baby keeps getting squished!!!!!

It's a Boy.

We went for our 20 week ultrasound today and it's a boy!!!!!
The ultrasound lasted for about 30 minutes. Brain, spine, heart, face and bones have developed well. The baby weighs a pound. We couldn't get a profile picture b/c baby was laying on his belly covering his face. What a stinker!

Poem I Like

and God said to Mom:

Raise This Child

I have formed this little child you hold within your heart.
My mercy and My goodness have been there from the start.
The face, the hands, the smile- I shaped all that you see.
Take this gift I've given you and raise this child for Me

Weirdo Dreams

I have been told and have been reading that pregnant women can have weird dreams when they are pregnant. I have to agree. My dream last night was sooooo crazy and every time I woke up and fell back asleep, I was back in the dream.
Zach and I were in a snowy forest and I saw this animal that had a glassy blue-white eye on one side. That same side it looked like the animal was frosty because it was cold. The other side of the animal was normal. It was running around us. I turned around to look at Zach and the animal bit me in my hand.
Apparently we left the snowy forest and somehow the animal, now a normal looking camel, was in my apartment (but not the one I live in now and it wasn't winter anymore). John called the zoo to ask them to take the camel and they said that they couldn't so I had him call my friend Jenn Baksys to see what she could do about it. She didn't know what to do with it (she doesn't work at a zoo or with animals).
I guess I needed groceries because I took the camel to the grocery store with me and he kept biting me by the deli counter. In the dream, I kept saying that being bit by a camel can't be good for a pregnant woman so I called my friend Jenn Baksys to see what she could do with the camel (even though John had already called). Then the alarm went off.
I guess the good thing about the dream is that even though the camel bit me, he never spit on me!

Blood Clots

Last week I had an appointment with a hematologist to confirm I am taking the correct dosage of lovenox and to discuss my history of blood clots. While I was there, my right leg appeared to be more swollen than the left and it was warmer. This caused some concern. My doctor sent me for a doppler of both legs the next day and praise God, no blood clots!!!!!!

I still have swollen legs, ankles and feet...but I think that it has something to do with the fact that I am pregnant :)

2nd Trimester

We are officially in the 2nd trimester (we'll be 15 weeks on Monday). I know that we are only a week in, however, my expectations for what the 2nd trimester is supposed to be like is currently no where near that! I thought that my nausea would be done, that I would have of made it through my pregnancy without puking and that all around I would just feel better. None of this has happened yet and then I began to puke---what is up with that?
My legs, ankles, feet and toes are swelling more now and it hurts. Flips flops are really comfortable on me, but without the support of shoe, my feet and ankles just swell more :( Oh well, it's just for one summer, right? :)

13 Weeks

We are 13 weeks today. I am officially in my 2nd trimester. I know that it is only the first week out of trimester 1, but I thought that I would be done with nausea. A couple of days last week I wasn't nauseous and I felt like I had my life back. I started to get a bit sick towards the end of the week. I ended up with a sinus infection Saturday morning, July 3rd. I called the PCP to ask what I could do for it and it was my choice between saline water or a neti-pot. As the day progressed, I had a bunch of food to make for the Saturday and Sunday parties I was going to. As I was making tortilla roll ups (with ham) I puked. I stepped away a few times because the smell was getting to me. I just took in deep breaths and continued on. Then I threw up and I was done. No more puking until Sunday. The first time was at home but the second time was in the car on the way to my brother's. Thank God I keep bags in the car otherwise we would have of had a big problem!

Vacation

This was our first vacation since I became pregnant. We went to the Dells. We always go to Wisconsin Dells the week of wedding anniversary. Well, I should have of picked the week following our anniversary b/c all it did was rain (which, if you have been to the Dells,you know that the fact that it is raining leaves out the majority of the attractions that we could do). However, we swam indoors, we ate, we watched TV, we ate and went shopping. Oh well. We got to spend time together and that was good.

I am not sure if it was the weather that made me feel so yucky, but these past couple of days were/are bad pregnancy days. I was/am nauseous for 23.5 hrs a day, on average, and all I wanted/want to do was sleep. I can't walk for long distances b/c I get so tired. I feel bad for John for having to deal with me. He has been great (even when I had my first emotional breakdown last week). I am very lucky to have him!

Touching the Belly

OK, so apparently people think it is alright to go around and touch pregnant women's bellies. I have never thought that was appropriate and would even feel a little reluctant to touch the bellies of those pregnant moms that tell me too. Being pregnant hasn't changed my mind in this matter.
So, I am only 9 weeks along and don't have too much of a belly and another woman at work came up to me, asked me if anyone has touched my belly yet and then proceeded to touch my belly and shake it!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really don't like that.

Morning Sickness

As I read through different websites about pregnancy (parents.com, babycenter.com) I read that morning sickness doesn't necessarily mean that you will only get it in the morning. Well, they couldn't be more right. I am nauseous right when I wake up, on my way to work, mid-morning, late afternoon, in the car on the way home, after dinner, before bed and, oh yeah, I almost forgot, it wakes me up in the middle of the night!!! I am sick of saltines and I can't wait for 12 weeks to come!

Specialist Visit

John and I had 2 appointments last Thursday. One with a fetal specialist and one with a genetic counselor. My OB sent me to a fetal specialist b/c I have a hx of blood clots and there is a possibility that I would have to take a blood thinner during my pregnancy. They sent me to see a genetic counselor because of the medicine I am on and the risk of birth defects.

We saw the fetal specialist first. They did an ultrasound and baby is still great. This was John's first time seeing the baby. He didn't cry like I did-no surprise. We got to hear the heartbeat. It was so amazing. That little heart was beating so fast at 7 weeks (in normal range). It really blew my mind. The Bible says that God created our inmost being and I agree. He has crafted this little baby inside of me and to hear the baby's heartbeat reaffirmed God's goodness, creativity and His uttermost perfection.

The outcome of that appointment is that since I have a hx of blood clots, I do have to take a blood thinner throughout my entire pregnancy. It can't be coumadin/warfarin because it crosses the placenta and will thin baby's blood too. So, I am on one lovenox shot daily. Closer to due date, they will take me off of it and put me on heparin so that if needed, I can have an epidural.

The genetic counselor was a very nice lady. The outcome of that is really nothing. My chances of having a baby with a birth defect isn't that outstanding. We wouldn't abort the baby anyway, so we don't need to meet with her again. Our next visit with the fetal specialist is in August.

Sharing the News with Zachary

We couldn't wait to tell Zachary. When we found out for sure on Tuesday while I was at Michael's Craft Store, I bought a t-shirt, iron on's, colored foam sheet & letters, baby stickers and a gift bag that I could decorate. We made him a shirt that says "Future Big Brother," a sign that says "I Can't Wait to Meet You," and on the gift bag there were baby stickers and the due date month and year.
I picked Zach up Wednesday after work. John was home when we got home. He placed the gift bag on Zach's bed. We sent him in his room to get his "gift." As he was walking to his room, I started to cry (go figure)! I had my head turned when he came back in the front room because I didn't want him to think something was wrong. So, we had him read his bag and he really didn't seem to get it. He took out the sign and read it. His back was facing me. He turned around with a HUGE smile on his face and asked me if I was going to have a baby. I can't remember if I shook my head or said "yes." All I know is that I was so happy that he was happy. We told him to look at the shirt. IMMEDIATELY, he took off the shirt he was wearing and put on his "Future Big Brother" shirt. I looked over at John and I saw him wipe his eye :)

Blood Test

I couldn't get into the doctor's on Saturday (the day I found out) so I had to wait until Monday. At 8:30am, the minute that office opened, I called to set an appointment for my blood draw. I was set for 5PM. I was told that the results would be available in 24 hrs, not the 48 like I was expecting.
When you have blood work done at my doctor's office, your results are given on a voicemail like system. You call an 800 # and put in personal information to get your results. I am not positive, but I believe that I called that number about 25 times that day! I just wanted to know, to make it real, and so that we could tell Zachary. I called John with frustration because I just wanted to know. He suggested that I call and ask for the results b/c it is for pregnancy, not just regular results. I took his advice, called and left a message. I was in Michael's Craft Store in North Riverside getting stuff for Scouts that night when I got a call from the doctor's office telling me that the blood test confirmed that I am pregnant. I thanked her and started sobbing. I called John and tried to talk to him, tell him that we're pregnant, but I couldn't say much. He got the picture:)

Great News

I was almost a week late when I realized that maybe I should "take the test." I didn't want to take the test because I didn't want to be jumping the gun (which I have done several times before) or most importantly, be disappointed. After having a bizarre dream about pregnancy (at 6:45 AM) I got up and took a test I had. It came back positive. It's hard to describe how I felt. I was happy, I was teary-eyed, I was unsure. I wanted to be happy, but I just didn't believe it. So, in my pj's and flip flops, I went to Walgreens to buy a different brand of pregnancy test and by 7:15am on Saturday, May 8, 2010, I had two positive pregnancy tests. I was thanking God for this miracle, but I didn't want to think anything about pregnancy because I was afraid it wasn't true. After a few hours of thinking this over, I convinced myself that TWO pregnancy tests couldn't possibly be wrong, so I must be pregnant. With that, Zach and I went shopping and we bought an "I love my Daddy bib." (I told Zach that the bib was for someone else). I put one of the tests in a plastic sandwich bag, rolled the bib around it, tied it and put it on top of John's "special" donut treat.
Zach had a birthday party to go to and during that time I went out to lunch with my mother. I didn't want to say anything to her, or to anyone for that matter, until I took a blood test. I tried to act normal, well at least normal for me :), even when John called. He found the gift I left him and said something to the effect of "so you're pregnant." All I could say was "yes," because I didn't want my mom to know. It was crazy b/c I never pictured such a joyous moment to be shared b/t my husband and me, but nonetheless, it's the way happened and I probably won't forget it!