20 uhh... 23 Week Ultrasound and Marble Scare

The week that I hit 20 weeks, the ultrasonographer did not have any appointments late enough for Steve to be there, and the following week, which was the week of the 24th (Utah's birthday) she was out of town, which only left us with being able to do it when we got back from San Antonio (and yes, I know I should be blogging about that first, but I have about 3 posts still before that one and hopefully once we're moved I will get caught up... and yes, more about the move later too!). So 2 days after we got home, we had our "big ultrasound". 

We picked up daddy from work and then all went to dinner somewhere near the hospital which ended up being Arby's. 

Em's been watching the Olympics with us and really enjoying it! Especially running and gymnastics... and diving. Anyway, she started doing the hands in the air thing around the same time.. so there you have it! When wanting to acknowledge an accomplishment, she raises her arms in the air, pretty funny!

Did you notice the "missionary photo bomber" in the background?? We thought that was pretty funny later, didn't notice he was looking right at the camera (phone) when I took it! 

After dinner, we headed to the appointment. Our little guy is doing well! Not measuring quite as big anymore, though my uterus is still measuring a bit big... so who knows! 

 Ultrasonographer pointed out his defined bicep! 

 Our sweet baby! 

He likes to look at us 

Isn't amazing how much you can love someone you never met! 

After the appointment, we headed to Steve's parents house to see them since we hadn't since we'd been back. Thought it would be nice to show them the video and pictures from the ultrasound too. 

There is a toy that they have that is Em's absolute favorite! In fact she starts asking for it right when we walk in the door! She has been playing with it for years without ever having a problem.... until that evening.... 

We were just getting ready to go, when Steve laid Em down to change her diaper and I noticed her struggling and then going purple.... and then I freaked because I knew she was choking on a marble, I got to her as fast as I could and Steve sat her up.... and at this point everyone had come to the room. It seemed like it took forever, but she finally coughed and then started crying. Another moment to add to the list of "scariest moments of my life". She kept grabbing in her mouth and at her throat though, so we didn't hesitate to take her to the hospital that is right around the corner from their house. Subsequently it is the same hospital where my sister died, and I haven't been there since. Needless to say, it was a little hard on me... 

However....

By this time, Em was pretty much back to herself... 

Just reading a magazine here.... 

Got her back and their first initiative was of course to do an x-ray. Most people I know were thinking we were overreacting.... but she did choke on them.... and she is unique in every aspect! Key one being here... her digestive system. She has issues, and when I say issues, I mean issues. She does not digest things well or without some kind of help every day. So, to say the least, I was almost as worried about her digesting them, as I was about her swallowing them.... almost. 

 Still doing the Olympic Arms... proud of herself I suppose ;)

And daddy taking on my usual role as baby boy and I wait behind the safety glass

After the x-rays, we were sent back to the room to wait where Em and Steve went about their usual business

yeah, don't ask ;)

After a few minutes the Dr came in and told us they didn't find one marble..... they found two!! Yup, two round perfect objects making their way to her abdomen. He told us we should expect their exit in about 48 hours..... haha, yeah right! But he wanted us to watch her and follow up with the pediatrician if in a couple days she hadn't passed them. And then we headed home... 

I checked on her a lot that night! But every time, this is the way I found her... peacefully and soundly asleep! And ten fold, that blanket on Em is the very blanket they placed on my sister at that hospital nearly 18 years ago. Bittersweet. 

Now the reason I waited on this post is because I knew people would be asking if those marbles were still in her.... so that is why I did it tonight. As of tonight which is 8 days later, this girl has finally "lost her marbles", pun intended ;) 

And yeah, seems like this girl is already set out to upstage her brother! 

Park City with the Peters' Clan 2012

Once again we got to enjoy the Westgate Lodge and Spa in Park City with Steve's family. We also went last year, but it was in October, you can read about that time here. But the time we went before that was when I was pregnant with Em! 

We are so lucky that Steve's parents have invested in this place for all of us! This year it consisted of a presidential suite with a kitchen, large common room, 2 bedrooms and bathrooms in the main suite, and then 2 smaller rooms that each had a bedroom bathroom and small kitchen. PLUS they had two more separate suites, one large and one small. All in all, plenty of room, plus more to spare!! We had a few visitors both family and friends throughout the week. Steve's youngest brothers Mike and Cory were with us for the first weekend, but then they went on a hiking/camping trip with an old scout leader, so we invited the scout leader's wife and four kids to come up, so you will see their kids in the slideshow below. 

One of the best things about the presidential suite was the hot tub on the deck again! A little different this time around when it was actually still pretty warm outside! So we mostly used it at night... and with the heat turned town! Which worked out for the little girls and me being pregnant..... although I couldn't enjoy it until about 5 days after we got there due to my gallbladder surgery. Yeah, we went up just the night after my surgery! But I could either lay around and try and recover at home with no help for Em when Steve was at work (and I wasn't supposed to be lifting her), or recover in luxury with help all around! Easy choice in my book! 

I could go on more, but I'll just let the videos and pictures speak for themselves! Oh and keep in mind that the pictures that I look like the walking dead were when I was still recovering. Couldn't take a shower for the first couple days and was having a hard time even getting up, though I DID! Friday and Saturday, I just tried not to be in pictures at all, but Sunday was when I finally started to feel back to myself, was able to shower and I got ready and went out! 

First I will share a couple pictures that uncle Mike got, since we forgot to include them in the slideshow, but Mike is quite the photographer as well! 

 I had called to ask the Dr if it was ok for me to ice my incision on my belly-button (since that was the only one giving me any pain.... probably because of the pressure of my uterus and baby boy!), and she said it was ok for 20 minute incraments, she then suggested that my hubby give me a back rub, to which he complied, and then cute as could be, Em wanted to help too! FYI, this was Saturday, so yes still not back to the land of the living ;) 

Big smiles from my cute girl! Uncle Mike catches them better than us! 

And here's the rest of the pictures and videos in the slideshow!

Remember 720p and full screen for optimum viewing!

Thanks again mom and dad (Stan and Debbie) for this wonderful vacation! 

Who Needs a Gallbladder Anyway?! *Squeamish BEWARE!

As most of you know, I recently had my gallbladder removed, 3 days ago to be exact. I have had ongoing problems with my gallbladder for 3+ years. The doctor I dealt with before though did not think it necessary to remove since I didn't have the presence of stones..... however the doctor that took it out said it showed years of disease and should have been taken out a long time ago. I also did have stones this time, thanks to baby boy probably. 

My first attack during the pregnancy was probably around 13 or 14 weeks, though I wasn't sure that's what it was then, I am now. I went to the ER for one that lasted a good 2 days when I was 16 weeks, and there is where they referred me again to a surgeon. The surgeon was pretty sure it would need to come out one way or another.... either now in my second trimester, or right after the baby is born.... like we're talking a week after *doesn't give me much time to recover from birth, would it?!* I was fine to wait since I really didn't want to do anything to jeopardize this rare pregnancy of mine. However, after talking to my OB, she was pretty sure she wanted me to get it out now. She thought it would only get worse, and that the attacks would come more frequently and be worse than they already were (and they were already pretty bad), they cannot remove it in the third trimester. She made me promise that I would reconsider getting it taken out if I had another attack. That didn't take long... the very next Friday I had an attack that lasted well through the weekend. Even though I had been very careful with what I was eating (low fat diet). When I called the surgeons office, they were fine to take it out right away.... the very next day actually. 

Originally they gave me a check-in time of 12:30, which I thought would be hard with fasting from midnight. But that morning they called a little before 7 am and said they'd had some cancellations and asked if I could be there at 8.... and we took it! 

They did some bloodwork and such first, and it was probably about 10 before they wheeled me back to the OR. I was grateful that Steve was able to be off work and be with me. The time it said on the clock when I finally opened my eyes was about 11:45. 

Before the surgery, it had been decided that when I was out of recovery they wanted me to be monitored in Labor & Delivery for a few hours afterward. So at about 12:30, we met Steve in the hallway and headed up the elevator to L&D. I wasn't really aware of any pain at first, probably because I was still groggy and numb from the anesthesia, so I declined anything for pain, especially through an IV at that point. They wanted to make sure that I could eat something and keep it down... liquids only though, so the nurse brought in a menu. I decided on some chicken broth and an orange italian ice, which was really good. She had brought in some crackers and Sprite before then, which were hard to eat with how dried out my mouth was. So I guzzled two sprites and then two waters. And by then my food was there. Halfway through eating I vomited, so I waited a little while before trying again. They also wanted me to be able to go to the bathroom on my own, otherwise they'd have to place a catheter and I would have to stay the night. First 3 attempts were unsuccessful, but I still had time before they wanted me to go home anyway (they wanted me there for at least 4 hours). It was at this point that I finally accepted Steve's offer to see "the pictures".

Now here's the squeamish part.... sorry! 

First off, here's what a healthy gallbladder should look like

And this was mine....

Anyone still want to debate whether I should have had this organ out?!..... No?? Didn't think so! 

So after I was finally able to relieve my bladder and keep some liquids down, they said I was good to go home, exactly at 4 pm. Steve and I stopped at Article Circle on the way home to get me a chocolate malt, and right before we pulled in, I had to use the sick back I had in my lap.... but I still wanted the shake ;) At home, went to sleep for awhile and Steve went to get Emarie from his parent's house and get my prescriptions filled. I admit I broke down and have taken a few of the Loritab that they prescribed, but they told me I could take 2 every four hours, and I've only been doing about 1 every six... and that's only if the pain is really bad. I'd say I've only had one in the last 48 hours, and it was yesterday morning. 

So I have a total of 4 incisions. The only one that really bothers me is the one on my belly button... the one where my uterus and baby boy are. At least I've been able to ice it for 20 minutes at a time. And found out today that I will finally be able to soak in these amazing jacuzzis  that are all around on Tuesday at the resort we've been staying at since Friday night (yes I came up the very day after my surgery, recover at home, or recover in luxury.... what would you choose?). And yeah, the reason I didn't know when I'd be able to get my incisions wet is because I never got any discharge instructions from the surgery, only L&D.... odd I know! So I have called the hospital a few times, but today I actually needed to go in to the Park City instacare since I was pretty sure I had a UTI.... lovely! And I was right. So I started on antibiotic and took advantage of being able to ask the dr there about certain things. Common sense told me that I shouldn't be getting them wet... just didn't know for how long. And I'd already been told I can't be lifting anything over 20 lbs for about a month.... yup, sorry Em! So far we've had enough help that I have been fine... only thing I worry about is when we get home from San Antonio and Steve goes back to work... but I'm sure we'll manage. 

So there you have it. Finally the swelling has begun to go down. Seriously looked like I was more like 8 months pregnant on Friday (which was the day after)

Yikes!! 

And here's the picture I took today. I am currently 21 weeks (hit that on Saturday), and now 3 days post-op and feeling pretty good other than the infection! 

Even walked all around downtown Park City today... but did have to ice my belly when we got back. And both of these pictures were taken in our amazing suite at the Westgate Lodge, courtesy of Steve's parents! We are here with most of Steve's family, minus his sister Amber and her husband Kevin in West Virginia... she feels too pregnant to travel! Anyway, more on the trip in another post... hopefully :/ I'm still really behind thanks to my obsessive photographer of a husband ;) 

The Results Are In....

With a measly total of 34 votes, girls beat out boys by 2 votes (18 to 16).... wish we'd had more people care to vote, but that's just the way it goes. Also I would say I don't count about 3 of those votes since Steve cheated the system ;) 

We were coy about telling people when we were actually finding out since we wouldn't be sharing it until the next day. But at 7 pm we walked into the Dr's office to see what this sweet baby would be. 

The face was actually the first thing we saw :) Made me cry. Em waved to us the first time we saw her on screen, and this time we got "looked" at

Little legs crossed.... had me worried for just a sec that we wouldn't get a peek at the "goods" ;) But low and behold... 

No mistaking! 

Y'all were wrong.... just saying!

Outside the dr.'s office after the ultrasound..... I even wore my blue shirt!


So as I mentioned before, we waited until the next day to let everyone know what we found out. My cousin Alexis (2 months older than me) is also expecting and is just a week or two behind me. She also found out what she was having the next day.... which is why we waited, so that we could do a fun reveal together. Alexis came up with the idea to fill a black garbage bag with either pink or blue balloons and release them at the same time with the family gathered around. Only problem was that Lexi's appointment was kind of late and we didn't want the reveal to be really late, so I said that I would buy the balloons after my appointment. I knew the color I needed and then just got 5 of each for Alexis. I put all of the balloons in the garbage sacks before we headed over to my grandparents, so that everything would be all ready. I put the 2 for Lexi in the storage room of the basement and told her that I had marked the one with blue balloons with a small marker mark on the knot of the tie so that she wouldn't have to try and open them to know which was which. And the rest is history...

Steve posted this picture on my Facebook wall shortly after with the caption that said, "Emarie was right!" Because just the day before when I was getting her up in the morning I had asked her if she thought she was going to have a baby brother... or, but before I could finish, she very boldly and clearly said, "I do!" So she knew it was a brother all along! 

Someone had also asked in a comment on Facebook on the above picture why we were releasing balloons, and one of my dear friends (an affected young adult of ch18 actually) stated that she thought we were doing it for my sister..... how sweet is that? And I didn't even think of that! Even more special because my cousin too has lost a sibling to a car wreck, her brother Brooks. 

Blue balloons all around! We will have 2 baby boys only a couple weeks apart! So fun, especially since we live so close to each other, and grew up together ourselves! And NO the pregnancies were not planned.... do people really realize what they are actually asking when they ask this??! And neither of us knew what were in the other's bags! So it was really fun!

And here's the video of the whole thing. And I must feel the need to defend myself here because I got so frustrated that mine didn't come out at the same time.... plus the hormones (I suggest turning the sound way down)! Haha!

I have already bought some clothes of course! Actually the first thing I bought was from some generous Kohl's cash that one of my fellow ch18 mom's sent to me (she lives in Canada and just went shopping there when they were visiting the states recently, and knew that she wouldn't use it before it expired without having one near her).... but seriously, how lucky am I?! Unfortunately they expired before we would find out, so I bought myself some maternity jeans and a maternity cami for layering (since all my regular ones are not working out too well anymore!) and then a generic layette set. But the day after we found out, I took the layette back and got one that screamed a little more boy than yellow ducks ;) 

I have since bought this little number online to save on some shipping for a dress I got for me :) It isn't here yet, but here's what it looks like... and boy am I excited for this one!

Now who says shopping for boys is no fun??!

And here's the most recent belly shot of me. Taken between 16 and 17 weeks on Father's Day

And can't go without adding a picture of the the whole reason we stopped to take pictures in the first place! 

Em and her wonderful daddy! 

The Story of How Baby #2 Came to Be

This post is a bit hard for me to write, which is why I've put it off so long. I think the reason for that is because I feel vulnerable about all of it, and that I'm still at the beginning of this "unattainable dream" that could fleet from my fingers at any moment. I think it was easier to breathe a sigh relief at the last doctors appointment where I once again heard that reaffirming sound of my sweet baby's hearbeat, and knowing that I am now considered past the "safe point". So, now I'll get on with it. 

I had gone off birth control long before this happened for us. We knew with the fact that I was on such a high dose of hormones in my birth control to help control frequent cysts and onset of endometriosis, that it might take awhile. My doctor had told me that it could take at least 4-6 months to get pregnant, if at all.... but we were well over a year later and it still hadn't happened, and honestly I had quit expecting it to happen anymore. When the year mark had come and past, I thought about going back to my doctor, but honestly I was afraid.... I was afraid of what she might tell me, I was afraid of fertility clinics, but mostly I was afraid that they would find nothing wrong and I would be left to wonder why. So, I put it off, but it nagged at me.... and nagged. So a few months later I went ahead and made an appointment, I was overdue for my yearly exam anyway. 

My doctor expressed concern as well that it had been nearly 16 months with no pregnancy. She suggested we run some blood-work first, since hormone deficiency is the most common and easiest to treat for infertility. The fact that my cycle has only been lasting between 24-26 days, made her think it more likely that I could have a hormone deficiency, and most likely with a cycle that short it was slim I was even ovulating at all. She still did give me some brochures for some fertility clinics, which I hoped I would never have to use. 2 reasons for that... first being that we would spend a whole lot of money and still not get a baby, the other being that our likelihood of multiples is already high... and with our luck, I could see us having 5 :/ Still, I walked out of the office with a little bit of hope and an order to get some blood work, which I did that very day. 

A week later I was called by my doctor's office saying they had my results and wanted me to come in as soon as I could. I hoped that meant "good news" if they weren't sharing it over the phone. An hour later Em and I sat down in my doctor's office as she pulled out her notes to discuss the results of my previous blood-work. As we had hoped, it showed I had a significant deficiency in progesterone, which was a super easy fix and most likely to blame for my short cycle and lack in pregnancy. She didn't think it necessary that I begin the medication right away, rather wait until the middle of my cycle, around the time I could be ovulating, which would be around the 16th day of my cycle. This was a Thursday, I should be starting on Saturday. So I was eager and elated that this could finally happen for us. I prayed in the car that day, prayed very hard and long.... didn't expect that prayer to be answered so fast! 

Saturday came and went, but my "monthly gift" never came. Not too surprising, I had been late once before since I stopped birth control, and like I'd said I'd quit expecting any other reason for being late.... but I was, and when the end of Sunday came and I still hadn't started, I decided I'd get a pregnancy test to take in the morning, just for my own sanity. Because this was really late, most of the time it came early, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a test. Sunday was April Fool's day, and Steve thought it would be funny for us to do what a lot of other people were doing and that was to announce a pregnancy.... I thought it would be cruel though, since I thought a lot of people would really take that to heart and be so happy for us, only to be shot down. 

Monday, April 2nd is when I took the first test. I got up in the morning and took a test, waited the 3 minutes and it was negative.... or so I thought ;) Wasn't surprised, of course a little disappointed, but I had been getting better at pushing that disappointment away. I even forgot about it... but then it was Wednesday and I was now 5 days late, so when Em woke up at her almost usual time of 5 am, I decided to take the other test that was in the box, so that that way I could call my doctor to find out what was going on since I was sure this one would be negative as well. 3 short minutes later, I looked at the test to see the same result as before.... negative.... hmm, but then wait.... I think I've been reading this wrong! I've been looking for a + sign all along, and this test says right here that 2 lines indicate a positive result..... 2 lines? I have 2 very bold lines, and come to think of it, so did the last test. I'm pregnant.... I honestly can't believe it. But it must be true, because I have apparently had 2 positive tests telling me so.

I tried to go back to sleep for another hour, but I was too excited to sleep, and I didn't want to wake Steve yet since that's what I had done at more like 4 in the morning when I found out about Em, and I think he had wished I'd waited until later ;) So instead I came out to the living room and laid on the couch and just reveled in my own excitement.

First thoughts- honestly my very first thought that moment was: "I get to do this again, I get to have another shot." Now please don't get me wrong here, Emarie coming to this world is one of the best things that ever happened to me. It's just that her delivery was just such a traumatic moment, full of fear, worry and unknown.... not how it was supposed to be. I felt cheated out of the whole "first birth" experience. So much so that I still have a hard time hearing other people's birth stories, seeing pictures or videos. And I know others have had harder experiences than even I did, and of course those who can't have children on their own, and I am sensitive to that, believe me! So that was my first thought, that I would have that chance again.

My next thought was a little more panicked, "I've never breastfed a baby, I don't even really know how to feed a baby.... how am I going to do this when they'll think I know what I'm doing since I already have a child??" This thought was made evident further down the road when my niece (who's 16 months old) came up to me wanting one of the chips I was eating, and I told her no since I wasn't sure if she could eat them. I later found out from her mom that she was fine to eat chips.... see, typical baby dummy here! But Steve was quick to point out that it would be fine and we would learn along the way like first time parents..... sort of ;)  

That morning before Steve got in the shower, I sent him this message.... 

Corny I know, but keep in mind I hadn't had much sleep! 

That very day, I made a call for a high-risk OB (doctor's recommendation since I have had a few miscarriages and Em's pregnancy and labor were rather difficult), and luckily they fit me in the very next day with the nurse practitioner. First of all, they confirmed my pregnancy, but expressed concern that I was already having pelvic pain and cramping.... they wanted to make sure I didn't have an ectopic pregnancy with my history, so I went in for my very first ultrasound that evening. Being as I was no more than 5 weeks, they couldn't really see much even by the less than traditional way :S (sorry didn't want to be too graphic.... some of you will probably know what I mean though). So I was then sent next door for more blood-work to check my HCG levels. Next day I tried calling the Doctor's office since I hadn't heard from them yet, and they said a nurse would be calling me with an hour. Not even 10 minutes later I got a call, but not from the nurse, but from the actual doctor whom I haven't even seen yet.... that scared me a bit! She mentioned that my levels looked great for a pregnancy that would be indicative of 5 weeks, her concern though was that I might actually be further along (8-9 weeks) and it actually was implanted somewhere else which would produce some low HCG levels. So she wanted me to repeat the test every other day for the next 2 weeks, possibly repeat an ultrasound in a week, which I did and thankfully we could see the sac was in the uterus, but couldn't see a heartbeat yet... so repeat the blood test for a little longer, then I had another ultrasound nearing the 9 week mark, where there was definitely a heartbeat! Also had a Dr's appointment the next week and we heard the heartbeat with the doppler for the first time :) Here's a little video Steve put together of that

Ok, so next up will be the details of when we told family and photos and videos from the reactions and FYI the video above was done after we'd told our families, but before we had announced it on the blog or Facebook.... so to be continued :)