First belly pic with #2

16 weeks...here we go!

16 weeks :)

My dad thought it would be nice for me to have something to rest on at work. We moved the futon from our spare room over to the store and set it up in the back room. SO.....we took a leap of faith and set the crib up!!!! It's beautiful...it was my nephew Sam's crib and I am honored that we get to use it for our children. Okay, just thought I'd share this, this was a huge step for me.

Stats:

How far along?: 16 weeks

Total weight gain: according to the OB's scale...I am up 6 pounds total. It's odd because I weighed the same exact weight last month at 12 weeks! Patrick reminded me that I had on a coat and stuff last time though.

How much does baby weigh?: about 3 1/2 ounces

Maternity clothes?: pants and a few shirts

Stretch marks?: nope

Sleep?: tossing and turning still

Best moment this week?: my appt. yesterday. My original appt. was for tuesday, but I went in yesterday because I had been having some pressure that didn't feel right. All is well...my cervix looks fine, I will get results monday to see if it's a bladder thing. The baby's heartbeat sounded lovely! She said it was in the 140's.

Movement?: Not sure if I feel flutters or if it's gas or something. The next few weeks I should start feeling definite movement.

Food cravings?: Not really. Loving juice still.

Labor signs?: nope...just craziness with my uterus laying out its territory, pushing around everything else down there!

Belly button in or out?: still wide and shallow

What I miss: ignorant bliss...the midwife said for someone that has gone through what I have, the ignorant bliss of pregnancy is gone. Praying through this day by day!

What I'm looking forward to: feeling better...I have had a sore throat for a few days now...this morning I woke up with a sinus infection (that's the second one this pregnancy) I'm just laying around today :)

Milestone: 16 weeks was when we found out that Liam probably had a heart defect...so far we don't know with this baby the condition of its heart. I'm just thankful to be in the 2nd trimester.

Upcoming appointments: April 28th...OB to check my cervix...I had a cone biopsy done at the end of 2007, so my cervix gets checked biweekly from 18-24 weeks. And, its just a normal appointment. Maybe they'll scan over the baby while they are checking my cervix and check the gender!! May 10...Dr. Wechter for the level II ultrasound. Praying for a heart healthy baby! We for sure will know the gender this day.

Have a nice week! Maybe I'll take a pic soon of my expanding wasteline ;)

My job

Grace Monument Co.






This is my dad's monument business that he has been operating, out of my parents house, for the last 10 years. In December, he took the plunge and decided to open up a full-time show room. I am now the manager of the new store. I really like my job. I feel like I can kind-of relate to people that are grieving the loss of a close friend or family member, and I genuinely want to help them keep their loved one's memory alive.

We are located in Vassar, just south of the city limits on M-15. Come stop in! We are running a 10% off grand opening discount.


Patrick and I finally have Liam's granite ordered. We are currently in the process of designing it. We are putting his footprints on the front somewhere, and Patrick is designing a family tree to place on the backside (he is the artsy one of us!). So, soon I will post pictures of it. Back to work now :)

My "bump" is just belly fat misplaced by baby, mixed with bloating :)

My title of this blog explains why I'm not putting a picture up yet! I might start next week though just to have a comparison.

How far along?: 15 weeks

Total weight gain: my scale here must lie...the other morning i was only up 3 pounds total

How much does baby weigh?: no idea

Maternity clothes?: still pants

Stretch marks?: none from this pregnancy

Sleep?: tossing and turning most of the night

Best moment this week?: Easter Sunday's church service...I am so much more thankful for the resurrection since Liam has gone into heaven. I can cry just thinking about it...we are all going to be together one day!

Movement?: I think I have actually been feeling flutters...I read that sometimes you can feel movement earlier in second pregnancies.

Food cravings?: I am usually super thirsty.

Labor signs?: hope not...but have been having major round ligament pains...did not have it like this last time at all!

Belly button in or out?: getting widened by the belly fat :)

What I miss: clear skin...it's been terrible for nine months now

What I'm looking forward to: spending the weekend with people we love

Milestone: each day of grace is a milestone

Pet peeve: bare bellied pictures on facebook...my hubby feels the same way...oy!

13-week stats

I did these last time and I will try to keep them going this time as well!

How far along?: 13 weeks
Total weight gain: unsure...don't know how much I was to start with, but I'm guessing under 5 pounds total
How much does baby weigh?: no idea
Maternity clothes?: pants
Stretch marks?: none from this pregnancy
Sleep?: so-so...we have a new mattress and I'm still adjusting
Best moment this week?: when the doctor told me that i'm a week ahead of schedule, so she moved my due date up to 10-01-10!!
Movement?: nothing that can be felt
Food cravings?: none...i'm still queasy alot :/
Labor signs?: hope not
Belly button in or out?: starting to widen already
What I miss: my boy
What I'm looking forward to: to having more energy and feeling better, but i'm not complaining...i had prayed for lots of symptoms!
Milestone: just making it this far is a milestone to me

New prayer request

Meggo is preggo again! We are expecting baby #2 on 10-01-10. I knew that getting pregnant after Liam would be very emotional and trying. Well, that has been very true so far. We found out we were pregnant 6 months to the day of Liam's birth and death. We were shocked, excited and very emotional. We both sobbed our eyes out. All of those feelings, soon turned into fearful thoughts for me. I thought that maybe we jumped into this too soon after Liam's death, especially since I am still grieving his loss so intensely. Why would I want to risk going through that pain and heartbreak again? It has been a daily battle of what-if's.
Thankfully, we have made it through the 1st trimester, the first hurdle of a pregnancy! I waited until the 11th week to see a Dr. I had seen so many doctors last time, that I wasn't quite ready to step back into appointments early on. Our baby has a strong heartbeat and is very active already. We see the specialist, Dr. Wechter, on May 10th. He will do a level II ultrasound and check this baby's heart. PLEASE PRAY!! I am already so nervous about this. I know not many read this, but for those who do, thank you for your thoughts and prayers during these past few years. I will try to be dedicated in updating our blog.

It's been awhile....

I haven't blogged in awhile, because it sometimes feels narcissistic. But my original purpose to blog, was for me to keep a few of our life events on file. With that being said, one major thing that happened to us was two fridays ago. Patrick and I had driven separately to the monument store for domino night. We came back to our house after 10pm to find our back garage door and our door to get into our house WIDE open. I sat in the driveway for minute wondering if maybe the wind had blown them open. I looked around and realized that it wasn't windy though. I called Pat right away and told him that the doors were wide open. He pulled in, got out, and sat in my car with me. We have 3 cops that live right around us, so we thought that we would call our neighbor George to come over and check things out with us. He was working, so Patrick just decided to call 911. They told us to stay in our car until the police arrived. A Vassar cop came within a few minutes. A neighbor, who lives at the end of the cul-de-sac, pulled up beside the cop to tell him that her front door was wide open, but she thought that the person walked in and walked out because her daughter was in her bedroom. The cop told us that someone on Margery Ct. (which is the sub right behind ours) had a B&E around 7pm earlier that night. Pat and the officer went inside the house to check things out. I stayed in my car and called my parents. They came right away and my mom sat in with me, while my dad went in with the guys. After taking pictures and checking our house in and out, Pat came out to tell me that yes we had been broken into. The person was after jewelry and cash. He ended up looking through all of our closets, dressers drawers, bathroom vanity, etc. He took Patrick's computer bag, dumped it out on the floor and put all of our jewelry box things into that. Most of my jewelry was not touched because he did not find it...PTL! But, I had just inherited some family jewelry and that was on my dresser in my box and taken. One item my grandma had given to me at Christmas, it was a piece that was given to her by her grandmother. I am pretty bummed about that. Overall, he did not take many things, surprisingly. We just feel pretty violated. We now know to keep lights on to make it seem like someone is always home. Thankfully, we are starting to feel more secure again in our own home. We pray that this person will get caught soon, so that he does not do this to anyone else!

This experience has reminded me of how fast an event like this can happen. We were so unaware and unprepared for this to happen. But, God brought to my attention that this is how the Lord will come back:

Matthew 24:42-44
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Maybe this was a wake-up call for us to really keep our priorities straight in life! Hmmm...just a little lesson for me I guess :)




And lastly, another comforting reminder of why we face trials in this life. This last year has been full of trials for us, but I am so humbled that God is growing Patrick and I in our faith!!!

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.