21+ weeks

At my cousin Erin's shower
Erin 30 weeks with twins, Anne 21+ weeks, Me 21 weeks, Stephanie 10 weeks

How far along?: 21+ weeks
How big is baby?: size of a papaya, and almost a pound
Weight Gain?: I weighed 135 at the doctor's this past thursday, so up 10 lbs!
Stretch Marks?: nada
Maternity Clothes?: yes...realized i like the full-panel the best...the half-panel pants hurt!
Sleep?: so-so, back is starting to hurt
Best moment this week?: lots of things...getting bags of baby girl clothes from my sister-in-law Chrissy (along with some other things), Erin's babies shower...
Food Cravings?: Charley's steakery chicken philly with fries, dipped in malt vinegar and ketchup!!
Gender?: lovely little girl
Movement? More and more...hubs felt her 2 weeks ago
What I miss?: not being so emotional and overwhelmed
Belly Button?: wide and shallow...and ugly :)
Labor Signs?: no...just a few braxon hicks
What I'm looking forward to?: 3rd trimester
Milestone?: lots of little ones...over halfway there!

She's heart healthy!!!

*Sigh*

I'm just so grateful...so thankful...so humbled. Yesterday we met with Dr. Wechter. I love that doctor so much. He's the doctor that says...feel free to call me day or night with any concerns. His nurse met with us first and did a quick scan of the baby. Then the doctor came in. He started scanning her heart right away. He said he could tell within the first 30 seconds that her heart looked healthy. He was in a very good mood...joking around alot with us. Last year was all bad news appointments, with very somber nurses and doctors. Yesterday's appointment was the complete opposite. I could go into more detail about yesterday's visit...but I'll just sum it up. Baby girl seems to be completely healthy!! We actually left an appointment smiling! So, thank you all for the many thoughts and many prayers.

Here is one of the pictures from yesterday. She is measuring still a week ahead at 19w4days. Due date still 10-01-10

not so clear picture...but it's a close-up of her face...side profile...and her hand coming up to her mouth, with mouth open. Arrow is pointing to her nose.





xoxoxoxo--Megan

It's a....

GIRL!!!!


It's been quite the week.

Sunday: Went into the ER, because I had been having lots of pain and pressure. I wanted to make sure my cervix was fine, and that I wasn't having contractions. After a bunch of tests, exams, and an ultrasound, they diagnosed me with an acute UTI. During the ultrasound we got to see our baby. Much to our surprise, the tech did a complete anatomy scan. The most exciting part, was that he could see all four chambers of the heart. What a relief! Liam's heart defect was diagnosed at 16 weeks, because it was so noticeable that he only had 2 developed chambers. We're so thankful for seeing four chambers. The tech told us that he was not allowed to tell us the gender at the ER. So, instead of telling us what it was, he just said.."I don't see any boy parts!"

Tuesday: Picked up our new used mini-van. It's a humble vehicle, but it's a great step-up from Patrick's Safari...which, by the way, sold very quickly for the asking price. Woo-hoo!

Wednesday: Appointment at the OB. The tech did my cervical length ultrasound. Cervix is good. She also confirmed the sex of the baby...still a girl! Just seems weird to not be pregnant with a boy...but I'm super excited!! That night, we visited Patrick's mom and step-dad. Her birthday was days before, so we thought we'd surprise her with a visit. She was floored. We gave her a small card that said "It's a girl," along with some pink flowers. She sobbed. It's just nice to be able to give our family some good news.

Thursday: We told my parents. We went over to their house with a card. The front said "It's a..." and the inside said "GIRL!!" My dad had guessed boy, and my mom was on the fence...so yeah, they were surprised, thankful and excited!

Friday: We headed to my brother's graduation ceremony in Indiana. We had a great weekend with my family.

Saturday: Graduation stuff...fun day!

Sunday: Headed back to Michigan to attend Patrick's best friend's graduation ceremony. Him and his wife are also expecting a girl. Can't wait to see Patrick and Brandon with their daughters together! And the last thing to top off the week...Anne called and told me that they are having a BOY. I am so excited for them! So many are having girls right now, that it will be nice to have a boy in the mix.

Here are some pics from this past week:


18 weeks :)



Rents, bros and me...




and lastly...18 week stats


How far along?: 18 weeks

Total weight gain: I weigh the same again....I guess I've gained 6ish pounds total.

How much does baby weigh?: ??

Maternity clothes?: yup

Stretch marks?: nope

Sleep?: little better

Best moment this week?: Seeing the heart!!

Movement?: on and off

Food cravings?: really thirsty

Labor signs?: hope not

Belly button in or out?: still wide and shallow

What I miss: Liam Charles

What I'm looking forward to: my appointment next monday with the specialist

Milestone: finding out the gender...GIRL!!

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!