Update!

Hi guys! I know it's been a while since my last update, but I was waiting for some test results and more information before updating things.

BABY S:

I failed my 1 hour glucose test (testing for gestational diabetes - GD) so I was sent for a 3 hour test which is considered a diagnostic test, if I failed this one, I would be diagnosed with GD (they make you drink 10oz of liquid that EACH OUNCE has 10 GRAMS of sugar per ounce... so 100 grams) they then draw your blood 3 times (once an hour for three hours) to test your sugar levels. I just got the results - I PASSED!!!!! So I indulged in 2 pieces of pie for Thanksgiving... which is SO unlike me! So I am very happy that I passed. Aside from that, everything has been perfectly fine. No issues, all measurements are on track, heartbeat has been good. My OB is very happy with everything so far! I am currently 31 weeks and 5 days pregnant (as of today, Thanksgiving, 11/27/14) So we're less than TWO MONTHS from baby's due date! So we're in the home stretch! My belly size hasn't really grown that much more, so as baby is getting bigger (my pregnancy app says baby is currently about 18 inches long and 3.5 lbs) my room for food/breathing is getting limited. VERY limited. If I walk up the stairs, or walk for a long period of time, I breathe like I ran a marathon... it's really a fantastic trait when you don't look that pregnant to be breathing like a crazy person. haha. We have almost all of the 'essentials' for baby, the only thing we still need are diapers (which are supposed to be on a Black Friday sale, so I've been holding off to see what the deal will be) baby shampoo/wash (inexpensive, I just haven't gotten around to getting it yet) and baby laundry detergent (again, inexpensive, just haven't needed it yet so I haven't gotten around to it.) Other than that, everything else can wait (high chair, etc. that we won't need for several months) So it feels good to check things off our list. Next up is making sure baby's bag and my bag are packed for the hospital! (How are we already preparing for baby's arrival?!!!! I feel like it was just yesterday we announced we were expecting!)

TYLER:

As you all know, Tyler is now in basic. He was actually allowed a phone call today for Thanksgiving, which was nice. He said basic's rough, of course, he's in the hardest platoon of his company. Their platoon has to earn everything (whereas other platoons in his company just 'got' certain privileges) a few examples he gave, at the end of certain training exercises they shout out their platoon name (I think he said his platoon was the Warlords?) His platoon is NOT allowed to shout that... they have not EARNED it. They also were issued normal eyeglasses to wear, however, his platoon is NOT authorized to wear them, they have to wear their big 'ole glasses - referred to as BCG's or Birth Control Glasses (because they're so unattractive) and they can't wear their other eyewear until they have earned it. He's had some good experiences with Drill Sergeants (as well as some not-so-good ones!) From what he said, they sat him down a few times to discuss the fact he would be missing baby's birth, and were very personal with him "from one father to another father" talks. He's got some awesome battle buddies, he's said a few times that they're "friends for life kind of friendships - which is crazy because I just met them" He's getting into a rhythm there, and impressed with the fact he's "already getting defined muscles" and he said time is flying by for him, which is good. Because his platoon has to earn their privileges, he currently has VERY little time to write letters - he is actually not writing much during that time, because that is also his time to ready his uniform for the following day as well as shower... So there isn't much time left to write letters and get ready for bed. The weather has also been crazy. Since he's been there it's been down to the 20's, up to the 70's, it's been sunny, rained, tornado warnings. So he's battling a little bit of a cold, and I'm sure the weather doesn't really help. Hopefully as he progresses through, he'll get more freedom and be able to write more. But as of right now the only letters I have received are from before basic started. He wanted me to let you all know he's doing okay, and that he loves you. He wishes he had time to call and talk to everyone, but he said his drill sergeant went home for Thanksgiving, and he was stuck with a butthead (he used a more colorful word) of a drill sergeant, and they weren't even allowed in their bay to make their call, they had to stand out in the cold with 200+ people fighting for 12 outlets to charge their phones.

I think that is everything to update you guys on, I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! 

As of right now (if there are no complications) my appointment schedule for the remainder of this pregnancy is:

December 2nd

December 16th

December 22nd

December 30th

January 6th

January 13

January 20th

DUE January 24th

I will let you all know when/if my OB sets up an induction date/c-section date (if baby is still breech)

Love you all

xoxox, Heather, Tyler, and Baby S!  

Maternity Pictures & Tyler Update

So as you all know, Tyler is officially sworn in and at Reception for basic training. He is very excited and I'll keep you all informed as time goes on!

A few days before he left, we took some maternity pictures. So I wanted to share those with all of you (and some awesome goofy ones he - or we - snuck in!)

26 Week Appointment

Today, we had our 26 week appointment (I'm currently 25w3d - so a few days early) This was pretty much just a "maintenance" appointment. We were in, and out and on the rode within 30 minutes. The appointment went something like this:

I half walk/ran because they require a urine sample, I had waited to wake up until right before we had to leave, so had to pee like a race horse (Too much information? (; sorry!) and it was raining. Joy. 

So finally got inside, and signed in then practically ran to the restroom. 

By the time I got back to the waiting room and almost to my seat, they called us back. The nurse weighed me in, still weigh the same as last month. 

She then took my blood pressure (117/79) which is a little high for me.

She checks the baby's heart rate (156 bpm) which is the highest it's been thus far, she said baby kicked her while she was listening, which their heart rate rises while active. So perfectly normal!

Then the doctor came in and says he's really pleased with my weight gain (or lack thereof) So far, I am very low risk, which is great. He measured my belly, and everything measured fine. We talked about my blood pressure and what the limits are for pregnancy induced hypertension and preeclampsia, which I am still quite a distance from, but I did mention that they measure my BP higher in office than when I do on my own. He referred to it as office syndrome (or white coat syndrome) where doctors offices generally raise your blood pressure. He is not currently worried about my blood pressure at all. 

Last ultrasound baby was breech (feet/butt down) His practice is if when the time comes, baby is still breech, I will have a c-section. He stated that 98.5% of babies will flip to be head down by the time labor begins. Ultimately, the method of delivery is least important, the health of the mom and baby are what he focuses on, and there are too many possible complications for naturally delivering a breech baby or attempting to manually turn the baby. So we'll see as time progresses if baby decides to turn or not. 

Next appointment is my glucose tolerance test. (can you feel the enthusiasm in that??? No??? me neither) I will eat protein, no carb, no sugar breakfast; then when I get into the office, I have 5 minutes to drink a sugar drink (supposed to taste like flat sugary soda) it's 50mg of sugar, I then sit in the waiting room for an hour (no food or drink) and then they draw blood to test my blood sugar levels. If my blood sugar is below 130? I believe is what he said, I am less than a 5% chance of developing gestational diabetes. If my blood sugar is above that, I move on to a 3 hour glucose test (same process except I wait 3 hours) I've always had lower blood sugar, so hopefully my luck holds up and I pass this first one!

I still have yet to be noticed that I'm pregnant which is quite sad seeing as I'm 6 1/2 months pregnant and almost through this pregnancy. I had loved (almost) every minute of this pregnancy, and it's bittersweet that I have at most 3 months and 10 days left before baby is here. 

Time in general is flying by, we have 2 newborn classes next week, Tyler's last day at work is the end of next week, our baby shower is the following week, the glucose test is a few days after that, and then Tyler ships out for basic a week and a half later. Some point in there we're going to take some maternity pictures, pack up some of our stuff that's not in use, and enjoy our last little bit of time together as a couple before he leaves for basic and we welcome our newest addition. 

*There are also new pictures under the pregnancy photo tab above! 

xoxox,

T, H & Baby S

Is he a he or she a she?

As you all know, we have chosen to NOT find out the sex of Baby S until birth... However, while we are at peace with that decision, I know it drives many people insane not knowing! So, I decided to put together this picture of Old Wives Tales and what they say we are having. There is NO scientific proof to any of these, but it's fun regardless!

Heart Rate: Heart rate above 140 says girl, below 140 says boy. Baby's heart rate has been 130-140 both times, so boy

Mayan Calendar: Age at conception + year of conception. If even means girl, odd means boy. So boy (accidentally put this on the wrong side in the picture, WHOOPS!)

Sleep Side: If you sleep on your left side said to be BOY, right side GIRL. I sleep on my left - so boy

Craving: Savory and salty means boy, sweet means girl. Craving tons of fruit lately, so girl

Mood: If you're happy mostly said to be BOY, moody it is said to be GIRL. I've been happy - so boy

Chinese Chart: This chart takes age at conception and month of conception and based on those, it says girl

Dad-to-be Weight: If dad to be gains weight during pregnancy GIRL, if no weight gain BOY. He has lost weight - so boy

Headaches: Increased headaches says boy, no increase says girl. I have had minimal headaches, so girl

Mother's Intuition: I wouldn't call it "intuition" but I think boy.

Skin: Dry skin says boy, not any different girl. My hands were dry for a little while, but only a week or two. so I will count that as girl

Morning Sickness: Morning sickness says girl, no morning sickness boy. I haven't had anything other than mild nausea. so counting that for boy

Father's Intuition: Tyler is certain baby is a girl

21 week appointment update

Hi guys, so I hope you all have seen the post previous to this one that I made, about the new tab above "Pregnancy Photos" Those I am updating every wednesday! I am only making new full posts like this when I have something to update on (appointments, etc)

I know you all may not know what the schedule is for OB appointments so the breakdown for me:
Sept 16th (today) 21 week appointment
Oct 14th - 25 week appointment
those are the only appointments I have so far but after that I will have one at
28 weeks - Glucose test
30 weeks
32 weeks
34 weeks
36 weeks
37 weeks
38 weeks
39 weeks - Ultrasound
40 weeks
(or until baby is born) My OB will not let me go past my due date, so IF I get close, I will have an induction date scheduled.

Also, I get a lot of questions about our shower/registry. We are having a co-ed baby shower on November 1st - invitations will go out soonish hopefully. And we have registered at both Babies R Us as well as Target! If you go on their websites there is a link for registries and if you type in my name it should pop up!


Now on to today's appointment. Today was just a general check-up. They listened to the baby's heartbeat, which was between 130-140 bpm. He measured my stomach (still not really showing though) I'm not sure of that measurement, I didn't ask. They checked my blood pressure, which has always been great, today was 100/60.

I am also now feeling baby move for the past few days. Which is equal parts awesome and crazy.

I have been battling a cold for the past few days (I think today is day 3 or 4 of it, and it's finally slowing down) Mainly I'm just extremely congested, which makes breathing difficult, (and my head hurt) and then I breathe through my mouth which makes my throat hurt... ahh. It's just a cycle. But being sick I have pretty much taken a liking to one seat and cocooned myself. Which means I've gained a little weight. I'm still at or below my pre-pregnancy weight though, and my OB is completely fine with the few pounds, as long as I keep maintaining. Once I feel better, it will be easier to breathe and workout again, so that number should go back down.


xoxox,
T & H

New tab!

A really quick update:

I am attempting to make this blog a little easier to navigate (which I will be working on over the next week or so) 

But for just picture updates (I will be posting every week - most likely on Wednesday) I have created a new tab above called "Pregnancy Photos" the oldest pictures will be at the top and getting to current as you scroll down. Each picture will be labeled with at least how far pregnant I am in that picture. I will try to include any short information we have (if anything new) as well.

xoxox, T, H & Baby S!

Army update and Baby S update!

As most of you have seen, Tyler is officially enlisted in the Army! We're so happy and I am so proud! He has worked SO hard, as you all know literally melting from who he was into who he is now (100 lbs lighter!) We (read: I) still have several questions for the recruiter when we go meet with them next, but what we know (or guesstimate) as of now: He ships out mid-November and basic starts end of November. The Army shuts down for Christmas, so he will get a little time off (we're not 100% sure how this will work) He will graduate mid-March. As you can see, he will not be home for the birth, which will be hard on all of us, but thankfully he will be home shortly after!

As we find out more information, we can better update on that!

Now as for the real reason you're here! (just kidding, kind of!)

BABY S!

I know there haven't been many updates, simply because there has been nothing to update about! We had our first few appointments: an orientation with our Obstetrician, as well as a dating ultrasound to see how far along we are. As of Saturday 8/16/2014 we are 17 weeks pregnant!

I will insert the pictures from the dating ultrasound (There is only ONE! but there are 2 picture on some of these pages!)

Now I know it is hard for me to point out specific things in these while you're viewing it on a computer screen, but I will zoom in on a few of the coolest aspects!

In this first picture,

#1 is pointing to the 2 hemispheres of the brain.

#2 points to the hand/arm

#3 is pointing to the little black dot, which is the stomach forming

In general, the white (on baby) is bone, where as the black is blood, fluid or tissue

In this picture the four down arrows #1 is pointing to the 'railroad tracks' which are baby's spine!

#2 is pointing to the white around baby's mouth, the jaw bone

#3 is pointing to either a hand or foot

#4 is pointing to the hand, you can see the individual bones in baby's hand!

At this scan we were 12 weeks 5 days pregnant. Baby measured crown-to-rump 6.3 cm! The heart rate was 154 beats per minute.

As I mentioned, I am not showing... so far I will only be posting this comparison. As a baby bump EVENTUALLY appears, you can expect to see a 'bumpdate' picture along with each update!

From left to right: 6w5d, 14w, 15w4d, 16w4d

I will DEFINITELY be posting updates after each appointment. I believe I will have monthly appointments until we hit 28 weeks, then 28 weeks through 36 weeks I will have appointments every 2 weeks, and then after 36 weeks I will have an appointment every week.

Some cool updates on baby's development thus far:

Baby's about 5 inches from crown-to-rump, and around 5+ ounces in weight (generic measurements) Body fat is beginning to form on baby, baby's skin in translucent! Baby is working on swallowing fluid, which prepares the digestive system. The heart rate is now regulated by the brain instead of spontaneous beating. Eyebrows and lashes are present, and their eyes are making side-to-side movements and can perceive light, though the eyelids are sealed. Baby's ear bones are formed so baby can hear us, we've enjoyed this development the most so far, and have started reading to baby.

We've decided on a theme for baby's nursery, which will be teddy bears! We both have fallen in love with the idea, which is great because we can always reuse the bedding for future children boy or girl, plus who doesn't love teddy bears?!

Now that we're all caught up to this point, our anatomy scan was today 8/19/2014!

We are 17 weeks and 3 days pregnant today.

This appointment was typically where you would find out the sex of the baby, but we are choosing NOT to find out until birth. So we did get to see baby, and they take all of their measurements (head circumference, abdominal circumference, the fluid waves of the heart as well as the sound waves - so we got to hear baby's heartbeat again, this time 137 beats per minute. I believe they also take measurements of the heart and other organs - I'm not 100% sure though) Baby was estimated weighing in at 6oz (this is just a rough guesstimate, and can be off) Baby did measure a few days smaller (3 days to be exact, but he said it was no cause for concern because that's comparing it to an average, and all babies grow at different rates. He said everything with baby looked great!

As of my first appointment with the OB I had lost about 5lbs, and up until a 3 days ago had maintained my weight very well (He doesn't want me gaining any weight throughout my pregnancy, the newest research shows those who don't gain unnecessary weight have a healthier pregnancy and labor) But the past few days, we haven't eaten very healthy food, and slacked off on exercising. But yesterday we got back to it, so I have no doubts that my weight will correct itself with eating better and exercising, but even so I have only gone up 3 pounds. 

We also discussed upcoming testing, and his practice does not support genetic testing, for several of the same reasons Tyler and I were wary of it (high chance of false positives and cause for worry/stress, plus if something were to be present, we would continue with the pregnancy anyway) But from what I understood, as long as everything continues going accordingly, I will only have a glucose test in 10 ish weeks and then another ultrasound at 39 weeks to make sure everything is still okay. And I guess that is it (unless there are any unforeseen complications)

Here are some pictures from today:

Left: foot Right: leg, and feet

Because we found out that this was most likely our last ultrasound before Tyler leaves for basic, we may go to an ultrasound boutique and pay to get one just for fun so he has one right before he leaves!

Our next appointment is set for September 16th, so that should be our next update!

Love you all,

xoxo, T, H and Baby S