26 Weeks!!!

How Far Along: 26 weeks (I've been so bad about pics, but wanted to post one so PLEASE excuse my work red bathroom stalls in background).

Maternity Clothes: I finally got maternity jeans yesterday, SOO needed! I'd been wearing these denim leggings to work for the last couple weeks, and while they're super cute I only have so many longer shirts that cover my ass. So now I can finally wear some of my normal length maternity shirts I've bought.

Stretch Marks: Nope, but my poor belly button isn't looking too hot! Its definitely going to pop soon!

Sleep: Tossing and turning. I must wake up on my back 5 times a night, and I start on my side, lodged in with my boppy pillow...but clearly this is not the way my body wants to sleep. But since I'm making a conscious effort to not sleep on my back, I keep waking myself up throughout the night.

Best Moment of the Week: I'd have to go with registering and buying some baby stuff!!

Movement: Still lots and lots of movement...people weren't kidding when they said you'll totally relax once you can feel the baby move. Every morning its the best feeling waking up to little Skooter bopping around. And bedtime is his favorite time to party, I swear it feels like he's doing an aerobics video in there!

Food cravings: Still loving my apple cider, but its really just a fall craving and not a pregnancy craving. OH, and at star.bucks you can get a caramel apple spice...YUM is all I have to say.

Gender: I have NO idea!! I'm starting to get really curious. Especially as we register and look at nursery stuff. I must say it really is hard to plan when you're doing gender neutral...I mean is it me or have stores sort have forgone the whole yellow/green thing. Everywhere I go its pink/blue and then maybe one beige or grey outfit with a lion or monkey on it. I know it will be SO worth it in the end, but I can definitely see the perks of finding out!

What I Miss: Absolutely nothing!

What I'm Looking Forward To: 3rd trimester...next Monday! OMG, I can't even believe it!!!

Weekly Wisdom: For once its been a pretty uneventful couple of weeks so i'm lacking on wisdom. OH, I will say that baby bargains book is a life saver when it comes to registering!

Milestones: So long 2nd trimester, for being the "easy" trimester you sure gave us a run for our money...previa, 20 week u/s scare, amnio! I'm not going to miss you at all, bring it 3T!

Emotions: I actually went to the stores this weekend and did some registering. My bestie asked me if its starting to feel more real, and I'm still undecided. It's like I know I'm pregnant, I can feel the baby moving, I'm now buying baby stuff (my mom got our pack n play and swing while we were shopping, and hubby and I got the cutest little onesie for fun, it has two little pups on it that look JUST like Beau and Bella), but is it weird I'm still a little in denial a baby is coming in almost 3 months?!? Part of me thinks it won't really hit me until this little baby is finally out of me and in my arms!

Houses & Hiccups

So not too much going on here, SO happy its Friday!! I hit 24 weeks on Monday, my most favorite lucky bday number...not to mention viability so this was a big one for me!! Also, this week marks another new milestone for baby Skooter...hiccups!!! He has gotten them twice this week and its the cutest thing EVER! At first I totally freaked, I felt this very subtle beating in my tummy...like after you workout and can feel your pulse in weird parts of your body. And I adjusted my position thinking something was wrong, and when it didn't change I realized it had to be hiccups...too cute!!!

In house related news we have fully moved in with the p's. Quite an adjustment, but the perks really do outweigh the cons! We met with our final contractor yesterday, so now we can finally pick someone and start moving forward on the demo process. I'm so excited to finally get this process started, and be done with meetings and permits and all the crap you need to do beforehand. Between baby stuff and house planning, I must say it makes my days go by fast!! There is always something to be researching, love it!

And I finally got on the "I'm having a baby and maybe I should start planning for it" train! I've been super productive, shower dates are confirmed, booked my maternity photo shoot (day before my 30th bday in October, SO excited), booked my baby class/tour at the hospital, starting registering (only online...still need to get my butt to these baby stores), and booked all my dr. appts through November!

Unfortunately, the one thing I can't really plan for is the nursery. Since we're living with the p's we'll be having a makeshift nursery for those few months of overlap, which will probably just consist of a bassinet in our room. And I'd rather just wait to get bedding/furniture/etc until we're in the new house...plus we'll know the sex so it will make decorating a bit easier! But its impossible not to look...and I found this pic which right now is my dream nursery, which is funny because its pretty gender neutral so I guess not finding out the sex works for me!

23 Weeks!

How Far Along: 23 weeks (pic to come)

Maternity Clothes: Old navy was having a sale this weekend so I placed a huge order Thursday morning and got it the very next day, YAY! I've has bought maybe 3 things before this so I was super excited. The one thing I'm in desperate need of is maternity jeans...the belly band just ain't cutting it anymore!!

Stretch Marks: Nope, and I'm lathering cocoa butter on nightly!!

Sleep: I am actually able to stay up a little later now...I've been making it to 11 these days instead of 10! Still tossing and turning as I constantly wake up on my back.

Best Moment of the Week: Well, I guess it was last week but getting the amnio ordeal over with. I've felt like a brand new person ever since!

Movement: Tons!! I have a very bouncy baby in my tummy! Sometimes I'm like relax Skooter you're going to hurt yourself, hah! I get kicks/punches throughout the day, mostly after meals and the majority at night when I'm relaxing on the couch or when we lay in bed. Hubby and I love watching my stomach pop with each kick. It's like a game of whack-a-mole waiting to see where he'll pop up next!

Food cravings: Well, I think this is more just a matter its fall out and I always crave this stuff around now. But I bought the biggest thing of apple cider, its so good when you heat it up! And my new obsession is pumpkin spice steamers (just milk). I did allow myself one decaf pumpkin spice latte the first day it was available...but I still felt guilty cause it tasted like regular coffee, YUM!

Gender: Totally undecided. At the amnio the heartbeat was 140, which I think is the cutoff for the whole high heartbeat girl and low heartbeat boy. I guess my gut still says girl, which is funny since we refer to Skooter as a he. I was joking with hubby last night how if it is a girl, she may have an identity crisis when she comes out, hah!

What I Miss: After the last couple weeks, absolutely nothing!! Just so glad that whole mess is behind us.

What I'm Looking Forward To: 24 week appointment this Monday, praying to finally have a dr. appt with no bad news. And I think we'll get an ultrasound to check on the previa (which at my last appt my dr. said she was sure would move out of the way by delivery), and hubby and I have our fingers crossed I can finally get off of pelvic rest (aka no sex). I mean don't get me wrong I will obviously forgo without a second thought to keep Skooter safe, but a girls got needs ya know!!

Weekly Wisdom: The second trimester totally flies by. I thought I would never be out of the first trimester and now I'm only a few weeks away from the third...how did that happen?!?

Milestones: Viability next week!!!

Emotions: I think once I hit the 48 hour post amnio mark, and felt confident Skooter was going to be okay...it finally hit me that I was pregnant and there was a real live healthy baby coming in a few short months!! This weekend I bought maternity clothes, I started my registries (online but we plan to hit up the stores soon), I emailed a maternity photographer, and I even bought some baby stuff while I was at Tar.get!!! Just a couple sets of pacifiers, a package of newborn onesies...just cause they were so little and cute, and some J&J baby wash, cause it smells so good! It was so fun and now I'm like what else can I buy for Skooter, a think a stroller will be my first big purchase, YAY!!!

I'm back and CRAZY long update!!

Hey everyone! So sorry for my little blogging hiatus, and thank you to everyone who was wondering where I was over on LTB's blog...you guys are the best and I instantly felt terrible that I was worrying all my blog buddies!

Anyways, my life has been a complete whirlwind the last few weeks. Where to start?

House News (good stuff):

Well first off, I noted in my New Year's post this year one of my resolutions was to tear down our house and build a new one. This has always been the plan when we bought our little starter home. Well, in the matter of a month we realized we needed to start now if we were going to be in anytime close to the baby being born (we'll be living with my parents in the meantime...yikes). So we found an architect, made the plans, submitted to the village for building permits, found builders to bid out the project, packed up our entire house, moved in with my parents, and still need to move boxes from our house into the storage unit before demolition! Its basically become another part time job! But we're beyond excited to get going on this and have a brand new home for baby Skooter!

Baby News (bad and then good stuff):

Okay, so our 20 week ultrasound didn't quite go as planned. Hubby and I both took the day off expecting to go downtown that morning, and then celebrate all day with lunch and a couple of baby stores which I've yet to venture into yet. Well we did the u/s first and then you have to meet with your dr. The wait in between literally took an hour and a half!! Finally we met with the dr. and she starts off by saying everything looks great, but there is one small issue. Skooter had a couple small cysts in his/her brain...cue me starting to totally panic and go into state of shock. The Dr. went on to say that they are in no way harmful to the baby, however...they can be considered a soft marker for chromosomal abnormal ties...okay, now I'm totally freaking out in my head but trying to stay calm and hear her out.

She said when they are isolated, meaning they're the only thing they find in the u/s they're almost always found to be nothing. It's when they're found with other markers, such as heart defects, issues with hands/feet they can be associated with downs and more specifically trisomy 18 which is so severe most babies will be stillborn or die soon after being born. She's continues to tell us because we're so young, and all our screens came back negative we really shouldn't be worried, and we don't need to consider an amnio yet...as she's handing me a prescription for a level II ultrasound to get in the next couple weeks. I was in such shock that I didn't even ask any questions because I was just trying not to burst into tears.

So we walk out of the office, and THEN I burst into tears. Hubby and I were just like what just happened in there. We thought the 20 week u/s was supposed to be nothing but exciting and fun...and we felt like we'd been hit with a truck. We went home and I immediately consulted with Dr. Google, which shockingly enough made me feel better and just confirmed what my dr. had stated.

We luckily got in for our level II ultrasound the very next day (thank god cause I wouldn't have survived waiting more than a day), to which she confirmed the cysts were definitely isolated. She said she wasn't recommending an amnio, but that would be the only way to confirm one way or the other. So as much as we left that u/s feeling relieved they were in fact isolated, we still knew that we wouldn't be 100% certain until we either got an amnio or waited until the baby was born.

So for the last two weeks hubby and I have literally been agonizing over what to do. We'd go back and forth like its absolutely crazy to consider an amnio and put ourselves and Skooter at risk (there is a very very small risk of miscarriage). But at the same time everyday at work I was obsessively googling every possible study on isolated cysts, I called my dr. twice to get her opinion, I called the specialist once who did my first and second trimester screenings and got his opinion. As much as everything was saying just let this go, the odds are SO low anything is wrong with the baby...I could not get it out of my head.

I mean truthfully this was probably the hardest decision of my life. On one hand knowing myself I would be agonizing about this until the baby was born. And on that day instead of being 100% excited to meet our little one, in the back of both our heads we'd be wondering if the baby would be healthy when it came out. Then on the other hand we could do the amnio, which I would get same day results and have peace of mind Skooter was in fact healthy, but be terrified for who knows how long about possible miscarrying this baby we've waited so long for who most likely is perfectly fine based on the odds. But then again those are just odds, and you can see how I go back and forth.

To sum it up I decided to make an appt with for the amnio yesterday morning, with the stipulation we would go more for info on the procedure and would most likely back out which the nurse says happens all the time. The appt was yesterday morning and I was literally sick all the way downtown. After meeting with one of the genetic counselors, who told us she wouldn't be worried about the cysts because she sees them all the time, but she also wouldn't be worried about the amnio if she had to get one. And the fact we even made the appt probably meant we needed some peace of mind.

Long story short we decided to go through with it. I was so nervous, and was crying the entire time. The procedure itself lasted about 30 seconds. The dr. who performed it has been doing amnios all day every day for the last 20 years or something, and the nurse said in the last 4 years she's been there, only one person has had an issue post-amnio. After almost fainting in the lobby of the hospital (I have a weird fainting complex that is totally mental, I can go down after bee stings and almost bit it in the RE's office when the nurse was just showing hubby how to do my first shot) I went home and put myself on strict bedrest (even though the dr. said to just take it easy), and got the call that afternoon that Skooter is 100% healthy. I can't even begin to tell you the weight that has been lifted from our shoulders, and I'm just glad we can finally put this behind us.

Its been a tough couple of weeks, and sorry again for worrying you guys!! In other happier news I'm pretty sure I have Dav.id Beck.ham brewing in my tummy. Skooter is kicking like crazy, last night especially and I'm pretty sure he was trying to let mommy know he was okay! My stomach totally pops and hubby and I love watching from the outside...SO crazy!! Oh, and with our level 1, level 2, and amnio ultrasounds we somehow managed to stay strong and not find out the sex and there were no he/she slip ups from any of the techs. So Skooter will be surprising us all when he/she is born in January!