Week 19 - Merry First Christmas!

Week 19 - Merry First Christmas!
(12/20/09 - 12/26/09)



This week was crazy it started out with the 2009 Blizzard that dumped 20+ inches of snow and ended with a wonderful first Christmas for Andrew being able to spend time with family and friends! We started Christmas Eve going to a lovely Christmas Mass at a local church near my grandparents and then went to their house to visit with family and open presents. Christmas morning was nice. It is great having two kids during Christmas and I can't wait until Andrew is old enough to know about Santa and get excited about waking up Christmas morning!

Christmas day we spent it with Paul's family and had another great dinner and Andrew got passed around to everyone! They just can't seem to get enough of his chubby little cheeks!

Week 17 & 18 - Christmas Spirit!

Week 17 & 18 - Christmas Spirit!
(12/6/09 - 12/19/09)

Well I have been sooooo busy with getting two kids shopped for and baptisms, and Christmas Parties that I can't believe that I forgot to post last week for Andrew! So this week is a combo post for this week and last week!

We have been getting ready for Christmas and went and visited Santa Claus, if you want a funny story head on over to Jacob's blog and check out A Year Without Santa Claus. If you have read that post then you know why Andrew is the only one in this years picture! But I have to say that the "deer in headlights" look that Andrew has is priceless!

We also went and got the first ever "holiday photos" with the two boys and I have to say (even though I am biased) that DAMN MY KIDS ARE CUTE!! Cause seriously is there anything cuter than two little boys dressed up in "man clothes"?? Nope didn't think so!

Lastly we decorated the house and got Andrew his "My first Christmas" ornament for the tree! I know he isn't going to remember any of this but lucky for him he has a mother with a trigger happy camera finger!!!

Week 16 - Baptism

Week 16 - Baptism!
(11/29/09 - 12/05/09)

Lord, Surround this child with goodness.
Lead him in Your light each day.
Let him walk the path You've chosen.
Guide his steps along the way.
Teach him to trust Your wisdom and obey Your loving plan.
Keep him from all harm. Protect him as he grows to be a man.

By BJ Holt

Week 15 - Let's Give Thanks!

Week 15 - Let's Give Thanks!
( 11/22/09 - 11/27/09)

There are a lot of reasons to be thankful this week. For one we made it to another Thanksgiving with family, and two we have a new little guy that celebrated with us. Andrew is doing great and is awake now more than ever. He is still sleeping great and even had a few nights this week where he slept for 8+ hours and only woke up once during the night to eat! Needless to say I didn't know what to do with all of my new found energy from all of my sleep!

Andrew has also started trying to bat at and even grab toys. And we are getting into that ever dreaded waterfall of slobber period where everything goes into his mouth and nothing but slobber/drool comes out!!!

Week 14 - The Twilight Zone!

Week 14 - The Twilight Zone!
(11/15/09 - 11/21/09)

This week I woke up and decided very early on that I must live in "The Twilight Zone"! The first thing that happened was that on Monday Jacob and Andrew both took a 2 hour nap at the EXACT SAME TIME, I put Jacob down at 2:00 and within 5 minutes Andrew fell asleep and decided he was going to sleep two hours too! I thought "WOW! How lucky am I?". But then the weird part happened, they both two naps at the exact same time ALL WEEK LONG!!!! Holy cow, someone must love me up there (or be tired of my thousands of prayers for duel nap times!). I don't know what the odds are that a 2 year old and a 3 month old would both take two hour naps within minutes of each other, but if I were a bettin' man I would say it is pretty rare! I don't know how long it will last, but I am going to milk it for all it's worth!

The next "Twilight Zone" moment I had this week was when I was hanging out with Andrew and we were "talking" back and forth and I noticed something strange on his gums! HOLY COW! He cut his first tooth! Yes folks, you read right, I have a 3 month old that has his first tooth! Now of course it is just the pokey first part and not the whole tooth yet, but still! HOLY COW!

Now the Corcoran's are notorious for having tons of teeth early! Jacob didn't get his first tooth until 8 months, but then had 16 teeth in 4 months (yeah! I know can you say "That was hell!"). But the Corcoran's always get their teeth before they are a year old, some start super early like Andrew is doing and some get them all at once like Jacob but regardless they have tons of teeth!

I can't figure out if I like the idea of spreading the teeth out with Andrew, since he is starting earlier than Jacob maybe (hopefully) I won't have to deal with the 2 teeth a week scenario. But then again I don't know if I want to deal with a 3 month old with teeth either! Maybe this new little nub of a tooth will take awhile to come the whole way in! We will soon find out!

Week 13 - The head bones connected to the....

Week 13 - the head bones connected to the...
(11/8/09 - 11/14/09)



The head bones connected to the neck bone,
The neck bones connected to the back bone.....


First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 3 month old today! Can you believe it?

Yep this week Andrew finally mastered the art of holding his head up. He has been working on it for a few weeks, but has finally not only mastered the art of holding it upright in one position but can now hold it upright and turn to look at things. Paul and I put Andrew in the baby bjorn carrier a lot because a) he likes to be held and b) because have you ever held a 17 pound baby for hours a day?? Yeah I know, he is one big kid and since the head control doesn't necessarily equate to back/stomach control too the option of holding him on my hip is still a few weeks away. So even though he has head control you still have to hold him on your shoulder or with both hands! Which gets very tiring. So the bjorn is really nice especially now that we can face him out since his head isn't floppy anymore!

He has also started to try and bat at toys while he lays under his play yard toy. I don't know if he is doing it on purpose yet or just flailing, but he loves it under there and will intently watch the toys as you move them or shake them!

Week 12 - Hair today, gone tomorrow !

Week 12 - Hair today, gone tomorrow!
(11/1/09 - 11/7/09)

This week I started to notice something with Andrew. I first started to notice it when outside or if I was sitting in one of our chairs by the window, but his head has started to "glow". Now at first I thought it was just a trick of the sun or the angle that I was holding Andrew in. But then Paul noticed it too....was Andrew getting blonde hair???

Soon after Paul and I noticed the "glistening" on his head I started to notice dark brown hairs on his sheets and his clothing. I got out the baby brush one day and wound up having a hairbrush full of brown hair!

Like most babies Andrews hair that he was born with has started falling out, however since he sleeps on his belly he now has bald spots starting on each side of his head instead of on the back of his head like you see on most babies. On the top of his head he has started getting in some lighter colored hair. Now with Jacob we never had this problem because other than the well loved mullet he was pretty much bald and what hair he did have was blonde/red so you didn't really notice it falling out or coming in. This guy definitely has some bald spots forming and it will be interesting to see what color hair he has as a toddler. Jacob was red and turned brown (getting darker by the minute), I was a bleach blonde and ended up having brown hair....Paul pretty much has stayed brown and has gone from a lighter brown as a child to the dark dark dark brown that it is now.

I think it will be hillarious if Andrew goes blonde since he looks soooo much like Paul, for him to have the exact opposite color hair as Paul will be funny!

This is me at my 2nd birthday...blonde...blonde....blonde!

Week 11 - My first Halloween!

Week 11 - My first Halloween
(10/25/09 - 10/31/09)

Is there really anything I have to say other than "Look at the picture above!!!" I mean seriously can you get cuter than that??? Andrew is still sleeping great this week and has gotten himself on a pretty good schedule that even coincides with Jacob's naptime for about an hour so I get at least an hour to myself which is nothing to sneeze at considering I haven't gotten any time to myself for the past 11 weeks!!!!

This week was just spent preparing for Halloween and although Andrew is far too young to enjoy it thanks to his Grandmother got to dress up this year as a pumpkin. Although it was a bomby 72 degrees so he only got to wear his outfit for a little while to get some pictures!

Week 10 - Jinx!

Week 10 - Jinx!
(10/18/09 - 10/24/09)


I know that this blog is starting to sound like a broken record, but I have to talk about sleeping again this week. Although I am probably going to jinx myself by uttering even a single word or bringing even the slightest bit of attention to it. But I am feeling human this week because my little grunter has seemingly stopped grunting and started sleeping! Every day but one this whole week Andrew slept one 5-6 hour sleep followed by at least one 3+ hour sleep. But the most amazing part of all, is that he didn't do his hour and a half grunting session starting at 5am like he has for the past.......well.......his WHOLE LIFE!!! I am keeping my fingers crossed and hopefully will be able to move onto other topics for this blog other than sleeping!!!

Week 9 - Tell me about it!

Week 9 - Tell me about it!
(10/11/09 - 10/17/09)

First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 2 month old. It is hard to believe that Andrew is two months old already, boy time flies when you have one kid but when it is two kids...WATCH OUT!

Andrew has started "talking" this week. It is to a point now where Andrew will smile at you about 85% of the time now when you talk baby talk to him or make funny faces...sometimes he will just smile because he sees you or hears you talking (which is really cool). But what has changed this week is that sometimes it isn't just smiles but coos too! It is really kinda funny because his "coos" and "talking" can range from a cute little gurgley noise to a hard to describe "cute scream".....I don't know maybe I should describe it more like a squeal.......nope "cute scream" is more accurate.

Anyway the baby conversations have started and Paul and I are making complete fools of ourselves talking back to Andrew in weird noises and tones!

Sleeping still stinks, and I am to a breaking point! His sleeping during the day tends to be about normal, (at least to what I had written down in Jacob's baby book for him at this age) and his daytime sleep is very sound. However I might get one night of great sleep (5 hour block followed by 3 hours) and then he will decide to hardly sleep and toss and turn the whole next night.......I wish I had answers as to why I can't get this kid on a decent schedule. He isn't colicky and he sleeps soundly for the most part when he is asleep he just doesn't stay asleep for longer than 2 1/2 hours at a time during the night. Oh well....this too shall pass.....hopefully!

Week 8 - Peeking Through?

Week 8 - Peeking Through?
(10/4/09 - 10/10/09)

This week Andrew starting having a little bit of personality peeking through! He of course is only 8 weeks old so still spends 80% of his day sleeping, but it is getting to the point where the time he is awake isn't just spent eating, but interacting! He is smiling more and more now and is even starting to look around and giving "inquisitive" little looks and raising and lowering his eyebrows to the point where you are wondering what if anything an 8 week old is thinking!

I can't wait to see what his personality ends up being. Jacob was a very serious baby and was always watching and soaking everything in around him, so far it looks like Andrew might be the same but you never know! Time will tell!

I also took an awesome picture of Paul and Andrew this week! You can really see the resemblance!

Week 7 - The first of many!

Week 7 - The first of many!
(9/27/09 - 10/3/09)

This week was a big turning point for Andrew. As you can see from the pic above, he is starting to have a "social smile". Now don't get me wrong you might only get one or two "social smiles" a day so far, but these I am sure will be the first of many to come. I have in Jacob's baby book that he started smiling at 7 weeks too and would smile regularly and often by 12 weeks! I can't wait to get Andrew laughing and smiling all the time because his little chunker cheeks and double chin just make for the cutest smiles!

He is also staying awake for longer and is very very curious and looks all around. He has started following objects although the occasional ceiling fan will keep his attention trapped for awhile (what do kids see in ceiling fans...hehehehehehe). He makes great eye contact now and it is amazing how they change in just a short period of time. I remember a week ago I was worried because I wasn't getting a lot of eye contact and now he will stare at me and smile for a long time! I am just being a crazy mom! It is my personality flaw! ((GRIN))

Week 6 - Very Different!

Week 6 - Very Different!
(9/20/09 - 9/26/09)

If I have been told once I have been told a million times that every child is different! The past few weeks have been pretty similar to what I remember from Jacob. Andrew doesn't sleep quite as well as Jacob but isn't a horrible sleeper so I can't complain. Overall Andrew is a very easy child, he does cry (what baby doesn't) but most of the time you can pinpoint what is making him cry and it is the usual culprits of hungry, dirty, gassy, etc....

This week though I started trying to figure out how I can get Andrew to sleep better. I do feel that Andrew doesn't nurse as well as I would like him to. Even though he is gaining weight like a champ he doesn't latch well and gets a lot of air in his tummy during feeding. Which ends up with a 20+ minute burp session where most of the time we still don't get all of the bubbles out. So this tends to make Andrew a light sleeper because 40 minutes later he could have another burp that will wake him up.

I do the proper thing of putting him on his back to sleep and that is fine but this week after 40 minutes of hearing him grunt and squirm at 3 am trying to get a bubble up, I said heck with it and put him on his side to sleep. I noticed that he could burp more easily and he seemed to quiet down. I also noticed that I could have him on his tummy on my chest and he could sleep for hours but once I move him to his back he would wake up within a few minutes of a good sleep. So during the day I have been putting him occasionally on his tummy to sleep. All of these things seem to help him sleep more soundly. I don't think he has reflux as he isn't showing the signs of that, I just think we need to get him to eat without getting so much air.

Jacob wouldn't have laid on his stomach for a million dollars! And this baby LOVES his stomach that alone is crazy for Paul and I! We fought and fought with Jacob for tummy time and ended up just giving up after a few months, luckily Andrew will be a lot easier but now I wonder if he will crawl before Jacob and do other "tummy strength" items sooner as well!

Week 5 - Visiting with family

Week 5 - Visiting with family!
(9/13/09 - 9/19/09)

This week was a good week, the sleeping is starting to get better and two or three nights this week we have gotten two 3 hour blocks of sleep at night. Although his first 3 hour sleep has been starting at around 7:00pm so I can't take advantage of it since Jacob doesn't go to bed until between 8:30-9:00. But then with a 2nd 3 hour sleep that I can take advantage of I am starting to feel more and more human. It will only get better from here. I have in Jacob's baby book that he starting sleeping in 5 hour increments at around 6-7 weeks old. So I am crossing my fingers.

Andrew is also staying more awake and is getting more and more alert. He will occasionally make eye contact although isn't doing it constantly yet, that will come more in the upcoming weeks. We also got Andrew a minor surgery this week for a family trait that him and his brother had. They were both "tongue tied" which can affect their eating and speech. So with a very minor procedure and little to no crying we got that taken care of now instead of waiting until he is older and would remember the procedure.

We finally got out of the house this week and visited some family. My mom came up to the house and spent the weekend helping me with Jacob and Andrew, and then this week the boys and I packed up and went to visit the boys Great Grandparents for a few hours.

Jacob, Andrew, and Great Grandma and Pop-Pop

Pop-Pop, Great Grandma, and Andrew

Grandma and Andrew

Week 4 - Deja vu!

Week 4 - Deja Vu!
(9/6/09-9/12/09)

This week I had an overwhelming sense of Deja Vu after giving Andrew his bath. With Jacob Paul and I over did it on the photos (as most first time parents do) and I am embarrassed to say that we probably have 300+ photos of Jacob from his first 3 months of life. I knew that I wasn't going to have the time to take that many photos of Andrew but have made a point to take as many as I can especially when a really cute shot presents itself.

I was messing around with my camera the other day and found that it has an option to take photos in sepia or black and white. I of course have had this camera for 2 years and just figured this out, but oh well....

So I saw this great shot appear as Paul was drying Andrew off after his bath and decided to take a pic in "black and white". After I took the shot nothing really came about with it other than a few "oohs and aahs" about how cute Andrew looked. Then today I went to take the pics off of the camera and put them onto the computer and when the image from bathtime was on the screen in a larger format I instantly got a sense of Deja Vu.....I felt like I had seen this picture before.

Now Paul and I think that Andrew and Jacob look alike in many ways. Their coloring is different which keeps some people from seeing the resemblance (Jacob was born a red head and Andrew is dark brown), but their nose, and mouth are definitely the exact and the jury is still out on the eyes because it is too early and Andrew is still too sleepy to really tell. But when I started to check into pics of Jacob from the same age I realized exactly why I was feeling that "deja vu" feeling........can you tell who is who????? One of these pics is Jacob at 6 weeks and the other is Andrew at 3 1/2 weeks!




Answer:
Jacob is the top picture, Andrew is the bottom one! Pretty similar....huh??

Week 3 - Rub a dub dub

Week 3 - Rub a dub dub
(8/30/09 - 9/5/09)

This week was a milestone with Andrew, the first bath!!!! I remember waiting and waiting for Jacob's belly button to fall off so that we could bathe him for the first time and this time around with Andrew it was much of the same thing....waiting.....waiting.....waiting!

It took almost 3 weeks for everything to fall off so that we could give him a bath, and of course like most new babies he cried and screamed when we first put him in the nice warm bath but then quickly realized "Hey this isn't so bad!"

Andrew has also be gaining weight like a champ and is turning into my little chunker which I love! If you compare pictures of him from even 3 weeks ago it is amazing how different he is already! He doesn't sleep great, but I am hoping that it will slowly get better as we get more used to each other and our little idiosyncrasies! Like with Jacob I am having to adjust what I eat because of different items that don't agree with Andrew and being a nursed baby anything that will make his life less "painful" is fine with me even if I have to live on crackers and water for a few months! ((GRIN))

Week 2 - Mr. Squeakers

Week 2 - Mr. Squeakers
(8/23/09 - 8/29/09)


It is hard to believe that we already have a 2 week old little baby but it is already going too fast! I can see Paul and I now blinking and Andrew will be a year old!!!

This week is pretty much the same, as Paul likes to say Andrew doesn't really do anything but eat, sleep, and poop! ((GRIN)) But the funny thing about him is that while he sleeps he grunts and squeaks! So the already lack of sleep that Paul and I are getting is becoming less and less because of "Mr. Squeakers" as we have named him constantly making noise and waking us up. As any new parent knows when you have a newborn you have bionic ears and even the slightest noise, breath, or movement tends to wake you up. So the first night the squeaks started Paul and I were up almost all night making sure that Andrew was OK and that the squeaks and grunts weren't because of gas, or hunger, or wet diapers.

Now that we know what to expect from our little noise maker we have been able to ignore certain noises and try and get as much sleep as we can (if that is even possible)!

But in the meantime the first nickname of Andrews life has come to pass and hopefully "Mr. Squeakers" won't last too long......for all of our sanity's sake!

Week 1 - Sleep? What's that?

Week 1 - Sleep? What's that?
(8/15/09 - 8/22/09)

Well we have made it through the first week with a newborn which inevitably is always the hardest. With Jacob it was going from no kids to one and with Andrew it is adding a new baby into an already well oiled (and scheduled) machine.

Overall I can't complain about Andrews sleeping, as anyone who has had a new baby can attest to they sleep for about 21-22 hours a day with little waking other than to eat. So being on a two hour feeding schedule hasn't been too bad because even though it leaves little room for more than an hour to hour and a half of continuous sleep got me at least it is predictable and can be dealt with.

The hardest part has been to try and get in naps. With Jacob I could nap whenever I wanted but with Andrew I can only nap when Jacob naps which has been a little harder. I think we are all doing well and are looking forward to Andrew starting to stay awake more during the day and sleeping for longer periods of time during the night. The biggest thing that has changed with Andrew over the past week has been his face. Of course most newborns are all squishy looking and red and their faces are even sometimes beat up and swollen. So over this week Andrews looks have started to morph and Paul and I have spent a lot of time looking at him and seeing what he shares and doesn't share with his brother. We have gotten a couple of involuntary smiles and there are definitely two very deep dimples on this little guys face which will be really cute as he piles on the baby fat and gets more and more cuddly!

I'm here!

I'm Here!
(August 15, 2009)


This blog is all about Andrew and how he will grow and change as the days and years pass! He was born on August 15, 2009 and weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long! He has a big brother Jacob! This blog will be used as his baby book so updates will be made weekly (if I can find time with a newborn and a 2 year old!)!

Week 36 - Almost done!

Week 36 - Almost done!

Well it has been awhile since I have posted about the new baby and I am happy to say that hopefully this pregnancy is almost done! Over the past 6 weeks my belly has continued to grow and my nights have continued to get more and more uncomfortable as sleep has become more and more a luxury! The anemia level for the baby ended up leveling out at about 1.25 which isn't an issue (according to the doctors) and starting this week I have also stopped taking the aspirin which thins my blood during the pregnancy to combat blood clots.

I have met with my doula multiple times, created my birth plan, and am overall just PLAIN OLD DONE with this pregnancy! I delivered Jacob at exactly 37 weeks and would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have this baby in a week too, but something tells me that just because I really want that, I won't go into labor until week 40! UGH!

I haven't gotten any pictures of the baby for the past 4 weeks due to the fact that he is already head down and facing my back and has usually had either his foot or hand covering his face (just like his brother did). Yesterday during my measurement scan the sonographer couldn't even get a good measurement on his head because he was sooooo far down the birth canal and face towards back. She measured his head in the 80th percentile but told me that she wasn't confident with that measurement. His overall percentile ended up being in the 61st percentile, but the 80th with the head padded the percentile and he is probably more likely in the 50-55th percentile.

Hopefully the next post I make will be a birth announcement! Cross your fingers!

Week 30 - Almost there!

Week 30 - Almost There!


We had another ultrasound last week but with the events of Jacob's fractured leg I am a little behind updating everyone. We actually got excellent news! The anemia level that they measure for the baby dropped last week from 1.31 to 1.2 which is excellent. They took about 5 measurements and as I stated in the last post they take the highest of the 5 which was 1.2. The doctor said that he is now not overly concerned about the intrauterine fetal anemia since there has been no significant increase nor steady incline over the last month. Now this doesn't mean that the new baby won't be born anemic because most symptoms of ABO incompatibility don't present themselves until after birth, but it is nice to know that everything with the baby is going well. They will still be monitoring the baby every two weeks and still measuring the anemia level each time, but without a drastic change I will most likely give birth before the anemia level would get up to 1.5 which is indicative of moderate anemia.

Next week we get another ultrasound with measurements so it will be exciting to see where the baby is in terms of his estimated weight and percentile. He was in the 59th percentile for size at 27 weeks and this will be month later. By this time with Jacob we were well into the 60th percentile and if you have ever seen Jacob he is always mistaken for at least 6 months to a year older than he is. He is a big boy and definitely looks older than he is. I will be curious to see if this little one follows in his big brothers footsteps.

We got a few good ultrasound images with this last scan and even got a good 3D image. Now I will warn people who aren't good at "viewing" ultrasounds that you will probably think this next image is just a blob, but I will have another image below it to try and help you out. Paul and I are now ultrasounds experts since between Jacob and this new baby we have probably been to over 60+ ultrasound appointments.

Two fingers under nose, eyes just above, righ arm up to the side of the head.

Arm up by side of head, hand under chin, clear image of nose and pouty mouth.

Here is one with labels hope it helps you see our new little cutie pie's face!

Week 27 - Good News

Week 27 - Good News

Well we got through our doctors appointment yesterday and after 8 different tests of the babies anemia level we got the good news that it only went up to 1.31 which the doctor said was pretty much the same as two weeks ago and was good news. The even better news was that my doctor always takes the worst score and uses that, he likes to err on the side of caution and unlike most doctors doesn't average out the score from all 8 tests but takes the worst one. I actually like that about this doctor because I would rather know the worst result then have a false sense of security with an average. But because of this that means that 7 of the 8 results were lower than 1.3 which is great! If all 8 results would have been in the 1.3 range than that would indicate a truer level of anemia, but because only one result was 1.3 that is great! We have been bumped from high risk to extra high risk now though and will be getting ultrasounds and retests every two weeks to make sure the baby doesn't hit that ever dreaded 1.5 mark.

The coolest part of the exam yesterday was that the sonographer we got worked for 6 years at the University of Maryland and actually worked with the intrauterine blood transfusions. She proceeded to tell Paul and I that in the 6 years she worked there they NEVER lost a baby and only once did they have a complication where they had to do an emergency C-section but the pregnancy was at 36 weeks and the baby was born fine without any complications. That makes Paul and I feel a lot better about the possibility of having to go through that procedure.

We also asked TONS of questions and we also asked if Jacob had been given the same doppler exam when I was pregnant with him. The doctor looked up Jacob's records and told us some very interesting news. When I was 28 weeks pregnant with Jacob he was a 1.1 and the ultrasound that happened at 36 weeks 6 days (4 days before I gave birth to him) his level was 1.4!!!!! And he was born without any complications from anemia. He did have the bad jaundice and was in the ICU for 5 days but didn't need any sort of transfusion! So that just shows us that although his level wasn't as high as this babies it did get pretty high right before he was born. So hopefully this baby will continue to only increase by these teenie tiny amounts and not get past 1.4 before he is born.

I will keep everyone posted and our next appointment is June 12th. The baby is growing great and is in the 59th percentile! He is weighing an estimated 2.4 pounds and is kicking me regularly!

Thank you for all of your prayers and Paul and I ask that you keep them coming!

Nothing is ever easy!

Nothing is ever easy! (25 weeks 1 day)
May 20, 2009

Paul and I learned last week that nothing is ever easy, and pregnancy certainly follows this rule. Not that Paul and I have ever thought having a child was easy. We are the perfect examples of how NOT EASY it is. We tried for 6 years to have a baby with two miscarriages and failed fertility treatments. When we finally did get pregnant with Jacob because of a blood disorder that the doctors found out I have I was on aspirin throughout the pregnancy only to find out once Jacob was born that Paul and I also have a condition called "ABO Incompatibility". This is where the baby has a different blood type than me, resulting in my body creating antigens against the babies blood. Imagine if you went in for a blood transfusion and they gave you the wrong blood type....your body would treat it as a threat and try and rid itself of the foreign blood. Luckily the placenta stops most of my anitigens from getting to the baby and causing serious problems, but some antigens get through. Some problems that can arise from an "ABO Incompatibility" are mild to severe jaundice and mild anemia. 95% of the time these problems do not occur until after the birth of the child. However in very rare cases (less than 5%) the anemia can occur while the baby is still in utero. With Jacob we were lucky and he only suffered mild-medium jaundice and was in the NICU for 5 days.

This week we got a doppler test of the babies cerebral artery in its brain (I was told they use this artery because it is the largest, not because it is the brain itself). If the results of this doppler test are above 1.5 then that is an indication that the baby is becoming anemic in utero. Our baby came back with a score of 1.3. We were told that this is fine as long as it doesn't go above 1.5 and that we need to understand that the score although mathmatically very close to 1.5 will need to go through all of the increments (1.31, 1.32, 1.33, etc...) before it gets to 1.5 so we will probably be OK since I am at 25 weeks. If the baby gets to the 1.5 level at or after 34 weeks the baby will just be delivered early and if a transfusion is needed then it will be given then. If the 1.5 is achieved before 34 weeks then an intrauterine transfusion will need to take place and we will have to travel to the University of Maryland to have this procedure done.

So needless to say I have EVERYONE I know praying that this will not happen and that the baby will stay well below the 1.5 score. We go back again on the 29th for another scan. The doctor did say that if this score was going to rise that it will consistantly rise throughout the next 10 weeks so if the score is still a 1.3 on the 29th we don't have anything to worry about because it more than likely will not rise enough for concern before the baby would be full term and can be delivered.

So whether you know me or not, or are religious or not, please pray for the new baby and a safe and FULL TERM healthy pregnancy!! We have been through enough and are ready for an easy pregnancy.

Week 21 - LONG LEGS!

Week 21 - LONG LEGS!

This week was my 21 week scan and the baby is looking great! Unfortunately we didn't get any great pics because the baby was facing down towards my back so the ultrasound couldn't get any good profile shots. But that is OK because I am going back again on May 15th and hopefully by then he will have moved his way around for a good profile shot. One of the best pics I have of Jacob was his 21 week scan so hopefully we will get one more good round of ultrasounds before the baby gets too big to really see anything.

One funny thing about this baby is that he had his legs perfectly straight and was in a pike position (for those of you who know what that is). Jacob too would always be in this position. I remember when we got our 3D pictures of Jacob and instead of sucking his thumb like some babies will do Jacob was sucking his toes!!! Looks like this baby is set to do the same thing....hhhmmmmm wonder who they get that from.....

The picture above if you can't tell are of those LOOONNNNGGGG LEGS! To the right is the bootie, and to the far left are his feet which are crossed at the ankle. I have put a smaller image at the bottom that if you click on it will show you all of the labels for the image if you are one of those people who just can't figure out what the heck you are looking at with ultrasound images. We did get to see both feet, and both hands including being able to count all ten toes and all ten fingers. I don't quite know why they sonographer didn't print those images out but for some reason she only printed us out the legs and another shot of the "unmentionables" which I will spare my son the embarrassment of posting that on the Internet!

The baby still doesn't have a name, but Paul is working hard to come up with one. We decided that with this baby that if it was a girl I could pick and if it was a boy he could pick. However I am a planner and I have given him a deadline of June 1st because I need to start decorating!!! hehehehehehehehe We have a few names that we are throwing around but haven't decided anything yet.

The baby is kicking up a storm and I can now feel him every day some days stronger than others, but the doctor told me that when the baby is facing towards my back (which it was a few days ago) that I won't feel it very much cause it will be kicking into organs and my back and not forward into my stomach where most kicks are felt.

The baby measured 4 days more than what I am so he measured 21 weeks 5 days instead of 21 weeks 1 day. Jacob also ALWAYS measured about 4-7 days bigger than where I was, and if you have seen Jacob at 20 months he is 32 inches tall and 30 pounds. So it looks like Paul and I are going to have another big kid on our hands!

Cravings....

Cravings....
April 2, 2009


Well it has begun, the cravings.....oh the cravings.....sitting here thinking about cravings, makes me want to go out to the local Starbucks and get my craving for this pregnancy. If you haven't figured it out my MAJOR craving for this pregnancy is a Tall Java Chip Frappacino from Starbucks. Now I know that traditionally caffeine is forbidden during pregnancy, but to my defense (and elation) the FDA recently released a new study that shows that pregnant women can have between 150-200 mg of caffeine a day. That is great since the Tall Frappacino that I get only has 100 mg!!! YIPPIE! Plus unfortunately or FORTUNATELY I live about 20 minutes from the closest Starbucks so my quantities are limited to only about two Frapp's a week.

It is kinda funny with what cravings I get during pregnancy. With Jacob my HUGE craving was McDonalds french fries and for those of you who know me you will attest to the fact that I NEVER eat french fries. I am actually not a big potatoe fan at all other than mashed potatoes so seeing me licking the containers of McDonalds fries was quite a site for some. Then towards the end of my pregnancy with Jacob the fry thing died off and was replaced by the intense craving for Peanut Butter, Banana, and Grape Jelly sandwiches ON TOAST! Now that might not sound too weird but I only craved EXTRA CRUNCHY peanut butter (you know the kind where it is 99% peanuts with 1% butter holding the peanuts together), and it had to be GRAPE jelly and it had to be on toast! I was going through about 2-3 of those sandwiches a day during the last 2 months of my pregnancy with Jacob.....hhhhmmmmm wonder why I gained 45 pounds!!! ((GRIN))

So this pregnancy is starting off a little different but slightly similar. Different as in you can't get any more opposite than Fries and coffee, but similar as in I am NOT a coffee drinker just like I wasn't a french fry eater. I am one of those people who will occasionally (1-2 times a month if not less) get an overly sweet, overly flavored coffee type drink. The true coffee drinkers in my family usually can't even stomach one sip of what I call a "coffee"!

So we will see where this craving ends, and what other horribly nutritious thing replaces it in a few months! Do you think I could crave carrots?? Salad?? NAH!!! Then what would be the fun of being pregnant!!!! BRING ON THE HORRIBLE JUNK FOOD!!!!

And we have a.......

And we have a.......
(March 21, 2009)


Well I am 17 weeks preggo now and we had another ultrasound yesterday. Of course at first all of the important things were looked at that could jeopardize the safety of the pregnancy. All was well so the blood thinners I take during pregnancy are doing their job. Next the main items of the baby were measured, we got the feet, hands, femur, humorous bone, brain, 4 chambers of the heart and the head. Then I had to take her word for it but she showed me the bladder, both kidneys and the stomach. Sometimes I wonder if the sonographers are just teasing us sometimes when they tell us what we are looking at because honestly sometimes it just looks like shades of grey.

My mom went with Paul and I to the ultrasound, with Jacob my mom didn't go until the summer when I was 30+ weeks pregnant. If any of you have ever had an ultrasound in the 8th and 9th month the baby is so cramped that you can barely tell it is a baby. So this pregnancy we planned on my mom coming to an early ultrasound where the baby is small enough but formed enough that she would get some good pics.

So you are all probably wondering if we found out what gender of the new baby is......

When I first asked the sonographer to see if she could tell us what the gender of the baby was she said yes, but that is was early and she made me promise that I wouldn't start decorating the room until after the next ultrasound at 21 weeks. Well here it was the moment I had been waiting for for well.....17 weeks for.....there's the bootie, there's the legs....and there is an unmistakable......BOY!!!!!!!!!

Yep my spidey senses must have been on the fritz with this baby cause I have been calling girl from day one. But you know what? Now that I know we are having a boy I am really really really excited! I think this will be great. Jacob will always have a playmate and although I am not delusional in thinking that they will always get along I do hope that they will be close.

After the sonographer saw the image of this baby spread eagle for us to see the goods, she looked at Paul and I and said that basically we could decorate the room because this baby was not shy and she was 100% sure that this baby was a boy!!!

So now that I don't have to buy tons of girl stuff I will be able to focus on the new babies room and how to decorate it!!! YIPPIE!! My favorite thing to do!!!

More tests, UGH!

More tests, UGH!

Just got back from the doctors and I am 16 weeks preggo! I got what they told me was the last blood test for this pregnancy which is great! I have horrible veins and the phlebotomist told me how horrible my veins were as she wiggled the needle in my arm and then got mad at me when I flinched in pain....what nerve I have!!!!

I am now one week away from the ultrasound that could tell Paul and I what gender our new baby is. Of course as I said in a previous post I have a feeling I am having a girl but who knows!!! The doctor today listened to the heartbeat and said....."hhhmmmmm I think you are having a girl!" when I asked him why he said that he said that in his 30 years of experience he has found that most girls have a faster hearbeat than boys. This really shocked me because usually doctors are so "by the book" that they never give in to old wives tales. I don't really believe the whole heartbeat thing because if you research it on the good old Internet it says anything over 140+ is a girl.....well someone should tell my bug picking, dirt loving, vroom vroom truck playing boy that he is a girl because his heartbeat was always in the 160's the whole pregnancy. But we will see what this baby is, I am praying he or she doesn't have their legs crossed next week.

I still can't sleep very well, like the cartoon above if I am not having weird strange dreams of what this kid is going to look like then I am awake because I am worried about having another kid and how Jacob is going to react and what I need to buy if we have a boy versus having a girl (which would be CLOTHES!). My mind just doesn't seem to turn off anymore. What kind of minivan should we buy, how much is that going to cost, can we afford it, why is my belly as big at 4 months as it was at 5 1/2 months with Jacob.....HOLY COW! if my belly is this big now what the HELL am I going to look like at 9 months pregnant!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH

Well I am off to try and take a nap which I am sure will only be in vain!

Second Trimester Here I Come!!

Second Trimester Here I Come!

Well I have officially made it to my second trimester so I am hoping that some of my pregnancy symptoms start to go away. Actually I shouldn't say symptomS because I honestly only have one real symptom and that is not being able to sleep. For some reason with this pregnancy I can't sleep. I am up around 1:30-2:00 EVERY night and usually can't get back to sleep until between 4:00-5:00 in the morning. Then of course Jacob gets up between 7-7:30 so the hours aren't long between getting back to sleep and having to wake up with a raring to go 1 1/2 year old!

The doctors appointment went well this week. We got our "First Trimester Screening" test done which measures this pocket of fluid behind the babies neck to see if it is too big. I have researched this process and the have found that over the past 10 years or so they have determined that children with Down Syndrome have common characteristics even during the early stages of pregnancy. One of them being excess fluid behind the neck and also the absence or malformed nasal bone. They also take a small finger prick of blood and check protein levels and when they take all of the measurements they can give you a "percentage" chance of your baby having chromosomal abnormalities. Before the blood work came back we were in a 1 in 1200 range which is great, but after the bloodwork comes back the doctor feel we will be even better. The baby has a great nasal bone and with the measurement of the fluid behind the neck we shouldn't have anything to worry about.

The baby was moving around like crazy and as you can see from the ultrasound photos the difference in just three weeks in amazing. We actually saw all five fingers on one hand and saw two little feet as well. The baby is about 3 inches long right now and it still amazes me that it can be formed so perfectly and be so small.

We don't have another ultrasound for 4 weeks but should find out what we are having at the next appointment!

A face only a mother can love!

A face only a mother can love!
(January 30, 2009)

OK first let me say that I know that 99.9% of the people that read this blog will have no clue what the heck they are looking at in the above sonogram even with the labels, but I wanted to post our latest picture. It still amazes me even though I have now gone through a pregnancy how quickly a baby grows and changes. Just two weeks ago my ultrasound looked so completely different my baby was just a blob (literally) with a heartbeat. Now just two weeks later you have arms, hands, legs, feet, and a definite head on a short body. There is still a huge proportion problem but all of the major parts are there. The baby was even moving (twitching) and during the moments of movement you could really see the arms and legs very clearly. Of course ultrasound pictures are always easier to see when you were there and not seeing them scanned into a computer and posted online....but hopefully some of you will be able to see what I see in the image above!

The baby is now a little over an inch long and has all of its major organs and a 4 chamber heart....CRAZY!

Everything is going smoothly and other than the fact that this pregnancy is keeping me up at night, making me feel nauseous, and overall has me feeling different than I did with Jacob there isn't anything wrong with the baby in terms of my scan and with a heartbeat of 176 and a measurement coming in at 10 weeks 3 days when I am 10 weeks 1 day is very exciting!

We are due back for another scan at 13 weeks and by then look out I should have some awesome pics of an almost perfectly formed little baby!

Mothers Intuition

Mothers Intuition
January 21, 2009

When I was pregnant with Jacob I remember having this overwhelming feeling that I was having a boy. So much so that when ever someone would ask me I would immediately say "I think I am having a boy". Lucky for me that is what I had, but now that I am pregnant again and am starting to have those same "feelings" I wonder if Jacob was just luck....I mean hey I have a 50/50 shot at guessing right. Or do women really have "a feeling" on the gender of their babies?

This time around I am having the feeling that I am going to have a girl. I could honestly care less, on one hand having another boy would be great because I already have EVERYTHING for a boy and know how to work having a boy. But of course being able to have one of each would be great too, and we all know that little girls clothes are sooooo much cuter than boys clothes!

I am curious if I will be 2 for 2 on the "mommy intuition" this go around, and am curious how often mommies-to-be have these intuitions and how often they are right....let me know!

My little bean!

My little bean!
(January 13, 2009)

Today Paul and I had our first ultrasound for the new baby. Since I am considered High Risk we will get an ultrasound at 8 weeks (which I am), 10 weeks, 12 weeks, and then every 4 weeks after that. I have a whole book of ultrasounds for Jacob and it was great being able to see him every few weeks. Since losing a few pregnancies it is nice to be able to have my stress relieved every 2-4 weeks by seeing a heartbeat or seeing a little moving baby.

My next appointment is in two weeks and by then maybe my ultrasound will actually look like a little baby, it was kind of a blob today so I am not going to be posting the ultrasound picture this week. But my little bean had a heartbeat of 167 and was measuring right at the proper length.

Paul and I will be finding out the sex of the baby because honestly I am HORRIBLE with surprises and with having an ultrasound every 2-4 weeks even the best person would be hard pressed not to sneak a peek at the "unmentionables".

I am having different feelings with this pregnancy that I didn't have with Jacob. With Jacob I had ZERO morning sickness (thanks mom for the great pregnancy genes) but I have noticed with this pregnancy if I have an empty stomach I will be extremely nauseous. I also have gotten my "bloodhound nose" (as Paul calls it) back. I can smell smells a mile away. I remember once when I was pregnant with Jacob that Paul came to bed one night and the smell of oranges was so strong that it actually woke me up, when I asked him if he was eating an orange he informed me that he had eaten one over 2 hours before but I could smell it as if he was holding it under my nose. I am DEFINITELY getting that particular symptom back!!!

The new baby is due on August 27, 2009 so Jacob and his little brother or sister will be exactly two years apart. That is a really good age difference so I am happy about that. One really neat thing that we found out today at the doctors is that we got our very first ultrasound of Jacob at 8 weeks on January 12, 2007 and got this babies first ultrasound at 8 weeks on January 13, 2009....pretty cool!!!

I will be documenting this pregnancy as things come up and trying to keep up with Jacob's blog too! Happy reading!