16 Week Appointment

I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday and all is well. My weight, blood pressures, etc are great, and Baby's heart rate was at 155 bpm. After the appointment I had some bloodwork done and went down to the ultrasound department to get that scheduled. They don't do the main measure-and-check-everything-and-find-out-the-sex ultrasound here until 21 weeks now, which would be November 4th for me, but Richard will be in Iraq by then. So, we pleaded with the main tech there to please please schedule me for just before he leaves! Since it'll be a little earlier than 20 weeks she's not sure she will be able to see everything she needs to see (for whatever the doctor or radiologist wants to have measured and recorded) but she's going to try, and we should be able to see everything we want to see (boy or girl!?). So my next OB appointment and the ultrasound appointment will both be on Monday, October 25. Woohoo! That's really all for now. I'm going to have Richard take a belly picture of me later this week. :)

Big Changes on the Horizon (Maybe)

First of all, there is nothing much new to report on the baby/pregnancy right now. I am starting to feel a little bigger and, while I am still wearing all my normal clothes, I definitely have to unbutton my pants most times I sit down. I feel pretty good and almost always hungry. (Hope I haven't gained too much weight in these last 4 weeks, hehe!) I have an appointment with my midwife tomorrow and will update again after that. (Oh, and I haven't taken any belly pictures yet... guess I should do that soon as well.)

Ava is doing great. GREAT. She is getting so big and SO smart. I think we could read literally all day. She is learning the ABC song (she loves to sing) and is getting better at her colors. We have started talking about the new baby a little bit. I don't expect her to really understand yet, of course, so it's mostly like "You have to be very careful and gentle around Mama's belly cuz there's a baby in there." Then she touches my belly gently and says baby. She gets kind of rough sometimes climbing on me so we're trying to make her more aware.

In other news, the title of this post refers to the possibility of me, Ava, BB, Pancake, and Baby #2 (in utero) moving to GA for this coming deployment. I already had one baby with no husband and no family around for most of the time and would rather not do that again with a toddler in the picture too. Our families have already missed so much of Ava's life! I would love for her to know them and for Baby to be around them as well. So we are really praying about, researching, and comparing all of our options and plan to decide for sure sometime this week.

More Exciting News

Yesterday and today have made for two great days! For those of you who don't know, my brother (Jordan) and his wife (Stephanie) are expecting their first baby, due date January 20. Yesterday they had an ultrasound and found out they are having a boy! Jaden Lee Seckinger. I am SO excited for them and am also excited to be an aunt and for Ava to be a cousin! I plan on making a trip to GA this winter so it'll be fun for Stephanie and I to be big and pregnant together. :) Hopefully I'll be able to stay until little Jaden is born before I have to come home for my own preparations.

In other exciting news, today is the start of my second trimester! Woo-hoo! I've been feeling SOOO much better and have much more of an appetite for regular foods again.

-How far along? 13 weeks (3 months)
-Maternity Clothes? I'm still in all my regular clothes, although I feel the need to unbutton my pants when I sit down now. Another plus side to being smaller and in better shape when I got pregnant this time is that I think I may be able to use some of my old too-big pants for a while before I have to move to maternity pants. I never really wore many maternity tops last time; just wore my longer, stretchier tops so that will probably be the same this pregnancy.
-Weight Gain? Probably a couple pounds up now that I'm not sick anymore, although I'm not weighing myself at home so I don't really know.
-Sleeping? Not sleeping well at all lately... but I think some of that may be feeling a little anxious for Richard to come home any day now. (And we don't know when exactly, so that's frustrating.) Oh yeah, and Ava has been waking up screaming in the night lately. ??
-Baby Movement? Haven't felt anything definite yet.
-Workouts? I'm back to my pre-pregnancy workout routine but I get tired a little quicker and am having to modify some of the movements. I can feel my ab muscles separating a little already, which is of course earlier than the first time around.
-Food Cravings/Aversions? I'm really open to eating anything and everything again, although I still don't feel like cooking it myself. No real aversions right now! (We'll see how the bacon goes when Richard gets home, hehe.)
-Baby Gender? We don't know yet and, while I like the idea of being surprised, we will probably find out again. Since it is very possible that Richard will not be here for the birth again, he definitely wants to know and be a part of all he can while he is here. (Right now it looks like he will be here for the 20 week ultrasound, so let's hope all this deployment stuff stays on schedule.)

That's pretty much it for now!

First Midwife Appointment

I am 11 weeks and 4 days pregnant today and had my first appointment with my midwife, Kyanna, this afternoon. It was great! She did a sonogram (again, unexpected since they never did that at the regular appointments in my last pregnancy) so I got to see Baby and was given some pictures to take home. Baby was super active moving all over the place while Kyanna was trying to get some basic measurements. It was so awesome to see! Also, I told Richard last night that my appointment was at 3pm today and to try to be available for a phone call around that time if he could. Where he is at training he only gets cell phone reception in certain places, and not in any buildings, so he kept walking outside to check in with me every few minutes until we were ready to listen to the heartbeat via doppler. Baby's heart was thumping about 170 beats per minute and Richard was able to hear it on speakerphone. (Next best thing to being there, right?)

My next appointment will be September 27, my birthday!, so I will definitely update again then if not before.

Done?, Airport Trip, Testing

After my wonderous hospital experience I had a couple days of stomach turmoil and yuckiness but now... I think... I might be done with the morning sickness phase!?!?!! About the last four days I have been HUNGRY and eating like a champ. I feel a tad bit queasy at night still but it is barely noticeable. I even worked out a couple days ago and went for a neighborhood walk last night; it was amazing. It was so awesome to have my dear friend Meredith here for almost a week too. She was an immense help with Lil A and the pups when I was feeling bad, and then we were able to play and have fun when I magically felt good all of a sudden. Ava and I took Mere back to the airport and kind of made a day of the trip. I took a bunch of books for the ride and when we stopped in Topeka on the way I got her a new book and a See 'n Say that spins and makes a bunch of animal sounds. We had lunch and Ava got some playground time in the mall on the way. We stopped in Topeka on the way back, too, for an early supper and a little leg stretching. 2+ hours each way is a long time for a 20 month old to endure the carseat. She gets genuinely bored now (and probably uncomfortable sitting in the seat for so long). Long gone are the days of sleeping peacefully for hours straight on our road trips. Makes the idea of our upcoming winter road trip to GA seem like a very daunting task right now.
Anyway, I am loving this stage in Ava's life. She is SO smart and constantly learning and trying to figure out new things. Everywhere we go she is pointing at things, identifying them or wanting to. I think she pointed out every boy and girl at the mall today. We saw one little boy carrying a sippy cup and Ava said "Boy!" followed by "cup" and then "juice please." She is making so many connections, it's crazy. She has also started testing me a little more in the last few days. For example, her recorder and tamborine were on the kitchen floor and she walked over and stood on her tamborine with both feet. I said, "Ava, you don't need to step on your tamborine. You might break it. Don't step on your tamborine." She looked at me and lightly stepped on it with one foot. I said, "Ava, you need to listen to Mama. I said not to step on your tamborine. Look at me. If you step on it again you will get a spankin because you're not listening." So she stood there for a second and then lightly stepped on the recorder instead. Seriously!? "Ava, you don't need to step on your tamborine or your recorder. We don't step on our toys because we might break them." She stood there another few seconds and then very slowly and lightly touched her foot to the tamborine again. So she got a little spankin, cried it out for a minute, and then moved on. Lesson learned: Mama means business and she really will do what she says. I really need to listen. CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY! (No matter where we are or what we're doing.)

ER Trip With a Silver Lining

So I've talked some about my nausea in previous posts. I said that it was definitely present and annoying but not debilitating and not constant puking. When I did throw up I would feel a little better and would be able to eat again. Well... as of Saturday morning all of that changed. I didn't keep down anything I ate all day. I slept literally half the day with no energy to function. (Thank goodness it was the weekend and Richard was home.) Sunday morning God granted me a reprieve just long enough to sing at church and then it was back to throwing up the rest of the day. Richard left for JRTC (for a month) at 4am today. I got up when he did so I could eat a snack and see him off. Well about 20 minutes after getting back in bed I lost that aforementioned snack. Breakfast and morning snack went the same way. I turned on a DVD for Ava and went back to bed. At this point I was feeling exhausted and achy on top of the nausea. Finally I called my friend Anne-Marie to come and get Ava. She took her for the day to play with her son, Carter. I slept a lot more and tried nursing down some chicken broth, crackers, and Powerade Zero with some success for a little while but then it all came back up again. Finally I decided I needed some help so I went to the Emergency Room (6:45pm at this point). The doctor said I was not deathly dehydrated to where he would demand that I get IV fluids but that I could definitely benefit from them, so that's what I did. After about an hour of IV fluids and some Zofran I felt much better. During the IV process the nurse came in with an ultrasound machine to see if she could check out Baby. (This was totally unexpected as I am only 9 weeks and 4 days along and they practically never do "unnecessary" ultrasounds at this hospital.) Well it was awesome. The picture was not clear at all and the nurse's sleeve was blocking my view half the time but I got to see Baby's little flutter of a heartbeat! 136 beats per minute. And to top it all off, Richard called to check in while I was there and I got to fill him in on everything. I don't know how I'm going to make it through the last month of this trimester without him but I'm taking it one day at a time. And I've got awesome girlfriends around who are always willing to help. In fact, my BFF and college roommate Meredith is flying in tomorrow afternoon! This trip was planned before I even knew I was pregnant but now it's as though God knew I would need a little extra help with Richard gone. :)

So now I am home and am about to attempt to eat some cereal or something. My neighbor Emily took BB and Pancake to her house to play with their dog Sookie while I was at the hospital. They are worn out now. :) Ava had an absolutely awesome day at Anne-Marie's house and is spending the night there. All I have left to do is rest and recover. It's weird and quiet without Richard and Ava here.

Anyway, despite the obvious yuckiness of the past couple days I have experienced blessings as well. I know the Lord will provide for my ever-changing needs. I am so thankful for my friends. I so love my husband and am looking forward to our family time when he gets home before the deployment. I love my sweet girl Ava and can't wait to see her tomorrow!

Long Overdue Videos

6-10-10 Reading & Getting Situated on Pancake

7-6-10 Feeding Fallow Deer at KC Zoo


7-7-10 Hotel Workout

7-27-10 Pool Talkin'

8-4-10 Chasing BB

8-8-10 Scowling & Singing