Welcome to the Third Trimester

It's crazy to believe I'm finally in the third trimester.... 7th month... just a few weeks to go.

This morning our nursery furniture was delivered - I can't wait to see it! We bought a crib, a dresser, and a custom glider/recliner. I can't wait to see it all!  It's getting so real now!

I can feel him move all day long now, and his kicks and punches are starting to actually move my belly. Travis saw it for the first time last night and was surprised at the movement. It's pretty crazy to see - but exciting too.

Christmas is in less than a week, and I bought a couple of small baby things for Travis for his stocking  - and a special gift from the baby (I won't spoil the surprises just in case he looks at this blog - which is highly unlikely). I'm excited for Christmas to come... and excited for it to go as well. I'm just excited for this little guy to make his entrance into the world - and it seems like Christmas is one more milestone to pass in this pregnancy.

I found out two weeks ago that I have gestational diabetes - bleh. I can handle it for the most part with diet and exercise, but my morning fasting blood sugar is crazy high every morning. So, we will see what the doctor says on Monday.

We are still taking our birthing class and just practiced the different labor positions.  I am convinced they don't tell you the gross details of birth and positioning and pain and stuff so you don't second guess yourself in wanting to have a child. Of course I still want him, and I still want to go natural - but oh dang!

I'm excited - but I'm tired now. I had so much energy in the second trimester it was awesome. Now? Not so much... I just want to sleep all the time! The problem is that I don't sleep well at night. I wake up to go to the bathroom and then I'm awake for a couple of hours. Or I have heartburn and am awake for a few hours. Or the baby thinks it's time to play and I can't fall back asleep with him using my insides as a punching bag.

But I'll take it all - because in three short months he will be here! I can't wait!

24 weeks

In about 6 hours, I will be officially 24 weeks along. It's amazing how quickly the time has gone - and at the same time, it seems like it is forever until our little boy is born.

I am currently taking a Bradley Method Birthing Class, along with Prenatal Water Aerobics - and it has allowed me to become friends with other pregnant ladies. It's weird how I am always the oldest person having their first child - all of the other ladies my age are having their 3rd, or 5th even. But I feel blessed none the less.

The past month has been really hard on me - family drama - work stress - the pregnancy... I feel like a gigantic baby! I've been trying really hard not to complain because I don't want to be "that" lady. I wanted to get pregnant - so much so that it cost us an arm and a leg to try twice. I want to have a family. I can't imagine a better feeling than the kicking I am feeling regularly - especially if I eat a snickers bar! But I'm in pain... Our little guy is just over 1.3 lbs. and growing rapidly.  His legs are measuring a week and a half to two weeks ahead of his due date, with his little waist and head measuring a week under his due date (sounds like our little guy will have Travis' figure - thank goodness!).  But his little head is sitting right on my lady parts, and pushes and presses all day long!

As painful as it is - as slow as I walk now - and even though I waddle like a duck... I will be forever grateful for this opportunity.  I'm so happy that I'm able to carry this little boy - even if it's a pain (literally). I can't wait until the day I meet him! Well... I can wait about 15 weeks longer at least :)

I think...

...I may have just felt movement for the first time! I can't be entirely sure because I've never felt it before - but I've never felt this before. 

I spent the morning painting his bedroom and laid down afterward to take a breather because my belly was starting to hurt - when all of a sudden I felt three little flicks on the left side of my belly. It surprised me because I have never had that feeling before. It has happened a few times since then as well! 

I'm pretty positive it's him and maybe he's telling me to stop squishing him while I paint. I'm so excited!!!!

4 1/2 months...

I am 18 weeks and 2 days pregnant. I still haven’t felt my little man move – at least not that I know of anyway. But I’m so blissfully happy.  Travis and I picked out bedding for the nursery on Wednesday night. We are getting new carpet in the entire upstairs installed a week from today, so we decided if we wanted to paint the nursery, we should probably do it this weekend. So, last night, we went to Buy Buy Baby and bought a piece of the bedding and off we went to Home Depot to buy paint. We decided to do light grey walls, a dark grey accent wall, and white trimming. With our 4 gallons of paint – off we went to attempt our nursery!  Last night we washed the walls, took off all of the outlets, etc. Taped the accent wall, and painted it. This morning we woke up early to do a second coat on our accent wall. It looks amazing!  It’s a little darker than it looked on the swatch and on the paint can – but I really like it!  I’m getting so excited!

Next Wednesday, at 19 weeks, we are having our BIG ultrasound.  We will get to see our little guy, his brain, his heart, and everything else. I can’t wait! I’m not having a difficult pregnancy so sometimes it’s hard to “feel” pregnant. I try to talk to him, and get him to move around – but he doesn’t listen to me yet. I told Travis he would probably be like our furry kids, and only listen to Travis. I’m sure he’s moving around in there – I just wish I could feel it already. I’ve been told it’s normal not to feel him yet – maybe he needs karate lessons or something so he can kick harder. J  I’m just being impatient I know. I’ll relax and wait, because as soon as he starts kicking and I can feel it – I’m sure he won’t stop!

Travis has been so sweet throughout this pregnancy – not that I expected anything different. But while we watch tv he will put his hand on my belly and rub it a little. He is actively trying to come up with names for our little one – and he made me make our first purchase last week. I’ve been stressing about it because it is a little overwhelming. So, last week when we went out looking specifically for cribs, we saw a pack n play that we thought was pretty cool, although for a pack n play it was kind of expensive. It has the little newborn bassinet on the top, a little changing table on top, AND a removable bassinet with a stand. I thought it was awesome because we want the baby in a bassinet by our bed for the first little bit, so this seemed perfect. We looked at other ones that were cheaper and we just really liked the removable bassinet – so we decided that was the one we wanted. So Travis said we should just buy it right now. I was kind of surprised because I hadn’t planned on buying anything at all that day. I had some serious anxiety while this was happening because it seems like such a big commitment, and I was kind of scared. (yes, I’m a baby) But, we bought it, and it’s in the box in our downstairs living room (where everything but the bassinet stand will be) – and I’m sure we will put it together sometime soon.  

I’m so excited – I have so many emotions and feelings around this experience – I don’t really know how to explain it, but I really couldn’t be any happier!

On another note - I just decided to publish all of my previous posts from this second IVF attempt - you don't have to read it if you don't want to - but I wanted to have it here so I can have it for myself. 

October 3, 2013

When we left Fetal Fotos we went straight home because it was the date we would be telling our parents that we are pregnant!  We went home and I loaded my computer up with the pictures, admired them for a bit, and then we called Travis’ parents. We talked about their vacation for a while and then told them we had taken Family Pictures a couple of weeks before, and wanted to send them a few so they could choose one for us to give them for their home. We sent them two family pictures, then pictures of the dogs with the signs we had made – one for Baxter that says, “Baby C” Guard Dog – Duty begins March 2014, and one for Lucy that says, “Official” Baby Toy Tester – Effective March 2014.

His parents looked at the pictures of the dogs and then his mother said “Oh, Oh, Oh, are you trying to tell us something? Are you guys pregnant?”  We told them yes, and they were SO excited!  We sent them a little profile pic of the baby, and then asked if they wanted to know the gender – Bob said No, and Annette said Yes.  I sent a weenie shot and his mom opened it and Bob decided he did want to know – they looked at the picture and Bob said, “that looks like a vagina to me” and Annette said, “Bob – it says, I’m a Boy right there!”  They were SO excited we are having a boy!  They congratulated us and we asked them not to tell anyone until the following day after we could tell the rest of our families. 

After talking to them for a few more minutes, Travis and I headed to Market Street Grill for dinner with my parents – to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We sat down, chatted for a few minutes, ordered our food, and then asked if they wanted to see the family pictures we had taken, and see if they wanted any prints. We gave each of them one family picture, and one puppy picture. My mom looked at the family picture and said she loved it and definitely wanted a print, and then looked at the picture of Lucy. Then she put the pictures down and looked at me, and then picked up the pictures again and looked at the picture of Lucy – then looked at me – and said, “really?”  I said, “Yes” and she jumped out of her seat and hugged me because she was so excited.  My poor dad, was stuck on the “Baby C” part of Baxters because he couldn’t figure it out – “we already have a baby c with conner” was his thought. That made sense – but we couldn’t fit “Baby Cornett” along with all the other writing on the sign – so Baby C it was. They were very excited and had figured we weren’t pregnant because we didn’t say anything about doing IVF.  

Later that evening, I sent a text message to my siblings (classy I know) – a picture of me holding up the grey little outfit I had bought to tell Travis, and wrote “I guess Abstinence is NOT key” and sent it to them. I knew they would think it was funny because Spencer tells everyone that Abstinence is Key because he doesn’t want to think of any of us having sex. Brian immediately called me and we talked for a few, and then I skyped the boys to tell them. I showed them a picture of the ultrasound and asked if they knew what it was, Austin said, “it’s a picture of Baby Will.”  I told him he had pictures like that of baby will, but it was a picture of the baby in my belly – he was So excited! He yelled to his mom “Mom, Jenny’s having a cousin!” Sarah asked if it was a boy or girl, and I let her know a Boy.  They’re very excited too.  Melissa called me from the BYU game and was super excited – and Shayla and Spencer texted me and they’re excited as well!

The next day, we told Travis’ sister Sara while at dinner at Red Robin.  Travis asked little Billy how he’s liked watching our “kids” – and he said great. Travis asked if it was easy or hard, and Billy said easy. Then he asked if he would still be willing to watch them if we added a “third” and he said yes, Sara asked if we were getting another dog and we said No. They asked if we were getting a cat, a dog, and even a monkey- before they guessed it was a real kid. They seem pretty excited as well.

For some reason I was really nervous about telling our families. I don’t know why… maybe because it’s just such a big deal and I was SO excited about it that I thought their excitement wouldn’t match mine?  In any case, everyone was excited and we were so happy!

October 2, 2013

I haven’t written here in two months!  It’s not because I haven’t had a lot to say – I’ve had a TON to say! But I’ve been so busy with work stuff, and it’s been hard to write about the pregnancy when we aren’t telling anyone yet.  We finally told our families and let them know we are Pregnant last Friday – and really – last Friday this pregnancy became real!

Last Friday, at 15 weeks and 2 days, we went to our doctor’s appointment and had a super short ultra sound just to see the heartbeat. I was really disappointed because I was hoping at this appointment we would actually see a baby, or something that LOOKS like a baby, and we would tell our families that evening and I wanted to have a picture of an actual baby to show them. Travis could tell I was disappointed and suggested we look into Fetal Fotos.  I was hesitant but I’m not sure why. We decided that if they could tell us the gender, we would make an appointment. 

I called Fetal Fotos and they said at 15 weeks they can tell Gender - so I made an appointment for that afternoon! Travis and I went in and picked the $79 package which included a 2D ultrasound with printed pictures, a CD of pictures and a DVD of the ultrasound complete with musical accompaniment. Travis and I sat in the room and relaxed and the ultrasound took her time to look at our little one. I was amazed at how clear the pictures were! It looked like a baby! She showed us the feet, the face, the hands, and then the gender reveal - she showed us a tiny little weenie. We are having a boy! I started to cry when she told and showed us. I am SO excited! Travis and I were SO excited we could barely stand it! We left Fetal Fotos all smiles - best $79 spent EVER!

August 7, 2013

Yesterday I had my first appointment at the Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic at IMC. I was officially 7w6d yesterday and got to see another picture of our little one. The second sac was still there, unfortunately, there was nothing in it so – no twins for us. But that’s okay – I think I knew there was only one in there so I wasn’t too surprised, but I was still a little bummed. In any case, there is one healthy baby with a heartbeat of 160. 

The ultrasound tech was SO quick! It was insane!  It was my first abdominal ultrasound so far, and it was wonderful!  I seriously was so surprised at how quickly it went by. Then we met with one of the other doctors because Dr. Porter was out of the office for the week. She seemed pleasant enough… not super friendly, but whatever.

Afterward, I went to the lab and did a urine test and a blood test. While I was waiting for my blood test – one of Travis’ clients that works for IMC walked by us and stopped to say hello.  It’s a little hard to avoid the “are you pregnant?” question when you are in the women’s center – on the maternity floor – at the lab…  So, she knows.

We are so excited that there is at least one baby in there with a really strong heartbeat! I haven’t been feeling horrible – but I certainly have my moments. Aside from random bouts of nausea, and really painful boobs, everything else seems to be good. After our appointment we went to Harmons, and the smell of the butchers area with the fish and raw meat – made me so sick! I seriously, almost barfed multiple times, in the middle of Harmons!

Poor Travis is such a good sport and gave me the car keys to go sit in the car while he finished the shopping. I just went to the produce section to pick out fruit and then the checkout stand. I survived… barely!

Aside from baby stuff – I turned 32 today… I don’t feel too old – but I am really happy that I’m at least expecting our first child at 32… Who knew this year would be so great for us!

July 31, 2013

Yesterday I had another ultrasound. It’s at 6 weeks and 6 days – and there are still TWO sacs!  The big one has an actual baby in it… the smaller one now has a yolk sac but it’s sitting so far back in my pelvis that the ultrasound wand couldn’t get a good view of it – so there may be a baby in there, there may not be. But it’s getting bigger and progressing.  Dr. Heiner said we still have a 15% chance of having twins I guess. We will just watch it I guess.

As for the other one – with the baby… we got to see the heartbeat - and we got to hear it!  I’m not going to lie, as I was holding Travis’ hand and we heard the heartbeat, I started to cry a little. It was surreal!  I’ve never experienced something so amazing before in my life! There was a tiny flutter – and a heartbeat of 123 bpm. It was amazing!

I have a subchronic hematoma or something (bleeding) around the sac of the bigger baby. The doctor said it’s 20% of the size of the sac, so it’s nothing to be super worried about – but there is a potential for bleeding. I don’t know why doctors tell you things and then say, oh, but you shouldn’t be worried about it. Seriously? How can I not be worried about it?! I guess we don’t have to worry unless it grows to be 50% of the size of the sac – then I guess we have to worry about it.

The doctor gave me a little paper that says when to stop taking the Crinone and the Metformin. I just have to make an appointment with Dr. Porter, the maternal fetal medicine specialist that we will see throughout this pregnancy.  I’m really hoping there’s nothing wrong and that the smaller sac continues to grow and we can find a baby in there next time!!!

Until then, I try and get sleep at night - although I've got insomnia right now - and do everything else that i need to... while keeping it a secret. The end of September can't get here quick enough! Then at least we will be out of the first trimester, and can actually tell our families and friends.