Anika's first day of school... (sniff sniff)...

Well, its happened. The day has come where Anika was off to Kindergarten. How can she possibly be old enough to be in school, and get on that big school bus?? But she woke up this morning in the best mood ever, and announced to whoever was in the neighborhood "Today is my first day of school!!"

We had 3 outfit changes (not sure where she gets that from), her hair being up, to wanting it down, wanting some up & some down, to back all of it being up.

Michelle (my neighbor), who is Garrett's Mom - Garrett is Anika's husband... we took the kids to the bus.... watched with a tear in our eye as the kids got on, then raced home to her house to get in the van and make sure the kids got off the bus and arrived at school without any problems. Everyone thinks that our little 5 year olds look so big, until they are on the playground at school with grades 1-6 with them.

All went well and they had fun their first day of school. Anika had the biggest smile on her face when she got off the bus at 3:47pm, and couldn't wait to tell us all about her first day :)

Here are some pictures of the big day!!

Garrett, George & Anika waiting for the school bus

Garrett & Anika....

Anika posing with her backpack...

Cheese!!!!!

Anika, Garrett Jonson, Noah Saltell, Dainnon (not sure of his last name)

Bye Mom... don't worry about me.. I have my boys!!

My trip to Labor & Delivery...

This little lady that I am housing is really giving me A LOT of grief... and she's not even here yet!

Tuesday night I went to bed, only to wake up at 1:30am in an unbelieveable amount of pain on my right side, high up just under my ribs. I tried to reposition myself and fall back asleep but it didn't work. I couldn't get comfortable. I headed downstairs and flipped on the tv. I couldn't sit without being in pain, or lay down. What is going on? Maybe a shower or bath would work. I started up the water and layed in the tub for 30 or so minutes hoping it might relax me. As time went on I became more and more uncomfortable. I finally woke Adrian up at 2:40 and told him I think something is wrong with me... not the baby as she was moving around. I looked on-line to see what it might be. There was a variety of things but the one thing that caught my eye was appendicitis (sp??)... it described the pain as a stabbing, burning sensation and that is exactly what I was feeling and it didn't let up at all. Adrian and I talked for a bit, and decided I should call the OB on call. The Dr called me back right away, and thought it would be a good idea for me to come in and be checked especially if the pain was getting worse.

By the time we dropped Anika off at my Mom's and got to the hospital it was around 4:30am. They hooked me up to the monitor to make sure that I wasn't contracting (which I was sure I wasn't), and waited for the dr to come in. She did a few physical tests on me, and waited for my urine analysis to come back from the lab. A few hours went by and still no answer. Finally my nurse came back and said that they had lost the first urine sample, and they wanted to send a new one off to be tested. By 9:00, another OB came into see me, and said that they had ruled out problems with the kidneys, gall bladder, and that my u/a came back ok, so it wasn't appendicitis.... THANK GOD! However my little girl is laying horizontally across my belly which is stretching and pushing on my oblique muscles which is very painful. We will know more on Monday when my fetal assessment is done, however the OB felt that with the baby laying sideways that the chances of my placenta moving up was probably pretty low. Her head is pretty much blocking it from moving up, and the placenta is preventing her from turning head down... bugger!

I am feeling better, however the pain seemed to be back last night. Not sure why its only happening in the evening, but with some tylenol and a shower right before bed, I was able to bunker down and get a little bit of sleep.

Ciao for now...
Me

Pregnancy Photo's

On Saturday, we had out last family of 3 photo done.

Anika needs to take a family photo on her first day of school, so we decided to get something done.



At that time, I decided that because this will more than likely be my last pregnancy, I'd get some pregnancy photo's done...

Here are a few...

30 Week Dr's Appointment....

I had my appointment with Dr. Awa yesterday.

Seems like he feels that me being at work and everything that I'm experiencing with the shortness of breath, chest pains, restless legs/body, sciatic nerve problem are not good for me or the baby so he has pulled me from work for at least 1 week. Adrian came to my appointment with me because we both feared that I might just brush all of this under the table and not mention anything. Immediately after telling him all of this he said that I am living my life as tho I'm not pregnant, in terms of my limitations. He said to us.. "I don't know what kind of personality you have, but you have to stop trying to please everyone around you, and let people take care of you.... you are growing a baby inside of you. You don't want your stress level to get to a point where you can't function properly at home or at work, and you are snapping and biting everyone's head off." My husband replies in the background..."too late!", and I follow up with "I should have brought my 5 year old daughter, who has told everyone that we are living in different houses!" poor kid probably wishes at times that I didn't live here. I know I have been moody and crabby and snappy. I will be the first one to admit that. However letting go of responsibilities is hard for me. Especially when it comes to work. This is a very hard lesson to learn, and even harder to swallow. I am a pleaser. I HAVE to make sure that everyone around me is taken care of. I have to make sure there are no riffs between people. Me not being at work and taking care of my #1 client who I am very very passionate about and have worked with their team for 6 1/2 years, is very difficult. I can't seem to cut those strings. They have been great with support, telling me that I have to take care of myself and the little lady... I also have my 5 year old that I can't forget about who it seems like I have been pushing a side because I can't function when I get home at 5-5:30. This week off will be good for her and I. Aghhhhhh... I'm starting to get emotional... and its only 6:39 Saturday morning.

Time to change the topic...

Yesterday was Anika's last day at daycare. I was sooo sad for her. She has made a lot of really good friends at WPCC. I hate that she is going to lose that relationship with them. She loved little Nathan (who was a little guy who always got blamed for things that went wrong). She was the only one who was able to calm him down when he went hystarical. Sierra is going to miss her. Poor Sierra was soooo sad the first week when her Mom left her at the daycare, and litle Miss Anika, held her hand and told her "Its ok... I'll play with you... its fun here! Just stay by me." Then there are the 3 some of Emily, Erin and Anika. 5 year old little girls, who couldn't wait to play with each other everyday. She loved her teachers and her teachers loved her. How could we possibly thank everyone of them there who played a little part in Anika's daycare world. When I asked Anika what she'd like to do for her last day of daycare... she wanted to bring candy. LOL... Picture 18 2-5 year olds hopped up on a sugar rush... those teachers would have been diggin' into their little brown paper bags, needing a drink real quick. So I suggested a pizza party! Well.. it was a hit. We ordered 4 large pizza's and had them delivered for lunch. I think for Anika this was her gift of saying thank you... to each of them, who touched her little world in a different way. When she came home I looked out the window, and saw her skipping up the driveway, gift bag in hand and a crown on her head... It then hit me that she's going to be ok... she has her friends on Burmac Road, who were waiting for her when she pulled up. She will be starting a new chapter in her life, going to school, and making new life long friends... just like I did when I started school. So... Cheer's Anika... I am so proud of you... so proud of what you have accomplished as a 5 year old!

This next week is all about me, and bringing my stress level down. It is about me reconnecting with my family, my daughter and most of all with my little baby that is growing inside of me.

Sorry this is such an emotional post... but it had to be done.

Cheers :)

30 weeks 1 day...

Lets start this post off with a picture. Here I am at 30 weeks 1 day (today- apparently the date is off on my camera). I'm feeling a little bloated and swollen... not sure if its because I didnt' get my usual amount of water in, or if its the Chinese Food we had tonight!! LOL...

I really over did it on Sunday with the cleaning of the loft. I actually had to call into work because I couldn't move Monday morning. I spent the entire morning in bed, which felt good because nobody was home, but my back and right leg were killing me. Things have finally gotten better, and the pain level is bareable. I see Dr. Pat the Chiropractor tomorrow.... which should get me feeling pretty good for the long weekend.

My sister Jennifer asked if I'd come and clean her place... I had to laugh. I started my loft job, and haven't quite finished it. I'm nearly there, however this has turned into me wanting to buy a nice little bookcase and a new desk for in here. Its all about organization. Today I went to Home Depot and picked up the bookcase for Anika's room along with a closet organizer for her closet. If it works in there then we will put one in the baby's room. I can't wait to get it together... maybe this weekend.

My Mom, Anika and I are going shopping on Saturday to pick out the fabric for the baby's duvet cover, glider rock cushion cover, bumper pad, and if we can find something nice, maybe a crib skirt and a panel curtain in a nice crepe material.

Today I made it official in writing... my last day at work is October 5th, I will then have 2 weeks of holidays, then start my Mat leave October 22nd. I can't wait....

25 days of work left!!! ;)

Hello.... NESTING!

On Tuesday I will hit 30 weeks.... This past Friday it hit me like a ton of bricks that this little baby girl could be here in 8 weeks!!! 8 WEEKS!!! Holy Crap! I am not ready for this at all. At the same time that this bag of bricks hit me, I had the sudden urge to start cleaning and organizing things. For those that know me well... I HATE TO CLEAN. This must have come from all the cleaning I had to do as a child. Maybe I should rephrase that before my Mother calls me wondering which world I'm living in... or lived in when I was a child. I enjoyed cleaning when I was a kid. Aside from being a Christmas Wrapper at the mall, I though being a cleaning lady would be a great job when I got older. Hah! LOL

Well.. I started my organizing frenzie in our ensuite bathroom. We don't have any drawers in the cabinet under the sink, so rather than buying a new cabinet (which would have turned into new flooring, sink, light fixture etc), I bought a nice whicker 4 drawer unit at Jysk! I love it. I have everything in there that I use on a regular basis. This will free up my little bit of counter that I have, and give me room to put my towels under the sink.... rather than in the linen closet... which I'm going to organize for something else! Don'tcha love the way this little project is leading to another, then another, then another. Today I started cleaning the loft. This is where our computer is... and it has become a dumping ground for every piece of paper that enters this house, from Bills, to receipts, to appointment reminders, to books etc. Adrian went out today and bought me a paper shredder to start going through 4 boxes of crap.... we were living in a paper mess... huge amount of clutter. I have been shredding most of the afternoon. Once we get this space organized, we are going to move everything that is in the spare bedroom out, which includes... a single bed, dresser, night stand, 5 rubbermaid containers of clothes that don't fit Anika (Nic, if you read this let me know when I can get some clothes to you to take to the agency... ). Adrian started this room today, but we have storage issues in our house, and right now, until we paint will have to move all this stuff into the loft (once cleaned and organized), so that we can paint. Once the bedroom is painted, we can move the crib, change table, dresser etc into the baby's room, and move the single bed, dresser and night stand down into the basement.

Then comes Anika's room. We need to get her a closet organizer and bookcase. We found both at Home Depot, so that will happen once we get the baby's room done, as one of the dressers from her room is going into the baby's room, which will make room for the bookcase.

I also have to go through crates of clothes. Being the pack rats that we are, I have kept almost everything of Anika's in terms of clothing. I'm going to go through and pick out 4-5 outfits that we really like, the rest will go on consignment, or if they won't take them, hopefully to the adoption agency that our good friends Paul and Nic are using, to be sent to the kids in the Ukraine, or neighboring countries.

Have I mentioned that I only have
29 more days of work left??
LOL...

Anyways.. I must run. I'd like to get a little more shredding done... tomorrow is garbage day!!!

I have a Dr's appointment with my OB on Friday... August 31st. I will be discussing with him my sciatica problems and see what he recommends. I have been seening Dr. Pat the Chiropractor (if you live in Winnipeg and need a really good Chiro, see him.. he's at Chenier Chiropractic). I do feel much better after seeing him, but it only last about 2 days... then I'm back in pain... which makes it hard to sit, stand or walk... then my next Fetal Assessment is September 10th.

28 weeks 4 days...

Here I am at 28 weeks 4 days...

Pain in the ass...

Ok.. I have never felt pain like I have the past 12 hours.... this damn nerve...

I slept terrible last night.. couldn't find a position that was comfortable that would give me some relief I tossed and turned all night, only to fall asleep just before 4:30am... my alarm goes off at 5:45. AGHHHH...

I made it through work until 3pm when I called it quits... I couldn't stand the pain anymore. I can't sit for more than 5 minutes... can't stand without leaning up against something... and can't walk without a limp. I came home and snuggled up into bed...slept until 6:00, then hobbled down for dinner. I don't have much of an appetite which could be why I've lost 3-4lbs this past week and a half... or it could be stress. I don't know.

I think tomorrow I'm going to call the Dr and see what he suggests. I will try anything at this point. I'm going for a long hot shower and then going to bed with the heating pad.... something has to give.

Long Over Due Update

I haven't updated in a while... bad bad me!!! LOL

Lets see...

We went to Edmonton and had a really great time! The weather was great, spent 4 nights with my sister and her family and 3 nights with my Aunt. Anika was spoiled rotten, but really who couldn't spoil her?? LOL... I think that was her goal when she went out there. We celebrated her birthday about 3 times while we were out there.

I'll post some pics when I get a moment to upload them to the site....

Good friends of ours, Chris and Wendy Strachan had a beautiful baby boy about a week and a half ago... Liam Christopher Strachan is the sweetest little thing you have ever seen...
Here's a picture of him with his older brother Connor... Sweet eh??

I hope Anika is as proud of her little sister.... (yes ~ I said sister)... as Connor is of Liam. He really love's his little brother :)

It seems weird telling everyone that we are having a girl. Most people know but there are a few people who didn't want to know what we were having. Chris and Wendy didn't want to know but accidently found out from a friend who let it slip. No biggie... its not like we weren't telling people.

My sciatica has been quite bad lately. I seem to have 1 good day then progressivly 2-3 really bad days where I have really fight to get through the day. I'm not sure at what point I should call my Dr to see what he suggests but I'm almost at the point that its unbearable.

I did meet my OB... Dr. Awadalla, and love him. I can't remember if I posted about him so I apologize in advance if I have. He isn't too concerned about my placenta issue at the moment. He said that I have to take it easy and lead as stress-free of a life as possible. LOL... Oh - Ok... I am trying my hardest to keep things stress free, and Adrian and Anika have been wonderful in helping me achieve that. My next OB appointment is August 31st, then my next fetal assessment is Sept 10th... then I see Dr. Awa on Sept 14th (or somewhere in around there). Please keep us in your thoughts and hope that my placenta has moved up and that my sciatic nerve eases up.

I had my Gestational Diabetes Test today. If you don't know what this is about... you have to drink this orange drink that tastes like McDonald's Orange Drink that is all hopped up with EXTRA SUGAR... then you wait an hour and they take your blood and test it to see what your body does with that sugar. I felt like hell after I had the test.... 15 minutes after finishing the drink the baby was on a wild high. She was moving around, punching and kicking up a storm. After my blood was taken, I felt like I could take a week long nap... must have been coming down from the sugar high. I guess I will know if I passed when I have my Dr's appointment... another thing to pray for....
Otherwise.. our babygirl is very active and is a night owl. She loves to play at night. Once I get my camera charged I will see if I can get video of my belly when I lay down.... She goes absolutely nuts!! LOL

Oh.. and I forgot the most important thing of all... As of 5pm today... I have

37 days of work left

(I think)... LOL

26 weeks 4 days...

Today was my nephew Micah's 5th Birthday. When we arrived to pick Anika up, Danielle my sister was painting the kids faces... so she asked if she could do my belly!! So here I am at 26 week 4 days...

And a close up of the design Danielle did...

One step forward... a few steps back...

I am 24 weeks today. Time is flying by... 6 months already!

I had my 2nd fetal assessment today. Things aren't looking any better with my placenta. It is still very low. Hasn't moved up like they had hoped. The nurse who did my fetal assessment was amazing. I wish I knew her name. She showed me the baby's head, face, spine, belly, heart, bladder, legs, hands and feet. We even went to take a peek at the baby's sex to make sure nothing had changed LOL... its still the same. Then she went down towards my pelvic bone with the wand and wasn't happy with what she saw. At the angle she was looking at, she couldn't tell if the placenta was over the cervix or just up next to it. The baby's head was resting on it, covering it up a wee bit. She said it definately was low, and by looking at my chart from the last fetal assessment it hadn't moved up. We got talking about holidays, and family and I told her that we were leaving on Thursday for Edmonton to visit my family. She asked if my Dr. knew that I was going out of town. To be honest... I'm not even sure that it came up when I saw Dr. Visch last, and I don't see Dr. Awadalla until July 30th, so probably not. Besides, I booked this trip back at the beginning of May. She said with where my placenta was sitting, she would say no travelling out of the city for me... for fear of a hemorhage. WHAT??????????????????????? You've got to be kidding me. I was sooo sad. Sad that I was going to miss Anika's 5th birthday ~ her party in Edmonton was something she has been talking about for weeks. How could this be happening??? By this time I had tears running down my face. My baby was fine ~ she reassured me the baby was fine, even showed me a 4D photo of the baby's face (very cool I might add), it was just that my body wasn't cooperating.... figures! She decided to call Dr. Reid, to have him come and do a vaginal u/s to see if he could get a better angle on it. I had to wait in the waiting area so they could get the room ready and wait for Dr. Reid. I'm sure it was obvious that I had been in tears. There were 3 other couples and me... I'm sure they were all wondering what was going on. Dr. Reid came in and soon I was back in the room having another u/s done. A few minutes seemed like forever. Nobody said a word. All that raced through my mind was "this can't be good". The tears started again. I tried really hard to hold everything back. Dr. Reid then said "get yourself cleaned up and dressed and I'll be back in to talk to you." All that was racing through my mind was... why didn't I get Adrian to come with me. He would have, but I figured everything was going to be ok, so I told him not to bother missing work for this. CRAP CRAP CRAP... not a time when I wanted to be alone. A few minutes more and Dr. Reid was back in the room with his pad of paper and pen. He drew me a picture of my uterus, with the baby in it, and the placenta. He said he didn't think it was covering the cervix but he did say it was less than a centimeter away. They prefer it to be 2 cm or more away from the cervix. He said that they are going to monitor me and that if I have any spotting or bleeding to come straight to the hospital. He then said he didn't thinkI'd be in any great danger to travel, so I could go on my holiday. OMG OMG OMG... I get to be with my baby when she turns 5!!!!! I go back to have another fetal assessment done in 8 weeks.. September 10th to be exact. My holiday is going to be very special. This will be the last one for quite a while. We are going to relax and really enjoy ourselves... isn't that what holidays are for??

Now... the baby is nearly 12" long and 1 3/4lbs. If the baby continues on this path, it will be much bigger than Anika was at birth... 5lbs 4oz!!

21 Week Dr's Appointment

I had my last Dr's appointment with my GP this past Monday. I was very sad to see the scale move in the upward motion of SEVEN POUNDS!!!! Jesus Murphy! That is way too much to gain in a 4-5 week period! sigh... Must be the chocolate that I was addicted to... Anika now thinks that my Dr. has said NO MORE CHOCOLATE!! lol

However everything is looking really good. The heartbeat is 149 beats per minute.. my blood pressure was good, and again the only concern is the placent being small and low.

My next appointment is when we get back from holidays with Dr. Awadalla, who will be my OB and hopefully deliver the baby.

Our Fetal Assessment - 20 weeks 1 day...

We had our fetal assessment last week, Wednesday.

Everything seems to be going really good. The baby was quite active again during the assessment. We were able to take a good look at the baby's face, especially the lips and they look good. We also took a look at the brain and the heart. Both look really good too. The only problem that they are going to monitor is that my placenta is small and low. This could cause a problem down the road called placenta previa. If in fact that is what this is, I maybe put on bed rest for the balance of my pregnancy. The technician asked if I have had any spotting or bleeding and I haven't so she said this is good. I have another Fetal Assessment on July 17th to see if the placenta has moved up.

Oh.. and for those of you who are wondering if we found out what we are having... yes we did... however most people don't want to know so we are going to keep it a secret as long as we can!

Here is a picture of me just before we left for the fetal assessement... I'm definately not thick any more.. I'm definately pregnant!

Hello.... Time for a big update...

Life has been hectic!

Between Anika's dance recital, and soccer finishing up... we now have time to live :)

Anika's dance recital was awesome. They did so well! We are such proud parents. Since September, Anika has been taking a dance class called "Little Ballerina's" at the Royal Dance Conservatory. They started out with 5 little girls and ended the season with only 3 of them. At the recital I found out that the 2 other girls in Anika's group were both just turning 7 years old! My poor Anika isn't even 5 yet! Considering this was her first year in dance, she did well. Many of you have heard the story of Anika not having any grace, and that we thought she'd probably stick to sports. But now we are second guessing ourselves. She was the ugly duckling that turned into the swan. It was awesome to watch!!

Here are a couple of pictures from the night of her recital...

Isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen??

The big thing after the dance recital was that Anika wanted to get her hair cut!! We have talked lots about this, but her hair is so thick and is such a rats nest when she gets up in the morning that we usually end up leaving the house in the morning with her in tears because it hurts when we brush it. So after soccer last Tuesday we head to the hairdresser and off came about 6 inches. When she was getting it cut, I asked her "What's Grandma going to say??" her response... "Noooooooooo!!!!!" LOL!!

Here she is...

Soccer is now finished. We had our wind-up picnic at St.Vital Park tonight. It was great! The kids had a lot of fun. 2 of the boys on her team are going to be in her kindergarden class. Tuesdays game was the best game Anika played. Most nights that she played she lost interest half way through and complained that her belly was hurting. After the game she got a team picture and a medal. She is so proud of her first medal.. and its even engraved with her team name and HER name!!! I'll post a picture as soon as I get it moved over from my work computer to my home computer.

On the fence...

Well.. we are 8 sleeps away from the possiblilty of finding out the sex of the baby.

I am soooo on the fence about this. Deep down I think I want to know... but there are only so many "true" surprises in life and this is one of them.

Adrian really wants to know. Anika doesn't want to know. I'm 50/50. We asked if she'd like to come with us to the appointment to "see" the baby on the computer screen and she said no. This kids got will power.

Please leave us a comment or email us at anika1@mts.net, and let us know what you think. Should we find out... should we wait....

Time is ticking away... I don't know what to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to Me... Yesterday :)

THIRTY - FIVE!!!! EEEEEEEKKKKK

Deep breath. Yes. This one was hard. Not sure why, but maybe because my lovely "much older" sister, reminded me that I'm closer to 40 than I am to 30. That sucks!!

I had a pretty good day. Woke up early - about 5:45 and got ready for work... had some breakfast, and slipped out the door at 7:15 without waking Adrian and Anika.... WOOOOHOOOO!! I then met Adrian, Anika and my Mom for lunch at this little Vietnamese Restaurant called Vietnamese Garden. It was nice to get away from the office... I rarely have time to take a good hour out of my day.... so I did it without feeling guilty. I opened a few presents and cards then headed back to chaos. Adrian and Anika picked me up from work about 4:20 only to fly home get Anika suited up in her dance costume and get her to her mini dress rehersal for 5:30. Adrian and I ran a few errands then headed back to see how things were going at 6:30 and found out that she was done so we were going to go to Earls for some snacks and maybe watch a little bit of the hockey game, but it was packed, so we headed to Safeway and picked up some cake... YUMMMMMM CAKE FOR DINNER!!!

We each had a piece (Anika had Carrot Cake, I had German Chocolate Cake, and Adrian had a little slice of both), then tried to get Anika into bed. We all know how well she does on sugar... so our normal 15 minute bed time routine lasted about 1 1/2 hours!!!

So here I am... 35 and 1 day old.... and pregnant. When I turned 30 I was pregnant with Anika. I told Adrian there was no way I was planning on being pregnant when I turned 40. I want a big party... one far far away, so he had better start planning and saving now. Maybe a holiday in Europe or the Carribbean. I think I might deserve that???

Thank you to everyone who called, sent a card and bought me a little gift. You are wonderful friends and family :)

Hugs to you all!

18 weeks - Baby Facts...

Our little one is nearly half a pound now and very human looking. Pads are forming on the fingertips and toes, and the eyes are looking forward rather than out the sides of the head. Meconium, the baby's first bowel movement, is accumulating within the bowel. If your baby is a boy, his prostate gland is beginning to develop.
If you notice your belly making jerky movements in sync, don't panic; your baby may have the hiccups!

4 Month Appointment

I had my 4 month appointment yesterday (Monday) and all went well. Anika was with me and she chatted up my Dr. like she had know her all her life. She was even excited to hear the baby's heartbeat. My blood pressure was good (not sure of the numbers), as was the baby's heartbeat. My Dr. said something about it being very strong and something about 33. I'm wondering if that was 33 beats in 15 seconds.. if so that would make the heart rate at 132 bpm.... which in theory says boy! I am on the fence at which gender I would prefer. It would be nice to have a boy here, perhaps with a little less attitude than my first child. When we were in Grand Forks a few weeks ago, Anika and I were watching the Cosby Show. When I told her that I used to watch this when I was little, she asked me if it was in black and white!!! Ok.. I'm old.. but not that old. Adrian had a good laugh until I gave him the evil eye to shut up!! LOL. Ok.. back to my appointment. I had to give a urine sample at the end, and Anika thought that was pretty funny.. that I had to pee in a little jar. Because it was just the 2 of us, I had to take her into the bathroom with me, so of course she had to be in the front row and watch... I'm sure she told everyone at daycare today all about Mommy pee'n in a jar! I have blood work to be done tomorrow, then my next appointment is my fetal assessment on June 20th... its at that appointment we might find out what we are having. Its still a big debate in our house. Please leave us a comment on whether or not we should find out what we are having.

I gotta run... I'm pooped tired from working on the site bringing it up to date.

I hope you all enjoy reading.... Here is a picture of me last week...

Oh.. Kim - thanks for the name suggestions... I'm going to post them once I get a free moment at work ;)

Teddy Bear's Picnic....

We went to the Teddy Bear's Picnic in support of the Children's Hospital on Sunday, May 27th. Anika had a blast. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, blue sky and sunny all afternoon.

We got to the shuttle drop off point at 12:30 and got to the park about 12:45... enough time to get ourselves settled in to see the Little Bear show. For those of you who don't know who Little Bear is, this is a program Anika watches faithfully on Treehouse. This was or I think Anika thought would be the highlight of the day... little did she know what would come after...

Here is a little video of our day at the park...

Alexandra's 3rd Birthday....

Oh man did Anika have a good time at this birthday party... how could a child that loves pets as much as Anika not enjoy a PETTING FARM????

Grand Forks.. May Long Weekend

We had a great time in Grand Forks. Did some shopping, bought Anika her summer wardrobe, Adrian some clothes, and myself.. I found a cute pair of jeans at Old Navy and 4 tank tops. I tell ya, finding nice clothes when you are pregnant is next to impossible unless you want to spend an arm and a leg. What I'd really like to find is a nice linen A-line skirt... is that too much to ask... maybe in a nice chocolate brown color but nothing... grrrrrrr.

Anika had a blast at the new hotel... Canada Inns Grand Forks. She swam and did the water slides all afternoon on Saturday. After Mommy gave her a little "push" down the slides, so that she'd go on her own, there was no turning back. She must have gone up and down the slides 50 times on her own.... oh.. it wasn't just Mommy pushing her down... it was the $20 she would get if she started to go up and down the slides on her own! She enjoyed them so much that when she was supposed to be playing in the little kiddie pool under the watchful eye of Angela, with Amber and Alexandra, she decided that those slides weren't good enough for her so she wandered off to the big slides... which gave us all a heart attack because we couldn't find her. With the help of one of the life guards, we found her... when I asked her where she was ~ "I was sliding Mommy... all by myself!"

Lesson learned... my child is now going to wear the ugliest bathing suit out there.... no more cute pink and purple tankini's. When the life guard asked me to describe her ~ she is 5 years old... blonde hair in a braid, wearing a pink and purple bikini.... He then proceeded to ask me if 20 other 5 year old little girls were her!

Anyways... we had a good weekend, even tho the hotel service kinda sucked... we will be back, probably September long weekend :)

Here are a couple pics from the waterpark. I didn't have my camera at the waterpark to much... so there are only a few pictures...

At the top of this picture you can see a big bucket

that is being filled with water....

This picture is from the front of the above picture.

You can see people waiting to see what is going to happen....

This picture is when that big bucket at the top dumps

gallons of water on the people below.

We saw one little girl lose her bathing suit bottoms,

and a couple other smaller kids get washed up like a tidal wave had hit...

Everytime it dumped Anika nearly pooped her pants.

We all know how much Anika likes getting water on her face!!!

As promised...

I promised a few people that I would post a picture of Anika and her husband... Garrett. She claims that they aren't married but they sure act like they are... arguing and telling each other they don't want to play with one another but the next minute can't wait to get outside and play together at the park.

Ironically... Anika's first soccer game was agains Garrett's team....

Friends and Family... meet Garrett! I love the fact that in both pictures he is grabbing his crotch... do you think Ted and Lil's first picture was like this???

A little behind...

I apologize.. I'm a little behind in my updates....

I'm going to seperate the events that have been going on over the past couple of weeks in a few different posts...

15 weeks 1 day....

Well... we are almost 4 months along. I have been feeling pretty good. Nausea for the most part is done, but still have a few adversions. One in particular is fish. A few weeks ago Adrian made salmon and it looked really good, and I'm sure it tasted really good, but could only do a couple of tastes... that was it. The other thing is when we roast a chicken. Can't touch the meat, nor cut it off the bone. YUCK. Still loving all the fresh fruit I can get my hands on... Watermelon, Pineapple, Apples, Bananas, Oranges, Cantaloupe, Honeydew..... yummmmmmmm, and salad. Anything cold and fresh.

Not much is new around here. We are busy with soccer 2 nights during the week and ballet on Saturday. With that and the yard work that we need to accomplish, there isn't much time for anything else.

Baby seems to be doing fine. I am growing each week. No hiding it now. Someone at work told me that I popped over the weekend.... not sure if that is good or not - is he saying I'm fat?? My weight gain each weight gain fluctuates from 0lbs to 3lbs gained.

Here is a picture of me this morning before going to work.... definately have a belly started!!

Can't wait for the long weekend to get here. I am off Friday and don't go back to work until Tuesday :) We are heading down to Grand Forks for the weekend. The dogs are going to love being at home with the sitter rather than going to the kennel. Between going to Grand Forks and seeing her friend Maddy (from Calgary)... Anika is soooo excited. I can't wait to meet Maddy's new brother Rowan, and to see Lori :)

Thanks about it. Will update after our long weekend.... Hugs to you all :)

Help us name this baby....

I am looking for some really cool names. We are having a hard time deciding on a girls name and a boys name. Leave us your ideas in the comments part at the bottom of this post... thanks :)

GGGGGGGGGOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heeeeheeee...

Anika had her first soccer game! It was so much fun! The kids are all 5 years old, they are all very eager to get the ball, and starting to communicate with each other... asking or telling the other kids to "pass it to me!!"

The games are an hour long, with the first 15 minutes as their practice.

Todays game was a 3-3 tie.... Next game is Thursday at 6pm - Island Lakes - Waterfront drive.

Another Great Weekend...

We had another great weekend!

Friday night was a big night for Anika... she FINALLY got her new bike! I had been out at lunch on Friday to see if I could find one, and did at Toys-R-Us... for $130.00... yes a little excessive for a 5 year old's bike, but we had looked EVERYWHERE for one that would fit her and they were either too big or too small. When I picked her up from daycare, I told her we would go by Sportchek to see if they had anythere.... sure enough they did. We were steering clear of "girl" colored bikes because what if this little munchkin in my belly is a boy... really can't explain to him that its too bad your a boy.. you're going to ride a pink bike, with a barbie basket and purple and pink pop-pom thingies on the handle bars. Just not cool. So there was the bike.. it was silver. I loved it and it was only $99.00. Nope... that one wouldn't do... Anika didn't like it. She wanted the blue one with the checkered flag decals on it... because what if the baby is a boy.. he will like them (yes.. she is coming around about the baby). Well.. I have to say my child is smart. The one she picked was cheaper than the silver one... only $79.00... now we can pimp it up with girlie things ;) I have never in my life see a child so proud, than when we got home and she saw her friends outside and she could show it off to them!! Her "husband" Garrett had to give it a try and really liked it.... told her that it was cool and he couldn't wait for them to go biking together! (I will have to post a picture of the 2 love birds).

Saturday was dance, and we still think she will excel at sports... rather than dance. She just doesn't have the coordination that the other kids have.... its quite amusing to watch! When she got home it was off with her friends for another afternoon packed with drawing on the driveways with sidewalk chalk, arguing about Garrett not inviting her to his birthday party, and how she wasn't going to invite him either... because boys aren't allowed to her party, playing at the play ground, and sharing snacks on the front step with the other kids.

Dave, Lisa and Zora came for dinner... the kids were great and both stayed up well past their bed times!! Thankfully Anika slept until 9:30 Sunday morning... Dave and Lisa didn't have it so lucky with Zora!!

Sunday we headed out to Steinbach for a visit with Auntie Kim and Uncle Ray. Anika was so excited to see them. We wanted to see their house before it got sold and they moved into their new one... so we invited ourselves out there. Anika had a blast playing with the kitties (really should have taken a picture of her and the cats - but forgot)... and then we went out for lunch. Anika loves to go out for lunch so this was right up her alley. We had a great time, laughing and eating... then we went for ice cream. Ohhhhhhh does Anika love ice cream!!!

Anika (not quite ready for a picture) with

her Auntie Kim and Uncle Ray....

Ok Mom... I'm ready now!!!

Anika insisted that we get the waitress

to take a family picture of all of us

.... so here it is...

Sunday night we went to the Moose Game, came home after Anika entertained everyone in the suite... and proceed to get a fever during the night. She complained that her throat was sore and that her ear was a little sore so we druged her with some tylenol, and kept her home from daycare today. She spent most of the day on the sofa watching her show's and dosing on and off.... she seems better tonight so she will be going to daycare tomorrow.

Hope you all have a great week!

Ciao.

Baby Dream

Last night I had my first baby dream. In the dream we were at our first fetal assessment. Everything was going really well, so the nurse said to us "would you like to know the sex of the baby?" With a little hesitation, we said "sure". She said "Its all boy!!!!"

BOY???? What on earth would I do with a boy. I know on my "guessing game" I said boy, but I just did that to stir things up a bit. What would I do with the 18 crates of GIRL CLOTHES that I've saved for our 2nd daughter??? What if this is really a boy?? What would we name him? We have been arguing over one girl name... I love and Adrian doesn't love so much.

Potentially we could find out what we are having on June 20th. We haven't both decided if we want to.... maybe we should??

12 Week 2 Days... Belly Pic

Watch me grow....

Here I am at 12 weeks 2 days.

12 Week Fetal Assessment....

Here is our little sweet pea....

We have ANOTHER stubborn child on our hands...

Thankfully the nurse was able to get the measurements needed for the nuchal fold test before (s)he decided to stand straight up and wave at us for close to 20 minutes. When (s)he decided the waving was done, (s)he layed down on it's stomach and went to sleep!!

Laying on his/her back with leg up

Laying on his/her side - Face forward

Standing up waving!!!

12 Week Appointment....

Today Anika and I went to my 12 week appointment with my GP ~ Dr. Visch. I was hoping that this might help get her in the swing of the baby thing... I was wrong.

We got to the appointment and had to wait a little bit. When we finally got into the room she thought it was pretty cool. She asked me all kinds of questions, about what things were.... like the blood pressure cuff, the ear checker outer light thingy, the stir-ups at the end of the table!!! She asked what the handles were for!!!! How do you explain that one to a 4 1/2 year old????? There were pictures of the spine when it was in good shape and pictures of when osteoperosis (sp??) had set in... great time for me to take advantage of what not drinking milk, eating cheese and yogurt will do to you!! It must have sunk in because she had 2 1/2 glasses of milk tonight at dinner.... and speaking of dinner, any of you who know my child, she has never ever ever liked salad. We have tried time and time again to get her to try Caesar Salad or even Greek Salad but she gag's as soon as she puts the piece of lettuce in her mouth. When doing a few errands after my dr's appointment,
I said "how does chicken caesar salad sound for dinner".....
Anika - "bleh" (usual response).
Me - "you know... you should try it again... you might like it. All your friends like it"
Anika "like who"
Me "Alexandra, Connor, Micah, Angela, Jenelle, Brett, Eric, jand I'm sure some of your friends at daycare like it"
Anika "Daniel doesn't. But I think Nina does"
Me "Will you try it?"
Anika "OK"

Sooooo she tried it... gagged on the first bite, but once we put a piece of chicken on the fork lettuce and cruton, she seemed to not mind it. We might have made progress!! LOL... this is a big thing for us. We eat salad every night with dinner.

Ok.. back to my appointment...

My Dr came in and we chatted a little bit about how I've been feeling and about the nausea. I told her that I was scared to go off the Diclectin and she said not to worry that I can stay on in through out my entire pregnancy if needed. She did suggest that in 2-3 weeks to try cutting back to 1 pill at bedtime and if I felt really crappy that I could take the other one in the morning or at noon. I'm not sure I want to try this or not.... but we'll see how things are in a couple of weeks. She took my blood pressure and it was great (can't remember what it was). She then checked my belly and said she could feel my uterus about an inch above my hip bone. She asked if I have felt any flutters and I said yes. It dawned on me on Saturday that this feeling I have in this one spacific spot is the baby. I am now convinced that I am pregnant, and we are having another child!! The other really good news is that I only gained 1/2 a pound. Yes.. that is right a 1/2 pound since the middle of January!! Woooooooohooooooo!!! So to my Mom that said I was looking a little "thick"... I'm sticking my tongue out at you!!! LOL

My next doctors appointment should be in a month.. at 16 weeks with Dr. Awadalla. I'm really looking forward to seeing him as he will be the doctor that will be delivering this little one.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.... WAIT!!!

I nearly forgot the best part of my appointment! We got to hear the baby's heartbeat!!!! I thought this would maybe make things click with Anika.. but NOPE!!! When I layed down on the table, Anika sat in the chair BACKWARDS, and COVERED HER EARS. When Dr. Visch asked her if she wanted to come over and hear the baby's heart beat, she said "NOPE"! My Dr looked at me and said, "oh right.. she is in denial" LOL... Sheesh!! This kid is tough!! We laughed because she made it soooo obvious that she didn't want anything to do with this baby.

Well our little sprout has a very strong heartbeat of 160 beats per minute and it wasn't at all hard to find!!

That's about it for now... We have our 1st fetal assessment on Wednesday. I will post pictures if we get them!! I can't wait to see our little sweet pea on screen!

Our Kids...

I took this picture tonight of my children....

To the left is 6 year old Dexter (head only - he's quite camera shy)...

in the middle is our giggle monster, 4 year old Anika,

and to the right is the ever so photogenic 7 year old Chloe....

I love this picture...

Not sure if you can see but Anika is holding

dog treats in her hands to keep them close to her!!!

Whew... What a weekend!!!!

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Hello!

What a great weekend! Although it didn't start off that way, well.. for me anyways (I missed a dose of the diclectin on Wednesday night and unfortunately paid for it for 2 1/2 days.)

Adrian and I were supposed to go for Dinner then to the Moose Game on Friday night and Anika was going for a sleep over at Angela and Janelle's, however, our plans changed when I came home from work - both Anika and I weren't feeling well so we laid down for an hour, or what was supposed to be an hour, and both of us fell asleep... I woke up at 6:45 and Anika at 8:00. I felt like I had been ran over by a truck. I was nauseous beyond comprehension, and felt like I was going to be hanging my head over the toilet all night. Anika had been complaining that her stomach was sore, so we canceled the big sleepover, and just hung around the house.

Saturday started out slow for all 3 of us, but soon it was 11:00 and the doorbell was ringing for Anika to go out and play. We quickly got ready for ballet, and she flew out the door to play at the park with Garrette, Elizabeth, Nikki, Lisa, and whoever else was at the park. We then headed to ballet at noon. After ballet we went for lunch, then did some other shopping. When we got home and Anika's harem was waiting for her, so off she went.

Sunday I got up early (6:30am) and had to go into the office. Not my idea of sleeping in I tell ya!! I got home about 8:30 and Anika was just waking up. Her and I had breakfast together, then cuddled on the couch. For the life of me, I couldn't stay awake... Anika kept trying to pry my eyes open. When Adrian got up, I quickly ran up and went back to bed til about 11:00. Got up just in time to have some lunch, the tackle my income tax expenses - bleh... While working on them, I noticed Anika across the street with her "friends", they are playing soccer. They played soccer then in the sandbox, then on the swings, then tag on the play structure, then it was back home for some snacks... Anika said "Mom.. my friends asked if I could come home and beg you for some snacks??"... LOL... How could I refuse?? So I sent a big bowl of Munchie Mix out to the park, and within minutes Anika was back with the empty bowl... looks like one of them licked it out! They then got their bikes and scooters out, and road up and down the street.... always one of the bigger kids in the front of the pack... and another at the back of the pack!! Then at 5pm (might I add, that I only saw my child 2x since noon.. once for the "snack" and once because she had to pee soooo bad!!), she came in and said they were heading down to the baseball diamond by the church to play a game of baseball!! When Adrian poked his head out to see who was all going, Lisa yelled.. its ok.. I'll take care of her!! Ohhhhh.. I can't wait until Lisa is 12... only a couple more weeks!!! So off she went, and was back right at 5:30 for dinner!! She is beat! Those little legs must have put on 10 miles today. She ate dinner, was in the shower right at 7pm, had her snack at 7:30, and was asleep, snoring by 8:00.

Anika and her friends playing today reminded me of when I was a little girl, living on Minaki Bay. Outside all day long until we got called in for dinner. I think Anika is going to have an amazing summer... she is at such a good age, and the kids all play so well together (Ages 4 years old to 15). Next weekend we will have to get Angela over so she can get into the little group at the park.

I am feeling really good now. Being outside at the park yesterday with Michelle my neighbor felt great. Getting some fresh air was awesome! I hope the rest of the week is good weather and that we continue having it until summer hits. We are waiting for the back yard to thaw so we can rake and figure out what we are going to do with the yard. We want to put an above ground pool in next year, so whatever we do this year will be in the hopes of adding on to our deck and getting the pool next year.

That's about it for now. I have to get lunches ready for tomorrow, and do some laundry before I hit the hay!

Have a great week everyone!!

Happy Belated Easter....

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HAPPY EASTER!!!

Happy Easter Everyone!! We had a great Easter. Sunday morning started off with Anika sleeping in until 8:45!! Yahoooo. Adrian was already up because he has to go to work on Sunday. Aunty Danielle phoned to see if our house was on a sugar high yet, and I think that is what woke our little princess up. She started down the stairs from her bedroom... got down 2 stairs and came back up to our bedroom. She came over to the bed... tapped me on the forehead and said...

Anika: MOMMY!!!
Me: Yeah??
Anika: He's been here already!!!
Me: Who's been here? (like I didn't know what she was talking about!!)
Anika: Him... The bunny.
Me: Him who.. what bunny??
Anika: THE EASTER BUNNY!!!!
Me: How do you know?
Anika: He left eggs on the stairs!!!
Me: He didn't poop on the carpet like the Reindeer did.... did he??
Anikia: No... I don't think so.
Me: Oh good... I hate cleaning poop up.
Anika: Can I go downstairs?? What should I put the eggs in??
Me: Pick them up and put them in your basket... wait.. where is your easter basket??
Anika: Oh no... where is it??
Me: lets go down and look.

Anika had a blast looking for eggs that were filled with little chocolates, and then saw her easter basket! It was filled with Kinder Eggs, Ponytail holders, bracelettes, pens, books, stickers, markers and coloring sheets, a skip it (back in the olden days it was called a lemon twist), and a puzzle that is way to hard for even her MOTHER!!! LOL.... oh well.. can't say we don't do thing together as a family! (Shannon.. you'd love this puzzle!!!)

Easter dinner was at Danielle, Sean and Micah's. She had invited us and her friends (eeeekkkk... I can't remember their name's). Dinner was fantastic. We had turkey, mashed sweet potatoes with basil and garlic (yummm), pea pods, salad and strawberry shortcake with strawberry sauce. Ohhhhh.. I almost forgot.... they had these really really yummy Lindt chocolate balls. MMMMMMMM...

So Easter has come and gone, and its hard to believe that this was the last Easter where it will be the 3 of us. It seems so weird to think that there is going to be another person in our family... sitting at the table. Doesn't it seem weird?? Can you imagine us with another child?? LOL... probably not!

I've been feeling pretty good since I started taking the Diclectin (sp??). I seem to have 3 good days, then a bad day. I'll take that over 7 bad days in a row with no good days. I have added a little variety to my diet. I think it all started last weekend when Friday night we had dinner at Gwen and Marshall's and I ate pork roast (very yummy) and salad - hadn't done that in 8 or so weeks... then Saturday we had dinner with Teri Anne and Mark (yes Teri Anne - we really like him!!!) and the 4 kids - who I might add got along very well... we had a delicous lasagna dinner with Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread.... oh and can't forget the cheesecake, then dinner at Danielle's on Sunday.

I have had a headache that finally subsided tonight that started on Sunday. It actually kept me home from work yesterday... slept most of the day while Adrian, Ray and Geoff went to the bronze medal game of the Women's hockey. Speaking of women's hockey.. we were able to see all the Canada games except for the Gold Metal Game :( All the games were good, but the best had to have been the Canada vs USA on Saturday. We took Anika to 2 of the games, and she said she had no idea that girls played hockey!! HMMMMM... is this the start of her hockey career?? Better get her into skating lessons real soon!!

Well.. thats about it. Its been a busy week. This weekend we are going to the Moose Game on Friday. Anika is going for a sleep over at her friend Angela's house!! Hopefully it goes better than the last time when she decided in the middle of the night that she missed her Mommy and Daddy.... Gwen being her 3rd mother scooped her up and took her into her bed - kicked Marsh out!!

My next appointments are in a week and a half... April 23rd for my 12 week appointment, and April 25th for my fetal assessment.

Hope you all had a great Easter... thinking of you all... talk with you all soon :)

Hugs

K...

On the road to recovery....

Well.. I got prescription for an anti-nausea drug that is especially for pregnant women. I am crossing my fingers that this will work. I did take 1/2 a gravol pill last night and it seemed to work for a bit, so I took another 1/2 this morning and I seemed to be ok. The only problem with this is that its not recommended in pregnancy.

On a brighter note, Anika is our little superstar!! LOL.... She was asked to be part of a radio commercial for Garden City Shopping Center, to go with the print ad she's going to be in. She did such a good job. I wish I had brought my camera so I could have taken some pictures of her in the recording studio with her headphones on, standing in front of the microphone. She did this with a boy (about 12 years old - who acted as her big brother) - named Trevor. Trevor was a pro, helping Anika out. He was so good with her... giving her high fives or thumbs up when she did a good job. I hope I can get a copy of the track to put on my blog so those of you who don't live here or only listen to CJOB can hear it. Once the print ad starts, I will post the picture here. The print ad is going to be on billboards, newspaper ads, and maybe brochures?? She's pretty excited and calls it her "job".... lol.

Ugh....

This nausea is really wearing me down. I thought those wrist bands were helping, then the next day they didn't do the trick. Its 8pm and I'm ready for bed. I can't wait to fall asleep because that is the only time I'm not nauseous.... but then I'm up 3x going pee. I can't win.

Hopefully this gross feeling will be gone in the next few weeks...

Before I sign off.. I will say this... Adrian has been soooo good with me being soooo sick. Its hard because Anika doesn't know that we are having a baby, and it is really hard for her to understand why Mommy is taking so many naps, and is grouchy. I think we'll tell her soon... just don't want to jump the gun.

tata for now ;)

Appointment

We had another great apppointment today. Had no problems seeing the baby's heartbeat. It really is the most wonderful thing in the world to see. Dr. Lee seemed quite happy with what he saw. He is keeping me on the progesterone for 3 more weeks (God help me) as well as the low dose asprin. It must be working ~ even tho I feel soooo crappy.

I remembered Lori wore "seabands" when she was in Winnipeg last summer/fall, so I decided I would give them a try. Well.. who would have guessed that something so cheap would work so well. I felt better almost immediately. I am scared to take them off.

I will post a picture from the ultrasound as soon as I get one of them scanned.

Ta..Ta for now...

Holy Itch....

Well... I have developed a pretty good rash on my belly... It looks like hives. Today is day 6 with it.

If my memory serves me well, I think I had this with Anika. Can't remember when it came but I remember my skin becoming incredibly itchy. I am going to check the side effects of the progesterone... maybe I should be a little more concerned about this.

Speaking of progesterone... I am a walking, talking zombie. Oh.. and moody. I'm not even sure that moody would be a good word to describe me... I think if I ask Adrian he could come up with a few other names at the drop of a hat. I am amazed that I am still awake at 10:26pm. Normally I'm snoring away on the sofa until Adrian wakes me up and I go up to bed. One of the good things about it... I haven't had this good of sleep in ages. Both Adrian and Anika have been really good about everything. They both know when to give me my space and even encourage a little nap now and then. I love it when Anika cuddles in with me in the middle of a Saturday afternoon and we have a little snooze together. Makes being a Mom soooo worth it.

We see Dr. Lee on Thursday for another ultra sound... very excited and hope to see some growth and the heart beat a little stronger.

Until then... scratch scratch scratch

Guessing Game...

Because I feel really good about this pregnancy... I thought it would be fun to play a game.

At the top right hand corner of the blog, you will see a yellow/orange box that says "Expectnet.com ~ online baby pool". Click on it and you can play our baby guessing game. At the end of the pregnancy, once "Sprout" is here, we will award the winner with a prize ;)

6 Week Appointment / Ultra Sound

Well today we went and had a little visit with Dr. Lee at Heartland.

First thing he did after the nurse put us in a room, was poke his head in and say "I think there must be something good to report!!" He came in - confirmed that we were indeed pregnant, and then took us in to the ultrasound room. He took down my dates, lmp and ovulation and came up with our due date of November 6th. This makes us 6 weeks pregnant today :)

He then did the ultrasound and explained every little detail to Adrian and myself. He showed us the gestational sac, the embryo, and then he zoomed in and showed us this little fleck that he called a piece of fluff... and it was flashing... that was the heartbeat!! It was faint.. but we were so happy to see it. We knew going in that it was a possiblilty that we weren't far enough along, so not to be surprised if we didn't see anything. We were extemely happy. He has put me on progesterone for 4 weeks, and baby asprin. I will start my first dose of it tonight.... we'll see what happens.

We go back next Thursday at 9:40am for another ultrasound to see how things are developing and hopefully we will see a stronger heartbeat and maybe even get a picture.

How am I doing??? Well.. lets see.... I'm very tired, have nausea 24/7 that comes and goes, and have been quite crabby. Adrian has been really good about everything. He has picked up the slack around the house without me asking. I am not going to complain about feeling so lousy, because to me those are all really good signs that everything is going as planned.

Oh... and I got my 4th beta level back and it was 9970... which I think is pretty good :)

Must sign off.. gotta hit the pharmacy and the store to buy Anika some new "summer clothes" for a photo shoot tomorrow....

ta...ta...

Update... Little bit late...

Well.. Things didn't exactly go as we had hoped... we lost another pregnancy shortly after I had made my initial post about announcing it back in November.

My GP, Dr. Visch asked if I wanted to see the dr's at the Heartland Clinic, so we decided to see what they had to say.

We were able to get into see Dr. Lee. What a cute little man. He was hopeful... he thought that we were just having a run of bad luck. He told us that we were fertile like rabbits. He told Adrian that he needed to take me home, wine me, dine me and have some fun with me!! Adrian wasn't sure about him... nor was he sure about having to wine me and dine me and have fun with me... was he telling him to do this right now... LOL.

He said he wouldn't do testing until we had another lost pregnancy. Could I handle another one? Ugh... I'm not even sure that I wanted to keep trying for fear of losing another one.

Well.. we decided that we would keep trying, and put everything we had into it. I started temping my next cycle after seeing Dr. Lee, and with the help of my friends at the prengnancy place, Adrian and I are happy to announce that we are PREGNANT AGAIN!!!

I am cautious... I am nervous.... I am paranoid....

I haven't told too many people.

My GP has done my beta hcg counts (blood test) which have been pretty good. Your counts should double every 48 hours.

So far my numbers have been...

13 dpo (days past ovulation) ~ 182
16 dpo (days past ovulation) ~ 655
20 dpo (days past ovulation) ~ 4416
23 dpo (days past ovulation) ~ results on Tuesday, March 13th.

We also are going to see Dr. Lee tomorrow, March 13th to have an ultrasound. We are hoping that we will see a heartbeat.... and finally get our due date - which we think is between November 3-7th.

We are very (cautously) excited... and hoping that Anika will be as excited as we are.

If you ask her if she'd like a brother or sister.. she doesn't, and quite often you will see this expression on her face if anything baby comes up... She's happy with things the way they are... just Mommy, Daddy and Anika.