Ultrasound... and It's a....

GIRL!

That's right! We had our ultrasound on Friday, March 28th and we are having a baby girl. I have had the name Hayden Brooke stuck in my heard for the better part of a decade so we already have her name! I am ready to shop and buy every pink thing imaginable. Here is one of the ultrasound shots - it's a girl!

Puerto Rico

I realized it has been just shy of a month since I have last posted. Time flies faster than I would like it! I realized the last time I posted I was getting ready to leave for Puerto Rico so I figured I should share that first.

My mom celebrated her 20th anniverary with CHG in August of 2013 and as one of the awards she received, she received a trip to President's Club. This year was Puerto Rico and she was gracious enough to take me! The flights were long, exhausting, and the worst part about the trip. Everything else was perfect, beautiful, calm, and serene. I really missed my family, but it so nice to get away for a few days, relax, and focus on my baby.

My mom and I definitely kept busy while we were there, but nothing too crazy. The first day we go there around noon and we had to wait for our room to be ready so we just mingled in the lobby area with other CHG employees. Our room was ready pretty quick so we went up, changed into shorts!, and went out to the pool area to have lunch. We walked around the grounds a little, but we were so exhausted we went to our room and napped. We woke up in time to have dinner, so we ordered room service (pizza and a salad to share) and went right back to sleep. We were like zombies that first day from trying to take a red-eye flight and not being able to sleep! We slept well that night and glad we arrived early to sleep so we could be ready for the next day!

Friday morning was so much fun! We put on some summer clothes and joined the CHG clan for an amazing breakfast with some really cool street performers and a guy who was cutting actual coconuts for coconut milk. My mom and I tried it and hated it, but it was cute to hold! We then ventured off for the remainder of the day in Old San Juan forts, etc. We took the city bus downtown and then took a free trolley to the top of Old San Juan and worked our way. The top is a lot of old forts and when you get to the bottom there are ton of shops and restaurants and tourist stores to check out. We spent most of the day just walking down so we grabbed some food, headed back for dinner, and we ended up back down there on our last day.

Saturday we hung out at the private beach in these awesome chairs with an umbrella that the pool staff set up for you! We ordered lunch at the beach and just took it easy. That night was the Awards Gala so we wanted to stick close and make sure we had enough time for the both of us to shower and get ready (we only washed our hair that one day!). The awards were really nice and my mom got an awesome glass award.

Sunday we went to the rainforest with Susie and her husband Glen. It was gorgeous to hike next to such beautiful flowers and trees that were growing bananas! I have never seen anything like it. We were gone for about a half day and Glen was nice enough to rent a car and drive us there. Once we took the car back we took a few minute break at the hotel and then we went back to Old San Juan to shop and eat dinner with Susie and Glen via the city bus. It was so cheap to take the bus vs a cab and it was pretty easy to figure out the system there. I was craving a burrito the ENTIRE time we were there so I finally got a burrito for dinner! We got back at a decent time and decided it was best to start packing. The trip went too fast!

Monday was a travel day and we had to be in the lobby around 10 or 11 (can't remember now) so we woke up, ate breakfast, and finished packing. Then we headed out to sit at the pool, take a few more pictures, and leave. The trip went so fast, but it was so amazing. We were always eating such great food - from Starbucks in the morning with the breakfast CHG provided, to great lunches in San Juan to dinners at the resort we were staying at. The steakhouse was one of my favorite dinners, but never would I be able to afford that again. My mom paid for everything so I tried to pick up coffee here and there haha! I owe her a VERY good Mother's Day gift.

Since this post is getting way too long here are some pictures I took on my phone. Glen and Susie had their camera and took HUNDREDS of pictures and shared them with us. My mom has the USB drive so I need to borrow it and load the pictures to my computer.

 Rainforest

 Top of Old San Juan

The view of the private beach from our room

Our room at Caribe Hilton

Street Performers at Breakfast

Coconut Guy at Breakfast

On the Trolley to Old San Juan

Old San Juan street

Awards Gala Dinner

Shopping at Coach and Dooney

View from the outdoor Starbucks - Last day here

Rainforest - 17.5 weeks pregnant

Rainforest

HI-YA!

I just posted two days ago that I can feel little "flutters" but nothing crazy. Well, go figure that afternoon (right around lunch time) baby started kicking like a ninja! I think I have another very active baby on my hands - just like Jensen. Maybe planning a c-section is for the best. Knowing that Jensen was as ninja baby and got wrapped in his umbilical cord mutliple times- the same thing is probably happening to this little one!

I love these movements and sometimes it really catches me off guard. I can't help but put a little a face and keep moving on with my day

Week 16 has arrived!

So, here I am at 16 weeks today, still pregnant, still sick, but so happy! My belly is sticking out, I get the confused "I wonder if she is pregnant" look and I just smile. I decided to steal these questions from a friend who did this weekly when she was pregnant.
**************

How far along? 16 weeks today (March 5th)

Total weight gain? 10 pounds. I am 1-2 over where I "should be", but that is okay. I am sure it will even out like it did with Jensen

Maternity clothes? Yes! I have been wearing the jeans for weeks and just pulled out all my maternity clothes from my first pregnancy last weekend. I am wearing the shirts this week. Also, I bought a lot of new clothes for my trip to Puerto Rico next week!

Stretch marks? No new ones!
Sleep? As much as I can. I am always tired and try to fall asleep by 9. I also have an insanely hard time waking up in the morning.

Movement? I can finally feel the little flutters as of the past few days. I felt some stronger movements last night but not sure it was gas or not. I ate a lot of pizza for dinner! For now, I am happy I feel those little flutter feelings right before I go to sleep.

Labor signs? Nope! My ligaments are stretching though which I know is a good sign for what is to come

Best moment this week? I haven't really had one yet. I LOVE when Jensen touches my belly as he knows his sibling is in there growing and getting strong. He doesn't fully understand, but I know he gets the idea.

Food cravings? Bacon! I dreamed about bacon last night and mixing it with tuna fish. Yes, it's a good indicator you are pregnant when foods that shouldn't go together suddenly do. I also can't get enough eggs right now and I love bread. I've been trying to eat more healthy though and stick to breakfast made from home, packing a lunch for my mom and I, and eating something from home for dinner. Trying to avoid too much processed food and fast food. I gotta keep this weight gain steady! 

Anything making you queasy? Nothing in particular. I am still sick in the evenings like I have been early on. I am still taking Diclegis 3x a day and that seems to help.

Gender? Not sure yet, but can't wait to find out! My next appointment is on Tuesday, March 18th when I will be 18 weeks. Dr. B will then schedule my ultrasound for a week later. We have invited the grandma's to come again and find out with us. They are both incredibly excited to be a part of it again.

Wedding ring on or off? On. I actually wore it my entire pregnancy with Jensen and hope to with this one too.

Miss anything? Vodka. Let's not lie here... a few weekends a month I would make one redbull and vodka drink to calm me down and unwind from the crazy week. It definitely doesn't sound good to me, but after a crazy week I do miss it a little. I am still eating sushi and drinking coffee and small amounts of caffeine, so I can't say I miss those!

General mood? Um... this changes about every 20 minutes. I try to keep it in check, but the mood swings are in full force here. I try to think VERY hard before speaking to make sure I am being rational.

Symptoms? I am starting to get that round ligament pain and siactic pain. And of course I am still nauseated every night. The siactic pain got really bad with Jensen and after I had him it never really went away. At this point though I know good yoga stretches to help the pain. Nothing much to complain about!

Belly button in or out? Half way in and out. Funny how that started so early this time!

Looking forward to… Going to Puerto Rico next week with my mom! I leave in a week and will be gone for 5 days! I will miss Jensen and Corey and Dakota, but I am excited to have a nice relaxing weekend away in some very warm weather.

Here is a funny "status" I put on Facebook yesterday that truly describes cravings vs what I am actually eating:
If I didn't have a family to feed I would eat a box of thin mints for dinner. #damncookies #pregnancycravings #feedme #girlscoutcookieshavearrived

Here is a picture of my belly from last week at 15 weeks and about 2 days. It is even bigger this week!

Week 14 has finally arrived!

I am finally in my 2nd trimester (well, in 2 days) and I finally feeling a bit better. I still have a few rough days and I am still exhausted, but hoping all of that will pass soon.

I am eating like a cow and have gained 6 pounds so far. I should probably back off all the cheeseburgers, fries, baked potatoes, and bagels, but right now that is all that sounds good. Oh and eggs - I can't get enough of breakfast food right now. I still eat a pretty balanced 5 days a week with protein and a vegetable. For now, that will just have to be enough!

Jensen is obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I am not sure if I posted about this already or not as it has been going on since just before Christmas. Well, I think he liked them a few months ago and now it is an obsession. He yells out "Hi-ya!" ALL THE TIME, won't let you change him out of one TMNT shirt for another (yes, we now have a collection thanks to family), and he has all the turtles in 4 different sizes, plus the bad guys and a ton of movies and old TV series on DVD. It is hilarious to watch him play with Corey and I know Corey is loving just as much (if not more) than Jensen. Corey LOVED the Turtles growing up so he gets to relive some of his past. Corey and I got a decent tax return this year so we decided to take Jensen to Target last night. He ended up with another Turtle, Turtle pajamas, and light-up Turtle shoes. Spoiled kid! Here is a picture from Valentine's Day - my Grandma Barbara brought him 2 new TMNT shirts and he is holding one up. Sorry it is blurry - this kid does not hold still anymore!

This weekend was also really fun to spend with family and friends and Jensen and I got a chance to go see Corey's school (Weber University). Corey had to take a test on Saturday and we decided to join him and walk around campus until he was done. It's a really nice building! Then we went to Layton Mall to walk around and grab a bite to eat in the food court. Then we went home, napped (both Jensen and I of course) and then when we were up we packed Jensen up and dropped him off at my in-laws for the night. Corey and I then bought our baby's crib and then went to the Pixies Concert. I must admit, people watching at the concert was my favorite part! Here is a picture of the crib we bought. I am obsessed! I then plan to paint my old dresser turquoise/teal (here is an idea of what it will look like). I love grey and turquoise together and think it can go either way. I plan to add light pink and red if a girl and navy blue if it is a boy. So excited!

Week 11 and sick {again}

I hit 11 weeks yesterday and since Monday I have been sick with a cold. Jensen was feeling sick over the weekend and on Monday he seemed pretty awful so I took a half day off work to take care of him. Go figure - the mama got his cold after that afternoon! Other than having an awful cold (and not taking anything but Tylenol) I am doing pretty well. I do not feel as sick, although I think the medicine is just working really well. I am afraid to stop taking it yet. I am sure one day the nauseous feeling will be completely gone and then I can finally stop taking it.

Not much else but feeling crummy. I have missed a lot of work this week which doesn't make me very happy. I was trying to accrue and save as much PTO as possible for when baby came. I probably can't miss any more time off and that would give me 11 full weeks.

Okay off to meetings, but just super fast update

10 Week Super Fast Update

Work is super busy today and I always forget to blog at home. I thought I would quickly type out an update of this past week since Jensen had his 2 year old appt with Dr. O and I had my 10 week appt.

Jensen is doing well! Dr. O said he is right where he needs to be in terms of development. Jensen is in the 25th percentile for height and weight. He weighs 26.6 pounds and I believe was a little shy of 3 feet I believe. Somewhere around 34 inches I believe? I forgot already and it has only been a few days! He got a ton of shots and screamed like crazy. He wouldn't stop crying until we got outside. Poor baby. Nothing was making him happy. After shots he said "mean" and I asked if he was mad and he said YES! His shots made his legs sore and gave him a low grade fever for about 48 hours but he is just fine. He was already playing the same day like nothing happened.

My 10 week appt with Dr. B was yesterday (Thursday 1/23). Nothing new to report really. These early appointments are very basic. He went over my labs from my first appointment which everything came back as it should. I heard babies heart beat and that was it. Very simple! He was running late already first thing in the morning, but otherwise I think I was in the room for less than 15 minutes. At least these are fast appointments so I can get to work and not miss too much time.

GREAT NEWS! My employer rolled out a new maternity plan for 2014 and it will be well underway once I have this baby. 2 great things for me - 1. I get a free double electric breast pump thanks to ObamaCare. 2. I get 3 weeks paid maternity leave from CHG at 100% of my pay! That means if I want to take the full 12 weeks then I only need to find PTO/EIB for 9 weeks. I have been trying to play around with the calendar and my calculator to figure out how it is going to work. I think I will be able to easily take 11 full weeks at 100% of my pay. Much better than when I had Jensen. I only got paid for aboug 10 weeks and most of that was at 60% of my pay - short term disability. Now I don't even have to pay for short term disability if I need it now or in the future because my company pays for that too. Huge benefits upgrade for 2014 and just in time.

One piece of very bad news though - Dakota is really sick. She has been in heart failure for several months now. We have been doing a million tests and paying for 5 different medications that are costing a small fortune. December was a good month and the medicines all seemed to be working. She was playing and wasn't coughing, etc. Now, it is back and with a vengence. We have tried other medicines, uping dosages, etc. and nothing is working. The vet called me on Monday to tell me there is nothing else we can try. Corey and I have decided to keep her on all of the medicine until we decide that none of us can take it anymore and that she is suffering in one way or another. We just picked up a few months of medicine and spent $400! Eek! She can't play much without gasping for air, so I feel her quality of life is already declining. Corey and I will have to decide what our plan will be and what will be the final straw for us. For now we are just trying to keep her happy.