Adventures with Daddy

On Friday, Tiny and I took a Southwest flight into Chicago to stay with Daddy at Great Lakes Naval Base for five days.  Our little family had an awesome time!


The weather was frigid, but we stayed warm in our "love nest"... or as most other people call it, a hotel room.


Getting to the hotel room on Friday was a bit of a fiasco, though.  Dana had to sit in traffic for an eternity to get to the airport, and once he got there, we were both so hungry that we decided to stop at the closest Subway on our drive back.  After we ate, we drove an hour back towards the base when suddenly we realized that his military I.D. was missing... so then we had to venture the entire way back to the Subway (which was literally like 2 minutes away from Midway airport) to search the ground for it.  Thank God, one of the workers found it and picked it up cause it would have been a disaster had he not!  So my flight landed at around 2 p.m. and I think we checked in around 10 p.m.??  Crazy.







We played house in our mini kitchenette after stocking it with the necessities... You know.  Bread, Peanut butter, Honey Nut Cheerios (Tiny's favorite), Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.  ;)

 

Baby Tiny,


In case you couldn't understand what Daddy was saying to you through the layers of belly fat, peanut butter, and heavy sweaters, I'll give you a brief summary.  He was telling you just how much he loves you and misses you when he's not around.  He apologized for not being able to always be there for every kick and squirm that you entertain me with.  He thinks you are absolutely adorable, even in my belly, and he can't wait to meet you and see you smile.... and neither can I!  Oh, and he said to be good to your mama.  :)  He really, really loves us, little one. 


We were so, so, so sad to leave each other today, but it's comforting to know that life won't always be like this.  No matter what obstacle we have thrown our way, nothing could ever separate us or tear apart our bond.  I'm in one heck of an awesome marriage and have one amazing, little family! 







So I'm in my last week of the second trimester.  Scary stuff!!  This pregnancy has flown by!!  Right now, I'm trying to plan (or at least gather up ideas) for my baby shower.  I'd like to have it next month sometime before Dana gets his orders.  I'm starting to really feel, well, pregnant now!  My belly skin constantly feels tight and as if it's stretching too far, my belly button is still trying to disappear... and I realize that my constant pushing it back in place and fighting the outie isn't going to work much longer.  My hips are stretching, my back is sore, my ankles swell up... Yeah.  Pregnant.  I can't imagine what the next few months will bring!  Still, I'm enjoying this so very much!  


Every kick and flip brings a very happy smile to this mama's face.  89 days to go!

25 weeks

 So, today I am 25 weeks and 1 day pregnant.  I hadn't done any portraits in a while, and since I hit yet another growth spurt I decided to record my progress.  Here they are!

I  also had a doctor's visit today, and it went really well!  I saw Dr. Christine LaBella this time, and she was awesome!  I really, really liked her a lot.  I was weighed, as usual, and it turns out I only gained a pound and a quarter since last appointment.  I was told I would be gaining about a pound a week from this point on, so that threw me for a loop (especially since it's the season of sweets and large dinners), but when I asked if that was healthy, they told me "absolutely."  So the grand total of weight gain so far since the beginning is....drumroll, please.... ..... 15 pounds.  Fifteen.  I expected it to be more, but I won't complain.


Check back after my next appointment on January 7th, and see if I'm singing another tune.  I bet I will be!  ;)

Anyways, the results of my blood work came back, and everything looks great.  Not that I was worried that I had AIDS, hepatitis, etc.  I'm so grateful that I'm so healthy and baby is healthy, too.  They keep telling me that they're not worried about the lack of kidney in Tiny.  I'm not worried, either.  I can feel that sweet baby constantly kicking and squirming around in there, and I really truly know that it will be watched over and taken care of for its entire life.

 When Dr. LaBella was checking out baby's heartbeat, it was doing funny things in there.  Every time she'd put the Doppler on my belly, we'd hear the heart beating for a few seconds, and then it would be gone.  Then she'd move to the other side of my belly, and we'd hear it again... then it would disappear.  So she'd move back to the other side, and there baby would be.  We were laughing at how stubborn it was being.  Tiny just kept "swimming" back and forth... It was as though it was playing a game.  I've never known a fetus with such a personality.  ;)  It's done this before with the ultrasound technician, too.  I think it's really funny.

The measurement of my uterus is right on target.  It was 25 cm, and I'm 25 weeks, so baby is growing at a perfect rate.  I'm so glad.  For a while, I thought I was getting too big!  I can literally feel my skin stretching and expanding, and it's bizarre.  I've never NOT had a belly button before.  It's not totally gone, but close enough!  Growing babies is a strange thing.  Fun, enjoyable, enlightening, rewarding... the list can go on and on, but it's certainly strange.

So about my portraits-


My normal teeshirts are slowly starting to get too small.  I think in another month, they will be totally unwearable.  I figured I'd get another portrait in with one of my favorite bright blue ones before I totally have to put it into the "post-baby box."


As for my winter sweaters, I've always bought them longer and stretchy, so we're still good to go!  I'm glad because sweaters aren't the cheapest form of clothing, and I'm trying to buy as little as possible now that I'm not working.  That, and I just love my old winter clothes too much to put them away until they fit again!  :)


My Evgeni Malkin Penguins jersey is about to bust at the seams with my belly stretching it, so I had to get a photo in that before it's too late.

And finally, one of my favorite dresses still fits me (again, barely!!) so I had to put that on just for fun.  I wouldn't be wearing it during this season anyways.  Regardless, I was curious to try it on while I was having fun with my photo shoot, and was surprised to see that I could zip it up!


Anyways, I hope you like them.  And by "you" I mean the 3 people that I think read my blog... that is, if there even are 3!!  haha.  ;)




104 days to go!!!!!!!!!!

I'm slacking on the posts here!

Wow.  I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted anything.  Maybe "baby brains" has finally kicked in.  In the past month, the following has happened.

I found Tiny baking and preparing for Thanksgiving, which we spent at Aunt Lauren and Uncle Ian's house this year.  Daddy came home from Great Lakes, IL to spend time with us for a few days.  IT WAS AWESOME!  We had lots of fun just lounging around, laughing, and spending time together.  Dana was amazed with the baby.  Last time he saw it, it was the size of a sesame seed.  Now Tiny's not particularly so tiny anymore.  Daddy felt the kicks and little movements, and baby certainly could hear his voice.  Whenever Dana would talk to it, I could feel our baby squirming around and kicking.  When he put his hand on my belly, I'd literally feel the baby's fist move directly underneath it.  It was beautiful.  :)  We miss him.

However, I have a plane ticket to Chicago on the 17th of this month until the 22nd... and it only cost me $2.  (I had some leftover funds in my account at Southwest.com.)  We're so excited to go!!  Dana can't come home for Christmas, so this is kind of an early Christmas visit so he can see his little family again.

The "Welcome Baby!  We'll miss you, Marybeth!" cake from my goodbye party at work.

On Friday, I had my last day of work at Severns Dentistry.  I CRIED my eyes out!  I just loved working there for the past 3 years.  We always had lots of fun, and I truly loved my co-workers (who are actually much, much more... We've become great lifelong friends), my two bosses who always treated me with much respect, gave me a reason to love my job, and who I admire so very much, and also my patients which I got to know very well.  I just enjoyed every moment in that office... including the frustrating times because they always gave me a fun story to share.  I hope I can go back someday and return to my job.

In the meantime, my new favorite job will be taking care of my wonderful baby and my very loving husband... and I'm positive it will be far, far more rewarding and enlightening than any other job I'll ever have.  :)

Oh, and I also had to get some prenatal bloodwork done over the past month, but we don't need to elaborate on that anymore.  *Gag*

25 weeks (tomorrow) and growing....

Tipping the scales...

I love this workout DVD!!!

Today I had another OB appointment.  It was pretty uneventful, other than I got to hear the wonderful heartbeat again.  I did learn a few things.

1.  One in 1,300 people are born without a kidney.

2.  My fundal measurement is 24 cm, which is pretty much right on target.

3.  I learned what a fundal measurement even is!

4.  It's okay to look at the scale and ask, "IS THAT EVEN HEALTHY?!!"

5.  Random face breakouts are totally normal and will go away... eventually.

6.  Refusing the optional flu shot is also okay, even if others try to influence your decision to do so over and over and over...

7.  Gaining 12 pounds in your first 21 weeks isn't nearly as bad as it seems.

...That being said, I'd like to continue talking about my weight gain since it's bugging me today.  :) Apparently I should just look away from the scale from now on at appointments because I was disturbed to see myself bumped up from the 30's to the 40's.  Not fun.  I really try hard to eat well, but I definitely slip up often.  Why are Reese's cups so good?!?!  The only thing that has saved me is the wonderful prenatal workout dvd that my awesome husband bought for me.  When I first got it, I thought it was going to be a yoga workout... aaand then I quickly found out that it was pretty much aerobics + Pilates.  I didn't start using it until the second trimester, which by that time I had already lost my pre-pregnancy endurance, so it was pretty difficult.  After a couple days of doing the hour long workout, I felt SOOOO much better!  It's actually really fun, and I can honestly say completely effective.  I'd be blubber if I didn't do it a few times a week.  It's certainly recommended by me to any expecting moms.  I'm so grateful Dana is so good at picking things out for me like this... and the lifesaving pregnancy pillow he bought me!  (But that can be another post... hehehe.)  I could go on and on about how wonderful he is and how much I love that man, but I'd have to make an entirely new blog.  :)

I'll just finish up on this note.  Baby is healthy.  Momma is becoming more rotund each day, but healthy.  Daddy is...well, actually sick at the moment.  However, he's coming home to us in a few weeks for thanksgiving, and WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

(132 days to go!!!)

(Tiny dressed up like a skeleton for halloween this year.)

Our baby is so amazing.

On Monday I had to travel to West Penn hospital to have another ultrasound done by a specialist.  Our baby is fine, but it does have one abnormality.  The left kidney never developed.  When you hear that, it seems to be a scary thing.  Automatically, everyone starts thinking of horrible scenarios like transplants later in life, strict dieting, etc.  In fact, the doctor told me there's absolutely nothing to worry about.  She said the right kidney is fully formed and has picked up the slack of the missing left one.  The amniotic fluid is at a normal level, so that shows the one kidney is working as there were two.  Then she showed me all the heart chambers again, all the pathology of the brain, spine, etc. and told me we have a very healthy baby that will be able to live a normal healthy life, even if it is missing an organ. When she first started the ultrasound, the baby wasn't laying on its back... It was on it's belly sleeping with its little tush in the air.  It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen.  It woke up pretty quickly and then started bouncing around.  We laughed because it was looking at the "camera" and waving its little arms around as if trying to say, "Over here, over here!"  I love this little bugger.  I'll have to scan all the other photos she gave me of the legs, fingers, and toes.

Dana and I aren't worried.  We have faith that our little pumpkin will be a strong, healthy child, and we know God looks after our little family.  :)

(Baby is 13 ounces and the length of a large banana.  I'm 20 weeks and halfway done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Portrait day!

19 week portrait day!


Today I had the day off work, so I got busy doing my week 19 shots.  I have fun doing them.  It's always fun to get out my camera and practice, but it's even more of a challenge to get out and practice on yourself!  I have to set up my camera on my tripod and use my remote on 2 second delay to get situated.  It's actually quite comical to see if you were watching.  I stand in place, push the button on my remote, and then chuck it across the room so it's not in the picture.  It even makes me laugh, especially when it hits a wall or something.  It's really unnecessary for me to throw it as hard as I do sometimes.

I've been feeling the baby kicking around a lot these past few days.  It's almost to the point where I can tell when it wakes up and when it's napping.  Honestly, it is the coolest thing in the world.... if only I could get it to not kick my bladder when I'm in the middle of working on a patient and can't get up.  ;) 










Anyways, in my babycenter.com update I got this week, they said baby's sensory development is exploding, and research shows baby could hear my voice.  I had a hunch that it possibly could because after work yesterday when I was driving home, I was singing for whatever reason louder than I normally do, and that little bugger was kicking up a storm.... probably begging me to quiet down!  haha.  Then, I got home and read that in my email, and it kind of made sense.  It also said that baby is about 6 inches in length and is starting to sprout hair on its head.  I bet the hair is curly.  :)


146 days to go!!  I'm almost halfway there!

Baby's First Sonogram!

We've been waiting so long for this appointment to come, and the day is finally here!!!!!!


Meet Baby Hancher... the unknown gender child.  We decided to not find out if we're having a boy or girl!  Sometimes a surprise is nice, and I think it's safe to say that I'll greatly enjoy a big surprise like that after the whole painful labor situation I'll be in.  :)


The appointment was really fun, actually.  Besides having my bladder so full that I'm fairly certain I needed to be wearing Depends and an ultrasound tech that pushed so incredibly hard on my lower abdomen that I was 98% sure I was going to pee all over the table, everything was great.  However, since no accidents happened, I can say that things ran smoothly.  The baby's heart rate was 148 bpm, and it looked very healthy.  It's kind of funny watching the 4 chambers of the heart move so quickly.  Apparently baby weighs 9 ounces, although I wonder how on earth they determine that!  Baby stretched around a good bit after a heck of a lot of prodding, but it seems to like being curled up in my belly during mid morning hours.  Maybe I should have scheduled an afternoon appointment.  I know for a fact it  likes to start exercising then!  I can sometimes feel it kicking around and flipping from one side to the next.  This is a fairly new feeling, so it always takes me by surprise and makes me giggle.  Anyways, 10 fingers, 10 toes, eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.  It's a cute little bugger.


Just seeing it bounce around in there was the most beautiful and entertaining thing in the world!  I wanted to share the video with everyone, so enjoy!


152 days to go!

My New Used Book.

"Some of my more unfortunate girlfriends have had such extreme nausea that they would gag right in the middle of a sentence.  My poor girlfriend Maryann was so plagued by morning sickness that she would throw up spontaneously.  There would be no warning signs, like a wave of nausea or a watering of the mouth.  One moment she would be chatting normally, and the next minute it was the pea soup scene from The Exorcist.  She just sat as quietly as possible with her mouth clenched tightly to try to keep the mess to a minimum."

This book makes me laugh.  A week or so ago, one of my patients at work asked me what pregnancy books I've been reading.  I told her "What To Expect When You're Expecting," which is almost a given with how popular it is among expecting mothers these days.  She suggested I read "The Girlfriends' Guide To Pregnancy" because it was her absolute favorite, and it didn't contain only medical advice or questions like all the others.  Being somewhat of a hypochondriac anyways, I thought maybe I should read a book that didn't put horrible ideas/symptoms into my head to save the little sanity I have left!  I decided to take her advice because she seems to have a personality like my own.  Out of curiosity, I stopped at Half Price Books only to find a good, solid copy for $1! I started reading it and was laughing hysterically at some of the stuff in there while I was outside the other day.  My voice was echoing all over the neighborhood.  The author basically tells it exactly how it is, and always has funny comparisons or stories to go with every subject.  It's seriously great!  I would recommend it to any mother-to-be, especially if she has a quirky sense of humor like my own.

In other more recent news, I'm finally being able to tell the difference between the baby moving and... well, I don't know what else I thought it was before.  Digestion doesn't feel like someone bouncing around inside you... at least not normal digestion!  I feel flutters occasionally, but I've mostly felt teeny tiny kicks when my bladder is super full.  I think the baby is giving mama upper cuts and jabs to get her out of bed cause it's being squished by what feels like an overactive bladder.  ;)  It's really fun to feel that, though.  As much as I yell down to it in my most ferocious baby voice, "Stop hurtin' your mama, Tiny!", I secretly want it to keep kicking around more and more all day long just so I know it's having fun in there.

I really, REALLY love this little baby.  

(5 ounces, 5 inches long now... 161 more days to go!)

Our newest, best news yet!

Surprise!!!!!!!  We're having a baby... my baby and me!  :)

Dana and I are ridiculously excited to be new parents at the end of March.  We can't wait for our little spring chicken to get here.


So far, the pregnancy has been great.  I was pretty nauseated from week 5 to 8, but with the help of Werther's Originals and ginger snaps, I kept it under control.  Now I feel fantastic!  I have energy again, I have control of my cravings (for the most part... hehe), and I'm back to exercising, which feels wonderful to my changing body.


I must say, this week has been pretty eventful.  I changed doctor's because of my new insurance, and so far I really like them.  I was weighed again, and they told me my body is changing at a steady, healthy rate, and I "look great for being 16 weeks."  :)  (I was happy to hear that!)  More importantly, though, this is the first week that I heard baby's heartbeat.  It was amazing.  There was nothing more beautiful to me than hearing "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." coming from the doppler.  I wanted to record it and listen to it over and over again on my ipod.  I can't wait to hear it at my first ultrasound appointment in a couple weeks!!!


So, "Tiny" as we've nicknamed the unknown gender baby, is doing very well.  It's healthy and growing bigger and bigger every week.  (4 1/2 inches long I do believe.)  That's all for now.  Just wanted to let everyone know our exciting news!!!!!!!!!!!!