Joel Zike Robertson

Warning: This is the story of Joel's birth if you don't like details skip to the bottom where all the pics are! I'll star the paragraphs that have to many details.

Monday night my mom came into town and we went to dinner with Hanna and Eric, Sara and Collin, Leah and Kenzi. It was fun and got my mind off the fact that I was going to have a baby that night or the next morning. Sophia was a bit of a drama queen at dinner I think she knew something was going on. After dinner we dropped Sophia and my mom off at our apartment and Tyler and I headed to the hospital.

We got to the hospital at 8 pm Monday night and the nurse told us we were an hour early. I told her the nurse from Thursday said to get there at 8pm come back at 1am and again at 5am. She told me that we were supposed to come every 6 hours not 4. This would put me back at 3am and my induction at 9am rather than 5am. That still didn't sound pleasant to me. The nurse called my doctor and he decided that I only needed one dose of the cervadil. Which means I would only have to come back at 5am.

*The nurse told me putting the cervadil on would feel a lot like getting your membranes stripped. That didn't sound pleasant but to my surprise she was very gentle and it didn't hurt at all. The only down side was I was not allowed to stand up for an hour. So Tyler and I hung out at the hospital till almost 9:30pm then they sent us home. They told me the cervadil could cause me to go into labor but it is mostly just to help prep my cervix for labor.

Around 11pm I went to bed and could not sleep. Around 2am I started contracting. At 3am I woke up Tyler and told him we needed to head to the hospital. My contractions weren't super painful but they were every 3 min. and I wanted to make sure I got the antibiotics before the baby came. As we were getting ready to go I was super nauseous and that's when I knew for sure it was happening. We got to the hospital around 3:30am and the nurses got me hooked up and started on the antibiotics. They told me to get some rest, that didn't happen.

Around 6:30am my mother showed up at the hospital and they started the actual induction. They gave me the pitocin. The contractions were not bad. They left the pitocin for 2 hours then decided to break my water. I was dialated to a 3. I told the nurse I wanted my epidural right then. I did not want to do one contraction with my water broken without the epidural.

*The doctor told me my cervix had rotated to the side which apparently is  normal thing but he had to dig around for my sac of water and that was very unpleasant. Then he had to push on my abdomen really hard to get the fluid to come out. Even more unpleasant.

So the anesthesiologist was helping some other ladies so I had a good 6 hard labor contractions on my own. Then he came in and I thought sweet relief, WRONG. Since my blood pressure was high he made me get a blood test drawn to check my platelet count before he would do the epidural. This took a good 45 minutes, oh man not fun. I finally got my epidural and it gave me the crazy shakes. I am talking seizure like shakes. The weird part was I would shake really hard in between each contraction then during the contraction I was fine. Then my blood pressure dropped dramatically and I got crazy dizzy. They were about to give me some meds but it started coming back up on it's own and was fine the rest of the time. An hour later the nurse came in to check me because I was in a lot of pain, I was dialated to a 7. I could feel the contractions again. I tried pushing the pump but it wasn't working. Literally 30 seconds went by she decided to check me again because of how much pain I was in. I was dialated to a 10. Time to push.

** We discovered that my pump had come out of my back so all the medicine was just squirting on my pillow. Which means I felt every contraction while I pushed. Then he noticed that baby boy was face up which makes it a lot harder to push the baby out. So the doctor just reached up and and twirled him around. I pushed for literally 3-5minutes but it was so much harder than it was with my first. I felt like it was much harder for my body to push through the pain. Then he was out. The cord was wrapped around his neck twice and it was tied in a knot. The doctor said the knot most likely happened earlier on when he was small and that in rare occasions it can tighten and cut off nutrients. He also said it was a good thing I was induced early, with the cord wrapped around hi neck and him being so active, it was good to get him out.

They held him up for me to see and I was instantly in love! He was perfect and I couldn't have asked for anything more. My labor was 4 hours, so it is a good thing we went in early to get the antibiotics. He was 7 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long. He was 10 ounces bigger than Sophia and 1/2 an inch longer. We love him and he makes our little family complete!

He has already had his week check up and he has gained all the weight he lost back and is up an ounce. He also grew an inch and a half already. So that puts him at 7 pounds 11 ounces and 21.5 inches long. Sophia was the same way, she grew an inch a week after she was born! My kids are just tall.  He also had to have a  jaundice test during the week but it came back normal and he didn't need lights. He doesn't look the slightest bit yellow anymore either. At one week he is already sleeping a good 4-5 hour stretch at night which is awesome. He will eat about 1am then again between 6am and 7am then go back to bed till about 10ish. He loves to cuddle on my chest and really only cries when he is hungry or we are changing his bum. He is fabulous!

 

First day in the hospital.

Going home day.

First bath!

Sophia kissing Joel!

Hanging out with dad.

So this is a pic of Sophia when she was first born, and below is a pic of Joel. I think they definetly have a resemblance but Joel has features that are different than Sophia, he has dark hair and Sophia had blonde hair and I think he might have dark eyes instead of blue ones. We will have to wait and see. 

We moved the day after we got home from the hospital and school started for Tyler the day we had him. Plus this week Tyler is flying out to Tennessee for a interview for Optometry school. So we have been insanely busy but we are doing good and this little boy is doing great! Thanks to everyone for all their help this last week!! We could not have done it on our own! 

~A

Baby boy 38 weeks

Warning Novel length post!

Alright where to start? Sunday I woke up with a headache I couldn't get rid of. Monday rolls around headache still here and to top it all off serious nausea and feeling in general icky. After Tyler got home around 2pm I decided I better call the doctor, I was feeling a lot like I did the morning I had Sophia. I went into the office and my blood pressure was through the roof. they immediately sent me to the hospital to be monitored.

This happened twice with Sophia before they induced me so I thought I knew what was going to happen but this time it was so much worse. They put in an IV because they figured if they kept me there then it would already be in. I hate needles and IVs are worse than regular needles. They took my blood and it made me really dizzy and nauseous. Once that passed they just let me relax in bed and watched the monitor. Of course just like Sophia my blood pressure started to go down as soon as we got to the hospital. They decided to send me home, but before that they wanted to give me a drug for my headache. It was called Fendral or something like that with an F. Oh man it made the whole room spin and made me super sick. Once I got the vomiting under control and got dressed Tyler took me home. I was so sick and super nauseous the rest of the night and into Tuesday morning.

Tuesday was my regular weekly appointment. It was at 9 and I was still sick and tired from the night before. When I finally got into the office I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Seriously holding back the tears and not well ha ha. The poor old doctor could tell I had just had it. I think he wanted to induce me that day but they don't like to before 39 weeks if they can help it. He wanted to strip my membrane to try to induce labor and I told him no because they did that twice with Sophia and nothing happened except me in extreme pain and wanting to vomit. (notice vomiting is associated a lot with my pregnancies ha ha). Anyway he told me to go back to the hospital Thursday to be monitored again. If my blood pressure was high I would have the baby today if not they will induce me Monday.

Obviously since I am writing this post I am not having a baby today. We had an AFI ultrasound which measures the fluid around the baby. Normal. Then they monitored my blood pressure and the baby for 40 minutes. Normal. So we got sent home. This time was much more pleasant that last time. They didn't poke me with any needles or give me any drugs and I just got to lay and relax for an hour. Then they told me the plan for Monday.

I am supposed to go in Monday night at 8pm and get a prep gel put on my cervix. Then I go home. Then I come back at 1am get more put on my cervix. Then go home. then come back a 5am and get induced. Boo. Doesn't that sound miserable? I am going to be so tired! Don't just feel bad for me though my poor sis in law Sara volunteered to watch Sophia which means she will also be getting up coming to my place at 430am. Feel bad for her too. She is too good to us! Oh while I am at it a big shout out thanks to Sara and my other sis in law Jess who took Sophia for us multiple times this week while we were running from hospital to doctors to hospital!

So if all goes according to plans baby boy will be here Tuesday morning! I am really excited to finally have him here! I have been looking at pics of Sophia all day today from when she was a little baby and I can't wait to hold this little guy!

               ~A

Baby boy 37 weeks

     I had another appointment today. It seems this little baby likes to play with us. I went in today and my blood pressure was back to normal. I was only dialated to a 1, and getting checked was way more painful than I remembered. Although after he checked me I was contracting like crazy for about an hour. I told Tyler I just need him to do that a couple more times and this baby will be here in no time! My group b strep test did come back positive but the doctor said since baby is behaving he wanted to wait it out another week and see how things progress. I gotta say I was kinda bummed ha ha. Don't get me wrong I am glad baby boy is behaving but I was getting excited to meet him early. Which we still might, but not for at least another week or two.

     On the plus side I lost a pound this week, instead of gaining any weight. I thought it was weird but the doctor wasn't worried about it. Most likely it is from all my laying down and losing some of the swelling water I had last week. It was only a pound not a major amount of weight so that's good. Less weight I have to lose after the baby comes right?! Tyler keeps telling me he has gained more weight this pregnancy than I have ha ha. It doesn't help that all I want is french fries and dessert so Tyler eats junk to. I told him not to worry I will kick his butt back into shape after the baby comes!!

     There is my short update for now. We will see what next week brings!

                                                ~A

baby boy 36 weeks

     That's right I hit the 36 week mark!  4 weeks to go, actually 3 but that's beside the point. How am I feeling? I get that question 3 or 4 times a day. I never know how honest to be. I usually go with, I am hanging in there. How I really feel, I am unbelievably uncomfortable!! I was not this uncomfortable with Sophia. I am told it's because of my other issues, since things aren't where they should be it is putting much more pressure on my body. Which makes it uncomfortable to walk, sit, lay, sleep (what's that?), eat, pretty much anything. I also feel like a giant sweat ball! ha ha it's the truth though. I am hot all the time and so swollen my ankles have stretch marks! That's right, you read that correctly, I have stretch marks on my ankles from swelling! It is kind of ridiculus but what can you do?

     Don't get me wrong I am grateful to be prego and to have made it to this point. Besides the constant uncomfortable feelings, I really try to enjoy this part of my pregnancy. I still love feeling the baby move inside me, even when he jabs me extra hard. I love watching my belly make weird shapes. I love when Tyler sits there and rubs my belly and feels the baby moving. I love when Sophia gets tired and comes and lays her head on my prego belly and baby boy gives her a swift kick ha ha. I really actually like the way I look with my round belly. Sure I have my days where I feel like a heffer but for the most part I really feel pretty when I am prego. There is something so amazing and sometimes weird about the way a woman's body holds a baby.

     Anyway on to my appointment. The doctor was wanting to check dialation this week but when I went in my blood pressure was really high. So he decided to take a bunch of tests instead. He did some blood tests and my group b strep test and some other test, I will spare you the details. He is waiting for all the results and then at my appointment this Tuesday he will check dialation and compare that and test results make a plan for when this baby is coming. Most likely I will be induced a week early. Which means this baby could be here in as little as 17 days!! YAY!

     Since my blood pressure is high the doctor keeps telling me to do less and less. I was already on a take it easy regiment, gravity is not your friend. Then he told me I needed to be laying down and having my feet up at night. Now he told me to lay down during the day while Sophia naps. SO really what am I supposed to do but lay down? ha ha. He knows I have a 2 year old and I think he is trying to put off bed rest as long as possible which I appreciate but lets be honest I am pretty much on it. Tyler has been great at doing stuff around the house for me since I am not supposed to do much. I also have not been feeling well since my blood pressure is up, so Tyler has been a big help.

     I have been trying to finish up baby boy projects but my energy is an all time low so we will see. I did finish a couple more blankets but I don't have pics. I did make these 2 cute onesies for my cousin Kendra's little girl that is due 4 weeks after baby boy.

     I was going to make little matching shoes but I didn't start these till the night before her shower SO that didn't happen. She loved them and that's all that matters. 

     In other news Tyler has officially turned in his Optometry applications! Now we just wait. I am so excited for him. He got a letter in the mail yesterday from one of the schools. It was just an admissions office letter letting him know about the school but the admissions director personally wrote on it "great OAT score" which made Tyler feel really good about his applications! So cross your fingers for us! 

     ~A 

Baby Boy 32 weeks

     That's right I had my 32 week check up on Tuesday. We are getting so close to the end it is crazy! I am getting so excited to meet this little guy!

     So back to my appointment. Good news first. Baby boy FLIPPED!! That's right he is now head down! I made the doctor check 3 times when he told me. ha ha I was like are you sure? He kept telling me yes his head is right there! I just didn't believe him. Once it sunk in I was so relieved! I was really not looking forward to a c-section. We aren't still completely out of the clear, there is a chance he could flip again, but it is a very slim chance considering how far along I am.

     I have 8 weeks left but we will most likely be induced at least a week early, maybe more depending on my dilation. So I am looking at more like 6-7 weeks left. Crazy! So exciting though, I feel like this has gone so fast. Why am I being induced early? I was positive with strep-b with Sophia and so I am most likely positive with this one too. Normally it's not a big deal but my deliveries are fast and they want to be ably to get the antibiotics in before the baby comes.

     Also my blood pressure has started going up. Bummer. I was hoping we could avoid that this time. Anyway it is on the rise and if it gets too high like it did with Sophia they will induce me early also. So either way I will be really surprised if I go past 39 weeks. I have felt not great this month, a not so nice side effect of the rising blood pressure. I only gained 2 pounds this entire month and the doctor said that was kinda low, which it is for me to be 32 weeks. Another not so nice side effect of my blood pressure rising. It's not like I don't eat. I eat all the time. I guess I need to eat more?

     Anyway we are in the home stretch. I go in every two weeks now and then weekly in August! Oh SNAP! We can't wait to meet this little guy. Tyler is nervous because he is coming right when school starts but I keep telling him don't worry we have grandma's that are so excited to come stay and help. Here's to hoping the transition from 1 to 2 will be fairly smooth!

              ~A

Baby Boy 28 weeks

     Last Monday was my 28 week mark. The appointment answered a few questions for us but we still have quite a few unanswered questions too. Anyway lets talk about the worst part of the appointment first. It was the dreaded glucose test. That drink makes me so nauseous! I must look really pale or something when I am sick because the nurses can always tell haha. First thing she asked me was, are you not feeling good! Then on top of that I had to get poked twice to draw blood. My husband was sitting right by me though because he knows how much I hate needles!! Good news is the test came back normal and everything was good. I was more worried about my blood pressure and my Iron level, because I had pre-eclampsia and low Iron with Sophia but both were normal (for now). We are hoping they stay that way.

     I feel like this little man is huge but the doc keeps telling me I am measuring right on. This little boy is super active though! The doctor couldn't get him to hold still to find his heart beat long enough to count it. He tried squishing the baby into one spot so he couldn't move and the baby just kicked his little monitor really hard so we still couldn't listen. It was pretty funny! The doctor just laughed and said obviously he is doing good in there.

     So some new things we learned. The baby is still breach, they are telling me he can still flip but he has been in the same position for the last 3 months. He seems pretty comfortable where he is. I am getting nervous but keeping our hopes up. We also learned if I do end up having a c-section they will not do the hysterectomy at the same time if they don't have to because I could lose way to much blood. They will only do that in emergencies, they will however tie my tubes while I am in there. Why are am I tying my tubes if I am needing a hysterectomy? If we can, they want to wait and see how I heal after the baby to determine when I would actually need the hysterectomy. So I am getting my tubes tied because if it heals pretty good it could be years before I would actually need the hysterectomy. We are hoping that is the case but we just wont know till after the baby gets here. The doc also told me that because the baby is breach and I am farther along I will be coming in a lot more often. They want to track the baby and they don't want me going into labor on my own if the baby is still breach. My labor with Sophia was really fast so they want to have control over this one if I am going to be having a c-section.

    Anyway I am 29 weeks now. I am getting there! We are getting so excited to meet this little guy! I have so many friends due this summer before me and this week 3 of them had babies. It is making me so excited for  my little man, he just needs to finish cooking first.

                ~A

Maternity pics

     I got maternity pictures done a couple weeks ago by my amazing sister in law Hanna. Check out her photo blog here. I love the way they turned out. I wasn't going to do maternity pics this time around. I don't really know why, maybe I didn't feel as cute and little, maybe I just didn't feel like it, or because I had some from Sophia that I loved and figured that was good. Then I decided I guess I would love some of Sophia with my belly and it would be really fun to be able to show both kids what I and our family looked like while we waited for them to come. Thankfully Hanna was willing to do them for me and had an amazing eye and got some fabulous shots! I am so glad I decided to get them done. Bonus, a good excuse to buy myself a cute dress!

Such a good, rare family pic of all of us smiling! Good job Hanna!!

This is seriously our life. She cracks me up! 

She hugs my belly all the time! I love it! 

Love these two! She adores daddy! It is to precious!

The pic above and the pic below are my two faves! Sophia is just a doll in them! 

Didn't Hanna do so good?! I am getting more and more excited to see what this little guy looks like! Think he will be a Sophia and Tyler mini me? Or look like me this time? I just can't wait!

~A

Baby Ultrasound

     This is a few weeks late but oh well. At 22 weeks we had our big ultrasound to check all the baby's organs and size and such. For some reason with this baby I have been really nervous about this ultrasound. Maybe it's because of all the complications I have already had with this pregnancy, or the miscarriage we had before it, or maybe because I already knew it was a boy so I didn't have that to be super excited about like I did with Sophia, but I was nervous. More nervous than I let on to anyone. Thankfully we got a fabulous ultrasound tech who explained every little thing she was doing and reassured us he was perfectly healthy!! I was so relieved after the ultrasound!
     The little man was about 2 pounds, and she said he had a nice round belly. Maybe he will come out all fat!!! At the beginning of the ultrasound he was very active and kept kicking the ultrasound wand which made me laugh and my belly shake. It was pretty dang cute. Then he decided to curl up in a little ball and make it impossible for the tech to double check the gender. I would have loved a reassurance that it's a boy but we got several really good pics from before so I am pretty sure we are safe.
     One quick funny story then I will post pics of the little man. When we got in the room and one of the first questions the tech asked us, pointing at Tyler, are you the one with the fused ulna and radius arms. Ha ha ha apparently Tyler is famous in the office. I am guessing it's in my file because with Sophia I wrote it down as a possible birth defect because we didn't know much about Tyler's arms. We didn't know if it was genetic or not. We have since come to the conclusion it was a birth defect and not genetic but she was so intrigued she had to look at the babies arms and see if she could see it in the ultrasound. It was pretty funny. Tyler and I always laugh when we talk to doctors and they are so fascinated by his arms!!

It's hard to tell in this pic but he kept crossing his feet at the ankles and just chillin. It was pretty cute!

This is his face and he kinda looks alien like. She couldn't get a cute profile pic he was to wiggly.

Blogger is making me mad right now because it keeps posting this pic sideways and I don't know why. But if you look really close this is when he decided to curl up in a ball and be done. If you look at the top of the ultrasound is his head then his spine and his little bum down kinda by the spot of light then his knees right by his face and feet. Silly baby!

     I am now 24 weeks. Crazy! I am six months along. Only 3 more months till we meet this little man!! 

      ~A

Picture Updates

     So this post is a totally random picture post. Sorry, but they were all pics I wanted to post and had I posted them separately they would have made a bunch of random short posts so I put them all in one. Enjoy!    

  Sophia loves her cousin miss Mia. I just couldn't resist stealing this picture off Hanna's blog! Notice Mia isn't even phased, she is just watching her show ha ha.

Mia and Sophia both needed baths after a family dinner at the park, so we had a bath party at our place. The girls were both loving it!! 

My first boy item finished! A cute self binding receiving blanket. It turned out super cute. I am working on more stuff  that I am really excited about so stay tuned! 

Me at 20 weeks. I sure popped out so much faster this time around. I also don't think I am wearing makeup, sorry. People have been asking what my belly looks like though so here ya go. 

I also recently made some Dr. Suess, Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes for miss Mia's first birthday party. They turned out super cute! 

     Have a great day! 

               ~A

It's A ....

     In case you aren't on my facebook, or I didn't text or call you today we found out baby #2 is a BOY! We are so excited!  Tyler couldn't be more thrilled. I think he secretly thought it was a girl, which he would have been fine with but he is really excited to have a boy. At the appointment he kept curling up in a little ball right under my pelvis bone and didn't want to move. That explains a lot of the pressure I have down there, it must be his favorite place to lay. He also still look a little alienish since I am only 16 1/2 weeks but he was cute and it was fun to see him and it's always comforting hearing his heartbeat. It's like a little reassurance to me every time I hear it.

     Since I have found out this baby is a boy I have been thinking about how this little boy will affect our lives and the lives of everyone else. Not only will he be our first son, he will be the first grandson on the Robertson side, he will be Sophia's little brother and sibling, he will be the first grandson in 8 years on my side, he will make our family very symmetrical mom and daughter, dad and son! I am so excited to meet this little guy! Since this is our last baby it is even more exciting that this little guy is blessing our lives so much, and bonus we got a girl and a boy before we had to quit having kids!

     The crafter in me of course has been going over all the things I get to/want to make now! This list keeps getting longer the more I think about it, blankets, burp cloths, bedding to match Sophia's quilt, curtains, a mobile, some fun onesies, car seat cover, and the list will go on I am sure! Not to mention I want to redo Sophia's room and make it a nursery for a boy and girl, and all the cute boy clothes I need to get now ha ha! I am sure Tyler is seeing dollar signs but no worries this momma knows how to be thrifty, but get ready for baby stuff gallor on this blog because I am sure that is all the projects you will see for a while.

          ~A

Pregnancy Update

     I should have updated this a week or so ago but I just am a little behind on things. I had another doctors appointment about a week after I found out I had a prolapsed cervix. At this appointment the doctor informed me that Typically in this situation they give the woman a Hysterectomy. Apparently when your cervix is this low it  can pull your other organs down, and with time and gravity that can be a bad situation. I am young though and they would really rather not give me the Hysterectomy if we can avoid it. I would be on hormone pills till I am in my 50's. There is talk of doing a half hysterectomy where they would just take out my uterus and leave the ovaries in there. If we did that I would have to go back later in my life and get the rest taken out. There are some other options that don't sound super pleasant, lets just say they involve putting things in and taking things out every day to hold everything up. They told me I could do that for years if I wanted. I really don't want to. Anyway it all just depends on how I heal after the baby is born, and how things go during delivery. Again it's just a waiting game, So we just wait and get in as many prayers as we can before everything goes down.


     On a brighter note I haven't put up any updates about my beautiful daughter in a while. She is getting smarter everyday! It's so fun! My new favorite thing is her animal noises. She can do a cow, cat (my favorite),  horse, dog, pig, and duck. She is starting to count along with me when I count things. She says two, two, four, six(IX), nine(INE), ten(EN). It's adorable! She is also starting to test mom and dad and see how much she can get away with. The bad thing is is she is so funny sometimes Tyler and I can't help but laugh. Then she thinks it's a game. We have really been trying to be better at that! She loves music and loves to dance! She has been getting more creative with her dance moves and it is pretty hilarious. I think she is about ready to start potty training but I just haven't felt well and haven't wanted to try so this summer I think we will really focus on that. I really am blessed to have this girl in my life! Watching her gets me more and more excited for my next one to come! We can't wait to be the parents of two kids! 


PS. I have been taking some pics but I am lucky to get an update posted, just hang in there with me and I will post pics soon. 


~A

Thrown for a loop.

    This baby is a tricky one. Every time I think I have this pregnancy figured out it throws me for a loop. Around my 12 week mark I was feeling really good. I was thinking my vomiting was on the upside. So I decided to stop taking the meds. Maybe it was a combination of me hating to be on meds while I am prego, or the fact that I really hate some of the side effects the meds, or maybe I just really wanted to believe I was better, any of these reasons could be why I stopped taking the meds but it was a bad idea. The day after I stopped taking the meds  the vomiting started hardcore. So after three bad days I went back on the meds. My body is still adjusting but hopefully it will be back to normal soon.

    Also this same weekend I decided to stop taking my meds, I started to spot a little. So I reached down to make sure everything was okay and something was coming out. I immediately called the doctor and he said since I wasn't cramping or bleeding I wasn't having a miscarriage. He said it sounded like my bladder was hanging low. I guess in pregnancy when all your organs are rearranging it can cause your bladder to slip down low. Well I went into the doctor today to check on things and it turns out it is not my bladder it is my cervix hanging out! I have what's called a prolapsed cervix. It is something that is common with women who have had a lot of babies and are really stretched out. Where I have only had one prior baby and had no complications during birth they were really surprised. SO what this means is currently they can't do anything for it. The baby is in no danger. It is healthy and strong which I am very grateful for! As I get further along it may become more of a complication. It could come out during birth, if that were to happen they would put it back up in me and hopefully while I heal it would stay up. If it doesn't I would have to have surgery to hook it up in there.

     I worry, Tyler worries but there isn't much we can do right now. It's all kind of in the unknown currently, I try not to worry over things I have no control over but I feel like I should have control over this. It's my body right? ha ha I am just praying and having a lot of faith right now. With trials you faith grows stronger! Even with my house the disaster it is, the craziness this pregnancy has been, and the sickness I have felt the last six weeks I have never felt closer to my Heavenly Father than I do now. He has had his arms around me this entire time. I can tell he has had a hand in Sophia too. She has been so calm and understanding for a 20 month old. She watches her momma on the couch and in the bathroom and just comes and kisses my head and will go play with her toys. I just can't believe how amazing she has been the last 2 months! I truly am blessed.

    I need to give another shout out to my amazing family and friends. All the prayers and service have been amazing and more than I could ask for! I need to give a special shout out to my husband who is so unbelievably busy with school and getting ready for the O.A.T. and so much more and has been my rock through this whole thing. He dotes on me and gets me whatever I need, he is so good with Sophia when he gets home and he is constantly trying to cook and clean for me. He is a great man! We missed all of our holidays this year because I was so sick, we missed my birthday, our anniversary, and valentines day. I was even gone over Valentines Day so the day after I am home on the couch ill and  my amazing husband sent me some of my favorite flowers! Daisies! They were gorgeous and they sat on my TV stand till they were way past dead! He is just so sweet to think of me all the time!

          ~A

   

Guess What..

    SO it's Official Tyler and I are expecting baby number 2! We are very excited! I am only about ten weeks along and with Sophia I waited a few more weeks to tell everyone but I am really sick. With Sophia I was just as sick and holed up inside  my house till I felt better then told people when I was ready. This time around I have really needed help taking care of Sophia so people have found out a lot sooner than last time.

     That being said I need to give a big shout out and huge THANK YOU! to all my family and friends and wonderful ward for the love and support. I am one of those lucky pregnant women who is sick all day long. The doctor put me on Zofran, a nausea medication for cancer patients. Just to give you an idea of how sick I am, even on that med I have still lost ten pounds in the last two weeks. The Medication helps a lot with the throwing up but I am still really nauseous all the time, feel weak (mostly cause I don't eat much), and get migraines (a side effect of the meds). I have also had  really bad joint pain with this pregnancy, which is new to me. I get it in my arms, from my shoulders down to my fingers, it hurts so bad someday's that I can't even hold a glass of water. I was worried this was a bad side effect of the medication but the doctor said it wasn't and that it tends to happen to women who are pregnant because of the extra fluids in your body, they gather around your joints like arthritis.

     I am lucky to have family so close. My sister and my mother took Sophia for 4 days and gave me a break!    My mother in law came a took Sophia for the week so I could relax! Sara brought me a bunch of movies to keep me entertained. Hanna has been so good at volunteering to watch Sophia for me, go grocery shopping, and checking in on me every few days to see if I need anything, and I have an amazing ward who has brought us dinners, and friends and ladies in the ward who volunteer to take Sophia for play dates. To top it all off my wonderful husband who is at my beck and call everyday, attempts to clean the house, fills prescriptions, eats frozen dinners cause I don't cook, and puts up with my non happy attitude all day. I amazingly blessed to have great family and friends in my life! To all of you I am so GRATEFUL! You have all been truly amazing!

     I am supposed to be 10.5 weeks today. I had my first doctors appointment today. The nurse was so sweet to me she almost made me feel better! She made my day! I must look pretty bad cause the moment she saw me in the waiting room she was like "You don't feel good do you?" ha ha needless to say an 8:30am doctors appointment is not ideal for me but oh well. The doctor was very nice and tried to listen for the heartbeat and couldn't find it. He wanted to just do an Ultra sound the problem was we weren't in the main office and they didn't have any nice ones out there, so he pulled out this super old ultrasound machine and we could see the baby but not very well. The machine didn't zoom in and my uterus is tilted back which made it harder to see. He also said according to that ultrasound machine I was only 8 weeks. So they scheduled me for another ultra sound at the main office with the nice machines on the 9th. They will give me an official due date then.  Other than that everything else looks good.

     I hope this doesn't sound like a ranting post or that I am ungrateful. We are very grateful and very excited about this pregnancy!! We couldn't be more thrilled! I am very excited for Sophia to have a sibling and it helps every time I see her I think I get another one of those in like 7 months! I can't wait! I think about this baby all day, how it's doing in there, whether it's another girl or a boy, if it will look like this little girl (who looks just like daddy) or if this baby will look like me? We can't wait! Plus to top it all off this baby will be just four months younger than Sara's! How fun to have cousin's so close together, I have a couple cousin's that are just a few months younger/older than me and we were great friends growing up! It will be so fun!

     What do you think? Will the next one look like this silly girl? Sorry that turned into a novel!

                ~A