An Eventful Holiday Season!

Lots of fun baby things have been happening here! On Friday, I was at school and felt Kellen move. It was the first time I had no doubts it was him. Ever since then, I have felt him pretty much every time I sit or lie down. It has been so fun to feel him and I have even gotten a couple serious kicks! This morning, Chris had his hand on my belly and felt him move too! He was very excited... he has been anxiously awaiting that moment for a while now.

Friday night we had our family Christmas at my mom's. Kellen got a super cute car seat cover/shade, a personalized pool towel for Amma's pool, and a handmade teddy bear that my mom has been saving for over two years. It was a very fun night.

Saturday, Uncle Brendan came over and helped Chris paint the nursery. They did an excellent job! We will be adding wainscoting - kind of like white paneling to the bottom, that's why the whole wall isn't painted.

On Sunday, a friend dropped off bags of baby clothes from her three boys. Chris and I went through everything, plus some from our neighbor, and now have 4 garbage bags full of 0-6 months clothes, 2 bins full of 6-12 months clothes, one bin and garbage bag full of 12+ clothes! I'm pretty sure this baby will never wear all his outfits! Everything is too cute though and we feel so blessed. 

We have an ultrasound coming up on Thursday. As you might recall, Kellen wasn't cooperative last time so the doctor didn't get all the pictures she wanted. It will be fun to see him again! Hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas.

The most photographic baby :)

I know I'm a bad blogger since I haven't updated in awhile but things have been busy! So, the biggest news to report is that we are having a boy! I know most of you already know this, but we are sooooo excited! We found out a couple weeks ago at a 3D ultrasound. My mom, stepdad and brother were there. Chris' parents were listening in on the phone (they are in Arizona right now). At first the tech couldn't say for sure if he was a boy, although she suspected he was. He wasn't cooperating and giving us any good angles. I got up and walked around a little bit and lectured him :) When I came back, he was much better and couldn't stop proving that he was a boy! Chris and I both cried when she said he was for sure a he. It was amazing to see his little profile and see him moving all around... totally amazing that something that looks so human can be moving inside me and I couldn't feel him! His name is Kellen Lee Kays and we couldn't be happier. Here are a few of my favorite pics of the night:

My mom gave us an adorable hat and overalls (she had a boy gift and a girl gift ready to go!). We got a little bear with his heartbeat recorded inside it and a DVD showing him moving. We couldn't wait to share the news and this is the picture we sent out letting everyone know... We might be slightly obsessed with our cats.

Last week we had our doctor's ultrasound. They confirmed that he's still a boy and is probably going to stay that way :) Everything looked very healthy - no issues that they can see! We even got to see something very rare - Kellen was practicing his breathing. The tech said they only do that once in a while this early, so we were lucky to see his chest moving up and down. Otherwise, he was a very naughty baby boy! He wouldn't cooperate and we have to go back for another ultrasound because they didn't get all the pictures of his heart that they wanted. They measured the thickness of his skull and Chris said, "if he takes after his mom, it might be on the thicker side." Nice. We were very happy that everything looked good and feel like we're on cloud nine. They did take some pictures of him, but none are that awesome. My blood pressure was way down, which was great news, and I've only gained 3 pounds the whole pregnancy. 

On Saturday, we went to cut down our Christmas tree. On the way there, I think I felt Kellen move for the first time! I have felt it a few more times since then, but it's definitely nothing regular yet. Here's a picture of our last tree without Kellen. It's crazy to think that next year he'll be sitting up and babbling while we put the tree up! 

Getting close.....!

Hello all! Just thought I'd update about my follow up doctor's appointment and confirm that yes, Wednesday night we will find out if we are having a boy or girl!

I went to the doctor last Wednesday to get my blood pressure checked again. It was the same as it had been the week before. The doctor took a lot of time to talk to me and explained it this way. Because it's before 20 weeks, this isn't gestational-caused high BP. She said that my BP isn't high enough to be very concerned and she wouldn't recommend trying to lower it to a more "normal" level. She explained that as my baby and placenta have been developing, they've gotten used to my higher BP. If we tried to artificially make it drop, it could be detrimental to the baby. Obviously if it gets higher, they will try to lower it, but for now, everything is OK. I also asked about preeclampsia. She explained that preeclampsia has 2 symptoms: high BP and elevated protein in your urine. Since my BP is already elevated, she ordered a urine test to get a base level of my protein now so if we are concerned about preeclampsia in the future, we can have something to compare it to. So today I have been tied to the house and have had to collect all my urine in a jug. Yes, pregnancy is so glamorous, huh! The doctor really made me feel safe and I am not worried at all. We will continue to monitor things and deal with any problems as they occur.

Which brings me to Wednesday! Yay! Our ultrasound is at 7:30 pm which make Wednesday a LOOOOONG day! Brendan, my mom and Rick will all be there and Penny and Denny will be there over speaker phone. I promise to post the news asap :)

Just FYI, all my money is on a boy! :)

A Scary Halloween

Let me start this by saying that everything is OK! Yesterday, at 14 weeks, we had our next doctor's appointment and it went very well. I have only gained 0.2 pounds, which was very exciting to me, but my blood pressure was a little high - especially because its usually very low. All my blood work came back normal and we heard the heartbeat again. The doctor was very happy with everything.

After we left, I asked my mom if I could borrow her blood pressure cuff just to keep an eye on things. I took it last night and this morning with very high results. This morning it was extremely high so I called the emergency line at my OBGYN. The doctor was concerned as well and told me to leave work, go home, and wait until the office opened so I could make an appointment. She said its too early to be pregnancy related, but I absolutely needed it checked. I definitely freaked out! I just got home, and my pressure at the doctor was the same as it was yesterday, a little high, but not nearly what the cuff said this morning. The doctor isn't sure if the cuff is working properly, so I'm not using it anymore :) I am going back next week for another check, but the doctor said if it stays where it is, they won't be concerned. If it goes up, there are other options we will look into.

So for now, I'm enjoying this sick day on my couch and relaxing! We have our 3D gender ultrasound in just 2 weeks and our regular one with my OB 2 weeks after that.

We have already been getting some wonderful baby gifts and are so grateful to everyone who has supported us and is thinking about us and baby Kays!

Heartbeat

Good morning! I know that I posted an update about our first doctor's visit before, but it's not showing up. I definitely want the baby to read this someday, so I'm reposting the basic info for posterity's sake :)

October 3rd - we had our first appointment with my regular OBGYN. Everything went well! Chris wasn't able to be there, but my mom was. We got to hear the heartbeat (with Chris listening in on the phone!). It was truly an amazing, amazing sound. I got pretty emotional later when Chris and I talked about it. The doctor said that hearing such a strong heartbeat at 10 weeks made her feel very confident. That was truly the best part of the whole appointment. I answered a bunch of questions and that was that! Our next appointment is in 4 weeks.

We are having a... embryo!

So sorry I haven't updated in awhile! I've been busy feeling super tired and sleeping every chance I get! :)  Almost three weeks ago we had our second ultrasound with our fertility doctor. When we went in for the ultrasound, our doctor told us that we were looking for growth. When he turned on the monitor we both said "Whoa!" We couldn't believe how big the baby had gotten! You can see the pic below - baby officially has a head... and a big butt.

Our doctor was very pleased with what he saw - we got to see the heartbeat again, so he released us to my regular OBGYN. 

I had that appointment almost a week ago. We did not think we were going to hear the heartbeat, so Chris did not come with me. My mom was there instead, but when we arrived, the doctor said we would try to find the heartbeat. We called Chris and he was able to hear it over the phone. Truly, it was the most amazing sound I have ever heard. Our doctor said that after hearing that strong heartbeat, our chances of miscarriage are as low as possible - less than 5%. That was the best news! Everything else went well during the appointment, and we go back in 4 more weeks. 

We will be 11 weeks pregnant tomorrow! I can't believe we're almost in the second trimester. The baby is moving around now (although I obviously can't feel it yet), and it has the start of teeth. It has defined hands and feet. I have been feeling OK. I have been nauseous a lot, but don't really throw up. The most intense symptom has been my fatigue which is totally nuts! I cannot believe how tired I am! 

Thank you so much for all your support. We feel so blessed to have such great family and friends who will love this baby! We will find out pink or blue in just 5 weeks on Nov 14 - Looking forward to that for sure! 

The cutest smudge ever

Today was our ultrasound and the first time we got to peek in on Baby Kays! Yes, baby, as in singular, one. While I am sure we could have handled twins, I am happy that we can focus all our attention on one baby. A spoiled one it will be!

Our doctor said everything looked great and we even got to see the heartbeat! Very amazing, considering the baby is the size of a pea! The heartbeat isn't loud enough to hear yet on an ultrasound - have to wait until 12 weeks for that, but it is alive and kicking and we couldn't be happier!

We go back in 2 weeks just to check everything out one more time and then we will be released to my regular OBGYN.

I truly cannot believe how in love I can already be with something that looks like a tadpole :) but it was most definitely the cutest, smartest smudge I have ever seen!!!

Thank you for all your love and support over the past 2 weeks, keep us in your prayers, our journey is nowhere near over - Love you all,