13 weeks pregnant! Hello second trimester!



Today we hit 13 weeks pregnant and 2nd trimester! YAY!  Hopefully now my energy level will return a little bit and I won't be so prone to laying on the couch all afternoon....

What is baby doing?
Our baby can now make a fist and even suck its thumb. Babies Eyelids are fused shut to protect its eyes during development. Its bones are beginning to solidify and soon ribs will appear. His vocal cords and larynx are developed now, if baby was out of the womb it'd be making all those cute little cooing sounds. Baby weighs about 20 grams and is about 3 inches long (about the size of a nutter butter cookie!).

How are mom and dad doing?
Mom is feeling slightly less tired now, and I never really feel nauseous anymore - even after I eat!  My prenatal vitamins are definitely  making me feel a little better now that I can actually take them.  We're getting excited and even ordered our bedding set for this little one, we thought it was very cute, modern and neutral:

Evelyn
She is doing very well. She said "Lub You" to daddy on Sunday which I was really cute I guess... I didn't get to see it. She loves climbing up and down the stairs and on and off the couch. She's definitely a little monkey and tries to climb on everything.  She's such a little princess and is so happy all the time still. Her second front tooth has fnally popped through this weekend and has stopped playing hide and seek with us. So now she has her 4 front "bunny teeth" and its darn cute.  We discovered a few days back that she does not like yogurt and spits it out, but she loves everything else, we even gave her a Jalapeno Cheddar Cheeto and she ate the crazies out of it!  There isn't anything she won't eat... except yogurt apparently. I think its mostly because she wants to feed herself and not have us feeding her. Our little independant girl.  She just loves doing things to make people laugh - as seen at her birthday party if you were there... or you'll see on the video when its finished!  She's so smart, if we show her how to do something once, she tries and tries to do it until she gets it, which usually only takes once. Pushing buttons, moving things, and at grandma Gail's, its turning on and off the TV (which we didn't actually show her!)  She's too smart and is definitely giving us a run for our money!

What our family has been up to
We've been hanging a bit low recently although I did take Evelyn to the MN Zoo yesterday with my friend Joani and her two small kids. We had fun walking around and talking. After the zoo we stopped by and visiting Grandma Karen as we hadn't seen her in quite a few weeks. Spent a few hours over there with them and went to pick up Derrick, where I had a small heartattack. As I was waiting for him to come out, small plumes of white smoke started coming out from under my hood and then larger plumes... I drove it home after talking to my dad and determining it should be ok to do, when he came up to look at it - nothing was showing to be wrong! Dad says it was probably just some fluke with the antifreeze and pressure, but to watch it. Thank god! I was afraid it'd be something more serious...

I'll be sure to post another update soon!

Evelyn's 1 year checkup & stats

Went and saw Dr Lander's today for Evelyn's 1 year checkup and shots...

Our little girl is 30 inches tall (75 percentile) and is 22.5lbs (75 percentile again)! Maybe she'll be tall and skinny just like mommy? 

Dr said she looks perfect, according to her charts she is about average for her walking and speaking skills, but her motor skills are about 3-4 months ahead! Smart little cookie she is.  Dr has no concerns for Evelyn and will see her again at 15 months.

Then nurse Amber came back in for the shots... She looks at Evelyn and says  "are you ready?" And I replied "She's more ready than mommy is!" Evelyn got her very first shot in her arm :(  poor baby, I think that was worse than the leg ones are!  She got the Chicken Pox shot and two other ones that I not only can't spell, but can't pronounce either. Lucky for us Amber has been VERY good at giving Evelyn her shots. She's very quick about it and it seems less painful for Evelyn that way.

So overall a great wellness check for little Evelyn, She's gotten so big!



Evelyn's 1st Birthday Party!!

Our beautiful daughter turned one on Saturday, June 18th! Wow how time flies!  So we reserved "Kargel Park" here in town for her party. Even though it rained the entire time, we were inside the building so we were fine, and the rain proved for some fun for the kids and adults!

 We Got here these very cute "Cupcake Cakes" They were perfect, way better than a reguar sheetcake. 

This was the building we rented after it was decorated. It looked so nice!

I had the bakery make her a very special cupcake so we could put her candle on it. She didn't quite blow it out, although she did try!  When she ate it, she was being very delicate at first, started sticking one finger in the frosting and licking it off... then she moved to 3 fingers and soon enough she figured out "Hey this tastes really good!"

The fun part began when we started opening presents. She was loving it all, although we had a few fits in between since she got no nap.  She got these two shirts in one of the bags, she was trying to put them on her head and ended up like this: 

After everyone started laughing, she took it down, started laughing and clapping and did it again. Then she bent over as if she was bowing a few times! I was crying I was laughing SO hard and so was everyone else!!!  She's such a ham, I absolutely cannot wait to see the video Derrick's dad took because I'm hoping he got this part of the party!!!

She was loving her presents so much, she was so excited to be getting some new things.

So far this is her favorite toy. Its VERY cool. You program it to know your childs name, how you spell it, their favorite food, color, animal etc. It has a nighttime setting where it says "5 minutes to bedtime Evelyn" and plays a bunch of lullabys that you pick online. Its very interactive and cool, although she is enjoying all her new toys a lot.

So, dispite the fact that it rained the entire time, we still had a ton of fun and so did she. Can't believe our baby girl is already 1 years old... And SUCH a comedian!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY EVELYN!

Baby #2's first official appointment! + some news :)

Went to see Dr. Landers today for our 10 week pregnancy check up. At our confirmation appointment on May 12th I was 137lbs, already up 3lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight of 134lbs. We didn't know how far along I could be so we had an ultrasound done, which confirmed we were 6 weeks 1 day pregnant. We did see the heartbeat, which was 102bpm. It was a little slow, but the tech said it was probably because it had just started. Seeing the heartbeat put our risk of miscarraige down to about 5%. That goes down to 3% at around 12-13 weeks. 

So today I am 10 weeks 1 day.  Here's a little about what baby is doing: our baby is approximately the size of a prune or a brazil nut (about 1.2in and about .14oz). The bones and cartilidge are starting to take form and babies arms and joints are now working. Baby has distinguished fingers and toes, ears are beginning to take shape and the eyelids are no longer see-through. Baby is starting to grow toothbuds and Baby's kidney's are already starting to produce small amounts of urine! If baby is a boy, he's starting to produce testosterone too. This is approximately what baby looks like right now:

The Appointment:

Well, I'm back down to my pre-pregnancy weight of 133lbs. I'm guessing probably because of the eatting issue I had there for a few weeks. But the Dr wasn't worried so that was comforting. We heard the heartbeat which was 160bpm.  I'm thinking it was so high because I had a bag of M&Ms at noon, my poor little prune was on a sugar high  :) !   The vampires took 4 big viles of blood from me before I left - I was getting concerned that they may not leave me any... but I remember them taking a lot when I was pregnant with Evelyn too.  Dr Landers doesn't want to see me for 4 more weeks... that's gonna feel like a really long wait though!

NOW FOR THE NEWS: This might disappoint some of you...

So Derrick and I have been talking a lot about finding out the gender of this baby. At first I had decided that I didn't want to tell anybody our name choices, I was willing to tell people the gender, but wanted some element of secret from everyone, so we were going to keep the names to ourselves. Then as we were talking we were thinking that we would find out what the gender is and not tell anybody else. This way only we would know and it would be a surprise for everyone.  This conversation led to us deciding that we're not going to find out the gender at all!  I don't know if I'll last, but I'm certainly going to try. I'm very anxious to know what it is, but it'll be fun finding out on delivery day!  No secrets for us, just that we won't know! So as of right now, we have decided that we aren't going to find out the gender at all :)  Enjoy guessing!

Went to the beach :)

Derrick was off work for 2 days this week! So Monday Evelyn and I took daddy fishing. (even in the heat, we still had fun.)

He didn't really catch anything, so in the 90 degree heat and humidity, I decided we would go to a different lake where Evelyn and I could go swimming.

This was Evelyn's very first time!  We don't have access to a pool and lord knows it takes forever for MN beaches to warm up enough!

The water was great! I thought for sure she'd get scared and panic, but she didn't at all! She was LOVING it!

The inflatable raft was the best investment ever. One of Derrick's cousin's had it last year when we all met up, I went and bought one at Target for $20. It was perfect. She floated around, was protected from the sun, and felt safe in it.  Although I did find it a bit hard to blow up at first and equally hard to deflate. But once it gets going its a peice of cake. 

Then, Tuesday we went to Como Zoo with my mom, Sister in law and the kids. We had fun even though it was rediculously hot. (Over 100! and the hottest place in the US according to the weather guy!)  After to zoo, we hung out in the water at my brother's place. Evelyn was loving the little baby pool there too. Guess she's a water baby!

So even in the (almost unbearable) heat and humidity we still managed to have fun. And even better, I still managed to get fried.  Pregnancy and sunburn certainly don't mix.

Will it be a BOY or a GIRL?? (old wives tales)

So, Derrick and I have been talking about what gender we hope the baby is... obviously we are really just hoping the baby is happy and healthy, but there's always that secret hope for one gender or the other... He is hoping for a boy. We have our little girl and having a little boy would give us one of each. Plus he wants his "Lil D" (his nickname is D).    I am thinking more logically however. I would love a little boy to give us one of each gender. It'd be awesome to experience a little boy growing up, but we already have all girl stuff. We wouldn't need to buy anything except a carseat, stroller and crib if its a girl... Either way it'll be exciting.

So I decided to do a few early old wives tales for fun, just to see what happens. Afterall... they are 50% accurate so why not right? I don't put too much faith in these old wives tales though; they really won’t be that accurate and like I said, they are mostly for fun! Then before we find out the gender, I'll do them again and see how it compares!

1) CHINESE GENDER CHART:  The chinese gender chart takes the mothers age at conception (24) and the month of conception (April), puts it into some sort of mathematical/scientific equation.  According to this chart we are expecting... A BOY! 
(For our daughter I put in 23 years old, September as conception month, and it says "GIRL")

2) MAYAN TALE: If you are Mayan then you may follow their beliefs and use numbers to determine the sex of your baby. The Mayans take the mothers age at conception and the year of conception and add them together. If the result is a even number then mom is having a girl. If the result is an odd number then a boy is on the way!  In my case, 24 years old +2011= 2025... A BOY!
(For Evelyn it would have been 23yrs old + 2009= 2032 A girl!)

3) CRAVINGS: This one sounds good and can be an “explanation” for many of moms’ cravings, but is it true? Some people say that if you crave salty food while pregnant it means you are having a boy and if you crave sweet food while you are pregnant it means you are having a girl. Does this mean that baby girls are sweet and baby boys are salty? In my case.... Salty cravings (so far)= BOY!
(With Evelyn I also craved salty and it was obviously a girl... Maybe since I'm craving salty again it'll be a girl again?)

4) PREVIOUS KIDS:  This one cracks me up, onlly because its so random.  If your first born's first word was "momma" then you'll have a girl. If your first born's first word was "dada" then you'll have a boy... "momma" = GIRL!

5) HISTORY OF PARENTS KIDS: You can find out the sex by going off of your parent’s kids and the order.  If you are the first born, you will have what your mother had but starting with her second child.  If you are the middle child, you will have what she said, but starting with the third child.  If you are the last child, you will have what your mother had in the exact order In Derrick's family he's the youngest so for him we'd be having a BOY. In my family I'm the middle child so we'd be having a GIRL. 

6) LEG HAIR GROWTH: If the hair on your legs has been growing at record speeds, you might be having a boy.  I just waxed my legs a week ago and its already growing back!  BOY!

7) HEADACHES:  If you are having headaches, you might be carrying a boy.  I’ve definitely had an increase in headaches, so I wonder…  BOY
(But I had headaches with Evelyn too, she was definitely a girl!)

8) WHAT DO YOU THINK? 71% of the time, the mom-to-be knows what she is having.  Most days I swear its a boy.  (Then again, I swore Evelyn was a boy too!).  So according to this one... its a BOY

9) BREAST SIZE: If a pregnant woman’s left breast is larger than the right breast, she’s having a girl.  If the right breast is larger, it’s a boy. My left side is definitely bigger (but this is ALL the time lol) So this says GIRL!

10)CLUMSY VS GRACEFUL: If the pregnant woman is graceful throughout her pregnancy, she’s having a girl.  If she becomes clumsy, she’s having a boy.  I've been way more clumsy, tripping over things, dropping things... BOY!

So, these are 10 Old wives tales that I can do right now. I'm only 9 weeks so I'm not showing yet and can't do any of those ones... But, 7 out of 10 of the ones I can do say boy... But it was the same way with Evelyn, most of them said she was a boy...  Guess we'll see!  I'll do this again (maybe twice) to see how things have changed, and add in the ones I can do as time goes on... It'll be interesting to see what we end up with! 

Newest baby & Our First Ultrasound

On May 5th, 2011 (the day before my 25th birthday) I got 2 positive pregnancy tests. (lord knows when you get that first one its not enough, you have to confirm with a second.)  I was quite upset/nervous/sad/angry/disappointed/excited/every other emotion you can imagine. 

I had no way of knowing how far along I was. I'd been on birth control for nearly a year, I had no reason to be tracking my menstrual cycles... so I made an appointment and went in, Derrick couldn't be there because he was working which was sort of a bummer... They set up an ultrasound for me right after so we could find out how far along we are.  That day we were 6 weeks 1 day.  I could see the heartbeat flicker at 102 per min. It was slow, but they said thats because it probably just started.  It looked like a little pea with a little stem on it!

Now we are 9 weeks one day along.  Thankfully I'm not showing yet. Although I feel a bit bloated.  This pregnancy is only slightly different from our first. I'm still very exhausted (especially with having to chase a 1 year old around all day!) and have 0 energy.  I haven't had any morning sickness, but have been having random cravings which I didn't have with Evelyn. The issue I'm having now is that after I eat, no matter how much or how little, I feel like I just ate Thanksgiving dinner!  Not that I am giong to or need to throw up, but that if I would I'd feel much better... I haven't yet. Tums have been my best friend.

So that sums up this pregnancy so far. I set my first official OB appointment for June 9th.  I'll be 10 weeks 1 day then and hopefully we'll hear the heartbeat :)