Second Trimester

I cannot believe I am finally here, the second trimester a.k.a. "The Honeymoon" trimester, only, minus the 24 hour round-the-clock bedfest, i.e., sex.

Oh, how I would love a 24 hour bedfast now...for sleep that is...LOL!

Seriously, I will have to admit that thus far, the second trimester has felt like a honeymoon.

I really feel good.

Sometimes I even get scared that I am feeling good. Weird, but true.

Other than my growing waistline and increased bra cup size, I would hardly know I was pregnant right now.

The every hour on the hour peeing has slowed down a bit, the boobies are not as sore anymore, and although still tired, I do have much more get up and go in me lately.

I'm so glad that I saw Little Speck last week on the NT Scan just as a reassurance that yes, I really do have a baby growing inside me.

I have my next doctor's appointment on Tuesday and although I don't think I'll be having an ultrasound at that time, I will get to hear the heartbeat again and that is always such a relief.

I am hoping that the appointment after this one will be our anatomy scan...we are just dying to know if Little Speck is going to be a football player or a ballerina.

Either way, we will be doing some celebrating!

Speaking of which, 2010 is going to hold special meaning for me, and I hope it has special times in store for all of you as well.

I want to wish each and every one of you a very Happy and Blessed New Year!

Christmas Day 2009

We had a laid back, but wonderful Christmas.

Here are some photos from this morning...

A Lucky Little Boy, And Yes, That Is a High Powered BB Gun...Thanks Dad!

(Mom Was Not Too Thrilled About That Though…LOL!)

Here's What R.J. Thought Of His Presents

How Cool Is Batman?!

Because After All, Every Boy Needs A Motorcycle/Scooter From His Grandparents, Right?!

The Early Christmas Morning Family Shot, Bad Hair And All!

(Of Course, We've Got the Matching Pajamas Too)

Merry CHRISTmas!

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,

which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,

which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you;

Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host

praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~ Luke 2 10-14 (KJV)

Preliminary Results

Just got a call from Birmingham, AL (where we did the NT scan).

The first part of my test came back SCREEN NEGATIVE with a less than 2% chance of Down Syndrome, which is better than what it is statistically for my age group [2.5%]....WAHOOO!!!

Of course, this is only the first part of the test and they still have to combine it with my quad screen blood work at 15 weeks, but it is GREAT news.

What a WONDERFUL early Christmas gift...Praise God!

NT Scan Down, Bloodwork To Go

Sorry, I am just getting to you all now, but yesterday was a long day. We had to go to Birmingham, AL (about 1 1/2 hours from our home) for the NT Scan and then we ate lunch (P.F. Changs…yum!), shopped a bit at a wonderful shopping center called The Summit, came back home, and I took a 3 hour nap...whew!

Anyway, our scan measurement was a 2.0 mm and Little Speck was measuring 1 day ahead. The sonographer told us that for where I am in this pregnancy, that measurement was on target and "good".

There on the screen, plain as day, was a nasal bone, spine, brain lobes, two arms, two feet and a great heartbeat.

Face Shot (two black spots are the eyes and a sweet Buddha Belly)

Profile Shot

They said I should have the first part of the test results (NT scan, plus initial bloodwork) as early as this Wednesday (tomorrow), but perhaps next week due to the Holiday.

At 15 weeks they'll do a quad blood screen and then combine those results with these first part results to give us a final risk ratio for Downs Syndrome or Trisomy 18.

Do I understand all of this risk/ratio stuff? No, but what I do understand and KNOW is that the Lord is taking care of me and this babe and that is more important to me than any numbers/risk ratio they can give me.

As far as gender goes…Little Speck's legs were crossed the whole time but the sonographer's educated guess was 60% boy. Well, trust me, I am not going to go run out and start buying little boy clothes yet based on a crossed legged, 60% guess...LOL!

Guess we'll just have to wait until the official gender scan. I’m still feeling like it’s a girl, but I will take blue again FOR SURE!

Got Belly?

Okay, okay, I have finally given in. I whipped out the camera last night.

Given the fact that my starting weight with this baby is about 35 to 40 lbs. more than when I got pregnant with RJ seven years ago (thankyouverymuch fertility drugs and lax eating habits), I have been very hesitant to do any belly shots (oh, and of course I was waiting until I got past the 1st trimester too).

Anyway, here you go. Finally...the belly shots.

Don't be too shocked...I am definitely pooching!

I think I'm going to do them every 3 months for comparison.

12 weeks

Who Would Have Thunk It?!

This morning, my doctor's office called and told me that the NT scan is scheduled for next Monday (Dec. 21st) at 10:00 AM.

Wow, that was fast.

"Great!", I told the nurse.

And then the nurse said, "Tracey, don't forget to call us and let us know what it is."

I almost choked and said, "Excuse me? What do you mean, what it is?"

She then replied, "The ultrasound machine that they use at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) is beyond high tech. You will be amazed as to what you will see. At 13weeks, we've had plenty of ladies come back with the news of pink or blue."

Okay, I am totally freaking out (about the NT scan in and of itself), but whoa, I may know what we're having before Christmas?!!

Who would have thunk it?!!!

Two In A Row

I had my doctor's appointment today and we are now two for two!

Yep, we have now heard the heartbeat via doppler two times in a row and my doctor said that at this point my miscarriage rate drops to less than 1%...Praise God!

Today's heart rate was a beautiful 163 BPM (beats per minute)!

Of course all worry is not gone, but I can honestly tell you that I do feel like some weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

I will be 12 weeks tomorrow...a huge milestone!

My NT scan is to be scheduled within the next week or so. This is a prenatal test that is done to help assess the baby's risk of having Down syndrome and some other chromosomal abnormalities as well as major congenital heart problems. They also do a blood test combined with it.

The NT scan won't give me any diagnosis, but rather percentages of risk. Depending on those percentages, it will help us to know if we need to do any further and more definitive testing like an amnio.

Believe it or not, I am actually sort of looking forward to the NT scan because it will at least give us a chance to see Little Speck again. And since we haven't had an ultrasound since seven weeks or so, I'm excited to have the opportunity.

The Bible verse that keeps sticking in my mind right now is...

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him.

~1 Samuel 1:27 (KJV)

Dear Lord, thank you for cradling this babe in your arms and for carrying us this far.

It's Finally Looking A Bit Like Christmas At Home

I am pleased to announce that our Christmas tree is FINALLY up!

With us being away the entire week of Thanksgiving, it kind of cut into my "putting up the tree" time.

To be quite honest with you, after spending eight days in Mickey land, I could not muster up the energy to spend my one free day (before going back to work) lugging the tree and decorations down from the attic. Instead, I spent it unpacking and doing the laundry...go figure?!

Anyway, this past weekend I had my hubby and brother get the tree down for me and then I got to it.

Er um, I sort of got to it.

I have to confess, I did not realize that I would be feeling as tired as I still am and so the tree did NOT get each and every ornament on it, nor did the house get each and every decoration put out, but it does look like Christmas nevertheless and that's always a comfy, cozy feeling.

The Tree

The Fireplace and Mantel

In Front of the Fireplace

The Mirror

(Note the angel that R.J. made and hung underneath the garland)

The Nativity

The Auburn Corner

(Remember, we live in the south and you know, here, it's all about football no matter what season it is...LOL!)

Why Can't Computer Hackers Find Something Else To Do?

I am so mad!

A website that I have been a member of for almost two years now (dealing with Trying to Conceive and Pregnancy issues) evidently was attacked by a computer virus yesterday!

Stinking hackers!

Why in the world do they have to spend their time being criminal deviants or just plain ole' wanting to mess around in other people's business menaces?

I mean, c'mon, attacking a trying to conceive website?! Do they not realize how hormonal us women on that site are to begin with? UGH!

What I really hate about it is that one buddy group in particular that I belong to has really become a close knit family and we have been there for each other through good times and bad times, happy times and sad times, and for just your average everyday shooting the breeze times.

It's only been a day and I miss my gals sooooo much! I feel naked (and trust me, right now, Tracey being naked is NOT a pretty site at all...LOL!)

A bunch of us have notified the original creator/administrator of the website and told her about the virus problem, but who knows if anything will be done about it?

I did read via google that it was the website that was infected and not the server, but being a techie/computer illiterate, I have absolutely no idea what that means?!

All I know is I want the website to be fixed and back up and running. I mean c'mon, it's finally my turn to share my good news with the gals and WHAM, door slammed shut!

Again I say, stinking hackers!!!

UPDATE:
The website I was talking about is now VIRUS free!!!
There, take that you stinking hackers and leave us hormonal ladies A-LONE!!!!

Just For The Fun Of It

Back before I lost my two babies last year, I had ordered this product called Intelligender when I found out I was pregnant the first time in July.

Anyway, who knows if it is accurate?

Of course the website has some pretty convincing testimonials and such, but really, I think it's a slicked up version of the old pee in a cup of Drano in order to check gender test.

So what the heck, right?! After all, it has been sitting in my cabinet for a year now, has not yet expired, and so I did it for fun if nothing else.

The instructions say you can do it as early as 10 weeks and so this morning I went for it.

Well, this is what it gave me...


Personally, I think I am having a girl, but we'll see in about another 10 weeks or so whether my intuition is right or if the Intelligender is.

Now, I might add that when my husband saw this "result" this morning he was walking around with his chest all puffed out (just like he did when we found out we were having RJ).

Men are so silly...they say it doesn't matter what the baby will be as long as it is healthy, but dangle that boy bone out there and they start to salivate like a hungry dog...LOL!

Seriously though, I know he will be perfectly thrilled if we wind up having a girl, but just to see his reaction this morning made me giggle.

As for me (and I sincerely mean this from my heart)...Lord, just please present us with a healthy baby and that's all that matters, not whether I will be decorating in pink or blue.