Here I lay in bed next to my snoozing husband- wide awake. I can't turn my brain off so I've decided to type. I have an appointment with my OB on Wednesday. The anxiety has already set in. This pregnancy has been hard- and extra long. I feel (although i know it's not the case) that every time we go in we hear bad news. I already want to brace myself so I'm more prepared. Why am I like this?? I need to relax and have faith. (it's what my mom is constantly telling me). Anybody who knows me knows It's pretty impossible for me to not be a nervous anxious reck about everything. I'm a head case.
After a roller coaster of a first trimester (we won't even go there)- I was still pregnant (great news) and was finally feeling better. At 14 weeks I had a little panic attack when Dr Lunt couldn't find the heart beat. When he finally did I almost hugged him. It took him a good 5 minutes. (that is loooong) At 16 weeks I found out we get to have another princess in our lives. So exciting! But by the end of the ultra sound after finding out i had something called Amniotic Band Syndrome- I was only hearing words like "disformities" "amputations" "taking baby early" "seeing a specialist" and "there's nothing we can do." I was pretty much walking in a cloud. Dr Lunt did his best at making us "feel better" and told us to try not to worry and we will see how she's doing at 19 weeks. Merry Christmas! That is a long three weeks. I also made the HUGE mistake of looking it up online for abut 30 seconds. So dumb. 19 week ultrasound. I was hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. I almost didnt want to look. What if my little girl was all tangled in my own uterus? I could tell right away she was looking great. There was no sign of ABS and baby girl was looking perfect! Miracle. But then we got to the part where they check her heart. 45. 45 beats a minute. At first I thought we were hearing mine but then realized it was my baby's. "Not good" is what the tech told us. I could tell she didn't quite know what to do. After 45 seconds it finally recovered and went back to 155. Dr lunt came right in to talk to us. The problem was they didn't know how long it had been really low like that because it was low as soon as she put the monitor on to listen. They started asking about heart problems in our families- and looking more closely at her heart. The good news is they could see four chambers and it seemed to be pumping correctly. So we get the good old "there's nothing we can do- so try not to worry" speech once again. He told me I could come in and listen to the heart any day any time. (I love my dr.) but to mostly pay attention to movement throughout the day. Good thing there has been no shortage of that lately. So hear I lay- worrying like a crazy person. We will see how it goes. Hoping for only good news this time!

Christmas Morning

Full success. Opening presents lasted well into the day. We went to church and spent the rest of the day playing and visiting with family. We drove home that night and spent Monday hanging with my family. I wish Christmas lasted all year. So sad that it's over...

Christmas Eve

We did a little shopping then spent the evening relaxing at Kelly's house. We made gingerbread houses and ate some yummy food. We opened Christmas jammies and settled in for the evening. The good news was everybody was feeling fine and Eliza's little spell was not the flu! We were so relieved.

12.23.11

We were all packed and ready to go up north to spend Christmas with Craig's entire family. Eliza woke up and wasn't acting like herself. Not a great start. But then when she started puking over and over again- I was pretty much a reck. A Christmas alone isolated from the outside world with no Christmas dinner or yummy food- with the stomach flu flashed before my eyes and I was devastated. I bawled. I had no back up plan and didn't want the flu passed to any of our family. After a long morning of the pukes and four loads of laundry she started eating the entire house and dancing and singing. Craiger jumped on the "feeling better this isn't the flu" train and we spent an hour loading the truck and we were on our way. Tragic Christmas avoided.

Christmas Time

A few days before Christmas my brother Riley's kids came in from Texas to have some Grandma and Grandpa time. We went hiking, made cookies, and had my mom's annual "treasure hunt" for those of us who weren't going to be around on Christmas. Eliza sure loves her cousins.

I can't believe I get to have another GIRL!!!

I'm pretty sure everybody already knows this- but we are having another baby- and it's a GIRL!  I still can't get over it.  I'm so glad my Eliza gets a sister- sisters are the best!  I am almost 18 weeks now and feeling pretty good.  This pregnancy has been quite a roller coaster ride for Craig and I (and anybody that's close to us!).  More than once we thought it wasn't going to work out- but with ultrasounds and check ups and medication- things are looking good.  We feel so blessed.  Is it too early to long to hold her and squeeze her and kiss her and just know that she's going to be ok?  I'm not even half way yet.  This is taking forever.  Also- this pregnancy has been completely opposite of my first.  I didn't feel one symptoms with Eliza.  With this on I was really sick, irritable, emotional, and just pretty miserable.  Poor Craig didn't get a home cooked meal for months.  And he got to do the dishes and anything else that might have a slight smell. I'll forever be grateful for his warnings of any type of smell.  And for my baby girl "Mom are you pukin again?  I will help you.  I will make you feel better." Oh- she is my Angel.  Can't wait to have another.

Hopefully after this post I will be all caught up. These are really random photos but we don't want to forget our November! Dressing up is an every day thing at our house. These photos are of "the pink princess super Eliza royal crown". And you can tell she wasn't feeling well- but still had to be a princess for the day.

Eliza slept through Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house. When she woke up we were all eating pie so guess what she ate for dinner?? The only picture I took the entire day.

Eliza has sucked her thumb since forever. She only did it when she had her blanky out of her bed- which was beginning to be a habit. One day I told her that if she wanted to get her blanky out of her bed I was going to have to put the yucky stuff on her thumbs. She finally agreed. The next morning I caught her sucking her pointer finger. We got a good laugh out of her problem solving skills. That was the last time I witness any sucking. I've never had to put stuff on her fingers again. She stopped over night. She's an angel.

One last picture to explain- the naked bum. She had been clogged up for a couple days which has never happened before. I gave her mirilax Friday night and forgot about it. The next day we went the mall. When she looked up at me with a panicked look and said "I need to go potty" I knew it was an emergency. We started running to the bathroom and Craig grabbed her and took her in with him. 15 minutes later Craig came walking out- her pants in hand a bare bum and said "time to go". Apparently she disnt quite make it. I laughed so hard at her bare bum and shoes I almost couldn't walk. Probably because I was embarrassed carrying a naked little girl through the mall and to the car. The classic line that came for Eliza when we were walking through the parking lot was "my bummy is coooold!!!". Aaaahhh we love her.