Lots to Catch Up On!!!! (I know there is a dangling partaciple there...get over it!)

Wow! I really stink at keeping this blog up-to-date! Please forgive!

Baby Brinkley had his/her second picture taken on October 7th!! It was REALLY neat to actually see a baby this time with a cute little head, and cute little ear, and cute little spine, and wonderfully cute little feet! Needless to say that Baby Brink is going to be SUPER CUTE!!!

I hope everyone can see our cute little baby. The scan didn't come out very well, but I tried to point out the major features.

We actually did get to hear the heartbeat and it was VERY STRONG! Dr. Brass was able to find it with the doppler, but I begged for an ultrasound! I wanted to see arms and legs; not just a peanut! It was amazing to see how much stronger the heart was compared to last time! It was beating about 160 bpm....which I thought was on the slower side so said it MUST be a boy. Dr. Brass found something on the screen to which he said just might prove my statement about it being a boy true. But then he said it could also just be the other foot or the cord.....so I guess we'll have to wait and see! However, I have since been told that anything over 150 is on the higher side. AH we're still in limbo! Hopefully we'll find out the first week of December!

Our next appointment is November 4th (election day). We will listen to the heartbeat again, but that will probably be it. However, we will then schedule the gender scan!!!!!

I know I'm REALLY behind on the belly pics. We've been taking them, I've just been too tired to post. So I will try to get them posted later!

OH Where to Begin???

WOWZA!  I can't believe it's been a million years since my last post!  AND I not only didn't post my 10 week belly pic, but I completely missed my 11 week belly pic!  We weren't even able to take one!  Things have been....um....crazy to say the least.  

I have been feeling something terrible!  Nothing has wanted to stay in my tummy!  And just the thought of the smell of my kitchen is enough to make me dry heave!  For an entire week, every time I walked into my kitchen, I tossed my cookies!  It got so bad that last Tuesday (9/23/08) James had to take me to the ER!  I was moderately dehydrated, which just made my nausea worse!

The ER doc diagnosed me with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, which only happens in 1 out of every 200 healthy pregnancies (LUCKY ME!).  It's basically just a severe form of nausea and/or vomiting.  It causes weight loss, dehydration, and malnutrition and occurs during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!).  

So the doc called my OB and the OB called in a n order for a special IV with some kind of sugar drip (or something like that...wasn't really paying attention).  It seemed to help more than just the normal saline IV.  They also shot me up with a chemo-sized dose of Zofran in my IV.  That probably helped some too :)  

The nausea comes and goes in waves now, but the dizziness is almost constant.  And I'm never really sure when the gagging is going to hit.  The kitchen still bothers me, so I try to avoid it at all times.  And when I can't, I plan out my trip in there before going so I can get everything I need as quickly as possible.  Most times I can hold my breath....for the times I can't, I just keep my shirt over my mouth and nose and pray!

I Hate Keeping Big Secrets!

So it's been really hard for me not to write about how my best friend in the whole world is pregnant also and is only three weeks ahead of me!  She didn't want anyone to know because she too had suffered a loss back in January so they wanted to make sure everything was ok first.  I do understand that....OH BUT IT'S BEEN SO HARD!!!  

Well yesterday they heard the heartbeat so I can officially open my mouth......MY SISTER'S PREGNANT TOO!!!!  Oh this is so exciting!  I was so worried that all of his/her cousins would be so much older that Baby Brinkley would have no one to play with when we went to visit my family in Indiana...but this is not the case!!!  

Ok, the bad news:  I've always wanted my sister in the delivery room with me, but I'm afraid she won't even be able to be at the hospital!!!  She will have just given birth less than a month earlier and might not even be able to make the trip down to Georgia!  

The other bad news:  I'll be so far along I probably won't be able to travel to Indiana when her little one is born.  

BOO FOR BAD NEWS!  The good news is I get to share this exciting experience with my sister!  YAY!!!!

9 Weeks!

Belly pic time!  So it's a day late, but I'm still so sick!  I've been taking the Zofran, but it only does so much.  BUT I'm holding out hope that I'll be feeling better in the next couple of weeks! For now, I'm excited to be in the beginning of the third month (you'll notice in my ticker at the top that I've now moved to the third box!!!)  PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!!!

Anyway, here are the pics.  I think I might see the tiniest bit of growth!  Let me know what you think!!!

We Have a Heartbeat!!!

James and I went to the doctor yesterday for my first prenatal appointment with Dr. Jarvis.  It was quite eventful.  I thought I was doing ok when they decided to take 1,000 gallons of blood from my arm, but my body thought differently.  I got a bit on the dizzy side and one of the nurses walking by stopped and said "That girl's going to faint!"  She came over and started fanning me, another nurse came over and put a cold cloth on my neck.  It was crazy!  I was so embarrassed!  Then instead of going into Dr. Jarvis' office, they took me straight to the exam room so I could lay down.  Which, I'm not gonna lie, was nice.  It felt good to lay down!   They finally got James and he came into the room and helped "keep me on the table" (directions from the nurse!  LOL) while we waited for Dr. Jarvis.   After we talked with him for a while and we finally agreed on an estimated due date (April 16th!!!!!!!!!!!), he went to get the ultrasound machine so we could see our little miracle!  

I love Dr. Jarvis!  I really do, but he should leave the ultrasounds to the experts (LOL!).  He made me SO nervous and scared trying to find my UTERUS.....not the baby, the uterus!  I don't think I took a breath for a good minute and a half while he tried to figure out where it was!  Of course in his defense, my uterus is laying WAY back in an akward position.  ANYWAY, he found it and there was Baby Brinkley!  And the little heart was just flickering away.  It was so beautiful to see!  I cried!  

So I have attached the pictures from the ultrasound!  Our next appointment is October 7th and we will be able to hear the heartbeat then!!!!  I can hardly wait!

Belly Pics!

Ok, so because I've been SOOOOO sick I have neglected posting my belly pics for two weeks.  Here are my 6, 7, and 8 weeks pics!

Ugh!

I can't believe it's been over a week since I've been able to post!!!  I completely missed the 7 week belly pic....it was taken, just never had the energy to post it.  I'll post it tomorrow or Monday when the 8 week pic is taken. 

So why have I been absent from my blog?  MORNING SICKNESS!!!   Which is completely misleading!  It's last all day, everyday for the past week!  I'm so nauseous and dizzy I can't do anything but lay down and stay still.  I've found that if I eat something and not allow myself to get hungry it helps a little.  The only problem is that NOTHING sounds good.  It's a chore to even get water down the hatch!  I just wish I could throw up!  I think I might feel better if it would just come up.....but it won't.  With the exception of a few episodes of dry heaves, I've got NOTHING!

I did find something that is good to my tummy though...POPSICLES!!!!!!!  I bought three boxes at Wal-Mart today!!!  Now if I could only get some that gave me all the nutrition I need, I would be in good shape!!!

Anyway, football game is back on so gotta go!  Look for the belly pics soon!!!