It's a.......

Uncle Rick

My Mom

We are having a BOY :)  Here are some pictures from how we told our family.  Delicous cupcakes made my Holly Kennedy at Cupcake Wishes.

Grandma

Eric and I with our cupcakes :)

Our Ugly Sweaters...Merry Christmas Everyone :)

Today I am thankful for being pregnant.

Cupcake Wishes...http://www.cupcakewishes.com

Checkup

We went to the regular OB yesterday for a checkup.  Baby’s heartbeat was 144 and everything is measuring right where it is suppose to be.  The reports from Toledo were also good :) 

Now I ask for a favor for prayers.  One of my aide’s daughter’s son, Lane, was born at 32 weeks.  Shortly after he was born they found out that he had holes in both of his lungs.  They then later found out he had fluid around his heart.  He is still a sick little baby and needs all the prayers out there to get him through this and healthy so one day he can go home to his parents and his two older brothers.  So I am asking for prayers for little Baby Lane. 

Today I am thankful that I am pregnant (20 weeks)

Well today’s appointment in Toledo went well :)  The ultrasound tech came in the room to get us and she said that she would be checking everything that the baby would let her check (meaning depending on how cooperative the little one was).  So she checked and measured what seemed like everything and explained what she was doing.  She also turned on the little “cool thing” where you can see the blood for the kidneys and heart.  It took about 30 minutes and then she said she would be back.  Eric asked how the umbilical cord looked.  Her response was “I can’t say anything until the doctor looks at it.” so of course you panic and think of things such as “what isn’t she telling us?”  “what is wrong” and on and on.  Trust me I know it’s her job to report to the doctor before she does says anything regardless if it is good news or bad news.   The ultrasound tech last time told us that we can relax so it was a little reassuring.  I then asked her if we were going to see the doctor today because I had a question.  She asked me if I could ask her the question so you could relay it to the doctor.  This office is always crazy busy with woman that are probably in more need than me.  So I asked her about the bloodclots in the placenta last time and if I needed to do anything this time even though all my tests for clotting came back fine and it showed I do not have a clotting disorder.

Well 20 minutes later the doctor walked in (not what I was expecting and I don’t think Eric was either).   I think both our hearts dropped even though we wanted to see him.   I have put it in my head that NO doctor equals GOOD news.  Well he just came down to talk to me about my clotting tests and the umbilical cord.  He explained to us that my clotting tests came back negative for clotting disorders and that is good news and you cannot develop a clotting disorder while you are pregnant.  He then explained to us that we will start testing the umbilical cord next appointment when I am 26 weeks.  He said right now the cord is very small and there is not enough fluid in there yet for the baby to start moving and turning to cause twisting. knotting, etc.  So next time they will do a doppler cord flow which will check the flow through the umbilical cord. 

So I will go and see the regular OB Tuesday to review with her the reports and ultrasounds from Toledo and a checkup and then I will go back to Toledo January 26.  I am not sure after Tuesday when I will see the regular OB, but all went well today :) God is GOOD!

Oh yeah, the little one was cooperative and we did find out the sex, but we are not going to tell until Christmas :)

 Little one at 19 weeks measuring 12 oz

Today I am thankful for being pregnant :)

Weekend

This weekend was a very busy weekend.  We went to the Toledo Zoo to see the Christmas lights on Saturday and then on Sunday we went to see a play based on the movie A Christmas Story.  We are getting very excited/nervous about this Thursday.  They will do a 2^nd trimester screening and if the little one is cooperative we will find out if it is a boy or girl :) 

On another note, I have had several people thank me and express kind words about me writing this blog.  I am glad you enjoy it.  I just found this is one way for people to follow our story as we go along this pregnancy after a loss.  Also, it helps me get out how I feel during this time. 

In the past and still today there have been still several people that have asked me questions such as “I had a friend who had a second trimester lost, what should I do or get them?” “How do you help someone grieve?” etc.  I do have a handful of friends that I talk to about Rylee often and there have been times where I might mention something and thier response is “I have always wanted to ask you that, but I didn’t know how.”  So I was thinking (I know, I don’t do that often) that if anyone has a question about anything (my first pregnancy, Rylee, the time between Rylee and this little one, this pregnancy, grieving, or anything else) please feel free to send me a private message on facebook or email me at aallen001@defiance.edu with your questions.  I would be glad to answer them on here.  By doing this I can answer your questions and help others.  I will not use your name I will just post your question and answer it based on what I went through or how I feel.  So please feel free to shoot me your questions you may have and I would LOVE to answer them.

Today I am thankful that I am pregnant (19 weeks tomorrow)

Lights before Christmas

New favorite song

One more thing...a girl sang this song at Tiana's funeral and I wanted to share it....I love it :)

Weekend full of emotions

Well this Thanksgiving weekend was full of emotions.  Tiana’s viewing was Wednesday night, her funeral Friday and then her celebration/memorial was Saturday at Tinora Junior High.  The funeral service was beautiful.  I thought the Pastor did an amazing job, it was a beautiful service.  Saturday was just as amazing.  I sat back in listened to all the people share stories of Tiana and it brought tears to my eyes.  There were soooooo many people who have been touched by this little girl in one way or another (me included).  Some people would get up and say that they personally didn’t know her, but they heard stories about her and they have been touched by her in that way.  She will forever live on through all of us. 

As I said in an earlier blog that Tiana’s wish for her 12^th birthday was to receive toys or gift cards to buy toys for the children on the oncology floor during Christmas.  Well her wish will continue.  Every year Christmas for Kids kicks off on November 1^st and every year on November 5^th  (her birthday) will be Tiana’s wish and everything that day will be donated to children in hospitals across Northwest Ohio.  Her wish lives on J

Also, today at church we had our Pastor announce our pregnancy to the congregation.  As I expected our very welcoming and loving congregation had many kind words to say to us.  When Rylee passed away many of them were there for us during that difficult time and I know they will be there for us throughout this pregnancy. 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. 

Today I am thankful that I am pregnant (18 weeks tomorrow J)

Checkup

Yesterday we had a checkup at the regular OB in Defiance.  We went to the room and I laid down for them to listen to the heartbeat on the doppler.  Well….they could not find the heartbeat FOREVER…ok it may have been 2 minutes, but if felt like 20.  They kept pushing on my belly and moving the doppler, still nothing.  All I could do was pray.  One of the nurses said we get a couple of beats and then it flips so that relieved some stress, but I still wanted to hear that little heart.  They finally got it and the heartbeat was 146.  Thank you Jesus!!  After that was done the nurse looked at me and said she needed to take my blood pressure…HA yeah right.  We both laughed and she gave me some time to relax and came back it to check my blood pressure.  Everything was fine and we will go back to Toledo December 8^th to get an ultrasound done and if the little one is cooperative we will find out if it is a boy or girl :)

Happy Thanksgiving