Quickening already???

When I was posting earlier about being 14 weeks pregnant, I felt a tickling feeling coming from inside my body were my uterus is... then I felt it again tonight while watching tv... It lasted maybe 3-5 seconds- just long enough to get my attention... I think it is the baby... I'm so excited!!!

14 Weeks!!!

Feeling so much better... not sure if it is because my friend Laura took the 5 older ones on a picnic 3 hours ago and the twins have been napping, but I'll take it!!!

I worn a nursing bra for the first time yesterday and my regular tee shirts are too short- becoming belly shirts... I think it is time to go shopping for me... but that doesn't sound like fun...

There is so much that I need to do around here and none of it sounds motivating... the couch draws me in so much more than my cluttered dining table...

I feel like I am just beginning to show, which I am so excited about- I LOVE my big fat belly with the girls... I am bummed that this one probably will not get that big since there is only 1 baby and I hope it doesn't grow to the 10 pounds of baby that I was carrying with the twins... that would be scary!!!

I am feeling that this is a boy, who will be born on St. Nicholas Day- December 6... which will be @ 3 weeks early... If so, Pat has agreed to name him Nicholas Alexander- only if he is born on St. Nicholas Day...

When we decided we were adopting, back in 1999, it was very important to me to give our adopted children family names since we were not passing on genetics... I thought it would give them one more connection to our families...Plus I had always planned on using family names when I thought all of our children would be genetically related to us...William was named after my mom's dad/my grandfather, Patrick after Pat as he was the first child we decided to adopt, Elizabeth was named after me (Jennifer Elizabeth with Elizabeth being my confirmation name), Jack is named after Pat's Dad, Nary Christine after Pat's Mom and her birth mom, Sarah is my Mom's baptismal name , and Anna (Ann) is my Godmother/Aunt's and my Mom's middle name...

When we accepted William and Patrick's referral for adoption and it was time to choose names, I asked who had named the boys in Russia and we were told that it could have been a hospital nurse, orphanage caretaker, or perhaps their birth mom... no way to tell... so even though both of their birth names were favorites of mine, William was named Alexander and Patrick was named Nicholas, we decided to give them family names...

I have always loved the names Nicholas and Alexander and before William and Patrick came home from Russia in 1999, I told Pat that if we ever had a genetic son, I wanted to name him Nicholas Alexander- in honor of William and Patrick... Pat completely disagreed then and only has agreed now because he thinks this is a girl and the odds of it being a boy and being born on December 6 are not worth fighting over, plus I already reminded him who will be filling out the birth certificate... Pat did tell me that he would call him "Nick", not "Nicholas" as he knows I prefer long names... I just laughed...

If all of this happens, I will have a long talk with the boys and make sure they feel honored by this choice and understand why I want to use their Russian birth names for their baby brother... I think they will agree... if not, I'll give it more time...

13 Weeks!!!

My nausea is mostly gone- still exhausted a lot... so much that my doctor did a blood test for my thyroid at yesterday's appointment... the highlight was getting to hear the baby's heartbeat... it was in the 150's... the gal said our baby was moving A LOT!!!!

We ACED the NT Scan!!!  I was so nervous and worried!!!  We got the best possible score for the risk factor for Down Syndrome... the baby's NT measurement was 1.4...

11 Weeks!!!

Depending on whose calendar we are going by... The doctor goes by my last menstrual period, I'm going by my body and the details... Doctor's calendar says 11 weeks is on Wednesday, mine says today, Monday, June 6, 2011...

I'm driving myself crazy- would LOVE to sneak in for an ultrasound... I feel exhausted and blah- not terrible, not good, just yucky... all I want to do is lay in bed... even watching TV does not sound like fun... food- yuck... nothing sounds good... I had been craving berries- McDonald's yogurt and granola parfait and Sam's Club 4 Berry Sundae... they don't sound good...

This morning I walked down the steps to let the washing machine repair man in, then back up stairs, and I was so winded and light headed that I had to sit down... I could hardly tell him what was wrong with the machine... it's not my asthma, I think it is just pregnancy...

The doctor said I could stop the progesterone in oil shots last Wednesday, but I am too scared... too scared I'll start to cramp and bleed...

Monday is the big Nuchal Translucency Scan and Genetics consult- this assessment will show me my risk of having a baby with Down Syndrome and 2 awful genetic diseases where most babies die soon after birth, if they live to be born... I just pray that my baby survives... I could handle Down Syndrome, the other two, I'm not so sure!!!

I have a feeling we are going to find out our baby has Down Syndrome... I have always been terrified of Down's and recently, after being around many people who where born with Down Syndrome or families who have a child with Down Syndrome, realize that it would be difficult, but certainly something I could handle... I'm wondering if this change of heart is the reason God has decided to bless us with a genetic child- after almost 15 years of marriage... because my heart has finally opened up to a baby with Down Syndrome...

8 Weeks!!!

What a blessing...

In honor of this milestone, I am inviting a few close friends to view this blog for the first time... just 4 friends Jenya, don't worry!!!

I need to go back and add additional details to the earlier posts, but no time for that now-lol...

I actually feel less nauseated today- after a weekend of yuck... can't wait for the next ultrasound a week from Thursday- yes, I'm so paranoid something is going to happen, but I have passed the almost 7 week mark where our precious baby from 2003 went to heaven...

Last Tuesday, I went for my 1st Perinatologist appointment... It was wonderful... I hand picked my favorite doctor from the Perinatal Center went I visited with Sarah and Anna... My doctor is Dr. Bartlesmeyer and goes by Dr. B.

The highlight was an abdominal ultrasound where he showed me our baby and said it had a fast heartbeat of @ 140- which was perfect... He also said I could come in any time I am nervous... I'd really like to go tomorrow, but will wait until my appointment a week from Thursday...

I'm still napping for an hour or two each afternoon and having trouble eating- the smells are out of this world terrible!!!

My clean clothes do not smell fresh enough, so I bought some Downy Dryer Sheets- only to discover on the way home, that smell makes me nauseated as well... I guess I'll try Bounce Sheets next- I used to like the smell of those...

Patrick asked me point blank last Saturday, the 7th, if I was pregnant again... I tried to joke with him and not answer, but no luck... He said it was my "SeaBands" for nausea that gave it away... Patrick's next question was... "Where did you go?" as in California for Sarah and Anna... I replied, "no where.." He looked at me inquisitively and said, "So...it just happened???"  I smiled and replied, "It just happened..." Patrick replies "oh... OOOOHHHHHH!!!!"  I couldn't help but chuckle as I watched him process what he learned in Health Class had happened between his parents...poor kid... Next question from Patrick, "Does Dad know?"  As I was chuckling to myself, Patrick muttered to himself, "Of course Dad knows..."  Patrick wanted to tell William, who was at a soccer game, but agreed to let me tell him first... I explained that we wanted to wait until we were pretty sure this baby was going to survive before telling the little kids... I think I will see how things go at the appointment on the 26th, if Dr. B thinks all looks good, then maybe tell them that weekend- school will be out, so I won't have to deal with all of the parents in the kids classes if they have questions...

I also want to give Pat credit for reading up on morning sickness... twice now he has mentioned that severe morning sickness can be a sign of a girl... to which he added, "FIVE GIRLS!?!?"  Tonight he mentioned hosting another wedding...He also asked if I was this sick last time- I reminded him I was actually worse, but don't think he was paying much attention at the time...

It is almost 10 pm and I'm exhausted!!!

Pat

Pat just asked how is that little peanut in there, with a big grin on his face and tears in his eyes... He said he is feeling pretty cool and that his guys must have finally reached maturity at 43 and finally found the target... so cute and sweet... I'm loving every minute of it... We also discussed if it happened the easy way at the beginning- we never would have done it the other way- adopted... I'm so grateful life has worked out the way it has... otherwise my awesome seven would not be here, with me, about to celebrate Mother's Day!!! I'm so blessed and grateful!!!

Jesus decided WE ARE READY!!!

We saw the heartbeat!!!  124 and 126 beats per minute... I had her measure twice... Baby is measuring between 6 weeks 1 day and 6 weeks 2 days... Pat was relieved to see the heartbeat as he knew I was going to be devastated if it wasn't beating...Great news all around!!!