Stubborn, Strong-willed, Uncooperative

Yes...these are all adjectives that describe our unborn child.  If you can remember back 4 weeks ago to my 20 week ultrasound, you will remember me saying that our little boy was not in the right position for the ultrasound tech to see his profile and spine.  This is what we saw 4 weeks ago...

Because of this, my doctor scheduled me to have another ultrasound yesterday (at my 24 week appointment) to try to get a view of the things we couldn't see last time. It took about 10 seconds for the lady to say something like "Well, the baby just doesn't want me to see what I need to see." She said he was sitting with his bottom down, looking face forward AGAIN. As soon as she turned the screen around, this is what we saw...

Looks very familiar don't you think?  Needless to say, I was very excited when she and my doctor told me we get to have ANOTHER ultrasound at my 28 week appointment!  He wants to try again to get those shots that he hasn't been able to get yet.  I was trying to figure it up today, and I think we've gotten to have a total of 9 ultrasounds so far.  Don't get me wrong, I am definitely not complaining.  We love seeing our little guy every few weeks, and I've decided he just likes having his picture taken.  :)

One of the neatest things about this ultrasound was that I got to see him blinking.  (Brad wasn't able to see it.)  It was the weirdest thing!  The lady captured this picture just as he was blinking.  I'm pretty sure his eyes are closed in this one...

We also got to see his nostrils, lips (of course he was moving his mouth...eating I guess), and his boy parts. 

It is still so surreal that this little baby is growing inside me.  Every time we see him, we get more and more excited (if that's even possible)!  My doctor said everything is looking perfect, and he would bet that I will have an easy delivery.  I sure do hope he's right about that! :)

Everyone I talk to always asks me how I've been feeling, and I can actually say that I feel great.  I have been extremely hungry...it's like I'm never full!  Those of you who really know me will probably laugh and say that me being hungry isn't anything new, but I promise...it is wayyy worse!  My eating consists of breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, another snack (or 2), supper, and maybe another snack.  Every night, as soon as I lay down to go to bed, I'm suddenly hungry again.  As for any other "symptoms"...I've had heartburn just a couple of times.  I never had heartburn before I was pregnant, and I'm still not 100% sure what I've felt in the past couple of weeks is heartburn.  Is it heartburn when your throat is burning?  That's the only thing I've felt, and I'm blaming it on heartburn.  I've also woken up twice over the past month or so with leg cramps.  My calf muscle is always sore for like 2 days after I get one of these cramps. 

Ohh...and a new milestone is that we can actually SEE my stomach move when Cooper moves and kicks.  On Friday, I could really feel him moving around, so I layed down for just a few minutes to feel it.  I pulled my shirt up just enough to see a small part of my abdomen, and sure enough, it looked like an earthquake!  I yelled for Brad, and he was quickly able to see it too.   We sat there and watched my stomach move for a few minutes, and now, every time I feel him moving, I want to look down at my stomach. I LOVE it!!!! 

We're planning on starting on the nursery in the next week or 2 once we get completely finished with our bathroom remodel.  I really can't believe that our baby boy will be here in just a little over 3 months!

Movement for Daddy!

Well, after about 4 weeks of me being able to feel Cooper moving, kicking, hitting, and whatever else he's doing in there, Brad was FINALLY able to feel a little bit of what I've been feeling.  For the past several weeks, I have been able to sit on the couch after we eat supper and feel tons of movement from our little guy.  I always thought I could feel it with my own hand, but whenever Brad would try, he didn't feel a thing.  That all changed last Saturday (November 13th) when we got in bed, and I told Brad to try to feel again.  I guess laying flat on my back helped because he was finally able to feel him about 4 or 5 times in a matter of a couple of minutes.  They were some of the hardest kicks I've felt so far.  I'm so glad that Brad can finally feel him now.  :)  It's so hard to explain the feeling of having little baby movements in my belly, but now Brad actually has a little better understanding of what I've been talking about.  I've noticed that Cooper moves around the most when I'm hungry or right after I eat.  I guess he gets his eating habits and love for food from me!!!  If that's the case, Brad might be in trouble!  haha

23 WEEKS

Halfway there...20 weeks!!!

We went back to the doctor on Monday for our 20 week appointment, and Cooper got an A+ for all of his stats, but he's hovering around a C for his ultrasound etiquette. During the ultrasound, the lady did confirm that he was a boy which was definitely a good thing. She also got MOST of the measurements she needed except she was unable to get a profile shot and a shot of his spine. It's looking like Cooper is either stubborn or camera shy. He better get over this camera shy thing before he's born considering I plan on taking a million pictures in the first year of his life! :) The good news is that we get to have another ultrasound when we go back in 4 weeks! So that means we'll get to see our little guy again at 24 weeks at the doctor and then again at 28 weeks when we go back to Precious View for our last 3D/4D ultrasound. We did get to watch him for a few minutes on the screen, and he was moving around a lot (just not in the right ways she needed him too). I can already tell he's going to get his eating habits from me. The past few times we've seen him, he's been munching away.


As of Monday, he's weighing in at 13 ounces which is in the 50th percentile. We were also told that based on my lab work from last month, there is only a 1 in 10,000 chance that Cooper will have down syndrome or spinal bifida. Those are the best chances you can have, which was great news to hear! It looks like our little guy is healthy and growing like a weed. The 2 ultrasound pictures we got weren't the best, but I keep telling myself that in 4 weeks we'll have a couple more pictures.

I must admit that this frontal view of his face does look kind of creepy.  You can see his eye sockets, and if you look closely, you can see the lense of his left eye.

This is another view of the front of his face.  This was pretty much the only shot he would let us get.

Decisions

Brad and I took the first step in deciding on nursery decor today.  Besides picking out a name for our baby, I guess you could say we made our first decision.  If you know Brad and I, you know how indecisive we both are, so this was a major step for us.  HAHA!  We spent the afternoon at USA Baby in Franklin today, and we bought a crib and a dresser.  We were kind of disappointed when they told us they'd have to order it and it could be 8 weeks or so before it came in.  I was hoping it would be in stock and we could get started on the room in the next couple of weeks, but it looks like 8 weeks will give us more time to do other little projects around the house. 

I copied this picture from the website, but this is the crib we got (same color and everything), and the dresser we got is like the one shown in the picture too except it only has 3 drawers and it's the height of a normal dresser (not tall like the chest that's shown here).

The next decision we make will have to be bedding so we can also pick out the paint color for the room too.  I've searched and searched and searched for the PERFECT non-themed bedding, but it seems like everything is either animals, sports, or just plain blue. I want something with more colors in it, and I think I've narrowed it down to 2 sets. 

Ashley found this one at Babys R Us, and it looks really cute. I wish I could see it in person, but the Babys R Us in Evansville didn't have it when my mom and I went shopping last weekend. It does have a "safari" theme, but the animals are only on the quilt, which I don't think anyone really uses anyway....do you? The quilt actually turns into a little play-gym thing which I think is cute too!  This bedding is full of different colors, which will make it easier to add other decorations to the room.

My second choice for bedding actually just got added to my list today while we were looking at furniture.  I've seen this one before, but I've never looked twice at it because the giraffes always threw me off.  Remember...I'm looking for something that doesn't have a theme.  Look past the room decorations in this picture.  I would  leave out the wall art, clothes hamper, rug, and curtains...that might be a few too many giraffes!  :)  The model in the store had the bumper pad facing the other way.  The other side has colorful stripes to match the crib skirt.  I love the colors in this...blue, red, orange, yellow, green, brown...pretty much every color.  I think I could look past the one set of giraffes on the bumper pad and, and I think the small set of giraffes on the crib skirt will be covered by the wood on the crib (that's how it was in the store anyway). The quilt is also reversible with the colorful stripes on the other side.

Bubbles, Butterflies, BABY!!!!

Right before we found out Baby Waltrip was a boy (Week 15), I had a very strange feeling in my stomach.  I just felt it once, and it was like a big bubble that went from the far left side of my stomach all the way across to the right side.  I hadn't felt that before so I knew it had to be our baby.  The doctor and the ladies at the 3D/4D ultrasound place said that it was definitely the baby that I was feeling.  I waited a couple of more weeks, and didn't feel anything else until Week 18.  Now, it seems like just about every day (after I eat and sit down) Baby Waltrip...which we now know is Cooper...is doing a lot of moving around.  Before school the other day I drank a big glass of orange juice, and during the whole 20 minute drive to school, Cooper was constantly moving.  It felt like little butterflies dancing around in my whole stomach.  I must say, this is such an AMAZING feeling!  :)  I can't wait for the next several weeks when I can feel these movements more often.  Brad has been trying to feel them too, but he still hasn't been able to.  I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks that he'll get to experience this too.  I'm at the half-way point of my pregnancy (20 weeks), and we are getting so excited to start working on Cooper's room.  We have our 20-week doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, and we can't wait to see our little guy again!  I'll be sure to make another post tomorrow night with an update on Cooper and hopefully a few more pictures!

Belly Pictures



13 weeks

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks 3 days

17 weeks (wearing my first maternity shirt)

17 weeks 3 days

Toes in the sand...

The past 2 weeks I've been on Fall Break, which has been a much needed break from work.  Last week Brad and I (along with Bailey) took our last trip to Destin without a baby.  We spent most of our time on the beach, relaxing, shopping, and eating.  We had such a great week, and I can't wait to go back with our baby boy!  :)  Brad and I also celebrated our third anniversary on this trip.  Where has the time gone??  It seems like yesterday we were taking these pictures...

Three years later, here are several pictures from our vacation...

I wish I had this view every evening!

Brad and I

Bailey LOVES vacation!

Our nightly walk

Brad and Bailey

My favorite place!

It's a BOY!!!!!

We had our appointment at Precious View on Tuesday, September 28th to find out the sex of Baby Waltrip.  Well...Baby Waltrip is a BOY!!!!!!!  If you had talked to me since we found out we were pregnant, I was 99% sure it was going to be a girl.  I even caught myself looking at girl things online and in stores because I was just so sure it would be a girl.  The majority of my family is girls and Brad's family is all boys, and everyone I know has either recently had a boy or is expecting a boy, and I just knew we'd have a girl.  I must say, when I saw those boy parts on the screen (before the ultrasound lady actually said boy) I was MORE than excited!  And yes, Baby BOY Waltrip already has a name---COOPER EVANS WALTRIP!  We can't wait to meet our little man is March.  Here are a few pictures to enjoy....

Cooper at 15 weeks 5 days

BOY!!!!

I think he got a little tired of being poked around so he huddled up and covered his ears!

We got to go back to Precious View on Thursday, September 30th because they didn't get all of the pictures they wanted, and he wouldn't cooperate has much as they hoped.  The more pictures the better! 

 Relaxing

 Still a boy!

 I love that profile!

Sucking his thumb

The month of August--Weeks 8-12

Once again, I'm WAYYY behind on updating the blog.  I hate to make excuses, but on top of work and jury duty, I've still been pretty tired every night, and when I think about making a post on here, I usually decide to go to bed instead.  I hate to admit it, but I've gone to bed at 8:30 three times this week, and on normal nights, I'm in bed by 9.  I can tell that I've had a little more energy during the day.  When I get home I can actually cook supper and take Bailey walking before I get too exhausted. 

We had our last appointment in Nashville on August 17th, and my doctor released me to my regular doctor.  It was kind of bitter sweet considering how much time we've spent down there for the past 7 months or so.  We got to see Baby Waltrip again during this visit, and let me tell you, he/she has really grown and developed.  Check it out for yourself....

It was amazing to see that it actually looks like a baby now with a head, arms, and legs (but if you look closely it still had a tail at this point--haha).  To top it off, the little thing was moving all over the place.  It's unbelievable that something only 1 inch can look so much like a baby.  The heartbeat was 170 which was a lot higher than a couple of weeks before. 

Last Monday, August 30th, we had our first appointment with my OBGYN in Bowling Green.  Everything went great, but we realized how spoiled we had gotten by going to Nashville every week to two weeks.  By 9 1/2 weeks we had four ultrasounds in Nashville, and at our first appt. in BG of course he didn't think we needed an ultrasound.  We did get to hear Baby Waltrip's heartbeat again, and it had increased to 178. We get to go back on Sept. 27 for our next appointment and an ultrasound will be included in this one. (I made sure to ask!)  Then, on Sept. 28 we made an appointment at a 3D/4D ultrasound place to find the sex of the baby!  In case you're wondering....I've always thought and still think it's going to be a GIRL, and Brad is still thinking BOY.  I guess we'll know for sure in a little over 3 weeks!!!  :) 

We've still been continuing our weekly picture of me and my belly.  I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the bad lighting and shadows in all of the pictures.  We take these early in the morning right before I leave for work, and every place in our house makes shadows.  We might have to start doing these pictures in the afternoons when the sun is actually up and shining in the windows. 

8 WEEKS

9 WEEKS

10 WEEKS

11 WEEKS

12 WEEKS

Bed Rest and Week 7

I don't know where time has gone, but I am extremely behind on my blog posts. I started writing this post 2 weeks ago, but for some reason I never got around to finishing it and posting it for everyone to read.  Better late than never I guess! :)
I really thought week 7 was going to be the slowest week ever because I was on bed rest, but I must say, it flew by!  I did a lot of sleeping in, eating, taking naps (sometimes in both the morning and afternoon), watching TV, and playing on the computer.  I hate to admit it, but I am very thankful that I got to sleep so much.  I only had to work 2 1/2 days (only 2 hours WITH kids) before bed rest, but that was plenty to make me exhausted.  My mom came down all day Thursday to keep me company and to babysit Bailey.  I wasn't expecting to get my house cleaned, laundry washed, and supper cooked, but that's what Mom did!  :)  It was a huge relief!  Thanks Mom!!! 
On Friday, Bailey and I slept in until 10:15!  Yes, you heard me right...10:15!!!  That was a new record for both of us I think, and it was wonderful!  On Friday night, McKense, Chandler, and Riley came over to bring us a pizza.  It was so nice to have visitors, and I know Bailey really enjoyed Riley and all of the Goldfish crackers he fed her.  She can't wait for him to come back and play!  :)
Saturday consisted of more laying around.  By this point I was starting to get a little cabin fever, and on Sunday, I talked Brad into letting me go lay in the pool for a little while.  I don't know if this counted as bed rest, but I figured all I was doing was laying on a raft, and that wasn't any different than laying on the couch.  I definitely didn't mention it to my doctor today though.  I don't know if he would have approved.  It sure was nice to get out of the house for an hour or so and catch a few rays.  Stacey cooked us potato soup on Sunday night, and I must say, it was maybe the best homemade potato soup I've ever eaten! 
Out of all the days, Monday definitely went by the fastest.  Stacey skipped work and came over all day to play "bed rest" with me!  We did a lot of nothing and even had time to watch a movie.
Tuesday, I went back to the doctor for a check-up appointment.  My regular ultrasound lady was on vacation, so they had some other woman filling in for her.  I hope this lady never discovers my blog, but I have to say that this lady needs to find another job because ultrasounds aren't her specialty.  She made me very upset for many reasons...
1. From the second she walked in, she didn't seem sure of herself because she said the ultrasound machines hadn't been working for her all day.
2.  When she started the ultrasound, she didn't point the screen toward me so I couldn't see anything the whole time.  I stared up at the ceiling and kept asking Brad if he saw anything.
3.  She didn't talk the whole time except to say things like "Shoot, it was working earlier" and "I just can't figure this out", and finally "I'm just going to give up."
4.  We didn't get to hear the heartbeat and she couldn't measure the heartbeat because she couldn't work the machine right.  She did say the heartbeat LOOKED good on the screen.
5.  After one ultrasound, we got called back into the room for a second ultrasound because she forgot to measure something.
6.  I had to ASK for a picture, and she gave me a picture of nothing.  I'm serious, it looks nothing like the other pictures we've gotten, and it's definitely not a picture of the baby.
Well, enough venting about her, the rest of the appointment went well.  The doctor said the hemorrhage was still there, but that it should go away as the baby continues to grow.  He put me back on my daily progesterone injections, and he wants to see me one more time (August 17th) before he releases me to my regular doctor. Bed rest was officially over, and it was back to my normal routine of school (and jury duty for the month of August).

Also, I must add that besides being extremely tired, I haven't had many pregnancy symptoms at all.  When I don't eat for a couple of hours, I start feeling a little sick, so I always make sure I eat a little something about every 2 hours so that I don't get that sick feeling.  I'm glad week 7 is behind us, and hopefully that will be the worst thing that happens throughout this whole pregnancy. 

Oh, and to add something else...I must say that I feel so lucky to have the best husband EVER.  Brad hasn't let me lift a finger, and he has done all of the dishes, cleaning, laundry, and many other things.  It has taken a lot of the stress off of me, and I love him so much for that!  He's going to be the best dad ever!

A first day of school like no other

Let me just give you a little recap of my week....

Monday- Opening Day at the high school all day and Open House at night

Tuesday- Opening Day at school (work day), stomach virus at night (including vomiting 6 times)
Wednesday- First Day of School (woke up with an empty stomach from the night before, dizzy, lightheaded and no energy)

I will start here with the rest of my story.  I finally made it to school Wednesday morning still not feeling well, but as soon as my new kiddos walked in the door, I did start feeling better because I had so much to do and so many new kids to get to know.  We had a GREAT morning, and my kids were perfect!  Around 10:00, I walked my class down to the computer lab, and we had to wait because another class was in there.  My kids sat on the floor in the hall to wait and another teacher watched them while I ran to the bathroom.  Well, this is where the day took a turn for the worse.  Let me just say when I got to the bathroom, I noticed A LOT of blood.  My heart instantly stopped, and of course being almost 7 weeks pregnant, my mind started thinking the worst.  I came out of the bathroom and found one of my team teachers and told her what was happening.  Of course I was completely freaking out.  I left my kids with her, and ran back to my room to call Brad.  I was hysterical as soon as he answered, so he instantly knew something was wrong.  He called Nashville to find out what we should do, and they said they wanted to see me right away.  Thank goodness I work with such loving, supporting people because I literally grabbed my purse and ran out of school as fast as I could. Brad met me at home, and we made the quickest, quietest trip to Nashville ever.  After arriving in the office and being the only people there because it was everyone's lunch break, we pretty much walked straight back with the ultrasound technician.  I'm pretty sure we still hadn't talked at this point, and we could both tell that that ultrasound lady was pretty nervous about our situation too.  As soon as she started the ultrasound, the first thing she said was "The baby's fine!"  That's all it took for a wave of relief to rush over the both of us.  To make the story a little shorter, it ends up that I had some type of hemorrhage.  The doctor did say it is common in early pregnancy, and they see it every week.  I wish I had known this was even possible, but then again, I would probably be thinking about it and waiting for it to happen which probably wouldn't have been good.  They aren't sure what causes the hemorrhage, but the good news was that is was below the gestational sac.  They also said that this was something that could happen again in the future.  Let's just hope it doesn't!  The baby was measuring in at 8.4 mm (almost tripling in size in 5 days) and it's heart rate was 147.  Let me just tell you, this was the most scary experience ever, and I hope I never have to experience this again.  To make the week even more crazy, my doctor put me on bed rest until I go back to see him again on Tuesday, Aug. 3rd.  That means that I got to spend the first 2 hours of school with my new students, and then I will not see them again for a week.  I know this is what my body needs, and I will do anything at all to make sure this baby stays healthy.  Because of this bed rest, I do get to get out of jury duty on Monday, so I am pretty excited about that!  :)  Our next appointment is Tuesday at 1:30 and we'll get to have another ultrasound.  I can't wait to see how much Baby Waltrip has grown!  We are so thankful that our baby is fine, and this first day of school is definitely the most memorable ever.  I do like the more boring, routine first days, so I think I'll stick to those from now on!

Baby Waltrip at 6 weeks and 6 days!

7 weeks!  It doesn't look like there's much there, but I promise my pants are getting tight.  *Sorry about the PJs, glasses, and hair, but remember...I am on bed rest!  haha

First ultrasound- 6 weeks

We have one Baby Waltrip on the way!!!!  So the ultrasound this morning was AMAZING!!!  We went in not expecting to hear a heartbeat yet because I am right at 6 weeks, and it's still pretty early.  As soon as the ultrasound technician started the ultrasound, we could instantly see our little baby.  After a few seconds, she told me to hold my breath, and we could see the little heart beating!  WOW!!!!  To make it even better, we got to hear the heartbeat.  The heartbeat was 115, and she said that was completely normal for how far along I am, and when I go back in a week and a half, the heartbeat will have increased.  The baby was measuring right at 6 weeks which is perfect!  We also found out that the due date for our little boy/girl is March 17, 2011...St. Patrick's Day and the first day of March Madness (of course Brad would have already looked ahead to that!)
I think after today, Brad and I both feel like this is all more real.  I haven't had any symptoms yet, so I haven't felt any different.  Last week I was really tired, but it's gotten a lot better this week.  I'm really hoping I'll be one of those lucky people who doesn't have any morning sickness.  That will make going back to work next week sooo much easier! :) 
I'm already looking forward to the next ultrasound on August 3rd, and of course I can't wait for March to get here!

Our first pictures with Baby Waltrip!

5 weeks

Based on our calculations, I'm pretty sure I'm right at 5 weeks pregnant!! It's been 5 days since we found out the amazing, life-changing news, but it still doesn't really seem real.  I feel completely fine, but I have noticed that I've been a lot more tired than usual.  In the past 4 days, Bailey and I have taken an afternoon nap.  It  makes me wonder how I'm ever going to make it through a  whole school day here in just 2 short weeks!  I might be doing A LOT of sitting around this year, and if I get any more tired, I might have to take a quick little nap while the kids are out of the room for specials.  haha

I went back down to Nashville on Monday and again this morning for more routine blood work.  If you all remember last Friday my beta level was 153.  On Monday it had increased to 478, and today it was 1,278.  My IVF nurse said this was great because the numbers were so high!  This beta level test just detects how much HCG, the pregnancy hormone, is in my body.  For the first couple of months, this number keeps increasing, but after the third month or so, the number starts to decrease again.

We also got great news about our first ultrasound.  Our nurse told me that they wanted me to come back for the first ultrasound sometime during the week of July 26th.  However, this will be my first week of school, and I can't miss one of the first couple of days with my new kids! (Yes...we do start school in July...and yes I do think this should be against the law!)  I had a feeling that they may want me to wait until the following week (the first week of August), but when I mentioned it to the nurse today, she actually said we could come next Friday, July 23rd.  I will be right at 6 weeks, and this should be when they're able to see how many little "critters" are in there.  We are SOOO excited about this appointment.  I think that will be when it actually feels a little more real because we'll be able to see that there's actually something in there.

Isn't it amazing to think that one or both of these little embryos will end up being our baby(ies)?