Month Two

Connor's second month brought about some big changes for us. When he was about 1 1/2 months, my dad and stepmom drove us back to Florida so we could be home when J's ship pulled in. The drive is about nineteen hours (which we did in two days) and my little man did wonderfully.

Connor started smiling during his second month, and it wasn't just the "i have gas" smile. Oh and let me tell you, I'm very spoiled when it comes to my baby's sleep schedule. By the time he was two months old he would only wake up once or twice a night!!

The most exciting thing that happened during Connor's second month was his daddy coming home!! J's ship pulled in two days before Connor turned two months and J got to meet his son for the first time. I was so excited to reunite my little family.

Month One

So we spent Connor's first month in Texas living with my dad and my stepmom. We tried breastfeeding, but unfortunately I am one of those unlucky women who do not produce milk, so my baby is formula fed. When he was two weeks, my sister and I drove up to Oklahoma (it is a 4 1/2 hour drive) to visit my mom for her birthday. He did wonderful in the car, even back then! By the time he was a month old he weighed 8 pounds and 14 ounces!! We didn't really have any big milestones during his first month.

Here's some pictures of his first month!!

Connor's first bath

shielding out the light

Connor with Mommy and Grandma

my mom's cat was three times the size of Connor when he was two weeks old!!

a few days shy of a month old

a month old

his favorite activity...eating

Connor's Birth Day

Well, I don't know if you remember, but my due date for Connor was on July 27. My new doctor in Texas (who also delivered my niece...haha no this was not coincidental) started checking me at 35 weeks and at my 35 week appointment he told me that I was 1-2 cm dilated already. At 36 weeks I was 1 1/2 cm, at 37 I was 2 cm and at 39 weeks I was 3 cm. By 38 weeks I was begging to be induced because I was extremely uncomfortable because of the baby being so low, me being so big and it being so hot out. To my surprise the doctor agreed to the induction and it was scheduled for two days later!! I left my appointment in shock at the fact that in a few days I was going to finally meet my little man.

Since I was dilated and thinning I didn't have to go to the hospital the night before to get Cervadil. My stepmom and I went to the hospital at five in the morning on the 22nd. By the time they got all my admitting paperwork done, my IV started, blood drawn and pitocin started it was around seven in the morning. The nurse checked me after starting the pitocin (or right before I can't remember) and I was 4 1/2 cm (after only two days). The doctor came in and broke my water at 9 am and I was 6 cm. Probably about 15 minutes after getting my water broken I got an epidural because I didn't know how much longer it was gonna take and I didn't know how much worse the pain was gonna get and I'm a real big wuss when it comes to pain. Unfortunately, my epidural started to wear off pretty quickly and within half and a hour I could feel my contractions on the right side. My nurse came in and checked me at ten and I was fully dilated and ready to push. I pushed for an hour and a half (at the end I felt every contraction and the baby come out!!) and had to have an episiotomy. My precious baby boy was born at 11:30 AM. So all together my labor was only 4 1/2 hours long, which my doctor bragged about the rest of the day :) He weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and he was 19 1/4 inches long. We were in the hospital for about 36 hours because Connor's glucose levels had to be monitored because of my GD. Overall,

I had an amazing birth experience (except for the fact that J wasn't there and his mother was in the room even though I told her several times I didn't want her to be) and I really can't wait to experience it again in a few years.

Enjoy the pictures below!

Just minutes old

Getting cleaned off

Proud Momma

Welcome to the world Connor Aden



admiring the new baby

Connor had to have certain glucose levels. Since I was breastfeeding there were times I had to give him formula through a syringe to get his levels high enough

I'm BAAACK

Wow I can't believe how fast ten months can go by!! It feels like just yesterday that I posted Connor's ultrasound pictures and now my baby is five months old. There has been so much that have happened in the last ten months and I cannot wait to share everything with you ladies!! Hmm...where to start?? Well, sometime in March (or maybe April, I really can't remember) we found out that my stepmom's breast cancer had returned ( read here for the story of the first time she had it). I was devastated because she was suppose to be the person that came to Florida to be with me when the baby was born (J was deployed and he didn't get back until Connor was two months old) and there was a chance she wasn't going to be able to come. After finding out this news and much deliberation with my parents and my mother in law, I decided that when I went back to Texas for my baby sister's graduation I was just going to stay there and have the baby back home so I wasn't alone (which really would have sucked because I live forty five minutes away from the navy hospital). So one of my sisters flew to Florida to help me drive to Texas (by this time I'm just shy of 32 weeks and my dad didn't want me to try and make a NINETEEN hour drive by myself). On the day that I was suppose to pick her up from the airport my car started acting up and come to find out that there's a chance the engine will seize up if we try and drive it all the way to Texas, so we had to rent a car!! Being back in Texas was great though. I got to spend a lot of time with my niece (who is now two) and my family. It really sucked not having a car, but my baby sister drove me wherever I needed to go (including ALL of my doctor's appointments). We joked around that she was the stand in husband since J wasn't there. My parents drove me back home Labor Day weekend and a few weeks later J's ship came home!! A few days later we bought a new car (whoot whoot!!) and made the drive back to Texas to take his mom home, get our dogs and so everyone could see him. It has been awesome being our own little family. J deploys again in August or September, which is gonna suck, but he'll be here for Connor's birthday and he's seeing all of Connor's first holidays so I'm pretty excited about that.

Well ladies I have a lot more stuff to update about, so I'm gonna split all the new info up into several blogs. Stay tuned for Connor's birth day and months 1-5 (pictures included!!)

Other Ultrasound Pictures

Side view

Looks like an alien!! :)

Hand on face

We have baby!!!

He or She???

Can you guess the sex??

Miss Me???

Yes I'm still alive and yes even though I continually tell y'all that I'm going to be a better blogger I keep disappearing for long periods of time. I'm still here I promise ;) Are you ready for some updates, because I have some fun ones!!!

*They did end up diagnosing me with gestational diabetes. So far it's not too bad. I have to check my blood sugar four times a day and watch what I eat. My doctor did tell me that because I did develop it so early that later on I may have problems controlling it. Hopefully when we reach that point that doesn't become the truth because I REALLY don't want to go on insulin shots (I'm terrified of needles, I'd never be able to poke myself daily)

*This Monday I had my appointment and ultrasound with the genetic counselor. She told me that my chemical pregnancies were more than likely caused by the PCOS and not the MTHFR. She told me that I really don't need to worry about the MTHFR, which is a good weight off my shoulders. This also means that down the line I'll be more willing to try for another child. After finding out about the MTHFR I had flat out told J that I didn't want anymore children after this.

*Even though I was just shy of 17 weeks when they did my ultrasound on Monday they were still able to tell me the gender of the baby :) I bet y'all wanna know what it is don't you?? I'll post the ultrasound pictures next and see if you can guess ;)

*Sad news: J left on deployment again on Valentine's Day (yes, Valentine's Day...crappy huh?? Why they couldn't wait one more day I have no idea). He'll be gone for a good while, like seven or eight months. That's the normal deployment length in the Navy. I'm very sad because he's missing out and he won't be able to come home for the birth.

Well I think that about wraps it up. I'm not making any promises this time because I suck at keeping up with my blog right now, but we'll see what happens. I miss talking to you girls!!

Ultrasound Pictures

My ultrasound pictures at 10 weeks and 6 days

I'm alive I promise

Wow, bad blogger Meg...bad blogger!!

Okay ladies I'm sorry for not updating in a MONTH!! Being preggo makes me REALLY tired so I try to get all the sleep I can get while I still can. I'm so worn out that I made them cut my hours down at work so I can sleep more lol. So lets see...let's start with the preggo updates:

- at 6 weeks and 3 days I had some bright red spotting and cramping. Of course I'm extremely paranoid from losing two other pregnancies that I rushed right to the ER. They did a pelvic, drew blood and did an ultrasound and everything came back fine. I had a yeast infection and an overabundance of bacteria that is found in the down there already so they think that may have caused it. The ultrasound tech was really cool and let me sneak a peak of the baby and told me the ultrasound results even though he wasn't suppose to. Definitely put my mind to ease.

-I had my first appointment on January 4th and we got another ultrasound. I was 10 weeks and 6 days which meant that it actually looked like a baby more than a tadpole. As soon as the baby popped up on the screen I started crying because I was so scared that there was going to be a dead baby in there. We got to hear the heart beat and everything and the baby had a very strong heartbeat of 174. The midwife decided to do a bunch of blood work because of the chemical pregnancies and she did a one hour glucose because of the PCOS.

-Well the one hour came back and I failed it!! I was not at all surprised. Now I have to take the 3 hour one already and if I fail that one then she says I have gestational diabetes, even though it's pretty early on to develop it. She thinks it has to do with the insulin resistance that is associated with the PCOS and it will mean I end up on medication if I fail.

-Most of my blood work has come back normal, expect for one thing. I have a genetic mutation called MTHFR, which has probably been the cause of the CP. I added a link so y'all could read up on it because it's so complicated to explain. We have to go see a genetic counselor now, we're just waiting on the referral through Tricare.

It makes me sad to think of how hard it has been to get pregnant and stay pregnant. It seems to me that maybe all this is a sign. I have decided that if I am able to carry this child all the way that this is it. I honestly do not think I can continue to go through all the heartbreak. It's sad, but I'm willing to except the fact that maybe I'm not meant to have tons of children of my own.

The hubby has been out to sea over the past week and of course I get the news while he's gone. Now I'm waiting for him to call me to come pick him up so I can tell him what crappy luck we continue to have.

Okay, enough of a pity party.

On a better note...I am 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant today. I thank God for every day that I am able to carry this baby.

Oh and I have ultrasound pictures. I have to reload the printer software onto the computer and then I will be able to scan them in...look for pictures!!