happy baby news

we're back from nashville.... more on that later, maybe. i went to the dr. again today, and he said everything looks great! the baby has tripled in size and is measuring right on schedule (7 weeks, 2 days). little arm and leg buds are starting to take shape, and the baby has a strong heartbeat of 156 bpm. one mass is still there, too, but it hasn't grown in size or in number... so that was good news. the dr. isn't worried about it at all...which is such a change from last week! he is thinking maybe it is a "vanishing twin", where it was twins at the beginning, but now we just see one baby...but that's just speculation too. brian has always wanted twins, but i think the good Lord knows what i can handle! whatever the case, we are just thankful to see a healthy heartbeat and baby forming. what an answered prayer today's appt. was! now i'll just be on the regular schedule of visits every 4 weeks. thanks for your continued prayers for baby #2. here are a couple of pictures that are about as clear as mud. of course, through my mommy eyes, i can see the baby, but don't feel bad if you can't tell what anything is...remember, the baby is only 1 cm long right now!

the baby is between the two crosshairs at the top of the black circle. the egg sac is to the right of the baby. you can't really see the "mystery mass" in this picture.

ok, this one's really hard to see because it's even smaller than the last one...but the mass is visible in this picture. the baby and egg sac are in the same general place as the last picture, and the mass is to the left of the baby. they were measuring the heartbeat in this picture, so there are other dots and lines on here that really don't mean anything.

so, there's our little peanut. actually, this week it's a raspberry! here's what babycenter.com has to say about baby raspberry's growth this week...

Your baby still appears to have a small tail (actually, it's an extension of his tailbone), which will disappear in the next few weeks. But that's the only thing getting smaller. Now almost half an inch long — roughly the size of a raspberry — he has elbow joints and distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. In his oversized head, both hemispheres of his brain are developing. His teeth and the inside of his mouth are forming, and his ears continue to develop. Eyelid folds partially cover his tiny peepers, which already have some color, and the tip of that nose you'll be tweaking someday is emerging. His skin is paper-thin and his veins are clearly visible. Your little one also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. His liver is busy producing red blood cells, and a loop of your baby's growing intestines is bulging into his umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from his tiny body. You can't feel his gyrations yet, but your baby is like a little jumping bean, moving in fits and starts around his watery home.

that is completely amazing, considering we can't see anything but a blur in these pictures!!! God never ceases to amaze us with His creation.

in baby #1 news, ethan is clapping now... it's pretty darn cute. he can do it on command about half the time. the funny part is that if he only has one hand available (like if you're holding him), but he still wants to clap, he just moves one hand in the air... he's a mess. he is also really working on pulling up and basically trying to stand up in mid air. this could lead to an interesting rest of the week...

david's condo

we made it to nashville, and we love david's condo!!! no, that's not where we're staying... that's ryan's condo :). david's condo is apparently very close to ryan's condo, and he has a very unsecure wireless network that we are mooching off of while we're here! (until he somehow finds this blog and finds out about our mischievery!)

ethan did allllright i guess on the trip. well, it was really just the first hour that was questionable. he screamed in grandma's ear for about 30 minutes because he could not see me while i was driving. as soon as i got in the back seat, he giggled and squealed with delight. he did not take his afternoon nap till 5:30... so much for the baby who sleeps the whole way!!!! and i discovered a great new pacifier... baby carrots! with one in each hand, ethan is in heaven. yes, i realize they are a huge choking hazard, but in the confines of the car seat, with mommy's hand within reach, i figured he was pretty safe. (plus, he has a super-sensitive gag reflex that would kick that carrot right out...)

so we're safe and sound in nashville. ryan's condo was quite inviting with delicious smelling coffee brewing.... which apparently ethan inhaled and has now decided that he wants to pull an all-nighter... it's midnight... 4 hours past ethan's bedtime, and he doesn't even want to nurse to go to bed... he just wants to look around at all of uncle ryan's funky decor... and play with his fuzzy pillows... he loves uncle ryan. but i really wish he'd go to bed.... ok, he's starting to get cranky...better go lay this baby down. more from music city as it happens...

just a quick update...

ethan and i are leaving today to travel with my mom & grandma to nashville... i'm excited, except for the fact that it's supposed to be COLD there!!! it is actually pretty chilly here this morning... what happened to that beautiful spring weather??? ethan has so many cute, short-sleeved outfits to wear! :) anyway, just wanted to say thank you for your prayers for our family and for this little baby i'm carrying. since i last posted, i have felt GREAT! so i have confidence that God has heard your prayers and that all is well. thanks so much for your encouraging words and heartfelt prayers. :) keep praying, and i'll let you know how next week's appt. goes.


in other news, ethan has his second tooth!! it poked through with less drama than the first (whew!!), so i almost forgot to write about it! i'm sure we'll get some cute pictures of him with his 2 teeth while we're gone.

have a great weekend!

tiny little baby...

we went to the dr. this morning for my first prenatal appointment. by the ultrasound's measurements, the baby is a whopping .32 cm, or 3 mm. that measurement gives us a gestational age of 6 weeks, which was one of my guesses. so according to that, this baby's due date is november 14. i take due dates with a grain of salt, but i also have to have something to count down towards... so november 14 it is. along with this tiny baby we saw a tiny heartbeat! isn't that amazing that something so small can have a beating heart? God never ceases to amaze me.

the dr. saw something on the ultrasound in addition to the sac and the baby that concerned him, but he could not tell what it was at this point. it could possibly be an ultrasound abberation, or it could be some sort of mass forming in my uterus. the fact that i had some (very miniscule) spotting last week heightened his concern, so we have to go back next week for another ultrasound. of course, that information was unexpected, but we live with the confidence that God is in control of our child's life. our prayer is that God will get the glory in this child's little life, whether it be for 7 weeks or 70 years. please join us in prayer as we anticipate next week's appointment. it is tempting to spend more time researching possible problems on the internet, when i should be in the Word, seeking Holy wisdom. my verse of the day today couldn't have been better...

blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. he will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. it does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. it has no worries in a year of drought. jeremiah 17:7-8

i know that my tree needs to be planted by the Living Water, from which flows the peace that passes all understanding. thanks for praying. we'll keep you posted.

we didn't have an early ultrasound with ethan because we were pretty sure of his due date, so today was my first experience witnessing such a tiny example of life. i mean, 3 mm. go get a ruler and check that out. it's pretty tiny. yet God knows that baby and already has its days written in His Book. psalm 139 has always been a favorite of mine, but after today, it surely brings peace.

for You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. i praise You because i am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, i know that full well. my frame was not hidden from You when i was made in the secret place. when i was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.

how could we NOT want another one?

diary of an impatient mom

well, i thought i'd fill you in on how my first trimester of this pregnancy is going so far. yes, for those of you who did not catch on to the pictures of ethan with the book, let me just spell it out for you...... I AM PREGNANT! we found out last week, and of course, i couldn't keep a secret for too long. who cares that the baby is only about the size of a lentil bean at this moment, that baby is OURS and we couldn't be happier! praise God for this little life. time really slows down for me when i'm pregnant. i spend every day thinking about (ok...obsessing about...) this precious baby and how it will change our life and what it will look like... i remember thinking ethan would never get here (wasn't that the truth??!), and now november seems so terribly far away. i am going to the dr. on tuesday for my first appt. this time around. i am guessing they will give me an early to mid-november due date. we'll see how accurate my guess really is! i'll be seeing the dr. who delivered ethan and who "recommended" that i wait a year to get pregnant again because of my c-section. welllllllllll.... God had other plans, so we have the confidence that He will take care of me and our next child. i'll let you know how all that goes with the dr. on tuesday!

my experience in pregnancy thus far has been no nausea whatsoever (until i go into labor)... praise the Lord for that. however, i KNOW i am pregnant because i feel as though all energy has been zapped from my ever changing body. most of the time this hits around early afternoon, though today it came around 10 am. i remember last year at school, i would become worthless right as the preschoolers were laying down for their naps... OH to have had a pillow and a mat!! so i am thankful that i am at home most days, where i can rest when ethan takes his afternoon nap. his wonderful afternoon nap that is usually 1.5-2.5 hours long....except when he is teething.... which apparently he is doing again. the last two days, i have been busy all day, just waiting for that time of peace and rest in the afternoon... i crash and enter the wonderful dream state (which is a crazy place when i'm pregnant, by the way!), only to be awoken by a tired yet somehow playful child who will not go back to sleep. so today i thought i'd solve that problem by resting during his morning nap instead. that was a beautiful thing. and then came time for his afternoon nap, and whaddayaknow, i was tired again.... and he actually took a great nap. so we both got 2 great naps in today... and somehow i'm still tired right now. ha. i've never been one to turn down a nap. pregnancy is such a great excuse to sleep. brian says i'm sleeping for two. :) ha.

another problem is that i love ebay. i actually put myself on an ebay restriction last month after going over our finances with brian and realizing just how much i was buying for ethan that he really didn't need... so my month is now over, and i am free to roam the ebay cyber-halls. so this little one is coming in november. brian says that if it's a boy, we'll have everything he needs... i was quick to remind him that ethan was born in july, and we have no winter clothes for a newborn. so, off to ebay i go, looking for winter clothing. now remember, at this point, we have no idea if it's a boy or girl... yet, i still feel compelled to browse ebay almost every single evening. for what? i am not sure. it's just so addictive.

brian and i found some hilarious onesies here and here...some aren't quite appropriate for a baby to wear (or an adult for that matter....) but most of them are pretty cute. these are a couple of our favorites...



something new with this pregnancy is that i feel like i'm already starting to show a little bit. they say you'll show earlier with each subsequent pregnancy, but gosh, i did not expect for my pants to already be tight!! it seems like i just fit back into them. :) ha. i'm slightly concerned about just how many babies have taken up residency in there, but we'll find out on tuesday!!

oh, the beast of development

so, until now, ethan's developmental progress has brought us excitement... his first laugh, rolling over, crawling backwards (we're 1/2 way to success)....all very great. even that first tooth was nice once the fussing subsided. a couple of months ago, we cheered ethan on as he was able to sit up without the aid of the infamous boppy pillow. the other day, he had woken up from his nap, and he greeted me sitting up in bed! wow! this was the first i'd seen of this! he could get from his tummy to sitting up by himself! check that one off the developmental list... well that little skill has turned into "oh how fun- i think i'll sit up in bed and talk to myself and play every time mommy lays me down in my bed." today, he was in a DEAD SLEEP for 20 minutes and then suddenly woke up and sat up in bed. he was completely fine and happy until i made him lay back down... which resulted in a fun game of "pitching a fit, sitting back up, mom laying me back down, pitching a fit, sitting back up until i fell over and bonked my head on the crib, mom comforting me and then laying me back down, pitching a fit, sitting back up and playing with my mobile, mom taking the mobile off, and me pitching a fit." another day at another time, i would have left him with his fit until he got tired enough and finally gave in to his nap... but it was a sunday afternoon, and pregnant or not, i do one thing on sunday afternoons.. SLEEP! especially now with baby #2 on the way (which is big news if you didn't read the post below this one first!!), i love love love my sleep. and i was not going to sleep with mr. fit in the next room. so i put him in bed with me, where he proceeded to talk to the fan and play with my hair and shriek for the sake of shrieking. (mom, did i spell shrieking right?) i finally nuzzled him in my armpit and willed him to go to sleep. ha. about 45 minutes later, he finally went to sleep, and we both got about an hour's nap. tonite, we lowered his crib to its absolute lowest setting, and i resolved to leave him in his crib sitting up, standing on his head, whatever. so... we got him ready for bed, i nursed him, and i laid him in his crib.... and he didn't move. not one little peep out of the kid. of course. after all this resolve and everything. oh well. i'm sure i'll have another chance for that tomorrow.

ethan's new book

my mom & dad gave me a new book last week!

i'm not quite sure what all the fuss is about,
but everybody is getting really excited over just a book...
see? you are too... what is the big deal?

OH! i'm going to be a big BROTHER??
wow! why didn't you just say so?

hmm, i wonder what it's like to be a brother.
maybe there are instructions on the back.

ethan's new tricks

see, i told you i'd be back!
ethan has learned to do some new things lately.

he can hold his own cup, though he gets it a little turned around sometimes....





today he discovered how much fun it is to stand on the couch and watch the cars drive by...





ethan's friend steven thought that ethan's hair was a little long, so he tried to pull some out... ethan didn't really appreciate it!



now wasn't all that worth waiting for?? :)

i really am alive

so yes, i realize it's been almost a week since i posted, and that one doesn't even really count as a bonafide post.... i'm just writing to say that yes, i am alive, and yes, i am unpacked and laundry from our trip is DONE! but it has still been a busy week, so blogging has been shoved to the side for now. never fear, i will return shortly. so hold your horses.

getting back in the swing of things...

well, ethan and i made it home just fine thursday around lunchtime. i have more pictures to post and stories to tell, but i need to get our bags unpacked, clothes washed, and well, just get back to normal first. so hang on. i'll be back soon. :)

lori and family, we miss you already!!!! i have been singing musical tunes allllll day lonnnnnnng!