23 weeks

We have now made it to 23 weeks pregnant with baby Adalee. We are getting really excited to be able to meet her in November just three short months away. We ordered her bedding this week and are really excited to get it in and start working on her room. She has been moving all around a lot recently. I can feel her a good bit throughout the day.

Our baby girl is more than 11 inches long and a little over a pound this week. Her blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing. Her ears are developing more and she can hear sounds a lot better now so they say she should be used to loud familiar sounds once she is born. We joke that she will be used to Aydin's temper tantrums by that time!!

22 weeks

Our baby girl has now been growing in my belly for 22 weeks. I can tell that my belly is growing much faster now. I feel like I look more pregnant now too. I am still feeling pretty tired sometimes and have been having some bad back pain along with sciatic nerve pain. It gets pretty bad too! I can feel her move a lot throughout different times of the day but most often around 8 am, 8 pm and sometimes around 12-1 am. I love being able to feel her move because it gives me reassurance that she is doing well in there.

Our baby girl is about 11 inches long now and weighs about a pound. She is starting to look a lot more like a newborn. Her eyelids , eyebrows, and lips are becoming more distinct and her tiny tooth buds are developing beneath her gums. It is amazing to imagine the changes that are taking place now!

What Aydin learned at school today....

It amazes me how much Aydin learns and remembers from his Montessori school teachers. They always comment on how smart he is and how much he remembers what they teach the kids in Montessori time. He loves his school and so do we. He has learned about our country and the flag and other important American symbols and this is what he tells me today! He is too cute!

Ultrasound pictures - 16 weeks

Ultrasound pictures

These are pictures from the 21 week ultrasound.

Our little miracle from God!!

Well it looks like we are going to have a sweet baby girl due around thanksgiving. Aydin is going to be a great big brother to his little sister. We have also decided on the name Adalee Elisabeth. We had our anatomy ultrasound on July 13th and it was an overwhelming day to say the least. We went in so excited to confirm that we were in fact having a girl; we actually had a previous ultrasound at 16 weeks to check the gender with every intention of telling our family and friends the gender then but when the tech told us it was a girl we weren't 100% sure of that since we both kind of figured it would be a boy. We decided to wait until the big ultrasound at 20 weeks to confirm before telling everyone.

It was so amazing seeing our baby on the ultrasound and it was confirmed that the baby was still a girl!! The tech kept taking measurements of her stomach which was measuring small and she was also checking on the umbilical cord and we weren't really sure about why. She told us that everything looked good but there could be a cord issue due to placement that could cause the baby to be a little smaller but it wasn't something to necessarily worry about.

We sat in the doctor's office waiting to talk to Dr. Mulder for an hour and when she finally came to talk to us she didn't have great news. She said that she reviewed our ultrasound with Tracy our tech and she sees the problem that Tracy informed her of. She said there was an abnormality with the umbilical cord insertion. She said due to the way the baby was laying she couldn't tell if it was off to the left or right but she said that what this usually means is a diagnosis of gastroschisis. Gastroschisis is a birth defect in which the intestines stick out of the body from a defect in the umbilical cord. When I heard this news I was stunned, upset, and worried. I have seen this before on baby shows and it always means surgery and long hospital stays in the NICU. I really wasn't prepared to hear bad news. She said she wasn't sure about how bad the case was but she would refer us to a specialist who could tell us more about the diagnosis.

I left the appointment so upset and anxious about what was to come. I wanted to see the specialist as soon as possible to know how bad things were and what we would be faced with. We were able to get an appointment two days later which I was greatful for; seeing as Dustin would be leaving out of town the next week for work. He was so strong and was my rock. He helped me to stay calm and remember to put my faith in god and remember that everything happens for a reason and we would be able to handle anything that was before us. He got me a St. Gerard necklace and we started praying the Novena to St. Gerard, the patron Saint of Motherhood. We prayed for the health of our unborn baby girl and put all our faith in God. We asked others to pray with us as we started this journey with our new baby girl. I started feeling more calm about the situation and was ready to face the specialist and hear what was to come. We went to our appointment Thursday afternoon and soon started our level 2 ultrasound which is much clearer of a picture of the baby and what could be going on. The tech took similar measurements that the first one took earlier in the week, she said everything looked good and also confirmed that the baby was a little girl. She looked around for about 30 minutes and said she really couldn't see any issues with the umbilical cord or any possibly birth defects or gastroschisis. The specialist came in and took a look also and said she really couldn't see anything wrong with our baby girl. She said the only thing she thought they might possibly mistake for an abnormality was most likely just an umbilical hernia which is nothing serious in comparison. She didn't see any evidence of gastroschisis. This was the best news possible and we were shocked. We had prepared ourselves for really bad news and we got the most amazing news possible. The doctor had no reason to suspect anything else causing this to appear later in pregnancy. We are amazed with this wonderful miracle! What a blessing to know that our baby girl is indeed healthy and growing well.

We have been continuing to pray and ask for St. Gerard 's intercession on our behalf to help keep our baby healthy and growing inside my belly. We have been thanking god for this wonderful miracle and can't be happier about having a baby girl. We would like to thank everyone for their continued prayers for our little girl, Adalee.

21 weeks

We have made it to 21 weeks and are really excited about our gender reveal party this weekend. We had a rough week and got some scary news but I will discuss that in the next post. The baby is growing well and moving around alot. I noticed that this baby seems to be more active in the evening and quiet in the mornings which is just the opposite of Aydin. My belly is poking out more now too. We can't wait to welcome our second baby later this yr.

The baby now weighs about 3/4 of a pound and is about 10 1/2 inches long. Our baby's eyelids and eyebrows are now present and the baby is moving around more and more.

20 weeks!!

Wow....20 weeks down. We have made it to the half way point. Now that I look back it seems to have gone by so fast so far. I have been feeling good for the most part. I have been having some really bad back pain this past week. I finally broke down and got my first massage, a prenatal one and it was so worth it!! I always thought I would hate getting a massage so I have never gotten one but this pain was so bad I figured it couldn't be worse than that and it was oh so nice! The pain came right back the minute I got back up but it was nice for the hour it was gone. The massage therapist recommended a back brace so I got one and it seems to help a little bit. I think my issues have to do with the way the baby is positioned right now. My belly was bigger the past couple weeks and now it is small again so the baby must be moving around in there and found a nice spot near my back. I guess we will see this week at our ultrasound.

I am so excited and anxious to have the ultrasound this week. I really want to see that the baby is healthy and know if its a he or a she. I think the majority of family and friends think pink but both Dustin and I were thinking blue so we will see. We will be driving to LA Friday night to have a little get together Saturday to reveal the big secret. We are excited to see everyone.

The baby now weighs about 10.5 ounces and is about 10 inches from head to heel. (the length of a banana). Wow in 20 weeks the baby went from a seed to a banana. We are so excited to see the changes at this ultrasound from the last one!!

19 weeks

Wow, 19 weeks!! Almost halfway there now. It really seems to be going by faster now. I have been feeling alot better although I do get tired easier. My belly is growing bigger now but still not poking out very far yet. I have gained about 5 pounds and am wearing maternity clothes more now since they are more comfortable.

Baby #2's sensory development is exploding. The baby's brain is now designating special areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. The baby may even be able to hear my voice now which is pretty neat! The baby now measures about 6 inches long and 8 1/2 ounces. The baby's arms and legs are now in the right proportions for his/her body now. Also the hair on the baby's scalp is starting to grow now.