20 week belly pic

20 weeks 3 days

Placenta what?

I went to the high risk doctor on Friday to figure out why I am spotting. While we were there, they did my 20 week anatomy ultrasound. It was a long 2 1/2 hour appointment. We went in expecting my cervix to be shorter and slightly open. Perhaps I would need a cerclage (stitch) to keep it closed. Boy were we in for a couple of surprises! We ended up finding out that I have placenta previa! Who would have thought? What are the chances?!?!

At least now I know why I am spotting. Somehow it helps at least knowing the cause. Hopefully this condition will fix itself as my uterus expands. I am not even going to elaborate on this because it is not worth me worrying about. I need to just think positive and know that everything is going to work out. If you want further information, please feel free to visit my good friend, Google.

The other surprising fact that we learned was that Chase has one elnlarged kidney. It is on the "normal high side" of the spectrum. Meaning, it is not severe at this point. I read up on this and it seems fairly common on mid-pregnancy ultrasounds for baby boys. Again, I am not going to go into detail here. I am just letting you in on what we now know.

Other than that, he is perfect! 10 fingers and 10 toes! He has a perfect "textbook" heart (as the doc said). He sure looks happy in there, wiggling around, smiling, sucking his thumb, etc. I experienced my first kick in the doctor's offie. We were watching him on the big screen and I felt a thump as I watched him kick on the screen. It was so cool to put the two together and to finally know what a real kick feels like. I have only felt flutters since then. Maybe a few strong taps. But that is still to come. I can't wait to feel him kicking in there everyday! He had the hiccups in there but I couldn't feel that. I hear that I will feel those later in my 3rd trimester though.

I am working from home and taking it easy. I am being very careful not to lift anything and making sure that I have my feet up all day. Thank goodness for laptops! I am actually more productive working from home because there are less distractions here. It is quiet and there isn't anyone stopping by my office every 10 minutes.

One reason that it is so quiet here ::teardrop:: is because Roxy is at my mother in law's house now :( She is going to stay with her for now. We have so much going on with me having to take it easy (aka: be a couch potato as the doc calls it). We are missing her so much! But we know she is living it up in Gettysburg. She has a big pool, a big yard to run in, a bigger house, and 2 loving people that are home with her all day every day. So she is getting much more attention there. I still cry when I think about her though. I think Bailey is even missing her. She is moping around and wont eat anything. I am going to try putting some green beans in her food- those are her favorite!

Well I am going to get some rest. We will just keep praying that everything works out. I am really trying not to worry because I know that God has a plan for our family. Worrying doesn't do any good. I mean, I was all worried about my cervix and here I am with placenta previa. You never know what is coming your way. All you can do is take it day by day, week by week. Cheers to us though, we are more than half way there!

Chase's baby pictures so far...

6 1/2 weeks

8 weeks

10 weeks

12 1/2 weeks

12 1/2 weeks again (sucking his thumb)

12 1/2 weeks again (his little legs/feet)

16 weeks (it's a boy!)

20 weeks (smiling and waving)

20 weeks (sucking his thumb)

20 weeks

My Saturday scare in Labor and Delivery

I spent all day yesterday in the hospital in Labor and Delivery. I woke up with spotting. Not something you want when you are 19 weeks along. I tried not to get upset, so I continued to start getting ready for our dear friends, Danny and Shauna's wedding. Well after a couple of hours, I called the doctor to see what she thought I should do. She told me to head straight to the Labor and Delivery of Shady Grove to get checked out given my history. I was terrified! I was all alone because Matt was in Virginia getting dressed and ready to walk down the aisle as a groomsman in the wedding, and my parents were in Farmville, VA (3 ½ hours away) at Greenfront Furniture. My brothers were all on their way to the wedding as well. So I called my parents and told them and they sent my Aunt Mary to my house to pick me up. They left Farmville immediately and headed home to the hospital to meet me.

Aunt Mary was the perfect person to be with because she was so calm. She and I talked about all kinds of stuff on the way to the hospital so I didn't even have a chance to freak out. We had to take a detour on the way because there was an accident on 270. So we ended up going all back roads and it took us a while to get there. We were joking on the way, it is a good thing I am not having a heart attack!

She and I got to the hospital, registered, and I was taken back immediately. They placed me in the PACU of Labor and Delivery. So I was in a bed next to mothers who were being prepared or just had C-sections. I got to see newborns in their carts and I was so in awe of the sweet cry of a newborn baby. Anyways, it was here that they took care of me. The nurse came and checked for the baby's hearbeat and couldn't find it. I was sick inside. After a few minutes of searching with this device, she went to get a doppler like the ones they use at my OB appointments. She searched and searched for his heartbeat and still nothing. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, she found his heartbeat and it was about 150 beats per minute! Thank God! We listened to it for a good 30 seconds to make sure it was a good strong beat. I took a deep breath and thought, well at least that is a good sign. Next she strapped a monitor around my belly to watch for contractions. I had to lay with this on for one hour. I remember staring at the clock on the wall as it was 2:25pm, 5 minutes before Shauna was due to walk down the aisle. I just imagined the wedding for that whole hour. I was so dissappointed that I couldn't be there to see them seal the deal! I had been looking forward to their wedding forever! But sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do. Anyways, the nurse came back and said there were no signs of contractions! Yay! Next they had me get a sonogram to check the baby and my cervical length. I brought Aunt Mary back to the sonogram with me because I figured if I got bad news, I would want a hand to hold. They rolled me in my wheelchair to the radiology wing and it seemed like it took forever to get there. I just wanted answers! Aunt Mary joked with me and the sonographer that if my cervix was long and closed, that she would feed me after we got dicharged. I couldn't see the screen at all the whole time, but I watched Mary's face as she got to see the screen. She smiled and looked pleased with what she was seeing. The sonographer politely said, "I hope you are hungry, it looks like you are going to be fed!" So my cervix was closed. Wow. It was everything I wanted to hear. But why was I spotting? So far, we don't know!

They told me that I have to call my doctor Monday and schedule an appointment for this week. Until then, I have to take it easy and work from home. I can't get up and do the house cleaning that I do on Sundays. I can't run errands. I basically have to lay in bed or on the couch with my feet elevated and just chill. Which is very difficult for me seeing as I have A.D.D. I could be the worst person to watch a movie with because I fidget and get up about every 15 minutes.

All in all, this was an eye opening experience. It is crazy how fragile everything is for me b/c I had the LEEP done so recently. It is hard for me to grasp that I can’t do things that I used to do so easily. It is so frustrating! But obviously well worth it.

We have 2 golden retrievers, one is 5 years old, Bailey and one is a puppy, 10 months old, Roxy. We have to give the puppy to Matt’s mom next weekend because it is too much on me to handle her alone with my situation. I can’t walk her or handle her anymore. Bailey on the other hand is easy. I am alone with the dogs more because Matt works such long hours. His new hours will not go into effect until late August. So he leaves for work around 7:15am and doesn't get home until 7:30-8pm. I am so upset about this decision, but it is what we have to do right now. I need to be able to put my feet up and not be chasing a 70 pound puppy around. These are the kinds of decisions that are hard to understand right now. But I know it is what is best for me and the baby. I know Roxy will probably have a better life with Matt's mom because she will have so much more attention. She will have two people home with her all the time. She will have a pool to swim in and lots of yard to run around in.

I went on Facebook to see pictures of Shauna in her gown and started crying. I wish I could have been there to celebrate with them! Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Flynn! I am so happy for you! I love you guys!

Well, happy Father's day, everyone!

It's a boy! I knew it all along. Matt swore it was a girl and even called him by the girl name we have picked out. My mom wore pink to the ultrasound appointment! Not me, I wore blue and expected to see our SON on the big screen. We searched through books and online and decided on our son's name....Chase. Chase Michael Desmond. We love it! It is so amazing how choosing a name makes a mother and father feel more connected to their child. Immediately we felt like this whole thing is even more real.


Mom and I left the appointment and headed straight to the mall to make our first boy purchases. That was so much fun! It just sealed the deal! The following weekend, we went shopping for the nursery. We ordered his furniture (crib, dresser, and glider) and of course, his very own custom bedding.
This is his crib, but everything is in WHITE:

and these are his bedding swatches:

Belly shots so far

7 weeks- Hello, bloat!


9 weeks- Still looks like a whole lot of bloat

14 weeks


16 weeks- I think this is when I "popped!"


18 weeks


18 weeks again

A little background 411

Being pregnant, you get a ton of emails from family and friends asking for updates. Instead of emailing every single person about how I feel and the latest developments, I decided to sit down and start a blog.

A little background: Matt and I have been married for almost 2 years (September 15th is our anniv.) We got pregnant as soon as we started to think about having a baby of our own in January of 2008 and unfortunately, experienced a loss that February. It was very rough. It was devastaing because I had never even imagined it would happen to us. Especially with our first pregnancy. It kind of stole my innocence of pregnancy, if you will. We managed to get through that obstacle. So we waited a few months like the doctor told us to and then began trying for round #2. Well, 5 months go by and NOTHING. I felt like it would never happen. I felt so frustrated.

In September 2008 I went to the doctor for my yearly exam. Two weeks after my appointment, I received a phone call that changed our lives forever. I went in and had a few colposcopies and biopsies only to find out that I had high grade lesions on my cervix...CIN levels II/III aka Severe Dysplasia. Google that and tell me you aren't scared! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. They treated me as though I had full blown cervical cancer. I went in to have everything explained to me and they wanted to do a cone procedure. Google that one...Yikes! So I went to an gynecoloigical oncologist for a second and BETTER opinion. They were wonderful and had me come in for another colposcopy and decided that I definitely needed to have the LEEP procedure immediately.

After the LEEP in December 2008, I was told that the margins were clear! Meaning they cut the bad cells out! YES! I was on my way to normalcy again! The doc told me we could start trying 2-3 months after the surgery. So in February 2009 we went to my favorite place in the whole entire universe, Disney World. Well, that did the trick for us! We found out we are expecting in March! We are stoked. Cloud 9.

With this pregnancy, I am more high risk based on our history. With miscarriage and cervical surgery so recent, they are definitely keeping an eye on me. I just have to be careful of my cervix weakening or shortening. No exercise and pelvic rest. Boo! :(

We are taking it day by day, week by week. I can't believe we are 19 weeks already!