First u/s

I'd like to discuss the most important element of yesterday's u/s first. I GAINED TWO POUNDS!! After I gave my urine sample, the MA said the dreaded words, "I need you to go ahead and step on the scale." I take off my shoes in a misguided attempt to make myself weigh less and step on the scale. The numbers tallied, then flashed the total across the small screen, and I instantly remember why I don't like going to the doctor's. Jimminy Crickets!!
Even though I was five minutes late (which I hate), gained two pounds, and had a blood pressure slightly higher than normal, I had a good appointment.

My doctor found the heartbeat right away at 122 bpm. We weren't able to hear it because it was too early, but we saw it beating strongly. I was also measuring one week behind where I thought I was. This was slighly disheartening, but ultimately we must go by the doctor's measurements. My doctor assured me that this was normal and that some people are off on dates and their own estimates. She gave us five pictures and pointed out where the arm buds were. I couldn't tell where on the shapeshifter she saw arms, but we took her word for it.

I also want to note that this pregnancy is different from when I was pregnant with Layla. The most noticeable difference is that the fatigue is worse. I nap daily and go to bed between 8:30-9, and that's still not enough. I don't know how I chased kindergarteners around all day when I was pregnant with Layla.

Another noticeable difference is that my belly is bigger already and my tailbone is already killing me. I can't even sit down comfortably most days. I didn't get this ailment until late second trimester with Layla.

My boobs are also less sore. With Layla, I had to take one boob at a time out of my bra when I undressed.

Finally, I have less nausea. Don't get me wrong, it's there, but I have only vomited once, and this was before I even knew I was pregnant. I dry heave a lot and gag, especially in the mornings when we are brushing our teeth. Layla thinks it's funny and likes to imitate me. I just look at her and promise myself that one day when she becomes a mom, I will not hesitate to remind her of this.

First Appointment

It's starting to feel more real and less like someone painted two pink lines on my pregnancy test.
Today we went for our first appointment. Everything was routine and as expected: pee in a cup, blood work, checking my weight and blood pressure. The doctor said that I will be monitored closely for preterm labor so that means good and bad news. The good news is that I will get plenty of ultrasounds. The bad news is that I will have to start weekly progesterone shots in the hip. Of course I consulted Dr. Google and found that those shots are supposed to be super painful. I guess it will be worth it though if they help me go full term. This is my sincerest hope and prayer, to deliver full term. I would stand on my head once a week for two hours if my doctor told me it would increase my chances of delivering a full term baby.

My first ultrasound is December 23. I can't wait to see the baby and to make sure everything is ok and progressing normally!

Overjoyed

I am in shock, but we did it again.







Last Saturday I woke up in the middle of the night vomiting after eating beef. That tipped me off, as I couldn't tolerate red meat when pregnant with Layla. I took a series of tests, and they were all negative until yesterday.

I think I'm four weeks and due the first week of August, but I can't be sure until I see my doctor.

Tim and I are thrilled, but scratching temples.
They do come true when you believe.

Hurricane Layla

Houston, we have a walker.
Amid all of the destruction, I am still thrilled.





This is her work on a daily basis. I have yet to come completely out of my neat-freak-structured-everythingmustbe-orderly mode. I'm working on it because I am exhausted.

Here she is singing "Ditzy Ditzy Bah Bah", her attempt to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

ONE YEAR!!!

It's been forever, well five months, and I haven't updated. It's amazing how time gets away from you.
Layla is one now! I still can not believe how fast this year has flown by. In a year's time, she has evolved into her own little person and sometimes it is NOT good. :-) She is still a sweety, but she will not hesitate to let the world know when she is mad. A week ago, I told her Nana that she is now Queen of the Temper Tantrums. Her Nana said, "Oh no. Not with me she won't." At the time, I was thinking "Yes, with YOU she will." And like any other good, faithful daughter, she didn't let me down. The first time she visited Nana after that conversation, she let her have it. I mean ROYALLY. Apparently she was upset that bath time was over, so she threw herself backwards--classic fit fashion-- and proceeded to kick her way into oblivion. Really. She hit her head on the tub. All was well, but Nana called Tim at work, flustered, and eager to report the action. All I was thinking was, "I told you so."
She yells "STOP!" for two reasons. When you're doing something to her that she doesn't approve of (ie dressing, diapering, nose cleanings), and when SHE is doing something she knows we won't approve of (ie banging on the tv, throwing food on the floor).


There is never a dull day.

She loves to mock people, pretending she is rubbing lotion on her arms and hands, drinking coffee, typing on the laptop, or talking on the phone. She LOVES to read, and it fills me with joy to watch her read, play, and explore.

She had her one year appointment on the 26th of July, and I'm happy to report that she is 21 lbs (50th percentile) and the 90th percentile for height. Her devlopment is normal, and her pedi says "You wouldn't even know she was a preemie!"

We spent her birthday in Galveston and celebrated with family. It was definitely a great weekend, and she was phenomenal on the road trip!

Loving cousins, Chelsea and Layla



Fighting cousins, Chelsea and Layla :-)





My itty bitty Layla is not so itty bitty anymore. I am amazed each day at the differences I see in her.
And she is such a daddy's girl! She will do things for him before she will do things for me. Example, she knows how to give kisses now (sweet!). Guess who got the first kiss? She can scoot and inchworm now. Guess who she scoots toward? She even says "dah-di" now. Not mama.

Here she is attempting to crawl. She does this all day long, but won't take her fingers out of her mouth long enough to really crawl. Notice she is sockless on one foot.








Still no signs of teeth, but I'm not in a hurry. I love her toothless smile!





I forgot to add something. She has become extremely active in the last month. Grabbing things, yanking things, slapping things out of my hands. Tearing the pages in my textbooks, banging and typing on the laptop. It's exhausing. Here she is with Daddy, "sharing" the laptop.









The only reason I'm typing stress free right now is because she's with her Nana. She spends the day with her Nana every other Thursday. Bittersweet.

30

Is 30 the new 20? If so, someone please convice me of this elusive idea. On February 12, 2010, I woke up and was magically catapulted into an area I thought was too far away for me to reach. I did it.
If not for Layla, this would've been a more devastating event. I woke up at 2 am on February 12, went into her nursery, picked her up, and rocked her in the glider for 30 minutes or so. I was so incredibly happy to be so incredibly blessed to be a mother. She touched my face in the darkness as if to confirm it was me and not daddy, and went right back to sleep.
Layla reached 6 months last month. She's still an incredible baby. Still sleeping 10-11 hours straight at night, still easily pleased, still smiling and laughing at the tiniest things. She is, however, a lot more busy. She can't crawl yet, but she can inchworm and thrash around like a pro. I wonder if they have inchworm and/or thrash events in the Olympics. If so, she'd be a shoo in.
She says "dah-dah". I woke up one morning to hear her talking on the monitor. I go in and she looks at me and says "dah dah. dah.....dah. Dah Dah!" I said, "no, mahhhh-mahhhh." She blinked, put her pointer and middle fingers in her mouth and began sucking. I guess she was done talking.
At her 6 month appointment she was 15 lbs 8 oz and in the 50th percentile. 75% for height. She took her 6 month vaccinations like a pro. She was actually crying more because she didn't want her nurse to touch or look at her instead of the actual shots. Since then, she has outgrown some of her stranger anxiety. She actually lets one of my sisters hold and play with her. She'll also stay with her alone for a few hours. Other people, she can take em or leave em....mostly leave em.

Here she is doing what she loves best.








She loves all food except my homemade sweet potatoes. It's funny because she shivers with each bite like I'm feeding her manure. It kind of hurt my feelings at first, but I think it's a texture thing. I don't think I pureed it long enough or mixed in enough formula because she loves my homemade avocado.

In other news:
Grad school is a lot of work, but going well. I'm slated for a May 2011 graduation.

It's almost March and time to figure out whether I'm going back to work! Tim says no, I say I don't know. I try to avoid the issue because I feel a panic attack rising when I think of taking Layla to daycare. My, time flies. I'll know for sure by April though.

My goal is to try to update at LEAST once per month. I'll see you then!

Enigmatic Creature

Babies are enigmatic creatures, or at least mine is. I, like most parents, worry about and look forward to each milestone being reached, but I find myself wondering more what is going on in that little head of hers. Layla is 5 1/2 months old now, and sometimes I feel that I know her better than myself, but sometimes she throws curve balls at me that I just don't know what to do with. She amazes me each day when a new part of her personality emerges.

She is antisocial:
Layla does not like people, and more recently has decided that she HATES my sister. Mind you, we see my sister at least three times per week. Yesterday we picked up my sister and headed to the grocery store. Layla was asleep when my sister got into the truck, and stayed asleep through the transition from truck to shopping cart. My sister was pushing a cart of her own, and I was pushing Layla in my cart. We stopped on the veggie aisle, and that's when Layla noticed that my sister had come along on the trip with us. She began to scream and didn't stop all day.

She is a prankster:
If and only if her diaper is full of an obscene amount of poop, she bursts out laughing as soon as I open her diaper. That amazes me. Tim says maybe she is reacting to my expression, but even the most stoic of expressions will not hinder her from bursting out laughing at my misfortune. I'm not talking a giggle either. I mean full belly laughs where her mouth is formed into a perfect 'O' and her head is thrown back against the changing pad. It's almost as if she is trying to say, "I would hate to be your right now!"

She is determined:
She recently found out that daddy has a beard. She stared at it for a full day before deciding she should familiarize herself with it. She started out by scrunching it in her hands, sort of the way she does her own hair. Later she decided she should really familiarize herself with it by, of course, putting it in her mouth. She spent most of the following day trying to pull it off. We know that's what she was trying to do because she would grab it, yank as hard as she can, then immediately look at her hand like, "Have I got it?" Limited results led to frustration and tears. She has Tim so wrapped that I kept expecting to come downstairs to find that he had shaved it off so he could hand it to her. He wants to give her the world, what's a beard in the grand scheme of things? :-)

Here are a few 5 month old pics of our growing bundle of joy!