oh the joy…

That 1st trimester is full of joy, which I say with both honesty and scarcasm!  I love being pregnant and am so excited about the coming addition to our family!  However, this pregnancy thus far has proven to be a bit more eventful.  As usual, I am dealing with the normal severe exahustion.  I wake up tired, take a nap midday with my toddler, and then go to bed tired in the evening.  But, I am also struggling with a lot of heartburn.  It became so severe recently that I started having trouble eating.  When I would try to swallow my food it would feel as if I was choking!  It was the oddest thing I have ever experienced.  I am on a course of Nexium that should help correct this.  I am ready to hit that 2nd trimester already and start getting my baby bump and start getting my energy back!

To add insult to injury, I am fighting my first cold of the season…my wonderful MIL took my daughter for the afternoon so I could rest.  I just woke from a nap and I think I am going to take advantage of the peace by finishing up my “Creative Family” book and start “Dirt”.

Baby on TV.

This past week we had our first OB appointment for this pregnancy.  Its really strange to be talking about an OB since I have never been under the care of one before.  However, since we have decided to do a hospital-VBAC we will have to use an OB.  I really liked her though and felt very comfortable with her care thus far.  I will definitely be hiring a doula this time around though.

We discussed why I had a c-section with my first pregnancy and she said it sounded like an “induction fail” and we would have no trouble going forward with laboring on this birth.  She will review the charts from the OB who performed my c-section.  Hearing her mention my induction made me squeamish..I was so angry about having to do that but I am past it now.

She went ahead and performed an ultrasound so we were able to see the baby’s heartbeat.  I appreciated that because, since I have so few pregnancy symptoms, I always have so many fears and lingering doubts up until I can see or hear that beautiful heartbeat.  The best part of this ended up being Mirabelle’s reaction to seeing the baby on the screen.  Ever since we found out we were expecting, we have started to drop hints to her that she is going to be a sister so she can start to understand the concept.  Well, when she saw that baby on the screen she cried out “Oh, look!!  There’s the baby!  Yea!!  That’s great!!”.

It made my day!  And she hasn’t stopped talking about it since Wednesday.  Also, when we asked her tonight where Momma’s baby was she said “In Momma’s tummy.”, so it sounds like she is catching on quite well!

ok ok ok..

So I stink at commitment when it comes to this blog.  I wanted to do a 35 day photo posting thinking that would both dedicate me to posting every day, and also give me time to gear up for posting true, substantial and heart-felt blog posts but that didn’t work as you have seen!

Not to mention we got some really big and exciting news in the midst of this that I have been dying to share and now that we have finally told family the news I can share it with you… I AM PREGNANT WITH BABY #2!

It was fun to tell my husband this time around..I surprised him when he came home from work with the news.  I dressed up our daughter in a t-shirt that read “I’m The Big Sister” but it took him a good 5-7 minutes to notice it.  I actually  had to point out to him she had a new shirt on before he actually read it!  Then he finally caught on..

We are very excited and feel truly blessed by this precious gift.  But I need to lay a very serious prayer request out there for anyone still reading.  This is hard for me to share since so few people actually know about this to date. Last year I was diagnosed with Epilepsy.  I am under the care of a Neurologist and am taking AED medications.  I still have a lot of doubts about the validity of my diagnosis and was looking into getting a 2nd opinion when I found out I was pregnant.  Because my current DR. is very certain I am having seizures and no on will question this or make adjustments to my current regimen while I am pregnant, this means I will have to stay on my AED medication throughout my pregnancy.  While I happen to be on one of the safest of the AED meds. on the market (and I am only on ONE vs. multiple prescriptions), there are still elevated risks of birth defects as compared to if I was on no medication.  basically my risk goes from 3-5% to 10%.

One risk is a neural tube defect.  I have my  first doctors appt. on 9/2 and we will be past the point in the pregnancy when the neural tube should have closed so we will know by that point if we are out of the woods there.  The other big concern will be a cleft lip and/or palate and we should have our answer concerning that at our 20 week anatomy ultrasound.  When I first began reading about these defects and statistics I grew petrified.  I started having anxiety attacks!  I have since remembered that regardless of the outcome, there is new life that God has created and He is in control.  He has a beautiful plan for this child and I know he is protecting us. Also, there is so much more research in our favor that he/she will be completely healthy and brilliant!!  So, I ask you to join me in praying for my child and for me to continue to trust in God.

Thank You!

Photo Day 17: Ride on Head.

One of Mirabelle's favorite things to do these days is to ride on Bill's shoulders when we're shopping only she calls it "Ride on Head"

Photo Day 16: I suck at this!!

Just so you know..I have a really good reason for being absent from blogworld..I just can say why yet!

Goofing off with the "Cat in the Hat" gear at Target..

Photo Day 9: Snapshots from California trip.

The green baby store co-owned by Solei Moon Fry (aka. "Punky Bruster" anyone!) in LA.

Landscaping and cute wall murial outside of "The Little Seed"

Great views on the drive between LA and Bakersfield!

*I have had a very distracting few days..my appologies for the giant gap in picture posts.  I’ll make it up to the few of you that read!

Photo Day 3: My Kitchen & meal planner board

Its insanely tiny but we make due!

My new homemade board for posting my weekly menu.

Photo Day 2: Summertime fun!

Photo 1: Dancing in the Rain

Ah snap.

(To state the obvious) I haven’t really been posting much lately.  Its not for a lack of wanting to, its mostly contributed to a lack of physically sitting down and doing it.  I feel like I have been streaming consciously tons of ideas I have been dying to write about but when it comes time to actually articulate written thought, I have either forgotten the main premise or simply don’t have enough time to devote to saying what I want to say in a orderly or concise way.

I also have spent some time traveling this past month which has kept me away from the computer and as luck would have it, I forgot to bring my camera along for the journey.  I am terrible about this!  It makes me ashamed to even call myself a former professional photographer since I so rarely make it a priority to shoot these days.

I have some ideas for creating some scheduling/routine to my blogging so I can be a little more consistent in posting come fall (September), with a little wiggle room for random posting of course, but while I take some time to flesh this out I have come up with an idea as to not neglect my corner of the internet.

For the next 35 days, this will be a photo blog.  Each day will be simply a photo submission.  Each title of my post will indicate the theme for that days photo and which number in the count it is.  This should lead me right into Labor day when I make my first “real” post again!  Anyone else want to join me for 35 days of photo blogging?