Hmmmm...

Well today we had our 18 wk ultrasound. Even though it was great seeing our baby, there is one little problem. Our baby has a tiny cyst on its brain. This is a big deal because cysts on the brain are a genetic marker for trisemy 18 which is also knows as Edwards Disease. It is a really bad case of Down Syndrome. However, it is not near as bad as it sounds because of a few reasons:

1. there are about 25 other markers for trisemy 18 and our baby has none of them
2. I am young and so our chances are still really low even with this marker
3. Even with babies born with trisemy 18, only 20% of them even had this marker
4. 3% of all babies have this cyst and with they all go away before the baby is born

So we had three options today of coming back in 6 wks for another ultrasound (which the doc is almost positive it will be gone), getting a genetic test that would just tell us if there are any more markers on the chromosomes, or get an amniosenthesis test which has a 1 out of 400 chance of causing a problem with pregnancy. We chose to come back in 6 wks. We dont feel the need to do invasive testing or genetic testing if it will only just tell us liklier chances. I feel really confident that the cyst will be gone. My good friend Jessica has a three year old that had this in the womb. He is three now and a little smarty! She unfortunately had to deal with insensitive doctors who scared the crap out of her! Ours was very helpful and very confident that it will go away. I know that God gives what we can handle either way and he knows what he's doing with this little one :)

Other than that, it was amazing to see our little one today! Corey kept trying to take a peak at the gender. I had to cover his eyes! The tech kept saying "he" and even called it "little man" once so we will just have to see! Here are some pics of out little one:

These are it's little feetsies!

And here is me at 18 weeks:

I will update as soon as we find out the gender. I am so excited to find out whether its a girl or boy! Please say your prayers!

Playing catch up!

Its been a while since I wrote last and it just explains how ABSOLUTELY INSANE my life feels right now! I am now almost 18 weeks pregnant and it has gone by so fast! I think it is because I am so busy. Right now I have been going to school 30+ hours a week tues, wed, thurs and working another 25 between mon, fri, and sat. Not to mention I have been doing at least two hilites a week (most of the time 5). So my days are running from 6:45 to 10 before I can even catch my breath. So needless to say, I dont have much time to be running right now and I'm feeling it. No running in my life = me feeling like chaos. Running evens out my moods, sleep cycles, and makes me feel good. So I'm hurtin right now. Hopefully something changes soon so that 1. I can not feel so completely warn out, and 2. I can get ready for this baby!

I can for sure feel the baby now. I was wondering for a couple weeks if it was the baby or me just being really excited because it doesn't feel like what everything I read says. It all says "butterfly wings" and mine felt like bumps in tummy. I finally read a thing that said it can feel like popcorn popping which is what it feels like. I still didn't know for sure so I asked my doc at our apt and she said that is for sure what it is. I was hoping it would make it feel more real, but it doesn't! We find out next saturday whether its a boy or girl and I am going to go crazy decorating so maybe it'll feel more real.

We decided this week that we are going to stay in our rental house. We have been stressed trying to figure out whether we wanted to buy and if so, what we would want. First of all, we love being with my family in alb and we love our jobs, but we DO NOT love albuquerque! But thats a whole nother blog! Anyways, so we finally talked to a broker and found out that we couldn't buy right now anyways because Corey doesnt have two years of work experience. It is a huge weight off my shoulders. I was having a hard time figuring out how we would fit moving into our hectic life right now! And now I really want to make our rental more home-y and we can decorate and paint the babies room right away.  I have been obsessed with crib bedding and room decor pretty much since we got married so I am 99% sure of the rooms (more to come!!!!).

Baby Bell is between an onion...

and a sweet potato...

Anyways... I'll post my 18 week belly on sunday (cuz its definately bigger)!

16 weeks!

Today was a great day! Saints finally won a super bowl! They have always been my mom's team and she has been a true weather fan so it was an extra special superbowl (even though I would rather see the cowboys win...). My mom cooked all cajun food with gumbo, red beans and rice, and bread. It was awesome... so everyone says. I could only eat about two bites. Yep I'm back to the weird food eating. UGGHH. Here is just a couple of pics of the New Orleans house!

The next couple pictures are of Mason posing for the camera. He was just turning his head one way or the other. I was laughing so hard!

I am also 16 weeks now and it is only two weeks until our ultrasound apt. I am so excited to find out what this baby is! I have been feeling good but still don't love food. I still keep losing weight, but everything is healthy and I'm sure the weight will come soon, so there are no worries. The time seems to be really going slow lately. It seemed to go by pretty fast at first and now I feel like I have been this far along and this same size for a month now. I'm sure it will go by so fast, so I'm not worrying too much about it!

The baby is an avocado this week and I think I can feel it move sometimes! Everyone said butterfly twitters, but mine was more jumpy so I read a few things and they said it can feel like popcorn popping... which it does, so I'm thinking I can feel it. Which doesn't surprise me since the doctors seem to think we have the most active baby ever!! We are so happy and excited for this little bugger!

15 weeks

So this past week has been better as far as not feeling as worn out. I had a little bit of a break this last weekend and then a snow day this morning with a two hour delay, so I got quite a bit done! BUT in the last few hours, my throat has started to hurt and immediately I feel like crap... bummer. I don't have to work tomorrow so I'm gonna sleep and hopefully wake up and feel great!

Other than complaining, everything is going well! My belly has really gotten bigger!

I still haven't gained any weight and Corey will not stop freaking out about it. Food actually tastes good to me now so the weight is probably coming. I'm just trying to pay attention to my body. I feel really lucky because I have had a really easy pregnancy so far and I think it will stay that way (lots of prayers)!

Baby Bell is the size of an orange this week!

Life is good. God is good. We are so blessed!

Holy Cow! Already 14 weeks and a little baby bump!

So our last couple weeks have been CRAZYYYY! I started back at beauty school and am really trying hard to get as many hours in as possible so I can be done before the baby gets here. I am also working so I have a full plate six days a week, not to mention EVERYONE needs their hair done at the same time it feels like. So I know I will feel less crazy once the hair dies down. So on top of being tired and worn out, God always has a sense of humor! Last week Corey's truck got stolen. The kid made it about five blocks and then ran a red light and got caught. It was stolen for about half an hour! We couldn't stop laughing at three in the morning and I'm sure the cops thought we were weirdos! So we have a "when I was pregnant" story for our little one!

So I am starting to show so we started our belly pictures. I am fourteen weeks now and starting to look pregnant. Some people LOOOVE to tell me that they didn't show until six months. But I like that I am because it makes it feel more real! I am so excited to find out whether this little one is a boy or girl! This week it is the size of a lemon and just growing! We are happy that chances of miscarriage have decreased so much. It takes a lot off our shoulders knowing that we will get to see this little one in six months!

I'll post more belly pictures each week!

One of the best days of my life!

On Friday we had an ultrasound for the first trimester screening. It really was to check for down syndrome but the only reason we said we wanted the test was just to check on the baby and get an extra ultrasound!! We would keep this baby no matter what. So anyways, Shelley (Corey's mom) came in and it just happened that his aunt kelly was in town also. We woke up early and headed there. I have really been waiting for this day since I first found out I was pregnant because I wanted to see a healthy baby at twelve weeks. I had went with my good friend Jess at both her nine week and twelve week ultrasounds and was so blown away how much it morphed into a baby in just three weeks! So I was dying with anticipation to actually see a full baby! A part of us was a little nervous just because you never know what will happen and because all the doctors scare you so you know what thre risks are. I sat down in the chair and as soon as she slid over my belly I saw a glimpse of the most beautiful baby ever! I had drank a couple sips of mountain dew because I read that it will wake the baby up and since I don't drink any caffeine even when I am not pregnant, I think I wired both my baby and me! So the baby was bouncing around very actively! Its crazy that it can move that much and I can't feel it! Its heart beat is perfect at 173 and everything looked good! It was such a relief and the greatest feeling ever! Corey couldn't quit smiling and I couldn't quit crying and saying, "we made something half you and half me!" For some reason, seeing the baby made me think that!! So here are some pictures of our little sweetie pie!

This one is of the side and he/she kept curling his/her legs up! They don't look near as clear as the actual ultrasound did!

This one is hard to see. The left side is of the top of the head looking down at the left shoulder and hand. The right side is basically the same thing. It has long arms like me and short legs like corey :)

I think this one was after it jumped and looked like it sneezed! His/her body moved all the way up my uterus and its hand flung out! it was so cute!!

This picture was to look at his/her nose, which is really big! Uh Oh!

I am so happy to be in week twelve! They kept the due date July 24th and said all measurements were right on track. I really was one of the best days! Getting married to my best friend was my favorite day ever ever though it was such a quick day. This pregnancy brings all the same feelings of joy and I feel like we both get to enjoy it and appreciate it as well as each other. We are so happy and can't wait for this little one. I have been feeling really good and finally have an appetite back. I started school again and have it thirty hours a week and work the other three days of the week. I'm only getting sunday off and its going to take some getting used to. I really want to be done with school in the beginning of July so I have a few weeks off. I'm so excited to meet this little one! Its the size of a plum this week!

Everyone has an opinion!!

Warning: this is a complaining post!! I am getting a little tired of all the random pregnancy advice. I want to just tell people, "Look! I have read about one zillion books about pregnancy before and now during, and I have a doctor that is very thorough! Not to mention an amazing family that helps me with everything I am curious about! Why are you telling me things WITHOUT me ever asking you!!!???"

Sorry that's my little rant. Facebook is the worst. People making comments about how I "really shouldn't be showing yet" and what everything means. My mom says it will only get worse when the little one gets here because everyone thinks they did it the right way and they are trying to share their breakthrough method with you. Maybe I'll just become a hermet when this little one gets here so I don't have to deal with that! Maybe they are just trying to help, but it sure doesn't seem like it! It just seems like everyone thinks they are an expert. My sister has two babies and my mom had two also and I have learned that all pregnancies are different, but if I need anything answered I will only ask my mom or sister not some random people I don't even share genes with!! Anyways... I need to be most christian about this I know! I guess all I can do is not submit other people to this annoying habit when they tell me they are pregnant down the road.