Life Happens...

My day started at 3am when I had a dream and could not fall back asleep. This is pretty typical lately. At 5:15am, Liberty was sprayed by a skunk. I spent 15 hours taking care of the smell on her and in the house. I still have to take care of the smell in the bathroom, but for now, it can wait.

In between taking care of the smell... I read a post from a coast guard wife and mama who also struggled with infertility.... Her water broke at 30 weeks and she's in the hospital. I know her babies will be just fine when they are born and they're in great hands but wow... how stressful and scary for them. Thoughts and prayers for her, her husband, and the babies until her babies are here safe and sound.

Then I took a nap... I woke up and found out that a Coastie who's story I've been following for a while has a tumor growing back. Countless surgeries and rounds of chemotherapy and radiation and he's still battling. Hugs and Prayers for E, J, and their kids. I know they're exhausted and sick of the cancer spreading and coming back.

So moral of the story... today life happened, Donnie had to go to work and I had to deal with the dog... had to call out of work and spend hours trying to get the smell out... my back hurts and I'm tired... but I don't have half the pain that these two families are feeling tonight.

Second Trimester

So I'm in my second trimester now and I am so excited! I feel safe celebrating this life that God has made. I have always been thankful for my pregnancy and prayerful that the baby would be healthy but now I feel much more secure like everything is definitely going to be okay.

The second trimester has brought a lot of fun plans! An ultrasound, a gender reveal party, and a baby shower. Our final trips to NJ are coming up, as I will not be allowed to travel in my third and last trimester. Nothing is wrong that makes us not allowed to travel but if something were to happen and I needed to be seen at a hospital, my insurance will not cover it so I'd rather not take the risk!

The baby is about 3 inches long now and weighs nearly an ounce. Little peanut! Baby also now has fingerprints on all his/her fingertips and if Baby Carter is a girl, she has all her eggs in her ovaries that she will ever have!

As far as how I am feeling.. nothing too exciting, I am still tired all the time and waiting for this magical energy everyone talks about. LOL! But I am not as sick and nauseous as I was and I am thankful for that.

Another Appointment today!

We had our last first trimester appointment, today! Try saying that 10 times fast! It went great! I FINALLY gained two pounds, which is great after not gaining any. Baby's heart rate was 160bpm! My uterus height is measuring right on time and again to those who keep asking or implying,  THERE IS ONLY ONE BABY!

I also found my first stretch marks today, I'm sad they're ALREADY showing up. I am genetically predisposed to them so I knew I would get them but I thought it wouldn't happen until the second or third trimesters. OH WELL! This baby is MORE than worth it!!!

Otherwise, things are going well. I am feeling better, I have a little more energy now and I actually feel like eating a lot more. We're slowly but surely making progress in getting the house baby ready. We've been preparing our pets, Liberty, Storm, and Josie for the baby's arrival and they're not thrilled. Liberty is quite jealous. She showed her jealousy by peeing on my bed and foot a few weeks ago. LOL I guess we will be working on that a little more in the coming weeks.

Midwife Appointment today!

Today was a GREAT day for our little family! I had my midwife appointment! The midwife we saw today, Louise, will be my midwife through out the rest of this pregnancy! She is FANTASTIC. Just AMAZING. She was able to answer all my questions and calm some of my fears and reservations. It was a good appointment and we didn't feel rushed at all. At the end of the appointment, Louise went ahead and used a doppler to find Baby Carter's heartbeat! Baby is stubborn ALREADY and was hiding behind mama so in the clip, you hear my heartbeat AND baby's heartbeat! It's very cool! So here's a clip for you, and ENJOY! We go back on August 29th for another check up so we will record the heart beat again at that appointment, and hopefully we will catch just baby's heart rate next time!

Baby Heartbeat

Gender Prediction Fun!

So as I said before, the chinese gender prediction calendar said GIRL.

This weekend, Donnie and I, tried two more gender prediction tests... The baking soda test and the ring test.

The ring test said............ GIRL!

The baking soda test said......... BOY!


Moral of the story, these gender prediction methods are just for FUN and we'll have to wait until October for our ultrasound to know what Baby Carter is going to be, BUT I had fun doing these little "tests"! I am still waiting for more guesses from friends. If you have not yet left your prediction, leave us a comment with what gender you think BABY CARTER is!

Tomorrow is our midwife appointment- I'll post about that as soon as I can!

What do you predict?

Our next appointment was supposed to be August 15th but my midwife's office called today and asked if we could move it up to the 13th, uh yes please!!! The only downside is that Donnie most likely won't be able to make it to the appointment due to work, but the good news is that I should be able to hear the heartbeat at this appointment! I am going to try and record it since Donnie won't be there and I know my mom wants to hear it too! So I will bring my phone in and record it as long as the midwife says it is okay!

I am really excited and I hope the baby cooperates and lets us hear a nice strong heartbeat!

This weekend I plan on doing some "gender tests" to help "predict" the baby's gender. I'm planning on the baking soda test and the ring test. The baking soda test is performed by adding urine to a cup with baking soda in it- if it fizzes it is supposed to be a boy and if it does nothing, it is supposed to be a girl. For the ring test, you tie your wedding ring on string and hang it over your belly while you're laying down. If it moves side to side it is supposed to be a boy and if it moves in a circle it is supposed to be a girl. I already used the chinese gender prediction charts on babycenter.com and parents.com and both of those say GIRL!

These methods are just for fun of course. We won't know the gender until our ultrasound in OCTOBER but I would like to know what everyone else thinks! Leave your prediction as a comment here!

9 Weeks!

Friday I turned 9 weeks pregnant!

9 Weeks pregnant has brought me a new symptom or two... PURE EXHAUSTION!! Before this point I really didn't understand when people talked about the exhaustion they experienced in pregnancy. I was tired but it was the same kind of tired I always felt. Well, I get it now, LOUD AND CLEAR!!! I am having a hard time staying awake past 9pm and I am exhausted when I have to wake up for work the next morning. It's terrible, but awesome! I love the extra sleep I am getting!

The second symptom 9 weeks brought me is HIP PAIN. It keeps me awake. It's terrible. Re-positioning doesn't help, sleeping with a pillow doesn't help. The only reason I got any sleep the other night was due to tylenol. It's horrible. SO the doctor is sending me to physical therapy. I know it will help, I can't wait until my first appointment!

Here's an updated picture. Hard to tell because I am wearing a maternity shirt, but it's the best that I have since soon to be daddy has been M.I.A. for work reasons.  I'll try and get a better one on Friday for 10 weeks!

The Carter family is preparing for a big trip home to NJ! We are going home on the 20th to celebrate the marriage of my cousin SLS and her fiance RG. My mom is so excited to "meet her grandchild in the womb" as she keeps saying! I can't wait to see everyone!