Oink!

Let me just say that pregnancy has some weird side effects! The most current one I'm enjoying is being out of breath. I recently had a small speaking engagement, nothing big - only about 10 minutes long but the moment I started to talk I became a flustered pig! I was completely out of breath and no matter what I did to try to calm myself down it wouldn't go away & if you know me at all, you know that I don't suffer from stage fright nor do I have any anxiety about speaking in front of small OR large crowds so we're not talking panic attack here - we're talking about wonderfully odd & strange pregnancy side effects! This month I've officially turned into a huffing pig! Voila~

22 weeks

Our little poppy has officially blossomed into a gymnast! Its kicks & punches are very noticeable now. Every night when we go to bed Tom puts his hand on my tummy and gets to feel the baby doing its kick kick pow! I look forward to our time together each night when we get to share that moment, its so special & fun for him to get to feel the baby moving.

 

I had a regular check up Wednesday and got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, I love that whoosh whoosh whoosh noise, its so fast! I've gained a total of 10 lbs and am right on track. Here's a little update on the baby's growth for this week:

 

*approximately 11 inches & one whole pound!! about the size of a small doll - awwww my beeb's growing up!

* baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn - lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are much more distinct

* tiny tooth buds are developing beneath his gums

* eyes have formed but the irises don't have color yet

* pancreas is steadily developing

* baby can hear voices, my heartbeat, my gurgling stomach & the whooshing sound of blood circulating thru my body - WEIRD & WAAAY trippy!

* will start reaching for his/her face or whatever it can reach to experiment with newfound send of touch

 

So many changes happening, each week the baby just gets bigger & bigger and so does my stomach hahaha! I already feel giganto & eating is hard sometimes. I'll be soooo hungry but then after eating I feel ridiculously stuffed! Between the baby & food, I don't know how much more room I've got in there, it's going to be a tight fit!  

 

We're super excited for Christmas next week & spending extra time together. We wish you all a safe & blessed & happy holiday. 

 

We love you!

Results!

We got our amnio results this morning and Baby Bowman is perfectly healthy! No extra chromosome & no down syndrome! What a relief, its all over & done with. They called me on my way to work this morning with the good news and I immediatly burst into tears and called Tom crying. We're so excited to be able to put this behind us now and move forward. It feels so good to finally have a solid answer and not wonder/question/worry about all the what if's for the rest of our pregnancy. Our genetic counselor also mentioned that if we change our minds, the gender of the baby has been noted in our charts! eeeek - temptation! hehehehe!

Thank you everyone for all of your support, love and prayers. This journey has only been possible because of each & everyone of you that have helped us along the way. We know that one day at a time we can get thru anything but its only with God and YOU that we can face each day.

Love.

133 days to go

The baby is due in 133 days! All the sudden I feel like things are starting to go by fast now. Funny how in the beginning things were moving at a snail's pace and I couldn't wait to start showing and feeling the baby move and now I'm on the fast track to baby town! The baby's been moving pretty actively now, especially at bedtime. The light little flutters have turned into pretty good little kicks and sometimes catch me off guard they're so startling! When I get in bed though and lay down is when he's most active and kicks often. Last night while in bed watching the news I made Tom keep his hand on my belly for quite awhile and sure enough - he felt the baby!!!!!! At first he just felt the super soft motion of the baby moving but then it let him have it and thwapped Tom's hand pretty good! He said he could feel it right on his palm - so awesome! I can't wait for Jake to feel him now, he'll freak out big time! :-)

Half way!

Today marks 20 weeks. Half way - only 20 more to go! According to our weekly updates we receive, the baby is about 10 1/2 ounces now and approximately 10 inches long. Keep in mind though that our baby is measuring larger so I'm guessing our little moose is 11 or 12 inches! Right now our little poppy is practicing its breathing & swallowing on a regular basis. Its also starting to produce meconium....baby poop!!!

Tom & Jake have been amazing helpers around the house the last couple of days while I've rested from the amnio. We did a family cooking night Wednesday night & Tom learned how to make tacos! I did the chopping and Jake set the table & helped with the prep work. It was actually a lot of fun having everyone in the kitchen together. Jake has learned how to officially do laundry on his own and can use both washer & dryer now - WOOHOO! I'm feeling pretty good, very light cramping which is to expected & no big deal. After 72 hours we're in the clear from any risks so we're almost there. I love all the special treatment though and feel so loved & well taken care of! My girlfriend came over yesterday & brought me coffee & kept me company for the morning...so super nice! Last night Tom & I skipped cooking and went out to eat which was a nice treat too. I'm feeling quite spoiled! God is truly good.

Here's one of the 3D ultrasound pictures...totally a boy hehehehe!

Love.

Amnio

Whew~ Amnio done and over with! We had our appointment yesterday and everything went great. The baby was out of its tumor pillows and we got to see its sweet little face & the Dr’s got the measurements they needed. I have to take it easy and stay down for the next couple of days as part of the recovery process from the amnio. I have a list of stuff that I can’t do…no lifting, no working out, no power walking, no cleaning, etc and Tom said he’s going to make copies of the instructions and hang them all over the house for me! I’ve been taking it super easy though, following the doctors (and Tom’s) orders and using the time to get caught up on my homework. The counts from the ultrasound looked good and the fluid from the amnio was clear & looked great according to the Dr. We feel good about things & having the procedure behind us we now feel a lot of relief. The results come back in about 7 to 10 days so in the meantime we’ll just sit back and relax. In the ultrasound yesterday the doctor flipped the switch to 3D, it was amazing! We got a couple of super awesome pictures of the baby that I’ll post separately once I’ve uploaded them. 3D really made it look like an actual baby though and now we’re even more convinced that it’s a boy!  Maybe we should start working on boy names; we can’t seem to agree on any, although Tom and I work great under pressure so maybe we’ll figure it out the week before the baby comes! Tomorrow I’m 20 weeks – half way marker!

Moose!

I almost forgot! Our baby is going to be a MOOSE! I had mentioned that at my last regular checkup my Dr said my uterus is measuring larger than how far I was. Well at last weeks ultrasound the Dr measured the baby and said its measurements are much larger than for where I'm at. According to the measurements I'm 8 days bigger than how far I am.  Of course, right?? Little chunker! Jake was 10 lbs...wonder what this one will be! eeek!

Dr appt update

I love the holidays! Holiday eating has taken on new meaning being pregnant! Absolutely UH-MAZING! Yum!!!! I think the only other person that ate more than I did was Tom! HA! He loooooves pumpkin pie! :-)

So I'm a little over 19 weeks now, the baby's about 6 inches & weighs around 8 1/2 ounces. We met with our genetic counselor last week to discuss the AFP test results & had another ultrasound. Its always fun to see our little poppy! But once again, little stinker was being stubborn and refusing to cooperate. They discovered about a month ago that I have fibroid tumors growing on my uterus, there's now 3 of them, decent sized but all benign & fairly common. Typically they just continue to monitor them to make sure they don't grow too large & don't block the birthing process (the increase in hormones causes them to grow during pregnancy) and on occasion they can cause pain as they outgrow their blood supply - a process called degenerative. One of mine became degenerative (oh boy!) & about 3 weeks ago I was in the most agonizing pain you could possibly imagine. I thought for sure I was losing the baby! It was so scary and painful, lasted about 8 days but thank God it passed & everything is okay now. Hopefully it doesn't happen again, no guarantees though! Anyway...the baby has taken a fond liking to my tumors & has chosen to nestle itself waaaay down in between them...like they're little tumor pillows! So during the ultrasound, they couldn't take all the measurements of the head like they wanted because the little guy was too busy burrowing itself & hiding. They tried all the same tricks as before- lay on your side, jiggling my stomach, go to the bathroom - the best though was when the Dr came in & tilted the table back as far as it could possibly go to try to get the baby to come out! I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride as I was suspended in the air almost upside down! hahaha!

Our stubborn little stinker has gotten us another ultrasound appointment scheduled for tomorrow. I'm not going to complain - another visit where we can see the munchkin & get more pictures is always awesome! At last weeks appointment they didn't detect any soft markers or indicators for down syndrome but they're not always detected via ultrasound. Tomorrow they'll take the head measurements & re-count the nuchal folds. We've also decided to go ahead and get the amnio done tomorrow. At this point there has been so many appointments, discussions, ultrasounds, etc that we're just pretty done with it all & would rather just know what's going on. The amnio will give us an accurate result of what we can expect - either everything will be okay OR everything will still be okay and we can become better prepared. All in God's hands now.  Keep us in your prayers!

Love.

Dr appt.

Yesterday I had my routine monthly check up and all is well! I've gained a total of 5 lbs now, right on track & feeling good! The baby's heartbeat sounded strong & healthy. The Dr did mention that my uterus was larger than normal for how far along I am which is fine and can mean a variety of things...a large baby, extra amniotic fluid, baby is further along in pregnancy, baby could be in an unusual position or simply the baby decided to have a growth spurt this month.  Tom & I both think BIG baby! Jake was 10 lbs and I've heard rumors that your 2nd is bigger. I don't know how true that is but if it is man oh man I'm in trouble! Besides, its a fact that small babies don't exist in my family, guaranteed to be a little chunker!

 

We also got our test results back for our 2nd trimester screening, the AFP test. They combine this with the 1st trimester screening to have a more precise integrated result. Our new test result for down syndrome has increased to a 1 in 99 chance. Not the direction we wanted the number to go but still not necessarily something that's throwing us into a frenzy or state of panic. We've been given the option to have an amnio done which would give us a 100% conclusive answer but we're still not sure how we feel about having that done. We have an appointment with our genetic counselor next Wednesday along with our big ultrasound where they can find out the sex...but we aren't! We're keeping it a surprise! Sorry everyone, you have to wait another 4 1/2 months to find out what we're having! Tom's been referring to it more recently as a boy but who knows! Every week I flip flop and think girl? noooo...boy? We just have to wait and see....

 

Love.

Baby moved

Oh my gosh last night I felt the baby move!!!!! Awwww it was so exciting and completely caught me off guard! Late last night, Jake & I were cuddled on the chair together watching TV and Elvis came over & was making us laugh hysterically. Elvis was trying to cram himself in between the two of us & cuddle with us. He was licking us and pushing between us and we were laughing SO hard! It was like "Attack from the cling on!" As soon as Jake & I calmed down and stopped laughing I felt this little kick - like popcorn popping! It was just once but it was so noticeable and distinct. I think all of the laughing and excitement got the baby excited and reacting, it heard its little family having so much fun & wanted to join in. As soon as I felt it I told Tom & Jake and we were all so excited. I told Jake that the baby could hear our voices now & that it's really important to talk to it all the time. So then Jacob sang it a song! He sang to my belly Sublime's song "Santeria!" Too cute! Such a special moment!

17 week update

Today I'm 17 weeks & the baby is definitely popping out now!



This weeks update: The baby is the size of a turnip now (see the size below!) and is about 5 inches long. The baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone & the umbilical cord is growing stronger & thicker. The baby weighs about 5 ounces & can now move its joints and is developing sweat glands! So exciting!! Our little turnip is growing bigger & bigger. In last weeks update it said to get ready for a big growth spurt, that the baby will be doubling in size over the next few weeks. Eeeeeek! Going to get much bigger!

Right now I'm feeing good, most of my eating habits have gone back to normal. I'm still eating meat - for those of you who didn't know, I was a vegetarian before I got pregnant but right around 2 months along I started craving meat & have been eating it again for the last 2 months. The 1st trimester all I wanted was carbs & cheese though & hated anything good for you. Thank God that's over and I'm eating more normally again...with the exception of a few weird things. For example, since I've been pregnant I HATE gum. For some reason I just can't stand chewing it for more than a couple of minutes. And I also hate yogurt, which I'm a little sad about because I usually eat yogurt everyday. But really all in all I LOVE food. Food has never tasted sooooo unbelievably good before. I mean, my PB&J sandwiches are UH-MAZING! I'm loving every minute of eating! Yuuuuuum!

Love.



First trimester screening

In the first trimester we opted to have the 1st trimester screening test done, something I was totally unfamiliar with as it was not offered when I was pregnant with Jake 12 years ago. It's a newer test that consists of a blood test and an ultrasound where they count the nuchal fold on the baby's neck. The test determines whether or not your baby is at risk for Down Syndrome or Trisonomy 18. I was about 13 weeks along when we had this done so it was amazing to see how developed the baby was! And what a little stinker it was during the ultrasound! The ultrasound tech wanted to get a few side shots but the baby was completely refusing to cooperate. The tech even jiggled my stomach a few times and had me coughing really hard to try & get it to move but to no avail! At first all it wanted to do was lay on its tummy, then it finally moved but this time into a kneeling position. After 15 minutes of this, the tech allowed me to use the restroom, hoping that maybe this would get the baby into a better position to finish the test. Well....let's just say we've got a defiant one on our hands because when I came back the baby was doing a handstand!!!! So funny!

The next part of our appointment was a little bit scary though. Some of our test #'s with our results weren't quite what we thought they were going to be. For someone around my age a typical # you would expect to see would be a 1 in 600 chance of your baby having Down Syndrome. To test positive your # would have to fall below 100. Our test score was 1 in 130...not quite testing positive but right outside of that scope and what the genetic counselor called a "high, low risk" chance. We got to spend a lot of time talking to the genetic counselor (she was so great!) about what all of this means, other options to confirm things...Amnio, CVS, or we could simply wait until the 2nd trimester test for the next batch of blood work and ultrasound. We discussed it at length and decided that we didn't really want to have any invasive procedures done at that point and that we would just wait until the next test in the 2nd trimester.

Tom & I really haven't let this rattle us too much. Of course the first couple of days after the appointment we spent trying to absorb everything & process and of course were a bit shocked and scared at first but after talking things out & praying we've been able to keep a pretty good perspective. I mean, when we look at it this way...our baby has over a 99% chance of being perfectly healthy & fine! Sounds good to us! We just get to let go now and let God take care of us and our little bambino. Everything will be fine, it always is!  

And here I am at about 12 weeks...already starting to pop out!

PREGNANT!

Finally! Here's our blog, the Bowman Baby blogspot.  I had every desire to start this earlier in our pregnancy but due to morning sickness, vomiting, nausea and fatigue it was a far off, distant dream that plain and simply was not happening. Now however at 4 months along I'm feeling much much better!  Thank goodness! The first trimester was quite a doozey...I wasn't expecting to be as sick as I was but that's how pregancy works - you just never know what to expect. Morning sickness aside, we're so excited to meet our sweet little muffin face and to share all of the exciting things that are happening and taking place in our lives.

We found out that we were pregnant SUPER early. We were only 4 weeks along when I took the test! (We were just a little excited! hahaha) The lady at the Dr's office even giggled when I told her how far along I was. She thought it was so cute that we were so anxious and excited. That sure made for a long wait though until our first appointment, they don't want to see you until your atleast 8 weeks so we had 4 agonizing weeks to go. Once the initial appointment was out of the way and Baby B was confirmed it all started to become so much more real. "We're having a baby!!!!" Then the morning sickness....ugh. Then it was definitely all too real. The morning sickness kicked in at about 6 weeks and didn't let up until 12 weeks. Tom has been an amazing help though and has stepped up 100% to help take care of me, clean the house, run to the store, help with Jake, cook dinner (which is very cute because Tom's culinary skills are limited to taquito's, quesadilla's, grilled cheese and pancakes...although in the process of becoming Mr. Mom he's now added burrito's to his list of homecooked meals!) whatever was needed though Tom was willingly there for me. Thank goodness for helpful loving hubbie's like mine!

Tom is going to be the most terrific dad ever, I think this pregnancy has already been a great preparation for what's in store! Tom loves reading the weekly updates on how the baby has grown & changed, he's so amazed at the process. Jacob is so excited to have a little brother (yes, brother - he refuses to acknowledge the possibility that it could be a girl.) And our sweet little pup pup Elvis...well he has no idea how much our lives are going to change. My hours have recently been cut back at work so I've had a lot more time to spend with Elvis and he's become quite the little cling on.  Things might be hard at first when he realizes he's not the center of attention and we'll have to make sure to give him lots of extra love. We know he's going to love the baby though and I'm already planning little photo op's in my head of the dog, Jake and the baby together! hahaha!  

We'll be posting more updates soon to fill in the blanks of everything that's been happening. God has been so good to us though and has really blessed our little family. We're so excited for this journey and can't wait to meet our little Baby B!