Baby Girl

So the rumors are true, Nixon’s going to be a big brother July 9! He has no idea what is going on of course, but we are terrified so excited! I'm 21 weeks tomorrow (Feb. 26) and there has been so much going on with this baby, I don’t know where to begin!

When I found out I was pregnant I went on the search for a “big brother” shirt to surprise Jim. He was working a half day that day so I planned on him wearing it when Jim got home and it would be a surprise. Welllllll, Jim got home later than planned and Nixon ended up falling asleep. Jim was still surprised when he eventually realized what Nixon’s shirt said.

We found out I was pregnant back in October and it wasn’t long after that the morning sickness started setting in. When we were in New York (!!!) That’s when smells and such really started getting to me. It’s been so different than when I was pregnant with Nixon because the morning sickness would last all day with little to no relief. With Nixon I would be sick, throw up, and be better around noon. This one, no, She has other plans. Sick all day, throw up randomly, and continue to be sick. For a few weeks I had a major aversion to anything sweet. I wanted nothing to do with cookies, cakes, ice cream, anything like that and it was great! That however, has subsided and I could probably live exclusively off of air heads.

20 weeks with Nixon vs 19 weeks with baby girl

I definitely get my cravings, and It’s always around 3 in the afternoon. I think I text Jim everyday saying I’m craving something different. One day it was a corn dog and onion rings, and 5 minutes later it was tacos. I’m telling you, pregnancy is the craziest thing.

This next part is mostly for me, and kinda TMI, but hey, it’s my blog and if you don’t like it, move along :)
Now we are kind of caught up to now. Besides being sick, this pregnancy hasn’t been all roses like it was with Nixon. My biggest concern with him was that he was going to be huge by his due date! This one, well, it’s been much more rocky. Everything up to 19 weeks was great besides the morning sickness! I started to show much much earlier, and that was depressing. We Had the big anatomy ultrasound on Feb 12 and found out that it was a girl! So many emotions! We also found out that there was a possibility that I had a second lobe on my placenta. I also have a total Placenta Previa, meaning that the placenta is attached low in the uterus and completely covering the cervix. As the uterus grows, the placenta often goes with it, uncovering the cervix and I can have a normal delivery. If It doesn’t, then it’s a c-section. They sent me in to have a level 2 ultrasound to see if the placenta had the second lobe. After an hour of poking and two doctors later, it was determined that I just have one, massive placenta. The reason they couldn’t tell if it were one or two is because at the very bottom there’s a very large placental lake. The doctor described it like the placenta is like a sponge, and some openings are bigger than others, thus creating a lake. It really is massive! You could see the blood flowing through it in the ultrasound, probably the craziest thing I’ve ever seen! So because the lake is so big, and in the perfect place right above the cervix, they couldn’t tell if the front and the back were connected. They are connected! We also learned that massive placentas make massive babies, that I was less than excited to hear as you can imagine!

Fast forward to Sunday, Feb 22. We had a really low key day or just lounging around the house (we skipped stake conference, we have a 2 year old for heavens sake!) I started to feel a little crampy and annoyed but ignored it for awhile. After dinner I went to the bathroom and wouldn’t you know it, blood. More than a little, less than a lot. Naturally I freaked out and started crying and Jim called the nurse who then had the on call Doctor give us a call. He said if it got worse than to go to the ER ASAP, but if it lightened or went away just call Dr. Huish in the morning and he would probably have me come in just to make sure things were ok. I took it easy the rest of the night and the bleeding completely stopped. When I called the office in the morning the nurse was very very serious when she said “you need to go to the hospital right now because of what’s going on with your placenta”. So again, I started crying, called Jim home from work, dropped Nixon off and headed to the hospital. Once we were there they hooked me up to the machine that checks to see if you are having contractions and asked me a million questions while they tried to find a heart beat. It took her so long and she kept saying “there’s the placenta, we can hear the placenta” and I was like uhhh ya, I know. It’s massive, but where’s the heartbeat? Eventually she found it and it was strong and everything sounded good. After being hooked up and them calling Dr. Huish they said everything was fine and to go home. They said I needed to take it easy, no heavy lifting and absolutely no working out. I started laughing, she clearly doesn’t know me at all! I went and got Nixon and took it pretty easy the rest of the day. There’s only so much you can do with a two year old and taking it easy.
The next day, Tuesday, we went to the mall to pick up a gift, walked to the mail box and that was the extent of our activity. When I got home, sure enough I was spotting. It wasn’t as much as before, so I wasn’t too worried. I then took it easier the rest of the night but kept spotting. It got lighter as the night went on so that was good! I didn’t call the doctor because it was after 5, and I knew they were just going to say to watch it and if it got worse to come in. So Wednesday morning I went back and forth on if I should call or not because it wasn’t as bad, and I really didn’t want to go back to the hospital. I ended up calling and the nurse said to come down and they would do an ultrasound just to make sure things were fine because they didn’t do know while we were at the hospital. So I hopped in the car and went down there. I got right in and after taking a quick look around, it was determined that things were fine, again. The Ultrasound tech thought that maybe the baby had been kicking the placental lake sending blood through the cervix. As terrible and scary as that is, its kind of best case. It’s a possibility that the blood could get to the baby and we obviously don’t want that. Dr. Huish is suppose to call back and give me further instruction. From what I’ve read, these are all commons things to happen with a placenta previa, especially at this point in pregnancy. It could last for a few weeks, or it could result in bed rest. I’m really hoping its just a few weeks and everything moves up and we can get over all of this… not to mention I’m kind of over all these doctor visits! In the last 3 weeks I’ve had 4 appointments, and 3 ultrasounds. It’s a bit crazy! Hopefully we will have some answers soon and I wont be put on bed rest! Here’s the ultrasound from this morning to take us out!

Thumbs Up For Two!

Nixon is at such a fun age! I just want to bottle up all of the cute things he does and save them for a rainy day!! He is just getting over a cold and for those 10 days it was ROUGH! But he is back to his normal self and I just keep thinking “Were you always this happy? You ARE a nice boy after all!” I feel like such a bad mom because my documenting his growing up had lacked a lot lately! I just want to remember all the funny things he does! So here’s a list, mostly just for me.

-He is quiet. This could be for many reasons, but most people just comment on how quiet he is!
-He isn’t speaking much, but we are leaps and bounds from where we were! He actually was just approved for Physical Therapy (so random) along with Speech Therapy! I couldn’t be more excited about it!
-His first word was Shoe. He’s been saying “dada” for a long time, but he used it for EVERYTHING! I couldn’t say that “dada” was his first word because it wasn’t specific enough. He always look at family pictures and point to everyone in the picture. There’s one picture that he would bring us and go through the family and then point to his feet and say “Shooooooooooooe?” Everything ends in a question, but he’s not actually asking a question if that makes sense.
-His vocabulary lately have really taken off! I’m so proud! We have been working so hard to get him talking more! He says, daddy, doggy (those two sound the same, it’s all in the context) Cheeee (Chief), Cheese (also interchangeable with Chief) ch ch ch cheeee (no no no Chief) uh oh, gagarooooooooooo (kangaroo), uhoooooooon (ballon), poooooop, and shoe. He can say hot, but its more of the sound you would make if you didn’t like something, like EH! I need to get it on video, it’s pretty funny.

-He really knows his animal sounds and it really just kills me! He will randomly start saying “ha ha ha” and I’ll look around and sure enough he’s spotted a monkey. He knows the sounds of a monkey, dog, snake, bear, lion, owl, bunny, guinea pig, and bird. He’s pretty hit or miss when it comes to cat and dog. The easiest ones!

-We got him a scooter for his birthday, and he doesn’t exactly understand it. He mostly likes to push it around instead of riding it.
-If he sees something flying like a plane he will make a woosh sound and fly his hand through the air. It’s pretty cute. How many times have I said that now?
-He is still a good sleeper for the most part. He goes down at 8:30ish but doesn’t usually fall asleep for awhile. I can count on him waking up after 8:00 95% of the time. Sometimes the landscapers come early, or the garage door will wake him up. He also takes a nap from 2-5 everyday. We like sleep in our house!

-He loves his doggy. Loves him. He loves to sit and feed him, and follow him around the house. His extra favorite thing to do is go in and out of the doggy door, and play in his water. It’s probably one of my least favorites.
-He’s a pretty picky eater, no surprise. He goes through phases of what he’s willing to eat, especially with fruit! I can always count on him eating apple sauce and usually mac and cheese. Right now he will not eat strawberries, bananas, apples, and he’s never really liked oranges. Every morning he eats two pieces of toast! So if he’s willing to eat, he will eat a toooon!

-Last week he figured out how to open the fridge. I even caught him climbing in the fridge to get his sippy cup. Ugh.
-He’s completely iPhone savvy *facepalm* We only have ourselves to blame. Not my proudest moment.
-At his two year appointment he weighed in at 29lbs, (50%) and 50% for height. His head however, it’s up there in the 75th still! He’s no longer above average, but everyone comments on how big he is!

-On Tuesdays and Fridays I can always count on an extra happy baby because that’s when the recycle man and trash man come! He loves to run over to the window and watch as the trucks drive past our house!

-He loves to read books, especially if they are a lift the flap book! He loves the book “Where is spot?” and “Where is babies Belly Button”. We read those two every night before bed!

-He loves to cheer for himself after he’s done something. He will finish reading a book and close it and clap. Or he will stand on the bottom stair and “count” to three (he just makes three sounds in a row) and jumps down and he will clap.

-Nixon LOVES his dad. LOVES him. This last weekend I sat back and watched how every time he would get upset or hurt he would run right past me who was doing nothing, and run to his dad. It’s no surprise he will say daddy and hasn’t ever muttered the word “mama”.

-He loves to play outside. He opens the back door and just comes and goes all day bringing all the toys back and forth with him. And yes, he is hitting Chief with a spatula and thought it was the funniest thing ever. And no, I do not use that spatula when I cook anymore, it’s for projects only!
-He loves to get out of the house and go. If I say “we’re gonna go buh bye” and I’m not ready he will run to the garage door and if I’m not there in fast enough he may or may not throw a fit. Last week he opened the door to the garage probably 10 times so Jim took him outside to play and he just kept going to the cars and trying to get in! He really wanted to go for a ride so for a ride we went! He clearly wears the pants in this house.

-He’s a pretty good traveler! I can’t remember how many flights hes been on in his short two years, but He is totally comfortable with the process. He knows we get on the plane and then it’s a free for all with the light button over head. He also knows not to push the stewardess button!
-He is the cutest little arm folder and head bower in the world.
-When we get to wherever we are going like the store he always waves at everyone as we walk in and then after we check out. I know people are waiting for him to actually speak “hi” but we are working on it! He started saying it last week but I really have to work it out of him!
-He is the boy that cried wolf with poop. I think anytime theres action in his diaper he points to it and says “pooooop”. It’s pretty funny but also helpful because when I know he actually did poop he will only say it once hes completely done.

-I can’t believe I’ve made if this far without mentioning his LOVE of Toy Story! All day, everyday! He got Woody and Buzz for Christmas and Its been the best ever. He makes Buzz fly, and loves to watch the movies with them by his side.
We Love this little guy of ours! I feel so lucky to be his mom and that I get to stay at home with him all day and hang out! He really is so funny, and he’s my little buddy! Seriously, Nikkins Monster, you’re my favorite!

This picture was taken in July, when he was about 17 months, but it’s still a favorite