Holiday Surprise

We received quite the holiday surprise last month...Baby Maxwell #2 is on its way, due July 18, 2013!

9weeks, 5days

 13 weeks

We are absolutely thrilled, but I think we are still in shock!  Long story short...  We believed I was pregnant right before we left on the Disney cruise.  I had a positive pregnancy test, but thought it was very early, probably only about 5 weeks along.  While we were on the cruise, I began cramping and bleeding, and thought I was having a miscarriage.  We were devastated, but being on vacation was actually a bit of a blessing that kept us distracted and in good spirits.  I went to the doctor as soon as I got home (1 week after suspected miscarriage).  They did the usual blood work.  A week later, the nurse called me with my blood results and said surprisingly my hormone levels were already at a non-pregnant state.  It typically takes a few weeks to a few months for the body to completely return to normal.  That was the case for me in my past miscarriages.  They believe I had a chemical pregnancy, which means sperm met egg just long enough for me to think I was pregnant, and then nature took its course and basically took care of the pregnancy on its own.  Its fairly common and most women don't even know they are pregnant when this happens.  So as it turns out, the bleeding on the cruise was my next period.  That's exactly when I expected to start, I just thought I was pregnant at the time.  So, by the time we found out that my body was back in working order, we had spent a good 3 weeks not being careful.  Honestly I didn't think anything of it though.  We planned to go back to the fertility doctor and get the ball rolling with some precautionary testing so we would hopefully not have to go through this again.  Both of us decided between deer season, Cooter traveling for work, and the holidays, we would wait until January.

Fast forward a few weeks...  Around mid-November I started feeling bad again.  Sometimes nauseous, sometimes tired, but overall just blah.  I kept telling Cooter I just felt like I was in a funk.  This was all the week before Thanksgiving.  I'd been at my parents eating tamales, then Nicole and I had a girls day full of candy and cokes at the movies.  From there I took off to the deer lease, which is always a feeding frenzy, and then we had Thanksgiving.  I honestly wrote it all off to eating terribly and not exercising...hence, being in a funk.  Well the following week I started truly feeling nauseous on a daily basis, worsening each day.  Although I didn't think it was possible, pregnancy was creeping into the back of my head.  For one, if I was pregnant, I certainly didn't want to find out so early like last time, just to lose it.  So, I waited.  I had no idea of my dates, no idea when this could've happened, so I planned to test around December 9, which would be about 2 months past whatever happened on the cruise.  About a week before that I happened to be at Target and seriously had an overwhelming suspicion that this was it, so I bought 4 tests.  Most tests recommend using them first thing in the morning so your urine is the strongest.  I couldn't stand it.  About 3pm that day, after lots and lots of water, I took a test.  I bought the fancy digital ones, preparing to wait my 3 minutes for results.  Less than 60 seconds later, with watery pee, I had a positively pregnant sign!  Absolute, complete shock.  

I tested over the next 4 days, all the with same outcome.  I called my doctor and left a long and probably confusing message trying to explain the situation.  I was kind of embarrassed, but they acted like it was no big deal and scheduled me for an appointment.  They sent me for blood work the day before my appointment so we would have some numbers to match up with the pending ultrasound so they could date the pregnancy.  At my appointment we were sent to ultrasound first and Cooter and were extremely nervous.  If you remember, 2 of our miscarriages before Ty were discovered via ultrasound.  Part of me wanted to keep my eyes closed the whole time.  The tech said she would try abdominally and if that didn't work, we'd do a vaginal ultrasound.  With Ty, I didn't have an abdominal ultrasound until I was 12wks.  So I prepared myself to not expect much at first.  But oh my!  Right away, there it was...a nice round sac with a little baby blob inside...and most importantly, that amazing little flicker right in the middle!!!  I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped wide open.  Even better...she let us HEAR it!  Here I am, in denial that I'm either not pregnant at all or that this baby won't survive, and we're listening to that little miracle's heart beating away!  The baby measured 7 weeks 1 day (again, completely shocked that I was that far along!), and had a heart rate of 153bpm.  We met with a smiling nurse immediately afterwords, who was happy to report that my blood hormone levels were exactly where they were supposed to be and better!  My hcg (pregnancy hormone) levels were that of an 8wk fetus and my progesterone was topped out (I took medication for 12wks with Ty to sustain my progesterone levels)!  

We left the doctor, heads spinning a bit and were told to return in two weeks for a follow-up dating ultrasound and my first prenatal appointment.  I continued to get more and more sick in the following weeks.  Enough so that it was almost debilitating.  I couldn't get anything done because I felt so horrible all day long.  At our next appointment, we were sent to ultrasound and once again Cooter and became complete wrecks.  Despite feeling sick constantly, and having every pregnancy symptom under the sun, we were still in doubt that everything was okay.  Another abdominal ultrasound...another immediate picture of our baby.  This time it actually looked like a baby, complete with arms and legs moving all around.  Oh my goodness.  This is really happening!  An unbelievably healthy heart rate of 189bpm this time!  Ty's was never that high.  Even better, baby measured 9 weeks, 5 days this time.  Again, blood work to match, everything right where it should be!  The nurse prescribed me zofran for my nausea and for the fact that I lost 2lbs since my first appointment.  Come back in a few weeks for my NT screen.  

We had to do our NT screen through Texas Children's because the sonographer at my OB's office is no longer there.  It was a wonderful experience though.  Since we had to go to a specialist, we didn't feel rushed at all.  In fact, we ended up with a 30 minute long ultrasound due to the fact that the baby wasn't quite cooperating for the measurements they needed to take.  It was so neat watching it move and stretch.  This baby did not stop moving the entire time we were there! Heart beat of 171bpm!  They just called yesterday with the results from the NT screen and all of the blood work to test for genetic abnormalities (downs syndrome and Trisomy 13 & 18) was negative, which is perfect!  They did say that my hcg (pregnancy hormone) levels are very high, in the 95th percentile, which would explain why I have been so sick this time around.  Funny, to get pregnant with Ty, I had to take hcg shots to stimulate egg production.  This time every pregnancy hormone is sky rocketing all on its own.  See what I mean?!?  Its truly a miracle! I followed up with an appointment with my OB today and all was well.  It took longer to drive there and back than the appointment did.  They listened to the baby's heartbeat, which was immediately found in the 160's.  The doctor came in, felt my belly and said see me in 4 weeks.  The only cause for concern so far has been my blood pressure.  Its been in the 130's which is very unusual for me.  Usually mine is easily in the 120's, if not around 115.  Its still early, so no biggie, just hoping that it will go down on its own.  That's one pregnancy issue I'd rather not deal with!  I'll be 18 weeks at my next visit, and although they didn't say anything, that's early enough to find out the sex of the baby.  I'm thinking they will make me wait until 20wks, but I'll probably still get my hopes up.  Next appointment is Valentine's Day!  

This is a huge reason as to why I can't seem to keep up with anything these days!  I haven't hardly uploaded any new pics of Ty in months and my blog posts are few and far between.  I am finally feeling better enough to keep up with a little more than just Ty and the laundry.  Between the nausea and extreme exhaustion (seriously, some days I feel narcoleptic!) I have struggled to get anything done.  At almost 14 weeks my nausea is mostly contained to mornings and evenings.  Unfortunately that means I wake up all night long feeling very sick.  I'm having to eat every few hours to combat it all.  What's been worse this time around too is my headaches.  We've had so many cold, dreary days lately, maybe its just a vitamin deficiency.  I'm SO looking forward to being able to get out and exercise again.  I know Ty and Laila miss it too!  

Here's hoping the rest of this pregnancy is as blessed as it has been!  

17 - 19 months

Alas, months have come and gone with so much as an update, photo...nothing.  I apologize to my loyal readers.  Time spent in my office is a rarity these days.  It is SO not baby proof and despite the piles and boxes of toys I have available for Ty's entertainment, he insists on playing with everything he shouldn't.  The bookshelf of Pampered Chef catalogs, cookbooks, marketing supplies, door prizes, etc is his go-to spot every time.  The bookshelf is now is complete disarray, but at times I let him go if that means I have a few minutes to pay bills or close out a show.  I soon regret this decision as soon as I turn around.  He has emptied drawers in record time, found piles of card stock or photography equipment...and all of this only keeps him occupied for a teeny, tiny amount of time.  As much as I want and need to write, sometimes there just isn't time when you have a toddler!

Ty and I spent most of the month of December getting over a pretty nasty cold.  He has been sick so few times in his life that when he's down, he seems to take us all with him!  His demeanor is so blue, it just breaks my heart to see him sick.  He also contracted his first case of pink eye.  Luckily the morning he woke up with his conjuncti-funk was the same day his 18 month appointment was scheduled, so we have still avoided our first sick baby visit with the pediatrician!  Ty has grown lots in the last 3 months.  Although he didn't gain much weight, 23lbs 14oz this visit (46th percentile), he lengthened out quite a bit.  He is now 31 inches long (9th percentile), which means he grew 1.25 inches in 3 months!  That's huge for our little boy!  Again he has hit all of the 18 month developmental milestones.  Everyday he learns something new and watching him try to be a little person is such an adventure.  He doesn't go back for a check-up until he's TWO.  Oh my goodness...he's going to be TWO.

So, what can  Ty do now?  As usual, he continues to LOVE being read to.  He comments as we read, anticipates page turns and mimics actions that I always do as I read to him.  We seriously read through all of his books everyday...over and over and again.  He makes animals noises on command and when he sees those animals in books or on TV.  He can do the cow, cat, dog, lion, duck, sheep, and sometimes bird.  He doesn't just walk, he runs ALL the time.  He walks backwards very proficiently now too.  He climbs on the couch by himself if you give him a pillow to step on.  He'll get the step stool out of the pantry just to stand up high.  Yeah, there's trips to the ER in our future...  He likes building with his mega blocks and stacking bowls in the kitchen.  I love watching him meticulously stacking his blocks.  Its amazing how much more motor control he has now.  He can sort shapes, with a little help, but the circles and squares he can figure out on his own.  We've been working on colors everyday, and although I'm pretty sure he has no idea which is which, he can say the color blue.  He brings me his coloring book and crayons all the time, but he more or less empties the crayons from the box while I color a picture.  He drives cars and trucks around and makes sounds as he does so.  How does he know to do that?!?  He is so good at playing independently.  His language skills have probably been the biggest improvement the past couple of months.  On his own he still mumbles and babbles the majority of the time, but if prompted or asked to repeat certain words, he can do so!  He probably has 10-15 words in his vocabulary.  He can also say CiCi now (my mom)!  We're still signing everyday too.  That's still a form of communication and I'm happy with that!

For about a month Ty seemed to have become a more picky eater.  That was no fun.  I hate fighting with him to eat.  He loves breakfast, I never have to ask him to eat in the mornings.  Probably because he picks at his dinner, he's starving when he wakes up!  He will eat for Cooter though.  Not without tears most nights, but Daddy must mean business more than Mommy.  He gags when he thinks he done eating, even if its food that doesn't require being chewed.  Its very frustrating.  Most of it gets worse with teething.  He cut two bottom molars in November and when they popped through he started eating again.  Then when he got sick we went back to the whole, "take one more bite, please" bit.  I know this is just the beginning of this phase, but this too shall pass.  After cutting one more tooth (11 total now!), eating is pretty much back to normal.  Ty's newest fun food for him is apples.  I cut the peel off and give him the whole slice.  He thinks its super fun because I eat them too and I think he believes its some kind of chip because it crunches when he eats it.  He always asks for more!

In an effort to actually get this posted, I am once again posted without any new pictures.  I honestly have not unloaded my camera since Thanksgiving (what is wrong with me?!?).  When I finally get some serious work done in my office, I will get to the pics and do a photo dump post of the last few months.  For those who haven't seen our little man recently, he's grown up SO much since his birthday!  He's such the toddler now!