Stubborn Placenta!

As you can probably guess by the title of my post, I still have a low-lying placenta. However, it has moved a little and my doctor referred to it as "marginal". She said at this point she wouldn't automatically plan on a c-section and felt that it is still possible to have a vaginal delivery. I believe we'll re-check it one more time at 32 weeks. If it still in the same spot, then I'm not 100% sure what will be done. As much as I'm afraid of having a c-section, I'm also scared of the possiblity of heavy bleeding if my placenta is borderline low at the time of delivery. I suppose I'll ask my OB more about this at my next visit.

The good news is that the Choroid Plexus Cyst that was present on Wyatt's brain at our 20 week ultrasound has completely disappeared!! Praise. The. Lord. This was something I've prayed about every single day since that appointment, and I am so incredibly thankful that it's been answered. We were a little nervous about it going into today's ultrasound, and are feeling very relieved. Wyatt looked healthy and had a steady heartbeat of 145bpm. While we didn't get full body measurements to estimate his size (since that wasn't ordered for this ultrasound), the doctor told me that the body part that the tech did measure (not sure what that was...the head?) was measuring to be 29 weeks 4 days. So assuming the rest of the body is following that same proportion, he is still measuring a little bit ahead. My belly also measured about 28.5 cm, which is right on track.

Overall it was a good visit. My next appointment is in 2 weeks, on July 11th. I'm sure these next few weeks until then will fly by.

Love,
Ashley

28 Weeks- Was That a Foot?!

I am now in the third trimester...the home stretch! And I've gotta say, time really flies when you're...not pregnant. I feel like I've been carrying this baby FOREVER. Don't get me wrong, I don't by any means hate being pregnant. I've been lucky that I haven't been very uncomfortable (famous last words). It just seems like it was decades ago that we found out we were expecting again. But I know these last 12 weeks or so will go by quickly. Especially because we've got a lot to do. We've finally started working on the nursery. So far we've gotten the crib set up, and have started hauling out the former furniture that was in there to make way for Wyatt's stuff. As we live in a rental home, we're not painting the walls. Thankfully, they are a neutral tan color, so it will work out great. It's situations like this that really make me miss our home in Omaha, which we still own and are renting out. I miss having a space that's truly ours that we can decorate how we want. But there's nothing I can do about that at the moment I suppose. Moving on...

The latest baby development is the fetal movement that has progressed over the past 2 weeks. While I still get "pops" here and there, I now also get rolling and pushing movments. I can actually feel body parts (feet? hands? rear?) move across my stomach under my hand. It's awesome, creepy, hilarious and fascinating all at once. Sometimes I swear this is going to happen.

Okay, so maybe there's not an alien singing show tunes inside of me, but at times I wonder what the heck is going on in there! With Ethan, I never got to experience this type of movement. His movement plateaued at popping, and then declined. So while it is quite uncomfortable at times (especially when he rolls under my belly button-ouch!), I absolutely love this new phase of movement with Wyatt. I'm anxious for our ultrasound on Monday to see how big he is. He sure feels big to me when I feel him move, so we'll see how he measures. I also am very curious to see if my placenta has moved or not. If not, I believe we'll do another follow-up ultrasound in a few more weeks to check again. Let's hope it's already moved!

Here's the latest prego pic:

Have a great weekend!
Love,
Ashley

3-D Ultrasound Pics!

We had our 3-D ultrasound today. When we first started the ultrasound, Wyatt was being a bit stubborn and facing away from the screen. After a short break of walking around and drinking cold water, he finally turned to a better position and we got to see his face! Here are the shots:

Some shots of his entire face




In a Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy moment



Sucking on some fingers


We also got a few regular photos:




We were very excited to see him again, and love the photos we got. I think his little lips are so cute! We have another ultraound scheduled in just over a week at my OB's office. Hopefully we'll get some good pics then as well, and will know how big he is.

I couldn't wait to share our photos with you. Hope you enjoyed them!

Love,
Ash

26 Weeks, 27 Years Old

Yesterday marked 26 weeks for me and was also my 27th birthday. I had a great day, despite the fact that most of it was spent driving back to Springfield!
According to my What to Expect book, the 3rd trimester begins at 28 weeks, which means I am getting very close! I can't believe I'm almost 2/3 of the way there...this summer is going to fly by and September will be here before we know it!

The other day I was reading some of my posts from last year, and I came across the one I wrote on my 26th birthday. It's been quite a year for me, and it feels sort of bittersweet to be at this place in my life. Last year I wondered if Ethan would be celebrating with me, or if I might possibly be pregnant again. I'm sad that he's not here, but am also filled with excitement and happiness about my pregnancy with Wyatt. Again, I look forward to the year ahead and hope that it is full of joyful memories.




Love,
Ashley

Shower Pics

As promised, I have some pics to share from my shower on Sunday. My mother-in-law took tons of pics and was able to load them onto a disc for me. Here's just a few of them:

My lovely hostess and I


The grandmas-to-be...


...and great-grandma-to-be




His first pair of jeans!


Completely surprised that my sister-in-law's mom found my fabric AND made me gifts!


Isn't this quilt amazing?





It was a great day and I can't say thank you enough for the thoughtful, generous gifts we received.

Love,
Ashley

Back In My Homaha

Keith has meetings all week in Omaha and I decided to join him for a trip home. I figured it would be much better than staying home alone with the dogs being bored. We drove up on Saturday and I had my first shower on Sunday (pics to follow soon). My sister-in-law hosted it and did a fantastic job. I had a great time with family and friends. It's been a lot of fun registering for baby items and getting things prepared for his arrival. As you might recall, this is something that I didn't get to do (well, didn't feel comfortable doing) when I was pregnant with Ethan. I have to say that I am relishing it, and am so thankful. We now have some of our major items such as the pack n play, stroller, car seat, and bouncer swing. Next on our list of things to do when we get home is to start clearing the room we'll use for the nursery. We don't have all of the furniture or bedding yet, but we did order the crib yesterday. That's a start! The theme of the room will be vintage cowboy, based on this "Little Cowpoke" fabric:



There is a bedding website that carries a set with this fabric, but the 4 piece set is quite expensive (as in, $350 expensive...no thank you). What I'm opting to do is buy some of the items a la carte (such as the crib sheet, changing pad cover, diaper stacker, etc) and have my cousin help me with the crib skirt and valance. My sister-in-law's mother is a talented sewer and quilter and surprised me with a quilt, burp cloths, and wipe carrier that all incorporate this theme. They are sooo cute! As soon as I get get the photos uploaded I will share them (I forgot to bring the USB cord for my camera with me). I wish I were talented in that area, but I can hardly sew a hole in my shirt. Anyway, I'm excited to get going on the baby's room once we get home.

Speaking of the baby, we finally decided on a name! I had a girl's name all set to go before our big ultrasound and, naturally, had not given much thought to boy names. It took us a while to get it narrowed down, but we finally have it. The baby's name will be Wyatt Keith Hoff. We came to this decision a few weeks ago, but I wanted to practice saying it and referring to him as Wyatt in private before I announced it, just in case I changed my mind. I'm glad to finally be able to talk to him using his name, as it makes me feel more connected to him.

That's the latest news for now. I'll be sure to post some pics as soon as I can.

Love,
Ashley

Glucose Results

I passed! Yippee!! And I'm not anemic (apparently they tested for that too). Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go celebrate with some ice cream and pixie sticks... ;)

Love,
Ashley

Mmmmm....Glucola!

Today's appointment went well. Shortly after arriving, I was handed a bottle of orange Glucola. Sadly, there were no other flavor options given to me. I have to admit it tasted pretty good. It sort of reminded me of a freeze pop...more specifically, the liquid that's always left at the bottom of it after you eat the popsicle. If it wasn't for the fact that you have to chug it in under 5 minutes, I'd say it's borderline refreshing. Well, that might be an exaggeration...but it's definitely not unpleasant.

After entertaining myself with a magazine for an hour, I had my blood drawn. The nurse told me she would call me in the next day or so with the results. Of course I'm hoping to have normal results like last time. After that I saw my doctor. It was a pretty short and sweet appointment with her. Baby's heartbeat was a healthy 157 bpm, and my belly measured about 26cm. So I guess I can stop asking Keith if it looks like I'm growing. I'm sure he's tired of convincing me so. :) My next appointment is June 27th, and we'll do an ultrasound to see if my placenta has moved or not. We've been praying that it has or will (or if nothing else, doesn't cause any complications). That's all I've got for now, but I'll post an update after I hear the results of the glucose test.

Love,
Ashley