Long over due post :)

Well, based on the last post, I am pregnant again!  We are so grateful and so excited.  After losing two babies, I wanted to be sure I was pregnant after I got that first SUPER faint line on September 11... I thought I had 'line eye' but when Brian came home, he confirmed that there was a second line there! I took the digital one the next morning.  It's nice to not have to guess with those things!

Yeah, they are all positive. It made me feel better to see that line get darker every morning. I had a lot of blood work to make sure that my hormone levels were rising correctly.  At 5 weeks, 4 days, we had our first sonogram. All we saw was that the gestational sac was located in my uterus (hooray!) and the yolk sac. So, we went back a week later and got to see our little blob and hear the heartbeat.  I was finally able to breathe my first sigh of relief. I knew the chance of miscarriage was lowered significantly if the heartbeat was detected. We took a starting picture:

Goodness, I was tiny. Honestly, the first few weeks, well, heck, until we had our anatomy scan at 17.5 weeks, I was a little skeptical that this would end well for us. Thankfully, this pregnancy has been very easy. I felt sick from weeks 10-14 and was tired until then as well...but, really, I can't complain.  The pregnancy was feeling different from Lauren's pregnancy. My skin was gorgeous this time around and that would have been the last word I would have used to describe my skin with her. I couldn't eat sweets at all during weeks 10-14. I didn't even want ice cream!  Around 14.5 weeks, I started to feel the baby move, which was an enormous relief. I've been so thankful to feel kicks, jabs and punches every day!

On October 24 (my original due date with the ectopic pregnancy), I shared with my students that I was pregnant. It was fun to redeem a date I had been dreading since March.  They have been SO fun and excited for me along the way!

 After my 14 week appointment, my Dr. allowed us to schedule our anatomy scan. We were able to do it before Christmas, but we told our families that the appointment was just a regular check up. We found out we were having a healthy baby and we found out the gender. We kept it a surprise from them for several days. The Sunday before Christmas, Brian's family and my family were all at our house, so we brought out this box.

Lauren and my mom opened the box to find....

BLUE balloons! We're having a little boy!

They look a little freaky in 3D until they get some meat on their bones. I was just 17.5 weeks along. I really wasn't too shocked it was a boy, and I'm excited we will have one of each!  When we started the sonogram, the sonographer put the wand on my belly, and not 2 second later, I knew what we were having. I asked, "Is that what I think it is?" She responded, "Yep, that's a penis."

There's not really much more to share - pregnancy has been easy and uneventful - other than the fact that I have had 3 colds, an ear infection and strep throat since November.  I can't remember what it feels like to feel good. I'm ready for spring.

Here is my most recent belly shot at 23 weeks taken last Saturday in Lawrence (we were fabric shopping for baby bedding) . My best friend Emily is due 3.5 weeks after me with a little girl!