Snipped

Our doctor's appointment brought up an issue that we haven't completely thought through. Will we have baby #3? Or will we undertake a permanent form of birth control? To be honest, it was something I wasn't expecting the doctor to bring up. I don't remember it being discussed the last time Nikki was pregnant. Maybe because we were 25 and 27 respectively and were young enough to spit out a litter of kids still. Maybe it's because, with a beard and no hair prospects, I look like I just hit 40 instead of 30 despite losing 35 pounds.

I still think of us as a young couple and when I see people having kids into their late 30's, I know it's entirely possible. But two factors play in. Do we want to have another kid? I mean, we already have one of each, why not stop while you're ahead? Secondly, Does Nikki want to be pregnant again? Although this pregnancy has been a better overall experience so far for her, she still has four months left to go.

The doctor said that since Nikki is planning a scheduled C-section, this would be the only time in her life that it will be easier for her to undergo a tubal ligation. She will already be taking the risks of surgery, anesthesia, etc. No matter the decision we make, we will need to fill out the paperwork to authorize it because if we decide at the last minute to do it, we wouldn't be able to get the paperwork approved in time as it takes approximately one week to jump through all the hoops.

If we decide against it, it doesn't mean we are going to have a third one right away or even at all. It leaves the possibility open for us to grow our family even more. And when the time comes, maybe I'll go under the knife for once. I've been told it's a good idea to plan it for Fridays in the fall. That way I can spend the next two days sitting on the couch watching football.

Girl You Know It's True...

So if you've been under a rock for the last week, it is a girl! We will have one of each kind of child. It is very exciting news for everyone and we couldn't be happier.

Big brother Hayden reveals the big secret

We planned for this appointment from the moment it was set. It was written by the Gods on high...Hayden would not attend this appointment. For our own sanity, it had to be this way. The last appointment, although relatively short in duration, was an exercise in adult restraint. Four year olds were not meant to attend doctor's offices. They should be banned along with non-service animals. They are a distraction. You are trying to receive critical information about your body or mind all the while you have a preschooler hanging upside down counting to 100 and rambling some gibberish about Power Rangers and Spiderman.

So we dropped him off with his Aunt and made the drive to Emanuel Hospital. May I say, the hospital campus and it's adjoining medical office buildings are stupid. Although I found the building I needed with relative ease, if I were dumb it would have been infuriating. We were called back to the ultrasound room after filling out the required paperwork and the excitement began to build. The ultrasound tech started the scan and we got the first glimpse of our baby in over a month. One thing was noticeable immediately...the baby had grown quite a bit. I know that different machines produce different images and sizes but this looks like an actual baby and not a gummy bear.

A few things we noticed immediately.

The Dexheimer Head. The tradition continues.

Really long legs. Going to be a basketball star. Even better than Keilee.

I get the logic behind checking the gender of the baby towards the end. The parents treat this as the most valuable piece of information they take from this appointment because it shapes the way they raise and treat the child for the rest of their lives. "People need to buy baby shower gifts!" Pink or blue, blue or pink! I get it. It's what we wanted to know, I'm not making excuses. The logic is that the parents need to remain calm for the ultrasound and the doctor's need to measure the baby's various body parts to make sure everything is normal and the baby is healthy. They look for certain things that will alert them to potential problems down the road.

The tech couldn't get a good visual on the gender-identifying parts immediately, but said something to the effect of, "I can't really tell yet, but I'm thinking this is a girl." The smile on Nikki's face was muted. I could tell she wanted to jump off the table and do the tootsie roll but for whatever reason (maybe she was shy around the tech) she smiled a half smile at me while looking me directly in the eyes. I knew she was happy to have a little girl to put in tutus and ruffle-butt undies.

After the tech left to get the doctor to go over the scans, she became giddy.

The doctor came back in and said that everything they could see looked good and healthy. There were a few things they couldn't make out from the scans because the baby was at the wrong angle or position. We will return to the doctor in just over three weeks and they will look for the things they missed the last time.

Then we had to meet with another doctor to discuss Nikki's birth plan and possible future permanent contraception (which will be the topic of my next post). We were starting to get hungry and were glad we decided to leave Hayden behind as our time at the doc's reached the three hour mark. We were finally able to leave and we headed to get balloons.

We like to be creative. We just don't always follow through with our great ideas. We bought three balloons of each color, the aforementioned pink and blue, so we could announce the baby's gender. We also bought a poster board and some Sharpies. With some pink card stock from Aunt Cari, we created the sign and set Hayden up with the balloons in hand so he could let the blue bunch go, announcing to our family and the digital world we were expecting a girl. He didn't completely understand what we were doing, but he had fun with it anyway.

So in mid-December, be prepared to welcome little Miss Averie to the world.

Eighteen

We have set our appointment to have our 20 week anatomy ultrasound. It will be at Emanuel Hospital. I've can remember the last time we did this with Hayden. I was the first one to see the male anatomy and I think it was the loudest I've ever screamed the word penis. We went into that ultrasound not caring what the gender would be.

This time we are a little more invested in the outcome. It could mean trying again for a girl or being done having kids. We haven't thoroughly discussed whether or not we'd want to have more after this. I know Nikki really wants a girl to dress up and play dolls with. Or maybe she just wants to watch me play with dolls. Above all, we just want the baby to be happy and healthy.

Nikki has thought a few times in the last week that she has felt the baby move, but she can't tell if it's just gas or not. It's been five years since she was last pregnant, but it may as well have been fifty years ago. Besides the traumatizing morning sickness and swollen ankles, there isn't much she remembers about being pregnant.

Don't know if I'll get a post in next week. I may just wait until after we find out the sex of the baby.

Edge of Seventeen

~ "Just like the white-winged dove..." ~

We had our monthly checkup on Thursday! Friday marked the seventeenth week of gestation.

Last month, Nikki had to have seven vials of blood drawn. Sounds easy enough until you discover Nikki possesses the veins of a scarecrow. All those blood tests came back normal, which is good news. This time around, she only had to have one vial taken to determine whether or not the baby is at risk for spina bifida. Her results popped up yesterday and again, everything checked out normal. She explained to the blood taker where to draw the blood (her hand) and there was no problem. We were in and out in about 5 minutes.

The doc attempted to listen to the baby's heartbeat and was unable to locate it using the handheld ultrasound listening device. This made us worry for a moment. We were taken to another room and we still couldn't see the baby. I don't know if the doc was having a bad day or what, but she was finally able to spot the baby on the screen and she was wiggling all over...again. No wonder we couldn't hear anything except the baby moving around. I think the three of us (Hayden included) are going to have our hands full in just over 5 months.

Speaking of having our hands full, Hayden was being a complete four year old during the 30 minutes we were with the doctor. He's continuously hungry, can't hold still for longer than 3 seconds and this is all accompanied by constant chattering. Sittting in a chair the right way is a near impossibility. He's gotta lay on his back and hang his head off the chair so when the door in the exam room opens it smacks him in the head. We tell him to sit up, he will take his time and comply for about 7 seconds. Then it's back to hanging off the chair. I think he's testing our will...like will we give him up for adoption or not? We realize this is typical behavior, but damn it if it isn't infuriating at times. He is also having some issues with sharing, but he needs to figure that out pretty quick because he's going to have a little brother or sister drooling and smashing all of his toys here in the near future.

We are going to be scheduled to have the anatomy ultrasound (the big one where I will continue to refer to the baby as a she, or we drop the "s") next week at Emanuel Hospital. Then we will decide how to tell people to evoke maximum excitement. My guess is that Nikki's face will give it away before she has a chance to open her mouth. We'll see. Nikki's sister, Cari has quite the streak of correctly guessing the sex of babies before the parents find out. I believe the streak is around 7 in a row. She correctly guessed Hayden would be a boy so she's 1 for 1 so far with us. She's predicted a girl for us this time so we will see if she is right or not.

Will it be Lucas or Averie?

Sweet Sixteen

We are approximately one month away from finding out the gender of the baby. I am not quite sure how we have made it this far without freaking out. We are eager to find out what we are having, but haven't decided exactly when we will tell everyone. We don't want to end up with a bunch of neutral-colored baby clothes, but we were kind of robbed of making our own special pregnancy announcement. We've discussed a gender reveal party, but when we started talking about it, it sounded like a lot of work. 

We have an appointment on Thursday and we are anxious to find out how our little bundle of joy is doing. Mom has had her moments of sickness, but they seem to only be triggered by weird food textures. Grisly chicken, chewy pizza and other random food seem to be the switch. Also the giant horse pills that disguise themselves as prenatal vitamins get her gag reflex going as well. Taking three of them a day is quite the task. She is still pretty tired at this point although it seems to come and go in waves. It could be attributed to the recent heat wave. We did spend most of a 98 degree afternoon at the park near our house, although we were under a shaded tree and had plenty of water to drink.

Also, we discovered that mosquitoes seem to love her pregnant blood. We spent Saturday night over at our friends' house and were outside after dusk. She normally gets more than her fair share of bites when she isn't pregnant, but now the bugs are extra ravenous. She was bitten 17 times on one leg. The bites are contained to a circular area about 6 inches in diameter. I've never seen someone bitten that much in that short a period of time. We may have been outside for 30-45 minutes after dusk and she was attacked!

Hayden has been extra cute during the pregnancy. Whenever Nikki gets sick and has to run to the bathroom, Hayden says something to the effect of, "Uh oh, the baby didn't like that food that mommy ate." He will randomly say he loves his "baby sister" in her tummy. We are confident that he is going to be the best big brother ever.

We are still too early to feel any movement as the baby is about 4-5 inches long and weighs about 3 ounces. She could start feeling things as early as now, but I don't expect her to feel anything for at least a couple of weeks. 

We are still narrowing down a middle name in the event it is a girl. We can't decide if we want to honor someone or come up with something original. If we have another boy (I've been threatened sufficiently that it better not be) the name will be Lucas Michael. A girl will be named Averie. 

Sorry I haven't written here for a couple of weeks. I've been caught up in a bout of laziness and World Cup fever. I will return to weekly Friday entries. The next entry will recap our doctor's visit on Thursday.

Weight off my shoulders

For the past four weeks, I've been enduring a lifestyle change of sorts. I don't like to call them "diets" because that suggests their temporary. "I'm going on a diet" will eventually lead to, "I'm going off a diet." The first pregnancy, Nikki was sick for virtually all of the pregnancy, leaving piles of uneaten food behind. After all, the last thing you probably want to do after vomiting is finish the other half of what just came up. The solution? My gullet. While she only gained about 30 pounds throughout the entire pregnancy (10 of which were Hayden), I gained 25.

The men in my family weren't what you would consider the healthiest specimens in the world. High-blood pressure, diabetes, the list goes on. I don't want to be another statistic. I had just turned 30 and was heading down a bad path healthwise. I saw a friend who wanted a "diet" partner, someone to motivate and be motivated by. I threw my name in because I had been thinking about it for awhile and decided why not now? We gave ourselves the weekend to finish up eating whatever we wanted and decided on a Monday morning start. I decided to go the low-carb route which I have done before and had success with. It doesn't involve counting calories, which can be a huge deterrent for most people.

I cut out sugar and starch. Plain and simple. Sounds easy, right? Wrong. You don't realize what types of food you surround yourself with until you start this di- err....lifestyle change. The thing is, every aisle is packed full of cereal, chips, pasta, bread, cookies, flour, sugar, etc. I started out by reading most of a book by Dana Carpenter. She has been through the diet and knows the ins and outs of what you should and should not eat. I don't want to bore you with the details of it or how it works (you can call me or google the facts) but once you're on it for two to three weeks, it becomes easier and easier. If you go off of "the diet" the weight does come back...and then some. But it boils down to your self-control and where you really want your body to be.

The last month has been filled with family gatherings, birthday parties, dinners out, and other opportunities to hop back on the carb wagon. I have resisted. I feel stronger this time around than the previous time. I lost about 30 pounds the last time I went low carb. Then...I ate whatever I wanted again. This time, there is no turning back. The stakes are higher now.

My diet for a typical day would look something like this: Breakfast consists of 4 eggs, scrambled and topped with sour cream and salsa. Lunch would be a salad topped with chicken and a light dressing. It could also be chicken salad made with canned chicken, mayo, mustard, pickles, salt and pepper. Dinner is some kind of meat in various forms. Sometimes a plain hamburger with cheese, sometimes chicken seasoned with lemon pepper. Snacks like pickles and lunch meat or a stick of string cheese keep me on track.

It definitely limits what you can eat, but the benefits are that I have more energy. I ran 4 miles this weekend. Also I don't get hungry as often. Eating carbs is like eating gas for energy. It burns off quick and then you crash (sugar crash anyone?) and your brain says you need more. The protein I take in acts as a slow burning fuel and keeps me going.

Now it's well-known that men lose their weight at a much more rapid rate than their female counterparts. It relates to our biology and basically, women keep weight on better because they are wired to grow other humans in their body. They need nutrients and body fat for that. That can frustrate women to no end. It can be the main deterrent for women who want to lose weight. My advice is to stay vigilant. Keep at it. You will get there!

This post doesn't seem like it relates to the pregnancy at all, but it does. I want to be able to be around for my kids and be able to do things with them for a very long time. My health and well-being is key to that goal. I started my journey at 245 pounds on May 26th (28 days ago) I'm about halfway to my goal at about 225 pounds now. My goal is to be about 195-200 pounds when it's all said and done. Then I start maintenance. No more pigging out at all hours of the day. I need to do this not only for me, but for my wife, Hayden and the new baby. They will be able to count on daddy being around for a long time to come.

Trimester: Part Deux

Yes, yes, we've entered the second trimester of our pregnancy and not a lot has changed recently. We've had two ultrasounds in the last few weeks and there is one constant that is apparent from the scans....we're going to have our hands full. (From this point on, or until we're proven wrong, we are referring to the baby as "she.") She is a wiggle worm. Anytime the doctor or ultrasound tech tries to measure anything (length, heartbeat, etc) she appears to be holding a taping of American Bandstand (there is video on my Facebook page).

We are in week 13 and our baby now has fingerprints, is three inches long and weighs about an ounce.

Now everyone we've asked has said this is normal so there isn't anything to worry about at this point. The only person who is worried is Nikki, who hopes she calms down as the pregnancy progresses and those dance moves begin to be felt by mommy.  As for Nikki, she has become increasingly exhausted throughout the first trimester as apparently it takes a lot of energy to make a baby (duh!). Her appetite has remained consistent although she still gets sick if she eats too fast. There are still some foods that will set her off immediately although we haven't pinpointed any of them. And if you're wondering, we haven't tried Subway since she last got sick.

I missed a post last week due to all the birthday hubbub. Nikki turned 32 last Wednesday and we threw a party for her on Friday (which is the day I normally post here). We enjoyed good food and great friends as I manned the BBQ and her sister Cari made the cupcake cake in the shape of a unicorn (inside joke). When she saw it, Nikki said, "Yay! Twelve-year old Nikki is happy!"

So we saw the doc yesterday and she said everything looks good so far. They took some measurements on the baby. Her heartbeat registered at 161/bpm. Anything between 90 and 180 is considered normal. Her length is right on with her gestational age. So our due date remains December 19th. If everything goes according to plan, we will deliver at Legacy Emanuel Hospital. We endured the battle that is drawing blood from Nikki. Her veins are very hidden and don't respond to anybody trying to get them to pop. The blood drawer at the doc's office couldn't find a good one and after poking her hand, sent us over to the main hospital.  We went to the outpatient lab and she spent 45 minutes back there, getting prodded a total of 5 times. They finally extracted 7 vials of blood out of her hand. Gag!

The last time we were pregnant, We had a lot of visitors while Nikki was in labor. This was great because we felt very loved and it was nice to be surrounded by friends and family. The only downside was that Nikki got almost zero sleep the night before and felt that she had to entertain or at least be conscious while people visited. This lead to an awful birth experience and it is something we do not want to replicate. We will have nobody at the hospital before the birth, unless you've already been notified personally. This will allow Nikki to focus on her body, the baby and be able to spend the first moments of the baby's new life with her. When the time comes, we will notify family and friends and allow visitors at that point.

Seeing as how that is seemingly a lifetime away from now, we're not terribly worried about it.  We were able to secure a new big boy bed for Hayden as he will need to vacate his bed for his new sibling.  We still need to buy a mattress and a bed set for him and he actually helped me unload the bed from the car. I told him it was something for the new baby and his suspicions were lowered. It is a loft bed from IKEA that we found on Craigslist for pretty cheap. In the near future, we will look at repainting his room along with the new nursery. He's fighting us for a Power Rangers themed bedroom, but we like The Avengers better. I'm thinking he's going to lose the battle.

Overall, I think if you were to ask Nikki how this pregnancy compares to the last one, she'd probably say this one is a lot better as far as comfort, sickness, and other symptoms. Let's hope that trend continues in the following weeks.