My New Life with Reagan Nicole

Ok, so the last time I blogged, I had no idea that Baby K, now officially Reagan Nicole, was going to make her appearance the very next day.  I ended my June 4th blog post with, "off to prenatal yoga...maybe this will do the trick," and I think maybe it did...or at least maybe it helped move things along!

This is my story of childbirth, breastfeeding and becoming a new mom.  It is my honest, un-sugar coated account of what the past 5 weeks have been like in (maybe too much) detail...but I am writing this so I can look back and remember what it was like and to share with all of you who have been dying to know more and to share with little Reagan herself one day.

Warning:  This post talks about the placenta, meconium and lots of blood!

Labor and Delivery


So, like I said I went to prenatal yoga on Saturday, June 4th.  I was having contractions during class, but I had been having contractions for a while so I didn't think much of it.  Ben picked me up from the class and we went to a first birthday party for our friends Liz and Ted's daughter Charlie.  I felt pretty good at the party, but all of a sudden after being there for a few hours, I just started to feel a little weird...nothing I can really pinpoint or describe but I told Ben I wanted to go home and lie down.  A little while later we met my mom for dinner nearby (remember my mom had come into town the day before because she was driving herself crazy being in RI and was afraid to miss anything...it was impeccable timing on her part in the end!).  I was having contractions at dinner...and I was starting to get the feeling that these contractions were different.  They were stronger and in my low belly instead of my upper belly where I had been feeling them and were more often.  We had a relatively quick dinner because I just wanted to go home and rest.  My mom and I made plans to go to church the next morning as we were leaving the restaurant, but I think we both had a feeling that that might not be happening.  Ben and I walked home and I kept having to pause during the walk because of the contractions...this definitely was different!  We tried timing them when we got home and they were about 4 min apart but because they still weren't that intense pain-wise we decided to go to bed and try to get some sleep.  I actually slept relatively well.

On Sunday June 5th, 5 days before my due date, I woke up around 8am and suddenly, OMG my contractions were painful!!  I called my mom to tell her I would not be going to church...neither was she, she was going to head over.  We were timing contractions again...4 min, 3 min, 4 min, 2 min, 3min...what the heck??!!  I thought they were supposed to start at like 10 in apart...what was going on?? I decided not to panic, this was my first baby so things couldn't possibly go that fast.  I took a shower...that took about an hour to shower and get dressed because I kept doubling over in pain.  Meanwhile, we were having an Open House that day so Ben was running around trying to clean the house.  I couldn't believe he was caring so much about the house right then, haha!  I think it was a way for him to keep busy.  When I got out of the shower, suddenly I leaked fluid on the bedroom carpet...this was definitely different!  So as Ben was trying to clean, I was leaking and making a mess...it was hilarious!  A few minutes later, I went to the bathroom to pee, and suffice it to say there was a bunch of stuff coming out of me and I had no idea what it was...I screamed to Ben "we need to leave for the hospital right now!!!!" just as my mom walked in the front door, haha!!  Ben continued to clean, ok now I was getting annoyed!

The three of us left for the hospital at 10am, 2 hours after I woke up...so much for all that laboring at home I had envisioned for weeks.  When we got to the hospital, they confirmed I was 2-3 cm dilated, 100% effaced and  they thought the fluid I had leaked was my water so they decided to admit me, but I could relax a little because this baby still had a ways to go.

So then it was just my mom, Ben and I hanging out in the delivery room which was big and roomy as I went through the contractions...they weren't too bad yet.  Andrea got there around 2.  By 4:00 they checked me again and I had progressed on my own to 6cm.  Ok, I knew if I was going to get an epidural it would have to be soon...but things were progressing relatively quickly and were manageable and I really wanted to do this naturally and use all my yoga training and support from Ben and my mom to get me through.  The scariest part was not knowing how long labor was going to last or how bad it was going to get so there was no way to mentally or physically pace myself.

By 6:00 I was at 8cm.  Too late for an epidural...no turning back now.  Ben's parents had gotten there by now.  Kevin didn't last long in the delivery room before he decided to wait outside...things were quickly getting intense but Pat was there for the long haul.  So by 8cm things were getting intense, and it seemed like I was at 8cm FOREVER!  They checked me two more times within the next hour or so and I was still at 8...ugh!!  The contractions were STRONG, about every minute or two and baby girl was making her way down my pelvis.  All I can say is thank god for the 30 second or so breaks in between contractions to take mini rests because without those, labor would be impossible!  Still, Ben was talking me through my contractions and that was really helping mentally to know when they had peaked and I was on my way "back down" but it was getting so intense and Ben was telling me to just breathe and I finally screamed "I can't breathe, it's not helping, this hurts!!  Don't tell me to breathe!!!"  My mom had been rubbing my feet and all of a sudden it was, "Do NOT touch my feet, don't touch me!!"  Haha.  Around that same time, I got up to go to the bathroom.  As I was walking back to my bed, a huge gush of water poured out of me onto the floor...ok my water definitely broke now!!  That morning at home it had just ruptured a little.  There was meconium in the water, the baby's first poop, not a great sign but the OB said as long as the baby's heart rate was stable, it was ok.

By about 8:30 or so I'd say, it was finally time to push.  The nurse I had was awesome and she taught me how to push.  The OB said Reagan was coming out slightly transverse (sideways) and that it might take more pushing than normal to get her out...not what I wanted to hear!  The nurse told me not to think about that and just to focus on pushing.  Lo and behold, it didn't take that long.  The OB called me the "pusher of the month,"  I credit my yoga practice again for this.  Don't get me wrong though...pushing didn't hurt like the contractions but it was exhausting...really, really exhausting!!  I was grunting and screaming on every one...it helped me.  Ben was holding one leg and my mom was holding the other and they as well as Andrea and Pat were cheering me on...something I'll never forget.  At that point, I didn't care what else was coming out of me as long as this baby was, ha! Within an hour of pushing she was here!!!  I heard a little cough and then a cry.  They whisked her away because I had the meconium in my water and they had to suction her out.  But she was fine and her APGAR score was 9.9 out of 10.  Within a few minutes, she was laying on my chest getting some good skin to skin action.

But then, just as I felt a huge wave of relief that it was all over, I realized it wasn't over.  The placenta had to be delivered.  I had read that part is no big deal, maybe requiring one more little push and that I probably wouldn't even notice it.  Not for me.  They had trouble getting my placenta out.  I was trying to enjoy my baby, but I kept asking the doctors "is it out yet??" every few minutes.  They had to manually deliver the placenta, basically reach up and pull it out, and it came out in pieces.  I'm grateful that I didn't know until after how dangerous that can be or how much blood I lost.  They had to shove some pills up me to stop the bleeding and I needed IV antibiotics afterwards because I was now at higher risk of infection.  But when it was out, I could finally relax and enjoy my baby.  My baby!!!  She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and in really great shape for a vaginal delivery...no cone head and great skin tone.  A tiny little thing at 6 lbs 9 oz and so amazingly perfect!  I will also never forget the first time mine and Ben's eyes locked after she came out...just pure joy...we had made this perfect little angel!

Then I tried to breastfeed for the first time and she actually latched on pretty well.  After a few minutes the rest of the family came in to hold her...Kevin, and my dad and Claire who had showed up an hour or two earlier.  Then the family left and the nurses took Reagan to get cleaned up and it was just Ben and I and my nurse.  It was my turn to get cleaned up...problem was when I stood up, I was immediately light headed.  I made it to the bathroom but when I saw myself in the mirror that didn't make me feel any better...I was white as a ghost.  I managed to get cleaned up without passing out...but barely.  When they took my blood pressure after if was in the 80's over 60...so low.  For the next 24 hours I could barely stand long enough to go to the bathroom to pee or brush my teeth without feeling like I was going to pass out.  The doctors talked about maybe giving me a blood transfusion because of all the blood I lost, but in the end I only needed to take iron because I was anemic.  That first night, I barely slept at all.  Nobody tells you about all the blood you're still losing even after delivery is over...it's disgusting.  I was too traumatized by what my body had just been through to sleep.  I think it took me until tuesday morning for me to feel better and for it to fully hit be that OMG I am responsible for taking care of and feeding this perfect little baby girl. I had been breastfeeding the whole time in the hospital, and already I was bruised.  The lactation consultant came in that morning and basically made me feel like I was unfit to breastfeed.  Also, I think tuesday is when all those postpartum hormones kicked in that I didn't think were real until I experienced them.  I was crying all morning before we left the hospital for no reason at all really except that I was already worried about breastfeeding.  I spoke with a midwife before we left, who gave me great advice and made me feel much better.  Before I knew it we were on our way home to start our adventure as a family!

I will write a separate post about the first few weeks as a mom.  This one is already too long.  I will just say it has been a roller coaster so far.  I don't care what anyone tells you beforehand, nothing can really prepare you for childbirth and then before you have time to recover trying to learn to breastfeed (which seems natural but is definitely a learned skill), dealing with hormonal imbalances, and the anxiety of being a new mom...all on little to no sleep!  But also, nothing can prepare you for how unbelievably amazing it is to look into your baby's eyes for the first time, have your baby cuddle you and fall asleep in your arms, and see your baby smile at you for the first time.  It is a truly amazing miracle and I am so grateful every single day for my healthy and beautiful baby girl.  My priorities have already shifted and Reagan means more to me than anything in the world and I love her more than I could've imagined.  I couldn't be happier with our new life together!

More to come...

Tara
xo

Video of the first time I held Reagan...it's a tearjerker...at least for me every time!

Reagan right after birth

Week 40!

Ok, so here we are 6 days until my due date!!  Had a little more excitement this week but still no baby.  These little false starts are just making the waiting game that much harder but we are trying to be patient as we know every day she spends inside me is beneficial for her to finish her development in there before she faces the world!

But anyway, just thought I'd blog a little about the excitement this week without getting too graphc hopefully.  So I went to my weekly dr. appt on thursday and things sounded promising.  The dr. did an internal exam and this time she could clearly feel the baby's head, which was a definite change from last week.  She said I was still about 50% effaced but that last week I was still pretty closed but this week I was 1 cm dilated...more progress!  The dr. didn't give any estimate as to when this all might go down, but I left the dr's appt very excited that this all might be happening soon.

Fast forward a few hours...I'm working from home when all of a sudden I notice some bleeding.  I called my dr's office because my dr told me I might have some bleeding from the exam she did but this seemed like more than I should be having.  They agreed I should probaby go to the hospital to labor and delivery to be checked out just to see what was going on.  So I left for the hospital in a panic.  Ben left work also in a panic and met me there.  And then we waited...and waited.  We were there over four hours in total just to find out that it probably all was from the exam I had earlier in the day.  BUT, they said it also could be a sign that labor was starting since they had me on the monitor the whole time I was there and I was having pretty regular contractions, although still pretty mild.  They also did another exam and said I was now 70% effaced and still 1 cm and that they baby's head is low, although they didn't say how low.  Also, they were monitoring the baby's heartrate and movement the whole time and said we had the best baby they had seen in a long time as far as heartrate and movement go...our baby rocks!!!  In any event, they let me go home but pretty much every nurse and dr we saw made some kind of reference to the fact that I would probably be back there soon for the real thing...maybe even later that night or the next day.  Well that night and the next day have passed and still no real labor. 

My contractions continue but haven't gotten any stronger really.  So maybe it will be soon but we're trying to be patient and trying to keep busy.  My mom flew down to DC yesterday, she couldn't stay away any longer and wanted to be closer so she's ready when this all does happen.  I see the dr. again on thursday assuming I'm still pregnant then, and she will probably give me an induction date at that point.  Let's hope this happens naturally before it gets to that!  Off to prenatal yoga now...maybe that will do it!

Tara
xo

Just Sittin' and Waitin'

So, I thought my last blog post would be the last before baby arrived, but since we're just sitting around waiting for our little girl to get here, I thought I'd send another quick update.

Ben and I had a great mini babymoon last weekend.  We went to Brian Voltaggio's restaurant Volt in Frederick, MD last Thursday night and then stayed overnight in MD.  The food was great, and it was so relaxing to stay in a hotel for the night and sleep in on Friday.  Then on Friday, we went for my final ultrasound.  Everything looked great. "Helen" is head down and her projected weight at 37 weeks was 6 lbs 10oz.  I am so happy she is a good healthy size, but even though I don't feel huge, I think if I go all the way to my due date, she might be about 8 lbs, which would be a big baby for me!  The ultrasound could be a little off though...I think she's going to be somewhere between 7 and 8 lbs.  One thing I hope they're not wrong about is the sex!  At this last ultrasound, she was wide open again showing off her lady parts as she loves to do, so we're pretty confident she is a girl.  People on the street are always telling me I look like I'm having a boy though, and I know that doesn't mean anything but it's a little disconcerting to hear it over and over.  People on the street also have been telling me I look like I'm about to have the baby any minute now...people really are opinionated!

Anyway, to cap off our little babymoon last weekend, I got a prenatal massage...it was the best thing I've ever done!!  The woman was great and it was so relaxing, I was like mush for the rest of the day.

Then this week, I had a little false alarm on wednesday.  I really thought wednesday was going to be the day.  I had several early labor symptoms on wednesday morning but then started feeling better and got in the car to go to work.  But, then on my way to work I started having some stronger contractions than I've had before with some back pressure.  I ended up turning around and going back home instead of going to work, but once I got home and laid down, everything subsided.  I worked from home the rest of the day and woke up thursday feeling back to normal, so it was just a false alarm!  I went to my weekly dr appt thursday and she said "Helen's" head is not way down in my pelvis yet, but I am 50% effaced and was just a little bit dilated, but less than 1 cm...but at least it's a start!

This weekend we've just been relaxing and waiting.  We still have 11 days until my due date but I still think this might happen a little sooner.  We've gone to a baseball game this weekend, went to the movies twice, had some friends over, and I went to yoga...just trying to keep busy and cool! Luckily, I am not too swollen even in all this heat, but I did have to take my wedding rings off about a month ago.

So, we will continue to keep everyone updated.  I'm not going into the office anymore and will be working from home probably until she gets here.  I go to the dr again on thursday and we'll see if there's been anymore progress.  I've still been having a fair amount of contractions though...more today again kind of like on wednesday (don't jump on a plane just yet though, Mom!)...so who knows??  It's so weird to me that things can be completely normal one day just sitting here waiting for the baby and then without warning the next day she could be here!  What day will that be??!!  We will let you know...soon enough :-)

Love,

Tara, Ben and "Helen"

Here is a picture of me today in my sweet jorts I made from some cheap maternity jeans, ha!

Weeks 28-36

Wow!  I can't believe I haven't updated my blog in two months!  Time has really been flying by with only 26 days left until the due date and just 5 days until I'm full term!  April was super busy with a baby shower in RI, a baby shower in Ohio and a trip to Penn State for Easter.  The baby showers were both so amazing and our family and friends have been so generous...we are so lucky!!  My thank you cards will be going out very soon!!  In May, we have been working very hard to get our house ready to sell and it just went on the market this weekend!  It's been a lot of work getting it ready, although I have to say Ben has done way, way more work than I have...but it's also great to clean and declutter the house before the baby comes.

So, we have been so busy, the last couple months have really just flown by and we can't believe it's almost time!  The nursery is ready to go and Andrea was here this weekend and we washed and organized all the clothes, linens and blankets.  It was a lot of fun...this is going to be one well dressed little girl, for real!!  I can't wait to see her in those cute little outfits.  The car seat is in the new Volvo, all safe and secure.  We've been to breastfeeding class.  We just have a few last minute things left to do...I have started packing the hospital bag (and I bought some new pj's to bring) but we need to finish packing the bag this week.  We need to have our email distribution set up so Ben can email all of you with the details soon after she's born and we also need to work on a labor playlist.  But other than that, I think we're pretty ready to go!

"Helen" is supposedly the size of a watermelon right now!  I haven't had an ultrasound since I was 30 weeks, but at that time about 6 and a half weeks ago, she was 3 lbs 7 ozs and still in the 58th percentile for her size (the exact same percentile as the ultrasound before) so she seems to be just above average.  By now she's probably about 6.5 lbs but I have one more ultrasound scheduled for this coming Friday so we'll have a better idea then.  She is head down though and ready to go!  She is very active still, but she doesn't keep me up at night, which is great.  Most of the time I'm sleeping through the night still, which I think is pretty unusual at this stage, so I'm very grateful for that!  I think the fact that I'm staying active and busy helps me sleep.  I do for sure have my moments or days of discomfort or just pure exhaustion though.  My belly is getting heavier by the day, I'm having mild contractions more and more, the heartburn is still there, I have to pee every 5 seconds, I still get leg or foot cramps here and there, and I have a pretty good waddle going on...but for the most part I still feel really good!  I'm not really at the point yet where I'm just dying to get this baby out of me...although I am getting increasingly nervous about that part, but I'm counting on my yoga breathing and Ben's support to get me through!

This will probably be the last time I update this blog before out little girl is here, so next time I update, I will be updating with pictures of her on the outside!  The general consensus seems to be that I'm going to be a little early, even though I think that's a little unusual for a first baby, but I have to say I think I agree.  I don't really know why, it's just a feeling...we'll see.  Even though I'm not huge (I think I just have an average belly for a late third trimester pregnant woman), I get comments all the time from women at work and random strangers on the street that I look like I'm about to pop.  I guess I'm carrying pretty low so that's why, but who knows??  She'll come out when she's good and ready.

We will update you all after she makes her grand entrance into the world!!  Wish me luck!!

Love,
Tara
xo

Here is a good profile pic from my last ultrasound and her seemingly huge foot!  I won't put on here the freaky looking 3D picture we got too!  

Here is a recent picture of me just yesterday.

And here are a couple pics of the nursery all ready to go!

Facebook has lots of good pics from both baby showers too!  xo

Weeks 24-27

Baby Helen, Ben and I are still doing fantastic!  Things are really cruising along!  Today I am 27 weeks and 2 days and we only have 89 days to go (more or less) until our little girl arrives!  According to my What to Expect app she is now the size of a head of cauliflower at about 16 inches and 2 and a half pounds.  At my last ultrasound on March 3rd, my mom came with me and Ben was still traveling for work, but Helen was being a little shy.  She is in a transverse position still (straight across my belly) with her head to my left and her feet over to my right.  I guess she likes that position because she was in pretty much the same position the ultrasound before that in January too.  This time she was napping for the most part during the ultrasound, and she was face down so it was hard to get a good picture of her to take home.  I have attached one below though that is a pretty good profile shot.  My mom and I did get to see her practicing her swallowing and breathing though during the ultrasound and she is awesome at it!  So, the ultrasound tech told us that she looks "gorgeous" and everything is accounted for and in proportion.  Her size was exactly 2 pounds and her heartbeat was a perfect 150 beats per minute.  The tech said she is not too big or too small and her size puts her just above average, in the 58th percentile.  She is still tracking a couple days ahead of the June 10th due date, but I know my dad is really hoping she holds on until June 10th so she can be born on his birthday!  And she is definitely a girl...she is not shy about showing that off in her ultrasounds!  Ha!  My mom and I really loved seeing her in action.  I will actually be having probably 2 more ultrasounds because I've had some mildly high blood pressure prior to pregnancy, they just want to make sure she continues to grow on track.  My blood pressure is very well controlled now and actually very low when I'm not at the doctor, but they still want to keep a close eye on everything.  I know she is growing just fine so I'm happy to have the extra chances to see her.  My next ultrasound is scheduled for April 1st and Ben will be there for that one, and hopefully his mom this time too!

The other test I had recently was the glucose test for gestational diabetes.  My initial one hour glucose test came back elevated so I had to go for the 3 hour test.  That was no fun!  I had to fast beforehand and then was in the lab for a period of about 3 and half hours and had my blood taken a total of 4 times.  The worst part was I was so hungry by the end, I was just getting delirious and the extra sugary stuff I had to drink for the second test was just gross!!  That test came back normal though so I don't have gestational diabetes, yay!!  I was pretty worried about it for a couple days though and was worried I haven't been exercising or eating healthy enough, but I've been trying really hard to do everything right so I was relieved when it caem back normal!  I know in reality, gestational diabetes is caused by hormone fluctuations during pregnancy anyway and it isn't always a symptom of what you do or don't do, but I'm just glad I don't have it.  Since then, I've tried to ramp up the exercise a little anyway (just walking and yoga) and continue to eat well, but I'm glad I don't have to cut out desserts because I really enjoyed myself a Wendy's Frosty just today, yum!!!

Ben and I have been making a lot of preparations.  We've been working on the nursery (pics are below) but we're not decorating completely because we're going to be moving about a month after she's born.  We've gotten such cute outfits so far from both our moms and enjoyed some baby shopping with Ben's parents when they were in town at the end of February.  Ben also bought her the cutest little outfits from Petite Bateau on Newbury Street when he was in Boston for work...he did soo good!!  Pics of those are below too.  I've been reading all kinds of books and magazines on Baby Gear, Pregnancy and Childbirth and Ben has almost finished his book, "Dad's Pregnant Too."  We took an entire weekend of Childbirth classes a couple weeks ago and it was really great.  We practiced breathing and relaxation techniques (very similar to yoga) and Ben practiced giving me massages, haha!  We learned a lot and I feel more prepared and more determined to try to have a natural childbirth.  Ben lucked out too because the DVD player wasn't working so we didn't get to see the video of an actual birth, haha!  Yesterday we went to a Baby Care Basics class, but that one wasn't as good.  The teacher was terrible and it was pretty much a waste of time.  We're taking a breastfeeding class at the end of April so hopefully that one will be better.  We also test drove some Volvos today...we're in the market for a safe, family-friendly car!

So, I think that about covers the last few weeks.  Helen is still very active and we love feeling her kick, punch and move around.  I'm still sleeping very well at this point, although I get more and more uncomfortable sometimes, like when I was sitting for a couple hours at the movies last night, it was a little tortuous.  And my feet are sore (but not swollen yet), but Ben rubs them all the time for me...he's so good!  And the heartburn is still on and off, but that's tolerable.  And I have to pee at least every hour when I'm awake, sometimes it's more like every 5 minutes, but at least I can sleep through the night so that's good!  Overall, everyone is doing great!  Enjoy the pics below!  I'll have another update soon.

Love,

Tara, Ben and Helen (and Meatball too) xo

March 3rd Ultrasound

My belly - March 2nd

The beginnings of a nursery

The little outfits Ben bought her!!

Weeks 21-23

Well, after the excitemet of our last ultrasound and finding out we're having a little girl, things have been relatively uneventful.  Things are just chugging along.  I'm 23 weeks and 2 days today and baby girl is the size of an ear of corn, according to my What to Expect app.  After finding out we were having a girl, Ben and I decided to give her an alias.  She now goes by Helen.  Not for any particular reason, that's just what we call her when other people are around because we do have her real name picked out, but it's top secret until she's born.  So, I will refer to her as Helen here.

Helen is getting stronger (and bigger!) every day.  She is very active, and I think I'm just not used to it yet, but a couple times in the last week, she has kicked so hard, I have been slightly alarmed!  She sure is partying in there or working out or something!  Ben (and others like her Auntie Andrea) have already been able to feel her kick as well for the last couple weeks now.  The first time Ben felt her kick, I've never seen him smile so big.  His face lit up like a Christmas tree, it was so adorable.  We love feeling her kick and punch and it never gets old (well so far it doesn't keep me up at night or anything so that is good, but maybe that will change soon!).  She likes to be especially active when I'm in meetings at work, so most of the time I entertain myself by feeling her kick rather than listening to the meeting, it's way more fun!!  Once I even saw my belly move, it was crazy!

So, I am starting to feel more and more pregnant though.  Besides my growing belly, my body has just been feeling the effects of everything.  I had a leg cramp last week that lasted 4 days, and it gets uncomfortable sitting all day at work now so I have to get up and move around or go to the gym at work in the middle of the day.  My hips and my legs get really stiff and tight and sometimes my belly gets a little sore.  One girl at work even told me I was waddling already the other day!  Haha!  I just get so stiff I can't walk right for a little while after I've been sitting.  And I've had some mild back pain and heartburn, but it all come with the territory!  I remind Ben all the time now that I'm only a little person so it's not easy for me to carry all this around...and we still have 117 days to go!

Some big non-baby related news Ben and I found out 2 weeks ago is that he will be in Command of a cutter in New London, CT starting in August and we'll be moving to RI most likely shortly before then.  We're excited for the change and looking forward to having my family around to help with the baby once I go back to work.  Hopefully I'll just be transferring to the Raytheon office in Portsmouth, RI.

Yesterday Ben and I spent the day registering for gifts.  It was a lot of fun, but after many hours of looking at hundreds of bottles, blankets, onesies, etc. we were beat...and maybe more confused!!  There is so much we apparently need and so much to choose from, it's a little overwhelming!  Luckily, we have some good books and friends and family to help guide us through it!  And we still had enough energy after to go out for our Valentine's date night last night.  Ben has been away so much for work, it was so great to spend some quality time together, and I even stayed awake for the movie we saw.  I think Helen liked it too because she was kicking like crazy!

Next up on the baby agenda is another ultrasound on March 3rd, my mom's bday.  My mom is actually coming down for it so she can see her granddaughter in action on her birthday!  They didn't get a good look at the spine in my last ultrasound because of the way Helen was lying, so they just want to get a better look and make sure her growth is on track.  I will be posting more pics of Helen after that appointment.  Enjoy a recent pic of my belly below...this was just taken today.

Love,
Tara, Ben and "Helen"
xo

It's a Girl!!!!

We're having a girl!  We're having a girl!  We are soooo excited!!!!  Everything just seems so much more real today waking up knowing we're having a daughter!  Ben and I went to my ultrasound yesterday and saw our little girl in action.  She looked great...cutest little hands and feet and a beautiful little profile.  Everything looks to be in place and growing as it should!  She is still growing a little ahead of schedule...the ultrasound was projecting a due date of June 7th vs. my actual due date of June 10th.  Her heart rate was a strong 146.  She even waved to us at one point...awesome!!  We didn't want to find out right then and there if we had a little girl or little boy, so our ultrasound tech wrote it down for us and put it in a sealed envelope with some picture evidence.  Ben and I both had to go to work after that and the suspense was unreal!!  It was worth the wait though.  We went out to a nice dinner at Brasserie Beck last night and at the end of the meal, we ordered dessert and gave the envelope to our waiter with two little cake toppers, one saying "It's a girl" and one saying "It's a boy."  The waiter was a good sport about it and came back a few LONG minutes later with that pink little cake topper and they even wrote "Congratulations!  It's a Girl!" on our dessert plate in chocolate.  It was so fun!!  I'm so happy we did it this way and I'm so happy we get to go out and buy little girl things...awesome!!!  Ben is beyond thrilled and says she can start dating in 20 years and 4 months, haha! He even started looking at rugs for the nursery online last night in girl color schemes.  We're going for girlie chic, I'd call it, without pink overload, but I do love pink and I do love girlie.

I am still feeling great and have begun to feel this little girl move around more and more...I think she's going to be an active one! Thank you all for sharing in our excitement!  We are so blessed to have so many amazing family members and friends supporting us!

Love,

Tara, Ben and Baby GIRL K :-)

Both smiling from ear to ear!

Her cute little feet!

Not as good as our last ultrasound pic, but there SHE is!!

The First 19 Weeks

Hi friends and family!  Ben and I wanted to start this blog to share with you our pregnancy experience as well as news and photos of Baby K once he or she is finally here!  We hope you enjoy it!

In this first blog post, I'm going to attempt to sum up the first 4 or 5 months of our pregnancy.  Bear with me because I have a lot to share in this first post, but subsequent ones will be shorter.

Month 1 - We found out Baby K was on the way!!  Baby K was conceived right around my bday in Sept.  We had joked that this was the only gift I wanted from Ben for my bday.  All along we had been planning to start trying around our 1st anniversary in Oct. but we jumped the gun a little and started in August.  Anyways nothing happened in August and in September, I started taking pregnancy tests at around 3 weeks because I couldn't wait and the first 3 were negative, but I knew it might just be too early to tell.  The weekend of Sep. 24 we went to Martha and Marc's wedding in Boston and fooled all our friends and family into thinking I was drinking that weekend when I wasn't.  The following Tuesday, Sep. 28th, I didn't feel so hot at work and I knew I had to take another test that night.  I went home from work and took the test.  Ben and I waited a very long 3 minutes, kind of expecting the negative we had already seen several times before, then we went into the bathroom together took one look at the test and this time...2 little pink lines!!!  It was positive!!  Even though we had been trying, we still couldn't believe it.  I think I said, "oh my God, I can't believe it!" about 40,000 times in a row.  It was probably the best night of our lives so far, we couldn't be happier!  I was 3 weeks and 4 days pregnant and the baby was only the size of a Poppyseed according to my What to Expect iphone app.

Month 2 - So at this point, I was just waiting for the nausea and vomiting and all that good stuff I had heard about to kick in, but it never did.  I was just extremely, extremely exhausted!!  Always!  I could barely make it through the day at work, and of course nobody at work knew what was going on so it was just brutal!  At the same time I started taking my prenatal vitamins, and making an extra effort to exercise and eat right but it was so hard because all I wanted to do was sleep...and I did plenty of that too!  Luckily, my wonderful husband would have dinner ready for me when I got home, and I would barely scarf it down before I'd be passed out on the couch...done for the night!  Ben had to be careful though because the food aversions had set in so something I felt like eating the day before could be off limits by the next day.  Salad?  Blech! Chicken?  Tasted like feet.  Ben was excited about some of my cravings though...meatball subs and Chipotle burritos with sour cream, yum!  I also couldn't get enough fruit and yogurt. 

At the end of this month, we had a little scare that landed us in the emergency room one night.  It was a rough night, but everything turned out ok and we had our first ultrasound that night where we got to see our little peanut for the first time.  It just looked like a little blob, with a beating heart.  But the heartbeat was perfect, and to us it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Month 3 - During this month, we took a week long trip to Tuscany.  We had planned it long before the baby, but I guess it turned into an early babymoon.  I couldn't drink any wine of course, but I made up for not drinking in what I was eating...mostly in hot chocolate and gelato.  I had hot chocolate or gelato twice a day.  Not to mention all the pizza, pasta and paninis, so good!!  And what I wasn't drinking, Ben was, haha.  That's part of the husband's job, you know, to drink what the wife can't.  Hey, he had me to drive the rental car home, so why not?  I just wouldn't let him forget it the next day when I wanted to buy a nice Italian purse or something. :-)

Also in month 3, a new craving was born.  I've only had one constant craving during the pregnancy so far...enter my undying love for whipped cream!  I cannot get enough!!  Seriously, I have it on my cereal or waffles every morning.  One morning when we were out of waffles, I almost put it on toast, but then stopped myself.  I have it on decaf starbucks lattes, hot chocolate and ice cream.  It's kind of out of control!  I guess there could be worse things to crave though.

At the end of Month 3, we had a second ultrasound and this time our baby actually looked like a baby (well, to everyone except Ben's grandfather who thought it was a turkey, haha!) with a cute little nose and everything!  We were told our baby was looking great and all the tests were normal so far.  Our baby was actually growing a week ahead of schedule...we have an overachiever on our hands, which isn't surprising given who the baby's parents are.  We had this ultrasound the day before Thanksgiving so we got to share the picture with all our family over the holiday and finally tell all our extended family and friends the good news!

Month 4 - Yay, we've made it out of that fragile first trimester!!  Finally, in month 4 my energy level started to return to normal.  I took this opportunity to ramp up the exercise level a little bit to try to keep Baby K and I in top condition.  We also have started to make some preparations by buying some nursery furniture, signing up for childbirth, infant care and breastfeeding classes and buying some books about birth and the baby and not just about pregnancy.

At this point the baby can hear our voices so we've started talking to the baby.  Ben has even read a book to the baby, awww!!  I sing to the baby sometimes, but everyone who has heard me sing knows that's just kind of mean so I try not to torture the baby too much, haha!  I also try not to yell because I don't watn to scare the baby, but Meatball has made that very challenging lately!  I really think he's knows he's not going to be the center of attention anymore already so he's started acting up.

At the end of Month 4, on Christmas day, I had another little scare like it had in Month 2 when I went to the emergency room, but this time I knew better and it turned out just to be a hilarious bathroom story, the details of which I'll spare here.  Suffice it to say a tiny little baby can really wreak havoc on your digestive system!  Oh, and speaking of the bathroom, I forgot to mention earlier that during my entire pregnancy I've peed more than I ever thought was humanly possible.  I mean like every 15 minutes sometimes, crazy!  One other little complaint...all these hormones do not agree with my skin!  My face is breaking out like I'm 15 again, yuck!  At least this time, I know there's a baby at the end so it's worth it.

Month 5 - So this is where I'm at now.  19 weeks today.  Baby K is the size of a small cantaloupe.  What a journey it's been so far from poppyseed to cantaloupe! 

Also, in month 5, we finally heard the baby's heartbeat for this first time and it sounded amazing!!  Ben was away for that doctor's appointment but I was so grateful my mom flew down for the day just to come to my appointment with me.  It was so fun!  I recorded the heartbeat on my iphone though so Ben and the rest of the family could hear it.  What did people do before iphones??  I'm also pretty certain I've been feeling some fetal movement lately...some little flutters as everyone describes it.  I'm feeling them more often now, but they're still subtle.  I'm waiting for that first big kick!!  Come on, baby!

So, that about sums it up so far.  The next big event will be at our next ultrasound one week from today when we'll be finding out (finally!) if Baby K is a he or a she!!!  I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out the sex at first, but Ben has wanted to the whole time.  Now that I've decided we're going to find out, I just can't wait for it to get here already!  So, look out for another post in about a week where we'll announce the sex, have a new ultrasound pic and some new belly pics as well.  Yay!!

I hope you enjoy our blog and that you're as excited for Baby K as Ben and I are!  We couldn't be happier and are just so grateful that everything has been going so well so far!!

Tara

Xo            

 The second ultrasound Baby K actually looks like a baby!  This was the day before Thanksgiving.

Proud mama-to-be on New Year's Eve!  What a year 2011 will be!

Belly - 17 Weeks!  I hope nobody minds seeing my bare pregnant belly!