La Famiglia

As you can see, my stomach has finally popped! It was almost overnight about 2 weeks ago when I woke up with a noticible difference in size.  Since then it has just gotten bigger! This past week (week 16-17) I have felt extremely huge.

See for yourself.  These are not the most flattering pictures, but hey, we like to keep it real here.

13 weeks:

15 weeks:

16 weeks:

17 weeks:

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a certified cheapskate.  I refuse to pay full price for anything and will search high and low for the best price on anything.  That is why I just need to brag a little bit today.  A few weeks ago I left my ATM card in the ATM and had to cancel it and order a new one (I'm not bragging about that, that was stupid).  I had previously registered my ATM card online to receive reward points for using my card.  I had accumulated over 30,000 points and since my card was deactivated I had to use my points or lose them.  So, with my points, I was able to order the item below for...FREE!

Please, no applause is necessary! :-)

So, I saw this bag at T.J. Maxx a few weeks ago and thought it would make a fabulous diaper bag.  No? Really? Come on!

Seriously, though, anyone who knows me knows that I carry HUGE purses already without a baby, so I NEED a large diaper bag.  The one I really want is this one, but I am also a cheapskate and can't justify spending $150+ on a diaper bag.  I'm hoping to find it on sale, but I doubt that will happen because it is a new model.  One can dream!

My second choice right now is the one below, but I'm not sure that it has enough pockets inside.  I've at least been able to find it on ebay for a cheaper price than retail. 

On to other things that are so cute we just had to have them...We saw this at an antique show when we are on vacation and just had to have it.  We got it for only $15.  Who cares if it isn't that practical, it's damn cute!

We received a package in the mail last week from my mother in law.  It had the t-shirt below inside.  It seriously is so cute that it would make my ovaries hurt if they didn't already.

We've made it to 13 weeks! Although I feel a ton more secure that this pregnancy is going to move along fine now that we are in the 2nd trimester, I still have that small fear that something might still go wrong.  But, for now, let's be happy that, so far, the baby appears to be perfectly healthy.  We went today for our 13 week nuchal scan. Everything with the ultrasound looked perfect so we opted out of doing the blood test.  The results wouldn't change anything for us anyway. 

We also found out that there is a 95% chance that the baby is a girl! The tech said 95%, but the doctor said not to run out and buy pink yet.  However, I've felt the whole time that it is a girl, so I'll go with the tech. 

Not much else going on with us.  No news is good news! We have been traveling a ton these last few weeks for vacation and family commitments and hope to stick around home for the next few months.  I'm worn out from all of this traveling!

Until next time, enjoy the following pics from today's ultrasound:

The post below might be a little graphic or too much information for some readers.  Thus far we've been completely honest about our lives on this blog and we hope to continue to do so in the future.

Last Tuesday was, by far, the scariest day of my life.  I was 1 day short of 9 weeks pregnant after trying for almost 3 years and, out of no where, I started to gush blood.  I was at lunch with my best friend, B, and all of a sudden I just felt it and knew exactly what was happening.  Thank God that B was visiting for a job interview and was with me, otherwise, I would have been alone and stranded.  I immediately headed to the bathroom and confirmed my worst fears.  I was bleeding so heavily that I couldn't even stand up without it pouring onto my clothes.  It was as if someone turned on a faucet and it got stuck. 

B realized that I had been gone for far too long and came to look for me.  We were lucky enough that the fast food restaurant where we were was attached to a convenience store, so I asked B to buy me the thickest pads she could so we could head to the doctor.  Even that wasn't enough.  I went through 2 before I even made it out of the restroom.  Luckily, we were less than 3 minutes from my doctor's office.  I called Il Marito on the way.  As soon as I stepped out of the car to go into the office I again gushed so heavily that it now looked like I had been stabbed 30 times.

I knew my doctor would see me right away and they did.  B came in with me until Il Marito arrived.  I think we were all a mess at that point, but were handling it better than most would.  Immediately the doctor performed an ultrasound and we realized that the baby was actually fine.  The doctor insisted that he couldn't find the area where the blood was coming from, even as I continued to bleed heavily all over the office.  He believed that my growing placenta must have hit a blood vessel and that everything should be fine. 

My doctor sent me to the hospital to receive a Rhogam shot since the blood work from my OBGYN indicated that I was Rh negative.  Without this shot my body could produce antibodies that would fight any future pregnancy.  I am lucky enough to be one of the 10% in the US that are affected by this issue.  What a surprise! After everything else, why not!

We were at the hospital for almost an hour and were sent on a wild goose chase.  All the time I'm worried that I am going to start bleeding heavily again and that I would begin to miscarry if I didn't start bed rest ASAP.  Finally I was given the shot and B drove me home while Il Marito picked up a prescription the doctor gave me to continue my progesterone therapy.  My worst fears were realized on the way home when I started to pass large clots and bled so heavily that it was now covering my car seat and clothes.  I was bleeding so heavily that I almost passed out and ended up naked on the bathroom floor to keep from going under.  Thank God B was with me and that we have known each other since 7th grade.  There is not much she doesn't know about me now. 

I thought for sure that this was the end and that the baby would not survive.  In the end I passed at least 10 large clots the size of golf balls. There was no way the baby could survive that.  We prepared ourselves for the worst and hoped for the best.

The bleeding stopped shortly after that and didn't become heavy again all night.  I also had not experienced any cramps during this entire time, so that was a positive.  I remained on bed rest until the next morning and we went into the doctor first thing in the morning for another ultrasound.  We couldn't believe it, but the baby was fine.  There was no sign of anything wrong in the uterus and our doctor seemed as relieved as we were. 

I spent 3 days on bed rest and it is now a week later and I have not had any other bleeding.  We went for anther ultrasound yesterday and the baby is fine and much larger than last week.  The baby was very wiggly during the ultrasound, almost upset that it was being bothered yet again.  Needless to say, we are relieved and excited, but we will probably still be a little nervous for the next few weeks.

Thanks again to everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers.  It has definitely worked! Please enjoy our the ultrasound pictures from the last few weeks.

9 Weeks

10 weeks