So obviously I am not a consistent blogger but I am hoping that once the baby arrives I will be better so that I can keep family and friends updated on our lives.  I get asked a lot "how do you feel?"  How is the pregnancy going?" Thankfully it has been quite uneventful so I don't have much of an answer for people, but I do have a lot of thoughts on my pregnancy in general.

1. I feel so thankful and blessed that I am able to have a healthy and uneventful pregnancy and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
2.  I think people who say "I love being pregnant!" are either A. Lying or B. totally and completely crazy!  I mean seriously how can you love weighing 20+ extra pounds?  It just makes life so much harder!
3.  While sitting put a big beach ball in your lap then try to bend over to tie your shoe.  Thats hard you say?  yes, indeed it is!  Welcome to the world of pregnancy!
4.   Some nights I almost want to cry when I think "all i want to do is lay on my stomach."
5.  Waking up multiple times a night to pee is exhausting... maybe it is just getting me ready for what's to come.
6.  Walking is a fantastic means of exercise!  Coming from a girl who has gone running 5 days a week for the last 5 years... walking is so much fun! and relaxing! and enjoyable!  Don't get me wrong I am itching to start running again but I have definitely enjoyed my nightly walks with Maddie (our pooch).
7.  When someone tells you that they don't know the gender of their baby please just believe them and don't say "Oh, you are keeping it a secret!!"  I truly don't know and I won't know until that baby enters the world!

I really feel pretty normal most of the time and have yet to have any swelling or stretch marks but I think I have had a few light Braxton Hicks contractions.  I still have 5 long weeks to go so I'll just cross my fingers for the best.  Since about 15 weeks I have had some pretty killer thoracic back pains and now my low back in beginning to hurt if I am up on my feet a lot.  I have not had any weird cravings but I do crave everything I craved prior to pregnancy but now I indulge in those cravings.... ice cream, donut holes, any and all types of candy, pretty much any dessert.  In the 1st trimester I wanted to (and did) eat a Chick-fil-a sandwich and huge cup of lemonade almost every single day for lunch.

The nursery is almost done!!  I am just waiting to add one more thing and then I will post the pictures!  My mom and sister were here a few weeks ago helping us get it all together and add the finishing touches.  They were SO much help and I just love how it has turned out.  I can't help but smile every time I walk into the nursery.  All we need is a baby and we will be set =)

Here are some pictures from the past couple months.

35 weeks

32 weeks

Jason Marz concert

31 weeks

29 weeks

I am really looking pregnant these days!  The other day I was grocery shopping and they were handing out samples of wine and the worker said "would you like to try... oh nevermind!"  I guess I should take that as an clue that I obviously look quite pregnant!

18weeks 

20 weeks on our anniversary trip to downtown Houston 

24 weeks

On June 6th I went to a fetal heart specialist just to make sure that the baby's heart was looking good. First I had to sit down with a genetic specialist to discuss the possibility of our baby having some type of heart condition. I was told that every couple has about 1% chance of having a baby with a heart defect. Anthony has a 3% chance of fathering a child with a heart defect (it could be any heart defect not just the one he was born with). So 3% seems low that is 3 times more likly than most people. The interesting thing is that they have no idea why these heart defects occur. They think that it is a combination of genetics, exposure to unknown things while in utero and other unknown factors. I absolutely loved the doctor that did the echo/4D ultrasound. The heart looked PERFECT! I saw all the chambers of the heart, blood flow and all the valves. The doctor was impressed with how well she was about to visualize the heart and said that the baby has no major heart defects. She also said that there are some minor ones that do not show up on echo/ultrasound so she recommends the baby to have an echo once it is born. It was seriously amazing to see our little baby so up close and personal. It was moving its arms and legs but kept covering its face as we tried to get a good picture. So maybe this is a indication that we have a shy little one.

This is our baby's side profile at the 20 week ultrasound

This is the 4D picture of the baby's face (honestly I think this picture is a little creepy).  

First of all we want to thank everyone for all your support and prayers over the past few months! Anthony has covered from open heart surgery with flying colors! He was back at work 2 weeks after surgery, starting to run 2 weeks after that and now "getting back into triathlon shape". All of his precautions were lifted 10 weeks after surgery and thankfully he listened to me and the doctors and let his body heal before entering training mode. Except for his fresh scar down the middle of his chest you would have never believed he had just been through such a extensive surgery! His goal is to do the Texas Iron Man triathlon in May 2013 (swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles)! Amazing to think what you can do if you put your mind to it... A full ironman 14 months after open heart surgery! He is truly an inspiration to me daily. (remind me of that when he is training 15 hrs a week, working full time and we have a newborn at home!)

Cindy, Anthony's mom is also doing fantastic! She has been such a trooper though her whole ordeal! After a week I the hospital she was discharged and came back to OKC. A few weeks later she was back at work and doing physical therapy for her shoulder. In times like this you really realize how fragile life is and to what really matters.

I'm sure most of you know but Anthony and I are expecting our first child on October 14th. We are beyond excited and can't wait for it to finally get here! I was pregnant over a year ago and lost the baby at 8 weeks so we were a little cautious after seeing the positive pregnancy test. Thankfully, because of my past miscarriage, my doctor wanted to see me ASAP for blood work to check progesterone and other levels so I went to the doctor 1 day after the positive test. All my levels were right on tract so we were excited but still hesitant. We went for our 8 week appointment and 1st ultrasound 2 days before Anthonys surgery and he told my doctor " I'm more nervous for this appointment than me heart surgery in 2 days!!". Seeing our sweet tiny baby and the heart beat was amazing! I was beyond excited! Every appointment since then has gone great and the babys heart rate has been between 160 and 180bpm. This past Wednesday we went to our 20 week appointment and ultrasound. Right away we had to tell them that we do not want to know the sex of the baby and she said she would just have us turn our heads when she "gets to that point". The ultrasound was seriously the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. We could see every single vertebrae, 10 fingers and 10 toes, stomach, heart, brain, everything! I was in awe! The baby was moving quite a bit; putting both hands up to its mouth, stretching it neck and opening its mouth. Somehow Anthony and I both managed to keep our heads turned away and we didn't find out the baby's sex. The babys heart looked good on the ultrasound but due to Anthony's history I will be having a fetal echo (echocardiogram) just to make sure there are no defects. Anthony has had numerous echos but a fetal one is new to us so I'm not sure what to expect. October can't get here soon enough!

Mom had a better day today. The physical therapist got her up and walked her about 20 yards on her floor. She has been sitting up in her bed more today and coughing up a lot more "junk". The docs took her off as much pain meds, but she still has a really good dose. There has been some chatter about them removing her chest tube soon, but we haven't had a for sure on that. I just spoke to her and she sounds better. She does keep going in and out of sleep so Randy will periodically say "mom wake up". She responds with "I'm not sleeping. I'm just closing my eyes".

It's actually kind of funny.

It kills Amy and I that we had to leave and come back home. We can't stand not being there, but Amy had patients she had to see, I needed to get back to work, and we had to check on everything here. We will be going back to be with her and help out anyway we can late next week.

I am so thankful that my brother, Randy and his fiancé were able to stay at the hospital with her last night and tonight.

Mimi visited an orthopedic surgeon in Tulsa yesterday. They will operate on her clavicle and hand early Wednesday morning. Her pre op visit is tomorrow and if we hear anything different we will let you all know.

Special thanks to Uncle Mike and Aunt Karla Connor for referring their close friend Dr. Mike Tanner the orthopedic surgeon that will operate on Mimi. She said he and his staff are the best she has ever met. Also, thanks to them for taking Amy and I to lunch on Tuesday afternoon. It was a really nice way to remove our minds from the situation for an hour, even though I kept worrying I was going to miss something at the hospital.

That's right, she's in a room and out of ICU. She still has her chest tube, central line, and her foley catheter, but she doesn't require the type of care the ICU would provide. We did have great nurses in the ICU and are very thankful for them.

Thanks again everyone!

Mother had a rough night dealing with discomfort, pain, and coughing, but she is making great strides on her road to recovery. They told us that she may be moved into a room and out of ICU today or tomorrow. This is great news as it means she doesn't require as much immediate care, but she will need more assistance from family as she can't do much of anything on her own. Such as drinking water, scratching her forehead and adjusting herself in bed. I gave her her first drink of water since about 11 am on Sunday this morning and it was glorious! She looked up at me through her swollen eyes, tried to smile and said "we take these things for granted".

She wants to thank everyone for their prayers, thoughts, and concerns. We have had soooo many people here at the hospital it has been incredible. She has by far been the patient with the biggest "fan club".

I'd like to give a special thanks to her dear friend Kathy Real for staying with her a couple of nights and being very flexible and able to come back to stay with her next week while Randy and I return for work.

I would also like to say that Amy and I have been very thankful that our bosses have been so generous to let us "do what we need to do" with this situation.

We will continue to update with her progress!

AJH