15 Weeks .....10 months

Strictly Bedrest for YOU!!!!

My Lovely Baby Bump!

Here is the ever growing belly at 15 weeks!

10 Months Today......

The trek through the snow to visit the little man.

Well after a VERY LONG weekend, here we are-Wednesday already! Pregnancy wise, we are at 15 weeks. We went to the Dr. on Monday and heard the nice strong heartbeat and talked to the Dr. a bit. He had heard that I was sick and up in the ER and wanted to make sure I took it easy a couple of day because he said it might take that for my body to recover--and he was right! I am finally feeling like I'm back to normal. Back to working out, eating real food, feeling good. We are scheduled to go back to the Dr. the first week in March to see how this little guy or gal is doing! He reassured us that we will be having many ultrasounds and be visiting Indy to have their doctors take a look as well.

We didn't have school today--obviously--we got 4-5 inches of snow. So I ran some errands and cleaned up the kitchen, worked out and now getting ready to make some dinner. I did have to take little Zoe to the vet today. She has been having a lot of seizures lately. So we decided to call the vet and he thinks that she is better off taking some medicine to control her seizures. We HATE when she has them because there is nothing we can do for her except hold her and tell her it's going to be ok. I sure hope this medicine helps her!

Things for Connor's 5k are falling into place!!! I have the bracelets ordered and the entry forms have been filtering in through the mail!!! Just a few more minor details and we will be all set! I've got a great set of volunteers, so this should all go very smoothly!! I can't wait to send that big check to the IVPF in Connor's memory. What a rush it will be....

Oh and before I forget. My DD (dynamic duo) Mandy Butcher Started up a blog! YAY!!! She has joined the blogger world. I have linked hers under the blogs I follow--so check her out!

Time to go get dinner started before big daddy Hall gets home! :)

Down for the count. Baby Ramer is impatient!

2 Hospital beds, please.

What a Friday night for our family!! Haley was admitted to labor and delivery for pre-term labor. She was having pretty consistent contractions--which were causing her to dilate. She is only 34 weeks, so little baby Ramer needs to be a little more patient and wait a bit to come meet us! She is staying another night in the hospital as they slowly take her off of the magnesium sulfate. IF she begins contracting again after the reduce her dose, they are going to go ahead and let her go into labor. PLEASE pray that baby Ramer cooperates and stays in his warm home just 2 more weeks! If (which hopefully this will happen) she doesn't begin contracting, she will get to come home and be on bed rest for the next 2 weeks. So no more swim meets, practices or sectional for her!!!!

As if that wasn't enough drama for one day. After I got home from visiting Haley and Justin, I began not feeling very well. I started vomiting and could not get it to stop. I was getting pretty dehydrated from throwing up about every 30 minutes--I would just sit on the bathroom floor and shake. So finally, after letting this go for 6 hours, Jeremy and I headed up to the ER to get some fluids and meds to make me stop vomiting. I have never felt so dehydrated in my life (take that back--I felt worse after having Connor!!!) ok. So the most dehydrated I have ever felt with having the flu. We were there about 3 hours. They did a blood pressure test where I would lie, sit and stand and if my blood pressure stayed consistent, I could go home. Well, that would have been way too easy. My body didn't cooperate, so they had to pump more fluids for a little while longer. Once they got my blood pressure at a consistent rate, I was able to come home. I have been "down for the count" all day long today. I have now had toast and 2 popcicles today. Still don't feel very hungry, but I know I need to try and eat something!

So I will sit here bored out of my mind tonight praying that baby Ramer cooperates for his mom and dad!! I know they are excited to meet him, but he NEEDS TO WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the 2nd Trimester!

There's a baby in there!!!!!

Picture of where we started at 6 weeks...

AND NOW

Here we are at 14 weeks!!!

A shot of the belly at 14 weeks pregnant with Connor. Figured you would go back on my blog anyway to see what it looked like then compared to now--I did at least--so I might as well just post the comparison! :)

Ahh....what a relief!! Getting through that 1st trimester is such a blessing. You don't realize all of the things that can happen and go wrong until you have had the absolute worst outcome of them all. I feel like we can breathe easier now that we are here--2nd trimester. Chances of a miscarriage have dropped dramatically. I feel GREAT. I have made it out of my first trimester without gaining ANY weight. I am keeping track a little closer this time around....hoping that I don't gain another 40 lbs. I'm not ashamed to share my weight. And I'm putting it on here so I know where I have started when I go back and read this 5 years down the road. When we first got a positive pregnancy test I weighed 142 lbs. Our first Dr.'s appointment I think the scale said 141, but went back and forth between that and 142. I weighed myself this morning--butt naked and dry hair with a weight of 142. I was actually pretty shocked--considering I ate nothing but JUNK FOOD on Sunday. Not just a little. We're talking almost and entire bag of funyons, a king size reese stick and almost an entire bag of sour gummi worms. Guess who felt sick Sunday night? Yeah, that'd be the queen of junk food. And to top it off, I didn't get to work out Monday or Tuesday. So I'm going to have a bit more self control and not allow that to happen again. Well, at least until the last week of my pregnancy! :) Then, I may eat a couple nutty bars everyday!

I have been busy trying to get things organized and ready for our 5k run/walk we are having in memory of Connor to celebrate his "1st Birthday". There have been many generous businesses around town that have donated money and door prizes for our event. I've been sending flyers to local YMCA's and the local schools. My goal is to have 100 participants. That would be at least $1500 donated to the International Vasa Previa Foundation. I just received the t-shirt design today and I think it turned out really nice. It's very simple and to the point. It even has his EXACT handprint on the front of the shirt--taken straight out of his baby book. Not the actual size, but the actual hand print. To know that everyone will have a little piece of him on whenever they wear their shirt is pretty cool if you ask me. Using this race to promote the IVPF and the seriousness of this PREVENTABLE condition is just another step in helping us heal. A way to remember our baby boy and raising awareness. If his 71 minutes on this earth can save the life of just ONE baby...... I'll take it. We want him to be remembered forever. So if you would like a pamphlet to participate, let me know! I'll send one to you! And just so you know, you don't HAVE to run!!! You can walk!!!!!!

Ok. So my nephew is pretty much the cutest thing in the world....I'm sure you had no idea that I felt that way! Learning your body parts is so much fun for kids... Where are you eyes? Ears? Nose? Mouth? WEINER????? Ohhhh, Just watch the video!

A Day With Brennan!

Today I got to spend the day with Brennan. Blaine called me this morning and said that he really wasn't supposed to be at daycare because he had a fever yesterday. It just so happened to work out because school was canceled today because we had a windchill of -39 degrees!! So Brennan and I played with some toys, read some books, watched tv and worked on our ABC's on the computer! :) Brennan ran head first into the recliner--didn't hurt himself, it's cushioned--and after he hit his head on the chair, he looked at me and hit himself on the head! It was so funny! Here are a few pictures of our day today! :)

Brennan decided to do some cleaning--he found my duster :)

Loves his blanket!! Don't you like how I shut him out of all of the rooms?

Here he is trying to get into the tub I had some toys in--he wasn't very successful!!!

Brennan just being so darn cute!!!

13 weeks--From the kitchen of Betty Crocker

So as a request from Haley, I have begun my weekly belly pictures. I wasn't going to do weekly pics again this pregnancy, but she was not happy when she heard that!!! So as long as I remember, I will get a picture up once a week. Last pregnancy, my belly went from 28 inches to 47 1/2 inches around. I was HUGE! My starting weight was 140lbs and I weighed in at 180 the day of delivery. Telling you, just HUGE!! So huge, my skin was stretched much further than it was made to stretch---and you know what happens when your skin stretches further than it was meant to stretch? You get these lovely 'mamma marks' called stretchmarks. Yep, I have them...many of them actually. At first I was really embarrassed by them. Then, it became a constant reminder of going through a pregnancy and not being able to take home that grand prize. Now, I have become more proud of them and realize that they are there because I grew a healthy, beautiful baby boy whose life was taken because of human error and a bad decision during labor. So maybe I'll rename them from stretchmarks to my 'angelmarks'. My little angel left those for me...JUST IN CASE....there could have been a day where I wouldn't think of him. But that's something that will never happen, I can promise him that!!

So here is my belly at week 12 and you can compare this one to my 13 week pic!

Belly at 13 weeks. I can definitely tell that it has grown!! I couldn't comfortably button my pants today at work, so I slid on my bella band and sat at my chair doing therapy in comfort!!

Mystery T-Shirt!!

After I got home from the Y tonight, I found a package in the mailbox. I knew that I hadn't ordered anything, and was pretty sure that Jeremy hadn't ordered anything either! I'm not 100% sure who sent this to me!!! So, if the kind person who bought this for me, please let your self be known so that I can THANK YOU! :)

My 1st Meatloaf

So tonight I decided to make Jeremy meatloaf. I don't eat meatloaf. Never have, never will. Looks and smells gross. He has been talking about wanting meatloaf for about a week now, so I put my cooking skills to the test. (If you know me, I'm not one usually welcome in the kitchen!--I tend to set off the smoke detectors) I cut up fresh onions and peppers, followed the recipe I found on foodnetwork.com and made my first meatloaf. Unfortunately, the recipe called for Worcestershire sauce. The sauce had either gone bad or I put too much in the meatloaf. Jeremy was so excited to be able to have some meatloaf, but there was just something not quite right about it. I smelled the loaf and it had a funky smell to it. Hopefully it was just the sauce that was bad. Jeremy thinks that it would have been really good if the sauce was omitted or a little newer--we aren't exactly how old the sauce is.....could be over a year? I'm not sure! So I will attempt a meatloaf again and just not add the sauce and see if it tastes any better!!! So the first meatloaf was a flop!! Hopefully the blame won't be put on the cook and put on that dang sauce that is who knows how old!

The finished product!

That's me cutting up the onions for the meatloaf. Notice anything interesting in this picture?? :)

Good Dog? I'll let you be the judge.

Here is my little Zoe snuggled up in between my legs under the blanket. She is what I would call a good dog.

Here is the MESS I came home to today after work. The guilty offender?? MERLIN THE GOLDEN RETRIEVER! The one who is NOT snuggled up under a blanket with her mommy.

So you know how in my last post I said he is a good boy MOST of the time? I'm going to change that to SOME of the time. He seriously got some water bottles, pizza box and some hardees breakfast trash. I wonder what treasure I will come home to next?

Good dog? hmmmmm You can decide that one.

Bad Dog!

Looks So Innocent, doesn't he?

Friday after work, I came home and changed my clothes to get ready for aerobics at the Y. I got in the pantry to get a snack to take and off I went. While I was gone.....we had an intruder. And I think he must have been mad at me or just really hungry.........

Above: an empty box of a 6 pack of peanut butter crackers.

Pictured Above: 2 unwrapped packages of PB crackers. Notice all of the crumbs on the floor.

As you see again: he unwrapped all 6 packages and left the mess for mom when she got home. So the first picture of Merlin--was him hiding because he knew he was a bad, bad boy.



I can't complain though. Merlin is USUALLY a very good dog. Minus the occasional dumpster diving into our trash can and dragging out every piece--sometimes without even taking off the lid, eating snacks out of the pantry and getting on the couch when mom and dad leave--He REALLY is a good, loving boy. He's been in our lives for 6 years now.......and I wouldn't trade him in for any other dog! :)

12 Weeks!!!!

A little Comparison today!!!!!

Here is a picture of my belly at 12 weeks with Connor......

AND Here is a picture at 12 weeks with the newest Hall baby!

The week is ALMOST over! THANK GOODNESS!!!!! This week has been a bit tiring--you know, going back to work and all. Haley and I began swimming 2 mornings a week this week at the Y. She doesn't want to gain a bunch of weight in her last FEW weeks of her pregnancy AND I don't want to gain another 40 lbs with this pregnancy! We both love swimming and it's one of the best ways to exercise during pregnancy.

I think that my Dr. might think that I'm that "crazy pregnant woman"..... We were given an older doppler--to listen to the baby's heartbeat. Last night I decided I would use it, record the heartbeat, and post it on my blog. WELL, I couldn't find the heartbeat.... I tried not to panic.....and ended up callin my nurse (who is the GREATEST) and she had me come in right after school and found the little heartbeat right away---whew...I could breathe easy again. I told her that they are going to have to admit me to the state hospital because this pregnancy might make me go crazy. I'm trying to stay relaxed, but dammit, it's hard.

Tomorrow is the end to this short, but felt forever long, work week. Let's hope for a less stressful week next week......

Baby Feet

I just thought I would put into perspective the life of our unborn child. Here is a picture of the feet of a fetus at just 10 weeks. To think that in just a few months, we will be bringing home a bundle of joy who started out this tiny. Oh the miracle of life!

We are at 11 weeks. I am not posting a weekly picture this time around--just a monthly picture, for now! Feeling great and had a wonderful New Years!!! Hope you all have had a great start to the new year!