12 Week Checkup

Ok, so the ticker at the top of my page says we are 13 weeks pregnant, that is incorrect. I have it set to my Delivery Date, not my Due Date (Delivery Date, 12/04...Due Date 12/10). I really think their tickers are the cutest and that is why I chose it. Sorry for the confusion, but I wanted to set the record straight.
I really wish that we had a Scanner so I could scan in my pictures from my second Ultrasound, but we don't. However, it went great. The baby actually looks like a baby. It is amazing how much the baby has changed in four weeks. When we first saw it, it looked like a big ball of mush and now it looks like a baby! The baby behaved very well for the Technician and she was able to get some good neck measurements within the first five minutes. After that, the baby woke up and was kicking and dancing all over the place. It was so weird to be able to see the baby kick and move but not be able to feel it. I think the baby is going to be shy like it's big sister; he/she kept putting their hands over their eyes and playing peek-a-boo with us...too cute! We also heard the heart beat...162 beats per minute (same as last time).
As for me, well, I have lost 10 pounds since I found out, which is normal. If I remember right, I lost about that much with Olivia and didn't really start gaining until around 16-20 weeks. Even though I have lost some weight, I am starting to show. I have a soft, squishy little pouch and I am in the in-between stage right now with clothes. My clothes are getting too tight but maternity clothes are still too big.
I am having trouble staying asleep at night. Going to sleep is no problem, but after about 4 or 5 hours, I am up, tossing and turning the rest of the night and feel pretty crummy the next morning and day. When I stay home with Olivia and on the weekends, I am able to take naps, which help, but I would just rather sleep through the night.
I don't really have any food aversions, but I can't eat as much as I used to. I have noticed though that I am always hungry every couple of hours and I eat until I am full, so I guess the baby is taking everything.
Olivia is doing great. She is going to make a fabulous big sister. She really loves to play with her babies and feed them their bottles and love on them.
She also really enjoys books. Her favorite right now is: "What Color is Your Underwear?" and loves to say the color purple. There is a page in the book that says: "What color is your underwear, Tommy Turtle?...Purple, purple, purple, purple." Every time you ask her to say purple, she says it four times, just like in the book...so cute! She is talking more, but really only says what I ask her to repeat; which I guess is a step in the right direction.
We are working on colors right now. She really likes to read about them, but if I point to something and ask her what color it is, she looks at me with a blank expression on her face until I tell her what it is and she repeats it. We have also been working on counting to five. We have been working on saying the number and showing the number with our fingers. Three seems to be the hardest one to say and show, which it really is. And, when I say five, she wants to give me a five instead of show me five.
She now says Mommy and Daddy, although I really prefer Mama. But, whenever she wants something, no matter who is around, they are mama. She can also say: "I love you; where are you; thank you; all gone--this also means all done; stop; shhh (she even puts her finger to her mouth when she says it); apple (although, she says app and then spits -le); baby; woof-woof; cat; meow; red; blue; yellow; one; hot; milk (says it and signs it)...and lots of other words, I just can't think of all of them right now.
She still takes two naps a day, and for a while, I was trying to cut out the morning nap, but since I have been so tired lately, it has really come in handy. She also sleeps about 10-11 hours at night, too. She has always been a good sleeper and I hope the next one is, too.
Let's see, what else is going on. Oh, tomorrow is mine and Jonathon's 5-year wedding anniversary. I have to work in the morning, boo, but afterwards, we are heading up to Whitesboro for a party at a ranch. Jonathon's boss and his family are hosting a family-style ranch party tomorrow afternoon and we are going to have a blast. They are going to have bounce houses, sprinklers and hay rides for the kiddos, and fishing and skeet shooting for the guys. Jonathon is so excited! He hasn't fished or shot skeets in a long time. At night, they are going to start a huge bonfire and cook hamburgers, hot dogs and smores :)
Oh, and my Grandpa is officially home as of Monday. I don't really know too much else, but it is great that he is home and able to walk with a cane instead of a walker. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Update on Grandpa!

Sorry for the delay in posting, but better late than never, right?
Anyway, my Grandpa was released from the hospital on Monday and they took him to a Rehabilitation Center not too far from my grandparent's house. The doctor told him he will be there for one week, visit his doctor, and could be release to go back home.
While in the hospital, tests revealed he has extra fluid on his spine and brain. They were able to relieve some of the fluid on his spine and he is doing so much better. He is able to walk around and has color back in his face (my dad said he was pretty pale). They also believe he is a good candidate to have a shunt placed in his brain to drain the excess fluid off of his brain. They do not know when and if they will be able to do the surgery, so once I know, you will know.
But, for now, he is doing and feeling so much better, which is great news. My grandma emailed me earlier today and said the Rehabilitation Center let her take him out to lunch and get his hair cut today. He was pretty tired after that, so she took him back, but that is such great improvement from last week.
So, I would like to say thank you to all of you for your prayers, thoughts and encouraging words; my family and I really appreciate it.
Last Thursday, my friend, Robin, came down for a four day girls weekend, and we had a blast. Thursday was our Spa Day. We went to the ZaSpa at the Hotel ZaZa in Uptown Dallas, and were spoiled. I have never been pampered or doted upon, and it was wonderful. I told Jonathon before this second baby is born, I would like to do it again. We started off with massages and facials. I have never had a massage before, but I am totally hooked now. The facial was wonderful and my skin felt so soft and rejuvenated. Then, we had lunch provided from the Dragonfly Restaurant. We shared Crab Cakes, Turkey Club Sandwich, a Fresh Fruit Plate, and French Fries. In my opinion, the fries were the best part. Even cold, they were more delicious than McDonald's fries hot. Then, we were off for our Manicures and Pedicures. The Zero Gravity chair was so awesome and I totally felt like a feather. I am sure when I am further along, and a lot bigger, it will feel even more incredible. It is supposed to make you feel like you aren't carrying a bunch of weight in your tummy.
Friday, our friend, Kristen, "The Unsinkable", came over and we ate lunch at Fogo De Chao. Fogo De Chao is a Brazilian Churrascaria. They have an amazing salad bar and then when you are ready for them to serve you meat, you flip over your card from red to green, and Gauchos will bombard you with about 10-15 different types of meats, chicken and pork. When you want to take a break, flip your card to red and they will stop. We absolutely stuffed ourselves, but of course, we had room for dessert. They have amazing desserts; we each got something different. Once we were finished with our meal, we dropped Kristen off and Robin and I went to Waco to visit her in-laws. We had such a great trip there and back.
Saturday, we did the girl thing, and went to the local mall and shopped, and shopped, and shopped some more. We both ended up getting tons of new maternity clothes and had a great time. Afterwards, we came home for a quick rest, and then it was off to Medieval Times. Medieval Times is a restaurant/entertainment center. While eating, we watched "The Knights of the Realm" compete in different sporting events. Even though our Knight didn't win, we still had a great time. Jonathon and I even had our 5 year Anniversary announced during the tournament...Lord Jonathon and Lady Brandy Simmons.
Sunday, we went to church and afterwards to Dickey's for some great BBQ. We go to Dickey's every Sunday after church because kids eat free, and we really enjoy it. Afterwards, Robin had to leave. I was sad to see her go, but I knew she had a great time and she was ready to go home and see her family.
I wish I had pictures to post, but silly me, even though I had my camera on me the whole entire time, I didn't take one single stinkin' picture! Can you believe that? Oh well, at least Robin and I have memories together.

Please, say a prayer!

Today, I received a phone call that I knew would one day come, but have always dreaded since I moved away from Indiana. Earlier this evening, my Dad called to tell me that Grandpa has been admitted to the hospital. They do not know what is necessarily wrong with him, but they are keeping him for a few days so they can run tests. Let me back up and give you the prequel.
In 2003, my Grandpa was diagnosed with diabetes. After his diagnosis, he lost a lot of weight, but was riding a stationary bike and was up to a couple of miles a day. Unfortunately, within the past couple of years, he has not been doing so well. As of lately, within the past couple of months, he has been falling down. Fortunately, my grandma has always been able to call somebody and they would come and help get him up. A couple of weeks ago, his doctor told my Grandma that my Grandpa has had a couple of mini-strokes, one of which we already knew about, which could be causing him to fall down. He has been going to Physical Therapy, but today was the straw that broke the camel's back.
I spoke with my Grandma earlier this evening and she said he fell down again this morning, but this time, he had no idea where he was, and still doesn't. His doctor told her that it could be either Dementia or Alzheimer's. He also recommended for her to put him in a nursing home when he is discharged from the hospital because he is too much for her to take care of all by herself.
So, at this point, we really don't know what is going on, and probably won't know for a few days. However, I am asking that you all pray for my Grandpa and his health; pray for my Grandma to make the right decisions and to do the best she can for him; and pray for my family and for us to have strength for the both of them to help them through this difficult time/transition.
As I learn more, I will post, but it might be a few days.

Here is a picture of my Grandpa with me and three of his great grandchildren this past Thanksgiving.



Here is a picture from Thanksgiving 2006--four generations!

Ok, so my math is a little off...

Jonathon and I had our first appointment today. It went really well. We started off with an Ultrasound and we are glad to report there is only one heartbeat. Both the Tech and our doctor said everything looks great so far. The Tech was able to get a heartbeat, 162 beats. She told me not to read too much into the high heartbeat because she has seen plenty of babies turn out to be boys with high heartbeats.

Anyway, we had a great talk/visit with my doctor. I was able to ask him all the questions I could think of and he took the time to answer each and every single one and didn't rush us. He really is a great doctor.

So, you are probably wondering why I titled the post the way I did. Well, the online calendars I have been using say my due date is around December 14/15th, but when the Ultrasound Tech measured the baby, I am actually measuring 5 days sooner, so that puts my due date December 10th. So, we talked with the doctor and since he doesn't like to do VBAC's, I am going to have a scheduled C-Section and the date is, drum roll please ...................December 4th!
Jonathon and I are very excited and can't wait to meet our new little bundle of joy in just 7 months.

We do have pictures from the Ultrasound, but since we do not have a scanner, I will have to wait until Monday to scan them in and post; I have one at my desk at work. We do have another Ultrasound scheduled in four weeks at our next appointment. Apparently they now test for Spina Bifida and Down Syndrome differently than when I had Olivia. Instead of drawing blood at 16 weeks and testing for both, they now do an Ultrasound at 12 weeks so they can measure the back of the baby's head and do blood work and then send those measurements and blood to the labs. They also do blood work at 16 weeks, too. So, yay, I get to have blood drawn three times in a row (today, my next appointment and the appointment afterwards). But, this is all worth it.

We are going to find out the sex of the baby. I have to know in order to plan and to bond with the baby. We do have a boy name picked out, but we are having a hard time picking a girl name. Once we have the names picked out, we will call the baby Little Boy Name or Little Girl Name, until we find out. We did that with Olivia. We would call her Little Connor or Little Olivia. Jonathon would say, "What does Little Connor or Little Olivia want to eat?" and other things; it really is cute. I guess for us, it is a way for us to feel closer to the baby.

Everything is going really well with the pregnancy so far and we are almost finished with the first trimester. Wow! Time flies by so fast. I still haven't had any morning sickness or severe nausea, like I had with Olivia, and no headaches, which is great because those were killer. I have an increased appetite and can't seem to get enough food, which is odd because since I found out I was pregnant, I have lost about 5 pounds...weird. When I was pregnant with Olivia, I was asleep every night about 7:00 p.m., and even though I have noticed I am a little bit more tired than usual, I still go to bed at my normal time, which is great! So keep those prayers coming for a complication free pregnancy; they are working.

Olivia and I are going to the zoo tomorrow so I will have new pictures to post of her tomorrow. She has changed so much since last night. I was looking at her when we got back from our appointment, and she no longer resembles a baby, she looks like a big girl. Oh goodness!