We have been quite busy lately! Ethan is now 5 months old and growing soo big! He si now 20 pounds! He is rolling now and is VERY strong. He is eating all kinds of food now. His favorites are Sweet Potatoes and Carrots! In another few weeks we will start to give hm some cheerios and more solid table foods! he's growing up so fast!
Brooke is now Potty trained! YAY! Finally! she was rewarded for her hard work with a Little Mommy doll that also goes on the potty! She worked very hard and mommy and daddy are soooo proud!

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!!!!

It's been a while! Ethan is 4 months old now!

It has been a while since I posted a blog so I thought I'd update if I still have any readers left! Ethan is now 4 1/2 months old! He is getting soo big. At his 4 month well Check he weighed in at 18 lbs and was in the 80th percentile for weight and he is 26 inches long! Last Thursday he started to roll over for the first time! He is growing up so fast! Brooke is doing well as a big sister! she is such a big helper. We are still working on potty training. We are getting closer. Potty training Brooke has been the most challenging thing I am have done since becoming a mom.

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving and I will try to update again soon!

It's been a while

Hello!

Well I haven't updated this since little man was born but HE'S HERE!!! Ethan was born 7-7-08 weighing 7lbs. 7oz and 20 1/2 inches long. He came into the world via c-section and everything went great.

I can't believe in 2 days he will be 2 months old. He is starting to roll onto his side and is showing us his beautiful smile! In his short life he has been traveling quite a but. He has made 3 trips to Erie and 1 trip to Pittsburgh. He is doing great joining in on our crazy life!

Ethan is growing very fast and is really strong. As of 2 weeks ago he was about 13 lbs. He is quickly passing his sisters size at the same age. Brooke was 14 pounds at 4 months of age! I guess we do have a little football player! :) I will try to stay a little more updated!

What a week

Well, it's been quite a rollarcoaster ride this week! I have had very very strong Braxton Hicks contractions for quite some time now. On Thursday I noticed they were coming 5 minutes apart! After timing them for a few hours Chuck and I thought it would be safer to go get checked. We went to the hospital straight to labor and delivery. Once I was hooked up to the monitors my contractions were 3 minutes apart.
The Drs. started asking me if I was going in for anoother c-section or how I was going to deliver. I looked at Chuck and said OH MY he's coming!!! They checked me and I am 2 cm dilated. With my contractions they way they were it would have only been a matter of time. They called my OBGYN and ran some tests. They did an ultrasound and then the Drs. came back on the room and stabbed me with a giant needle. They were stopping my labor. Little mans lungs are not fully developed and if he would have been born he would have gone right to the NICU so we wanted it stopped if at all possible.. The medicine worked great. My contractions stopped within minutes but the side effects were more than miserable. It caused a rapid heartbeat and pretty bad shaking. I had the choice if I wanted to stay over night or go home. I came home. I was on strict orders to sit and do NOTHING. Last night my contractions started again and we went back to the hospital within an hour. Good news is I had no more dilating, mostly because we caught it so early. I now have to take this medicine 3 times a day for the next week. after that everything should be A-OK for little mans arrival! :)

35 1/2 weeks

Only a little over a month to go! I am having an ultrasound on June 23rd (my birthday eh-hmm) followed by an exam appt. We are going to determine the size of little man and also see if I have progressed toward labor or not. If he is too large or I am not showing any signs of dilating or effacing I will go ahead and schedule the c-section. I have already chosen the potential date. As much as I would like to do it sooner than later. I chose later. July 7th as so I can watch fireworks with Brookie! Also July 3rd is my 4th Wedding anniversary and I really don't want to be in the hospital or recovering on those dates.. BUT you never know. I COULD go into labor all on my own really anytime in the next few weeks. If I do we won't have to worry about any of that! In about a week and a half there is no worries about any delvelopment. His lungs will be complete and he will be considered full term! I will keep you all posted!

OH!!! and we chose a name!!!! hmm... should I tell ya OR keep it a secret?? I guess I'll see who all is reading this and really wants to know!!!!! :)

34 weeks!

Only 6 weeks to go!! We are in the home stretch! At my next appt. the Dr. is going to schedule an ultrasound. We are going to check the size of "little man". to determine the best course of delivery. As most of you know. I ended up having a c-section with Brooke (after 32 hours of labor). I wanted to try a VBAC (Vaginal birth after Cesarian) this time. There are some risks involved in that but checking things out will help determine if I am a good candidate for the VBAC. One thing they don't want it little man to be any bigger than Brooke. She was only 7lbs on the nose. If he gets bigger than that they want me to just schedule the cesarian. SOOO I am hoping for good news when we have the ultrasound. I will let you know!

This past weekend we took Brooke to her first Pittsburgh Pirate game! she had a blast!

32 weeks

Right now I am 32 1/2 weeks along! Things are going well. I started organizing "little mans" bedroom this week! We got Brooke into her Big girl bed so we moved the crib into the other bedroom. Brooke is doing very well in her bed! Naptime has been a battle but nighttime has been going very smooth. I am feeling pretty good. My varicose veins are still bothersome but they will be until delivery. My Iron levels are still coming back a little low, but I am still taking those vitamins!!! Little man is very strong! His kicks are starting to hurt a bit, but that is good! I want him to be big, strong and healthy!! Hopfully one of these blogs will be the name we have chosen. but for now he's still little man.

Just an update

Here we are heading into our 30th week this weekend! 10 more to go. It feels like I should be having the baby alot sooner than 2 1/2 months but I am sure time will go by very quick. Things are going well for "little man". Who still has no name! Chuck and I are pretty sure we are going to wait to see what he looks like after he is born and maybe a name wil come to us!
I am feeling alright. Just achy. My pelvis is still sore and my varicose veins are out of control! Who knew little veins could hurt so bad! There is not much you can do for them either. I am elevating my leg and I have support stocking so they don't get much worse. I am hopeful they will be all better after delivery! :)

Hope everyone is doing well. AND we are one week away from Brookes 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday Brookie!!!!!

The third trimester is for the birds.

Here I am 1 week into the third trimester and my body feels like it's been through a war. My main complaint right now is my Varicose Veins. Who knew they hurt so bad! It feels like someone is holding a lighter up to my leg and burning it. I am having a hard time walking for an extended period of time. My Dr. told me there is not much I can do except elevate my leg a few times a day and try pressure on it. I hope it goes away very soon after delivery.

On a brighter note. "little man" is moving around like crazy and getting really big! He still doesn't have a name. Chuck told me this past weekend he kind of wants to wait until we see him to name him. SO he may not have a name until his birth day!!!

All and all I guess I can't complain too much. My leg does hurt alot but there are worse things that could be going on! I have my glucose tolerance test next week. Lets hope that comes back good!

Baby Boy Heid

Chuck and I are having a hard time picking a name for "baby boy". We have thought of quite a few but some just don't flow with our last name. We both liked the name Ethan, but Ethan Heid Kind of sounds like a chemical to us. I like Nicholas, but Chuck is not sure. He likes Tyler. I would hate it if people shortened it to TY Heid. no way.. How about Zachary?? I also like Braedon. Nicholas and Braedon are the 2 names I have on the top of my list right now. For middle names we would either use Charles, Anthony (which is Chucks middle) or Raymond after my grandpa. It depends what we pick for the first name. I also had liked the name Brady but Chucks response was "why don't we name him Thomas Brady Heid then!" For those of you that don't know who he is. Tom Brady is the quarterback for the New England Patriots. I just don't know. Any suggestions out there?? 13 weeks to go and I'd really like to name baby boy before delivery day!!!!!

Proud Sister

It's hard for me to believe that Brooke is turning 2 in a couple of weeks! Here is an updated picture of her. Look How's she has changed in 2 years! My little Princess is very girly. She is talking up a storm and starting to talk in sentences. (OH MAN!) She goes to music class every week and LOVED it. She also Loves animals more than baby dolls and never leaves the house without her bunny..My baby girl is growing up so quick..

The Wonderful World of Iron

For the past couple of months I have been tired. No Kidding right? I'm pregnant with a soon to be 2 year old. My tired had turned into pure exhaustion and I was getting to the point where it was too much to go anywhere because I felt like falling asleep driving. At my last OB appt. I expressed this concern to my DR. who had a strong suspicion that I was anemic. He took bloodwork to confirm and wrote me out a prescription. I came home and looked at my vitamins. I have been taking Flintstones (2 a day) like I did with Brooke because it made me less nauseated. After furthur investigating I discovered Flinstones have ZERO IRON in them. Pregnant women need Iron because the Placenta takes all of it! I have been going through this entire pregnancy with none! I def. do not eat a diet rich in Iron either. Well I am happy to say that after only 4 days on Iron, I am still tired but I feel my energy coming back! It's great that I actually feel like playing with Brooke again and taking her places! It's amazing what 1 little mineral will do for ya!!! :)

26 weeks down 14 to go!!!

It has been a while since I have blogged. Things are going very well! I am feeling pretty good for the most part. I still have alot of pelvic pain and I am OH SO TIRED! I am happy however that I am not throwing up like I did with Brooke!

"little man" is growing fast now! He still has no name. Chuck and I have a list of about 11 or 12 names that we read over once in a while. Boy names are just not as easy for us as girl names were!

I am starting to think about getting "little mans" room ready. Chuck and I are in the process of moving out bedroom into the former playroom. and the new baby will have our room! I am hoping to go to babies r us and shop for all the little boy things we need so I can start getting that stuff done! After all, I start the third trimester on SUNDAY!!!!

We have an answer!

IT'S A BOY!!! I had my ultrasound today and there is no doubt that we are having a bouncing baby boy! That was the first part of his body he showed us and mainly all we really got to see. I was a little disappointed with the ultrasound. My experience with Brooke was a very clear picture of her. We did not even get to see his face. The main reason was he was hiding his head behind my placenta. I am sure I will have another ultrasound sometime during the next 4 months and maybe we will get a better baby picture then! OR I might just have to be patient and see what he looks like when he arrives!

Only 3 more weeks!

3 weeks until my 3-D ultrasound and we will know what the baby is! My appt. is Feb. 26th at 1:00. I love the 3-D ultrasounds. The ones I had with Brooke were amazing! We could see everything! There will not be a problem seeing if it's a boy or a girl!

Checkupdate!

I had my monthly check-up this afternoon and everything is great! The heart rate is 150 BPM. It's slowed down a little! Could it be a boy? Well we will know sooner than we thought. My Dr. office is going to schedule my first 3-D ultrasound so we will actually get to see what the baby really looks like at this point! The 3-D ultrasounds I had with Brooke were just incredible. We could see her hair and her big chubby cheeks!

I have 3-D ultrasounds because during my first pregnancy I was diagnosed with Thrombophilia. This is a genetic disorder that causes Blood Clots (DVTS) and may cause some problems with blood flow through the placenta to the baby. Initially I was worried about this diagnosis and looked up every horror story on the Internet but my DRS. monitor me very close and I am not worried a bit! I take aspirin and additional Folic Acid along with my vitamins daily and after delivery I have to take a blood thinner called Coumadin and give myself daily injections of another blood thinner Lovenox. It sounds worse than it is. AND I would rather be safe than sorry!

It is a condition I do have to watch the rest of my life but there are ALOT of people living with this and at least I am aware of the signs and symptoms of the clot so I can get help if needed!

I will keep everyone posted as to when the big day will be! I am sure it will at least be a week or 2 until the ultrasound is scheduled. I CAN'T WAIT!

As for the pelvic pain. Like I thought it is completley normal. Actually the Dr. said it is common after the first pregnancy and caused by weakened abdominal muscles! So what's he saying!?! I didn't do my sit-ups?? WELL...he's right.. I really didn't.. :) But I am always glad to hear something is normal! :)

17 weeks and counting!

Here I am at the start of week 17. There's not a whole lot to report right now. I have had alot of pelvic pain and am going to talk to the Dr. about at my appt. on Tuesday. I feel like I did with Brooke at 38 weeks! I am sure it is normal and prob. has something to do with having 1 baby already! I am feeling pretty good. I am still exhausted, but on a good note the morning sickness is not as bad lately! Could it be I will have some relief this time?? Let's hope!!!!

16 week Belly pic!

Am I plump or pregnant??

I had my first experience today of someone wondering if I was gaining weight or expecting. Brooke has been in music class for about a year now and we just started back after our holiday break. After class I was walking out to my car with one of the other moms and her daughter. We got to talking about how much Brooke looks like me. (Yes she does, our baby pics are almost identical.) I mentioned how I couldn't wait to see if the new baby looked like mommy or daddy! The woman just laughed and said OH! YOU ARE PREGNANT! I thought so but I was afraid to ask! We talked for another minute then we were on our way. It really made me think on the way home! How many people out there think I ate too many Holiday cookies! It's fine because I know the truth, but I still think I might go buy a t-shirt I saw at Motherhood Maternity (a maternity clothes store) that says BABY BUMP. Then it might clear everything up for those wondering, at least for a few more weeks!

IT'S A....

I wish I was one of the few patient people in the world that could wait to find out the sex of the baby. The fact is I'm not and I am counting down the days until our ultrasound. 65 days to go.. No really I am counting down! I am a little upset at the date scheduled. I found out that Brooke was a girl when I was 19 weeks pregnant. This time my appt isn't until my 23rd week. ( March 13th at 10:40) for anyone who wants to count with me. I think I am getting anxious because as of next week (week 15) you would be able to tell by ultrasound if it was a boy or a girl! Alot of people ask me what I want. Obviously I want a healthy baby first and foremost. Do I have a preference? SURE i do! But I will keep that to myself. I don't mind either way. Having a Boy would be wonderful. Then we would have one of each, and our little family would be complete! Having another little princess would make things a whole lot easier and a whole lot cheaper! I can honestly say that Brooke does not have 1 neutral outfit, blanket, towel, or stuffed animal for that matter. She lives in a very pink princess world! If we want to look at the Old Wives (or is it wise) tails. According to the Chinese Calendar it's a boy.. It told me Brooke was a girl. And According to the heartbeat it's a girl! The heartbeat is a very fast 168! Brooke had a fast heartbeat also! Always above 160. I guess we just have to wait for the ultrasound to find out! Any guesses out there??

14 week belly pic!

Here is a pic of my belly at 14 weeks! People may just be wondering if I am pregnant or eating too many cookies! ( It might be a little bit of both but we won't tell!)

14 weeks already!

Here I am 14 weeks pregnant with our second child. I thought I'd start this blog to keep those updated that wanted to hear what is going on! Things are going pretty good. I have some occasional morning sickness but not nearly as bad as the first time around! I have been way more tired this time but I also have a 1 1/2 year old to chase around all day! All and all things are going well. Brooke knows there is a baby in mommys belly and likes to lift up my shirt and look at the baby bump. I think she is going to be a wonderful big sister! Check back frequently. I will try to keep this updated throughout the remainder of my pregnancy!