10 Weeks!

I am now 10 weeks pregnant (25% of the way there)!!! Now that I have my stomach ulcers under control, I am feeling great and looking forward to entering our 2nd trimester in a few weeks.

Here is my 10 week progression picture. I am showing WAY earlier with this pregnancy than I did with Chase. My 10 week pic for this pregnancy is bigger than my 14 week progression pic with Chase. I was not at all prepared for my stomach to pooch out as early as 7 weeks, but I guess that is one of the "perks" of a second pregnancy. :-)

Please disregard my appearance. This picture was taken tonight after a very long day of packing up and driving back home from the beach.

Quick Trip to the Beach

We were supposed to celebrate a long Labor Day weekend with the Vargas family in Orange Beach. Original plans were to leave on Thursday and come back home on Monday. Since we didn't know what was going to happen with the storm, Carrie and I decided to take Chase and Connor by ourselves on Wednesday and have the husbands meet us on Thursday.

Well needless to say, the husbands did not meet us on Thursday and we packed up and headed back home today (Friday). But we did get one beautiful, full day on the beach with the Chase and Connor yesterday.

Chase loved playing (aka, throwing) the sand while Connor was not a fan of it. But both LOVED the water. They played in the pool forever. Our two little fishes amazed me at how daring they became in the water. Chase kept jumping off the side into my arms and kicking his feet. He totally surprised me with his sudden love of the water.

Although we had a great time, Carrie and I were ready to head back this morning. Taking a 10 month old and a 2 year old to the beach by ourselves was a LOT of work. We need a vacation from our vacation :-)

Showing Off For The Camera

The Big Three - Oh!

Well, the moment I've dreaded since the day I turned 26 happened this past Friday...I turned 30! Being 8 weeks pregnant, I wasn't able to have the big blow out I've always pictured :-)

So Shane and I celebrated by spending a 4 day weekend in Miami. We stayed at the Hilton Bentley in South Beach and it was GORGEOUS! The water was crystal clear and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We had lots of fantastic food, spent most of our daytime on the beach and also made it to a Marlin's game.

I would have to say the biggest surprise was how many Europeans were vacationing/living in Miami. Hardly anyone spoke English, it was like we weren't in the United States anymore. And an added bonus for Shane...European ladies go topless on the beach. I saw more female body parts than I ever care to see again. They were EVERYWHERE and women of all ages (from 5 years old to way too old). I know it's part of their culture, but it's just so funny to me how carefree they were about being topless. Shane thought it was great (of course)!

Thank you, Shane for taking me away for a wonderful birthday celebration. And thank you so much MawMaw and Pops for watching Chase. I know it wasn't easy since he hasn't been feeling well, but I know he had so much fun with the both of you!

Ultrasound

Today I had my first ultrasound on our little peanut. It was so amazing to see that tiny heart flutter so fast. The baby was so tiny, it just looked like a little turtle swimming in my belly :-)

The radiologist said everything looked great with the baby. Phew!!! I feel so much better now that I know my peanut is safe and wasn't harmed from all of the stomach issues and procedures I went through last week.

Unfortuantely I don't have any pictures to share. I had the ultrasound done at St. Tammany hospital and they do not have the capability to print pictures. Hopefully Dr. Lobello will order another ultrasound in her office so I will be able to share pictures soon!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers!

Results

I had my endoscopy today and we finally got some answers!

My doctor said they found several ulcer like erosions in my gastric fundus and inflammation was found in the entire examined stomach area. There was stigmata of recent bleeding and biopsies were taken from every examined area.

The good news...we have an answer as to why I was in so much pain. The bad news....not too much we can do about it. I will continue to take the Zantac 4 times a day for 3 more months and then start to wean off. I go back to my GI doctor in a couple of weeks for another evaluation. I'm sure there will need to be some diet changes and well as some stress level adjustments.

The doctor said she believes the attack was due to an increased level of stress. But how does an anal, Type A personality reduce stress? I create it in every aspect of my life. I guess that is why I have the ulcers in the first place.

On a side note, when I woke up from the anesthesia, I had some pain in my right eye. Apparently I was rubbing my eyes when I was coming to and scratched my cornia with my new long prenatal vitamin fingernails. Talk about bad luck! They sent me straight to the eye doctor. (I was assured that the anesthesia they gave me would be metabolized from my body before it ever reached the baby)!

A special thanks to MawMaw and Pops for watching Chase three days this week for me while I tried to rest. You were such a big help and made this process a little easier to tolerate. We love you! :-)

Update

I went to the GI doctor on Tuesday. Once again my meds were changed up a little bit and we scheduled some more tests. I am feeling better than I have for the past week, but I'm still in pain with the major burning feeling (no more vomiting, thank God)!

Tomorrow morning we are going to EJ Hospital and they are putting me under anesthesia so they can perform an endoscopy to get a better look of what is going on inside my stomach. Then on Monday I am going to St. Tammany out patient hospital for a pelvic exam (to check on the baby), an echo and to get the heart monitor that I will wear for 24 hours. Tuesday morning I need to go back to EJ Hospital for my abdominal ultrasound to check on my gallbladder, pancreas and liver.

Hopefully we will get an answer soon and find a way to rid the pain. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated. And hopefully I will have some ultrasound pics of the baby from my appt on Monday (that's the only procedure I'm looking forward, too)!

Party

We celebrated Chase's birthday with a kid's party at Ducky Joes in Mandeville. This was Chase's first time at Ducky Joes and he seemed to really like it. After having his first birthday celebration at our house, I can tell you that renting out a place is definitely the way to go!






As for me, I have not been feeling well for the past week. It started on Wednesday morning. I have an awful burning in my stomach along with nausea and vomiting. I have also been having a lot of dizzy spells, too. I haven't really been able to eat or drink anything at all. My stomach pain got to be more than I could handle and ended up going to the ER on Friday night (yes the night before Chase's birthday party...thank you Christy for staying with Chase while we went to the hospital)!

They checked my blood, gave me an ultrasound to check my gall bladder and an EKG to check my heart. Test results came back good and they gave me some muscle relaxers for the spasms in my stomach and another med for my pain, but it didn't work. The night time was way worse than the day pain for some reason, and I often ended up curled up in a ball on my bedroom floor crying.

I luckily had my first prenatal visit with Dr. Lobello today. She is sending me to St. Tammany out patient hospital to have quite a few test done. I am having both an upper ultrasound and total abdominal ultrasound to check everything in my stomach and make sure the baby is doing okay. I am also having an echo done and I need to wear some sort of heart monitor for 24 hours just to be sure my heart is okay (a precaution from the dizzy spells). She also changed up my medicines and prescribed me a narcotic for the pain.

Tonight I made it all they way until midnight before the pain really kicked in. That is an improvement from the past week, but I'm still hoping for the pain to cease all together soon. I have no idea if this is related to the pregnancy or not, but I'm pretty sure Shane and I have decided that this will be our last pregnancy :-)

Please keep us in your prayers as I get all my tests done and that baby number 2 is safe and healthy!

Happy Birthday, Chase!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Chase!

It feels like just yesteday we was anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child...we didn't even know if we were having a boy or a girl. After two long days of labor, we welcomed our son, Chase Patrick.

These past two years have just flown by so quickly. Chase's 2nd birthday is bittersweet for me. On one hand I am happy to celebrate this day and look back at all his milestones and accomplishments. But on the other hand, I have to wonder, "Where did my baby go"?

It has been such a blessing to watch this handsome little guy develop into his own person. He has his own moods, jokes, facial expressions and ways of affection. He is absolutely hysterical and has brought so much joy into Shane and I's life. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful little boy as our son!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea! And may God continue to bless our family with many more wonderful memories!

Chase's 2 Year Lamb Picture:

Chase's 1 Year Lamb Picture:

Chase's 1 week Lamb Picture: