Baby update...39 days to go!!

Lots has been happening the past few days so I'll back up just a bit and give you the "full report". After weeks of bragging that I was going to skip the whole swelling part of pregnancy, my body decided differently and about a week ago, my feet and hands swelled a LOT! I wasn't too concerned since a lot of people experience that, namely my little sister who had terrible swelling issues for weeks during her pregnancy. So, I stowed my wedding ring and was grinning and bearing my newly formed cankles until I started to feel a little dizzy and light-headed and had a dull headache. Sunday we were getting together for Mother's Day and my grandma offered to bring my grandpa's blood pressure cuff along to check things out. The initial readings were off the charts so I started to worry since my BP has NEVER been high. After a few hours of worrying, I called the hospital and they asked that I come in to be checked, just in case. Long story short, my BP was elevated but not nearly as much as the at home cuff had said so that was a relief. They monitored the baby and I for a few hours (baby was great!) and ran some tests and sent me home as I already had an appointment scheduled with my doctor for today. After picking on me for checking my BP at home, my doctor said he wasn't too concerned at this point, he just wants me to stay off my feet as much as possible and get plenty of rest so that's the plan! He did another quick ultrasound to check baby and everything looks great, baby is head down, heart beating away at 136 BPM, and he/she was practicing breathing again! The Dr. is very pleased with Baby's progress so that made me very happy! He warned me that while we are in the final stretch, these next few weeks will seem like the longest but to hang in there because eventually, the baby WILL come out:-) I thought I'd post a few U/S pics just to show baby's progress. The first one is from 4 weeks ago (I was 30 weeks 3 days along) and the second one is from today (34 weeks and 3 days). I was AMAZED at how much the little bean has grown in such a short period of time (no, the second one isn't zoomed in, it's the same scope as the first one!)....but I guess given the fact that my belly has grown just as much I shouldn't be all that surprised!:-) Hope everyone is doing well and I will keep you posted!!

Everything you wanted to know about labor and delivery...and then some!

Seth and I attended the Prenatal class offered at the hospital this weekend. We opted for the all -in-one weekend session in lieu of the 6 week/one night a week version. Our instructor Pam was hilarious and right away warned us that we would be sick of hearing her talk by the time the class (or Baby Bootcamp as she called it) was over:-) In truth, we both really enjoyed listening to her and learned a LOT! She informed us that she's been helping deliver babies "since Jesus was born" and while we know that MIGHT be a small stretch of the truth, she certainly seems to know her stuff and was a wealth of knowledge! I won't bore you all with the details of the class since many of you have already attended such a class and/or given birth and probably know most of the info already. But both Seth and I agree that it was well worth our time to go and are feeling much more prepared for the "big day" now! In fact, while touring the birthing unit, I almost hopped in the bed and said "Start the pitocin, let's get this show on the road!" But I thought better of it and decided to just follow along through the rest of the tour like a good student:-) We finished the class and even got a "diploma"....ok, so we have to fill in our own names but still, it's something! In other news, I had a doctors appointment last week and all is well with Baby F! He/she is head down and Dr. says unlikely to turn at this point (yay!). Also, I got to hear the heartbeat for the first time and it was so cool:-) However, because the little bean was doing his/her afternoon exercises and wouldn't hold still to get a good read of the heartbeat, my Dr. did another ultrasound just to be sure. Everything is just fine, heartbeat is strong and regular at 130 BPM. We also got a pretty good shot of the bean's little face...poor thing looks so squished already, I can't imagine what it will be like in a few weeks! WARNING: Mommy brag time...Baby F was "practicing breathing" while the Dr. was doing the ultrasound and he reports that means that neurologically the baby is developing very well! I didn't have a clue that they did that but I'm glad to hear that our Baby seems to know all about it:-) All in all, the visit went great, Baby F is great and we're cooking right along!

Baby update...finally:-)

So, I know it's been awhile since I posted about Baby F, I'm trying to do better but at this point (thankfully) there isn't much to report because everything is "cooking" along great:-) Anyway, we did go in for the "big" ultrasound yesterday...otherwise known as the Anatomy Ultrasound. To answer the question that we get asked the most these days...No, we did not find out the gender of the baby and don't plan to until he/she makes the big debut in June. I know, it's hard not to know! Trust me, yesterday when the tech turned the screen away so she could examine that part of the baby it took everything I had not to reach up and swing the screen back around to take a peek:-) But I know that we will be glad that we get that big surprise at the end:-) Anyway, back to the parts we DID see...Baby Bean is growing like a weed and VERY active! He/she seems destined for a career in ballet or marathon running as it's arms and feet are in constant motion! The most exciting news of the day was that the placenta has moved "up and out of the way" so there is no worry about placenta previa anymore, yay!! That was so relieving to find out! Other than that, we got to see the baby's heart, kidneys (thankfully no stones yet so hopefully I won't pass that little feature on!), brain, spine, arms, hands, legs and feet. Everything is normal and growing and developing as it should be. The funniest part of the experience was when she measured the baby's arm...she took the first measurement and said "Whoa, that is a really long arm, I better try that again" So, she measured a second time and said "Nope, I guess it was right the first time, this little one has really long arms!" I told Seth that when she said that my first thought was "Oh great, we're having some sort of ape child!" I guess we'll find out in June! Here are some pictures of the little Bean:

Profile shot, note the button nose:-)

Little feet, he/she had it's ankles crossed, laid back relaxing I guess!

Baby looking at the camera saying HI!

Baby update!

It's been awhile since I blogged about Baby F so I though it was about time for an update. Plus, I had a Dr. appointment today and had another ultrasound so timing is perfect! I'm now 16 weeks and 3 days along...only 24 weeks to go! The Dr. says all is well with Baby, he/she is growing like a weed and everything looks good with the peanut. He did say that the placenta is low right now so they will watch that closely over the coming weeks. If it doesn't move, I will have to have a C-section. We're not worried though, as long as Baby is healthy, we don't care how he/she arrives! I probably won't be able to feel Baby F move much in the coming weeks because of the placenta being low but he said not to worry, eventually I will be able to feel it and then I'll probably end up wishing I couldn't again:-) So, all in all, everything looks great! I'm feeling good, a few headaches here and there but nothing terrible. Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts you are all sending our way, they are working and we really appreciate it:-) Here's a few shots of the Baby, one is just a close up of the other....the one further away shows the head, chest, spine and arm (he/she was sucking it's thumb again:-)) and the closer one just shows the head and arm. Enjoy!!

New pictures of Baby Friedt

I had another Ultrasound on Friday! Seth couldn't come with so my mom and his mom came along to see the Bean, it was such a special moment to be able to share with them both! And it was so much fun to see the him/her again:-) This time was even more exciting because he/she was moving around like crazy, waving it's little arms and much to Grandma Cindy's delight, sucking his/her little thumb:-) Seeing the baby move around made it even more real than ever, what a miracle this whole process is!! I also got to meet my OB doctor for the first time and he is SO nice, I'm feeling very fortunate to have gotten him for a doc. He is very calm and patient and happy to answer all my crazy questions. With it being Thanksgiving, Seth and I have talked a lot in the past few days about how lucky and incredibly blessed we are to be surrounded by all of our family and friends all the time but especially now as we wait to meet our little one. Thank you all for your support and love, it means the world to us!! Here are a couple pictures of the baby from Friday, enjoy:-)

Figured out my "neck" problem

So, for the past couple of weeks I've been asking every mom and/or pregnant woman I saw if she had experienced neck pain and bad headaches with pregnancy and got a lot of "Well, headaches yes but neck pain, no" so I of course thought that I was doing something wrong! I changed pillows, tried sleeping in different positions, etc. and it got better for a few days and then came screaming back this past Friday. I began to suspect migraines but wasn't getting the normal "spot" in my eyes that I usually get with migraines so I wasn't sure. Then yesterday, almost as soon as I hopped out of bed, wham-o, the spot showed up and I spent the rest of the day on the couch with an ice pack...continually refilled by my WONDERFUL husband who put up with his whining wife all day without complaint, he's the best! So, I guess I can cancel my order for the "Super-duper, neck-pain free wonder pillow" I had on order:-) They say migraines are pretty common for pregnant woman so I guess I'm one of them! Serves me right for walking around bragging about how lucky I was to have skipped morning sickness:-) Oh well, it's all for the greater good! In other news, we have another Dr. appointment on Friday morning and may get to have another ultrasound! We'll keep you posted:-)

It's A baby!!

Well, we just got back from our first Ultrasound and all is well:-) For those of you hoping for multiples...sorry to disappoint but there is just one little bean in there:-) He/she is healthy and growing perfectly so far, we didn't get to hear the heartbeat but we did see it on the screen beating away at 144 beats/minute. Needless to say we are thrilled and so grateful that everything is going well and we have a healthy baby on the way!! Thank you to all of you who were sending prayers up for us, we truly do appreciate it!

First Appointment Scheduled!

So I FINALLY made the call and I have my first Dr appointment. Well, it's not exactly a Dr appointment, it's an ultrasound!! Because we were seeing a Reproductive Endocronologist (Infertility Doc) and I had been taking Clomid, they do a "Confirmation Ultrasound" and then depending on the results they refer me to a doctor. What is a Confirmtaion Ultrasound you ask? Basically, it's to confirm the pregnancy (in case the 9 home tests I took were all innaccurate, which the nurse I talked to assured me they were not:-)) and also to confirm that there is only one little Friedt on the way. While I think multiples are a beautiful thing, we are really hoping for just one to be in there this time around:-) Seth gets a little green everytime I mention multiples...he's warmed to the idea of twins and by warmed I mean he doesn't look nauseus everytime I say the word anymore but the word triplets still starts his head shaking and the green tint returns:-) Kidding aside, we will take whatever God has blessed us with and be grateful!! November 3rd is the day so keep your fingers crossed and I'll keep you updated:-) On another note, I'm still feeling pretty good and still hoping to skip the wonderful morning sickness that I'm hearing so much about!!