Sunday, April 26, 2009

It All Goes Downhill From Here...

...but that's when the fun starts! I'm more than half way done with the pregnancy! (assuming I don't go weeks late of course.) What an exciting and sobering thought. I still get "holycrapi'mgonnabeamom" moments, but those get swept away quickly with excitement of the unknown. Just like any parents-to-be, we frequently have thoughts of what she will look like, what kind of personality she will have, is she gonna have daddy's dark curly hair? what type of activities she will enjoy, and which one of us will she love the most? (as if she could really choose...little Leila is going to have the most awesome parents that ever existed...if we can only dream.)

We have bought dressers and will be buying the crib this week. (Can't pass up sales that are unknown to happen again before the little bundle arives.) Aside from viewing the ultrasound, and feeling her movement, buying baby furniture is probably the next in line to make the list of "Reasons that confirm we are really having a baby."

I'm still debating on whether "you aren't even showing" is a compliment or not. All I know is that MY clothes don't even come close to fitting, and the maternity clothes I started wearing a month or so ago now fit instead of falling off. I'm basically living off of cold cereal (I have to have a bowl around 10pm EVERY night even if I've had some earlier), strawberries, ice water (although I still have my share of Coke - spare the lectures), peanut butter sandwiches for lunch at work, and anything else that is cold or at least room temperature. There are a few warm foods that are tolerable, but I still would prefer to eat something cold - only to get worse as the warm/hot months are yet to come. So any of you that have ideas of what I can eat that is healthy, substantial, and cold, I am open for suggestions. I still feel good and never went through which many lovingly refer to as "the gaggies." It has been such a blessing that I've been healthy throughout the pregnancy and we can only hope that me feeling so well will continue throughout the rest.

Sorry no cute pics of me standing sideways with my shirt pulled tight so you can see my baby bump...maybe in a few more weeks. When people notice that I'm "showing." :)

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Baby Update

It's still a girl!

I had blood work done the week before I had my last ultrasound. The day after the ultrasound, I got a call from the nurse who said my test came back with an increased chance that the baby could have downsyndrome. Because we didn't have this information the day before, they weren't looking for certain indicators during the ultrasound. So I scheduled another ultrasound, but this one was the Women's and Children's Center. The doctors were amazingly friendly.

So long story short, here is the breakdown...

The original test indicated that I had a 1/252 chance that my baby would have downs...that is almost 4/10 of 1%. Or .003968. Everything in the ultrasound looked perfect. Measuring perfect. No defects. The main concerns are the heart and the kidneys. Again, everything was perfect. (She is my child afterall.... ha!) Anyway, based on the ultrasound, that reduces the risk by another 1/2% so that now decreases the chances to less than 2/10 of 1% or .001984.

Apparently the blood tests are quite finicky (using the words of the nurse) and many factors could turn it to a positive test...the age of the mother...a miscalculated due date...and many others. In talking with friends, many of them or people they know also had false positives.

The amazing thing in all of this is that I was never worried. Of course it is a relief to know that chances of my daughter having downs is very small, but the thought of being blessed with such a special spirit would have been a different type of special blessing. I'm also grateful for the thoughts and prayers that went out to Kuso and I as we waited out the week to get some answers.

On a side note...I'm pretty sure Leila is going to be a dancer like her daddy. Her legs were moving around and kicking like crazy. It was pretty funny. And I finally broke down and quit being so self reliant and let my mom come with me. Kuso was out of state working and couldn't make it back for the appointment. She was worried about me going by myself in case there was hard news. So I gave in and had her come with me. I'm glad I did. It was fun to have someone there and it was good to see her be put at ease by being able to talk with the doctors. Now Grandma Neener got her first look at Baby Leila...they will be spending a LOT of time together in the future.

A second side note. My cousin Ashley is due the same time I am. They found out that they are having a girl too. This will be 5 girls as great grandbaby's for my grandpa Dick. No boys. Grandpa Dick had only girls himself. Over the Easter holiday he said "Doesn't this family know how to make boys?" If the ring test holds true, my next child will be a boy...just be patient.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter Weekend

As usual, we went to St. George for our annual Easter festivities. My mom, dad, and I went down Thursday night so the girls could do the traditional shopping on Friday. Kuso came down early Saturday morning because he had to work Friday. Thursday around 3pm, Shawn text me and let me know that he just found out he got the weekend off so he and Kiley would be coming! Michelle couldn't make it because she had to watch their dogs and had agreed to watch her parents dogs as well. Shawn told me I had to keep mom up as late as possible so that we could surprise her. Around 12:30 or 1 am, everyone was getting tired and started to get up to go to bed. I told Shawn and he called my mom's phone. SURPRISE! They were just outside of Mesquite, NV and would be there in less than an hour. Needless to say, mom got hyper and was wide awake when they got there. Kiley had slept most of the drive so she was also awake and ready to play. So we did. It was SO FUN to spend time with her!

Saturday was rainy and cold, so there was a damper in our plans. Troy and his girlfriend April got there around 12 noon. This was April's first encounter with the family. We were able to get into the church and played volleyball for several hours. Back at the house, there was a MASSIVE Rock Band concert featuring many of the family members. Even April got involved! Troy got into his "Butt Rock" gear and put on a great concert.

While the rock concert continued, Kuso and I went to visit his Uncle. Uncle Faafoi lives about 20 minutes from my aunts house. Kuso had never met him until that night. Uncle Faafoi is SO FUNNY. We were there for over 4 hours laughing at stories and getting to know about him and his family. Kuso was excited to be there because Uncle Faafoi told us a lot of stories about Kuso's dad that he didn't know. The only reason we left was because it was nearly 12:30 am and I was visibly wiped out. The lack of sleep over the weekend was catching up to me. We are going back to St. George in June for a wedding and visiting Uncle Faafoi will definitely be on the list of things to do!

It was a good weekend. It's always nice to spend time with my family. Sorry there aren't any pics...I left my camera home!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Guess What?!?!

Yep. A girl. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure how I felt because I had always envisioned myself having a boy first. But as the day went on, I got excited. Super excited. I started thinking about all the fun things that girls bring to life that boys can't. There is a reason we are having a girl first.

It was so fun to see our baby move. See her hands. See her spine. See her legs. To see that she really is alive and moving. I have felt some movement, but I'm sure it's hard for the husband to imagine until they can see a real life moment. It was fun to see Kuso get excited about all those little things too. Earlier this week, we weren't sure he would be able to be there for the ultrasound due to his work schedule. He was able to take the day off so he could be there. I'm SO GLAD that he was able to share this experience with me.

I had an ultrasound on February 7th when we went to the ER when I thought I was having a miscarriage. At that time, the measurements suggested a due date of September 12th. Today's measurements estimate the same due date. It's nice to think that our daughter is growing at the expected rate. The tech was a little frustrated that we were there at only 17 weeks. He likes to take a look a few weeks later. They got a good measurement on everything but the bladder. But the student tech is pretty sure she got a good look at the bladder earlier, but by the time the certified tech came, the baby probably peed everything out so the bladder was small and hard to see. Otherwise, everything measured well and looked to be healthy!

Last weekend I started having "growing pains." Stretching on my right side that at first felt like a pulled muscle. Then I figured out what it really was. It was just a dull aching pain that came and went over about a day and a half. During the ultrasound, I started feeling what I thought was the same feeling on my left side. However, this dull aching pain turned into a sharp intense pain. Apparently the ultrasound tech could see my pain. She asked if I was feeling light headed and I told her "No. It just hurts. I'm hot." My ears and neck had gotten hot and I had broken a sweat. The tech suggested I roll onto my left side. After a few minutes in this position, the pain subsided and I felt fine again. The tech suggested that I was having contractions. When I asked if that was the same thing as "growing pains" she said "yes. Just more intense." She then confirmed that it was nothing to worry about having contractions this early. "It's just part of the uterus preparing itself for what's to come."

After we left the hospital, Kuso went home and I went to my mom's work. While I was there, I called my dad and told them both at the same time. Then we proceeded to call brothers, sister-in-laws, and send messages to friends. I went back to work and finished out the day. When I got home, Kuso gave me a big hug and said "Let's talk about names." I had told him several months back about a name that I had liked. So I repeated the name. He said that name had been on his mind all day and thought that is what we should go with. The first name is just a pretty name that I liked. The second name is my middle name. The third name is the name of a little girl that was born during Kuso's mission. The family took part of Kuso's last name and part of his companions last name and named their daughter that. Then the last name.

So the name is.....Leila Marie Onolei Aiono. Of course that's subject to change, but for now, that is what we both love and have started referring to our daughter as Leila.

A word to the wise...any of you that read this that are pregnant with a girl, or have friends or family that are having girls...this name is OURS. Don't touch it!!!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

I Love My Doctor

Yesterday, I went to the doctor to get blood tests done to determine if there are any birth defects. The doctor was trying to find my baby's heartbeat, but as soon as he would find it, the heartbeat would go away. So after a few tries, he got a decent count. As he was helping me sit up, he says, "Guess I need to bond more with your baby...every time I would find it, it would run away from me." He's just a funny person. Many of you know him and know exactly what I'm talking about. I guess that's a good thing (that my baby runs away) because it means it is active!

Then he tells me he wants me to schedule an ultrasound for 2-3 weeks. I said "No. You said I could find out what it is before Easter." He said, "Ok...then go next week." I'll be 18 weeks by then and they prefer that you be as close to 20 weeks as possible. Oh well. So I get to go on Wednesday April 8th to get an ultrasound. This one should determine size, due date, and hopefully gender if the baby doesn't run away from the ultrasound tech!

I also love my doctor because I went in SUPER sick. Seriously, the worst sore throat I've had in YEARS. He heard me say one word, heard the sickness in my voice, and wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic without further questioning. Saved me a trip to instacare!

There is nothing better than finding a good doctor that you feel comfortable with, feel comforted by, and know that they do a good job. Let's just hope he doesn't retire before I'm done having kids!!!