Our New Home

Our First Hoag Visit

Luke thought putting sunglasses on me would be hilarious once we knew everything was going to be okay :)

This week has been interesting to say the least. The move went extremely well and Luke, Noah & the movers had everything moved in by nightfall last Friday. I came home to a new house full of boxes, but at least we had it all. Luke and I had the 3 day weekend to get everything unpacked and put together so the place looked like a home by Monday. I was thrilled to get my new dining table (an early push-present :) from World Market, it really makes the whole living area! Then, my Dad was kind enough to get us a brand new refrigerator to match the other stainless steel appliances. It's amazing what a difference a nice fridge can make. I am definitely getting used to my 5 minute commute to work (well deserved after 6 years of commuting to the USC area...no, I'm not kidding! Woohoo!). Luke's commute is a tad bit shorter as well. His firm moved from Newport Beach to Aliso Viejo about a year ago so living in Dana Point is perfect for now.

Our first week in South County was going perfectly until Saturday morning. My pregnancy had been going well and Luke & I were super excited to spend the warm day at the beach. I was just getting out of the shower when I started bleeding. This is never a good sign when you're pregnant, especially 21 weeks along. Luke immediately tried to get a hold of my doctor and was sent to the on-call doctor at Hoag. They wanted me to come in right away to Labor & Delivery. On our way, we also called our friend Manuela who is an OBGYN and she confirmed that we did need to go to the hospital. Within 30 minutes we were on the 5th floor getting my gown on as the nurse hooked me up to multiple monitors. It was a weird experience to have the baby bed and scale next to me, some great foreshadowing at least. Four hours later they finally got me down to the ultrasound floor (they wrapped blankets around me and made me go in a wheelchair...Luke said it was the first time I truly looked like a crazy person :) When the doctor finally looked at the ultrasound pics we found out that I have marginal placenta previa, which basically means that the placenta is too low and within 1-2 cm of my cervix. The good news is that it is likely to correct itself because as my uterus continues to expand it can force the placenta up. The bad news is that if it does not move upward, I would definitely have to get a c-section because it won't be possible to have a safe vaginal delivery. I went back to the doctor today and since the bleeding has stopped I can continue to work. I go back in now for another ultrasound on Friday to see if the placenta has moved. At least I will get to see my little munchkin again. She is looking very animal-like with a snout, but Kimi has convinced me that you can't base much on those ultrasound pics, at least the 2-D ones. She came to visit me on Monday and Luke (her 4 month old) brought little Ella a beautiful flower-bow. Thank you Luke! Ella is very lucky to have many suitors :)

As soon as our regular computer gets set up I will post more preggo pics because I'm getting bigger by the minute. I keep stalking my friends weekly preggo pics to make sure that my body isn't too far off ;) What can I say, this whole process is extraordinary. Hopefully we will have good news on Friday!

18 Week Ultrasound

Wow, I had my 18 week ultrasound this week and it was absolutely amazing. We got too see our little munchkin up close and get all of her measurements. The technician zooms in to see all 4 chambers of the heart, the bladder, and even the rate & direction of blood flow. She confirmed 100% that we are having a girl, yippee! It's funny because at first I was definitely preferring a little boy, but once I got used to the idea of a girl it would have been emotionally draining if the sex had changed. The average weight of the fetus is supposed to be 6-9 oz. at this point and our little one is 9.4 oz. which means she might come earlier than originally anticipated. I'm gaining weight too so it's nice to know at least some of it is going to the baby. I only gained 2-4 pounds in the first 4 months, but I sure made up for it last month by gaining almost 9 pounds! I'm seeing numbers on the scale I've never seen before :) There is a strong chance she could come on her daddy's 30th b-day, which would be June 3rd. I hope that they each have their separate days, but it would be a great present! (Not that sharing birthdays isn't absolutely spectacular Johnny :) The main thing is that she appears healthy at this point and spinabifida has been ruled out which runs in my family. Luke is determined that her name is Ella Grace (I wanted Saylor Grace, but it was rejected by the entire family). I was pushing for a unique name since I grew up with the same name as every other girl. I had a perfect boy name picked out so I promised Luke that if it was a girl, he could have the final say. Not to mention, Lindsay got me the perfect diaper bag with the baby's initials embroidered on it, so Ella Grace Carlson it is.

We've been preparing for our big move from Newport Beach to Dana Point (goodbye Fashion Island, South Coast, 56th Street, & Rusty Pelican). Our new place is much more appropriate for a baby, but I absolutely hate to leave Newport and Noah & Nikki. Luke and soon-to-be Uncle Joe Joe and Aunt Katie spent the weekend with us painting the baby's room and making the preparations for the move this Friday. We painted the room baby blue so that the pink curtains will really "pop" :) I even got paint on my black pants which you can see in the picture! It's funny because up until about 16 weeks or so, I just looked full all of the time and then, out of nowhere, my belly just popped! It really is crazy to see your body change so quickly. So far, I've had no cravings, nothing out of the ordinary except now I have this belly :) I'm dying to feel her move or kick any day now, but all I have felt so far are weird cramping pains at the bottom of the uterus. So far those cramping pains are my excuse to avoid the gym, but hopefully soon I will drag myself to the treadmill, if nothing else, at least to walk. Any other preggo moms out there, if you have any advice on getting to the gym please let me know :) I'm trying to post the ultrasound pics a.s.a.p. It was hilarious because the technician asked us, "Which one of you has a second toe that's larger than the first?" The answer was Luke, but it was incredible that she could already determine that the baby had the same thing on both feet!