It feels so good to finally be in the second trimester with baby #2! I need to backtrack a little bit since we need to play catch-up with the details regarding this new little one of ours. We conceived baby #2 on Sunday, October 27th (we know this for sure since it was the first day we tried and the baby is actually dating one day older) and got a faint positive pregnancy test just 9 days later on Wednesday, Nov. 6th. I took the test thinking it was way too early to tell and just before I was going to take Ella's Xmas pics. I could barely focus on getting Ella to smile and cooperate since I was DYING to talk to Luke. He was in meetings all afternoon and when I called him on our way home he guessed we were pregnant just by the tone of my voice! He just kept saying, "I can't believe it, I can't believe it...you're sure, right?!" Needless to say, we were ecstatic. We were slightly more cautious to announce this one given the circumstances, but anyone who knows me knows I'm not very good at keeping information hidden :) We told friends and family right away and tried to tell most people in person, if possible. We had our first blood draw at 4w2d with an HCG level of 439.3 and progesterone at 28. Then 48 hours later, we had an HCG level of 1157 (more than doubled, yay!) but the progesterone had dropped to 24. I was devastated even though my OBGYN is also a dear friend and told me that progesterone fluctuates and that's why she discouraged these early blood draws. The next day the progesterone had risen slightly to 25. A week later on Thursday, Nov. 21st my HCG level was at 16,399.1 and progesterone had gone back up to 27 (phew)!!!! At our December 10th ultrasound everything looked great and the heartbeat was strong at 167 beats per minute. At our most recent ultrasound, the heartbeat was at 151, which means everything is still looking great. I've been so much more nauseous with this pregnancy than I ever was with Ella, but we are so thrilled that everything looks great and baby is healthy and growing strong! There are so many foods that I can't even look at and I've been living off of carbs simply because I can actually keep them down. This also caused me to gain 8 pounds right off the bat, but it's funny how your body adjusts and within two weeks or so the weight came off again. Since we had a miscarriage between this baby and Ella, we've been able to monitor this baby really closely (which I love) and we've had ultrasounds every couple of weeks. It is truly miraculous how fast these little ones grow in such a short amount of time. Right away the doctor discovered that I had a subchorionic hemorrhage (I had this with Ella and the last pregnancy so it wasn't a shock) which put me on "pelvic rest" right at 6 weeks. Good news is that at our last check-up it was already completely healed, yay! My good luck charm is surfing when pregnant at 6 weeks. Sounds crazy I know, but I caught a wave with Ella at 6 weeks in Cabo and now with baby #2 at 6 weeks in Oahu. Here is the side by side just for fun :)
Ella has already been a great big sister always kissing my tummy and telling the baby about Disney on Ice and Peppa Pig (she is obsessed with Peppa Pig). She insists the baby is a boy and at our 12 week ultrasound the "nub" (which I learned that every baby has at 12 weeks and then it forms into either the male or female genitalia) was indicative of a boy. The ultrasound tech wouldn't say 100 percent but she was confident. The next day I went to the Costa Mesa place looking for confirmation (even though I was still shy of 13 weeks) and then they said girl based on the "potty" shot (their equipment couldn't get a nub shot). Totally threw me off and I couldn't stop laughing, go figure! The doctor said we could go back at 14 weeks and they should be able to tell for sure by then. My family was amazing and still came over for the "gender reveal" even though we had nothing to reveal! We had to get the neutral white cupcakes and pizza and celebrated a healthy baby instead :) I must say, it does make it extra fun to have the sex still up in the air. At least for the next week! Elizabeth Harris even bought me a gender predictor kit (Intelligender) which is basically a urine test. We had way too much fun with it :) I admire those people that can wait until the end, I could never! At this point our boy name is Levi Stone (Luke isn't sold on the middle name, but he'll get used to it) and our girl name is Elise (still working on a middle name). My mother-in-law recommended the French name to Luke and he loved it (it's also a shortened version of Elizabeth, my mother). I definitely wanted to try to find another "E" name to go with Ella (I'm a dork like that). Either way, we are beyond thrilled! I have more fun looking at possible bedroom designs, I can spend hours on Pinterest, Etsy, and the PB Kids website. My friend's mom, Lynn, sent me a great inspiration piece for a pink/grey nautical girl's room. We are going for a nautical/travel feel either way, lol!! Ahoy it's a boy or another girl in the curl :)))) Thank you Carrie for coming up with that one!
Ella and I had such a great Christmas break and got to spend so much quality time together. Just priceless :) She loved going on movie dates, mall dates, beach dates and bonfires (love warm weather in December), seeing Disney on Ice, visiting Zoomars and Pretend City, spending time with cousins Jojo and Evan, going shopping at the Grove (Ella had to help prep for her first job as Flower Girl for Aunt Deni's wedding), getting to have a play date with baby Zeke (it was our first time meeting Aunt Janelle's baby!), baby Easton, and big brother Luke (Kimi & Janelle are my BF's from high school, I need pics ladies if you have any!). Then, later on Christmas Eve, we got to party at Papa's house with our extended family. We also got to spend New Year's Eve Day celebrating with Madi & baby Peyton and then New Year's Eve afternoon with the Austad family! We don't get to see them very much since they live in NYC at the moment, but Ella adores Ava & Aiden and we are confident that they will be back home in no time :) Ella's biggest accomplishment this break was getting potty trained, YAY!!!!!!!!! She is having issues using the restroom in front of her friends at school, but at home and on the weekends we are doing great. She even had her first successful night with no diaper on! My biggest accomplishment was getting our photo albums completely up to date. I have to admit, I feel like a rock star for that one!
The vacation culminated with the best news in the entire world after we visited the Pediatric Cardiologist on Monday, January 6th and learned that the hole in Ella's heart (she was born with a Ventricular Septal Defect) had reduced in size by 95 percent. Tissue had formed around the hole correcting the blood flow and hopefully will continue to do so until the hole has completely sealed. We will continue visiting the doctor until she is 4 years old or until the VSD has completely closed. Once it has, it will be as if she never had it. I think I've seen my husband cry twice in the past 13 years and he had a hard time fighting tears holding her down during the ECHO and hearing the miraculous news as the doctor tried to explain to us in layman's terms exactly what was happening. Seeing her heart beat in real time and looking through all four chambers was an amazing experience. We are beyond blessed. Even though these types of defects are relatively rare, our OBGYN is sending us to get a fetal echocardiogram for baby #2 at 22 weeks so we can have a medical head-start for this baby. These doctors are incredible and we are so unbelievably grateful for the care they have shown our family. Ella, we can't tell you enough how special you are, how much we love you, and how you have forever changed our lives for the better. And, baby #2, you have already brought us so much joy and we loved you even before you existed. We can't wait to welcome you into this crazy world!!! xoxoxxoxo
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