A Month Gone By

I can't believe that it has been a month already. Time has just flown by! Its been a great month and many days it just doesn't seem real. I often ask Zach "Can you believe we are parents" and then I tell Chloe "Can you believe that you lived in my belly for 9 months."

We've actually done a lot this past month since both Zach and I were off work for the majority of November and the weather has been just beautiful. We've been taking walks with Chloe to Subway, she was the hit at my office Christmas party and we've taken her to an outdoor mall for a good shopping trip. It is amazing that my biggest past time seems to just be watching her. I could watch her all day long I'm sure.

Now let me brag about how she's such a good baby. Of course I would never say she was bad, but she eats and sleeps pretty good and doesn't get too fussy. We've been very lucky that she hasn't had any uncontrollable crying episodes. She will cry, but nothing we can't handle. She normally has about 5-6 hours in between her feedings during the night so both Zach and I can get a good 6 hours each night. On Thanksgiving I saw her roll on her side and sleep for a few minutes. I'm not sure if all babies can do that, but I was shocked to see her actually roll herself on her side and keep herself there for a bit before she went back on her back to sleep. She has also started smiling a bit. I'm not too sure if she knows she is smiling, but in my mind she does. She will smile when you tickle her feet or under her arms, sometimes when we are just talking to her and most of the time when we give her raspberries on her cheeks or feet. Zach got her to giggle a bit last week. (or at least what he considers giggle) She had a big smile on her face and made a few little baby noises. She is very alert during her wake times and sometimes in between feedings if we are out on a walk or running errands she doesn't nap much because she is so curious about what is going on around her.

We went to the doctor today for her monthly check up and she is weighing in at 8lbs 12oz which is in the 26th percentile for her age and she is 21 1/2 inches long, which is the 68th percentile. The doctor said that she has a beautiful perfectly shaped head and she couldn't believe how alert she was through the whole appointment. Chloe was just looking around and following the doctor when the doctor was checking Chloe out.

The dogs have also been pretty good with her. They are very curious and Daisy is really protective over her. Daisy does not even want Buster near Chloe. It is quite funny to watch Daisy block out Buster or push him away. Chloe doesn't seem to mind the dogs either. They can bark all they want and it hasn't woken her up from a nap or really scared her at all. Hopefully she will continue to sleep through their barks.

Well I'm sure you've all stopped reading this by now and are just looking at the pics...

First Few Days

Chloe has been wonderful. She's eating regularly every 3-4 hours and sleeps very well. At the hospital she did really well and wasn't fussy after any of her tests or shots. She passed the hearing test very quickly and all the nurses thought she was adorable.

We were released on Friday morning and were a little nervous about how the dogs would take the coming home. We were pleasantly surprised as we knew Daisy would be curious, but she is also very protective over Chloe. Whenever she hears Chloe on the monitor she whimpers and looks at Zach like "aren't you going to get her". Its pretty cute, but the best part is that the barking or noises that the dogs make don't bother Chloe at all!!!

The big day!

Well the big day finally arrived. We had gone to the doctor on Thursday November 4th and set up to be induced on Monday November 8th at 11pm. We had to call an hour before our appointment to make sure there was a bed available for us, and of course there wasn't. They were hoping to have one available early morning, but 6am Tuesday came around and still nothing available. It was a frustrating day as we didn't know when they were going to call or if they were even going to get us in on Tuesday.

Finally around 1:15pm on Tuesday they said they would have a room available for us within an hour and to go ahead and start heading to the hospital. So we packed our bags and headed that way. We thought surely Chloe would arrive Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning. We didn't realize the long hours we were about to endure. By 3:30pm I was all set up and having contractions 2-3 mins apart, but still not dilated. They gave me some medicine to help with the dilation before they could give me the epidural or the pitocin to really start the dilation. I was to take this every 4 hours for the next 16 hours!!! That is when we knew it may be a long night.

Around 6:30pm on Tuesday my nurse came in and checked my vitals and she noticed that my face was really red. I wasn't hot or anything, but she was nervous I was having some kind of reaction to the medicine. So as a precaution and since my contractions were so close together they decided not to give me any more of the medicine. Around 9pm on Tuesday I was just at 2 cm dilated, but because of my contractions my doctor decided to give some kind of medicine that made me loopy and was a pain medicine so she could try to break my water. That was still really painful so she decided to hold off a bit and see if she could get my epidural early. Around 11pm the anaesthesiologist gave me my epidural. I thought it was going to be so painful, but it wasn't that bad. The numbing needle was worse than the epidural. Because of the loopy medicine and my fear of needles I started to feel a little light headed, which in turn made Zach feel a little woosie as well.

So after the epidural my doctor was able to break my water and boy did it come gushing. It was funny because she would think it was done and then more would just come spilling out. With my water broken and the epidural my doctor was able to put in a different kind of monitor to better show my contractions. Once that monitor was in they realized that my contractions weren't as strong as the belly monitor was showing. Now it was time for pitocin, but there was only one more issue. My oxygen level dropped and my blood pressure dropped and once they were able to get me stable then Chloe's levels started to drop as well. It took another few hours to get both of us stable enough for pitocin. At 4am on Wednesday they gave me my first dose of pitocin. Yay! Now it shouldn't be too much longer.

It was now 11am on Wednesday and I was stuck at 4 cm dilated. My doctor now said that if I didn't start to progress soon that we would need to start talking about a c-section. That must have done the trick because by about 12:30pm I was at a 5 and then around 1:45pm I was at a 9! That is when the anxiety really started to kick in because my nurse started to get the room ready for the doctor and I felt that Chloe was just going to fall out before the doctor was in the room. It wasn't until about 4:15pm on Wednesday that they started having me push because they wanted Chloe to do most of the work. It worked because at 4:28pm on Wednesday November 10th Chloe had arrived to the world. She was 19 1/2 inches long and weighed in at 6lbs and 14 ozs.

I was exhausted and really thirsty, but it was all worth it. I had been in bed for about 26 hours only having ice chips, but once we saw Chloe it was all worth it.

Relax....Breathe...

So I've had this fear or this great worry about contractions. I would ask the doctors and they would all tell me different things or they would say that "you'll just know" when I ask what contractions feel like and what to expect. I've asked pretty much everyone I come in contact with what to expect and everyone has told me differently. I know that all women and pregnancies are different, but I think someone should make a "contraction simulator" so that way they can help show you what to expect. I'm sure Zach is tired of me saying do you think that was a contraction or do you think that if I had pain here and tightness there then that is a contraction.

The good news is that I went to the doctor today and she asked if I was having contractions and I said I think so. I explained to her the feeling I was having and then she said that I was probably have contractions. I felt a little triumphant to know that I was correct in my thinking, but what really just sealed the deal was while she was measuring my belly and taking Chloe's heartbeat she started pressing on my belly and said "Do you think you are having a contraction now?" I told her that I thought I was but it wasn't really painful just a lot of pressure and discomfort and that was what I've been feeling from time to time each day. And then she said it. She said "Yes, that is a contraction". I guess when she was pressing on my belly to measure she noticed how hard my belly was and that I was having a contraction. So now I know what to expect and I know what to look for when they become more regular.

Now don't panic. They are not regular by any means. I had about 4 in a 30 minute period today and then didn't have any for another hour or so, but the doctor said I could go any time. I still didn't have her check to see if I was dilated because I thought that would freak me out even more if I found out I was dilated even though I know you can be dilated for weeks. I can't believe I just have 2 weeks and 2 days left! Let's hope Chloe isn't as stubborn as her mom or she may stay in there forever!

Almost Normal...

Well it's finally back to normal...my love of peanut butter that is. Last week Zach had told me that for lunch he had 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I thought man he is so lucky to be able to eat them. The next day we were trying to figure out what we wanted for lunch and I just blurted out PB&J. I asked if he would make me one and if I didn't like it I would just let him eat it or let the dogs eat it. So he made me a PB&J, light on the PB though. And it was so yummy! So in the past 7 days since I had that glorious PB&J sandwich I have had 5 more sandwiches for lunch. Oh how I have missed the yummy goodness of PB&J.

Once I realized that I could eat PB&J again I decided to try hamburgers. Now my love of McDonald's hamburgers have never gone away, but the kind that Zach makes I couldn't eat. They were always a bit too thick and a little too greasy for my taste. Zach grilled out some burgers and again I can eat them. Obviously Chloe's taste buds must be maturing to the yummy food that I love. (I don't know if Chloe really has taste buds yet, but I'm still going to use that reasoning.)

On a side note...I have 2 weeks and 5 days until D-day!

The Great Abyss

Well it is official...the great abyss aka my bellybutton is no more. Zach always has said that it is the deepest bellybutton he has ever seen and he calls it an abyss. This weekend it is officially flat. It hasn't started poking out and hopefully it won't at all. Zach said that finally all the lint that has collected for 25 years is now out. He still uses it as a portal to talk to Chloe even though it is flat.

On a side note...we had a great weekend. We went out baby shopping on Friday and finished up Chloe's room. Everything is waiting for her arrival. I also have worked on her baby book and started packing our "go bag". Zach also fired me from making pizza this weekend. He was putting together our little swing for Chloe and I decided to be helpful and make the pizza for lunch, but when the buzzer dinged Zach found a problem. He couldn't cut through the pizza and thought I had forgot to spray the pan, but really I left the cardboard on the bottom and it baked on the pizza. Oops. So he fired me. We were able to get the cardboard off and cook the pizza a bit longer. I thought it was just fine, but if it is fine for me then it's undercooked for Zach. He still ate 3 pieces though so I think it was fine for him too.

5 Weeks and 5 Days to go!

Time has just flown by so quickly. We went to the doctor a few days ago and had a good report. I'm measuring right on track, Chloe's heartbeat is right around 140 and the doc checked and she is already head down. I also asked him why it felt like sometimes she was going to just fall out and after he had a quick chuckle he said "We get that question a lot". He basically said it is just the weight of Chloe putting pressure on me and then he reassured me that she isn't just going to fall out.

She's moving a lot different now. Even last week she was doing a lot of kicking and punching where my whole belly would move and this week it has been more slow motion moving. The slow motion moving is like she is just stretching and squirming around rather than rapid fire kicks. She still like to play games with Zach though. We'll be watching TV and he will start to feel around for her and as soon as he puts his hand on one side she kicks the other so he moves to the other side and she kicks where his hand was just at. After a few times she will eventually stop playing this game with him, but its always funny when it happens.

One thing I learned this week was that she moves around a lot while I'm sleeping. Everyone has been asking if she is keeping me up at night moving around or kicking and I always say no she must be sleeping at night. I was wrong. She doesn't wake me up, but the other morning Zach said that she was moving around a lot while I was sleeping. I was a little shocked because I didn't feel anything or at least it wasn't strong enough for me to wake up. He said that after I fell asleep he would just watch as my belly would move around with kicks and punches and whatever else she is doing in there. I just hope it stays that way where I sleep while she moves around in my belly.

We are done with our child prep classes and they were a waste of time. I was so excited about the tour and then it wasn't much of a tour. It seemed to only take 5 minutes and the rooms were all full so we just were given a quick look. I did learn good things to pack in our hospital bag...like clothes for Zach because that never once crossed my mind that he would need clothes. I also learned that you can prepare a birth plan and let the doctors and nurses know what you do or don't want. I just figured every birth was the same and they would do the same thing, but there are so many other options or choices you can make if you want. The other big thing we learned was that this day is all about us. Our teacher said it is the one day that you can make as special as you want and that we shouldn't feel guilty about trying to make it special for our new family.

The next step is our last 2 week doctor's appointment and then we start going every week until Chloe is here. Its just so crazy to think about having a baby in about 6 weeks!

32 weeks down!

Things have been pretty quiet around the Batsche household. We had a great Labor Day weekend. After looking back I realized that it was all about food. On that Saturday we drove out to Tonopah (which is in the middle of nowhere and about 40 mins from us) to a truck stop because they sell Noble Romans Breadsticks. The real ones with the real cheese and everything. We bought 8 orders! Now for you Indy people there are only 3 in a pack and not 5 like back home so it was only 24 breadsticks. And to be fair we ate 6 at the truck stop and gave Adam 6 as well. They were so yummy! After our drive out to Tonopah we drove out to the mall to do some walking since it is still way too hot outside to get out and walk. We walked for a good hour or so and then headed up to church.

Since we were on the road most of the day or just out and about, I was pretty hungry after church because I hadn't had my normal snacks throughout the day. We decided to go to TGI Fridays for dinner. We hadn't been there in a long time, but we both love their potato skins and so I was excited that I would have food in my belly quick. Like most chain restaurants they had a 2 for $20 deal and we could get an appetizer, 2 meals and a dessert. We haven't gotten a dessert in so long and they have some pretty good desserts there. After we cleaned the appetizer plate and did a pretty good job on our dinners Zach was stuffed. He didn't pace himself and he didn't think he could eat any of the dessert. I told him he was crazy because I was excited about the dessert. He caved and said that he would just have a few bites. So we got this dessert with strawberries, ice cream, whip cream and pound cake. We ate almost all of it! After that we were both officially stuffed. Then on Monday we went out to breakfast at Denny's and stuffed our faces yet one more time over the Labor Day weekend. Not to mention I had made chocolate chip cookie muffins so we had been eating those all weekend as well.

With all the food that we had ate over the weekend and the fact that I felt like I couldn't stop eating I just knew I would go to the doctor and gain like 10 pounds since I saw them last just 2 weeks ago. We went to the doctor yesterday and to my surprise I didn't gain anything! The girl who took my weight and blood pressure said I was the same as last time. Pretty impressive if I do say so myself! The doctor's visit was pretty uneventful. They now have me on a rotation so I can meet all the doctors and this doctor was like a speedy gonzalez. We were out in the waiting room for like 15 mins and then once he came in I'm not sure if it was even 5 minutes he was with us. He took my measurements, Chloe's heartbeat and answered a few questions and then he was gone. He did say I was measuring right on track at 32 weeks.

Yesterday evening was our first childbirth prep class and man was it kind of a waste of time. We were there for 3 hours and I'm not really sure what I learned. I wanted to go because I thought it may ease my anxiety for the big day. I wanted to take the tour and just understand what it is going to be like on the big day. This is a 3 week class and we take the tour next week, but this week I thin it scared me more than anything and made me more anxious. We did a lot of talking about what to do if you have certain pains or things you may experience, but some of these things she said are so uncommon, but of course we had to talk about them and of course they were just making my list of fears grow. I would have to say that two of my biggest fears have been my water breaking out of the hospital and the umbilical cord wrapped around Chloe's neck. I had read and heard that it wasn't common for either, but of course both things happened to the teacher while she was pregnant. I guess we'll see how next week goes...

Starting our 31st week!

Well I have officially gone into the single digit week countdown. I just saw my doctor Thursday and she said that everything was right on track. I was measuring at 30 weeks and I asked if that was behind or ahead or on track and she advised it is right on track. I just finished my 30th week and so I wasn't sure if I needed to be measuring 30 weeks or 31 weeks. We heard Chloe's heartbeat as always and it was really loud and strong. My doctor said that Chloe must be a little hyper or active because her heartbeat wasn't being consistent. She said that if she is kicking or moving around while we listen to the heartbeat then it messes up with the readings. She did eventually calm down enough to get a good reading and her heartbeat is in the 150s which is good. I also asked my doctor if Chloe could indeed reach my kidneys and she said that she couldn't reach my kidneys, but she could be pressing on tissue that is pressing on my kidneys. She said that if I have that pain again I should call them because if I do think it is my kidneys then they have to be careful of any kind of infection. I guess with kidney infections it can get in your blood and I don't want that to happen.

Chloe moves around all day long. I was reading that most babies are more active at night, but Chloe is active all the time. I think she must be taking after her daddy since he does not like sitting still or not moving around. The good news is that her movements don't wake me up at night...yet. I've been pretty lucky with my sleep. I have definitely noticed that I am starting to get tired earlier again, but I'm able to sleep through the night.

I feel like I have really just popped the last few weeks and I know my belly is just going to keep growing. I can still see my fee so I'm not too big yet. We start our childbirth classes next week, which is a bit crazy. We will go once a week for four weeks and the classes are about 3 hours long! It is a little crazy to think that we are already ready for classes. I can't believe how fast everything has gone. We also start going to the doctor every 2 weeks rather than once a month! Zach and I have still been putting together Chloe's room. She has a lot of clothes! I had hung up all of her clothes and separated them by size, but now I only have room for newborn to 3 months to be hanging up and all the rest are in boxes in her closet. I think that I've used a little over 40 hangers just on her clothes, plus I have pants and sleepers in the dresser. It is crazy! We also tested out our monitor yesterday. We have the monitor that detects movement in the crib to help us know if she is moving and breathing. It worked pretty well once we got it all set up and Zach let me read the instructions.

Chloe will be here in no time and we are very excited and a little nervous, but still very excited!

Updated Nursery Pics

Glorious Green Grapes!

I've always enjoyed green grapes, but I realized I had a problem. For our first New Years day married in Quincy we decided to do nothing. We had a slumber party, which is basically just sleeping in sleeping bags in the family room, and we had a ton of food. He wanted olives, pickles, cheese, bbq mini hotdogs, and nacho cheese. I wanted grapes, nacho cheese and polish mistakes or tiger temptations. We ate a ton of food and I wouldn't stop eating green grapes. I loved them and they were so good. I think I ended up eating the whole bag of grapes that day while we just lounged around and watched movie after movie. It was then that I discovered a problem. That evening I was sick. My tummy hurt and I just knew it was because of all the green grapes that I ate. So I decided to say good-bye to green grapes.

It wasn't that big of a deal, but every time we were in Texas Ermine would always have green grapes and they just called my name, but I knew they would make me sick. It wasn't until this last trip to Texas that I caved. I'm pregnant and they were just there and they were begging me to eat them. So I did. I had a little bit, not the whole bowl of course, but I ate some. They didn't make me sick. So I ate them all weekend and I was talking to Zach to see why would they not make me sick now. I thought maybe Chloe really likes grapes, or maybe Texas grapes are different than other grapes, or maybe Ermine does something to her grapes different, but then it occurred to me. Maybe it was because I had only a small bowl and not a whole tub of grapes.

So we got back to Arizona and I was going to test my theories. I went out and bought some green grapes and had a small bowl. This would prove if Texas grapes are different or if Ermine does something different. I wasn't sure what she could do different to grapes, but I never know. The whole bag of grapes lasted me for a week! I never got sick. So now I knew that it was either Chloe really liked grapes or I can only eat them in moderation. Every week I get a bag of green grapes and every week I don't get sick. I do have to separate them in small bowls or bags because I would sit there and eat the whole bushel if I could.

I love green grapes!

I think Chloe is already trying to test her limits...

Chloe is a very active baby. Our first ultrasound she was just moving and wiggling around the whole time, but she is also a very stubborn baby. For instance whenever my doctor checks her heartbeat she tends to roll around and turn on her back so my doctor has to work to get a good reading. She also likes to lay up high near my ribs and push on my ribs and it hurts, but after a few seconds of pressure from me she will move out of the way for a few minutes, but that uncomfortable feeling was nothing like what I felt last week during my 29th week.

I had woke up on a Saturday and thought maybe I just slept on my side wrong because my left side hurt. Zach and I had decided that that Saturday was going to be a day all about us because we had been doing a lot of running around and having family in town, going to see family and just plain busy. We were going to go see 2 movies and hunt for Noble Roman’s breadsticks. (which are the best breadsticks if you haven’t had them before) We were also going to go to the mall so I could get in some good walking since it is so hot outside. The pain I felt wasn’t too bad and it was more sore than anything. After we went to our first movie and had lunch my aches and pains seemed to get better so I thought that surely I must have just pulled a muscle or something in my side. We had a great time at the movies and even though our hunt for Noble Roman’s breadsticks was unsuccessful we still had a great time exploring the east side of town, which I’ve never ventured over to.

That Sunday the nesting set in because I was cleaning out the pantry, kitchen and various closets to make room for Chloe’s things. I felt really good and that pain in my side was very minor. I just tried to keep myself busy and not think about it, which worked most of the time. Then the work week rolled around…I woke up Monday a little stiff and sore, but nothing too bad. As the day progressed the pain in my side got worse and worse. I finally took a Tylenol towards the end of the day because I was just a little grumpy with the pain. The Tylenol helped a bit and I started to feel better, but when I got home I couldn’t shake the pain. Now I was thinking that I must have strained my muscle while cleaning out the closets. I put a warm heat sock on my back and tried to relax.

Tuesday was pretty much the same except by the time I got home from work all I wanted to do was just lay down and hope that this pain would go away. I had a dilemma because the pain was on my left side which is the side I’m suppose to lay on to make sure that Chloe gets the most oxygen and blood flow that she can, but that is the side where my pain was and it wasn’t comfortable to lay on that side. I decided I would just rotate sides every 10 minutes or so, but whenever I would move to my right side I would worry that I was hurting Chloe so I ultimately just stayed on my right side. I fell asleep early that night, but then by 1:30am I was wide awake and in a bit of pain. I tried walking around the house, I went and got some milk and then finally I decided to try and tough it out and go lay back down with my warm heat sock. I lied in bed awake until about 3:30am. I knew that Wednesday would not be a good day.

I woke up Wednesday and man was I sore. I didn’t know if it was because of my lack of sleep or what. All I knew was I was really sore. I decided that I would take my heat sock to work and help relieve some of the pain. I also decided that I would take Tylenol every 6 hours if needed because I was sick of this pain. I made it through the work day without much pain, but I did use my heat pad a few times and I tried to stand up and walk a few times. I got home and sat on the couch, but sitting on our cushy couch was not helping my pain and it seemed to make it worse. So I layed down, on my left side of course, but that didn’t seem to help at all. In fact, it seemed to make things worse. I got out the heating sock, but that didn’t help either. At this point I was at a loss and I was all by myself as Zach was still working. And then when Zach did finally get home I just couldn’t handle anything. I was just in tears because it hurt so bad to sit, stand, and lay down. I kept asking him if this is what he thought the last tri-mester was going to be like. Of course I knew he didn’t have the answer, but I just wanted him to say “no”. The rest of the evening I was in quite a bit of pain and I took Tylenol around 7pm to help, but it only dulled the pain a little. I was just trying to take deep breaths and relax and sit up straight. I knew that on Thursday we were going to go to the Chiropractor so maybe it would help or he could tell me what was up with my back. In the back of my mind of course I was playing out all my unrealistic worries. I knew that my mom was coming over the weekend and when my sister was pregnant it was around this time that my other sister and mom had visited her and then she ended up going into labor, so I was worried my mom was cursed or something. I also knew that I had been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing and “nesting”. According to what I’ve read a lot of people say that comes on about a week before you go into labor. All of these things swirling around my head with the clear fact that I tend to over-react easily, which was not a good combination.

I woke up on Wednesday around midnight and I tried to get up out of bed, but I couldn’t. It hurt too bad. So its now time to get some reinforcement. I decided that since Zach didn’t have to work the next day that it was okay if I woke him up. I quietly started to say his name and tap his arm and wake him up just to see how asleep he really was. He was asleep, but he woke up within a few seconds. Then the waterworks came. I just started crying and telling him that I was in so much pain and I don’t think I can do this for the next 11 weeks. He of course just asked what I needed him to do and get and how he could help. I being the unrealistic person just said I need you to fix it. Of course this banter when on because I wasn’t being much help but just telling him things like “fix it”, “get Chloe out of me” and “I can’t do this”. He finally just took the initiative and went downstairs got me my heat sock and Tylenol and water and came back upstairs. I was able to calm down a bit and I sat up straight against the wall, which for some reason helped. I put the heat sock on and took the Tylenol. After about a half hour of me sitting there. I then asked him if he thought I should try laying down or just try falling asleep sitting upright. He just looked at me like I was crazy and said lay down. So I layed on my left side and being the good husband that he is he was rubbing my back and my side to help with the pain. I fell asleep rather quickly and when I woke up on Thursday. I was a completely different person. All of the pain was gone and I could just pop out of bed and get ready for work. The pain never returned and when we went to the Chiropractor he said that my kidneys were back there and it was more than likely something or someone..cough cough…CHLOE…cough cough…was pushing on my kidney. I’m not sure if she can reach my kidneys or lay on them, but I do think something was going on with my kidneys as it was tender to touch those few days as well.

Zach’s conclusion was that Chloe is getting back at me and doing jumping jacks in my belly because I tend to do jumping jacks while I am sleeping and in turn pushing Zach to the edge of the bed. My conclusion was that Chloe must have been feeling neglected by Zach because as soon as he started rubbing my side and my belly on Wednesday night she calmed down and didn’t hurt me anymore. The jury is still out and I’m going to ask my doctor this week to see if in fact Chloe can push on my kidneys and what she thinks of the pain I had. I still am convinced it must have been something that Zach did because clearly I’m perfect! :)

26 weeks down!

Wow! July was a great month. It has been quite warm in Arizona this past month so we have spent a lot of time in the pool at Sabrina and Adam’s house. We’ve been working a lot on getting the nursery put together as we got the crib and a few other items to finally make it look more like a nursery. Jeremy and Mandi also came out on their long drive from California to Texas. We spent a great evening with them just catching up, playing the Wii and of course having a great meal. Then Zach and I made the trip to Texas, by plane of course! It was a great few days just spending with the family and friends. We had a lot to celebrate since Jeff turned 21, Jeremy is out of the Marines and then of course Chloe. It was also great just to have the whole family together as it isn’t very often we are all together since we are all in different cities and on different schedules. Zach and I must be doing something right because the weather was perfect in Texas, which never seems to happen when we have visited the past few summers. We spent a lot of time in the pool and around the pool which made it great as well. While we were in Texas we also had a baby shower which was so fun. A good majority of the extended family was able to make it and a lot of family friends came out for the celebration as well. We are still shipping gifts back to Arizona as we received a ton of things for Chloe. I would have to say that Chloe was definitely spoiled on her first trip to Texas. Our trip was a blast and we were so excited that we were able to find a time when all the boys were home to come out to Texas. After we got home from Texas Jenna’s dad came out to Arizona for a few days. We had a nice time laying around the pool and having an easy going visit. It was also nice for us because the monsoons came to town so we had a lot of good rains over a few days. It really cooled off the hot July.

We had our 26 week doctor’s appointment and it was not a fun one. I think it was my least favorite appointment so far. At this appointment I had to do the Glucose test to make sure I don’t have pregnancy diabetes. So I had to stay away from sugar the whole day before and couldn't eat anything the day of my test. Luckily my appointment was in the morning and I was done by 10:30am, but the even worse part was that in order for them to test my sugar levels they had to draw blood. I was not excited about this. I didn’t even try to sit in the chair I just told the lady that I don’t do well and I need to lay down or I would pass out. I did pretty well considering I didn’t pass out, but Zach said that while she was putting the needle in my arm my eyes rolled back. He had a good laugh at my expense. I don’t have the results back yet, but I’m hoping I don’t fail the test as I will have to do a 3 hour test and they will take my blood 4 times in those three hours! Other than that my appointment was normal. I am measuring at 27 weeks so I either had way too many strawberry cupcakes in Texas or Chloe is just really growing. Maybe we will have an October baby and she will have a beautiful birthstone. I’m anxious to start seeing how Chloe is measuring as the weeks go by. Just 13 weeks and 3 days to go until my due date! I can’t believe how fast the time is going.

22 Weeks!

No protein shakes for me! I finally gained weight and my protein is up enough so I don't have to drink any kind of nasty shake. Chloe has really started moving around as well. I've started feeling little kicks and punches and twitches. By now we are suppose to hear her heartbeat through a regular stethoscope, but we haven't tried. Zach was listening to my belly and he was convinced he could feel the pitter-patter of a little heartbeat. I wasn't convinced because how can you decipher my heartbeat from the babies. Sure he was listening at my belly and not my heart, but still. I let him believe it was Chloe's because I'm not sure it wasn't.

I also tried to have peanut butter again to see if Chloe likes it yet, but she doesn't. Zach had made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and he put a little peanut butter rather than the normal amount hoping I wouldn't taste it as much. That didn't work. I still could only think about the peanut butter and after the first bite I was just trying to get the second down. I thought that maybe if I put Cheetos in between the two pieces of bread then the peanut butter would be toned down, but I was wrong. The good news is that Chloe still really likes spicy things and McDonald's cheeseburgers so I guess if peanut butter is the one sacrifice I have to make then its worth it!

Nursery

Well we had a great weekend. We worked on getting the Nursery ready and we think it turned out pretty good. With Zach being off on Thursdays and Fridays he did a lot of the work while I was at work during the day, but Saturday and Sunday we really finished it up. The room where the nursery would be was already painted a bright blue and we wanted to keep it that color regardless of if the baby would be a boy or girl. Since we found out we were having a girl we just decided to dress it up with accents of pink, purple and green. The bedding we will get is a bright green with monkeys so we thought it would all work out well together. We decided to put one of the monkeys on the wall to really tie the theme together. Zach being the wonderfully talented person he is free-handed the monkey on the wall in about 15 minutes. I was amazed. He just taped up a 8x10 picture of the monkey and drew the monkey by just looking at the picture. It was amazing. We are really happy how the room has turned out and we can't wait to complete it with the crip and all.

Drumroll please...

Today was our ultrasound where we could find out if we were having a boy or a girl. I've been anxiously awaiting this day for weeks and it was finally here. I have thought all along that we were having a girl and of course Zach thought we were having a boy.

We went back to the ultrasound room and laid down at the table the tech put that wand over my belly and bam there was our baby with legs open wide to make sure we would know if the baby was a boy or girl. Sure enough the mama was right because we are having a GIRL! Chloe Kathleen Batsche will be her name and we are ecstatic. We've been set on that name since before we were pregnant. I'm not sure where Chloe came from I think we just heard it somewhere and just really liked it. Kathleen is from my great-grandma also known as Tomy. I just didn't think it sounded right to have Chloe Tomy Batsche and since Tomy was a nickname we opted for Kathleen.

After we found out we immediately started getting the word out and pretty much the general idea was that everyone was shocked. With the amount of Batsche boys in Zach's family everyone was convinced it would be a boy. Nope, they were all wrong.

During the ultrasound "Chloe" was not wanting to cooperate at first...well after she let us find out she was a she. The tech started looking for her organs and taking measurements and everything and Chloe was moving around so much it was hard for the tech to get what she needed. After about minutes of constant movement Chloe's legs kicked around like she was throwing a little temper tantrum and finally gave in. We saw her kidneys, heart, arteries, bladder, brain, spine, toes, eyes...we saw everything. She even started posing a bit with her hand under her chin and we all laughed a bit at it. The ultrasound tech kept saying that she isn't shying away from the camera now.

It was amazing how much you could really see, but it was also a little creepy because she doesn't have much meat on her bones so she looked a little like an alien. There is one picture that is really creepy and the ultrasound tech even made a comment that she won't put that in our set of pictures, but of course my husband decided that he wanted the creepy alien picture. He says he's going to use it to embarrass Chloe when she is older.

Now it is time to plan the nursery!

Pic 1 & 2 are 3D images where you can see Chloe posing with her hands under her chin and pic 3 is just a regular image showing a side profile of Chloe waving.

17 Weeks Down and 23 Weeks To Go!

Well, today was my monthly check-up with my doctor. We were able to hear the heartbeat, but it took the baby a little bit of time to cooperate. The baby kept moving from side to side and flipping around so my doctor couldn't get a good reading on the heartbeat. At one point my doctor said that she thinks the baby just turned his/her back on the doctor because the heartbeat was really quiet. Finally, and by finally I mean like after just 5 or 10 minutes we were able to get a good reading. The babies heartbeat was at 140 which I guess is normal for a baby. So I guess the old wives tale of the heartbeat predicting the gender is out since the heartbeat is suppose to be below 140 to be a boy and above 140 to be a girl.

The good news is on June 10th we are suppose to find out if the baby is a boy or girl. Zach is convinced it will be another Batsche boy, but I'm not too sure. I just hope that our baby cooperates during the ultrasound so we can actually see if it is a boy or girl. If the baby doesn't cooperate then I know it is God teaching me patience..oh I really hope that's not the case!

I did find out a bit of bad news though...from my last appointment to this appointment (5 weeks) I have lost one pound. You may be thinking "Why is this a bad thing?", and I'll tell you why. If I don't start to gain wait at the right pace then they are going to recommend, and of course by recommend I mean force, me to drink at least one supplement shake a day. Think something like Ensure. YUCK! I tried to explain to the doctor that I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that all I want is fruit and before I was pregnant I could care less about fruit. So take the added fruit and add in the 2 liters of water I have to drink a day and then subtract the soda I use to have, it's no wonder why my body is re-distributing my weight. Even after telling her this she still said if I'm not where I need to be by the next appointment then I'll have to drink a shake.

Okay, so I guess the news could have been worse. Check back in a few weeks and we will hopefully be able to let everyone know what gender the baby will be and I can stop calling the baby "it".

Glorious Milk!

So my first trimester is over and I was a little saddend that a switch didn't magically go off and all the things that made me nauseaous would taste wonderful to me now that I am out of the 1st trimester. In my 1st trimester milk and dairy made my stomach churn and that was a real bummer since every morning I would have a big cold glass of milk with my breakfast. Then my paranoid side came out and thought "oh great, my baby is probably allergic to milk." I had to trade my glass of milk in the morning for a glass of orange juice. Most people would think no big deal, but all I could remember is what the lady that worked at the dentist office with my mom would tell me. She use to tell me that when my mom was pregnant with me all she wanted was orange juice and that is why I had red hair for awhile. It made sense to me because no one in my family had red hair and where did this red hair come from. I told my mom this a few weeks ago and she tried to reassure me that drinking orange juice will not make my baby's hair red. I still kinda think it might.

So you can imagine that this morning when I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and without thinking poured a tall glass of milk I was a little shocked. After I poured it I thought "Oh well I guess we will see if the baby likes milk yet." And ya know what...the baby does! I drank that whole glass without my stomach churning or being nauseaous. I love milk. I'm so glad that now I can drink it again and hopefully my paranoia will be calmed about the orange juice making my baby's hair red and the lack of milk meaning my baby is allergic to milk.

On a side note...peanut butter is still not on the baby's list of likes. I just get nauseous thinking about it. Oh well, maybe some day I will be able to have my favorite PB&J sandwiches again...

Look at the Baby

We had our first ultrasound last Friday. It was amazing. We were able to see and hear the baby's heartbeat and see the baby move around. The technician kept on commenting about how active the baby was. The baby was active and kept kicking his/her little legs. It was crazy that you could see the arms and the legs and the head. The ultrasound was definately a blessing in disguise as we had gone to the doctor last Monday and she tried to hear the heartbeat, but couldn't. Although our doctor wasn't too worried about it she still wanted to send us to get an ultrasound done to make sure that the baby was fine. I was very worried and anxious about our ultrasound because we had to wait 4 whole days. It was hard, but once we saw the baby on the screen it was all worth it. The baby is healthy with a strong heart. And we even were able to get our first photos of the baby. It was amazing. I'm not sure how well these will come through, but I thought I would go ahead and post them. Enjoy.

The Big News!

Hawaii

We just spent 7 days in Hawaii and it was amazing. Below are some photos we wanted to share. Enjoy!

Telling the Family

Yesterday my whole family came in town. And by whole family I mean my parents, Christina, Phil, Sydney and Carter. This was the time when we were going to spill the beans about being pregnant. We picked everyone up from the airport and came back to Sabrina and Adam's house and had dinner. Then we had told them that the boys had done something really funny and they had to watch this quick video. The boys did do something funny, but not what everyone had expected. They were playing around on their swing set going up and down the slide and then cut to them having a "conversation" about Jenna having a bun in the oven. Followed by a little bun in the oven jump around. Needless to say it really caught everyone off guard because they were expecting one of the boys to say something silly or do something crazy and then the news that we were pregnant came out. I think my mom was the only one that initially caught it, but it took a few minutes. I just heard this "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" from her and then Christina said, what I missed it. They all figured it out and were very excited. Mom had said that her and my grandma were just talking about if Zach and I were going to have any children and my mom predicted that this year we would probably be pregnant. She was right.

After the video we all sat around the table sharing pregnancy stories. My mom really wins in the stories because she didn't have ANY kind of painkiller during labor! She still doesn't do any numbing at the dentist either. I'm not sure why I didn't get her high pain tolerance as I am the exact opposite. I really just listened and told my strange fears. Sabrina thinks that every year my little box that I live in gets smaller and I become more afraid, but I think she is crazy. My fears are legitimate or so I thought. When I was a baby I had strawberry blonde hair, which is just a nice way of saying red hair. My mom worked for a dentist and one of the ladies there said that when my mom was pregnant with me she drank a ton of orange juice and that gave the red tint to my hair. I had believed this lady my whole life because we had to go back about 4 generations or so to find where my red hair came from. To me that is a legitimate fear, but I guess to everyone else it sounds a bit silly.

Just a few more weeks and we will be off to Hawaii and back to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Next step is to tell the grandparents and then tell everyone else!

The Blood Work

For those of you who have been around me for awhile you should be very aware of the fact that I HATE needles and anything to do with them. I always pass out and the worst is when I know I have to get blood work. I've done everything from kicking people out of the way, moving my arm around so they can't prick me and threatening to call someone else to save me like my dad or papa Allen. I would work myself up so much that the crash would come and I would just go limp and pass out.

Getting your blood work is pretty much the first thing you do at the doctor when you find out you are pregnant. I knew this and I've been dreading it and have been very anxious about it. I warned the nurse that I would pass out and that I needed to use one of the butterfly needles they use on children. She said not a problem and she also said that even if I do pass out for a few moments it would not hurt or harm the baby.

It was the big day and my appointment was at 8 in the morning. I got up and got ready made myself some eggs and toast to make sure I had something in me and then off Zach and I went to the doctor. I again told the nurse about my phobia of needles and the fact that I would more than likely pass out. She sat me down in the chair and had Zach on the other side try to distract me. It didn't work because as soon as she put that rubber thing around my arm I started to sweat and fidget. She cleaned off my arm and told me to hold it out for her. That didn't work. She asked me a few times if I just would rather lay down while she does it. I was trying to be tough so I said no, but as soon as she cleaned off my arm Zach said why don't we try to lay down. I guess my face was beat red because when we passed by a few nurses they made a comment about my face. So the process started over. I laid down, she put the rubber thing on my arm, cleaned my arm and then poked the needle in. It felt just like a little tiny prick and after about 3 vials of blood she was done. I can say this because I was awake through the whole thing! I didn't pass out even for a second. She told me to lie down and drink some water before I left so I did and I got up and walked out on my own.

It took all of me not to call everyone I know to tell them, but since just a very select few people knew I was pregnant I had to resort to just telling Sabrina and Adam.

I guess I'm finally a big girl now...

The Big News!

Let me first start off by saying that Zach and I are so very excited about becoming parents! We know that with our family and friends in all different states and cities we thought it would be a great way to update everyone on our new exciting journey. As I'm sure you can tell I'm writing this only 6 weeks pregnant and no morning sickness has kicked in yet...and hopefully won't.

Let me first just start off and say that I think Zach has special psychic powers or something because in January he told me that I was going to be pregnant in February and he was certain of this. I had to remind him that only 15% of people trying to become pregnant actually do each month. Although, he was a little disappointed he was still convinced that we would have a baby this year and that I would be pregnant in February. Zach's been the greatest especially just his excitement to learn everything. He had been on the Internet looking at early pregnancy signs and so kindly pointing them out to me, but then I would tell him that he is just imagining everything and that he is making me have fake signs to prove his point. Little did I know he was right on all accounts.

So when we did find out we were both extremely excited. I didn't really believe it, but after 5 positive home pregnancy tests over a 2 day span then I accepted it and became very excited. We of course could not keep it in and had to tell someone so I told my sister, Sabrina. She was very very excited for us and she called Adam and had him call me and he was very excited as well. I then couldn't stop myself as I felt it was like diarrhea of the mouth. I told the 3 people I work with who were all very excited as well. The next day Zach told all the guys he worked with and it would be their first white baby in the group so naturally they were extremely excited. We then decided to tell his parents and family, but there was a catch. They couldn't say a word about it to anyone as we were going to tell my family when they came out to visit the following 3 weeks and we weren't going to tell the grandparents and everyone else until after our Hawaii trip as we will have heard the heartbeat by then and the first trimester would be at an end. We decided to Skype with Zach's parents and boy was Ermine excited. She was basically a blur for pretty much the whole time. She was jumping up and down and very very excited. Steve on the other hand was what I think in shock. He was happy, but I don't think he pictures himself as a grandpa yet and someone had to be the calm, cool, collect one in their house as obviously Ermine was about to go crazy with excitement.

Now the hard part...not telling my parents until they come to visit.