31 weeks

We had another ultrasound at the OB's office today. Unfortunately Sydney is still head up, butt down, and legs in front of her body (Franks breech). She was also trying to be a little shy with her feet and hands in her face. She seems to be doing great and growing appropriately. She is estimated at weighing 3 pounds 9 ounces as of this ultrasound. These shots aren't as good as the ones at the perinatologist's office, but we still think she's pretty darn cute!!!


Sydney's hand holding her foot...

Sydney's cute little leg/foot...

We saw a new doctor during this appointment and she obviously wasn't familiar with our records. She stated that she wanted to do a repeat ultrasound because she "couldn't see all the baby's parts - spine, heart, and fingers/toes". It felt like deja-vu. She scheduled another ultrasound for next week despite us telling her that we already saw the perinatologist who confirmed that she does, in fact, "have all of her parts". Oh well, maybe we will get to see some better pictures of Sydney next time.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Love,

K&K&Syd

28 weeks!

Here is a shot from 28 weeks.....doesn't appear to differently from the 23 week shot.

28 weeks...

23 weeks...The day we found out..Love,

K&K&Syd

Louisiana visit and baby shower!!!

Kyle and I took a road trip to Louisiana. It was the longest trip EVER. We've driven it before and swore we'd never do it again, however, we thought it would be the easiest solution to haul our gifts back from the baby shower that my family threw for us. I think we are done with this road trip and will definitely be traveling via airplane in the future. Anyway, we had a WONDERFUL time in Louisiana. It was so nice to visit with the family again. Kyle's parents came down from Arkansas to visit with us as well. On Friday, 9/18, we gathered everyone together (20+ people) and had dinner at a local cajun restaurant where we enjoyed good food, company, and a live cajun band. We had a great time.

On Saturday, 9/19, my sister hosted a baby shower for me in her home. My hostesses went to such a great effort to decorate and make the day special for me. Kyle and I received alot of wonderful and useful gifts and we cannot express how appreciative we are to have such supportive and loving family and friends. Here are a bunch of pictures from the baby shower:

My sister, me, and my mom...

My sister and I...

My mother-in-law, me, and my mom...

My mother-in-law and I...My aunts and I...

My aunts, my mom, and me...

Tanya, Jaiden (my Godchild), and me...

Me :)

My wonderful shower hostesses and I:

Opening some gifts :)

Proud daddy-to-be after the shower...

We had a wonderful trip and can't wait to visit again in the spring for Sydney's Christening.

Love,
K&K&Syd

24 week ultrasound

We had another appointment with the perinatologist on 9/9/09 to check Sydney's growth and her heart. We were fortunate to be able to see the same doctor. He was absolutely amazing and gave us some awesome news! It appears that Sydney's VSD (as discussed on the 8/12 post) has closed and her septum appears fully formed! We are so stinkin excited to know that our precious baby girl is doing well. Also, the EIF was undetectable with this scan, however, it could have been Sydney's placement during the ultrasound. She is still head up, butt down and in a complete pike position (called a Franks breech position) with her legs in front of her body....feet in her face. We have some time so she may turn. Here are some shots from today's photoshoot:

Thanks to all of you for all of your thoughts, love and prayers.

Love,

K&K&Syd

23 weeks and preparing for baby!!!

Okay, so the nursery furniture is ordered and the theme is officially picked out. We chose this nursery furniture set (by Munire in Majestic in espresso):

We chose this bedding and some of the coordinating accessories (my mom and dad already bought the bedding and mobile for us):
Kyle and I bought the wall hangings to do a project for Sydney's nursery. Daddy painted the letters of her name and attached them to the hangings.

Here is the finished product. They will be hung somewhere in the nursery once the furniture is in place.This is me the day we found out we were expecting:This is me at 23 weeks (nice and plump):Hope all of you are doing well!!!

Love,

K&K&Syd

Update on the New Year's MUSTS list!!!

Oh man I know it has been a while since I've updated my New Year's MUSTS list. When I decided to look at it, I was thrilled to see the progress. Let's look at each individually shall we:

1. "Take better care of myself!" - Well....Prior to getting prego, I had lost about 25 pounds. I have since gained some of this back due to the enlargement of my uterus. I am doing great, not necessarily dieting, but trying to eat my servings of veggies and fruits. I have had a chicken aversion since becoming pregnant that unfortunately hasn't gone away.

2. "SCRAPBOOK more!!!" - I have not taken many classes lately, but I have been spending alot of time throwing pages together from previous classes. And I've also been working on assisting my baby shower hostesses with the shower invites. My next project is to work on Sydney's baby album, Christmas cards, and Sydney's birth announcements. After all, I need something to keep me indoors and out of the 115 degree heat!

3. "Organize my scrapbook room" - I am so thankful to say that we have successfully completed this one. I LOVE my new scrap space. If you missed it, see my post from 4/3/09.

4. "TRY to stop biting my nails!" - This is still a work in progress. Old habits are definitely hard to break. I am proud to say that I no longer chew them off until they bleed....I know - GROSS!

5. Get a new blackberry" - DONE! Kyle and I got new blackberry storms and we still love them!!!

6. "Take some cake decorating classes" - I'm also proud to say that this one is complete!!! I took a cake decorating class at Michaels with my friends Joleen and Lynette. It was such a good experience, but there was alot of work involved. Here are some pics:

Cake 1:

Cupcakes: Final cake:After the last class....Yummy!

7. "Visit California." - still a work in progress....

8. "Think, feel, act, believe positively!" - I live by this every day.

9. "Minimize stressers!" - I have also made great progress with this. I have recently cut my hours at work to accomodate doctor's visits and to spend more time relaxing and enjoying the remainder of my pregnancy. I need to take care of the little life that is growing inside of me!

10. "Expand the family" - So thrilled and excited about this. I am 23 weeks today and we are counting down the days until we meet our little MIRACLE SYDNEY!!!!!

Love,

K&K&Syd

Over halfway there!

So, I never updated since our appointment with the perinatologist. I must say that Kyle and I were very impressed and liked the doctor very much. He was so informative and straight with us, giving us so much information. We got to confirm that she is still, in fact, a little girl! Sydney was chilled for the majority of "the show" with not only her hand in front of her face, but also her legs. What crazy positions these babies get into. At that appointment (19 weeks), she measured about 9 ounces - right on for her age. We found out that she may have a ventricular septal defect (VSD). It is basically a hole between her two ventricles, which is not normal and causes a bit of blood to shunt incorrectly. It will sometimes correct itself once she gets a little older and bigger, so we have to go back when I'm 24 weeks to do another ultrasound to see if it has closed. The doctor felt very optimistic and stated that if it doesn't correct, it is "fixable".

The other thing they found was an echogenic intracardiac focus (EIF). It is basically a bright white spot seen on the ultrasound of the heart. It is considered to be harmless and apparently present in up to 11% of the white population, higher in other ethnicities, with no significant effect on the development of the heart. The doctor did inform us that there are some studies that state that an EIF does increase the risk of Down Syndrome by 2 x's the normal risk for age. He gave her a risk of having Down's of less than 1/400 (0.25%) because of my age, the EIF, and the fact that she is currently showing no other markers of Down's. He and his ultrasound tech measured every part of her little body, including the nuchal fold of her neck, legs, brain, arms, stomach, organs, etc. Everything checked out and he could not locate any other issues. We are fairly positive that the outlook is good, but have to be prepared for whatever COULD be. Kyle and I decided to forgo the amnio to definitively diagnosis an abnormality due to the risk of miscarriage (1/200 or 0.5%) being higher than the probability of her having Down's. It would not change anything anyway and we are going to love and cherish her no matter what!!!!!!!

Here is a shot from this appointment (19 weeks 3 days):

My waist has definitely started to change shape and I had to officially retire my jeans at 20 weeks. I can still fit into my dress clothes and hope to be able to for a couple more months. I have been feeling Sydney move from time-to-time. Nothing consistent or major. The peri also confirmed that I have an anterior placenta which means that the placenta is located in the front of my uterus, creating a buffer between baby and my tummy. This will make it harder to feel her move at an early gestation.

Kyle and I have been busy planning for baby. We are cleaning out the room that will be the nursery. We have already ordered the nursery furniture:
http://www.munirefurniture.com/pdfs/Majestic.pdf
We ordered it exactly as it appears on the first page (flat top in espresso). We also started our registries at Target and Babies-R-Us. It was alot of fun and I couldn't get the laser gun thingy out of Kyle's hand.

We are so excited to be heading to Louisiana in September. My wonderful family is throwing us a baby shower. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family!!!! I can't wait to see all of them.

Hope all of you are well.

Love,
K&K&Syd