Growing Belly

Here's an updated picture at almost 15 weeks!  We are definitely growing!

"Nothing exciting" and the 2nd trimester

That was the word we got from the Doctor.....when it comes to your Doctor's comments about the state of your growing child...nothing exciting is exactly what we want to hear!  We went on Monday for another checkup, and it really was rather uneventful, we were hoping to get another ultrasound but since my counts looked great and Reepicheep performed wonderfully for the Doppler, (we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time - and she found it immediately, before she finished telling us "you sometimes don't find it....okay there it is...sometimes you don't find it right off"), we didn't get another ultrasound.  I have to say though....that heartbeat is far from "nothing exciting".
And we have entered the second trimester!!!  YAY!  This is the "honeymoon trimester" according to most women and I am definitely a fan so far.  I physically feel noticeably better....I still have my morning routine that hasn't changed much, although some mornings I don't get that reminder of my dear friend hCG, but it's hardly noticeable the rest of the day.  Most women also feel the best about their appearance...I am very proud of my expanding midline....pictures to come soon!  I am back in full swing with classes so the timing is perfect to be in this honeymoon stage of pregnancy!
Even more reason to celebrate an uneventful doctor's visit is that I have what's known as a "bicornuate uterus" which means basically that my uterus is shaped like a heart from the outside.  Don't go google what that means though, it's depressing.  Most women have a uterus that is wider at the top and narrows at the bottom....like an upside-down pear of sorts.  My uterus has a divide in the center of it, for some women it's a dramatic divide so that it almost looks like two separate parts.  We only discovered mine because of a fluke (the Lord reminding me that He's in control)....I had some spotting initially and the ultrasound machine at the doctor's office was broken, so we were sent to the hospital for an in-depth ultrasound.  What that meant is that the ultrasound tech explored much more than we ever would have seen in a normal first ultrasound at a doctor's office.  The doctor called the next day to let us know that we had a "viable pregnancy" (baby was where it should be and there was a heartbeat) and that I have a bicornuate uterus.  She said the only change would be that they would do extra checks, more ultrasounds and extra measurements that not all women have and keep a close eye on anything out of the ordinary.  She also said to expect a c-section, due to the divide babies often don't have room to make that flip needed to enter the world head first.  I stupidly DID decide to google it and proceeded to begin a complete breakdown until my sweet husband reminded me that the Lord was in control and I should probably get off google and get into my Bible if I was in the mood for reading.  So, the Lord is in control, we have always appreciated extra prayers and continue to appreciate extra prayers that have resulted in there being "nothing exciting" (i.e. nothing stressful) regarding Reepicheep at 14 1/2 weeks.  We couldn't have been happier with that report...

Growing Bellies

We had family Christmas with Jonathan's mother's side of the family last weekend, it was a much quieter celebration than it will be next year!  By next year there will be 3 new little ones on that side of the family, Katie (Jonathan's brother's wife) is due April 5th, Storie (Jonathan's cousin's daughter) is due

July 4th and then our little one is set to come July 18th! 

There were about 8 cameras taking pictures at this point which is why we are all 3 looking in different directions and looking like we've had lots of pictures of our stomachs.  

Starting at the left we are...12 weeks, 14 weeks, and 27 weeks

The brothers soon to be Daddys!