Umb, hi!

Where has time gone?!

Wow. It's been since April that I've posted? I had no idea that it'd been that long until I looked back on my posting history. I do sincerely apologize for the lack of updates and poor progress reports.

When I left you last, my grandma was in the hospital. Well, turned out I'd need a 4-day trip to California for a funeral. :[ But, she is now in Heaven with our Angel baby, Angeline. Lucky great grandma! She made me a promise, before she died, to be sure she'd look after me and baby #2 who was blossoming in my tummy. She's done a great job at keeping her promise.

I've proven to be busy since then, too. As a makeup artist, wedding season is the busiest time of year. I basically work two full time jobs through the months of April-October. Though, this year my last wedding is in August for my sanity and baby's health.

Some major updates about baby #2.

- I was on Progesterone Injections 3x/week for 14 weeks. My Progesterone levels went from 15 to 13 to 10.3 to 7 in a matter of a week and a half. Apparently my OB was sure we'd lose this baby too (but didn't tell me this until after my P reached above 20 and things were looking great, gee thanks Doc for that scary info into your brain). After two draws with levels over 20 I was free & clear from the oilshots. THANK GOD!

- It was clear baby was growing, because my tummy grew a TON every week! Whoa!

- The evil home doppler arrival. This thing was the devil in my house. I ordered it around 10 weeks and it took me until 18 weeks to be able to find a clear heartbeat for little one. I'm a fluffy momma so that doesn't help - but I had many of freak-outs because of this doppler.

- At about 13 weeks, my morning sickness (which never turned to actual sickness, just nausea) stopped completely. Another thing I was thankful for.

- However, the headaches took charge all day every day until about week 17. This was almost worse than the morning sickness. But, I was pregnant and still had a healthy baby inside me so I didn't' care!

- At (and after) our NT scan, we learned our odds for our little one having Downs Syndrome or any other major defect were pretty low. All of my blood draws for all of the testing (I was told which tests they were running, but I can't remember) came back normal. Woo hoo!

- I had ultrasounds at 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 9 weeks, 12 weeks, 17 weeks, and most recently 20 weeks. 6 weeks I had a blob. 8 weeks we had a gummy bear. 9 weeks the gummy bear grew legs & arms and actually was bouncing around in side me! 12 weeks we had visible arms & the start of legs! 17 weeks....

- 17 weeks we found out we were on team BLUE! Having a boy! It's pretty rare that my OB office allows gender guesses earlier than 20 weeks - but I usually get what I ask for in my office. I guess that is the one thing about having a loss - they treat you much more sensitively at the office. Which... I have taken advantage of - you better believe I'll take the extra care! TEAM BLUE!! This was also the day I felt my first kick - well rather I saw it and said, "oh wow I felt that!"

- My 20 week scan showed a hungry mister chewing on his arms & kicking the crap out of the doppler!

So much I missed out on posting, so much I neglected to share! I am sorry for that, again, by the way.

So... here and now? What's going on? I'm 22w4d and today I think I felt hiccups for the first time. Whoa. Also, my feet are swollen day in and day out from working on my feet. Aside from this beautiful boy inside me, I've been nominated for Denver 7's A-List Best Hair & Makeup! Currently I'm in 4th place and the makeup artists I'm competing against are pure talent. I am honored to be a part of such a great group!

Here's what I've got going on for posts: baby boy's name, the nursery, baby shower updates, baby furniture shopping, registering, weekly updates with belly photos, a catch-up of belly photos & ultrasound photos from then until now, and hopefully a smooth-sailing 2nd half of pregnancy!

Thank you for understanding my major absence, I hope I have you back now! For now I'll leave you with our most recent ultrasound.