20w1d- BABY REGISTRY AND SHOWER PLANNING

Courtney is registered at Babies R Us and Target.....hopefully we will add Walmart to the list as well so everyone has a choice of places to shop and still be able to find what she needs and likes. For family and friends who wish to go online or stop in one of these stores, you will need her first and last name in Kentucky. Call me if you still can't find her registry online. We are planning one LARGE shower when they come home on Martin Luther King weekend on January 16h or 17th. She will be about 8 weeks from a possible induction date at that time.....PRAY FOR GOOD WEATHER!

20 WEEKS PREGNANT!!!! 140 MORE DAYS TO GO!

Here's a front view of Courtney's belly. She said the belly button ring is starting to pull and hurt so she is looking for a bendable soft one for preggos like her!


Here's a side view at 20 weeks (baby measuring 21w1d)....Don't forget to look at the belly progression in the video at the top of the blog!

ALMOST 20 WEEKS PREGNANT!

Dear Baby Nevaeh,

In a few short hours, Mommy will officially be halfway through a normal 40 week pregnancy (even though she could count last week as her midway mark due to an induction). In four short weeks you will be at the viability marker in the pregnancy, which means that you will have a chance to live outside of Mommy if she delivers early.....but we are praying you stay put for many weeks after that!

You are measuring one week ahead of schedule which puts you at 21w1d. According to babycenter.com you should weigh 12 oz. and be approximately 10 1/2 inches long from head to toe! Mommy should be feeling stronger kicks soon. But she shouldn't worry if she doesn't since the placenta is anterior and in the way! At least she feels your flutters stronger everyday as you grow! Mommy has also discovered a pattern to your activity as she gets to know you better. You rarely move during the day while she is attending class. In the evening around 6pm you start moving after Mommy has food in her belly! You also move later in the evening before Mommy and Daddy go to bed. That is usually when I get to listen to you through the doppler!

The baby website says you are developing eyebrows and eyelids. In looking at your 4D videos two weeks ago, you already had eyelids because we watched you blink your eyes several times! You are an overachiever in development! (Woot!) Since you are a girl, your vajayjay has begun to form as well. So now you have all your girlie parts in place!

Mommy promises to send me a 20 week belly picture to post tomorrow!

We love you baby Nevaeh!
Love Grandma Dason

19w4d STRONGER FETAL MOVEMENTS CAUGHT ON DOPPLER

Dear Nevaeh,

Now that Mommy and Daddy have Skype, we are able to see each other and talk to each other through the computer since they live so far away. It is so exciting to watch your Mommy's belly grow and listen to your movements and heartbeats through the doppler daily. Mommy sent this recording to me over the cell phone. We love hearing you move around all the time. Mommy only feels flutters even though she is close to 20 weeks. I think it will be awhile until she feels real kicks because of the anterior placenta being in the way!.....IN TIME! This is what you sound like at 19w4d...We can hear you swimming around....near the end, a couple of sharp sounds are heard....probably kicks at the probe!!!

Hugs and Kisses,
Grandma Dason

19w2d NURSERY UPDATE

The nursery is starting to take shape! Mike worked very hard to clean the room and organize the furniture since we painted and stained last weekend. I left him with quite the mess to clean up! Sorry Mike!

This picture shows the dresser we stained to match the crib. Turned out pretty nice. There is actually room to move the crib down so all the furniture isn't so close together. I think the kids are trying to hide the boxes in the corner for a pretty picture! LOL


Moving clockwise in the room, you will see the twin bed that we stained to match the crib. This way, Alexis will have her own bed when she stays with Courtney and Mike!


Continuing on clockwise, you will see the changing table that matches the crib!


Finally pictured is the chest that matches the crib. The extra chest that we stained (matching set to the dresser) is going in the other bedroom. With the crib moved down closer to the door, there should be room in the corner to put a glider rocker that the kids will get for Christmas. If it doesn't fit there, it may fit near the window! As you can see we have a lot of wall space to decorate not to mention the bedding.......All in time!

19w1d- BABY GIFT

Dear Nevaeh,

Aunt Caitlin has been busy painting letters to go above your crib. She is soooooo talented! Here are some pictures showing the work in progress.....

The fabric on the left is the quilt from your nursery set. The top fabric is the sheet on your crib. The receiving blankets will be made into a quilt for the twin bed in your room. Caitlin bought paint colors to match your nursery theme.

The painting begins! She is sooooo talented. She is working in Grandma Dason sewing room!

Smile for the camera!!!! OOOPs I should have cropped this picture. You can see the dress form in the background with a bra on it! Geez! Makes for a good laugh!

The first letter is done! At first she went simple....as time went on, she added more dots with her steady hand!

The finished product! We hope that Mommy and Daddy like this!

Love,
Grandma Dason

19 WEEKS PREGNANT!!!

Dear Nevaeh,

Mommy is 19 weeks pregnant today! You are measuring 20w1d, so I am going by babycenter.com on your approximate weight and size. By now you should weigh about 10 1/2 ounces. You are also around 10 inches from head to toe! No wonder Mommy's belly is really popping out this week! Mommy is already at the halfway mark in her pregnancy,since you will be born a few weeks early due to an induction around 37/38 weeks! Soon we will get to see that sweet little face of yours!

Love, Grandma Dason

18w6d ANOTHER ULTRASOUND

Courtney and Mike went back to the same ultrasound place that they visited last Saturday....the one with the live video streaming. I was able to watch the baby from home this time! The quality of the 3D pictures are still poor. The 2D pics are OK but fuzzy! It was wonderful to watch her move, stretch and arch her back. She loves to put her hands up to her face and suck her left thumb! HOW CUTE! ......the best part.....the ultrasound tech (different person this time) invited them back in two weeks to get another FREE peek since she is still hiding behind the placenta!!!! So I guess we shouldn't complain toooooo much about the quality of the pictures! Nevaeh is 18w6d (measuring 20 weeks) in these pictures. Our next peek at her will be on Nov. 17th! Nevaeh will be 20w3d (measuring 21w4d).

Nevaeh is sucking her thumb in this picture with her left hand!

Ahhhh look, she is crossing her arms and her index finger is up near her face! Possibly sucking her thumb with her index finger on her nose???

The only 3D picture that turned out. You can see the placenta is still in the way! Shoot! But at least we get another peek at her again soon!

18w5d VISIT WITH MY DAUGHTER

I drove 7 hours to visit Courtney and Mike after school last Friday. Arrived there around 8:30PM their time. Our first stop was WALMART! We bought a camera for their computer in order to do SKYPE (live chat). We also bought paint and stain for the baby's room and furniture......back to their home and I collapsed....but woke up a few hours later and painted the room 6 times in my mind! (LOL)

The next morning we all got ready and headed off to the 3D/4D Ultrasound which also had live video streaming for all of the family and friends to see with us! (see earlier post)....then back home to paint.

The baby's room was a very UGLY hot pink with purple baseboards. Courtney picked English White (cream color) for the walls and white for the baseboards. Luckily the weather was nice, so we could open the window for ventilation. We also put a towel under the door to block the fumes and of course block Courtney out of the room! It worked and the fumes never made it outside of the room!

Sunday we painted the baseboards. Last summer, Courtney and Mike bought second hand oak furniture, stripped it down and had plans on staining it for a bedroom. After Courtney picked the ebony colored crib, chest and changing table, we decided to stain the extra dresser, chest and twin bed an ebony color to match. This way the kids (yes they are still kids to me....and always will be!) could save money and still have BEAUTIFUL matching furniture in the nursery. Sunday into Monday, we stained furniture and added new hardware. The look is modern and sleek! They will send me pictures when they have time to organize the room. Hopefully it will be this weekend. Then we will be filling the room with baby stuff from the showers and Christmas in the future! (The pictures show the wall color....very neutral!)



Finally, Monday afternoon rolled around for the Level II ultrasound with the OB (see earlier post). We were sooooo excited after seeing that all was well with the baby.... we actually bought a few clothing items for Nevaeh! Here are a few items!

Tuesday came way tooooo fast with the 7 hour road trip home. I can say that I am pretty proud of myself for driving that far alone, doing all this work and still being able to move my tired body to work on Wednesday! It is amazing how a little baby can bring so much joy and energy to our lives!

A memory that I will keep with me for a lifetime is seeing my daughter walking out of the bathroom just as she did when she was a little girl....with a towel wrapped around her wet hair and a towel wrapped around her body....the only difference was a baby belly peeking out of the towel where the ends met in the front! (HOW PRECIOUS!)

18w4d ULTRASOUND

Courtney had her Level II Anatomy Ultrasound check yesterday. Here's a good picture of her girly parts and her back. The placenta is anterior which means it is on the front of her belly. Nevaeh was laying across the lower part of Courtney's belly (head to the left and feet to the right) with her face towards the placenta....so no good pictures of the face....not even a profile. It was rather funny...the ultrasound tech shook the probe on Courtney's belly (really hard...which kinda bothered me!) to see if Nevaeh would turn and look at us.....no luck! You could see the baby shaking her head from side to side as if to say "Not now, I am trying to sleep!"

We kept referring to the baby as a "she" and the tech questioned us on how we knew. When we told her about the 3D/4D, I think we upset her and took the joy out of her telling us. From that point on, the tech was rather quiet! We had to ask her questions rather than she telling us!!!! Anyway...enough of my whining and on with the good stuff....We did get a good look at the brain and heart, along with the rest of the organs. No abnormalities were noted!!!! Yea! Nevaeh weighed 9 oz. and still measuring one week ahead (19w5d instead of 18w4d....which is good...but no change in the due date!) We asked how long she was, but the tech said that she was curled up so she couldn't give us a measurement (and she wasn't about to give us the measurement from head to rump, since we upset her earlier on! Geez!!) The heartbeat was a strong 156! At the end of the session, Courtney asked if all looked fine and her reply was "The radiologist reads the ultrasound not me".

A very nice nurse took Courtney back to see the doctor. Courtney weighed in and lost one pound. So far her weight gain is 13 pounds. Blood pressure is still under control at 106/76. Courtney asked to see her chart and the nurse let her! The ultrasound report was in the file (which the tech could have easily shared with her!)....The report showed a normal growing fetus at 19w5d, no abnormalities, amniotic fluid was good, cervix 3.99 which is average and anterior placenta (strange that the tech would not share this with us!).

The OB is pleased with Courtney's progress. He is going to keep her on Lovenox until a few days before an induction at 37 to 38 weeks. This means there is a good chance that the baby could be born on Courtney's birthday in March or even Grandpa Baker's birthday!

I have more to share about my visit with Courtney and Mike, the baby's room and shopping...but I will save that for a later post!

18w3d

This was the best 3D picture of Nevaeh's face (side view)....the quality of the picture is less than desirable....hopefully the next 3D ultrasound on Thursday will be better!
This is a 2D ultrasound of another side view of Nevaeh's face! Isn't she cute!?
Here is a front view of her face. You can see her full face and eyes!
This is my favorite picture out of the whole setting. You can see she is getting ready to suck her thumb with her left hand. Mommy and Daddy are both left handed. Looks like she will also be left handed!


Nevaeh is definitely a GIRL! We are getting ready to go to the OB for the anatomy ultrasound (Level II). Here are a few pictures from the 3D/4D ultrasound last Saturday. We were not impressed with the quality of this place.....actually the building was beautiful....the services were less than desirable. The ultrasound tech could tell we were disappointed and invited Courtney back for FREE this Thursday at 6PM Ohio time. Same login, username and password. Hopefully we get a better view of our little girl....and a clearer picture to share with you. The pictures posted are the only ones that turned out. The 3D is very hard to see! Her heartbeat was 154. We could see her sucking her thumb and blinking her eyes!!!!

18 WEEK BELLY PICTURE!!!

Here's the 18 week belly picture! We are off to see the 4D ultrasound.....more later!!!!

17w6d

Dear Nevaeh,

In 5.5 hours, mommy will be 18 weeks pregnant (19w1d if we are going by your last ultrasound!)....hard to believe that I will soon be on my way to see you, mommy and daddy. I can't wait to rub mommy's belly and take lots of pictures! By the way, you must be one special baby for me to drive 7 hours by myself! I've never driven this far, alone! Grandpa Dason has to work! (Boo!).....but this will give us bonding time in the womb! (haha!)

In less a few days, I will get to see your sweet face on the 4D ultrasound. I am looking forward to counting your fingers and toes once again and see how you've grown! We are also anxious to see if you are still a girl! The last ultrasound was at 14 weeks and it seemed sooooo early to tell...but the ultrasound tech assured us you were a girl....if I remember right, she even said 100% sure that you were a girl. If you turn out to be a boy....then you fooled us all! But I will love you just as much if you are a boy after all!

Hugs and Kisses,
Grandma Dason

17w5d- ULTRASOUND UPDATE

Courtney and Mike are having a scheduled ultrasound on Monday with their OB. The bad part is that they have to pay extra for the 3D/4D ultrasound because insurance won't pay beyond the 2D.....The good news is that they have decided to go to a private 3D/4D place which costs the same but will be LIVE VIDEO STREAMING!!!!!! This means family and friends get to watch it at the same time they do. The special time for this is Saturday at 12:00 Ohio time. 11:00 their time. If we forgot to tell you, call me and I will give you the website, username and password. Be patient, if you can't see the video right at 12:00....they may get back logged....this seems to be a popular thing to do on the army base since families are soooooo far away!

I am soooooo excited. I will be going there this weekend to spend some time with them, plus meeting her OB on Monday for the 2D ultrasound.....this is just icing on the cake!!!!! At first I told Courtney that I didn't need to come after all because I can see it with all of you.....but that didn't sit to well with her! She really wants me to meet her doctor and be there for her on Monday....so I will be in a Grandma fog for quite some time! Can you tell I am excited!?

17w4d

Dear Courtney,

This message is for you. I have sooooo many feelings that I need to share. As a mother-to-be, you are experiencing the morning sickness, headaches, muscles aches, tiredness along with the beautiful baby movements and heartbeat sounds that make it all worth it. Soon you will experience the huge belly, swollen feet and breathless moments because the baby has taken over your body....not to mention the painful labor....but when you see that beautiful face looking back at you, you will know it is all worth it! Once the baby is born, you will experience sleepless nights and stressful days, but the good times will outweigh the stressful ones!

I remember all these feelings as if they were yesterday. If I could give you one piece of advice it would be to take your time to cherish and love each moment no matter how stressful or tired you may be. These precious days go by way toooooo fast!

I see life differently through the eyes of a grandparent. I will cry with you... smile with you...be sad with you....and be happy with you......most of all I will be there for you! For you are my baby girl. And now my baby girl is giving me the precious gift of another baby girl. Now I know why my mother cried the day you were born!

Love Always, Mom

17w3d OB VISIT

Courtney had her usual 2 week OB visit. She continues to go every two weeks since she is high risk. The doctor found the baby's heart beat right away. Nevaeh even kicked at the probe! Courtney could hear it, but didn't feel the kick. (Which reminds me....she did feel the baby move today during class for the first time....the baby is usually more active at night!)...The blood pressure medication is working (1/2 tablet in the AM and 1/2 tablet in the PM) it was 110/60. So far she's gained 14 lbs. The doctor seems to be pleased with her progress!

Courtney told the OB the difficulties her sister is having finding a hematologist and OB who knows and employs the research of using lovenox on pregnant women who have the MTHFR blood disorder. He said that the research is controversial, but he has had 100% success with women who are identified before becoming pregnant and who start the shots with the first positive pregnancy test. His partner in the practice chimed in and called themselves the Arc Angels of Pregnant Women! I would agree! I just hope we can find the same type of care for Caitlin once she decides to start planning a family. The present thinking with Caitlin's OBGYN and Hematologist is .....WHY WORRY? She hasn't had any blood clots and she hasn't had any miscarriages.......WAIT!....Shouldn't we be proactive rather than reactive since we have family history of miscarriages and this blood disorder! I wish this OB practiced in Ohio as well. For anyone reading this post. Courtney's OB is in Kentucky near Fort Campbell! He is our ANGEL!

Courtney's ultrasound is scheduled for Monday at 2:30!!!! I will drive to KY after school on Friday and spend the weekend with Courtney and Mike. We hope to paint the baby's room! I have been smiling all day!

17w1d MORE MOVEMENT TODAY!

Dear Nevaeh,
You must be growing on schedule. Mommy called me today and said that she is definitely feeling you fluttering around more than usual today. The movements are still light, rolling, crawling, popping actions....soon she will be sharing your kicks with me. I can't wait! Only 3 more weeks til mommy reaches the half way mark of this pregnancy! (Two weeks if she is going by your last ultrasound measurements!)
Love, Grandma Dason

17 WEEKS BELLY PICTURE!

Courtney is 17 weeks pregnant today!!!! (Nevaeh is measuring 18w1d). Since the baby is measuring a week ahead, I am guessing that she is about 7 to 7.5 inches long from head to toe and weighing around 7 oz. She is very active and Courtney feels pops and bubbles here and there, but no real kicks yet. Baby Veah's uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place by now! Wow....amazing just thinking about it! That is, if she is still a girl at the next ultrasound in a few weeks!

We are looking forward to the second-trimester ultrasound just around the corner! Hopefully we can nail down a more accurate due date. Since Courtney is on blood thinner shots (Lovenox), she will probably be induced earlier than the expected date. The OB will probably switch her over to Heparin before the induction. Only 6 more weeks to the viability date! (or 5 weeks if you are going by the baby's measurements!)

16w6d-Round Ligament Pain

In approximately 4 hours, Courtney will be 17 weeks (baby measuring 18w1d)! Lately she has been experiencing sharp pains in the lower abdomen every once in a while. I remember getting these when I was pregnant, so I looked it up on the Internet. These sharp pains are from the round ligaments surrounding her uterus. The ligaments are stretching to accommodate growing baby Nevaeh! Which is a good sign that the baby is growing on schedule!

Courtney has her next OB visit on Monday. It will be the usual heartbeat check...but the exciting part is that she will get to set the ultrasound date. Once we know the date, I am going to take some time off work to go with her. Since she lives 7 hours away, we hope to get an appointment on a Friday or a Monday....that way I can spend some time with her over the weekend. We also hope to work in the baby's room. I am smiling as I type this post....still in a baby fog! Stay tuned for the 17 week bare belly picture!

16w5d

Courtney called me last night to listen to the baby through the doppler. It has become our nightly routine and I am loving it! She found a nice strong heartbeat in the 150s for a long time. For once baby Vaeh was staying in one place. Typically the baby is head down and more on the left side rather than in the center. Courtney scanned the rest of her belly with the doppler to listen for movements, but all was quiet this time. I could hear it in her voice that it was unnerving to her because Vaeh is usually active. I reminded her that fetuses do sleep all the time...just as newborn babies do and that Vaeh was just sleeping....after all the strong heartbeat should be the sign that all is well....this still did not settle well with Courtney...........upon hanging up, Courtney told me she was going to have her usual bowl of fruity, sugary cereal......surely the sugar surge would perk the baby up! I just laughed!

This morning, I asked Courtney if the sugar surge worked and here's her response....."I know my baby pretty well already, Mom....the bowl of Trix worked! Nevaeh woke up and started moving!" I can picture it now...Courtney will be one of those moms who wake their babies up just to make sure they are OK. But then again, reflecting back....I was one of those moms! HAHA!