30 weeks

Today we had our 30 week appointment. I'm happy to say I was able to leave with a little bit of peace of mind and some good news! If you know our story our little love was diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction a few weeks ago although we knew from pretty early on. So today we went in to see if I was going to need to be put on bed rest. I was pretty sure that was going to be the verdict but I did everything in my power to stray  as far away from bed rest as I could. I ate like a cow and beefed up this little girl (and myself unfortunately)! She grew SO much in two short weeks and that makes this momma VERY happy! I gained 5 1/2 pounds and she is officially 2 lbs 14 oz. This is still considered IUGR as she is only in the 5th % for weight but this is HUGE in comparison to the 1 lb 6 oz she was last time!! Her entire body  (head, abdomen, legs and arms) all grew exceptionally well within two weeks which is a awesome. Originally, we suspected that her lack of growth was due to my lack of weight gain however we think we finally have an answer that makes sense. The blood flow from the placenta through her umbilical cord is decreasing which means she isn't getting all of the oxygen and nutrients she needs. I am SO happy to finally have an answer but this does mean weekly appointments for me until she arrives. I will go every week to see how she is tolerating being inside of me, every two weeks to check the flow through her umbilical cord, and every four weeks to check her growth until she is out of me! We are hoping to make it to 35 weeks however at any point these tests show she is not doing as well as she should be she will have to come out. So our July baby will be here in May/June! Yikes!!!

All of this is a lot of news to us but it's good news. It's a step forward and it's positive for the most part. We are still totally unprepared and do not have everything or even close to what we need for her to arrive but we will make it.

In the mean time here are some updates from the last few weeks:

-I tried venturing out and eating a hamburger (read back to note this has been an aversion the ENTIRE pregnancy) and it did NOT go so well. I'm with the cows that promote Chick-Fil-A.. eat more chicken!
-I'm having TERRIBLE leg cramps which I can not seem to get rid of.
- I've bought Lainey a TON of bows which means she will probably be bald for years to come.
-Jas graduates from college next week!
-Jas also got a temporary J-O-B! Now I can officially go get a pedicure :)
- Future update: Our two year wedding anniversary is coming up in May!!!
-My husband has been the most loving and caring individual the last few weeks. So supportive of all my needs and I am so so very thankful for him in my life.

That is all I can think of for now. Might be random but at least I remembered to update on Lainey!

time is limited

I feel defeated. The unknown is killing me. I have no idea what the remainder of this pregnancy looks like for us and it scares me. I'm worried because this is 'my' area of expertise, newborns/babies. I'm normally calm and collected and ready for the chaos but this, THIS is real. The realization that this pregnancy could be over at any minute and Lainey may be forced to face this world outside of me is not something I can handle. I selfishly want to keep her baking and growing inside of me longer. Next week we will find out if I'm holding up my end of the deal.. the baking and growing her part. It's scary to think that outside of me might be better for her if she isn't growing inside.

I'm a list maker and a go getter-pretty type A over the top organized. And the thought that at any appointment I may be forced to go into the hospital and have her is NOT comforting. I have no idea what to pack in a hospital bag for a preemie or for myself at that. Our house has no diapers/wipes, sheets, changing table, car seat. NOTHING for a baby. We have an empty room partially decorated waiting on our little girl's things to arrive. We have a few outfits (NONE that would fit a 3 lb..if that baby)...

I'm 29 weeks pregnant today and I have two pictures of my growing belly from weeks ago. I haven't taken a single bare belly picture for personal memory and I have no sweet pictures of my hubby kissing or talking to Lainey. I feel like any minute these opportunities could be taken from me and I'll never get them back. 

So today.. I realize time is limited and I gotta get this show on the road whether I like it or not. Time to put my big girl panties on and deal with it!

Getting ready for work! 

Gender Reveal Scratch Offs

Rocking the belly BIG TIME!

The view from above! 

Lainey's first monogrammed outfit set!

These pictures are totally random and I had more I wanted to post but somehow I don't know how to pull pictures from my phone. The pictures above are from two weeks ago so that would have been 24'ish weeks. I'm a little smaller now since she has moved around. I plan on taking a few pictures tomorrow so hopefully I can show you some updated pictures then. 

And just for kicks I've uploaded a picture from about 6 years ago! Maybe little miss does look more like me than I thought. At least when I was skinnier :) 

Diagnosis: IUGR

This week we had another ultrasound to measure sweet girl... we are 26 weeks and 4 days and little miss is measuring 24 weeks 1 days on her brain and extremities with her abdomen measuring 23'ish weeks. All of this combined we have officially received the diagnosis of IUGR- Intrauterine Growth Restriction.

I'm totally bummed out although have expected this diagnosis for awhile now. In fact while we sat at an appointment in February I told Jas I had a feeling/fear that she would be IUGR. It's nice to finally have something to go on since she has been off on her measurements from the get go.

The not so nice side of it all is that I'm having to do some modifications to my schedule to make time to rest and nourish little one. So my work schedule has had to change a little and I'm not allowed to exercise, travel, or work consecutive days in a row. The goal being that I will have time to sit around, hydrate, and eat so this little girl has all of the nutrients she needs to function. Right now I'm allowed to work as long as I cut back on my time on my feet (totally unreasonable to ask of a nurse...)

We are going to have another ultrasound in 2 weeks to keep up with her measurement and from there on out I will be seen every two weeks with measurement ultrasounds, umbilical flow doppler studies, and non-stress tests until they show no improvement and at that time it will be time to get her out. At any point I could be put on bed rest so my main goal is to do as told, rest, relax, and eat up.

Sadly, I finally feel GREAT with a ton of energy and have so many things I want to get done. Lainey has other plans and I'm okay with that. I will do another updated post during the 27th week when I finally post some pictures.

mumble jumble

Tonight I'm laying here awake while Jas sleeps on the couch in the living room. Yes, it's that kind of night in our house... not by choice but simply for optimal comfort for all. Our AC broke today and it's getting pretty steamy in here. That along with an utterly (ha i laugh because I feel fat as a friggin cow right now..get it-udders?) uncomfortable pregnant girl is making for a pretty grouchy house. I've got a fan beside the bed that is SO loud I can barely sleep and I just cannot find a single position that will make me comfortable. However, despite the complete discomfort of being hot, fat, and pregnant I'm happy right now. Lainey is going to town kicking me right at this very moment and it makes everything totally worth it. Not going to lie I'm totally ready for her to be kicking outside of me so I can regain some sort of control over my body again. But at 24 weeks she's still needs to bake and for now I'm good with that! 

I've decided I'm not doing a weekly update this week. I'd rather just ramble on about the things going on than have some fancy format to follow. 

So they say I'm 24 weeks but I have an appointment in the coming weeks to do another ultrasound to check her measurements. They are thinking possibly she is small or maybe even my dates are off so we are continuing to get frequent ultrasounds to make sure she is steadily growing while inside of me. However, if my dates are wrong then I could really be like 22'ish weeks instead of 24 weeks. I just keep telling myself it is what it is and that I'm further along so that I don't have to think about adding additional HOT summer days to my already long pregnancy journey. 

My symptoms have been following right along with what the bump (thebump.com) has been telling me I should be experiencing. The newest most fantastic symptom I've been experiencing is leg cramps. Now we aren't talking just little uncomfortable, just bend over and stretch it out, leg cramps. I'm talking laying in bed and my entire calf is stuck in a-leaves-you-screaming-for-help-in-tears type of cramp.. these things are FIERCE! If I can even begin to put them into comparison of something I'd say 10x worse than a charlie horse. Now that you've got the picture they only last like 30 seconds but still it's bad. 

My bump is almost sticking out over my chest when looking down. Everyone says I look small but I feel EVERYTHING but small. I've got pictures to post so hopefully I can get those up this week. 

And last but not least Jas has worked really hard on Lainey's room and it is done being painted!! We are waiting on her crib and bedding to come in and we still need to get a chair, side table, and decor and it will be DONE! Painting was the biggest task so now it seems like we are steps away from having her space complete! 

Now that I've rambled on about nothingness I shall go find something to buy on etsy! So long :)

23 weeks

How far along: 23 weeks

Size: Pomegranate 

Sleep: Not too shabby!!

Movement: A Ton! Watch out, girl likes to move now!

Food cravings/aversions: Don't even put anything with hamburger meat in front of me but a plate of juicy fruit and we'll be alright. 

Pregnancy Symptoms: Tired.. Swollen after working 12 hr shifts...random sciatic pain.

What I miss:  Energy. Buying new clothes to wear.

What I look forward to: Jas wants to go to the beach this weekend and take some belly pictures so I'm hoping they turn out cute and we can finally document some of my growing belly. I'm not going to lie.. we are getting in home dog trainers and I'm STOCKED about this!

Milestones: She can hear my heartbeat and voice.. unfortunately that also means the dog barks too. Poor girl will be VERY fond of their voices.

Best Moments this week: I'm going to cheat and tell you about last week. We got to do more measurements of little girl and got to see her in 3D!! We could see her facial features and we were even able to determine she has my hubby's nose. I cannot wait to kiss her sweet face =) ALSO a huge praise her little heart looks perfect which is one of the things we were looking for! Now she just has to grow grow grow!

Best moments with Jason: We have picked out her nursery bed set and are starting to get furniture to refinish and start on her room! 

I'll leave you with a few pictures and sneak peeks...

Boy or Girl?

We found out on Monday February 13th that we are expecting a little GIRL...Just prior to finding out I asked Jason what he thought it was and he said he thought 65% it was a girl and I said I thought 98% boy. Apparently my maternal instincts were not very great. We have officially announced to most of our family so I figured a blog post wouldn't hurt. We made scratch of cards that said...

What is Baby Chinnis going to be?

Boy or Girl

Scratch to See!

My handy dandy pinterest helped me find a way to make scratch off lottery-like ticket material and we put two pink feet under the scratch off. I will definitely post a picture so everyone gets the idea. It was one of the only unique ways we could come up with in announcing the gender of little one. I happened to love it and I think everyone thought it was cute..

We had one girl and one boy name picked out. The boy name was after my dad James Mason-we were going to name him Jameson Braham. It's almost hard for me to even say we WERE going to name him Jameson because I really believed we were having a boy. Although, every single symptom I had pointed to a girl (old wives tales) I just didn't believe my hubby could produce a girl. So back to her name...

Lainey Lynn

I'm not sold on the middle name but it is my and my mom's middle name and I would love to use it for my little one...however, it does sound a little hick to me (Ex: Loretta Lynn) but we are pretty positive her name is Lainey Lynn!

Little one is a mover and a shaker and takes after her momma already. She is up ALL night long kicking and moving and sleeps all day (which is fine with me.. Jas not so much) 

Yay for finally knowing and not keeping anymore secrets! I'm off to shop for bows on etsy :)