A little over halfway there!

Today I am exactly 21 weeks pregnant. Baby Thomas is about the length of a carrot and weighs about three-quarters of a pound. I have really been feeling him move around lately. It started as quick little flutters and within days, it was all out kicks and punches! It is still so neat to feel this tiny little miracle moving inside of me. I actually thought that the second time around may not be as exciting. Boy was I wrong! It is just as exciting as the first time. I have already been uncomfortable at times. I do realize that I am bigger than I was last time and I have not been exercising like I should, but sometimes, I already feel like I am 7 or 8 months along. I know what your thinking, "Emily, you must be huge!" I wouldn't say that yet, but it is difficult to go to sleep at night due to the growing belly and I tire easily if I am on my feet for an extended amount of time. I think it just goes along with the saying that I have heard from other women with multiple children, "every pregnancy is different." I couldn't agree more with that statement. In addition to my comfort level already going down the drain, I have been very clumsy this time around. For those that know me well, I am already a pretty clumsy person, but when you are preggers, it seems to be magnified times 10!
Here is a little story:
This past weekend I was at a friends house and we were getting ready to run to Target. My friend and her little boy were going to ride with me so as my friend goes to get her carseat to put in my vehicle, I am getting ready to put Savannah in her car seat. My hands were full and I desperately wanted to put down my 22 pound toddler as quickly as possible. I reach the truck, open the door, set Savannah in her carseat (not buckled in just yet) so I could go ahead and put my other stuff down and then I would buckle her in. Little did I remember I had parked on the curb where it drains to the sewer. (you know what I am talking about. This part of the curb slants down so that excess water can drain down and not flood the streets) As I got ready to step down off the curb so I could get in closer to buckle Savannah in, I forgot the curb was NOT flat but stepped down as if it was and totally fell on the side of my foot. OUCH! I'll spare all the gross details but my sweet friend that was with me, immediately rushed over because Savannah started crying because she couldn't see me anymore, and came to my rescue. Nothing broke but maybe a slight sprain of my foot. Thank the Lord it is getting better every day. I can walk on it but it just a little sore still.
Moral of the story:
Be EXTRA careful when you are preggers and pay attention to where you are parked. :)

The main reason I wanted to blog today was to express my excitement that we are over halfway to meeting my son, Thomas. Time goes by fast and I am cherishing every moment!

Emily

And baby #2 is....................

a boy! We are so excited to hear this wonderful news! We would have been just as excited if it was a girl, but, I must admit, a small little part of us was hoping for a boy.
For those who don't know, Aric is the last 'Lobenstein', so the fact that he has someone to continue the name, makes him happy beyond belief.
Everything else looked good for this doctors visit. The ultrasound tech said everything seemed to be right on target. Length, weight, 4 chamber heart, 2 arms, 2 legs, etc. (I don't remember what she said about the length, but she said the baby weighs about 10 ounces.)
Dr. K seemed pleased with everything and asked if I had any questions. I had a quick question about the heart rate, which was 149, and then we were done. (I just asked him what the difference in heart rates were, because Savannah's was always in the 160 range. He responded by saying that, a heart rate between, 120 and 170 is what they are looking for, so there was no difference in this baby's heart rate being 149 to Savannah's being higher in the 160's)
Names.
We have decided on a name. It will be a family name that we are excited to carry on. His name will be Charles Thomas and we will call him Thomas. Charles is a name that is passed down from grandfather's past. Thomas is Aric's dad's name and we just so happen to like the name Thomas. We also thought it sounded good with Charles. :)

What an exciting day! I think I am still on Cloud 9.

Well, I'm off to run errands before the hubby gets home, so have great evening!!

Emily

Savannah's Ear Update

I just got back from the pediatrician and we have decided to schedule an appointment with an ENT doctor in Birmingham for Savannah. (well, the doctor's office will set up the appointment and let us know) We should know something in the next couple of weeks about the appointment. In the mean time, we are going to try an antibiotic Savannah has been on previously and hope that her ears will continue to clear up. Dr. Doles said her ears actually looked a little better but they definitely were not clear. Progress is progress, right? Dr. D also said it was the top part of her ear that looked better but the inner part, still looked like it was very irritated. That kind of makes sense, I guess.
I am not let down by any of this, though. Dr. D said that it is very possible for this to clear up on it's own. She suggested we go see an ENT so that they can closer examine her ears, see if the medicine is in fact making things better or not and just give us a better idea of where Savannah stands. It could be that her ears clear up, we go see the doctor, he checks things out and nothing else needs to be done. Or even if she does need tubes, I'm ok with that. Whatever happens, happens because I know that God is in control. It is very comforting to know, that I serve a graciouos and merciful God. He will take care of us and take all my worries away.
I will keep everyone updated when I hear back about the doctor in Birmingham. It could be a few weeks before we actually go, so for now, we wait and pray that these antibiotics will do the trick.
One last thing, because of her ear problems, Savannah has NOT been sleeping well through the night. Aric and I are both very sleep deprived. This has been going on for about a week now. Please pray that Savannah will only continue to feel better and that she will be able to rest well at night.
Thank you to everyone who has offered advice and love. We love you too! And we really appreciate the advice!

Have a wonderful evening...

Emily

Mother's Day Out UPDATE

We have finally decided on a MDO program. We will be starting Savannah in a summer program at Trinity Presbyterian Church. We looked at 4 places total and Trinity was the last we looked at. I was starting to get very overwhelmed, because for me, it was an information overload. Every place had different things about it, that we liked and didn't like. We also were trying to keep in mind not only what we liked, but what we felt would be best for Savannah. We really had a lot of discussion and prayer about this and we feel this is where we are supposed to put her. We decided that we would do two days a week. Trinity's summer program offers, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so we are going to do Monday, Wednesday. Not only did we like the people there, but we were very impressed with the curriculum. I know Savannah is only 16 almost 17 months old but, if she can get a head start on being in an environment where they are always learning and teaching, then I think she will come to enjoy it.
MDO is new for me and honestly I am a little nervous. I really do believe it is MUCH needed for me, but I am also so used to having Savannah to myself. I don't mean to sound selfish, but when you have been at home with your baby for 16 months and then she starts "school" 2 days a week for a few hours, I kind of think to myself, "what am I going to do next?!" and "how is she going to do?" I guess I am having typical mommy worries. The good thing is, Aric totally 100% supports me and this decision. Encouragement from him always makes me feel better.
Savannah will start the first week in June. I am getting butterflies just thinking about it.

Have a great day and God Bless!

Emily

Savannah's Issues

These past few days have been rough for us. Savannah finished her Augmentin and I was thrilled because her ears did not seem to be bothering her, until that night. She hasn't even been off the antibiotic for a week now and she is already waking up during the night again. Luckily, today was her follow up appointment to the doctor for her ears and my worst fears came true. They were not better. Her left ear was red and irritated and her right ear, which has been the worst, was still pretty bad. :(
The doctor prescribed another antibiotic for her to take for a week and then we will go back next Wednesday for another follow up. If there is no progress then, the doctor suggested that we go see an ENT. I know there are worse things than this but it still hard when it is your child. On top of her ear issues, Savannah has several teeth coming in, some of which include molars. She has been extra fussy because of that and I am about on my wits end. On top of THAT, she broke out in a rash Friday and had it all weekend. Took her to the doctor Saturday afternoon and he said it was just some sort of allergic reaction to something. I haven't given her anything new so I didn't understand that. He prescribed some steriods and we are to give her that for 4 days. The rash seems to be clearing up, Thank you Lord. The doctor she saw this weekend is not my favorite doctor of the group. The doctor that saw her today I love. She said the rash was most likely caused by something viral. I despise viral illnesses because you usually just have to wait those out and it is so hard when you have a little one. So, with her ears, the rash and teeth coming in, it really has been hard these past few days. I feel like we are doing everything we can to comfort Savannah, but sometimes nothing seems to soothe her. Our patience has really been put the test and honestly, I don't know how well we are doing. (SIGH)

I need to start fixing dinner and finish up some laundry. Have a good evening everyone.

Emily

Matthew 11:28-30
"Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Let me see you One-Two Step

Savannah is officially walking now! I am excited and sad. I'm excited because she has been making small steps now for months but would never take off. I'm sad because I really was enjoying her still crawling around in some ways. She was still my little baby, now she looks like such a big girl walking around everywhere. The past few weeks she has taken more and more steps and yesterday she just decided to take off and that was it. She will still stumble here and there but instead of crawling after she has fallen, she will now get back up and continue on walking. Her vocabulary is getting better everyday. Unless she is being shy, she is getting very good at being able to repeat words you say and actually understand that word.
I am going to shift subjects really quick, we are still looking for a mother's day out program that we like. So far, we have looked at 3 churches. I think we are going to look at 2 more churches then we will make our decision. I know it probably sounds like we are looking to hard into this, but we just want to be sure we choose somewhere that we like and that we think Savannah will like. We have gotten a lot of feedback from friends and family and are very appreciative of that.
So many new and exciting things are ahead of us. Walking, Mom's Day Out, talking and a new baby! :)

Have a wonderful day everyone.

God Bless,
Emily