19 weeks

How far along? 19 weeks

Maternity clothes? All maternity. Ive definitely "popped".

Sleep? I'm sleeping through the night, and doing a hybrid, tummy-side sleep. It keeps me off my belly and helps my hips from being sore.

Best moment this week? Our anatomy scan and seeing Baby Free!

They measured right on track, brain, heart and spine looked great. Amniotic fluid was normal. Cord and placenta looked good. Baby was head down.

Their kidneys were both enlarged though. "Normal" is around 3-4 mm and both were measuring around 5. The perinatologist said he sees it often and is nothing to worry about but they will monitor it. I of course was a mess, thinking of something being wrong. It can also be a "soft marker" for downs syndrome, but our blood work was great and no other soft markers were presented. The chance of our baby having downs is still very very low.

From what I understand, most cases of enlarged kidneys clear up either in utero or within the first year. The baby will be monitored closely. Worst case scenario is surgery after birth to correct the problem.

The peri also mentioned he didn't see any blockages, which was good, and that progesterone can lead to kidney swelling. He said that pregnant women's kidneys are actually enlarged during pregnancy.

We know that God is perfectly knitting together this child and just pray that their kidneys are healed.

I'm praying for peace about the situation. My first instinct is to worry, worry, worry! Which isn't good for anyone!

But, I do feel great knowing all of Baby Free's vitals were great!

After the scan we went out to dinner and started our registry at Buy Buy Baby! So much fun!

Food cravings:Mexican.

Gender: Team Green!

Belly button in or out? In

Movement? Yes!!! On Sunday Mr. Free and I felt our first "outside" movement. It was awesome! The last 2 days I have felt this baby move like crazy! The tech mentioned again how much this baby moves! We've been told this a few times now...life should be interesting come February!

What I miss? Nothing : )

What I'm looking forward to: Preparing for this baby! Now that we see that they *should* be arriving this February, I cant wait to finish our registry and get our home ready for baby!

Milestones: Our anatomy scan!

First outside movement!

We appreciate your prayers that Baby Free's kidneys will correct themselves and won't require any intervention. We also appreciate prayer for peace as we just "wait and see" what is in store for our precious little one.

Week 17

How far along? 17 weeks

Maternity clothes? Definitely pants, but starting to transition to shirts as well. I can wear my non-maternity stuff as long as it's really long.

Sleep? Getting better! I got some great tips on sleeping while pregnant and its certainly helped! I still can't quite get used to sleeping with pillows all around me and by morning they are all usually on the floor, but I'm tossing and turning much less and not nearly as sore!

Best moment this week?

We have baby things in our house!!!!

On Saturday night, our amazing friends Audrey and Josue and their sweet little girl Melody had us over for dinner and let us raid their basement of baby stuff! Such a HUGE blessing!

Here's the unorganized pile of amazing blessings that are currently in our guest room:

A car seat! An actual car seat!

The snap n go stroller for the car seat.

Baby baths, crib skirt, breast feeding pillow, swing.

Bouncer, baby books and maternity clothes!

Such an incredible blessing!

Food cravings: Mexican.

Gender: Team Green!

Belly button in or out? In

Movement? Early this week I hadn't really felt much, but yesterday I began feeling the baby again and it was a bit stronger than before. I can't wait for regular movement! It's such a great feeling!

What I miss? Nothing : )

What I'm looking forward to: Our level 2 anatomy scan in two weeks! We won't be finding out the sex of the baby, but I can't wait to see them again and hopefully get good news that all is well with our little one!

Milestones: We got our quad screening results back yesterday. For some reason I had in my mind that if we heard the results back soon, that'd it'd be bad news. Well, 3 days after I had my blood drawn, the OB called. I was freaking out! Being a type 1 diabetic, I didn't have any increased risk for a chromosomal problem (like downs syndrome or trisomy 18), but there is a possible increased risk for neural tube defects. Luckily, my amazing nurse Kris immediately said that all my results were negative! And I'm not a carrier for cystic fibrosis! Whew!!!

I seriously felt on cloud 9 after that! Thank you Lord!!!

Today we met with the perinatologist for the first time. I will be seeing him every 2 weeks until 28 weeks, then weekly until 36 weeks. He said that the normal quad was very reassuring with this pregnancy and the level 2 will hopefully confirm that.

The plan of action is in 2 weeks we will have the level 2 anatomy scan to look to make sure everything is developed correctly and no birth defects. 2 weeks after that, we will have our fetal echocardiogram to see a more detailed picture of the baby's heart and make sure everything is working the way it should!

I have felt so overwhelmed by everyone's support and generosity. Every little milestone with this little one is such a blessing and we just thank God so much for blessing us with this little life.

Week 16

How far along? 16 weeks

Maternity clothes? Just pants, but I have worn a couple of sweaters too

Sleep? I'm normally a tummy sleeper, but this week its become uncomfortable as my belly has firmed up. All the literature says to sleep on your left side for optimal blood flow but its so uncomfortable! I wake up after an hour with a very sore left hip! I'm trying the body pillow, but it still hurts my left hip. Not sure what to do, but even if I don't sleep for the next 5 months, it is well worth it. : )

Best moment this week? This has been a FABULOUS weekend. So I have many 'bests' this week!

1. Having a great 16 week appointment today! As soon as the doppler touched my belly we could hear a strong heartbeat in the 150's. The nurse said she could hear baby moving all around too. : )

2. We completely gutted our basement! (When I say "we" I really mean Mr. Free). Mr. Free is such an amazing handyman. He has completely demoed it out and is currently working on framing our future family room! We are so excited for this additional space as we grow our family and love to entertain family and friends. (Many blog posts to come about that!)

3. We had the most incredible food weekend! It started with SantiCaliGon days this weekend. What's better than an onion blossom and funnel cake?! Then Sunday night we went to Fogo de Chao with our dear friends (I had been seriously craving some red meat...check!) and finished that off with Cold Stone. Then, this morning was the start of the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte'! Mmmm....

4. The weather here in KC has been AMAZING!! High's in the 70's. AC is off, windows are open with the attic fan running. It's feeling like Fall which is my FAVORITE time of year!

Food cravings: Red meat and Mexican.

Gender: Team Green!

Belly button in or out? In

Movement? Last Friday I began feeling some flutters and little pokes down low. I can only feel it when Im sitting and learning slightly forward or curled up in the fetal position. Monday I was feeling it and Mr. Free pushed his hand right in to where it was at and swore he felt a little poke. I didn't believe him at first, but maybe he did! I can't wait for noticable 'outside' movement!

What I miss? Nothing : )

What I'm looking forward to: Starting to really look at baby gear. I bought a couple of neutral outfits this weekend, but now that we had a great appointment, I feel like I can look "for real".

Milestones: A great 16 week appointment!

I spoke with my OB about whether I can "relax" now, because I've still been freaking out. She assured me that I now can relax.

She explained that 1st trimester losses are from COMPLETELY different reasons than 2nd and 3rd trimester losses. Since I have successfully made it to the 2nd trimester, I have no indication or risk of losing this baby.

She said the only thing that they will monitor with me is the "increased" change of a heart defect since Im diabetic. (I put "increased" in quotes because my blood sugar has been in such tight control, I truly don't have an increased risk from a non-diabetic mommy, but I get monitored none the less).

She assured me that even if a heart defect appears, it usually corrects itself in utero and if not, may require surgery. She said the defects are usually not fatal. Which made me feel MUCH better.

Tomorrow I will go in for blood work to do the quad screening. This will give us the odds of our baby having a chromosonal problem or neural tube defect. We should hear results in about a week. This test can give false positives, but since we didn't do the first tri screening, we thought we'd do this to *hopefully* give us some reassurance.

In 4 weeks I will see the OB again for a regular 20 week check up, but will have my anatomy scan along with a fetal echocardiogram with the perinatologist down the hall. We will be able to see all the details of our little one and check for any type of defect.

Please be praying that our little one has developed correctly and will continue to do so. I know, statistically our baby isn't at an increased risk, but I just pray they truly are healthy.

I can't believe we have to wait another whole month to see our little one! We were so spoiled to get to see them every 2 weeks, and now it'll have been 2 months since we last saw them! I'm so thankful for those doppler checks. They keep me sane!