Hopefully after reading this he won’t have a ton of other women in love with him too!
Ever since I met Cary I knew he was special and that I was lucky to have found such a wonderful man to share my time with and now I get to share my life with him and I feel luckier every day because of that. I had never witnessed a love more true and deep than the love he expresses to me until he let me read his letters to Baby Co. Don’t get me wrong, I know he loves me more than anything, but the love a person has for their child is different, not more or less, but different in a way that cannot be quantified to even compare.
12/5/11
I wanted to write you real quick before I head out tonight and let you know that I have thought about you quite a bit lately. Things are going to really get interesting on Wednesday when we get to know more about you. We have picked out many things for you which you will learn from the time that we first set eyes on you. You know, it’s impossible for you to understand, but I am finding that I completely love you, everything about you, and yet haven't had the luxury of actually meeting you face to face. Your mother and I are so excited to have you join our family, and while it seems a while before we do, it will be here faster than we can imagine. I look forward to writing you again real soon. Your mom and I love you
Daddy
12/9/11
Well, we found out a lot more about you on Wednesday, and boy oh boy are we excited. Son, you are going to make a perfect addition to our family. I have dreamt about having a little boy for a long time, and it has only magnified in the past 4 months since I found out Mommy is going to have you. And, then I found out and am so excited. I look forward to having a best little buddy. I can't wait to have you join me for all kinds of boy stuff. Can't wait to do all kinds of things with you. I want you to know that your Mommy and I are so excited to have you join our family. We will be working on your new room very soon and it will be the best boy room ever. I love you so much already and pray that everything goes well for you while you are still in mommy's tummy. I think about you all the time...wonder if you can hear me talk to you. Wonder if you can hear me tell you I love you. Wonder if you are getting enough to eat. If you are comfortable, if you can feel me rub mommy’s tummy. I will do anything that I can for you. I just cannot wait to see you more and more in the coming weeks and months...and dream about the day I will get to hold you for the first time. Love you son.
Daddy
12/28/11
Hey buddy. I wanted to write you now that Christmas is over with. I do want you to know that I did get a lot of gifts from a lot of people this Christmas, but nothing was a better present to me than the news our doctor gave us about you! I think about you all the time. You are suddenly one of my best friends (along with your mom). I did get both a little sad and excited at the same time this Christmas because (sad) I didn't get to hug you and tell you I loved you this Christmas, but excited because I will be able to do that every Christmas the rest of my life! I am going to get started on your new room now that we got Lucy in her new room. Can't wait to make it super special for you! And it will be awesome that it will be right next to ours so that your mom and I can come in and see you all the time! Well, I am excited for you to join our family...Love you lots.
Daddy
I love you Cary, thank you for letting me share your letters; you are such a wonderful man and I am honored to be your wife.
Baby Update: Every day my belly grows bigger and the interaction between Co and the three of us is also increasing. Last night, Cary and Lucy were both able to feel some kicks and wiggles from the baby and I could see the excitement on both of their faces. It is just really neat to see how much the two of them already love our little guy and how much he already fits into our family. Our next appointment is on Tuesday and we will be doing the glucose test which I am secretly looking forward to for two reasons:
1. That stuff actually tastes good! Like an extra sugary orange soda!
2. It made Lucy go crazy and I loved feeling the 20 minutes of pure movement from the sugar high!
Hopefully that test comes back normal and we are in and out of there quickly because Tuesday is also my little Lucy’s Birthday! I took the whole day off so the two of us can have some fun! I think we may go to The Amazing Pizza Machine or see a movie or maybe both! The day will consist of whatever she wants after we are done with the appointment and we plan on having some fun!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know we had a great one and are looking forward to closing out on a great year and moving into an even better one! So much has happened this year; it’s hard to believe this is the last week of 2011 and then here we’ll be in 2012! For those of you I won’t see until 2012..I hope you have a Happy New Year, may 2012 bring you happiness, safety and good health!
-Lexi
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Blog 7: Thank you for NOT telling the truth…
Most people HATE being lied to, but today… I LOVE IT!!!
What a relief! Today was our appointment with our High Risk OB Doc to take a closer look at Baby Co’s umbilical cord and it was kind of nerve wrecking! First a girl did the Ultrasound part and was looking very closely at the baby and measuring every bone, taking notes of all the organs, and monitoring how much fluid and blood flow is around the baby. It took forever for her to check him over and the longer she went without saying anything the more nervous Cary and I got! After over 30 minutes had passed she kind of chuckled and said she was getting tired of fighting our kid because he was rolling like a barrel, doing flips and just wiggling like crazy! She was having a hard time getting the pictures she needed for the full work up so she went and got our main Doctor to do the rest. He came in with a bright smile and the room instantly felt warmer and less stressful having his positive presence. He shook my hand, introduced himself and said, “The reason you are here today is for me to take a look at the cord insertion for fear of an abnormality, well, this is a short story and was originally untrue because everything looks normal, but I will go ahead and take an even closer look.” He began his portion of the ultrasound and got another huge grin. After looking things over for a few more minutes he shut the machine down and assured us that our umbilical cord is right smack in the middle of our placenta, exactly where it should be!!! He also went on to tell us that our baby is perfect and from an anatomical view we have a beautiful little boy that does not have a single thing abnormal about him!!!
We feel so blessed to be having a baby and to know that he is at no greater risk and that my pregnancy and delivery have no reason to be anything but normal is a huge relief! My Doctor gave me the ok to exercise again and get back to normal levels of activity! It was quite the scare for us and while it stinks that we were under extra stress for the last week it was only a week and to know everything is fine is such wonderful news I don’t ever have an ounce of annoyance over the first radiologist being wrong!
Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope your Holiday Season is wonderful and safe! Today kind of felt like Christmas to me with the beautiful gift of good news!! Thank you all so much for thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers, who knows, maybe we had our own little miracle here!
-Lexi
What a relief! Today was our appointment with our High Risk OB Doc to take a closer look at Baby Co’s umbilical cord and it was kind of nerve wrecking! First a girl did the Ultrasound part and was looking very closely at the baby and measuring every bone, taking notes of all the organs, and monitoring how much fluid and blood flow is around the baby. It took forever for her to check him over and the longer she went without saying anything the more nervous Cary and I got! After over 30 minutes had passed she kind of chuckled and said she was getting tired of fighting our kid because he was rolling like a barrel, doing flips and just wiggling like crazy! She was having a hard time getting the pictures she needed for the full work up so she went and got our main Doctor to do the rest. He came in with a bright smile and the room instantly felt warmer and less stressful having his positive presence. He shook my hand, introduced himself and said, “The reason you are here today is for me to take a look at the cord insertion for fear of an abnormality, well, this is a short story and was originally untrue because everything looks normal, but I will go ahead and take an even closer look.” He began his portion of the ultrasound and got another huge grin. After looking things over for a few more minutes he shut the machine down and assured us that our umbilical cord is right smack in the middle of our placenta, exactly where it should be!!! He also went on to tell us that our baby is perfect and from an anatomical view we have a beautiful little boy that does not have a single thing abnormal about him!!!
We feel so blessed to be having a baby and to know that he is at no greater risk and that my pregnancy and delivery have no reason to be anything but normal is a huge relief! My Doctor gave me the ok to exercise again and get back to normal levels of activity! It was quite the scare for us and while it stinks that we were under extra stress for the last week it was only a week and to know everything is fine is such wonderful news I don’t ever have an ounce of annoyance over the first radiologist being wrong!
Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope your Holiday Season is wonderful and safe! Today kind of felt like Christmas to me with the beautiful gift of good news!! Thank you all so much for thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers, who knows, maybe we had our own little miracle here!
-Lexi
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Blog 6: Hello Baby _ _ _ _ _ _!!!
We are so excited to finally know who you are!
Yesterday was a very crazy day and definitely had its ups and down, but one thing Cary and I could not wait for was our ultrasound at 1 o’clock! I think it is natural to spend a lot of time wondering if the unborn child is a boy or girl and Cary and I were no exception. We talked endlessly about the little person and how we could see either one fitting into our lives so perfectly. After a lot of fantasizing and dreaming about our baby being either a little man or little lady it was almost sad to have that end, but also very exciting to be able to focus on who our baby really is! Knowing the sex of your child is definitely a personal preference and I can see why some prefer to wait, but for me I felt that it would help me bond better and quit calling it an “IT”! I always felt so awkward talking about my baby without a gender identifier and it is even more difficult now that I know “IT” is a “HE”!!!
That’s right; we have been blessed with a baby boy that is already a wild man! Yesterday during the ultrasound he was kicking and moving all around! The Ultrasound Tech could hardly keep up with his wiggles, but when it was time for him to let us know if he was a boy or girl he proudly spread those little legs and revealed a VERY CLEAR image of what he has going on!
Once we found out I could tell Cary was ecstatic because he has one dimple in his left cheek that was showing nonstop after we saw and had it confirmed that Baby Co is a little boy! Those that know my family also know that little boys are hard to come by and while we love our little girls it is nice to see some boys being added to the family tree without having to marry into it. It also is proof that having boys is not impossible for the Dunlop Women with my older sister having one just last spring and now I’ll be having boy number 2 right after him! Very exciting stuff for our family to welcome any new family member, but knowing that this is a little boy puts a little extra spin on things since I think if any of us were gambling people we would have bet on this baby being a girl…
As I mentioned before, yesterday was a bit of a rollercoaster and definitely had its ups and downs. After being on cloud nine from our ultrasound we had an appointment with our OBGYN to go over how Baby Co is doing and he looks great, has all his organs and limbs, 10 fingers and 10 toes and is exactly the size and weight he should be at 20 weeks! All a sigh of relief until our Doctor said oh and there is one thing we need to discuss as she walks over to the closest chair and sits down… this did not settle well with me and I was bracing myself for some not so good news (I could also see on Cary’s face all the worry I was feeling inside).. The Doctor went on to tell us that our child was healthy and perfect, but that his umbilical cord is not perfect and is actually connected to the placenta incorrectly… This happens in about 1% of pregnancies and does have a fancy name, but to prevent unnecessary googling (I’ve been told not to so I don’t want anyone else doing it either) I’ve decided not to post it right now. However, I will try to explain it the way it was explained to me and I just ask that everyone keeps our little man in your thoughts and prayers because at the end of this pregnancy all we want more than anything is for our guy to be healthy. So what this means for Baby Co is that his umbilical cord has a harder time carrying all the nutrients he may need to grow as big as he could/should be (Like I mentioned before he is perfect size right now and has been getting an adequate amount so far). The biggest risk for him is being born too early due to him not getting what he needs and becoming stressed... Our Doctor warned us that she has had to deliver babies as early as 25 weeks, but has seen them go much longer, even full term at 37 weeks! Our hope is that he stays in my belly for as long as possible, because most of us know that a baby delivered too early would have a very long road. The silver lining in all this is that they saw the problem (it is missed a lot because it isn’t common or an easy diagnosis to make) and now they can watch him really close! So close that I will be having another ultrasound already on Wednesday the 14th and then seeing a doctor every 2 weeks staggering doctor appointments and ultrasound visits with the High Risk OB team. I know that Co and I are in good hands and will have to trust our Doctors and most importantly God to watch over us.
While obviously my top priority is my baby and the fact that I will do anything for him and will make sure I follow any instructions I’m given to keep him as safe and healthy as humanly possible and my biggest fear is for something to happen to him and for Cary, Lucy and I to lose a family member that we already love very much.. I have my own personal fears and disappointments that honestly, I feel guilty for even thinking let alone typing for people to read, but this blog is if nothing else an honest view at what I am going through during this pregnancy and I am going to try to keep it that way. One of the things around this situation that disappoints me is now I am not allowed to exercise because I need to preserve nutrients for my baby. I am not a crazy work out fiend by any means, but I am an active person and I like to try to stay healthy and fit. This is obviously a small price to pay to keep Co healthy, but it was an outlet for me and now I feel more stressed and worried than ever and I won’t have that to turn to… and another thing that disappoints me is that I probably won’t get to experience having labor and then the delivery of my son, I thoroughly enjoy being pregnant and am sad at the high probability of that being cut short… not that I loved being in labor with Lucy, but that is part of the falling in love process.. You work so hard for that little person because you love them so much and it hurts and you think you might die and then they are there and everything is perfect as long as they are perfect and it is a very rewarding experience. The last thing is a huge fear of mine and that is having a C-section... I know they aren’t the end of the world and if that is what is best for Baby Co than I will do it in a heartbeat, but I’m really really scared. I delivered Lucy without pain killers because I am more afraid of the epidural than I am of the pain and there is a good chance this baby will be delivered by cesarean which means a spinal and a knife to my belly! Again, I know these thoughts are very selfish thoughts and I do feel guilty about them because when I find my mind going there I always remember what is important and who matters at the end of the day and that is the little boy who’s life depends on me.
Today I am 20 weeks pregnant! Officially at the halfway point... And now… the countdown really begins :)
-Lexi
Yesterday was a very crazy day and definitely had its ups and down, but one thing Cary and I could not wait for was our ultrasound at 1 o’clock! I think it is natural to spend a lot of time wondering if the unborn child is a boy or girl and Cary and I were no exception. We talked endlessly about the little person and how we could see either one fitting into our lives so perfectly. After a lot of fantasizing and dreaming about our baby being either a little man or little lady it was almost sad to have that end, but also very exciting to be able to focus on who our baby really is! Knowing the sex of your child is definitely a personal preference and I can see why some prefer to wait, but for me I felt that it would help me bond better and quit calling it an “IT”! I always felt so awkward talking about my baby without a gender identifier and it is even more difficult now that I know “IT” is a “HE”!!!
That’s right; we have been blessed with a baby boy that is already a wild man! Yesterday during the ultrasound he was kicking and moving all around! The Ultrasound Tech could hardly keep up with his wiggles, but when it was time for him to let us know if he was a boy or girl he proudly spread those little legs and revealed a VERY CLEAR image of what he has going on!
Once we found out I could tell Cary was ecstatic because he has one dimple in his left cheek that was showing nonstop after we saw and had it confirmed that Baby Co is a little boy! Those that know my family also know that little boys are hard to come by and while we love our little girls it is nice to see some boys being added to the family tree without having to marry into it. It also is proof that having boys is not impossible for the Dunlop Women with my older sister having one just last spring and now I’ll be having boy number 2 right after him! Very exciting stuff for our family to welcome any new family member, but knowing that this is a little boy puts a little extra spin on things since I think if any of us were gambling people we would have bet on this baby being a girl…
As I mentioned before, yesterday was a bit of a rollercoaster and definitely had its ups and downs. After being on cloud nine from our ultrasound we had an appointment with our OBGYN to go over how Baby Co is doing and he looks great, has all his organs and limbs, 10 fingers and 10 toes and is exactly the size and weight he should be at 20 weeks! All a sigh of relief until our Doctor said oh and there is one thing we need to discuss as she walks over to the closest chair and sits down… this did not settle well with me and I was bracing myself for some not so good news (I could also see on Cary’s face all the worry I was feeling inside).. The Doctor went on to tell us that our child was healthy and perfect, but that his umbilical cord is not perfect and is actually connected to the placenta incorrectly… This happens in about 1% of pregnancies and does have a fancy name, but to prevent unnecessary googling (I’ve been told not to so I don’t want anyone else doing it either) I’ve decided not to post it right now. However, I will try to explain it the way it was explained to me and I just ask that everyone keeps our little man in your thoughts and prayers because at the end of this pregnancy all we want more than anything is for our guy to be healthy. So what this means for Baby Co is that his umbilical cord has a harder time carrying all the nutrients he may need to grow as big as he could/should be (Like I mentioned before he is perfect size right now and has been getting an adequate amount so far). The biggest risk for him is being born too early due to him not getting what he needs and becoming stressed... Our Doctor warned us that she has had to deliver babies as early as 25 weeks, but has seen them go much longer, even full term at 37 weeks! Our hope is that he stays in my belly for as long as possible, because most of us know that a baby delivered too early would have a very long road. The silver lining in all this is that they saw the problem (it is missed a lot because it isn’t common or an easy diagnosis to make) and now they can watch him really close! So close that I will be having another ultrasound already on Wednesday the 14th and then seeing a doctor every 2 weeks staggering doctor appointments and ultrasound visits with the High Risk OB team. I know that Co and I are in good hands and will have to trust our Doctors and most importantly God to watch over us.
While obviously my top priority is my baby and the fact that I will do anything for him and will make sure I follow any instructions I’m given to keep him as safe and healthy as humanly possible and my biggest fear is for something to happen to him and for Cary, Lucy and I to lose a family member that we already love very much.. I have my own personal fears and disappointments that honestly, I feel guilty for even thinking let alone typing for people to read, but this blog is if nothing else an honest view at what I am going through during this pregnancy and I am going to try to keep it that way. One of the things around this situation that disappoints me is now I am not allowed to exercise because I need to preserve nutrients for my baby. I am not a crazy work out fiend by any means, but I am an active person and I like to try to stay healthy and fit. This is obviously a small price to pay to keep Co healthy, but it was an outlet for me and now I feel more stressed and worried than ever and I won’t have that to turn to… and another thing that disappoints me is that I probably won’t get to experience having labor and then the delivery of my son, I thoroughly enjoy being pregnant and am sad at the high probability of that being cut short… not that I loved being in labor with Lucy, but that is part of the falling in love process.. You work so hard for that little person because you love them so much and it hurts and you think you might die and then they are there and everything is perfect as long as they are perfect and it is a very rewarding experience. The last thing is a huge fear of mine and that is having a C-section... I know they aren’t the end of the world and if that is what is best for Baby Co than I will do it in a heartbeat, but I’m really really scared. I delivered Lucy without pain killers because I am more afraid of the epidural than I am of the pain and there is a good chance this baby will be delivered by cesarean which means a spinal and a knife to my belly! Again, I know these thoughts are very selfish thoughts and I do feel guilty about them because when I find my mind going there I always remember what is important and who matters at the end of the day and that is the little boy who’s life depends on me.
Today I am 20 weeks pregnant! Officially at the halfway point... And now… the countdown really begins :)
-Lexi
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