Half Way There

I can't believe it but as of last week we are already half way there. Time has flown so fast this time. Maybe because when I was pregnancy with Ty I was just sitting around at home and not working. Life is so busy and flying by me right now that this pregnancy is just rolling right on through.

That is good in many ways, but then also sad. I am glad that we are that much closer to seeing and holding our beautiful baby girl Fe Evelyn Gloria. But on the other hand I feel like I am missing out on just enjoying the pregnancy.

I am just so super thankful that we haven't had near the amount of complications that I had with Ty. I feel confident and have been praying for a pretty smooth and stress free pregnancy and delivery. So far so good.

Family Time!

It has been long overdue but we finally made it back to Florida to visit the family.

The grandparents haven't see Ty is a very long time and this if the first time they are seeing me pregnancy with my little baby girl.

It is good to see all the family and friends, even if it is just for a quick weekend. Ty is having a blast meeting everyone and laughing with every one. He and Janelle get along real well and are playing together.

Now we are on the way to say hi to some friends.

Little Princess

So the verdict is in and the cake has been cut.

Chris and I are having a baby GIRL!!!

What in the world are we going to do? I am scared crazy, I have no idea idea how to raise girls.

Okay so technically I didn't know how to raise boys either but I don't know, I was more emotionally ready to handle a boy.

Now we have only 20 weeks to not only re-learn the basics about having an infant but also learn the special technique that is needed to raise a girl.

Any advice?

Wiggly Giggly

I spoke about this the last time with Ty. I think I must be crazy but I for one think that feeling the baby move around inside my tummy is absolutely creepy.

Okay I know, it is beautiful and wonderful and all that magically stuff, but come on, it is weird.

For me each time I feel the baby move it serves as a reminder that there is a human being growing inside of me. While I am so grateful and honored that God has chosen me and Chris again to birth and raise another one of His children the whole process just gives me the willies.

I mean just think about it, a person that will one day be walking and talking and breathing and eating all on their own is inside of me. I am sorry, I just find that so ... crazy!!!

Big Bad Kidney Stone

Good thing about last week: We got to see the baby for the very first time.
Bad thing about last week: We spent about 5 hours in the emergency room waiting to see what was wrong with me.

Wednesday morning while I was at work I started to feel a tremendous pressure and pain on my lower left back that radiated from there forward toward the left side of my stomach. It was so intense that I ended up on the floor underneath the conference table trying to find different positions to lay in to elevate some of the pain. I managed to crawl to the phone to call my sister in law to come save me. Of course she didn't answer her phone so I had to wobble down the hall to her office and fall on the floor in there instead.

She rushed me to the local clinic where they could not find anything wrong and by then the pain and reduced significanlty. I still felt some pressure after I would use the restroom but no where near the level I did earlier that morning. Although they did not find anything to report they did highly suggest that I have an ultrasound done immediately to check on the baby. Especially since we hadn't had one yet.

So Chris left work and came to pick us up to head to the emergency room. We were there for about 5 hours and had a urine test, blood work and the ultrasound. We were worried that somehow we would either see or the technician would see the gender and tell us. But thankfully the little one was so wiggly that they couldn't get to it. They were able to do their major checks and the baby and I were completely healthy.

Based on my description of the pain and experience they diagnosed me as having passed a kidney stone. Praise Jesus it happened as fast as it did and there are no lasting effects.

Not As Expected

Since leaving our last prenatal appointment I have been feeling this little one moving around like a champ. I was concerned for a few weeks there because with Ty I could feel him from around 16 weeks. It took us until 18 weeks before I felt this baby moving. They say typically you can feel your second baby moving sooner but I guess we are out to prove all the stats wrong. Let's recap all the stuff that haven't happened like they say.

Weight Gain: I am supposed to gain more weight with the second baby and faster. That is a big negative. At this point I have gain less than half the weight I did with Ty.

Showing sooner: Last week is the first time I feel that the outside world could finally see that I am actually telling the truth about this pregnancy. I may not have been huge with Ty but I know for certain you would question my status around 14/15 weeks.

Feeling the baby move: Already stated, just recently starting to feel the baby move. In fact I remember that Chris was able to feel the baby move weeks after I could and he felt Ty around 18 weeks. I am not 20 and Chris felt this baby move for the first time last night. Awesome experience. You should have seen his face.

Less engaged in the development: Okay I have to give you this one. They say with that with each child you have the excitement and hype is just not as strong. I would have to agree. We are certainly excited but I don't think we have done as much this time around. And time seems to be going a lot faster also.

Overall, not the pregnancy experience that I have been expecting but I am not complaining at all. I will take the smaller stomach, smaller weight gain and actually less creepy baby movement anytime.

To Know or Not To Know...

To know or not to know, isn't that a question every expecting parent runs into? Well, here we are. Now I know a couple of parents who chose to wait till the delivery to find out what they were having. When I asked them, why and how could you wait, they just said that there aren't that many surprises in life anymore. To that I say, so true.

Then we have those who found out at the 20 weeks ultrasound, which included us, and the reasoning is a simple one, preparation. So here we are. We are looking to have our 20 weeks ultrasound next week where we'll, hopefully, if our little belly fruit cooperates, find out if Ty will be getting a baby sister or brother. Now when we were having Ty, we made the decision to find out what we were having for the reason of preparation and well, we couldn't wait.

Now, I was listening to a radio station and the topic of the different ways of finding out came on. One way stood out to me and made me say hmmmmm. It's called a Gender Cake Party or Sex Cake Party. The second name always gets people attention for some reason :) So here it goes. You go to ultrasound and you tell the technician you don't want to know the sex of the baby, but please write it down on a piece of paper. Then, you take that to the baker and tell them to bake a cake with the inside to match whats on the paper. If it's a boy, the blue type insides and if it's a girl, then pink type insides. Frost it with white icing and decorate it with a question mark. Then, invite family and friends over, have a little get together and then cut the cake and share the surprise. Pretty interesting huh?

I think it's the perfect middle ground between knowing right away and finding out later. What you think? We're pretty amped! Except for my sister who just insisted on knowing right then. She wasn't there for Ty's ultrasound, but now she has a chance to share in this experience. We both agreed, she could be the first to find out.

We'll keep you all posted. Stay tuned...

Baby Gender Poll

Welcome to the Channers Second baby blog. For many of you this is the first post you are seeing about our journey of bring a second child into this world. We are all super excited and looking forward to the joys of raising two young children at once. When you have the time go ahead and read the few posts we have up so far. You can see how much fun we have been having.

As you may know we are in our 18th week of pregnancy and are scheduled to have the big ultrasound in two weeks. Well we didn't want to keep the fun all to ourselves. So we decided to set up another gender guessing poll for this baby. Unlike with Ty who I knew was going to be a boy, I have absolutely no clue what this baby could be so your guess is as good as mine.

So join now and get your votes in before it is too late.

All entries must be in by Dec 16 at noon to be included.

Strongest Heartbeat Ever

Very exciting time today. Chris, Ty and I all piled in the car and headed to our third prenatal visit. Chris wasn't feeling all that well today, but he was a trooper. The past few weeks I have still been filled with fears and concerns about the babies safety. Because we have only heard one heart beat and because I have been so small and haven't felt much baby movement I am constantly questioning whether the baby is still safe and sound. I feared we would enter this appointment and leave not hearing a heartbeat and being worried and rushing to the emergency room.

Well the first portion of the appointment was just your typical appointment. Besides the fact that we actually got whisked in right away, no waiting at all. I barely had time to get my weight before they were ready for us. Then we had the usually small talk, how things are, what are my questions, etc. And she got out the goods and instructed me to get on board for hearing the heartbeat. I prepared myself for a good five to ten minutes of trying again. She jelled up the unit and put it on my stomach and immediately (no exaggeration) we heard the loud strong heartbeat at a mighty 152 beats per minute. I loved it. It was like God said .. 'There ... now quit whining Philippa.' So I am done being a big worried baby.

Other exciting news is we already scheduled to have our ultrasound done in two weeks from now.We are super excited and can't wait to find out the sex of the baby.