Elliot's First Race!

Elliot and I ran a 4 mile turkey trot in Murfreesboro on Thanksgiving with Andrew and Matt that actually was raising money for orphans in Africa.

We had PERFECT weather and I didn't have to stop and pee once! It was a success!

My hat blew off in the home stretch but I get a high off of passing people so I didn't stop to get it. We had to hunt it down but luckily found it eventually.

They didn't start the timing chip when you cross the start line so it didn't count for the time that it took to get through the crowd and across the start but my time was 36 minutes so it was probably closer to 34 and some change. That's what I'm telling myself. I got 7th in my age group of 41 women so that tells me that these unpregnant women need to hit the track more...

I actually got some slack from Matt about my slow times lately (uh...hello..I have over a pound of baby and baby making things bouncing on my bladder, buddy!) hehe...kidding. So, in an act of sleepy slap happiness I had Katie go into their room and switch his timing chip for mine. He heard us laughing and she ended up telling him but we kept it that way for fun. So technically Kat Spottswood won 3rd in her age group...I didn't stay for the trophies...oops. Oh well!

So, Elliot had fun during the race then enjoyed some yummy Thanksgiving food later on. Here is an unflattering picture to document the moment:

Stress...and....Praise....and some nursery pics for fun!

Long story---stressful day---have to vent. Long story short: Elliot looks just fine and her kidneys are dilated less than 4mm (barely) but enough to where the perinatologist is not worried and (thankfully!) doesn't need to follow up with me anymore. The end. And for some pink, here are some work in progress nursery pics:

 Got this dress before we started trying to get pregnant with Griffin back in San Diego with my mom. I can't wait to put in on Elliot!!!

 Formerly gold picture frame that I painted white and am going to put pics of her once she is out in the open. I put my fave u/s pic in the middle of her sucking her thumb.

Ya know...gotta have a big E, feather, and pink bird, right? 

My work in progress branches (Iooks better in person...). I found a bunch in the yard and have been progressively adding pink and frilly things to it. Andrew helped me hang it above the bed but it has changed even since this picture was taken. So, I'm sure it will morph into perfection by the time she makes her appearance.

Gotta slap some pink paint on those walls...
Now for the long and venty version:

Luckily my amazing husband decided to work from home for a little bit this morning so I could get a good long run in without the jogging stroller in hopes to calm me down for my appointment. Thanks, my love!

I had my perinatologist appointment and level 2 ultrasound to check out the Coco's kidney situation.

I have been getting increasingly stressed since they told us this last Wed. so i'm SO glad they got me in today instead of later in the week. I couldn't sleep last night and ended up just watching TV then crawling in bed with Griffin for some cuddles when he woke up waaaaay too early.

I get to the appointment and the first thing they do is send me back to talk with a genetic counselor (Andrew couldn't come with me). I don't know why they did that first but they did and I turned in to a giant stress ball and started thinking all sorts of crazy thoughts. She talked a lot about Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, etc. Then she started talking about doing an amniocentesis TODAY and how there is a risk of miscarriage with the amnio. I just couldn't imagine doing it if there is even the slightest risk of that happening. But, anyway she just kept asking if I wanted to do that or the quad screen and blah blah, meanwhile...Andrew wasn't there so I was slightly majorly getting increasingly stressed.

So, after talking to this lady for a while I texted Andrew about the amnio because I just figured I should get his opinion even though I was 99% sure I didn't want it. It wouldn't change anything about our pregnancy except being prepared if we knew something was up. I also didn't want to lose my mind thinking about the what-if's if I could know for sure and be preparing. So, after I texted him they sent me to the ultrasound room which apparently is in a dungeon because I had no reception for 2 hours. Meanwhile Andrew was at home getting more and more worried and thinking about getting a neighbor to watch Griff so he could come meet me and I had no way of getting in touch with him. I felt so bad when I finally talked to him. No fun.

Anyway, the lady comes in to do the ultrasound and looks at EVERYTHING and makes sure it looks good. The last thing she looks at are the kidneys because E was positioned in a way that made it hard to see them. Agh. So they are measuring at 3.5 and 3.2. Phew! We did get some really cute profile shots of my little lady and she is so cute! She has her hands up by her face all the time and was snuggling with the umbilical cord. I will get her a blankie. Hopefully she won't get too attached to the cord and end up asking the doc to cut her a piece so she can sleep with it. The other babies may make fun of her.

At the end she did some 4D and it was so fun! I never had that with Griff and it is so cute to see her like that. It was hard to see her face though because of her lovey (aka umbilical cord).

Also for fun, at the end, she took the cord and it looked like she was trying to put it in her mouth. Disturbing but shows that she is quite the little jokester.

FINALLY. After the ultrasound tech left and I laid there for 20 minutes waiting for the doctor, she came in to tell me that everything was fine and that the risk of a chromosomal disorder or kidney problems is not increased. Thanks and have a nice day. 3 hours of stress and then a huge PRAISE.

As soon as I left the dungeon, I called Andrew and told him not to worry that everything is fine and I'm pretty sure the poor guy had about 2 hours of torture. I'm so glad we got good news at the end though. Makes it totally worth it...but I definitely wish I hadn't had to do that. Ugh.

So. Little Missy Elliot is healthy and precious and I just can't wait to get my hands on her and snuggle! Right now she weighs almost a pound...hence the bladder pain issues while mama is running. Here are some more u/s pics just for fun....

 Profile shot...

 I think she's doing kissy lips in this one. Okay, maybe not but she's still cute :)

 Covering up her face in an attempt to show her bashful side while also cuddling up with the lovey umbilical cord.

 On a side note I have two cysts on my right ovary and one is the size of an egg....gross. Hoping that doesn't affect future baby making endeavors :(

 

Elliot Coco!

She has a name! No more it. No more baby girl. Now it's:
Elliot Coco!

Elliot because we like it and Coco after my sista'. She's Courtney but Coco was the ol' family nickname and I think it's cute. She will be a purse designer. Elle Coco Designs.

We love it so if you don't, it doesn't matter and it won't change anything to say that you don't like it so just pretend. I probably don't have an issue with anyone who reads this blog since you all pretty much know this was our girl name.

Just a little jaded from when I was pregnant with Griffin. I had patients who basically told me I should name him something else. It irked me.

Now I'm afraid to tell people her name.

I think I may have better reactions in the public if I tell them her name when they have a cute little newborn to look at. Who could look at a newborn princess and bash her name? Right?

So, she will be called Elliot or Elle. Too many Ellie's and Ella's in the world so let's avoid those, okay? Even though they are super cute! If she is anything like G-thug, The Griff, Gryffindor, G-man....she will have a lot of nicknames too.

Our level 2 ultrasound and perinatologist appointment are scheduled for Monday afternoon. I'm nervous. I am hoping they don't find anything and will just set us free because they don't allow kids at the appointment and I would hate having to ask friends to watch Griff every two weeks. But, obviously I'll do whatever they suggest!

I'm discovering that pregnancy/childbirth are perfect times to live within driving distance to family. Maybe next time! Or if not, definitely the time after that!

Also, my car drove itself to the local consignment shop today. I couldn't stop it. So, I had to buy a couple things. Just the necessities. White faux fur vest for her first few months when it is still chilly out. Cute PINK RUFFLY pants! Little newborn sleeper...also PINK with a cute little bird on it. Yummy!!!

Also, not sure if she will be a dentist or have a fear of dentists but today I had my first cleaning since moving here...I know...bad. I'm about 4 months late on that one. Oh well.

She was kicking like a crazy person the whole time and I had my strongest Braxton Hicks contractions yet when I was there. Must have been the position I was in. It was strange having someone's hands in my mouth and my stomach jumping all over the place. I couldn't tell if they noticed. Now I'm the dancing belly freak. Oh well...I have clean teeth that I apparently grind. Oops.

Signing off,
Elliot's mom!

I'm in love!!!

Oh my. I'm so in love with my little girl! I love saying little girl!

I put my 2 favorite ultrasound pictures on the fridge and keep making excuses to walk in there and look at her.

I forgot to give the pictures to Andrew to scan so I did it the old fashioned way here at home. If ultrasound pictures and a digital camera could be considered old fashioned...

Here is the baby girl!

 Rearing up to kick me...she's a fiesty little thing!

 Sucking her thumb....be still my heart!

 This is either a fist pump, or a "knock knock...anyone out there??"

 Sorry...she looks a bit fuzzy in these...

 LOL

 Look at her little nose! Oh. My. Goodness. This thing needs some snuggles!

 Looks like she is yawning...getting bored with us, I guess.

And we're back to sucking the thumb.

Grandparents, they gave us a DVD of the whole thing so you can see her jumping around! Yay! We'll make everybody sit around for 30 minutes and ooh and ahh at our baby...kidding...well...maybe.

And then there were tutus...

It's a girl! A little pink, squirmy, healthy beautiful girl!

We would have been so happy with either but it's fun to think of all the pink I can buy now.

Or...the pink I have bought over the past couple of years that has been sitting in our closet...guilty.

So, I'll have to scan the US pics but she sat indian style for a while, did some karate kicks, and she kept putting her little fist in her tiny little mouth. Oh. My. Goodness. I love her.

And I love being able to say her instead of it or him/her or whatever. Feels more and more real.

We are truly truly blessed and I am so happy to have good report. There is one tiny bit of stress/worry that we will be following up on. The ultrasound tech finished up then told us to wait in the room for the OB. This was my first time in the office and I had no idea if that was the norm or not but we were so excited at finally getting to see the little cutie that I didn't think much of it.  The OB came in and I could hardly understand what she was saying because she had a really strong accent but apparently the baby's kidneys are measuring at the upper end of normal. They are supposed to be between 0-4mm  and they are 4 (which doesn't seem abnormal to me...) but she wants us to schedule a visit with a specialist tomorrow. I heard the word specialist and my internal mommydom started freaking out. Even though she told us to not worry about it...come on...I will worry until this little nugget is born.

So, now I'm counting down till I can call the specialist office in the morning and hoping hoping hoping they can see us before the 20th when we leave for the South for 17 days! I can't go that whole time without hearing what is going on.

We will see! Anyway, we are super excited to know that she really is a girl and my 4 year old niece really is psychic because that is what she predicted all along. Now...to cover the nursery in PINK! I'm not changing the bedding because honestly it was pricey and it is gender neutral, but I can definitey girl it up a bit :)

TTFN!

5 Months!

Yay! Halfway to baby! My favorite thing to do lately is watch my little bambino/a dance at night. So cute!

I'm surprised they're not dancing now considering I accidentally drank a little cup of regular coffee today. Oops!

So, without further adieu, here is the 5 month money shot:

Don't worry, I'm not having a pregnancy related leg deformity...forgot to take my cell phone out of my pocket. Oops again! This was around 8 this morning.

And here, no cell phone, and after lunch:

I get bigger throughout the day..

As a woman who worked in the cafeteria at good ol' St. Francis used to say when I was preggo with the Griff, "You're getting on out there, girl!"

2 days till ultrasound!!!!

3 days!!!

Oh my goodness. Usually weekends go by so fast having Andrew home and staying busy....but...not when you have an ultrasound on Wednesday!

Slowest. Weekend. Ever.

And we even finished ridding the kitchen of ugly wallpaper an painting it grey...looks MUCH better. Even though there is much much more to do in there. One day...

So, at this time on Wednesday we will be gearing up to see the little munchkin that has been jumping around like a maniac lately!

Is it a girl or a boy? Can't wait to find out so I can put the finishing touches on the nursery!

We have our names picked out so all I need is a gender and I can go buy some cute little wooden letters and decide if the room needs to be painted or not. Can't wait! Can you tell? I'm slightly impatient.

Anyway...I'll talk about that once we know :)

Well hello there, little kangaroo!

Tonight was Griff's first night in his big boy bed! I couldn't decide when to start putting him in there....we still have about 4 months till this little nugget arrives but I knew I wanted to before then just because. Our master bedroom is HUGE and a pack n play won't fit in there so he/she will be sleeping in the crib (or if they are like Griff, a swing in their bedroom) after their born, so he is getting evicted.

Anyway, I have procrastinated this week with work and had a ton of assignments to grade tonight. We decided to put a baby gate up so Griff couldn't escape. It turned out that he can't even open the door with the baby gate there so he just stood there knocking politely for a while saying, "Mommy! Open it, mommy."

Cuteness! So I opened it and snuggled with him for a bit while Andrew put in the video monitor just for fun. Then I put him back in the bed and he whispered night night and we left.

Then we came out into the living room and watched the monitor while he stood on the bedside table...wandered around his huge bed...etc.

Meanwhile, I didn't grade anything.

When he finally went to sleep, I started working. Good, right?

It was until this little jumping bean started kicking like a champ. He/she hasn't been kicking much lately which honestly has been freaking me out. Like waking up in the middle of the night wondering if something was wrong and movin around trying to get him/her to kick so I could calm down and go back to sleep...paranoia.

So, I was happy that the kicks started back up again. AAAAND...for the first time we could see my stomach jump with the kicks! Andrew got to see it and we both felt some good strong ones which is just magical. I LOVE it! Cutest kicks in the world!

So, then in lieu of working I stared at my stomach waiting for more kicks and getting all excited whenever my stomach moved.

Then I buckled down and worked.

Procrastinator. This child is already distracting me from my work! I was not planning on taking any time off when they were born but if they are this cute and distracting in the womb....I may have to :)