Moving Forward

So it's been a little while since my last update. For those that don't know, we've been in West Palm Beach, FL for the last two weeks doing an Orthopedics rotation and laying by the pool. While I'm sure you Ohio people are incredibly jealous, fear not for we have good news. Last night we took in the amazing music of previous American Idol winner David Cook at the West Palm Beach music festival SunFest. It was a fun time, and we confirmed something that we'd been unsure about for the last 24 hours. Little Baby G announced its presence for the first time with some well-timed kicks into Amber's belly. While this may seem like a minor occurrence for some, it's exciting for us because thus far G has given us little evidence of its life. I mean sure, Amber is starting to look like she's got a basketball under her shirt. Sure, she pees every five minutes and shoots toxic gas at me, but G has yet to really announce that he/she is "alive and kicking" in there so to speak. So last night Amber is pretty sure that she began to feel G kicking in there. So she put my hand on her stomach, and sure enough there were some little thumps happening in there.

It's fun to compare when things happen in your kids lives. Amber likes to talk about how Aryn kicked at 21 weeks, and G is doing so at 18. Oh yea, I forgot to mention, we are currently about 18.3 weeks into this pregnancy. So why is little G kicking 3 weeks before Aryn did? This leads us to think that maybe G is already that much bigger in there that he/she can make such strong kicks at 18 weeks. Whatever the case, we're very excited that the little bugger finally announced its presence to us. Also, in my opinion Amber is already much bigger than last time at this stage. They say everything happens sooner in the second pregnancy, so I guess we're experiencing that. We should have a wonderful announcement to report here in a week or so. Hopefully, this will further illuminate G's identity as I'm sure you're all breathless with anticipation..:) Other than that, please keep us in your prayers and we'll keep updating things as they happen. More to come....

A Sister for Aryn?

Thus far, my blogging and updates to you, the loyal masses, have focused mainly on things happening with Baby G. Well, to no one's surprise but my own, we have so little so say about Baby G it's pathetic. I decided to start this blog 14 weeks earlier than Aryn's, so naturally we have barely anything to say about G. There has been no movement, no determination of sex, or anything that we can start to gush over. Due to this, the blog will temporarily be about us. Amber, Aryn, G and myself. This in no way detracts from G's life or things happening with he/she, but it will allow our whole little family to be illuminated, and give us lots of interesting things to discuss.

That said, things are rolling along smoothly as always. Amber is currently about 14.3 weeks and we're getting ready to take our little brood to West Palm Beach for a month. It's funny, since Amber got pregnant this time, she's been sure G would be a boy. However, in the last week or so, Amber has started to say things about Aryn having a sister. Oh, how she always wanted a sister, and would love for Aryn to experience that. Now, the next reason for all this will not come as a shock to those who know Amber. One of the truly great gifts God gave Amber was the ability to make a lot out of a little. For example, Amber is able to go spend $2000 on a purse, then find enough money for us to eat for the next month. Seriously, Amber is a genuis at finding enough money to spend on the things she wants, then finding enough to survive after the damage is done...:) With this in mind, you can imagine my surprise when all of a sudden she says she changed her mind and thinks we're having a girl now. Why is that Amber? Oh, because imagine how much money we could save if it was a girl! That's right, my wife would rather save $50 on blue clothes and have another daughter! She even says she's starting to take the same shape she did with Aryn, so there must be a little girl growing in there right? Alas, all kidding aside, we're excited for Baby G to come, and hope he/she is normal after Amber's tumble down the stairs today....*cringe

Other than that, we're happily speeding towards 15 weeks and our trip to Florida. In other news, Aryn got her first tooth this week. It is all jagged and small, kind of like a shark's tooth. That was really fun to see. That is mostly all I've got to report, other than a doctor's appointment next week where we may be able to determine the sex, but probably not. Most likely we'll have to wait until we come back from Florida to be sure of all that. Last of all, if any of you would like to comment on possible names for baby G, here is a short list, and please let us know which you like best and least.

Girl Names:
Alex Mae
Alexandra Mae
Alexa Mae
Sophia Marie
Andi Rae

Boy Names:
Michael James
Christian Pierce
Cadyn Thomas

Of course, some of these names may be outdated, but I listed all the names I've liked in the past that came up. Let me know what you think, and if you love or hate any of them. Keep us in your prayers, and we'll keep you updated on our lives. More to come.....

Creeping Along

Well, here we are sitting at a little over 13 weeks pregnant, and things are going painfully slow. It seems odd to me, because the days and weeks of my rotations are flying by, but this pregnancy seems to be taking forever. I frequently have to remind myself that we found out so much sooner this time, and it'll probably be that way if we decide to have any more little rascals.

So now that the 13 week mark has come and gone, I guess we can officially call Baby G a second trimester baby. This obviously makes me happy, since most pregnancies that will fail usually do so in the first 12 weeks. Without any noted problems, baby G is 90-97% likely to continue being alive and ok from this point on. With that being said, we have remarkably little to talk about up to this point. We started Aryn's blog at 24 weeks last time, right in the middle of all the crazy things happening. This time, we started much earlier and have little to report thus far. The biggest thing of note so far is Amber's continuing nausea. With Aryn, Amber had a few days of nausea that ended pretty much by the early part of the first trimester. So far this time, Amber has been sick almost every morning and night for the duration of this pregnancy. This continues even now, and we're starting to wonder if Baby G is going to make Amber sick the whole pregnancy.

It's truly amazing how different each pregnancy really can be. I would say that Amber began having Braxson-Hicks contractions at about 20 weeks last time. For those that don't know, these are small contractions that help the uterus get ready for the big boys that come later. We were riding to the Outlets today and Amber said she thinks she got a BH contraction. Pretty crazy huh? Another thing of note is that Amber is thinking Baby G is a boy. While some mothers are wrong in these predictions, many are sure from the start and end up being right. Our new OB Dr. Ruzics is thinking it might be a boy as well. Apparently, if you have differing symptoms and feelings from one pregnancy to the next, it can often signify a different sex in the baby. So we'll let you know in a couple weeks if that tale is true. Other than that, I'll give some updates as things happen, and keep Amber in your prayers as we continue along with Baby G's pregnancy. More to come....

Somebody Save Me

So it's been a little while since my first blog posting of the new pregnancy, and I know you've all been clamoring for more news from our lives. As of today, we are 12 weeks pregnant, and just entering into the second trimester. This time around, everything feels like it's going so much slower than the last time around. Maybe it's because we found out earlier this time, and actually have Aryn to keep us busy. Maybe it's also the fact that it's our second pregnancy, and not much of anything has happened yet. The baby isn't going to move and have its sex known for 6-8 more weeks. We also started this blog much much later last time, so there was so much more to write about and share with you all. However, there is one thing I can share that is different this time around.

Has anyone reading this blog ever seen the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? This is the first Indiana Jones movie and involves the Germans trying to use the Ark of the Covenant as a weapon during the second world war. One scene in particular that comes to my mind occurs at the end of the movie. As the Germans open the Ark of the Covenant and look inside, a floating apparition suddenly turns to Death and kills the Germans. A similar scene happens in the show Scrubs when JD sees into Carla's soul and it melts his face off. In the Indiana Jones movie, looking at the face of God causes the German's faces to melt off and explode. I feel like this is what's been happening to me on a daily basis for the last couple weeks. How might my face be melting off you may ask? I'll explain....

First off, let's proceed with the understanding that I love my wife very much. In fact, I would call her one of the finest and most beautiful human beings I have ever met, with no bias at all. With that said, let me explain how she is melting my face off several times per day. Starting about six weeks ago, Amber has been cursed with the worst farts any human has ever smelled. I kid you not, this gas is like nothing ever produced on Earth. It's like a combination of feces, sewage and unshowered homeless man. I've often joked that anytime Amber wants to punish me or get back at me for making fun of her shoes, all she has to do is pass gas anywhere near me. Seriously, this gas is like an oppressive blanket that wraps itself around you and won't let go. Alas, I think this gas might really be the end of me. At any rate, that is one thing that is completely different from last time. While some gas was present last time, the severity and quantity were not. Whatever happens, we'll keep on truckin' and keep everyone updated as we learn more stuff. More to come.........

oops, we did it again!

So, yes it's true. We are indeed pregnant again. We found out on a Friday after 3 more double-lined pregnancy tests. Afterwards, we went to Applebees for dinner. I told Robby we were pregnant with Aryn on a Friday and then celebrated at Applebees for dinner so I guess this is a tradition that we have started.
You know, just on a side note, I love how men say "we are pregnant". They don't experience the desire to eat everything in sight, the embarassment of flatulence that can actually melt your skin, or even the constant increase in pant size. I guess it's their way of feeling involved. I'll let him continue saying it:)
I would say that most people we know are aware of Baby G's existence in my womb and almost 100% of those had the same reaction. It goes something like this, " Oh wow, were you planning this...congratulations!" Notice the congratulations in secondary to the shock! It's alright though. We realize that having 2 kids 15 months apart will be challenging and even though Baby G was certainly planned, he/she wasn't planned so soon. Funny how that happens. I stopped taking my birth control in December because I kept forgetting to take the pills and it was literally making my hair fall out. So, I figured it would take a few months for the pill to get out of my system. Um wrong. Apparently, my eggs were lined up discussing amongst themselves who would be the lucky one this time. Hey, there's a lot of people out there that can't have children. Robby and I are very fortunate to be such fertile people :)
So, as of today I am 10 weeks along and feeling pretty good. I'm much more nauseous with this pregnancy, although I haven't thrown up. This makes me think it's a boy. I'll be honest here. I hope it is a boy. Only because I already have a girl. But if it is a girl, I will be equally as happy. Not only because it's my child and I'll love him/her regardless but because I never had a sister and always wanted one and I would be able to live vicariously through Aryn. If it's a boy, then I'm excited to dress him in khaki pants and argile sweaters! But only time will tell. For now, I am going to just concentrate on making sure I get enough to eat :)

What A Pleasant Surprise

So here we are again, preparing to entertain and enrich all your lives even more than before. That's right, as of right now, we are pregnant once again, currently sitting at 9 weeks according to yesterday's ultrasound pictured above. Apparently, the absence of a menstrual cycle does not stop one from getting pregnant..:) According to the best estimates, baby G is scheduled to arrive sometime around October 2, and we couldn't be any more happy and petrified. Sure, Aryn is a wonderful infant, and doesn't give us much grief, but man adding a second one will be a handful. Why did we pick the name Baby G for this critter you may ask? Well, we called Aryn Baby Blastula for some time because a blastula is the first phase of embryonic development. Naturally, a gastrula is the second phase, hence baby gastrula or Baby G for short. Personally, I think Baby G is an extremely cute name, so shut up..:)

When last we spoke, Aryn was a couple weeks old, and naturally we wanted to wait a while before adding her a sibling. Sadly, the birth control Amber was using made her hair fall out, so we quit using that. Ironically, it seems she got pregnant merely days later after stopping her pill. While not in the plans so soon, I personally could not be more happy this occurred. Amber was always sad that so many years were between her and Tyler, that we just wanted Aryn to have more of a playmate growing up. So this obviously sped up our itinerary, but I couldn't be any happier about it. I freely admit that having two kids 15 months apart will be a challenge, but I get to slave away at the hospital and miss most of the chaos..hehe. Seriously though, some people go through life not being able to have any babies, let alone two, so I feel very fortunate that Amber is Fertile Myrtle.

As of right now, Amber, Aryn and I are living in Cuyahoga Falls, OH and I am winding down my third year of medical school. It's been a crazy year, and hard to believe that Aryn is 8 months old tomorrow. This seems fast, yet slow in thinking that we could possibly be pregnant again so quickly. The months leading up to the fall sure were a challenge, but will really prepare us somewhat for Baby G I'm sure. Just to let you know, I feel compelled to write this blog for several reasons. Looking back now, it is really fun to read the old blog and see how we were feeling during the course of Aryn's gestation. Also, Amber has made that blog into a scrapbook of sorts for Aryn to read one day and see how we felt about her before she was even born. Very few kids/adults can say they have documentation of their pregnancy and events leading up to their birth. Lastly, I think I'd feel guilty about putting effort into one kid's birth and not the next, so this is almost an obligation, but a fun one. I apologize in advance if this blog is not as funny, or as entertaining as the last, but I'll do my best. We're all very excited and ready to tackle another pregnancy, and any prayers or best wishes would be welcome by all. If anyone has missed pictures of Aryn, here is one of the latest of her. More to come......