Dear Baby,

Stop scaring mommy! If you're going to allow me to feel you move, then do it consistently. Going days with little to no movement is nerve wracking - even this early. And would you please move up a little higher? I know my uterus goes at least up to my belly button now, you could hang out up there. I'd probably even feel you move better. I mean really, it's a win win situation - I'd feel you move and I wouldn't have to pee all the time. I even bet there is a bit more room for you, what with no hips, or pelvic bones, or bladders in the way. In return I'll tell your brother to lay off on using your current home as target practice for all his kicks, punches, and pushes. I'll even make sure he doesn't use your home as a trampoline. Really we are working on it. It's just that my belly is a really convenient and soft landing spot and he's really into belly buttons right now and has yet to learn how to be soft. Don't worry, we're working on that too. Hopefully by the time you arrive he'll have it down.

Love, mommy

Mark the Stubborn

After much, and I mean MUCH, deliberation (aka exasperated arguing) it is decided that none of the afore mentioned middle names will suffice. It is Elizabeth or her name will be Claire. Those are my options: Claire and I can pick the middle name or Clara and Mark picks Elizabeth. Even with that, he still threatens to call her Claire as a nick name. If he does....grrrrr! I've never met someone so dang set on a name! Just watch, after all this we're going to change our minds at the last second. Well, actually I doubt that. Not with Mark the Stubborn around. The only one he even paused on before saying "NO" was Clara Rose and that was only a brief pause, and he might have been yawning or something. Who knows.

I like Clara Elizabeth, I just thought it was long. I wanted to be able to yell it when she was in trouble. Haha! Tyler John is so easy to say when Tyler's in trouble. I'm sure I'll learn to get my mouth around it. :)

MIDDLE NAME!!!

AHHHH! Picking a middle name for this child is impossible. Well, picking a first name hasn't quite been a picnic either. Mark likes a total of 3 girl names: Jennifer, Elizabeth, and Claire. Thanks for the plethora of options.... I like Claire, but it's too popular right now for my taste so I suggested Clara, which I decided I like better anyway. So now our fight is Claire vs Clara. I've already decided I've won so I refer to her as Clara as much as possible to get it into Mark's head. If he says "Claire" I graciously add the "a" on for him. Don't worry, I fill out the birth certificate. Although, as Mark reminds me, HE gives the blessing. Anyway, I think we'll go with Clara...I just have a motherly instinct about that. However, not as many middle names go as well with Clara as they do with Claire. We did talk about Elaina or Elizabeth, but I've decided those are too long. Seriously, say it all together with Andreasen and you feel like you're talking for an hour. Clara Elaina Andreasen....just writing it takes forever. Clara Elizabeth Andreasen...phew! I think I have a hand cramp. I really like that I can say Tyler John and its nice and short. Clara needs a nice short middle name. So I ventured online. Good ol' Google. So here is what I found and what I think sounds good, or sorta good.

Clara Lynn (but do you think it sounds weird and rhymey with Andreasen??)

Clara Jane (or is that too close to Tyler JOHN? I mean if my kids went by their middle names they could be in a 1950's children's book).

Clara Cristine (or kristine or Christine) That's my middle name, the Cristine one.

Clara Ann or Clara Marie (both middle names are middle names of my sisters)

Clara Rose (or is that too many "r's"?)

So those are my favorite as of now. We'll see what Mark the Picky thinks.

Half way

Yesterday I hit the 20 week mark. Half way! I just hope the second half goes as fast as the first half, which I think it will. Now I know for sure that I have a girl to plan for. Time for PINK! So not much to update. I feel her move on a fairly regular basis - some days more, some days less. On my more days I can feel something at least hourly. On my less days I can go hours before I feel a little pop and then hours again with nothing. I know she's still so small that she has to be in just the right position to get a good solid kick in. I love it though! I love my more days most! Its so reassuring and fun to feel her move. I still look small - no surprise there. My weight gain has been quite minimal as of yet. I'm just waiting for it to start piling on like it did with Tyler around this point. If you know I'm pregnant you can tell, but to random strangers I probably just look like I throw back a few on a regular basis. I'm not in maternity clothes yet or anything. Just wear my belly band and force my regular shirts over my belly. I have started to wear a couple maternity shirts/dresses. Maybe I'll get to posting a picture here soon. And that's about it. I'm hungry, rarely rarely gaggy anymore. I can still move easily and bend over easily. Pretty much I'm in the most comfortable stage of pregnancy and I'm enjoying it!

The Good News!

After 4 days of waiting (which I know really isn't that long - it just felt long to me) I had my appointment. I saw the geneticist first. Why do they do that to pregnant women? I had pretty much been able to stay positive and brave up until I talked to her. Trisomy 18 isn't even hereditary. Its a fluke. Yes, its a genetic defect, but it has nothing to do with family history or what genes have been passed on to me or Mark. She told me what I already knew about choroid plexus cysts and their rarity and what they could mean and yada yada yada. That's what google is for - not some frightening trip to a geneticist. And yet, some how she managed to make my 1% chance of trisomy 18 seem much more common and much more likely, while reassuring me it was unlikely. How do they do that? Pretty much I left her office more afraid then when I came and proceeded to cry in the waiting room while waiting for my ultrasound. People probably thought the worst and all that had happened was a "nice talk" with a geneticist. I glared at pregnant women smiling at their ultrasound pictures. Just you wait til you get to talk with a geneticist!

However, this is when the scary stops and the reassurance and happiness comes in. Luckily I had dried my tears before they called me back, but I think the high risk dr could still sense my anxiety. The first thing he said was, "Just so you know, I think this is a mean way to stress out poor pregnant women for no reason!" AGREED! He continued to tell me that they had only seen one cyst on my baby and cysts in growing fetus's mean pretty much absolutely nothing. They have more fluid floating through their ever growing and developing bodies then they know what to do with and its almost for sure that at some point they develop a "fluid bubble" (aka cyst). It just so happens my baby's appeared during an ultrasound. So they sent me in for a level II ultrasound and scared the pants off me for basically nothing. Yes, the baby could have other problems, but most likely she was fine. I wanted to jump off the bed and hug the man. Why didn't the geneticist say that?

Anyway, he continued with the ultrasound and pointed out everything that he was looking at. He said the heart looked fine, the bowels looked fine, the feet looked fine, and, get this, he said he couldn't even see the cyst! He said it might be there, but it was small and he really wouldn't worry about it. I even saw him write the word "gone" on my medical chart. Yay!! Prayers are answered!! He was really nice and even made sure it was a girl for me since I was still unsure. Don't worry, it's a girl. No doubt about that. So, at the end he told me like any baby there was still a chance something was wrong, but from what he could see she was healthy! He even advised not to get an amnio (I wasn't going to anyway) because the risk of getting one wasn't worth it. Whereas, the geneticist told me it was super safe and only 1% of women have complications (aka miscarriages). I left feeling so much better and so so so so so so so so so grateful!

I do have to say that I felt an overwhelming since of support, love and faith coming from all my family and friends who knew about this little scare. I am so thankful for their thoughts and prayers and especially grateful for a blessing from my husband that gave me a lot of comfort and reassurance. I am thankful for prayers and miracles and blessings!