12 weeks to go!

So it's been 8 weeks since I last updated this blog!  Sorry! Peanut and I have both grown alot in 8 weeks!  I felt my first kick at 23 weeks and they have only gotten stronger and more frequent!  I am still loving every kick and kind of enjoy the early morning kicks!  Most mothers probably think I'm crazy, but for some reason I think those are one of the things I will miss most after I have had the baby!  Manuel loves getting to feel Peanut kick!  He instantly puts his hand on my belly when I say the baby is kicking!  He is amazed at how strong the kicks are sometimes!  Peanut really did some tricks when we went to the Twin's game while they were in town!  Manuel even conceeded that Peanut can be a Twins fan!! 
Our 24 wk appointment didn't quite go as planned. Our doctor informed us that the radiologist had found a Choroid Plexus Cyst on the ultrasound. I guess that was why the tech took so many measurements!!  Basically the baby had a cyst in it's brain. The cyst was caused by a build up of spinal fluid in the brain and can be sometimes linked with chromosome abnormalities. Since then we have had another ultrasound and the cyst is gone!!  Everything looked really good and the baby should have no lasting effects from the cyst!  This parenting stuff can sure get stressful!!  I never thought I could have such an attachment and caring over someone that isn't even born!  Thank you to both of our families for all of your support and prayers!
On to more fun stuff!  We have been so busy with school that we haven't even started getting the baby's room ready!  We will hopefully get it mostly put together after we get back from our South Dakota trip in a couple of weeks!  We have our crib and bassinet at the ranch so we can finally get those things up and make the room look like a baby might sleep in our guest room!  Since we don't know the sex and have't had any baby showers yet, we have tried not to buy too many things and Peanut's room is still pretty bare!
I have gone from barely showing to actually looking pregnant!  I just today weighed in at my prepregnancy weight!  And with only 12 weeks to go I think I will stay under my 25lb goal! I still haven't committed to 100% maternity clothes and I hope I don't have to!  My mom sent me a whole box of maternity shirts, so I should be set on shirts until the baby is here!  I have not been very good about keeping up my walking routine, but I did complete a very hilly 5k last weekend! I'm hoping to get back on track these last 12 weeks!
Our 28 wk ultrasound went really good as soon as the tech told us the cyst was gone!!  It is amazing at how different the baby looks after 8 weeks!  We can defintely see some of the different features that the baby has!  Peanut will most likely have Manuel's nose, but other than that we still aren't sure who the baby will look like!  I still am not sure wether the baby is a girl or boy!  I guess that mother's intuition still hasn't hit me fully!!  There are still lots of you that haven't given a guess on the baby pool (Grandpa and Grandma Thorpe to name a couple!). http://bebepool.com/go/?a=babydiaz&view=list  Only 12 weeks to make a guess!!

20 weeks pregnant

26 weeks pregnant

Baby's profile

Check out Peanut's good looking spine!!!

We went on Friday to get our ultrasound and had our 19 week check-up!  Seeing Peanut on the ultrasound was pretty cool!  Manuel was looking very closely trying to find out the sex, but I think the ultrasound tech was too fast for him!  I can't really read ultrasounds, so I don't know what I would have been looking for!!  It's hard being the mom though because I have to look at everything sideways!!  And I just realized I forgot to get a pic of me getting the ultrasound for the baby book! oops!!  The tech said everything looked good, but she sure took a lot of measurements and looked things over and over!!  We never really got a good look at the face, just the profile!  I think Peanut still kinda looks like an alien, but Manuel thinks Peanut has his nose!  Then we went to our 19wk check up which was pretty boring!  All the doctor did was check the heartbeat. The heartbeat for both the ultrasound and at the dr office was 142!   We had Dr. Morgan on this visit and he seemed okay for the 2 minutes he was in the room!  Next week we will be back with Dr. White. We have to visit with each doctor so that no matter who is on call, we will at least know them a little bit!
We started our Bradley Method classes on Sunday and so far really enjoy them! Manuel was not too thrilled with all the birthing videos, but we are both learning a lot of things!  We have them for the next 7 or so weeks so we should learn something by the end!
I started showing around 18 weeks. I feel like I just look chunky, but even some old lady at church noticed so I must be showing more than I think!  I'm still wearing most of my pre-pregnancy clothes, but will probably start looking for some maternity dress clothes to wear in the clinic. Hopefully the consignment shops around town have some options!

My 18th week really was hard on me! I was exhausted the whole week!! I had started trying to walk everyday so that may have taken more out of me than it used to!!  I am still trying to eat healthy and exercise, but gained 4lbs since my last dr visit!  I should probably stop eating ice cream and candy bars before I get out of hand!  I have learned that soda makes my feet swell almost instantly so I will be staying away from that from now on!!  Other than the exhaustion in week 18, I have been feeling great!!  Sleeping is getting a little harder since I am a back sleeper, but I bought a body pillow to help cuddle with!  Manuel is not a fan of the body pillow!  I will be 20 weeks on Wednesday and am still loving being pregnant!!

Peanut is a runner!!

We had our 16 week check up on Friday and everything is still going really good!!  The heartbeat was above 150, but the doctor couldn't get a good count since Peanut was running away from her!!  According to my weekly emails, Peanut is about the size of an avocado!!  And almost 4 ounces!!  They sure do grow fast!!  The second trimester is so much better than the first, but I am not excited for the third trimester!!  I have been hearing nothing but horror stories!!  We can tell that I am showing but most people haven't noticed yet! We will see how many people can tell in less than 4 weeks when I have to be in a dress for Justin and Piper's wedding!!  As of right now we are scheduled to get an ultrasound the week before the wedding and no, we are not finding out the sex!  We are getting excited about waiting until the delivery!  Although, it is funny how judgemental some people are about us waiting!!  I wasn't expecting so many people to tell me how ridiculous it is to not find out the sex as soon as possible!  I do however have a feeling Peanut is a boy!!  It seems that everyone else I know is having/wanting a girl, so I am planning on getting the boy!!  I have pros and cons to either sex so as long as Peanut is healthy I will be more than happy!!  We are anxiously awaiting to feel Peanut move, but I haven't felt anything that I know of!  Manuel thinks he felt Peanut move the other day!  Dr White said it would be a little while before it would be a definite kick!!  Soon enough I will be complaining about how Peanut kicked me in the ribs in the middle of the night!!  We have set up a baby pool online at http://bebepool.com/babydiaz. Go put in your guesses!!  It will be fun seeing everyone's perdictions!!  I'm still loving being pregnant!! Only 163 days to go!!

30 different stroller choices!!

We had our 12 week appointment last Friday and everything went really good!  We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time! Peanut's heartbeat was loud and strong at 165. It was really exciting to hear the heartbeat and now Peanut seems more real!!  We are now getting very excited for Peanut to get here!  I am starting to feel a lot better and have been catching up on my sleep while we are in Texas visiting Manuel's family. We made our first trip to Babies'R'Us and I may have scared Manuel a bit!!  Haha!  I don't think he realized how much stuff the baby needed and how much it would all cost. Some of my pregnancy emails say that we should have already started our registries, but we are way too overwhelmed by everything to even begin our registries!!  There are like 30 different stroller choices! How in the world do you know which one is best for you??!!  I think we will wait a bit and get advice from friends and family.  As of today I am 13 weeks and Peanut is about the size of a peach!  I am still loving being pregnant!

Peanut is a Duke Fan!!

Peanut must have been pretty excited for the championship game yesterday, because yesterday morning was my first bad morning!!  Manuel will now drive a little slower on the bumpy roads!!  Haha!  But at least now I feel a part of the Pregnant Women Society!!  Peanut kept me on the edge of my seat all day until after the Duke game and is now happy as a clam today!!  This gives me the conclusion that Peanut is in fact a natural Duke fan!!! All immediate family is now aware of Peanut!  We didn't realize Justin would be looking over my mom's shoulder as she opened her "you're going to be a grandma" card!!  Opps!  It made for a fun Maunday Thursday and April fool's day!  Took a little convincing but it didn't take too long for our siblings to catch on!!  Westyn said I should take the baby to his cousin Hailey's house!!  And Little Toby somehow found out and told Jacob and Charly, but told them not to tell!!  Charly is concerned that we are naming the baby Peanut!!    Manuel's mom bought me and Peanut a fruit bouquet and it was sooooo good!!  I will add pictures soon!  Peanut sure loved his cheese buttons on Good Friday!!!  Anything else I eat, I can barely eat a full serving, but he let me eat all the cheese buttons I could handle!! We are very eager to tell everyone else, but still want to wait a little bit!! It is nice to have our siblings in the loop so that I have more people to talk to!!!

First ultrasound!!

Friday we had our first OB appointment!  Dr. White went through a normal exam and talked to me about how I shouldn't drink, smoke, or do drugs!!  Dr. White felt I was "smaller" than I should be and with my past history decided to send me for an ultrasound. We already knew we weren't the full 8 weeks, because I didn't have a positive test until 5 days late!  She didn't try to hear the heartbeat because she was almost sure that it wouldn't be strong enough!   So off we went for the ultrasound!  At first on the external ultrasound there wasn't much to see!  Good thing we had a good tech, because we got a little worried!!  But on the internal ultrasound we got to see a little, itty, bitty Peanut!!!  We got to see the heart flutter!!  Heartbeat was at 136! The tech couldn't tell us much, but she said the baby looked good!  She measured Peanut at 7 wks 5 days rather the the doctors 8 wks 3 days. We have another appointment on April 20th and will hopefully get to hear the heartbeat!  We broke down and had to tell the Grandparents, but will wait a little longer to let the rest of our family know!  Now that we have seen the heart flutter we are itching to tell everyone!!  Morning sickness has gotten a little worse! Showering and brushing my teeth are the worst, but still not bad at all!!  Maybe starting to feel a little more tired. Hot flashes are bad!!  I feel bloated every once in a awhile but actually went down a size in pants!!   I've also lost over 5 lbs!!  Trying to eat healthier and now that the doctor okayed it, I am working out again!!  So far I still LOVE being pregnant.......give that a couple more months!! haha

We're finally pregnant!!!

Morning sickness, sore breasts and heartburn have never been more welcomed!!!!   The morning sickness is not bad (yet) and the heartburn tends to happen every night, but at least we're pregnant!!!  We found out early March, but it must have been real early because the doctor's test came up negative!  They sent us out for blood tests to confirm......and the HCG was present, but still low which means more blood tests!!  Good thing I'm not completely afraid of needles!!  Given our history we've decided to wait until about 12 weeks to tell anyone, which is really hard since all of our family knows we are "trying"!!  But I "feel" pregnant this time so our hopes are up!!  I haven't felt tired like most pregnant women feel in the first trimester, but I have felt exhausted for the last 4 years, so what's new?!?!  Manuel takes very good care of me and is itching to tell everyone in site!!  We call the baby "Peanut" which hopefully won't stick after birth!!   We figured baby and Bailey might be confusing for the other 2 kids!  We are nervous on how the dogs will handle a baby!  JJ might be wearing a bark collar permanently or Peanut will just have to get used to random barks!!  Bailey is probably going to be too scared and will just hide under our bed for the first few months, but after that she will be Peanut's best cuddler!!  We are at the 6 week mark so only 34 more to go!! haha!! We will try to keep this updated as things progress so that you never have to feel far away!!  We miss you all!!