Updates

My doctors office called yesterday to tell me that my 1^st trimester scan from last week looked good. All of my results for Downs Syndrome and Trisomy 18 etc were normal. Great news! The only concerning thing was that they said I have a low lying placenta and we’ll have to watch it. Most of the time it corrects itself as the pregnancy progresses so I’m praying that it does. Other than that, my nausea is still there but has decreased a little bit which is great news! I’m still super tired and not feeling 100% but I think I may be on my way to that 2^nd trimester energy I keep hearing about!

As for my little doodlebug, she just continues to make us laugh and amuse us with her little personality. She absolutely loves watching Clifford the big red Dog in the evenings after bath time. It’s her new favorite thing. Every evening it’s “I watch Clifford!” When we drive to school in the mornings she’s now started requesting I put Bye Bye on so that she can dance (NSync’s Bye Bye Bye). She gets so excited and dances her little hiney off while yelling bye bye bye and waving her hand.

A few new Ava-isms:

This morning she saw a motorcycle on the road and she said “Look mommy it’s bicycle motor!”

This afternoon on the way home she told me "mommy my pickle hurts" I said "your pickle hurts?" She said "yes my pickle hurts" I said "show mommy where your pickle hurts" and she held up her foot and pointed to her ankle! I said "oh your ankle hurts" and she said "yes my ankle hurts" as if that is what she was saying all along.

Every evening I watch her on the baby monitor and she’s laying in her bed singing her ABC’s but we crack up because at the end of her ABC’s instead of singing “now I’ve sung my ABC’s next time won’t you sing with me” she says “Now I wonder what you are, up above the world so high” LOL since twinkle little star and the ABC’s are the same tune she gets the two confused.

When we are on the way home we get to a certain landmark, it's a restaurant on a corner and when we get close to the restaurant she says "Almost home!" She did the same on the way to grandmother and grandad's even though she hadn't been there in a few months. Smart girl!

Pictures to come soon!

The Results Are In...

Baby Hendrickson #2 - In the making!!

12 week profile pic- already pouting about something. Little hand over face.

my little legs and feet

That's right we are expecting our 2nd child due April 6, 2011!! Ava is going to be a big sister!! I'm 12 weeks today and had a great ultrasound this morning so we are excited to finally tell the world the good news. Start placing your bets on the sex, because we find out next week if what we are having!


Here is a journal I kept for the 1st trimester of pregnancy:


4 weeks- Found out the day after Ava's 2nd birthday that we are indeed expecting another baby! I started my lovenox (blood thinner) injections immediately. We decided that after 3 previous miscarriages, we were going to wait until 8 weeks to schedule our first appointment this time. We just couldn't take another go round like the those times where we went in at 6 weeks and the heart beat was slow and they would say "oh well it just started beating, let's give it a week" or "maybe your dates are off, come back in 2 weeks" and then we suffered through a week or two of not knowing if the baby was healthy or not. So this time we decided that I'm doing everything I possibly can to keep this baby healthy and we should know for sure at 8 weeks if the hear beat looks good and if the baby is growing adequately. 5 weeks- nothing new, feeling fine, just have a very bruised sore tummy from the injections.
6 weeks- either I've had way too many cheeseburgers or something because I'm already looking a little porky. Vow to eat much healthier! No morning sickness yet, just a little nausea and a nasty cold.
7 weeks - my dad passed away and it's all I can think about, I'm completely consumed with grief. I never even got a chance to tell him I was pregnant. We were waiting until after our first ultrasound at 8 weeks to tell family. I'm feeling nausea but I don't know if it's nausea or overwhelming sadness. Family does not know I'm expecting, but probably better as they would all just worry to death.
8 weeks- Great ultrasound!! The little gummy bear had a 161 bpm heart rate and looked GREAT! We are so relieved. Nice to have some good news after last week.
9 weeks- Absolutely miserable with all day morning sickness. Can barely function I feel so terrible. Nausea medicine isn't even making a dent. Starting to share the news with family members. Thanks to stupid facebook, it got leaked before we could get to everyone personally. NOT happy about that!!! I seriously thought about deleting my account after that.
10 weeks- Still sick as a dog and absolutely miserable.
11 weeks- Another rough week with sickness. Imagine being hungover all day every single day for 5 freaking weeks!!! Bright Side: Must mean my body is working in overdrive to keep this baby healthy and happy.
12 weeks- GREAT ultrasound!!!!!!! Baby looks great and I am one relieved mother. HB was 166 bpm.

Gigi and Papi's visit

Ava's Gigi and Papi came down over labor day weekend to visit for several days. Now that we have more space they were able to stay with us and get to see Ava in action all day every day. They got to read her bed time stories and put her to bed, play with her, and do all kinds of fun activities with her. It was a great weekend and lots of fun had by all. We were sad to see them go home. :(

After lunch at Spaghetti Warehouse

Butterfly Museum

Ava's grossed out by the hissing cockroaches at the museum

Lunch at the Aquarium

Checking out all of the cool fish at the aquarium with Gigi and Papi

Fish!

With Gigi and Papi after lunch

At Spaghetti Warehouse

Bedtime Stories with Gigi and Papi

Ava Updates

Well it has been a month ago to the day that my dad died, and it's probably about time I get on with my day to day life (as hard as it is) which means posting on the blog.

There is so much to report on Ava that I hope I remember to hit all the important points.

Ava started in her new class with her new teachers on August 19th. She cried the first day when I left her but they said she was fine within minutes and after that she never cried again. I'm a little bummed that none of her previous classmates are in her class, so she also has to adjust to all new kids. One little boy, Gil, is in the class right next to her and the classes spend lots of time together so at least she has that. Gil is having a very hard time with the transition and every morning they are on the playground and he see's me drive up. The teacher said he grabs her hand and starts heading toward the entrance saying "Ava, Ava, Ava" and then he and Ava are glued at the hip the rest of the day. He loves Ava :)

Potty Training is going. She still can't tell me in advance when she has to tee tee, but she hasn't pooped in a diaper in over a month. That always happens on the potty. She's in pull ups during the day and a night diaper at night.

Her new favorite thing to say is "oh no!" and "no, I don't" when you ask her if she wants to do something. She also says "yes, I do". Last week she actually told me "stop talking mommy" I was floored! She can now say her name "Ava" instead of "Eeya" and usually refers to herself in the 3rd person, like "Mommy come hold Ava!"

She is totally a daddy's girl and now wants Steve to do all of the nightly routine which means he hasn't gotten much of a break lately (hey he's learning what it's like to be a mom!) Let me pull out my little tiny violin....tee hee.

She is now able to put her shoes on and almost dress herself without any help. She is sooo proud when she gets her shoes on too. A lot of the times they'll be on the wrong feet, but I just think it's so precious that I rarely correct her. She's just so proud that she can do it and tells me "look at Ava mommy, Ava's a big girl!" She now has to get into the car by herself with no help and get into her car seat by herself. If we try to help we get the "no mommy, Ava do it!"

She is a very strong willed little girl (must get that from Steve) and we have been having a hard time getting her to do things she doesn't want to do without a battle, but try and stay very consistent with our discipline and she seems to be getting the picture. Tantrums are a regular occurrence around here (usually because she doesn't want to get dressed, take a bath or go to bed) these days and everyone keeps telling me that 3 is worse! If she had her way she'd be naked and dirty all day and never go to bed. Oh my!!!

Song or Sign?

My aunt and I keep asking my dad to send us a sign to let us know that he is okay. We are still waiting; however, the other day he may have already done that.

It was the morning after I found out he had passed away. I was on my way over to his house to meet my Aunt and Uncle. I cried all the way and then I turned on the radio and this was the song that was playing.

Lynrd Skynrd- Free Bird

For those of you who knew my dad and the struggles he faced every day of his life, this song makes perfect sense.

My Dad

Today has been a heartbreaking day for me and my family. I found out at 11 pm last night that I lost my Daddy. I have had people tell me how awful it was to lose a parent, but never understood the feeling until now. It is absolutely devastating. I keep wondering how long I am going to have this sick empty feeling inside. He was only 57 years old.

I just pray that he is finally at peace, happy and up in Heaven with Memaw, Grandaddy and Pat. He was so proud that Ava is a blonde haired, blue eyed lefty just like him.

Henry Beutel Mungovan

1953-2010

One of the many thing I am just sick over is that I can't find the last picture I took of him and Ava. I have turned this place upside down looking.