Week 16: Hiccups

This week seems to be the week that things really start moving and grooving, both from a pregnancy and a life standpoint.

Move Details
We still haven’t received our official orders, but we did get the ok to leave Memorial Day weekend to make the drive south. The good news is, Will has the Friday and Monday of the holiday weekend off so we can hit the road first thing Friday morning, which would have put us in Asheville as early as Memorial Day Monday. However, we learned that we have to drop Will’s car off in Saint Louis to be shipped overseas on our drive home, and unfortunately the port office isn’t open on weekends or holidays. I think we have decided to still head out Friday and spend the extra days over the weekend exploring Lincoln, NE and Saint Louis since we’ve never been to either. In spite of this little hiccup, Will should still get a couple of days at home before reporting for training.

Baby J’s Progress
I had my fourth doctor’s appointment this week. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t spent the days prior praying feverishly that everything was ok and there was still a heart beating in there. I’m looking forward to the consistent kicks and movements just for the simple sense of assurance that little peanut is still dancing around in there. Luckily the nurse found the heartbeat very quickly, and it rang loud and clear at 150 bpm. Next month we have our halfway point ultrasound and I cannot wait to see our little baby actually looking like a baby. The last time we saw Baby J it was still looking like a tadpole.

At this appointment we had another hiccup. To make a long story short, it turns out they DID NOT do a harmony test for us as we had been previously told. Somehow there was a mix up, and although I specifically requested first trimester screening, for whatever reason the test never actually got done. The main reason I wanted the screening done in the first trimester was so that in the case that our baby had problems that were so severe that the pregnancy would need to be terminated (I know that sounds terrible and morbid, but it is sometimes a reality that has to be faced), I wanted that to happen as early on as possible. The Harmony Test can be done at any point in your pregnancy, but sitting here at 15+ weeks, in our second trimester, having heard the heartbeat multiple times, having felt our baby move now and then, and knowing there is a nursery’s worth of stuff sitting in our guest bedroom, is NOT the time I want to find out any kind of bad news.

Part of me felt like there was no reason for testing at this point. It’s not like we’re not going to have our baby just because it has special needs of some sort if that’s the case. We also have our next ultrasound in a month where they can look for markers that would indicate whether our baby has a higher risk for certain problems. Will, however felt like the more we know the better, and I guess I can agree in some ways. If our baby does have downs syndrome I would rather know and prepare for it than be surprised. So I went that afternoon to have my blood drawn for the test. I had a student doing the draw. For those of you who know me and my issue with having my blood drawn, this was not a fun experience, but I didn’t want to be one of those people that said no to having a student handle the procedure. So now we have to wait the 7-10 days to hear the results. Please pray for good news!

My Little Bump
The bump is finally starting to pop just a little. Enough that I can’t really suck it in anymore. It’s still not much to write home about, but here it is a 15 weeks and 2 days.

Welcoming Aylett Byerly Moore!
Our best friends back home welcomed their precious little girl into the world April 16 (the day before her mama’s birthday!). She turned out just as perfect as we all knew she would and everyone seems to be doing great!

I’ve got to admit from the time Clint texted us saying they were at the hospital, to getting minute-by-minute reports from his mom, to receiving the picture of Liz and Aylett come through a text, I was beside myself with excitement…and jealousy. What an incredible experience! I realized I couldn’t wait to be going through all of it myself, yes even the labor pains! I can’t wait to meet our little one, and hold them in my arms, and start getting to know this little person that will make our life complete. Now October seems even farther away haha!