The test of life, hormones and DNA!

This past week has been crazy hard for this soon to be mommy of 2. It's not often that I admit my struggles, but this week has really been a test of strength for me.  I feel like the last few weeks have all ran together, and I haven't ever stopped to sit, or sleep, (although we all know that we all have to sleep), it just seems as though my days are running together. For some odd reason, (cough, hormones, cough), last night when I came home, after 8 pm, did some laundry, did the dishes, cleaned up the house, bathed the toddler, showered, and got in bed, it was almost 11 pm. I end up just collapsing out of pure exhaustion, and was left in the bathroom floor, flooded with tears.  Sometimes it feels likes you just have to say, I give up. And that's exactly what I had to do. And not in a bad way!  I have to realize the importance of saying that some things really can wait, and knowing that I do have help this time around and I don't need to feel all of the pressure that I felt the first time with my first pregnancy.

We were also excited to find out the results of our Harmony blood test that we had done as part of our first trimester screenings. I tried calling this morning to check the status of the results, and was told that the genetic specialist was out of the office today. Then, I got a missed call from work although, but I wasn't able to answer, due to my phone being in my desk while we had our regional supervisor at work today.  I didn't recognize the number, so I simply just placed the phone back in my desk.  I decided to take the phone into the bathroom to list to the voice mail, and my heart immediately started pounding at a rate of 279207520523 beats per minute when I heard, "Hi, This is Jeanie calling from _______, I am calling with the test results from the Harmony testing. Please give me a call back at 704....."  WHAT?! But...you...I....thought....she wasn't in the office today?!  So I anxiously called back the number that she left on the voicemail, and got her voicemail at work, stating that she would be out of the office. Okay...now who is playing tricks on me?! I ended up after many attempts at the number going straight to voicemail, I decided to try to call back the number that she called from.  A sweet voice answered, "Hello?" I instantly knew it was her! Please don't sound like a crazy pregnant woman Brandi, PLEASE keep it together.  I told her that I was returning her call, and she had mentioned that she accidentally left the office number as a habit from always being in the office, but she was actually working from home today due to the incoming inclement weather. She proceeded to tell me that all of the actually screenings as far as down syndrome, and any chromosomes disorders were cleared at less than 1% of being at risk for them. She proceeded to ask if I had any other questions. "WAIT! Did the test say what I was having?" She sweetly responded with, "Oh yes....while nothing is 100%....wait, did you want to know you were having?" "YES, MA'AM!" I replied again trying to keep myself together.  She stated again, that while nothing was 100%, the test results came back with the chromosomes, and that it was 99.7% accurate that it was a girl. A GIRL.

A GIRL. A FEMALE. XX CHROMOSOMES!

I still can't wrap my brain around what she said. I anxiously replied, "Okay, thanks bye!" And hung up out of excitement. I ended up sharing the news with family and then posting it on Facebook. It's just amazing how quickly the unknown will turn into something so surreal.  It seemed like just yesterday I was having a "baby" and now it's officially Britton Kinsley!

We are so very excited, pleased, anxious, and every other word you can possibly imagine!  We have another ultrasound on Friday evening to see more pictures of our sweet baby girl. I can't wait to share with everyone. It's going to be a whole new experience going back and seeing what is actually our Britton.

Full of LOVE & EXCITEMENT,
Brandi, Brad, Bentley & Britton <3

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Happy Birthday Daddy!

After spending a great Valentine's day as a family, we had to just gear up and prepare for Daddy's birthday!  We started off by having a great breakfast together with one of Brad's favorite places to eat, and then we loaded up and headed to his surprise.  If I've learned anything in my almost three years of motherhood, it's NOT to tell your toddler anything you want to keep a secret, so I was smart enough to not even tell him where we were going!

Breakfast for Daddy's Birthday

We loaded up the car, and drove 45 minutes to Gastonia, NC to New Beginnings Ultrasound!  Brad was estatic as we waited to go back.  Once we did, we were both shocked to see how much the baby has grown in just a month. What looked like a little tadpole a month ago, now looked like a perfect little baby, with the perfect little nose, ten fingers, ten toes, and the longest little legs.

Our peanut with his/her long legs, they were facing the placenta.

Our peanut sucking his/her thumb! So sweet already!

A few days before Valentine's Day we decided to rent a fetal heart doppler that we can listen to the baby's heartbeat.  We would hear the heartbeat, and then you would hear the heartbeat fade as the baby moved away.  Brad wasn't aware that the baby could do such movements at this young fetus age.

He was in for a treat!  We watched peanut, toss and turn, and put her hands in front of her eyes, like some other little baby I know... (cough, Bentley, cough).  The ultrasound tech was even able to give us a "pretty good" guess at 12 weeks what the baby was gender wise, but we are keeping it under wraps until it's official!  Each time we've went to the doctor's and heard the heart rate it's always been between 160-172.  Bentley loves hearing the baby's heartbeat, so we were able to get him an adorable stuffed animal that he picked out, a giraffe, that they were able to record peanut's heartbeat on, and stick it inside the giraffe, so when he hug it, he can hear peanuts heart beat!  He has been in love with it ever since!

We have a busy week ahead, with an appointment tomorrow for our first trimester screenings, including the Harmony full DNA test, where we will get a definite answer to the sex of the baby, and an ultrasound to check for any issues.  Then Thursday is our 3 month appointment!  Expect an update soon!  :)

- Brandi

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Fast Forward...

So we have already had our first appointments for pregnancy #2, and as many of you know, Brad and I were going through a lot of growing, and adjustments while I lived in Maryland during my pregnancy with Bentley so while this is round two for me, this is really the full experience round 1 for Brad.

This pregnancy started off with a scary moment when I took a fall in the bathroom and went to the emergency room to be checked. It's always better to be safe than sorry.  They did some blood work, took a urine sample and did an ultrasound.  The ultrasound tech started off with telling me that she wasn't able to tell me anything because she was not the reviewing doctor, and yet she proceeded to looked concerned. She wouldn't tell me anything, which had me worried.  I went back to my room, and waited for the doctor to come in.  After what seemed like forever, he came in and stated that while my urine and blood work showed that I was indeed pregnant, the ultrasound showed nothing...at all.  So they said that I should have my blood work checked in a few days to make sure that my beta HcG levels were increasing as they should.  They said that if I was really early, that it was perfectly normal to not see anything, so I left there just antsy and waiting for a real answer.

A few days go by, and I had my follow up at the OB for my blood work where they confirmed that my numbers looked great!  As of now, things were back to normal (in the pregnancy life).  Little did I know that they were all just beginning because we were getting married!

Our first picture as Mr. & Mrs. Hughes (1-11-15)

On our honeymoon, I was in the midst of my first trimester sickness, which....well let's just say I have a beef with baby #2 already because I was not the littlest bit sick with my first pregnancy, so it hit me completely off guard.  We spent a week at Disney World and for being a newly pregnant woman, it was filled with water, snacks, nap breaks, and late starts in the morning. There were a lot of rides that I couldn't ride but it was the perfect opportunity for me to sleep in while my new husband hit the parks early for the trill rides that I couldn't ride.  Believe me, most people would be like...why would you want your husband to go without you? The extra sleep and the sweet treats he would bring back would help me last for the rest of the day.

Our honeymoon in Disney World

About a week after we got back from our honeymoon, we had our first 'official' OB appointment.  It was a packed house, it was myself, Brad, his mother, and Bentley.  We finally got called back and saw the doctor, who said words that literally sounded like gibberish because all I wanted to see what a little tiny spec that they called my baby on that ultrasound screen.  We finally were sent to the ultrasound room, where they got ready for the ultrasound.  (Warning, pregnancy TMI ahead...) I am probably one girl who totally hates transvaginal ultrasounds. Something about a big giant lubed up probe being shoved inside of you, is not comforting at all. All of the discomfort and awkwardness having a room full of people went away as soon as we saw what my toddler called a "little peanut" pop up on the screen.  She stated that everything looked great, and peanut was actually measuring a day ahead, although they kept my due date the same, as 9/1/2015.  Everything looked great, and as the ultrasound tech went to leave the room, Bentley yelled, "Wait, wait! You left it in there!" Haha!  The life of a toddler experiencing a sibling at his age, is the best!

Our little peanut at 7 weeks and 6 days (1-19-15)

Aside from the vomiting, the restless sleep, vomiting, headaches, vomiting, and more vomit, everything else has been a pretty "normal" pregnancy as they seem to call it.  When you are in your last few weeks of pregnancy and you are absolutely miserable, don't let it cloud over the rest of your pregnancy experience.  I was obviously miserable the last few weeks of my first pregnancy but who isn't?  My first pregnancy experience was a breeze.  This one...not so much.  I have had such great help at home with my precious sweet Bentley and my amazing new husband.  There has been one issue that has been reoccurring that started towards the end of my pregnancy with Bentley and that's the dreaded back pain. I finally caved in and made a doctors appointment with my OB because my primary doctor thought that the pregnancy was the reason behind my pain.  The doctor prescribed me muscle relaxers, and referred me to go have physical therapy done.

Peanut at 11 weeks 

My first appointment came for physical therapy when I was shocked to find out that it wasn't physical therapy at all, but a full chiropractor.  I had to listen to my poor body get twisted and cracked in ways that I never thought was possible.  At first I felt absolutely great, and went hard playing with my boy all morning.  Then around the evening time, I was doubled over in tears from the pain.  They told me it would get better before it got worse but for my optimistic brain, that meant, my existing pain would linger around a little bit, but it was far from that.  So for the next few weeks, I will be visiting my glorious certified back fixer upper 3 times a week, and then I will continue throughout my pregnancy.  Wish me luck!

Until next time...

Brandi, Brad, Bentley & 'Peanut'

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And the saga begins!

I wish I had some entertaining way of saying that I am already living the frantic life of a mother of 'two' even before my second is here!  I have been wanting to start this blog since our BFP (big fat positive), but I've been so busy with the holidays, the new year, a wedding, new job, etc....I just got extremely exhausted just by thinking about everything that has been going on!

As many of you already know, and could have easily figured it out...Brad & I are expecting baby #2!  We found out a few days before Christmas, really early on in our pregnancy, and decided to share the news on Christmas day with our friends and family.  A lot has happened since then and I am going to try to catch everyone up since I've even been too busy to post everything on Facebook! Now, anyone that knows me, understands just how big of a deal that is! LOL

I'll keep this 'introduction' short & sweet, as our little peanut is right now... be prepared to read about the behind the scenes details, the stories of motherhood, the trials of pregnancy, the battles of raising a two year old, the non-stop vomiting nights, the taco cravings, and the emotional outbreaks, as the Hughes grow by two feet!

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