22 weeks!

I am officially 22 weeks and this has been an exciting week for us with Nolan!  I feel as though I am "large and in charge" but I know I haven't seen anything yet!  Everyday I just have to laugh when I look at my growing belly and changing body, it's getting crazy!  Since it's winter, I've been wearing a lot of scarves, sweaters and coats so I have hidden my baby belly but this week has been a "coming out" week!  We went back to work (after 2 weeks off for Christmas) and my co-workers couldn't believe how much has changed and how my belly is growing!  The students are starting to notice and they have all been really sweet, some of the girls that I know well are really excited which is so neat!

I had a check-up with Dr. Newman this week and she was just so encouraging and said Nolan was looking great and things on my end were looking good too (weight gain, measurements, etc).  Everytime I have been to the dr. I have had an ultrasound!  That is so awesome, this weeks was really fast but it was still fun to see him for a minute and have Dr. Newman telling us what she was seeing!  I guess I could explain why I get ultrasounds all the time, it's two-fold (I love that term...):

#1 Because I have had 2 miscarriages, Dr. Newman has been WONDERFUL to reassure me that Nolan is growing and looking great.  Early on, she told me she would watch me closely in the beginning not because she had any fears about this baby but because she knew I would be nervous and she wanted to calm my fears as she could.  I really appreciate that about her and her staff's understanding that I was nervous.  Thankfully, I made it through that time with lots of prayer from friends and family and the peace of God which I cannot explain!

#2 At our "full anatomy scan" Nolan looked good but the ultrasound tech, Kim, saw that Nolan had a 2 vessel umbilical cord instead of 3 vessels.  When we met with Dr. Newman, she told us all the wonderful things that she saw from Kim's report and the pictures of Nolan looked good.  She said that Kim reported the 2 vessel cord and she will have to refer us to the high risk dr. to get a better look.  Dr. Newman presented this in a way that eased our minds, she said that she's had about 10 patients with this problem since she's been in practice (6 years) and all of them had no complications and delivered at full term.  We left there feeling not great (even though Dr. was really optimistic) and that night was kind of hard for me.  Note to self:  don't EVER, EVER google a problem you may have!!  Gray and I both did, I think Gray did more reading than me but we both decided we wouldn't do that again!   I went to work on Friday with a heavy heart but started feeling better about the situation as the day progressed.  I have had some great people praying for us and it has brought us so much comfort!  God is just really protecting our minds during this time!  We went to the high-risk and the Dr. seemed really fine with where Nolan was and said that he wanted to bring me back again to see how his heart was developing but he had no real concerns at that time!  (we went there in Dec.)  I say ALL that to say, I will keep getting ultrasounds everytime I go to the Dr. so that they can check my amniotic fluid and make sure Nolan is growing like he should.

Other big news this week, Gray felt Nolan move!  I have felt him move a lot more lately so the other night I felt Nolan kicking (or throwing!) and told Gray to feel my belly to see if he could feel it too!  He definitely did and has felt him a few more times since then!  Gray is loving it and I'm glad he can feel a little bit of what I'm feeling!  It is comforting to feel him move and I'm thankful to know he's moving....but it does feel a little weird at times - a good weird though!! :)

Here's my pic, 22 weeks pregnant and growing....

Even though I don't feel great about myself, I'm so thankful for this growing guy and can't wait to meet him in May!!!!