Morgan's Birthday

Yesterday we went downtown to celebrate Morgan's birthday...soon to be Aunt Morgan!  We went to an awesome tapas restaurant called Ba Ba Reeba, and then got to check out her new apartment.  The view from her deck is amazing!  We had a great time, and are glad to be so close to her now!

Trip to Ohio

I love seeing good friends!  Matt and I got in a quick trip to Ohio for our friends' wedding.  We were sad to leave early because of a training I had to be at the next day, but loved being with everyone all the same!  

We are so looking forward to the rest of the weddings we will be attending this year...and hope that baby Parker lets us get to them all safely and comfortably (HA!).  
We loved getting to talk about him, and catch up with so many amazing people!

Registry Woes

I have a definite love-hate relationship with registries.  I love that they ensure that you are receiving gifts that you really need/want, but hate that they have a certain greed to them. I don't really enjoy asking others to buy me things! Aside from that, though, they are just plain hard to create!  Things for wedding registries are easy...you go to a store and pick out things that you like and want for your home.  Baby registries are a whole different ball game!  You have to focus on safety ratings, comfort, necessities, all while hoping you can find something that isn't hideous.  

After asking around, my brother-in-law recommended we look at "Baby Bargains" by Denise & Alan Fields.  They are a couple that take no bribes from companies, and give ratings based on recalls, reviews from parents, and personal experience.  This book was a serious God send.  They present "good, better, best" recommendations on products depending on your budget.  I highly recommend trying this book- at least if you are like me, who had no clue where to even start.

We also decided to go mainly with Amazon.com --we found that prices were so much cheaper than stores for people, and you don't pay sales tax!  For those of our relatives that don't shop online, we tried to put a few things on a Babies R' Us registry, but to be honest, that was hard to do, because an item that would be $35 on Amazon was $50 at BRU.  

Babies sure need a lot of "stuff!"

Week 19 Specialist Visit

July 6, 2012-- Our specialist appointment arrived--and I am so thankful Matt could be there with me.  It was obvious that everyone in that office was worrying about something similar-- it was quite a nerve-wracking environment.  After almost an hour of waiting, the ultrasound technician took us back and began.  We got to see our little guy playing with his umbilical cord, and sucking his thumb--images I will always cherish.  She measured him again, body part by body part, specifically looking for anything that could represent an anomaly or marker for DS.  She said he looked perfectly healthy and she saw no issues.  Woohoo!! Now, for the doctor's turn!  She came in, and re-measured him, and assured us that she did not see anything that looked problematic.  She said that his chances of DS were still higher than an average baby ( 1 in 400 instead of 1 in 800), but that she has never seen a baby with perfect measurements (and the bright spot as the only marker) be born with it.

We were so relieved!  But regardless of all the details, we will love our little boy no matter what.

Baby Preis is a....

June 23, 2012-- Gender/Anatomy Ultrasound Day!  This was Matt's first time getting to "see" baby!  We got to watch the technician (who was much nicer and more social than our tech from Ohio) measure baby, who just could not stop moving around.  She told us that he is, without a doubt, a little BOY!  I was teary-eyed and happy just to know, and Matt was so so so excited that we would have a little guy to carry on the family name.  We loved every second of getting to see him!

When we met with the OB, though, the ultrasound showed a bright spot on baby boy's heart and they had poor visibility of his heart vessels --presumably due to him moving all around.  It felt like we couldn't have an appointment without some new worry.  The doctor told us that 99% of the time, if the spot is by itself, then everything would be perfectly normal.  However, if paired with other issues, it could be a marker for Down Syndrome.  After being so excited minutes before, this was a huge blow.  Again, we would have to wait 2 weeks to let Baby Boy grow before we could see a fetal/maternal specialist to do a more in depth ultrasound.  

Moving Weekend

In September 2011, Matt and I made a huge, life changing decision that will hopefully bring us a lot of growth in the future.  Matt accepted a new job, moving us from Kentucky to Chicago.  The problem was that I had already begun a school year in Kentucky, in a new position!  I did not feel right professionally or personally breaking my contract for the year and making such an inconvenience for a school that had become my family.  In addition, I probably wouldn't have been able to find a job yet in Chicago, so it seemed even more foolish to leave.

So, on October 26th, Matt moved to Chicago without me, and we began the most difficult seven months of our relationship to date.  We had done long distance before when we dated in college, but never with two careers, a dog, a cat, a five hour drive, a pending masters degree, and eventually a pregnancy.  Luckily the winter was very mild, allowing us to see each other without the danger of feet of snow!  I also am forever grateful for understanding colleagues and an unbeatable principal, for being flexible and supportive!

After many Skype dates, a few Megabus trips, and lots of phone calls, the end of the school year finally arrived in such a bitter-sweet way.  I would finally be reunited with my husband (and pets!) and it was summer summer summer!  But we were moving away from a lot of people that we really care about...not to mention all of the endless packing and cleaning that accompanies moving.  Kudos to my awesome husband for that-- pregnancy doesn't really mesh well with moving.

On moving weekend, which was memorial weekend, we went with a U-Haul truck and two awesome Two Men and a Truck guys to help us move.  In hindsight, we will pay people to do the whole thing for us next time.  Our apartment, which we thought we had cleared out pretty well, seemed like a never-ending pit of stuff.  We ended up giving a few shelves and things to one of the movers-- otherwise, our U-Haul would have been too small.

I took off with Chase puppy and Matt followed with the U-Haul.  It was 97 degrees outside, and we were ready to be done! Matt got about 15 miles away from Kentucky when the truck overheated.  The U-Haul guys told him to sit and wait in the truck and let it cool down while they contacted a service tech to come help or brought him a new truck to transfer our whole apartment into-- yikes.   Two hours later, after a lot of sweat and frustration, Matt still hadn't heard from U-Haul.  When he called, they told him they couldn't find any service people because of the holiday and to keep waiting.  Matt hung up, ignored them, and started driving, praying that the truck would make it.  Somehow, the truck had no more problems, and U-Haul got an earful the next day.  

Finally, we are back together in the same city, with no more long distance to do alone.  Yay!

1st Trimester Recap: Ultrasounds and Worries

They moment you find out you are pregnant, the worrying begins --and from what I have heard, lasts for pretty much the rest of your life.  We have had a few situations both in the 1st and 2nd trimesters that were worrisome, and confusing!

April 9, 2012-- I had my first OB appointment, at what I thought was around 9 weeks pregnant.  I was feeling a little nauseous, but with only 3 weeks left in the trimester, I believed I was luckily getting by without too many symptoms.  The doc couldn't find baby's heartbeat with the doppler, which is fairly common (but still disappointing), so I scheduled an ultrasound for that afternoon. That is where the surprises began--and mind you, hubby couldn't be there.  

• Surprise number 1: the baby was not even close to 9 weeks along, and was, in fact, about 6 weeks 5 days!  Even though my baby had a heart beat and was looking good as far as they could tell, it is still disappointing to be set back almost 3 weeks, and realize that a whole lot could change before the trimester would be over. I was lucky enough to get to Skype with hubby for this ultrasound -which the tech, who was rather unsocial, wasn't too excited about.

• Surprise number 2: I got a phone call the next day with "ultrasound results" which immediately sent up a red flag to me.  I was under the impression that anything good, bad, or otherwise would be discussed with me AT the ultrasound.  The nurse began with "You do have a viable baby, BUT..."  ---NEVER how you want someone to start a sentence.  She said I had unusual uterine tissue...but could not tell me anything else other than that I would need another ultrasound in 2 weeks to look into the issue further. AH!  That was a long time to wonder if my baby was alive, healthy, in a safe environment, etc.

April 24, 2012-- After what seemed like forever, the 2nd ultrasound date finally arrived.  Again, with the long distance, Matt couldn't be there.  The ultrasound technician shared with me that the doctor thought that my placenta was bunched on one side in the previous ultrasound, but appeared to have righted itself and looked normal - THANK GOD! When I asked her what it would have meant had the placenta stayed bunched, and she said it was best to not even think about it.  AH again!  After she said everything looked good, I just focused in on my little one wiggling and moving around, which surprised me for some reason, since in the last ultrasound, he was too small to be moving.  I definitely tried to secretly video this to send to hubby--which the tech was not thrilled about.  HOW do they expect you to go home without it recorded????



I had two more appointments in May, where we got to hear and record the baby's heartbeat.  For the time being, we were more relaxed, and thankful for our little guy's health.  Next up: moving day! So awesome! 

 

1st Trimester Recap: Symptoms and Daily Life

I have heard that some things in pregnancy tend to be genetic, and others don't...it would definitely be safer to assume that predicting how your pregnancy will go is impossible.  For example, my mom, "Nona," got tired during pregnancy the same way I did.  Let's be honest...the word tired just doesn't quite cut it.  This is the kind of tired that rivals any hangover, all-nighter, etc. without contest.  This is the kind of tired that makes you forget your work ethic, morals, or general safety, and makes you want to go sleep in the closet at work, or pull over and nap on the side of the road.  

On the other hand, "Nona" never got sick during pregnancy--so I said "this is awesome, I won't get sick since my mom didn't!" --just about 2 seconds after that came out of my mouth, the morning all-day sickness hit.  This was the only time that long distance with Matt was beneficial--I could go home, curl in a ball, and have no wife/teacher/person responsibilities.  I tried crackers, ginger, water, taking prenatals at night, etc.  Nothing really made it go away.  The only thing that was necessary was eating something within 30 minutes of waking up...otherwise, I was horribly sick for the rest of the day.  My morning all-day sickness lasted until about week 13-14.

**Product review-- I tried the Acupressure Wrist Bands-- they put pressure on points in your wrists to relieve nausea...they did not work for me!  To be honest, though, I didn't try them to the fullest extent that I should have.  The nausea did not go away at all, and in addition to the nausea, I had deep indents on my wrists where the pressure points were.  As a teacher, with very nosy, curious students (& teachers :) ), I didn't want to be answering questions about the bands on my wrists, or the marks if I took them off.  I was still in the stage of keeping Baby Preis a secret.  So, if you are nauseous, give them a try, but stick with cheap ones in case they don't work.

Daddy Feels 1st Kicks!

I have been feeling baby's kicks for several weeks now, stronger each week (...could do without those bladder kicks :) ).  We have also had 4 nurses/doctors comment on how active our little guy is every time we do an ultrasound or doppler-- he is constantly moving!  That being said, Matt couldn't feel them from the outside!  Every day he got more frustrated-- it almost seemed like Parker would stop whenever Daddy's hand got close.  Finally, tonight, he got to feel his first kick, after several minutes of waiting patiently. The smile on his face was something  I will never forget and always hold close! We are so anxious to meet our little boy, but love every new milestone we hit as a family.  

1st Trimester Recap: Is that another line!??

March 16, 2012 --

First of all, I have to say, THANK GOD for the digital tests :) This girl is way too impatient for the 2 pink lines to do their thing. 

Finding out about our baby couldn't have gone better.  Matt and I were in our 5th month of long distance from Kentucky to Chicago, and only getting to see one another every other, or every 3rd weekend. After a week of negative "pink line" tests, I finally got to be in Chicago to celebrate my birthday.  I decided to take an extra day off of work to be able to travel to see hubby a night earlier--after all, I had been feeling super crazy tired, and I figured time with him was a great birthday present for myself.  

Friday morning rolls around, and I get up early to see Matt off to work, and get ready to babysit my cute niece.  I decide to take another test just for the heck of it.  This time, though, in the right light, it looked like their might be the faintest of faint 2nd line.  I started yelling for Matt, who came in and looked, and also saw the almost invisible line-- which was good, because I was seriously feeling like it could have all been in my head.  

Obviously, my next step is to get on Google and try to figure out how to read a "maybe" test.  Google very clearly told me that you can't be kind of pregnant, and that even faint lines are considered positive!

After hubby went to work, I decided to try a digital test.  That one immediately came up "Pregnant" --and so the celebrating and complete shock began. 

Welcome!

In an effort to NOT bombard Facebook with ultrasound & baby photos, cute clothes, items that we have purchased, or the thousand and one inevitably cute things our little guy does or will do before and after he arrives, The Preis Family blog was born.  My hope is that it will keep our far-away family and friends up to date, and serve as a digital scrap book for us!