18 weeks and it's a....

BOY!!! 

jack hendrix neipling

another beautiful little boy!  we couldn't be more excited!!  our hearts are absolutely bursting with joy!  graham is soooo happy to have a baby brother.  which is completely opposite of what he wanted for so long.  before we got pregnant and at the beginning, he insisted that he was going to have a sister and wouldn't hear anything different but the last month or so he's been talking about wanting a baby brother because his friend at school, Paige, has a baby brother.  so i guess he hears about her baby brother all day.  well, he is now getting what he wants.  :)  when i picked him up yesterday and told him, he said, "mommy, i'm going to teach him soccer and how to play the wii!!  i'm going to keep him."  such a sweetheart.  he already talks about helping us feed him, change his diaper, give him a bath.  they are going to be the best of friends! 

*disclaimer:  there is a lot of rambling ahead.  don't say i didn't warn you but i'm in a hurry.  :)

so let me start with the beginning of my day yesteday. 

first thing in the morning was my monthly endocrinology appt.  great news there!  my thyroid levels are PERFECT so the dosage I am on is working exactly how it should be.  i am taking 88mcg during the week and 100mcg on the weekends.  that means instead of going every 4 weeks, i get to go every six weeks.  and YAY for not having to up my dosage.  Praise the good Lord!

next appt of the day was my monthly OB checkup.  as soon as i got there, i did the usual pee in the cup thing, weight thing, blood pressure and then nurse julie asked me when we wanted to go to radiology to find out the gender.  of course i said AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  before she called she said it would probably be next tuesday.  but when she called they said how about TODAY AT 1:15pm?  Hell to the yeah!  Sign me up!  and that was that.  :) 

i'm glad we were able to get in yesterday because i had an appt with Baby Views next Tuesday to find out.  and that appt was optional and not covered by insurance so we saved $150.00.  woooo hoooo.  I scheduled baby views because i didn't think we would get in so fast with radiology.  and believe me, i have been anxious and super ready to find out so i can start shopping and working on the nursery.  :)

Hendrix was moving like crazy during the ultrasound.  he was constantly kicking and boxing and stretching.  it was so much fun to watch.  when we had our 2d done with graham, he wasn't moving around a whole lot so getting to see hendrix move like crazy was really fun.  when we started the ultrasound, he was laying with his feet on the right side of my belly but soon enough, he did a somersault was was laying with his feet on my left side.  he's already a busy body just like his big brother.  he looks very healthy and everything looks as it should be.  we have a feeling that he's not going to be as tall as graham so he probably has inherited mine and mimi's short gene.  the sonographer said his legs are measuring a week behind.  not that he's going to be short but he will probably be average.  when we saw graham, she couldn't believe how long his legs were...and clearly this was not the case with hendrix.  but that's okay with me.  he is going to be just as handsome as his brother.  graham says so as well.  he told me that hendrix is going to be handsome just like him.  ha. 





stretching his leg out

we got to count 5 toes and 10 fingers...only 5 toes because we couldn't ever get a good count on the other foot cause it was moving so much.

 look at that beautiful profile.  looks like hendrix has his daddy's straight and sharp handsome nose.  graham has his mimi's little button nose.  :)

17 weeks

16 week belly shot

16 weeks-first belly shot

My angel baby

It's so hard to believe that this sweet boy will be four years old in less than a month. I am so proud and honored to be his mommy. He is so kind and sweet and loving...sometimes a stinker but he's so awesome for the most part.

it's moving

the past couple of nights, i thought i could feel the baby moving but then quickly thought that maybe it was just gas...because i must admit, i have been quite the gaseous creature these days...but today I drank a 20oz bottle of diet coke...i had to...i mean HAD TO...or work was NOT going to get accomplished...so after i downed the bottle, i knew FOR SURE it was definitely the baby moving, kicking, squirming, cracked out thanks to the caffeine.  such a comforting feeling to feel the baby moving. 

14 weeks with baby #2

here is our ultrasound pic at 10 weeks.  i forgot to post about my appt.  sorry.  blame it on pregnancy brain.  :)  my appt last month was pretty uneventful besides getting to see our precious kumquat on screen and seeing the little heart beating along.  we didn't hear the heart beat at that appt because it was too early.  i do have to say i was a little disappointed that we didn't get good ultrasound pictures...well, not as good as we did with graham.  but oh well.  at least there is a baby in there.  :)

i mentioned in my last post that i will see my endocrinologist ever four weeks.  when i saw her in july, she upped my synthroid dosage to .88mc. 

today, i had another appt with my endocrinologist and she upped my dosage to 100mc ONLY ON THE WEEKENDS.  during the week, i will continue taking .88mc.  i hope this isn't a continuing trend.  last month when i started taking .88, i felt REALLY bad for two weeks.  constant nausea.  hopefully it wont be so bad since i will only be taking 100mc on sat and sun. 

after my endo appt today, i went to my ob appt.  i got to hear the heartbeat.  YAY!!  the fetal heart rate was 155.  baby has a strong and LOUD heart beat so that calmed my nerves quite a bit.  i have been so nervous this entire pregnancy.  i guess because this time i am going through it with thyroid disease and that makes me a bit uneasy.  but as long as my endocrinologist and i stay on top of things, everything should be alright. 

let me just say right now that if i was as sick as i am now when i was pregnant with graham, he would be an only child.  ha. we are so thankful for the blessing that the Lord has given us but MAN, HAS IT BEEN ROUGH.  constant nausea, migraines like you wouldn't believe, severe constipation.  my oh my.  and i'm already having back pain. this child is already testing me. 

well, that's all i have for now. 

my next appt is aug. 30 and at that appt, my ob's nurse will schedule our ultrasound with radiology so we can find out the gender. 

everyone says girl....what do you think?