Updates

So I've been a horrible blogger. I can't promise I'll keep it up. Anyway I noticed the last time I posted was when we found out the gender of baby, waaaay back in October. A lot has changed since then.

We've bought a house in Coralville, which we LOVE! I can't believe how we managed to fit all of us into a tiny little condo/townhouse for 2 years, along with all of our stuff. I think everyone is enjoying the space. Plus its closer to the mall, Wal-Mart, Scott's work, everywhere we go. (It is about the same distance for me to go to work) But this drive has a lot less deer! I promise to sometime post pictures, but a. I'd want the house clean. ha. b. I wanted to decorate it all first too, but that's a slow process as I can't make up my mind as to what I want where.

We bought a new to us van. I LOVE it also. It has a dvd player which William LOVES. It's an 05, the payments are cheaper than our Impala, and it fits all of us. I've never cared about what kind of car I drive, as long as it's reliable and gets me around. It's not too shabby. :)

I'm 36 weeks pregnant. Woo woo! I've kept my weight gain a little more under control this time around. But I'm starting to show signs of pre-e. Which I'm really bummed about. Monday was my first midwife visit where I had slightly elevated bp, and I also have noticed I'm starting to swell. I'm hoping it's all just late pregnancy related, and I won't turn pre-e because that was not fun. I'm still working 40ish hours a week at Pizza Ranch. Otherwise Baby Girl is doing well. I can not wait to meet her! Her nursery is decorated, her clothes are washed and put away, my hospital bag contents are laid out but not completely packed. I'm not opposed to her coming a little early, as long as she's healthy.

And for a little fun. Here's a picture of me pregnant with Will at 37 Weeks and baby Girl at 35/36 weeks.

Baby Pearl

Baby Pearl is a girl!! Were beyond excited! :)

11 weeks

*Well tomorrow I'll have completed 11 weeks! yay!
*My morning sickness has gotten a little better. It's not every morning now. And I've learned if I eat something "heavy" before bed that I don't get sick in the a.m.
*So far I fluctuate between up or down 1 lb!
*With Will at 11 weeks I was about in maternity clothes and I believe up 15ish lbs!
*I still fit in my jeans :)
*My next midwife appointment is On September 8th!
*My energy comes and goes. But mostly goes.
*I think I can feel my uterus just about my pelvic bone :)
*No strong cravings, I attempt to watch what I eat.
*My stomach sticks out...I know it's not baby, it's bloat and my body getting ready. But I wouldn't say I'm showing yet.

March 18th

Our long awaited baby #2 is here!
Due around March 18th.
Dayzy and Chayse are excited and hoping for a girl.
William loves pointing to my belly...or anybody else's and saying 'Babeeee!"
I feel miserable and throw up almost every morning. (Hoping that's a good sign)
Today, Monday, I'm 9 weeks 1 day.
I feel like I'm already showing. My stomach has been sticking out since the end of week 7. It may be baby or it may just be bloating.
I gained 4lbs, but have since lost 2lbs.
My midwife put me on a strict diet because I'm "fluffy"
I walk 2 miles almost every day.
I eat 6 small meals a day and I'm constantly STARVING!
I refuse to gain 75 lbs with this baby like I did with Will.
Scott and I don't care what gender baby is at all. Some days I want a girl more and some days I want a boy because I already have everything.
William will be 2 1/2, Dayzy will be almost 9 and Chayse will be 7 when baby arrives.
As of now front runner name for baby if it's a girl is Charlotte Kay, no clue for a boy. We're open to any suggestions you folks have.
I can't help but still check how far along I would have been with last baby, but am so excited for this baby that the obsession doesn't make me sad.

Days gone by...

Here I am once again. Waaaaaay behind on blogging. I promise one of these days I'll get back into it.
Well from my previous post you all know that I'm now the General Manager of the Pizza Ranch. I love it so far! I actually thought it was going to be this huge headache and a lot of work, and in fact its not. But ask me in a few months when things start to break, etc. haha.

School starts soon for Dayzy and Chayse. Dayzy is going into 3rd grade already, and Chayse is in first. It's nice at the kids' school that Chayse will always have the same teacher that Dayzy had. That way the teacher already knows the family. So if Will would go to their school some day he would have the same teachers as them. They claim to not want to go back, but I think they'll be excited when they do. They are getting bored at home and with each other fast these days.

Will is as cute as ever and every day his personality gets bigger. He's latest love is Angry Birds. He cries for my phone and even has a specific sound he makes when he sees any poster/game/icon. He loves Barney and his Nani's (Bananas) He's still a little guy weight and height size, but I'm to too worried and we go back to the doctor sometime in September.

We haven't been doing much this summer. On sunny days we swim at Lake MacBride. Other days we shop or stay home. We wanted to go on vacation but Scott and I both are working lots of hours, and never decided on a place to go. Oh well. There's always next year right?

I'll update new pictures sometime again soon. I realized my banner has pictures from 6+ months ago!

New Job!

It's been a whirlwind of a few weeks here. My boss at the North Liberty Pizza Ranch came to me and said that out of the blue she was given an opportunity to move on to a different restaurant. She went through her interview process and told me that if she would get the job she would love for me to take over as General Manager.

I debated back and forth if I wanted all the responsibility and if I thought it was a right fit for me. I was planning on having another baby whenever the good Lord blessed me with one, and then was going to start looking for a career.

She was offered the job a mere 2 weeks or so after the opportunity for her arose. I set my demands and they were all accepted by the owner! So I took the job promotion at the Pizza Ranch. I'm so excited!

So now begins the training on the few things I don't know how to do. Did I saw how excited I am?! I love Pizza Ranch.

It's where I had my first job at 14.
It's where I met my husband.
It's where I've met amazing friends as workers and guests.
It's whats been feeding my belly for the last 12 years ;)

AHHHH!!!!

Blighted Ovum

**I've debated about writing this post for a few days now. I'm really not all about broadcasting my personal business out there for all to read. But writing about it has helped me heal along the way, and my hope is that somehow someone will google and as a result get this post and that it will help them.**

Scott and I found out April 21st that I was pregnant! We were very excited! We had been trying for awhile now (around 6 months). William happened the first month we started trying!

I was tired, but had very few other symptoms. I thought I was lucky to have no morning sickness!
We had told a few people that we were expecting. I cut out my Diet Coke and started trying to eat a lot healthier! ( I don't want to gain another 75lbs with a pregnancy.) All was going well. We decided that after my first appointment we would tell people at work and the rest of the family. I would be 7 weeks and a few days. The baby's due date was December 29th. Which was perfect! It's when I roll into my 3rd year of work, so I could squish 2 weeks of vacation from the 2nd and 3rd year back to back to help with maternity leave. Not to mention, Scott already had met a lot of our deductible and the hospital this year, and the tax return in a few months would be nice!

The appointment was on Monday. Saturday I started spotting. I freaked out a little bit but it was minimal and stopped. Sunday it started up again. It was a lot more and I was clotting. But I had no cramps and I called the OB department. They said if it wasn't too much and I had no cramps that I wouldn't need to come in, and since I had my appointment tomorrow it would be ok if nothing changed. I was at work, and called someone in to cover me and left to go home and rest.

Monday the cramps started. I go in and explain that I'm almost positive I'm miscarrying. After checking my cervix it was open and they confirmed I was. They sent me to get an ultra sound to just double check and to make sure it wasn't an ectopic (outside of the uterus) pregnancy. It wasn't. It was a blighted Ovum. Meaning that when the cells split, the gestational sac and placenta developed, but no baby did. Hormones were released and that is why I got a positive pregnancy test. No baby was formed most likely because something didn't match up with the chromosomes. It's amazing how smart our bodies are!

I now had the options of continuing to miscarry at home, to take meds to help me with it, or to have a D&C. I was very uneducated on the subject. My Midwife was a little concerned at how much I was bleeding so I chose the D&C. They procedure happened the same day and only took about 30 mins start to finish! I highly recommend it. The pain was gone right after the procedure and I think it's helped me with the process of dealing with the whole situation (To have it done and not prolonged). I keep telling Scott that it's crazy a week ago I was pregnant, and none the wiser, and now I'm not pregnant and it's just weird!

So while Scott and I are sad, because the baby would have been at a good time for us, we know that God's timing will be better. Knowing that a baby never formed has helped me deal with the fact that I didn't lose a baby, but I did lose the thought of one. I go on knowing that if I carried this baby, that I would not be carrying the next baby, the one we hopefully will get to hold in our arms someday. I also am thankful for my Will, who has been climbing all over me as I'm trying to type this. That I was blessed with him. Hopefully in a few months we'll get to share good news of a baby joining the Pearl household! :) Thanks for reading. And a very special Thanks to those that supported Scott and I during this time. We appreciate it and you mean the world to us!