Pictures!!!

Hello again! I apologize for the delay in posting. I really don't have a good excuse other than.......I'm just pregnant and STILL not feeling too good. The good news is I haven't lost any more weight (yay!), but I'm still throwing up everything I eat with the exception of what I eat right before bed. Oh well.....I'm half-way there now so I only have 20 more weeks of this!

Also, I thought since my last few posts have been mostly about me and the baby, I really needed to do one about Isaac and include some pics as well. He is still doing great and continues to tell everyone we are still naming his baby sister Spiderman! As for names, she still doesn't have an official name, but we both have agreed that we really like the name Layla so that will probably be her first name, we just have to come up with a middle name to go with it.

As for Isaac, here is my little guitar man. Everytime Daddy gets his guitar out, Isaac has to run and get his too. It is the cutest thing! He even tries to play and sing along with whatever tune Daddy happens to be singing.

This one was taken after school on the day they had their Easter egg hunt. Isaac was so excited to tell me that the Easter Bunny woke him up from his nap that day. He had a blast finding eggs and even played for them for about a week or so after Easter was over.

Isaac got to go to another egg hunt that weekend at church, which he also thoroughly enjoyed. This is my brown eyed boy before the hunt.


This is what the Easter Bunny brought Isaac

He is really in to Curious George these days so he was thrilled to get a movie with a bunch of George episodes on it. He also REALLY enjoyed the chocolate stuff he got, which I am happy to say, we are finally finished with! Chocolate + an almost 3 year old makes for a very interesting and wild combination!

This was after church in his Easter outfit

Isaac and Daddy

Family Shot
(apparently I didn't notice my dress falling off my shoulder at the time!)

Mommy and her sweet boy

We went to Carthage this past weekend to spend time with Grandma and as always, had a wonderful visit. It was way too short, but I hope to get back again very soon.

I have to share one last thing with you which is the latest Isaac funny. We were at Grandma's and she was telling Isaac how big my belly has gotten. Isaac says "Yeah, because my baby sister is growing in there." Then, Daddy decides to take it upon himself to ask Isaac how his baby sister is going to get out of Mommy's belly. I panicked when he said this, but Isaac's response eliminated all my worries. With a straight face, he simply said "Well, I guess God is going to fly in there and just flip her out!" I told Isaac, "Yes baby, that is exactly right!"

That's all for now, but I hope to not be so long before posting again, I promise!!

Boy or Girl???

Well, this past Friday, I had my appointment with the specialist for my ultrasound. The days and weeks leading up to this appointment filled me with much anxiety and anticipation, but Darren kept reminding me things would be ok and God would take care of us, no matter what the outcome. So, the news is.........everything looked completely fine and normal!! He said he saw a few remnants of the membrane they had spotted on the first ultrasound, but it was nothing to be concerned about and he didn't see any reason for me to come back to him. He though we would finish out the rest of the pregnancy with Dr. Mic and everything would be fine. I can't tell you how much relief this brought me!! Thank you all for your prayers and support. Also, they were able to tell us one other piece of important information. Baby Howard #2 is going to be a..................GIRL!!! We are so excited and thrilled that our little family will have a boy and a girl. As for me, I'm still throwing up everything, but my days aren't filled with quite as much nausea as they were. Guess by now I should know it's just something I need to get used to until September gets here and this baby girl makes her debut. We have been throwing around a couple of names, but we aren't decided on one yet. If you have any suggestions, please share!! Also, my Mom and Grandmother came to visit for the weekend and we all had a very good visit. We hadn't seen them since Christmas (I know, waaaaaaay too long!) and we had some long overdue catching up to do. We love you Grandma and Moms and hope to see you both again very soon!!

Also, Isaac has said some more funnies lately. He told my Mom he was having a baby brother and when she asked him what his name was going to be, he told her "Superman"! Then, she asked him what if the baby was a sister instead. His response was "I'm not having a baby sister at my house!" Guess we have some work to to before she gets here!

Lastly, I want to give a quick thank you to Mrs. Julianne. I got the sweetest card a couple of weeks ago and I just want you to know how much that meant to me. I was in a pretty low spot at that time and your note definitely lifted my spirits. Thank you again, it meant the world to me!!

Doctor Visit

So, we had another dr.'s visit this past Thursday and for the most part things went really well. Unfortunately, there is still no change with the nausea and vomiting, which I voiced my concerns over. Although he is aware of just how awful and miserable it is, for now, he said I'm still within the normal timeframe for all this sickness and for now, he's not that concerned about it. He told me to keep drinking the water all during the day like I've been doing, but to also try and add in some gatorade too and we would see how things are at my next visit. I'm still hoping and praying for this to pass, but at the same time, I'm realistic in the fact that I know the odds are not in my favor. Oh well, not much I can really do about that huh? Anyway, the rest of the visit was a little stressful for me. He told me that the ultrasound tech had noted a spot on the ultrasound and just for safety's sake, he wanted to send me to a specialist for a more detailed ultrasound. He said many times, spots like these go away on their own and cause no harm at all for the Mom or baby. He stressed to me that he wasn't really concerned about this, but just wanted to double-check things and he didn't want me to worry about it either. Well, that's easy for him to say! I'm trying not to get worked up over this because there's just no sense in worrying over something we really don't know a lot about just yet. Anyway, I go to the specialist on the 26th of this month and then back to the doc for my monthly visit in April. Please keep us all in your prayers that my visit and ultrasound go well and that the only thing they see is a happy, healthy little one bouncing around in there.

P.S. Just this past week, I have felt the first movements from this little one which is both exciting and comforting.

P.S.S. I have to tell you a couple of funnies that our child has said lately. First, he asked his teacher why the little girls in his class pooped all the time. She told him that they didn't and why did he say that and his response was, "Yes they do Ms. Cassie because when they go potty, they wipe every time!!" He also asked Ms. Cassie if he had a baby sister, what would her last name be. She told him it would be Howard, like his was and his response was "Well, if it's a boy, they better not name him Isaac because that's MY name!!"

Update Overdue

Okay, I know that once again, I'm behind on things. I meant to post long before now, but if you all knew how sick and puny I've been, you would totally understand! So, let me catch you up on things. Due to the insistence of my wonderful Mom and Dad, I ended up ordering the Nausea Watch I talked about in my last post. They both basically told me that I couldn't afford not to at least give it a try because after all, according to the reviews, it's the latest greatest thing. So I get the watch and for the first day or two, I really think this thing might work. I still got sick, but I thought it was because I was just overeating. Then I thought that maybe it might take a few days of wearing it for it to really kick in. It felt pretty weird to wear. Every time it would send one of those pulses, it felt like my hand was asleep. Well, turns out my high hopes came crashing down. Guess I'm one of the rare weird ones that it doesn't help. I still wear it sometimes, I guess because I feel obligated after spending so much money on it.

So, after another week of feeling lousy and puny, I called the doctor back to complain and see if there was anything they could give me. Dr. Mic's nurse said she would call me in some phenergan, but I didn't get too excited. I took this with Isaac too and it didn't help a bit, but I thought I would at least give it a shot. Well, I was right......again! It didn't help at all. I still threw everything up and then I couldn't hold my eyes open. Phenergan totally knocks me out, which completely takes it out as an option because #1, it doesn't work and #2, what good is a pill that doesn't work and just makes me sleepy?

So, I give it a few more days of being just completely miserable and last week, I thought I just can't do this anymore so I called the doctor back to see if there were any other options. After weighing myself and discovering I had lost another 2 pounds (which brings me to a grand total of 12 so far) I called the doctor, desperate for help. That was an ordeal in itself, but I finally got one of his nurses to call me back and she said she would call me in some zofran. This too was something I tried with Isaac that seemed to work, but only for a short time. Zofran is a drug that is typically used with cancer patients to help with the nausea while they are going through chemotherapy. Anyway, she called it in for me on Friday so I was hopeful that I would have a decent weekend. Guess what??? Once again, I was let down. I do think that the zofran has helped with the nausea some, which is definitely an improvement, but I still threw up everything I ate. I am really starting to get concerned now because after looking back at my pregnancy notes from Isaac, I was not this sick with him. Yes, I threw up all the time with him, but I managed to maintain my weight for the most part. I would gain a couple of pounds, then lose a couple and it was back and forth like that for practically the entire pregnancy. I did not lose a big lump sum of weight all at once like I have with this one. I go back to the doctor this Thursday and I am asking that you all please keep me and this little one in your prayers. I pray that everything is well with this pregnancy and that like Isaac, this will be a healthy happy baby.

On a lighter note, we went on February 22nd for my first ultrasound. The sonographer said everything looked really good and we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time too. She told us that I was actually measuring about a week ahead, but wasn't sure if Dr. Mic would change my due date or not. Guess we'll find that out on Thursday. We also go back on April 19th for another ultrasound and we should be able to tell what Baby Howard is at that point in time. We did get some pics of our little one and I'm so excited to share. Meet Baby Howard!!!

First Visit

Yesterday was my initial prenatal visit with Dr. Micetich in Jackson. Darren went with me and we actually had to take Isaac along too because Donny and Janet were heading out for Murfreesboro. Everything went really well and I now officially have a due date! It is September 5, which is weird because Isaac's due date was June 5. He said everything was looking good and I complained to him about my constant nausea and vomiting. In case you forgot, I had it the ENTIRE time I was pregnant with Isaac and since it's started again, I've braced myself for another 9 months of it. He didn't want to start me on any kind of medication just yet because he wants to give it a chance to maybe wear off by the end of this 1st trimester. If not, then we will look into meds. He did however recommend this cool gadget called a Nausea Watch. They had one there and let me try it during my visit. You wear it on your wrist like a watch and it sends light, electrical pulses that are supposed to trigger something in your brain to help settle the nausea. His nurse was going to put in an order with insurance to hopefully get me one. By the time we got home, there was a message on our phone from the company wanting me to call in regards to the order and to arrange for delivery. I just got off the phone with them and they are going to try and run it through my insurance. The out of pocket cost for this thing is $189 so if insurance doesn't pay, I'm out. That's just a little high for me, but hopefully insurance will at least cover some of the expense. Keep your fingers crossed! Anyway, I go back in 2 weeks for an ultrasound just to check the size and all and then go for another montly visit in 4 weeks. Please keep your fingers crossed and pray for me that this nausea and vomiting will go away! I've already lost 6 pounds, which I know is not good, but right now, that's about the best I can do. Until next time.....

Big News!!

January

I've had these pics loaded on here for awhile and just never sat down to actually finish the post, but I figured I better get to it so here it goes. Things here have been good lately, just COLD!! Isaac had a little bout with a cold, but seems to be doing well now and hope he continues to stay that way.

Some time back, Papa Murf and Mama Hope got Isaac a pair of John Deere boots, which he absolutely LOVES, but are still a little big for him to really wear. This is him modeling them one night for me before bed. Cuteness!!

Then, Isaac comes home from school one day and his face was stained with paint! Turns out his usual teacher wasn't there that day and the sub thought she was using washable paint, when in fact, it wasn't. Luckily, Daddy was able to get it off just fine in the shower that night.

As you probably know, we got a little snow a couple of weeks ago when it was so very cold for so many days in a row. Our office actually closed for the day so I was able to stay home with Isaac. I wasn't going to take him out in it because he had been croupy and sick. I didn't want to make him worse, but he had never seen snow before so we bundled up from head to toe and headed out for a short bit and I'm so glad that we did! He had such a good time driving his gator around, but we were only able to stay out 15-20 minutes. He has been asking for more snow ever since so I'm hoping we might get a little more this year so he can have some more fun!

These next pics are just some shots of my little man being silly. He is such a hoot!!

This past Sunday night, Papa Murf came for a visit because he had to be in Memphis the next morning for a speaking engagement. He brought Isaac all kinds of goodies that he and Mama Hope had gotten for him when they were in Gatlinburg recently. He got a Carhartt t-shirt, some Carhartt overalls, some John Deere overalls, and some pj's. They were all so cute and Isaac loves them all! He also brought Isaac a hat just one of the ones he wears sometimes during football season. Needless to say, Isaac loved the hat too and wore it for a big chunk of the evening!

We are supposed to be getting more bad weather tonight. I don't mind the snow, but I'm hoping the icy mess misses us. We have some more news to be sharing, but we'll save that for the next post so stay tuned!