Keeping in Teutsch

Pregnancy Update: WEEK 16
Size of baby: comparable in size to an avocado; 4.6 inches long and weighs 3.5 oz.
Maternity Clothes: pants, yes; wearing a mix of maternity shirts and regular shirts
Weight Gain: 8 lbs. 
Movement: still some of those "phantom" butterflies occasionally, but nothing that I can say with certainty is the baby moving (I started feeling Juliette moving around week 16, so I'm hoping any day now those phantom kicks turn into real ones)
Sleep: still sleeping well, thankfully
Symptoms: occasionally tired, but nothing like I felt while in the first trimester on Prometrium; I am hungrier now, but eating mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks helps curb the desire to stuff my face; have had some round ligament pain (basically pain from my uterus growing), but thankfully it's only been a couple of times; baby keeps hanging out on the right side and pinching a nerve, so I've had a few days where my right thigh has been killing me; I severely dislike the oily skin; and my hair has been oilier (my shampoo doesn't appear to "work" some days on it...it's weird...I never had that happen with Juliette)
Cravings: Nothing really...most everything that I would normally eat sounds good!
Best Moment of the Month: making it into the second trimester, hearing the heartbeat again, and hearing the baby kicking at the doppler wand at my appointment today--sounded like thuds. We WERE counting down the days until we find out whether it's a boy or girl (27 days until 20 week ultrasound), but when I went to the doctor today, she asked if I was going to find out the sex at this appointment and I was like "what are you talking about? I'm only 16 weeks." She said, "You can find out today...you just have to pay a $50 fee. And we still do the normal 20 week ultrasound at your next visit to get all the measurements." I was so bummed. I didn't have Matt and Juliette with me because they hadn't told me I could do this at 16 weeks, so I had to refuse. I had already been thinking about going to an elective ultrasound place later in the pregnancy to get some good pictures, but now we are going Friday afternoon to find out the sex of the baby!! (This place has all kinds of packages but we are just getting the basic "hamburger or hotdog gender reveal package" and it's just $15 more than our doctor's office would have charged.) Now, instead of 27 days, it's 3 days. SO exciting! (And, just in case you're skeptical, this place is the only one in town--there are multiple ones--that only hires medically-certified sonographers and if they aren't 100 percent sure of the sex of the baby--or the baby is being modest--you get to come back for free later for them to try again. Also I've only read good reviews about them online and didn't see any in which people were told they were having a girl when it was a boy, or vice versa. And, obviously, I'll get a second confirmation at my 20 week ultrasound, and although I might start buying a few things, I won't buy anything that can't be returned should they be completely wrong--which I really doubt will be the case since technology has come so far now days.)

Check back Friday evening for some ultrasound pics and the big news of whether Matt's going to be outnumbered in this house or we get to level the hormones out around here! :)

Then for Easter weekend, it was our year to go to my parents. Since the other kids weren't going to be there on Easter Sunday (but were there on Friday), we hunted eggs that day that my sister had filled. All the kids had overflowing baskets (and can I say, my sister hooked us up with some awesome candy in those eggs...oh, and some money too!).



Here is Juliette's Easter basket. It's kinda hard to see what is in it, but she got a movie, a CD, some candy, a nightgown, and other things I can't remember now that it has been almost two months since Easter.


 And Easter Sunday wouldn't be complete without a family picture before church that Sunday, complete with an overturned play house in the background. (The girls had been playing "tornado"...I guess they were working on conquering their fears.) We didn't notice it was behind us when we hurriedly sat down on the swing and said, "Quick, take our picture before we leave for church." Easter Sunday Picture Fail.

Every few weeks I'll be doing pregnancy updates, complete with a picture. However, the picture we took for 8 weeks was rushed and no good since we were walking out the door, so I deleted it with intentions to take another one during that week, and then I forgot. And then week 9 went by and I forgot to take a picture that week as well, so there is no picture for this first update; however, there is one for week 12 which is below. I do have a week 4 picture, though...or a "before" pic:



Pregnancy Update: WEEK 9
Size of baby: comparable in size to a green olive; .9 inches long (almost an inch!) and weighs .07 oz.
Maternity Clothes: not really (just wearing one pair of jeans occasionally that has a small elastic band because I only have one other pair of jeans that fits, although they are probably about to be sent to the back of the closet; oh, and I wore a maternity shirt for Easter because of its color)
Weight Gain: 3 lbs. (which is really good for me, because by this point in my pregnancy with Juliette I had gained at least 7 lbs or more; of course, I started out that pregnancy weighing 15 lbs. less than I did this one, so I'm trying really hard to not gain too much)
Movement: Not yet, but I can't wait! That was one of my favorite things about being pregnant with Juliette. I am feeling phantom movements (like those early butterfly-like movements) but I KNOW it's not the baby because they have been in the top of my stomach, and I know the baby is no where near there yet.
Sleep: Sleeping good, except I have to make a trip to the bathroom every single night/morning around 4 am.
Symptoms: Tired--some days are better than others; nausea--it kicked in around 6 weeks and I've had waves of nausea all day, every day. With Juliette, I just felt a little sick in the mornings, ate some crackers, and then I was fine. That doesn't work for this one. There have been some times where I have felt nauseous and have been starving at the same time...it's a very odd feeling.
Cravings: Nothing really, except plain, bland food.
Best Moment of the Month: seeing the baby on an ultrasound and seeing its heart beating (158 bpm)



Pregnancy Update: WEEK 12

Size of baby: comparable in size to a plum; 2.1 inches long; weighs .49 oz.
Maternity Clothes: I started wearing them around the 10 week mark...much more comfortable! The last pair of pre-pregnancy jeans have been sent to the back of the closet.
Weight Gain (since pre-pregnancy, not since last update): 5 lbs. All the books say that "normal" weight gain is 3-5 lbs. in your first trimester and approximately 1 lb. a week after that for a total of around 25-35 lbs. I can't believe I'm finishing the first trimester in "normal" range. (My overall weight might not be in normal range, but I'll take the small accomplishments I can when it comes to my weight!)
Movement: I sometimes "think" I feel flutters (in the right area this time). I didn't feel Juliette until I was 16 weeks, but I've read that when it's your second pregnancy (or more) you will often recognize the movement sooner. I don't know if these are real movements are not...I'm going to pretend they are.
Sleep: Still sleeping good and haven't really missed sleeping on my stomach. The middle-of-the-night trips to the bathroom have eased up (which they say is normal for around the start of the second trimester since your uterus has moved up some and the baby isn't big enough to use your bladder as a kickball yet).
Symptoms: Still incredibly tired. Only have to take my progesterone pill for the rest of this week, and I am SO hoping the extreme tiredness goes away once I'm done with them. The nausea is mostly gone--it left around 10 weeks...yay! Now, I'm just starving all the time!
Cravings: Not really having any cravings...just been wanting comfort food still. If I had to pinpoint one thing, though, that sounds good pretty much at any time of day, it's a BLT from Sonic (or technically, a BLC--no tomatoes, add cheese).
Best Moment of the Month: Hearing the heartbeat at my 12 week check-up. Juliette had to come with me since school was out yesterday and Matt had to take the oral part of his comprehensive exams (he passed...YAY!). At first the doctor was having a little trouble finding the heartbeat, which can be typical when they are still really small, but she finally found it (whew!) and it was 164 bpm. I'd been praying that the visit would go well since I had Juliette with me. (After Juliette heard the heartbeat and the doctor was about to leave the room, Juliette told her "I prayed for us to have a baby." And the doctor said, "Your prayers were answered, weren't they?" It was really sweet.)
Funny things Juliette has said or done in regards to my pregnancy:  The night we told her we were having a baby she said to me, "So, you and Daddy are my boss, but I can be the baby's boss!" She wasn't too happy to learn that wasn't going to be the case. She now says she's going to be a "helper boss" (meaning she gets to help me and WAY down the road when she and the baby--much older child by then--are left home alone, she gets to be the boss).

A few weeks ago, I told Juliette all about breastfeeding...to prepare her in case I decide to breastfeed. (I couldn't breastfeed her, and I'm undecided what I'm going to do with this one.) Anyway, after having to give way too many uncomfortable details, Juliette was appalled at the whole thing and kept saying, "What? Gross!!" I just had to laugh.

Also, what she has found to be gross...peeing in a cup. Since I had to take her to the doctor with me yesterday, she's learning all kinds of things! She was almost equally appalled about the peeing in the cup as she was the breastfeeding. While we were in the bathroom at the doctor's office, she asked me in a whisper, "Does the nurse know your pregnant?"


I've got some blogging I need to catch up on...stuff like Easter, t-ball, and more. So, check back soon for all that stuff, and then every month I'll be giving a pregnancy update (and patiently waiting until June 25th when we are scheduled to find out whether it's a boy or a girl). 

If you've been reading my blog regularly (or as regularly as I post, which is not very regularly), then you know that we've been trying to get pregnant since last summer. I had a horrible doctor's visit in October, swore off doctors for a few months, made an appointment for a visit in January to a new doctor (a female one this time), and then at the last minute felt led by God to cancel it and wait a little longer. I made a new one for March 12th and felt very at peace about it.

In February, Juliette, on her own accord, started praying consistently every night (and oftentimes at meal times too) for "God to put a baby in mommy's tummy." We had not talked about having problems getting pregnant in front of her...she just decided she was ready for a little sister or brother and she needed to pray about it.

On March 5th, after suspecting that I might be pregnant (because I had been feeling some implantation aches and just felt a little "off"), I took a pregnancy test that morning...one of the ones with words.


However, March 5th was also the day that Matt had to take his last comprehensive exam, so I didn't want to tell him that morning in case it distracted him from his test. I went to work and kept my little secret all day long...longest work day ever! As soon as Matt walked in the door from his test (around 5:15), I pulled him into the bathroom to show him the pregnancy test that I had saved from that morning. He got all excited and wanted to tell Juliette right away, but I wanted to wait until I was further along. He overruled me and said it would be too hard to live in the same house with her and not talk about it, so Matt told her. At first she didn't believe him (because he is always joking with her), but once I told her it was true, she started jumping up and down, and asking a bazillion questions. (Seriously, even after I put her to bed that night, she got up and came and asked me more questions--one being, "How do you know it's coming out in November?") Juliette at one point did say, "My wish came true!" to which I replied, "Prayers aren't wishes. God answered your prayer." She said, "That was fast!" And I said, "It sure was," thinking to myself, if only all prayers were answered that fast! Obviously, my same prayer took longer than a month to answer! It was so great, though, to see God answer her prayer in such a tangible way.

My mom had also been praying for my body to "act normally," and I can not tell you how excited I was to see my cycles becoming more regular and to be able to conceive this baby naturally without medication. I have never been "normal" in that area, and it thrilled me!

God has shown me time and time again (through getting pregnant with Juliette; finding my job at UL; etc.) that his timing is the perfect timing, and once again, he showed up! And, it is 100 percent his doing, because, like I said, I wasn't taking any medications to control my cycle or control my ovulation date (which would have possibly put me in control of my due date). Our due date is November 13th. Since I'll be having a repeat c-section, the baby will be born the week before. I will have 6 weeks of sick leave accrued by then. When you add the 6 weeks, plus the 2 days we have for Thanksgiving holidays, it takes me right up to the 2 weeks the university is closed for Christmas, allowing me 8 weeks at home. Talk about perfect planning! I could only dream of it working out like that!

Since I had the March 12th appointment already with the new doctor, when I called, they told me to keep it, so I went in and had some blood work done (to confirm the pregnancy and check my progesterone levels). My progesterone was low, which wasn't a problem I had with Juliette (but I had been taking progesterone on and off for over a year when I got pregnant with her so that's probably why), so they prescribed me Prometrium (progesterone) and told me that it was a possibility I might miscarry if my progesterone levels didn't increase. I was told to come back in 5 days for more blood work. (This was all God too because normally the doctor would not have seen me until 8 weeks, which might have been too late.) Those 5 days drug by (literally and physically, the Prometrium makes you even more tired than normal first trimester tiredness) and I was incredibly nervous. I prayed a lot, and Dr. Google helped calm my fears when I realized that low progesterone in the first trimester is quite common for a lot of women. The blood work came back great, and since then, I've had an ultrasound and the baby looks good and has a strong heartbeat.

Picture is upside down so that you can see the baby right side up!

I'm giving God the glory and thanking Him for all the answered prayers and this incredible miracle of life! I can't wait to share this pregnancy with you through my blog...we are so excited and feel incredibly blessed!

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him." - 1 Samuel 1:27

Well, it's a good thing one of my New Year's Resolutions wasn't "blogging more," as I would have already failed on that one! Here are just some random bullets to update you of what we've been up to:

* We've been doing pretty good at eating less processed food. We're spending more on groceries, but I feel it's worth it. I've grown quite the vocabulary just in the last month or two regarding things like coconut oil and sucanat (never knew those existed!). If you are interested in reading more about cutting out processed foods, the blog that I have found to have the best information is 100 Days of Real Food. We didn't take the challenge and haven't completely given up all processed food (because I really feel the strictness of that would be incredibly stressful, especially since some things they recommend cooking with are hard to find in our town and are quite expensive for someone on a grad school budget.)

* I'm obsessed with these granola bars. I add mini chocolate chips and walnuts to them. (I know mini chocolate chips aren't "unprocessed food," but it's only 1 cup spread between 15 bars, so I don't feel guilty about having one a day for breakfast.)

* I've tried, really tried to cook some things without sugar (using only natural sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup) and it works for some things (like banana bread and those granola bars), but two things have been major failures: whole wheat blueberry muffins and whole wheat brownies. The whole wheat part of them is not the problem...they were horrible because they were just not sweet enough. I threw the muffins away after Juliette ate one and declared it "nasty" and I forced myself to eat one. However, because I didn't want to throw another thing away after cooking it, I decided to take one for the team and buy a small container of regular ice cream to eat with the brownies, which masks the taste of them. Haha! (I know I totally ruined the healthiness of those by doing that.)

* I wanted to share some links to some recipes I've tried recently (these aren't fancy organic recipes or anything like that...just regular recipes. Like I said, we haven't cut out ALL processed foods): French Dip Sammies (Matt's absolute favorite...I've NEVER had him rave over something I've cooked before like he did over these. A few things to note: I didn't use beer and it didn't affect the tenderness...I just added more beef stock and water. Also, we used provolone cheese instead of cheddar, and don't skip the au jus sauce...that's what makes it so good! We're actually having these again tonight. To make it even better, cut up potatoes, toss in olive oil and sea salt, and bake them to make homemade french fries. (And then dip them in the au jus sauce too!)
           The other week, I was craving some homemade vegetable soup, but being not the greatest cook, I wasn't comfortable just throwing things in the pot and crossing my fingers that it would be good. I found this recipe, though, and decided to give it a try. However, I ended up deciding at the end not to put the ground beef in it, and it was WONDERFUL with corn bread! (Man, I'm starting to get hungry writing this.) Anyway, the next time I make it I'm going to add other vegetables now that I know how it is going to turn out. And I really think the "secret ingredient" gave it a little richer flavor, but it wasn't spicy.

* Last year I had the flu on Valentine's Day and it was probably one of the worst ones I've ever had. I had asked for a box of chocolates and nothing else from Matt, and he ended up getting me a gift card to Sonic because "you can get chocolate from there" (I'm totally throwing him under the bus here!). Anyway, I didn't have the flu this year and I finally got my box of chocolates. (Thank you, Matt!) However, in the past, we've never gotten Juliette anything for Valentine's Day because she always got stuff from daycare and school, and up until this point, she never realized we weren't getting her anything. That all changed this year. She asked where her card was when Matt and I exchanged cards and I told her we didn't get her one because she was going to get a bunch at school. Yesterday, an entire week and a half after Valentine's Day, Juliette burst into tears because we didn't get her a card. So, I felt super guilty and hurriedly made her a homemade card and promised her she could get some clothes for her chipmunk from Build A Bear (I had a coupon!). Twenty-six dollars later, I've learned my lesson. Never again will we not get her a Valentine's Day card and chocolate! (I could have saved twenty bucks if I would have just realized that she was at the age to question us...and that she is clearly my child, because I would have done the same thing!)

* Our church is doing Rick Warren's 40 Days in the Word and it has been great so far. We're in a great small group for it and it is helping us to get into the habit of being in the Word more. When I made my New Year's Resolutions, I didn't realize we'd be doing this, so it worked out great. (I've also been reading Bible stories to Juliette every night, so we're doing good on that part too.)

* I tried to give up Diet Cokes one day. I made it to lunch time and had a pounding headache from the caffeine withdrawal, so I gave in to the Diet Coke. I've yet to try again, although there have been a few days where I have replaced my third Diet Coke of the day with water. I need to do that consistently and then work on replacing the second one before I give up the morning one.

* A week and a half before Mardi Gras we went to a parade where it was 30ish degrees outside and we were freezing. On Mardi Gras Day, we were burning up and I got a sunburn from being outside less than 2 hours. Only in Louisiana...although, I have to say, I've been REALLY enjoying this non-winter weather.

* After Christmas I redecorated Juliette's bedroom. It's still not finished. I just cannot get motivated to go outside and spray paint the few things I need to (possibly because the wind has been crazy, and it's been raining quite a bit). I also need to finish sewing something and haven't gotten around to that either, and it doesn't look like it's happening this weekend either.

* Juliette's been praying for God to "put a baby in my belly"...all on her own prompting. (We haven't really talked about it in front of her.) Last night, she also prayed for God to give her a "good heart." It was so sweet!

Well, that's about it from me. I need to go check on the meat in the crock pot and switch out the laundry. (I've felt like a little Susie Homemaker today...cooking, cleaning, doing laundry. Not that I don't ever do any of that, but usually I don't cram it all into one Saturday!)

Promise to blog again sooner rather than later!

I usually don’t make them. Or if I do make them, I try not to tell everyone for fear that I won’t keep them and then will be reminded of my failure every single time someone asks “how that New Year’s resolution” going.  When I do make them, though, they usually involve losing weight, but this year they don’t. (That doesn’t mean I don’t need to lose weight [because I do], but like I told Matt the other day, if I were going to make a New Year’s Resolution involving weight, it would be to gain 25-30 pounds over the next 9 months and bring approximately 7 pounds of it home in an infant carrier [leaving some of it in the operating room—tmi?—and then losing the rest after that]. However, I have no control in this department. Maybe God added “the expansion of the Teutsch Family” to his plans for this year? We’ll just have to be patient and wait and see. This is NOT a pregnancy announcement. Repeat…this is NOT a pregnancy announcement.)

It's still early January, so I can get away with just now doing our 2011 Year in Review...right? Punctuality has never been my strength! :)

I was going to break our year down month-by-month, but I couldn't really think of anything to say for January, so I scratched that idea and decided to just give the highlights in order. Of course, if you've been reading, none of this will be anything new, but I have included a couple of pictures that I haven't posted on here before.

Juliette had her first visit to the dentist; We OD'ed on Mardi Gras parades, and I took a weekend trip to Alexandria to meet up with my friend, Amanda, and sew all weekend!

"Dear God, Why Can't I Have a Baby?" released, in which I shared bits and pieces of our infertility story; We spent Easter 2011 at Matt's parents.

Juliette finished preschool with an end of year brunch. We were given this big binder as a keepsake! (And, as I type this, I can't believe this was less than a year ago...Juliette has grown up so much since then!)

We took a little lake vacation to Degray Lake in Arkansas; Juliette had her first dance revue (cameras weren't allowed, so I have no "action" pictures) and attended worship camp at church, where she had a blast.

Matt and Juliette tagged along with me to New Orleans for the American Library Association conference. They did touristy things. I sat at a table all day. At night, we walked way too far for not-that-great food. Matt and Juliette enjoyed their trip. I did not! :) I shared "my story" with our church via video...possibly the most nerve-wrecking thing I've ever done!

		The much anticipated day arrived, and Juliette started kindergarten. We celebrated with what will become an annual "back to school dinner." We all thought it was pretty cool!

Juliette turned 5. We celebrated A LOT. And, she attended cheer camp at Lafayette High School, which she was not that impressed with. (I'm pretty sure it had to do with having to get up early for it!)

Matt and Juliette went to the annual cemetery cleaning that famous local author Ernest Gaines hosts. Juliette informed him that his picture was on a book at "Mommy's office." He thought she was cute. (This was the best picture Matt could get of them together.) Halloween 2011 saw the end of Juliette's Toy Story character run (hopefully!) and it also saw us with a TON of candy. Anybody want some? (Seriously, we still have it...well the non-chocolate stuff that is!)

We had some non-professional family pictures made for our Christmas cards. (Juliette lost her pants during one picture that didn't get captured. True story!) We celebrated Thanksgiving with Matt's family and spent Thanksgiving weekend in Dallas for our 11th anniversary.

We cheered on the Ragin' Cajuns late into the night at the New Orleans Bowl (where they won in the last 4 seconds of the game by a field goal--it was pretty awesome; in case you are wondering what they are doing with their hands, they are making a U and a L.) And, we celebrated Christmas a little differently this year by staying at home. We went to Matt's parents for New Years...and we were all asleep before the ball even dropped in Times Square (an hour before the countdown here). We're such party animals!