The Giedd family is excited to announce that we are
expecting another sweet little miracle to join our family late in October! We are more than excited…ecstatic, joyous,
thrilled, grateful, and more! We were
waiting until after Noell was a year to start trying, and then we would wait a
couple after that so the baby would come at the end/after volleyball season is
done next fall. I was a little nervous
to actually start “trying” as last time our motto was, “If it happens, it
happens.” Needless to say my worries
didn’t last long as God blessed us after one month of trying. And for that I thank God everyday that Mike
and I were blessed with the most precious gifts that we could ever receive.
Here are some updates to catch you up to now…
3 Weeks 4 days (Tuesday, February 11)
I found out quite early in my pregnancy. I wasn’t feeling “right” and so I decided
that I would take a test when I got home from school (on a Tuesday). I thought if it comes back negative, I will
wait until Friday to see if I should take another one. Well, I only had to wait a couple minutes to
see the “pregnant” sign! I started
laughing and dancing and Noell giggled because I’m sure I looked silly! I then started to get everything ready to
tell Mike when he got home. I set up a
little scavenger hunt for him (for an early Valentine’s Day gift). He was a little surprised to find out that
early…as he thought he was getting a new tool…..men!
We told our parents that weekend as Noell’s Valentine’s gift
to them.
5 Weeks (Friday, February 21)
Well the nausea has started….blah! Every morning for about an hour!
AND the fatigue has started…blah! I’m so exhausted by 9:00 that I usually pass
out on the couch around that time.
6 Weeks (Friday, February 28)
Nausea has stepped it up a notch and lasts ALL. DAY.
LONG. HELP!!! I’ve only thrown up a couple times…so
hopefully it all ends soon. This is a little
different than little Miss Noell. I
would just randomly be sick here and there and immediately after I was sick I
felt just fine. Well this time it starts
as soon as I get up, before I eat, when I smell different things, no matter
what :P
The tiredness continues as well. My two grad classes have taken a back seat to
my sleeping needs. Baby calls…body
responds! I do get my homework done on
time…it is just hard to fit it in! The
first trimester ends in approximately 7 more weeks.
As for baby…. Baby is the size of a blueberry or a lentil
bean (approx.. ¼ inch long). The heart
just started beating this week (already 100-160 bpm). So many different parts of the body are
forming/budding right now…they include the nose, mouth, ears, intestines,
lungs, brains, muscles, and bones! My
body and the baby are very hard at work…no wonder we’re both so tired! I forgot how quickly all these things start
to come together. I definitely don’t
read as much this time, because I don’t have the time, but I do read the weekly
e-mails and the one app that I have J
Week 8 (Friday, March 14)
On Monday, March 17 I had my first doctor
appointment…nothing exciting…just blood work and scheduling the next
appointment (the first one with the midwife).
All the blood tests came up good and normal which is wonderful
news! All good so far! As for the nausea, it has slowed a little bit
and is not lasting all day anymore.
Thank. The. Lord.
Week 12 (Friday, April 11)
Well, sickness came back and in full force (starting April
10). The thing about being pregnant is
it is hard to tell the different between nausea/vomiting and having the flu
(especially when there is no fever). It
all started Thursday morning…I just wasn’t feeling well, but my students had
their Rhythm’s Night Program so I wasn’t missing that for “morning
sickness”. Friday morning I had a
meeting at school but still felt just awful.
I managed to make it to 11:30am before getting sick at school and
decided to just head home and rest. I
did not keep anything down throughout the whole night and just hurt all
over. Saturday morning came around and I
felt like a new person so planned on doing what I had planned for that
day. By the time we got home Saturday
night I was back on the couch…which lead to all day Sunday feeling just
horrible and again not keeping anything down.
Monday I was a little better and went back to work but got a call at
10:30 that Noell was sick…so I left school to go home and snuggle her through
this yucky flu (which by now I know is the flu….horrible, horrible flu). Luckily Noell’s did not last as long. By Wednesday, both her and I were feeling
much better….but by Friday the flu had finally hit Mike.
Week 13 (Friday, April 18) Last week of first trimester
TODAY WAS OUR FIRST APPOINTMENT…FINALLY! Mike came with although not feeling the best
to hear G2’s heartbeat for the first time.
We met with our midwife, Annie, who was the midwife that delivered
Little Miss Noell. It was great seeing
her again…she has so much positive energy, we just love her! When it was time to listen to the heartbeat,
she warned us that it might take a little while to find the heartbeat (which
happened with Noell)….but the second she put the Doppler down on my stomach, we
heard the fast, beautiful sound immediately!
I almost forgot how wonderful that sound is! The heartbeat was 160 beats per minute!
We have also decided to have a doula with this pregnancy and birth. After talking with a friend who has used this doula, Mike and I decided to meet with her. We met with her after our appointment and think she is great. I loved my birth with Noell but ended up having an epidural, and this time I want to give birth naturally. Mike and I both think it will be helpful to have her with us!
NOELL- 17months this coming week (Saturday, April 26)
I haven’t updated on our little peanut in a little while…my
how she has grown since her first birthday which was almost five months ago
already…crazy! Here are some of her big
milestones that she has hit since she turn the BIG 1!!!!
- · Breastfed until 14 months. It was a great bonding time for her and I over the last year. The transitions have been so easy with her from bottle to sippy cup, and from breastmilk to silk milk (more sweet like breastmilk). And she only drank that for a few weeks before she started drinking cows milk. She loves her milk, water, and juice!
- · Noell FINALLY started walking right before she turned 15months old. We thought for sure this little lady would be walking by 10months since she was scooting at 5 months and crawling shortly after…but she took her time and finally did it when she was ready!
- · She is talking up a storm. She has been saying sooooo much. Some we understand and some we don’t! It sure is fun watching her little mind work and grow each day. Here are some of her NEW words to add to her list she already says…
o
Flower
o
Oh, Toodles!
o
No,no
o
Yeah!
o
Grandma
o
Open (sounds like apple…just figured that out
today finally)
o
Cookie (she says it creepy like…like the cookie
monster)
o
Get down (says for get down and get up)
o
Cold
o
Hot
o
Liza
o
Molly
o
Hug (when she wants to give a hug)
o
Choo Choo
o
Booty/boots
o
Bye (and waves)
o
I poo poo (sometimes she says after she went
poop)
o
Peeeee
o
bath
- · Animal noises! She has been saying the noises for cow, sheep, and cat…but she finally figured out how to make the dog noise and will say woof, woof when we ask her or if she hears a dog barking.
- · Her favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! She waves to Donald when the opening song come on and says, “hi”. She will say, “Oh, toodles” when she wants to watch the show. She can point out goofy, mickey, Donald, and pluto in her Mickey Mouse books. I asked her the other day on the phone what Mickey Mouse says and she answered, “Oh, toodles”.
- · Reading, reading, and more reading! Our little bug loves to READ! Yay! She is particular on the books that we read to her but she loves to read. She is also pointing to objects in a book when we ask her to find them.
- · Pictures! Noell loves the pictures on our wall. Everyday she will point to the pictures as well tell her who the people are. Sometimes she will point people out if we ask her where they are!
- · Outside! It has been great to finally get outside. Noell absolutely loves being outside. She loves walking around, playing with chalk, going for walks, and splashing in puddles. One thing that she doesn’t like is the swings, which is weird because she loved her baby swing. Mike and I took her to the pack tonight and she loved going down the big slide with mom and dad, which we thought for sure would scare her…but nope, she loved it!
- · Teeth! Noell is up to 12 teeth. 8 in the front and 4 molars. It looks like she might have a couple more working their way in. Most of the time she is a good tooth brusher…and sometimes not, but we try twice a day, every day!
- · We headed to Chaos Waterpark in Eau Claire a few weeks ago…Noell is a little fish. She like walked around in the water and LOVED the lazy river and floating/relaxing with mom and dad….we cannot wait to take her swimming and camping this summer!
- · Easter 2014! Well…it was quite the Easter. Our weekend started out on Saturday visiting with some family and Noell’s first Easter Egg hunt. On Sunday, we went to church which we left right after communion because Noell was done sitting. As we were walking out to our car, I was holding her hand and she wanted to sit in a little water because it had just rained and I didn’t want her to get all wet in her pretty Easter dress, so I picked her up hanging onto her arm in order to grab her without her getting wet, and apparently I picked her up just a little weird because she got Nursemaid Elbow which was super scary for all of us. She was in a lot of pain and couldn’t move her arm….so we headed to urgent care. The doctor knew what it was right away but had her get x-rays just to make sure. She came right into the x-ray room and put her popped the elbow back how it was supposed to be in seconds and Noell was just fine. It is very common in little children but now she is susceptible to it more easily now that it has happened once. After that the rest of Easter was good. We had a great meal, another Easter egg hunt, and good times with family.
As for Mike and I…not much to report….I am teaching 1st
grade next year and I am super excited for that! I am almost done with this spring semester of
grad school. It has been a lot of work
taking six credits…but I only have four classes left until my masters is
completed! I plan to take two classes
this summer, taking the fall off for volleyball and baby! I will finish the following fall!!! Mike is enjoying his work and stays busy…he
is getting close to transiting back to
working on air conditioners after the long winter season!
I don’t’ know how often I will be updating as life is crazy
now having a toddler and being pregnant with number two plus work and grad
school…but I am going to do my best, because I am excited to make these blog
posts into books for myself and my kiddos one day so we can remember this
amazing journey that God has blessed us with!
