15 Weeks

How Far Along: 15 weeks

Baby Size: Baseball

Current Symptoms: Believe it or not, this week has been low key when it comes to symptoms! Good energy, good appetite, sleeping well, can't complain!

What's Different: My body's ability to bounce back! I was stung by a bee over the weekend, and my immune system was not up to par, and the insect sting turned into a major infection! My entire calf swelled up and became all black and blue! They said that I was more susceptible to infection "at my age" since I am pregnant.  

Carson Comments: Carson seems a bit confused by our choice in "Wader" as a nickname for the baby. Whenever we are at a restaurant and he asks for chocolate milk, we say "we have to wait for the waiter" to which he replies "but Wader not born yet?" He has also integrated Wader into his bedtime prayers. 

Daddy Updates: Ryan says he is grateful that bee stings don't effect babies in utero. He wonders how Chomper will do with this next baby. She was not too fond of Carson when he first came home. She voluntarily elected to sleep in the basement or with company during the first 6 weeks of Carson's life...but maybe this time she will be more prepared?

Baby Prep: I didn't get to go to my yoga class this week due to my bee sting infection. This weekend we hope to tackle assembling the bed frame for Carson's new big boy bed! He has been sleeping on a twin size mattress on the floor for the past few weeks. Then the crib will be all set for Wader. 

Looking Forward To: Feeling consistent movement! I definitely am feeling flutters and twinges frequently throughout the week, but kicks and punches are way more fun! Its also nice to know that baby is doing well through its movement! 

14 Weeks!

And here starts the regular weekly blog updates! With Carson's pregnancy, 

I took pictures outside on our front porch in front of our green door. 

Although this was a much more scenic picture location, 

we figured it might be a little cold this winter taking pictures outside! So inside it is...

I also wanted to come up with a list of new questions to answer each week, so here goes:

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Baby Size: Rubik's Cube 

Current Symptoms: Little baby flutters! Believe it or not, I am pretty positive I felt Wader's very first flutters as early as 12 weeks....I felt Carson for the first time at 15.5 weeks, and they say you feel the second baby much sooner....but seriously, 12 weeks? Medical professionals will swear you can't, but after lots of googling, plenty of other women claim they also felt movement this early. At my 13 week ultrasound, I confirmed my suspicions when I felt movement at the same time as watching it on the ultrasound screen. CRAZY! The movement is still every so slight, and often goes unnoticed, but I am pretty consistently feeling flutters at 14 weeks. Feeling much less tired, which is great considering Ryan was out of town for 4 days this past week! Less nausea as well....but more heartburn! 

What's Different: My size! My baby bump is huge compared to my 14 week pic with Carson! It was also nice not being so pregnant over the summer, no swelling yet, and still have my wedding rings on! 

Carson Comments: Carson has shown a little bit of regression since we have increased our Wader discussion. He sometimes refers to himself as a baby instead of a big boy, wants his 13 week ultrasound pics up on the fridge next to Wader's. He recently reverted from "Mommy and Daddy" to "Ma Ma and Da Da".

Daddy Updates: This week was our 7th wedding anniversary! Ryan is always joking about wondering when the 7 year itch starts...7 years of dating or 7 years of marriage...we figured that throwing a baby into the mix is sure to ward off any itching over the next year! 

Baby Prep: I have joined a prenatal yoga class to gear up for all of the changes my body will have in the next 6 months! We also have officially moved Carson into his own twin size bed. He was previously sleeping in his crib which was converted into a toddler bed...but gotta make way for Wader! They say its best to make this transition well before the baby actually arrives. As of right now, we are going to attempt to have the kiddos share a room....anyone have any success with this? I am nervous about it....

Looking Forward To: Finding out the gender...at our 13 week ultrasound, the tech guessed that the baby was a boy....we'll see if she was right on September 26th when we go in for our anatomy scan! I have been prepping myself for another boy however; I recently heard from the friend that they also got the 13 week male prediction, only to find out that it was a girl a few weeks later! I would absolutely love a girl as braiding hair and some day being the Mother of the Bride sounds amazing! However, I already know that boys are great! And I think two little brothers would be adorable...not to mention, we already have loads of boy clothes, etc. Either way, a healthy baby is the big picture goal!

Rather than doing a fruit size comparison this time around, I looked around for another list of size comparisons, and found some Dad inspired references! Here is a list from the first trimester:

Week 4: beard stubble

Week 5: chocolate chip

Week 6: fishing sinker

Week 7: cuff link

Week 8: gummy bear

Week 9: gum ball

Week 10: cotton ball

Week 11: golf ball

Week 12: wine cork

Week 13: espresso cup

Welcome, Cousin Gracie!

Grace Alysemarie Curtis

Born 8/13/13 at 9:20 PM, 6 lbs 12 oz, 18.5 in

In addition to our two rambunctious nephews, 

Nicholas and Dylan, we now have a niece, Gracie! 

Congrats to Ryan's brother, Alex, and his wife, Heaven! 

Happy Family!

Proud GREAT Grandparents and Mom Mom!

Carson can't wait to give his new cousin lots of kisses!

First Trimester Recap!

Sooooo....my intentions were to get back into blogging, but maybe not as frequently with this pregnancy as I had with Carson. However both Ryan and my sister, Kristen, jumped all over me for that....so I promise not to start "second child syndrome" as early as this blog for Wader. I got quite the earful from Kristen about not giving this baby "the shaft"! Something tells me that Wader and Aunt Kristen are going to be kindred spirits! I will try to provide weekly updates when possible, as well as continue to sprinkle some fun Carson highlights as well.

I am now finishing up my first trimester with Wader, so I am going to do one large summary rather than recounting the last 13 weeks....we started taking bump pictures with Carson at 10 weeks, and Ryan made sure to start right on schedule this time around - scroll down to the bottom for Waders first few bump pics! Amazing how much earlier you start to show when it is your second child! Wader is due on February 14, 2014  - Valentine's Day! February is a somewhat busy birthday month on my side of the family, as my sister's husband, Sam, is the 18th, as is Norwegian brother Christian, and Grammy is the 19th! I am hoping that I don't make it 4 or 5 days past my due date....sorry guys!

This pregnancy has been night and day different from Carson. With Carson, I remember being tired but not that tired....hungry but rarely if ever nauseous....and I had the clearest completion of my life! With this baby starting on the day of the positive pregnancy test, it has been a whole different story. I have been utterly exhausted all day long, I wanted to nap at 10 AM, Noon, 2 PM, 4 PM, and a 6 PM bedtime sounded great. Thank goodness I am a therapist and have a couch in my office! Nausea wise, right around 5 weeks pregnant, I began feeling nauseous when I woke up in the morning. It was a mild nausea but lingered for the entire day....I couldn't let myself get too hungry or too full, or else it would get worse.  My skin has also been a total war zone, I feel like I am back in middle school! In the last 1.5 weeks or so, I have been feeling less tired, my skin is a little more clear, and I have had more nausea free days than not. Hoping we are turning a corner here!

After seeing a heartbeat for the second time at our 8 week appointment, we told all of our family members during a visit down to Maryland over the 4th of July. We dressed Carson up in his "Big Bro" tee-shirt and sent him into the house waiting for people's reactions....NOTHING!  My 87 year old grandmother and Carson's Aunt Heaven where the only two people out of dozens that noticed Carson's telltale duds right away! Eventually we had to say something like "anyone notice Carson's shirt?" and of course everyone was thrilled with the news.

10 weeks

11 weeks

12 weeks

13 weeks

Meet Baby Wader! :)

We are finally pregnant with kiddo #2 and are over the moon! We had been trying for our second child for over a year and a half...it takes quiet a bit of time and effort for me to get/stay pregnant, as Carson himself was a 2 year process. It has been a very long emotionally and financially draining experience! 

This baby required many rounds of fertility treatments including expensive medications that unfortunately were not covered by insurance. In preparation for our sixth and probably final cycle before taking a break to save for more invasive treatments, we decided to throw together a yard sale this past May to raise funds to go towards one last ditch effort. 

We had so many wonderful friends donate items such as old pairs of skis, winter coats, baby items, etc. to the cause, which greatly added to our fundraising! We even had a friend who was having their own yard sale and collected donations in our honor, since they were unable to donate items to us directly - so unbelievably touching! We were totally unaware of their generosity until they presented us with an envelope! 

When sorting through items in our own house, we were extra motivated to let go of some of those odd items that we have been holding on to for years, since we were working towards a baby! Ryan was particularly attached to a pair of fishing waders that he had purchased almost 10 years ago to go fly fishing ONCE. He has held on to them forever, and they even made the move from Maryland to New Hampshire. 

Ryan hemmed and hawed over whether or not he was open to adding them to the yard sale pile...but after seeing the generous nature of many of our close friends, he willingly relinquished them. Much to our surprise...the fishing waders were our big ticket item! They were quickly snatched up by a local fisherman at a very fine price! 

Within a few short weeks after the yard sale, we learned we were pregnant, and immediately began watching multiple episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" for another suitable nickname for this baby, as "Swarley" from the same show seemed to be a perfect fit for Carson. Nothing was really jumping out at us...

We consulted with our friends, Stephanie and Slade, to see if they had any creative ideas. They quickly referenced the yard sale as a good muse for a name, as without it's fundraising, we would not have gone forward with this six fertility treatment. Having been amused by Ryan's attachment to his fishing waders, and being further amused with how much cash we were able to get for them, they suggested the name Wader! The name also provides a double entendre, as we sure "waded" for this baby for a long long time! 

Wader at 6 weeks pregnant, saw a heartbeat right away!

 Wader at 8 weeks, measuring right on track!

Wader at 13 weeks, looking more and more like a baby!

Carson is going to be a BIG BROTHER!

Ryan and I are excited to announce that we are due with our second child on Valentine's Day 2014! We are beyond excited....more information to come soon! :)

July

July has been busy busy busy! We went to Maryland to celebrate Grampa Moose's 60th birthday!

60 is a lot of candles!

We also celebrated Mom Mom's birthday, and got to spend time with fun cousins!

I think Carson might tell you that his highlight of the month of July was going to see his first live musical - Annie! He absolutely loved it! Couldn't take his eyes of the stage!

June

We kicked off the month of June by celebrating the marriage of two wonderful friends, Laura and Keenan! They got married on Cape Cod, which made it a fabulous destination wedding! We flew Mom Mom up for the event and rented a beach house for the weekend, so that she could watch Carson during the grown up festivities. We had such a fun time hanging out with everyone, and even fit in a day trip to Martha's Vineyard! Overall, a wonderful weekend!!

 Fun at the beach!

 Ferry to MV!

Rehearsal Dinner (Ryan was a groomsmen!)

Wonderful Wedding!

We finally welcomed Baby Audrey on June 4th! She doesn't know what she is in for with "Big Bro's" like Carson and Dean!

Just a week old!

Carson had fun celebrating Father's Day at Charmingfare Farm with his Daddy, and Dean and Daddy Slade!

One exciting milestone that happened during the month of June was Carson's transition to a "big boy bed"!

May

May was a month for celebrating and visiting with great friends! May hosts Mother's Day as well as Susie's birthday. Carson has become really into birthdays lately and was totally stoked to help Mommy blow out her candles!

We spent Memorial Day weekend visiting with some of Susie's closest friends from the University of Maryland! We rented a house in the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts. It was fun to get together with all of them, family style! Carson was especially excited to meet a new friend, Wesley!

Can't wait for Wesley to come and visit us in NH in August!

April

April was one of those months that was filled with mixed emotions.....it was a month of celebrating babies, as Susie hosted a baby shower for close friend Stephanie, who is due with a little girl at the end of May. We can't wait to meet Baby Audrey!

Speaking of meeting babies.....we were beyond excited to finally meet Baby Mason!!! Michelle and Darryl Raymond have waited a long time to hold this little one in their arms, and we couldn't wait to visit him at the hospital! It was Carson's first time visiting a baby in the hospital, and he has since referred to every baby he meets as "Baby Mason!"

Baby Mason!

Sadly during the month of April, the Boston Marathon Bombings occurred. You might think that living about an hour and a half north of the city, we would feel removed from the event however; it felt much too close to home! Susie had lots of friends or former Andover classmates at the race when the bombings occurred, or living in Watertown during the lockdown. Because no one was quite sure where the terrorists were headed, many of the major highways leading up to NH were shut down, and many of our local first responders were deployed down to the Boston area to aid in the search. 

As a child therapist, Susie had to do a lot of emotional damage control with many of her young clients who were very fearful of things they may have seen or heard on the news. Everyone in NH was greatly relieved when the whole event was over! Our hearts also went out to the city of Boston as they began to rebuild and remain BOSTON STRONG!

We made the most of the rest of the month by enjoying the nice weather that was starting to peek through after a winter full of snow! Carson was excited to begin spending more time outside playing with Daddy!