Searching for Serendipity: April 2014

Oh gosh I am so disappointed in myself for not updating this earlier.

Back in December we learned that we were (SURPRISINGLY) expecting another baby! We were in SHOCK (to say the least). I immediately called my doctor and asked for every lab that they could possibly run to ensure that my hormone levels were ok and to see if he might recommend progesterone injections. Luckily everything checked out great and he felt like I would be fine without the injections.

I mistakenly thought that maybe because I had avoided all of the fertility drugs and hormone injections and patches that I would also avoid morning sickness…NO SUCH LUCK. It settled in almost immediately and was just as bad if not worse than I remembered it the first time. Actually it was MUCH harder dealing with the chronic nausea while trying to chase after and feed a toddler. I was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum and had to take Zofran daily just in order to function. Zofran has it's own bundle of lovely side effects and didn't eliminate my nausea, just took the edge off enough for me to meet the minimum requirements for caring for Nicolette. This lasted about 14 weeks and then gradually started to taper off, ending around 16 -17 weeks. Now I'm well into my 2nd trimester (quickly approaching the 3rd) and am feeling pretty normal and have even managed to work out a bit this time around.

While baby boy was growing healthy and strong, Nicolette was doing the same. Her vocabulary is so impressive to me at this point. I'm sure lots of babies can say the things that she does but that doesn't stop me from marveling at her. At around 18 months she started using two word "sentences" and by 19-20 months was regularly using 3-4 word sentences. By 20 months she was saying her ABC's and counting on her own and now at 21 months she can and will repeat nearly everything that we say and seems to understand and retain it pretty well. I really feel like she's such a smart girl. And she's a sweetheart too. She really doesn't throw tantrums or fits (yet…I know that this is coming eventually). She's happy 95% of the time and we haven't had any sleep issues in months so I really have nothing to complain about whatsoever. Probably my favorite thing that she does is when she walks up to me with her arms up and says, "Mama? Hold you?" Sigh…melts my heart!