Happy New Year

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and Santa brought you everything you had hoped for. He treated us very well. We got alot of gifts off of our baby registry for Kyleight including a new travel system (stroller & car seat) , high chair (which I didn't have for Abbie and was a must the 2nd time around), bibs, tummy time gym, clothes and socks. I received a Vera Bradley duffle bag from my mother-in-law which will be my overnight bag for the hospital and my mom got me an oversized GA t-shirt as well. I'm starting to pack my bag and Kyleigh's so we are ready when...well when she is. Everything is pretty much ready for her arrival.

My last OB appointment which was on Christmas Eve was pretty uneventful. Kyleigh's heartbeat was strong at 150/bpm. The mid-wife asked me the standard questions and that was about it. She said I would have one more 2 week appointment and then would be visiting every week until D-Day. My next appointment is scheduled for Jan 9th when they will test for Group Strep B. This is a routine test which I'm not worried about.

I also went to see my prenatal specialist on Christmas Eve as well. I'm trying to schedule the double visits on the same day to eliminate trips to Gainesville. Each time I visit the specialist they check my blood preasure which was normal and do an ultrasound. During the ultrasound they measure everything, Kyleigh's heart, stomach, baldder and kidney's and the fluid around her. They even take 3D/4D shots which is cool. During this appointment my fluid level had gone down which was the goal. I review my blood sugar results with the Doctor and then schedule my next visit. Apparently I will be seeing him every week until D-Day too. He advised me to double the medication he had given me to lower my sugar which completely backfired on me over Christmas.

Today, New Year's Eve I went back for an ultrasound with the specialist. He was on vacation so there was no consult this week. The tech did the same routine. My fluid level has gone back up which is disappointing but hopefully with the holidays behind us I can get it back under control. The tech bothered me this week because she couldn't make up her mind if she wanted Kyleigh to lie still or do tumbles. She started hitting my tummy with the ultrasound wand trying to get Kyleigh to move and I finally had to tell her she was hurting me.

Well I go back to see both doctors on Jan 9th. The OB will do the 1st exam since I've been pregnant so hopefully she will tell me I'm starting to dialate. After this visit I will go over to see the Specialist and hopefully I will get a good report and my sugar levels and fluid will be down again.

It's not too much longer...only 33 days to go...enjoy the picture from the 3D today

Until next week...

Happy New Year to our friends and family.

We hope each of you are blessed in 2009!

8 months...46 days to go

I had a follow-up visit to my OB last Friday (12/12) which was very uneventful. It took me just over an hour and a half to get to the office from work and the visit lasted all of 10 minutes. I pray that I don't go into labor at work on a Friday b/c the drive from Buckhead to Gainesville is not fun. Needless to say there wasn't anything to post regarding that visit, I had gained 1 lb and my blood preasure was normal. My mid-wife Kelly did advise that I be seen by a Dr. Allaire who is a neonatal specialist for a couple of reasons, primarily due to being diabetic and the other because I'm measuring a little big.

We went for this appointment today. My appointment time was 2:30pm but at 3:10pm when they still hadn't called me back I inquired with the receptionist/office manager who totally missed me signing in and waiting. Honestly if she had stopped chatting on the phone and gossiping with friends she may have noticed me (who can miss me these days). Anyways...we finally got to go in for our ultrasound. The nurse took a ton of pictures for the Dr to review, mostly of Kyleigh's heart, stomach and brain. Kyleigh was moving and kicking the entire time and it was very difficult for her to get the shots she needed. We were excited because she took some 3D pictures for us too which we weren't expecting to get. Both the nurse and Dr. Allaire said that Kyleigh looked great. She is measuring about a week ahead of where she should be but he wasn't concerned with that. He was concerned with the amount of fluid around her and has placed me on an oral medication to assist me in controling my blood sugar levels. I've done pretty good with the blood sugar since being diagnosed but he wants to me begin testing first thing every morning which means I will be pricking my finger 4x per day rather than 3x. I go back next Wednesday (Christmas Eve) for another follow-up with my mid-wife and I will also go back to visit Dr. Allaire. I also have to fax my blood sugar results to Dr. Allaire weekly so he can monitor my progress until Kyleigh arrives. I think that about covers everything with the appointments. I'm starting to "waddle" and I'm having alot of pain on my left side. I can't determine if the pain is being caused by contractions, my pelvis preparing for labor and delivery, Kyleigh's position or what but I will discuss that with the mid-wife next week. I'm taking a few days off as we prepare for Christmas and I'm trying to stay off my feet for the most part.

Jon-Mike and I finished our child birth classes on Saturday (12/13) and took a tour of the hospital. I had already seen most everything when I attended with Abbie for the sibling class but this time we actually got to go into one of the L&D rooms and the recovery room in case we have a c-section. I've determined that if "mothers-to-be" actaully sat through the child birth class prior to getting pregnant that alot would change their mind about having a baby. We practiced our "breathing" techniques some more and reviewed what items we need to pack for the hospital. I will take care of this after Christmas since I'm not getting my new Vera Bradley duffle/hospital bag until then.

I will post more on Christmas Eve after our next appointments.

Until then...We Wish you a Merry Christmas!!!!

November 26th Check-up

The check-up Wednesday was un-eventful. I've only gained 1/2 lb since the last check-up which brings me to a total of 6 lbs for the pregnancy (all baby). I'm very excited about this fact. My blood pressure was fine at 120/82 and the babies heart beat was 144 bpm. This is the lowest heart beat thus far but I'm pretty sure she was sleeping during the visit. I've managed to keep my sugar levels in check for the most part and did good during the Thanksgiving festivities too. I will have two more visits to the doctor for 2008 and then we start going every week starting in January unless something happens before then. I have a better chance now of delivering earlier but we will pray Kyleigh hangs out in the oven for 2 more months.

Abbie will be celebrating her 5th Birthday on Wednesday and we will be celebrating with a dinosaur movie night for her friends on Saturday after Jon-Michael and I return from our 1st child birth class.

My next appointment is Friday, Dec 12th and I will report back then.

This weeks update

Well this has been a long week and I was so excited for the weekend to get here so I could relax (or come close anyways).

Monday I went for my 3 hour glucose test. There were 3 other people doing the test with me but theirs were only a 2 hour test but it was nice seeing others going through the ordeal. Needless to say I failed the test which is exactly what the doctor had predicted. As a result I was informed that I had to attend a mandatory diabetic counseling session on Friday. I was not looking forward to the counseling and had joked with my co-workers all week that I was having to go to AA for sugar addicts. The counseling wasn't too bad I guess. Basically I'm having to watch my carb intake very closely and check my insulin levels 4 times a day. I've gotten pretty good at pricking my finger. I had to visit the lab yet again for one more blood draw to determine if I will have to have insulin as well. I guess I will get those results next week (and I'm praying for good news from that one). I've done good so far with eating and keeping everything in check. Kyleigh isn't moving around quite as much due to the lack of sugar but she's still active in the early morning hours and right after I eat. I was told that I could have unsweet tea in moderation (woo hoo).

Well after my first visit to Gainesville on Monday I came home and crashed for a few hours before picking Abbie up to travel back to the hospital for her BIG sister class (see pic below). The class was really nice and she got to learn how to hold the baby, feed the baby and to change a diaper. She had the diaper thing now with no problems but holding the babies head while feeding was a little tricky so we will definitely have to help her with that. She was disappointed when we toured the hospital because there were no babies in the nursery. Margaret our RN for the tour informed us that they try to keep the babies in the mothers room unless they have a busy delivery night which is why the nursery was empty. Abbie wanted to go find a baby and I couldn't make her understand that we just couldn't go into someones room to see their new baby.

I go back for my next follow-up appointment on Wednesday and will continue to go every two weeks until January. Now that I'm considered diabetic I will have a few more ultrasounds scheduled just to make sure Kyleigh is okay and that she isn't too big. I will check back in on Wednesday for another update.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in case I miss you!!!

28th week checkup

So today we went for our 28th week checkup...only 80 days to go. I had to take another glucose test because the first test was done earlier than usual due to my blood pressure. I didn't pass the test which means I have to take a 3-hour test on Monday. If I fail this test the doctor will place me on a strict meal plan for the rest of the pregnancy and I may have to monitor my insulin daily. I'm not sure of all the details yet, I wasn't really listening to anything that was said after the nurse told me the news today, I just broke down. The doctor measured me and said I'm measuring a little big for this stage of the game. I'm not worrying about that too much b/c a different doctor measured me at the last visit. I would rather have the same person measure me each time so I can feel more confident that the measurements are being taken the same each time.

There was some good news that came out of the visit today. I've only gained 1/2 lb since the last visit three weeks ago. I can't complain with that. My blood pressure was fine as well, 130/72. The glucose test seems to make the numbers rise a bit.

Abbie and I are scheduled to attend the Big Sister class on Monday which will be exciting for both of us. We will get to tour the new nursery at the hospital and see the babies too. Jon-Michael and I decided to take child birth classes and we are scheduled to start those on Saturday, Dec 6th and finish up on Saturday, Dec 13th.

I will start going to the doctor every two weeks at this point and my next appointment is on November 26th.

Kyleigh has really gotten active since the last visit and I've almost got her schedule figured out.

I've got all of Abbie's baby clothes washed and put away in the nursery. We will be working this weekend to get the nursery back together and move the rest of Abbie's toys over to her big girl room.

That's about it for now, keep us in your prayers as we get through the last few months before the big arrival.

100 Days and Counting

We are exactly 100 days from our estimated due date and Kyleigh's debut. We are slowing getting things ready for her. I've washed alot of Abbie's baby clothes and filled up the dresser and closet already. We've collected all our baby items that we had let friends and family borrow over the years and will be getting those back in working order this weekend. We've still got alot of work to do in the nursery but hopefully it won't take too long to have it looking like a baby's room again. Abbie is all settled in to her new big girl room and loves sleeping on the top bunk. She still thinks Kyleigh will be sleeping on the bottom bunk. I think one night of baby crying will change her mind real fast. I told her that I would be camping out on the bottom bunk for a while just to be closer to the nursery and she was cool with that idea.

I went yesterday for my 6 month checkup. It was pretty uneventful. Kyleigh's heartbeat was a strong 151/pm and it was the first visit where they located the heartbeat on the first try (I guess she was relaxing). They measured me and said everything was on track. I'm starting to gain a little weight but nothing to be concerned about. I go back in three weeks (Nov 14th) for another glucose test. Hopefully I will pass this one with flying colors like I did the first one. I will probably start going every three weeks until the end of December and then every week until the big day.

Kyleigh has been very active this last month, kicking and hiccuping mostly. My bathroom breaks are more frequent and it's getting so hard to get comfortable during the day at work and when I'm trying to sleep. I'm considering renting a lazy boy!

We've signed Abbie up for a sibling class at the hospital on Nov 17th. She will learn how to hold and feed the baby and will get to make a present for the baby. She will also get to tour the nursery at the hospital.

The hospital opens a new women's center in Nov and I was given the map yesterday to make sure we get to the right building when the big days comes. I told Jon-Mike to plug it into the navigation system in his new truck so he doesn't get lost on the way (although we've been to the hospital a dozen times).

We finally decided on a name

Thanks to all of our friends for your input on the names we had picked for our little one. We decided to combine some names and came up with Kyleigh Elizabeth. Kyleigh means "boomerang" which is perfect because she is becoming very active. The nurses continue to have a hard time finding her heartbeat because she refuses to relax long enough. Elizabeth wasn't too hard for us to decide on. Elizabeth was my Aunt Margaret's middle name who recently passed away. I thought it would be a nice tribute to her memory to include her as we named our next little princess.

What else is happening...I went back to the doctor on 9/26 for a follow-up visit due to my blood preasure being so high last week. Thank goodness it had come down to 120/62. The nurse again had a difficult time finding Kyleigh's heartbeat but when she did it was a strong 151 beats per minute. I was told that my blood work from last week had come back completely normal as well. I continue to worry about my left foot swelling the way it does and finally got a reasonable explaination. My mid-wife told me that more than likely Kyleigh was comfortable on my left side and was pushing on a nerve or blood vessel causing swelling on one side more than the other. She told me to watch my salt intake, drink plenty of water and to prop my feet up whenever possible.

We discussed the frequency of my next few visits and I will continue to go for follow-ups every 4 weeks for the months of October and November and starting in December will begin going every two weeks until January when I will be a regular visitor every week.

We've started doing some baby shopping and Abbie's has picked out Kyleigh's coming home outfit. I've posted some pictures of the things Big Sister has picked out so far. We also managed to find some GA Tech baby items for Jon-Mike since he isn't appreciative of the GA Bull Dawg items we've bought so far.

September 19th Ultrasound Pictures...20 weeks

Baby DeBona - actually being still long enough to take the picture

Another shot being still

Up close profile shot

Looking at us (probably wanting more sugar)

Little nose

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

and baby DeBona will be...

you seriously didn't think I would tell you the good news first. Nope you've got to read about the rest of the day before you find out if its a boy or a girl.

Today was an eventful day. We are finishing transitioning Abbie into our once guest room and making it her new BIG girl room. The walls have gone from Asian orange to Princess pink and purple. Her new Disney Princess furniture (including bunk beds) was delivered today along with her new mattresses. We haven't quit finished painting but hopefully will get it finished this weekend.

Over Labor Day weekend we went to visit Ashley (Jon-Mike's sister) in Savannah and went to the beach for Abbie's first visit. Leave it to me to come home with sunburnt feet so severe that I couldn't walk for a couple of days. On top of the sunburn my feet begin to swell taking me from my once size 6 shoe to now a size 7 1/2. That week I went to the doctor to determine why my feet were so swollen and he chalked it up to the sunburn which also threw my blood pressure off the charts (as far as I'm concerned 140/90). He also decided that I should go ahead and test early for gestational diabetes.

NOW two weeks later my right foot has gone back to being somewhat normal but my left is only getting worse. Today we went for our 20 week check up. Yep, I'm half way through my pregnancy (wooo hooo). I had my glucose test first which wasn't too bad and I passed with flying colors. Next we went for our ultrasound. The tech was wonderful and said the baby was very active and seemed to really enjoy the sugar drink I had for the glucose test. This one was alot better than the first one. We got to see all angles of the baby and they put it on DVD for us too. After the US I met with my midwife and my blood pressure was still high (150/80). She decided to send me back to the lab for additional blood work to determine if this is pregnancy related as it just started two weeks ago or if its genetic. I should know the results next week and have to go back for a follow-up on Tuesday. Everything else was fine. She told me to stay off my feet as much as possible and to rest when I could (easy for her to say...she doesn't have a 4-yr old running around).

The baby is completely perfect, size, weight, everything is right where it should be.

Oh and for the news you've been waiting for...

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

We are still trying to decide on a name and would love your input, the names we've come up with are:

Ashlynn Elizabeth DeBona

Riley Elizabeth DeBona

Callie Elizabeth DeBona

Kara Elizabeth DeBona

Allison Elizabeth DeBona

Avery Elizabeth DeBona

Kenley Elizabeth DeBona

I'll post US pictures tomorrow.

16 weeks and counting

We went for our 16 week checkup today. I have only gained one and a half pounds (1 1/2 lbs) so I'm happy about that. I'm not having any problems other than everything is streching and I feel like an old woman when I get up to walk. The doctor said just to get up slow and that this phase would be over soon (she didn't give me a timeframe...humm).

We got to hear the heartbeat. It took the nurse a while to find the heartbeat which completely freaked me out but when she found it, it was a wonderful sound. She said the baby is very active. I guess it may be time for me to cut back on the sweet tea. The heartbeat was 152 beats per minute. At our 1st ultrasound it was 164. She said all of my initial blood work had come back normal and my blood preasure is below normal (which is typical for me).

We go back to the doctor in four weeks (Sept 19th) for another ultrasound and to hopefully find out if we are having a boy or a girl. We've been discussing baby names and have a boy name picked out but we can't reach a decision on a girl name.

We've registered and had Abbie help us out by picking baby toys. She was so excited to use the scanner at Babies R Us and we let her pick out the baby's first toys.

That's it for now...check back on September 19th for the big announcement!

Heartbeat & Ultrasound

We thought we would have gotten to hear the heartbeat at our first appointment but we didn't.

We scheduled the appointment for July 25, 2008.

It was wierd for me to have Jon-Michael tag along with me to the OB (I think he was a little uncomfortable with the experience too but I'm sure he would never admit it)

This was the most amazing experience (other than seeing Abbie for the 1st time). The ultrasound technician was doing everything so fast and I had to tell her to slow down. I explained to her that yes I had another child but this was my 1st pregnancy (I love freakin' people out with that statement). When she turned the monitor towards us, there it was...our baby. And when she turned the doppler on and we heard the heartbeat...just amazing. (no tears were shed...I promise).

Our next appointment is scheduled for August 22, 2008.

Waiting for Confirmation

So when I decided the "+" was accurate I decided to make an appointment with my OB to confirm the news. Much to my surprise I had to wait until I was 10 weeks for the appointment. (For my close friends you know I have no patience so the waiting absoulutely drove me crazy.)

On July 16, 2008 we got the confirmation we had been waiting for. I was 12 weeks pregnant!!!

Our announcement

For those of you who know our story, God blessed us with a beautiful baby girl (Abbie) on December 3, 2003 through the miracle of adoption.

Our plan had always been to add another baby to our family when Abbie got older and we decided that 2008 was the year for the addition. Abbie is starting school in the fall and we felt that she would now be old enough to help out with a baby.

On May 30, 2008 we submitted our application to our adoption advocate to start our 2nd adoption and scheduled our first meeting with them for June 27, 2008.

During all the excitment I never stopped to think that I could be pregnant. I knew I was "late" but after 9 years of "trying" we had given up on the idea. I finally gave in and made a trip to the drug store for the dreaded pregnancy test. Seriously after spending the money I have on these things, taking another one and waiting for the negative result had just gotten to be unbearable over the years.

Over the week of June 4, 2008 I took 4 tests because I couldn't believe it when I saw the "+". We decided to share our news with our families on June 11, 2008.

God has blessed us and taken our family into uncharted territory and we can't wait to share every minute with our friends and family.