Happy Birthday Daddy

What a great day this has started out to be. The only thing missing is Jim being home to see all the amazing first time things.

Today is my hubby's Bday and I had called to wish him a happy one first thing. I wish he could be here so we could celebrate it together but we will be together next weekend and will celebrate then.

However, Annika must have wanted to say Happy Birthday to her Daddy because just a few minutes ago...yeppers...I felt her move for the first time. It was awesome and just a wonderful thing to see my belly move and know she is in there and pretty active. I called Jim right after it happened and told him all about it. How I think she was doing the Birthday dance for Daddy and so wish he could be here. He was excited. I hope she is still moving around like that when he comes home for the holiday weekend. I really want him to be able to be a part of all these fun little things along the way as much as he can be.

I have been waiting for this moment and it was worth waiting for. She is just so special to us it's so hard to even put into words. We are happy and thankful for her blessing our lives and hope our journey continues with lots more smiles to come.

Happy Birthday babe. We love and miss you tons of bunches.

Amazing Relief

I just recvd my wonderful little relief monitor and how amazing it truly is.

I have been feeling really bad since Sat with a lot of pain in my lower left abdomen and I have not been sleeping for anything. I am exhausted and have been so worried about Annika. This is the first time since our whole IVF pregnancy journey started back in Jan that I have been this worried. It was really scary. This monitor allows me to hear her heartbeat and see it register on the screen whenever I want to. Love the technology we have today.

I opened the box immediately, read the quick instructions and laid down on the couch. Praying I would hear great things to ease my worried mind and I could once again relax. I cried and just listened for a little while. No more stressing over her as I know she is doing awesome and is healthy in there. Maybe now that I am relieved I can hopefully sleep tonight as long as the pain is not to bad. That would be such a welcome change for me right now.

I am entering the "Paranoid" part of our journey

I am officially 20 weeks today and find myself more worried than I have been at any given time since our IVF process started. I still have not felt little Annika move but I know she is active and in there somewhere :)

I keep up on others blogs and all that good stuff. Do my research when I have certain symptoms or hear something new from others that I know nothing about. Maybe this has caused my paranoia to flare up to super turbo level and I should just stop doing that all together. Who knows. I just know I need to know she is still okay in there whenever I want to check in on her.

I have rented a fetal doppler monitor and it was shipped today. It should be hopefully no later than Thursday or Friday :) Then, I will have that reassurance whenever I want it until she is born in November :) I will be relieved of my paranoia once this arrives in my hands and I have to tell you, that is going to be a HUGE relief in the stress department for me.

I know she is doing great and is healthy in there but since I can't feel her yet I need this for my own sanity. lol

Go little Annika go :)))))))))))))))))

Today I called my doctor to see if they had the results of the malformation screening ultrasound I had done last Friday and to see if i could move my reg mthly appointment up from next Thursday. They had an opening today at 3:30 so I was more than happy to take it. I know our little girl is strong and moving all over most of the time but since I still have not felt her whenever I get to hear her heart beat it puts my mind at ease. Her heartbeat is still very strong and has been since 15 days of growing. We could not ask for more in that department :)

I really wanted to know how the screening went last week and as she looked over the results I felt a panic for a quick minute. Then I took a deep breath smiled rubbed my belly and said I knew she was just fine and perfect. My doctor looked at me with a big smile and said it all looked great and she is growing just as she should be. YAAAAA, She could see my relief immediately. Glad to have her back and not her fill in guy anymore. She said that she does not see that I would require anymore testing, unless I feel something has changed, until later down the road. This really made me smile and I told Annika the testing was all done and over with for a while. Think she liked that whole idea as well. lol

So now it's sit back and relax. Do as I am told and take care of myself as I have been. She is our little miracle and she is here for a reason and that's all we need to know. November will be her big month and we so can't wait until her big day arrives. The love we have for her is just so great it's hard to put into words. We love you Annika and Mommy and Daddy will hold you in our arms soon. Til then, keep growing strong and healthy in there.

Jim recvd a surprise today :)

Hello. Today was a fun day for me as it was the day Jim recvd his first Daddy's day present from little Annika. Yeppers. I wanted to make sure he knew that little Annika loves him and can't wait to meet her daddy in November.

I went out and found all the old kind of candies we all grew up with and bought a kids sand bucket with a little shovel attached to it. then I bought some sticks and some flower foam stuff to stick the stick in and I mad him up a candy arrangement. Then I packed it all up really cute and decorated the outside of the box and sent it to his work. lol I also included in the box a small wrapped in pink package with the card attached to it from Annika. It was a little onesie that had this written on it: I have MY DADDY wrapped around my finger. I was so excited to hear how he would react to this package and I think it really made his day. he said he laughed when they brought him the box that was all decorated on the outside. I printed off some clip art stuff I had and cut it out all cute. There was a crying baby on the top of the box and then in big letters on the side of the box it read: My Daddy is going to be GREAT! He said he loved everything and it really meant a lot to him. YAAAA, you go Annika. Score those brownie points with Dad while you can. lol

Fun stuff. Next years Mother's day and Father's day is just going to be so awesome. We can't wait. See you soon little one. Mommy and Daddy love you bunches already :)

Little Annika is a natural for the cameras already

Today I had my malformation screening ultrasound to check all little Annika's organs and bones. It was again amazing and his mom was able to attend this session with me.

I recvd some very cool pictures to share with Jim when he gets home tonight and I know they will make him smile. She is just so active in there for being such a small little thing. Hoping soon I will feel her moving in there as for now I have yet to feel that. The umbilical cord runs along the front of my tummy so they say that shields some of the movement and that is why it may take another week or two before I feel that fun stuff. Good things come to those who wait though right :) Yeppers. It's all good.

I will say though that my tummy is very sore at the moment from today's visit as they had to measure all the organs and bones and stuff like that to make sure she is growing and is where she should be in size on everything. All looked great so that is all I needed to know. Testing is now done and we can leave her alone to do her thing in there in privacy. lol

I have attached a few photos from today and I happen to think, Annika is a natural for the cameras already. lol Enjoy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokofamily/3620779454/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokofamily/3619960557/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokofamily/3619960351/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokofamily/3620779294/

Do you want to know???? Amazing

Well, today was our big day and it was just everything I had hoped for, just amazing in every way. Our little miracle is the cutest thing ever...lol All curled up in there safe and sound and just very active. We were surprised at how active this little one is and is about 5" long right now and I still can't feel him/her move. But I know I will soon and just being able to peek in and see keeps our mind at peace :)

So, what do you think we are having?????????????????? We are so excited and can now call our miracle by name and I can go SHOPPING. YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO That is going to be some kind of fun for sure. Take a look at the pictures and you will soon know what we are having too :) lol You will have to click the pictures in order so you know as you continue to look at the rest of them what our little one is. lol

We called my Mom on the way home and she was just sooooo excited and happy. It was a nice phone call to make. I really want to call his parents but his Mom wants to be surprised so hopefully she doesn't get word between now and delivery day. kee kee kee

Tonight Jim and I are celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary, which is officially Monday the 8th, but since he will not be here then we are having a nice home cooked dinner and some ice cream and just spending some time together before he heads back to Indy tomorrow :( Hate it when he has to leave. Just makes me sad. But I know in good time we will all be back together so that is what I hold on to.

Are you ready to meet our little miracle?????? Click away and enjoy. Just love our sweet little one. Going to be spoiled rotten :) lol

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokofamily/3600859463/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokofamily/3601673704/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokofamily/3601674482/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokofamily/3600859887/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sokofamily/3600859669/

Hope you enjoyed meeting our amazing miracle Annika Yvonne Sokolowski She is already loved more than she will ever know :)