Ana is 4 months old!

Anastasia Rose Johnson was born December 7th 2009 at 1:30 pm. She was 7lbs 7oz and 21 long. It was an amazing day and I am so happy to be a mommy! So that was over four months ago now. In the past four months Ana has been growing and growing. She can stand up (assisted) and hold toys. She loves funny faces and likes to giggle all the time. She and I went to visit my family in Lindale, TX in March. She got to meet everyone and we had a great time. I have been trying to figure out a good weekend to go back to visit soon. This week we go back to Ana's pedi to get her second round of shots, I'm not excited about it. I cryed more than she did last time. I'm going to try and update more often and I'll post some pics soon too.

update!(sorry it has been so long)

So we are all moved in here in Lubbock Texas. The house is beautiful and perfect for us. Ana's furniture is set up in her room and looks really cute. I don't know how to get photos from my camera to this computer yet, but I'll ask Nick to help me upload them the next time he is home. Her room is decorated in black and pink with one wall painted with dark and light pink vertical stripes. We have just about everything we need. I'm still shopping around for a glider or rocker, I can't make up my mind, and we still have to get the all important car seat. I think we are getting that this week. Now on to more important news. On Tuesday October 20th we had an ultrasound. Ana was facing my back so we didn't get any pictures of her face but could tell that she has some hair on her head. The ultrasound also showed Ana is breech, she is skinny, and the fluid level surrounding her is low. Needless to say that was not the news I was expecting. Until now we have had nothing but perfect check-ups. My weight has been right on target; Ana's movement has been more than good and I have felt really good for the most part. So now I am scheduled to go twice a week for "non-stress tests" and once a week for an ultrasound to check the fluid level. A "non-stress test" is just a 20 minute monitoring session. I sit in a chair with a fetal heart monitor and a contraction monitor on my belly and I push a button each time Ana moves. It sounds really boring but it is very comforting so just sit and listen to her heart beat and hear her moving around. Right now I am 32 weeks and 5 days so my fluid (amniotic fluid) level should be 10 to 13 but it is 8. The doctor said that it is considered "low normal". So if it gets lower or if she doesn't turn in the next two weeks I will have to have test run to check her lung development, then they will inject steroids into the cord and we will deliver early. Nick and I had already discussed scheduling an induction for December 7th, so he would be home and I could relax a little, but now I may have to have a C-section much earlier. This isn't the end of the world and Ana is in good health. Her overall weight is normal but her belly is just skinny. I'm guessing she is just going to be long and tall like her daddy. I'm going to stick to soups and milk for awhile and see if that helps her gain any weight. I'll try and keep you posted little better from now on. JJ

We are having a ..........

We are having a GIRL!!!!!!! Thursday August 13th 2009 we heard the answer to our long awaited question. The nurse asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby. My answer "YES! Desperately!" and then she said it "this is a little girl"!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!! Her name is Anastasia Rose Johnson, we will call her Ana. At 22 weeks 4 days she is 1.3 lbs and has a heart rate of 158. This was our last visit with Dr. Harris here in Tyler. I have an appointment set for August 27th in Lubbock at our new doctors office. I'm looking forward to meeting the new doctor because my current doctors office is not very nice and never answers phone calls or emails. Hopefully the new offices staff will be more attentive. Tomorrow I will officially be 23 weeks and I'm about 90% sure I have started having "Braxton-Hicks" contractions. I only seem to have pain when I've been on my feet for a long period of time and once I get comfortable(well as comfortable as I can get) it gets better and eventually goes away. Tomorrow is the first baby shower. I've very excited because this will be my last chance to see the ladies closest to me before we move. I still can not believe we only have 4 months left until Ana is here! With all of the packing and cleaning that has been going on I really think the last month has slipped by me. Nick will be driving the Uhaul to Lubbock this Wednesday and I will stay here in Tyler Thursday and Friday to finish my last week at Texas Spine and Joint. I'm really going to miss everyone but I'm very excited to move to Lubbock. I'll be working for Nicks dads office and will be able to work from home after Ana is here. Everything really has fallen into place and I don't think I have ever been this happy before in my life. Ok, its after 9pm and the dogs are looking at me like "why are we not in bed?" hahaha. I'll try to post again after the move and maybe get more pictures up. -JJ-

Feeling the baby!

I am 18 weeks and 2 days along today and for about a week now I have been able to feel the baby move. The first time I felt the baby was Sunday July 5th. I had been driving home from Lubbock and was so tired once I finally made it back to Tyler. I was in bed and had just fallen asleep. It was three quick kicks (or punches) and it woke me up. I didn't know what was going on at first but once it stopped I realized it was the baby! I was crying because it was so exciting. Since then I haven't noticed anything as strong but I have been able to notice when the baby is really moving around. Today I was laying back in a chair, getting my eyebrows done, and the baby started kicking enough that I could feel it from the outside! I can't wait for Nick to feel it. Well, a lot of things are going to be changing soon. I'll keep you posted as we know more. I have a "belly check" appointment on July 21st. This visit will just be to get my belly measurement and weight and check the heartbeat again. I'll update after that:) JJ

10 weeks/first doctor visit and ultrasound

On Monday May 18th we saw our baby for the first time. It was amazing! I was alone in the room with the doctor when I first saw the ultrasound image. I couldn't breath, all I could do was stare at the monitor and cry with joy. There was our baby! It was still at first, maybe sleeping I guess. Nick walked in about 30 seconds later and took my hand, I snapped back to reality. My heart started pounding and I started crying even harder. That must have woke the baby because it started to move :) It turned and was waving its tiny arms. We could see the heart beating and the doctor said that it looked as if it had the hick-ups. The baby is still only the size of a prune. It's crazy how it can be that small and look just like a full size baby on the ultrasound. My mom took some pictures, that at the time seemed a little strange, but I'm glad she did because that was a moment I will remember for the rest of my life. I hope one day someone will develop a way to see babies in the womb daily. Seeing our baby moving around was the greatest image my eyes have ever seen. I keep replaying it over and over in my mind. In about a month or so I should be able to start feeling it move! And on June 23rd we will have another ultrasound and maybe find out if the baby is a boy or a girl! So get your votes in :) At that time we will also hear the heart beat. I'll be sure to update and get pictures up as soon as I can. I have posted some of the ultrasound pictures. Enjoy -JJ

The past few days...

Sunday night my mom told my little brother (he is 8) that he was going to be an Uncle. He looked at her kinda funny and said "why would I do that?" hahaha. She told him that Nick and I are going to have a baby and then he said "O! ok then I'll be an Uncle" as if he has a choice. He is so silly. Monday morning my little brother told my grandfather that he was going to be an Uncle so the beans were spilled. I called my grandmother after I got to work and told her the good news. She is a little forgetful (if you know her your are laughing at that statement) so I was concerned that she wouldn't remember if I just told her over the phone. But when I said "I'm going to have a baby" I could feel how excited she was. We talked for a good 20 minutes about how she raised all 4 of her children and other things like that. Typical Grannie stories:) By the time I got of the phone I was sure she would remember. This will be her second great-grandchild and she is very excited about that.

So my mom is really excited!!!! I think after the bought the first set(yes she has purchased more since then) of one-zies it really sank in. :) She took me to lunch on Monday and when I got out of the car she did her silly squealing-shaking her jazz hands-smiling really big excitement dance haha. If you are related to her you know exactly what I'm talking about. It made me feel so good to see her beaming with excitement.

On Tuesday I wasn't ready to eat anything so she brought me some fruit and more baby clothes. :) I love my momma <3

Wednesday and today have been good. I'm starting to really feel some of the early symptoms but its so exciting I really don't care how bad it makes me feel. This week is my 5th week so the babies heart has started to form and blood has started flowing. How crazy is that!?! Our little ball of cells has begun the amazing transformation into a real human. I keep catching myself just staring down at my stomach wondering what exactly it must look and feel like. Kinda strange I know but you have to admit that it must be a pretty cool thing to see.

I have my first doctors office visit on May 12th but its just to get a basic check up and stuff. Then my real first visit with my new doctor is May 18th. By then I will be 11 weeks along and not to long after that we will be able to find out if it is a little boy or girl. Its strange how I already feel so much love for someone who doesn't even have a gender yet.

Well I'm hungry and I have to run to the bathroom (again) so I'll post more another day.

-JJ

The positive test!!!

So I woke up Saturday April 4th at 7:30am and for some reason just decided to take a test. I really didn't expect it to be positive and was just going to take it and then toss it in the trash. I set it on the counter and took the dogs outside. When I came back in I could not believe what I saw! TWO LINES!!!!!!!! I was going to wait to tell Nick until I had taken another test but I couldn't keep it from him. I held up the positive pregnancy test and he looked at me with this confused and still half asleep expression and said "what?....what is that?......is it right?" Once I stopped laughing/crying he gave me a big hug. I took another test later that day and then another this morning. I'm so excited!

I called my mom to let her know that she was going to be a Grandmother. It was the most amazing feeling to tell my mom that I was about to go through the same experience she had gone through 23 years ago when she was pregnant with me.

I then sent a text to my younger cousin, Erin, who is more like a sister to me than a cousin :) She was really excited too.

I had to wait another hour before I could call Nicks mom, she was in Church. I called her and said "well I just want to let you know that we are going to have a baby!" she started yelling :) She was really REALLY excited and that was really exciting for me. I'm so grateful that I have such a supportive relationship with her. Nick had already told his dad that we would have a special Christmas gift so I'm pretty sure he already knew.

So here i am searching the internet, reading about the amazing journey we are about to begin:)

If you have made it this far then you must really care about us so thanks :)

I'll keep you posted-JJ