The baby in the belly-Pregnancy diary: 20 weeks

We are half way there!

Half way to the awesome experience of labor and childbirth.

Half way to snuggling and nursing a newborn,

and I can't wait!

Mornings are still a bit yucky but nothing like before.

I am carrying much higher and BIGGER than with Logan.

This morning Jeff, Logan and I had a date with our baby.

We set out early for our gender ultrasound at the hospital.

Logan did pretty good. Ate lots of trail mix M&Ms, played with cars, tried to talk on the hospital phone a million times and took lots of walks with Daddy. 

But we made sure the whole fam was together to find out if we had a boy or girl:

(Click on picture to watch video)

I had fully expected to be told we were expecting a little girl.

Little Ramona Lou.

Not so.

I was shocked, but I will love boy #2 just the same!

Logan has said "Brubber" many times today.
I think he is starting to get it. :)

Baby boy was quite shy and very squirmy.
Tough to get pictures of, but here he is: introducing our little yoga baby...

See you in about 20 more weeks sweetheart!
Mommy, Daddy and Brubber sure love you.
xoxo

#2

Dearest friends and family,

we're having a baby!

Yep, Logan is going to be a big brother. Oh, boy.

A couple months ago we decided it was time for Logan to have a sibling, then soon found out we already had one cooking. :)

Finding out...

Near the end of September I couldn't ignore the fact that I was ridiculously tired no matter how much sleep I got. Also, I was getting nauseous when my stomach was empty.
Now, I have convinced myself I was pregnant several times before only to get a negative result, so when I snuck into the bathroom while Jeff was home on a break I was expecting that same old routine. 

Those two lines appeared in record time. 

Is there any rush quite like staring at a positive pregnancy test?! 

All I could do was shoot a quick text to a friend saying something awesome like 

"holy crap, are you seeing what I am seeing? That's positive, right?!" 

I pulled myself together, decided to tell Jeff in some clever way later, and went back to my boys. 

But I couldn't hide it. Jeff knew something was up. I wondered outloud if i should tell him right then, and then he guessed. Then we both started laughing. 

And just like that- baby on the way! 

My body has been quite off since Logan was born so I really had no idea how far along I was. A few weeks after the test, mom came with me to a dating ultrasound where we were surprised to see little arms and legs moving around already. 

10 weeks!

Logan waved at the baby on the screen and we got to pretend-ultrasound his tummy before we left. Big step for that doctor-hater!

The scoop...

At 14 weeks, this pregnancy has been a lot like Logan's, except totally different.

Same symptoms, totally different timing. 

I have once again had to resort to anti-nausea meds to keep me away from the toilet. 

After Logan's birth, I knew I wanted to do prenatal care a little different the next time. I felt like nothing but a number with the last office, nothing special. So I am using UW midwives and I am very happy. They are caring, personal, and I will still deliver at a hospital where emergency care is available if needed. 

Holy moly, my belly has popped already! 

I don't really have a ton of cravings, but plenty of aversions and I can't get enough to drink.

I have been a bit more anxious this pregnancy but I'm doing great.

I want a girl so bad. Jeff wants another boy. 

We will see...

...somewhere around May 19th! 

Grow baby, grow! 

Love you all.

xoxo

-Jeff, Linds and Logan

Childhood absence epilipsy

Around March Jeff and I started to notice something strange happening with Logan. Several times a day he would have little "episodes" as we called them. He would stop mid-activity, his top half would go slightly limp and his eyeballs and muscles around his eyes would bounce a little for about 3-4 seconds. It sounds more intense than it actually looked, but it made us worry. We soon took him to his primary care doc, who did the basic checkup and sent us home telling us to journal it and try to get it on video tape. 

We'd been prayerful from the start- that we would know what to do, that we would have good doctors and for Logan's health. 

We never got it on tape but as I kept a journal we quickly realized it wasn't going away, but was happening more often. So with the help of the doctor's office we started contacting neurologists.

The first available appointments were a few months out, and the thought of waiting that long made us a little nervous. 

 But Logan's doctor's office gave us the name of a neurologist that takes patients on a case-by-case basis, and we soon had an appointment for the next week. (Tender mercy #1)

They wanted Logan to have an EEG the day before the appointment. It was a little sad. Logan is the kind of baby that doesn't want you to wash his hair, brush his teeth, and for a while- even change his diaper. In short- he doesn't liked to be messed with. 

I had to hold him down for a half hour while they put 28 things on his head. Poor guy cried so much he was falling asleep in between the last few attachments.

Going into the EEG my personal prayer was that he would have an episode while he was hooked up so that the doctors could see them on the EEG. 

As soon as the tech hooked up the last ones, Logan had a couple episodes before falling asleep.

(Tender mercy #2...)

The tech called the neurologist before the test was over asking if he wanted to see us sooner than our scheduled appointment the next day. I asked him about it and he said he saw something that worried him and we'd talk about it with the neurologist the next day. 

He was a little dramatic.

I honestly expected this to turn out to be nothing, so that was a little hard to hear.

After he woke up I told the tech not to worry about cleaning him off. He'd been messed with enough. Besides, check out that hair! (The red is from markers.)

Ice cream sandwich and balloons after!

.

My mom came to spend the night to go with me to the neurologist the next day.

Daddy loves Logan so much. So much. He opted to keep his mind busy at work and to talk about findings after we came home. 

Come to find out, Logan was indeed having absence seizures, and more than we were aware of. I saw the couple he had at the test but he actually had 10-12. 

Logan was diagnosed with childhood absence epilepsy.

We talked with the doc for a couple hours..about treatment, precautions, programs to get Logan into, genetic testing, scheduled an MRI...lots of stuff.

The Doc was awesome. 

When we first got there I didn't know what to think. He had a heavy funny accent, spit a little when he spoke and had a crazy funny laugh at odd times. 

But by the time we left I had total confidence in him. And when I lost it, feeling overwhelmed, he made sure all was well, taking even more time with us. (#3...)

He had a blood draw at Swedish to start checking for possible causes and one at home for genetic testing.

Last week Jeff and I took him to Swedish for his MRI (just because his head has always been a little large and considering everything)...

 Yesterday the Doc called and said his MRI was normal. YAY! And we are going to redo 3 of his labs that were borderline.

I'm not surprised. 

He is pretty perfect.

SO...when we saw the neurologist that day, he started Logan on medicine and we haven't seen a seizure since. The diagnosis doesn't worry me nearly as much as does all the stuff he's had to go through in the past few months. And apparently 70% of kids with these cases outgrow it. So we are thinking the worst is past us. 

I am so grateful for the sweet experience of drawing nearer to our Savior during times of trial. 

My heart is full.

The day after his MRI Logan got to model for Nik's Confidence Photography Workshop...

Seriously...perfect!

Planes and Boats

I remember bring-your-kid-to-work day at BOEING with Dad. 

I remember eating donuts, feeling special, and Dad being nervous that the other guys at work would watch their language. Haha.

On a rainy day recently, Logan and I met Grandpa Woodhouse at Boeing field for lunch and to watch planes fly overhead.

There is always fun to be had at Nonie and Grandpa's. 

(Even though she is gone it will always be Nonie and Grandpa's to us.)

On this particular day, we brought Grandpa some chocolate peanut butter ice cream, talked to a giant seal, watched a bald eagle and her baby fly by, played with the coo-coo clock and watched the barges go by with Aunt Wendy.

"Practically perfect in every way"...

This Monday all three of us found ourselves sitting on the couch in our underwear watching The Jungle Book, and I was happy. Super happy.

I gave Jeff The Jungle book the day before as a Father's Day gift for him and Logan to enjoy together- since it was one of Jeff's favorites growing up. 

Our family moments are pretty precious these days, since Jeff is usually off working his tail off providing for us.

And since I'm thinking of family moments, here are a few others worth mentioning:

Last Halloween, Logan and I dressed up as Mary Poppins and a little Chimney sweep. 

You bet I already have the Daddy-sized Bert costume ready for this year.

We trunk-or-treated with Grandma Woodhouse, Grammy Rice and the Klumpers, and helped Nonie and Grandpa Rice hand out candy on Halloween...

(Someone kept disappearing to the candy basket. Nonie always gave you suckers, Logan... )

 And a couple months later we had a merry Christmas...

  

 The end.

The Plan of Salvation

A few weeks ago, after being asked to serve the Young Women in our church, I went to my first class with them. They had been studying The Plan of Salvation that month and were ending it by speaking of death and what comes after. 

The spirit was strong as everyone shared stories of those they had lost and how they have come to know that their loved ones live on. 

I have been taught this plan growing up. I accepted it and believed in it.

But it is those tender experiences of losing loved ones and saying goodbye to them with a heavy heart at funerals- and also welcoming new life as a tiny perfect newborn baby enters the world... that I have developed a burning testimony of the marvelous Plan of our Maker.

Before Thanksgiving, family called one early morning with the sad news that Jeff's Nonie had passed away suddenly. It was heartbreaking. She was the life of the family and had a way of making all of us feel individually loved and important to her. She was obsessed with Logan, in the very best way. On the last vacation we took together, the last thing I would hear every night before she drifted off to sleep was "Oh, he is so cute" or "We are so lucky" or "I love him so much."

It may sound silly but since she passed, Logan often points and grins at one of the ceiling corners in his room, and we like to think that is where she watched over him from.

Jeff bore sweet testimony at her funeral that he couldn't wait to hug her and see her smiling face in heaven one day. 

While planning  funeral services I could see Grandpa getting a little overwhelmed, so I asked him if he'd go on a walk with me. I wish I had a picture of him and Logan and I walking hand-in-hand down the sidewalk. It was another tender mercy that made me think- of course families are forever. Our heavenly Father loves us and it wouldn't be any other way. 

This past fall, Nonie called us over so Logan could play in the leaves in the backyard that she loved so much. She was so happy and it's a sweet memory to look back on. 

We love and miss you Nonie...

And then there was this little miracle...

baby Finn.

I was so honored that my sister Jessie invited me to be with her for his birth.

It wasn't long ago I was in the hospital waiting for Taylor and Madi to be born and there I was snuggeling and crying with them as they met their perfect baby brother. 

You are a beautiful Mother, Jess, and I admire your strength and your dedication to family.

Finn is a blessed boy!

Alma 40:11

"Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection-- Behold it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men...are taken home to that God who gave them life."