Rylee Rose Part 1: Pregnancy

I don't know where to start. So, I'm just going to start typing and see where my fingertips lead me...

I'm hesitant to be too detailed in these posts. I will do my best to avoid sharing unimportant details. My more in-depth feelings will probably be expressed later on in separate posts. I just wanted to share a brief overview of what happened so people know where I'm coming from...

We finally felt at a place in our lives to be able to take the leap to try having another baby. Our son was already almost 6 years old. We were ready for our family to grow and for our son to have a sibling. We finally had a better grasp on how to best raise our child diagnosed with autism and the need for extensive therapies was subsiding due to how much he has progressed, allowing us to pursue another pregnancy and all that comes with it. I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum (severe morning sickness) during my first pregnancy so we had to be prepared for the down-time that I would need if a future pregnancy was as bad as my first.   

After a positive pregnancy test, we eventually announced we were expecting our baby, due in the beginning of March 2015.

I experienced intense "morning" sickness for a majority of my pregnancy, throwing up an average of 3-6 times per day, with steady nausea, from late-July thru October. For the remainder of my pregnancy, I only threw up about 1-2 times per day. That all sounds miserable, and it was, but it could have been worse and I was very motivated. I didn't ever take any anti-nausea medicine because they didn't help much during my last pregnancy (including a traumatizing allergic reaction to Reglan) and I didn't want to risk any bad side effects on me or the baby. For the most part, I worked hard to force myself to eat and to keep everything under control. I only had one UTI which we caught quickly and I never needed to go to the hospital to be treated for dehydration. I was much more prepared for everything the second time around, compared to my first pregnancy. 

My son drew this picture of our family (and our expected baby) on one of my hardest days while being sick. Without anyone suggesting it, he drew this and brought it to me to cheer me up. Needless to say, it melted my heart and was exactly what I needed to remember why I was going through these difficult things.

 We found out the gender on October 21st, 2014. I made Nick think the ultrasound wasn't happening until later in the week and I surprised him and Eli with a PINK cake. It was a GIRL! We could hardly believe it but we were beyond excited! 

Click here for Rylee Rose Part 2: Delivery