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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Gender Is...

It's a BOY!!!

That object the arrow is pointing to are...the goods ;)

Current name idea (NOT set in stone)
Colton Christopher Key
Ryan came up with Colton about a week ago. I really do like it...I just want to keep my options open since we are just finding out what it is. :)


Today I went in for my 17 weeks & 5 day visit. :) 2 weeks ago when I went in they didn't do an ultrasound so I was bummed. But they did enlighten me by telling me they would do one at the next visit. So we have been anxiously awaiting the past 2 weeks. This is my 3rd visit to the Maternal Fetal Specialist at UAB & each visit I have seen a different dr. They are apparently passing me around so that whoever is on call to deliver will be familiar with my case. I am glad because I would like to be familiar with them too! What's crazy is the dr. today was Dr. Davis. 4 years ago when we first decided to start trying I had to go see the specialist at UAB to determine if they thought it was safe for me to have a baby after having a blood clot & having to be on blood thinners for life. Well...I saw Dr. Davis & he took my case before the board of Dr's there at UAB & they collectively decided it was safe! So..that began our journey to this little boy in my belly today. Dr. Davis is now a head dude over the specialist at UAB so I was extra glad to have him see me. He walked in & said..."I was asking why in the world this girl was on so much Lovenox (blood thinner)...BUT then I looked in your file & saw 3 blood clotting factors & previously had 2 blood clots!" He decided it was great news I was on so much blood thinner! :) He was really impressed that everything with my pregnancy is going so smoothly. I am finally gaining weight due to not throwing up so much. So we are on the right track! Our lil' man was very stubborn today & we almost didn't find out he was a "he". :) But Dr. Davis was persistent & jabbed that probe in my stomach right on that boys legs to get them moved..it finally worked! They were already discussing me coming back in 2 weeks & to drink a coke in the waiting room next time so they can get him moving everywhere to see the anatomy. Thankfully...we don't have to wait 2 more weeks! They are going to do another ultrasound then to get all the measurements etc b/c he wasn't cooperating with that either. (sounds like his daddy already!) They said everything looked really good but they will do some of it again next time. That's fine with me I'll take all the ultrasounds I can get!!! :)

Here's his hand...fist clenched

Skull & two hands curled up


I am predicting he has my long legs that take up all of his body like his mommy! That's the reason we couldn't see the anatomy those legs looked all cramped up in there! :) I like this shot of his leg though...so cute!

Ryan & I went to a little shop in Downtown Homewood this afternoon to snag a lil' boy something...just b/c we could! We thought this onesie was perfect! I especially thought so...b/c if I might say so myself...if this boy looks anything like his Daddy or any of the other "Key" boys for that matter, then Chicks will definitely be diggin' him! :)


I got all the boy "stuff" out of the closet & seperated it from the few girl things I have collected over the years...Here's the beginning of his collection. Lastnight Ryan came into our bedroom showing me the Cubs Onsie (I bought like a year ago!) saying, "Awww...look at this..I totally forgot we had this!" I looked at the size & it's 18 months! So it will be a while but he'll eventually get to support daddy's team! That AU outfit...hmmm..I can't tell you how long I have had that! We'll have to get a smaller one for when he comes out of the womb! He is supposed to be here Iron Bowl weekend...


Well...I am thrilled to have a lil' boy to go mud puddling with me & Heisman. I can't wait for him to get here. I am fully convinced now that I am having a baby! :)

We are headed to Gulf Shores on Thursday to the In-Laws timeshare. We CANNOT wait! I am ready to hit up the Juicy Couture outlet to find a Juicy De Baby diaper bag! :) And we are going out on the boat fishing...which I am SO pumped about! I havn't been salt water fishing on a boat ummm...since high school! The rest of the siblings & fam are already there we are the stragglers...I'll have photo's to post when I return!!!!



Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Parents Connect 3D Pregnancy Widget

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

15 week Belly Picture!!!

So...you've probably been wondering when I was going to put a belly pic' on here?!?! Lately I have felt the "I'm not just plump...it's a baby bump" so I guess I got motivated! :) We had Redneck Bunco Monday night so I decided to be Redneck Barbie! As I was googling "redneck women" for ideas I found her. I am not so sure she really exists...thankfully...but I thought I would represent! As you can see below she has her cig, & beer along with her gazillion kids! And...don't let the black eye go unnoticed! :) Ryan decided I needed a tattoo with his initials in it, RCK...which everyone thought said RICK! So..that went over well with Brooke ;) Our hostess with the mostess, Robin Stover, made us all coozies with our name on them for our ROOTBEER...not really beer. :) It was so much fun...we had roadkill, gator bites, pig intestines & white trash to eat! :) The best gift of the night was the $5 gift card to Dollar Tree!!! Who knew you could get a giftcard to a Dollar store? Wow! What is this world coming too!

So...needless to say...we had a great time at Bunco! By the way that's my sister-in-law, Christi Stephens Key in the pic' with me...It's a huge deal for her to have a hat on & her hair in a ponytail...in case you were wondering how she is redneck. :)
Well...the pregnancy is still chuggin' along...I was 15 weeks on Monday. My last dr's appt was at 14 weeks but no ultrasound :( just a doppler to hear the heartbeat..which was still good & strong! And the best part of the whole visit was that I got a prescription for Zofran!!! It's a dissolvable tablet that taste yummy like strawberries & keeps you from throwing up!!! I had thrown up 8 times the day of that appt...so the Dr. felt it was time for some. :) My poor friend Faith took me to my appt at the last minute once I realized I would probably throw up while driving there. Luckily I came prepared with a tote bag with all the necessities... Apple store barf bag, roll of paper towels, wet paper towels & a bottle of mouthwash! Good thing too...I threw up in the dr's office (in the can thanks to Faith's quick reaction time!) and then on the way home in the car...but not really in the car b/c I had my Apple Store bag! But guess what? It had wholes in it where the drawstring was inserted!!! Didn't realize that until it came out on my pants and Faith's seatbelt!!! :) ewwwwww! She was a great sport though...she dropped me off at home & went to Publix, filled my script & got me gatorade & jello! Poor Ryan felt so bad...he had a very important sales appt that day with his boss...so he couldn't come. I've taken about 5 of those Zofran in the last week....but haven't thrown up since then!!! Well..stay posted...my next dr's visit is next Tuesday...16 weeks!!! Am I having an ultrasound? I dunno!?!? Wish I knew..they like to keep me on my toes apparently! If not though..it will only be a couple more weeks from then that I would for sure find out the sex!!! yay!
~Kelly & Baby Key




















Tuesday, May 19, 2009

1st appt with the High Risk OB! & more...

Well, I went to my first appt with Dr. Kimberlin at UAB's Maternal Fetal Medicine yesterday. (monday 5/18) Everything went well...she did a lovely full exam on me & discussed my 3 blood clotting factors. She decided to add more medicine to the 7 pills & 3 shots I currently take each day. I have to add 1500mg of Calcium because the blood thinner I am on, Lovenox injections, can cause you to have osteoporosis. I have been aware of this, that is why at times my Hematologist (blood dr.) has made me come off of it(& back on oral pill Coumadin) to give my body a "break". This Dr. prefers I take the calcium since I have to stay on the Lovenox injections until I am finished breastfeeding (if I am blessed to be able to do so.) So..that's cool...what's a couple more tablets! :) Besides that, I had 4 vials of blood drawn...which I have no clue what those were for. I get so much blood drawn that I don't question it anymore. :) Then I went for an ultrasound & that was pretty funny. I was 12 weeks yesterday & so the technician immediately went to my stomach to do the ultrasound. Well...I have the picture below to show you that you can't see a thing! :)

We could see the baby on the screen but barely. She said my uterus is tilted back, which is fine, it just makes it hard to see the baby on an external ultrasound. The Dr. just wanted to be sure there was still a heartbeat...and the tech immediately said..."oh there's a heartbeat b/c that baby is moving around like crazy!" :) She did go ahead & listen to the heartbeat & FOR ALL OF YOU WANTING TO KNOW THE HEARTRATE.... I finally remembered to ask! It was 176. The tech said the idea that a certain heartrate can predict gender is a myth. She said basically you have a 50/50 chance of it being right so...of course at times people will guess correctly! She said they have had some that went along with the myth & it was right & some that were wrong. So it's just not a good prediction. BUT I decided to research the internet anyways...and 176 means a girl. Once I start popping out I'll have to do those other silly gender test too! :) Another question many of you have asked is whether or not the dr's would prefer with my high risk bleeding condition that I have the baby vaginally or have a planned C-Section? THE ANSWER IS....vaginally if at all possible!!! Quote from the Doc! I'm excited about that...I am looking forward to the excitement of not knowing exactly when I will go into labor! :) You mom's are probably saying I am crazy...but as of right now...it excite's me! :) So that was about it...overall it was a good visit. I liked my dr. & it's funny to come from seeing a regular OB then to a High Risk Specialist...she just acted like I was a normal pregnant woman! It was a great feeling...she is just so confident..like she has no worries about me & this pregnancy! I go back in two weeks, on Tuesday, June 2nd. At that point I will be 14 weeks. I asked the lady who checked me out what I will be doing at that appt..ultrasound? just seeing dr.? and she said she didn't know it didn't say on my form! She also said not to expect an ultrasound b/c normally they don't do ultrasounds each visit...but she said she doesn't know my high risk story..so they might! So..I don't know...I hope another ultrasound is to come!
Now I want to update ya'll on some other things in our life. Yes..we DO have a life..it isn't just about me being pregnant. :) 1st off..I had to take this picture of ALL my needles from the In-Vitro process!!! Yikes! Before I took them to the Dr's sharps container...
I had to keep a memory. :)

So...you probably didn't know that my Dad who we now like to call, "Senor Andy" :) has been driving up from Pensacola, FL since the end of February to remodel our master bathroom! When he started he would come up on a Monday & stay until Friday then go home for the weekend. He did that each week for a while. Then he started coming up on Mondays staying until Friday then heading home for a week long break then back to Bham! Currently he is "off" :). He'll be back next Monday or Tuesday to continue his work. When we bought our house it was 4 bdrms 1 1/2 bath. We knew going into it we had some remodeling to do. We hired out the job to make two bdrms into one master bedroom. That has been finished for a while now. Those guys framed out the mstr bath during that process but we planned on them coming back a few months later to finish that part. THEN, my wonderful, retired, can do anything he puts his mind too, Dad offered to save us LOT'S of $$$ and remodel the bathroom himself! He kept hinting each time he would visit that he could do it, he could do it and it would save us money. I just felt bad taking him up on it..once he said he needed a project I said OK! :)
The below picture was our former Half Bath that is in the mstr bdrm.

Ugly..ugly...ugly.. what is up with that blue?!

Now, as you see that blue floor is a shower floor!!! WE made the whole half bath one big walk in shower! This picture is actually a couple weeks old..b/c now my dad has the whole shower completely ready for tiling!


This used to be the closet in the mstr bdrm...now it is a "toilet room". It's small but get's the job done! It has a pocket door that goes into the wall & comes out if you want privacy. We did that for the next person who buys the house..we'll never shut that door! :) We're real modest! :)

This is the new vanity area! Yay for 2 sinks!!! My OWN space! We are currently sharing our full bath off the hallway..which has one little vanity space. Fun for when you have guest & you all get to use that shower & sink! ;)
Notice this mirror has no frame. I had glass cut the size I wanted & installed. Then the glass folks told me about Framed Reflections!

Ta Da! Doesn't that frame make it just pop?! Ryan & my dad thought I was crazy..that it was a waste of money & it looked fine without the frame... I don't think so! :)


Somewhat the whole view of the vanity.

By the way...my dad has never done plumbing until now! He did all the plumbing, wiring, sheet rock...just everything! He spent many a days under our house in the crawl space. He's a great worker b/c he's a perfectionist...so I know I can trust anything he does to be done right the first time! (and he's free) ;) just kidding!
So...since all this baby talk...I have updated you on our pup lately. He is currently our baby until Baby Key comes along! Heisman is now a year & half. He's our wonderful behaving lab. After lot's of storms this wkend I asked Ryan if he wanted to go with Heisman & I "mudpuddling". My term for putting on your Leopard print Golloshes (sp) :) and walking in mudpuddles! Heisman LOVES the water...so we knew he would enjoy this! Just across the street was this water & he just laid & stretched all in this!



We didn't get the camera out until the end so we don't have a shot of him in this persons yard rolling all around in a mud puddle! It was so funny! We couldn't get him to leave! Once he got in the puddle above it rinsed most of his blackness off. But daddy gave him a good spray down once we were finished with our walk. Heisman just stood there letting Ryan spray him! what a great dog!
Now! for the shake off! Is this not the craziest picture. It kind of scrared me at first...I was like where's his head?! Apparently his eyes are squinted shut, ears flopped down, and mouth spread out by the shake! Kind of hard to tell just by glance though!


Here he is all cleaned up! He's so cute!
Ryan & I decided we can't wait until this lil' one comes along so we can ALL go "mudpuddling"! :)



Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Today's OB visit...

So...today's 1st visit to my "new" OB didn't go quite as planned. I got there & filled out all that paper work (which w/ my medical history...takes forever!) Then, the doctor comes in & tells me she is not going to treat me. Ever since my infertility dr had scheduled this appt for me her & him have been in lot's of discussion apparently. She came to the conclusion that she would go ahead & meet me at my appt today so she could explain in person why she doesn't feel comfortable being my dr. She is sending me to UAB's Maternal Fetal Specialist a.k.a high risk doctors. She said when she trained at UAB during school she dealt with anticoagulated (blood thinner) mom's. So she is familiar with it but that still doesn't mean she specializes in it. She cannot guarantee that she would be the one on call to deliver my baby...and if someone else in her practice is on call then she wouldn't feel comfortable with them delivering. She thought it would just be silly not to have the Maternal Fetal Specialist have me when they are right down the road! And I will be rotating amongst all ( 5 ?) doctors so they will all be familiar with my case. And they are all trained in this so any of them can safely deliver my baby. Needless to say I am pleased she was so up front about this. She could have just kept me to make money...or just being prideful...but she didn't. Now I have an appt with the specialist OB's on May 19th. But this Friday I go back to this regular OB I saw today for an ultrasound to determine two things: My for sure due date (based on measurements etc) and if I am having multiples. She wants to check thoroughly to be sure. :) I am real excited about that visit! Because today we didn't do an ultrasound like I thought...I miss seeing my baby! They have spoiled me with seeing he/she every week! All in all...it was a good visit. I and all our families will feel even better with me having specialist OB's.
So..I spoke too soon about throwing up only 3 times. Today made 4! :( Actually just a bit ago...when I got home from church...there went my KFC potatoe/chicken bowl I had for supper! What's funny is I just left church saying I was hungry..got home pulled out the KFC cole slaw & ran to the bathroom. So no cole slaw for me. :)
Please continue to remember my mother-in-law, Bev Key, in your prayers. Just last week she had her 2nd chemo treatment. She is doing as expected...has already lost her hair :( ...her attitude is great as always though.
~Mama Kelly

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

10 Weeks & only thrown up 3 Times!!!

I am finally back to my blog. So sorry for the delay! I went to Las Vegas for a Perfect Wedding Guide conference (for work) April 15th-18th. Came back with a cold virus that I could not get rid of, so I had no social life for that whole week! Believe it or not I am still battling this stupid cold...still coughing & hacking up a lung! (Well..that's what it sounds like.) Then our computer has been jacked up...so I haven't been able to scan my ultrasound pics etc. to get this blog going. It's back & in action though...so here we go!

We have had an ultrasound every week since I found out I was pregnant! Most women don't have their first ultrasound until 8 or 9 weeks...but when you are an In-Vitro patient you have to go all the time. Which is fine with us...because we get to see every little speck of growth...which is really awesome. 
This ultrasound is from 4-10-09, I was 6 1/2 weeks pregnant. We actually heard the 1st flutter of a heartbeat at this appt. Ryan couldn't really make it out...but I could..and the dr. of course. We all cried...me, Ryan & the nurse...Dr. Bates held it together though ;) 
This is the normal view.


This is the Enlarged view: so you can see the circle is the yolk sak & where the arrow is pointing is the Baby Key :)

This one is just 5 days later! (I told you I go a lot!) :) 4-15-09, 7 weeks.  I was leaving this day for my flight to Las Vegas...Dr. Bates wanted to be sure everything was good before I left town. 
As you can see everything just got slightly larger! But all was good so off to Vegas I went!

4-22-09, 8 weeks along. This is the normal view..No that is not 2 babies in that sack...everyone who has seen this pic' has asked me that. :) Baby Key is the larger shape, the smaller oval beside him/her is the yolk sack. The yolk sack at this point is getting smaller & smaller b/c the placenta is taking over. I asked where that yolk sack goes? They said it just "goes away"...I'll never "see" it. Your body just absorbs it. Cool huh? 


The Enlarged view


Lookie...Lookie...it actually looks like something now!!! 
This one is from 4-28-09, 9 weeks along. 
This is the normal view...and you can probably tell...his/her head is on the left with little arms curled up to it's mouth! 

This is the Enlarged view...you can see the little leg stumps on either side on the right. 


That was my last appointment with my Fertility Dr. :( Sad day..I will miss that office! They are wonderful! Dr. Bates said everything is perfect so he is releasing me to an OB. Since it was my last appt when my Dr. heard the heartbeat again on this visit he took mine & Ryan's phones & recorded it for us!!! So we have it to listen to at anytime! Ryan will periodically text me to tell me he can't stop listening to it. :) So sweet!
I had an OB/GYN at St. Vincents hospital but my doc recommended I stay at UAB. UAB has the high risk facilities so no matter what hospital I am at in town...if something happens "high risk" (which is likely with my blood conditions/clotting) then they would just have to ship me over to UAB.  I feel better staying at UAB for that reason...and of course that eases Ryan & our families minds too! I didn't really have much of a relationship with my former OB anyways..since I have been an infertility patient I haven't even seen her in like 2 years. So...my fertility Dr. picked someone at UAB for me. I had no clue who to choose...he knows who needs to "handle" me. SO..Dr. Cheree Stuart it is! I see her tomorrow morning, 4-6-09. I am real excited to meet her! Bad news is this will be the 1st appt Ryan misses. :( He had surgery today to remove a hemorrhoid :(  so he is out of commission for a few days. Tonight he said he is never working out again! That told me just how much pain he is in! If you know my husband you know he has lifted weights uhhhh since middle school & has never stopped..as he approaches his 32nd bday this month! :) 
Regarding my "sickness" during this pregnancy..I am very grateful! I have only thrown up 3 times so far. This past Sunday was the last time. Since I am 10 weeks now..I only have 2 more weeks of my first trimester...which hopefully will mean no nausea!!! I have a lot of that..but thankfully not a lot of the actual thing.  Other than that I have just been very picky about what I want to eat. I had "wheat free" pizza lastnight that I made at home b/c I wanted pizza sauce soooooo bad! Then, tonight after Ryan & I watched a Papa Johns commercial he wanted pizza & I did too! So...I decided to order it & I scraped the sauce & toppings off onto my wheat free crust. :) It was delicious! I normally don't ever order extra toppings..but I did this time..extra sauce! I think I could just drink a jar of pizza sauce right now! So weird! Along with that is the salty craving I have ALL THE TIME. I don't think it ever stops. I normally love sweets but not since I have been pregnant! You can't even tempt me. I carry chips with me all the time. (even at church..but don't tell) :) 

Check back later this week for my ultrasound pictures from tomorrow! 
~ Mama Kelly :)


Sunday, April 5, 2009

6 Weeks Pregnant...1st Ultrasound!!!

Well...I had to call my nurse last Monday to ask her how far along I am. :-) I knew things were different with In-Vitro patients...so instead of guessing I called & asked. As of last Monday, March 30th, I was 5 weeks pregnant. As of tomorrow, April 6th I'll be 6 weeks! Once I found out I was pregnant that Monday, March 23rd, they had me come in two more times that week for blood work. They wanted to continue checking my Beta HCG level. So the first time was 40 which meant YAY! I am pregnant! Then on Wed. it was 70, then on Friday it was 114.47. Since it increased as it should I didn't have to have anymore labs last week...Yay!!! But I did go in this past Friday for my 1st Ultrasound! They told me they just wanted to check for the sac to be sure it's in the uterus as it should be. And..it was! As you can see in the pic below there is a tiny, tiny, tiny, :-) black circle! That would be the "baby." :-) I asked the Dr. if there was even a speck in that circle & he so no..not really. BUT this Friday there should be a tiny something in there that we can see! Hopefully we can hear a little fluttering of the heart too!


This is just an enlarged view of the "baby" (black circle).

I think hearing or seeing something in there will convince me I am really pregnant. Thankfully I am not sick or crazy tired... so I don't really notice I am pregnant. I DO notice how hungry I am ALL the time! When I begin to get hungry I have a 10 minute time frame before I HAVE TO BE FED! My new friends are Welch's fruit snacks & South Beach Diet Peanut Butter Protein Bars! I keep them with me at all times now. My other not so new...but mor regular friend is my favorite mexican restaurant... Sabor Latino. If I am getting so hungry I start feeling light headed & nauscious then I rush to eat there b/c I know they'll feed me chips as soon as I walk in the door! :-) I also found another infertile friend there...so I passed on my blog address & contact info. I want to help as many women as possible with the struggle to conceive. It happens for a reason...and to help others may be that reason! So..gotta take advantage of it!
Well..My Ryan is doing great with the whole baby news. I don't think it's real for him yet either. He kisses my belly periodically & text me a lot that he loves me & our baby. :-) He's so precious! Ryan's not real fond of change..so I am currently warming him up to the idea that..without a doubt our office WILL be the nursery since it's closest to our bedroom & furthest from the noisy kitchen, laundry room, living room, etc. And warming him up to the fact that my 4 door, '95 Infinity which is really more like 2 door b/c there is no leg room...will not be a good everyday car for a carseat! :-) I LOVE MY CAR...but it will be better for daddy. :-) And his Jeep Cherokee SUV will be fantastic for ME! :-) It will hold me, the carseat, & friends! Perfect!!! I still have 9 months to convince him. :-)
On a horribly sad note...we found out FOR SURE this past Wednesday that my mother-in-law, Bev Key, does have cancer. :-( She has T-Rich, B Cell, Lymphoma. This is an uncommon one & is Non-Hodgkins. She is stage 3-4 & it's highly aggressive. She will begin chemo this week & have 6-8 sessions total over a 4 1/2 month period. She has been undergoing a lot of test to finally come to this diagnosis. Please keep her in your prayers as she deals with this battle that so many have to deal with these days. I am so glad to be able to give her a grandchild to look forward too! A bright spot at the end of the tunnel!
I'll post next weekend with more ultrasound pics!
~KK