Survery Time:

How far along? 23 weeks 1 day

Weight gain/loss: up 5lbs from prepregnancy weight

Maternity clothes? Yes indeed....thinking that I need to start a maternity fashion line...a lot of it is so blah and so many solid colors

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep? It's ok....he does most of his "exercising" between 8pm-midnight then I get up at least twice to pee. Oh well...its worth it!

Best moment this week? This week just started so I'll go with last week when we got to see him yawn on ultrasound!

Food cravings: anything chocolate :) still love strawberries too

Gender: Boy

Belly button in or out? half in but very flat as the day goes on

Movement? Yes indeed :)

What I miss? my prepregnancy jeans/clothes

What I'm looking forward to: my baby showers in October!

Today marks viability day for Baby Boy Austin! If they were unable to stop my labor and he was born today (or any day after) the NICU team would do everything possible to save him now. :) Very important milestone for us. :)

Andy finally got brave enough to keep his hand on my belly last night. Austin responded by kicking him so hard that Andy jerked his hand away! lol :) So fun!

We have 10 pics total....facebook is not wanting to upload them for some reason so here's one for you to view! Come see me for the rest!

Baby Coak is a boy!! Austin Jacob. He measured 1 lb 3 oz today which is the 48th percentile for his age. Everything measured great and he was head down and facing the ultrasound machine. (so he was laying on his side more or less) I'm sure he will do a lot more moving around before birth though!

Last week his feet were kicking the left side of me and then yesterday and today hes been kicking the right side of me. I do have a anterior placenta ...meaning that its in the front instead of the side or back. Completely normal but since hes so small I only feel movement on my sides and down low. As he grows he will be bigger than the placenta (thats what the doc said) so then I will feel more movements.

Our favorite moment today during the ultrasound was when he yawned really big. We were in the right spot at the right time to see it from start to finish. So Cute! It was near the end so he must have been getting tired of being the center of attention!

I think the baby is just as excited as me to be seen on ultrasound today! Every time I woke up last night he/she was moving. Baby kicked Lacy last night too when she was laying up against me...guess she better get used to that! :)

The big ultrasound is in less than 48 hours! Please pray that everything looks good (we do have some things that run in my family) and that baby cooperates in showing the gender. :)

Just applied for 3 NICU jobs at St. Vincent Women's Hospital in Indianapolis.

PRAYERS PLEASE! I NEED a job! Thanks!

Heartburn!!!!!! ...is no fun!

Countdown to all things Fall related is on! Bath & Body Works now has their fall scented candles, hand soaps, body washes, etc out. Pumpkin spice latte is coming the first week of September to Starbucks! Most stores already have their fall clothing lines out. Bring on the cooler weather and yummy scents!! :)

~Grandma is out of the hospital now and is staying with my parents for a few days before returning to her apartment here in Fort Wayne. :)

~One more week til our ultrasound/OB appt!

~Good potential job lead from a friend who I used to work with at Lutheran. It's in Lima, OH. I'll keep ya updated.

~Classes start on Monday! I LOVE school...yes I'm a dork. :)

Here is a book I am currently reading from the library. It's about trusting yourself and your instincts and not necessarily buying into what every parenting expert says. The author is also the editor in chief of babble.com

9 more days til the ultrasound!!!! :)

Grandma was moved to a regular room on Saturday. :)

She is walking around much more now. Still has the chest tubes since there seems to still be a lot of fluid. She is expected to be home by the end of the week. External pacer is off. Still checking blood sugars and getting insulin shots.

This pregnancy is over half done now! Less than 2 months til my baby shower! :)

Update:

Grandma didn't get to move to the step down unit because she still has her chest tubes. She is also in an irregular heart rhythm (atrial fib for the nurses reading this) but it is controlled. She is up and walking (yesterday and today) with cardiac rehab helping her with a walker.

The doctor (an electrophysiologist--how would you like that for your title?!) has decided that Grandma does not need an internal pacemaker placed at this time. That's great news! Her oxygen got turned down from 4 liters to 3 liters yesterday and she is now off of IV fluids. Chest tubes are still there and the external pacemaker is still there. She is expected to move to the step down unit today.

Grandma's surgery went as planned with no complications during surgery. They were able to repair the 2 valves and did not need to replace them. She came off the ventilator yesterday morning and is on nasal cannula O2. She also has 2 chest tubes.

She is still having some issues with low blood pressure and high blood sugar. The doctors have her on an external pacemaker and think that another surgery to place a pacemaker may be necessary. We will know by Friday. She is still in ICU as of tonight and may be moved to the step down unit tomorrow depending on her blood pressure.

I did not get the job at Ball Memorial that I interviewed for last week. According to my "job application status" on their website ...it appears that the nurse managers for the oncology unit and the pre/post op unit are reviewing my application & resume that I filled out a couple days ago for those 2 positions so I may get called for a interview for those units.

My interview at Clarian West for the level 2 NICU went well on Wednesday. It is a bit farther (more than 2 hrs) than I would like to drive but if they offer me the job I will take it. I should know about that one within the next 8 or so days.

Prayers needed today for my Grandma who is undergoing open heart surgery this morning at Lutheran Hospital. Pray for a smooth surgery and a speedy recovery. This was a planned surgery and she is excepted to be in the hospital for about 10 days.

So...my daily headaches that I've since about week 10-11 are still present. At my last appt my OB just said to continue taking the tylenol every day and keep him updated. For the last 4ish days I've also had left eye twitching with some "stars". I decided to place a call in to my doctors office yesterday about the new correlation.

Talked to the phone nurse who said she would talk to my OB. Well he wasn't in the office yesterday so they called me back today. He thinks the eye twitching is most likely nerve damage from the frequent headaches.

So for now I am supposed to try Darvocet (as needed) to help control the headaches so the nerve(s) can heal. Luckily that script wasn't to expensive! But now my baby is probably gonna be sleepy after I take this new medicine!

Still on daily zofran too...I try to take a break from it but it's near impossible to function without it! My kitchen counter is starting to look like a pharmacy with 2 meds, prenatal vitamins, dha supplements and the extra calcium.

That's ok though. Whatever we need to do to keep this baby (and momma) safe.

I was supposed to have an interview at Clarian West today for their level 2 NICU but the nurse manager had to cancel. :( It will be rescheduled for next week...just waiting on the day/time.

I have an interview this Wednesday morning at Ball Memorial in Muncie for a part time nights position on the Progressive Care Unit...its an adult unit.

Prayers that I get offered a job soon or more interviews. Trying to wait patiently for God's plan.

Decided to take classes this fall to occupy my time ...and of course learn new things. :) Those start Aug 23rd and both are online. Have to take 4credits to be eligble for loans (might be using some of the "leftover" loan $ for baby expenses) and to be a graduate student. One class is 3cr and the other is 1cr. The 3cr hour class will actually be done Nov 1st so that will be super nice in case Baby Coak arrives in early December.

This is what we are listening to this afternoon now that babys hearing is much better this week. :)