It's a GIRL!!

We had our ultrasound and found out we are having a girl!  We are all so excited, but especially Ashlyn.  The Doctor measured the baby and she is measuring right on with my due date, and he also confirmed there's only one.  So, we have no idea why I am measuring so big.  Oh well.  It was really fun to see our little girl :)

16 weeks

I am 16 weeks pregnant.  Yeah!  I am mostly feeling better from the morning sickness.  I hope.  Last time I said that, actually the last 2 times I've said that, I was lying.  Around 12 weeks I felt good for 2 whole days in a row.  I thought I was over it, and then I crashed again.  Then about a week and a half ago I had 6 good days in a row!  Then I crashed again, although not as bad as before.

I had my 16 week check-up on Monday.  Ashlyn got to come with to hear the babies heartbeat.  I think she was mostly surprised at what is sounded like.  I'm not sure what she was expecting, but it wasn't that.  She was also surprised that I "showed the Doctor my belly".  We had a talk about how it's okay for Doctors to see our bodies so they can help us.  I did not tell her that that was nothing compared to when the baby is born...  Maybe later...

I am measuring large.  2-3 weeks large to be exact.  Oh, so that's why I am already uncomfortable in a lot of ways.  I think I have been growing so fast that my body is having a hard time adjusting.  Since this is my second visit of measuring large, the doctor let me schedule an early ultrasound.  I have also NEVER measured large before.  We are going to make sure there's only 1 baby and also check to make sure my dates are right.  I'll take it!  I wont say no to an early ultrasound!  So, we go in on Thursday to find out if it's a boy or girl.  Everyone is rooting for a girl to make things even, but we'll see.

Here's my pregnancy pics from this week:

I've also started seeing a chiropractor for some issues I've been having with my hips.

I started having problems when I was a teenager.  If I stood up too quickly, my hips would pull out of socket.  That lessened over time but still happens occasionally.  My hips hurt if I sit on the floor cross-legged, if I go hiking or walking up a steep incline, and if I walk too many stairs.  I also have to sleep with a pillow between my knees.

For some reason this pregnancy is killing my hips.  They wake me up every night (already) aching.  Some nights I have to get up out of bed because they hurt so bad.  I really hope the chiropractor can help.  I have never been to one before, so I was sort of nervous but mostly excited to get some help.

When I went to my first appointment I told him of all my problems and what makes it worse, etc.  He was very surprised that it comes out of socket.  Then he asked if I had ever had it looked at by a doctor.  At this point I felt stupid.  I have no idea why I haven't.  It is probably a serious problem that I have just dealt with and didn't need to.  Oh well.  He had me lay on a special bed for pregnant women to pop my entire body back in.  He told me that my left leg (the worst hip) was out so bad that that leg was actually 1/2"-1" shorter than the other.  For the most part it was just weird getting adjusted.  I hated the neck part.  Too many cracks.  But, when he was done, I walked out with NO HIP PAIN!  It was obvious too.  It has just been a normal thing for me that it was weird to not feel my hip.  I have to go back in a couple days to make sure everything is still "in".

I was hoping last night would be a good night because my hip was feeling good.  But, I woke up with it hurting again.  It wasn't as bad as it has been, but I'm feeling a little disappointed.  I think my expectations were a little too high.  We'll see what he says next time.

Is it Spring yet???

At the Allen house, we are SOO READY for Spring to come!!  It has been a LONG and COLD winter.  It doesn't help that the last 2 months have felt like an eternity from morning sickness.  We have had a lot of sicknesses come and go and we are just ready to be feeling well around here.

This last week Jacob got Strep Throat.  Joy.  It was super bad too, poor guy.  This was my first encounter with Strep.  He got a fever that even with ibuprofen and tylenol together would stay at 101*.  It spiked several times each day up to the 103's!  I don't handle those situations very well.  I start to panic and then I can't think clearly.  Luckily I married someone who can think clearly in those stressful times.  One night we checked on Jacob and the thermometer said 104*.  My heart starts pounding and I just look at John.  Please fix it!  We got some washcloths cold and put them on his neck and upper leg to cool him down.  It took a little bit, but it worked.  That night we checked on him several times.  It was a really long night.

I figured the next day would be better because after a couple doses of anti-biotics the fever usually comes down.  He just kept spiking up into the 103's though.  After a particularly high spike we put Jacob in the bathtub in lightly warm water.  John left me there with Jacob to go call our home teachers to come help give him a blessing.  He was gone for about 5 minutes.  In that time, Jacob started shivering.  It broke my heart to see my little boy so cold, although he was really still hot.  I lost it and started crying.  Jacob looked at me and said "Mom, your face is leaking."  That made me cry even more!  After some particularly violent shivering I couldn't take it anymore.  I got Jacob out of the tub and wrapped him up.  John came back to see my red puffy eyes and was wondering what happened.  I told him he just left me alone and I couldn't do it anymore!  Well, the home teacher came and gave him a blessing and he did better for the rest of the day.

On Sunday, we all stayed home from church.  Jacob tonsils were so swollen at this point we were having a hard time understanding him talk.  It sounded like he had plugged his nose when he was talking.  On one side, his tonsil was taking up HALF of his throat!  His fever went up and down all day, but not as bad as the previous.  I never thought I would say that a fever of 102.7* is not so bad...  Finally on Monday he hardly had a fever at all.  And we can understand him a lot better too.  He was such a trooper through it all!  He never really complained and was so good, even though he was super sick.

Anyways, we are really looking forward to Spring time and a LOT less sickness!!!

Counting Down

Jacob is 4.  He doesn't understand the concept of time.  He is super excited for a new baby, but he keeps asking if it's time yet.  So I make a count down chain to keep myself sane.  He was really excited to help out too.  I let him write the weeks on each paper, which was great practice for him writing his numbers (Shhh.  Don't tell him that!)  Ashlyn & Jayden took turns helping to write the size of the baby (compared to fruit) next to that.  Then we assembled the chain and hung it up.  Now Jacob will stop asking when the baby will come.

There has been one problem I didn't foresee with this project.  I have to sit and look at the chain.  It is a painful reminder of how slow this pregnancy is going.  I am not ready quite yet for the baby (mentally), but that chain looks WAY too long!  It will be a LONG Spring & Summer... But, at least I'm finally feeling mostly better.

And, we have some other good news!  We get to have an early ultrasound!  I'm only 16 weeks, but we find out on Thursday what we are having!  Hooray!

Jayden's 4th grade program

In January, Jayden had his 4th grade program.  They've been learning all about Utah's history this year so that was the theme for the program.  It was a lot of fun.  They did a line dance and sang a lot of songs about the counties, indians & the pioneers.  Jayden had a lot of fun and did really well.  I took lots of pictures, but I have no idea how to do pictures of a performance.  It was (obviously) dark, so the shutter had to be opened for longer and I don't have a tripod so the pics didn't turn out very well.  I'll post the best ones though

Our last Christmas present

We got a trampoline for Christmas.  It's been sitting in our living room for the last 2 1/2 months.  We told the kids we would put it up when the snow melted (that's been hanging around for a couple months...).  As it's been getting warmer-ish, Jacob has been asking (on most days BTW) if we can put it up yet.  I got tired of answering so I started saying "ask your dad".  Last week, John finally said yes!  The kids were beyond excited!  We all went out and helped out.  As Spring goes here in Utah, it was a nice day outside, then 2 hours later it was freezing cold!  We got it put up though!  Maybe I shouldn't take credit for it though...  I was more of a supervisor  :)

Here's some pics from our adventure:

 Opening up the box!

Another thing you'll notice.  This is our backyard.  It's about 8 feet

to the wall.  Someday we'll have a BIG backyard.  With a fence.

 The supervisor  :)

 The cutest 4 year old helper

 Jayden helped the ENTIRE time!  What a trooper

 YEAH!  It's up!

 This was the next day

 John showing off his skillz!

This picture is proof that some men read instructions.  Although,

later he confessed he mostly looked at the pictures.  Does that still count?