T Minus Four Months and Counting

This has by far been the most exciting month yet considering we have been soaking up the news of our little boy, Noah! As you already know, we didn't waste any time getting started on Noah's closet, and have since continued to stock up on everything little boy with lots of help from friends and family of course!! He's still four months from being born and already spoiled rotten!

After our exciting anniversary day, we headed to Dallas for the weekend to visit Lacey and Kyle, and set up Noah's baby registry. It was so great to see them since we hadn't seen them since Christmas! We had a great time, as we always do!! While it is great to be back in Texas, I must say that Houston definitely has the market cornered on Mexican food and I have been specifically craving Los Cucos since I got pregnant. I noticed the last time we were in Dallas that there is a Los Cucos there too, so that was our first stop after arriving in Dallas, and it was everything I had hoped it would be!! ; )

At Lacey and Kyle's

Kyle and Chico hanging out

At Los Cucos... Mmmmm. Yum!

On Saturday we set out on what we would soon realize was the long, arduous task of creating a baby registry at Babies 'R Us... Lacey and Kyle were kind enough to join us and offer help in whatever way they could, and we are so grateful that they did! Several hours later after choosing all of the major items, Lacey and I noticed that we had just about maxed out the attention span of the guys so we relieved them of there duties and pressed on... On to the less exciting items like bottles, blankets, and breast pumps. We spent an extra three or fours hours working diligently to finish up, and were just about dead women walking when we finally left the store. Lacey was such a HUGE help, and I absolutely could not have finished without her!! Lacey took a couple pictures of Jared and I while we were there, and we really should've gotten the guys to take a few of Lacey and me before they left... In an effort to get a more accurate representation of the day! ; )

At Babies 'R Us setting up Noah's Registry

We have no idea what we're getting into... ; )

Despite the exhausting task of registering, our day was not yet over. Kyle was anxious to take Jared to Top Golf. It is a double decker driving range where the balls are equipped with computer chips so that you can play various games and the chip reads where your ball lands. Jared LOVED it, and Lacey and I tagged along.

Jared teeing off at Top Golf

Me and Lacey tagging along

Before we headed home we had brunch at Breadwinners. It is an amazing restaurant and bakery in Plano, and we couldn't resist visiting while we were in town.

After brunch before leaving Dallas

Jared celebrated the news of expecting a son by fishing at O.H. Ivy with his best fishing buddies, Ben and Will Blaine. It truly was a celebration considering he got the big catch for the day with his biggest large mouth bass ever! It was 8 lbs. 1oz. and 18 1/8 inches in girth. He was so proud of his trophy, and I was so happy for him!

Jared's big catch!!

We spent Easter at Jared's Grandparents' ranch in Winters, and had a great dinner and a good visit with Jace, Bobby and Joyce. Jared and I celebrated my first Mother's Day this weekend with church Sunday morning, and our favorite mexican restaurant for lunch... Jared surprised me with a beautiful necklace that I absolutely love, and a couple of sweet cards! Then I headed to Waco where I had dinner with Grandma Tapp, Mom, my Aunt Debbi, and Uncle Ken. It was great to see them all!

My first Mother's Day present!

I just got back to Abilene after spending the first few days this week in Waco... My Grandma Tapp had her second knee replacement surgery on Monday. The surgery went really well. She had a minor heart issue after her surgery, and cardiologists decided it was safest to go ahead and install a pacemaker. Despite that minor setback, she has been a physical therapy super star this week, and we are all very proud of her!! Please pray for her continued healing, and rapid recovery.

I returned home Wednesday night in order to be here for our latest look at little Noah Thursday morning... The doctor used the word 'perfect' several times during the ultrasound to describe Noah's progress, so everything is still going well! At our last ultrasound, Noah was measuring 3 days ahead of schedule, and he was 5 days ahead at our appointment yesterday. However, he said that generally the due date remains the same unless the baby is measuring 2 weeks ahead. The doctor estimated his current weight to be at 1 pound 9 ounces. My next OB appointment is May 23rd. After our last appointment we learned that our doctor is now offering 3D ultrasounds, and we have scheduled one for June 15th. They also include a video of the scan, so we will actually be able to share it with you all in about a month! Our doctor has also scheduled one more ultrasound for June 23rd. So we will for sure have two more peeks at our little boy before his big debut! Here are his latest pictures.

Noah's sweet little face

One foot with all five toes ; )

Reconfirming Noah's 'boyhood' ; )

24 Weeks

I assume our next post will be in about a month after our 3D ultrasound, and you'll be able to share in the excitement as we should have a video of it to post!! Until then, we love you all and hope this finds you in good health and good spirits!

Four Years of Marriage=One Happy Couple

We started out our fourth year of marriage anxiously awaiting the big news of whether our baby was a boy or a girl... Luckily our appointment was early morning, so we didn't have to wait too long for the news... By now, most of you probably already know that we are expecting a healthy baby boy! We have decided to name him Noah Miles LaSalle... Noah is a name we both just loved, and Miles is in honor of Jared's Great-Grandfather, Albert Thurman Miles. Everything looked great in the ultrasound, and Noah is measuring slightly larger than my due date, so we will have to wait to speak to my OB to know whether or not he will amend our due date. As far as my health is concerned, there was no evidence of molar tissue remaining, and placenta previa is not present as it was in our last pregnancy. Basically, the appointment could not have gone better!! So we are proud to introduce you all to our son, Noah Miles...

The ultrasound tech said, "That's definitely a boy!"

Lookin' right at ya!

Soon to be pitter pattering around...

Can only see 4 fingers, but we're counting on 5 ; )

We spent the day on cloud nine celebrating both our anniversary and the wonderful news of Noah. We went for lunch and bowling in the afternoon, and went on a whirlwind shopping spree for the beginning of what I'm sure will become Noah's extensive wardrobe!! Now... Understand that we realize we have a problem, and this is really only a measure of how extremely excited we are. We are well aware that we may need to try to find a baby buying anonymous chapter in our area... Here are pictures of all the super cute outfits we couldn't resist buying!!

"Daddy's Tough Guy"--Looked like Chico & had to have it!

"Daddy's Little Squirt"

"I love to bug my Mommy"

"I'd rather be surfing"

"Little Peanut"

"Mister Charming"

We capped the day off with an amazing anniversary dinner at Copper Creek here in Abilene... Everything was delicious, and the restaurant is absolutely beautiful. It was an amazing end to a perfect day!!

Our 3 1/2 pound lobster dinner

Long time, no blog...

Wow! So much has happened since our last post! Where to begin, where to begin?? I guess I will try to begin where we left off without writing an entire novel--and if you're reading this, you know me and just how much of a challenge that may be! Keep in mind its been 9 months since I last posted.... ; )

Our last post was written on the heels of the absolute worst experience of our lives, and we would like to thank you all so much for all of your encouragement and prayers during that difficult time. I cannot begin to explain the heartache that comes with losing a baby, but for those of you who have had miscarriages, you can understand. People like to believe that everything happens for a reason, but in the wake of such sadness it is extremely difficult to fathom what reason there could possibly be for such a tragedy. After dealing with the pain and devastation, we found that rather than being left empty and depressed, time does actually heal you and there were, in fact, some valuable lessons learned. Lessons in empathy, patience, and gratitude, among others... I can truly say that this horrible experience has forever changed me, and perhaps that alone is the reason I had originally searched for.

After our ordeal, we were sad to learn that my doctor had recommended not trying to become pregnant again for a year, due to continued risks to my health. There was a slight risk of cancer associated with partial molar pregnancies, and I would need to have monthly blood draws in order to rule out the presence of cancer. Unfortunately, the only way to determine if the cancer was present was a pregnancy test. Therefore, if I were to become pregnant, they would not be able to detect the presence of this particular cancer. While this news seemed like yet another blow and it saddened us greatly, we were soon to be distracted with yet another chapter in our lives.

A few months later, our attention was turned to a new opportunity that had arisen for Jared in Texas. He had been offered a job with a Houston-based company in the Abilene area, that was both a promotion and a pay raise. We debated on whether or not we wanted to leave Utah because we truly had fallen in love with it after a year and a half there. It really and truly is such a beautiful part of the country, and has so much to offer. Not to mention all of the wonderful friends we had come to know and love! Jared had become an avid snowboarder, visiting the mountain more than 30 times throughout the ski season... Honestly, the only reason it wasn't twice as much was because of the ole ball and chain begging him to stay home!!

Our house in Utah--Mom, Grandma & Sky during their visit May 2010

The view from our front door in Utah

Our visit to Zion National Park May 2010--Grandma, Debbi, and me

Jared snowboarding November 2009

However, we decided that it was an opportunity we could not pass up, and looked forward to being closer to family again and back in the great state of Texas! We packed up our life once again, said goodbye to Utah, and moved back to Abilene in mid-October.

Our house in Abilene

Once in Abilene, Jared began his new job, and we began getting as many visits with the family in as possible to make up for lost time. We visited Houston in November for a week while Jared attended training downtown--we spent the week with my parents, and spent a day at the zoo with Jared's Dad, Stepmom, and the kids...

Our visit to The Woodlands November 2010

Houston Zoo November 2010

We had Thanksgivings in Winters and Waco...

Waco Thanksgiving 2010

We visited Dallas for a week in December, again for training for Jared--I was able to tag along and we visited Lacey and Kyle, and went to a Cowboys game!...

Cowboys vs. Eagles December 12, 2010

We made the rounds for Christmas--Beaumont, The Woodlands, Waco, Winters.... Basically, it was AWESOME to be back!

Things were going really great back home in Texas, and we were very happy with the decision to return, but the best news arrived on Christmas Day! That was the day we first realized that we were pregnant yet again!! I know you're probably thinking, "I thought she just said they had to wait a year!" But in the meantime, my doctor here in Abilene had given us the go ahead in November to start trying again. It turns out my Utah doctor was quite conservative in his approach, and it should be perfectly fine to start trying again sooner than we had expected! And one month later, we got the good news! We decided to err on the side of caution, and not announce to the world we were again expecting just yet based on our previous experience. However, we did make the announcement to our family since we may have just exploded from excitement if we had tried to keep it a secret! We waited what seemed like forever-actual time, only five weeks-until our first OBGYN appointment, and were given yet another lesson in patience when our appointment was cancelled due to a snow and ice storm in Abilene--I guess Utah missed us too!! ; )

Four inches of snow in Abilene February 1, 2011

So we waited another agonizing two days before we were able to finally see our baby and hear its sweet little heartbeat for the first time... The doctor said that everything looked great, and the baby was measuring at exactly its age. We were so happy and relieved to hear the great news, and excited to be able to share the good news with everyone at last!!

Our baby's first picture February 4, 2011

We still felt like we weren't quite ready to celebrate considering the dreaded Quad test was still hanging over our heads another six weeks down the road... This is where things began to go terribly wrong with our last pregnancy. We carried on with our day-to-day trying to stay positive, and prayed for the all clear when the time came. I have never been more anxious to be stabbed with a needle in all my life, but I was ready to get the results that we had been waiting for for four long months!! Of course, it took yet another week to get them, but they were exactly what we had hoped and prayed for, and I swear I gave a little involuntary hop when I got the results and restrained myself from hugging the nurse!! We could finally be truly excited because we were expecting a healthy baby, and that's all we cared about!

Two days after receiving the good news, Jared and I were laying on the couch enjoying a RedBox movie when I felt a distinct little poke in my belly.... An hour or so later, I was sure that it was our little baby making itself known, and it's just gotten stronger and more active every day since. Two weeks later, Jared was able to feel the baby kick for the first time.

Almost 18 weeks March 30, 2011

And here we are only two days away from our 4 year anniversary AND our 20 week ultrasound, where we are looking forward to seeing and hearing our baby once again... I can't think of a better way to celebrate four years of marriage! Hopefully the little guy will sit still long enough for us to figure out if we'll be seeing blue or pink in the coming months!! I'm going to go ahead and throw out there, that I am predicting a boy..... We'll see soon enough though! ; )

Well, if you're still reading, then you made it to the end of my post!! Congratulations! I will do my best to not go so long in between postings so you don't have to take an hour out of your life to catch up on ours!! I will try to post again on Thursday when we get the big news!!

Saying Goodbye to Baby LaSalle

I apologize for the delay in updating ya'll on Baby LaSalle, but things have been quite a whirlwind the last couple of weeks, which makes it extremely difficult to even know where to begin this sort of awful news. The first of the bad news began when we received a phone call on June 14 from the doctor's office saying that we had received some elevated markers back on our Quad screen results and wanted to schedule an appointment immediately. So the next day we went in to have an ultrasound.


Our last ultrasound video of Baby LaSalle June 15, 2010

The doctor didn't tell us a lot, he did tell us that the test results of the Quad screen came back with high markers for Spina Bifida, a 1 in 4 chance. The doctor said that it was still too early to tell and that he would like us to go to a specialist in St. George in about a week and a half. We ended up getting in to see the specialist on Monday the 21st, thinking in the meantime that this would end up being a false positive like so many other people receive on this test. Unfortunately, our visit with the specialist would put to rest any hope of having a normal pregnancy. After a lengthy but quiet ultrasound session with the assistant and then another with the specialist himself, we were told that there was more than one birth defect and that it was highly recommended that we do an amniocentesis to determine if there were any chromosomal abnormalities present, of which he suspected a Trisomy disorder. We were sent to see the genetic counselor on staff, and were given the understanding that more than likely they expected our baby to have Trisomy 18, a rare and fatal chromosomal abnormality where our baby would have an extra #18 chromosome creating multiple birth defects. We were sent home to wait for results of our amnio, and researched everything we could about Trisomy 18 for the next two days.

Our last ultrasound picture of Baby LaSalle June 21, 2010

On Wednesday of that same week we received the preliminary results of our amnio which said that our baby was not suffering from Trisomy 18, but an even more rare and fatal chromosomal abnormality called Triploidy, where the baby has an extra set of every chromosome. Again, we were hit with devastating news that just seemed to keep getting worse and worse. We did our best to learn what we could about this condition, and while it is in many ways similar to the Trisomy 18 we had become well-versed in in the past few days, it carries even lower odds of survival. It was difficult to find as much information on Triploidy, but here is one site that was quite informative if you're interested in learning more about it:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/441672/triploidy_syndrome_how_to_cope_with.html?cat=52

Along with this diagnosis came news of several risks to Allison's health as well, these being the risk of cancer, and also the risk of death by hemorrhaging by the 20th week. Allison was 18 weeks at the time. Due to the nature of the pregnancy, the doctors believed Allison may have what is called a partial molar pregnancy... Here is some info on partial molar pregnancies and the risks associated:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/613125/what_is_molar_partial_molar_pregnancy.html?cat=52

This is where the news continues to get worse, when the doctors recommended that due to the diagnosis of our baby and the possibility of harm for Allison, we should terminate the pregnancy. Although this was the hardest decision we have ever had to make, we felt that due to the possible risks and our doctors' urging we had no choice but to say goodbye to our baby. On June 30, our little baby returned to Heaven where it will always be an angel in our hearts.

We are so devastated at the loss of our little baby that we were so looking forward to meeting in November.... It was so hard to put this into words just so that friends and family can be updated, so please understand it is a difficult time for us, and still difficult to talk about at times. Thank you for all of your support and prayers in this hard time. We love you all.

Jared and Allison

Our most recent ultrasound

This picture is from our most recent ultrasound taken on Thursday!! We were able to get a video of it made so that we could share it with family and friends! The doctor says the baby is forming perfectly, and while we're still not sure of the sex, he's given us an 80% chance that it's a girl!! Go figure.... (Obviously, I would not recommend spending the money on the Intelligender test.) ; ) Nevertheless, we are very excited for a baby girl, and I particularly can't wait to start shopping for all the adorable little girl outfits I've seen in the last few months!! However, I'll just have to wait for my next ultrasound in a month until it is 100% confirmed.

I hope the quality is good, I am new to posting videos online, so we'll see how this goes! There is no audio obviously, but I think it's probably pretty self explanatory since it looks more like a baby than an alien now! You can actually see the baby move, and the heartbeat! Enjoy the video, and as soon as I have another to post, I will!

The Intelligender Test

We are so lucky to be having a baby at this time because of all the new testing available, like 3D ultrasounds, at home fetal dopplers, and more recently, the Intelligender boy or girl test!!  ; )  It's a newer test available that's kind of like a pregnancy test, only it predicts the gender of your baby as early as 10 weeks along...  It claims to be 80-90% accurate, and you can get it at Walgreens.  Obviously, we decided to pick one up, and I took the test this morning-just shy of 11 weeks along.  Of course, this test is not definitive, but thought it would be fun to try it out and see what our results were.  The way I looked at it was even 80% is not terrible odds, however, we won't be painting the nursery blue until we get confirmation from our doctor through an ultrasound....  That's right people, I said blue!!!!  Our result was a very clear BOY!!  So assuming the test is correct, we are expecting a little boy!  Not sure exactly how far along I will be before we find out for sure, but we can't wait for it to be confirmed...

I had to take the test at 4:30 this morning because I could no longer hold my bladder, and the instructions are very clear that you should use the first morning's urine...  Needless to say, for anyone who has been pregnant before, I had already been holding it for several hours.  I woke Jared up, and asked if he wanted to look at the results with me 10 minutes later & was pleasantly surprised that he was able to peel himself out of bed with me to see them.  The test was very easy to read, and as soon as we turned the corner we could see that the results were BOY!!  Jared insists that he knew this all along, but was very pleased to have his prediction at least somewhat confirmed...  He was so happy that he barely went back to sleep, randomly saying, "It's a boy!"  Which he carried over into song lyrics in the shower...  ; )  So, I think its fair to say that Jared is ever so slightly excited at the prospect of a baby boy on the way!  Not to be confused with me not being excited...  I was the one who really didn't care either way, my prayer is that the baby is healthy and happy no matter what the sex.  Jared has been pulling for a boy all along, and I'm happy that he will more than likely be getting his wish!  I just hope and pray I get mine as well!!

Just thought I'd share the results of this fun, new gender test with ya'll!!  After having taken the test, I have read several not so favorable reviews about its accuracy, so don't go buying out the department store boys section...  That's right, I'm talking to you, Mom.  ; )  At least not yet!!  Once it is confirmed, go crazy, I certainly don't want to impede on your Grandma style...  But for now, I guess we can consider it a preliminary result, and we wanted to share it with ya'll.  Our next appointment is May 28th, so I may not have another update until then.  Hope ya'll are excited to add another boy to the mix, because we sure are!!

First Prenatal Visit

We had our first prenatal visit today, and got a clean bill of health for Baby LaSalle!!  We were able to get our very first pictures of the baby, and hear the heartbeat.  Everything looks great as far as the size of the baby, and the heartbeat was strong and at the appropriate rate!  It was at 170 beats per minute.  The due date has remained at November 26, and we can't wait!!!!!  It was the most amazing thing either of us have ever seen when that little baby popped up on the screen!!  We actually got to see the baby move a bit, and saw the little flicker of the heartbeat...  I wish I had gotten a picture of Jared's face when he first saw it.  He hopped right out of his seat, and stood throughout the whole thing!  We are definitely looking forward to our next ultrasound!

I'm so relieved to have confirmation of the baby's health, because I must admit that I had a secret fear of getting to the appointment and seeing that scary face on the ultrasound technician that quickly slips out of the room to grab the doctor so that he can relay the bad news...  I mostly had these irrational fears because I've had absolutely no morning sickness as of yet, but apparently I'm just one of the lucky ones!!  So things are great, and we couldn't be happier!

I will update ya'll again just as soon as I have something new to report, and I'll leave you with Baby LaSalle's first picture!



For those of you who can't see what that little white blob is....  It looks as though the baby is standing on its head.  At this stage of development the head is about half of its total size, so that circle at the bottom is the head, and directly above that you can see the little arms, above that the body, and at the very top are the tiny little legs...  You can also see the umbilical cord sticking out to the left-that little string at the very top.