HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!

Baby and mom just wanted to wish a very important and special soon-to-be dad A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! We wish we were able to spend this special day with you because we love you very much and don't like being away from you!!! Hope you have a wonderful day and that you get to play video games all day without any interruptions!!! Love you...Mean it :)

Moving and Much more

This past weekend Jared and I finally moved out of Mankato and back to the cities!! YAY! I can't even say that it was bitter sweet to leave, more like good riddance. The only things that we will miss are the friends we made, the water pressure in our apartment, our DVR, and our king bed while it is in storage. Jared's parents have graciously opened their basement to us so we will be living with them until right before baby comes or when Jared finds a job before that. We pretty much have everything in a 10x by 10x storage unit and if you open it you may become part of the storage mess with things falling on top of you! Next time we make a really big move, I will be hiring someone/company to come in a move for us!!!

Jared will be working at the Rosemount armory full time doing some National Gaurd stuff until he finds a police officer job. Yesterday he had an interview at the U of M and has some other applications heading out in the mail too. He recently bought NCAA Football 2010 for his xbox and is very very anxiously awaiting Madden 2010 also. I am actually okay with him playing his games b/c right now all I want to do is lay in bed or on the couch in a ball, more to come on this. Jared has recovered from our last OB appt and is back to asking questions. I can't even drink a can of Sprite without him telling me that I shouldn't be drinking pop b/c of the caffeine. I then kindly remind him that Sprite, Sierra Mist, and Ginger Ale are caffeine free!!! Many people like to touch pregnant bellies regardless if you know the person or not. As we were laying in bed Jared proceeded to tell me "That he will be touching my stomach once baby gets bigger no matter what!" I thought it was so cute when he said it b/c he had such a serious and stern voice about it!

Even though we moved this past weekend I am staying with some friends in Eagle Lake which is only about 8 minutes away from Mankato. I will be down here until August 21st. That is when I will be able to move all my stuff up to the cities. However, I will make a couple trips back down to Mankato for work and my Sept prenatal appt. I am in the process of being backgrounded for a 911 dispatcher position with Dakota County. I am hoping that things will be nearing the finalizing stages and I would be able to start around mid Sept. I have not been feeling well at all. I thought things were supposed to get better going into the second trimester??? I felt great up to week 11 without any vomiting and a very rare case of the nauseous queezies. Now all that has changed. I have not been vomiting but I am nauseous a lot and I have really bad food aversions. I may think that someone sounds good to eat but when I go to eat it, I take two bites and thats all I can do. I have been forcing myself to eat lately b/c food just doesn't sound good. No matter how naseous I am I could always eat a peanut butter and pickel sandwich!!! I get tired very quickly in which is makes working these overnights 100 times harder then before. My next appt is on August 20th when my DR (thank goodness) will do yet another ultrasound to finally get some measurements and give me a better expected due date. I am not sure where I will be going for my prenatal care once I am permanently in the cities. I will have my Sept appt with my DR here in Mankato and I am hoping that we will be able to find the sex out in Sept!

It's crazy to think that in two months we will be half way done with the entire pregnancy!!! Time really does fly by! Well I better get back to work!! Since I haven't had internet for a while I am at work and updating this so maybe I should get back to getting some things done tonight! Once I can get a scanner I will put up some ultrasound pictures. Congrats to Brian and Megan on their adorbale baby girl Cassidy!!!

July Appt Visit

Today we had another appt at the DR's office but was unable see my regular physician as he was on vacation. Jared had decided to come with me today since we were doing another ultrasound and he had not yet heard or seen the heartbeat. This DR was quite busy today so we waited a while for her to come in and talk to us. So finally as she is done asking how I feel, blah blah blah, she asks me to change into a gown so she can do a physical exam. For many of you who know Jared he DISLIKES hospitals and DR's very very much! An example of how much he really hates hospitals is back in Aug 2005, I had emergency surgery after we took our engagement pictures on my wrist b/c of a staff infection. Jared propped a chair up against the wall right outside my room and would turn his head to peak in and talk to me!!! He is in for a rude awakening come delivery day!!! So when she left the room I started laughing b/c the one appt he finally is able to come to I have to get in a gown and have a physical performed in front of him! Needless to say that when she told me to put my feet in the stirrups he put his hands over his eyes and turned away!!! I was never told that I was going to need a physical today otherwise I would have let Jared pass on this appt!!! So we finally got into the ultrasound room to take some measurements to confirm the Jan 30th due date. This was the whole reason I was having another ultrasound today. The DR was having a really hard time getting a good view/picture of the baby to get some measurements but was nice enough to let Jared hear the heartbeat as I made of point of telling her this is why he came today. The heartbeat was in the 160's she said (last time it was 155 so not much difference). Of course, the old wives tale that the faster the heartbeat the more likely it is to be a girl, in which my mother in law would be over the hill with excitement!! I wasn't such a fan of the DR I saw today. She seemed rushed, didn't really try to get a good picture to take measurements, and seemed like she didn't really care about me or baby. My next appt is on Aug 20th which will happily be with my primary DR. Maybe after the next appt there will be more news to report.

How we found out and told family....

On May 11th I was having really bad left flank plan that was persisting for some weeks before and finally decided to go to Urgent Care to get checked out mainly because my mother would not stopping calling me unless I went in. The nurse practitioner I saw thought maybe I had a kidney stone stuck in my ureter (tube that connects your kidneys to your bladder). She sent me to the hospital for a CT Scan in which revealed no kidney stone but an Ovarian Cyst on my left ovary which was consist with a Dermoid cyst. I was referred to an OB/GYN specialist who I saw on May 13th for the cyst in which I discussed with her the option of a laparoscopy surgical removal in which I would need to be referred to the Mayo Clinic. A week and a half later I was having really bad abdominal cramping which felt like menstrual cramps, but hadn't had my period since March 28th. I called Mayo to see if I get could in any earlier then my scheduled appt but that was unsuccessful. An appointment was made with my OB/GYN nurse practitioner that I see for my "women" appointments. I got to the clinic on May 29th and she asked if I could be pregnant and of course I said no, considering at urgent care we did a blood and urine test before I went over for my CT scan. Even though I said no, my practitioner wanted to do another test "just in case" and in my head I am thinking, "this is ridiculous, a waste of time and my money!!" So I go to the bathroom, pee in a cup and return to the room. The next thing I know my practitioner is walking in the room holding a white square thing in her hand while smiling and says, "You're Pregnant!" I looked at her with my jaw dropped and said "excuse me?? that isn't possible." I was in complete shock and didn't know what to say so instead I shed some tears! She took me in to do an internal ultrasound to find the gestational sack of cells. My now OB physician came in to find the sack as my nurse practitioner was unable to find it, and noticed that among the sack of cells that my uterus is heart shaped. My DR said that this is nothing to be worried/concerned about and that I am just at a little more risk for pre-term labor or the baby being in a breech position. My physician is going with the first day of my last period of April 28th because of the measurements he took it was more consistent with this time frame compared to March 28th. He also said that conception either happened the day of my CT scan or the day after. I was given the pee test and an ultrasound picture to take home in a biohazard bag still in pure shock!

I didn't believe that I was pregnant so I bought another pregnancy test from Target and took it when I got to my parent's house. Low and behold there were still two pink lines! So I added it to my biohazard bag and threw it in my purse! Jared came to my parent's house to pick me up so we could go out to his parent's house in which Annette was already sleeping and Steve wasn't home. So as we were standing in the entry way I handed Jared the biohazard bag and said "look at this." He didn't know what he was supposed to be looking at but after a couple minutes he was like, "um, are you pregnant?" Needless to say he was in complete shock also! No, we were not specifically trying and mapping out when I was ovulating, but we knew it could be a possibility. Jared didn't say anything for about 30 minutes and then says "can we tell people? Can I call Nicolle and Scott?" We ended up telling both of our parents that same weekend! We told his parent's and Gma Kuyper over brunch on Sunday after church. For some reason Steve really likes to refer to mine and Jared's sex life as our "homework." Even in Mississippi before Jared deployed to Iraq, Steve came up in between us and put his arms around both of our shoulders and asked, "how's the homework coming along?" So Jared thought there would be no better way to tell them then to say "we completed our homework." Both Steve and Annette sat there trying to understand what Jared meant, then he clarified for them saying that Melissa is pregnant! Upon that, it still took about 30 seconds before the squeals came from Annette and her calling Steve grandpa!!! My mom found out because she was talking about a cruise that she found wicked cheap that would be in December and I told her that I wouldn't be able to go because I would 7-8 months pregnant, and I told my dad after church on Sunday telling him that now all his children will have children of their own!

We're Expecting!!

As most of you know already Jared and I are expecting Baby Kuyper on/or around January 30th, 2010!! It was a surprise to us as well as to much of our family. This will be the first grandchild on the Kuyper's side and the fifth on the Jungers' side staying in true Jungers' fashion as 3 other Jungers' cousins are pregant and all due within 8 weeks of one another! Everyone in both of our families are as excited as Jared and I are!! As of today I am 10 weeks and 5 days and have my next appointment on the 17th. Jared will be able to come with me so he will be able to hear the heart beat!! I heard the heart beat at my last appointment and freely admit that I shed some tears in pure happiness! It still feels sureal as I have not had any sickness (knock on wood), food aversions, or cravings yet. I feel very blessed and lucky because I know how horrible the first trimester can be for some women.