Jaycie now 2 days old!

Well, Jaycie is now 2 days old and doing well. We are still in the hospital, but we expect to be getting out tomorrow (Sunday) sometime. We are awaiting a cardiologist to review a heart murmor on Jaycie, but the peditrician is pretty confident that everything is going to be okay with this. Once all that is taken care of, we should be headed home to enjoy some time with Hannah and Jaycie (assuming Gustav doesn't decide to pay us a visit). Anyway, we will keep you all updated over the next few weeks on both this website and on hannah's site at www.babyhomepages.net/hannahnicole. We will soon abandon both of these sites for one site of the girls together...but don't worry, you'll be the first to know! :)

Jaycie Ann!

Want to see pictures of Jaycie? Go to Hannah's website at www.babyhomepages.net/hannahnicole and click on "pictures".

It's a beautiful girl!

A beautiful Jaycie Ann Fort was born at 12:17 Thursday, Aug. 28. She has black hair, dark eyes and looks just like Jennifer. She is 8 lbs, 9 ounces and 20.5" long. Jennifer had to have a C-section and will be at Women's Hospital in Houston until Sunday. She'll post pictures shortly.

Jaycie's head in search of pelvis

So we came for a check up with the doctor yesterday at 2. The good news is we found the baby's head was in the down position. The bad news is that the ambyotic fluid was low so the doctor admitted me to the hospital do induce labor at about 11 last night. Twelve hours and an epideral later, Jaycie is still trying to make her way out. (hence the blog title, which is a direct quote from the nurse as I write). The doctors are concerned that I'm not dialating fast enough. If it continues, they will do a C-section in a couple hours.

We'll keep you updated.

Jen

2 weeks and 2 days left!!! (Not that we are counting)

So it appears we are rounding third base and headed home!! We are so excited that we can hardly stand it :) Jennifer keeps saying it is like having a present under the Christmas tree and not being able to open it for 9 months (or 10 months really..for those of you who know the truth!!!).

Jennifer went for a checkup a few days ago, and everything seems to be going well. The ob doc is fairly sure that the baby's head is in the down position (as it should be!), but is not 100% sure. She will do an ultrasound next week to confirm this! Jennifer is pretty convinced that the head is down also, as she often feels little feet in her ribs.

Hannah is continuing to make her preparations (in her own way, of course). For example, she has been testing out Jaycie's swing and carseat for safety. She's a great big sister for doing this :) This "testing" involves Hannah crawling into the swing or carseat and getting into full "baby" character (complete with "googoo" sound effects). Last week, Jennifer heard Hannah calling out "Mommy..stuck"..."help me"..."Stuck!". Jennifer went into Jaycie's nursery and found Hannah in Jaycie's infant bathtub. Let's just say, she was wedged in there pretty tight!! :) The final way that Hannah has been making preparations for Jaycie's arrival is by taking care of her stuffed animals and calling them "baby". Everything that is smaller than her is now a "baby", and she loves to rock them and pat them. It's very cute!! On a side note, she still thinks that Jennifer has two more babies (one is each breast).

OK, so we will keep everyone updated as we can. Our goal is to post information on this site as soon as possible after delivery. For those of you who are wanting a call, we have made a pretty extensive phone number list to take with us to the hospital. If you want to make sure you are on that list, just email Jennifer with your number at jenfort@sbcglobal.net

So now we just wait...

Jennifer and Girls!!

Here is a picture of Jennifer and our two baby girls!! For pictures of the baby shower, go to Hannah's website at www.babyhomepages.net/hannahnicole .

36 weeks today!!!!!

WOW! It seems like yesterday that we found out we were expecting, and now we are 4 weeks away from the "inevitable" (as Jon puts it). We are so excited about our upcoming arrival, and we have made nearly all of our preparations.

Jennifer went for a checkup a few days ago, and the doc said all looked great. Jaycie's heartrate was an excellent 154, and Jennifer's vitals were great. No dilation yet, but the babies head is down and in place (just like it is supposed to be!).

We have spent our last two Saturdays learning as much as we can about what we are about to face! During part of our classes, we were given a tour of the hospital and labor and delivery area. It was both extremely overwhelming and very exciting at the same time. It was very obvious to both of us that there was no turning back at this point, and that what we were about to go through would be something that we would never forget!

So Hannah has a very small grasp on what is about to happen. She can say "Jaycie" and she knows she is "Her Sister" (though she doesn't understand what a sister is). She likes to pat Jennifer's belly and give it hugs and kisses. On a side note, she also thinks that Jennifer's breasts have babies in them. We have tried to teach her otherwise, but somehow she insists that she is right. Oh well, I guess we can't expect the mind of a two-year old to grasp such a complex biology lesson!

Well, we will continue to keep everyone updated during these final weeks. There are alot of uncertainties right now, but three things we know for sure is....

1. What goes in must come out
2. What comes out will change our lives forever
3. God is in control

30 weeks and counting....

Well, Jennifer is now 30 1/2 weeks and had her 30 week checkup yesterday. Everything is going well, and there are no signs of any complications. Jaycie's heart rate was 135 yesterday, and she's probably weighing a little over 3 pounds and is about 16 inches now. She's very active, and keeps Jennifer awake at night sometimes. We are so excited about her upcoming arrival, and we just can't wait to see our little girl!!

We have her room painted and her furniture all set up. We have a little bit of decorating left to do, but that's about it. We will post pictures when it is completed. We have all the furniture we need at this point, but we are looking for a bedside bassinet that is used. We figure it's used such a short time that there is no need to buy a new one. If anyone has one that they would be willing to let us use for a few months, let us know!! :) Other than that, we are pretty much set to go.

We will continue to keep you posted as we progress in the pregnancy!! For those who are wanting more information about the delivery, we are planning on deliving at The Women's Hospital of Texas in Houston somewhere around September 5th.

All going well....

Jennifer had her 26 week check up last week, and everything is going very well. The baby's heartbeat was a steady 151 (great number) and the baby measured right on target for its gestational age. Jennifer will be 28 weeks in two days, meaning the beginning of her 3rd trimester. So far so good!!

So the final choice is...

Jaycie Ann Fort!

We are about to start working on her nursery (as soon as her pawpaw moves out of her room!), and here is what we've chosen for the bedding...



We'll post pictures as the work is done.

Love,
Jennifer, Jon, Hannah, and Jaycie

Need help with name spelling...

So we have decided to name our daugther after both of us. Her first name will be after Jon's initials (JC) and her middle name will be the same as Jennifer's middle name (Ann). There are several possible ways to spell her first name, and we have narrowed it down to two that we both agree upon. We want to share these options with you and welcome your feedback as to your preference and why. Thanks!!

Options:

1. Jaycie Ann Fort

2. Jaicey Ann Fort

We will be waiting on your feedback :)

No more guessing! This time we know for sure...that......

WE ARE HAVING A GIRL! That's right, girl #2 for our family. We found out Friday via ultrasound. Jon has no chance in this family of hormone-driven females, and he will most assuredly turn his little girls into Astros and Texans fans. Anyway, so we are now in search of a name for our little one, and we are open to any suggestions. At this point, we are starting completely from scratch (as we had a boys name decided upon, but had not chosen a girls name yet).

Jennifer was 22 weeks pregnant on Friday, so the half-way mark has come and gone. The official due date is Sept. 5th, but we all know that there is a much better chance that it will be born on any other day than that day! We'll keep everyone updated as things continue to unfold.

So we are having a.........

VERY MODEST BABY!!! That's right! We have no clue if the baby is a boy or a girl, but we do know that it is very modest. The baby refused to uncross its legs for the entire ultrasound. Other than its apparent modesty (which may not be so good now but is a great personality trait for later!!), we also learned that everything seems great so far. We have another ultrasound scheduled for May 2nd, so hopefully we will have more news to report then.

We are sorry that we did not let you all know this before now. We have received lots of emails asking us about the sex of the baby. We did our ultrasound the day before we left for Europe, and we just did not take the time to report our "no news" news. Anyway, hopefully we will all know in a matter of time!!

Update....

So not much has happened since our last post. We are awaiting our appointment and ultrasound so we can know the sex of the baby!! This appointment is on April 7th, and we are SOO excited to know :) Jennifer no longer has her "all day" sickness and she is starting to "show"! Hannah is growing and learning so much, and she understands that there is a baby in mommy's belly. Actually, she thinks that everyone has a baby in their belly. We are working on this one!! We welcome any ideas on ways to prepare Hannah for the arrival of the baby.

On another note, We are very excited to have a getaway before the new baby comes. We will be going to Paris, Belgium, and the Netherlands for about 2 weeks (leaving April 8th). We are most certain that this may be our last vacation of this kind for a long time :)

Well, we will keep you updated as the belly grows and the baby gets ready to pop its head out to the world.

Could it be????

Could it really be two days in a row that Jennifer has not awaken nausiated!???? She is very excited at the possibility that her morning sickness (aka ALL day sickness) is potentially OVER!!! We'll see how these next few days go, but it is looking very good!

Our next doc appointment is on March 11th (our 15 week checkup!), and then we will have an ultrasound at 18 weeks to determine the sex of the baby! We can't wait to find out if our baby fort is a he or a she!

We'll post more info after our appointment on Tuesday.

Love to all!!

From tadpole to baby...this one's a cutie!!

Sorry for the week delay in posting our new ultrasound pics. We went to the doctor last Tuesday (Feb. 12th) and had a wonderful ultrasound. The baby's heart beat was 165bpm (120-180 is the ideal range) and the baby was about 37mm long from head to rump. The most amazing part about this ultrasound was seeing our baby move for the first time. He/She kicked and punched and was very active. It stills seems surreal, but this ultrasound definitely brought the pregnancy into the scope of reality!! The fertility doc said all looked wonderful, and she released Jennifer to start seeing her regular ob doc.

Jennifer went yesterday for her first visit to the ob doc, and she heard the heartbeat for the very first time!!! It sounded something like this.....
swosh, swosh, swosh, swosh, swosh, swosh (about 165 times a minute). Sorry, that's the best we could do!! You kinda have to use your imagination. Everything went super at this appointment also, and Jennifer is very excited about this new ob doctor (Dr. Jonna Miller). Jennifer will be delivering at The Women's Hospital of Texas, located in the medical center in Houston.

Ok, now for the new pics of our handsome Baby Fort:

Baby Name Fun...

So today I've had baby names on my mind, and thought it would be fun to get some suggestions from our family and friends. Obviously we do not yet know if the baby will pop out as a guy or gal, but we do know that it will have a beauuuutiful name :) So, here's an opportunity to put your two cents in! Just leave you ideas for names in our guestbook located on the top left of the page.

As for the pregnancy, it seems to be going well (if well means "constant nausea"). We will be doing another ultrasound next week, so we will keep you all updated!

And the magic number is......

145!!!! That's right, 145 beats per minute! Our last ultrasound showed a heartbeat of 64bpm, a very slow heartbeat for our little tadpole. While we knew that it was most likely due to the fact that our ultrasound was really early, we were a little worried none-the-less. Anyway, yesterday's worry was today's relief!!!!!! 145 is a great heartbeat for the age of the baby. We also found out that our little tadpole/alien is a little over 11 millimeters long! That's about the size of a cherry! We are also including pictures of our very handsome (or pretty) baby Fort. As for a due date...September 5th!! That's what we have been told as of now! I'm sure that for those of you who are part of the school system (Grandma, Grandpa, and Grammie), the timing couldn't have been more crazy! Oh well, looks like baby Fort is already making his/her demands on the world!

And now for our baby's portrait:



And his/her beautiful profile:

Ultrasound Postponed...

Hey! For those of you who were waiting on our ultrasound results yesterday, we don't have anything to report! The ultrasound was postponed because Jennifer and Jon both have what appears to be the flu (or something). We'll be doing the ultrasound Tuesday at 2:30, so we'll post info after that! From the pregnancy tracker, it appears our baby is looking less like an tadpole and more like an alien! How about that!

Gotta find the humor it in....

So Jennifer is awaiting her second ultrasound set for this Thursday afternoon. Since our first ultrasound was so early on, the baby's heartbeat was faint and slow. We are praying for a strong, fast heartbeat this week!! Jennifer hasn't been feeling very well, but she is resting alot and taking it easy (when Hannah will let her!). We'll post our next ultrasound picture on Thursday. In the meantime, enjoy some pregnancy humor!

Is there REALLY a baby in there???

So we've been asking ourselves this question since Jennifer's 3 (yes, 3!!) pregnancy tests came back positive!! It's so hard to believe that after 4 1/2 years and numerous disappointments, we are FINALLY pregnant! We had our very first ultrasound today, taking away doubts that we had as to the legitmacy of this pregnancy. Jennifer is only 5 weeks and 6 days into the pregnancy, but we were able to see a gestational sack, yolk sac, and the fetal pole. The baby is only 5 mm long but is already showing a heartbeat!! We saw the flicker of the heart on the ultrasound monitor, an absolutely amazing experience. We will be having another ultrasound next week to better track the growth of the baby and the strength of the heartbeat!!



Here is the very first picture of Baby Fort (so cute, don't you think?)....

Not 1, Not 2, BUT 3!!!!!!

NO, not babies! Pregnancy tests!!

We took 2 home pregnancy tests and a blood pregnancy test at our doctor's lab before we FINALLY could kinda sorta believe we might be pregnant (notice the doubt!). It is just so hard to believe!! The neat thing is that we got pregnant on a month when we were taking a break from fertility treatments. We can't help but give God all the credit on that one!!! So our first pregnancy test was at 6 am, followed by a quick trip to Wal-Mart for a second test (taken at 6:30am). By noon we had gone to the doctor, had bloodwork done and had our results!!! What a great way to start the new year. OH, and hind-sight is 20/20. We now look back on our 4 years of trying to conceive and are so thankful to God that we did not conceive a few years ago!! If we had, we would not have our amazing daughter, Hannah!!!