Charlotte

Dr. Appointment I had my 36-week checkup yesterday. I had a whole list of complaints, but honestly the biggest one was all the cervical pain I’ve been having just from moving around. Deep down, I was really hoping that when the doctor checked me he would say the pain was because I was dilating. That honestly would have made my day. Instead, he checked to see if there was an infection. No infection, which is good because I was worried about that too. But… my cervix isn’t dilat

Today I had my routine doctor visit. Baby sounded good on the monitor, and the doctor’s words were, “Only 6 more weeks to go.” He had me schedule another appointment for four weeks from now, and I also “get” to have another ultrasound. Because of all the blood tests and results we’ve had during this pregnancy, they want to keep an eye on the baby’s growth since apparently there’s a chance growth could slow down at this point. So they’ll be calling me to schedule that appointm

Nov 23rd, 2011 Today we drove to Oakland to see a specialist for another ultrasound. Debbie came down from Utah to be with me, and Anthony was there too. Without doing the amnio, they can’t completely rule out Down syndrome. But I just can’t risk her life for a test. The miscarriage risk was quoted at 3–5%, around a 1 in 200–300 chance. Since we already know we are keeping her no matter what, there just didn’t seem to be a point in putting her through that risk. There are oth

Saturday, November 19, 2011 Anthony opened up to me last night. After he gave me the blessing and said the baby would be healthy, he looked at me and said, “Jen, she can still have Down syndrome and be healthy.” At the time, I thought he was just worrying too much and I told him she would be fine. Then yesterday I was talking to my aunt, who is one of the most positive people I know. When I told her about the blessing and that it said the baby would be healthy, she responded

Aubrey has always loved babies. When Sam was only a few weeks old, I put him in his swing while I jumped in the shower really fast. When I came back out, Aubrey had somehow managed to move him from the swing onto the big blanket where he did tummy time on the floor. I never even heard him cry. Looking back now, it makes me cringe imagining my tiny 2½-year-old carefully lifting her baby brother out of the swing and placing him on the floor. Thankfully he was perfectly fine… bu

I got my house REALLY clean today! I can’t believe how much more energy I have now that I’m not throwing up all day. I started in my room, then cleaned the girls’ room, the boys’ room, the front room, and the family room. The kitchen was still looking pretty good from Saturday, but I touched it up a little too. No rest for me today! After that, I made a quick trip to Costco and only bought what we NEEDED. I still somehow spent $200, but honestly that’s WAY better than I norma

Tomorrow I go for my first of many doctors appointment. It will be me filling out a lot of paper work and all the lab work that needs to be drawn for the first trimester. WOW this pregnancy is going to take forever I guess when you “know” your pregnant cat conception you had an extra 3 weeks to add to your due date. What I am feeling so far with this pregnancy? So so tired. I can sleep all day if the kids would let me. To bad they are way to loud and need lots of attention. I

The baby is a girl!!! Aubrey was sure of herself right up to the end, and she was right! Anthony was a little surprised, but happy… halfway there!

Sorry I never wrote anything about my doctor’s appointment… honestly, there really wasn’t much to write about. I filled out a bunch of paperwork and signed up for a blood study, so at each appointment I’ll donate about two teaspoons of blood. I swear they already took a TON of blood for all the lab tests. So far everything has come back normal, which is what I expected. Did you know that in the state of California you HAVE to do an HIV and Chlamydia test during pregnancy? It’

Our trip was great! The only downside was that I had to eat every two hours to keep from getting sick. So other than Anthony and Brad thinking I was a pig the entire trip, we had an amazing time. The ocean was so clear, warm, and beautiful. We spent at least twenty minutes every day out in the waves until they completely beat us up and we had to get out from exhaustion. I seriously have bruises to prove it. But riding the waves on our little Costco body boards was so much fun

After having six kids, my tummy is definitely not as strong as it used to be. So if you see me and think I look 16 weeks pregnant out of nowhere… I’m not. I’m only 5 weeks. I guess this is my way of announcing that I’m pregnant. I know I’ve gone back and forth about having another baby, but honestly, the reasons I kept hesitating were selfish ones. Deep down, I really felt like there was one more meant to be part of our family. So… we just went for it. And it happened so quic

I’m sitting at my friend Bernie’s house waiting for my hair dye to kick in while she picks up around the house. She does my hair every six weeks because my hair grows insanely fast, but this time we decided to do highlights for summer and see if it stretches the time between coloring appointments. My gray comes in FAST. It’s funny — on my TikTok and IG (@durstfamilychaos), someone commented that I’d look ten years younger if I dyed my hair, and another person said I looked li