I had my 6 month prenatal appointment with Dr. Patronella yesterday afternoon. It was a pretty standard in and out appointment.

Of course, my blood pressure was high again so Nurse Jenelle retook it in the exam room and it was fine. We listened to Blake's heartbeat and she found it in record time and it was so fast and strong. And then while listening to it, the power in the office went out!

Lately I've had some concerns with feeling pressure with the baby. I think I'm starting to get nervous about the idea of bedrest and am starting to second guess myself but I wanted to discuss this with her in any case. She said as long as it's pressure with no cramping and/or contractions, then it is normal with subsequent pregnancies. So that was nice and reassuring to hear :)

She also highly recommended the H1N1 vaccine. So after talking with her extensively about that, I decided to get the inactive version of the vaccine and they gave it to me before I left. My arm is a little sore today, but otherwise there have been no reactions.

I go back again on Dec 14th for my 28 week appointment and glucose exam where they'll test me for diabetes. At that appointment she will determine whether she feels she needs to see me weekly or biweekly and we'll proceed from there.

Things are starting to move fast!

I work with the most amazing group of people! Today my team threw me a baby shower because they knew I didn't have anything blue and because they felt like they were cheated out of giving me a shower with Karys since I went on bedrest a few weeks before the shower was scheduled and was unable to attend.

I got to work and there were two tables set up outside my office. Presents, flowers, cake, cards and a beautiful diaper cake were on display - all in BLUE! It looked so different than what I was used to and I just loved it! They did the most amazing job and were so generous in their gifts. I'm only surprised I didn't break down and cry!

I cannot thank them enough. People from my entire floor have come by with gifts and well wishes - I feel like today has gone by in a blur! It's been truly wonderful to have such great people to work with. I am very blessed.

I am 24 weeks 1 day today and have my 6 month doctor appointment later this afternoon. What a wonderful day this has been!

Blake's bedding came in yesterday!

So now the fun begins as far as decorating the nursery goes! It's time to pick paint colors and decide for sure what we want. I know Tim is very excited to start painting another room :)

We'll make sure to take pictures of the progression once we start. I've got great plans for his room and can't wait to see it all come together.

In other news, I'm 23 weeks 2 days pregnant today and have a doctor appointment in less than a week. We're moving right along! It's insane to think that I'll be 6 months pregnant this coming Sunday. Only a few more months until we meet our sweet little boy! :)

Time is moving right along and Blake continues to grow bigger and stronger! He's becoming more and more active by the day and besides Tim, Karys finally got to feel her little brother kick and so did my mom and my sister, Rachel.

I'm getting more and more anxious for his bedding to arrive. The website said 4-5 weeks so I'm trying to be patient but it's hard. Especially now that we've updated Karys' Big Girl Room. I'm just very excited to see it all come together!

Sometimes I'm still in shock that I'm having a little boy. Blue is so new to me :) I'm amazed and so incredibly blessed that God is giving us one of each to raise and love. I'm so in love with this little baby in my belly already and cannot wait to kiss his sweet face.

The newest change in me has been hip pain. It didn't start with Karys until I was around 31 weeks, so it's about 10 weeks earlier this time. But it's only my right hip and generally it's only after a long day when I start to feel it's pain. But it does make sitting and moving around a little more difficult. Tylenol and warm baths seem to help for now though so I can't complain too much since everything else is going so well.

Last Friday when I was 19 wks 5 days, I felt Blake move from the outside of my belly. I was so shocked because I truly didn't expect to feel him like that for awhile still. I got very excited because I thought this meant Tim could feel him.

Of course, Blake didn't cooperate that night. However, the very next night (19 wks 6 days) I was going to bed earlier than Tim and Blake started moving. I yelled for Tim and he rushed in and he was able to feel his son move for the first time!

I want to say Blake is more active than Karys was. There are three times a day when he is most active - in the early morning, after lunch in the afternoon, and then he gets really active during the evening when we're settling down. That's my favorite time :)

I love feeling our little guy move! I often wonder what he will look like and whether he'll look like me, Tim or Karys - or any of us. I just can't wait to meet him!

I ordered his bedding early last week and once it comes in we'll pick some paint colors and really get started on the nursery! I can't wait!

I cannot believe I am 5 months pregnant already! Or that I am halfway through this pregnancy and will soon get to meet our sweet little guy!

We had our 20 week appointment and the anatomy scan this afternoon. We are pleased to say that Blake is indeed still a boy :) The ultrasound tech saw that pretty much right from the start this time! And my mom, Tamara and Rachel are all witnesses as they came to the appointment with us. Our little Blake is weighing just over half a pound and had a heartrate of 153bpm. Nice and strong! The tech said everything looks wonderful :)

After that, Tim and I met with the doctor. I'd had some pains and lingering cramping from last weekend that gave me some worries but she said it was nothing to be concerned about and that it could be normal to feel pressure lower this time since it's not my first child and my muscles are not as "tight" as before.

I also asked about bedrest again and this time I got a slightly different answer as she said it might happen but it's not 100% certain that it will. I think she saw my face light up because she quickly added not to get my hopes up too much. But they kind of are because I took that as great news. She also said I may not have to come weekly once I hit 28 weeks if I am not contracting yet. More good news! So my hopes are probably a little higher than they should be but I am going to be optimistic :) So please keep me in your prayers as we go forward!

And again my blood pressure was high so they had me retake it once I got to the room and it was normal once I laid on my left side. So far, I've gained only 9 lbs in the past 20 weeks. I had already gained 21 pounds by this point with Karys so this is a good thing as well :)

Overall, this was a great appointment. I'm feeling good. We got great news. Blake is healthy and happy and looking fantastic. We couldn't have asked for a better outcome.

My next appointment is in four weeks on November 16th.

Today I am 18 weeks 3 days and I am feeling fantastic!

Even though I still get tired faster, it is nothing like it was in the beginning of this pregnancy. One thing I've noticed about this pregnancy compared to with Karys is that I am less hungry this time around. With Karys it seemed like I was hungry all the time and ate everything in sight whereas with Blake, I'm sometimes having to make myself eat because I just am not hungry. I don't know if that's a difference between a boy and a girl or just another way that every pregnancy is different.

In addition to picking out a name and a room in our house to designate as the new nursery, we have picked out a bedding set for Blake as well. I've not purchased anything yet but it's all picked out. I hope to have the nursery completed no later than the end of December since my doctor thinks it is most likely I will be put on bedrest again in early January. That will give us a good three months to get everything together.

I would like to say thank you to my mom, Rachel and Danielle for helping out with blue items. Blake has quite the little collection of wash cloths, burp cloths, clothes and accessories thanks to them. I'm not freaking out quite as much as I was in the beginning :)

I am now feeling Blake move every day, which has been so wonderful! I know Tim is anxious to feel him too but it'll be a bit longer before that happens (he felt Karys around 22 weeks). And I cannot wait for Karys to feel him kick!

I'm also anxious for my next appointment in two weeks because that is the anatomy scan and we'll get to see our sweet little boy again :) Then after that appointment, I have one more regular appointment before I start seeing Dr. Patronella weekly. It's insane to think how quickly things are progressing now. With the holidays coming up, I have a feeling this pregnancy is about to really fly by and we'll be meeting our son in no time!

He has a name!

Tim and I have kept a running list of boy and girls names since we found out we were expecting. We have also been going through the baby name book once we found out for sure that we were having a little boy. Eventually we narrowed our list down to two names. And with some help and input from Big Sister Karys, we finally decided our little boy would be called Blake Ryan Daugherty.

Blake is Scottish and means dark-haired or it can mean the reverse, fair-haired. Ryan is Gaelic and means King.

We are really happy with our choice and cannot wait to meet Baby Blake this coming March!