Emalyn Coral

We're 21 weeks into the pregnancy already! Over halfway done! It's hard to believe sometimes that these 40 weeks are going by as quickly as they are. Before I know it, we're going to have two beautiful children to love on.

Matt got home for RnR on February 10th, and we had an amazing 15 days together! I absolutely love my little family, and I'm very much looking forward to this summer when he is home for good and we meet the next member of the Reif family.

About 4 hours after his plane landed, we had an ultrasound appointment to find out if we're having a baby boy or baby girl. And guess what?? IT'S A GIRL!! I can honestly say that I was surprised by this news, since my gut had been telling me for a while that we were going to have a boy. However, I am absolutely thrilled that we'll have two beautiful girls running around our home giggling with each other.

It took almost the entire 15 days that Matt was home to decide on her name, but we've found the perfect one! Emalyn Coral Reif. I fell in love with Emalyn the second I heard it, and I love that we can call her 'Emma' or 'Emmy' when she's young. We decided to give Coral as her middle name for Pa, Matt's grandpa. When Matt's mom was pregnant with his oldest sister, Pa wanted so badly to name her Coral, since her last name is Reif. He loved the idea. That didn't work out, and so when Matt and I were pregnant with Juliet, Pa suggested we name her Coral as well. At the time, I couldn't bring myself to give my baby a name like Coral Reif. Pa passed away in October, and Matt was able to come home on emergency leave to attend the service and be here for his family. That's when she was conceived. So, since we wouldn't have little Emalyn on the way if it weren't for Pa, we decided to use Coral as her middle name. Plus, I think Emalyn Coral sounds beautiful.

The past month or so has been a great one as far as the pregnancy goes. My belly is getting bigger by the minute, and Emmy is getting stronger and stronger every day! I feel her kicking and playing throughout the day, every day. I can even see my belly bouncing around when she's having fun in there! It's amazing! Matt was able to see and feel her kicks, too, while he was home, and I'm so thankful that he was able to share in that part of the pregnancy. It's truly one of my favorite parts of being pregnant.

Juliet has discovered my belly button, and she loves to play with it. She really does take after her daddy, haha! She'll climb up on my lap and pull up my shirt and either try to pinch my belly button, or push it back in. She cracks me up!

My funky food cravings seem to have passed, although now I'm constantly hungry. I find myself eating 3 to 4 big meals a day, and snacking non-stop in between them. The good news is that I've finally been putting on weight, about 12 lbs so far. My entire pregnancy with Juliet, I only gained 15lbs (lost 10 in the first trimester, then put on 25 from there), and I had been struggling to keep weight on since she was born.

I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions every now and then for a few weeks. I sometimes get them when Emalyn has wiggled herself into a funny position that's not very comfortable for me, and then the contraction on top of it is really uncomfortable! Usually though, they just come and go without bothering me much.

A couple of her funny positions:

As usual, when things seem to be going along perfectly, some sort of complication seems to pop up. That's what happened two days ago, when I received a phone call from USF Women's Care scheduling me for a high-risk ultrasound. I had no idea why they were calling me, or that my obstetrician had referred me to have an in-depth screening done. I freaked out as my mind went through all of the possible complications that could be arising out of no where. After calling my OB, I found out that I have placenta previa, which means that instead of being at the top of my uterus, the placenta is laying low, close to my cervix. I'm not sure at this point how low the placenta is, or if it's actually covering my cervix. If it is, I'll have no choice but to have another cesarean section that will most likely be scheduled a couple weeks before my due date. There is a possibility that if it's not covering my cervix, it may shift upwards, hopefully allowing me to attempt a VBAC delivery. My ultrasound at USF is scheduled for Wednesday, so I'll know more at that point.

I know that everything will work out in the end, and all that matters is that Emalyn and I are safe and healthy!