19 Weeks & a Broken Heart... Valve.

I gotta start off the beginning of the post by dedicating it to my Dad. He had OPEN HEART SURGERY today! I'm happy to report that everything went well with the surgery and he is currently recovering in the Intensive Care Unit.

He found out last week he had a failing aortic heart valve and needed immediate surgery for replacement of the valve. This is a major surgery. They take a jigsaw to your chest, separate the ribs, and stop the heart. That's the easy part. They then have to remove the valve, put in a new one, get your heart going again, and sew you back up with such precision - can't even be off by a hair - or else you could mess up normal blood flow and need a pace maker installed for the rest of your life.

All reports say the surgery went as good as it possibly could have and my Dad's now on the road to recovery. I am SO relieved!! I was kicking myself I didn't stay down there all week instead of flying home last Monday so that I could be additional support in the waiting room, but it sounds like he had a great cheering squad... all 3 of my sisters, one bro-in-law, and my mom sat in the OR waiting room throughout the whole surgery, and were all there when he woke up.

So Dad, thank you for opting to have this surgery ASAP because we all need your ticker workin' for another 66 years! This world would be a much worse place if it was minus one Ladd C and I am SO happy you're on the road to recovery :)

If only we just lived closer...

So, now on to the weekly pregnancy update!!I am 19 weeks!! How did I get so far along? This is ONE week from being half way through... crazy.

I am feeling definite movement, but I wouldn't say I've felt "strong kicks". But the movements feel much more distinct and much less like other weird things that could be going on in my body. I love feeling him move. Love. It.

Other than out-growing most my pre-prego jeans, everything is going great. I feel good, have tons of energy, and have not had any strange-off-the-wall cravings yet. Darn. The belly is definitely showing but could still be mistaken for A Too-Much-Thanksgiving-Peanut-Butter-Pie Belly (Mmmmm, thanks Shelley!!)

Speaking of the belly... here it is at 19 weeks:So that's about all there is to report this week. It's been super busy around here and life's not slowing down anytime soon. We got Sam's family coming to go clamming out at the ocean this weekend, so maybe I'll post some fun pics from that. It's always a guaranteed good time :)