Picture Crazy

I feel like I am alwasy taking pictures of the kids. And I am a HUGE sucker for ones of both of them. Carter truly adores his "sissy" and it melts my heart.

Wow I think I am a slacker

So apparently I've been slacking. I haven't wrote in a few weeks, and what a crazy few weeks it has been! Where do I start?

We will start with my Carter bug. Mr. big boy turned 2 on July 15th. He had his birthday party here at our house with just immediate family and a couple friends (Already 25 people!) We put up a little tent, blew up the kiddie pool and had some great food. Carter had a blast! Thank you to everyone for attending and your generosity.

Carter has been having issues with goopy eyes, runny nose and just a bit on the cranky side. We took him to the pediatrition a few weeks ago to see what the heck was going on and to confirm our suspicions it was allergies. It was confirmed alright. So the poor kid is now on Claritin in the mornings, Singulair after nap time, and Benedryl at bedtime. It seems to be helping but still not perfect. We have to talk to the ENT next month for his 3 month follow up and the pediatrition wants us to inquire about allergy testing and maybe a different coctail of meds to give him some relief. Otherwise he is a happy 2 year old (Does that REALLY exist?).

Reagan is a piggy to say the least. I attend a breastfeeding mom support group at the hospital and have the opportunity to weigh her every week. SHe was 8lbs 1oz at birth, and now, at 7 weeks, she is 12lbs 3oz.... Miss Reagan is gaining weight really fast, starting to get some arm chub, and is at the 90th% for weight. She is now in 6 month clothes and is doing great. She is averaging waking up once a night, which is quite awesome for mommy :) I am hoping to get our daytime routine better before i head back to work in a week 1/2 :(

I can't believe my maternity leave is almost over. Where has the last 7 weeks gone?! I have one more full week at home then off to work I go. Thankfully I am only working 3 days a week to start off. Todd is taking two weeks off to stay home with her so we can start to transition her away from mommy and onto the bottle.

One of my goals of maternity leave was to lose my baby weight. I am losing, but my clothes still aren't fitting. This is really frustrating for me since I have clothes from sizes 8 up to 14 in my closet... The 14's (although there are VERY few of them) are starting to fit better, but I am so disgusted in myself for still being at 14, after 7 weeks! I only gained 38lbs total this pregnancy (much better than the 85 I gained with Carter), but my belly is so stretched out and gross I get muffin top with pants. I hate feeling this way!

I've been walking at the park every morning after dropping Carter off at daycare, and it's helping but not where I want to be yet. So my good friend Lisa convinced me to run a 5k with her on Thanksgiving day. So this means I should probaby start running. I started a program called couch to 5k... It's a 9 week training program. I started day one today and although it totally kicked my butt, it felt great afterwards! I am really looking forward to pushing myself and enjoying the accomplishment of being a runner.... I hate running....... but I also want to fit in my clothes again, my cute clothes I Finally got into before i got pregnant again :)

Todd has started working 4 days a week, 10 hours a day. He is doing 6am-5pm Mon-Thurs.... although it stinks that he's gone before we wake upin the mornings, but we love having him home 3 days a week with us. The great news is we were able to drop Carter to part time daycare, and Reagan will only be part time. I will be home on Wednesdays, and Todd and I are both home on Friday's!!! I love family time and really love saving a few hundred dollars a month!

So I think you are all caught up. I promise to TRY to blog more.... I hate super long catch up posts. I will add a seperate post with pictures of the kids :)

My new adventure

TUTU's.... What little girl doesn't love dress up in a beautiful TUTU? I know I did!

Here is a sample of what I can make. This one is newborn size, approx 16in around, with a tie front so you can adjust sizing. I am going to be making elastic waist as well with or without a bow for the front, flowers, whatever you want on them.

Newborn sizes are $10, toddler $15 and child size $20... The best thing is to measure your child's waist, decide if you want tie front or elastic wasit.

I can make them as long or as short as you'd like with a variety of color options. I have magenta, light pink, orange, brown, black, yellow, glittery white, blue, you tell me what you want, I can make it!

2 Weeks Ago.....

I had met my baby girl for the first time. I can't believe two weeks have gone by! She is doing amazingly well, gaining weight and starting to go longer periods of time between feedings. She gets up about 3 times a night to eat, which is much better than every 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours when she was first born.

Carter LOVES his baby sister.... "Sissy" as he calls her. We have a new routine, every morning when he wakes up, Todd bring him up to lay in bed with us before he goes to daycare... Usually Reagan has just eaten or is ready to eat, so she is in my bed too. This morning she was in the pack and play and he was mad! He's doing amazingly well with her and I'm so thankful!

Reagan's a model already!

Reagan had her newborn photo shoot last week, at 7 days old. I give all kudos to Nichol Photography! They were AMAZING with her! We will be going back to them for sure! Thought I would share her slideshow!

http://animoto.com/play/5yFHPDa7SrQfZzzFvjOsxQ

Reagan's Birth Story

Well here are a few pictures from Reagan's first few days of life outside my belly. I thought I would share our story of my baby girl's birth.

After a night of not much sleep (4 hours to be exact), my alarm went off at 4:30am. I got a shower and packed up the last few min things that I couldn't pack until then and we had a relaxing morning getting ready. We had to be at the hospital at 6am for an 8am csection.

We arrived to the hospital by 6, got checked in, weighed ( I had already lost 4lbs since the weekend of being sick), and we were off to our room. We were in room 436 and I was told to get my gown on, and got all hooked up to the fetal monitors. We went over some paperwork, had some blood drawn and got my IV hooked up. We had a few doctors come in, anestesia came by t talk to me about what to expect with a spinal and a few nurses came in. By this point it was after 7am, and we were just waiting for Dr. D to come and get me for surgery.

Around 7:50, Dr. D came in and asked me if I was ready, any questions ect. I was wheeled down the hall and got into OR at 8:07am. They put in my spinal, and it was HEAVEN! The numbing cream burned but honestly wasn't too bad. Within a few min I was totally numb from the breasts down. It was better than the epidural was last time. I have never had that feeling before that I had ZERO control of the bottom half of my body.

Within about 10 min, Todd was brought in and sat beside me, holding my hand, and they started. Todd got to watch the entire thing, from first incision to last stitch. He was amazed at how rough they were with me, yet I felt nothing but a tiny bit of pressure.

At 8:30am, we heard a tiny muffled scream. The doctors and nurses were all laughing that she was still in her sack, still in my belly, yet screaming. We could hear her already while she was still inside me! I had tears streaming down my face, and at 8:31am, Reagan Eileen made her appearance. She was still screaming and it was the most amazing sound ever. They held her up for me to see her, and she looked exactly like Carter! Todd was told he could go over to the warmer with her while they finished working on me.

Within about 10-15 min Todd rejoined me with Reagan in his arms. I could not get over how much she looked like her big brother.

By 9am we were in recovery, with baby girl in my arms. We nursed within 10 min of being in recovery and she hasn't stopped nursing since :) We were back in our room by 11:30 and had our first visitors starting at 12!

Introducing, Miss Reagan Eileen

She's here! Reagan graced up with her presence at 8:31am. She weighed in at a tiny 8lbs 1/2oz, 20 in long, and a full head of dark hair. I will post more about her birth later, but for now, she is perfect in every way :)

Reflecting

I can't believe we are one day away from Reagan's arrival. This has been the day marked on the calendar for months now. This is the day we have been planning for and looking forward to. And now that it's almost here, I can't believe it.

I laid on the couch this morning feeling her move around and I thought, wow, this time tomorrow she will be in my arms, not in my belly anymore. It's so hard to believe. I am so excited to meet her, and see who she looks like and if she has as much hair as Carter did, and how big she is (she feels like she's 9lbs).

But a part of me is also sad. Sad that I won't have her all to myself anymore, that I have to share her. Sad for Carter that he won't have us all to himself anymore. And sad that this could quite possibly be the last time I am pregnant.

We had a long road getting pregnant this time, and we decided that we want a third, but only if God is willing to give one to us. We won't be going the extra mile with doctors and testing and such this time around. I might never carry a baby inside of me again, and that makes me really sad and wish I had really taken more time to enjoy this pregnancy.

We check in tomorrow morning at 6am, surgery scheduled for 8am. I am ready physically and hopefully by tomorrow, emotionally too

Not the weekend I envisioned

I woke up Saturday morning around 3am feeling pretty sick to my stomach. I then spent the next 8 hours throwing up. Todd took Carter to his moms to get him out of the house, my mom came up and took me to the ER. They sent me straight to Labor and Delivery. I got all hooked up to the monitors to see I was contracting about every 5 min.

The Dr got me hooked up with some IV's and some glorious nausea meds through the iv. I was feeling much better not long after. They took some blood, did a urinalysis, did an exam and told me to rest.

The urinalysis came back with some bacteria, blood worked showed I was severly dehydrated. After two rounds of nausea meds, 3 bags of fluids and 6 hours in triage, they admitted me since i was still feeling pretty sick and my bloodwork still wasn't clear and I had a fever. baby's heartrate was a little high for a while, so the were watching her closely and checking me for everything under the sun.

Long story short, I ended up taking 4 rounds of nausea meds, 6 bags of fluids, 1 bag of glucose and 1 bag of potassium. I was sent home just over 24 hours from getting there, and although I feel as if I need toothpicks to hold my eyes open, I do feel alot better. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be good as new, just in time for baby girl's appearance in 3 days!

Light at the end of the Tunnel

Well, I had my LAST OB apt yesterday for Miss Reagan! I can't believe I am here at this point already. Today is my last day of work, and then it's baby time! I am only working a half day today, and then I think I might go find Carter some fun outside things to play with this weekend. It's going to be too beautiful to be cooped up inside.

This week was a very trying week for us. Tuesday when I picked Carter up from daycare, he was not acting himself. When we got home he was a tad warm, but I figured since he had been playing outside he was just warm from that. Then he fell asleep on me, which is unlike him. So I woke him up around 7pm, he was on fire. I took his temp, 102, gave him some Tylenol and just watched him get more and more upset. We finally got him to bed, and i quickly followed knowing it was probably going to be a rough night. Todd and I decided he would stay home with Carter as this was my last week of work before baby. Around 11pm, Todd started feeling rather sick, threw up and had a rough night. So now I was taking care of TWO sick kids, yet I was still pregnant!

So I ended up staying home Wednesday with both of them. Carter has strep, We think Todd had either the flu or food poisoning. Thursday I was off anyway, but had a Dr apt so Todd watched carter during my apt and then home to take care of my sicko. Todd went back to work, feeling totally fine.

MY OB apt was uneventful for the most part. Everyone was taking guesses at how big she will be next week, I heard everything from 8lbs 12oz-9lbs 4oz.... I guess time will tell. I am thinking she will be about 8lbs 13oz.....

So now we wait. My cousin, Brandi, is at the hospital right now being induced with her little man Peyton. I can't wait to see pictures and hear all about him!

3 days

Take a look at the pics above. One was taken on May 20th (pink shirt) and the other on May 23rd (bare belly). I can't believe how much I have dropped in 3 days... I have been contracting for the last almost 4 hours, timeable for about an hour or so and then sporadic, then timeable, now no contractions but back pain and pain in my thighs/pelvis..... UGH! COME ON REAGAN

*Almost* 38 weeks and over it

So tomorrow marks 38 weeks for Reagan's baking process. I have to say I am officially over the "I love being pregnant" feeling. My pelvis feels like it is going to shatter into a million pieces, the sporadic contractions need to stop if they won't become time able and efficient to produce a baby girl into the world.

I was induced with Carter at 38 weeks and 2 days. This would be Wednesday. So as of Thursday I will officially be the most pregnant I have ever been carrying the biggest baby I have ever carried, and will still have a week to go... sigh.... At this point, since it's est they gain about a half ounce to one once a day, she is already bigger than her big brother was at birth. My body is saying enough is enough, now if only she would listen.

Dr. D is on vacation until tomorrow, so she can stay in for another day, then it's back to trying everything under the sun to get her out! I am going to get some pineapple, maybe some spicy food for dinner tomorrow, and lots and lots of walking and doing stairs.

There is a full moon on Thursday, hopefully it means something for me.

37 week pictures

I haven't posted pictures in a while, so here are two 37 week pictures. Don't mind the yucky mirror, we need a new one. :)

Reagan weighs........

... A whopping 7lbs 12oz at 37 weeks! Carter was 7lbs 13oz at birth! Her belly and head are measuring almost 41 weeks, her thigh bone is measuring about 39 weeks 4 days. Dr. D says he guess between 8lbs 14oz-9lbs 4oz at my scheduled c section. I had a few contractions on the monitor, only one big enought to "do something" he said. So, I wait for my scheduled date (13 days to go), unless my water breaks or I have contractions every 10 min, lasting 30-40 seconds, then I will have my date moved up.

I am all about her coming when she is ready, but hopefully not this weekend. Dr. D is leaving for Chicago on Saturday and won't be back until Monday....... So I am pushing for wither today or tomorrow, or not until Tuesday. I can't imagine someone other than Dr. D delivering her!

FULL TERM!

That's right, I am officially 37 weeks, which means I am full term! Baby girl is welcome to come at any point now! 37 weeks brought on some painful contractions and pressure in the middle of the night but dwindled away to nothing. Hopefully it means there is some progress. I see the OB again on Thursday. This will be our last growth check on Reagan with measurments and est. weight check. I am thinking she will be about 8lbs this week.

36 week Apt and Carter update

We will start with the most important, Carter! He had a rough evening last night once the meds were starting to wear off, before we could give him any pain meds. He was very irritated and very uncomfortable. He mostly laid on me as I rocked in the rocking chair with him, and let him just sleep on me. Once we gave him the tylenol with Codine and it kicked in he got a few smiles out of him, but he was pretty drugged. The poor kid refused a bubble bath, that's so not like him! So I just gave him a quick sponge bath and we put him to bed. He woke up once in the middle of the night, got more pain meds, something to drink and he went right back to sleep.

This morning, you would never know he had "boo boos". He woke up a smiley kid, asking me for his "mook" (milk). He got his antibiotic and ear drops, but still nothing for pain or discomfort, not even reular tylenol. I came home at lunch and he was as happy as could be, I got my baby back!

I saw the OB today. I passed the BPP (bio physical profile ultrasound). I passed with flying colors in no time at all. They look for fetal movement, amniotic fluid levels, make sure baby is practicing "breathing" and heart rates. Our of these 4 things, you can get a total score of 8. I got an 8 today. I also had an NST (non stress test) where they watch baby's heart rate, if I am experiencing any contractions, and movement. We passed no problem there as well, and I had 3 decent contractions, and one small one.

Reagan is engaged, which means she is in my pelvis preparing for delivery. This could mean I can go into labor at anytime, but I may not go into labor and will make it to my scheduled c section. Dr. D didnt' want to do an internal exam in case he would "stir things up in there" but I am officially full term next week. So he told me what to watch for and when to call and we would have a baby!

It's so crazy I am this close! I want her to hold on another week though, at least. I am not "quite" ready, as I have things at work to finish up and Carter has an ear recheck on the 25th I want to be at..... without a newborn preferably :)

Carter's Surgery

Carter had his adnoids removed and tubes put in. He did amazing! He wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight, and only water or gatorade until 7am this morning. We had to be at the hospital at 8:15am, with surgery scheduled for 11:15. He was amazing! He played in the waiting room with his new "friends" and not a tear when they carried him back for surgery.

The surgery took about 40 min, start to finish. Dr. M came out and talked to us as soon as he was done, and said that Carter's ears were both both full of fluid and gunk and he should be hearing better asap.

He was somewhat agitated when we saw him in recovery, but they let me scoop him up and rock with him and that seemed to help. He slept most of the 3 hours in recovery, but did manage to drink a sippie cup of aple juice between snoozes.

We are now home and he is resting comfortably. He's sound asleep on the couch next to me. He has some bloody drainage from his ears, which is normal for a few days post op. We have an antibiotic, some ear drops, and pain meds for him and he should be good as new this weekend. Todd is staying home with him Thursday and friday while I go back to work. I think he'll be back to himself by tomorrow evening!

36 weeks

WOW, we are 1 week away from being full term! This past week I think my morning sickness is making a comeback. I am queazy from about 4pm until I go to bed. I woke up this morning still queazy. I feel just like I did the first 15 or so weeks.

I also feel as if baby REAGAN is going to fall out! That's right, I said REAGAN. We decided a few weeks ago to change her name and we both fell in love with the name Reagan. Carter can kinda say it, and it's pretty cute in fact.

This is going to be a rough week, as Carter is having his adnoids out and tubes put in on Wednesday. I am limited on sick time since maternity leave is quickly approaching, so I will be off the day of surgery, but Todd will be nursing him back to health Thursday and Friday. I feel awful I won't be there to hold him and cuddle him and just snuggle and give him my full attention. I think this is good though, for both Todd and Carter. When I have Reagan I won't be allowed to lift him for a few weeks, so maybe he will be more apt to get Todd to do things for him....

Stay tuned to Wednesday, I will update once Carter is all done with his surgery.

Carter

So we went to the Ear Nose and Throat specalist at Akron Children's today. Dr M is an awesome man! He was so good with Carter! All the nurses and staff were really nice and really god with Carter. We started out going over what's been going on, he looked in Carter's ears and although the infection seems to FINALLY be gone, his right ear is totally full of fluid still. They did an xray to see his adnoids and a hearing test.

His x ray showed that carter inherited mommy's GIANT adnoids that are blocking his airways. He's a mouth breather, and generally snores a bit. This is all caused by the adnoids. PArt of the reason the fluid behind his ears isn't draining is that when you take a breathe, it helps move air through the Eustation tubes (totally not sure if I spelled that right).. well his adnoids are blocking that from happening, keeping trapped fluid, that keeps reinfecting his ears. His hearing test shows that his right ear is totally full and not much is getting through in terms of sound, so his left ear is compensating. They don't think there is any permanent hearing damage, and should reslove ones this is all taken care of.

So, Dr. M HIGHLY recommends tubes to be put in and adnoids to be taken out. He thinks he will hear better, making his speech improve, he will eat and sleep better and be an all around happier kid. I don't know if he can get happier to be honest, but I want him to have relief from the pressure and pain of ear infections. I also would love to see his speech improve.

So we are all set for Wednesday, May 12 at 1:45pm. This is going to be an extremely diffucult day since he can't eat anything 6 hours prior to surgery, no milk, and nothing to drink 3 hours prior. I was REALLY hoping for a morning time, but we go with what we can get since baby girl will be full term a few days later, and can come out anytime there after.

Changing her name

So Todd and I talked tonight after I started feeling like the name Hannah wasn't the right "fit" for our family.... He agreed and we have decided to wait until she is born to decide for sure but we have a few possibilities that we won't be sharing until she's here... So stay tuned.

Also, The OB called and my bloodwork showed I did not have preeclampsia, but we will continue to watch my BP and urine for protein and may need to retest. The other test was negative so it's not looking like I will go into labor in the necxt 5-7 days... WHOO HOO.

I am still having contractions but they said monitor them at home, more than 5 an hour, increased intensity or anything else abnormal to go to the ER to get checked. So here's hoping it's a quiet weekend!

When it rains.....

It pours!

33 weeks met us with Carter going to the doctor again and finding out that his ear is STILL infected, so we are on round 3 of antibiotics. I called the doctor and requested an ENT referral, these ear infections are just crazy! We see Dr. Milo at Akron Children's next Tuesday. I am ready to get the little guy back to good health!

I had my 33 week apt today (33 w 3d). Turns out my BP is high, there was protein and blood in my urine and I was having contractions every 2-5 min. I have another UTI, so more meds for me too. They gave me a prescription for a BP med to start, and now have to go every week for an NST and BPP. Baby Hannah measured 5lbs 8oz today, average is about 4lbs 5oz at this point. They est that she will be between 8 1/2-9lbs at delivery in 5 1/2 weeks. I am thankful for a repeat c section.

I had to get some bloodwork done to check to see if I am developing pre eclampsia. I also was tested for Group B strep, just in case she comes early, and a test to check for a hormone that is only present right before the onset of labor. This should tell us if I will go into labor in the next 5-7 days. If it's positive, we will start steroid shots to mature baby's lungs faster. If not, they will still monitor me very closely. I should have all results tomorrow... Prayers it's not Pre Eclampsia or that the other test is negative for that hormone!!!!

Other than all this drama, it's good to have Todd home more. He stayed home with Carter Mon and Wed while he was sick and I covered Tuesday. I think Carter is pretty happy to have daddy home more too with tax season over!

I will post more tomorrow once I get my results.

31 weeks

First my 31 week Picture... Baby girl is straight out there isn't she?!

I saw the nurse practitioner today, BP is fine, UTI is gone and baby girl is measuring on track! She actually measures at 32 weeks, but I am only 4 days away from 32 weeks. I gained 1lb in two weeks for a total of 26lbs.

Anytime after 37 weeks they will not stop labor and will take me for my csection. I am kinda hoping she comes early, but otherwise we are all scheduled and preregistred at the hospital for June 2nd at 8am. I need to be there for 6am and am the first scheduled c section for the day! WHOO HOOO

Carter finished his antibiotic for an ear infection yesterday, but was still tugging at his ear. I took him back in today and the infection is not gone, he has an infection in the other ear too and fluid behind the ear drum. Poor baby must have been miserable! So a new, stronger antibiotic and a prescription for allergra since she thinks he has allergies causing the stuffy nose, causing the fluid buildup and infections. So we will see how it goes!

My mom and I are taking Carter to see Elmo Live this weekend, hopefully he's back to his normal self this weekend!

30 weeks and growing!

The first picture is this time around at 30 weeks, the second was 30 weeks with Carter. I am not near as puffy as I was last time, and I've gained far less weight. I was at 50lbs at this point with Carter, I am only up 25lbs this time around.

30 weeks has been pretty boring. Nothing major and nothing new in terms of waht I am feeling. I haven't gained any weight this week, which is great. Still on antibiotics for my UTI and should finish that up Monday. I see the OB next Thursday, at 31 weeks and 2 days. Can't wait to see waht's in store! haha

When it rains.....

It pours... Yesterday (saturday) was a very productive day. My mom and I got the majority of the painting in Hannah's nursery done. It looks FANTASTIC.. my mom did an amazing job, I just helped between many breaks.

Late in the afternoon I noticed a tiny bit of spotting. I tried to relax and though I had just overdone it. A few hours later, there was more. So I called the nurse on call and she suggested we head into labor and delivery since I was having some cramping as well. Thankfully my mom was still here and decided to stay the night so Todd could take me in without me having to get someone else over here. We left shortly after 8pm to go to the hospital.

We got there and got hooked up pretty quickly. I was having a few contractions here and there, nothing timeable, nothing steady. I had a medical student come in and ask me some questions, followed by the resident on duty. They decided to do some cultures and a cervical exam, totally not fun. Shortly after, the resident came back in and said that it appeared I had another infection. She also wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure there was no problem with a low lying placenta or anything. She told me to hold on a second, don't rub the "goop" off, she'd be right back. In the meantime a nurse came in and told me she had to give me a shot to stop my contractions, they were coming every 4-6 min. She would also start an IV to rehydrate me. At this point I was kinda freaking out. Another medical resident came in to do the ultrasound, and she assured me everything looked ok.

The medication gave me the "shivers" and the "teeth chatters" as well as heart palpatations and a really weird feeling they told me this was all normal. They then had me give a urine sample to check for any other infections. Guess what, I also have a UTI that was more than likely the cause of my preterm labor. They were going to keep me another hour or two to make sure the contractions stopped.

We were FINALLY sent home around 12:45am. I slept until about 8:30 and woke up with an awful headache. I got all my prescriptions for my infections filled and then took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon, but could probably taske another one.

Carter woke up from his nap around 3 and I am pretty sure the poor little guys has an ear infection. So it looks like a dr apt for he and I both tomorrow.

29 weeks check up

I saw the nurse practitioner today. I gained 2lbs in 2 weeks, which is good (Avg is 1lb a week) for a grand total of 25lbs gained. Not bad, especially since I had already gained about 45+ at this point with Carter.

My blood pressure was fine 132/68. Baby girl's heartbeat was 142. She is still breech and possibly transverse. I have a head on my left side, her butt on the right and her legs dangle down. This isn't really an issue since I am already a c section. She said at this point she isn't sure if she would flip to head down, but it's really not an issue either way. She did say baby girl felt kinda big but I am measuring right on target for 29 weeks.

I have been having some major heartburn, so she said to keep trying the pepcid, if it doesn't work (just started it two days ago) to call in and they will prescribe prevacid. So I am thankful to know they will give me some relief if needed.

Overall it was a good appointment, pretty basic. I go back in 2 weeks :)

Just a vent

I can't get over why some people (some of which don't even know me) can say things like "You are huge, how are you going to make it to June", or "Are you sure your dates are right, you are wayyyy too big to be only 29 weeks". Really people? Is it EVER ok to tell a woman she is big? Why does pregnancy make it ok?

The best is someone I met once before, she asked eme when my baby was due, I happily said June 2! She said "no way, you will never make it that long." Well lady, I hope you are right but don't you find that rude?? REALLY PEOPLE?! I have basically no waist, where else is she supposed to go other than out....

29 weeks

First off, wow I got huge in a week!

Heartburn is officially becoming a big part of my day. Normally Rolaids takes care of business in no time... until today that is... I think it's time for something stronger.... 4 rolaids in 30 min and it didn't help at all. That's not a good sign. I can't even drink a glass of milk or water without getting it, let alone eating anything. I had a salad for lunch and paid dearly for about an hour afterwards. This is getting really old really fast!

28 weeks

Not much to report at 28 weeks. I got my Rhogam shot, and just pluggin along. We are starting the nursery this weekend, the room is all empty, Todd and his dad are in there now figuring out their "plan" to rip out the carpet :) Next weekend, my mom is coming up to paint... Pretty exciting stuff!

I PASSED

My Gestational Diabetes test that is..... I called the OB and they said I passed with a 114. NOrmal is 70-139..... whoo hoo... so we celebrated with blizzards from DQ

Crazy Week 27

Well I welcomed my 27th week with spending almost 5 hours in labor and delivery Wednesday night (27w2d). I had been having back pain all day, came home from work to take it easy and just felt awful. I noticed I was spotting around 4pm, but I waited to do anything to see if it was going to continue. At 7pm I was still spotting so I called the OB office and the on call nurse called back. She went over all my symptoms and past history of high BP and said I needed to go to labor and delivery.

So I left the house around 7:30, Todd stayed home to get Carter to bed and wait for his brother to come over and stay. He met me at the hospital around 8:30. I was all hooked up to monitors and the BP cuff. BP was up, which I expected with all that was going on. It did come down though. I was showing contractions on the monitor, hence the back pain. After a very painful cervical exam, it was determined I had an infection, which was causing the contractions, since they can cause preterm labor, and the bleeding. Around midnight I was sent home and told to follow up with my OB and a script for an antibiotic. I was kinda surprised they didn't take any blood, give me any IV fluids or an ultrasound. But hey, I'm not the professional.

I woke up Thursday morning feeling pretty crappy, but I took Carter to the babysitter (Thank You Lisa), went to Aultman for my glucose test to see if I have gestational diabetes, then to the pharmacy to get my antibiotic. I went home and took a nap, since I only got about 4 hours of sleep the night before.

I saw the NP at the OB office, where I had another cervical exam, she was able to see the source of the bleed, which was on my cervix. She said she thought it was caused just from irritation from the infection, but wanted an ultrasound to be sure that was all it was. So, back to the waiting room until I got an ultrasound. Hannah was moving around like crazy, and everything looked normal. She is est to weight 2lbs 6oz. "Normal" or "Average" for 27 weeks is about 1lb 9oz-2lbs. So it looks like she is on the bigger side of "normal".

So basically I was told that I might still have some spotting and contractions until the infection is gone. Apparently it is normal to have one course of meds not take care of it, and we will address it at my Apt in 2 weeks to check to see if it's still there. I will also call in on Monday to let them know how I am doing and I can get the results of my glucose test as well. FIngers crossed I passed!

Happy Birthday to me!

Here is my 26 week bump picture.... She's really growing in there! This was taken at 26 weeks 1 day, also on my 27th Birthday!

I have had an amazing week so far. Monday Todd gave me my "first" birthday present. Instead of a snuggie, it's called a dreamie... It's like a sleeping bag but fleece. It's great to keep those toes covered during nap time (Or as Todd is excited during video game time). Tuesday Carter got me flowers, and today I woke up to a card from Todd, and Carter colored an Elmo birthday card for me when I picked him up from Lisa's. Todd also got me a video game haha. It's a "party game" that we looked online at several weeks ago that we can play together. Inside the game was some money for "Dinner and movie with my wifey". He is taking me Saturday night for sushi (Tempura is all I can have but I will eat it happily) and we will see Valentine's Day. I feel so spoiled and so lucky. I have such an amazing hubby and baby boy!

Well, I had my 26 weeks apt today. My BP was up a little higher than they want it to be. With my past history, I am now going in weekly for appointments just to keep a super close eye on it.

I got a call last week from the office manager at the OB office to go over my insurance approval for my scheduled c section. She said when I came in for my next Apt (Which was today) to ask for her and she would schedule the date, so start thinking of what birthday we wanted our baby girl to have.

We are officially scheduled for June 2, 2010 for Hannah Eileen to be born. No time yet, Aultman isn't scheduling past May yet, but generally he takes the first time slot of the day, it's not bumped as often. So looks like we will have an early morning delivery. . This is all assuming my BP stays at bay and we don't induce earlier because of it, and assuming she doesn't decide she wants to pick her own birthday before that. I guess time will tell. It's just crazy she will be here at max 13 weeks from today... YIKES!!!!!!

25 weeks and great news

So I got the results of my blood tests for fifth's disease (parvovirus) and they were negative again. So now I just have ot be very careful not to be around someone with it for about 13-14 more weeks :)

So I am officially at 25 weeks and wow time is flying by. I have so much to do yet to get ready for this little girl. I am hoping to get her room totally cleared out this weekend so we can start ripping out the carpet. Then we are going to start the painting! I can't wait to see it all start to come together!

24 week

So today I am 24 weeks. This is a huge milestone for me for 2 reasons.

1- it means baby can be viable outside of the womb....

2- I was already on bedrest at this point last time around

I had my 24 week apt today. My BP went up to 158/86, which is way higher than they want. I had to lay on my left side and be monitored for a while. It did come down, and stayed down. My OB is in Hawaii so I saw the nurse practitioner and she said that I am no longer going to go 4 weeks between apts, I am back to every 2 weeks to keep a super close eye on everything with my given history.

I also had to get a blood test again to check if I have an active exposure or antibodies to Fifths Disease. If it comes back positive, since it was negative last time, I will have to be monitored very closely for developmental defects by ultrasound. So here's praying for all negatives. I should hear results by Monday.

I am going to start doing this survey, Thanks to my friend "mrs.jenni".

Pregnancy: 24 weeks

Weight Gain: 16lbs total

Sleep: I wake up at least once or twice a night to reposition myself and usually once to go to the bathroom

Gender: It's a GIRL

Name: Hannah Eileen

Feeling: I feel good, tired but it doesn't help Carter wakes me up most mornings by 6am

Health : BP issues are starting to happen again. I am now back to the dr every two weeks

Movement: lots, baby girl loves to move!

Belly: bigger by the day!!!

Next Appointment: my birthday, March 3rd! I will be 26 weeks and will be my last apt before the dreaded glucose test and rhogam shot.

23 weeks

I cannot believe how fast things are going. I seriously need to get my butt in gear and start getting the nirsery ready and picking up things we need for baby Hannah. I go back to the doctor on Tuesday for my 24 weeks check up! Stay tuned!

22 weeks and a Big baby shower

So there were 7 of us 2nd (and 3rd and fourth) time mommies pregnant from a mommy group. We decided to have ourselves a big ole' baby shower. We drew names for gift exchange and everyone brought some food. We had a great night of talking, food and presents!!!! Here is a picture of all of us, lined up in order of due dates. Man I am huge compared to these ladies.... The second one in, in black, is pregnant with TWINS and I am bigger than her!

speed bump with a BIG bump

Carter woke up with a fever. through the day it went up to 102.5. He's really lethargic, taking his second nap of the day right now. He hasn't eaten much but is doing ok with fluids. The doctor siad alternate tylenol and motrin every 4 hours and keep an eye on him. She gave me a list of thigns to watch for and to call if there is a problem over the weekend. Poor baby. I do haev to say though I love the snuggles when he isn't feeling well. Looks like this weekend's plans are gone and we will veg together. Daddy has to work anyways

21 weeks

Time has been flying by. Here's a 21 week belly picture... baby girl is getting bigger and bigger

Snag in the road

So on Monday morning I woke up to a text from the night before from Carter's babysitter, Lisa. She said her daughter, Kennedy, had a fever Sunday night but she was pretty sure it was just teething. So Carter still went over there. As the morning went on, Kennedy's fever got worse, up to 103.2, so I went to get Carter. It turns out Kennedy has fifths disease. This is a super contagious childhood virus that lots of kids get. The problem, however, is that it can be harmful even deadly to a pregnant woman's fetus. Lisa and I are both pregnant. So I called the OB just to see if I needed to be concerned, and they said yes, we needed to do a blood test to see if I have an "active" virus, if so they would be monitoring the baby very closely from here on out. There is nothing they can "do" if I do have it, but watch and wait.

I'm really not THAT concerned, but obviously it's in my head. I was in daycare growing up, so I am sure i was exposed to it at some point. Here's hoping I built up an immunity to it.

And the Ultrasound says.....

Still a girl! I will upload pictures later from the event. My sister in law, Chrissy, Todd and I were all there for the viewing. Cervical length looked great and she was moving around like crazy! She measures about 10oz at this point, which is a decent sized baby. Normal range is 6-7oz.....

Everything looked great, my BP is good so far. There was a little thing they noticed on the ultrasound. I have an extra placental "lobe". Apparently right now it's not a cause for concern, they have to make sure it all comes out at delivery, so he will have to look to make sure it all comes out. They will send it off to the lab to be examined. Otherwise everything looks fine.

20 weeks

Well, I made it! I am 19 weeks away (or less) to meeting baby girl! Here is my 20 week bump picture.... sorry about the dirty mirror but I have a toddler who LOVES to lok at himself in the mirror= touching it all the time. Stay tuned tomorrow after our ultrasound

Baby girl is on the move

So I have been feeling baby girl for a few weeks now, just tiny flutters that I only felt while laying/sitting still and very light. They are starting to become more frequent so that makes me happy. That's one of the things about pregnancy I love.... feeling the baby move is such an amazing feeling.

I go back to the Dr on tuesday for our big 20 week ultrasound to amke sure baby looks good and check measurments and gender check. I keep dreaming they tell me that it's a boy! That would be crazy since we have TONS of girl stuff already! Here's hoping baby didn't grow an appendage since my ultrasound at 15 weeks! I wouldn't be upset if it was a boy though, as long as he/she is healthy!!!!

I am starting the "project nursery clean out" this weekend. Our spare room/storage room is going to be baby girl's nursery and we need to get moving. I am already more than half way there since we will deliver at 39 weeks or before!!!!

So stay turned to next week after the ultrasound! Have a great weekend everyone!

18 weeks

OK so the top picture (in pink) is 18 weeks pregnant with Carter. The one of me in white is this time around at 18 weeks..... HOLY CRAP baby girl is growing!

WOW this pregnancy is FLYING by! I felt like I was pregnant with Carter for 2 years. This one needs to slow down, I'm not ready yet!

Happy Holidays

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Christmas for us was super busy. It started on the 23rd, we went to a friend's gathering. The 24th we headed to my parents for the afternoon/evening. The 25th was started around 8am when we woke Carter up to open presents. He was really into the wrapping paper! We then headed to Todd's grandparents and then his parents. The 26th my parents and brother came up to hang out. And then we had Sunday and were back to work!

The New Years break was nice, I was off Wednesday and had a massage and then Todd and I went to the Cavs game. It was my first time ever to a pro basketball event. It was a great time! Thursday we hung out at home. Carter and I have colds so I think we might hang out here today (New Years Day) as well since we were planning to visit friends but they have a 3 month old. I would be super mad if someone came to visit us and their family had a cold!

Tomorrow I am going to my parents for our annual family progressive dinner party. And then I plan to relax all day Sunday!

What a crazy holiday few weeks! Happy 2010 everyone!