Christopher & Tracy and Baby Andrew!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Andrew playing on the farm

2009-11-20T15:27:00.001-08:00

Andrew's firetruck

2009-11-20T13:56:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

2009-11-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

Mom was literally up all night decorating my Thomas the Train cake.

Happy birthday, Andrew!

Hey Dad and I have matching hats!

Cousins Zachary and Amber

This is what first birthdays are all about- cake for the first time! Applesauce cake with vanilla yogurt "frosting"

Smash cake!

Mom let me eat it all! I have room for more.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter dinner at Steve and Caroline's house. The food and atmosphere was wonderful as always. We missed our family that was not there.

Andrew set up with the Easter bunnies and duckies.

His cousins, Zachary and Amber. They picked out a special Easter toy and book for Andrew. (Video of that to come.) They are so grown up now. They read the Easter story book to Andrew!

Mom, Dad, and Andrew

Cousin "Uncle" Joey

Uncle Steve holding Patches

Dad and Andrew comparing Hawaian shirts.

I forgot to get pictures of Andrew with Grandma, Caroline and her mom!
Bad, bad holiday photographer.

5 Months Old!

2009-04-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

5 Months Old! Andrew likes his cow cuddly from Auntie Bonnie.

Great Grandma and Great Grand Pops sent these adorable John Deere socks for Easter.

Cute cow onesie from Stephanie and baby cow legs from Mommy.
Daddy thinks they look like leg warmers. But Mommy says they are what all the cool babies are wearing.

What does the cow say? MOOOOO!

Moooving right along!

Milk truck pajamas!

4 Months

2009-03-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Andrew had his 4 month pediatrician appointment today. He weighed 15 pounds and 5 ounces and was 25 inches long. The doctor said he's growing nicely! He's in the 50%percentile, which means he's perfectly average. We think he's perfectly perfect!

Doing a push up!

Andrew's friend Noah gave him this Leap Pad toy. He likes to look in the mirror and push the animal buttons.

Mr. Patch in the ball pit in our Nova University Play Together Newborn Class. This class is free for 13 weeks.

Patches likes to play in his new jumperoo. It has lots of flashing lights, music, and animals- including a funny butterfly.

Whooa!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T22:13:00.001-08:00

Patches in the toy pit at Nova.

Random Pictures

2009-02-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

I'm playing catch up. Sorry I haven't posted anything for so long!

Andrew and Mommy at a mommy and baby picnic.

Chilling with my bottle and one of the bibs from Aunt Micki.

Aunt Micki calls this my rocker sign.

Puppy dog shirt and plaid pants. Dad doesn't like plaid!

Hard day after Andrew's 3 month vacinations.

Second Indian Harbour Beach visit

2009-02-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

Daddy and Andrew

We can't wait to see the rest of the folks up north in June!

3 months in review

2009-02-06T09:36:00.000-08:00

Visiting with...

2009-02-01T13:04:00.000-08:00

Great Grandma Barb, Great Grand Pops, Auntie Micki, Cousin Daniel and even Cousin JR.

We left Friday morning and made a pit stop at Uncle John's in West Palm Beach. Grandma Pericht looked great today and was very happy to see her youngest grandson. Uncle John had a good time being good old Uncle John. :)

Andrew did pretty good on the trip up to Aunt Micki's. A little smooth highway and some wind noise go a long way to putting a baby to sleep. Thank goodness!

Great Grandma Barb and Andrew. We were so excited for Grandma to meet our little guy after the year she had in 2008.

Great Grand Pop is pretty handy holding a baby. I told Andrew to just say no to any knuckle sandwiches, with or without mustard.

Crazy Aunt Micki, sleepy Andrew, and that scrappy Scooby Dog!

Ocean view from our hotel balcony. It was much cooler than it looked!

Home sweet, home. With bubbles!

Andrew's first Jeep ride with the top off

2009-01-25T22:03:00.000-08:00

At the zoo!

2009-01-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

Andrew and I picked up Auntie Bonnie from work for an afternoon at the zoo. The weather was perfect! We met some other S Florida mommies down there. We got to meet Kristen and Yiannis which was a lot of fun.

Mommy and Andrew posing with the safe animals. Meet the Rhino!

Andrew and Auntie Bonnie with the elephant.

Mom, Andrew, and the hippo! Andrew was very partial to the hippos since he was wearing a cute Jack and Janie onesie with fun hippos on it.

Kangaroos!

Showing the kangaroos how a baby is really carried. Andrew likes the Maya Wrap sling. It keeps him safe and cozy and lets mom use both hands. Heaven!

That's a pigmy hippo back there. Just Andrew's size.

I'm Two Months Old In Pictures!

2009-01-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

Two months old

8 weeks old

7 weeks old

6 weeks old

5 weeks old

4 weeks old

3 weeks old

2 weeks old

1 weeks old

Patches on his play mat

2009-01-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

Ocean Wonders Play Mat from the Westons. Andrew loves to play on it and give mommy a break.

Patches in his gym clothing.

Baby in motion! Tummy time has taken a whole new meaning now that he can roll. It's hard to keep him on his tummy!

The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl!

2009-01-06T07:09:00.000-08:00

Watching the game on the scarlet and gray blanket from Grandpa Jerry.

OSU apparel from Great Grandpa and Grandma Fahey

Just like being at the game!

A gummy smile!

Andrew with a tired mommy.

We won't talk about the final score. :(

My new Sea Horse!

2009-01-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

Andrew and Dad after his nightly bath. Auntie Bonnie gave Andrew this Ocean Wonders Seahorse for Christmas. It's his new favorite soothing toy.

The Seahorse glows in the dark and plays lullabyes.

8 Weeks Old!

2009-01-01T07:33:00.000-08:00

7 weeks old

2008-12-30T08:47:00.003-08:00

Okay, I'm posting this a little late but I did take the picture on time!

Mr Rolly Poly Andrew!

2008-12-27T03:18:00.000-08:00

This is a short video from Christmas morning. I have another of us opening gifts that I'm trying to upload.

He can roll!

Chilling with dad

2008-12-20T23:32:00.000-08:00

Sweet Dreams!

Patches' lemon drop face.

6 weeks old!

2008-12-18T14:14:00.000-08:00

And he's definitely smiling. You can see his eyes light up when he grins. Mom and Dad have to make super big smiles and laugh really hard to get him to smile. But it works more and more! They are just quick so it's hard to catch with the camera.

Your Baby At 6 Weeks:
Physical Development
With each passing day, your little one is growing more alert and responsive. By the end of this month, he'll be awake for as many as 10 hours a day, punctuated by one- to three-hour naps. Although it may seem to you as though he's "just lying there" for much of this time, in reality he is learning and practicing new skills virtually every waking minute.

One such skill is the development of head/neck coordination. By the end of this month, your formerly inert wonder child will be able to lift his head to a 45-degree angle while lying on his tummy, and hold it for at least a minute. He'll also hold his neck in line with the rest of his body for a few moments when you pick him up.

Has your baby smiled at you yet? If not, he will soon. At 6 weeks, about half of all babies can recognize their parents, and many of those babies are so delighted that they welcome Mom or Dad with an excited, gurgly grin. This is one of the first signs that your baby is developing an ability to socialize. In fact, it's called a "social smile," and it's one of the more emotionally gratifying milestones you'll see your baby reach.

5 Weeks Old

2008-12-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

Your baby at 5 Weeks:

Head's up!
Your baby's neck muscles are getting stronger, which allows her to hold her head up for short periods. She can support it for a few moments while lying on her stomach, for example, and she can probably turn it from side to side. She may be able to hold her head up when she's in a car seat or front carrier.

The first real smiles
Smiling happens at about the same time in all cultures, so get ready for your baby to reward all your loving care with a beaming, toothless, just-for-you smile. This will probably make your heart melt, even if you've just had your worst night yet.

For Ron Heckman, a new father in Piedmont, California, that first smile from his 6-week-old daughter, Hadley, brought tears to his eyes. "It was a lousy day at work," he recalls. "I was sleep-deprived and the commute traffic that day was incredibly thick. When I finally got home and my wife handed me the baby, who looked straight at me and smiled this gorgeous all-gums grin, I remember thinking, 'She knows me' — and nothing else mattered."

Sound asleep
Your baby may start sleeping longer at night (maybe four to six hours) sometime between 6 weeks and 6 months of age. It's a broad range, and much depends on your baby's development and your behavior.

Most sleep experts suggest putting your baby to bed while she's still awake, but drowsy. This will help her learn to fall asleep on her own, a skill that will come in handy for you both when she wakes in the wee hours of the night. You can help your baby reach that milestone sooner rather than later by establishing healthy sleep habits from the start, such as a bedtime routine with a calming bath, a baby massage, or a bedtime story.

Remember, your baby is an individual
All babies are unique and meet milestones at their own pace. Developmental guidelines simply show what your baby has the potential to accomplish — if not right now, then soon. If your baby was premature, keep in mind that kids born early usually need a bit more time to meet their milestones. If you have any questions at all about your baby's development, ask your healthcare provider.

Physical Development
After months of zero visibility in the womb, it's an exciting moment when your baby opens her eyes in the delivery room--and sees! Although her vision won't fully develop for three to six months, she can distinguish faces at close range and is immediately sensitive to light. Some infants are so delighted at seeing that they will stop sucking and turn to observe an interesting object.

In the early months, the cells in the retina of the eye (which see colors) are still developing, so she perceives only muted hues. That's why you'll find so many toys and mobiles in screaming shades of red, blue, green, and yellow--they may look garish to you, but your baby sees them differently. You can stimulate visual development by showing her mirrors, brightly colored pictures, mobiles, and baby books, especially those with close-up pictures or photographs of faces. When she sees something she likes, her body will jerk and she'll gaze with obvious pleasure

Introducing SuperBaby!

2008-12-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

Andrew wants to thank his cousin, Amber, for the SuperBaby bib. She was so sweet to think of him!

Andrew's First Month...

2008-12-11T06:37:00.000-08:00

...in pictures.

One Week Old:

Two Weeks Old:

Three Weeks Old:

Four Weeks Old:

Andrew's First Bath

2008-11-30T17:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, maybe the correct title should be "Andrew's first TUB bath."
Because believe me, he's been bathed since we got home. We just had to give him sponge baths until his belly button healed completely.

Thank you, Bonnie for his little blue tub and the teddy bear sponge. We're putting those both to use. And thank you to Grandma Pericht for the towel set.

I'm thankful

2008-11-26T22:52:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful for God allowing me the blessing of being a mother to a wonderful little boy that I love beyond words.

I'm thankful for his health and mine.

I'm thankful for my husband who is my strength and the love of my life. I can think of nothing greater than the joy of being partnered with this man and the life we created together.

I'm thankful for our familes both near and far.

I thank God that my grandma and grandpa are both cancer free after battling it this year.

Baby Andrew's Birth Story

2008-11-23T21:54:00.000-08:00

At my appointment on Wednesday, November 29 my OB ordered a growth ultrasound because my fundal height was measuring large for 40 weeks and 1 day. At the ultrasound the baby was measured 8 pounds and 5 ounces. They expect a baby to gain approximately one ounce per day. Since this was making for a large baby, my doctor wanted to induce labor on Monday, November 3. I would be 40 weeks and 6 days.

The baby was monitored closely every 2-3 days with ultrasounds and Non Stress Tests. Everything looked good and there was no medical reason to induce, so we decided to wait. We used tools from the Bradley class to communicate our desire for a natural birth. My OB gave us until Wednesday night, November 5th for labor to start naturally. At that time I would be 9 days over due. That seemed like a reasonable amount of time considering many doctors like to induce between 40-41.

If I hadn't gone into labor by that time, the hospital would call when they had a room available for the induction. Since I had a low Bishop's Score at my last appointment, the plan was to start ripening my cervix with cervidil and then to start pitocin the following morning.

I really wanted to avoid an induction because of the challenges it would pose to having a pain medication free birth. Plus I wanted my baby to pick his own birth-day!

So we had our homework to do. We used acupuncture, pressure points, evening primrose oil and relaxation along with visualization in an effort to get labor started naturally. My husband and I started walking 2-4 miles every day. And we went with the old adage, "What gets the baby in there, gets the baby out."

Contractions started Wednesday evening at 7 pm. They weren't very strong but they were coming pretty regular at 10-15 minutes apart. Christopher and I went walking to see if the contractions would get stronger. After about 2.5 hours I called my doula to see what she advised us to do. Since the contractions hadn't gotten much stronger, she told me to eat something and try to get some sleep to prepare for a long labor.

At 11:00 pm the hospital called. They had a room ready for us. I finished packing, called the doula, and took a shower. Just after midnight, we left for the hospital. It was almost 1:00 am Thursday, when I got into the L&D room. My doula met us at the hospital to help get us settled. They drew blood and got my IV antibiotics started for the GBS.

The contractions slowed down a little which I know is common from the Bradley class. Being in a strange environment will often do that in early labor.

My nurse checked me and I was 4 cm already! Those contractions had been doing something! Since that drastically improved my Bishop's Score, cervidil was no longer needed to ripen my cervix.

The nurse said they would start the pitocin at 5 am. My doula left for a few hours to get some sleep at home. Christopher managed to nap a little on the fold out couch while I watched the clock.

At 4:50 am, I was dilated to 5 cm and they started the pitocin. The plan was to increase the pitocin every 20 minutes until the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart.

Because of the pitocin, they had to keep me on constant monitoring except for trips to the bathroom. My doula and Christopher were a big help though. The nurse let me walk around the bed, sit on the birthing ball, and sway with Christopher as long as the cords reached.

At one point, I got up out of bed to use the restroom. I guess when I got up, I had passed a large clot. My doula and the nurse were very concerned and asked about the amount of bleeding that I'd been having. Ever since the initial cervix check at 1 am, I had been bleeding some what heavily. Thankfully the bleeding slowed back down. But that was an excellent example of why you should wear a hospital gown to labor in.

At 9 am, my OB checked on me. I was 7 cm so he broke my water. There was light meconium staining. My OB said that was common when the baby is over due. My doula asked if I would still be to have the baby skin to skin immediately after delivery. My doctor said it would depend on the baby, but thankfully he didn't rule it out completely.

Labor wasn't that difficult for the next couple of hours. I spent a lot of time out of the hospital bed, swaying with Christopher. The doula would whisper into my ear just what I needed to hear and would massage my back. She kept reminding me to stay on top of the contractions by relaxing as soon I started to feel the pain start in my back.

The bed was pure evil. The contractions hurt so much worse when I was flat on my back. I didn't want to go there unless the nurse was going to check me.

At 11:00 am, I was 8 cm. Transition had officially started. The next two hours were rough. This is when time stopped for me. I would look at the clock and only five minutes had passed. I knew transition would be the most difficult time but also it's supposed to be the shortest period.

The contractions wouldn't go away completely during transition because of the pitocin. My doula said they would peak or double peak but never disappear like normal contractions during transition.

At 12:00 pm, I was dilated to 9 cm during a contraction. I was feeling more and more pressure. During this period, I kept wanting to go into the bathroom. Most of the time I didn't have to pee. I just had to get away. I felt like it was good to keep my bladder empty as possible though because of my Bradley training.

Chris was in charge of my IV pole and cords. It was a clumsy dance as we maneuvered around into the bathroom. My doula kept telling me not to push while I was in there. I knew she wanted to make sure that I didn't make my cervix swell by pushing before it was time. Whenever we would come out, they would ask if I had any contractions while in there. I would tell them how many that I'd had. Sitting on the toilet actually helped them not to be so painful.

Afterwards, my doula said she and the nurse talked about me going into the bathroom. The nurse was okay with it as long as I continued to have contractions and wasn't off monitor for too long. They knew that sometimes women need to go away where it's quiet and private to labor.

Around 1:00 pm, I was dilated to 10 cm with a small lip of cervix left.

Things get hazy at this point. I started to push and the baby's heart rate dropped down in the 90's for 3 minutes. They put me on oxygen and kept moving me around in different positions to get the heart beat up. The pitocin was stopped at this point and I labored with my own contractions. I wasn't allowed to push for 45 minutes. This was so difficult because with the contractions, my body wanted to push desperately. I would feel my muscles contract and it would take everything in me to relax. All I could do was try to breath deeply and listen to the doula's instructions. I had to give my baby oxygen.

I would go away in between contractions, almost falling asleep. I knew this was common from the Bradley classes. I just kept breathing deeply without panting. The oxygen mask made me feel like I was going to hyperventilate.

The nurses actually started prepping me for a c-section but no operating rooms were available. My OB was in surgery and couldn't get there for about 45 minutes.

When my doctor got there, they let me start pushing again. They told me to show the doctor what I could do, encouraging me to push with everything that I had. My OB said I had mad pushing skills. LOL I just wanted the baby out and safe!

Suddenly the room was transformed and nurses were every where. Later I found out that because we were expecting a big baby, the nurses came in to help get him out. My doula said if he was stuck they would have put their forearms on my stomach to push down.

With every contraction, I was pushing 2-3 times. Down and out. Please, baby be okay. Down and out. Breathe deeply, give the baby oxygen. Come on, contraction, let's go, give me another so I can push. Down and out. Breathe deeply, give the baby oxygen.

I felt the ring of fire that everyone talks about. It hurt but it didn't last very long. I didn't care, the baby needed to come out!

Christopher watched as his head came out and the doctor suctioned his mouth.
When the rest of his body came out, the cord was across his body with his hand on top of that. So every contraction was putting extra pressure on the cord which was the cause of his heart rate dropping.

He was born 11/06 at 3:11 PM, weighing 7 lbs and 15.51 ounces and 20 inches long. He scored 9's on both APGARS.

They put him on my chest immediately. That was what I had been waiting for! I didn't even notice his little cone head. I thought he was the most beautiful sight ever. Christopher, the proud poppa, cut the cord.

The baby nurse tried to snatch him from us but my doula said, "No, she's going to breast feed him." Pam, my doula, rocks!

Pam is also a lactation consultant so she was right there with us for the first breast feeding. She actually latched him on every time for me. All I had to do was hold him. She said it was great that I actually had colostrum for him already.

My right nipple was inverted so Pam met the hospital LC and got a nipple shield for me. I breast fed him for a little over an hour while the OB finished repairing my tears. At that point the nurse came back for Andrew and I let her give him his first bath and do his exam. Christopher watched over him like a hawk.

My doula put on gloves and helped me get cleaned up. It was nice to have a familiar person doing it instead of a strange nurse. She put me in a fresh gown and helped me to use the rest room.

The nurse made the comment that it didn't seem like I had only known Pam for two months. It seemed like we were long time friends instead. Pam said that was her goal, to be a friend. She was a crucial part of my support system. Christopher and I were so glad she was there for us.

We had a beautiful and happy ending to a year and a half long journey to become a family. We are completely and totally in love with out little boy.

Andrew has arrived!

2008-11-11T16:57:00.001-08:00

Andrew was born on Nov 6, 2008 at 3:11 pm, weighing 8 lbs and measuring 20 inches long. He has classic blue newborn eyes which is darker blue than Christopher and I have. He has a full head of blondish brown hair. It seems like the hair color keeps getting lighter and lighter.

I'll update the complete birth story soon!

Something is going on!

2008-11-05T19:09:00.000-08:00

The hospital hasn't called yet to bring me in for my induction even though I'm supposed to be on the schedule tonight. I'm hoping this is the real thing so we can avoid the induction and go on our own!

I've had contractions for the past 2.5 hours. When I started timing them they were 5-6 minutes apart but only 30 seconds long. They are still about 5 minutes apart and now close to 60 seconds long. I also have a backache that keeps coming and going.
We've been walking that entire time. They aren't really super painful yet as I can continue to walk through them.

I just called my doula and she suggested that I lay down to see if the contractions continue. If I fall asleep, that's good so I can get some rest. If this is real labor, I probably still have a long way to go yet. Most first time labors average 15-16 hours long.

I'd appreciate any spare prayers and good thoughts! Hopefully Patches will be born tomorrow!

On Stand By

2008-11-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

I don't like flying on stand by and I certainly don't like having a baby on stand by.

We're scheduled for an induction starting tonight but it's not a firm induction date. I'm not expecting a phone call until this evening if even then. The office manager at my OB's said they could call at 1 am if that's the soonest they have room for us. It all depends on how busy the Labor & Delivery floor is.

There's even a chance they won't call us until Thursday.

So we wait. And we're hoping and praying Patches decides to get started on his own before we get the phone call from the hospital. If I show up in labor, then someone else will get bumped to a later induction.

We'll update when we know something.

41 Weeks, 7 Days Over Due

2008-11-04T07:44:00.000-08:00

Apparently Patches has no calendar in there. He's late, he's late, for a very important date!

The baby is doing great according to the tests on Monday. He's just too comfortable and cozy in there to come out on his own.

We're trying everything we can to encourage him to come on out. But nothing is working.

I'm not really miserable either. I feel huge and getting in and out of bed is difficult. But I'm not overly anxious to be induced. I'd rather Patches pick his own birthday so it's easier on all of us. But we'll have to deal with what we're given.

If you have any spare prayers or good thoughts, we would appreciate them.
Patches has two days to make his appearance on his own.

We're still on standby for an induction starting Wednesday night. The hospital will call when they have room for us. And then we'll make our phone calls, texts, and emails.

Sorry...Friday update

2008-11-02T17:29:00.000-08:00

I never updated from my Friday appointment. I was kind of tired of thinking and worrying about it.

NST and ultrasound was great. I didn't have an internal exam but the ultrasound tech said the baby had dropped quite a bit and was glad she didn't have to measure his head because it was so low in my pelvis.

We got them to actually schedule an induction on Wednesday night, Novemember 5. We have to wait for a phone call from Labor and Delivery until the hospital has room for us. It can be any time of the day or night. And if they are too busy it will be Thursday. But at least I don't have to lie about something being wrong with Patches to get in and we have a few more days to go naturally.

I have another NST scheduled for Monday am.

I've been having some lower cramping today but nothing regular. We'll continue doing our two mile walks every day and see what happens. Christopher has been feeding me lots of spicy foods trying to get something going.

So come on out, Mr. Patches!

My "scheduled" induction

2008-10-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

I had my Non Stress Test today. They put two monitors on my belly. One is for the fetal heartbeat and the other measures uterine contractions. I was instructed to push a button every time I felt the baby move. This is printed out on a paper strip for the doctor to look at.

I don't think Patches liked the monitor very much. He moved and rolled around A LOT! His heart beat would accelerate every time he started his gymnastic moves.

The OB said it was a great strip and the baby is looking fantastic.

The ultrasound estimates Patches at 8 lbs and 9 oz (just a little above normal) with a head circumference of 14 inches(average for a newborn.) He's definitely put on some weight since the last ultrasound. Probably all that halloween candy.

They wanted to schedule me to be admitted Sunday night for an induction for Monday but the hospital says they aren't accepting any more on their schedule until next Thursday. My OB doesn't want me to go that long over due.

So the office manager told me to go to the hospital Sunday night and tell them I'm over due and haven't felt the baby move for a while.

They'll run a NST and tell me everything is okay and then call my OB. At that point he's supposed to tell them to keep me and start an induction.

We're both really uncomfortable with lying to the nurses in labor and delivery.

One, I've lost two babies. I don't like saying something is wrong with this one! Two, if I lie, it's going to be pretty apparent if the baby has a great NST like today's. Then the nurse is going to know something fishy is going on. I'm sure this is a common practice that OB's use to get their patients in the hospital door.

I may call tomorrow and talk to the office manager about this some more.

I really hope Patches shows up sooner than Sunday night so this isn't a problem!

I have another NST on Friday with a quick ultrasound.

Pray Patches gets moving out!

Eviction Notice

2008-10-26T11:06:00.001-07:00

EVICTION NOTICE

Date: October 26, 2008
To: Mr. Patches

To the above tenant in possession of below described premises:

I am issuing a 3 day notice for EVICTION. You will have 3 days in which you can either gather your belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, you will be physically removed from the property.
You are being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made!
Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper AND lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances.
After 3 days from this day that you don't comply with the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal at my discretion.

Thank you for your cooperation
Love,
Mommy

39 Weeks, Running out of time!

2008-10-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'm 2 cm dilated now and the baby has dropped a little to -2 station. I've been having a few cramps. So that's good news, a little more progress.

I have to go back to the doctor on Monday and we'll talk induction. Tuesday is my due date.

I really don't want the induction but the doctor keeps saying the baby is big and wants to induce before he gets even bigger. All he's doing is measuring the fundal height (tape measure to the belly). He's not feeling the baby or looking at the ultrasounds. I've gained 22 lbs.

The ultrasounds keep showing the baby in the 50% percentile, not big at all, just average. I'm a little frustrated because the fundal height could be bigger in part because I have a lot of amniotic fluid (high normal) according to the ultrasound.

The OB said that the ultrasounds could be up to 30% off so that doesn't mean anything. Well, the baby has measured on time or slightly behind at every single scan starting at 7 weeks. He's always been in the 50% range and that's been 5 different sonogram machines and 5 different techs.

The last scan Patches measured two days behind his Estimated Due Date and only 6 lbs 5 oz. That's only 7.5 to 8 lbs by my due date.

When I asked if we could do an Non Stress Test before we scheduled the induction, the OB said he wouldn't be the pregnancy police. But at the same time I think he's going to pressure us to schedule the induction. I understand not wanting to wait until I'm a week late but I want a few more days to get this baby out.

I have an appointment on Monday afternoon for acupuncture. I've been working the exercise ball and we went walking this afternoon at the mall. Maybe that will get something going!

38 Weeks

2008-10-20T11:56:00.001-07:00

Christopher was able to go to this appointment since he just happened to be off work that day.

When we got there, I noticed the lights in my doctor's exam rooms were all off. That's a bad sign, meaning he's not there.

When I came back out from giving the standard urine sample, (gotta love peeing in a cup 9 months pregnant but that's another story) the receptionist told me that my OB was in surgery and would not be back that morning.

We ended up waiting about an hour and a half when the ultrasound tech called us back instead of a nurse. I was surprised since we just had a scan the week before. The ultrasound tech told us that since the midwife was running so far behind, that she would do a scan to get the baby's heart rate. Who could turn down a free ultrasound?

She got a healthy heart rate of 133 bpm. She confirmed that the baby was still head down and showed us a the baby's face. She showed us his abdomen was moving in and out which is how he was practicing his breathing.

Then she moved the wand up by my ribs and found his little foot. It was so cute on the screen. That's what has been kicking me in the ribs! He also had his hand down there too like he'd been grabbing his foot.

The first picture is a profile of his foot, toes pointing to the right.

The second picture is the bottom of his foot, you can see all 5 toes.

We finally got to see the midwife a little later. She confirmed that I was still at 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. The baby is still at -3 station. She said that's a great place to be at 38 weeks.

So we wait for Patches to pick his birthday!

Doctor said, "Wow!" 37 week appointment

2008-10-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the baby is officially full term but he has another 3 weeks to keep maturing.

I had a couple of minor scares today at the doctor's office. First he had trouble finding the heart beat. I figured the baby was just in a weird spot because I felt him do a funny roll on the way to the appointment. Patches felt like he was up in my stomach all morning.

And then it's never a good thing if your doctor says, "Wow" during an internal exam. And that's all he said! I'm sure my eyes got huge because the nurse patted my arm.

Finally he said that he couldn't tell the baby's position. The doctor couldn't tell if he was feeling Patches' head or his bottom. And then he said that the baby was measuring BIG!

I was pretty much speechless, trying to process the possible change. The nurse was great at reassuring me. She remembers the previous miscarriages and knows all the worries that are automatically built in with this pregnancy. We'd still have a baby, he just may have to come a different way than we'd planned.

I had to wait 30 minutes for an ultrasound. I tried to read in the waiting room but who can concentrate when you might be scheduling a c-section surgery next.

The ultrasound tech put the wand on my lower belly and said, "IT'S A HEAD!" The baby is thankfully head down but he's all stretched out and floating up high. I guess that's why the doctor said he was big with just the fundal measurement on my belly.

I also have a lot of amniotic fluid, supposedly high normal. I'm not going to go down that google path since it can mean there's a problem. I don't want to know all the negatives at this point. I'll just go with what the u/s tech said, more is better than too little and it was just on the high end of normal. I know at 37 weeks the amount of amniotic fluid starts to decrease so maybe mine just hasn't started to yet.

He's measuring two days behind my estimated due date so he's not really big at all. She estimated his weight at 6 lbs 5 oz which is in the 50% percentile.
Normal, Dr. S! Normal! Since the baby is supposed to gain a 1/2 lb a week, she guessed he would be 7.5 to 8 pounds at birth. Again, normal! Whew.

She printed out a picture for us. The baby kept yawning over and over. You could see his little mouth open and close. I guess we were disturbing his sleep with all the commotion. He also has a full head of hair. According to the tech, it's a lot of hair! Daddy might be jealous. ;)

She did kind of goof up by asking me what my other babies weighed at birth. I guess she saw this was my 3rd pregnancy but didn't catch the miscarriage part of my chart.

It's still hard to believe we could have a real baby here soon. And he's head down and measuring normally!

Now if he'd just engage (drop down into my pelvis) and give mom a chance to breathe.

36 weeks and some progress

2008-10-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

I had my weekly appointment today. Blood pressure, urine, and weight were okay.

The midwife said that the baby is measuring right on time and his heart beat was good.

I've made some progress so that was nice to hear. It doesn't mean much since the Patches could take his time and still end up being over due. But progress is progress.
The baby hasn't really dropped yet into my pelvis. He's at -3 station so that's pretty high up there. All perfectly normal.

Next week (37 weeks) Patches will be considered full term. At that point, he's got a free pass.
But we'd like him to hold out closer to 40 weeks to make sure he's done baking! And so Daddy has time to put together his crib. ;)

35 Week Appointment

2008-09-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

Christopher just happened to be off work today because freight was slow so he was able to go with me. It was nice because he hasn't been able to go with me since May.

They tried to get me to see the midwife because my OB was running behind. We decided to stick it out since I'm getting closer to delivering. I had just found out last month that the midwife no longer delivers babies!

I found out that I'm GBS positive so I'll definitely be toting an IV pole around with me during labor. My OB said they like for patients to recieve two doses of the antibiotics prior to delivery. He didn't think that would be a problem since I'm a first time mom.

But I still don't want to head for the hospital too early.

I've been so worried that the baby was going to breech or transverse since that's how he preferred to hang out. He'd settled down a little bit though. I've been trying to figure out what the movements mean and what the hard places are in my belly. I've been doing all these pelvic rocks and yoga poses that are supposed to help the baby get in the best postion. I've even been playing lullaby music on my ipod speakers down by my pelvic to draw him down. Last week, when I played the music for him for the first time, I felt a huge movement/roll as he moved toward the sound.

Today the doctor felt my belly very quickly, like just in two places after measuring and using the doppler. I asked him if he could feel the baby's position.

"Oh, yeah. He's head down, with his back along your left. Here's an arm and here's a leg."

I was so relieved! I think the music helped. LOL
Hopefully Patches stays pointed towards the exit.

My BP and urine were okay which is always good news. I'm up 17 lbs for the pregnancy. I now go for weekly appointments. My first internal exam is next week.

At least the OB warned me.

Car Seat Inspection

2008-09-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

We got our car seat inspected over the weekend. The hospital does it monthly by appointment, free of charge.

We were supposed to show up to the inspection with it installed and the car seat direction book. So last minute, Christopher and I tried putting it in the night before.

We couldn't use the latch system in the middle because the anchor points were too far apart according to the directions. We read that AFTER trying for several minutes to get it tightened up enough.

The next option was to use the seat belt to latch the base in. However we couldn't find the locking bar necessary to use with our seat belt. It was supposed to be included with the car seat.

So Chris got it installed on the passenger side back seat. He did an awesome job getting it tight enough. We really wanted it to be in the center for safety but didn't know how to over come the seat belt problem.

When we got to the hospital, the women doing the inspection congratulated Christopher for getting the car seat installed correctly! Yay, we passed. 3 out of 4 car seats are installed in correctly.

She then asked us if we wanted to try it installed in the center. We told her the problem with the anchor latches and that we couldn't find the latch bar to work with the seat belt. She quickly flipped the seat over and showed us where the manufacter's had hid the latch bar. Viola!

So she and Christopher got it secured in the middle with the seat belt locking it in tight. This pretty much requires two people to do it since our seat belt doesn't lock in place on its own. Chris said that base isn't getting moved for a long time!

Here we tested it out.

It's kind of strange to see the car seat whenever I turn around to back up. I can't wait until our little guy is here to get his first ride home.

Baby Care, Paper T Shirts, and BF in the OR!

2008-08-24T23:37:00.000-07:00

We had our baby care class today. The first part we watched a video and slide presentation. The video showed the parents right after delivery with baby being held skin to skin and being breast fed. I had to hold back tears! Darn pregnancy hormones.

Then she showed slide pics of an actual circumsion which was a little painful to see. My hospital doesn't use any local anesthesia for circs! They only give the babies 2 teaspoons of sugar water to help cope with the pain. WTH?

Then we played with some baby dolls, washing and diapering them! That part was fun in a weird way. We got lucky and scored a boy baby doll so we could practice cleaning him up correctly.

Our practice baby!

We got to see the paper t shirts that they give the babies to wear in my hospital. I kept picturing the thin white paper like what they use to line examination tables. This was actually heavier paper, kind of like the stuff they use for expensive paper napkins. It had a small piece of velcro to hold it closed.

Christopher holding the baby doll. The paper t shirt is blue and pink.

The nurse said that they want parents to bring in their own clothing for the baby so he will get used to what you'll be putting him in at home. That kind of makes sense. The paper shirt they provide is for immediately after birth when the umbilicial cord stump has iodine on it. I guess it's triple staining or something.

She was also a lactation consultant and told us that if we had her as a nurse for a c-section delivery, then she would do everything possible to get the baby skin to skin with you while in the operating room and even attempt some breast feeding there. I was very shocked at that!

Without saying it, she let us know that not all others nurses would try it. But it's still pretty amazing that it's even a possiblity. My hospital seems very pro-breastfeeding which is great.

A Baby Shower...

2008-08-23T23:43:00.000-07:00

for us! It's hard to believe it's really time for our own baby shower. A special day to celebrate this baby boy.

Today when we woke up, Patches was kicking me like normal. I usually tell Christopher about it so he can get a quick feel while we're both right together.
Chris put his hand on my belly and gently shook it just a little saying hello. Then right as he placed his hand flat on the sweet spot, Patches gave one of his power kicks! (We're talking the kind that can move the remote control or whatever is resting on my tummy.) Chris pulls his hand back in surprise, saying "Wow, what do those feel like on the inside?!"

They feel awesome.

It was like Patches was telling us to come on, get up already! It's his big day, pre-birthday. We have things to do! It's baby shower time.

My sister in law, Caroline has been so supportive of us during the past year. She hosted the baby shower at her house. It was beautifully decorated and everything I could have dreamed for.

Christopher, Tracy, and Patches

Some of the party ballons.

This cute little guy was one of the ballon weights.

Some of the favors around the cake.

This cake was beautifully decorated as a baby carriage. It was a vanilla cake with a creme layer. The two wheels were chocolate cupcakes. "A Baby Is A Precious Gift"

Sister in law, Caroline with the beautiful cake. Her mom, Mrs. Ernst is looking on in the background.

We played some really fun games. The guys even enjoyed participating.

We were shown this tray for one minute. Then we had to write down all the items that we could remember. My friend, Bonnie won this one easily!

Then we played a baby word scramble game. Again Bonnie put most of us to shame. I think her youth helped her. My pregnancy induced attention deficient disorder gave me serious trouble! Who knew "rodeomothh" was motherhood and "unserry hemry" was nursery rhyme?

Bonnie, again a winner. This time of "Guess How Big the Momma To Be's Belly Is." The object was to cut a piece of yarn just long enough to wrap around my stomach at the biggest point. I dreaded this game a little since it basically makes fun of how big I am! But it turned out fun to play. Christopher (thank you, honey!) and the twin 6 year olds, Amber and Zachary were the closest after Bonnie. Everyone else had miles of extra yarn! Apparently I do look THAT big. :)

Christopher helping the twins, Amber and Zachary measuring and cutting their yarn.

Debbie, the official winner of the "Find The Baby Pin Game." There were 80 baby pins inside the bowl covered with uncooked rice. The object was to find as many pins as possible during one minute. It was a lot harder than what it looked like because the rice was bigger than the small pins. Debbie shifted through and found four. I found NONE!

Mrs. Ernst who finished second place after a tie breaker.

My mother in law, Margaret, playing the game.

My other sister in law, Alice.

Brother in law Steve who thought he had a plan to win.

Christopher finding two pins and managing to spill rice all over the floor!

Chef Christopher with his yummy lasagne! I know he won't let us starve after the baby is born.

We had lots of good food and good times. It was the perfect baby shower! I'm going to blame it on pregnancy hormones, but when I think back over the evening I start to cry. We enjoyed ourselves so much.

Thank you, Caroline for hosting it. And thank you to all those that came and for all the gifts we received. Patches is one lucky boy.

Our first video venture with Patches

2008-08-02T18:42:00.001-07:00

Diapers and Child Birth Classes

2008-08-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

The revelation: I'm not going to be pregnant forever, this baby is actually coming in a few months.

Babies R Us had a "secret" Super Friday Sale. The main reason that I wanted to go was that they were giving away a free $15 gift card with the purchase of two boxes of diapers. Once I had those boxes in my cart, it really hit me that we're going to have a baby and he's going to be needing these diapers pretty soon!

When Chris came home from work, he saw the bright yellow boxes marked 216 New Baby Diapers and 184 Stage 2 Diapers. He stood and just stared at them. "Wow, this baby is really coming, isn't he?"

"Yes, Christopher, he's really going to be here, peeing and pooping!"

We also attended our first child birth class at a local birthing center. We plan to give birth in the hospital that my OB and midwife deliver at. But these Bradley Method classes are more focused on the husband being a labor coach and being relaxed during labor. We'll get information on nutrition, exercises, breast feeding, c-sections, and post partum care all in these Bradley series of classes.

We'll be taking Baby Care, Infant Safet & CPR, and the car seat inspection at our hospital. We have a busy couple of months ahead of us!

Our Surprise!

2008-06-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

Click the play button above to see our surprise!

How much does the baby weigh now?

2008-06-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

I had my 22 week follow up Level II ultrasound with the perinatologist today. Chris couldn't make the appointment because of work. I thought it would be fun for my friend, Bonnie, to come to the appointment since she's so close to the hospital.

I drank some orange juice on the way to the appointment to try to get the little guy moving around. So far at every ultra sound, he's usually sleeping!

We had to wait forever to get in to see the doctor. The waiting room was full which is unlike this doctor's office. I soon realized why it was so crowded. One girl brought her entire family and friends to the ultrasound. There were 4 other people with her!

Patches was kicking before the appointment started but he settled quietly in for the scan. I guess the sugar rush from the orange juice wore off! He's measuring a little ahead at 22 weeks 6 days instead of where we were at 22 weeks 1 day. His heart rate was 160 (maybe from the OJ?) so that again doesn't follow the old wives tale about high heart rates indicating girls.

They estimated the fetal weight to be 1 pound and 2 ounces. I was concerned that weight might be a little high from what I've read in the baby books but the doctor reassured me that it was completely normal. In fact Patches appears completely normal and healthy! Thank God.

Now for the pictures!

We got our first 3D picture of Patches. The tech couldn't get a real good view of him but you can see one of his arms up by his face and his nose and mouth pretty clearly. She told me that in 6-8 weeks the 3D would be closer to how he'd really look when he's born. Right now he doesn't have enough fat to fill out his skin so he's a little alien looking. But still cute in my opinion! :)

Here's a profile of Patches. His head is on the left and his little legs and feet are sticking up in the air. Probably getting ready to kick on mommy.

And just because Patches is an October baby, here's another face on shot where he looks like Skeletor. Tilt your head side ways. The top of his head is on the left and his eye sockets are above the bright spot which is his nose. His mouth is the black opening below that.

When we were looking at this angle, he opened his mouth really wide and then closed it like a yawn. It was super cute.

After the appointment, Bonnie and I went out to lunch before she had to get back to work. I cut one of the ultrasound pictures off the strip so she could take it with her. She usually sees Chris several times during the day so I knew she could give him the photo. I wanted him to get a surprise after a hard day's work and he'd have an excuse to show off his son! :)

New bedroom furniture and a trip to the ER

2008-06-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

We needed a new bed. Our old platform bed wasn't going to make it any longer. Chris finally realized it was important when he saw me struggling to roll out of bed every morning at 4 am to pee. It was also time to down size so we'd have room for the baby's crib since we don't want to turn the second bedroom into a nursery yet.

Our new bedroom furniture got delivered this afternoon. Chris and I spent the entire morning taking down the old furniture and moving. I ended up helping lift a headboard bookcase that he couldn't handle alone.
Around 11 am I started getting sharp cramps. I worked a little longer and then gave up to rest on couch. I drank 2 bottles of water and started working on my a third.
Around 4 pm, DH told me to call my OB since the cramps weren't letting up. My own doctor wasn't on call so I spoke to another. That doctor said if it was bad enough that I called him, then I needed to go to the ER. I really wasn't expecting that. I thought my OB would just reassure me and give me some guidelines to follow if it got worse or didn't improve. I don't run to the doctor over every little thing and going to the ER was the last thing I wanted to do!
During the 30 minute drive I had 5 of the really sharp cramps. I had a couple more while we went through security and check in. I ended up being sent to L&D. That totally freaked me out. It felt so strange to walk through those doors into L&D triage. This isn't supposed to be happening until October! I felt like an imposter on that floor.
They had me drink 32 more ounces of water. The nurse had a hard time finding the heart beat with the fetal monitor because the baby is so small. She finally had to get the doppler out to locate him. Then she strapped me up to the fetal heart monitor and did a NST (non stress test). They can't do a ffn test to see if preterm labor is likely to start soon until after 24 weeks. By that time I wasn't having any more intense cramps. They were just minor twinges. The NST strip just showed one contraction and some uterine irritability. My urine analysis came back okay as did the other tests.
They sent me home with the elastic strips that they use to hold the monitors on my belly. Whenever I come back (whether for another check or for the birth), I'm supposed to bring them along! They also gave me a sheet on preterm labor which basically said to do what I did. You're supposed to lay down on your side, drink 2-3 glasses of water, and call if you don't feel better in an hour. Well, I had waited 5 hours at home but I didn't rest the entire time. She told me not to feel bad for coming in, that it's better safe than sorry. I still feel kind of bad. If I had just waited another hour resting completely, the cramps would have gone away.
So, I'm supposed to take it easy, stay hydrated, and only supervise any more work on our bedroom. I follow up with the perinatologist (pregnancy high risk specialist) on Wednesday.

Patches has stuff!

2008-06-15T16:21:00.000-07:00

The first thing I received (and the only thing I got for Mother's Day!) was from my friend, Stephanie. It was very special that she sent me something since I'm not quite a mother yet. And I appreciate it even more so because of what she was going through herself. She sent a cute Mother To Be card and a great story book for our baby. That was the first book we read out loud to Patches at bed time. Hey, the baby book said the baby could hear by then!

At our big ultrasound at 18 weeks, we found out we were having a boy. So right after the doctor's appointment, we went shopping to celebrate. JCP had Carter's onsies on sale for $3 a piece. Here's a picture of the four that we bought that day. Patches has clothes! It's official, we're expecting to have a baby boy in October!

My new friend Jeanette,sent me some cute little things for Patches and quite a few maternity clothes. She said that she had one outfit and ended up sending two jackets, three shirts, two dresses, and a jean skirt! WOW! I was overwhelmed.

Jeanette sent a nice card, a Just Add Milk onsie, a cow finger puppet, a waterproof pad, and What To Expect The First Year. Everything was so cute perfect!

I'm very thankful of those things that have been sent to us. And most importantly for this little baby growing inside me.

Hopefully a preview of what's to come in October...

2008-06-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is Christopher holding his not even two month old nephew, Zachary, back in 2002. Isn't it cute? A big guy with a little baby. Zack looks comfortable but Chris is questionable. Actually he's doing pretty good holding a newborn. Babies are pretty scary after all. :)

I'm sure when it's our own son, Chris will get the confidence and be holding him like a pro in no time. He's already being a great daddy to our little one. He loves to talk to Patches and even read to him his first bed time story.

Just to flash forward from the first picture, here are the twins Zachary and Amber playing on Mother's Day 2008. Zachary is so tall that he looks like an 8 year old! And Amber is an absolute doll. ;)

Mother's Day is when we told Christopher's entire family. We were at the Sea Watch restaurant which is right off the intercoastal. The restaurant has wonderful sea food and the views of the water are awesome.

Here's some pictures from that day.

The family enjoying the ocean air behind the restaurant after lunch.

The view from the front of the Sea Watch.

Some of the seating is open but you still get great views from the enclosed areas plus air conditioning! Chris is here holding my purse. What a guy. He wouldn't do that 5 years ago.

And it's a...

2008-05-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

...healthy baby!

I'm 18 weeks and 1 day today and so far the baby looks perfect. The u/s tech was a sweet heart. She started off by asking that if she got a good shot did we want to know the sex of the baby. We laughed and looked at each other. It's been an on going debate. Do we want to know? Would a complete surprise be better? Or would knowing so we can buy gender specific clothing and nursery items be better? If we find out, are we going to keep it a secret from friends and family? We told her that we did want to find out. We decided to try to keep it a secret from family and friends. I'm not sure if we can do that or not! Chris isn't very good with secrets. :)

So then the u/s tech asked Chris what he thought the baby was. Chris has been saying girl all along. I went with that at first but the past month or so I've really thought it was a boy. So one of us was bound to be correct! The tech asked if we had any bets riding on the sex of the baby. Chris is a little gun shy on bets right now after losing two in a row. (Ask him about the words to Hang on Sloopy and what color Charlie Brown's shirt is. One of those got me a vacation in the Keys and one a dinner and I movie!) The tech tried to goad him into taking a bet but he wouldn't budge. She said that she would save that and tell us at the end of the scan.

The baby was sitting on it's bottom in a breach position. We didn't see the baby moving around so I didn't relax until she dopplered the heart. That's aways a sweet sound no matter how many times you've heard it. 143 bpm. That's about what I get at home, usually around 149 or so.

She started first by measuring the baby's brain, upper lip, and heart. The heart took some work to get a view of all four chambers because one of the baby's arm was creating a shadow. According to the tech, the baby had it's hands together like it was praying. I had trouble seeing that but I'll take her word for it. She tried all kinds of different angles and finally jiggled my tummy. She said, "Come on, baby, this is war!" We all started laughing. But I felt bad for the baby! If it was sleeping, who were we to disturb it?

She then checked both arms and legs, measuring the bones. She also checked to make sure the feet were straight. I'm glad she told us what she was looking at because most of the time I didn't have a clue. But I did catch a peak at what looked to be between the baby's legs. It pays to look at other people's ultrasound pictures online! I didn't say anything though because Chris was enjoying the show.

She checked the baby's stomach, kidneys, and bladder. Blood flow looked good. The baby measured normally at 8 ounces.

She then said that she'd get us some profile shots and the gender. She put it on 3d a few times but wasn't happy with the views. The baby isn't really filled out yet so she said it would look better in a few weeks. Chris was happy with one of the
3d pics but she questioned him and then didn't print it for us.

She gave us what she called the baby's first porno shot. I wasn't thrilled with her calling it that. But actually when people say money shot, it's also a porn reference. Yech.

Here's the pics! Can you tell what the baby is?

IT'S A BABY BOY!!

So then the doctor came in and reviewed the ultrasound pictures and we got another mini scan. This time the baby had flipped head down. How come the baby will never move on the screen? I had even drank some orange juice on the way down to the doctor's office. The doctor said the baby looked perfect! He didn't see any soft markers for genetic problems. Since I'm 37, he spoke to us about having the amnio.

According to the NT scan and bloodwork my risk for the baby having downs syndrome is 1 in 890. So that's good considering for my age the risk is 1 in 140.

According to my age the risk for having a baby with other genetic problems is 1 in 89. That's scary but it's still not that high, 1.1% chance. For 89 babies, 88 will be healthy.

The risk of miscarriage for the amnio is 1 in 200. If we had seen something that was a soft marker for a genetic defect, then we might have proceeded with an amnio. At this time, I don't see any reason to risk a potentially healthy baby to a miscarriage from the amnio. We wouldn't terminate the pregnancy any way. So the doctor had me sign my refusal to the amnio. He wasn't intimidating about it, just matter of fact. He did stress that at this time the baby showed no signs of any problems. So we're going with that!

I do have another Level II ultrasound scheduled with this same specialist in 4 weeks. The baby will of course be bigger then so a more thorough scan can be done. At 18 weeks today, it was still on the early side for the anatomy scan. So I get another treat at 22 weeks.

I will soon be unemployed

2008-05-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

And I guess it's a good thing. I'd rather keep working but my employer is unable to accommodate our need to work locally.

My husband and I drive a tractor trailer for a living. We have a scheduled run from south Florida to Atlanta five days a week. It's 7,000 miles of driving every week with no time off or at home. We're constantly moving.

My OB has been okay with me driving as long as I promised to get up and walk every two hours. Pregnancy is a state of hypercoagulation which means blood clots are more of a risk. Add that to me sitting 11 hours a day and you have a risky situation. My OB stressed this to me, reminding me of the NBC news correspondant, David Bloom, who died while riding along with an infantry division heading to Baghdad. I had just watched a television documentary on the initial days of the Iraq war and I remembered his story.

It's been a struggle to stop and walk every two hours because of the tight schedule we're required to keep. It's been more of a strain on Chris because he's had to do more of the physical work than before. He's also been driving a larger share of the miles because I'm so tired. Obviously we couldn't continue doing this job forever. Eventually we need to be home for the baby! We've been trying to ask for different jobs for over 8 months. For one reason or the other (all legitimate) our manager has asked us to continue to do the run until the timing is better. Well with the economy, the timing isn't going to get better for a long while.

After my 15th week OB appointment, we decided to speak with our terminal manager again. This time I needed a firm date to stop driving. I had hoped to get an office position. I had done that part time four years ago when I drove locally so I definitely had the experience. But did they have an opening?

So we had the sit down with our manager. He congratulated me when I told him I was pregnant and would need to stop driving that run soon. He of course figured something was up with all the doctor appointments that I had. I actually told him that I had two miscarriages over the last year for some reason. My voice broke! That's the first time I've told anyone out loud other than very close family. I just didn't want him to think I'm a sickly person and normally needs a lot of time off. That last year has been the exception for my normal attendance.

There's a hiring freeze right now that actually may last until the end of the year. He can't create an office job for me, said he was sorry to lose a good driver but with the economy as it is there's just nothing he could do. I understand that and expected it. May 31st is expected to be my last day.

As for Christopher, the manager has been trying to create a new nightly run for a while. He's going to work on that and try to get two city drivers to take over our run. So hopefully Chris will either have a night job driving about 430 miles or he'll work in the day making city deliveries. If they can't find someone to take the job from the city, then Chris may be out of the job too. The night job would pay better plus it's less physical work.

Chris told me that he didn't want me to work any where else so that's a relief in part. If he doesn't get to keep his job then that may change. Now we wait and see.

We're prepared financially. The plan is for me to be a Stay At Home Mom. I guess now I'll be a Stay At Home Baby Grower. It's still intimidating though to think that I won't have a job for much longer. I've been working since I was 15. I've never depended on anyone else. A baby brings big changes!

Crying and Laughing...

2008-05-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

Tuesday I went in for the second blood draw for the integrated screening. Basically this combines the results of a first trimester blood draw, the NT scan, and another blood draw in the second trimester to provide the risks of several genetic defects. It's a screening, not a diagnostic test. It has a much lower false positive rate than just the blood draws separately. I felt this was a good initial step for us to take because at my "advanced maternal age" many go straight for the amnio. The amnio carries a risk of miscarriage (perhaps 1 in 200) which was something I would rather avoid after having lost two babies due to miscarriage.

After the blood draw, the nurse said she would be calling me with the results in 3-5 days. That made me nervous and excited all at once. Originally I was led to believe that I wouldn't get the final results until my big ultrasound and genetic counseling on 5/28. I worried that if I got the results early and they were bad, I would have to another 12 days of torture for my actual appointment and ultrasound. On the other hand, if the results were good I would have a little more peace of mind the next two weeks.

This morning was the third day after the blood draw. I was downstairs listening to the baby's heartbeat on the doppler.

I thought I heard my phone ringing upstairs over the whooshing of the baby's heartbeat. I RAN upstairs. I missed the call but it was just from my dermatologist. As I was listening to the voicemail, the phone rang again. This time it was from the perinatal center. Thank God I got the first call so the phone was in my hot little hands already. That was one phone call I wanted to take live and in person.

I'm crying and laughing and thanking God all at the same time!

The perinatal center had the integrated screening results. The baby is screening negative!

The risk for down's syndrome is 1 in 890.
For my age (37) the standard risk is 1 in 140 so we beat those odds!

For trisomy 18 (a fatal genetic disorder), the risk is 1 in 10,000.

For neural tube defect (spinia bifidia), the risk is 1 in 3,000.

I know it's not a guarantee but those are all good numbers for my age!!
They consider 1 in 300 a "positive" screen.

Woohoo! Thank God.

Now we'll see how the baby looks at the big anatomy scan on 5/28. I'm praying that there are no soft markers or other problems and we can be reassured that the baby is healthy.

Big Milestone! NT Scan

2008-04-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

This day has been a big worry for weeks. Time for the NT scan. And I had to do it all alone. Chris is 700 miles away. We said goodbye last night and I cried like it was going to be a month apart instead of 2 days. I really depend on his support. Chris told me it was in God's hands and we'll be okay. He's been through pretty much every medical fertility related procedure that I've had in the past year. And trust me, that's a lot of sitting up by my head time.

Is the baby going to still be alive? Is the baby still growing? Is the baby going to be healthy? Are we going to be the typical family of my dreams? Will they tell me the NT measurement? Will the measurement be normal? Will I get ultrasound pictures? (Not high on my priority list, but it was high on Christopher's since he couldn't be there.)

My OB sent me to a perinatal specialist for my Integrated Screening. This means that I will get a blood draw and ultrasound between 11-13 weeks. A second blood draw is taken during during weeks 16-18. Then all three results are combined (integrated!) and we get a final result. This screening has a 92% accuracy in detecting down's syndrome. The other trisomy disorders are slightly lower. It has a 5% false positive rate. If the risks come back high, then we may consider an amnio. I worry about the risk of miscarriage so we're going through this screening first.

Everyone at the perinatal office was nice. And of course the waiting room was full of couples. They took my blood first and the nurse explained the testing that I was getting. It's the integrated so I won't get any results until after the second blood draw at 16 weeks. I asked if I would get the NT measurement and she said no, but I would get u/s pictures today. (Chris would get to see too!)
That left me kind of sad that it would be such a long wait for any of the results. I thought maybe I could catch a glimpse of the measurements on the ultrasound monitor or just ask/beg/plead with the tech.

The u/s tech was a very sweet lady. My first external ultrasound. YAY! No dildo cam. AND they didn't make me go with a full bladder. Nice people, I tell ya.

My hope of seeing the measurement on the screen quickly vanished. The monitor for the mother was far away on the wall. Nice flat screen TV but it sucked for my spying efforts. I even wore my glasses instead of my contacts just so I could have a better chance to see the numbers. At that distance I would have needed binoculors.

She changed the views a couple of times. I saw the baby but I didn't see any movement. I was getting ready to ask if the baby was alive. She probably would have thought I was crazy. Then she let me listen to the heartbeat! What a relief. I should have ate some breakfast. Maybe the baby needed some sugar to get moving.

I got to see all the body parts and she told me everything that we were looking at. Little arms and legs, the stomach, the spine. She showed me one of the hands as it was up in the air waving at us!

At the end she told me everything looked great for 12 weeks. She still had the measurement screen up and I asked her what the NT measurement was. She pointed it out and said 1.43 was great. They look for under 3. Whew! I didn't have to beg, cry, or get angry to get the results. I wanted to hug her!

I couldn't even wait until I was out of the office building before calling Chris. As soon as I hit the hallway, I hit speed dial. "Patches is doing great!"

The baby measured 12 weeks 2 days with a 157 HB (heart beat). I should be 12 weeks 3 days so the baby is measuring pretty close. I have a face on skeltor pic and one decent side profile view. It's not as clear as what we saw on the screen though. But it's a baby!

Profile

Heart beat and profile of baby

Skeletor Patches ready for Halloween!

I'm already not a good mommy?

2008-04-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

I had my follow up OB appointment after the heavy bleeding two weeks ago. Since then I passed a clot and had some faint spotting that same day. Nothing else to report since that time except for a lot of anxious nervous nelly feelings.

The intake nurse asked me if I had anything new since my last appointment. I told her about passing the clot and spotting. She immediately asked if I went to the emergency room or had an ultrasound. That really threw me and made me feel like I wasn't being a good mommy already! That's just silly, but still, that's what I thought.

I know there's nothing they can do if God forbids something happened to the baby. And there's really no sense in going to the ER for some spotting. I've had a natural miscarriage at 9 weeks. I know the drill.

I told the intake nurse that I had called Lynn, my OB's nurse on the Monday after the spotting. She wasn't too concerned since the bleeding stopped immediately and told me that she would pass on the info to the doctor. I never heard anything more of it so I decided we would just have to wait until this week's appointment.

My OB came in and asked how I was doing. I told him that I was nervous and about the spotting. He immediately said, "Let's do an ultrasound!" Relief. I was concerned about him trying the doppler first. I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to find the heartbeat via the doppler because of my weight and tilted uterus. Plus at 10 weeks 6 days, it's still early yet.

The ultrasound tech was off today so my OB did the scan himself. The baby looks good! The doctor said he wasn't familar with the new machine so he didn't try to take any measurements. But we did get to hear the heartbeat and the baby looks like a baby instead of a shrimp!

My doctor reassured me about work. He asked if I was still traveling and for now I'm going to continue doing it until sometime in May. I'm really ready to transfer to a different position that doesn't involve me working 12 hours a day and being gone 5 days a week.

3 out of 3 plus a scare!

2008-03-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Leading up to today, I've have my share of nervous thoughts. I started bleeding with my first pregnancy at 8 weeks 5 days and lost it at exactly 9 weeks.

Today with my third pregnancy I'm 8 weeks and 6 days.

I had a huge, terrifying scare this morning. Big gush of blood. :( I tried to rationalize it by thinking that my cervix is extra sensitive because of the pregnancy and the progesterone suppository adds to that. But, seriously. It was a lot of blood. Bright, bright red. Not what you want to see any time when pregnant let alone after having two miscarriages.

It was awful. I continued spotting all morning.

I didn't want to tell Christopher about the spotting right away. Instead I went to my acupuncture appointment and tried to take it easy. When I returned home I folded some laundry while sitting on the couch. We had about 30 minutes before it was time to leave for the RE appointment. Chris asked me what was wrong. He's pretty dang perceptive that husband of mine, because I was trying to keep the brave face on. So I told him about the bleeding.

We had a normal ride down to the RE's office. We got into the parking lot and sat in the car for a few minutes. All of a sudden Chris started digging in the center console for napkins. Big fat tears are just rolling down his face and he tried to wipe them away with the napkin. I had been holding my own until that moment. It reminded me all too well of the time when I miscarried the first time. We knew it was over at that time and he cried a few tears. It was so heartbreaking back then to see this big strong husband of mine cry over losing our baby. It was no less heartbreaking today. I didn't want to do this to my husband again. I did not want to lose this baby and relive all that agony. We both ended up wiping away tears, fearing the worst.

The doctor entered the room and asked me how I was doing. Before I could even answer, she asks why I'm always so down looking at the start of each ultra sound appointment. She really must not have a lot of Recurrent Pregnancy Loss patients. This is nerve wracking, lady! Once you have lost your pregnancy innocence nothing is taken for granted.

I told her about the bleeding and she asked a few questions before starting the u/s.
She immediately showed me the baby's heartbeat. She took a few measurements: crown to rump is measuring 8 weeks 6 days (exactly as it should!) and the heartbeat was up to 165.

I asked her if she could tell where the placenta was. She changed settings and measured my cervix first. It was a normal length. Then she pointed out vascular areas on top of the cervix where the placenta was partially covering it. Cause of bleeding found, placenta previa!

It's still early enough that the placenta will probably migrate upward as the uterus grows. It's definitely something that we'll keep an eye on as it can be extremely dangerous to both the mother and baby if it doesn't move up.

I was told to discontinue the baby aspirin as that could be contributing to the bleeding.

But the baby is doing fine! Perfect in fact! It's still scary and it's still early yet.

I'm very thankful to God for this miracle.

From there we went to my first OB appointment. It was so nice to walk in there with some confidence and hope. The last few times I was there it was after miscarriage #1and #2.

We spent quite some time in my OB's office discussing my treatment and the crazy cycle that I had when I got pregnant. Thankfully the RE had given me the betas and Chart Summary (including the u/s measurements) so my OB could use those to date my pregnancy. I officially have a 10.28.08 due date. Give or take two weeks either way. ;)
Gosh, I actually think we may make it!

Since I had the bleeding, my OB wants to see me in two weeks. I'll be 11 weeks. We're going to try the hand held doppler but I really don't see it picking up the heartbeat with my extra curves and tilted uterus. He said we'd do an ultra sound if necessary.

Oh well, at least it's not too long of a wait until my next OB appointment. I was so spoiled with the weekly u/s at the RE.

Baby is good. And for now, so am I. :)

2 out of 3...and our baby's "name"

2008-03-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

2 out of 3 ultrasounds completed. I had my second ultrasound today and everything was great. One more ultrasound to go and I graduate from the RE's office to my OB's care.

I'm officially 7 weeks and 6 days. The baby measured 7 weeks and 5 days. That's pretty close. I'm trying to reassure myself that this wasn't NASA measuring the baby or a team of surveyors. This is just one doctor picking a spot on the crown and another spot on the rump to measure. Hopefully the baby will keep growing at a good rate.

The heart looked absolutely huge today. It measured 157 beats per minute.

The first picture shows the doctor measuring the heartbeat. The second and third show a profile of the baby.

The baby's head is still a little pointy but that's normal for this stage. It will start looking more like a baby soon!
Pregnancy Week by Week: Week 7
Pregnancy Week by Week: Week 8

I asked the RE about continuing the estrogen patches. I was thinking she would tell me to continue them until 12 weeks just like the progesterone supplements.
She said that my level was high enough and I could discontinue their use. Great. This is after I just refilled another month's supply of them last week after her nurse told me to continue all medicines based on my estrogen and progesterone blood tests.
I think I'll continue them until Sunday as a compromise to my sanity just in case the baby needs a little more help. The doctor said they noticed an increased rate of miscarriage when the estrogen level was under 250 during week 4-6. I questioned her about remaining on it until 12 weeks and she said that was really only for IVF where everything is artificially controlled.
My level was only 97 before the supplements. After being on the supplements for 2 days, the level was 237. Last week it was 817. So it has definitely gone up someon its own. I would feel better if it was over a 1000. But she's the doctor with the degree. All I have is google and it's difficult to get a clear answer.

This rest is just cutesy stuff. Don't read it if you're not up to it.

After we got home, I told Chris it looked like a shrimp. He said, "Don't call my child a shrimp!"
A few days earlier, I asked Chris what we should call the baby. You know, instead of "the baby" all the time. He came up with Patches in honor of the estrogen patches that are glued to my tummy. LOL Silly, I know!
We never named the previous pregnancies. I'm thinking we have a little more hope this time around.

First ultra sound

2008-03-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

We had our first ultra sound this morning. I was so nervous and scared I could hardly relax enough to empty my bladder prior to the ultrasound!
The doctor came in for the ultra sound and asked how I was doing. All I could do was shrug and try not to cry. She asked me what was wrong so I told her that I was concerned because of the previous miscarriages. She told me not to worry about things that are out of my control. How easy for her to say, right?

And then the screen lit up:

She started off by showing us the pregnancy. It's the blob thing on the left side. In the top photo you can barely see two white plus signs that mark the crown to rump measurements.) I'm looking for a flicker, where's the baby's heartbeat? She then points out the sac and the yolk. (Do I see a flicker? Could it be, could it be?) Then she points to the fetal pole and then finally to the flickering heart beat!

We have a baby with a heart beat! Thank God, thank God, thank God!
It was absolutely awesome. The baby measures perfectly at exactly 6 weeks and 6 days. She turned up the sound and we got to hear the baby's heart beat. It was 120 beats per minute.

Chris had the biggest smile on his face. I was pretty much dumbfounded. I had gone in expecting the worst because my symptoms had been pretty minor and I'd had spotting over the weekend. What a turn around.

Because of my history of miscarriages, I'll have ultrasounds on the next following two Mondays. If God forbid something goes wrong, the doctor said she wanted to know right away. After those two u/s we'll be released to my OB's care and the risk of miscarriage will go down significantly.

I can't wait!

This is a long wait

2008-03-02T16:41:00.000-08:00

This 2 Week Wait is the time from my last blood work to my first ultrasound. I have no bloodwork to help me get through these two weeks.

It's stressful. Pregnancy is supposed to a joyous time. But after miscarriage it's not so easy to get through these early days. I suppose it's not going to be easy to get through any of the 9 months until I bring a baby home in my arms.

I'm trying to stay positive. Whenever a negative thought creeps into my mind I try to immediately replace it with a positive.

I've been having a lot of trouble with cramps. And with the lack of them. Everyone knows cramping is a sign of a growing pregnancy as the uterus stretches. Everyone that has had a miscarriage also knows that cramping is a sign of pregnancy that is about to end.

Last Sunday I had a lot of cramping. That was scary because I kept comparing them to the cramps of my miscarriages and of my period starting.
Upon message board advice I drank some more water and rested.

My cramping pretty much went away from Wednesday to Friday. That was scary because all I could think was that the pregnancy stopped growing.

Here's what I'm trying to remember:

Pregnancy symptoms are different from person to person.
Pregnancy symptoms are different from pregnancy to pregnancy.
Pregnancy symptoms are different from day to day.

Some wonderful ladies have written emails encouraging me.

I pulled these gems from some of the emails:

"This is God's baby and God's baby alone, whatever happens is in His hands"

Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God"

"This could be my last pregnancy, so I need to enjoy every minute of it."

The following mantras are taken from the Success After a Loss Board to help those newly pregnant after a miscarriage.

"Today I am pregnant and I love my baby."

"I am pregnant until someone tells me otherwise."

"My past does not dictate my future. A previous miscarriage does not mean I will have another miscarriage."

"Just because something sad is happening to another, it does not mean it will happen to you." We all know miscarriage is not contagious!

And this is the hardest one: "There is nothing I can do to prevent a miscarriage from happening. Worrying yourself sick doesn't prevent a miscarriage. And if (God forbid) it were to happen again, I know I will survive."

Pregnancy take 3

2008-02-25T16:44:00.000-08:00

I got the phone call! I knew it was good news when the blood draw nurse called me with the results and not my RE or her nurse.

The beta went from 104 to 1105.

Progesterone went from 24.8 to 45.29

Thank God! I'm so excited!

My beta had a doubling time of 35.2 hours over the course of 5 days.
Beta numbers should double every 48-72 hours. You can have a perfectly healthy pregnancy that doubles closer to 72 hours. My first pregnancy had a doubling time of only 66.7 hours. It's reassuring to see mine double quickly this time.

When the blood draws are over 48 hours you can use one of these two doubling calculators:
Betabase Calculator or Just mommies' Calculator

We have an u/s scheduled on 3/10 so I'm praying we get a strong heartbeat. I'll be 6 weeks and 6 days at that time. We may actually get an October baby out of this! :)

Pregnancy Take 3, It's official.

2008-02-18T16:45:00.000-08:00

My beta doubled. I'm pregnant.

Thank God. This is truly a miracle after the crazy cycle that I had.

The beta started at 53 on Monday. A little under 48 hours later it was 104. So it's good. I of course, wanted a perfect 106 or better. But I'll take what I get. It's a start. And it's darn good considering the horrible bleeding I had a few days ago.

My estrogen went up to 231. So the estrogen patches are working. Hopefully it's making a cozy spot for the baby to grow.

The next beta blood draw is on Monday. We'll schedule an u/s after that.

I'm breathing, a little shakey, but I'm breathing.

Sit Down For This

2008-02-17T16:47:00.000-08:00

I thought I started my period but then it slowed down. Finally after the the bleeding slowed down so much on Saturday, I couldn't take it any more. I tested.
It was a pretty faint line on the home pregnancy test but definitely a second pink line.

I admit that I emailed 2 of my close friends that I knew could still be up 11 pm and cussed up a storm about having another failed pregnancy. They were super supportive as always. Then I phoned the on call doctor who told me I should start the progesterone supplements to stop the bleeding. I go on Monday for a blood draw to check my beta hcg levels.

I'm not one to share "weird feelings" unless I have some proof. At this point, I hope to have some hcg still left in my system for the blood draw on Monday. From my past experience, I'm not really thinking this pregnancy is going to make it.

I almost didn't share it with my pregnancy loss prayer group. But then I decided that it was a lack of faith NOT to ask for prayers. Miracles do happen after all. I just usually don't expect them for me.

I'm okay with it. Kind of numb I suppose. I've had two miscarriages, I can get through a third. I just want to know for sure what's going on. Things definitely aren't looking good.

There's no way in hell I'm announcing anything other than two a few friends that will understand.