Finally...A Belly Pic

First, I want to say that I am still at home and Baby K and I are both fine. My 2 day absence from the online world spurred several e-mails and a few Facebook messages asking if I was ok. Joe teases me that I am obsessed with being online and said all the worry from friends just proves that I am online way too much if they noticed my absence. I said it just shows that people love me! :0)

Joe was home all weekend and we decided that since it was nice we would try to do some Christmas decorating and get some much needed deep cleaning done around the house. All in all it was a very productive weekend. Our Christmas tree is up as well as most of our inside decorations, and we have some of our outside things up (we still need to put lights in one of our trees).

I have also had several friends (mostly other pregnant mommies) wanting to see pics of my belly. I have been pretty leery of posting any because after looking at their pictures, I am HUGE in comparison! I always measured a little bigger than what I should with Julianna (about a week ahead) but this kiddo weighs about 2 weeks ahead in the ultrasounds. He measures right on track (measuring head and bones), but his estimated weight is more than his gestational age. Luckily it's not a concern.

So, with much hesitation, here is a picture of 20 weeks and 5 days pregnant me (sorry for the sad little cell phone self portrait).

Snow!

Julianna really noticed snow for the first time this morning. I opened the front door and she stood there amazed yelling "noo!" (translation: snow).


When I closed the door (it was getting chilly in the living room!), she ran over to her chair and pushed it up against the window and climbed onto it so she could see out the window. The only thing that was able to pull her away from the snow were waffles...food will get her attention every time.

Booooring

Not much to write about lately, life is pretty boring, and I LOVE it! As long as life stays boring that means there is nothing exciting (aka bad) happening.

Just your average everyday happenings. Julianna slept late again...yippee! Sewed some more of her felt food for Christmas as well as some for Ellie (maybe Emma too). Spent some time thinking about Thanksgiving and all the yummy desserts that come with it. I did some laundry today. Washed my dishes. Went to the grocery store and bought some more flavored decaf coffee. Picked up Julianna's toys only to have them all scattered again in a matter of minutes. Ate breakfast, lunch and dinner...as well as several snacks. Yep, boring.

I'm enjoying the boring.

Hallelujah!

Since the time change 3 weeks ago, Julianna has been getting up anywhere between 5:45 and 6:30am. Before the time change, she would sleep until 7:30 or 8am. Yesterday, Julianna slept until 7:40am! As if that wasn't fabulous enough...today, she slept until 8:10am! It was amazing to wake up on my own when I was ready and not to "mom, mom, mom, mom" at 6am.

I am hoping her sleeping late will become an everyday thing! Fingers are crossed for tomorrow morning.

Baby Boy Update and the Rantings of a Paranoid Pregnant Woman

Baby Boy update...
I had another OB appointment this past Tuesday. We got the routine ultrasound and Baby Boy K looked good, although he wasn't being very kind to the inside of my body...seems he thinks some of my organs and such are his personal kick boxing dummies. He is currently breech, but that isn't an issue since I'll have a c-section anyways.

And now the ranting...
I thinned only slightly, but still measured 2.8cm when you round up. But what concerns me is that my OB has decided to make my cervical checks every 3 weeks instead of every 2. As if waiting 2 weeks doesn't scare that crap out of me as it is...lets add another week of worry and stress. On top of that, he said that after 24 weeks he is going to put me back on a monthly appointment schedule. He said his concern of IC would pass at 24 weeks...I am not convinced.

So I will have another appointment at 22 weeks and then at 24 weeks...then I don't have another until 28 weeks. 28 WEEKS!!! You know the week after the week Julianna was born. Yeah, let's make the woman who is going to be the ABSOLUTE most paranoid between Christmas and January 20 not have any kind of peace of mind and be totally in the dark about possible dilation and pre-term labor.

I think I would be calmer about the whole thing if I had known I was in labor with Julianna...but I didn't! I had NO idea what-so-ever! I didn't know I was dilated! I didn't feel any contractions! I had NO inkling that I was in active labor! I wouldn't have even gone to the hospital except for a nagging feeling something was "off". What if I don't know this time either? I can't trust that nagging feeling...I get it every other day this pregnancy.

Now to stop talking about it...calm down...and try to relax...sigh...

Baby Boy is still good and that's what is really important...as it was so eloquently put to me once I am just the "vessel".

Fight for Preemies

*I meant to post this yesterday, November 17.

500,000...half a million...that's how many babies are born prematurely every year. That number is staggering considering all the medical advances these days. That's 500,000 babies that didn't get enough time to develop and grow before birth.

Some will grow up to have no side effects or indications that they were preemies, but many will have lasting scars. Many premature babies will have physical limitations, developmental delays, and even learning problems once they reach school age. Premature babies are more susceptible to illness. Maybe not getting the illness itself, but to complications from getting sick. I have written more than once about Maddie, a little girl in CA, that even though she was healthy, she developed complications from a cold and died. Prematurity was listed as one of the causes of death on her death certificate.

Prematurity is a problem that can follow a baby all the way through school and into adulthood. March of Dimes is currently doing a campaign to end prematurity. We organize a team to walk in the March for Babies each spring to help raise money for MOD. Please visit their site to see how you can help.

500,000...half a million...Julianna was one of those 500,000 in 2008 and I am fighting to make sure Baby Boy K doesn't become one of them in 2010.

Hmmm...

Once I pass the day after Julianna's birthday (the day I hit 27 weeks 6 days) will I breath a sigh of relief and worry less about this pregnancy?

Paw-ee

I haven't really been applying myslef to Julianna's potty training lately...ok, or at all. It's been a pretty random occurance for her to use the potty. We tend to put her on it before her bath or before a nap, but haven't really been trying yet. I just haven't had the energy I need to put forth a good effort.

Last Monday morning, Julianna said "paw-ee" to Joe (translation: potty). So he took her up to the bathroom and she went potty. I was impressed, but still not putting a lot of effort into her training. She repeated the request and action on Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning and yesterday. But that was it...just once a day...in the morning.

This morning, Julianna has told us "paw-ee" three times and has used the potty all three times. She is definitely ready to be potty trained. I decided my energy issues need to be put aside, and effort will now be put into potty training.

Paw-ee...It's on!

Being in the NICU Again...

Last night, I went to our monthly preemie parent support meeting at the hospital where Julianna was born. I go every month and have since she was born. It's always really nice to see the moms we were in the NICU with, talk to the moms who are there now, and basically do a lot of networking to get any advice or help that Julianna might need. These meetings are held just inside the NICU in their family lounge, but you don't actually go into the NICU, where the babies are. I haven't been back there since Julianna was discharged. Last night, I went back there.

I found out yesterday (through FB), that a friend of mine from high school had her baby early. He was born 7 weeks early. I decided that since I would already be at the NICU, I would see if she was there and maybe say hello. She was there, and asked me if I wanted to come back and see Baby M. Of course! And then it got a little weird for me.

I scrubbed in, for the first time in almost 20 months.

I walked though the inner door and followed her to Baby M's room.

And then I peeked through the door to see a little baby in an isolette, and I got choked up.

I wasn't expecting it. I figured it would be easy because I was seeing someone else's baby, it wasn't my baby. But it wasn't easy. And I was flung right back to when it was my baby. And then I took a deep breath and started answering the questions, she and her family had.

It felt good to be able to use my NICU knowledge to help someone else. To explain the monitor, to let her know that Baby M having some brady's is ok, to show her where some things in the NICU are located. More than once she said, "Lindsay's little girl was born at 27 weeks and she is doing good". I am glad that something that once brought us such heartache is helping someone else feel better.

I am terrified that we will be there again come late winter. I had originally set a goal of 34 weeks for this pregnancy. I just wanted to make it to 34 weeks. But last night showed me that I don't want anything less than "full-term" (full-term meaning no NICU stay). I'll be happy as long as I have a healthy little boy, but will be even happier, ecstatic, if he gets to come home when I do.

I am happy to say Baby M is doing fabulous! And I hope he continues to grow and thrive!

O-H-I-O

Yesterday, Joe and Julianna and I went to Columbus with his family (his mom & dad, Sandy and her girls). It was a whole day trip. We left about 8:30am, drove a little while and stopped for breakfast, then drove the rest of the way.

We went to the OSU campus first (Sandy is a proud OSU graduate) and walked around. We went into the newly renovated library, down to Mirror Lake, and then to the amphitheater. We finished our campus trip at Long's (of course) and got all the girls some OSU paraphernalia. Julianna got her first buckeye necklace, a Brutus finger puppet & then daddy of course had to get her a mini OSU football.

After getting a late lunch, we headed south to the Veteran's Memorial Center to watch the OSU Marching Band's season concert. Julianna LOOOOOOVED it! You could definitely tell which songs she knew (Fight song, Carmen Ohio, etc..) because she got really excited and danced like crazy. After every single song she would clap wildly and yell "yay!". The concert was really good!

After the concert, we got back on the road, stopped for some dinner, and got home about 9:30pm. It was a fun day, but I learned I probably shouldn't push myself that hard. It's been awhile since I've done that much walking and spent that much of my time on my feet. I got home and my back hurt, I was having BH contractions, and was just overall exhausted, but it was so worth it just to get a picture like this...

O-H-I-O!

Jenna, Julianna, Marissa & Kayla in the OSU Amphitheater.

1 Down...18 More To Go

I had my first P17 shot today...the initial shot itself wasn't bad. My OB set it up for a visiting nurse to come to our house every week and do a maternal-fetal assessment (take my temp, blood pressure, listen to my heart & lungs and then listen to the baby's heartbeat with a doppler) and then give me my injection. The nurse that came today was really nice.

The meds, syringes and anaphylactic kit(in case I have an allergic reaction to it) all came by Fed Ex yesterday. The syringe has a really small needle, which is great, unfortunately the progesterone is mixed with an oil, so it is really really really thick. It took a good 30 seconds once the needle was in my hip for the nurse to inject all the meds. After the first 10 seconds it started to burn. After the next 10 seconds it really stung.

It's been about an hour since I got the shot, and I don't feel too bad, my hip's just a little sore. But I will deal with whatever I have to in order to avoid another NICU stay and have a full-term baby boy!

1 down...18 more to go!

I'm going to countdown my shots on the right side of my blog.

It's A.........

BOY!!! Julianna is going to have a little brother come springtime!

So after a super anxious morning (made my self nauseous thinking about what could happen), we had a great OB appointment. It was our big ultrasound where they checked out the baby and made sure it was growing ok and stuff. All is good on the baby front! Developing normally and quite the mover! I have been feeling some rolling sensations and a kick or two, but holy cow he barely wanted to stay still!

On the cervix front, I have not thinned anymore since my last appointment, which was a HUGE relief. I am not out of the woods by any means. Weeks 16-24 (I am 17 today) are the most critical for people with IC (incompetent cervix) and since we still aren't sure what caused Julianna's early birth, I could still have issues and end up with a cerclage. I now go back every 2 weeks for a cervical check and ultrasound. We are continually praying that things go well! And want to say thanks to everyone who has been saying a prayer for us and BABY BOY K!!

Just like we did with Julianna's pregnancy, we have announced what sex the baby is, but we are not going to be sharing any of our name choices until he makes his arrival. Although Joe has dubbed him BJ (I am not going to share with the world his reasoning for the name BJ-you really don't want to know).

Please keep a fellow mommy in your prayers too. Melissa (a friend from my mom's group) is due a few days before me and is carrying twin girls (she knew Baby A was a girl but found out Baby B was a girl this morning too!) and is high-risk for complications. I haven't talked to her yet, but I know her appointment this morning didn't go as well as mine did. So please pray for the three of them!

Here's the pics from today's ultrasound!

I refer to the face picture as the creepy skeleton face (I said the same thing about Julianna)

This one is pretty self explanatory. The u/s tech (who is AWESOME) just drew an arrow because she said it was so obvious. I have to agree!

Let's Get Ready!

It's odd. Today, I got this sudden excitement over getting ready for Baby K. I mean, I have been excited about the baby and our growing family, but today, I got all let's look at baby things and start picking out names (nope, we haven't even thought about any yet) because we have a baby coming...YAY A BABY!

Not sure what brought it on...

Maybe it's because we didn't really get ready for Julianna. The first baby thing I ever bought wasn't until Christmas (a bib for Joe that said "I love daddy") and that was less than a month before she was born. We had bought, fixed up and painted a changing table. But that was it. We didn't get anything else ready, then she was suddenly here. I kind of feel like I missed that excitement of getting ready, so I want it this time.

Maybe it's because tomorrow's OB appointment could be a BIG one for us. I am hoping for the best, but preparing myself for the worst. If my cervix has thinned much more then I will most likely end up with a cerclage and be on bed rest (at least for awhile) and not be able to prepare for the baby (except via lots of internet shopping) and I would sadly miss out on it again (but if that's what it takes for a healthy baby-I'll take it!) So maybe I just want to spend what could be my last "free" day to get some things ready.

Maybe it's because we will hopefully be finding out if Baby K is a boy or a girl tomorrow too! Then I can really start preparing! If it's a girl, we're set, we have everything from Julianna (the right seasons too! Their due dates are only 1 day off). But if it's a boy...here we go a shopping! Erin has somethings from Ian she said we could have, but if she's having a boy then she will need them.

Maybe it's because if this baby is a boy then we will probably be done with kids(it all depends on how smoothly the rest of this pregnancy goes) and this could be my last pregnancy. I want to enjoy it as much as possible and do all the fun pre-baby things.

Maybe it's simply because I have energy this morning. This is the first time in months that I don't feel like I need a nap by 9am. I am in a shopping mood, and that is unusual for me lately.

Maybe it's because Julianna has kissed my belly like 20 times already this morning. I love that when I ask her where the baby is she kisses my belly & today I haven't even asked...she just keeps kissing my belly. She is going to love her baby brother or sister!

Not sure what I am going to do today, but it will definitely be something to get ready for Baby K!