Day 225

When I started this post yesterday, I didn't have much to write about. But I didn't get to finish because I was having Braxton Hicks contractions that started to get stronger and more frequent. I had 4-5 pretty uncomfortable ones that started radiating to my back within an hour. I called my OBs office and they wanted me to go into labor and delivery. With Tim out of town, training in Olympia and I having Kaydriana, I really wanted to avoid going into L&D. I asked her opinion if she thought it would be okay if I tried to go home first and taking a bath, drinking lots of fluids, etc to see if it would help and she that I could. But if that doesn't work, to go into L&D.

So I go home and guzzle tons of water, I have just one contraction on my way home and got in the bathtub and only had one more. By the time I had to pick up Kaydriana from daycare, it had been an hour since my last contraction. So I pick up dinner (so I don't have to spend too much time on my feet making something - besides Chinese sounded really good!) and hang out on the couch.

Last night I slept horribly. Stupid Chinese food caused me heartburn and I felt kind of crampy. This morning, my insides feel a little beat up. I can't really figure out if I feel crampy-I think I do, but not too bad. I haven't had a BH yet. My OB said that if I still have contractions to come in and get checked today and maybe have a U/S. Since I'm still not out of the woods yet with the previa, I'm sure their biggest concern is going into labor with it not being corrected yet.

At this point I don't know if I should go into work and wait to see my doc or stay home and wait.

So until I decide what to do, here is my 32 week photo:

I weighed myself and I've gained 39lbs so far. My goal was not to gain more than 50 with this pregnancy. We'll see... especially since I'm supposed to take it easy, which means little to no excerise for me.

Oh! And I've started swelling :( At least I made it 4 weeks longer than I did with Kaydriana. I have my maternity shoot this weekend and really hoping that I'm not too swollen for it. Also I have a get together with the women of my family at my grandmas to celebrate Lake's pending arrival. I have a lot to look forward to this weekend and hope I'm able to enjoy them.

I was thinking about how the next three weekends I have fun things planned and how bed rest would ruin them. Crossing my fingers the contractions/cramping don't hinder all the things I have to look forward to.

I'll leave you with this photo- I received a samle of a newborn diaper when I updated my BRU registry and compared it to Kaydriana's size 5. I feel like the photo doesn't really show how tiny the diaper is, but it almost brought tears to my eyes imaging Lake fitting his little bum in this tiny diaper :)

31 weeks

9 weeks and counting!

I've been praying for good news at our next ultra sounds in a few weeks and trying to learn more about previa and C-sections. I found it interesting that menstrual like cramping was mentioned on one of the sites I looked at, but my OB has never mentioned that having to do with my previa. On Friday I had pretty severe cramping that caused me to have to leave work and rest. I hadn't had any cramping for weeks and have been feeling pretty good, then bam! It's back :( I've gotten a lot of questions about what previa is and I found a good photo that shows what it looks like:

Speaking of Friday, I had a surprise baby shower, which I almost ruined because I left early due to cramping.

My administrative assistant, Midge is the sweetest lady. She knew I was feeling pretty bad and asked if I was leaving right then. I thought she asked because she was going to help me to my car. I told her I couldn't move right then, that it would be a few minutes and she runs off. When she came back she asked if I could stop by the break room (I thought it was because she needed me to check on what food I wanted her to label from a luncheon we had earlier in the week). I go to the break room, and head straight to the fridge that I put my lunch in. When I closed the fridge, I looked up and saw a bunch of people standing around a decorated table with gifts. I was completely suprised, which I've never been before. My first response was, "Oh, I'm sorry that I feel like crap!". But I decided to stay and open my gifts and put my feet up on a chair. I was so touched that I didn't want to just run and dash.

Paris and Lauren (from my old dept) brought all my stuff down to my truck and Tryfena made me a beautiful cake and lots of cupcakes decorated as baseballs. I got diapers, clothes, BRU gift cards and $220! The money was meant to buy me a double stroller - so cool!

My friend Sarah has got me interested in checking out Craigslist so I browsed it and found so many double strollers that not only can I buy a double stroller, I can get another pack-n-play! I haven't purchased them yet because I don't know when I'll have the time to actually go buy and pick them up, but knowing that $220 will go a long way, makes me happy!

I am off work today and tomorrow for my Easter and my Saturday (I'll be working Fri and Sat). Today was great. I dropped Kaydriana off at daycare, watched Sunday's episode of MadMen, layed in bed to read and took a nice long nap. Then I spent some time in Lakes room organizing the clothes I got from my neighbor, Christy and then took the risk of going to our storage unit.

The goal was to find our Easter stuff (no luck) but also to grab Kaydriana's clothes she's grown out of to give to Christy and Seth. We decided to swap clothes. Their son, Everett was born 3 weeks after Kaydriana and they're now due with a daughter 2.5 weeks before our son - so it's perfect! Same time of year clothing that will work perfect for both our kiddos.

However, after climbing and pulling up heavy things (and breaking an $80 Christmas snow globe :( ), and organizing the clothes into sizes, keeping, selling, donating, my back is jacked!! I might have to go in for a impromptu chiro adjustment tomorrow.

Oh and hopefully this doesn't disturb anyone, but I've been amazed at my belly button changes. I don't have a before pregnancy picture of my belly button, but with these two photos, 4 weeks apart, you can see the difference. My tummy around my belly button hurts most days and I feel like it just wants to pop out and it's making its way there:

Kaydriana was so cute last night-she wrapped her baby doll into her blanky and rocked her back and forth saying, "shh shh shh". I tried to capture it on video, but everytime I turned on the recorder she'd stop and come to watch the video. She is going to make a great big sister!

On Saturday we took Kaydriana to the Costco Easter Egg hunt. Kaydriana was in the 0-2 age group, so with her being one of the oldest kids in her group, she got a lot of eggs! She ended up winning one of the big prizes which was a Costco Easter basket full of good chocolate (yay for me!) and a plush doggy, which she adores. It also came with 10 movie tickets! Score!

Last night I found my self really sad and just bawled. This Easter will be Tim's first Easter with Kaydriana. Last year we had just learned my dad had cancer and Kaydriana and I flew down to California. It was such a great trip with great memories and momentos. My dad bought Kaydriana and Reid toys, which Kaydriana still has has. She sleeps with her lamby each night, and often plays with the wheeled barnyard animals, the micky mouse bouncy ball, and the barnyard singing toy. I'm sure it didn't help my emotional state that the bouncy ball is becoming deflated. I know these toys won't last forever, but with this being the first Easter since my dad's passing, I'm missing him a lot.

Okay, I don't want to start crying again, so I'll end this post with baby Lake's 31 week progress:
This week, your growing baby is around 3lbs (Lake was already measuring 3.5lbs a few weeks ago) and 17 inches tall. With each added layer of fat, your baby's wrinkly raisin skin starts to look more and more like it will when he's born. You can expect him to gain about a half a pound of weight per week from now until about two weeks before birth.

And here is my 31 wk belly:

9 wks/6 days to go – Questions answered

Yesterday was my 30-week mark. I waited to post until today since I had an OB appointment scheduled this morning. I got some of my questions answered and concerns addressed with Dr. Graham regarding my ultra sound last week that left me shell-shocked.

I have my next ultra sound on 4/25. If my previa has not corrected itself by then, I will be scheduled a C-section to avoid going into labor. If I start bleeding (still not out of the woods with that concern) I will be scheduled a c-section at 36 weeks. If no bleeding, she'll push it out as far as she can as long as potential labor is not eminent.

To avoid bleeding I have to take it easy. So that means no intercourse. Dr. Graham didn’t say absolutely no intercourse, but that its best to wait until my next U/S. Tim was warned this could be a possibility. My concern with taking it easy is Tim working nights and me taking care of Kaydriana's needs on my own while he's gone. We really should have purchased a rambler! About 2-3 times a week she wakes up in the middle of the night and will not go to bed without some sort of intervention. (I’ll get more into that in a bit)

There is still the possibility and hope that the previa will correct itself in the next 3.5 weeks. I'd like to ask for your prayers that it does and that I can look forward to a healthy and normal delivery in 10 weeks :)

It’s crazy to think that our little boy could be here in as little as 6 weeks. We are definitely not ready.

I had a nice talk with my mom after my appointment and she eased some of my concerns. She had my sister by cesarean and shared her experience. Hers was a lot more scary as she was in the hospital for a month leading up to an emergency c-section 2 months before my sister was due. Besides the obvious concern of being cut open and the recovery, I worry about missing out on that immediate bonding time. My mom said that even if I don’t get to hold Lake right away, I’ll still get that bonding time. I guess I just think about how much I loved my experience with giving birth to Kaydriana, I feel sad that I might not get that same amazing experience with our son. Guess there is no point in worrying about that right now.

Lake continues to move like crazy, causing me some discomfort and pain. Yesterday he jabbed me so hard with his foot that I yelped at work and had to shove his foot back inside of me. Kaydriana did not do that to me. This is my crazy, tough boy!

Going back to Kaydriana and her night time habits...I know any changes in your life can affect your child, but Tim usually would be at the gym when I would put Kaydriana to bed, so I don't know exactly whats happening, but she wakes up 2-3 times a week. She doesn't just wake up and cries, she gets out of bed and works herself up crying and screaming and knocking on the door. The other night she got up three times. The first time I let her cry for over 45 minutes. No luck. Had to go put her back in her bed. 5 minutes of crying in bed, she gets out. I put her back in and without hesitation she got out again. I was getting really upset and was trying to think (in the middle of the night) what do I do? I wanted to make sure whatever I did was not out of anger, but to correct her behavior. I decided I was going in and going to swat her on the bottom and be very firm. Well, that worked. Ugh, I'm not the biggest fan of having to use those methods, but if thats what gets her to take what I tell her seriously, I guess thats what I have to do. It's true what they say, it's harder on the parents!

I'll close this post with some awesome news. Looking back at blog when I was expecting Kaydriana, I had started swelling at 7 months. I'm currently 7.5 months and NO SWELLING! YAAAAYYY! (Knocking on wood now).

Go Away Previa!

Hi 29 week belly!

Look at those adorable nose and lips!

He is all snug in there! His hands and feet are up at his face

Cute little nose and big cheeks :) (Lips are blurry in this pic, thats why they look funny)

What a boy! :)

Today I’m 29 weeks. I had a follow up ultra sound today to check on my placenta previa to see if it’s out of the way and I can look forward to a normal, vaginal delivery.
No such luck. I didn’t understand how much more it has to move because the doc said that for them to call it “good” the placenta has to be 20mm away from the cervix. He said something about it being 15mm – not sure if that means I still have 5mm to go to meet the 20mm goal or 15mm to go.

Then he said some scary stuff that I’m trying to not freak out about. Because I’ve done my research and there is still hope things will be just fine, I’m trying to remain optimistic. He showed me where I have pooling blood around my cervix. It looked like it was being held in place by a small piece of tissue. He then said that if I start to bleed to go to the ER. I clarified that I’m supposed to go to the ER and not my OB? He said that if I just spot, I could call my OB, but if it its anything more than that to go to the ER. Then he said the thing that left me a bit shell shocked. He said that I need to make sure Tim knows I have previa because in the event that I am not able to respond, he needs to be able to tell whoever is caring for me that I have previa. What the heck is THAT supposed to mean? That I could start bleeding so much that I’d pass out and Tim would have to communicate on my behalf!!??

Some other fun things that this could all mean. Bed rest – boo! Scheduled c-section weeks before my due date – I really like the idea of Lake being born early June (but I suppose out of all my complaints, that’s the least important). And I won’t be able to deliver at the new Swedish Labor and Delivery in my backyard. We’d deliver at Overlake in Bellevue, which is really fine, but the idea of being close to home and Tim being able to walk home and take care of the dog sounds awesome.
And obviously having a C-section (or going on bed rest) with two flights of stairs to my bed room, Tim working nights, and having a 2 year old sounds scary, painful, and overwhelming. I called my mom and work and she said if I give her enough notice, she could probably take a few days off if I have a C-section. That’s comforting to know because it sounds unlikely that Tim would be able to take time off.

I’m really actually handling the information okay. I thought I was going to start crying as I got dressed after the appointment, but I feel Gods peace. Like Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” I have another U/S scheduled on 4/25 and until then, I’ll pray and (try) not worry.

Onto more exciting things! Lake looks so amazing! He’s got the cutest nose (which I look forward to comparing to Kaydriana’s U/S photos to see if they’re the same) and beautiful lips. His face looks like he’s going to have adorable big cheeks too. According to WTE, the normal weight range for his gestational age is 2.5lbs. My big guy is measuring about 3.5lbs! Currently he is head down and facing the right with his spine facing my left. He's currently in the 85th percentile.

Today I’m feeling okay, but yesterday was rough. Kaydriana woke up three times (of course because it was daddy’s first night at work). She slept in until 7, but I was still feeling tired. But actually it was more than tired. I felt physically exhausted. I’m able to tell the difference now between being tired and having low iron. So yesterday I took a long lunch and went home and took a nap took extra iron and I survived the day. I woke up for a couple of hours last night and was really tired this morning. Thankfully, my U/S appointment wasn’t until 10, so I got Kaydriana showered, fed, dressed and out the door by 730am so that I could have time to take an hour nap before my appointment. It was exactly what I needed.

Thats all for this week.

28 weeks (+5 days)

Last week was UNBELIEVABLY crazy hectic so I didn’t have a chance to post my 28 week update.

As of today, I have 11 weeks and 2 days left until the due date. Here is how Lake is looking at the 28 week mark:
By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. He can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes. With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through your womb.

A few days ago, my baby boy decided to cause me some pain. He is a lot stronger than Kaydriana was. He's still got three-ish months to go and he has already tried to bust out of my stomach. I actually had to push his foot or elbow, or whatever it was, down because I seriously thought I was going to have one of his body parts burst through my stomach. Speaking of, I think my belly button really wants to give up and just pop out already. This boy is trying to re-arranage my insides!

This past weekend I had a much needed, lazy and relaxing weekend. I did get some laundry done, but not much else. On Saturday I took a 3 hour nap!! Apparently I needed that! The last few mornings I’ve been having some round ligament pain. Yesterday I had some Braxton-hicks contractions and had just one this morning. I’m trying to be better at drinking my 64+ oz of water in hopes that keeps them at bay. I knew I didn’t have enough water in me because I had someone shadowing me all week. I didn’t take lunches and breaks and eat as needed. This week I am training my replacement while I’m out on maternity leave.

Thankfully today has started off slower than last week did, so I made myself take a lunch and eat and refill my water as needed. Grateful that there wasn’t the craziness that there was, because I don’t think I could have handled it. Especially since Tim starts his job this week.What that means for me is, he is not going to be home to help me if Kaydriana wakes up in the middle of the night, or allow me to sleep in, if I have a bad night. Which I have a few times a week, and will only increase, the bigger I get.

And warning, TMI here… I mentioned in my previous post that my doc wants me to double up on my iron intake. Well… that creates a difficult issue… an issue that my stool softeners haven’t been able to combat. So I’ve dialed back down to 1 a day and if I’m feeling up to it, will take an extra half. That leaves me feeling very sluggish. I notice a big improvement in my energy level when I can take two full doses of iron. Darned if I do, darned if I don’t :(

I received some amazing news last week. My brother in law found out he was accepted into the Amazon internship program here in Seattle. That means my sis and nephew will move out with him for three months. The best part!? It’s all while I’m on maternity leave!! Not only am I totally stoked about spending quality time with my sister and her family, I feel a sense of relief that with Tim’s new job and he not being able to take time off after the baby is born, I might have some help :)

I have my next placenta previa check up ultra sound on Wednesday. I’m anxious to see how things are progressing so I will be sure to post an update as soon as I can.

Tonight I read an online article about the top 25 words a 2 year old should say. Kaydriana is still 6+ weeks away being 2, but I'm proud to say that she says most of these words on a regular basis. The ones in red are ones she does not say:

Daddy
baby
milk
Juice (we don't give her juice)
hello
bye-bye
yes
no
dog
cat
ball
nose
eye
banana
cookie
car (we just don't really say it much)
hot
thank-you
bath
shoe
hat (she might say this one around daddy, but I haven't heard it yet)
book
more
all gone

Here are a few more words she says on a somewhat regular basis:

Nana

Papa

Hair

Knee

Elbow

"Diti" for Griffey

Cracker

Apple

Teeth

Mine

Slide

Outside

Bless You

Please

Baby

Brother

Lamby

Elmo

Up

Down

Touchdown

Basketball (newest word, thanks to March Madness :) )

I'm sure there are more, but it's getting late and I'm getting tired. So thats all for now.

Oh, but one last thing... Tim's first night of his new job is tonight. I can't wait to hear how it goes. :)

2am update: Of course Kaydriana woke up and needed attention at 130am since daddy wasn't here to help. I just hope is she sleeps in a bit for me *sigh

27 weeks (and 1 day)

Only 12 weeks and 6 days to go!

Here are some pics, clothed (making that non-maternity shirt squeeze over my belly), with my belly showing and straight on. The straight on picture makes me think I don't really look pregnant. But those chubby wubby knees give it away :) (Ummm... "chubby wubby knees" come from a book I read to Kaydriana:) )

I had an appointment this afternoon with my OB, Dr. Graham. I learned that I aced my glucose test, but my iron has dropped more even after taking a daily supplement. She said to double up on my iron supplements – bring on the constipation L But to be honest, I love learning about my body because it makes me feel better knowing that I’m not lazy; I’m tired for good reason.

I haven’t had any cramping for 7-8 days, which I’m so happy about. I can be somewhat productive (which I’m rocking at work) but to do anything at home takes a lot of effort. But maybe the extra iron will give me that boost I need.

Dr Graham felt little Mr. and again said what a big boy he is going to be. His heartbeat sounded nice and strong. I go in for an ultra sound as a check up on my previa on 3/21 and I look forward to seeing how much bigger he has gotten. I decided to measure my belly at the belly button marker and I’m 43 inches around. I have gained 28 lbs so far. My goal is to not gain more than 45lbs total with this pregnancy, IF I don’t have issues with water retention like I did with Kaydriana. I can’t really help the amount of weight I gain when fluid is pooling up in my legs and my face. Dr. Graham is not at all concerned with my weight gain. She never was with Kaydriana either, even though I gained 59lbs! I’m grateful for that because I read other preggo’s posts where their docs give them a hard time about gaining weight.

WTE says: This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches long with legs extended. While his lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if he were to be born now.

I’m starting to feel better from my most recent cold and can smell again. However, I should be careful what I ask for. I hate smelling people. I walked into a conference room that seriously needed to be febreezed (is that really a verb?) and it grossed me out. Then the guy sitting next to me must have burped because he had a nasty smell emanating from him. I guess having your smell back is not all its cracked up to be.

We’ve added a bit more to Lake’s room yesterday. Tim wanted to add some baseball art, but we don’t have the money. Tim played baseball (still plays on softball leagues) growing up, and has some old bats and balls. I gave him the idea of somehow mounting a half a bat and ball to the wall. So he did that (and didn’t saw off any fingers!). His vision was a bit different than mine, but I love the personal touch this adds to Lake’s room. We don’t know where we’ll put the half a ball yet.

I feel like there was more for me to post... but I can't think of anything else, so thats it for now. I'm just thanking God that I've been feeling good the last few days :)

Progress

Typically I like to post updates on Wednesdays which is my weekly marker. However, this post has more to do with Kaydriana and the progress we've made on both her and Lake's rooms.

I'll post a pregnancy update after my next OB appt this Thursday.

Here are some pics of Kaydriana's big girl room. Tim did most of the work (he insisted). It was our Seahawk/Mariners office for the first few years that we lived here.

This picture makes her room look cluttered. It really isn't as cluttered as it looks. It's a decent size room. I picked out the bedding. I'm ready to get rid of the alphabet "mat".

The baby cradle was something my mom found and gave Kaydriana for Christmas. It was brown and needed work, so Tim painted it to match her room. She loves rocking her babies in it. And reading to them too!

As I was taking pictures of the progress in Lake's room (Tim did all the work here too), Kaydriana insisted in being in the pictures. She is saying, "Cheese!"

This was Kaydriana's nursery and just a day before this picture, the room was pink and green. Now it's a dark grey. I had my reservations, but now, I'm liking it.

I love this wall :) Kaydriana is saying, "Cheese!" again.

Proof of Tim working on the room.

We still have TONS of things we need for Lake, but at least he'll have a boyish room to come home too.

This weekend Griffey went to his new home. Tim and I are feeling sad, but I have no doubt (ok, actually just a teeny bit) that we made the right decision for him to go to a new home. I have no doubt about who we chose, it's just that it's kind of lonely without him. Kaydriana asks, "where's Diti?" and we tell her he went bye bye. So now she says, "I go bye bye Diti" and heads to the door. It's cute, but kind of sad too.

Yesterday Tim text me to say that Kaydriana can now open her bedroom door. That's a problem because if she wakes up quietly and opens her door, she can cause havoc around the house and hurt herself. Tim says he put the baby gate in her door way and thinks that's a good solution for now. Before she could open the door, we would hear her knock on her door when she woke up. It's pretty cute :)

Something else Kaydriana is beginning to do is test her boundaries. When we tell her not to do something, she does it and I have to be diligent with giving her a consequence. I've told her not to turn off the bathroom light while I'm getting ready in the morning. She listened before, but the last few days she hasn't. When I told her not to switch the light, she did it anyway and I flicked her hand.

This morning, she took my foundation out of my makeup kit and I told her to put it back. When she started to try to run away with it, I grabbed it out of her hand and told her it was mommy's. When I needed to sit on the toilet seat cover (thats how I do my makeup) she got mad and wanted to sit there and started screaming angrily at me. When I showed her she could sit on her own toilet seat, she was still mad and demanding that I give her her duckies (that are in the tub). I told her she needed to calm down and say, "please". She refused to so I turned my back around and kept putting make up on. She then calmed down and asked in a softer tone for her duckies. I told her to say, "please" and she finally did.

This stage is so amazing (how much she is learning and talking/singing), but it's also so hard. I'm trying to be mindful of, "doing as I mean to do" and not taking short cuts to make it easier on me in the short term. I know there are life long lessons being learned right now and I want to be teaching her corrective behavior correctly.

Unfortunately, Tim and I are not on the same page. When she throws a fit he kind of mimicks her. So when I witness that, I feel like I'm correcting two children's behavior... Lord help me!

On a cute note, I've been having Kaydriana practice saying, "brother" and "Lake". She now kisses my tummy. *LOVE*