This and That

Here is a little of this and a little of that from our house to yours. Beware, none of this is at all interesting.

1. I sent Jason out to get a new camera for me. Of course the store had none of the cameras I really wanted in stock but there was a good sale at Staples (of all places??? Not sure I've ever even been in a Staples) going on so I was determined to just pick one they had in stock. Jason called me from the store and rattled off their inventory one by one while I looked up reviews. Poor guy, he has been so awesome these last few weeks. It's really hard to be Mr. Mom, housekeeper, chef, and caregiver to a crazy pregnant woman who can't do anything and has to go to the doctor all the time. But he came home with this.....

                      

....and so far it seems to be doing the trick.  Just glad to have a camera again. 



2.  Here is pretty much what I've been up to the last 3 or so weeks.....

Looks very glamorous doesn't it?  I've got my fruit plate fixed by my personal chef and grocery shoppers (a.k.a. Jason and Grant), my iPad, magazines, blood pressure cuff, water bottle, and 2 cute kids to keep me company in the freshly washed sheets courtesy of my housekeeper (also a.k.a. Jason).

3.  And here's the little mister coming in for his close-up with the new camera.  He has been so awesome through all of this bed rest stuff.  Quite an amazing 3 year old if I do say so myself.

4.  Blake and I are still hanging in together.  My blood pressure got as high as it's ever been during this pregnancy yesterday afternoon and evening.  It was hovering just below the "go to the hospital" numbers.  We decided that if it was still high this morning we'd go on in to labor and delivery and let them check things out.  Thankfully this morning it was back to very low, normal numbers for me so I'm staying in the bed and trying to keep things calm and quiet.  

Thanks for checking in with us!  Hope you all have a fun, safe New Year's Eve!  Can't believe 2011 is almost behind us.  It's true what they say, the older you get the faster the years pass by.

Thank You

Grant was so excited when the FedEx man stopped at our house today with a package addressed to him! It's a big day around here if UPS or FedEx makes a delivery (which has been often this holiday season). My aunt sent these books for Grant and I thought they were so cute!

What a very thoughtful idea, Aunt Janice! We have been reading them as I have a sneaking suspicion Grant will be a big brother come next week. ;)

Choo-Choo

Grant has been having fun with Gigi and Gip the last 2 days while I have rested and visited the doctors. I think he's had a good time and when we picked him up today all I heard about was the trains. Apparently Mom and Dad took Grant over to Northpark to run around and see the cool train exhibit. It was a big hit!

So glad to have my little boy home tonight and in his own bed and so grateful he had such a good time with Gigi and Gip. They have been a life saver these last 3 weeks.

In other news, I've been "working" while on bed rest to research a new camera so I can get back to posting some pictures on here. It's all so confusing with so many options and so many conflicting reviews. Whew. If anyone has any advice or suggestions I'd love to hear it. I've decided I want a good compact camera that will slide in a pocket or purse instead of upgrading to a big, expensive DSLR. I need to get a move on and purchase something if we're going to have any record of Blake's arrival!

Still Going

Well, Blake is hanging in with me like a little champ. My amniotic fluid was up to 13 (INCREDIBLE!) today and the systolic/diastolic flow through the cord is still looking the same. No real change or deterioration with that which is good.

I still have to count how many times Blake moves in an hour and monitor to make sure he's doing ok in there. That's been the hardest part. I wake up in the night and try to get him to move around just so I know he's ok. So far God has been so generous and answered my every request to feel movement from this little guy. I am so grateful for the reassurance of his strong, sometimes VERY strong, kicks. :)

Next Wednesday will be decision time. The perinatologist will do measurements and if Blake doesn't show adequate signs of growth then they will deliver him that day and if he does show signs of adequate growth they'll leave him in 1 more week. I guess somewhere between 37-38 weeks is as long as they feel comfortable leaving him in. All of this assumes that my blood pressure and lab work remains stable of course. I will be over 36 weeks by next Wednesday which is farther than I made it with Grant so I feel pretty good about that so long as Blake is safe staying in there.

All in all we were pleased that Blake seems content and is able to have some more time to hopefully mature and grow.

As a little cute side note, about 2 weeks ago he decided to flip around so he is breech with his head right below my heart. Since they have to unzip me to get him out anyway it doesn't matter that he's breech and I think its sweet that his little head is right there by my heart.

So that's where we are. We are praying for continued good movement from Blake and that when we go in next Wednesday morning there will be a clear cut answer to either definitely deliver or wait 1 more week. Whichever is safer for Blake and really only God knows that so we're asking Him for clear direction for the doctors next week.

We just may make it to January, y'all!!! Really did not think that could happen a few weeks ago.

We see my OB to check on things with me tomorrow afternoon. We're keeping the docs in business down here! ;)

Thanks so much for caring about us and for continuing to pray.

No News

Thanks to so many of you for checking in on us today. Love y'all for all of your encouragement and prayers. It means so much. We don't see the perinatologist until 5:45 this evening so I won't have any updates until tonight. So far Blake is moving and my BP is steady so as far as I know there is no obvious change in our situation. We'll see what the sono says later today. At this point, assume no news is good news. :)

RING, RING, RING

A ringing bell is a beautiful sound but there is none more beautiful than the sound of the bell you ring to signify your last chemo treatment. And that is the bell my Aunt Janice got to ring today! It is a HUGE milestone in her fight against

breast cancer which started 6 months ago. We know this is not the end of the road but it is the end of a major part of the battle. We are so grateful, Aunt Janice, and are looking forward to hugging your neck in person in a few weeks. Love you.

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas at our house dampened only by the fact that when I pulled out my camera yesterday morning to shoot some of the festivities I found out my camera died. Absolutely dead. Will not work. Are you kidding me? On CHRISTMAS morning?!?! So, these few shots were taken on the iphone....not too great but better than nothing. (Guess I should have put that camera on my Christmas list, Em!)

This pic pretty much sums up Christmas 2011. It was all hockey all the time with the little man. He was so happy!

 

This picture of Gip and Grant was taken a couple of weeks ago but thought it was cute.  The two Santas. :)

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas! We have so much to be grateful for....today we hit 35 weeks and so far so good. We'll go back to the doctor on Wednesday to check on things but we are so thrilled to have made it to this milestone with Blake. My friend, Kim, sent me a message and I just loved what she said. We don't always get a glimpse into what God is up to...He doesn't always let us in on His plans and He doesn't have to. That's why they call it faith. But we've been so thrilled that He has allowed us to receive some positive news and allowed me to safely continue to carry Blake. Thanks for praying for us!

Polar Express

We started letting Grant open Christmas presents as early as Thursday. He only likes to open about 2 presents a day because as soon as he opens one he wants to play with it. It took us a week to open up all of his birthday presents this year! :)

So far we have read all the books Aunt Jessie and Uncle Craig sent. He LOVES all the transportation books! We have listened to the silly songs from Jan and Linda (such a hit!), and we have played the lady bug game from Gail (another big hit, Gail!).

Of course he opened his skates and went ice skating for the first time and then later he opened the Lionel Polar Express train set from Nana and Grampa. OH. MY. GOODNESS. Such excitement. Turns out my parents had introduced him to the Polar Express movie this week when Grant was staying with them and he loves it so much. He watched the entire movie 3 times in one day. So when he opened that box and saw it was the exact same train he flipped out. Jason and I didn't even know that's what was in the box nor did we know until the day before how much Grant LOVED the Polar Express. It has provided hours of entertainment. Not sure we're going to get to any other gifts for a few more days. :)









**And a belated happy, happy birthday to loyal and encouraging blog reader, Auntie Eileen! (Meant to include you with Ron's birthday wishes, Eileen!) We know you are loving having all your chickens in one place for the holidays. Welcome home to Jonathan!

Skates

With my new found "freedom" yesterday I decided my one outing would be to go see Grant skate for the first time. We got him a pair of hockey skates for Christmas and knew he'd want to put them on as soon as he opened them. So we let him open his present early and headed straight to the ice rink. He was so excited. In fact, as we were getting ready to get in the car he kept saying "I'm so excited, Daddy! I'm so excited, Mommy!" We were thrilled that the hockey skates were as big of a hit as we thought they'd be. :)

Couldn't get Grant to take his eyes off of his new skates even for a brief picture!

At the rink, Gip helped Grant into his skates....

And Daddy tightened them up real good....

Grant needed a little help at first to walk in his skates but by the end he could walk by himself.

And a little video of skating with Daddy. Poor Daddy....he may need a some IBprofen for that back later on today! My boys sure did have fun though and I was very grateful to be able to be there for it. Priceless.

Psalm 126:3

As my friend Melissa texted me today after our appointment:

"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. " - Psalm 126:3

Our appt with the perinatologist this morning went better than we could have hoped. The placenta is still in what they're calling the early stages of hypertension and the blood flow rate in the cord is still not what they would like but it's not getting worse.

And Blake is looking very healthy and happy. He is even showing signs of breathing which apparently is the last thing to develop so neurologically he is ahead of the curve.....a good thing if he needs to come early!

What I want to share the most with you is that your prayers are most certainly heard. My amniotic fluid has been low for months. Normal fluid levels are 10-20cm and mine has hovered right at 10cm for the last 2 months....barely hanging on to the normal range.

In the last 2 weeks we have seen a steady slight decline in amniotic fluid: 9.1 cm, 8.8 cm......not a good trend. (Any lower than 8 and they throw you in the hospital and stick an IV in you or just opt for delivery.)

Today my fluid level was 12! TWELVE! It hasn't been that high in months!!! And on Monday we were only at 8.8! That's an incredible jump in a matter of 4 days. A miracle I tell you, a Christmas miracle. And it's all due to so many faithful saints praying for us. I am sure of it.

So thank you. A very heartfelt thank you and please keep it up. We were so encouraged today and felt the slightest bit of relief at such good news. I am even allowed one short outing a day (like sitting at dinner or a movie if Jason drops me off at the door and then we go straight home). Merry Christmas to me! Who thought being allowed out of the house once a day could make a person so happy! :)

Thank you, friends. May you be encouraged that God hears our prayers and answers according to His good purpose. We are grateful to you.

**In other exciting news, a BIG congratulations to Jill and Jeff on the birth of Andrew "Drew" Jeffrey! So happy we could meet him briefly today. Jill, you look beautiful, and Drew is as perfect as they come. What a fabulous Christmas present!

***AND a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Grampa from all of us here in Texas! Hope you're enjoying your special day and soaking up all that warm Arizona sunshine! Wish we could be there to celebrate.

Mustache Man

Grant man was missing his mama today so Gigi brought him over to visit for a little bit. I got to have lunch with the mustache man and share a yummy chocolate chip cookie. :)

Was happy to get to spend a little time with my big boy! Mustache and all! :)

Life sure is funny. On any normal week I love having a few hours "off" from being mommy but now that I can't really be a mommy it's so hard to have Grant out of the house. I hate it. But at the same time I am so grateful that it feels normal to Grant to be with my parents and that my mom and dad are such kid people and LOVE having Grant. They do nothing but play with him and do whatever he wants. Believe me, he may miss Mommy and Daddy but he is a pretty happy camper in general. It's his mommy who's a little sad. But I know this is short term and I know I need to do what's best for Blake right now. I can't feel too sorry for myself, right?! I mean I'm about to get a really GREAT gift.... a new baby boy. Can't beat that! :)

Update

Things went as well as we could hope this morning with the doctor. My fluid levels are holding steady, the flow through the cord looked a tiny bit better, and Blake looked content and happy in there for now. All in all I think everyone was pleased and agreed that the bed rest was indeed helping things. Right now Blake is better off inside than out although he is on the small side. That is one of the side effects of this problem with the placenta/cord. But Grant was on the small side too and it didn't seem to slow him down one bit. :) No one seems overly concerned about Blake's size at this point. They just let us know that he would be little like his brother.

My blood pressure is trending upwards and I mentioned to the doc that I'd experienced some off-and-on nausea like I did in the 2 weeks leading up to Grant's sudden entrance into the world. So Dr. C. decided to go ahead and run a blood panel on my liver enzymes and such to check for anything else we might not be seeing yet.

We were warned that any one of these factors could change at any point in time and that the plan would be to deliver immediately. No hospital bed rest or monitoring - just straight to the OR. We were also told that this would most likely happen well before our end of January due date. We are just hoping to make it through Christmas and hit 35 weeks.

Our prayers right now are that:
1. Blake can safely stay put until after the Christmas holidays (preferably closer to new years),
2. we will catch the earliest sign of trouble and head it off with a delivery before I get sick and before Blake is in any danger,
3. we will have a peace of mind about it all and no fear or anxiety.

Thanks so much for following along and caring! We see the perinatologist again on Thursday for another check. Will update with anything new if it crops up but otherwise there won't be much to report because I will be in one of two places: the couch or our bed.....looking radiant. ;) Dakota is absolutely loving this whole bed rest thing by the way. She thinks it's fabulous that she and mommy can curl up in bed together ALL DAY LONG. Glad somebody likes it.

Nothing Much....

There is not a whole lot to report.....thankfully. :). Blake is moving around and my blood pressure is going up but is still under the threshold at which I am supposed to call the doctor.

We have a sono at 9:30 tomorrow morning and then will discuss things with my OB. I am praying that my fluid levels are holding steady or even gone up and that the blood flow in the cord looks better. I really, really, really don't want to have to be admitted unless it's to deliver and I really, really, really don't want to have to deliver yet. Would love to hold on until after Christmas and make it to at least the 35 week mark with a chance to avoid a NICU stay.

So grateful for all of you who have called, emailed, texted, brought food, etc. And we especially appreciate the continued prayers. This is not easy but we are so thankful to be this far along in the pregnancy and are fully trusting that there will be a good outcome for me and Blake.

Will be sure to update tomorrow after our appt.

Blake's Nursery

Thankfully Blake's nursery is all ready to go. I had told myself that by December 1st we'd be prepared to have a baby and I'm glad I set that deadline!

I just left Grant's nursery up until we knew Blake would be joining us and then I did change out the curtains, the crib bedding, and a few things on the walls. I wanted it to feel like Blake's nursery and not Grant's. Poor Blake will be getting hand-me-downs his whole life so I wanted him to have a room that felt like his and not a hand-me-down. Not that he will know or ever care but it was a good excuse to have fun doing a little redecorating. ;)

I am terrible at taking pictures of rooms but hopefully this will give you a little idea....

I had the crib bumpers (yes, I use them and I know many of you don't but I'm not really scared of them until baby starts using them as a step to get out of the bed!) and crib skirt made and love how they turned out. Green argyle on one side and modern blue and green polka dots on the other. My car seat cover is actually the same polka dot pattern and I love it. So cute.
Uncle Craig and Aunt Jessie sent that cute monogrammed boppy cover so Blake won't have to use the one that has "Grant" monogrammed on it. Haha! Thanks guys!

His sweet monogram above the bed...

I put wrapping paper behind an old window frame and then wrote the words to "Twinkle, Twinkle" on it and hung it up above the book sling. Love those book slings. Such a cute way to add some fabric/texture to the room and functional to hold books! May have to get another one. Love.

My sweet Aunt Janice (who incidentally is almost finished with her chemo treatments for breast cancer this month - can I get a big AMEN!) sent this awesome Graco Sweet Peace swing for Blake. A friend (thank you, Dana) let me borrow hers when we had Grant and it was a lifesaver! Hope Blake likes it as much as Grant did.

And that's about it. Now we just need the baby but hoping he waits just a little bit longer to check out his new digs. :)