A baby update! What else!??! Okay, a trip to L&D thrown in...

Alright friends, we are still pregnant! This is fantastic news!!! However what would my pregnancy be like without a little excitement? I went in today for my appt, I gained 6lbs in one week. Normally I gain maybe a pound or loose a few. Plus my blood pressure was 126/94. The 94 is kinda scary, so my dr sent me over to the hospital to be monitored, knowing that with my birthday this weekend I'd probably not stay down! So she wanted to be sure I was okay. So off to Labor and Delivery I went, with my family right along side me!

I got to L&D and was put on the monitors. My blood pressure was 138/98 and for a while it stuck around this number. We drew labs to monitor the Pre-Eclampsia again. (which by the way, they were normal last week!!!) There was no protein in my urine (not suprising to me since with our first, the protein didn't show up until the very end of my pre-eclampsia adventure). After being monitored, my blood pressure did come down to 132/85 and my labs came back normal so they kicked me out!!! WAHOO!!!!!!! I'm 35 weeks 6 days and want to wait just a little longer to meet my sweet little girl. I do go back to visit my dr on Monday. I am supposed to stay down as much as possible though, meaning laying on my left side a lot.

So, just a little longer!!!!! I'm excited to get to the end, but it's been a fun experience to be pregnant longer this time. I feel like a first time mom again!

We have Pirates and a baby update!

The kids are attending a really fun preschool and the theme on Wednesday was pirates. Miss Piggy has especially gotten into her role as a pirate. Kermit has enjoyed it as well, but his enthusiasm doesn't quite show here. Master Chief got them all cute this morning while I was resting and took video of them. First, go pause the ipod that's playing by scrolling to the bottom of my blog. Then come take a listen to these two most adorable pirates.



And of course it's baby update time! I must admit I was quite worried about this appt and I came with my guns loaded ready to fight. My blood pressures are going up, I've had a little more swelling, but most concerning was this rotten headache I've been dealing with for the past 2 days. I was really worried about pre-eclampsia and was afraid the dr was going to send me to the hospital. I called my mom and got the okay from her that she'd be willing to fly out and take care of the kids and I while Master Chief worked this week, and I was going to sell my plan to the dr telling her that I promised to be on strict bedrest if she'd just let me cook my sweet baby one more week.

But things are probably okay. I'm dealing with a migraine we think, which while it's no fun, it's so much better than pre-eclampsia! And I've only gained 1lb, so nothing to really worry about there. Everything looked great, but just to be safe we did draw labs to make sure everything is okay.

We also had an ultrasound today. We were amazed at how much bigger she is. She's getting fat! She's now weighing in at 5lbs 3oz, which is fantastic! We took the kids with us hoping they'd enjoy seeing their little sister, but she's so big and my tummy is so small that she was really hard to see! She kept her head down as low as she could and wouldn't turn it, so we couldn't even see her profile. We had to do some stretching around to even measure her belly. We did get a glimpse of her hand, it was chubby looking! She's still growing hair!!!! I made sure to pack hair bows/headbands for the hospital just for her! And we were able to see a foot, but again only for a quick second! She was also practicing her breathing. You could see her belly expand and deflate, demonstrating her cool skills!

So things are going to be okay. As long as labs come back normal, we don't go back for a visit until next Thursday!!! I'm so excited to be making it this far. What a blessing this has been for our family. Thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers.

Bedroom Fun!

In preparation for baby girl to join our family, Master Chief has been working very hard to re-arrange the kids rooms. Kermit and Miss Piggy have always shared a room, but with a new little one coming and the kids getting older, we wanted to give them their own rooms and 'big kid' beds! Kermit is really into all types of sports, so we had a lot of fun finding sports type things to put in his room. He got to help paint his room and thought that was pretty fun!

Miss Piggy is really excited to share her room with baby girl. Miss Piggy loves all things girl, so she had a very hard time choosing between lady bugs, Tinkerbell, princesses, flowers, butterflies, ponies... So when we went to the store and found some really cute butterfly and flower room decor, so was thrilled! After painting and getting her big girl bed out (it was Mama's as a child!) we put up the crib, got the crib bedding out and to our suprise (because of course we had forgotten) the bedding is flowers and butterflies! A perfect match.The kids think spending time in their rooms is so much fun, and they keep them so much cleaner! Plus nap time and bed time are so much easier on Mama and Master Chief because the kids aren't talking and playing with each other to stay awake! So everyone is happy here at our house!

Baby shower and 34 week update!

Wow, we first of all want to thank everyone for their generosity. This last week I had my baby shower and I was overwhelmed with all the gorgeous clothes, diapers, wipes and baby items. Seriously, thank you to all of our friends. I could hardly fit it all on my couch! Hidden underneath it all is an adorable bouncy seat from my sister in laws and mother in law!

Also I went to the dr yesterday and all is well! My blood pressure is climbing, but we kind of expected that to happen. I'm now measuring a little small! But baby's head is down and engaged, so that may be why. We are doing another ultrasound next Thursday just to check her growth. We are taking Kermit and Miss Piggy along so they can see their little sister again for this appointment. While the dr was measuring me, she commented a couple of times about how big my baby's head was. YIKES! Good thing I'm having a c-section! And somehow I've lost 4lbs. I'm now right back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm not sure how that happened, especially with all the yummy food at my shower last week! So I'm just taking it easy and eating ice cream now! Wait... that's what I was doing before... guess that means I can have more ice cream!

So all things are good! All things are actually great! Thank you to all of you for your love, support and prayers.

Easter 2009!

We had a fun Easter here at our house. The kids got up and were more excited to empty out their baskets so they could get to finding the eggs! So after making them sit through pictures of the baskets and go through their "stuff" we turned them loose on the eggs! They were all found very quickly and the candy party soon began... and soon ended! Mama didn't want them to get a belly ache.

Then we got ready for church in new church clothes. Our handsome Kermit...

Our adorable Miss Piggy who thought she was a princess and had to have Cinderella hair!

And since Miss Piggy just loved her dress, I couldn't help but include this cute picture of her.

And our two little cuties...
Happy Easter to all our friends and family.

32 weeks 6 days Baby Update

Hello again! I've had a few awesome people wondering just how things are going. I had an appointment this morning and things are good. We are just going to watch things and keep on hoping for a few more weeks! I think I've made my dr a little nervous though. My blood pressure was up slightly today and I've been enjoying a little more swelling in my hands. So today, just to be on the safe side she sent me over to Labor and Delivery to get steriod shots for her lungs. We also learned that steriod shots also help the development of her gut and her brain, so she's going to be given a little help, just in case. This is a two shot party, one this afternoon and one tomorrow. With our first baby we got these steriod shots and I was stabbed in the bum. That hurt. So this time I asked for it in my arm. That hurt. So tomorrow I just can't wait to go get another shot! Oh well, pain is temporary! These steriod shots last for 1 week and after 34 weeks, research shows that the steriods don't help a whole lot. So for this last week before 34 weeks I'm covered.

I asked my dr about scheduling a c-section. I want a date! And that didn't happen! She said, to schedule one, it would be 39 weeks, and while that would be fantastic to make it to 39 weeks, she is not expecting to make it that far. Her guess is that we won't have any major complications, but one week we'll find that delivering the baby will be better than keeping her in. So, we wait and see, which is fun in a way because it makes it a little more like a normal pregnancy when one has no idea when they'll go into labor! I secretly think it would be fun to make it to 37 weeks and have my water break or something normal like that!

I am also on more rest. Poor Master Chief, he does so much already. But it's only for a small amount of time and it's not complete bedrest, just more than I'm already doing. And if truth be told, I could do better at my rest time!

So that's the update. We are still pregnant and that is fantastic! My goal is to make it to May, and that makes 36 weeks. Then my next goal is 37 weeks! Thank you to everyone for all your prayers and support, we truly appreciate you.

GOODBYE HOSPITAL, Hello going home...still pregnant!

I made it through the night and my contractions have settled down so we get to go home.... still pregnant! I'm 32 weeks today... exactly how far along I was with Miss Piggy when she abrupted and made an emergency arrival. So to get past this day, at home, will be fantastic!!! Thanks to everyone for your love and prayers.

Well, we're at the hospital.

I told you that my pregnancies give us adventure. Wednesday night I came down with the flu and was up all night enjoying life at both ends. Today I was so dehydrated that I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes apart. So I got to come in to Labor and Delivery. They gave me a whole bag of fluids as fast as possible and that helped to slow the contractions down. But then they picked back up to 3-4 minutes apart. They've given me phenegran to help my intense desire to barf. They wanted to give me trybutalyne to stop contractions but since I had that with my first baby and it made my heart very irregular and was on heart monitors, the doctors decided to hold off. My contractions seem to have mellowed out, but given my history the dr is keeping me over night. So Master Chief is at home with Kermit and Miss Piggy for bed. I'll update as I can, but I hope my next update is from home, tomorrow!