Time to catch up

It's been awhile since I last posted and it's high time I catch everyone up on what has been going on in our lives... NOT A WHOLE LOT!!! (At least for me)

Since the last post I was in and out of the hospital a few more times, but the baby and I are doing fine.  I am still on bed rest and just taking things one day at a time.  It gets very boring sometimes and often I go stir crazy and wanting a change so bad it hurts.  The things we do for our little ones!!!

Easter came and went.  Andy was obviously in charge of all the pictures and celebrating.  Here are the girls at the ward Easter egg hunt.

 If you couldn't tell, Sammy doesn't like getting her picture taken much.

 Easter morning... Sammy being a sour puss.

 This is a picture of "egging" the Graham's house.  It's a family tradition to go and egg someone's house on Easter.  We fill plastic eggs with candy and notes telling that family or person why we love them.  This year we chose Roslyn since she has helped so much during this difficult time.  She comes in the morning and helps the girls get off to school so that Andy doesn't have to rearrange his work schedule.  She helps the girls get dressed, get their hair done, usually starts a load of laundry, and then makes sure the girls get their chores done.  We sure love her!!!

 Just before the girls and Andy left for church.

 This year they went to the Bullock's ward since our nephew, Mason, came home from his mission.  I felt so bad missing it since I missed his farewell, too.  At least I got to see him before he left for college.  A lot of Andy's family was in town for the occasion including one of our girls' favorite cousin, Shelbie.  It makes me laugh that Ashley and Shelbie tend to have a lot of the same outfits and it's never planned that way.  This dress caused tears that morning... totally my fault.  I thought for sure that I bought the yellow dress for Katie and the purple one for Ashley.  The sizes didn't match up and it was tears from Katie till I gave her an extra chapstick the Easter bunny left in my drawer.

 These are some random photos taken throughout the last 2 months.

Katie and her awesome style.

 Sammy got her hair chopped off!  I don't know exactly how much was cut, but it was a lot.

 Katie had a field trip to Babby Farms.  It's a petting zoo and Katie LOVED it!  She is holding a baby goat in this picture, but I think her favorite was a huge pig.  She is still talking about how big it was.  She came home and told me about this one pig lying in the mud "showing off all it's fatness."  I told her, "Hey!  That's like mommy!"  She laughed and said, "You're showing off your longness... You're not fat... not really."  She made me laugh!

 Random hair style for Ashley.  Roslyn was teasing about the hairstyle and Ashley really wanted it and wore it all that day.

 Just another cute picture of Katie.  Love her style!  Notice the high heels and scarf?  That is completely Katie!  She was just chillin' in her after school outfit and reading to Brigetta, Lyla, and I.

Here are my 28 week (and 1 day) profile pictures.

 And of course we need to add in a few pictures of the baby.  We get pictures every week with the ultrasounds, but these two are some of my favorites.  

I usually don't like the face shots because they kind of look a bit creepy... but this one you can totally see a big smile on the baby's face! (For those that can't depict these pictures the dark spot on the left is the forehead.  The two dark spots in the middle are the eyes.  And then the smile is on the right.  You might have to turn your head to the side.)

 I love that you can see all the bones in the baby's hand!  The Wyne genes are showing in this photo... long fingers!!!

The girls are done with school for the summer... Not exactly sure how I feel about that yet.  It's going to make a big change in our schedule and people helping out at our house.  So far we have this week covered.  We may just need to take it a week at a time.  And hopefully when we get to mid June we'll have another routine down again.  The girls will have swim lessons and dance camp to help break up their days and something to look forward to everyday.

With it being Memorial Day Andy had the day off.  He hasn't had a whole lot of time with the girls with being in school.  Now that he's out on break for a few weeks he's had a little more time.  He took advantage of the day off and the beautiful weather and took the girls to the zoo!

 Sammy being a preteen... again!

 They look like they had a great time with their daddy!  They sure have him wrapped around their little fingers.  They even suckered him into buying things for them at the gift shop.  Sammy got a stuffed monkey, Ashley a necklace, and Katie... a rubber snake!!!  Andy looked pretty happy she chose that for her toy.

 And last, but not least... We have reached our 30 week mark!!!  We are on the downhill for the pregnancy and hopefully I won't be on bed rest much longer.  Last week (Tuesday 5/20/2014) the baby was weighing approximately 3 pounds 8 ounces!  We were very excited for that weight because the bigger the better if I go into labor early.  We could even see the baby's chubby cheeks at the last ultrasound.  This week is a happy one for me since I get to go on a dinner date with Andy this weekend!  I feel like I'm turning 16 all over again counting down the days till I get to go on a date.  Maybe the next post I'll announce the baby's gender. :)

Hospital and a CRAZY 24 Hours!

On Tuesday I went in for my weekly appointment and it turned into a crazy 24 hours.  They did an ultrasound and saw that my cervix is now thinner than before the cerclage surgery!  I was really nervous to know what my doctor would say at that point and so I was texting Andy to please come over.  I went in to see my doctor and they wanted to monitor me for a little while.  I think it was about 20 minutes or so and they came in and said I was having some contractions so I needed to go back to the hospital.  :(

Ericka wheeled me over to the labor and delivery unit and from there they monitored me for about an hour and saw I was continuing to have contractions.  They gave me a shot of something to stop the contractions and then admitted me to antepartum.  Those beds are WAY more comfortable than the labor and delivery beds!

Every nurse that we talked to and asked how long I was going to be in the hospital gave the same answer, "We take things day by day, but most patients that come in like this are here till they have the baby."  We were prepared to have things taken care of at home and knew it was going to be a long haul.  From there we asked for my brother-in-law, Doug, to come and help Andy give me a blessing.  I also asked my friend, Sarah, to bring me some things from home.  I had my moments of emotional breakdowns, but tried my best to hold it together.

Andy stayed till I was completely settled and the nurses got an IV in and pumping fluids.  It was a nightmare to get the IV going!  The first nurse came in and I told her to avoid my left arm because a vein always blows and just go straight for a particular vein in my right wrist.  She put heating packs on my arm to plump up my veins and did as I asked... but couldn't get it in.  My veins were terrible that night!!!  The second nurse came in and I told her the same thing, but also asked how good she was because I hate needles.  She felt confident she was really good and went for a different spot in my right arm, but couldn't get it in.  So she looked at my left arm and said, "Oh, that is a really good vein right there.  I can totally get it in that one."  Guess what?  She blew my vein!!!  The third nurse came in and said, "Usually our goal is to avoid the hand and wrist, but today our goal is to just get it  in."  After being tortured three times I felt the same.  She got it in my right hand quick!  It hurt all night long, but it was in and I didn't have to be poked anymore.  Andy went home to be with the girls and said he would come have lunch with me the next day.

I barely got any sleep the whole night.  Between my hand hurting, nurses coming in to check on me, and worrying about our baby I think I got a total of about 4 hours of sleep.  I woke up about 7:00 so I could join Andy and the girls in family prayer over the phone.  And by then I was pretty hungry and tried several times to order my breakfast.  Every time I would call they would tell me my diet restriction wasn't entered in the computer yet.  So I would call the nurse and ask her to do it again.  Finally about 8:15 a nurse came in and personally apologized because she put it in the computer under a different room number.  They brought up my breakfast pretty quick and I was able to feed my starving body and baby.

Dr. Hodges came in about 9:30 and told me that there wasn't much more they can do for me at the hospital than I'm already doing at home.  So if I promised, promised to be so good about bed rest I could go home.  I texted Andy right away and he was over quick to take me home.  We were out of there by 11:15 and then started making arrangements for lunches so I don't get up to even make myself a sandwich from the mini fridge by my bed.

So now I see the doctor once a week along with an ultrasound to check my cervix, fluid levels, and baby.  I am also on two more medications to help relax my uterus along with my progesterone shots.  And I can only get up to shower and go to the bathroom and then it's down flat on my back or sides... no more reclining if I can avoid it.  It's a lot harder to type on the laptop or do anything else... so it's a lot of movies and Netflix.  I still love to have visitors of any form!  So call, email, text, or come by in person if you get bored.  It breaks up my days and helps the time go by a little faster.

22 Weeks!

I am 22 weeks pregnant today!  14 more to go till we reach our goal!

And since I was up to take a shower I had Brigetta take a quick profile picture.

Spring Break

Andy's sisters are so great to us!  Mindy had offered to take the girls for the week so that they could enjoy their spring break.  Andy dropped them off at her house on Sunday night.  They were at her house till Tuesday and then they headed to Eastern Idaho.  Ashley and Katie were dropped off at Aunt Sarah's house and Mindy picked up some of Sarah's kids and headed to Dana's house.  They spent one night at Dana's house and then back to Sarah's house for one more night before the drive back home.  Sarah ended up calling Andy and asked if the girls could stay longer!  They stayed till today and Andy is on his way to meet her halfway.  Andy's sisters are so much better at taking pictures than I am.  I was sent many picture texts to show me what they were up to.  So here is a glimpse into their week and how much fun they had.

 Riding around on scooters at the skate park

 Halle, Katie, Shelby, and Ashley

 Sleepover at Sarah's house

Poor Josh is the only boy in that house!

 Back row: Katie, Kelsie, Halle, Shelby, Ashley

Front row: Sammy, Jessie, Avery

 Ashley, Shelby, and Katie

 Kelsie and Sammy

 Halle kissing Kelsie.  So cute!

 The moms get to have some fun, too.  Totally missing the crafts, but so glad they were able to have some bonding time.  Good job on the cute decorations.

Mindy, Dana, Sarah

They went to a roller dome and by the looks of it they had a blast!  Sarah said they were quick learners and were going around without help pretty soon after they started.

Shelby and Sammy

 Avery and Ashley

 Avery, Josh, Sammy, Jessie, and Katie

 Jessie and Katie

Even falling down they look happy!

They also attended a baptism for a cousin to the Smith clan.  I love the look on Sammy's face!

On the couch: Katie, Ashley, Quinn, (2 Smith cousins), Sammy, Jessie, and another cousin

On the floor: Shelby and Halle

 This must have been taken after the baptism.  They look so happy!

Katie and Ashley

And of course we have to post a few pictures to what I was up to...

Not a whole lot happens around here while being on bed rest.  However, these are two of the girls I hung out with a lot this week.  Lyla and Mikayla usually come with Brigetta when she brings me lunch and then they stay and play.  That day Mikayla had to keep a secret that we bought Frozen.  It's for Easter but I decided to break it out while the girls were gone.  They will soon find out we do actually have it.  We enjoyed watching the movie and eating our lunch in bed... the crumbs left behind were not so fun.  And one day in the week Lyla fell asleep next to me and stayed there in my arm for about 3 hours.  It was nice to snuggle with her.  :)
I thought it was so cute that in this picture both girls are touching my belly.  I sent this to Andy and said, "This baby is already loved so much!" His response was, "Cute and it better be."

My reward for Saturday and making it through another week was manicures!

My mom came over with her awesome wax and warmer and we pampered ourselves.  

Here is Brigetta showing off the warming gloves with her wax covered hands.

 And here is my finished look for my manicure.  It's a little harder doing a French manicure at a reclined angle.  Thanks for coming and getting pampered with me!

A good day of pampering ended with a shot in the bum!  Oh how I hate those shots, but so glad it's only once a week and not more often.  3 down, 14 to go... I hope!

21 Weeks!

I am 21 weeks today and we're so glad we have made it another week!  Our goal is to make it at least another 15 weeks and my friend commented to me yesterday that this is just a different kind of marathon training.  It's kind of crazy to think it took us the same amount of weeks to finish our training.

I had a follow up on Friday with Dr. Blea.  (He is the specialist that did my surgery.)  He said the stitches are holding up and everything looked good.  He said I should continue the advice of Dr. Hodges as far as bed rest goes since he is my physician.  So I am still down and trying to find things to do to keep my mind busy.

Friends have brought books, magazines, movies... and sweets galore!  People, we want this baby to come out chubby... not the mama!  My mom also made a countdown calendar with a little surprise something everyday so I have at least one thing to check off.  Wednesdays we do a game night, Fridays we do a movie night, and Saturdays are our "Hooray we made it through the week" reward nights.  The other days have something like a quote and then "read two chapters from a novel."  Every day is covered up so I don't know what game we are supposed to play or what movie to watch.  This last Saturday our reward was to buy a new outfit for the baby.  So I did a ton of online shopping trying to find the "bring home" outfit.  I finally decided on the one I wanted and sent Andy to go buy it since I was too cheap to pay for shipping.  When he brought it home I kept looking at it thinking it was too big.  My girls never fit into any newborn outfits so I was thinking a 0-3 month outfit would be fine.  However, I forgot that this one most likely will not make it full term.  So I have another one on hold and Andy better do his duty and pick it up after work.  :)

My friend, Sarah, also brought over a huge bag of stuff.  She looked on Pinterest what to get women on bed rest.  I thought it was awesome!!!  Now I have many things by my bed that I never realized I would need before now... tissues, lotion, lip balm, nail polish, air freshener, a book of crossword puzzles, a book of sudoku puzzles, and the one that made me laugh... animal cookies!  Two weeks ago I was at her house and her daughter was sharing her animal cookies with me.  I had mentioned something along the lines of, "I know this is silly, but I love animal cookies."

And the last bit of update... I had to have my first shot at home!  I can't remember if I had mentioned this before, but I also have to have a progesterone shot every Friday.  It has to be administered in my bum so someone else has to give it to me.  And as much as I love Andy there is no way he is coming near me with a needle!  My friend, Molli, happens to be a labor and delivery nurse and lives less than a mile away.  (She gives these shots all the time.)  And she agreed to get friendly with me for these 16 weeks.  Andy picked up the medication and supplies and brought them home to me.  I did a dumb thing and opened the bag!  It was all over after that.  I hate needles with a passion!!!  I literally screamed when I saw the giant needles!  When Molli came over I handed her the bag and told her I didn't want to see anything.  She was kind of laughing and told me the needles I saw were the filter needles and I should look at the actual one going in my bum.  She didn't believe me that I was so nervous my hands were sweating... So I wiped her arm and then she finally turned away to finish doing whatever she needed and I told her not to tell me anything... "Just do it!"  When she was finished I told her she could put everything back in the bag and then put it in the drawer where I don't have to see it.  She was still chuckling to herself when she left.  One down, fifteen more to go! (I sure hope)

Goals for today: "Keep pregnant" and read 2 more chapters from The Help.

We're Home!

We were able to come home yesterday afternoon!  The nurses came in and said that everything looked good enough that the doctors were going to let me go home.  So Andy packed as fast as he could and we were out of there and home by about 1:30. 

It was nice and peaceful when we arrived and settled ourselves back in.  Brigetta and my mom showed up after school to help with the girls and things around the house.  I am so grateful they are here to help beyond words.  It's going to be a difficult adjustment and I spoke to a friend of mine who was on bed rest in the hospital for 8 weeks with one of her kids.  Some of the advice she gave was, "Remember you can still do everything you want, it just needs to be delegated" and "you can lead your troops from behind, just not on the front line."  She also said to remind Andy if he thinks I can do more, "I can either do the bed rest at home... or in the hospital."

Right now I'm trying to catch up on bills that need to be paid (thank goodness for online banking) and finding other things to do in bed.  As always I am up for visitors anytime.  I'm not going anywhere.

Keep Pregnant

I am exactly 20 weeks today and our goal to "keep pregnant" is still being achieved.  Dr. Hodges came in on Saturday when we were expecting him to do the surgery and said, "I don't feel comfortable doing a cerclage on you at this point.  Your cervix is really thin and starting to cone already.  I would like a specialist take a look and decide."  So we waited some more. I was told to go ahead and eat since they didn't know when the specialist would be in to see me and I had already waited 12 hours.  Andy had literally put my sandwich on my hip when Dr. Hodges walked in and said, "Don't eat! Dr. Blea is here and he decides to do the surgery you may go right away." We waited some more and then the nurse came in and said, "Go ahead and eat.  If they do the surgery it will be tomorrow."  I asked Andy to pop my sandwich in the microwave for a second and again he had just handed the sandwich to me when the nurse came in and told me they were ready for me to do an ultrasound.  I wanted to cry at that point... again... because I was so hungry.  The nurse just said, "Take the sandwich with you. We have yo-yoed you around long enough."  After Dr. Blea did the ultrasound and took a really good look at my cervix he decided to go forward with the surgery but that it really all depended upon how things looked once he got in there.  It was scheduled for 8:00 Sunday morning.

 We went in for surgery and there were comments about my pedicure and I laughed because my friend, Becky, and I went to get mani-pedis done on Thursday so that she was all pretty to deliver her baby... I ended up being the one to go to labor and delivery before her.  They started the drugs in my IV and I quickly fell asleep.  Andy was told the surgery went well and they were done within 15 minutes.  I was put back on complete bed rest and told I would maybe go home on Tuesday.

I was having some respiratory problems yesterday but that seems to be checking out okay now.  I was on oxygen all day yesterday, but I'm off and breathing fine on my own.  I still have the compression boots on my legs, an IV (no fluids) in my wrist, and a monitor on my belly to make sure I'm not having contractions.  My new nurse walked into my room and I said, "Jody!!!" She was my nurse when I was pregnant with Katie and I was always fond of her.  It was nice to see a familiar face in what Andy is starting to call jail.  Our view is pretty pathetic... bricks everywhere!

The doctor just came in and told us we get to go home today!!!  We are so glad, but we know it's going to be a long haul.  I will be on bed rest for the time being and possibly the rest of my pregnancy.  My doctor wants me on strict bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy and only get up to go to the bathroom.  "Sloth!  That's what you're going to be."  My mom and Brigetta are helping out a ton!  And the RS will step in with meals and checking on me during the day.  I will have a follow up with the specialist in about a week and then I'll be turned back over to my regular OB doctor and I'm sure we'll reevaluate often.  I've only been on bed rest for a few days but the boredom is going to be a trial.  I am definitely not a home body.  I like to get out everyday and this is going to be difficult.  So, if you are ever bored yourself come see me or call me because I will be available. :)

Also, Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!  Hope you're wearing green... if not, I can't chase you down and pinch you anyway.  I'm glad my hospital gown has green pin stripes on it otherwise Andy might pinch me to have a little bit of fun in this "jail".

Happy Anniversary... and the hopital

I just had to write a quick update on our neck of the woods.  It's mine and Andy's 11th anniversary today!  Our plan was to have our big ultrasound yesterday at three and find out the gender.  Afterward we were going to celebrate news and anniversary with some shopping and eating at Tucanos.  Then have a night to ourselves at home.  I made arrangements with my sister to pick up the girls after school and then keep them till ten Saturday morning.  Well... our plans changed dramatically.

We went in for our ultrasound and right off the tech measured my cervix and said, "When you're done here we'll have you go see the on call doctor."  I said, "I have an appointment with my doctor on Monday.  Do you want me to just wait till then?"  She replied, "No.  We'll have you go see the doctor right after this."  I asked what could be the outcome and so forth and then she said it depended on the doctor but that I may be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy but it really depended upon the doctor.  We finished what we could with the ultrasound... I say that because the baby was moving so much the tech couldn't quite get all the measurements needed.  Yes, we found out the gender but we are keeping that between Andy and I for now.

The tech walked me straight back to Dr. Lowder and Andy headed back to work and asked me to call him when I was done.  Dr. Lowder explained that my cervix is really thin and already starting to cone.  This causes preterm labor and could have been the cause of our miscarriage at 16 weeks two years ago.  He sent me straight to the hospital!  So I called Andy twice without an answer.  I texted 911 and then he finally called me back.  I told him I was being admitted to the hospital and when he asked why I started to cry and said to just meet me and I would explain everything.

 I've been on bed rest since and today they will do what is called a cerclage.  Basically they sew my cervix shut and until they do I can't lay flat on my back, sit up, or walk other than to go to the bathroom.  The cerclage will be removed about 36 weeks and Dr. Lowder said that usually patients deliver within a week or two of it being removed.  Right now we are just waiting to know when the surgery will be done, but it's all nerve racking.  We'll know more after the surgery, but the good news is they caught it and the baby is still looking good.  Dr. Lowder said, "I'm so glad they caught it... I'm so glad they caught it.  If it had been another week things could have been really bad."  At his office he had explained the risk of a cerclage, but that if I didn't do it I would most likely lose this baby, too.  He also said that most of the time a cerclage is done about 12 weeks.  I'm 8 weeks past that already! 

We see tender mercies from the Lord as we talk about everything.  I was so sick up till a few weeks ago and because of that I spent so much of my first trimester in bed.  That took pressure off my cervix.  I also stopped watching Owen much sooner than I imagined because of our little scare at week 8 and that allowed me to rest.  If I had been watching him still it would have been hard to lay down so much and I would have been picking up a very big boy.  And of course this is the one that I am most grateful for, but scheduling our ultrasound was also a tender mercy.  If I had scheduled a visit with my doctor and the ultrasound back to back it would have been pushed out another week.  We decided we didn't want to wait to find out the gender so we scheduled our ultrasound for yesterday and a doctor visit for Monday.  I am so glad we were impatient.

Andy and I have been laughing through tears that our insurance plan renews on April 1st... Which means we will pay our deductible and max out of pocket twice this year.  Instead of a quiet evening at home we get to stay in the most expensive hotel in Boise... the hospital!  Don't misunderstand... we are so glad they caught everything and we don't really care about the bills at this point.  We are just so thankful our little baby is safe and they are trying to fix what is wrong with my body.  We are also thankful that I had made previous plans to have my sister take the girls and that they are taken care of as well. 

I'll try and update later, but for now keep baby in your prayers that it stays put for the next 16 to 20 weeks.  And last little note, because I thought this was kind of cute.  My board with all my nurse and room information says "Today's Goals/Plans/Progress: Keep Pregnant".

Thanks for reading.

Last update... and a miracle!

I mentioned in my previous post that I've been a slacker.  Let me explain...

If you remember (or if you actually read it) my really, really long post to catch up over the year I talked a lot about fertility issues.  We had gone to see a specialist in November and found out that my right fallopian tube is completely blocked.  We also learned through genetic testing that Andy is a carrier for the Cystic Fibrosis gene.  After spending a lot of money and finding out those things the doctor recommended we go through IUI treatments.  We ultimately decided we were going to wait till after the holidays.  While down in Utah for Thanksgiving I also mentioned that I wasn't feeling great.  I felt just kind of "icky" the whole week.  I wasn't throwing up or even to say I was sick... I just didn't feel my best.  I also had some other symptoms that normally I would have thought, "Could I be pregnant?"  But I knew that wasn't even a possibility.  I thought for sure I had been ovulating on my right side during my recent cycle (blocked side) and I was in Vegas for most of my "ovulating days".  So I kept telling myself there is no way I'm pregnant.  Well, I was supposed to have a visit from my little friend on Thanksgiving and it never happened.  I was frustrated when we came home and I still didn't get a visit.  By Sunday morning I thought, "I'll take a pregnancy test and it'll be negative.  And then I'll start later today... because that is how it always happens!"

This is what I saw just barely after washing my hands!  There was no question!

I flew open the bathroom door and said, "Andy!" He was a little taken back and said, "What?" I said, "I'm pregnant!"  Andy was then surprised and said, "Are you sure? Let me see... That's awesome!"  He gave me a high five and then said, "That just saved us $3,000!"  I laughed that he first gave me a high five but then followed it with a comment about the cost.  I'll take it, though.  When I told him I was pregnant with each of the girls his response every time was, "Oh, crap!"

Although we were very surprised and happy to see the positive test we were still cautious because of my history.  I called the fertility office and my doctor's office the very next morning.  I didn't know who I was supposed to see at that point.  The specialist had me go in Tuesday morning and get my blood drawn and get my Beta levels checked.  I had the results sent to my doctor's office as well and waited a few hours for the results.  Since I was barely 5 weeks I was thinking the numbers would be in the 200 range or so.  (Anything above a 5 is positive for pregnancy) I had two different nurses call me back.  They both said, "You're definitely pregnant.  Your levels were at 2,906."  I was kind of quiet on the phone for a second and then said, "What?"  I wasn't sure if I heard the number correct.  I heard correctly and then they wanted me to go in on Thursday to make sure my levels were going up.  Those results were 5,686!  They were definitely going up as they should.  They immediately started me on a low dose of Aspirin (blood thinner) and a Progesterone suppository that I had to do every night.  Next they scheduled me to have an ultrasound at my 6 week mark.  We could see the heart beating, but it was too small to measure how many beats per minute.  So they scheduled me to come in the following week.  At that ultrasound the heart rate was measuring at 146!  The normal range is between 120 and 160.  When we did meet with my doctor for the first time he came in with a huge smile on his face and said, "Oh, I was so excited when I saw your name on the schedule!  I was almost jumping up and down because I was so excited!  Congratulations!!!"  We were glad to see things were going as they should, but still cautious.

(Funny and very smart Katie... along with telling the girls)

Katie came RUNNING down the stairs yelling, "Mom! You're pregnant!!!  You're pregnant!!!"  I was a little surprised and trying not to smile I said, "What makes you say that?"  She said, "Because, I saw that thing in your bathroom.  It has two lines.  Two lines means you're pregnant!  Ashley come see!!!"  I didn't say anything to deny or confirm it other than, "I didn't say I was pregnant." and hoped she wouldn't say anything else. Andy and I decided we were going to wait to tell the girls till we were further along that Katie was right.  We went to get our Christmas tree and on the way home we were listening to the radio.  They were having listeners call in and tell things they did growing up they always thought was normal until they reached adulthood and realized it wasn't.  A girl named Samantha had said something along the lines of they used to go to the bathroom with the door opened.  I laughed and said, "Samantha, was that you?"  Andy said, "She's not the only one that leaves the door open.  And if mommy's baby is a boy that better stop!"  I shot Andy a look and said, "I thought we weren't going to say anything yet?"  He smiled and shrugged.  Katie smiled and with a sly look on her face she said, "I knew I was right.  I knew you were pregnant."  The girls were very excited and wanted to tell everyone.  We told them it needed to be a secret and they couldn't even say, "I have a secret, but my mommy said I can't tell you" because that gives it away.

(This part it a little gross... sorry.)

It's normal to have a discharge with the suppository and although it was annoying I didn't worry.  That is until the color changed.  It freaked me out when it turned a dark red color.  It was the day after Christmas and I had just woken up.  I immediately called the nurse and she said, "The only thing we have available is in 45 minutes.  Can you make it?  If not you can wait till tomorrow and see Dr. Hodges.  He is not in today." Of course I wanted to go in and know either way.  I hate the waiting game!  Sammy had just left with my mom and I couldn't leave Ashley and Katie home.  I called around frantically trying to find someone to take them without any notice.  After about the 6th phone call I dropped them off at my friend, Angela's, house.  I called her on the way to apologize for literally dropping my kids and running.  (I didn't even shower.  I threw my hair back in a pony tail as I was brushing my teeth.)  I eventually broke down and cried to Angela because I was nervous about the results.  My mom by then had dropped Sammy off at the house and realized my car was gone so she took her back to her house.  (This is when I didn't have a choice in her going to my mom's house and she ended up getting sick.)  Andy met me at the doctor's office and were relieved when we did the ultrasound and the lady said the baby had a strong heartbeat.  She also said, "Everything I can see here looks really good.  So hopefully the bloody discharge has to do with the cervix and not the uterus.  That's something you'll have to ask the doctor.  But as far as I can see everything looks really good."  I told Andy, "Sorry for being a nervous ninny.  And I know I should have a sigh of relief, but I just can't do that yet."  Andy had an amazing response of, "You're not crazy.  You did the right thing to check and make sure.  And I don't think you will have that sigh of relief till the baby is in your arms."  I was glad he was there.  I picked up the girls, went home, and finally got a shower just before Dallin and Brindy showed up for the week.  Needless to say it was a stressful day.

After our little scare I decided I really needed to take it easy and focus on taking care of myself and this little one growing inside me.  I stopped watching Owen mostly because he is such a big baby and I was scared to death to pick him up.  I know that seems silly, but the kid was 20 pounds by the time he was 6 months old!  And I swear the boy gets bigger every time I see him.  Most of my days were spent vegging out at home and trying to get enough nutrients in my body.  Later on I started to shake a ton!  I tried eating more, but nothing seemed to help.  Dr. Hodges told me that I probably have a bit of a hyperthyroid problem.  After talking with my sister-in-law and hearing her experience with it I felt like that was probably what it was.  Dr. Hodges pleads with me to get more protein in my body... but that is the thing I can't stand the most!!!  It all makes me nauseated!  Meat, cheese, yogurt... it's all gross.  And the worst part is Andy decided to start the Atkins diet which is a ton of meat!!!  He makes eggs every morning for breakfast and I want to punch him every time!  To me it smells like vomit, it lingers in my house all day, and then it happens all over again in the morning.  So disgusting!!!

It was hard to keep it hidden since I started showing pretty quick.  Friends and neighbors wondered what was going on because I was starting to get chubby in my midsection and not doing much.  I even had one friend trying to get it out of me and she said, "So do you still run in the winter?"  I knew what she was getting at by the look on her face.  I responded with, "Normally I run through the winter, but I haven't run since Thanksgiving."  She then smiled and said, "Why???"  I told her it was okay to ask me and she said she had suspected for a few weeks but didn't want to say anything and be wrong.  Some people in our ward are just finding out and I want to smack them and say, "Did you honestly think I just got really fat all of a sudden!?"  And then I'm glad to hear my cousin say, "Corey came home one day and said Alanya looks pregnant."  I know I wasn't in the best shape of my life before we got pregnant, but come on!  I am very round and obviously not just overweight.  Not only that I am super emotional.  I cry at the dumbest things.  One day during activity days my friend Melissa was our guest speaker and asked if I would stand with her and the YW she brought and recite the theme.  I agreed and when we started I couldn't stop the tears.  I've said that theme a million times!  Melissa kind of laughed and said, "It's fine. She's pregnant."  All the girls looked at me in surprise!  Whoops!  Melissa didn't know we weren't exactly telling people at that point.

The girls were so excited when we told them on Valentine's day that they could finally tell their teachers.  The teachers were all surprised when they found out the girls had been keeping it a secret for nearly 3 months.  They still whisper, "Do they know?" when someone is around.  I always respond with, "Honey, it's obvious now and I think everyone knows."

We go in nearly every week to make sure things are going well.  We've only had three visits where they didn't do an ultrasound... So my fridge is covered in pictures of the baby.  My friend, Brenda, brought me a present 2 weeks ago and said, "I saw this and thought Ally needs this."  It was a frame to hold your ultrasound picture with a caption underneath that says, "Coming soon".  We were having another ultrasound the next week so we decided to wait and get a better profile picture.

When we opened the frame we realized there were several captions you could put in it not just coming soon.  The girls and I chose "bun in the oven" as you can see.  Ashley asked what that meant and Sammy responded, "It means Mommy has a baby in her tummy."  Ashley said, "I know that, but what does it mean?"  I replied, "It means Daddy's been doing some baking and he put a bun in my oven."  Ashley then said, "Daddy's a good cook!"  I laughed so hard!!!  Our little bun is growing and it's heart rate fluctuates from time to time.  It's gone from 146 all the way up to 176 and back down to 144.  We've been told not to worry at all and that is completely normal.  As long as it stays in the 120-160 range (well, as long as it stays above 120) there is nothing to worry about.  We did ask at the last ultrasound to take a peek and see if we could see the gender.  The baby had it's ankles crossed and it's legs tucked way up under it's bum.  It was moving a ton during the ultrasound, but kept it's ankles crossed.  We have another ultrasound 2 weeks from Friday and hopefully the baby won't be so modest... that's the only time in it's life I will say that!  Any guesses as to what the baby is?  Boy?  Girl?  Definitely not both!  I've heard that more than once... mostly by Katie.  She wants there to be two.  I keep telling her there is only one.  And then she'll say, "But one could be hiding behind the other one."  I tell her that can happen, but we've had so many ultrasounds they would have seen that by now.  Only one!

Here are my growing baby bump pictures:

12 weeks

(end of the day... I always seem to be bigger at night when I relax a bit more)

 14 weeks

 17 weeks

This one was taken Monday in the late afternoon

Also, if you have any suggestions for names I would like to hear ideas.  We are super picky and have a couple rules.  It needs to be a name (or something that can be shortened for a nickname) that ends with a long E sound.  Andy, Ally, Sammy, Ashley, Katie... we want to stick with it.  We don't want any family names and boy does that make it hard!  We don't like duplicates.  (Sorry if I'm offending anyone who likes to do family names.  It's not our thing.)  And last, if it's a boy we can't have any J names.  He would have the middle name Edward... here is where you are going to think I've fallen off my rocker!  It is Andy's middle name and his dad's middle name.  This is our only exception to a family name.  Andy is the first born son and he would like our first born son to carry the tradition.  You might be thinking what's wrong with a J name?  When we were pregnant with Sammy and didn't know she was a girl we had a boy name picked out, too.  If she was a boy her name was going to be Jacob Edward---way before Twilight ladies!!!  We thought it was a good, strong name and then my little brother ruined it... before Twilight ruined it for good.  He said, "You are such a jerk.  Why would you do that to your kid?"  I was confused thinking it was a great name.  He said, "Did you ever think about his initials?  They would be J.E.W.!  He would get teased all the time."  Thanks a lot!  So now all boy J names are out which totally bites because there are a bunch to choose from that go along with our theme... Jamie, Jeremy, Jeffery, and the list goes on.  I am open for suggestions because everything I've taken to Andy he immediately shoots down.  I have 2 baby name books and I'm still at a loss.  Sammy was the only one who had a name before she was actually born.  Poor Ashley was 3 days old when we finally agreed on her name.  And Katie popped up as a contender during labor, but wasn't named till she was a day or two old.  I'm open to suggestions.