Pregnancy Update

With the last post I announced that I could go on a dinner date with Andy and I was SO excited about that... Well, at my very next appointment my cervix had thinned to 0.6 cm and that made my doctor nervous.  I asked him if I could still go on my date and he told me no.  I was so bummed and then asked, "What if Andy wheels me around?  Then can I still go?"  He held out his hand for me to shake on it with my promise that if I was in a wheelchair then I could go.  Andy's sister and her husband, Mindy and Doug, met us at the Cheesecake Factory and we had a great time visiting with them.  Afterward I made Andy wheel me up to Motherhood Maternity so I could get a couple new shirts... this baby is getting big and I'm growing out of some clothes.  And of course you can't complete a date without stopping at Walmart.  We went in to get iron supplements (test results showed I'm anemic) and a couple things for the baby.

Last week at my appointment my doctor wasn't quite so nervous since my cervix looked stable again.  He told me just a couple more weeks and no more bed rest as long as everything was still stable.  So today was a "keep your fingers crossed" kind of day.  Guess what?!  I need to finish out this week of bed rest and then I was given the thumbs up to get off bed rest!!!  My cervix looked stable and the baby was looking good.  I still need to take it easy, but I don't have to stay down all the time.  HOORAY!!!  I got the first steroid shot today and I'll get the second one tomorrow... OUCH!!!  (Holy cow that sucker hurt!  And I've kind of gotten used to shots in my bum.)  After that we can breathe a little bit.  My doctor told me that typically he doesn't let his patients get off bed rest at this point, but he didn't want me to get off bed rest and then immediately have a c-section.  He wants me to have time to let my muscles rejuvenate a bit.  So he said to take it easy and listen to my body.  If I go into labor before 35 weeks its NICU time no matter what.  I promised I would be careful... and really I get worn out just getting cleaned up for the day so I doubt I'll be running around much anyway.

32 Weeks (and 1 day)

Now for the fun stuff!!!

Bow Ties or Pearls?  Is it a BOY or GIRL?

I know some of you have been waiting patiently to know the gender...

IT'S A

 

GIRL!

Yep!  We are four for four!  There are a few family's in our ward that have all girls and the husbands would say to Andy, "You know if you're having a boy we're kicking you out of the club, right?"  Andy would respond, "I think I can sacrifice... but I'm sure I won't be out of the club."  When we found out the ultrasound tech didn't even need to say anything.  She just moved the Doppler down to the bum area and Andy said, "Dang it."  The tech laughed and said, "You are familiar with that picture"... she already knew we had three girls at home.  I had to show excitement so I laughed and yelled, "Wahoo!!!"  I was very excited to have another girl and Andy has come to terms with it.  After I was sent to the hospital and put on bed rest he was happier about her being a girl since we have at least clothes to get her through the first 3-6 months.  That was a stress relieved with her being a girl and not a boy.  Now we just need to decide on a name. :\

 

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".