Bed Rest Scare

Today was just supposed to be another routine visit. At this point I'm seeing the doctor every two weeks till week 34. We are currently at wk 32 and I thought so far so good. Doctor had other thoughts on his mind.

We had our regular visit; hi - how are ya - how's everything going - let's listen to her heartbeat. As soon as I mentioned that my contractions seem to happen sporadically but sometime so hard their quite painful and asked if the baby can bruise you from the inside out he quickly listened to her heartbeat and ordered a sonogram. They always seem to rush you in and out of every appt since there are so many others after you I really didn't have time to ask if everything was ok or if I should be concerned.

So after waiting over an hour for the sono they called me back. Denise did my sono today and it wasn't like normal. Ya know, lets get some pix of the baby and check out her size. First, it was questions in regard to how I've been feeling and if I knew why doctor ordered the sono today. Well of course my red flag when up and my heartbeat became more rapid. I was nervous and alone. Matt was working and couldn't break free last minute and my mom had to run her kindergarten route. I was alone and very uncertain on the news I was about to get.

They did all the measurements on Blueberry and the placenta. They did the measurements of blood flow and amniotic fluid. They checked her heart rate, which was 139 bpm. Denise said this was fine and she was probably sleeping which is why it was a little lower today. Everything seemed to be normal, then I relaxed a bit but I still had my guard up. So after fighting w/ Blueberry to give us a good facial shot, which we had no luck at, she gave me the news that they had to check me vaginally to see if my cervix was shortening up any, which is a result in having strong, consistent contractions like I have been lately. I asked her what it meant if it had, Denise informed me that doc would typically put me on bed rest for a few weeks. Panic struck at that moment!!! I wouldn't be a very good bed rest candidate at all!!

Denise was very prompt about the results of her measurements and everything was normal. What a relief! I am now to limit myself and what I do. I'm not on bed rest but I need to act like I'm pregnant and not like I'm running a marathon anymore. Be aware of my body. Pamper myself, and the most difficult part of all for me; Ask for help! UGH!!!

I immediately called my hubby and told him the good news that Blueberry was healthy and NO bed rest for me and he immediately laid the law down on my do's and don'ts. I love getting lectured at my age.

So anyway, that's my story of the Bed Rest Scare. Hopefully that will be the last time those words are ever spoken again throughout our pregnancy.

Hiccups are a wonderful thing.

I've been waiting and waiting for little Blueberry to have hiccups and finally last weekend she did. They were very distinguishable too. I was very worried that she may not even have them since it was getting so late in the pregnancy and they usually start up with then around 6 months, noticeably. They say that hiccups help develope their lungs. Caleb had them all the time and was for the most part and still is a very healthy child. I was afraid if she didn't have them that she could have some complications with her lungs. Even though my doctor insisted she would be fine. I'm just a worry wart, but now at least I know her lungs are working good. I can also tell that she is still head down from where the hiccups are most felt.

Well we've made it to week 32 and are feeling good. So we only have between 5-7 wks left. So hard to believe she is almost here to meet us. The excitement is filling in the family.

LONG Night, Nervous Times

Yesterday was an exceptionally bad day. I don't know why but I felt like crap all day. Yes, this was baby related and it scared me a little. Even though I would never let Matt know that.

All day yesterday I was having what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions. I mean ALL DAY!!! I really never started worrying about the until about 3 pm. It was just a normal thing to happen to every prego lady. Unfortunately, from 3 pm on there seemed to be something different with each one. They were more sharp, painful, and it felt like Blueberry was sitting right on my my pelvic bone.

I never timed them, and I'm not sure why. Maybe because I didn't want to be an over-reacting mother and call my doc and bother him on a weekend for nothing or it could have been that I didn't want to accept the "possibility" of preterm labor. I don't know, either way I was in partial denial.

When I got home I started doing some laundry and after a couple of trips up and down the stairs I got strict orders from my wonderful, supportive, but definitely over protective hubby, to go and lay down for a while and get off my feet. Of course, even after my arguing with him I was banished to my room for a while.

After about an hour of laying down (still contracting) I got up to try to walk it off. I thought maybe I was just being too lazy and some exercises/movement would do some good. Wrong....I made it as far as the kitchen and doubled over with another sharp contraction. Luckily Caleb was there for moral support and tried to massage my back...he's so sweet to me. After that moment Matt told me I needed to start monitoring my contractions.

What I found out was that my contractions were coming every 5 minutes and lasting a minute each. I was told that if contractions went on for and hour straight then labor was starting. Now I was getting a lot more nervous. We are only at 30 wks and have at least 7 - 10 wks to go. She is way to little to come now. Fortunately, this only went on for 45 min and then just completely stopped so no phone call to the doc or trip to the ER was needed. Matt couldn't believe how hard my stomach was getting. He's really not going to know what to think when we go in to have her.

Needless to say I think I'm going to listen to my body a little more now. I hope with all the contractions I had yesterday they didn't hurt little Blueberry. She seemed to stay very active all day so I'm going to pray she is still fine. She's even moving around a little this morning. I think I'll stay down the rest of the weekend besides going to church. I have a lot to pray for.

Crib and Changing Table

Last night my wonderful husband got home after having a not so good day and headed straight for Blueberry's room. He scoped it out as to where he was thinking the furniture would fit best and then headed to the attic to bring down her crib and changing table.

He had to put the crib together, of course, but with his great construction know how he had it all put together in 20 minutes or so. Thanks babe!! Now with the crib up and the changing table in place, I can start cleaning it all up today after work. Then we can start decorating her room!

Tomorrow we are heading to Baby Depot to shop for some decorations to help complete her room. I have a list of things to get but we'll have to see what we actually come home with.

I'm also hoping to get over to Old Navy and Baby Gap and Gap. I would like to look at more pretty girl clothes and also pamper my Little Man with a couple of new outfits before heading back to school Monday. His new school shoes, Nike Shox, came in the mail on Wednesday and he is just dying to be able to wear them all the time. He told me "Mom these are the coolest shoes you've ever gotten me!" It's so sweet and innocent yet sincere. He's my boy who will always melt my heart and know how to make me feel like a good mom.

Blueberry updates

Yesterday was a very busy day for us. As you know the first thing to be done was the carpet laying in the baby's room. After they were finished I could tell it was going to look very good with the decor in the room. Once Matt vacuumed it last night and got all the shreds of carpet up knew it would be perfect for her room. It's so soft and bouncy to walk on, she is going to love it as much as we do. Now all that's left is the setting up and decorating. My kind of work! I can't wait till this weekend gets here. Here is a shot of the room till Saturday.

Blueberry's Room

We also had our Pix for Kicks ultrasound yesterday at 5pm. We got in for the appointment right away and Tori was our sonographer. My mom and Caleb were able to join us for this event and enjoyed every minute of it. I don't think my mom was able to whip the smile off her face the entire appointment. It tickled her to see my stomach twitch and bulge every time Blueberry moved :-)

Blueberry was still playing hard to get. We were only able to get two really good shots of her face the rest showed her hands and legs in the way. It was a relief to find out that she is no longer Breech. Joyce mentioned last Thursday, August 13th, that she was butt first and not to worry about it baby's usually turn on their own by 35-36 wks. Well, I'm pretty sure she turn the Tuesday evening, August 18th, (just 5 days later) I was very uncomfortable all night.

No matter what we are grateful to know that she is progressing well and looking healthy as a horse. She is definitely kicking and punching a whole lot harder now. Here are a couple of our best shots. Enjoy!!!!

Blueberry at 28 wks 4 days

Finally, and most importantly, we've finally chosen her name. This will not be known to anyone besides Matt, Caleb, and I until the day she is born. We feel this is one thing we can keep to ourselves to help make us feel a little closer when speaking to and about her in our home.

It's all coming together and I'm feeling really good about everything. I feel after yesterday everything will be on the downhill stretch for us :-)

Carpet is going in the baby's room today...yay!!!!

Today is the day I've been waiting for since I knew we were prego. This morning at 7am Jason was at our house ready to lay the carpet in Blueberry's room. I've never been more excited to see someone show up at our house that early in the morning!

Now that the carpet is being done this means that come this weekend Matt, Caleb, and I will be busy bringing down our crib and changing table and setting up where I want everthing to go. Maybe I'll even be able to talk a shopping trip to Baby Depot too. There are still a few little odds and ends to pick up for her room there yet.

By my calculations we should have a whole month to just relax and prepare ourselves for little miss Blueberry's arrival. This should be plenty of time to visit the hospital, try to talk Matt into taking a labor and delivery class (wish me luck on that, he doesn't think he needs any help), signing up for Baptismal classes, and most importantly ~ PICKING OUT HER NAME!!!!!!!

Matt did spend all evening last night on Baby Center looking at every name possibility there was. I do think we have it narrowed down to three possibilities now though. So I do feel a lot less stressed about this now. However, no one will know what we've chosen until the day of her arrival. That is the one thing Matt, Caleb, and I are keeping to ourselves. So until that wonderful day we will all refer to her as "Blueberry".

28th Week...Beginning of 3rd Trimester

Well, today marks a big day for us. We are welcoming the beginning of our third trimester. It's exciting and scary all in the same. I'm excited that she will be here in about 84 days or so. However, scared that even through all my planning something might have been missed or something will go wrong during labor. I'm sure these are all normal feelings but for me they can be a little overwhelming at times.

Yesterday we went in for our 28 week checkup and sonogram. Anytime they schedule a sono I get butterflies because it's just another opportunity to see our little Blueberry again. To ease our minds (ok, just my mind, cause I'm the worry wart) that everything is ok and she has 10 fingers and 10 toes and everything else is normal too. My M-I-L, Susan, even joined us for her 1st ever experience with a sonogram. It was a great memory to have. She just kept smiling right along side of her son the whole time. A true KODAK moment!

Unfortunately little miss Blueberry wasn't very cooperative with us. Right now Joyce (our favorite sonographer ever) told us she is breech but that it was ok for now and not to concern ourselves with it just yet. She will more than likely turn herself by the 36-37 wk. Blueberry kept playing little games and putting her hands in front of her face and blocking Joyce from getting a good picture of her. Joyce insured us that Blueberry still has plenty of room the move around but evidently she didn't want to be photographed. Joyce did tell us that she weighs about 2.7 lbs. and 14.5 in. Not bad I said. I still think she is going to be a big baby but Joyce said she didn't think so. We'll see.

The shot below is the best picture of her we were able to get. Remember it's not the best, but I still love it!


We were even able to see her sucking on her fingers. It was so precious. Even though it was so cute on the sono I really hope when she comes out she isn't a finger sucker, to me that is a hard habit to break. At least with a pacifier, you can cut the nipple off when the time comes and tell them it "broke". You can't do anything when they suck on their fingers. I'm not going to worry about it until that moment arises.

I will start going in for checkups every two weeks now and at 36 wks I'll start going every week. It's going by so fast! I feel like I just found out we were pregnant. She'll be here in no time :-)

UGH....15lbs

Let's face it, the scale is most woman's enemy. So far in my pregnancy I really haven't been too upset about the weight issue. I'm definetly small than I was when carrying our son Caleb, which is a huge accomplishment for me. I have noticed that with Blueberry, my hips immediatly popped out which in turn help my butt to get wider. Matt tells me I'm silly, but lets face is ladies, we know!!!

Well this morning I was curious as to where I was at with my prego weight and stepped on the scale. UGH...talk about starting off your day on the wrong note. I've hit my 15 lb mark. I feel like I shouldn't be that heavy yet. I really don't eat to far out of line. If I do Blueberry helps to make me regret it.

What is normal weight gain for 6 1/2 months? I wish there was a chart you could follow to see if your weight was right on or if you needed to worry about. You know a monthly progression chart like they have for the developement of your baby. I know not everyone is the same but there has to be some kind of average doesn't there? Blueberry is only around 2 lbs right now so I know the rest of it's not in my boobs.....lol

Just being a worry wart as usual. I'll just have to ask next week.

Almost complete

Last night Matt finished painting the spare bedroom/office downstairs and now all that's left is laying the carpet and putting in the drop ceiling. I can't wait till this room is completely finished so we can finally get started on decorating Blueberry's room.

I keep telling Matt that I just feel like I can't help with anything because he's been dealing with construction (which he is amazing at) and I know absolutely nothing about it. The baby's room is right up my alley plus I'm going to love finalizing everything because that means she'll be here right around the corner.

I've made a list of all the things that Matt and I still need to get to decorate her room. Things like; The Sugar Plum trash can, table lamp, hamper, curtains, wall letters - to spell out her name, the receiving blanket, and a few butterfly throw pillows to decorate her bed. I can't wait to have everything in order. I guess they always say, "You save the best for last". Blueberry is definitely worth the wait as hard as it may be.

I haven't had a chance to upload the newest pictures of the new room yet. I'll be sure to show off a couple when I do. I love showing off my studly husbands talents ;-)

Tender Lullabies

Last night I had to make a quick trip to Walmart that should have taken literally 5 minutes. Well, wouldn't you know that the school supply list is out and Caleb was with me so we had to shop for the stuff before it was all picked over.

So then once that was completed then I had to take a trip to the baby isle just to look around, again. It's so fun, especially when Caleb's with me :-) So while we were just "browsing" we found a cute lullaby CD from Fisher Price for just $10, so we had to buy it. Yes I did listen to every track and it was so sweet. Now I just need to burn it to my ipod and let baby Blueberry relax to the instrumental sounds of her 1st CD.

Now I'll just have to find some headphones that will fit my belly. The ones I had won't stretch enough. Watch out, Wide load comin through ;-)

It Finally Happened

Everything in our pregnancy has pretty well been going by the book. I haven't anything to complain about. I haven't gained hardly any weight at all yet and that really makes me happy. I'm eating pretty healthy, I give into cravings for some sweets or fast food every once and a while. but for the most part I'm doing a good job.

Last night the most wonderful thing happen. Matt finally felt the baby kick!!! It was a very exciting moment for the both of us. Matt's exact words were "That was WILD"!!!! He has always told me that watching me get bigger and getting to feel the baby would make it "real" for him. Now it's "REAL".

Next week Friday will be our 20th week. The time has seemed to just fly by. I was hoping to just sit back and enjoy every part of being pregnant however sometimes I forget I'm even pregnant since I'm on the go constantly. Then when I have a few minutes to enjoy getting a belly, or have a craving, or even feel the baby kick or move around it's late and I'm tired and fall asleep. I think after we find out what we're having we'll (I'll) be able to relate and talk with it more. Be a little more personable.

The baby has been moving around for about 3wks now that I could feel. It's been kicking/punching for about a week and a half. That's what makes this so great, they don't hurt yet. Sitting hear at work and feeling the beautiful life growing inside of me. Something we've worked so hard to have, just saying "Hello, I'm here now". This makes me melt. I know it sounds weird but I find myself constantly staring at my stomach when I'm up walking around. I can't help it, it's just so incredible. I want to meet our Blueberry. I can't wait till we can put a name w/ it too, other than Blueberry.

We've made it!

Today is a day to celebrate! Matt and I have made it to our 2nd trimester. I know this may not seem big to most but for us it's a huge milestone. We have tried so hard and so long for this beautiful time and now I feel like we can sit back and enjoy the rest of this time.

Caleb is really coming around and showing signs of how good of a big brother he is going to be. He is showing concern for everything I do to make sure I'm not overdoing anything. He has told us that he wants to be at the sono when they inform us of the sex of the baby. He still thinks the only thing we should bring home is a boy though. I don't think that's ever going to change. The good thing is, if we are informed we're having a girl then we have around 20 weeks to get him ready for her :-) He'll do just fine either way. He's my wonderful little man!

Thank You

I want to say Thank You to everyone for all your sweet comments and especially those who have taken the time to send us cards.

We really appreciate all the kind words and support. We have been wanting this little edition for our family for quite some time now. It's wonderful to know we have great friends and family that will be with us every step of the way!

I plan on updating everyone often. So often you'll probably get tired of my proud momma moments. So I'll just say sorry now to everyone for being annoying.

Everything is going great!! Tomorrow we will hit our 13 week point w/ just 1 more week before gliding into our 2nd Trimester. Can you believe how fast time flies? I want this to last forever, we tried too long and too hard for it to be over so quickly.

I luckily haven't gained ANY weight yet. Caleb even looked at me this morning after I got dressed for work and said "Mom, you don't even look fat yet." I had to laugh so hard because all who know Caleb he is the sweetest however the most crucially honest little man you'll ever meet. If I were to ask him if I looked fat in something, he would tell me with no uncertainty in his voice, YES!! if that were the case. I so respect that of him. On the flip side he lets me know when I'm "One Hot Momma" too. He is just my little companion.

I am fearing that in the 2nd Trimester I will gain a ton of weight. Matt was a big baby 8-9lbs. Caleb was only 7lbs 12oz and he was very hard to push out. I was only 6-7lbs. I'm petrified that this baby will be at least 8 1/2 lbs and I'm going to struggle carrying and pushing out.

Now that you know our weights, what do you think our baby will weigh at delivery? I am interested to know what everyones thoughts are on this. I think it would give my family some good conversations and possibly some good laughs.

Let me know what your thinking :-) Don't scare me too much!

Well, The time has come.....

OK, the time has come. Thankfully to my wonderful S-I-L Christina who helped me with the final "technical" details tonight. Your the best C!!!

This announcement has been a work in progress for the last few years and I'm very excited to let it out!

To all our family and friends I want to share with you our proud family moment..........in another six months you'll get to meet him or her yourself but for now we have photos!

Please meet our newest addition: "Blueberry"




Matt and I are expecting our 2nd child to our family. We couldn't be more proud!!! We've work so very hard to accomplish this, it's truly our 2nd miracle in life......1st and foremost will always be our son Caleb.

Caleb took this news a little harder than we'd hoped but now that quite a few weeks have gone by and we've kept him informed about everything going on he seems to really be coming around to being the BIG BROTHER :-) It was a lot for my little 10 year old to take in after having mom and dad to himself for so long. All his emotions were expected, he's only human. He'll always be my little man!

Anyway, thanks for your patience while I worked out all my computer faults to get these pictures scan to our computer. Thanks again to Christina for keeping me from pulling my hair out, I was so ready to tell the world but didn't have everything ready to make this announcement complete.

Our due date is tentatively November the 8th. Yes, this will also be our 6th year wedding anniversary. What a wonderful gift!!!

Just a little ending note. No matter how bad you think things are getting for you, or you just don't feel strong enough to carry all the burdens and difficulties in life; Remember God will never give you more than he knows you can handle. I'm a firm believer in this. Always count in the Lord to help you through everything.

In ending I would love to share with everyone my most favorite poem of the Lord called:

Footprints in the Sand

:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,

other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed

that during the low periods of my life,

when I was suffering from

anguish, sorrow or defeat,

I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,

"You promised me Lord,

that if I followed you,

you would walk with me always.

But I have noticed that during

the most trying periods of my life

there have only been one

set of footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most,

you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,

"The times when you have

seen only one set of footprints in the sand,

is when I carried you."

Author: Mary Stevens 1984

I know many days seem like we're on our own. I know this last year took a HUGE toll on me but as long as I had the Lord in my heart, he always carried me through my troubles and pain. You just have to let him in and give him a chance.

God Bless!!!!!