Doctor's Appointment

Today's visit with Dr. Flowers went very well, and I am in the all clear to resume normal activities.  Hopefully, the glucose test will have good results.  I am measuring right on track and moving right on along.

Kidney stones - Round 2

After two days of the pain getting worse, I had a very painful, sleepless night.  I once again visited labor and delivery, and I was admitted for a few days.  I tried to be tough, and the pain quickly got out of hand.  My baby girl is completely fine and this must be a little girl drama.

Labor & Delivery Triage

What a day!  I signed the boys in at school, dropped off a bunch of birthday goodies for Reed's teacher (since I volunteered to be room mom), immediately went to a curriculum meeting for Ryland, ran out to my truck to return a phone call, ran back in the church for MOPS, two hours later, I sped to MiChula's to pick up teacher lunch, and headed back to church to deliver the food.  At this point, I am running crazy, but the pain I have been having over the past two weeks had gotten to a debilitating state. 

Well, without going into details, a potty break uncovered an issue that had to be addressed immediately.  After a conversation with my doctor's nurse, I was told to go to the hospital.  I spent the afternoon, night, and next day at Baylor in labor & delivery.  I had kidney stones.  I could not believe that I suffered through the pain and didn't realize it was something bigger. 

It's a GIRL!

It is confirmed.  It is a baby girl!  I had my big ultrasound appointment today at my doctor's office, and it is now official.  I still can't wrap my head around the news.  I think this is shock.

 

Another look

We headed back to Stork Vision for the second gender ultrasound.  We had a different ultrasound tech, and she immediately said that we were having a girl.  My first reaction, "WHAT?"  I think John Chris and I both were in shock.  She easily pointed out the three white lines and no penis. 

So now we are clueless.  After we examined both sets of ultrasound pictures, we can definitely see the three white lines, but we just don't want to get really excited about it until we have confirmation.  We will wait until I go back to my OB before decorating the nursery.

 

Doctor Appointment

Even after my 8 week check up, I have been a nervous wreck.  I just keep thinking about all the what ifs.  I made a big decision to change OB/GYN doctors after several problems kept happening.  So after 10 years, I made the change to Dr. Flowers in Grapevine. 

 

My first appointment went extremely well, and I feel very comfortable with her. 

I elected to have the non-invasive genetic test to screen for Down Syndrome.  It wouldn't make a bit of difference to us, but it would give us time to learn and prepare.  I had an ultrasound, and I was thrilled to see our little baby doing so well.  The heartbeat was still strong at 160 bpm.  The ultrasound tech made a few measurements, and I had some blood drawn. The results will be back next week. 

 

 

Fertility frog

Showing up once again to share the good news.

We are expecting baby #3 on January 24th!

The procedure

This is not how I wanted this pregnancy to end.  The emotions are so difficult to work through, and the only thing that is giving some sort of peace is prayer.

John Chris and I spent the day at Baylor for the D and C procedure.  The staff, nurses, and doctors were very sweet and accommodating.  I held it together pretty well until the Chaplain came by right before I went to the operating room.  We chatted about the feelings that we are dealing with, and we were able to pray together.  She left a small stuffed lamb and some other items to comfort and assist with our grieving. 

The procedure was physically painless, and I am expected to recover within a week. I will take it easy and give myself the time.  I am looking forward to being back to "normal" physically.  I am sure the emotions will follow, but I am a short fuse of tears or anger these days. 

Sad news

The follow up sonogram did not go well.  The baby had not grown, and our precious baby's heart had stopped.  John Chris and I are filled with sadness and lots of questions.  It is really hard to stop thinking about how things could have been.  We were really excited and looking forward to the third pregnancy and welcoming another child into our lives.  The dreams had already started.

Going crazy

I can't keep my mind busy enough.  My thoughts are consumed with the worry about the new baby.  I have re-played the appointment over and over in my head, and I have analyzed every little comment from my doctor.  I have crunched the calendar, and it just doesn't work mathematically that I ovulated later. 

What can I do to keep my mind from going crazy?  Let's start some projects.  Clean out and organize both attics, get art framed, find a new rug, lamp shades, mirror, and drapes for the dinning room, re-arrange the family photos, build a new shelf in the family room, and insulate the garage doors.  I just can't let my mind have the time. 

The nights are too long...

Telling the family

 

We decided to go ahead and send a cute picture to our parents to tell them about the new baby.  We are hoping they get it, and we can't wait to hear what they think.

 

We had a few more printed for the whole family, but we decided to hold off until we know the baby is healthy. 

Pregnancy #3

 

We had our first doctor appointment and sonogram to check on the new baby.  We should have been 8 weeks along, but the baby only measured 6 weeks.  It was shocking to see how little the baby looked compared to our other two pregnancies, but we were thrilled to see the tiny heart pumping. 

After speaking with the doctor about the potential issues, we have one of two things to confirm with a follow up sonogram in one week.  The good possibility is that I ovulated later than expected, and the baby is actually only 6 weeks.  The bad possibility is that the baby isn't growing properly and isn't viable.

All we can do is give the baby a week to grow and continue to pray.

Another visit from the frog

 

Guess who made another visit?  The fertile little frog is here again with a positive pregnancy test.  John Chris and I are absolutely thrilled to add a third child to our family.  The due date is April 19, 2013.

Induction date is set

After visiting with the doctor today, we have set an induction date. We are scheduled for this Saturday, March 5th. It is not the way we wanted this pregnancy to end, but out of concern about the baby's size we have agreed to move forward. I am hoping he ends up a little smaller than estimated, but I really just want a healthy baby boy. It is so odd to schedule the day your child will be born.

I am hoping and praying this induction goes a lot easier on me and the baby. It is odd how all the emotions start to come into play. I am prepared for the epidural not to work again and the pain that comes with childbirth, but I am optimistic that the 3 hours of pushing won't happen again. As far as the baby, I am just thinking positive. I am praying for no NICU this time, and my baby boy being healthy without complications.

Doctor appointment

Once again, everything looks great with Baby Allison. The heartbeat was strong and stays steady at 145 bpm. He is measuring on target for a beginning of March arrival.

We are having a boy!

We had a 3D ultrasound this evening to find out the baby's gender, and we are having a boy! It was a wonderful experience, and we couldn't ask for better news. The baby didn't want to cooperate at first, so he wouldn't move to another position to give us a look. The ultrasound tech started lightly pushing on my stomach to move the baby. Ryland was standing on the stool right beside me, so he started poking my stomach also. It was his first few whacks to baby brother to show him who is the boss. It worked. The baby repositioned, so we could clearly see a penis. John Chris and I expected a boy and are excited about our growing sports team.

Doctor appointment

Today was my monthly doctor appointment for the belly bambino. Everything looks great and seems to be progressing normal. The heart rate was 156 bpm and all the genetic testing came back in normal ranges. We are almost halfway, and it blows my mind things are going so fast. We are not scheduled for an ultrasound at my doctor's office until next month, so we are planning on a gender ultrasound later this week.

Telling the family

We wanted a creative way to tell our families about our pregnancy, so we bought Ryland a Greatest Big Brother shirt. John Chris and I thought is was cute, so we put it on him for lunch at the grandparents' house. We kept waiting and waiting for someone to notice it and ask. After lunch John Chris's grandmother asked what Ryland's shirt said, and he told her. He then explained to the family that we are expecting another baby. Everyone was so happy and excited for us. It was hilarious, because after we finished talking about it his grandmother asked if she had missed something. Hahaha!

When we got back home we wanted to get a picture of Ryland in the shirt before we gave him a bath and put him to bed. We found out it was pretty hard to get him to stand still, so we could snap a shot. He decided to start rolling around on the floor.

He then ran over to the corner and grabbed a book to block the shot.

John Chris finally held him still and held his arms back so I could snap the shot. Doesn't he look happy?

Special news

Ryland and I wrapped a special gift for Daddy. It was to be a wonderful surprise that would be great news.

Even though Ryland helped me wrap the gift, he was pretty curious about getting the box opened.

He swore Cooper to secrecy and told him not to open the box before Daddy comes home.

Cooper knew what this special box means, because he helped me wrap it last time. Almost 2 years ago exactly.

The same sweet frog is back to hold the pregnancy test. We are expecting baby #2!

Ryland goes to the NICU

Our precious little Ryland is having some breathing problems, so he is going to the NICU. The doctors are concerned because I ran a maternal fever during delivery and his breathing is extremely fast. When he breathes his chest has a retraction which is an indention between his ribs. The doctors will run a few tests and get a chest x-ray to see what is going on. The lab test for an infection takes 48 hours, so it looks like we will be staying around the hospital for a few extra days.