32 week check up

Well I had a Dr. appt. on Tuesday. All was well except my BP was slightly high when I arrived(140/92). After waiting about 15 min. and rechecking it was down to 120/72. The Dr. says the baby is still head down. Although I'm rapidly gaining weight, my extra-uterine measurement is stable at 32 cm...finally right on the money for my gestation! We have a follow-up sono on this Friday. They really weren't able to get all the measurements that they wanted on the last sono because the child was in such a difficult position.

I'm feeling as good as can be expected. I try not to complain about anything because we wanted this pregnancy so bad. Since this is my first I also have nothing to compare it to which I think helps tremendously. I'm starting to feel big though. I told Steve tonight that now when my leg brushes against my stomach it's alomst as if that part of my belly feels numb...like when your foot falls asleep and you can't tell where your toes end and begin. It's really weird.

We made it through family camping last weekend. An older couple my grandparents go to church with were nice enough to let us borrow their camper. Although it wasn't hot enough to make staying outdoors miserable, I can't imagine having had to walk all the way up the hill to the bathroom 6-8 times per night! Thank God for campers. Oh, and we slept on the bunk that hangs over the cab. I'm happy to report that I didn't fall off one time. Nor did I step on Christopher while climbing down out of the bunk during one of my many bathroom trips. I probably would have broken his ankle if I had stepped on him. It's the small things that matter!

July 7th 30 week check-up

30 wks-taken 7/7/09
26 weeks

22 weeks

14 weeks

10 weeks-Oh, I'm gonna miss that stomach!

I went to the doctor today and got the official word that my sono was fine. My blood pressure was 114/64 and the baby's heart rate was great. Also, thursday night I was very restless with some contractions friday morning. I figured I was just gearing up for the crazy holiday weekend. It seems the baby has dropped down into position...anyhow that's what the doctor said. The doctor this that this probably stimulated all the contractions. Baby is definitely still head down and now that he has moved I am measuring a little more appropriately. Go figure! Enjoy the belly pics. Thought it might be fun for you all to see how much I have grown.

July 4th, 2009

We didn't do much for the 4th this year...certainly no bottle rocket wars and beer with my brother and Luke. Maybe next year! We did get a kick of watching the neighbors act like idiots and try to light each other on fire though. I worked Friday and Saturday this weekend and I also work Sunday and Monday. I think this is one of the first four day stretches I've worked since finding out I was pregnant. I'm gonna be exhausted by tomorrow.

Thursday July 2nd, 2009

This is a very clear shots of the foot and toes

with the hand all the way off to the right

Here you can see nose and lips

The blurry thing above his nose is his wrist

Since my extra-uterine measurements have still been slightly larger than what my doctor would expect we had a follow-up sonogram today. We are waiting until my appt. on Tuesday for the official word. But, from my limited yet educated knowledge of sonography everything looked fine. The baby was about 50th percentile on his weight and measurements which is exactly where we want him.

There are many reasons a woman can measure larger than what her doctor may expect. These include but are not limited to: the way the doctor measures, each woman carries differently, some women are difficult to measure, or the bladder may be slightly full or distended. There could be a problem such as: too much amniotic fluid(baby could have kidney problems) or baby is large for gestational age(sometimes a result of gestational diabetes or maternal weight gain).

I have been consistently measuring two to three centimeters larger than my doctor would expect for my due date. Since this has not changed the entire pregnancy and everything is very reassuring on sonogram this will probably be considered "normal" for me. Since we used artificial reproductive techniques to achieve this pregnancy the doctor will NOT be changing my due date. And just because I measure slightly larger than average does not mean that my baby will come out weighing ten pounds either.


So, all in all I am not worried. The baby is head down and seems locked in this position. He has been since about 23 weeks. This is exactly what we want however I won't lie and say that I am loving his feet all the way up underneath my ribs! I am considering myself very blessed. We haven't experienced any complications during this pregnancy yet. I have been as active as ever and feel pretty darn good considering my present condition.

Lake Bullshoals Vacation June 24th-28th

Steve kissing the bass for luck

1st fish for Christopher

I don't know what the middle monkey was doing

Bass catching mama

He looks so stoic in this pic

Unlike his silly father who always has some goofy expression

Scrawny boys, notice Steve with yet another confused expression

Hmmm...where do we start? The boys and I headed off to Lake Bullshoals on Weds for a little family vacation. There was the usual grunting and groaning about early morning packing. Of course we would have to take at least one wrong turn but that was quickly remedied as well. We followed our google maps instructions which seemed perfect until the last 15 miles of the trip.

The last 15 miles were all on county roads...in Arkansas. I found the entire 35 minutes utterly amusing while my husband on the other hand caused himself at least 20 more gray hairs. We crossed 3 creeks, all with low water bridges and all with water running OVER the low water bridges. Had we been in the truck this wouldn't have been such a problem. However, imagine our Impala loaded down with gear like we were headed off for a cross country move and you can see why this might be a small issue. I don't know how many times Steve said something along the lines of, "This Impala is NOT four-wheel drive" or "Where did you get these directions?" But Christopher and I were laughing so hard we were about to pee our pants by the time we got there.

The lake was beautiful but Lord was it hot! However, since it's hot everywhere right now I wasn't expecting any different. The water was so clear. They had huge storms last year and this year the Lake was still up about 25 feet from what the norm is. The guy that owned the "resort" we stayed at showed us how much the water was up last year and it's no wonder that the fishing was not the best. The depth was about 194 ft. at the deepest spot we crossed over on the boat but didn't go anywhere near the dam which I'm sure is much deeper and the water temp was anywhere from 91-94 degrees...not real refreshing but at least it was wet.

The "resort" as it was called was located about 3/4 mile off the shore. I guess since it's maintained by the Corps of engineers you can't actually build on the lake. This was a change from last year when we were spoiled as heck and stayed practically on the water. Our room was a mobile home. I could complain about the ammenities but considering it had running water AND air conditioning I'm not about to start! Just a different experience for us.

We all caught fish so we can't complain too much but the fat lazy bass were definitely not going to come after our lures in the heat. We did however do a little research on "sunfish" identification...a.k.a. perch for all you Kansans and now Christopher can tell you the four different types we caught and how to identify them. Some of the other people at our resort had about 6 different names and I swear each time they called a perch something else we all looked at each other like "What kind of idiots do they think we are, these are PERCH!"

The car ride home was a bit rough but we made it. Steve had a bad headache and was sick in the morning. Thank God we were able to pull the car over each time he needed to puke otherwise I'm pretty sure all three of us would have been at it! If you had seen the roads we were on you would know what I meant. I don't think the car agot above 50 MPH for the first hour and a half. Enough about that...The dogs caused quite the chaos at the kennel and were ready to come home when I went to pick them up. I had Dr. appt. Tuesday before we left. Everything seems fine but I am still measuring a little large for 28 weeks so Thursday I will have another sonogram. I'll post more then!

June 16th 2009

What is with all the carzy KS weather? We were without electricity again for the majority of last night due to the storms that moved through in the mid-evening. Thankfully we were not sucked up by some crazy tornado. Wait, was that I heard? That would be the TV weather lab going off with more warnings for tonight. Storms are building again. When will it end?

I found a really cool blog that I could spend hours reading and catching up on called Bring the Rain-the story of audrey caroline. Some people have ways of expressing themselves in words that bring tears to my eyes. I'm not gifted in this way, the Lord gave me the gift of being able to say it like it is! Sometimes this is good...sometimes, well, you know.

Anyway, check it out and have your Kleenex ready. By far one of my favorite posts is from June 5th and entitled, "Her, Here." I'm not sure why this particular blog has reached out and touched me so much. Just God's way of reminding me that he's still there I guess. I usually get that reminder when I least expect it.

We're very busy at work...still. My myspace status for the weekend was "My soul needs a break from all the sick babies." Somehow when I'm home though I find myself wishing I was there(this is after I catch up on my beauty sleep of course). Maybe I just love to hold babies, can't wait for mine to be here. Or maybe I just crave interaction from someone who needs somebody. My family always needs me but it's a different everyday sort of need. When I get emotional like this I just want to know that what I do makes a difference for SOMEONE...even one person. I got that reminder tonight when I came home to find an email from a parent whose child I had taken care of. The baby did not survive. How wonderful though that they still think of me and how wonderful to come home to an email that simply says, "You are a great nurse." That's all for tonight folks, I'm exhausted. I pray the storms die down and give everyone a reprieve. It would be nice to wake up on my own in the a.m. and not to a tranformer being struck by lighting!

June 9th, 2009

We tried to get a the 4D sono at BabyWaves this week. We went on two seperate days and the baby would NOT cooperate. He had his hands up in front of his face both days.

Hands to face

One clear shot, of one side of the face

There's that hand again

Baby's stats as of todays sono

Yep it's still a boy

Waving to the world

Okay, so next time(if there is a next time) we will most likely not waste $150 on this sono. Our child refused to cooperate in the least. He either had his hands directly in front of his face or was wedged so far up against my uterine wall that a clear shot was impossible. Oh well, it was worth a try. Steve says he just isn't ready to meet the family. On a good note, the doctor said everything still looked great at my appt today. Next week will mark the beginning of the third trimester. Yay! I think it's gonna be a long hot summer though.

I will now start seeing the doctor every two weeks instead of monthly and they will be checking me for gestational diabetes at my next appt. Things are getting really busy with work needing extra help and our family vacation fast approaching. We're excited though and I am just fine with time flying.