21 days and counting.

We get to deliver Sean by c-section on June 19th. He weighed 5 pounds 10 ounces at my last doctors visit. I'm so ready. My car seat/stroller was delivered yesterday. Now they will let us leave the hospital. We had to custom order his crib bedding because of the round crib. It should be ready in 2 weeks. We did not have enough going on in our lives, so we scheduled surgery on both of Aric's feet last Wednesday. It was much more difficult than we thought and the anesthesia made him sick. His pain was more than we remembered the last time he had the procedure done on the left foot. He is over the worst of the pain now, but still uses my wheel chair to get around the house during the day. It's a toss up on which one of us looks more pathetic at the moment. The day before the surgery we had to put Tux to sleep. I was to upset to handle going to the vet's office. Thank God Aric's cousin Shannon volunteered to do it and we took her up on it. We are now pet free and it feels strange. Needless to say, Krystal has been a bit emotionally unpredictable. She's had a lot of things to deal with for someone so young. She is still very excited about meeting her brother and talks to him every day. I am ready to be no pregnant any more, but have three long weeks to wait.

On Friday we all went to the doctor. the sonogram estimated that Sean weighs 4-9 now. He refused to let us get a good look at his face. The previous sonogram we got a picture of his face with his eyes open. It was very cute. Aric went to the doctor after my appointment and we are going to try to schedule foot surgery before my c-section on June 19th. Exercising really hurts his foot and we want to try to help him get better before he has to carry more weight. Krystal decided that she wanted to get her ears pierced. We took her Friday evening. She did great, I cried like a baby because she jumped. I had to use the pregnant emotional card to cover my tears when she asked why I was crying. The truth is I tried to leave the store and would have cried anyway. She's my baby and we just passed another milestone. She says her ears are "piered" now. We have had one minor mishap when one came out on Saturday and we had to push it back through with some difficulty. I actually helped then. I'm good in a crisis, just not voluntary pain. We had pictures taken Saturday as a family. My friend who is an excellent photographer came to our house. We did lots of fun poses that I would never have done in public. I think we got some really neat belly shots. I cannot wait to see the one where I am wrapped in red satin fabric. Needless to say.. those will not be posted here. But I will post some of the less exposing pictures when I get them back in a couple months. I hope everyone is doing well and avoiding flying pigs. Ta ta for now.

Tamara

week 31

Today marks 31 weeks gestation. We are all very excited and wondering just how much bigger I can possibly get. My doctor lifted the wheel chair requirement as long as I'm not up for to long. I've had to figure out the hard way that more than an hour out leaves me drained. I am learning so many things that are very humbling at the moment. We had some bushes removed and now I'm wondering how and when someone else is going to be able to plant flowers in the large area. Aric cleared the garden in the back yard and my urge to get out there and plant is very strong. Maybe I will just throw some seeds down and see what happens this year. I have had some pleasant surprises. I was able to register for baby items from home. The Wal-Mart site was the most difficult and time consuming to navigate. Those of you who know me, know my bias against the chain, but I promise their site was the most difficult compared to Target and Babies R Us. Target was the easiest and most fun. It still took all morning and left me very tired. Krystal is doing very well patiently awaiting her brother and the opening of the Hawaiian Falls water park. I think she is more excited for Hawaiian Falls. Aric's school semester just wrapped up and he will start an online class soon. We are down to one vehicle at the moment, so it will be nice for him not to have to be gone from early morning to late night. My last doctors visit had Sean weighing 3-7 on the 60th percentile. The doctor thinks he will weigh between six and seven pounds. I'm pleased to hear that I might be able to use a receiving blanket. Krystal came home at nine pounds and 21 inches long, receiving blankets did not work well with her. I have another doctors appointment on Friday, I'll post more then.

Tamara

week 29

I have had a wonderful week at home. The new pictures are when Krystal saw me at home. Sean weighed 3-2 last Friday and is in the 66th percentile. He continues to have a great heart rate and is very active. We go to the doctor for a sonogram once a week on Fridays. I have been behaving well most days laying around and letting Aric push me in a wheel chair. I got to go to church on Easter which was very nice. It feels weird being in a wheel chair and knowing that I am physically able to stand up. Aric has a fit when I stand to long. My nesting instincts are at war with my brain. I have three people helping me stay in line with my doctors recommendations.

We purchased a monopoly game for the Wii that takes considerable time. Krystal enjoys it.. she's a miser ( it makes me proud). It helps pass the time that I have to be sitting or laying down. I'm so ready to start exercising to get rid of some of this weight, but I have to be patient. Not my strong suit prior to this experience. Just 9 weeks to go before my doctor will deliver Sean. We are tentatively looking at June 17-19 sometime. I will post when we are sure.

28 weeks and home

It has been a very exciting week. Monday Sean reached another major milestone by hitting 28 weeks gestation. Katie and Ryann brought another cake and helped me celebrate. Just picture the last cake with four more candles. It made my day. I'm so glad we made it. My mother-in-law arrived on Saturday. That combined with 28 weeks paroled me from the hospital. I got to come home on bed rest with a wheel chair because I now have 24-7 care. We did not tell Krystal. She came home from school and saw me sitting on the couch. It took her a minute to make sure she was seeing correctly. Her comment "Momma, when I saw you sitting there I thought I was having a day dream." will be one of my favorite sentences in my life. She then started jumping up and down dancing around. Needless to say getting her to go to school on Wednesday was a serious negotiation. She does not want to do anything without me. It's great to be home. I'm surprised how difficult it is to sit and not help, but I'm not going to risk going back to the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy. I may be almost out of the catosrophic risk for now. The doctor told me that I'm at 2.3cm and I need to be 2.5 to be considered low-lying versus marginal. Just another month or two. We only have 11 weeks left of the pregnancy, so I will just finish this at home with any luck. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for your support.

Still hanging in there at 27 weeks

I am now 27 weeks. We got moved again into a room on the mom and baby unit. I'm surprised how quiet it is. I'm across from the nursery, but have not heard much crying. My view stinks, but hopefully I will not be here long. My status is the same, but Kathy (my mother in law) is coming to stay for a couple of months. My doctor will release me if I have no more problems and can have someone with me at all times. I will still be on bed rest, but at least I will be home with my family. I won't get excited until I'm in the car this time.
Sean had hiccups last night during monitoring, it was scary at first. I could hear his heart beating and then it would get silent for a second and come back stronger and louder. It took me a few minutes to figure out what was happening. It's so cool to hear him twice a day. I want to thank everyone for keeping us in your prayers. We have come so far. Only 12 weeks to go until my scheduled c-section.

Thankful... I guess

We had an eventful weekend. My sonogram on Saturday showed no signs of placenta near the cervix. The specialist said that I could be discharged on Sunday after a second sonogram to confirm my safety. Aric and I went into celebration mode. He has missed 15 sonograms, so I suggested that he spend the night on Saturday to see the last one I would have for a while. Sunday morning my doctor called it a miracle and gave me discharge orders. He said to take it easy for one more week and then I could even return to work and finish my pregnancy at no greater risk than any other woman. I was very excited; Krystal's birthday is Tuesday and her party is on Sunday. It had never crossed my mind that I would be home in time. We began packing my room. Gathering my towels, blankets and clothes. Then we had the sonogram. It was taking to long. The specialist was showing me how to distinguish the shades of gray.
Then he turned the color on to trace the blood flow. I saw a large red pocket directly over my cervix. I started to cry. Somehow I had a contraction that had moved a large blood vessel directly over my cervix. I tried to be brave for Krystal, but it was not possible. The doctor used the word "catastrophic" which had my attention through the tears. Krystal and Aric started crying with me. The doctor apologized profusely, but I would not be going home. We went back to my room and did what all mature families do... cried for an hour. Then we took a nap. Logic came later. It would have been much more dangerous for me to have made it home. I was still on bed rest and uterine relaxing medications when this contraction occurred. I felt nothing and would have had no warning, that something was wrong. So in the end I am very thankful to competent doctors who are very cautious with me and my baby. So Sean and I will stay in the hospital for the foreseeable future.