Happy Friday!

You know, all along I've said this pregnancy was nothing like when I was expecting Abigail. That fact continues to be true, as this morning I awoke to some bleeding and wondered what in the world it was. After waiting a little bit, having another episode, but still no contractions, we called the dr.'s office. They said to come on in, considering that the placenta previa was still considered marginal, and that Abigail came a month early. We got ready fairly quickly, wondering if this was a false alarm, or if Elijah was really on his way. The kids were excited and hopeful he was, and James and I were praying he wasn't yet. :-)

We spent a couple of hours at the hospital, doing the routine urine, weight, and blood pressure check first, which were all great. I was having more cramping by then, but still nothing that felt like labor as far as I could tell. I talked to a nurse, explained what had happened, and compared it to the early labor with Abigail, which was the perfectly textbook scenario of my water breaking, mucous plug passing, and then contractions beginning. She could see Elijah was still pretty active, from all the jabs and pokes he was giving, and neither of us thought he'd dropped any. I waited a little longer to see Dr. R. and then he finally came in. At first he said he wasn't planning on doing an exam, because of the placenta, but as he checked my chart and saw it had moved, he decided to go ahead and see if anything was happening. He said Elijah is still up pretty high, and that my cervix seemed to not be doing anything at that point. So, he considered sending us for monitoring in Labor and Delivery, but then opted to just have a non-stress test done in the office. He feels the bleeding was due more to the placenta, but at this point, it's just hard to say.

We sat for a while watching the monitor read his movements and the irregular contractions I was having. Neither the dr. nor nurse was too concerned, and felt we were fine to go on home after that. They both said I needed to take it easy and be "a lady of leisure," which is a humorous statement to a mom of 2 at Christmas season. But, I know their point and will try to take it easy. Dr. McK saw us in the hall as we were leaving, and felt good about the results too, (he'd checked the test strip) and said for me to just not "check my brain at the door," because this also might indicate something will happen before too long. So, we're just waiting. :-) Who knows if we'll be back at the hospital in a day or 2, or if we'll still be hanging out till his due date? I'm praying he's here before the holidays, but am fine waiting till God decides he's ready. We don't want him here too early, obviously.

Today was a good trial run, and we know now the things we need to get done definitely before it's the real thing. Thanks for praying for us. We'll keep you posted if anything else happens!!

34 weeks

We're at the 34 week mark, and Elijah is doing well. He's still moving regularly, and in addition, I've had more Braxton-Hicks contractions this week than the entire pregnancy combined. Sometimes they are quite inconvenient, occurring around midnight for some reason, and though irregular, lasting longer than I wished. Afterwards, Elijah seems agitated and gets all busy, moving around. I guess they wake him up and he is complaining. :-) The sinus crud of months ago has returned with a vengeance and I'm struggling with coughing and yucky nose syptoms. right now. I'm hoping it will quickly improve, and know lots of folks are dealing with the same thing. I feel your pain. It's no fun not being able to breathe.

Thankfully, we had something fun to look forward to, despite my feeling less-than-stellar this week. Yesterday we were so blessed to have friends that James works with at Children's NICU give us a baby shower. Some of the folks we'd hoped to meet were unable to make it due to family and work commitments, but there were still several ladies there, as well as Greg, the other male nurse that works with James, and his closest friend at work. We met at the Olive Garden and enjoyed a great lunch there, visiting with nurses and respiratory therapists from his shift. We all had great cheesecake bites one of the nurses brought for dessert. Then they showered us with such amazing gifts, we were moved to tears. Many people he works with, from his shift, and even other shifts, contributed towards the presents we received. Our favorite, and the most generous, was a gift card to get the nice convertible car seat we'd hoped to save money towards and get at a later date. We were overwhelmed, since the ladies who had coordinated it had told James they wanted to get us something "big" but we were certainly not expecting more than the car seat, if they were able to do that much. They sure went above and beyond, giving us sweet outfits, diapers and wipes, toys, blankets, pacifiers, and all kinds of cute and useful baby boy items. The kids and I loved getting to visit with the people James spends so much time with, and it was so nice seeing how much his co-workers think of James and how they honored him. We're very, very thankful indeed!

33 weeks

Our little boy is 33 weeks old today. He seems to be moving less violently (no more jumping jacks), but still regularly enough that I never worry. I know he just doesn't have as much space anymore to wiggle as much as before.

The hiccups last night lasted a LONG time. What a funny thing to see my abdomen jumping in such regularity and to be able to do nothing about it. I have had difficulty sleeping for weeks already, due to just being unable to get comfortable, but last night was the first time hiccups were the culprit.

Here's my email update for this week:

"This week your baby may be anywhere between 17 to 19 inches in length and weigh more than four and a half pounds. Your baby could grow a full inch more this week alone — especially if he or she has been on the shorter side. Weight gain can range from a third more growth to a full doubling before the big debut.

The level of amniotic fluid in your uterus has reached its maximum, making it likely that you have more baby than fluid now. That's one reason why you're probably feeling lots of nudges and pushes — there's less liquid to cushion the blows.

If your uterine walls had eyes, here's what you'd see: your fetus acting more and more like a baby, with his or her eyes closing during sleep and opening while awake. And because those uterine walls are becoming thinner, more light penetrates the womb, helping your baby differentiate between day and night (now if only baby can remember that difference on the outside!).

And good news! Your baby has reached an important milestone about now: The development of his or her own immune system that (along with antibodies from you) will be able to provide protection from mild infections."

Yeah, I liked that paragraph about his weight possibly increasing that much more in the next 6-7 weeks. Doubling might just be a LITTLE extreme - a 10 pound, 12 ounce baby? Sheesh, let's hope not!

A big praise I have to share is that we were so thankful to be able to get a recliner a couple of weeks ago, and it has proven to already be worth every penny spent. When I can't get comfortable in the bed, the recliner really is perfect. Heartburn and achey back and hips are much better when I'm slightly upright. We're very thankful for many friends and family members who contributed monetarily at our shower towards that wonderful chair!! I know it'll come in handy once Elijah is here and there are times he needs rocking or feeding and I am so glad there will be a place to go that is comfy, and not necessarily just my own bed. I didn't have a rocking chair or anything with Abigail, and it was so easy to fall asleep feeding her in the bed, and we got in a habit of that so that she hated her bed for a long time.

It was one of those things I really didn't want to do - co-sleeping was just not what I'd planned on, but became the pattern for us for over a year. It was more survival than anything, because of my own fatigue and her being accustomed to it, and I just didn't have the energy to work to get her used to her bed. If Elijah ends up with me in the bed some, I'm o.k. with it, but I'd prefer him to sleep in his crib if he is cooperative. So, the recliner will be a great option for me to get up and go to in the middle of the night to nurse him, instead of bringing him to my bed. I can picture us both snoozing in that chair a good bit in those first weeks/months of near-constant feedings, and that's o.k. too. At least I have another option this time. What a blessing!

Weird

This silly baby has the hiccups. He hardly ever gets them, but he has them right now. They're pretty strong too - my whole belly is vibrating. I am tired and want to sleep, but can't.

Just wanted to post this very important information, since my Overthinker friend thinks I've stopped blogging forever. :-) I'm sure she's glad I'm sharing this now.

G'night ya'll - hope you are resting peacefully!

Latest, great news!

We were thrilled today to have a sonogram to check out our baby boy, and the position of the placenta. As many of you have prayed, God answered our prayers they way we specifically requested, and it has almost resolved! YEA!!! The tech said that it is still considered a marginal previa, but with Elijah now in position with his head down, as he moves further down, that he'll probably help it totally get out of the way. This is such a great thing, meaning we should not have to do a c-section, and I can deliver him vaginally as I'd desired.

It was harder to see his face today, because he is squished down so low, and is facing up into my abdomen right now, but we were able to catch little glimpses, and see his heart beating well, his cute, round tummy, and legs, feet, hands and arms. So sweet...the kids again loved seeing their little brother, and commented on how cute he is. And, of course, we're not biased at all. :-) He is still measuring ahead, and at a pretty good size. I'll be at the 33 week tomorrow, and the tech said he is just under 5 1/2 pounds. We are tickled he's growing well, and happy to know that as of now, things look just wonderfully well.

We were waiting for a minute on the nurse to check my blood pressure and weight (both were good), and Dr. McKenzie saw us and came in to say hi. He said though they'd like the placenta a couple of centimeters away from the cervix, he was pleased and felt that the tech was right, and that it'll probably continue to shift a little. He said even if it didn't, he saw no reason we couldn't plan on a vaginal delivery. He was very happy for us, and agreed that God had answered our prayers in a terrific way.

I had my quick visit with Dr. Radbill, and the nurse who showed me to the room commented as she was putting my chart in the door, "You're not even 33 weeks and this baby is measuring 5 pounds, 6 oz.?! Wow!" [I'm getting a lot of that, and comments on how big he's going to be, when who really knows?! :-)] Dr. Radbill was pleased with the change in the placenta and my measuring, and is very encouraging that things are going well. Other than sore, swollen feet still, I have no complaints or concerns. I'll go back in two weeks for just a regular visit.

Thank you for encouraging us as we waited for this day, and for the prayers you've lifted. A caesarean would not be an awful thing, but I really had hoped to avoid yet another surgery if possible. My mom was overjoyed with the news today, especially because of the complications of that ovarian remnant possibly needing to be dealt with, my propensity for bleeding insanely, and the history I have with my blood pressure bottoming out during previous surgeries/anesthesia. We're all relieved that those things just won't have to be a concern anymore, as far as we can tell. What a wonderful bunch of praises to add to our Thanksgiving list of things to be grateful for!!

32 weeks

It is so hard to believe I'm this far along in the pregnancy, and that we're within 2 months of holding our little boy! This has been a busy week already, with vision screenings for both kids, a follow-up eye check-up for Isaac who now has glasses ordered for his far-sightedness. Today I had my regular annual eye appointment. I was actually not supposed to go until January, but since I was down to my last pair of contacts and knew that it would be hard to go with a newborn, we bumped up the appointment. Everything was fine, and I'm glad to have that out of the way. We are done with doctors for the week hopefully.

My sweet best friend from high school, Julie, had her 3rd baby yesterday. Her name is Corlee and I can't wait to meet her face-to-face. She joins sister Christa and brother Canaan, and I'm sure they are all enjoying getting to know their little sister! Julie and I were so excited to go through our pregnancies together this time, since we haven't had the opportunity before. It was really special to be able to share maternity clothes, and discuss all the crazy changes we both were going through physically and emotionally, in preparation for these new little ones.

Elijah is still very active, and seems to be pressing on something giving me a good ol' case of sciatica. My left foot stays swollen all the time, and I'm struggling some with fatigue, from the lack of sleep due to my sore back/hip. This past week I've spent any moments free trying to organize his baby clothes, and make room for his things in Isaac's room. It's a little overwhelming trying to fit it all in there, but it's going to work I think. It's so sweet to handle those little outfits and choose my favorites to take to the hospital. I have packed his bag already, so will work on mine next week. Then, we'll just be waiting for the big day!!

31 weeks!

Today was another check-up, and it went well. I had gained 3 pounds these past 2 weeks, so that wasn't awful, considering all the yummy birthday and shower food I've had lately! Blood pressure was great as usual, at 116/70, so my continued swollen feet aren't really an issue to be concerned about, other than the discomfort.

Dr. R. was encouraging about Elijah's size, and surprised at how big he seemed to feel to him, based on where I am in the pregnancy. He glanced at the last ultrasound report though, which showed him in the 80-90% in all areas, so agreed that apparently our little boy is healthy and growing well! He also thinks he may have turned and be head-down now, so that's neat. I'll go in 2 weeks for the next sonogram to see if the placenta has moved any, and he was encouraging that it still could change if it hasn't already. So, I'll update you on the 19th and maybe we'll know more about whether we'll be waiting on Elijah to come on his own, or if he'll need to be delivered early by caeserean. Thank you for your continued prayers for us as we look forward to our baby boy's birthday with much anticipation!

30 weeks

Our fabulous friends gave us a baby shower/brunch today. It was overwhelmingly beautiful, with tons of good food, and precious fellowship. We received many sweet gifts and were so touched at the work that was put into making it a very special occasion as we celebrate this little boy we can't wait to meet! Numerous friends were there, including Julie, my best friend since high school, and even a former first grade student and her mom. My parents and brother came too, as well as an aunt and cousin, so that was all awesome! Here are a few pictures, with more coming later probably.

This 30th week of the pregnancy has been a nice one, with milder temperatures, and James home from work. Elijah is still moving a ton, and hangs out pretty much on the right side of my belly. Sometime it looks super weird, with the big lump that is him, being so lopsided. :-) I've felt pretty good overall, just feeling somewhat uncomfortable trying to sleep, but know it's not for much longer...and that's really been a sad realization! I have loved being pregnant again, and sharing this time with Elijah inside of me is something hard to describe. It's a relationship neither of us will ever have with another person in the same way, and is just a unique blessing. I'm so, so grateful.