June updates

Over the past couple of weeks, we've had some exciting things happen at our house:

Maddie lost her first tooth. Her other bottom front tooth and two top front teeth are also loose. She's very excited about all of this.


We got a Wii! What an ordeal to get it. We knew when WalMart got their shipment in, so I called them and they only had 5 left. So I yelled at the girls to get their shoes on and out the door we went. We literally were jogging to the back of Walmart to get this thing. Yes, me, 8 months pregnant, jogging. I'm sure it was hilarious. We got the 2nd to last one! We got the Wii sports and Wii Play games. We are constantly looking for Mario Kart and the Wii Fit. Eventually we'll get it. But I won't be doing any jogging to get those two.



My Life Group threw me a diaper shower. It was so wonderful of all of them to do this for me. I have great friends. We had quite a few people there. And 4 more showed up around 3:30 when everyone else had left. It was fun and I appreciate Carla for opening up her new house to host it and for Mel coordinating everything for it. I received so many diapers and wipes. I literally have them under the crib because I don't know where else to put all of them. Jenny was the only one brave enough to buy blue things. I hope we get to use them! And Amy came all the way from Tennessee for my shower. OK, not just for me, she just happened to be here visiting, but I appreciate her taking the time to come to the shower.
Thanks again girls!!

Baby pictures in 4d!!

Looks like Becca to me....

This one looks like it's getting angry!

My amniotic fluid level is up to 28. My dr. says this baby just has it's own swimming pool in there. Lots of fluid. But she doesn't seem too worried. So I guess that's good.

I'm just past 34 weeks. So we're getting close! If I can just make it 3 more weeks, that would be fantastic. My dr. says I will because I'm not measuring big. I'm right on track. So we'll know more in the coming weeks.

No change

Amniotic fluid is still at 26. It didn't go up, so that's good. The baby looks great. The ultrasound tech switched it to 4D again. That is just unbelievable to me. This baby looks just like Becca. Russ said, "It looks like Becca, just more manly." He's hoping anyway.

My Dr. said everything looks great and it looks like I'll go full term. So that's good news for the baby. She told me that when it is born, she has to take a lot of time to suction out it's nose, and mouth. So if I don't hear it cry right away, to not worry. There's just a lot more fluid to deal with. So at least I'm a little prepared for that.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I know all will be fine. It's all in God's hands, so you know it has to be good.

Just 5 weeks and 3 days to go!

another update

I went to the doctor today to have my first biophysical done on the baby. It wasn't too bad. It was about 15 minutes long. The ultrasound tech checked the heart rate (152), watched it breathing and watched for movements to be sure it wasn't under any type of stress. I didn't know babies would "breathe" in utero. But their bodies go through the breathing motions. They have to practice for when they are born.

This baby was sleeping today. She kept shaking my stomach so we could see movements. Everything looked good. It's kidney's were holding very little fluid. She said it was nothing to worry about at all, but we would continue to look every week.

My amniotic fluid level is up to 26. The ultrasound tech asked me if I was diabetic and I told her I had passed the 3 hr glucose test. She just went, "huh". She said that is the most common reason women have high amniotic fluid. But we don't know why I do. It's just weird if you ask me. But we'll keep checking on it every week. The biggest problem with it is that you go in to preterm labor. Your uterus can only stretch so much and when you have a bunch of extra fluid in there, it kind of gives the signal of "ok, we're ready to have a baby", when in reality, you might only be 35 or 36 weeks pregnant. So we are just going to keep an eye on it.

It was fun getting to see the baby. Janet went with me. (thanks Janet) She thought it was pretty cool too. At one point, the ultrasound tech turned the machine to the 4d view. It was so neat! I had never seen an actual 4d ultrasound. You could see it's chubby cheeks and chin and it's little nose and lips. It was really neat to see.

Anyway, here's the best picture of the 5 that she gave me. By the end of all of this, I'm going to have to have a scrapbook just for all of the ultrasound pictures. I've had it done at 7 weeks, 12, 20, 30, 32 and probably 6 more!

Dear Michelle...

Do not look up things on the internet. You will become more worried than ever!

Baby update

Good news and bad.
The good:I don't have Gestational Diabetes. Yeah!
The bad: The baby's kidney's are retaining fluid.

So starting next Thursday, and for the next 7 Thursdays, I have to have a non-stress test. Basically, this is a 30 minute long ultrasound. They will be looking at the heart rate, lungs and kidneys to make sure they are all functioning properly. If not, then I'll have more invasive tests to be sure the baby is not in any stress. And if it is, they'll be taking it early. I'm only 31 weeks, so I just pray I get to at least 36.

But that is all worst-case scenario.

My amniotic fluid level is a 23. My Dr. says she doesn't really worry until it hits 24. So I'm right on the edge of the worry-fence.

The fluid in the baby's kidneys is at the lower end of the spectrum. Nothing serious, just something to watch. That's what these weekly ultrasounds will be doing.

We're still going to try really hard to not find out the sex of the baby, but having a weekly ultrasound will sure make it hard.

Please just pray that everything works itself out. This has been one interesting pregnancy from the beginning. I think it's God's way of saying- "You need to talk to me more, so I'm going to give us something to talk about."

It's also a good way for God to show me that I don't have control. He is in control of it all. I felt like if I had gestational diabetes, then I could control it. There is something I could do to fix it- by eating well and exercising. But with this, there is nothing I can do but to pray.

I'm sure everything will be fine in the end. This baby is God's creation and He doesn't make mistakes. I believe things happen to teach us things. I've learned a lot in the last year. Lessons I don't want to have again, but am grateful for them anyway.

Maddie's big trip and Big 'Ol me

Russ and Maddie made a trip to Iowa over Memorial Day weekend. I didn't want to go because I still enjoy seeing my ankle bones. That won't last much longer, so I wanted them to be around as long as possible. Being in a car for 11 hours can make a pregnant woman's feet, ankles and legs do weird things. So Becca and I got to stay home.

We realized it was the first time Becca and Maddie had spent the night apart since Becca was brought home from the hospital. They missed each other so much. It was cute when Maddie got home. Becca just about ran past Russ to get to Maddie. She was so excited.

They got to spend a few days with Grandma and Grandpa and then to my parents for one night. Here are a few pictures:

I also wanted to share pictures of how huge I am. Last week I had to have a 3 hour glucose test and another ultrasound. My amniotic fluid level was high at 20 weeks and my sugar level was high at 27 weeks. So in order to rule out gestational diabetes, I had to have these tests done. I'll find out on Wednesday if I do have gest. diabetes. Hopefully not because I am addicted to snow cones and sweet tea right now.

Having the ultrasound was fun though. I'd never had one done this late. We could actually see the chubby cheeks of the baby and its' pointy chin. It kept sticking it's tongue out. That was really neat to see. It's hard to see in these ultrasound pictures, but I thought I would share them anyway.