My last (weekly) OB appointment before c-section

I went in for my last OB appointment on Friday, August 7th. More of the usual routine. My BP was actually good this time, 90/63. My weight was still "good", although if you ask me I'd say it is way too high! My urine also was good, no signs of sugar or protein. So off to the exam room I went to wait for my doctor to come see me. He came in (I saw the doctor who will be performing my c-section) and we listened to 'Lil Bean's heartbeat. It was loud and strong! He is difinitely happy where he's at in Mommy's belly! We went over the plan for Thursday, and it all seemed like textbook. I had a few requests, which he was happy to accomodate, and for that I am very thankful. I have my pre-op scheduled for Wednesday, August 12th at 10 am. Then on Thursday, August 13th, I am to be at the hospital at 10:30 to start the IV fluids and antibiotics. The surgery is scheduled for 12:30 pm. If all goes well, we will be discharged and allowed to come home on Sunday, August 16th, where we will begin a brand new journey. I am so excited!

Later that evening, Phillip and I went to the mall to make our heartbeat teddy for 'Lil Bean. We picked out a furry blue teddy bear, and we stuffed our baby's actual recorded heartbeat in it. We also put a heartbeat pulse in it. It is so cute! We got to print out the bear's birth certificate and all that cool stuff. We had a great time at Build-A-Bear! We will definitely take it to the hospital and use it as a prop for 'Lil Bean's newborn pictures!

I have some loose ends to tie up and errands to run before our big day. I hope and pray that I can get them all done. Kaleb starts school at Seffner Christian Academy on the 20th, so there's still quite a bit of stuff I need to do to get ready for that. So I guess I need to start getting busy and getting these things done! Wish me luck everyone! Thank you and God bless :)

Cerclage removal

My cerclage removal was scheduled for Tuesday, August 4th at 12:30 pm. Phillip and I arrived at the hospital at 10:30 am, checked in and was taken to my room. I had to wear one of the lovely hospital gowns and got hooked up to the fetal heartbeat monitor and contraction monitor. The nurse also started my IV. Once again, it took more than one try to get it going. She busted a vein and it was very painful. She finally found success the second time around. It was noon when my doctor came in and started getting his stuff together for the procedure. Then he started to try the procedure without any pain meds. That was a mistake!!! He ended up stopping, and had one of the nurses go and get some demerol to help with the pain. It didn't take long for it to start working. He then continued with the procedure, taking both stiches out. The entire procedure only lasted about 20 minutes. After that, I was monitored for contractions and any signs of labor, which thank God I didn't have any. I was discharged at 2 pm. There was some cramping that lasted throughout the next day, but went away eventually. I did not dilate any from the cerclage removal. So I guess we just wait to see what these next few days have in store.

My 2nd weekly OB appointment

I went in for my routine weekly OB appointment (2nd one so far), and I'd have to say I was quite taken by surprise by the change in plan. It started off as a routine visit; check in, get called by nurse, have vitals taken then wait in the exam room for the doctor. I got to see Dr. Den Haese, one of my favorite doctors in the practice. He looked over my chart and asked me if I had any questions, complaints or concerns. I told him nothing has changed since last week, I still have the pain in my right side. He told me that it could be appendix or gall bladder, which I quickly dismissed the possibility of it being appendicitis as I have already had an appendectomy. And we both dismissed the possibility of it being gall bladder because the pain is not associated with any type of nausea, vomitting or fever. So it seems like it is just a pregnancy pain. We listened to 'Lil Bean's heartbeat, it was loud and strong and we even recorded it so I can put it in a heartbeat teddy that I plan on making this weekend. He measured my belly, and it is still measuring ahead. With that being said, he started to express his concerns for the cerclage that is still in place. He said that his professional opinion is that the cerclage needs to come out because of the risk it imposses to me if I do go into labor before my scheduled c-section. My cervix would tear and that would cause a lot of bleeding, and they would not be able to repair the cervix right away because of the swelling, and that would mean me losing a lot of blood, something he is just not willing to risk. He said that there is nothing wrong with keeping things the way that they are, which is to remove the cerclage and perform the c-section all at the same time, but the risk is just too great if I do not make it, if I go into labor before August 13th. And we both agreed that it would be in my best interest to err on the side of caution, so we decided that we would remove the cerclage sometime next week. He then asked me if I wanted it to be an in-office procedure or if I wanted to get it scheduled at the hospital. So I asked him what the difference was, and he said that in-office they do not offer any type of anesthetic, which amounts to A LOT of pain, as opposed to the hospital where I would be given anesthesia. So of course I opted to have it done at the hospital, because I know from past experience how uncomfortable of a procedure this is, and I do not wish to be in any kind of pain. So he had the front desk call and make an appointment for my cerclage removal next week. The lady at the front desk called the hospital and I have an appointment set for next Tuesday, August 4th at 1:30 pm for the procedure with Dr. Grainger, the other favorite doctor who will be performing the c-section. We need to be at the hospital by 11:30 to start the fluids, and I can't have anything to eat or drink after 10 am. At least I can eat breakfast first! And thank God I don't need to go in the day before for pre-op! They did tell me that I would be able to go home once I feel up to it, but I can be there until 10 pm, it just all depends on how I feel. I hope that I get to come home and get settled in before that! The lady also got me an appointment for Friday, August 7th with Dr. Grainger, for our final OB visit before the c-section. So with that information in hand, I left the office. I called Phillip and updated him on all the changes so he could make arrnagements with his job to have Tuesday off so he can take me and be with me at the hospital.
When I left the doctor's office, I had a few errands to run and then I went shopping! I love shopping, and chopping always brightens my day. I got all the last minute things we need for both me and Bean. We have 2 more things to do before Tuesday - we need to go get 'Lil Bean's name embroidered on some blankets and we need to go stock up on food and household consumables so we can be pretty stocked up until a few weeks after Baby Bean gets here.
At this point, we are pretty much ready, just counting down the days!!! Thanks for checking in and if you can remember to say a prayer for me that everything goes well on Tuesday I would greatly appreciate it :) God bless!

My 1st weekly OB appointment

I had my first weekly Ob appointment on July 24th. As usual, the nurse took my BP, weight and urine sample, all of which were good. My BP was actually up this time at 68/80. She took me to the exam room to wait for the doctor. When the doctor came in, we listened to Bean's hearbeat which was strong! No u/s this time as the tech was out sick. That was kind of a bummer :( The doctor asked me if I had and complaints, questions or concerns and I told her about the nagging pain I have been feeling in my right side. She decided that since she can't do an internal exam to check my cervix as I still have my cerclage in place, that she was going to hook me up to the monitor to see if they were contractions or not. I was hooked up to the monitor for 20 minutes and contractions were ruled out; I just have an irritable uterus. Bean's heartbeat was strong on the monitor and he was kicking and moving alot! Everything turned out good and we are still on schedule for August 13th. My next appointment is on Friday, July 31st. As always, thanks for checking in and God bless :)

A new car and officially refinanced!!!

So we have been car shopping for a quite some timne now and we finally found a car we were both happy with and that fit our budget. We found a red 2005 Nissan Altima SL with very low miles (27,000 miles to be exact). It has black vented leather interior and a Bose sound system. Only thing it doesn't have is a navigation system and tinted windows, both of which we can get done through JUstin, Phillip's soon to be brother-in-law. We went to the dealership on Wednesday, July 22nd, signed all the paperwork and drove home in our new car! Sadly, Phillip had to trade in his motorcycle :( It's something we both discussed and agreed that we no longer needed it as we are expecting a baby and it's the mature thing to do.

And on Thursday, July 23rd, we officially signed the refinancing papers for our house. Our new mortgage is almost $300 less than the previous payment that we had, and it also includes our property taxes and home owner's insurance; both of which we were paying out of pocket the beginning of each year. Well, not anymore, as they are both escrowed in! This saves us a ton of money for us to save! Things are definitely looking up and we are both so very excited at all the blessings that have presented themselves to us. I can't stop praising God! He is so good all the time!!!

Also on Saturday, we meet up with a lady who was selling a car seat and stroller on craigslist for less than half the cost of a new one. I looked at it, tried it out, liked it and bought it from this nice lady! Not much left to get after this! I am sooo excited I can hardly contain myself!!!

As always, thanks for checking in and God bless :)

4th Bi-weekly OB appointment

I went in for my last bi-weekly Ob visit on July17th, and it was once again pretty routine. Signed in and waited to be called by the nurse. Once I was called, she took my BP, which was good but still a tad bit low at 78/58. My weight was good as well as my urine. I was led to the exam room where I waited for the doctor. When she came in, we listened to 'Lil Bean's heartbeat. It was strong as usual. She attempted to do a kick count, but Bean was too active, she just gave up! She measured my uterus and I'm now measuring 2 weeks ahead! She sent me in to get a quick U/S to see what Bean's position was. It was so great to see our baby boy moving around in my belly! He is now in a head down position! Which is putting more pressure on my bladder and cervix. But I only have 3 weeks and 6 more days to go!!! I am so excited to meet our baby boy! My next OB appointment will start the first weekly appointment and that will be on July 24th.

As I was leaving the doctor's office, I called to update Phillip and he was happy that everything is progressing good. I also talked to a good friend of mine, Shelley, who was on her way to her level II u/s to find out the gender of her twins and to find out about their health. I have been praying hard for her that all goes well. I told her all my news and wished her luck with her appointment. I was eager to hear back from her with the results.

When I got home, I did some more arranging in the nursery. There's not much left to do now. I need Phillip to hang the TV and dvd player in the nursery, hang Bean's name on the wall, move some pieces of furniture around. I have set up the pack 'n play and swing downstairs so it's all set up for when we get home from the hospital.

A little after 2 pm I got a call from Sadie updating me on Shelley. She told me that SHelley is having a boy and a girl and they are BOTH HEALTHY!!! Praise be to God! I am so happy for her! We will both have babies within 3 to 4 months apart. This is so exciting! Shelley called me later that evening and I celebrated her joy with her over the phone! I will continue to pray for her and the twins' health and ask that you say a prayer as well.

Thank you all for stopping by and reading! God bless :)

3rd bi-weekly OB appointment (8 months)

Today I went in for my 3rd bi-weekly OB appointment, and I have to say I got a lot accomplished! The visit was pretty routine. Signed in, waited to be called. When I got called the nurse, as always, took my vitals. My BP was up a little, it was 87/64, but still kind of low. I didn’t get an u/s as the sonographer was off today. That was a bummer. So I was taken to the exam room and waited for the doctor to come in. when she came in, she asked me if I had any questions or concerns and I told her about a pain I had been feeling “down there” when I walk. She said that it’s caused by my pelvic bone opening up, and it’s quite normal. She then measured my belly, no change there. Still measuring a week ahead. We also listened to ‘Lil Bean’s heartbeat and it was loud and strong. He even kicked the doppler a few times! She asked me if we had already scheduled the c-section, and I told her what Dr. Grainger told me. So she said that she would give me a paper to take to the front desk so that they can go ahead and get it scheduled with the hospital. I reminded her that Dr. Grainger was our preference and she made note of that on the sheet she handed me. I headed to the check out and handed the sheet to the lady and she got out the schedule planner, asked me a few questions and then told me she would be right back with me as she needed to call the hospital. She came back after a few minutes and handed me two pieces of paper, one with my last bi-weekly OB appointment on July 16th at 10 am (all subsequent OB appointments will be a week apart until our scheduled c-section) and another with dates, times and instructions. So we are so happy to announce that our c-section is scheduled for Thursday, August 13th at 12:30 pm. We are to be at the hospital by 10:30 so they can start the IV. I also need to go in to Labor & Delivery on Wednesday, August 12th at 10 am for registration and pre-op. I am so excited!!! I can’t believe we actually have a date set! There’s so much I still need to do before then to get ready. I hope I can manage to get everything done in a timely fashion. Please pray for me that I can get all my affairs in order. Thanks and God bless!