Father's day

A while back, Phillip and I saw a small baby t-shirt that read “I’d rather be naked” and he just loved it. He said that’s going to be his son’s personality – like father, like son. So for father’s day, I decided to get Phillip a special gift. He is not a father YET, but he will soon be one. I went shopping for some plain white onesies and plain white t-shirts. I then took them to get the slogan of the baby shirt we saw printed on them – one for daddy and one for our baby boy. I also got a card for daddy-to-be and signed all our names on it; Mommy’s, ‘Lil Bean’s, Kaleb’s, Seffy’s and Presto’s. I woke up early Sunday morning and made us breakfast, and then gave him his card and gift. He was so happy when he opened his present! He loved it! And that made me smile :)

2nd bi-weekly OB appointment (7 1/2 months)

I went in for my second bi-weekly OB appointment on June 19th, and it was a pretty routine visit. Got there, signed in, and waited to be called. When I was called, nurse took my vitals. My BP was still a bit low at 81/58, but all else was good. I was taken to the u/s room to get a peek at my cervix and placenta, both looked well. Placenta is still covering the cervix. Got some measurements of ‘Lil Bean and he’s measuring 4.5 pounds already! He seemed to be very content in mommy’s belly! After that, I was led to the exam room where I waited for my favorite doctor to come and see me. When he came in, he measured my belly, which is still measuring ahead then we listened to the baby’s heartbeat with the doppler. He went over with me briefly the results of the u/s and pretty much nothing has changed. He asked me if I wanted to get my tubes tied while they had me opened up, and of course I declined. He told me that during my next appointment we will get to schedule the c-section for sure. I then went to check out and was given a return appointment for July 3rd at 10:30 am. Can’t wait!

Our baby shower :)

Our baby shower was so beautiful! We were surrounded by our family and friends. We had such a wonderful time! The club house was very lovely. Phillip, my sister and I got there a little early to decorate and get things set up. Our guests starting arriving and Phillip started cooking. We had steaks, ham, chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, deviled eggs and cake. We even had some sangria! Too bad I couldn’t have any. I was salivating for some though. Everything was delicious. While the guys were busy cooking the steaks, we girls started playing baby shower games. We had so much fun! When the steaks were ready, we all ate. After that, it was time to open presents! We got a bunch of cool stuff from our guests! And we are so very thankful to each and every one of them. We are also very grateful for my sister Dana who hosted this shower for us. She has helped us in so many ways and I don’t know what I would do without her help and support. We definitely are blessed with a great family and the best of friends. After the gifts, it was time for some cake. The cake was so good! Our guests starting leaving and it was time for us to start cleaning up and pack our stuff to take home.

1st bi-weekly OB appointment (7 months)

So I went in for my first bi-weekly OB appointment on June 5th and it was pretty much more of the same routine. Got there, signed in and waited to be called. When I was called back, the nurse took my vitals. Except for my BP being a bit low at 80/56, all was well. When my Dr came into the room, we listened to ‘Lil Bean’s heartbeat with the dopler and it was good. He then measured my belly and I am still measuring a week ahead, but he said not to worry. The doctor I saw this time happens to be our favorite doctor in the practice. We love him dearly! He asked if we had a preference as to who will do the c-section, and I told him that we really want him, and our back-up choice is Dr. Den Haese. He then went over with me what he thought was the best course of action to take. He explained that he didn’t want to do the c-section any earlier than 39 weeks exactly. That means August 12th would be the earliest he would consider scheduling. The reason being, he wants to make sure 100% that ‘Lil Bean’s lungs are FULLY developed and that would be the safest time to assume that. Even a day or two earlier than that would mean I would have to be given steroid shots to speed up the maturity of his lungs, and he wanted to avoid that if at all possible. He also told me that we can consider taking out the cerclage at the same time the c-section is done. That was such a relief to hear! I told him that another doctor within the practice told me that it needs to be removed between 35 and 36 weeks, and he told me that every doctor practices different. He sent me in to the u/s room to get a quick look at my cervix and placenta. Both looked good, and I also got to see our ‘Lil Bean squirming around! I love when I get to see him! I was a bit disappointed because it was so quick I didn’t even get to take home any pictures. But at least I got to see my baby boy and he looked perfect! That concluded my appointment, so I went to check out and to get my next appointment in 2 weeks, which is on June 19th.
So for mow I just have to wait 2 more weeks until my next appointment. But on another note, tomorrow is our baby shower!!! I can’t wait! It’s going to be so much fun to be around family and friends! Of course, the gifts are going to be very nice, too!

Pictures from our 6 month OB appointment

Sucking his thumb!

Smiley face :)

It's official, August 8th, 2009

When I got home from my appointment, I called Phillip and told him how it went. I also told him that we had some things we needed to go over. When he got home from work, I showed him the pictures and he was very happy! He got such a kick out of seeing our baby boy sucking his thumb and seeing his face! They are some really good pictures! I informed Phillip about the window the Dr. gave us to schedule our c-section, and we started to debate when would be the best time for us to schedule it. Kaleb was going to be out of town on vacation with his dad from July 30th through August 9th, and we took that into consideration, but Friday, August 7th or Saturday, August 8th were the only two days we were considering. I notified Kaleb’s dad about our situation, and expressed that I would really want Kaleb to be here for the birth of his little brother and that we were debating between the 7th and the 8th. He ended up changing their plans so Kaleb can be here during that time. Thank God! We officially decided on Saturday, August 8th. That’s only 10 weeks away!!! WOW! I can’t believe that in 10 more weeks our little blessing will be here! I am soooo excited! We have gotten a lot done with the nursery – we got it painted, we got the crib and changing table set up, clothes washed and put away. We are still waiting for the armoire to come in. Our baby shower is this coming Saturday, June 6th. After the shower, we can then start buying the things we didn’t get. There is just so much that we need to do to prepare, but we are so thankful that we have gotten a lot done already.

6 month OB appointment

I went in for my 6 month appointment, my last monthly appointment before I start seeing my OB every other week. My appointment was at 10:00 am and I got there 15 minutes ahead of time, signed in and waited to be called. I didn’t have to wait for long. The sonographer called me back to do an u/s before I was seen by my OB to see if there have been any changes since my last appointment. So she had me pull up my shirt to expose my big ‘ole belly and began the u/s. She measured ‘Lil Bean and we listened to his precious heartbeat; it was a strong 155 bpm. She took lots of measurements of his limbs, abdomen and head, and the machine calculated our baby boy to weigh approximately 3 ½ pounds! He is still definitely measuring ahead! Either that or he’s a big boy:) It was so nice to see our baby being so active, and this time I could feel all his kicks as I was seeing them! It was so amazing! This time around, I was able to see his facial features a little bit better. I got to see him smile and suck his thumb! So precious!!! She then went on to measure my cervix and look at the placenta to see if it had moved yet. My cervix was still measuring long, but the placenta has not moved any since the last u/s at my last appointment. It was still laying low and covering my cervix. The sonographer did manage to get some really good pictures for me to take home and share with Phillip, which he loved seeing! After she got all the measurements she needed, she wiped the goo off my belly, had me fix my shirt then walked me to the nurses station for my vitals to be taken. The nurse took all my vitals, which were all good. She then informed me, much to my surprise that I was going to have the colpo procedure done. So she took me to the procedure room where I was instructed to undress from the waist down, and wait for the doctor. When the doctor came in, he explained the procedure, as I was a bit taken by surprise by all this. He said that because the u/s revealed no change in my cervix and placenta that it would be best to go ahead and take a look at what was possibly causing my pap-smear to come back abnormal. He said that depending on how the cervix looked would determine whether or not he would do a biopsy. I prayed that it wouldn’t be necessary. So he started the procedure and talked me through everything he was doing and seeing. After a few minutes, he told me that he was just going to do a routine pap with no biopsy as my cervix looked normal. Thank God!!! I can’t imagine having a piece of my cervix being cut out… OUCH! After the procedure, we talked about when we can schedule the c-section. He said that since there has been no change, they do not want to schedule it any earlier than 39 weeks to give our baby boy every opportunity to develop on his own without the help of steroids, which made me happy :) Praise God for answering my prayers! He gave us a window between August 7th (Friday) and August 12th (Wednesday), but of course if labor started on it’s own before that, we would have to do an emergency c-section at that time. I hope and pray that everything goes according to plan, and not have any surprises. I want to be prepared for this! After jotting down some notes on my chart he advised me that some bleeding and cramping can be expected, but if it seems unusual to call back. He then shook my hand and gave me the check-out paper with a return appointment in 2 weeks. I went to the check-out and was given an appointment for Firday, June 5th. Overall, it was a pretty good appointment :)