A Very Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year. Joe, the boys and I had an amazing Christmas and are so thankful for everyone and everything this year. Besides alittle bronchitis and runny noses, everything went smooth this year. I wanted to share some pictures of the boys for everyone!

Making Santa Some Cookies

A Little Wii Before Bed

I LOVE This Smile

PRESENTS

Paige Got A DS

We Do Love Each Other

The Guys And The Turkey!

PaPas Boys

A Second Ultrasound

Just wanted to let everyone know that we received a call from our OBGYN on Tuesday December 23rd. The final report came in on sweet baby girls ultrasound and it stated "incomplete findings" on the babies lower spine and bowel. In the report it advised my doctor to order an more in depth ultrasound to check both of these. My doctor told us to try not to worry, that it could be that they just got a bad image of that part and couldn't "clear" it until they have a better picture.

See at our ultrasound its done in the office. Then it is sent up-stairs to special OB doctors that specifically went to school for reading sonograms. They send down a preliminary report within an hour, and that is what our doctor gave us. It was not stated in the preliminary report of these findings, and she apologizes for telling us baby girl was 100% healthy, and that she felt she was, but that we do need to come in for a more in-depth sonogram based on the final results (which usually take a week to get back).

So we go in on January 12tj and have our ultrasound and then it will be a week before we get our results at our next appointment on the 21st! Please keep little girl, hopefully to soon have a set name, in your thoughts and prayers. In my heart I know shes fine, it's just sad and scary when your told your baby is healthy and then its kinda taken back and your given a chance instead.

It's A Healthy Baby Girl!

We are over the moon happy to announce our little bean is indeed a little girl. She was shy at first, but with alot of shaking and rubbing from the ultrasound tech she gladly showed us the "goods" and there is no mistake shes all girl. The boys are already calling her sister and Joe and I still are in shock and feel so blessed she is healthy and doing great.

She is measuring right on time, weighing in right now around 11 ounces! She is currently breech with her head up near my left ribs. But she has plenty of time to turn and thats the reason I have been only feeling kicks and tingles on my left side. The placenta is covering the front and right of my tummy! She was so cute on the ultrasound, the tech was trying to get her to show us what she was and she litter ally takes both hands and grabs both butt cheeks, Justin got a kick out of that!


As for me I finally gained 1lb, now Im only 28lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. I was super dehydrated again though and spilling alot of keytones. She lectured me to get more fluids in, but knew b/c of the stomach bug I have had this week is why I was so dehydrated. But Im chugging the water and we are not worried. Well here are some pictures of our baby girl. Now we need name ideas!!!!

IM a GIRL

She was rubbing the back of her head

Her little feet crossed at the ankles

Mouth wide open!

Snow Day

So the weathermen were calling for rain last night with a small chance the mountains in east TN might get some snow. Well we woke up to about 4 inches of the white stuff this morning. Both boys had their first snow day of the year. They had a blast playing in the white stuff and I wanted to share some pictures!

Getting ready to go PLAY

Meet Dorthy

So Pretty




Dixie and Layla were eating Justins mini-snowman

Dixie Gator

Warming up with some hott chocolate

Relief

Just wanted to update everyone on our quad screen. The test results came in today and all were negative for downs syndrome and chromosomal abnormalities. I am so relieved and thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. Now if I can only be patient till next Thursday when we have our big ultrasound and we can see this bean and stop (hopefully) calling it "it".. :)

Moving on up!

So I felt like the "belly" wasn't poking out front as much as before so I thought I would take another picture. Look what happened in 11 days. Looks like baby is moving upward, and can you say growth spurt!

1st Picture was taken at 15 weeks exactly, and picture 2 was taken at 16 weeks 4 days! 11 Day gap!

17 alpha hydroxyprogesterone

So I started my 17P shots today, and truthfully it wasn't as bad as I had thought it was gonna be. The actual needle part I barely felt, but I could feel the hormone going in, it was a weird sensation. Afterwards I had a brief moment of light headiness, but after it passed I was fine. If you don't know already the progesterone shots are to help keep me pregnant longer. With my history of preterm labor this drug was recommended because it has a great success rate in helping prolong pregnancy in women that have a history of early births. Justin was 4 weeks early and Nickster as most of you know came 6 weeks early and spent his days in the NICU at Vanderbilt. I was told on my first exam with this baby if I opted not to do the shots this little one would come before 34 weeks, and I DO NOT want that. So Joe now gets to give me 19 more injections (1 per week till my 36 week) in my booty.

Also today we had our quad screen. The quad screen test is a maternal blood screening test that looks for four specific substances: AFP, hCG, Estriol, and Inhibin-A.

AFP: alpha-fetoprotein is a protein that is produced by the fetus
hCG: human chorionic gonadotropin is a hormone produced within the placenta
Estriol: estriol is an estrogen produced by both the fetus and the placenta
Inhibin-A: inhibin-A is a protein produced by the placenta and ovaries

By checking the levels if they are off, either high or low can indicate certain neural tube defects or downs syndrome. We should have the results either Monday or Tuesday. Please pray all the test come back normal. I swear if this test comes back fine and our ultrasound in 2 WEEKS :) comes back great I will be able to breath and finally enjoy this pregnancy. For some reason since day one I have been worried and not able to just sit back and not stress.

Speaking of 2 WEEKS I can not wait to see our baby. Everyone keeps asking are you excited to find out the sex of the baby. A big YES to that one, but more than that I just want them to say baby is measuring on time and is perfectly healthy. For some reason though I have this gut feeling baby is gonna be shy. If not and we get the "toilet shot" Joe and I haven't decided if we will be spilling the beans right away. Since our ultrasound is exactly 1 week to the day from Christmas we are tempted to wait and make it a Christmas surprise, but that's only if I can contain myself..lol

14 Weeks

Wow I can't believe I am in my second trimester already. Sitting here now I can't believe I am at 14 weeks already. I had my 14 week OB visit today. Baby was doing good and apparently wide awake with a heart rate in the 160's. The boys must have always been lazy b/c their heat rates were always in the 140's. She said I was measuring good, lost another 3lbs, but she said shes not worried b/c my hydration levels were good.

We also got news today the progesterone shots I will take to help bake this baby longer than the boys should arrive the week after Thanksgiving. Then we get to go in and they get to show Joe how to give them to me. I'm still nervous about the whole Joe giving me a shot in my butt every week for 20 weeks.. But I know he can do it. Also when we go back the first week of December they will do our triple screen blood test to test for downs syndrome and neural tube defects. Please pray little baby bean is nice and healthy and that I don't worry myself to death waiting on the results.

Some exciting news we got our big ultrasound date, and its before Christmas. Not sure if I'm gonna be mean and make everyone wait till Christmas before we tell them the sex of the baby.. ;) But the date is set for December 18th around 1 in the afternoon. I am so excited and pray that this baby is both healthy and cooperative and shows us the goods! SO:


MySpace Countdown




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I just want to add I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will be traveling to Ohio to see Joes mom and family. We are sooo excited to see everyone and can't wait. Please pray we have a safe trip.. HUGS

Turkey Day at SCS

Today was Nicks school Thanksgiving play and lunch. He was so cute up there singing "Mr. Turkey, Mr. Turkey" and "If your Happy and you know it say gobble gobble".. Joe and I made sure to get video, but it was so dark in the chapel I couldn't get any good pictures, but here are a couple I did get! So that we were fair Joe and I both surprised Justin on Tuesday and went and ate a Turkey lunch with him at school!

Just a singing

Mommy and Nick

Daddy and Nick

My Little Turkey

Will it ever end?

I love the fall season with the beautiful trees and colorful leaves, but come fall also comes coughing and snotting and fevers. Seems like for the past two and a half weeks all we have done is pass around this croupy respiratory funk and I guess today was Justin's turn when I got that call from school saying "we need a parent to come get Justin Lannom" So off to the doctor for the fifth time in 2 weeks to see what wonderful medicine Justin will get.

Well I guess that's enough bitching and moaning, truth is everyone is fighting this crap and I hope everyone recovers super fast! On a lighter note I am officially 13 weeks pregnant and entering into me second trimester. Sadly though the mourning sickness didn't get the memo and doesn't want to leave, but hey its getting better slowly but surely.

If you haven't notices already I have kinda put a mini baby poll together. The link is on the right side of this page and I hope everyone participates. Its something fun to kill the time and also a prize is involved, oooooo...

Well I hope everyone is good and feeling good. Hugs and kisses!

Happy Halloween

Well we had a great Halloween this year. My little Ninja and Spiderman were too cute for words! Daddy even hooked up the trailer for a much easier ride around the neighborhood to gather candy. We also had a friend from Justins baseball team and his younger brother join us on the candy mission! I hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween this year!

Here are some pictures from our Halloween!!!

Pumpkin Carving Time

My Little Men

The Crew Leaving Out

Baby Update

Well I had my prenatal visit today. My OB ended up changing my due date from May 10, 2009 to May 18, 2009. She did this based on the ultrasound report from our last ultrasound. I'm fine with that, as long as baby bakes happily!

Speaking of baking my doctor also told me she wanted me to go on progesterone shots starting at 16 weeks to try and prevent a preterm birth with this baby. She feels if we do not do the shots this baby will come earlier than Nicholas did. I do not want another NICU baby and so I will do the shots. Joe gets to have fun, he gets to give them to me every week.lol She said the fact my water broke out of the blue so early with Justin's pregnancy concerned her more than the fact I actually went into labor with Nicks. If I go into labor before 36 weeks shes hoping she can stop it, but these shots have shown to really help not letting my body go into labor. And we all know how my body hates to be pregnant!

Well that's about it. They drew some blood and gave us the information on the testing and shots. I go back in 4 weeks right before Thanksgiving to talk and learn how to give myself (or Joe give me) the shots, fun!

Happy Birthday Nicholas

Well my little man officially turned 4 on October 8th, but due to mommy being in and out of the hospital we were not able to have his party till this past Sunday. He was soooo excited, he wanted a Chuck-E-Cheese party and was counting down the minutes till it was time. Thank you to everyone who came out on such short notice. We are so blessed to have the friends and family support we have. So here are a few pictures of him. He was so excited it was hard to get him to look at the camera..lol

And baby makes FIVE!

SO we had our final scan today. Today would decide if we would be adding another baby to the family or if I would be needing a DNC. So what did we see????


We saw a happy little baby with a heart rate of 140 bpm. Baby is measuring about a week early, but she said she wasn't going to change my due date right now. Everything looks great and baby looks happy! Joe and I are so happy, I think we both were in shock and still are that everything turned out OK. Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. So I guess now we are a family of FIVE!

Fingers Crossed

Well I got my second round of blood work back today and its looking great. My levels rose from 10,000 to right at 19,000 in about 48 hours (they are suppose to double every 48-72 hours). I have so much hope that everything is going to work out. For those who have only heard bits and pieces or those that don't even know yet Joe and I went into the hospital Sunday because I started bleeding super heavy. I was 6 weeks and they did alot of test. The doctor in the ER ended up telling us he saw no baby on ultrasound and for my levels being so high they would suspect to see one and that I had a non viable pregnancy.

So leaving the ER Joe and I had told ourselves we were loosing our baby. Well I went in Monday to my OB and she did another scan. Long story short she did see something in the sac, no baby but the yolk sac! She said she didn't feel we were at the point yet to say we had a non viable pregnancy. So she did more blood work over a 48 span and my HCG levels (this is a hormone produced during pregnancy to sustain a pregnancy, its the one that doubles, its also what makes your home pregnancy test positive) well it looked great, yes high for 6 weeks (normal for 6 weeks is below 10,000) but they are rising. She also said my progesterone hormone level (which is a good indicator that a pregnancy is healthy) was right on time and was were it was suppose to be and looked great.

So even though numbers are good we will not know for sure till this coming Wednesday the 24th, when we have our 3rd 4D ultrasound scan. At that point with levels that should be in the 30,000+ range we have to see a baby. If we go in and its still an empty sac we have suffered a stalled pregnancy were basically baby has quit growing, causing me to need a DNC. For some reason I don't / can't accept that. Over the past 3 days for some reason I have this feeling everything will be ok. Yet my brain is telling me that if this is not meant to be I'm gonna be ok.

I have told myself I'm not going to cry or get upset anymore until I know for sure. And when I see that ultrasound next week I will know. But right now I am living this pregnancy for every moment and not taking a single second for granted. I am also thanking god everyday for my two beautiful boys and that I pray I can keep this miracle too. So if you can send alittle prayer up for us and keep us in your thought and I PROMISE to post as soon as we know something.

I got a booboo

SO far this pregnancy I have been symptom free.. Amazingly by 6 weeks with both boys I was getting sick every 5 minutes. This time I don't feel anything. The only out of the ordinary is when I eat I can be starving take two bites and be full. But let me tell you just because I have not been sick doesn't mean I haven't had an eventful week.

As I posted about earlier in the week our car accident, were everyone walked away fine. Well Thursday when I got home from picking up Justin from school I stepped off the garage step wrong and fell, in return breaking my right foot...OUCH! So after I stopped crying and 3 hours of Joe and my parents trying to get me to go to the ER I finally went to see if it was broke. Now the reason I didn't want to go is b/c we have a $100 co-pay for the ER and I KNEW they would not do an x-ray so I hated to wasted the money. But I went and they said yes its broken, but we can't tell by looking at it if its the top or bottom side of your foot. So they sent me home in a walking cast and crutches and I had to get clearance the next day from my OBGYN to have an x-ray. I was so scared to have it done. I know the risk of the radiation and early pregnancy. But the x-ray tech was super nice and we had about 4 lead belts and wraps on my belly and chest. He and my OB assured me baby bean would be fine! So about 4 hours later my OB calls me and says its broke on the right lower side. So I go to the orthopedic doctor this week and see what we do. He told he over the phone Friday if I was a good girl and kept it in line (It hadn't disaligned since the break) that I might get away with just wearing this velcro walking cast and not have to get a plaster one!

So that was my exciting week. I guess its a good thing I have no morning sickness because if I did I wouldn't be able to function. I guess god gives us only as much as we can handle! So here are some pictures of my OWIE!

And here is miss Layla watching me take pictures of myself!

A crazy past few days!

OK so alot has gone on the past few days. Sunday I started spotting again, thank gosh its stopped now (knock on wood). But as you can see I edited the previous post with a few more pictures. Every time I spot I feel the need to pee on a stick.. I guess its good Sunday I used my last test, but for some reason it calms my nerves to see those 2 pink lines, and hey I bought them back amonth ago so I should use them, right, well that's my theory!.

So I laid around all day sunday with Nickster, who by the way has pink eye - thanks pre-school! While we took it easy Justin, daddy and papa went dove hunting. Justin's first time hunting, they said he made an awesome bird dog..lol He had a blast and daddy made sure to take alot of pictures!






Then last night on the way to Justin's baseball game, Joe, the boys, and I got rear ended by a van and truck. The van and I had stopped for a car turing into a parking lot, when some jerk tried to beat another car out of Mc. Donalds and hit the van. Her brakes failed and she hit us. Everyone is ok. Nick had a mark on his side from the seat belt and my neck is killing me from were I hit the head rest. In the other car they had 3 kids. Both the older boys were fine, but the 1 year old little girl had to go to the hospital b/c she bit through her tongue. The guy that hit her was driving (with his fries and burger) a brand new Nissan Titan with a cattle guard. He hit the van so hard it totalled his truck. The van was drivable but banged up. We were driving the gas saver POAS, and all it did was mash then fender wall to the tires and broke the trunk. Nick said "mommy can't go grocery shopping now", meaning I can't open the trunk to put in the groceries..lol

So that was our exciting past 2 days. I hope everyone is doing well!