We’re Having a Baby!

It’s a…….BOY!!!

Wow! I am so behind on posting. I am really behind on posting about the new baby due to arrive in December. I am half way there and I haven’t wrote anything. Maybe because I spent the first three months resting whenever possible! So from the beginning….

In April I started having pain in my lower back and hip. I have had this before and I went to the chiropractor and it went away for over a year. So I headed back to a chiropractor. He wanted to x-ray my back. They asked the standard question, “Are you pregnant or could you possibly be pregnant?” I sat there for a minute and then answered, “I don’t think I am but I can’t say that I’m not.” Needless to say, they did not do the x-ray and told me to let them know when I found out. I still did not think much about it but a few weeks later they asked if it was okay to go ahead with the x-ray. I had to tell them no. That afternoon I bought a pregnancy test and it was positive!!!

I wish I was patient enough to surprise people with the news in a creative way but I am not. I immediately called Nick at work. I then called two friends to share the news with them.

A few weeks later I started spotting. I called the doctor’s office and they scheduled an ultrasound for that morning. I was on the table and the technician was quickly able to see a heart beat and I was able to relax. I asked her, “Are you sure there is only one?” She assured me there was only baby and that everything looked fine. A little bit later I could tell she saw something interesting on the screen. She looked at me and said, “I am going to have to take something I said back. There is not just one baby.” She then turned the screen to show me two beating hearts! However, she said something about the babies being in the same amniotic sac. This did not mean much to me. I thought it just meant that we were having identical twins.

They were identical but as I soon found out babies in the same amniotic sac face many risks. My doctor called and I could tell she was not happy about the situation. So I started researching and found out that the mortality rate was 50% for both babies. They would also have to be delivered premature. You can read more about mo-mo twins here.

Thursday, I went back for another ultrasound because I had started bleeding again. At this appointment I found out that only one baby had a heartbeat. I had a tear in my placenta. The tear was located next to the baby without a heartbeat and the doctor thinks that baby lost blood supply. Part of me was relieved that I would not be facing such a high-risk pregnancy but the rest of me was sad at the loss of a baby. I like knowing that the babies were identical twins so in December I will get to me our new little guy but I will also get to find out what the second baby would have looked like too!

I was sick a lot the first trimester. I could still function to do the things I had to do but I was constantly nauseous. I also continued to have bleeding. This was the result of a blood clot that had formed near the placental tear. Because of this I had several ultrasounds which always showed a healthy little baby but it also caused a lot of stress on mommy. We had one ER trip, and many visit to the doctor’s office but by about week 15 or 16 things seemed to be better. I was feeling the baby move which is always such a great sensation.

I had an ultrasound at 17 weeks and they were able to tell that the baby was most definitely a boy! I was a little worried about how Bailey would handle another brother but she did great. She was excited and said she would love a boy. Noah said, “That’s great!” Luke does not have a clue what is going on but I think his life is going to be the most disrupted in December!

The day after the ultrasound the doctor’s office called back to say that I needed to have another ultrasound at 20 weeks. When I asked why they said they would have a nurse call me. A little later, my doctor called. From past experience I know that this is not usually a good sign. She told me that the babies bowels were echogenic. I had never heard of this before. My doctor said that she was just going to consider it another one of my weird things and hope that it would be gone at my next ultrasound. She did say that it could be a possible soft marker for cystic fibrosis and down syndrome. So, I headed to the internet and researched echogenic bowels. I then decided to quit reading all the horrible stories and just believe that my baby was being knitted together perfectly!

I went back yesterday for my 20 week ultrasound and was told that they saw no sign of echogenic bowels! They also did a very detailed scan looking for any defects that are typically associated with down syndrome. The baby had no sign of any defect!!! He was active and turned his face so that we were able to get a lot of views of him. The tech was also able to confirm that we were having a boy.

We can’t wait to meet our new baby in December!  We are thankful that he is fearfully and wonderfully made!

 

 

 

Coming Soon

For the last month or so we have had slow internt but we are up and running now! Here are a few things I need to write about soon:
It’s a…..!
Tennessee vacation
Luke is walking!
2009 VBS

Guess Who’s Wallking?

Well…sort of walking.

Last Thursday, Luke took his first steps. We cheered him on and he was proud of himself! He would stand up, take a minute to get his balance, with a wide-legged stance he would take a few steps, and then he would fall down. We all cheered and clapped and he would get up and do it all over again.

He apparently performed his trick for the nursury workers at church Sunday morning. However, since then he has been teething and grouchy and he simply isn’t interested in trying to improve his technique. We have had a few more steps here and there but he prefers to be in momma’s arms.

Hopefully, when these teeth stop bothering him he will continue to master walking.

Happy First Birthday Luke!

Eight days after Bailey turned 6, Luke turned one.  We have been busy celebrating at our house.  Luke’s birthday party theme also coordinated with his birthday outfit but it was all thanks to mama!  We had a sock monkey birthday party.  Sock monkeys have been his theme since he has been born.  I am not sure if he really likes them but I think they are super cute!

Let’s see…Luke at one…one word comes to mind, content.   He is such a happy, easy-going baby.  Of course, he has his moments (usually related to not getting to eat as quickly as he would like) but overall, he is extremely content and happy.  He loves his big brother and sister.  He loves his dog, all balls, being outside (as long as he doesn’t have to touch the grass), and eating bread.  Actually, there is not much he does not enjoy eating but he seems to pick homemade bread over other foods.  The only two foods we have found that he won’t eat are scrambled eggs and pancakes!

At one Luke is saying: mama, dada, ball, cup, boat, here, bread, dog, bye.  His first “real” word was dog.  His two favorite words are dog and ball.  We hear a lot about them each and every day!  He love to give our dog Sampson hugs.  Sampson does not always enjoy this as much as Luke but he does tolerate it well.

Luke is very much on a schedule at one.  He wakes up around 7 in the morning and points to his highchair as soon as it is in sight.  He eats and then plays with Bailey and Noah.  He naps form 9:00-10:00.  Then he is up again and takes a second nap from about 12:00-2:00.  He usually is back in bed by 6:00. 

After a year, it seems like Luke as always been in our family.  He fits in so well and is such a fun little boy!

Looking back one year ago

On his first birthday

His guests: Ivy, Luke, Kate, and Gwen

Eating his very first cupcake

Happy Birthday Bailey

Wow!  It has been a long time since I have added an update and we have a lot happen in the past month.  First of all, Bailey turned 6 and had a fun birthday party at our house.  She invited several of her friends to a pink poodle themed party.  She is such a little party planner.  She helped with all the planning details and even picked the theme to coordinate with her birthday outfit!

They had a pink poodle birthday cake, bone shapped sugar cookies, and pupy chow.  The girls also each made thier own pink poodle cup.  They took it home full of puppy chow.  For entertainment, they played Doggie, Doggie Where’s Your Bone, complete with a pink bone.  It always amazes me how long this game can continue!  At first Noah was going to stay for the party but quickly decided there was, “too much pink!”  So he went with Daddy to do boy things while the girls stayed home to enjoy the festivities.

 

At 6 Bailey is such a fun girl!  She loves to play pretend…mommy, restaurant, Star Wars with the boys, Barbies, and whatever else she comes up with each day!  She also is beginning to enjoy some computer games.  Her teeth are falling out quickly.  So far, she has lost 6 teeth!  She is doing great at her school work and is enjoying reading chapter books.  Although, she did tell me she likes it better when someone reads to her because then she can “see the pictures in her head.”    She is such a great big sister.  She is constantly looking out for her little brothers.  And, like her mom, has a hard time believing that one day they will be bigger than her!

Happy Birthday Bailey!  You are my favorite six year old in the whole world!

Just Like Daddy

Daddy mowing

Noah mowing

The Magic House

Last weekend we went to the Magic House with our home school group.  We all had a great time and the loved the new addition.  Noah’s favorite thing was the Jack in the Bean Stalk ladder.  He also liked the construction zone area.  Bailey liked the Bean Stalk ladder, working on the pretend car, and the ever-famous static ball.

Upward Basketball

This was Bailey’s first year to participate in Upward basketball.  (Nick didn’t tell her cheer leading was an option.)  She seemed to enjoy playing and looked forward to her games.  We were lucky enough to be on the same team as her friends Grant and Emilio.  However, she was the only girl on the team.  She is used to playing with the boys so it didn’t bother her.  The season went well and the kids all had fun.  Here are a few of her highlights:

* She made a basket during a game and several in practice. 

*She really wanted the white star.  White was for being the most Christ-like.  She ended up getting two white stars and that made her day!

*One week we were reading a book about a boy who lost his eye sight.  During the basketball game, Bailey ran down the court with her eyes closed.  She was pretending to be blind.  My dad told me we should read a book about Pete Maravich before her next game!

*Her coach took the team out for ice cream after the last game!

10 months (a little late)

At 10 months, Luke has 4 teeth and is beginning to bite mommy in order to ease the pain of teething!  He is working on 2 more teeth on top.  He is crawling all over the house and is pulling up on furniture.  He still has not started cruising but it won’t be long!  At about 10 1/2 months he started really trying to repeat sounds.  I think he may take after Bailey when it comes to talking…at least they will always have a conversation partner!  His first true word (since no one lets you count mama and dada) was dog. 
He was sitting in the highchair when I dog walked by him.  He looked at Sampson and I said, “There’s the dog.”   Luke then says, Do, do, do.  The whole time he kept his gaze on Sampson.  About half way through repeating, “Yes, that is the dog.  Your right, he is a dog….”  I realized that Luke said a real word!   His favorite thing to say is dada.  I hear dada, dada, dada many times a day.  He will say mama, mmm, and nana.

Bailey’s Baptism

The week before Valentine’s Day Bailey asked me when she could be baptized.  We knew she had already prayed to ask Jesus in her heart so I asked her why she wanted to be baptized.  I really expected to hear her say something like it looks like fun, so and so did it and I want to, or who wouldn’t want to swim in church?  Her answer was simple but sincere.  She said, “Jesus tell us to in the Bible so I think I should.”

We had her meet with the children’s pastor at our church just to make sure she could verbalize what we felt she understood to someone else.  After he talked with her, he looked at me and said, “I think she’s got it!”  So, two weeks later, Bailey was baptized.  She really never seemed nervous in the weeks beforehand.  When she walked into the water she started giggling a little (no one else could hear her) which is what she does when she gets nervous.  She did a great job in front of a large crowd.  We were so proud of her for understanding that baptism symbolizes her new life in Christ and for taking the initiative to follow Jesus’ example.