Belly Watch Update

Collin is very excited I'm at 22 Weeks

She's growing alright!

Isn't he so sweet? I swear this isn't even staged!

4th on the Beach

Dave and I were trying to figure out the best way to spend the 4th for us – and HAD to take into consideration the heat.    Last year we had a great time watching the Zilker Park Fireworks. (Highly recommended)  It was hot, but doable… especially once the sun went down.  I am a heat hater anyway, but then being pregnant on top of it makes it near impossible to spend the hours needed to enjoy the 4th outside.  You know, where everyone spends the fourth.  It would just be very, very, very bad to get overheated while pregnant.  We finally decided to make a trip to the beach!   That way if I got hot I could at least just get in the water to cool down.

We left at 6am and drove the 3 1/2 hours to Corpus Christi… and hung out at Mustang Beach:

It was fun, but when everyone says they’re not the same as California beachs, they aren’t kidding.  Smaller beaches, not great accomodations (bathrooms, closed down, etc.), nothing around the beach at all…. The biggest difference is it was hot, hot, hot.  We saw on weather.com that it would feel like 105 – and yep, it did!  There was always a nice breeze, but without the super cooling chill of the CA beaches.  (Coronado – I heart you.)  The benefit though was that I actually loved the water because it was warm enough for me to get in the water!  I’m sure if it were too cold, there’s no way Drew would have gone in either, but he loved it.  Well, I should clarify that Drew had a love/hate relationship with the water.  He was in heaven until he fell and got some salt water in his mouth.  THEN he was hesitant and wanted to be in, but then would run out… only to turn around to go back in… to run out.  Once he found our cooler he was all about opening and closing the lid.  Then would cry when his fingers got caught, but then go right back to work on opening the lid once we got them out.  And when he saw my water bottle he sat in my lap for a long time opening and closing the cap.  I guess he’s practicing cause and effect right now.  haha  We got to the beach RIGHT at his naptime, so he struggled somewhat, but was a good little trooper.  I guess he’s like Collin and really effected by sleep!  We just had to go in the morning since it would be the coolest part of the day.  He was VERY ready to leave when we finally packed everything up and fell asleep before we actually started driving to leave!

Collin had a blast.  When we told him we were going to the beach he told me his stomach was jumping he was so excited!  Then Dave woke him up in the morning (bright and early!) and said, “Collin…. we have to get ready to go to the beach….!”  Collin replied, with eyes still closed. “LAGOON!” and then said, “I don’t know why I said that.  I guess I was just trying to be funny.”  And then jumped up to get dressed. LOL He’s such a goof.  He played in the water a lot, but mostly he was into finding seashells and tiny clams things that would dig back into the sand once you put it back down.  I was so glad he had fun!  We wanted to do something where Collin could really enjoy the holiday and do something different than our every day stuff.  So yay!  I LOVE the pictures of him on the way home.  He looks SO stinking adorable.  When we were in the car ready to leave he started tearing up because he couldn’t get his seatbelt on… SO NOT like him.  Poor little guy was so exhausted!  After that got figured out, he said, “Here comes the big hunger burst!”  LOL And he wasn’t kidding – he ate and ate and ate on the way home.

We were thinking we could fit in a trip to the Aquarium while we were there, but everyone was so wiped out we thought it’d probably be best to just get back home.  (good thinking on our part.)  We’ll have to ask around a little bit more and find out the best beach communities to visit in the future.  Maybe next time we’ll check out Galveston.  I’m sure we’ll let you know all about it.  Lucky you!

Hope you all had a great 4th of July!

Just for today…

Just for tonight I will switch to the template titled Sweet Blossoms.  Described as, A narrow two-column design that satisfies the pink lover in all of us.

To help illustrate a point…

About the baby…

On the day of the 20 week ultrasound.

If you can’t figure it out by now, you may need help.

It’s a Girl!

Dave and I were completely not expecting it and taken off guard!  I honestly thought we were a boy family and would have 3 boys.  You just never know!  Crazy!  We’re very excited and can’t wait to see our new little daughter!  Gosh, it’s going to be a long 20 weeks.  And on a totally shallow level, it will be nice to not have to shop only in the little token “boy clothes” corner of baby stores now!  How fun!

The Story of Drew, Part 5

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 in case you missed one.

The LONG Story

Part 5 – NICU and Home

The NICU time was rough.  I didn’t have much energy from the blood loss and would feel spacy and woosy and, although I was always sitting, would need to leave to go lay down.  After I had been discharged from the hospital, the drive there and walk up to see him would be enough to wear me out.  You cannot believe how frustrating that was when all I wanted to do was be with my baby, but physically couldn’t handle it!  Leaving him every day was heartbreaking and I was often in tears, I felt like a horrible mother having to leave.  But my doctor had instructed me to rest… told me that it was my job to rest and it helped to know this was the best place for Drew right now and they were taking good care of him.

Dave and I would drop Collin off at school and drive to the hospital in the morning.  We’d spend as much time as I could handle – usually only a measly hour – and then leave to allow me to crash back at home.  Dave would usually go back that night after he put Collin to bed at night.  My parents would go sometimes during the day to check on him during their lunchbreaks.  Every night we called in the middle of the night to check up on him.  3:00 am seemed to be the magic number for us.  We would love hearing from the nurses how he was doing and how many cc’s he had been drinking.

Drew’s main issues in the NICU were maintaining his temperature and having some jaundice.   Mostly we just had to wait until he got a little older so his body could maintain things for itself.  When he started taking bottles he took to that immediately and we loved watching his weight go up and up every morning when we came back to the hospital.

We were so anxious the day we brought him home.  We could not wait!  The staff could tell we were chomping at the bit and made a couple comments to us as we waited for him to be discharged.  Maybe most parents are more tentative or nervous bringing such a teeny baby home, but we just couldn’t wait for him to be part of our normal lives and introduce him to our home!  I’m sure it helped that this was our second child.  I probably would have been a little more scared if I didn’t have prior baby experience to lean on.

The part I love about this story is God’s timing and how it’s just so perfect.    The first full day we had as a family at home — after our 2 week journey of uncertainty, fear, pain, peace and thankfulness — was Thanksgiving Day!  Now I dare you to tell me that God doesn’t like to make us laugh and smile.  My parents brought over an entire Thanksgiving meal the night before that we just had to throw in the oven and cook.  So Dave, Collin, Drew and I quietly celebrated and gave thanks to God for our family, our lives together and the amazing blessings he had given us.

What a beautiful ending He wrote for Drew’s debut into the world.

The Story of Drew, Part 4

Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 in case you missed it.

The LONG Story

Part 4 – Love & Thankfulness

I blinked, opened my eyes slowly and heard a tender “Hey…”

It was Dave.

It’s hard to find the right word to explain what I felt just by hearing his voice and that one little word. Relief, Joy, Contentment, Love….  Any of those would do, but not begin to truly explain how full my heart felt.    It took just a second of time to recall every event from the last few days… it both overwhelmed me with painful memories, but gave me immense gratitude.  Thank you, Lord.  Thank you for getting me through this. My Dave, my Collin, my baby boy, Drew – I was given my life back.  I loved my life before, but now I was truly grateful – I knew I was given a gift.  My chin began to quiver and I felt a tear run down the side of my face.  Dave, of course, was right by my side and holding my hand.

I was still in the surgery room under a few layers of toasty warm blankets from head to toe.  I asked him how Drew was doing and then asked him some more questions.  I only remember this happening once, but Dave tells me we had that conversation a few more times.  I would fall back asleep, wake up and ask him the same questions again and again.   We took our time talking and I slowly woke up completely.  Dave told me he should maybe step-out and update my family.  They were all in the waiting room on bated breath and really worried about me.  I suggested we take a picture with his phone and let them know I was alright.  That’s right, I always know how to dork up a situation:

I guess I had been in surgery for 2 hours and had 2 blood transfusions because they couldn’t get the bleeding under control.  My nurse said that in 25 years of nursing she hadn’t experienced a case of HELLP that was that bad.  The doctor who had been on-call advised Dave that we should stop at two kids – that is was just too risky for me.  My regular OB told me she disagreed with her when I mentioned it, but to me it still just showed me how serious things really were at the time.

Once I was alert, they wheeled me into my new room and we got settled.  I asked Dave to go check on Drew because it had been some time since he’d been up to see him.  I really wanted to know how he was doing.  It was so hard knowing I had delivered my little baby, but he was nowhere to be seen.  And I truly had no clue when I would be able to see him.  Dave wanted to check on Drew too, but was hesitant to leave me.  I assured him it’s really what I wanted him to do.  After he left, the nurse asked me if I wanted something to drink.  She told me what they had available and I decided to go for a hot tea with creme.  ”Ah!  You take it the British way!” she said.  I do?  Uh, okay.  lol  My nurse was so great and made me feel very much a ease.  In fact, all of the high-risk nurses did.  They were so friendly and they really knew what they were doing.  When she gave me my tea it felt so good to drink!  Even at the time I thought it was a weird thing for me to take note of but later found out I had a breathing tube down my throat during surgery.  It had been irritated and the hot tea really did do it good!

My family was allowed to come in to see me… first my mom and dad and later my sisters peeked their heads in room.  (Collin was with his cousins and my brothers live out-of-state.)  It was kind of surreal. Everyone had a strange look in their eyes…kind of like a deer in the headlights with large saucer round eyes. You could tell they wanted to let me rest but HAD to see me…  had to see that I was actually okay with their own eyes.  I was given lots of love and hugs and was able to watch the process of them coming in, tentitive at first, then relaxing as we talked and ultimately leaving the room with smiles and contented sighs.  They each had there own moments of fear, prayer, tears and gratitude while they waited for news.  I’m sure I’ll never understand what they went through being on the other side of things.

The first time I got up to use the restroom was funny because I was able to look into the mirror for the first time. LOLOLOL  Oh, good times.  Delivery never agrees with me.  Some women look nice and healthy and have rosy pink cheeks.  (Makes me sick.) Yeah, not me.  I tend to look pale and poofy and, well, just gross.   And after this whole ordeal – HA!  I looked into the mirror and I swear I saw the Bride of Frankenstein!  I was shocked!  My skin was a new shade of pale and my lips had no color whatsoever from the blood loss.  My eyes had mascara underneath and my hair looked like it was in knots and like it was trying to run away from my head.  I came out and said, “Can someone help me with my hair?” because I had the IV drip and couldn’t manage with the tubes and wires.  My nurse said, “Hey!  She’s starting to care about her hair!  Things are definitely turning around!”  They did what they could, but it was too far gone and a bit of a lost cause.  Not something that really matters, but just a funny moment and memory.

I spent the rest of the evening continuing to be monitored and finally relaxing by talking with Dave and watching TV.  We would both drift in and out of sleep and both truly needed it.  I don’t remember why, maybe to allow me to rest for a bit, but it was around midnight when we finally went up to see little Drew in the NICU.

CLICK HERE FOR Part 5… The ENDING!

The Story of Drew, Part 3

Sorry, at this point it gets pretty graphic! Consider that before reading! Part 1 and Part 2 in case you missed it.

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The LONG Story

Part 3 – The Delivery

The next morning there was a hustle around the room as various nurses came in to organize whatever it is nurses need to organize. I was still having blood taken hourly to test my enzymes and platelets as well as someone coming in to check my blood pressure and body temperature.  They started taking my vitals every hour the moment I was admitted and wouldn’t stop until I was discharged.  I was getting exhausted just from lack of decent sleep!

I was hooked up to the pitocin drip and waited for the action to happen. It took quite a while for me to feel any sort of contraction at all, then I felt some mild contractions for about ½ hour, then they became very intense, like only pitocin contractions can be They rechecked my labs and found out that my platelet count was dropping dramatically. Normal range for plateles are between 150,000-450,000 and mine were down to 26,000.  Um, yikes.  That meant an epideral was way too risky and things were becoming very complicated.  This was the possible quick dramatic turn they kept warning me about.

No no no no no no no! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!

I started freaking out when I heard that I wouldn’t have an epideral. My contractions were SO painful and I just couldn’t imagine not having one. Then I snapped myself out of it and tried to pump myself up, You can do it. You can do it. You can do it, over and over in my head. Maybe I’ve seen one too many train videos with Collin, but whatever works, right?

I seriously remember it like it was an hour+ of pushing… but I was shocked when Dave later told me it was just 3 contractions and he was born. I was so out of it from the magnesium, so exhausted from the week, and in so much pain it was a total blur and seemed to go on forever.

They took him to the other side of the room and the NICU staff quickly surrounded him, along with Dave taking pictures. In my delirium, I remember hearing his tiny screech and thought it sounded so loud and healthy. Dave was saying about Drew, “He looks awesome!” “He’s so tiny!” and came over to me and said, “You did so good, I’m so proud of you!”  He was so happy and wiping away tears.

They eventually brought Drew over to me all bundled up and I got to talk to him and really see him for myself. I was extremely spacey and out of it, but I remember thinking he was so tiny and that he looked better than I expected. Tiny, but Healthy. Thank you, God. Turns out the ultrasound was off and he was 4lbs 5oz, which sounded huge. I was so glad he was over the 3lb mark.

Dave left with Drew’s staff to take him up to the NICU. I was sad to be apart from him, but so glad that Dave would be there… that someone who loved him would be watching over him.

Things seemed to be much calmer in my room as we waited for the placenta to be delivered. We waited and waited but the placenta stayed put – I was naturally still out of it and only half aware of what was going on. Then my doctor decided it was long enough (the placenta only has about 30 minutes to deliver or it then creates a risk for infection). She tried scraping the placenta out, but it would not budge. Oh yeah… and remember? No epideral. This was the worst, most painful part of the delivery process. I won’t go into detail about it, but it the nurses had to hold me down and there was a lot of screaming.  By me, not the nurses. I tried to scan my memory looking for a Bible verse to cling to get me through, but I couldn’t think of anything! Why didn’t I memorize more verses! I scolded myself. Finally all that came to mind was “This too shall pass.” And I just kept repeating it over and over again.The doctor then stopped and said, “I think we’re going to put her under.”

THANK YOU LORD!

I did not think or care about any complications, I was just so happy that they were putting me under and I would be done with all of the pain. They started wheeling me out of the room and I heard the nurses whispering things like, “Oh my gosh, don’t let the husband back in here!” and “This place needs to be cleaned up! Don’t let the husband back in!!” Apparently there was blood everywhere.  I had a hidden tear on my cervix (sorry, it is what it is) and my low platelets, which are what help you clot, were causing uncontrolled bleeding.

I was in and out of consciousness as they wheeled me to surgery.  Then I heard Dave’s serious and panicked voice, ”So what’s going on???”

My mind was fully alert the very second I heard his voice. My eyes were closed and I looked completely unconscious to everyone, including Dave, but I was fully aware. The bed stopped moving and I heard more frantic whispers, “It’s the husband.” “It’s the husband.”  They had called him down from the NICU and he crossed paths with us in the hallway.

Someone explained that they were moving me to surgery and some more details that I missed because my mind started racing.

Oh God! What if something happens to me! What if I don’t make it! Dave will be left alone. Collin will lose his mommy. He needs me! Drew will never even know me! Oh God, be with me! Help me through this! I can’t leave Dave alone. I can’t leave my kids! I love them so much, Lord. Help me.

I didn’t think about the fact that I was in trouble until I heard his voice and heard the concern. I had been only thinking about the pain stopping, but what about my family!?

They brought me into the surgery room. I was trying to open my eyes, but it seemed my eyes couldn’t stay open.  What I saw were quick images of a very white room and a very big, bright light hanging above me.  Someone said, “Josie, we are putting oxygen on now.” And they secured the mask in place. My eyes still closed, I lifted my hand to my face and tried to scrape it off because it was hard to breathe with it on, but I was too weak. I just moved it a little off center. Someone immediately put it back into place. That was the last thing I remembered until I woke up hours later.

Pictures after Delivery

4 lbs 5 oz Baby Drew

Not too pretty, but happy to hold my little boy.

Happy Daddy

Just born and knows his Daddy’s voice.

CLICK HERE FOR Part 4

The Story of Drew, Part 2

First of all, I’m sorry if it might feel like this drags on and on, but I’m not sure how to filter and take things out. I’m writing my story, every little detail of my story. If only for myself. I don’t want to forget Drew’s amazing story.

Part 1, in case you missed it.

_____________________________________________________

The LONG Story

Part 2 – Waiting

Jamie and I pulled up to the hospital. She dropped me off and left to find a parking spot since they have HORRIBLE parking at Banner Health. (Don’t get me started. ) I got situated into a triage room and nervously waited. Jamie came back awhile later and we talked and joked in between nurses hooking me up to monitors, checking vitals and asking me questions to get me signed in. Having her there definitely took the tension off. We would routinely crack each other up and laugh – about nothing really – and then comment about what dorks we were. It all seemed oddly normal. Like we did this every day – it just so happened to be at the hospital. They took more labs to reconfirm the HELLP diagnoses, (which is a ‘cousin’ to preeclampsia) and we waited for those labs to come back before I would be officially admitted. I was hoping that the diagnoses would be wrong since I didn’t have high blood pressure – or maybe I could just be sent home on bed rest. I just didn’t want my baby to be born right now – he was only 33 weeks along! I was so worried for my little Drew.

During our wait I remembered a dream I had during the first trimester. I had forgotten all about it until now. I dreamt that I was going to have a girl and that she was going to be premature. I remember in my dream seeing her in the car seat with that reddish preemie skin and being so very tiny. But I also remember in my dream knowing she was okay. I picked her up from the car seat and held her and thought, She’s tiny, but she’s healthy. That was my only dream about the baby during my pregnancy. I had a ton of dreams about Collin during his pregnancy and kept waiting for more in this one but they never came. And I had all but forgotten about this one! Obviously I wasn’t having a girl, but now I wondered if God had wanted to prepare me for what was coming. And kept me from dreaming other dreams so when the time came, I would remember this one. I can still replay it so clearly in my head.

After about 3 hours of waiting in triage I said, “I can’t believe I’m here! And without Dave! It’s so weird that he’s not here with me! I’m so glad you’re here, but where’s Dave?” Jamie said, “I know what you mean! What am I doing here!? This is just weird.” We couldn’t get over the strange turn of events and had the same conversation a few more times. Boredom and waiting and anxiety intertwined kind of does that.

Dave popped his head in around 5 o’clock. He had spent the day travelling across the country and back without a break. My face lit up when I saw him and I felt so much more at peace with him there. He immediately came over and gave me a kiss and held my hand. I don’t think he let go until I was officially admitted and we were transferred to my first real room a few hours later. He probably wouldn’t have let go even then, but you know, that would’ve been weird. With Dave’s arrival, Jamie was able to go home. Poor thing, she had been with me for 6 hours – 4 of them just sitting at the hospital waiting. I was happy she could go home and be with her family!

My Dad stopped by on this way home from work. I had called my mom and filled her in on the way to the hospital. She was currently traveling with work and out of town, so my Dad came alone. He stayed and chatted for awhile – I filled him in on where we were at in the process and we all agreed that everything would be just fine. But I’m sure he was as nervous as we were inside. He left and we told him we’d let him know when we knew anything.

A couple hours later my triage nurse told me that I would be admitted and that the labs confirmed something was going on. I moved to my first real room in the Labor and Delivery section. They told me not to worry. They were only bringing me here due to a lack of space in the Antepartum Unit, a section for high-risk pregnancies not yet ready for delivery. Well, thanks. I wasn’t worried about it ’til now. (Btw – I would have about 8 rooms in the course of my hospital stay!) A lady came in for an ultrasound for Drew around 2 a.m. I remember thinking - This is weird. I didn’t realize they even did these types of procedures in the middle of the night. Well, I guess when you’re high-risk, they do! It showed that Drew was measuring at a 3lbs 15oz. Oh Lord. Don’t let me deliver. He’s too little. How would he possibly be okay?! He’s too tiny! Collin was 7lbs 15oz. – An entire 4lbs bigger. The difference was bigger than Drew himself.

“Tiny, but healthy.” I replayed it over and over in my mind, praying that it was a promise from God.

Dave called Julie, who was watching Collin, and she assured us he could spend the night and she’d bring him to school in the morning. She even washed his clothes so he wouldn’t have to wear dirty clothes the next day! She told us that they were having a blast and that everything was a-okay. We then got Dave the last cot on the floor (thank you Lord!) and tried to get some rest while being woken up for vitals tests every single hour.

In the morning I talked with an ob/gyn from my doctor’s office and he told us we would be seeing a specialist in high-risk pregnancies sometime today and wait to see what she suggested. A nurse told me that I was on bed rest and could only get up to use the bathroom, that I was sick and I shouldn’t have too many visitors because my job was to rest. The longer I was in the hospital, the more I heard and saw how they were handling things, the more I realized it was a pretty serious situation. But I tried to pray and stay calm and just wait for the professionals/specialists to tell me what was going on.

Dave stayed with me waiting for the specialist for most of the morning, but in the afternoon he left to gather some things from home and pick up Collin from school. We wanted Collin to not be too confused. I think he was having too much fun to have any questions so far.

While resting, my sister Natalie came in with beautiful flowers and a stack of magazines to pass the time. I started filling her in, but was interrupted when someone came in and I was finally being moved to the Antepartum room. She helped me gather my things and get settled into my new short-term home. It had a bigger, more comfortable bed and even a movie selection. Score! (Hey, it’s the little things, right?!)

Dave brought Collin to the hospital with him. I missed him so much. I was hoping he wasn’t too confused about everything. With seven weeks left of the pregnancy, I didn’t even think to start preparing him quite yet on what might happen when the baby was ready to come. And here he was being tossed around from place to place out of nowhere. My heart hurt for him, but he seemed okay so far. Collin hung out with us for awhile and then my parents came to pick him up. He would be spending the night with them until we got home. My mom was there and had flown in and put her project on hold until we knew what was really going on.

Finally the specialists came in to see us! She was a lot younger and prettier than I expected. That really has nothing to do with anything.  It’s just, I don’t know, when I thought of a high-risk specialist I thought of someone old… and maybe balding. But this young-ish lady came in, sat down on my bed, was very personable but forthcoming and stated the facts. Like you would want in such a situation. She told me that they would continue monitoring my blood pressure, my liver enzymes and platelet count every hour. They would basically do every test to rule out HELLP and if nothing else came up they would assume it was HELLP syndrome and need to induce labor. I would need to take a steroid shot first to help Drew’s lungs and wait at least 24 hours to induce. It was kind of upsetting to hear they might induce me on an assumption, but that was the process and I (rightfully) trusted they knew what they were doing.

During the night they took a gazillion blood samples for various tests and then they sent me up for an ultrasound of my liver to see how it was functioning. We would wait ’til tomorrow for results. Dave and I then hunkered down, waited for our turn for the movie selection and naturally told the nurse we wanted to view Mike Myers’ gem “Gold Member”. We figured we needed some laughs. I’m a firm believer in laughter being the best medicine. But what the nurse must’ve thought of us… and the rest of the Antepartum patients for that matter. I think the movie before it was “Flicka”, with Tim McGraw, or some movie like that. Out of the hundreds of movies to choose from, during our very serious time in the hospital and we had to choose the movie that has the term “member” in it. HA! Anyway, I actually only watched about 1/2 of it and was soon out for some much-needed sleep. My body was exhausted.

The next day we waited the entire day. I’d say no earlier than 3:00 a new doctor came in, told us all of the additional tests turned out okay so they were assuming it was HELLP. The only cure is to deliver and I wouldn’t leave the hospital without delivering the baby and the sooner, the better since the condition can rapidly decline. We would wait for the steroid shot to be at 24 hours and slowly start the inducing process.

I don’t know why, but I was in shock. I sat there wide-eyed unable to speak or know what I should be thinking. I had expected it. This was now Saturday – so it was two days of knowing that this would most likely be the outcome, but I was still shocked. This whole time we were hoping and praying that maybe it was something else. Maybe I would just need to be on bedrest. But here I was about to deliver my baby. My teeny baby. A wave of worry washed over me. Lord, be with my baby. Help him be strong. I wasn’t concerned of myself in the slightest. I wanted my baby to be okay and that was my only worry. Dave voiced that he hoped I would be okay. I instinctively rubbed my belly and said, “I just worry about little Drew.” and teared up. It didn’t help ease my fears when the Neonatal Doctor visited us to prepare us for what may lie ahead. Her job is, apparently, to help parents get ready for the worst. I’m sure she’s seen it all. I was glad that we would have been prepared if things were “the worst” but she scared the living daylights out of me! But at least we could prepare ourselves.

That evening they brought me to my Labor and Delivery room. It was HUGE. And actually nice, even nicer than I would’ve thought a “nice” hospital room would be. They had a big, comfy cot for Dave – nothing like the flimsy cot on the regular L&D floor from the first night. They inserted something that might help my cervix soften and started me on a Magnesium drip and told me it might make me feel “weird”.

I said, “Oh, really? Okay.” and the nurse responded with chuckling, “Oo-oo-ooh yeah. Really weird.” and gave me look with intensity in her eyes.

Uh, okay. Jeesh, with that response, what’s this going to do to me?  I was a little worried, to say the least! She told Dave that many women get extremely nauseous and/or emotional when put on it. Lucky me (and Dave), I just was spacey. They told me to try to get some rest – that tomorrow they would start pitocin and induce labor.

I breathed in deep. This is really happening. I can’t believe this is really happening. Lord, be with me. I turned to see exhausted Dave already sleeping and tried to get some rest.

Collin's visit in the hospital

CLICK HERE FOR Part 3

Decorating for Baby

I found this set of ABC flash cards for only $8.00 and posted it on Hey Little Birdie.  Then after considering it decided it would be perfect for the baby’s room!  We will print out the cards on cardstock and then seal them on some wood (with an inch or 2 of border) and have the abc’s hung around the room. Baby Bear and Baby #3 will be sharing a room…  so the idea is that each crib area will have their own theme.  Like, Baby Bear’s area could have “cars” since he’s all about cars and trucks these days.  Then Baby #3 can have his whole theme in his/her area.  Right now I’m thinking a light blue color on the walls will look cute for a baby boy (as well as little Baby Bear, of course), but also able to be girled up in case we have a girl:

(I’m also liking that bedding. )

We have a lot of work to do because we have to switch Jr and Baby Bear’s rooms since Jr is in the biggest room right now & we’ll need that extra space with 2 kids in one room.  It wouldn’t really be fair to cram the two little ones into one small room while Jr is spread out living it up.   That will be a huge job in and of itself!

Mango!

Little Baby #3 is the size of a large Mango!  I definitely feel him moving at times, which I love and never thought I’d experience it again.  I just can’t get enough of it and can’t wait for Dave to be able to feel, too.  We’re almost half-way and in week 19!  I can hardly stand waiting for the ultrasounds next week!  I get the normal one on Thursday and then a high-risk super detailed one on Friday.  Seriously can’t wait!

On a totally different note, Mango’s make me laugh.  Back when I was a Barista for Seattle Espresso I accidently pronounced Mango like Mongo once.  ONCE!  But Matt and Missy happened to be there and I swear they teased me about it and brought it up for hours… days… even weeks after.  There were a lot of conversations like this:

• Missy:  ”Jos, could you grab me a small Iced Tea?”
• Me:  ”Sure, which kind?”
• Missy:  ”MONGO.  I loooove MONGO!”
• Matt & Missy:  Erupting in laughter. Then saying mongo a ga-zillion times and continue to laugh amongst themselves.
• Me thinking:  Good lord, what have I done.

LOL

Gotta love those Mongos.  I mean Mangos.

New Bike!

We finally got Jr a new bike!  He hasn’t had one in years.  We kind of gave up on teaching him for awhile because he was so hesitant about no training wheels and would fight to no end about it.  We didn’t want to spend the money on a new bike if he was going to refuse to ride it.  He must’ve matured enough during that break to not care because no he’s all about learning now.  He loved it and couldn’t keep the smile off of his face the entire time.

He was telling Daddy that when he finally learns, they’ll have to go out and pretend to be Indiana Jones on motorcycles.  Don’t you love boys?  I remember riding my bike and was thinking about…. riding my bike.  But Jr always has some adventure he’s ready to take part in… his imagination is always going.