This about sums it up!

I've been thinking about posting Trevor's birth story a lot lately. Hopefully I'll get to it soon, especially since he is FOUR MONTHS OLD TODAY!! Wow...the time has flown by and my little baby is not so little anymore! :-)

Love at First Sight!

Trevor Allen has arrived!

Our new baby boy was born July 13th, 2009 at 8:03 a.m.

7 lbs, 12 ounces, 19.5 inches long

Mommy is recovering WONDERFULLY from her c-section and Trevor is doing FANTASTIC! I am even breast feeding so I'm ecstatic about that since I wasn't able to with Tyler.

More pics and his birth story coming soon...

I'm...

HAVING A BABY TOMORROW!!! I'll be arriving at the hospital to start checking in at 5:15 a.m. and the c-section should be underway by 7:15! We dropped Tyler off at my parents house tonight and my mom will be bringing him along with her so he is there when the baby is born too. We talked to him tonight and I think he understands that the baby is coming tomorrow. Tyler also knows the name of our new little boy and is doing a great job at keeping it a secret!!

Well, obviously things have been "normal" with the pregnancy and I haven't had much to write about! :-) It's been pretty quiet around my blog. Here are some belly pics my mom took at the camper a few weeks ago (end of June?). We decided I should wear the same shirt so we could have a good comparison. I laugh out loud when I see myself in a store window or walking past a mirror because I've gotten so big.

NEXT POST WILL BE BABY PICS AND INFO!! :-)

Another couple pics from our visit to Paul Bunyan's in Minocqua.

(Tyler really got a kick out of the huge sign! We're down by his right boot!)

35 Weeks, Ultrasound and Pictures!

I am officially PAST 35 weeks, which is when I delivered Tyler via emergency c-section! This is new territory for me and it's pretty exciting! When the baby moves (which is very often) you can see it from the outside and my whole belly moves! It's amazing and weird at the same time. I am feeling great and honestly think we're going to keep baking this baby until my c-section date, NO earlier!

My ultrasound last Friday went great! Brooke and Tyler came along with me and it was really fun sharing that experience with her. Tyler was a good boy too...he sat on the bed with me for part of it, which was so cute! The ultrasound tech said everything is going good and he is about 5 pounds. We saw a good shot of his face and he has the chubbiest little cheeks!! I think this is going to be my last ultrasound so I was happy to be able to see his face again since it's so hard to get a good shot the bigger they get. She also asked me a really weird question - I've never seen this tech before and she says, "Did the other techs say anything about him having a big head and short legs?" LOL! I said, "NO!" Then she looked back at her measurements of his legs and compared them to the other measurements that have been taken and decided one of hers must have been off so she changed it to another one. It was weird! The radiologist must have thought the number she switched it to was ok because she didn't have to take any new measurements. Next appointment is Thursday morning to drop off my last 24 hour urine sample (YAY!) and have blood drawn, have a non-stress test and see Dr. S.

Here are a few new pictures from the summer so far!

Thumbs up on the Looney 'Toon!

Arms up under the bridge!

Running away with grammy's new luggage!

First time fishing in the little boat with daddy and grampy

They were out there for over 5 hours!

Tyler's bed at the camper...he sleeps really good there!

34 Weeks

This morning's dr appt went great! Blood pressure was 106/70 something...Amazing! :-) No protein in my urine either! Dr. S. was really happy and I can't even say how relieved I am after every one of these appointments. We are going to GO.ALL.THE.WAY!! My c-section is now planned for July 13th in the morning. Sprout gets to share a birthday with his GiGi P and he will be exactly 3 years and 4 days younger than Tyler! Another bonus is Daddy can go to work while we are in the hospital for 4 days after the c-section and then only has to take time off when we are home. It should work out great! I was given permission to take Benadryl for my cold symptoms. It seems to be getting better, but I can't wait to take some tonight and hopefully SLEEP. My next ultrasound is June 19th to check the baby's growth and my next appt with Dr S is June 25th.

I had to share this cartoon today from my BabyCenter.com email...it's too true! Especially since I discovered this weekend that I can no longer see my feet and haven't been able to breathe for months now! :-)

Yuckies, Part 2

Sorry my update took a while!

Tyler saw his dr about his cold and everything was looking clear. No infections anywhere so we were happy to hear that! She said his cough was good and actually (of course) by the time I decided to take him in he was clearing up!

As for me, I think I hit the worst of it on Saturday. I am sleeping in the lazy boy tonight because I just can't sleep laying down. Propping myself up with pillows like I normally do with a cold is out of the question...have you ever tried sleeping on your side on two pillows? Not so good! :-) Sleeping on my back is out of the question because my legs/feet go numb from the pressure on my spine. So hopefully my sinuses clear up SOON!

FYI - if you subscribe via email, follow the link to the blog site to check out my new header!

Yuckies

Tyler has a nasty cold (which he so kindly shared with ME!) so we are going to see his doctor this morning. It started this weekend when he got sick in his bed and had a temperature of 101. He kicked the temp by Sunday, but now has a horrible rattling cough and a runny nose. There have been a couple times he's coughed so hard he got sick. (Three times yesterday.)

I will update today to let everyone know how he's doing and if I'm going to go in too!

Tyler's BIG BOY Room!

Here are some of the pictures of Tyler's new big boy room! Thankfully, our friends Mindy and Ron were able to come help us out for the weekend. Mindy did ALL of the painting, which turned out SO cute!! I can't say thank you enough and neither can Tyler. He loves his new room! (And had no trouble sleeping in there either!)

Click HERE to see the rest of the pics on my Facebook page.

Today's Ultrasound

This was the shortest ultrasound I've ever had! I'll admit, it was a little disappointing since Josh was able to come along today. But, I know in the scheme of things it's not important!

Anyway, everything is still looking great!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend! Thanks to those who serve our country! RIP Sgt. Chad Allen and others who've given their lives!

I said I wouldn't...

...but I did! :-) Josh took belly pics for me last night!

30 Weeks and Dr Appt

I cannot believe I am 30 weeks along! This little baby is about 15.7 inches long now and around 3 pounds - the size of a cabbage! (Definitely not as big as those cabbages we had from gma and gpa P. last year!)

I haven't had any real definite cravings with this pregnancy, but something strange has started. I found out at my last appt that my iron is low so I started taking an additional iron supplement. I thought it was because of my iron being low that I was wanting to eat meat all the time and Josh said, "Or you're craving it!" Duh! :-) So I guess I've been craving meat! I ordered a t-bone when we went for dinner for Kayleigh's benefit and everyone was laughing at me! I seriously don't think I've ever ordered one before!

In addition to my new craving, I've also been having a terrible time sleeping this week. I have been having a lot of dreams, which isn't unusual for me anyway, but they have been so vivid that when I wake up I can't get them out of my head. I can also hardly roll over in bed and can't get comfortable no matter which side I sleep on. (Not to mention that when I do roll over I lean across Josh and he's accidently hit me in the face countless times with his elbow!) All I want to do is sleep on my back! :-) That's not an option because it hurts my lower back and my feet go numb! Last night I slept with a small pillow between my knees and felt much better, so hopefully that'll do the trick. I know this pregnancy is a blessing so I feel like I have to say that don't mean to sound ungrateful by whining!

Tyler came with me to my appt with Dr S on Thursday morning. We got called in by a different nurse, who I learned was a medical assistant student helping out for the day. She took my weight (Tyler insists on having his done too!) and I lost another pound! No one seems concerned about this so I'm not either!

When she took us back to the room we met the regular nurse. I'm glad she was in there too because while the student was taking my blood pressure, Tyler climbed up on the table and laid down! So she was able to make sure he didn't fall off the table! :-) My blood pressure was 133/82 but Dr S wasn't concerned since it was good last week at the kidney dr and has been at home. I blamed Tyler climbing up on the table and she laughed! There was a trace of protein in my urine which didn't concern her either.

Like my other visits, Tyler got to help measure my uterus, which measured at 31 weeks instead of 30! He just loves helping out. He also gets to put the doppler on my belly and find Sprout's heartbeat. It's so much fun and I hope Josh will be able to come to one of these appointments so he can see it and maybe take a picture.

I now have all of my appts made up until July 14th! I will be going every other week until the middle of June, when I start going every week. My c-section date might change to the 13th or the 15th because of a Dr S' schedule. No big deal for Josh and I and she is in no hurry to set the date so that works for me! Starting with my next appt, I will be having a Non-Stress Test before each appt. It takes a half hour and if I remember correctly from when I was pregnant with Tyler they put a doppler on my belly to measure Sprout's heartbeat and maybe his movements too, I can't remember for sure! (surprise, surprise!)

My next ultrasound is scheduled for next Friday at 10:15. Hopefully Josh won't have to work and can come along!

Kidney Doctor Update

Again, some great news! More reasons to feel blessed!

I met Dr. B today and was completely impressed. He talked in plain English, he let me talk, he listened. Let me tell you, the care I am receiving with this pregnancy is such a 180 from when we moved here when I was 7 months pregnant with Tyler!

After the rundown of the usual questions from the nurse, who was super nice, she took my blood pressure. 122/75. Works for me! Then Dr. B came in and asked a few routine questions. We also talked about what happened with my pregnancy with Tyler. Basically, Dr. B was happy that my ob, Dr. S, had me see him, but didn't see any reason for alarm at this point. He said any "normal" person could have 240 grams of protein in their urine on any given day. I asked him how many grams of protein I had when they delivered Tyler early and he said it was 13,000 grams! Yikes! He told me that since my blood pressure is under control he doesn't think I'm developing preeclampsia at this point. It is most likely just how the pregnancy is effecting my body. If my blood pressure goes up and so does the protein we'll have to talk about going on bed rest, which I knew would happen.

I have an appointment to see him in November after the baby is here so we can do some tests that we can't do now and make sure there is no damage. At that point he asked me if we planned on having more kids. I told him no, Josh and I had decided that it is too dangerous for me to be pregnant. He agreed and when I told him I'd go back on birth control since I have PCOS, he reminded me that the pill can also elevate my blood pressure. SO, I am considering having my tubes tied while they already have me cut open for the c-section so I don't have to worry about birth control...Josh and I have to talk more about that soon...

So not a whole lot of new news, just more reassuring that things are going well! :-)
(Insert deep breath here!)

Three hour glucose test

The results are in . . .

After an almost relaxing 3 hours spent reading at the lab today, I have good news! My doctor's nurse called around 4:00 today and I DO NOT have gestational diabetes!

YAY ME! :-) One test down, one to go. (Kidney Dr Wednesday at 3:00)

Yesterday marked the 28th week of my pregnancy! Only 83 days to go! :-) Sprout now weighs 2.4 pounds according to my last ultrasound. That's about the size of a Chinese cabbage, with his length around 15 inches, so says BabyCenter.com! Below is a picture of what he might look like in the womb. Of course our little Sprout had his head up and feet down during my ultrasound earlier this week, which explains those strong kicks to my bladder!

Another exciting thing JUST happened! Daddy finally got to feel Sprout giving me a good kick! I love the smile on his face when it goes all the up to his eyes...he's so handsome! :-) Still makes my heart skip a beat after almost 10 years! (Gag me, I know!) I can't wait to see what Tyler does when he finally gets to feel a kick!

Not what we wanted to hear... *Updated*

Well, apparently my doc appt went so well because we didn't have any test results back yet to talk about.

Glucose Test My sugar level came back high. I was too shocked and forgot to ask what the number was. At any rate, I have to go to have a 3 hour lab done tomorrow. I had this done with Tyler and it came back normal so we're praying that will happen again.

24 Hour Urine for April I do a 24 hour urine same once per month so they have something to compare to in case we were to see preeclampsia come on. My protein level for March was 94 and this month it was 240! Needless to say that is a jump and since my blood pressure has been good they are apparently not sure what is going on. So I am seeing a kidney doctor some time soon. I am on a waiting list because when I tried to make an appointment the soonest they could get me in was May 28th! I told the receptionist between my sobs, "That is unacceptable!" She said she would let the nurses know and they will fit me in the schedule. I was so blindsided that I didn't even ask what kind of tests they will be doing, so I am going to call back today to get some more answers.

I was, with reason, very upset yesterday...the protein issues didn't start happening with my pregnancy with Tyler until 35 weeks. And then I had him 3 days later. I'm praying we don't have to have this baby now...it is just too soon. :-(

I'll update again when I have more info...

Update: Kidney doc appt May 6th at 3:00. I don't need to be on bed rest or anything until then. The nurse just reiterated we need to find out why my kidneys are spilling protein since my blood pressure has been so good. As for the what they will be doing, we're not really sure yet other than more blood work.

Is it possible?!

Can I really be almost 7 months along?! WOW! I have no idea where the time went, but it's just flying by!

I had ultrasound #6 on Monday and everything is still looking great. They gave Sprout his first "test" and he scored an 8/8! He weighs approximately 2.4 pounds and I'm measuring a week ahead of schedule. I'm positive my baby bump is bigger now than when I delivered Tyler at 35 weeks! It's really amazing how different this pregnancy has been. When people ask how I'm feeling I can finally say, "good" and mean it! :-)

On Tuesday I had a check up with Dr. S and she said everything is looking great. (I'm going every other week now and calling in my blood pressure the weeks I don't see her.) My blood pressure was up at my last appointment but this time it was 114/70! It's been very low at home also, so we are hoping this is a good sign and I'm going to go full term! We also scheduled a c-section for July 16th. Things are falling into place! We'll keep praying this baby keeps cooking as long as he's supposed to! :-)

Josh and I finally decided about a month ago to give Tyler a new "big boy room" instead of buying new baby bedding, etc. His new room is going to be what is now our office so we have to get everything cleaned out of there so we can paint and get him in there before the baby comes and he has two things to adjust to! We have twin mattresses from one of his co-workers so we just have to get a frame and headboard. His new theme is planes, trains and trucks and we've already found some cute stuff to decorate! We're going to paint a blue sky on the top of the walls and green on the bottom. Where the blue and green meet we're going to make the green look like hills. (LoL...does any of that make sense?!) We have trucks and trains to put on the hills so I'm hoping it turns out cute! I'll definitely post some pictures! :-)

BTW - Tyler just told me he has whiskers cuz he forgot to shave today! I swear, you just never know what they are going to say!!!

Sneak Peek at our baby boy!

I had no idea they were going to do a 3-D ultrasound at my appointment on March 31st! I've seen them online before and thought they were creepy. But when it was MY child it was AMAZING! We even got to watch him move around in 3-D and he opened and closed his mouth. It was unbelievable!

IT'S A BOY - Ultrasound Pictures!

From my ultrasound March 6th!

Oh BOY!

Profile

Skull

Forearm

Little footise!

Spine

Benefit for Kayleigh

I want to let you know about a benefit I am helping with for Kayleigh, who is the daughter of Missy, who I went to high school with. A group of Melissa's friends and family are planning a benefit for Kayleigh to help pay for some of the millions of dollars in medical bills that Kayleigh has built up over the past 18+ months. Even though I hadn't seen Missy in 10 years, I decided to help out with this great cause because none of us ever really know what God's plan is and if something like this could happen to our own child.

Please check out the new link on my right sidebar. You'll be able to read Kayleigh's story and (if you choose) even donate to Kayleigh's fund!

22 Weeks

The baby is now a spaghetti squash. Well, not acutally a spaghetti squash, but you know! He's 11 inches, about one pound and is even starting to look like a newborn baby!

I think this pregnancy is finally beginning to feel real. Now that the baby is getting bigger I'm feeling a lot more movement (which I love!) and it's a huge relief. My belly has been doing a lot of stretching the past few days and I've been a little bit sore. I swear that in the last two days I can SEE the difference in the size of my belly! I'm also getting itchy, which I suppose is another good sign of growth!

Daddy and I finally decided that we are going to give Tyler's baby bedding to the new little boy and give Tyler a new room in what is now our office. We went back and forth on what to do for a long time so it's nice to have finally come to a decision! Tyler is very excited for the move and can't wait to have his "truck" room. I've been searching on eBay to find a deal on new bedding and we plan on painting his new room with the top part of the walls blue and the bottom green with a "road" between the two colors so we can put truck and car decals on it. (I'll definitely post pictures!) We plan on getting a start on that soon so he has enough time to transition and get settled in before we bring home the little one that's going to turn his world upside down! :-)

I missed a week!

After such exciting news, how could I have forgotten to post?!

My 20 week ultrasound went great! Our little BOY is looking great and my blood pressure was a phenomenal 118/58!! I think that's the lowest it's EVER been, pregnant or not! What a relief, let me tell ya!

Josh and I are excited to be having another little boy running around here with Tyler! To tell the truth, I'm a little relieved it's another boy so I am a little prepared for what is to come. I'm not much of a girlie girl either so I'll be content playing trucks some more! :-) Plus, we're going to save so much money on clothes! Since Tyler's birthday is in July and this baby will (hopefully) be born in July, the clothes will even be the right size and the right season!

Tyler is a bit confused about the whole thing yet. We told him he was going to have a little brother and he said, "Or a sister?" LoL...

I'm now 21 weeks and the baby is about 10 inches long, the size of a carrot! He weighs about 3/4 of a pound now too! It's very exciting for the baby to be this big because I'm feeling him move around more and it puts my mind at ease.

It's so great to say HE and HIM instead of it or he/she!!

Week 19

Only 4 more days until my ultrasound!! Josh and I are very excited to find out the sex of the baby! As for Tyler, he keeps saying he's going to have a brother and a sister. LoL...I don't think so! :-)

At 19 weeks the baby is the size of an heirloom tomato, 6 inches head to rump and about 8.5 ounces. Of course, we'll find out the size of OUR baby on Friday during the ultrasound! At this stage of development they say the baby begins to be able to hear our voices, which is very evident to me right now. Every time Daddy is around this little one is kicking up a storm!

Speaking of movement, this little one is very quiet so far in comparison to Tyler. He was VERY active and always getting the hiccups. This little one gives me a poke here and there, but not much other than that so far. I'm sure that will change in the next few weeks as he/she gets bigger and bigger. I'll just feel better after the ultrasound when we know things are going good.

Tyler's potty training is coming along but not really getting any better. On Sunday afternoon Tyler pooped in his big boy undies. :-( Luckily it wasn't messy, but it was a bummer. We are hoping he catches on and starts becoming a bit more interested soon so we don't have two little ones in diapers!

I'm 18 weeks!!

The baby is about 5.5 inches long, approximately the size of a green bell pepper, and weighs about 7 ounces! I'm feeling a lot more kicks and movements lately, but still nothing like the wiggles I got from Tyler. I think this little one might have his/her days and nights mixed up because mornings and afternoons are quiet until about the time Josh gets home from work. And when I wake up and night I can almost always expect a little kick from him/her!

The countdown is on...only two more weeks until our next ultrasound where we'll find out the sex of our new little baby!! (OR we'll CONFIRM that it's a girl if I'm right...haha)

Baby Update and Ultrasound #2 pics

Hello all! I haven't blogged in a while so I thought I'd put up an update on Baby #2!

First of all, I am considered high risk again because I have high blood pressure and also had severe preeclampsia with Tyler. I had an ultrasound at 8 weeks to check up on the baby and determine my due date, which is July 23rd, 2009.

I have been feeling so great! This pregnancy is very different from when I was pregnant with Tyler. I have been having morning/afternoon/evening sickness, but it comes and goes this time, where with Tyler it was pretty constant. I have been taking Unisom and vitamin B6 and it's been helping. I'm also very tired this time around and I wasn't with Tyler. I know it's partially because I have Tyler to take care of and less rest time, but these differences make me feel like it might be a girl!! :-) I was right with Tyler so maybe I'll be right again!

My mom and Tyler went with me yesterday for my 16 week ultrasound with Dr. S*, the high risk dr from Marshfield. (Josh had to work.) Baby is doing well and growing right on schedule! Dr. S* and I talked about my preeclampsia with Tyler and everything that led up to it. We also discussed the fact that there is no way to avoid it or predict if I will get it again and there is no cure except removing the baby. So basically we are being proactive and keeping a close eye on my protien levels, blood pressure, and the baby's growth to make sure if it does come on again we can catch it as soon as possible.

Next ultrasound is March 6th...Josh is going with me so we'll (hopefully) be finding out the sex that day!!! YAY!! :-)

Here are the new pics!