25 Week Dr's appt

Had my 25 week Dr's appt yesterday. Measured right on for 25/26 weeks, weight gain was good, and my blood pressure was good (102/68). The only problems I've really been having this pregnancy are 1) This baby sits really low and causes extreme pressure on my bladder already and 2) I have had reoccurent UTIs. Actually, I have pretty much had a constant UTI since I got pregnant with this one. It has gotten to the point where my Dr. has just decided to keep me on antibiotics until the end of the pregnancy. Not really crazy about that because the antibiotic she has me on makes me feel kinda crappy. Let's just say I am definitely ready to be done being pregnant (although I know that baby boy isn't ready to come out yet.) I actually have an appt with a urologist next week to discuss my reoccurent kidney stones so hopefully he/she can figure out why I have been having them almost religiously since I was 18. Then in 2 weeks I go in for my diabetes screening test. Pretty sure that'll come back fine. I've never had an issue with diabetes during pregnancy before and I am in way better shape/health than I was with the other two.

On a non-pregnancy related note: Josh is getting ready to start preceptor-which means that he is done with regular classes and now gets to go a facility to work for 200 hours. He will be going to a Good Sam nursing home on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 6am-6:15pm and will be done in 8 weeks.

June 26 , 2012

Mark June 26th, 2012 on your calendars because if everything goes according to plan (fingers crossed) this will be the day my third little man comes into the world. My doctor-who's been pushing for the c-section-talked me into getting a repeat c-section. My mom and my grandma Nelson are coming down when the baby's born to help me out with the kids and meet the new little addition and I wanted to give them a date to buy their tickets. Yesterday we scheduled my repeat c-section for June 26th, 2012 at 7:30am. We have to be there 2 hours early, so we will be up bright and early that day. Looks like the time of new sleep begins the day he's born, lol. We cannot have visitors for 3 hours after my surgery, so if anyone is interested in visting we won't be able to have visitors until around 10:30am. Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know that we have an expected arrival date. It is just about 4 months away!

My sweet, 3rd little man

Well I have been waiting about 7 weeks for my ultrasound (since they scheduled it during my 13 week ultrasound) and the day finally came! It seemed so far away when we scheduled it that I couldn't believe it was already here. The ultrasound tech started and asked if we wanted to know. Well, of course I said yes, I am not a patient person. I am also someone who likes to plan and now I can buy all sorts of things for my...little man! She asked me, "What do you think the baby is?" And I replied, "A boy." Well, my sweet little man had his legs spread wide, letting us get a good gander at his package. He is most definitely a little boy. He made that rather clear. When the Dr. came in to look over the ultrasound pictures she had taken he said, "Well that's kinda obvious," when he got to the picture of his little spread legs. lol. I am sooo happy that everything looks normal so far. I can't tell you what a blessing it is to have healthy children. Some people aren't blessed with having healthy children and I am sad for them. I wish every baby could be born healthy and perfect, but that just isn't the way of the world. Was I surprised to find out we were having boy number 3? No way. I was actually reading an article that said a lot of times people who have two of the same gender end up having the 3rd baby be the same gender as well. Who knows why, but it seems to be more true than not.

And here's the question that I've been getting: "Aren't you disappointed that it's not a girl?" Truthfully? A teeny, tiny bit initially. Only because I don't have a girl and I think it is in human nature to long for what you don't have. BUT-he is my little man. How would you like it if someone asked you if you were disappointed in the little person growing inside of you? Wouldn't that make you feel bad? Wouldn't that make you feel defensive? Well...I just want you to think about what you say before you say it because I am in no way disappointed in my baby. He is mine and Josh's and that alone makes me happy. I am not trying to offend anyone but please keep any comments about your disappointment in my little man to yourself. I can assure you that I do NOT want to hear them. I love him, his brothers love him, and his daddy loves him. And we don't love him any less because he is a HIM. I love him all the more for being mine.

Dentist

The kid's had their first trip to the dentist on Tuesday. I admit that I kept forgetting to make an appointment and I know that Will was probably a little old to be having a first dentist appointment but...the dentist said he has beautiful teeth and that they look great. Will did great. He had his teeth cleaned and had a few x-rays taken of his teeth as well. They also put some fluoride on his teeth. He was very cooperative with it all and sat there with his mouth hanging open half the time waiting for them to look in (lol.) I have tried to be really diligent about helping both the boys brush their teeth and the dentist said he could tell that I help because they are in such good shape. Apparently kids don't have the dexterity to brush their teeth by themselves until they can write in cursive. Harrison's appt wasn't nearly as long, only took 5 minutes. Josh went with him and he said that he nearly bit the little mirror they use to look in the mouth in half. They just made sure he didn't have cavities and counted his teeth and put a little fluoride on them. Overall, it was a great trip to the dentist.

Grr...Kidney stones but a New Nephew!

So yesterday I wasn't feeling so good. I've been having pain off and on again during this pregnancy and I thought some of it was attributed to my UTI's. Well, yesterday the paingot unbearable. It felt like kidney stone pain but I was thrown off by it when the pain extended into my abdomen and made my c-section scar hurt. So, after Josh got after work I went in to make sure the baby was ok and that it was "just" a kidney stone and not something that was affecting the baby. Yes, it was a kidney stone and the baby was just fine, "his" heart rate was in the 150s and wasn't in any distress. I, on the other hand, felt very distressed. I was given an anti-nausea med and low grade pain killer and sent home. thank god that sucker passed around 6 am this morning because I've had it take weeks for a stone to pass before (weeks with the intense pain makes you kinda want someone to knock you out until it's gone.) Feeling much better today although still very sore. I just hope not to get anymore during this pregnancy, although they saw a few stones lurking around in my kidneys (hopefully those just stay there and decide never to make a journey down.)

On Saturday the 28th Josh and I received the news of a new nephew! His brother Justin and his wife Ashley had their second son around 8pm on Saturday and he weighed in at around 9 lbs 10 oz (yep, he's a big guy) and was 22.3 inches long. So that's grandson number four for joe and vicky and I'm guessing we will be adding number five in June. :)

Clarification

Okay. I need to make a few clarifications to my post about c-sections. I would never imply in anyway that vaginal births are easier and no, I can't really comment on them because I have never had one. And I am sure that laboring for hours is no fun (and that's putting it mildly) but if I had the choice between laboring for hours and hours or for being cut open and then being in pain for weeks at this point in what I know in my ignorance of labor and delivery, I would choose vaginal. There was a point in my life where I would have chosen a c-section just because I was scared of giving birth "normally" because I had never done it before. I guess you could say I've moved past that.

Let's just say I've had some terrible, terrible experiences with c-sections. A scheduled c-section is by no means the same as an emergency one. Harry's really wasn't too bad. Painful, yes but it was bearable. Will's was absolute torture. I know that I sound like I am being dramatic here but...there was so many things working against me with Will that it made things extra difficult.

I guess I am just upset because I feel like people are judging me for having had 2 sections and no vaginal births. I feel like people view me as less of woman for having not have experienced real labor and delivery. No, I have never even gone into labor. I had some mild contractions with Will when they tried to induce me but I had only been dilated 1/2 centimeter after 6 hours. Ugh. Such a touchy subject for me. Every time I think about it I cry because it feels like the choice has been taken from me. It would be nice if I could at least say yes, I want a csection because I want it. But that isn't really the case. My Dr. basically told me that she wouldn't rule it out but the problem is that if I went into labor and she wasn't there, there are a lot of her associates who would refuse to let me give birth vaginally and would insist upon an emergency c section. Doesn't really give me too many options.

It all boils down to this. I'm scared of something happening like Will's that makes the c-section a million times worse. With the extra blood pressure medications that made me feel like I had the flu and a migraine headache, to not being able to walk for 48 hrs and feeling my organs shift so dramatically and being so stiff, to having to pee every 30 minutes because of the loss of water rentention...(and heading for the bathroom being excruiating) my experience was kind of a nightmare. To be honest, Will's lucky he has any siblings at all.

Time can ease all memories though and over time, I've pushed Will's birth to the back of my mind. But as I sit here thinking about delivering this baby, it comes back to me full swing and is what makes me sit here and cry a little. I feel like this is all very misunderstood and I don't know if anyone (except someone in my exact position) can really relate to how I am feeling.

17 week Dr.'s appt

Had a Dr.'s appt yesterday for our 17 week checkup. Everything went good. It seems like I have finally gotten over the UTI that I have had since the beginning of this pregnancy. That was pretty annoying, let me tell you. Baby's heart rate was in the 150s and they were able to find it immediately, just like last time. Overall, this baby has been very cooperative so I am really hoping that on the 15th (he) will decide to be as cooperative. I want the confirmation of the third boy, lol. Also, blood pressure doing really good. 100/62. :) When I was pregnant with Harry, it was consistently around 130/80 which is actually getting kind of hypertensive. I would like to thank my newly fit body and newly adopted eating habits for my lowered blood pressure. I do think that has really helped.

Anyway, just thought I'd give a little up date.

Snow, Cold, and musings

Just some quick updates before I get the boys up from their naps.

Harry's been under the weather lately. He started with a temp on Thursday and obviously wasn't acting like himself. Today he is feeling much better but still has a slight temp so he's apparently still fighting something. I am just dreading Will getting sick because he is one of the neediest kid's when he is sick (not that I blame him but it can get to be a little much.)

I have my 17 week Dr.'s appt on Wednesday. I will post more about that aftewards. So far everything has been going pretty good. Blood pressure has been really low so hoping to keep it that way. Baby's heart beat was 157 at 13 weeks and of course we had an ultrasound then too for the first trimester screening. All of our tests came back completely normal. I am just so amazed at how advanced ultrasound equipment is now. Even from when I was pregnant with Will they have really changed. I could see his (using that because assume baby's another little man and I will be using him to refer to the baby until I have been proven otherwise) little face, his nose, chin, arms, legs, feet. when we went in with Harry at 17 weeks the ultrasound equipment was very old school, the kind where you had to have your bladder full. HATE those kind of ultrasounds. It just makes it really, really uncomfortable and no fun. Anyway, it was hard to tell anything with that ultrasound and the tech didn't even try to look for his sex. I guess I don't blame him, I could barely tell where his head began and his feet ended. My Dr. for this pregnancy is not the one who delivered Will (technically two Dr.s delivered Will, my regular doc and the specialist who actually did the C-section.) He wasn't covered by my insurance and I decided to actually go with a different hospital. Sanford is fine but I've heard some great things about Avera so I looked into Dr.s and found Dr. Jodi Scott. So far like her a lot, even though she basically told me that she wouldn't have a vaginal birth after having two c-sections if it was her when I brought up me possibly having a vbac. I have kind of let that dream die I guess, after all the scary things she said to me about vbacs after 2 c-sections. I had really hoped I could do this the "normal" way this time but I am not willing to put my life or the baby's life in danger just because I want to have an experience that I feel as been denied to me. I, of course, cried when she said she didn't recommend me having a vbac because I have to admit, even after all this time, I am still terrified of c-sections. Yes, having the baby is the easy part. You have a spinal (which are terrible by the way), they lay you on a table, drap a cloth over you so you can't see that they are taking out some of your insides to scoop out the baby, and then staple you back to together when it's all done. No, that parts okay. It's afterwards when you realize that your insides feel like they want to burst right out of you midsection that you just kind of want to lay down and die. And of course, the first time they make you walk is like the walk from hell. And it takes weeks for you to finally feel better. Gah. I wanted to avoid all of that. But...life is what it is. I can't go back in time and change Will's birth. Even if I hadn't had pre-eclampsia Will had his cord wrapped twice around his neck so I would have had to have a c-section no matter what.

Just on a quick note, it has finally snowed here. I hate it. It's cold and miserable. Yesterday it was like -20 with windchill. I was kind of hoping winter had skipped us by but to no avail.

An eye opener

There are times when a person reads a story and it changes the way they view their lives. It changes them...forever. Well, I have to say that that has happened to me today. I happened across a story about a little boy from Louisiana called Tripp Roth. Little Tripp had a condition called Epidermolysis Bullosa and it wasn't until I was crying my eyes out over this story that I realized that this brave little man shares a birthday with my little man, Harrison. They were both born on May 14th, 2009 and both of our little men looked like healthy, normal babies. The only difference between them was that Tripp had a few blisters, which caused the doctors to diagnose him with the above mentioned disease. It made me sit there and think, what if that had been my child? And I cannot imagine having to endure what this mother has endured along with little Tripp. Little Tripp passed away on Saturday, the 14th and my heart goes out to his mother. I tell you that this story changed my view of my life in many ways. I am so grateful for my two healthy little men. They may be challenging and really try my patience at times but I need to just be grateful that they are able to do the normal things that 2 1/2 and 4 year olds do. Another way that this story changed me is that I can tell you with all certainty that I DO NOT CARE what sex this baby is. I do not care if it is a boy or girl. I only care that he/she is healthy and happy. I really encourage you to check out this blog but I warn you, I cried a lot when I read it so maybe have some tissues handy. the blog is randycourtneytripproth.blogspot.com.

I also wanted to share with you the date of my next ultrasound. It is scheduled for 2/15 at 10:45 am and we will be finding out the sex of the baby. It isn't so much that I care about what the baby is but I want to know so I can start finding clothes, etc. :)

Anways, I just wanted to share that life changing story with you because it touched my heart.

Updates for 2012!

Wow. I realize that I haven't posted on here since summer 2010. Let's just say that life has been a little hectic. Josh being in nursing school and school for myself has kept us quite busy. I can't believe William is 4 years old and Harrison is now 2 and a half. And of course, we have our third baby on the way. I thought I'd start updating this blog once again to let everyone in on the pregnancy and the boys.

William just had his four year check up today and got his kindergarten shots. Wow, was that fun. he had to have five shots. 3 in one leg and 2 in another. He was pretty good for the first 3 by just exclaiming, "Ow, that hurts," but by the 4th one he was in tears and crying, "that really, really hurts!" Harrison was in the room and was horrified at his brother's cries of protest. He was scheduled for a flu shot and was actually waiting for his turn expectantly but then he decided that he didn't want the shot afterall. Harrison had taken off his pants as Will had but he then proceeded to tell me that he wanted his pants back on.

So, by the time it was Harry's turn, he freaked out. It was a very small shot and only one but he acted like had just been poked 15 times. Oh dear. He cried, quite loudly may I add, for quite a long time.

Will weighed 38 pounds and was 42.5 inches tall. Harry stepped onto the scale and he weighed 29.8 pounds.

The nurse said that he was pretty much perfect which of course, made me smile. He was able to draw all the shapes asked of him and was able to answer all of her questions satisfactorily.

Will has informed me that he now does NOT like shots. And Harry said that he doesn't want to go to the doctor anymore. Oh the joys of the boys getting older. lol