Introducing...

Brianna Elisabeth Jo

Our Dream Come True

Born on February 18th, 2010 at 5:15 PM
Weighing 7lbs 7oz and 21 inches long

Birth story to come...right now I am a little preoccupied *grin*.

The Room

When we bought this house 3 1/2 years ago, I knew that this was the room that I wanted to be the nursery. I never decorated it much or painted it because I was waiting to transform it into a little haven for our first baby.

And time went by.

And more time went by.

And several times I considered just decorating it and painting it as an office, but changed my mind. It did serve as our office/my scraproom, but I never gave up on the baby dream enough to permanently decorate it as anything but a nursery.

When the time finally came for me to make it a nursery, I embraced it full force. I seriously L.O.V.E. how it turned out! It is exactly what I always pictured our little girl's room would be!
We purchased the crib, but this dresser was made by my dad. It is beautiful and just perfect! Right now, it is doubling as a changing table as well.
I always knew that I wanted a white crib for a little girl. I'm so happy with that choice! You can also see her first Cabbage Patch Kid up on the ledge shelf. Her name is Halle.

The room has a nice closet and easy access to the rest of the house. I can't wait to fill the memo board with lots of pictures!

What a blessing to finally have a nursery in our house!

39 Weeks... and it's TIME!!!

I'm 39 weeks today... whoo-hoo!

Besides looking and feeling HUGE, I'm doing okay. My hips have been very sore and I think you could definitely say I waddle rather than walk. I worked Monday and Tuesday this week, then had an appointment with Dr. N late yesterday afternoon.

Baby had been "breathing" really well on the ultrasounds for about the last 3 weeks. Yesterday, however, Dr. N had to really stimulate her to get her to breathe and move. He decided that it is time for her to come out! We are scheduled to check into the hospital tonight at 6:00pm and be induced. I am only dialated to 1 cm (and not quite that) and effaced about 70%, so Dr. N thinks it will probably be a long labor. BUT, we should have a baby by tomorrow! YAY!

There are just so many emotions that I am feeling right now. In a way, this is very surreal. We can't wait to meet our little girl!!! Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

What's a few more days?

Last summer, when I first announced our BIG NEWS that we were expecting, I said that I didn't want my blog to become all about pregnancy and baby. However, it seems that lately that is exactly what has happened.

So, I was thinking about all the non-baby related things that I could blog about today. I thought I could write about the superbowl and how my husband's precious Colts totally dropped the ball. Or about all the winter weather we've had (more snow this past week). Or about how work has been going.

But I don't want to write about those things.

WE'RE HAVING A BABY, and THAT'S what I want to write about!!!

Last week, when I saw Dr. N, he was fairly convinced that we would have a baby before Valentine's Day. Silly me, I wanted to believe he was right, so I did! He has thought since day one that I would deliver at least two weeks early.

I'm 38 weeks today.

When I saw Dr. N yesterday, he said that NOTHING was happening yet. No effacement, no dialation, and no baby for at least another week. *sigh* That is NOT the news I wanted to hear. I know it's still two weeks before my due date, but I had it in my head that she'd be here before Valentine's Day.

Dr. N loves to joke and carry on like he's real funny. He kept making jokes that my cervix was so closed he wasn't even sure I was pregnant. SOOOOOO not funny.

We've waited for her for 6 years, so what's a few more days?

Right?

Right?!?

Someone, please convince me I'm right! Our patience is running out!

Wordless Wednesday

36 weeks and a snow day

It's snowing once again in our little corner of the world. We were snowed/iced in over Christmas for several days, and as much as I enjoyed that (I was super-productive!), I'm not loving it this time so much. Although, I am enjoying the day off work!

I am now 36 weeks pregnant and feeling HUGE! I'm starting to get to the point that it's hard to breathe and roll over and sleep and get up and down and pretty much do a lot of things. BUT, this also means we are closer to meeting our baby girl, and we are SO excited about that!

We took a tour of the hospital the other night during our last birthing class and it made everything feel so close and real. There were twin babies in the nursery that had just been born, and they were just tiny and adorable. It made me want to hold my baby so badly! Dr. N says we probably have a while still because she hasn't dropped yet. That means that I haven't started dialating or effacing yet either. We could see that she has lots of hair on the ultrasound, and it looked curly! I saw a newborn pic of me the other day, and I had to wonder if that's what she'll look like.

Here is a progression of the belly pics over the last 3 months. The first one was taken at 25 weeks, and the last one at 36 weeks.Do you think I've grown??? *grin*

Week 35!

Chris and I bought a new a camera that apparently I don't know how to use very well yet. However, I wanted to post this pic of me (bad quality and all), 35 weeks pregnant!
We had an appointment with Dr. N a couple days ago, and received GREAT news. The baby has turned and is now head-down! Whoooo-hooooo! When she was breach, our c-section would have been around February 16th, which means we had less than a month to go. Now, we're not sure how long we might have, but that's okay. I am getting anxious to meet her though!

We have two more baby showers this weekend... actually, one is tonight (my work shower) and one is Saturday. Next week we have our last birthing class. And then? I guess we wait for her big debut!

Yes, another!

... Another perfect shower invitation ...

... from another set of wonderful {and talented} friends ...

... who want to help us celebrate our amazing blessing ...

... in a very personal, very real way ...

Our baby is so loved already!

Baby Shower Weekend {1}

This past weekend were our first two of four baby showers that we are having. I considered these two showers "smaller", but I was shocked at the amount of stuff we received for baby! We are certainly blessed with so many people that want to help us celebrate our little blessing!

My mother-in-law hosted shower #1 in the small town where Chris's grandparents have lived for 30 years and where his parents live now. I didn't know most of the women in attendance, but many of them have known Chris since he was born.
She made a cute diaper cake for the gift table.

Chloe (my sister's baby) was ready to parrrrrrr-tay!

She really wanted in on the gift opening, so I let her sit at my feet and open a few!

My mom wrote down who gave what so I could keep it all straight for later. Notice Chloe in on the action here, too!

Chris's grandma made this beautiful blanket for baby.

This little outfit is from "MeMe" (Chris's mom).

My mom made this little bag and put a few essentials in it.

Isn't it cute? I have pillows in the nursery that match this fabric.

From my family, my sister Lisa, her daughter Chloe, my Granny, my Mom, and my Aunt Cindy were all able to join me. It was a special day!

Chris's mom and grandma were also able to be there.

"MeMe" and "G-Jo"... the baby's grandmothers. This is grandchild #3 for MeMe and #7 for G-Jo.

The next day, my dear friends Tia and Tracy hosted another shower for Chris and me at our home church.

They did such a great job decorating and making it special! Love the cute cake and matching accessories!

What a cute clothesline of baby clothes!

The gift table...

My Aunt Cindy and Uncle Justin gave Chris a "Daddy Diapering Kit". Chris was a great sport about it! I can't wait to see him change his first diaper *grin*!

My mom made this blanket for baby. This pattern is a tradition in our family.

Aunt Lisa made this little jacket with matching booties and a hat. Can't wait to try it on baby!

We were so thrilled that my grandparents were able to be with us for the weekend. If I've counted correctly (BIG if), our baby will be their 19th great-grandchild. This fact, however, has not diminished their excitement and love for our baby! They have made us and baby feel so special!

My Aunt and Uncle were kind enough to drive my grandparents down for the weekend. I was so glad they were able to join us, too. I loved showing them a glimpse of our life!

I think by the time the weekend was over, little Chloe was ready to go home! BUT, she was a good sport as everyone passed her around and played with her. Lisa gave me a couple outfits that match outfits that Chloe has, so hopefully there will be "twin" photos in our future, haha!

The baby-daddy and I are SOOOO excited to meet our little one!

After we got everything home, I just had to unpack it and go through all of it again (and yes, I've already washed and put it all away!). As you can see, we did receive several big items. However, I really couldn't believe how many clothes we got (lots of blankets, too). Baby clothes are small, so I don't think the picture really tells how much there is... well over 50 onesies though!

It was such a great weekend spending time celebrating our baby with family and friends!!!

33 weeks!

I am now officially 33 weeks into this pregnancy, and still feeling great for the most part!

It's been a busy week with going back to work, the week before classes begin, and activities every evening. I think you can tell in the photo that I'm feeling a little tired!

Earlier this week, we had an appointment with Dr. N. The baby is looking good... growing, growing, growing! I've been having a lot of rib pain on my right side for about a week, and we found out it's because that's where her head is. Which, means that she is currently breech. Dr. N said that about 25 percent of babies will turn on their own this far along, so we are really hoping that is what she decides to do. Otherwise, he said that he'll want to do a C-section, and that's not really what we wanted. Please pray that baby decides to turn!

Dr. N does want me to go ahead and schedule a C-section date. In his words, "We know she will turn for sure if we make a plan for her not to." Haha! It feels really strange though to be actually picking a birthdate for my child. It's for sure not what I had in mind, but at this point, I've really learned just to roll with it!

We also had our first child-birth class earlier this week. I hope that the next three will be more beneficial than that one, because I sure didn't feel like I was hearing anything I didn't already know. We did "get" to watch a very real, very live video of a birth. It was just lovely as I'm sure you can imagine (I couldn't watch during... oh... pretty much all of it).

I can't believe how close we are getting to the end... or should I say the beginning *grin*!

We've been released!

Baby Girl and I went to see Dr. B (high-risk doc) yesterday. We had still been waiting on a blood test result that she had sent to another lab that specialized in toxoplasmosis testing. Last week, Dr. B's office called me and informed me that my blood had been lost somewhere along the way (!) and that I needed to give another sample. Seriously, how does this stuff happen???

Anyway, we finally had the results of my test yesterday, and I for sure DO NOT have toxoplasmosis! Great news!

In other great news, baby is growing well. She weighed approximately 3 pounds and 3 ounces. All of her measurements (including her head, the area of biggest concern), measured within 5 days of my due date! Whoo-hoo!!! Dr. B officially released me to seeing only my regular OB again. We were so happy with all of this!

I'll still see my OB more frequently than a "regular" patient, but I'm not opposed to a little extra monitoring at this point.

And for proof that she is in fact growing, a picture of me 30 weeks pregnant:

The Latest and Greatest

We have had two doctor's appointments since I updated last. I thought the days of going to the doctor every. single. week. were over for a while, but that was not to be *sad*.

Although, one big perk to seeing the doctor every week is that we also get to see baby girl every week. And no, she still does not have a name *sigh*.

At our appointment with Dr. N a few days ago, we were able to get some really good shots of her face. Chris was so cute... as soon as he saw her, he said, "She looks just like me!"
Which, maybe she does. I can't really tell. What do you all think?

She is still measuring small, but not getting farther behind, so that's a good thing.

We had an appointment with Dr. B (our high-risk doc) yesterday. She said everything still looks good enough that she doesn't have any major concerns at this time. However, not good enough that she was ready to release me back to seeing only Dr. N. I was disappointed with that, but we are willing to do what the doctors think we need to in order to get baby girl here safely.

She weighs a full two pounds now, and is very active in the mornings, evenings, and during the night. I just love feeling her move inside of me. I truly see being pregnant as a huge privilege granted to me by God, so I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it!

Oh, one more thing... I noticed yesterday that our ticker has less than 100 days left on it. We are down to double-digits! Whoa!

Nursery Pic (finally!)

Here it is! The debut pic of the nursery...

The walls are painted (and I'm thrilled with how they turned out!), we have a crib, and bedding. So far, I'm loving how everything is coming together. I'll post more pics in a couple months when we have stuff on the walls, our rocker, and dresser.

Baby Pics!

We haven't received any pics of baby girl for several visits because our doctor has been distracted trying to determine if she is healthy or not. However, yesterday we really got to she her at every angle possible, and got some good pics to bring home too!

In this photo, she's looking toward the ultrasound wand. It looks a little Halloweenish, but I like it because you can also she her ribs clearly.
This is the classic profile pic.

This is a pic of the legs that I feel kicking me all the time. The bright white lines are her bones.

It was so much fun watching her bob all around the screen during the exam yesterday. We go back to see Dr. N next week, and I can't wait to see her again!

Our meeting with Dr. B

Today, Chris and I were talking about appointments and Dr. P, Dr. N, and Dr. B, and another Dr. B that works in Dr. P's office that we saw a couple of times, and by the end of the conversation we were both so confused about which doctor does what and who is who that neither one of us was following the conversation.

Dr. B is the perinatologist that Dr. N referred us to in order to help figure out what's going on with me and baby girl.

Our appointment with her was at noon today, and I felt like overall it went really well. I was nervous about what we might find out, but I was also nervous because I had read several reviews about her online that said she had a horrible bedside manner. Although she isn't bubbly or overly friendly in any way, she was nice and took the time to explain things thoroughly to us (which is higher on our priority list for a doctor anyway).

The appointment began with a level II ultrasound, performed by a tech, that took at least 20-30 minutes. She measured everything from the baby's brain, to heart, to liver, to bones, to spine, to how much fluid she was pumping, to her kidneys, etc, etc. She took a total of 51 images of baby! Baby girl doesn't really like it when I put pressure on my tummy, and she kept kicking the ultrasound tech... it was cute.

Then, Dr. B came in and also took a peek at baby with the ultrasound machine. Baby's body is measuring about 5 days behind (right at 24 weeks), but when we saw Dr. N about 10 days ago, her body was 8 days behind, so she has caught up a few days. Her head is still measuring a full 10 days behind, but she is growing, so that's a good sign. Dr. B said there was nothing (such as a swollen heart, liver, or brain) that indicates there is any kind of problem or infection with the baby. She said that all indications lead her to believe that baby is genetically wired to have a small head, which is currently 2 standard deviations from average. She said that she won't be concerned with it until it reaches 3 standard deviations from average, and for now things are okay.

As for me, she, like Dr. N, does not believe that I am walking around feeling fine with 4 infectious diseases. She had taken a look at a previous Rubella titer that I had had done about 4 months ago, and my current numbers are barely elevated above those numbers. However, they are elevated just enough to push me into the "positive for infection" category. Dr. B said that most likely my antibodies are globally elevated, meaning that I just naturally run high in those areas. She said that something as simple as being dehydrated could have boosted my numbers just enough to send me into the "infectious zone".

Dr. B did send a sample of my blood off to a lab in California for further Toxoplasmosis testing. The reason for this is because this lab specializes in Toxoplasmosis testing and will be able to truly determine if I do have Toxoplasmosis or if it is a false positive. She said in her years of practice, she has only seen one true positive, so she does not anticipate that mine will be a true positive. If it is, we will go on to do an amnio at that time, but for now she didn't see anything that made her feel like an amnio would be justified. This made me feel so relieved. Dr. N had mentioned that she would probably discuss doing an amnio with us, and that really scared me. Toxoplasmosis is the only disease that we will be able to treat the baby for if we have it, so that is why we are looking into it a little further.

So, for now, I am to just concentrate on growing baby because Dr. B does not think there is anything too much out of the ordinary going on here. I go back to see Dr. N in about 10 days, then I'll see Dr. B again in two weeks. If, in two weeks, everything still appears to be normal and the additional blood work comes back okay, she will release me.

Overall, we both feel really good about how the appointment went today. We feel like she was thorough, informed, and encouraging, but not just sweeping the problem under the rug either.

On kind of a side note, I think I have come down with a cold. I'm not running a fever, but my nose is runny/congested, I have a very sore throat, and I'm overall just very low on energy. I was planning on working part of the day today, but decided to just rest up and hopefully kick this cold sooner rather than later. I feel so bad missing work, but I have to put first things first!

Thank you everyone for all your support and prayers! Hopefully, we'll be through this bumpy patch soon and I can get back to my quiet pregnancy!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Last Thursday, baby and I had another doctor's appointment. Things didn't go as well as I had hoped, so it was a pretty rough day.

During my first appointments (all the way until I was 16 weeks, really), I kept expecting bad news at each appointment. I mean, it seemed like that's the only kind of news I would get at my fertility doctor, so when I started getting GOOD news at appointments, it was a welcome change! I had finally relaxed and stopped expecting bad news when this appointment rolled around. I hate it when stuff like this catches me off-guard.

Below is an update on what we know. I'll begin with the good.

The Good: The baby is alive. She was moving and had a strong heartbeat. She is growing. I'm feeling good and healthy. My blood pressure is good. I will be 24 weeks along on Wednesday.

The Bad: Baby is not growing like she should be. She went from measuring 2 days behind at our 12 week appointment, to 3 days behind at our 16 week appointment, to 5 days behind at our 20 week appointment, to 10 days behind at our 23 week appointment. I gained 6 pounds since our 20 week appointment, but baby didn't gain much at all. Her head is measuring especially small.

The Ugly: Because baby is getting farther and farther behind, that could indicate that there is a major problem either with the baby or the placenta. My doctor referred me to a perinatologist for further testing. He also had me give blood for the TORCH test, but we don't know the results yet. I should see the perinatologist within the next week. My doctor also prescribed me Folgard to hopefully help the baby receive more nutrients, a daily baby aspirin, and said that bedrest may be in my future.

I'm trying very hard not to freak out about all of this, especially since we don't know for sure what is going on quite yet. It is hard not to worry, though. This appointment was the first time that I have ever cried in the doctor's office. Of all the news I've ever received in a doctor's office -- from the first time the word infertile was ever used, to being referred to an RE, to being told that my ovaries look like swiss cheese, to being told that my entire reproductive system needed a major overhaul, to being told I wasn't responding to meds, to being told that the cycle didn't work, to being told I have a cyst on my ovary again, etc, etc -- I was always able to hold myself together until I got to my car (or the parking lot at least).

But not this time.

This time was different. This time wasn't just about me. I feel like my body is failing my baby, and that is the worst feeling yet.

So, if you will, please pray for Chris and me and our precious baby.

Half-way there!

Last week, the baby and I had our 20 week appointment with my OB. I can't believe this pregnancy is half-way over already!

I'm still feeling great... pretty much normal except for the bulging belly. Some days I feel like it grows overnight, and I'm beginning to really look pregnant. I've gained a total of 9 pounds so far, which is a little less than average. I know that weight gain is part of the deal, but I am trying to be somewhat careful about how much I pack on.

Baby girl is looking good. She is a little on the small side, but Dr. N said not to worry about that right now. She measured 19 weeks, 3 days along, weighing in at a whopping 10 ounces with a heartrate of 158 BPM.

I haven't been able to feel her move yet *sad*, so I asked Dr. N about that. As it turns out, I have an anterior placenta, so he said that I probably won't feel her move until a little later than normal. Boo on that! I am so anxious to feel her! The placenta thing shouldn't be any kind of problem, but he is going to keep an eye on it.

It is just so exciting to watch her grow! He didn't give us any pictures this time, but when I go in at the end of this month I'm going to ask for some. Being pregnant has truly been a great experience so far!

Oh, I have also completed the {huge} task of registering for baby items! Mom and Lisa helped me register when they were in town for the Alzheimer's Walk. I was incredibly thankful to have the help of people who knew what they were doing! There are just so many choices and gadgets and conveniences for baby that I had no idea what was actually necessary and what was not. I was stressing over getting registered, but that's another thing we can mark off our list. Woot!

This is what you get...

when the tree-hugging daddy picks out an outfit for the baby!

What earth-friendly little pair of footie-pajamas!

This is the shirt that Momma picked out:

MUCH cuter... don't you think?!?

*grin*