23 week update

Big News!  I had my follow-up appointment with MFM on Monday.  I firmly believe in the power of prayer, but I also believe God has the right to sometimes answer with, "No."  For the past 5-6 weeks, I've been praying my placenta would move and that my pesky hemorrhage would reabsorb.  Now, the side benefit of having these things is that I've seen some amazing ultrasound photos of my little kiddo, and I've been only allowed to work lactation shifts at work.  I love helping mamas with breastfeeding, so this has been pretty cool for me.  In spite of this, I've been hoping everything would resolve.
So Monday we went in.  Baby looks great.

And...everything has resolved!  God answered my prayers (and the prayers of many others- thanks if you were one of them)!  We are very thankful because this also means I now have clearance to go on our upcoming family vacation.  I would have been super bummed to miss out on our family trip to Maui, but I also want to make safe choices.  Now I get to go.  So let the planning truly begin!

It's a...

Seems like gender reveal parties have become rather popular in the last few years.  I don't remember even hearing of them the last time I was pregnant.  But now I hear about them on a regular basis.  With this being my last pregnancy (as long as we stick to the plan), I wanted to do something special to tell our families the gender of this baby.  If we hadn't had complications, I would have had my 20 week ultrasound yesterday.  However, when I bled at 16 weeks, we ended up finding out the gender while the ultrasound tech was checking everything else.

The ultrasound was on Monday, but we invited our families over for dinner on Sunday night several weeks ago.  For those who weren't able to be here, we called them earlier in the afternoon to find out what their guesses were on gender, and to tell them whether they were right or not. :)  Here is how we documented everyone's guess:

Since my husband and I already knew the gender, we put down what our guesses were prior to finding out.  As you can see, Aunt Jenny was the only one who thought it was going to be a girl.

And here was our decor:

Not much, but I wanted something special up!  We had a nice dinner, then passed out cupcakes that I had made earlier that afternoon.  One bite in and everyone knew that it's a...

GIRL!  We had everyone fooled.  They all seemed to think that if we were throwing a party, it was because there was something new and exciting to announce.  But I believe this little girl is just as special as our other two.  And the other 9 great-granddaughters on my husband's side of the family. Someday there will be a boy, but it's apparently not gonna be in our family! Yay for girls!

Maternal Fetal Medicine...again

If you had asked me six weeks ago, I would have told you that I have been fortunate and have always had really easy pregnancies.  And for the most part, that has been true.  I mean, with Honeygirl, I remember sitting on the floor in the bathroom for a little while one morning.  Yep, just one morning.  Otherwise, I felt pretty great.  I really enjoyed everything about pregnancy and things went relatively well. Other than the fact that at the 20 week ultrasound, there was concern about whether the kidneys were developing correctly. So I had frequent ultrasound checks throughout the following 19 weeks.  And just days before her arrival, through ultrasound it was determined that her kidneys looked like they were okay afterall.  But I got to keep my midwife....I just also was seen quite often at Maternal Fetal Medicine.  

Then pregnancy #2 came along.  No morning sickness, just tiredness.  And who wouldn't be tired while chasing a toddler all over creation?  I remember being a little more achy and uncomfortable than the first time, but overall everything went fabulously.  At least until the end of the 35th week.  That's when the bleeding started.  And I got admitted to the hospital where my coworkers had the privilege of caring for me for a few days.  Since Sweet Pea was doing fine according to ultrasound and the fetal heart monitor I got to wear constantly while in the hospital, and the bleeding stopped, I got to go home on bed rest for two more weeks.  Oh, and although I got to keep my midwife, I got adopted by Maternal Fetal Medicine again to keep an eye on things and make sure nothing seemed to be amiss.  At 38 weeks, they decided to induce me, which after the freaky bleeding, sounded good to me.  About 5 hours later, Sweet Pea was in my arms. 

Now I'm half way through pregnancy #3.  And like I said, if you'd asked six weeks ago, I'd have told you it was another pretty easy pregnancy.  Queasiness and tiredness characterized the first trimester.  And the tiredness has persisted, but I am now chasing a toddler and a preschooler all over creation.  Who wouldn't be tired?!  However, February 24th, brought some random bleeding.  Which led to an ultrasound.  Which is where I found out what complications I get to deal with this time.  And yep, I get to keep my midwife, but will be seeing Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM).  I'm seeing a trend....  

The good news: our baby appears healthy! and we found out the gender as a bonus. :)

The bad news: I have a marginal placenta previa and subchorionic hemorrhage.  Which means my placenta is too close to the cervix, and there is a random pocket of blood sitting right over my cervix for some unknown reason.  It also means I have to be super careful about what I do.  I don't have to be on bedrest at this point, but I can't pick up more than 20lbs max (which means I can't pick up my snuggly Sweet Pea anymore.  Super sad face for both her and me.), and I have to be fairly careful in general what I do.  wah-wah.

So...we are praying for continued safety for me and the baby, and that all will resolve.  The doctor at MFM feels like there is an 80-90% chance all will resolve by the end of the pregnancy.  That's definitely positive.  But I'd be even happier if it resolved sooner so I can go along on our already-paid-for family trip to Maui! 

Featured on another blog!

Julia, over at A Little Bit of All of it posted a bunch of photos of soft structured carriers in action today. Two of the photos she used are mine!  One with each of my girlies.  I have a handful of photos of me wearing my girls, but I have to say that the photo I miss not having is one of me carrying Honeygirl on my back when I was big and pregnant with Sweet Pea.  I wore her right up until about a month before my due date...right up until I ended up on bedrest.  A good reminder that "lasts" can sneak up on us.  I thought it would be fun to have a photo, but I waited, causing that last day of carrying one on the inside and one on the outside to pass right by.  I was hoping for a photo of Sweet Pea on my back while pregnant this time, but that's not looking like a possibility either.  Darn complications.  I'll just be thankful for the photos I have, and for a healthy baby thus far!

Lately...

Highlights lately:

Watching my 4 year old skip down the sidewalk in the sun, curls bouncing up and down her back.
Hearing my 2 year old inform me that she can't sing with me until her teeth grow bigger.
Seeing Honeygirl try ever so hard to climb a tree at the park.
Admiring the pure joy on Sweet Pea's face as she swung high on the swing at the park.
Watching my two girls learn to play contentedly with each other for decent chunks of time!
An unexpected date night with my wonderful husband on Friday night - we love that our girls love our babysitter!
Having someone else clean my house for the first time ever - wow!  That was amazing!
Having Sweet Pea come find me with stethoscope in hand, and say, "Mommy, I need to listen to the baby."
Seeing Honeygirl growing up and wanting to take a shower rather than a bath with her sister.

What have been some of your highlights lately?

Made Me Glad

I love this song:

Made Me Glad by Hillsong

I will bless the Lord forever
And I will trust Him at all times
He has delivered me from all fear
And He has set m feet upon a rock

I will not be moved, and I'll say of the Lord
You are my shield, my strength, my portion
Deliverer, my shelter, strong tower
My very present help in time of need

Whom have I in heaven but You
There's none I desire besides You

For You have made me glad, and I'll say of the Lord
You are my shield, my strength, my portion
Deliverer, my shelter, strong tower
My very present help in time of need


You are my shield, my strength, my portion
Deliverer, my shelter, strong tower
My very present help in time of need

For You have made me glad, and I'll say of the Lord
You are my shield, my strength, my portion
Deliverer, my shelter, strong tower
My very present help

You are my shield, my strength, my portion
Deliverer, my shelter, strong tower
My very present help in time of need
My very present help in time of need
My very present help in time of need

A card for Daddy

This was the card that Honeygirl chose to give to her daddy today for Valentine's Day.  I know she won't feel like this forever, but I love that she does for now.