This morning's adventure...

Well we had what we thought was going to be our final ultrasound of this little girl's pregnancy, however I guess not...

It actually turned out to be quite an entertaining morning!

Our appointment was first thing in the morning, so we thought we'd be 'in and out' in no time. And I decided that Zay could just come along with us again, rather than lining up someone to watch him.

We did fairly well getting out of the house on time (Why is it that for nearly 2 years we used to all be out of the house by 7am, diaper bag packed, lunches made & packed, and each family member looking presentable...but now when we need to go somewhere that early it's an ordeal to make sure everyone and everything is ready?)

Anyway, thankfully Shane remembers that a bridge on our way to IC is out of commission starting today. No worries, Shane knows a way to get around it...ah hem - a Level B road! No worries though...we haven't had rain here in months, so he knew it was fine! However, we were able to recognize as we were turning off our 'secondary path' that the bridge that was 'not passable' was NOT being worked on like the sign stated...not very nice of them to trick us!

We finally get to UofI, get checked in and then our least favorite ultrasound technician calls us back. I guess after you've gone for so many, you start to develop your favorite techs and not-so-much-your-favorite techs. It was ok though, she was actually very pleasant today!

She gets to work looking at baby girl's cord, etc. She explains that for the most part everything looks good, and there was just one spot where there was the intermittent absence of flow. She said that she didn't think it was a big deal though, because it was good everywhere else she checked. After looking and measuring fluids, etc, she gives us a quick peak at our little girl's hair that was standing straight up! Shane asked if she could transfer that into color-mode, to see if her hair was red like Zay's! :)

Then comes the waiting...I guess the doctor's were busy and backed up because we had to wait 45 minutes for them. And as we are sitting there, all of the sudden I start feeling really light headed. I finally look at Shane and tell him that I'm going to be sick! I haven't been feeling the greatest the past few days, and I think I might be one of the lucky ones that has morning sickness return in the 3rd trimester...yay.

So, Shane pulls the trash can over next to me...and then Zay immediately starts yelling "Pee-Pee...Pee-Pee...Pee-Pee". He has to go...NOW! Shane's trying to figure out if he's safe to leave me (I have a bad history of passing out right before I throw up, so he's usually concerned if I get that sick). I tell him to go ahead and take Zay. They come back into the room and Zay is running circles around me...as if the room isn't already spinning! And I'm just mortified thinking about the doctors coming in and finding me with my head in the trash!

So...Shane gets Zay settled down. But immediately Zay assumes his 'pooping-position' and does his second order of business for the day. (Remember...for some reason un-be-knownst to me, he feels he should still poop in his pull-up/diaper, even though he pees perfectly in the toilet!) So back to the potty they go to clean up that mess, while I'm going back and forth from head over the trash, to sweating bullets, to drastic chills...just praying that we can get our act together before the doctors barge in to take a look at our sweet little girl!

Thankfully, we did get it all under control. I started feeling better. Shane had Zay cleaned up. The room surprisingly didn't smell. We were in good shape, well in the best shape we could be in assuming the series of events that had just taken place!

So, the team of docs come in, tell us that little girl is looking good today, but they would suggest we come back for another growth check in 2 weeks. (This was a different doctor than the one that read our ultrasound last time...so I guess, different doctors=different opinions). I still feel at ease that our little girl is fine and will be fine, but I'm not going to argue with the doctor's about wanting to keep an eye on her! I would much rather have them watch her closely, given our history of different concerns!

After meeting with them, I go see my regular OB, and she asks me how I'm feeling. I tell her about my little episode in the ultrasound room, the fact that I haven't been feeling the greatest the past few days, and having lots of braxton hicks. She decides she better check me, just to be sure nothing is progressing. (My poor husband...he is entertaining our 2 year old, still worried about his wife tossing her cookies, passing out, or both! All while trying to remain calm at the fact that he has a meeting back at the office in less than 1/2 hour...) Thankfully...our little girl cooperated and she is low with her head down, but not rushing us into labor! I was only dilated a very tiny bit, if at all. Phew!

And just to put a cherry on top of our already over-flowing series of situations.....Shane gets pulled over as we are leaving UofI! I was following him, and felt so bad! They had put out a temporary stop sign in a construction area and Shane saw it at the last minute, and stopped but Mr. Police Officer didn't think it was a complete stop. (No ticket, so that's good news!)

All-in-all......Zay and I made it home. Shane made it to work. And I'm so happy that looking back this is comical rather than discouraging. Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself and the predicaments you end up in! I honestly couldn't have been happier to have gone through the craziness of the day with anyone other than my husband, my son, and the baby girl inside me! :)

Nesting...

I think the nesting urge has hit me! Although, I have 7 weeks to go, I know that there is a lot that needs to happen in those 7 weeks! 

If everything goes as planned, we will be moving right before our little girl is born. However, up until this point things haven't really been working out as planned (issues with our new house that are completely out of our control) so we might be moving AFTER she is born...we will see! 

Either way, I'm trying very hard to take things in stride and know that even if we don't get moved beforehand, I'm blessed that this time after having a baby I will be staying home rather than returning to work. This will allow me time to unpack, organize, and decorate when I have time and not be rushed. I'm also counting on having my mom and my mother-in-law around for some extra hands...and to help me stay sane with all the moving, renovating, entertaining a 2 year old and getting to know a brand-new baby! Thank goodness for family!!!

In the mean time all I can do is pack and prepare...so I'm finding myself coming up with small ways to fulfill my need to nest! :)

With the renovations we are doing to our new house, Shane and I found a picture of these shelves and spice racks that we will incorporate into our new kitchen! I like how clean and organized they look! And so much nicer than storing our spices in the plastic containers they come in!

A few weeks ago we picked up the jars/shelves while on a trip to Ikea with my parents. Along with my little helper, I washed, labeled and transferred the spices over! 

Screwing the lids on was the perfect job for this little guy!

All done! Aren't they pretty! Just have to pick up a few more jars, but they are all ready to be put on the shelves in our new kitchen! Yay!

Phone Dump

I intended on posting this last week! Better late than never...right? :) 

Phone Dump

The perfect {little} man...

I don't mean to brag, but Zay's future wife will be thanking me someday. ;) My little man is on his way to making a girl very happy someday...Check out his mad mopping skills...




And he gets to work even before he's dressed for the day!


AND he cooks...in his under-roos... ;) (Kudos to Daddy for finding an amazing $10 deal on this play kitchen!)


He's a very good chef...raisins, carrots and pretzels are his specialty. Usually mixed up with a little bit of pretend water and microwaved until the *ding* goes off. We get very excited when the *ding* happens!


And besides his cleaning and cooking skills.....his future wife will be happy to know he is nearly potty trained! We've got the pee-pee thing figured out, now we are just working on the poo-poo. (Mommy is struggling knowing how to convince the little guy that it's ok to go #2 on the potty!!!)


Regardless, I think this little guy is going to be quite the charmer! He aims to please!

Positive news!!!

I am absolutely thrilled to be writing this post with positive news on our little girl! We got the best news at our ultrasound and doctor's appointment today! 

Basically the specialists told us that their concerns are gone and that they truly believe that she is going to be a petite little gal. She has shown consistent growth patterns which leads them to believe that even though she is on the lower end of the charts, from what they can see, she is proportional and healthy!!! 

One of the doctor's asked how tall both Shane and I were, and then said his prediction would be that she's going to take after Mom. :) What a relief to get a hug from my regular OB today because she was so happy for us, rather than trying to comfort me! 

I feel like God has blessed us beyond what I could imagine! We've been praying so much for this little girl and also praying that whatever the news would be today that we would accept it and know that it is all in God's plan. And He has calmed our fears once again! I wish I could say that I was always steady and strong through all of these appointments, but I think my husband would argue those characteristics. Being pregnant and getting news that escalates the emotions is not my strong point...but God is good and he got me through! 

I'm also so thankful to all of you that have been praying for our little girl. It means the world to me that we have such genuine friends that love and support us and already love our little babe. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Now, even with all this great news, we do have to go back in 2 weeks again for what should be our last ultrasound. They need to check the fluids and dopplers again to...in the doctor's words "cross their t's and dot their i's". Basically, since the concerns were there with the cord and her size they need to check it, but if everything looks good, which they fully expect we won't see our little girl again until she's born! Yay!!!

What a blessing today has been! 

30 weeks...only 10 more to go!

I can hardly believe we only have 10 weeks until we meet our little girl...practically only 9 weeks since I'm getting this post up so late! AND we have a lot going on between now and then! I thought having a baby around Christmas (Zay's bday is Dec 16) was busy, but oh my...summertime, particularly this summer for us, seems to be quite busy as well! (I haven't had a chance to update the blog, but we are in the process of buying an acreage that we will be moving into, probably right before our little girl is born...busy, busy, busy!)

I've been feeling really good. Honestly, I can't complain...but if I were to analyze my discomforts they'd be lower back aches and the fact that I have to pee. All. The. Time. (This actually does come in handy while having a 2 year old...I have to remind him to use the potty often, so when I go, he goes!) I do notice that my lungs are getting crowded too, but I think the heat and humidity are to blame for a little bit for that discomfort. I've been preparing myself for swollen hands and feet, but I haven't had to deal with that much - yay! I really do feel good, just big. :)

As the days pass, I honestly can't believe how soon we will get to hold our little girl! It's going to be a busy Fall for us, but all with amazing blessings God has provided for us. We continue to pray and feel blessed by those who are praying with us for our little girl's health. We have another ultrasound coming up this next week and are hoping she's grown and is looking healthy! I can't see her and measure all of her little body parts, but I sure do feel like she has been growing...if not, I guess it's just me growing! ;) 

And...we have a name! Well, we have 2 names...but there is definitely a front runner and Zay knows how to say it. So if we change our minds and decide to go with our #2 choice, we'll have to explain to Zay what his little sister's name is all over again. Although, he prefers to just refer to her as 'baby' anyway. And if you ask him...yes he is going to have a little sister, but she's not going to be living here with us. I'm positive he will change his mind eventually!

Here is a fun comparison photo...30 weeks prego with both of my babies! I would say it appears she is right on track with her brother's growth...

Phone Dump + Vacation

Since I'm so far behind on my posts, I thought I might as well just combine this week's phone dump with vacation pictures. 

We had a slight change of vacation plans when everything came up with our little girl, and felt more comfortable staying closer to home...so we planned a shorter trip to Red Rock Lake and did some camping! Yep...I stayed in a tent while 7 months pregnant! I did the exact same thing when I was about 6 months prego with Zay...we don't go camping often, but I guess there is something about me being pregnant and camping that go together! 

I was so thankful for beautiful weather and getting to go with our friends the Duncan's! We had a great time and look forward to more camping trips with them! 

I had to pull out a few of the pics...you know, just because.

Our family at the top of a lookout tower...love these boys and that little girl that's hiding inside my belly!

Our entire crew...so much fun hanging out with the Duncan's!

Ahhh...the beach - we had lots of fun at the beach! 

Does it get any cuter than a Dad reading to all the kiddos?

I honestly cannot get enough of this little boy's smile!

And by the time it was time to pack up...we had one tired boy on our hands, Mr. Leyton is checking him out to make sure he's ok. 

Baby Girl Update

I'm finally getting around to writing an update on our little girl. The past couple of weeks have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for us.

We had another ultrasound June 26th to check our little girl's growth and see how she is doing overall. Unfortunately, we weren't presented with any re-assuring news, rather the doctors found another thing they want to monitor...

Our sweet little gal is still small. Particularly her head size is the concern, but she is small all over too. I'm told that this is good. The fact that she is proportionate is a good thing, in contrast to if she had a small head and bigger body. So I'm grateful that she is petite all over! However, the doctors still do not have any answers for this, and we are all hoping and praying that she is just developing and growing on her own growth curve. 

The other concern we found on the 26th was with the cord. There was concern with the systolic/diastolic ratio being intermittently absent. Basically meaning our little girl was having to work harder to get the nutrients from the placenta.

We were told that we needed to come back in a week so they could take another look at the cord and fluids. If the S/D ratio gets worse, we would then need to be monitored weekly in order to assess when baby girl would need to be delivered (basically if it reaches a certain point, it's not safe for baby to be inside me anymore, and we would need to be induced). Praise God a week later - everything looked perfect in three different locations on the cord!!!!

That follow-up appointment was this last Tuesday and like I said before. Everything went as good as we could have hoped. Although, I still don't feel like we are out of the woods yet...we go back again in 2 weeks for yet another ultrasound to check on EVERYTHING again. Her size, the cord, the fluids, etc.



We are praying that she is growing and healthy and we ride out these last two months with less concern than the previous months have been.

There is no doubt that the power of our friend's and family's prayers have sustained us through these uncertainties. I feel like I've been through some of the same emotions I went through when we found out about Zay's PKU/thyroid...only this time I'm pregnant, have EXTRA hormones involved and do not have any answers. This feeling of being so far out-of-control to what is happening to your child is very humbling. Through God's strength, my husband's unwavering reassurance, my little boy's outpouring of love & joy and the support of our family/friends I've truly felt blessed.

I know that our little girl is absolutely perfect, regardless of what they see on an ultrasound or what the outcomes might be. I will do everything I can do to give her the best care I can right now, knowing that God is watching over us and He ultimately knows what is best...for her, for me, and for our family. And right now that is enough for me to get through another two weeks of not knowing any more information.

One good thing about having to have so many ultrasounds...we have an amazing amount of pictures of our little gal! When I look back at all these, I'm amazed at how much she changes in just a matter of weeks/months! We love our little girl so much and we are so excited for the day we get to hold her in our arms!

Phone Dump & 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

Boy, am I behind on blogposts!! I'm hoping to get some updated posts up on all the things we've been up to! Baby girl/pregnancy update, new house update, vacation, Zay's adventures, and just plain fun family time! Stay tuned, but until then...Happy 4th! :)