I Guess It's Time

I am pregnant!  I am 19 weeks along, and am due with a BOY on May 23rd.  The C-Section will most likely be the week before that. 

We are thrilled!

We have been hesitant to announce it here because we had some trouble getting this little guy here, and wanted to make sure he was here to stay.  We also are aware that some of you out there think that we space our children too close and are too young to have so many.  While those opinions clearly don't detract us from doing what we think is right for our family- I don't love getting the phone calls and e-mails in opposition to something we are so happy about.

So, don't. :)

Since I haven't written out any of this here yet, this will be a super long post with details some will not care to know or read about.  I, however, think it is important to record these experiences, so there is your disclaimer.

It seems that my trend with babies has been that each pregnancy gets progressively harder, and each baby gets progressively easier.  If that trend continues, then I am in for one angel of a newborn!

This has been a rough pregnancy.  I have been sicker than usual, have had almost continual vertigo,and have come down with a few viruses that have made it even harder to stay healthy.  I also have some sub-chorionic hemorrhages that  have been worrisome.

A lot of women have the hemorrhages without even realizing it.  I wasn't one of them.

When I was 9 weeks along, I spent most of a day curled in the fetal position when I wasn't fainting, just waiting for Ross to come home so we could go to the ER.  I was cramping and bleeding, and I thought I was losing the baby.  I wasn't.  Yay!  It was these nasty hemorrhages causing a lot of pain and dizziness due to the bleeding.  They saw one there that was sizeable, and sent me on my way saying it would heal up on its own.

It didn't.

3 weeks later at our first OB appointment they found 2 hemorrhages- the big one the ER guy found, and another sizable one in another place.  It wasn't certain whether this was just missed by the ER tech, or if it was new.  Either way they were both actively bleeding, and I was put on partial bed-rest meaning I wasn't to do anything that would make me sweat or breathe hard.  That meant no more RS Exercise group or running.  Boo!

The follow up ultrasounds showed little improvement, so I have remained on this partial bed-rest ever since. I have LOVED getting ultrasounds every 2 weeks, and it was fun to learn the gender of our baby at 16 weeks instead of having to wait until the normal 20 weeks.  Silver linings!  We like them!

Last Friday I got a flu bug that has been going around our neighborhood.  It was horrible.  I was up most of Thursday night/ Friday morning praying to the porcelain gods.  So fun.  Most of Friday was spent in bed in a lot of pain interspersed with rushed trips to the facilities.  I figured this pain was just part of the virus.  That night I finally felt the sickness move on, and I slept soundly.  It was amazing.  When I woke up I felt refreshed and so happy to be well again.

Then I noticed all the blood.

Ross took me to the ER and despite my efforts to stay calm, I was crying most of the time.  I felt certain I had lost our little boy, and I was so ANGRY with the hospital staff for taking so long to tell me whether or not I was having a miscarriage.  It seems like is would have been simple to get a dopler and  find a heartbeat right as I got in, but it was literally more than an hour after getting there that they calmed my nerves. 

At one point the nurse got upset with me because the crying was making it hard to get a good blood pressure rating.  I deserve major Heaven Points for not punching her in the nose.

FINALLY, after getting blood drawn, giving a urine sample, and being scolded for getting emotional about the possibility of losing my child, we were taken to the ultrasound room where I was given the assurance that our (very proud) boy had a strong and healthy heart rate.  Actually, the tech checked some fluid levels and other stuff before finding the heart rate.  The first inclination I had that this was not a miscarriage was when I saw his little hands moving around while the tech was taking a measurement of something.  People are dumb sometimes. Mamas cry and worry, and it just seems like it would have been so easy to calm me down.  I am mad that they didn't.  My heart was aching, and when something so simple could have solved that, it seems silly to not do it, even if it does breach some kind of bureaucratic protocol.

Sorry- rant over.

It turns out it was those pesky hemorrhages again.  One had opened up a bit more, probably from the puking, and had caused the cramping of the day before and the bleeding.  Baby boy was safe and healthy, and I was put on bed rest until the bleeding stopped. 

Can I just say that bed-rest is super annoying?  Anyone who has had to live with that for extended periods of time deserves major props, because it was hard for me.  I stayed pretty active and productive, but I felt useless and bored.  I did some blogging, made ornaments for an exchange party I went to, read some books, and did a LOT of work for my free-lancing jobs.  Many thanks to those friends around me who stepped up to help me with my callings, took my kids to school, and provided meals during that time.  Your help was so very appreciated.  We are so blessed!

When the bleeding stopped 3 days later, I was back on partial bed-rest and have been ever since.  I had another ultrasound today where they think they might have spotted another problem.  It seems that there might be an amniotic band, which could pose significant problems to the growth of the baby and his little home in there.  I am a bit worried about that, but I am excited that we get to do a fancy 3D ultrasound next week with a neo-natologist. We have never had one of those before, so that should be interesting.

Other than that, things are good.  We live in such a great area where I know I always have help if I need it, and where I feel loved and cared for by so many.  Friends are true blessings from God, and somehow I hit the jackpot in that area out here.  I love this community and the way we reach out and support each other.  Sometimes I feel strange having to be the recipient of that service, but I am ever so grateful for it.