Hey all!
Wow, ok so I'm sucking at the blogging lately. Ugh. Sorry guys! This will be a big overall update and pics are coming as soon as I get them from my Father and Father in law (they took most of them, I just enjoyed the day!) :)
First of all, the "Train Happy Day" was a hit. He had a FANTASTIC weekend on his birthday and it went off without a hitch. He had a kid party in the morning on Friday and had a blast with all his friends... then the family party was on Saturday. We made him a Thomas the Train cake that turned out great, and he was sooooo impressed with it! He had specifically requested a Train Happy Day Cake, and boy did he ever get it! His eyes lit up when he saw it. :) He got a new bike from Mommy and Daddy (which he asks daddy to take him out for a ride EVERY day after work... Mommy can't keep up, so he holds out for Daddy time.) and a Train table and train accessories from the Grandparents and family. The train table is a huge hit, all his friends love it, and he's got tons of trains so it's a great toy for more than one kid. It came with a bunch, and then he got some of his favourite Thomas characters (and one that is battery powered and will pull other trains!) so there are many to choose from. :) It has seen play time for the better part of almost every day. Good times. He is a spoiled but happy little boy. haha! At least he's a really good sharer. ;)
In other Logan news... the soother fairy is coming this weekend. Yep, grandparents beware (we won't ask you to babysit until this is settled, promise!) the precious soother is going bye-bye. He is most definitely addicted to his soother, and is starting to ask for it during the day even though he knows he can't have it until naptime or bedtime. We are seeing it as becoming an increasingly addicting thing and it'll be easier to stop it now rather than later. So... we are formulating a plan, but I think I might have a good idea that may work. It'll be hard no matter what, and I know tears will be shed, but we will make it through. Look for the update on the soother status. haha!
Now... baby! Baby is doing very well and doing a good job of staying put, despite the attempts to escape. I had a series of Braxton Hicks contractions that made us nervous enough to go to the hospital and get checked out, but things were ok. No signs of real labour and my Fetal Assessments have been great! Woo hoo! Go baby!
We also now have a scanner, so I can scan baby pictures! Let me figure out how to do that, and I'll post them. :) I'll do a big picture post soon. Unfourtunately I can't find the picture they gave me from today, and I'm thinking I might have left it on the desk at the Fetal Assessment department. That makes me super sad, but I'm going to call them and hopefully I can get it later. Here's hoping it's not lost!
Ross is gearing up for school, and very pumped about it. "One more week of work!" he keeps telling me. I think he's very excited to be going back to school finally. One step closer to achieving his dreams.
I am doing alright. It's been a rough week emotionally for me, because we are right around the time in pregnancy when Faith was born, but I am managing. Having a good ultrasound today was very helpful. I am plugging through and am determined to make it to the end. Otherwise, not a whole lot else new with us. That's the update on the McCallum family!
I will be back with pictures soon!
Adios!
Jen
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
update on baby!
Hey guys!
Gah, do I ever owe you an update! So sorry I haven't been on here more to update this blog, but you know how it goes...
So... baby is doing great. We have been having fetal assessments every 2 weeks to keep an eye on whether or not I am showing signs of premature labour. So far so good! All of my measurements have been great and everything looks nice and closed! No signs of labour starting anytime in the very near future. A HUGE answer to prayer. We are fast approaching the point in pregnancy when I had Faith and things are looking positive so far. I saw my OB this morning and he agreed with my Fetal Assessment doc that things are going well, but we will continue with the plan. I think everyone wants to be very involved until we get past the point of viability - when baby could be born and have a chance of survival outside of me. That point is around 25-26 weeks, but the odds get much better after 28 weeks. I am much more comfortable with this monitoring and am very thankful that my docs are not relaxing just because they've seen a few good scans. I want the follow up to continue until we're in a safe zone, because with Faith things changed VERY quickly. The purpose of all of this is to be pro-active instead of caught offguard, so I am glad that we are sticking to that plan.
Baby is measuring great and is right on time. They have moved my official due date to January 7th. That's a few days ahead of my original due date of January 10th, so I was pretty surprised! I have never been bumped up before! They always tell me that baby is smaller than they thought! Anatomy scans are all finished (the typical 20 week ultrasound stuff) and everything is looking great. The fun thing about it all being done in fetal assessment instead of the regular ultrasound department is that they are MUCH more detailed with the scans and a LOT nicer about it too! So far Ross has been given 2 tours of the baby's brain (one by the tech, and the other by a doc who was teaching a resident about it...) and he finds it all very interesting. Once I tell them that Ross is a Psych Major they say "Oh!" and get all detailed with him. Half the time I wonder if he understands, cuz I sure don't... but he seems to. haha! They've also shown us the heart in detail, the face and told us all sorts of stuff about normal development, placental attachement, etc. It's amazing. I think I know more about ultrasounds now then I ever would have in life had I not gone through this! It's amazing.
In other life, we are gearing up for Logan's birthday... or as he calls it, his "Train Happy Day!" We are going with a train theme and the grandparents have gone together to buy him a train table for his birthday. He'll absolutley love it, I'm sure. He is completely obsessed with trains these days. Trains and Cars. I've also told him that he can have a train cake... well... that was just BEYOND his imagination. Now he's asking almost every day for a "Train Happy Day Cake... Brown Happy Day" (the Brown part come from Ross's birthday cake having chocolate icing... he realized that cake comes in brown and white, and he has made it well known that he prefers brown. haha!) I'll have to figure out how to work some brown into this train... but I'm hoping that the fact that it's chocolate cake will suffice. I'm sure he'll just be amazed that it's a train.
So we are busy this week getting ready for his birthday and trying to find him a bike before his birthday actually comes. Ross and I are getting him his first bike for his birthday. He has a trike that he has learned to pedal really well and now scoots around on quite a bit in the basement. (If the stupid rain would go away we could go outside!!!) so we figured it was time for a real bike. We've taken him shopping a few times and he fits a small bike pretty good and he loves biking. Now we jsut have to pick one. Hopefully tonight will be the end of our shopping sprees for this thing. :)
So that's all that's happening with us! I'll try to keep updated more often, and will post pics of the birthday party soon!
Jen
Gah, do I ever owe you an update! So sorry I haven't been on here more to update this blog, but you know how it goes...
So... baby is doing great. We have been having fetal assessments every 2 weeks to keep an eye on whether or not I am showing signs of premature labour. So far so good! All of my measurements have been great and everything looks nice and closed! No signs of labour starting anytime in the very near future. A HUGE answer to prayer. We are fast approaching the point in pregnancy when I had Faith and things are looking positive so far. I saw my OB this morning and he agreed with my Fetal Assessment doc that things are going well, but we will continue with the plan. I think everyone wants to be very involved until we get past the point of viability - when baby could be born and have a chance of survival outside of me. That point is around 25-26 weeks, but the odds get much better after 28 weeks. I am much more comfortable with this monitoring and am very thankful that my docs are not relaxing just because they've seen a few good scans. I want the follow up to continue until we're in a safe zone, because with Faith things changed VERY quickly. The purpose of all of this is to be pro-active instead of caught offguard, so I am glad that we are sticking to that plan.
Baby is measuring great and is right on time. They have moved my official due date to January 7th. That's a few days ahead of my original due date of January 10th, so I was pretty surprised! I have never been bumped up before! They always tell me that baby is smaller than they thought! Anatomy scans are all finished (the typical 20 week ultrasound stuff) and everything is looking great. The fun thing about it all being done in fetal assessment instead of the regular ultrasound department is that they are MUCH more detailed with the scans and a LOT nicer about it too! So far Ross has been given 2 tours of the baby's brain (one by the tech, and the other by a doc who was teaching a resident about it...) and he finds it all very interesting. Once I tell them that Ross is a Psych Major they say "Oh!" and get all detailed with him. Half the time I wonder if he understands, cuz I sure don't... but he seems to. haha! They've also shown us the heart in detail, the face and told us all sorts of stuff about normal development, placental attachement, etc. It's amazing. I think I know more about ultrasounds now then I ever would have in life had I not gone through this! It's amazing.
In other life, we are gearing up for Logan's birthday... or as he calls it, his "Train Happy Day!" We are going with a train theme and the grandparents have gone together to buy him a train table for his birthday. He'll absolutley love it, I'm sure. He is completely obsessed with trains these days. Trains and Cars. I've also told him that he can have a train cake... well... that was just BEYOND his imagination. Now he's asking almost every day for a "Train Happy Day Cake... Brown Happy Day" (the Brown part come from Ross's birthday cake having chocolate icing... he realized that cake comes in brown and white, and he has made it well known that he prefers brown. haha!) I'll have to figure out how to work some brown into this train... but I'm hoping that the fact that it's chocolate cake will suffice. I'm sure he'll just be amazed that it's a train.
So we are busy this week getting ready for his birthday and trying to find him a bike before his birthday actually comes. Ross and I are getting him his first bike for his birthday. He has a trike that he has learned to pedal really well and now scoots around on quite a bit in the basement. (If the stupid rain would go away we could go outside!!!) so we figured it was time for a real bike. We've taken him shopping a few times and he fits a small bike pretty good and he loves biking. Now we jsut have to pick one. Hopefully tonight will be the end of our shopping sprees for this thing. :)
So that's all that's happening with us! I'll try to keep updated more often, and will post pics of the birthday party soon!
Jen
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Fetal Assessment update
Hey all!
So here's the BIG update from our fetal assessment today. I am being followed very closely by fetal assessment now (every 2 weeks for the next 10 weeks, and then we'll re-assess the frequency) and our scan today went well. Ross was able to get the time off to come with me, so that was fantastic. It's always 100x more fun when he's there. :)
So... going through our issues one by one...
Placenta previa: this has been relatively resolved and will get better with time. As we suspected the placenta is beginning to move as the baby grows, and that growth will naturally pull the placenta upwards. This is beginning to happen and my placenta is now what they'd call "very low lying placenta" but not quite covering the opening. The doctor said that by the time I deliver the baby, my doctor will likely not even give my placenta placement a second thought. So we'll consider that resolved. :)
Incompetent Cervix: My measurement today was fantastic and the doctor asked me a ton of questions about my labour and birth with Faith. After discussing it at length, he is not convinced that I have this and he says it sounds more like I just went into spontaneous premature labour. The surgical procedure that has been postponed many times now, is now off the table. It's not being done. That's a good thing because that would have limited my activity and put me on bedrest for a week post surgery.
Factor V Leiden: My clotting disorder. It seems that this is the most likely culprit for my premature birth with Faith, so my hematologist has doubled my heparin (blood thinners) for the rest of the pregnancy and recommended I stay on them for 6 weeks post pardum. No biggie. I'm getting used to the needles and our summer generally sucks so it's not like the bruises on my stomach from the heparin is hindering my bikini-wearing... which is non-existant... unless I were to swim in the massive puddles on my front street. But that's not likely.
The rest of the story: There is still the risk of premature labour. So, the doctor at fetal assessment has decided that he'd like to do a fetal assessment every 2 weeks until I am generally out of the "danger zone" and closer to 3rd trimester. We will be doing the bi-weekly ones for the next 10 weeks and then re-assess the need based on what those scans show. There are signs that they can look for in fetal assessment that will predict if I am going to go into labour early, and this will be what they are specifically looking for each scan. My Obstetrician (general pregnancy doc) will also be seeing me every 2 weeks (as has been the norm for the entire pregnancy thus far) and my hematologist will see me in 2 months. So I am definitely not being forgotten about. ;) I will be very familiar with this baby by the time it comes. :) We can even get some pictures at fetal assessment so I'll see about getting those scanned or something to post up here. The machine didn't work this time, but she said next time we'd get them. :)
Otherwise everything else is looking good. No signs of placental tears or bleeds, placenta looks great, baby is measuring right on time and looking great. Ross got a tour of the baby's brain (because he asked what she was looking at and I mentioned that he was a Psych major and very interested in brains...) and our tech was fantastic. They were very ready to answer any question we had and were very informative and detailed with us. It was a very good visit overall. :)
So... all is good, we're just keeping an eye on things and watching how they progress. But today, we are doing well. :) Keep praying for us and the baby, our prayers are definitely being heard and they are helping!!!
Until next time!
Jen
So here's the BIG update from our fetal assessment today. I am being followed very closely by fetal assessment now (every 2 weeks for the next 10 weeks, and then we'll re-assess the frequency) and our scan today went well. Ross was able to get the time off to come with me, so that was fantastic. It's always 100x more fun when he's there. :)
So... going through our issues one by one...
Placenta previa: this has been relatively resolved and will get better with time. As we suspected the placenta is beginning to move as the baby grows, and that growth will naturally pull the placenta upwards. This is beginning to happen and my placenta is now what they'd call "very low lying placenta" but not quite covering the opening. The doctor said that by the time I deliver the baby, my doctor will likely not even give my placenta placement a second thought. So we'll consider that resolved. :)
Incompetent Cervix: My measurement today was fantastic and the doctor asked me a ton of questions about my labour and birth with Faith. After discussing it at length, he is not convinced that I have this and he says it sounds more like I just went into spontaneous premature labour. The surgical procedure that has been postponed many times now, is now off the table. It's not being done. That's a good thing because that would have limited my activity and put me on bedrest for a week post surgery.
Factor V Leiden: My clotting disorder. It seems that this is the most likely culprit for my premature birth with Faith, so my hematologist has doubled my heparin (blood thinners) for the rest of the pregnancy and recommended I stay on them for 6 weeks post pardum. No biggie. I'm getting used to the needles and our summer generally sucks so it's not like the bruises on my stomach from the heparin is hindering my bikini-wearing... which is non-existant... unless I were to swim in the massive puddles on my front street. But that's not likely.
The rest of the story: There is still the risk of premature labour. So, the doctor at fetal assessment has decided that he'd like to do a fetal assessment every 2 weeks until I am generally out of the "danger zone" and closer to 3rd trimester. We will be doing the bi-weekly ones for the next 10 weeks and then re-assess the need based on what those scans show. There are signs that they can look for in fetal assessment that will predict if I am going to go into labour early, and this will be what they are specifically looking for each scan. My Obstetrician (general pregnancy doc) will also be seeing me every 2 weeks (as has been the norm for the entire pregnancy thus far) and my hematologist will see me in 2 months. So I am definitely not being forgotten about. ;) I will be very familiar with this baby by the time it comes. :) We can even get some pictures at fetal assessment so I'll see about getting those scanned or something to post up here. The machine didn't work this time, but she said next time we'd get them. :)
Otherwise everything else is looking good. No signs of placental tears or bleeds, placenta looks great, baby is measuring right on time and looking great. Ross got a tour of the baby's brain (because he asked what she was looking at and I mentioned that he was a Psych major and very interested in brains...) and our tech was fantastic. They were very ready to answer any question we had and were very informative and detailed with us. It was a very good visit overall. :)
So... all is good, we're just keeping an eye on things and watching how they progress. But today, we are doing well. :) Keep praying for us and the baby, our prayers are definitely being heard and they are helping!!!
Until next time!
Jen
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Still chillin
Still pregnant, still chillin out on the couch, just doing my thing...
We are on day 4 of no spotting, so I am hoping this is the new trend. I go and see my doc again on Tuesday next week and we discuss the surgical procedure then. We are all REALLY hoping that it'll be a go, and that I can get it done ASAP as it will really help this baby stay put for a while. Everything crossed!
As for life... aside from gearing up for the arrival of some out of town guests this week, and a busy week next week with all the entertaining we will be doing... there's not a whole lot new over here. Glenn and Sandy arrive on Friday and we have a huge family BBQ with some very extended family of Ross's side next Wednesday. Ross's grandma has a cousin coming in out of town, and it is her family I believe that is all getting together. Needless to say we will have a LOT of people that Ross and I both don't know in our house Wednesday night. haha! So lots of prep for that happening here since we're really not sure how many people are coming and it's kinda sounding like a lot. :)
Ross will be registering his courses soon and I haven't seen him this excited about something in a looong time! He has bought a few textbooks so far (something Ross LOVES doing... if you know Ross, you know his love for new books.) and is very excited to go back to University in the fall.
And we have also learned that we do have the option of getting coverage in the fall through the undergraduate program that Ross can choose to opt into as a graduate student. This is EXCELLENT news for me because I was scheduled to get two wisdom teeth out in late August and well... considering how this pregnancy is going, getting wisdom teeth out is not high on my priority list, nor does it sound like a fun thing to do right now. haha.
Otherwise we are starting to think about Logan's birthday, which is a month from today. Can someone please explain to me when my child got to be 2 years old??? This year will be a train birthday as he absolutely adores trains right now. We just had Ross's birthday recently, and Logan is catching on to the birthday idea. Mainly the fact that birthdays mean that there will be birthday cake somewhere in the house. Or as Logan likes to refer to birthdays... "Happy day" (his version of Happy Birthday). He's looking forward to his train "happy day" cake and is wrapping his little mind around the fact that now that Daddy's "happy day" is over, his "happy day" comes next! He will often ask if we have any happy day cake after supper. haha!
Ah the fun. Till next time!
Jen
We are on day 4 of no spotting, so I am hoping this is the new trend. I go and see my doc again on Tuesday next week and we discuss the surgical procedure then. We are all REALLY hoping that it'll be a go, and that I can get it done ASAP as it will really help this baby stay put for a while. Everything crossed!
As for life... aside from gearing up for the arrival of some out of town guests this week, and a busy week next week with all the entertaining we will be doing... there's not a whole lot new over here. Glenn and Sandy arrive on Friday and we have a huge family BBQ with some very extended family of Ross's side next Wednesday. Ross's grandma has a cousin coming in out of town, and it is her family I believe that is all getting together. Needless to say we will have a LOT of people that Ross and I both don't know in our house Wednesday night. haha! So lots of prep for that happening here since we're really not sure how many people are coming and it's kinda sounding like a lot. :)
Ross will be registering his courses soon and I haven't seen him this excited about something in a looong time! He has bought a few textbooks so far (something Ross LOVES doing... if you know Ross, you know his love for new books.) and is very excited to go back to University in the fall.
And we have also learned that we do have the option of getting coverage in the fall through the undergraduate program that Ross can choose to opt into as a graduate student. This is EXCELLENT news for me because I was scheduled to get two wisdom teeth out in late August and well... considering how this pregnancy is going, getting wisdom teeth out is not high on my priority list, nor does it sound like a fun thing to do right now. haha.
Otherwise we are starting to think about Logan's birthday, which is a month from today. Can someone please explain to me when my child got to be 2 years old??? This year will be a train birthday as he absolutely adores trains right now. We just had Ross's birthday recently, and Logan is catching on to the birthday idea. Mainly the fact that birthdays mean that there will be birthday cake somewhere in the house. Or as Logan likes to refer to birthdays... "Happy day" (his version of Happy Birthday). He's looking forward to his train "happy day" cake and is wrapping his little mind around the fact that now that Daddy's "happy day" is over, his "happy day" comes next! He will often ask if we have any happy day cake after supper. haha!
Ah the fun. Till next time!
Jen
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Chuggin' along.
Hey all. Just a quick update on us. Baby is still doing well, and still staying where it should be right now. My doctor is wanting to wait for the surgical procedure, for the spotting to stop... so we are playing the waiting game there. I will be having more frequent ultrasounds to check on things and make sure that I'm not showing any signs of progressing towards labour, so that is reassuring. I am still spotting a small bit every day, but am taking it really easy at home and resting as much as I can (without losing my sanity) so that things can heal and change for the better.
Ross is doing alright. He's coping fantastically well for all the pressure he's under right now. Things are busy at work, and then he comes home to being mom, dad, cook, night-duty with Logan... it's a lot. But friends and family have been so generous and helpful with taking the load off of both of us. It has been a real blessing. We are very very blessed to have such wonderful people around us at times like this. We were also blessed with a doppler to have at home, from some wonderful friends that owned one. (It's the machine to hear the baby's heartbeat via my stomach) So we have been listening to the baby every day and bonding with it that way.
So we're just taking it day by day and praying with all we have for protection over this baby and that we can see it born healthy and term. We appreciate all the prayers that are being sent our way, keep them coming becuase they are definitely helping.
Will be back soon!
Jen
Ross is doing alright. He's coping fantastically well for all the pressure he's under right now. Things are busy at work, and then he comes home to being mom, dad, cook, night-duty with Logan... it's a lot. But friends and family have been so generous and helpful with taking the load off of both of us. It has been a real blessing. We are very very blessed to have such wonderful people around us at times like this. We were also blessed with a doppler to have at home, from some wonderful friends that owned one. (It's the machine to hear the baby's heartbeat via my stomach) So we have been listening to the baby every day and bonding with it that way.
So we're just taking it day by day and praying with all we have for protection over this baby and that we can see it born healthy and term. We appreciate all the prayers that are being sent our way, keep them coming becuase they are definitely helping.
Will be back soon!
Jen
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Update on the family...
Has it EVER been a crazy few weeks over here. We have had our hands full with a few pregnancy scares (I can't get through it without at least one scare apparently) and a lot of stuff going on in life, but all is well and here is the update.
First off, the baby. Baby is still doing well and is healthy. I had some spotting for the last week and was supposed to be scheduled for a simple surgical procedure (unrelated to the spotting, more related to preventing the premature birth that I had with Faith) but that was postponed due to the spotting. We weren't sure what was going on or if the baby was still ok, but after a week of spotting I got fed up and demanded an ultrasound... which I got that day! So off I go, not sure what I was going to see... but sure enough there's my little baby beating me up from the inside out (literally... this kid was HYPER!) and I don't think it stayed still for 2 seconds. We ended up having an ultrasound tech who was from our church too, which was a total blessing! She finished the scan and went to get the radiologist, which tipped me off that something was up (although I expected there to be something up... I am still spotting afterall...) and he comes in to do another scan. They were looking specifically at the placenta, which was sitting quite low, and sure enough it is lying right over the opening of my uterus. This is called a "Placenta Previa" for those of you who are into googling things. Now it's not like the pictures you'll find, where the whole placenta is sitting right on the bottom... mine just kind of edges over it and is about 6mm past the opening. So it's not big. That's good news because often these things migrate as the uterus grows with the baby, and the growth of the uterus will pull the placenta upwards. If that happens, everything is completely fine and I am cleared for a natural birth as though it never happened. If it doesn't move, then I will be booked for an early c-section to avoid labour. So, we are praying very specifically that the placenta will move, because we do not want to do another c-section. Obviously we will if that's the only way... but if we do that will mean sections from now on, because that will be my second one. And recovery from a natural birth is a LOT easier. So, all in all we still have a very healthy baby and a placenta that is still attached. Praise God!
As for us... well, we're stressed. There's no lying about it, this past few weeks has taken it's toll on us emotionally, physically, mentally... everything. I have no idea what we would do without the amazing friends and family we have around us, it is a blessing and a half to have all the help with Logan, and to have people make us meals. I am physically still quite uncomfortable for some reason (not sure why...) so I'm resting and taking it easy. I also don't want to aggrivate anything as I have had placental tears before and that puts me at risk for another one. So I'm just resting as much as I can, trying to stay as comfortable as possible so that nothing more happens. But, as much as Ross is 100% supportive of this decision (and enforcing it...) it does put a lot of pressure on him. He's got two people's worth of stuff to do around here, including the things I usually do like the cooking, some of caring for Logan, etc... and it is weighing on him. I don't think he stops moving until he goes to bed. It's pretty amazing. But he's only human and he does have a burn out point too, so prayers for extra strength for him would be much appreciated. He is being so incredibly flexible, I am very very blessed to have his support.
Logan is doing great. He's stinkin tall and just won't stop growing. He is a total chatterbox, talking in full 4-5 word sentences and narrarating all of life around him, all the time. It's pretty funny actually. He's SO much fun to be around and he says the funniest things sometimes. He is also 100% in love with this baby and will come up to my tummy and give it kisses and "cud-ohs" (cuddles) all the time. He comes and snuggles his head on my tummy and looks up at me and says to me "Me cud-oh baby!" It's priceless. A friend of ours just had a baby and Logan is in love with their little girl too. He wants to hold her and kiss her all the time, and if he's just playing , he will stop every 10 minutes or so just to go check on the baby and pat her arm or tummy or something, and then go back to playing. It's very sweet. I think he'll love being a brother. Whenever I tell him that soon he will get a baby of his own, he looks at me and says "My baby???" with amazement. I tell him "Yep, you'll get your own baby soon!" "Yaaayyyy!" he says, with lots of clapping. haha.
Oh, and the black eye is gone now. I should have taken a picture the next day, that was the most impressive one. haha! Poor kid.
Tis all for now!
Jen
First off, the baby. Baby is still doing well and is healthy. I had some spotting for the last week and was supposed to be scheduled for a simple surgical procedure (unrelated to the spotting, more related to preventing the premature birth that I had with Faith) but that was postponed due to the spotting. We weren't sure what was going on or if the baby was still ok, but after a week of spotting I got fed up and demanded an ultrasound... which I got that day! So off I go, not sure what I was going to see... but sure enough there's my little baby beating me up from the inside out (literally... this kid was HYPER!) and I don't think it stayed still for 2 seconds. We ended up having an ultrasound tech who was from our church too, which was a total blessing! She finished the scan and went to get the radiologist, which tipped me off that something was up (although I expected there to be something up... I am still spotting afterall...) and he comes in to do another scan. They were looking specifically at the placenta, which was sitting quite low, and sure enough it is lying right over the opening of my uterus. This is called a "Placenta Previa" for those of you who are into googling things. Now it's not like the pictures you'll find, where the whole placenta is sitting right on the bottom... mine just kind of edges over it and is about 6mm past the opening. So it's not big. That's good news because often these things migrate as the uterus grows with the baby, and the growth of the uterus will pull the placenta upwards. If that happens, everything is completely fine and I am cleared for a natural birth as though it never happened. If it doesn't move, then I will be booked for an early c-section to avoid labour. So, we are praying very specifically that the placenta will move, because we do not want to do another c-section. Obviously we will if that's the only way... but if we do that will mean sections from now on, because that will be my second one. And recovery from a natural birth is a LOT easier. So, all in all we still have a very healthy baby and a placenta that is still attached. Praise God!
As for us... well, we're stressed. There's no lying about it, this past few weeks has taken it's toll on us emotionally, physically, mentally... everything. I have no idea what we would do without the amazing friends and family we have around us, it is a blessing and a half to have all the help with Logan, and to have people make us meals. I am physically still quite uncomfortable for some reason (not sure why...) so I'm resting and taking it easy. I also don't want to aggrivate anything as I have had placental tears before and that puts me at risk for another one. So I'm just resting as much as I can, trying to stay as comfortable as possible so that nothing more happens. But, as much as Ross is 100% supportive of this decision (and enforcing it...) it does put a lot of pressure on him. He's got two people's worth of stuff to do around here, including the things I usually do like the cooking, some of caring for Logan, etc... and it is weighing on him. I don't think he stops moving until he goes to bed. It's pretty amazing. But he's only human and he does have a burn out point too, so prayers for extra strength for him would be much appreciated. He is being so incredibly flexible, I am very very blessed to have his support.
Logan is doing great. He's stinkin tall and just won't stop growing. He is a total chatterbox, talking in full 4-5 word sentences and narrarating all of life around him, all the time. It's pretty funny actually. He's SO much fun to be around and he says the funniest things sometimes. He is also 100% in love with this baby and will come up to my tummy and give it kisses and "cud-ohs" (cuddles) all the time. He comes and snuggles his head on my tummy and looks up at me and says to me "Me cud-oh baby!" It's priceless. A friend of ours just had a baby and Logan is in love with their little girl too. He wants to hold her and kiss her all the time, and if he's just playing , he will stop every 10 minutes or so just to go check on the baby and pat her arm or tummy or something, and then go back to playing. It's very sweet. I think he'll love being a brother. Whenever I tell him that soon he will get a baby of his own, he looks at me and says "My baby???" with amazement. I tell him "Yep, you'll get your own baby soon!" "Yaaayyyy!" he says, with lots of clapping. haha.
Oh, and the black eye is gone now. I should have taken a picture the next day, that was the most impressive one. haha! Poor kid.
Tis all for now!
Jen
Monday, July 6, 2009
Some belly pictures...
As promised to Sandy and to Andrea, I will keep this blog updated with pictures of my ever-growing belly as the baby grows. My belly is not so impressive yet, but it's still early in the game. ;) I have pictures for you of 2 weeks ago at 11 weeks pregnant and tonight at 13 weeks pregnant. I actually look bigger at 11 weeks (pink shirt) but I think that is partially because of the cursed bloating that happens in the first trimester, and the fact that all the growth I have had since has been upwards instead of outwards, so I'm really just filling out higher up than anything. Interesting how different it is from Logan's pregnancy... he was VERY low and all out... infer from that whatever you'd like, we're staying firmly on "Team Green" (as opposed to Team blue or pink... ;) ) and we'll be finding out what it is when the baby makes his or her arrival in the winter. :)
As for Logan... well he's looking a bit different lately too. He got a MUCH needed haircut a few days ago, so it is much shorter but still curly to Mommy's delight, and he is loving it. He occasionally rubs his hands through it, probably because it's much more breezey, but he is not as frustrated with the long curls in his eyes and on his neck, so that makes him happy. :) He has also managed to procure himself his first shiner, courtesy of the rounded side of the bath tub while having a shower with Ross. (It happened a few days ago, but the picture is after his bath this morning... so although his hair is wet, this was not the immediate result) It really wasn't a note-worthy fall apparently, and he cried for less than a minute, but I guess it hit right in the corner of his eye, just in the perfect spot to create a nice big bruise after a few days. It wasn't bad the first day, but the next day the bruising had spread over half his eye and it now looks like he's been punched in the face. Ah well, haven't had any nasty looks over it yet from passer-bys, and we don't have any doctors appointments anytime soon so I don't have any explaining to do. Haha! Ah the things boys manage to do to themselves...We are VERY much looking forward to our visit with Glenn and Sandy in a few weeks as always, counting down the days until you guys get here!
Until the next crazy McCallum adventure!
Jen
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