Merry Christmas!

Well, we have had a wonderful Christmas, and Gavin was very spoiled as usual, and we haven't even had our time with Chad's family yet! Our big family gift to ourselves was a Nintendo Wii, and it is a big hit. Gavin, it turns out, is awesome at the bowling and boxing. We'll post some pictures soon. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent at Gamma Jamma's, Xmas Eve Jodie's boys were there, so Gavin had a couple cousins to play with. Saturday we are going back because Krista and her boys will be here, and Gavin is very excited to play with Nolan and Aaron again.

Good news, I passed the 3 hours glucose test, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I also don't have to see the high risk doctors anymore, and will see my regular doctor every two weeks. I am scheduled to have my stitches removed Feb 23rd, and at that point they will give me an idea of how close they think I am to delivery.

Getting Settled

Well, we are moved in, and pretty well organized for the first weekend. All our storage stuff is in the garage, but most of the stuff from our apartment is unpacked.

Here are some pics from Gavin decorating cookies at Gamma's yesterday.

MILESTONE!

Well, I've almost made it through the day, and this day in my last pregnancy was the day Gavin was born, at 5:35 AM. So I am already 12 hours ahead! I definitely took time to appreciate still being a functioning person today. With Gavin I had spent the prior 3 weeks in the hospital, and the 3 weeks before that on bed rest at home. I was only allowed up for long enough to make a sandwich.

In the hospital I was drugged up to try to stop the preterm labor, and every day we wondered if this was going to be the day they couldn't control it. One night they had me so heavily medicated, Chad spent the night in the chair beside me, and the next morning I demanded to be taken off the medicine because it was making me crazy. They put me on an alternative medicine that hadn't been proven to work, but we thought we would give it a try. And it worked! Just as I was set up with equipment to give myself shots of medicine and hook up to monitors from home, my water broke. A week later I went into labor.

Not the mad drive to the hospital, just a walk down the hall to a delivery room. I wasn't able to have many of the pain medications. I was terrified wondering if this baby would be strong enough to make it, and what kinds of problems he was sure to have from being so premature. I was also relieved that the daily stress of wondering when this day would come was over.

There must have been at least 12 doctors and nurses in the room, a station set up beside me to intubate Gavin as soon as he came out. They wheeled my bed over to him and Chad and I each held one of his tiny hands as they worked on him. And then after all the fanfare, everyone was gone, wheeling the isolette out of the room with Chad in tow.

I so often forget how precarious a start Gavin had to life. I don't know why or how he turned out so "normal" when he had so many odds stacked against him. And with each day that passes, I am so happy to be filled with the hope that this time around I get handed a baby and we get to walk out of the hospital with him two days later. Only 3 more months to go!

See a Resemblance?

At the ultrasound today, the technician offered me a 3D view - I'm convinced he's going to look just like Gavin.

First Bump in the Road

I flunked the glucose test yesterday, so I have to go back on the 22nd and take a 3 hour test. I can't eat for 12 hours, then drink 100 grams of super sugary liquid and have my blood drawn three times.

Not too worried as I know 3 out of 3 people who failed the first one and were fine. This test looks at how fast your body metabolizes blood sugar, and is a test for gestational diabetes. Of the 7 or so risk factors, the only one I have is that I am over 25! So I am not stressing about it, just irritated because I know the 22nd is not going to be a fun day. I don't even know if I can go that long without eating without passing out!

I actually have a detailed ultrasound with the high risk doctors tomorrow to check on the growth of the baby, so I will mention it to them as well.

The honesty of a 4 year old

The other day Gavin was marveling at the size of my tummy, when all of a sudden he pointed to my back and exclaimed excitedly "Mom - your back is getting bigger too". Pointing to the area I would refer to as "back fat".

Sigh

But at least things are going well. We are into week 26 and so far all still looks good. I have another appointment with the high risk doctors on Thurs.

The other exciting news is that we are planning on moving on the 19th!

Thanksgiving, etc

We spent Thanksgiving at Jen & Bridget's house this year (I didn't want to travel to the farm) and Gavin had so much fun playing with Jen's nieces. We were there 6 hours and didn't hear him whine or cry once! He also insisted on sitting by them and wanted me at the other table (guess I would have cramped his style with the ladies). So double bonus, I was able to eat a meal in peace!

Saturday we congregated at Gamma's house because Krista and Ben (Bridie's cousins) were in town. We had 6 out of the 7 great-grandkids in one place. And all age 4 and under! It was pretty loud, but the kids all got along well. We may have established a new family tradition of the "kids table" being eating on the floor. Literally. Paper plates and we sat on the floor - it was perfect! Somehow the only one to make a mess was me when I knocked over my drink!

So Gavin now talks non-stop. Last night the conversation went down a path I wasn't entirely sure how to answer. But he's a smarty - it must have dawned on him that since I have a baby in my tummy, at some point the baby has to get out. So he started asking me all about how the baby is going to get out, and will it hurt, and can he come ("I'll stand right by Dad"). He was very curious as to how it will all work, so I guess I need to find a book that explains all that to toddlers. I muddled through but don't think I gave him a straight answer on any of it!

Here are some random pictures:

Helping Grandma Lois with her birthday candles

Penelope (Ben's daughter and the only girl of this generation), Hayden and Romeo (Jodie's sons)

The back of Gavin's head and Dylan (Krista's youngest boy)

Chris and Aaron (Krista's middle boy)

My Little Man

Gavin is such a little man these days. He has taken the fact that I can't carry him or lift heavy things very well (much better than I had ever expected!). So Sunday we had one more load of laundry to do and Chad wasn't home to carry the basket down the hall to the laundry room for me. Gavin really wanted his blanket washed, so we loaded up the basket and he pushed it all the way down the hall for me, and all the way back when we were all done. It was so cute! He's really growing up, although he still has his moments, especially when he is tired that he reverts back to tantrums and the pacifier. I was convinced he would give it up on his own, but I'm starting to think he won't.

Tomorrow we go to the dentist for the first time, which will be exciting (hopefully!). We also found out that we most likely will be closing on our house mid-December, which is SUPER exciting.

"Wow! There's a LOT of rooms in this new house!"

This is what Gavin said last weekend when we walked through the new house. We have two extra bedrooms in the basement and he was quite impressed. The painting is all done and countertops and they are starting to lay the floor. It should be done by the end of the month and we are hoping to be in it anywhere from the end of November to the end of December, it all depends on how many hoops we have to jump through with underwriting. They don't make it real easy to get a loan these days!

Gavin showing off his room

"They will give me candy. YES they will!"

So this is what Gavin yelled at us about 7 houses in to trick or treating Thursday night. He wanted Chad to carry him, but he wouldn't, and when he started throwing a fit, I told him they wouldn't give candy to naughty boys. He says some pretty funny things these days. He talks all the time, and he's into music, so now we are always singing in the car. He's a big fan of Justin Roberts.

He's also BIG into Power Rangers suddenly. This weekend he put on some sunglasses and ran around the apartment being the Blue Ranger. It was so beautiful out this weekend - we spent some time at the park on Saturday with friends, where Gav and Caleb rode over a mile on the trail!

On the baby front, we are at 21 weeks, and this morning I realized I've never been this pregnant at work! I'm not really loving the clothing options these days, and I have to admit, I didn't go for the "sensible" shoe option this morning. I know one of these days I'll have to give in to function over fashion, but I am holding out as long as I can. Last thursday at the doctor everything still looked great, and when I go back in another 2 weeks, they will let me know what they want to do with me. I'm not sure if I'll keep seeing them at all, or perhaps just less often.

More house pics

Another Boy!

So we are going to be having another boy and I couldn't be more excited! I can't imagine our child looking any different than Gavin, so it will be interesting to see what this one looks like. Saw the high risk doctors today and everything looks great once again. This is the week where things head south (literally!) and I really didn't believe that everything would still be ok at this point, but it is!

Here are some recent pics Chad took playing with Gav. He is such a ham. He is learning so much in his new classroom at school, comes home reciting entire songs, and learning his letters. We've been very busy lately, last weekend we had a birthday party and this weekend he is going to Grandma Betsy's and then Sunday to Living History Farms to trick or treat. Next weekend we have fun night at his school and there is a free Justin Roberts concert at the mall we might go to. He is such a little jabberbox lately too. He's asking all sorts of interesting questions, like why the "little people" he saw on a commercial for "Little People Big World" are so small. He also says funny things like "Mom - did you see that funky tree?". Very entertaining these days.

The good news just keeps coming!

Doctor's appt today and things continue to look GREAT! YAY! I asked if there were still no changes in the next few weeks if that meant we were free and clear, or if the problems just get postponed. Dr Drake was pretty confident that since I have been so good about modifying my activities and not pushing it, that taking it easy will go a long way towards keeping everything looking as it should be. So I am happy with that news, although not 100% optimistic yet - as we well know when things start to go wrong for me, they tend to go fast and without warning.

For now I am just keeping my eye on mini-goals. The first one is 24 weeks, so I am hoping things will continue to look good through then. That's the # of weeks that the NICU can really help a preemie. So I will feel much better once we hit that point. Goal # 2 is 27 weeks which is when Gavin is born. He's obviously turned out great, although I'm afraid he is more of an exception than a rule in regards to how quickly he caught up and how healthy he's been. After that I'm just going to be grateful for every next week that passes. At 34 weeks we'll be really happy because some babies don't even have to stay in the NICU! And if we make to 36 weeks, we'll actually have the stitches scheduled to be removed. Imagine if we can just have a baby that gets put in our arms, rather than getting whisked away to the NICU (I was reminded of that moment last night watching Private Practice).

So for now let's keep our fingers crossed for 7 more healthy weeks. I don't say it enough, but we really appreciate everyone's love and support and good thoughts for us.

Oh! And the jury is still out on boy/girl. Little one just didn't want to show us the goods today. And before anyone begins to ask, yes we have pretty much decided on names. And no, we are not going to tell you.

Gavin and House pics

Here are some random pictures of Gavin and some Grandma Lois took of the new house in progress. This weekend we went to lunch with Lois and picked up Gamma and Dan from the airport. Other than that not much excitement! We see the high risk doctors again this Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed for nothing but good news! We are entering the "danger zone" so I am really curious to see how well this surgery works.

Ummmm...Sponge Bob macaroni and cheese!
The siding will be painted. Red.
Gav refusing to take a picture. Me "not even looking pregnant" - thanks Grandma!
This will eventually be my dream kitchen, a triangle island and corner pantry - oh my!

You are looking at the dining room and what will become the railing around the staircase to the basement.I have no idea why this picture is so small. This is the view of the corner of the living room where the fireplace will be.

Dr Visit

We have such good news from our appt today - everything looks great! I can go back to work full time next week and we'll be seeing the doctor every two weeks and evaluating my activities at each visit depending on how things look. But so far so good! We are getting close to 15 weeks - 17 - 18 weeks is kind of our danger zone where things go wrong, so I am going to be pretty anxious until we get through that time frame and see what happens then. But for now - all good things.

For all of you that keep asking - no news on the baby's sex, these ultrasounds are all business and we actually just saw the baby in passing, it was just for getting measurements of where they did the surgery and to get a heart rate on the baby. Today it was 153.

Updates

Allright, so now that I am home for a week with nothing to do, you will finally get lots of updates.

First of all Bridie had surgery Friday, and everything went well. I spent the weekend just taking it easy and laying around, and Gamma kept Gav overnight Friday and most of the day Saturday, so that really helped out a lot. Yesterday we finally told Gav he was going to be a big brother. He didn't really have much of a reaction, but he was concerned about whether the baby would take his mimi. He also kept putting his hand on my tummy and telling me he could feel the baby - I'm sure he couldn't, but it was very sweet.

Anyway, I am off this week from work, so I will finally get all our vacation pics updated (scroll down to the vacation pics post to see the rest of them). I go back to the doctors on Thursday to see how everything looks and if I can go back to work. Today is the 15th so we officially have 6 more months to go!

Birthday Pics