The Final Stretch!

We are almost there! It seems incredible that nine months have already passed by. Each trimester brought something different. The first I felt like I had the flu and like death, second I was the hungriest person alive, third I am tired and uncomfortable.

Today marks officially three weeks until our baby's August 2nd due date. I am now going to the doctor each week where they check to see if the cervix is thinning and if there is any dilation. On July 3d I found out my cervix was beginning to thin and 1 cm dilated! Our little girl is in perfect head down position, heartbeat excellent, size and weight right on track. Earlier this week on July 10th we were excited to find out the cervix is continuing to thin and I am almost 2cm dilated now. The doctor told us the due date is like the center point with half the population going before and the other half going after. He said based on his experience I should be going in the before group!

He also told us great news that if we choose they will induce me in the 39th week if she has not yet been born. I am very excited about this for a few reasons. First I am DONE being pregnant, second I was 9.5 pounds when I was born, 10 days early so I am terrified of having a large baby, third I have agreed with my work I would work up until the baby's birth and then take six weeks for maternity leave however I am so tired and uncomfortable I can't imagine working for three more weeks. Finally we decided 7/27 sounds like a great date and since it would be a Friday it would be the most convenient for Rob to take off of work.

All in all, physically this pregnancy has been OK. Besides the sciatic nerve pain I have felt as upbeat and  energetic as a pregnant person could. I attribute feeling well to the diligent exercise I have done. Even though my "workouts" are 20-30 minutes every other day just walking around has helped me feel good. Emotionally I think this pregnancy was really tough. Moving, starting a new job, getting married, building new relationships with Rob's kids, the potential disability scare, buying a new house that needs to be renovated and moving again has been A LOT. My mom keeps joking saying if Rob and I can make it through this time we will be golden for the rest of our marriage. I attribute my mental stability to Rob being the most amazing husband and support system I could ask for. Through everything he has assured me things will be OK and we will make it through. I am so excited to be this close to welcoming our bundle of joy into the world. I already love our little Brooklyn more than I could imagine.

June Baby Updates

Lots to report for the month of June..... just over 5 weeks until our sweet pea is born!

The great bedding debate- solved.

Thank you to friends and family who sent me numerous links of bedding and suggestions of where to find things. Rob and I just could NOT decide what to choose. Every set we looked at we found something wrong with. A week ago we said thats it, we are just going to order something. Lisa bought the hanging mobile when she came to visit so we wanted to incorporate that and the butterflies into the design. We settled on the below pink and green butterfly quilt that we really love.

Michael & Matthew bought the minnie blanket at Disney World- sweet uncles! 

Baby classes: CPR & delivery/birth 

My gorgeous husband below paying such good attention to the babies while on his cell phone. This 3 hour class was actually really informative. We learned how to give baby, infant and child CPR among other safety tips.

The second class we took, the birth and delivery class was NINE HOURS! This also was extremely informative and I am really happy we went. It was a good refresher for Rob and necessary for me. We learned everything from identifying contractions to different birthing positions to pain options. The above was one of the posters they told us to take a picture of and study. As you can see here there is a really long, painful yellow road that is a natural birth or a short street road that includes "rest and wait." We have chosen for me to journey down the short street road with an epidural :)

Last work trip!! (finally!)

I am currently in Arizona for a three day work trip and this will be my last until after the baby! I have been traveling around the west coast installing the new device like a crazy person and I am so relieved that I will not have to fly anymore. The doctor said flying until 36 weeks on short flights is OK but it has been making me really anxious to be away just in case I go into early labor. I am looking forward to spending time working in the Bay Area close to Rob. 

34 weeks! 

Final Preparations

Although I feel anxious and nervous about giving birth I just think about all the people who have done it already and it makes me feel better. The hospital bag is packed, birth plan written, car seat purchased, we feel as prepared as possible. It has been fun over the last several months buying all the different baby stuff with Rob. Now if the baby only had her real own room but that soon will be solved too! 

We are closing escrow July 22nd!   

We went back and forth debating between renting and owning and ultimately even though we do not anticipate being in this home long term it made more sense to buy. We can control any improvements, resale value, tax breaks but mostly because the rental properties were expensive and crap. This home was purchased in a short sale which actually should be called a long, expensive sale. We ended up paying $15,000 over the asking price- silicon valley real estate is crazy right now. Its 2,040 square feet, 4 bedrooms, in an awesome palm treat lined location and has a fruit trees and a cool -brand new- sauna house in the backyard. The entire house needs to be remodeled which we will start end of July/beginning of August and should be able to move in about 6-8 weeks after. A few pictures of our beauty.... 

Bonus room/ family room

Dining room

Kitchen, including FOLDING CHAIRS.

Front of house from the right side. Behind that wall is a patio/ sitting area.

Front of the house from the left angle - showing garage. 

View from our front yard- we are the red roofed house to the left. The area is called "Palm Haven" and there is cool courtyard/ park right filled with palm trees right in front of our house. Also all the streets are lines with palms, which I love. 

32 weeks >> 7 months !!

I can't believe how soon our little baby will be coming home with us-- only 8 weeks left! We had a 30 week growth scan two weeks ago and everything was perfect. The cysts in her brain and the hyperechogenic bowel were both gone. We also found out at that time she weighed approximiatly 3 pounds 11 ounces. We are so happy to know our little one is completely healthy.

As for me work has been crazy and I have been traveling Monday through Friday but that will all end beginning of July at 36 weeks. I still feel really good although I begin to get tired around 5PM each day. I usually find if I can sneak in a nap and get 8 hours of rest I am pretty high in energy. I wear compression socks while in the procedure room because I do a lot of standing. Everyone has been very nice to me, offering me a seat and water. All the nurses like to tell me stories about their pregnancy and children, its a nice way to bond with them. I think my belly is actually helping my sales!

32 weeks! 

I can't believe how big my belly already is and I know she will double in size before she is born. I have been really lucky not to get a lot of the horrible pregnancy things (hemorrhoids, varicose veins, severe headaches, etc) but I have had terrible sciatic nerve pain in my back and then the dreaded line below>>
I put Palmers stretch mark cream on each night to hopefully avoid those ugly white/ purple lines (so far, so good) and the creame will also help my skin go back to normal color on the line portion after the baby is born.

Linea negra is getting longer and darker, ah. 

Funny story: at 25 weeks Rob and I went to the standard doctor oppointment. Here I was told I was "ahead of schedule" as far as my weight. I had already gained 25 pounds and was only suppose to gain 18. In a very serious voice the doctor started talking to me about my food choices and ways to modify my diet. He also told me I needed to start doing some form of exercise at least 3 days a week for 30 minutes. Rob was in the back of the room with an ear to ear smile and a "I told you so" look on his face. As funny as it was at the time it was a reality check for me; just because I am pregnant I can't pig out on anything I want. You all will be happy to know I took the doctors advice and six weeks later I am back on track!

Me taking a photo to prove to Rob I'm actually excercising while on a work trip. :)

Amniocentesis Nightmare

As I have been cheerfully updating my blog with the latest baby news personally Rob and I have been going through an extremely difficult time. On March 9th we excitedly drove to the prenatal specialist to find out our baby's sex. Here we got the amazing news we would be having a GIRL! I was overwhelmed with joy and wanted to call every person I knew to say not only I was pregnant but I was having a girl too.

XX= girl

The next news we received felt like I was hit by a train. The ultrasound revealed two abnormalities: a hyperechogenic bowel and a celiac plexus block in the brain. Obviously hearing anything is "abnormal" is horrible and something we were not mentally prepared for. I instantly started crying and we asked what those things are an indicator of. The doctor told us either down syndrome, infection (which often causes mental retardation) or cystic fibrosis. WHAT?!?! I couldn't even comprehend the words she was speaking my head was spinning as I laid on the table in disbelief. How could this be possible? Rob who is always calm, cool and collected looked equally as stunned and quietly whispered everything will be OK. I did not feel like anything would be OK. 

The doctor strongly urged us to get an amniocentesis right then and there. I felt like everything was happening too fast. Especially because we were scheduled to board a red eye that night and fly to Florida for a week long Caribbean cruise. Rob and I decided we needed some time to choose if that was appropriate for us. The amniocentesis is 99% accurate at diagnosing the above potential complications however there is a small change of miscarriage associated with this invasive procedure. The "amnio" procedure is a long needle that the doctor pushes through the mother's stomach into the baby's amniotic sac and collects the fluid (cells) to culture. At the lab the cells are grown and any abnormalities are revealed through the baby's chromosome pattern. 

Just a few minutes after hearing the news we were instructed we would need to immediately speak to a genetic counselor to explain the odds and statistics associated with our baby's abnormal findings. It was here that my heart really broke. The celiac plexus block in the brain was less of a concern however it becomes alarming in conjunction with another abnormality. The hyperechogenic bowel in itself is very alarming and combined with another "marker" is cause for serious, serious concern. The odds were as follows; 1 in 50 chance of down syndrome, 1 in 33 of cystic fibrosis and 1 in 33 of viral infection. We felt feeling like there was no chance of having a healthy baby.

The week on the cruise felt like the longest of my life. It was suppose to be a relaxing vacation with Rob and my family but the thoughts of having a poor baby girl with severe abnormalities would not leave my mind. I felt like healthy children were everywhere and it broke my heart to think mine would not be like them. I was still severely torn about getting the amniocentesis because of the miscarriage complication. 

On March 20th we made the difficult decision to move forward with the amnio. The odds of miscarriage seemed low enough to outweigh the anxiety that we would feel over the next four months. Plus we would need to make additional arrangements for a special needs child and mentally prepare how to deal with this challenge. It was especially terrifying for me as I would have to go to the procedure alone because Rob was out of town for work and time was of the essence before the baby grew too big. At 21 weeks we were approaching the time where they stop doing the amnios because the miscarriage rate becomes too high.

After the amnio I was such a wreck I could barely think my head felt like it was in a fog and I couldn't see straight. I was in such a bad place Rob came home early from his work trip to take care of me. I kept thinking what if I do have a miscarriage and then they tell us everything was normal I would never be able to forgive myself. There are a number of signs leading toward a miscarriage- bleeding, amnio fluid leakage, severe cramping, fever. After 3-4 if you do not experience any of these you are in the clear. 

The band-aid is where the needle was stuck in.

Feeling very sad/helpless.

The next part was the worst: waiting. We would need to wait 7-10 days before we heard results on the infection and down syndrome. Then an additional 4 weeks to wait for the cystic fibrosis. This time period seemed like an eternity with even the smallest thing making me burst into tears. Rob was so amazing through it all assuring me that no matter what would happen we would love the baby the same and it would be a blessing one way or the other. As we prayed and the days passed I started to feel more confident, regardless of the odds everything would be OK.

On March 28th we got the AMAZING news the baby had 46 chromosomes (down syndrome is 3 # 21 chromosomes) and there was no sign of infection. I was in the grocery store when I got the call and literally dropped my basket and just started crying tears of joy. We would still need to wait to hear about the cystic fibrosis. Now my mind shifted to this and how I would care for the baby's failing lungs and pancreas, knowing she would only have a life expectancy of 30-40 years best case scenario. In order to have a cystic fibrosis child both parents need to be carriers (this was another test we were waiting to hear back on- blood work from Rob and I). If we were both positive there is a 1 in 4 chance any subsequent children we have would also be affected. Coming from a family of five children it was so painful to think if positive we would most likely not have other children.

She's smiling saying "Don't worry, mom  I'm OK!"

Our sweet little girl, already love her more than words! 

Finally on April 11th we got the last AMAZING news the baby was negative for cystic fibrosis as well! We had exhausted every means of testing for known abnormalities related to the abnormal findings. SHE IS GOING TO BE HEALTHY!!!! Some babies show the signs our daughter has and it means nothing. It is such a huge relief to know our little girl will be OK. We can again be excited about the pregnancy and instead of being in despair we can enjoy this time.

Spooky face shot of our devil child ALREADY torturing us from the womb! 

We feel so blessed and lucky to have good news. To celebrate I bought her first gift (outside of cloths) and set it up to surprise Rob when he came home from work. Of course he thought it was the cutest thing ever! 

A few days later the cutest thing ever really did happen. We heard Drew giggling from the other room and found him 'pretending to be a baby".....

 I can't wait until our little girl baby is in that spot laughing!!