Family Camp

We have been doing well the past few weeks. I have cooked and frozen just over 20 meals for when I am down, and for the most part I am feeling good. We were able to attend family camp over the weekend at the camp we met at, and Dorothy loved being in the outdoors with the dirt and the lake and the geese (kees). We brought a tent since it was a busy year and we figured cabins would be full, and to my surprise, Dorothy slept just as well in the tent as she does at home. I was glad to not be on bedrest yet, and both sets of grandparents came to help with Dorothy so I could relax when I needed to. I will have another appointment on Tuesday, at which point the progesterone shots will start. For some reason this pregnancy doesn't seem as real to me. I think it might be because I am so busy still coupled with the fact that I am not on bedrest yet. We'll see where I am at next month at this time... I have a feeling I'll be down by then.

Cerclage is in!

I didn't intend to keep everyone waiting for an update. As it happened, our laptop is on its way out and I was away from home on bedrest for a week after the surgery. Then when I got home it has been pretty busy. I really meant to write sooner.

Surgery went alright and he was able to find the scar tissue from last time and put this stitch above it, giving me more length underneath... always a positive. And since I was earlier this time, my cervix was still long and closed. Two weeks really makes a difference. I have to say that the recovery has been harder than last time, and it was no picnic before. I did stay overnight since I had such a rough day after the last time around what with nausea and pain. I was still feeling really bad when I went home, but by that point it was either feel bad there or feel bad at my mom's house, so I decided to leave. I have had quite a few contractions, mostly when I get up and do things, and every single time I pee. He told me I could get up after a week and then I may have a month or two before full bedrest starts and just to be careful not to do too much lifting of Dorothy (yeah right, when I am home alone with a toddler). Vacuuming the other day made me contract the whole next day, so I've decided to pass that chore off until the baby comes, or at least until I am off bedrest and trying to bring on labor:) Nothing feels quite right down there yet, so I'm looking forward to feeling more normal again.

That sums it up for now. Baby's doing well and we're really hoping to go full term again this time!

Lockdown!

Baby number 2 goes into lockdown tomorrow around noon! We got some sweet ultrasound pics this morning, which I'll have to have David post sometime later this week. Our laptop is pretty much dead, so I won't be on much until we figure out a new laptop situation. I will be overnight in the hospital and hopefully going home on Wednesday morning/afternoon. Things are going good and Dorothy is sweet as can be, as always.

Quick check-in

I'll write more when I'm feeling up to it, but I wanted to let you all know that we're all still fine. I saw my Perinatologist last week, and my cerclage is scheduled for next Tuesday at 11w2d. I don't know if the bedrest will start at that point, but I have a feeling that it will. We moved to our own apartment (only a mile and a hlaf from where we lived with my brother) since I am no longer watching my nieces. Still dealing with morning sickness and now nursing a cold that seems to want to settle in my chest... hoping I can kick that by my surgery date. I really don't know if they'll do the surgery if I'm sick, and my doctor is leaving town after that date, and won't be back until I am well over 13 weeks, which puts it too late to put the stitch in. My water was leaking by 15w with Kaily. So hard to believe we lost her 3 years ago now...

More good news!

I had another ultrasound yesterday, followed by a midwife appointment in the afternoon. The baby measured 7w2d and heartbeat was strong at 144 bpm. I'm still having digestive issues, and the midwife thought it might be due to the progesterone I'm taking. I should be getting off of that around 10 weeks, so hopefully that will bring some relief. Until then, I'll have to take the occasional suppository, eat my fiber one cereal, and drink more. Drinking anything is hard right now, but I find that the fruity herbal teas are mild enough on my stomach if I sip them. Broth is also something that has been settling alright, as well as popcicles. I'll be glad to be out of the first trimester... my body is not treating me well, but a baby at the end makes all of it worthwhile.

Didn't want to leave you hanging...

We have a heartbeat of 115 bpm. Itty baby measured 5w6d, which is within a few days of when I thought I ovulated. By my calculations I was 6w 1-2d. I'll go in for a more accurate look on the hospital ultrasound next Monday, and have my first OB appointment next Tuesday. Hopefully bean decides to stick good this time.

Thanks for checking on me, KMW!

Hi!

*wave*
Did everyone have a good day in the sun? We have had record-breaking heat the past two days, and normally I would be out in the sun... but yesterday I was so nauseated I didn't want to do anything but sit on the couch and today I had psych class from 9-5:50. The moments I did step outside, though, were lovely. Nothing like the sun to put a bounce in my step. I'm looking forward to the summer regardless of what news comes on Monday. Still nauseated, still slightly spotting, and still trying to be hopeful.

Class was interesting today. We learned about the development of the human brain from conception through the first year, and it was really fascinating. The DVD had examples of a preemie's brain development and how it differs from a full-term baby's development, as well as a lot of other interesting factoids that I'm too tired to write about. But really, the human brain is amazing, and learning how complex just that one aspect of development is, it's a wonder that we understand anything about how people develop as a whole. There are so many kinds of development that I've never really thought about before. Being in school is great! I can't get enough of it.

The highlight of my day was definitely my little girl. Dorothy was so excited to see me when I came home after being gone all day. She sat on my lap while I ate my nachos and got so enthralled with watching me eat them that she started picking the chips up one at a time and saying, "Open de mouf! Mmmm, nummy! Gee-go (there you go)!" She was putting them in my mouth one after the other as fast as she could, and by the time I was halfway done eating them, we were both covered in refried beans and guacamole. I was laughing so hard I could hardly chew. I live for moments like this. Her little personality is so lively and at 20 months she's talking in more and more sentences. She throws in some nonsense words as filler, but she's really learning how to put words together to get across what she wants to say. She LOVES her alphabet... books about it, songs, having me write it out, or even just saying random letters. If she sees writing on anything, she says "A-bee-seeb (abc's)!" Her favorite letter varies from week to week. This week it seems to be H, but Q and W are always high on the list as well. I'll have to take some more pictures pretty soon!