Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Westin Kate update!

So I went back to the OB on Monday for a follow up u/s. I saw a new doctor and I LOVED her. She was fantastic and I am hoping to start seeing her more often so I can get to know her. I rotate between 4 doctors (who are all really good) but I feel like it is hard to get to know them because I try to see them all. I guess now that I am going every 2 weeks I will get to know them better. She was really happy with my cervix and said that the cervical funneling was gone now and my placenta has moved out of the way!! I was so happy to hear that news. However Westin Kate is still trying to make sure we know she is in there, I think she may keep us on our toes! I have too much fluid. My fluid level is supposed to be less than 21 and mine are 24 (which explains the cramping and tightness) So I have another u/s in two weeks to see what my levels are. I am now considered high risk and they are going to be watching me pretty close. Worse case scenario is that the fluid will make me go into preterm labor or I will have to have a amnio reduction (we don't want either of those) This also explains why I don't feel her move as much as I did with Wade. WK measured one week ahead and weighs around 2.5lbs. My stomach measures 3 weeks ahead. So for now they will leave my due date the same but most likely I will not go until 40 weeks. I am happy that I am almost 28 weeks and hoping to make it at least 6 more weeks. We did get started on her nursery this weekend so we are making some progress. We got the room all cleaned out and got Wade's old stuff put away. I just need to find a crib skirt and a sheet that I really like. I also need to order her wall decal. Its hard to believe I am in the 3rd trimester. We want her to stay in and get chubby but we are so ready to meet her and to have our family complete!!

Thanksgiving-part 2

After spending the day at Papaw's we packed up and headed to Winston to have dinner with Josh's family. I love this time of year and love going to there house Thanksgiving Day night. It is always so fun and relaxing. Josh's mom fixed a great dinner and we all had such a nice time. The kids had a great time playing. Wade and Peyton are just best buddies and always have so much fun together. I have to say I have so much respect for Kendal and Matt because I was tired just watching her three small one's. I honestly forgot how busy that 18mo stage is...not to mention when you have two of them!! The boys are walking everywhere now and are even climbing and I was tired just watching. It is always comical when you get 4 children ages 4 and under in the same room for a meal. I wouldn't want it any other way because I love having the cousin's so close in age (hint hint Ashley!)

Josh and I went shopping Friday morning around 8am. We got a great deal on a new big boy car seat for Wade and lots of diapers for Westin Kate. It was nice for the two of us to just get out alone. We have had a date night in forever and some time alone was nice! I hated that I had to leave Friday afternoon because of work but Josh and Wade stayed and they had a great time.




Wade got to play with Peyton some on Friday and they all went to Josh's Mamaw and Papaw's house Saturday before heading home. I was so proud of Josh because he took our camera and got lots of cute pictures!! Of course Thanksgiving was bittersweet this year but we had a great time and have lots to be thankful for.








You can never get all 4 cousins to look at the same time! I love this sweet picture of the 4 of them.



Thanksgiving-part 1

Thanksgiving was a little bit different for us this year. We normally go to my Aunt's house for lunch but this year we met at Papaw'a house since he can't get out anymore. Papaw really didn't feel like visitors or eating so we just let him rest and we ate downstairs in the dinning room. He did eat a little bit of dressing with gravy!! It was much different than normal but we were all thankful that he was still with us this year. Wade was so sweet! Oh some days I could just squueze him. When we were at the table eating he randomly says. "I love you, I love you, I love you" and when he was saying this he was pointing to everyone around the table. Then he says "Raise your hand if you want pie!!" I am so thankful for our families and our sweet boy. We decided not to take any more pictures with Papaw-he just does not look great these days so I think our last pictures will be the one's I took while he was at the hospital/rehab. Papaw is eating lots of popsicles these days and Wade loves going over to his house so he can have one too! I can tell Wade is a little nervous/scared when we go over there because he is not used to seeing him lying in a hospital bed looking sick. Papaw was always so active. We tried hard to get a good family picture (plus a 27 week picture of me) but it was so sunny and Wade did not want to be still for a picture. We did get a few good one's of him.







Thanks Papaw!

My papaw always gets us Shriner's Circus tickets every year since Wade has been old enough to go. This year was extra special for us because Papaw is so sick. It is not something I would normally take him to but Papaw is always so sweet to buy tickets for us and Wade does really enjoy it. I didn't get very good pictures because it was so dark in there but here are a couple from our Circus Trip!! Wade did have a bite of his first funnel cake and he LOVED it. Things have been so busy around here lately but I am going to try to get caught up today on blogging.






Monday, November 21, 2011

26 Weeks

Four blog posts in one day may be a new record for me!! I was 26 weeks on Saturday. I am making myself take a picture tomorrow of my growing stomach. The last picture I took was 19 weeks and oh how different I look now.

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Size of baby: 13.6-14.8 inches; 1.5-2.5 lbs- I feel like she is over 2 lbs for sure...I am measuring 1-2 weeks ahead again this time.

Gender: It's a girl....Westin Kate

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Weight Gain: I haven't even checked. I was doing so good before my activity got restricted so now I am not sure I want to know!! Keeping her safe is the most important thing now so the exercise will just have to wait.

Movement: Yes, usually early in the day, sometimes around lunch and then later in the evening!

Sleep: This has been a little better lately :)

Symptoms: ACID REFLUX and I am still cramping/having lots of back pain. I have not felt the contraction type pain that I was feeling in a few days now.

What I miss: being active and breathing normally-I still feel like I am short of breath at times.

Cravings: None really

What I am looking forward to: I am only a few days away from the start of my third trimester. I am also thankful that I am far enough along that if she comes now she will not be considered a micro preemie!!! I have another u/s on the 28th!!

I feel like the last few weeks have gone by so slow...but I got a email about being 26 weeks and it is crazy to me that I only have 96 days left (and that's if I go to 40 weeks!)

A special award

Of course I am playing catch up again but I wanted to blog about Papaw's special award. Last Thursday we  went up to the rehab place because the Cary Police Dept. was coming to do something special for Papaw. Papaw worked as a police man for the town of Cary for quite a few years and then he worked as a Sheriff's Deputy after that. The man that came to give him the award is doing a "history project" so to speak and is trying to meet with older men who used to be in law enforcement. He talked with Papaw for about a hour about how things "used to be." It was so neat to sit and listen to Papaw talk about working as a police man. My favorite part was that they only had two police cars and they would park in the middle of downtown Cary near the pay phone and wait for it to ring. Its almost hard to imagine that the police men didn't have phone's or computers in their cars. I love that they sat at the pay phone and waited for someone to call them. He also said when there was a fire the police men would go next door to the fire station and give the big fire engine a push off so they could get to the fire. It is amazing how things were so different.

After they talked for awhile the policeman (he had a special title I just can't remember!!) gave a little speech about how thankful they were for all the years of service Papaw gave and how he represented the town of Cary so well. Then they gave him a silver coin that has a special policeman saying on it (can't remember that either...pregnancy brain!) He said all the current policemen have this silver coin and he wanted Papaw to have one too. It was such a special day for us and I am so proud to have him as our Grandad. I was able to get some of it on video and I know we will look back at it one day and smile.


 Here is Papaw looking at his new coin!!



Our Weekend

We had a really good weekend at home this past weekend. Friday night we decided to do something fun with Wade. We have been home a lot lately because I am trying to stay off my feet as much as possible. So we all went to Monkey Joe's on Friday. Of course I didn't have as much fun as I normally would because I just sat in one of their recliners while Wade and Josh played. It was still nice to get out of the house. Saturday we ran a errand in the morning and then we met Josh's parents in Downtown Apex for lunch. Wade was so excited that Nana and Poppy were coming. He was SO good at lunch and we were so proud of him. After lunch we went back home and Wade and Nana played on the swingset and I sat and relaxed for a bit. A big "thanks" to Poppy for helping Josh rake all the leaves in the back yard. There were a ton of them and I know Josh appreciated the help. It was so nice to spend the day with them and it was such a big help too. I actually love raking leaves and really wanted to get up and help!! I had to work this weekend on Saturday and Sunday evening. We have been so busy at work...cold and flu season is here. Here are some pictures from our afternoon on Saturday.






Sunday Josh took Wade to church and I went over to Papaw's house. They brought him home from rehab around 9am. I didn't meet to help with that (since I wouldn't be able to lift anything) but I wanted to get there by 10am to meet with the Hospice nurse. The social worker and the admission nurse both came and they were really great. Mom had gotten everything all set up for him and I actually think once they get a routine down he is going to be much happier at home. His hospital bed is in the front living room. It is so nice because he has three big windows in there and he can see out. Mom kept the couch in there for her to rest on and they moved a dresser in and put a tv on top of that. She had a great idea and hung a curtain up between the kitchen and the living room (there isn't a door you can close there.) They wanted that for privacy and in case he doesn't feel like visiting with people, they can keep it closed when he is resting.

 Mom and him fell last night when trying to change his bed. (luckily they didn't get hurt) He got the bed wet and she was trying to change his sheets. He was able to walk the day before so she thought he could take a few steps to the couch with her help but that didn't work. So tonight my aunt is staying with them too. They decided if it is just one of them they just can't risk getting him out of bed anymore. They will just have to wait for someone else to get there from now on. Hopefully they will start getting some sleep at night-his pain has really increased and it is making it hard for him to sleep. They added a new pain medicine so we are hoping that this helps him.

Fall Fun

Here are some pictures that I am finally getting around to posting. Two weekends ago when I was on bed rest Josh and Wade raked the leaves in the front yard. Last year when they did this in our old house I got the sweetest pictures of Wade and Josh. This year I could hardly keep Wade still long enough to even take his picture. No to mention I was taking them from the porch because I was on bed rest!! Wade had a great time raking and playing in the leaves.







I love this picture of Josh and Wade talking...they were having a very important conversation!!!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Week by Week (rather day by day)

We have been taking it day by day around here lately. I went back to the doctors on Monday after a weekend of bed rest. I saw a different doctor and she examined me and said that I am not dilating externally but from my u/s results it shows that I am dilating internally or my cervix is funneling. She did a fetal fibronectin test and luckily it came back negative (it predicts if labor will happen in the next 2 weeks.) So I am not on bed rest but they did limit my activity. I can't lift anything, exercise or be on my feet too much during the day. She is afraid that because of the funneling and because my cervix is soft that I am showing some signs of preterm labor. Thankfully I can keep Wade home with me we just can't over do it. I have another u/s on the 28th and as long as everything looks the same we will continue with limited activity. If they see any changes then I will have to be on bed rest. So I am trying really hard to take it easy until then so my cervix doesn't change.

Each day she gets a little bigger and the longer we can keep her in the better. I am thankful I will be 26 weeks on Saturday. I am always so happy when Saturday's come around!! Once I get to 30 weeks I will feel so much better. I don't want her to come at 30 weeks but babies born after 30 weeks do so much better.

Papaw is going down hill pretty fast. I went 3-4 days without seeing him when I was on bed rest last weekend and it amazed me how sick he looked when I saw him. His leg is swelling so bad-the cancer is coming up through his skin and he has red marks on his one leg (like a rash) and they said this was the cancer presenting itself on his skin. A place has also popped up on his lip :( They feel like it is just spreading rapidly. His leg is so bad that he can't do rehab anymore so it looks like he is coming home on Sunday. Mom is going to be staying with him at his house with the help of hospice. He is in a lot of pain already and he is wanting to sleep more and more. Tomorrow the guys from the Cary Police Department are coming to present him with a ceremony/award. He was a police man for the town of Cary and was also a Sheriff there too. I can't remember if I blogged about this before but Papaw was at Iwo Jima in 1945. He was about 20-30 feet away from the famous "Raising of the Flag." There is a book by Eric Hemmel and on page 84 there is a picture of Papaw on Mount Suribachi when the Marines were raising the American Flag up. He was just a few feet away. I think because he has always been a fighter his body is fighting hard against this cancer. I also think that he is tough and he has been in pain a lot longer than we all thought he had. He must really be hurting because he is now complaining and asking for pain meds. We are just praying that he doesn't have to suffer too long. We hate to loose him but I hate seeing him like this. Thanks for all the prayers, we appreciate it!!

I have been horrible about taking pictures lately with everything that has been going on. So one day soon I will take a 24/25 week picture (hopefully before Saturday.) I also need to take some pictures of my sweet boy!! He has been so cute lately and will say "I want you" and climb up and give me a big hug. I know this has been hard on him too. His teachers are aware of what has been going on and they said Monday and today that he has been wonderful. One of his teachers even told me this morning that he is the sweetest thing all the time!! I wanted to tell her she should have seen him this morning when he told me "I'll hit you with this!!" I am just thankful he is so good for them.

Friday, November 11, 2011

11.11.11

I remember when we were little we used to always say "make a wish" when it was 11:11 on the clock. So silly I know but it was one of those crazy games you play when you are little. Today when I was in the doctors office they were talking about the deliveries they had today and I was thinking how neat it would be to have your birthday on 11.11.11. So my "wish" for today is that Westin Kate stays put for many weeks to come; 11 weeks to be exact!!!!!!!

I have been cramping a lot lately and they wanted to see me this morning. I went in today just thinking that they were going to tell me to keep drinking lots of water and try to rest more. Well they did a vaginal u/s to make sure everything was ok. The good news is that my placenta is almost out of the way. He said there was just a small piece right beside my cervix and that he really thinks it will be out of the way soon. I will have another u/s in 6 weeks to check my placenta. While she was doing the u/s she told me the length of my cervix looked good. I assumed the doctor was going to come in and tell me everything was good. Well he came in and said that he was happy with the length of my cervix BUT that the u/s tech said my cervix was "buldging"  (not great news!!)

So as of this morning I am on bed rest until Monday. I did not see this coming. I was so excited to be staying home this weekend but I didn't think I would be on the couch all weekend. He said I can get up to use the bathroom and that is it. I even tried to ask him about the big project we had planned in the attic and he just laughed!!! I knew what that answer was going to be but thought I would give it a try anyways. The plan is to rest all weekend and see if the pains go away. If they do I can add light activity (basically taking care of Wade) back. I can't do any exercise, lifting, walking etc. Of course this is not ideal but keeping her safe a few more weeks is. So much for my 30lb weight gain or less!! Looks like I am going to get to sit and watch tv, eat and rest a lot. I am hoping that things will get better with rest. If they don't and I keep hurting then I have to go back in and we have to see if there has been any changes. He mentioned bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy if things don't get better. It has been a LONG afternoon so I can't imagine 11 weeks of bed rest.

Poor Josh has worked so hard all week and now he gets to work so hard all weekend. Luckily Ashley and Zach are here this weekend and they have been helping us out. We also have great friends.  Dale and Lauren brought us dinner tonight already. Erin also came by with a bag of movies, magazines, and a couple of books. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family. Erin and Britt are coming over to hang out Sunday evening too and they are bringing us dinner. I keep telling them we want to repay the favor and bring them dinner when they have a baby (hint hint!!) Hopefully we will get some good news on Monday. I will happily sit for 11 weeks if I have to but boy is that hard to even think about when you have a busy 2.5 year old and a sick Papaw.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

24 weeks!!

How Far Along: 24 weeks

Size of baby: 10.5-11.8 in and 12.7-20.8 oz

Gender: It's a girl....Westin Kate

Maternity Clothes: Yes

Weight Gain: 15lbs- I can tell that I am getting more hungry than I was before! Hopefully since I am over half way this means I will be around the 30lb mark or less.

Movement: She is definitely in the wake/sleep cycle now. I feel her early in the morning, around lunch time, and usually not again until late evening. Josh felt her move for the first time last night. She is kicking so much harder and I am starting to feel some differences in movement. Sometimes its just a little leg or arm and sometimes she is rolling around in there.

Sleep: This has been a little better lately :)

Symptoms: ACID REFLUX- oh how I can't wait to get rid of you! I am having lots of cramping and have cut back on exercise some because last week I was thinking it was some preterm labor :( I have a u/s in a few weeks so hopefully if that looks ok I can get back to exercising more!

What I miss: Being able to breathe. I never had this problem with Wade but I am carrying her SO much higher. It is really bad when I sit or lay down. It doesn't help that I am only 5'1 and have a short torso.

Cravings: None really

What I am looking forward to: 3rd trimester- I am so happy to have made it to the 24 week mark. Now I just want her to stay put and get chubby!!! I would love for her to come early but not before 36 weeks.

I also can't believe that I have around 100 days left in this pregnancy (and that's if I go to the end this time!) Some days it seems to be going so slow and other days it amazes me that in 3 months or less she will be here. In 2.5 weeks I will be starting my 3rd trimester. Since this is going to be our last baby I am trying to enjoy these last few weeks of being pregnant!!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

So excited!

I can't tell you how excited I am for a weekend at home. I work tonight from 7-11p and then I am off all weekend and we are staying home!!!!! We are going to get caught up on some yard work, have a attic cleaning out party, visit with Papaw and try to do something fun too. Josh is so excited about cleaning out the attic. I am almost 25 weeks so I figured it was time to go ahead and get down the baby stuff we will need and try to get organized. I have not done anything with her nursery yet but hopefully that will get done in the next few weeks. I wanted to get the attic done before the Holidays and before I get too tired to do it. I LOVE getting organized so I am kind of looking forward to it.

 I am sending all my boy stuff home with my sister and that makes me a little sad. Oh and she is not pregnant I am just letting her look and pick what she wants in case she has a boy one day. We have SO MANY boy clothes and there is really no need to keep them since this will be our last baby. The stuff she doesn't want is going to the consignment shop or I may save it for when my parents have a yard sale. Of course I will keep a few special things that Wade wore and everything that has his name/initials on it. I am also keeping a few polo's too.  Josh's mom saved a little lacoste shirt and it was so neat because Wade actually wore it a few times!! I know I will get sad when I open up those tupperware bins and see all that little boy stuff that Wade wore. I can't believe we are going to have a 3 year old in a few months. Where has the time gone? I was ok with him turning 2 but 3 just seems so old to me.

I have been meaning to put these pictures up too. I took these on the first day that Wade played on his new swingset.  He was so excited! He says he loves the trapeze ("papeze") and the telescope the best!!!






Busy Busy

I feel like we have been running around crazy lately. I guess this is to be expected when you have a sick family member. I go twice a week during the day to visit with Papaw for a couple of hours and try to go a few times at night to be with mom. Needless to say we have eaten out a lot this week. I know it is busy now but I also know I won't regret this time that I am getting to spend with him. I had a lot of strong cramping again last night so I didn't stay very long. I sometimes forget I am pregnant and have to remember to slow down some.  I want her to stay in there until she is nice and healthy.

Papaw got moved to his Rehab place yesterday and it is right down the street from us (which is wonderful.) He has to share a room with someone-not so great-but there is a lobby area and a couple of outside area's too. There is even a little room where they all go eat together. It is like a parade of wheelchairs in there. They have daily activities and Mom is making him go play BINGO with her on Friday (he is not thrilled about this!!) I think once he can get out of that tiny room more and meet some people it may not be so bad. Today after his PT I took him outside in a wheelchair and he kept saying how great it was to be outside. It was such a great day to sit outside for a bit.  I can't wait to take Wade because everyone looks so lonely there and I know Wade will make lots of new friends. Hospice will also start coming to see him and should be here by the end of the week. Here are a few pictures from our hospital visit last weekend.




ECU Game

Needless to say things have been a little crazy around here lately. With everything going on with Papaw I haven't had much free time to sit and blog. Selfishly I miss my free time when Wade goes to school but I know I will never look back and regret spending those hours with him on Monday and Wednesday mornings. I will have to do a update in another post! Saturday we managed to get away for some family time. Wade has been asking to go see PeeDee the Pirate and we decided to take him to a game. He did great and he had a blast. We made it until the 3rd quarter but by then he was exhausted. Had it been a lunch time game we would have made it through the entire thing. The game didn't start until 4pm so Wade didn't get a nap at all and by 6pm he was beat. I was so proud of him for making it that long. The game wasn't looking so good so we honestly didn't mind getting out a little early.



It was the perfect weather for a football game. It was cool but was not too cold. I would much rather be wrapped up in a blanket for a football game than sweating in the hot sun (especially being 6 months pregnant!)





We got to see some good friends and Wade had a blast playing with Katelyn. Katelyn is one of Susie's (who I used to coach with) little girls. She was in our wedding and was so sweet to help play with Wade all day. If he ever couldn't see her we would hear him yell... "Katelyn" and start looking for her. Pretty sure he has a big crush on her! We had a great family day and I am so glad we decided to go. Wade can't wait to go back again...we may take him to a basketball game this year too. I love this picture with his sweet hand over his heart for the National Anthem.