Another Eventful Friday...

Fridays seem to be eventful for this pregnancy (you may remember that I had to be tested for a kidney/bladder infection a couple days after my cerclage procedure, and the following Friday I had to run to the clinic be tested for Fifths Disease.) Well this past Friday was another eventful one (but everything ended up to be fine :)...
This week I had been feeling some small amounts of vaginal fluid/discharge (sorry for the personal details!) and Friday morning it seemed to be more frequent. So....later that morning during my prep time I googled "preterm labor signs" and this is what I found on Web MD:

What Are the Signs of Premature Labor?

It is important for you to learn the signs of premature labor so that you can recognize them and get help to stop it and prevent your baby from being born too early. Premature labor is usually not painful, but there are several warning signs...

What Should I Do If I Have Signs of Premature Labor?

Call your health care provider right away if you have:

• Leaking of fluid from the vagina
• Vaginal bleeding
• Sudden increase of vaginal discharge

I read this and honestly could feel my heart start to race. I ran over to my good friend's classroom and said ok, I know I'm paranoid with this pregnancy but I'm freaking out. She didn't even let me finish my sentence and said GO TO THE DOCTOR NOW - YOU NEED TO BE SEEN! I then called the clinic and of course was on hold for the OB nurse line for like 10 minutes (probably not that long, but it felt like forever!) She said that they definitely wanted me to be seen to make sure I wasn't leaking any amniotic fluid. She got in me at Elk River at 11:45 (and this was shortly before 11!) My teacher friend next door quickly helped me contact the secretary about getting a sub, helped me get my sub plans ready, AND went and picked up my kids from art and juggled her own class plus mine! Teaching is NOT a job with flexibility - that is for sure! Anyway, I ran to the clinic and everything was thankfully fine (cervix was still closed, the discharge was not amniotic fluid, and I did not have an infection.) Then I quick grabbed some lunch and went back to work for the remainder of the day because the sub plans I left were quite vague, and I don't have a whole lot of sick time available. So much for feeling more confident with this pregnancy...it is going to be VERY hard not to be a nervous wreck during this time period since it's the same time that everything went downhill with my pregnancy with Brecken. However, I know I can't stress myself out about every little detail either because high levels of stress also aren't good. This Monday I have another progesterone shot after work and then an ultrasound that evening, so everything will be checked out thoroughly again then :) After each ultrasound, I'm usually quite calm for a good 4-6 days ;) and then I wait another week for the next check. Anyway, I'm just VERY thankful that everything was fine.
One more random thought - it was also a Friday that I was admitted to the hospital during my first pregnancy. I think I'll live in a box on Fridays from now on ;) Haha!

No news is good news :)

This week's ultrasound again had good news. My cervical length was 3.6cm - same as last time, so it's stable. This week, in addition to the usual cervix check, we also had the typical 20-week screening where they take a close look at all of baby's organs, bones, spine, etc. and everything with baby boy looked great too! Yay! This coming Monday will mark 22 weeks, and 23 weeks is when I entered my hospital bedrest with Brecken. I'm feeling more and more confident as time goes on that things are going to go much better this time because of all the precautions they're taking with me. Thank you for all of the prayers again - I definitely feel a calming peace from God. From here on out, I'll probably just post pregnancy/ultrasound updates if there is some sort of big news; that way I can try and post a little more about what else is happening in the Hoelscher family :)

This weekend we are headed up to Fargo for one of my college friends' wedding. We are heading up there later today and will stay in a hotel in Fargo tonight. Brecken is very excited that he gets to come along (ever since our Mommy & Daddy trip to Florida, he always asks "and Brecken come tooooo?") He can't wait to go swimming in the pool! It should be a fun time as I'll get to see a couple other college friends too (including my old roomie and her family - she has a boy and a girl so Brecken will actually get to see another boy :) Brecken is also excited to wear his Easter outfit - yesterday he saw his dress hat laid out and he wanted to wear it to daycare soooo bad, but I successfully convinced him that his Twins hat might be a better option ;)

Have a great weekend!

Dr. Update

I had my check-up on Monday, and she's really not worried yet that my cervix length was shorter. I asked if that was normal at all, and she said that that often happens even with people without my history. That made me feel much better :) My last measurement was 3.6cm, and she said high 3's is very typical. The only part that still leaves me a little hesitant is that she said 2.5-3.5cm is the gray area. If I go less than 3.5cm, she said we'd probably have to discuss reducing my activity even though they don't get really concerned unless it's less than 2.5cm (No wonder they freaked last time with Brecken when I measured less than 0.5cm at 3 MILLImeters!) Research has shown that anything less than 2.5 puts you at a much higher risk for preterm delivery. For now, I'll just focus on the fact that I'm still in the normal range and pray that the cerclage does the trick and keeps me from thinning any farther. Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers! This coming Monday is my next ultrasound.

Things are going well...

It's been awhile since I've done an update, but everything with my pregnancy is still going well! I have been very busy with LOTS of doctor appointments, but so far everything looks pretty darn good. I recently started receiving my progesterone therapy (weekly injections to prevent preterm labor), so for the past few weeks and from here on out, I'll have at least one appointment every week with THREE appointments every other week (routine check, ultrasound, and progesterone injection.) And I'm supposed to be relaxing???? Hmmmmmm. It's comforting to know that they're watching everything so closely, but it's just kind of hectic trying to fit in all of these appointments around my work schedule!

DJ and I were fortunate to sneak in a relaxing vacation in Florida before baby #2 comes (BIG thanks to the Grandmas for tag-teaming Brecken's care while we were gone!) The week before we left was incredibly chaotic because I of course had to get in my 3 doctor appointments before we left to get cleared for the trip. Plus, I needed to do report cards, write sub plans, and pack before we left. However, once we got there it was VERY relaxing and I definitely made up for the craziness beforehand. This is where we spent the majority of the vacation:

We also took a sunset cruise one evening that included a few sightings of dolphins.

You can check out more vacation pictures on my Facebook page.


After the vacation, I had about 4 days back at work, and now I'm on spring break. I haven't seen Brecken all that much over the last couple of weeks because of preparing for the trip, the vacation, and then parent-teacher conferences, so it's been WONDERFUL to have this extra time with him! However, I'm realizing I'm going to have quite a challenge this summer to keep him entertained without ever lifting him. We went to the park one day, but I can't lift him up to the swings :( At least he's fairly independent and can climb up to the slides on his own. We went to Target to get groceries, and I had to lift him in and out of the shopping cart...what else was I going to do? Then we took a trip to Como Zoo, but this Mommy couldn't hold her kid up to look at the animals :( On a more positive note, when we were at the lions I said, "Look Brecken, there's the Daddy lion and the Mommy lion." Brecken then asked, "Where's the Brecken?" Oh, he can always make me smile :) Then today when I went to the bathroom, he enthusiastically said "Good job going potty, Mommy!" Overall, it really hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be to not lift Brecken, and I am just soooo thankful that I'm not on bedrest because at least now I can go places and interact with him :)

I've had two appointments while on break, and I'll have one more on Monday. I got the official ultrasound (cervix check) results from my doctor yesterday which said, "Cervical length is less than last visit but still normal." I get my results online, so that is really all I know at this point. Well, I did look at the medical jargon below my doctor's notes and determined that the length was 1.2cm less than it was just 2 weeks ago! This makes me a little nervous, but at least it's still in the normal range. I also figure that there has to be a standard measure of error in there too, especially since it was a different person doing the ultrasound this time. Hopefully at the next check, it will be a bit longer (it can't actually get longer, but I'm hoping the measurements were a tad off.)  I have a feeling that at a minimum, they will now want me to have weekly ultrasounds instead of just every other week, which will put me at 2 points every week, with 3 appointments every other week! Maybe I should invite my doctor over for dinner or something? I see her way more often than I see most of my family members ;)

Oh, I should also tell you that we're having a....

BOY! They were pretty hesitant when they told us at just 14.5 weeks that it was a boy, but since then, they've confirmed a few more times that it's indeed a boy! Brecken will LOVE having a brother because almost everywhere we go, it's girls, girls, girls! (Remember my blog post about all of his girlfriends?) Well now Brecken will have another boy around! :)

Ok, I think that's all of the updates for now.

Happy Easter! Here is a wonderful song to remind us all of the true meaning of Easter:
http://thenewsfor.us/?mkt=ktis