Easter Pics (finally)

A pre-Easter egg hunt

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

NO Fifths Disease :)

I finally connected with the doctor today, and I do NOT have Fifths Disease! Praise God! I really wasn't showing many symptoms, but they recommend that all pregnant people with known exposure get tested. Since my strep test on Friday was negative, and I still haven't been feeling 100%, I was getting anxious to hear the results. Thankfully though, I tested negative on my current reading. However, they could tell that I've had the Parvovirus (Fifths Disease) at some point in my past, which is actually GREAT news because it means I should most likely have immunity. This is awesome because the disease is still spreading around our school, and now I don't have to worry about catching it later on in my pregnancy :)

What a day!

Today was quite the day! Brecken (who has been healthy since Halloween) recently started running a temp and last night it went up to 101.4. DJ took him to the doctor today since he also didn't seem to have any appetite, and Mr. Brecken has an ear infection in each ear PLUS strep throat! I woke up at 3:45 this morning with a terrible sore throat, so after hearing about Brecken, I thought I better get checked too so I planned to go the minute clinic right after work. However, around lunch time today, I got an e-mail from our school health-clerk stating that multiple cases of Fifths Disease have been reported at our school and that anyone who is pregnant should contact their medical provider. So then I sent a message to my doctor and they said I should come in for a blood draw to be tested TODAY. So after school, I flew over to the doctor for the blood draw, but unfortunately I probably will have to wait until next week for the results :( My throat and headache continued to get worse, so I went to the Target Clinic this evening for a throat culture, but it was negative which is good but I REALLY hope and pray it's not Fifths Disease (since sore throat and headache are symptoms of that too)! DJ is gone on a men's retreat with church, so we have sickie 1 and sickie 2 here. Luckily my mom was already planning to hang out for the weekend since the other guys are hunting, so I'm very thankful she is here to help! Hopefully a good night's sleep will bring some good healing for both Brecken and I :)

Side note: This was actually the 2nd Friday in a row that I've had to have a blood draw. Last Friday after my cerclage, I called the doctor because my lower back was aching/hurting a little. She wanted to be sure that I didn't have an infection from the procedure, so she ordered up a blood draw, urine sample, and an ultrasound of my kidneys! All was fine though :)

We also bought a "new" (new to us) car this week. DJ accepted a job offer on Monday and put in his 2-week notice, so he will lose his company car at the end of next week. It's no wonder these last couple of weeks have felt absolutely insane!

1 week post-op. appt.

Well everything looked pretty good at my check-up Tuesday morning :) The doctor's last words were, "everything looks good, and we'll see you again in 2 weeks." I keep focusing on those words because on the day of the surgery they had told me that they'd have to see me every 1-2 weeks depending on how things looked, so the fact he doesn't want to see me for 2 weeks must mean that there is nothing too concerning. However, he did say a couple of other things during the appointment that worried me a bit...he said that it was definitely a good thing that we decided to do the cerclage because he could tell that the cervix was still trying to open despite the stitch. They said I'm actually dilated about 5-6 millimeters. I realize that 5-6 MILLImeters is like nothing, but still, after having my cervix stitched, how in the world is it dilating at 15 weeks? Also, because of this fact, he asked what I do for work...I informed him that I'm a teacher and am on my feet all day. His response was, "Well, take it easy and put your feet up as much as possible on the evenings/weekends." Wow, that is going to be quite a challenge with a 2.5 year old running around! I guess there will be no cleaning for me...I better get comfortable with the fact that my house is going to be a disaster for a very long time! Oh, and I also recently learned that I can no longer lift anything (including Brecken!) which is real interesting when it comes to trying to get him in his car seat to go to daycare in the morning so we just ordered a fold-up step stool. Last night I gave Brecken a bath, and then usually after his baths I swaddle him up in his towel and carry him like a baby to his room to get his PJ's. Well last night, I pulled him out of the tub, wrapped him in his towel, and right away he looked at me and asked, "Mommy carry me in my towel?" Ughhhh....it broke my heart! I'm trying really hard to just be thankful that I'm not on bedrest and that this will all be worth it in the end, but it's still really hard especially knowing that it will be this way for the next 5+ months! The important thing is though that everything looked good and I don't need to be seen for 2 weeks :) And this doctor was one of the high-risk OB docs that we saw a few times during my long stay at Abbott with my first pregnancy, so we definitely trust him!

Everything went well :)

The surgery went well on Wednesday (worst part I think was the almost 2 hour drive we had to get down to Minneapolis after the big snow storm!) I rested at home for a couple of days, and I head back to work tomorrow. I was going to write more details, but I never got around to it so I thought I'd get the most important message out there... The doctor said the surgery went well, and I have the big check-up Tuesday morning. I'll try to update again after that.
Thanks for all of the prayers! I am feeling better emotionally too :)

Feeling Anxious!

This Wednesday is a big day for our family, as that is when I will have a surgical procedure done to stitch my cervix (more on that later.) I'm not feeling so anxious about the particular procedure as I am just about my pregnancy in general. I've come to the sad realization that I will never have a "normal" pregnancy. This weekend, my thoughts have been completely consumed (day and night!) by thinking about my "high-risk" pregnancy. You see, after my experience with Brecken, I assumed that in a future pregnancy it would be a "normal pregnancy" as long as I made it to full-term and had a healthy baby that didn't need to be hospitalized long term. I am now realizing that whether I make it full-term or not, my pregnancy will not be "normal." For one, I am having surgery on Wednesday and having surgery (although it's a low-risk procedure) is NOT normal during pregnancy. Two, I am labeled "high-risk" on every medical form out there, which is again not normal. Three, with my first pregnancy my cervix completely vanished without me having any idea. Therefore, this time around now that I just ended the first trimester, I will now be extremely nervous about every tiny little pain or new feeling. With every little pain or change, I will wonder...is that signs of pre-term labor, should I call my doctor, or are these just typical pregnancy aches and pains? Also, what if I end up on bedrest again? This time around I have another child to worry about and I won't be able to even lift him if I end up on bedrest. For these reasons, my pregnancy will not be "normal" no matter what the final outcome and for some reason that is making me extremely emotional. This weekend I have broke down in tears multiple times for no apparent reason (which I know is common in pregnancy but it's definitely exaggerated by all of these crazy thoughts and emotions regarding my high-risk pregnancy.)

Now back to my surgical procedure...this coming Wednesday, February 29, D.J. and I will head down to Abbott-Northwestern hospital in Minneapolis (same place I stayed for my 5 weeks of bedrest with Brecken), where a perinatologist (high-risk OB Dr) will stitch my cervix through a surgical procedure called cerclage. It's a same day procedure, so I should be home by the evening hours. I'll spare you any more medical details...if you really want to know more, just google "cerclage." I was initially thinking that I would be put under for this procedure, but I'm starting to think that I just misinterpreted the doctor. In one of my sleepless nights, I researched more on the Internet about the procedure, and I'm pretty sure that I will receive a spinal anesthetic but that I will still be awake, which would make me feel a lot better. People were getting freaked out when I told them that I'd be put under (which in turn made me quite nervous!) I have a final ultrasound/check tomorrow morning with the doctor that will be doing the surgery, so I'll get clarification then. Any way, back to the procedure. Again, I'm really not that nervous about the procedure. When they perform the surgery at this gestational stage, it is pretty low-risk. They of course had to warn us of the risks (they can cause an infection in the uterus or rupture my bag of water), but the chances of these things happening are very minimal, and I'm really not worried. Every doctor I've talked to has agreed that in my case the benefits FAR outweigh any risks, and I trust these doctors 110% . After all, this group of doctors is the one that made my contractions stop and kept me pregnant with Brecken for another 4.5 weeks after my hospital admittance. The only other sort of "risk" in the procedure it's possible that they may not get the stitch placed correctly, which means it wouldn't be effective at holding my "incompetent cervix" together to help me get closer to full-term. I will have a check-up one week after the procedure to make sure that the stitch is right where it is supposed to be, and I will be monitored very closely for the next several weeks as well.

Even though I have been extremely anxious about my pregnancy lately, I still do believe with all of my heart that God is in control which definitely brings me peace (it's just that sometimes my emotions get the best of me ;) We sang this song for closing at church today, and it was a great reminder that I need to quit worrying so much and just trust Him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_KPBrTerDM

Oh Lord my God in You I put my trust
Oh Lord my God in You I put my hope
Oh Lord my God in You I put my trust
Oh Lord my God in You I put my hope

CHORUS:
In You In You I find my peace
In You In You I find my strength
In You I live and move and breathe
Let everything I say and do
Be founded by my faith in You
I lift up holy hands and sing
Let the praises ring!

Well enough venting (I do feel better just expressing all of my emotions :) I better get to work. I have TONS of work to do for school...catch up on grading and finish writing 3.5 days worth of detailed sub plans for this week (I have to stay home with my feet up for a couple days following the procedure.)