30 weeks!

I'm now 30 weeks pregnant (it feels great to be in the 30's!), and I've completed 3 full weeks of this lovely bedrest. Today was my big doctor appointment, and we spent almost 2.5 hours at the clinic. The first portion of the appointment was a Level II ultrasound, where they again checked my cervix and looked closely at baby's organs, bones, blood flow, etc. AWESOME NEWS - my cervix length measured almost exactly the same as it was 3 weeks ago when they put me on bedrest! Praise God! I was quite surprised to hear this after all of those contractions that I've had over these 3 weeks. Everything with baby looked really good too. In fact, he actually measured about 1 week ahead of my dates, and they estimate he weighs 3 pounds, 6 ounces (but that's give or take 8 ounces). We had to laugh when they showed us the breakdown for all of baby's measurements - his femur/leg bones actually measure about 1-2 weeks BEHIND my dates, so I guess both of our boys will have the short legs and long torso that I inherited from my dad's side of the family. Then the poor baby's head measured 2 weeks AHEAD of my dates (we're blaming the large head on Grandpa Al :) On average though, baby's size measured 6 days ahead of my due date, which is wonderful.

From here they will continue to see me every 2 weeks in the clinic, but they're also adding in OB home-care nurse visits so they can monitor my contractions and baby's heart rate weekly without me having to be up and about going to the clinic so often.

This coming Sunday morning, DJ leaves for San Antonio, TX for a work trip and will be gone for 4 days! (They booked his flight just days before I was put on bedrest!) Thankfully my mom is coming to stay with me while he is gone, just in case I need to make another trip to the hospital. Today DJ specifically asked the doctor if he should even be going and what were the chances that he'd be needing to catch an emergency flight home. She said, "You should be just fine. She is stable, and I would expect her to make it to 36 weeks. At that point, we'll take the cerclage out and go from there." So we again got another affirmation that they're still very optimistic about me making it close to term. However, we're of course still very nervous that DJ is going to be that far away given my situation.

Please pray that everything continues to stay nice and calm while DJ is gone (and also praise God for all of the great news we heard at the doctor today)!

An Uneventful Week :-)

It's thankfully been an uneventful week around here. My contractions have been few and far between, which is awesome! I've also finally been sleeping better which definitely improves my emotional state ;) I think now that school is finally all done, I'm able to sleep better. I pretty much missed the last 2 weeks of school since our kids went through Friday, June 8. (Thankfully I had JUST enough sick leave to cover all 9 of my days.) Since it was so last minute that I found out I needed to be on bedrest, it was difficult to arrange for a sub at the very end of the year like that. I ended up having 3 different subs and wrote 8 days worth of sub plans! Plus I had to do my report cards...I will say that all of this work gave me something to do for a while. However, I did find myself waking up in the middle of the night saying to myself, "Oh no! I forgot to tell my sub..." (this and that). This year I probably had the best class I've ever had so far, so I was honestly quite sad that I never really got to say good-bye to them (and since they go to middle school next year, I won't see most of them ever again :( However, I wasn't sad at all to be missing out on those "wonderful" behaviors that 5th graders tend to display at the end of the school year. I did hear that while I was gone, a couple of my students started a rumor that one of my girls was pregnant, and another day when they were playing outside, 2 boys got in an all out physical fight! My poor subs! Maybe laying on the couch wasn't so bad - haha.

I'm obviously not allowed to care for Brecken while on bedrest, so he spent those first 2 weeks at daycare. Once school was out, we were done with daycare so now the grandmas are tag-teaming his care. He spent the beginning of this week up in Browerville with DJ's parents (and didn't have ANY fun at all - haha! ;) Then yesterday and today, my mom was here to take care of Brecken. We are SO grateful that our moms are able to help out with caring for him!

While Brecken was up at Grandma & "Bucka's" house, DJ got a well-deserved break from essentially being a single dad. It's hard for me to watch him trying to juggle everything on his own, as this situation is definitely very challenging for him as well! Thankfully our families have been GREAT about helping out with stuff around the house, and we've had lots of friends provide meals for us. All of this makes a HUGE difference. We are truly blessed!

Finally, I'll end with a picture of some Mommy and Brecken snuggle time (It of course never lasts very long, but I do enjoy every second I get!)


I have another big check-up on Tuesday, so I'll update again after that. Have a great weekend!

Another Dr. Update

Well after I just HAPPENED to see on MyChart that they had actually scheduled my high-risk appointment/transfer of care meeting for Tuesday, JUNE 19TH, and not for this coming Tuesday, I called back to the scheduling department assuming there was a mistake. The gal still insisted that my file just said 1-2 weeks and therefore June 19th was fine...so then my nasty (protective mama) side came out! I guess it worked because I eventually got an appointment for this Friday (6/8) instead :)

Basically we didn't get much new information at the appointment, and we were pretty much told to just keep doing what I'm doing. Overall though, I did feel a lot more confident about making it close to term when I left there, which was really nice. After having to get the shot last weekend to stop the beginning stages of labor and chatting with my regular OB on Monday morning, I was feeling quite nervous. I think my regular OB was a lot more nervous about my recent changes/issues because she doesn't see it everyday, whereas the high-risk doctors deal with this type of stuff all the time. The gal we met with at this appointment essentially has the same story as me (and she made it to 37 weeks with #2), so it was very encouraging to hear that as well! Her and I decided that there should be a way to do a cervix transplant - haha. She also wasn't too concerned with the fact that I've still been having contractions about once every 1-2 hours quite regularly. They don't like to medicate to stop contractions/labor unless it's regular (4+ per hour) and it's really necessary. They also don't plan to give me the steroid shots for baby's lungs unless delivery looks imminent...again they like to avoid the meds whenever possible.

Don't get me wrong, I was absolutely thrilled to hear that there is still hope for me to make it very close to term; however, reality also hit about being on bedrest until 36 weeks (7.5 more weeks!) Last night, DJ and Brecken were playing in the front yard in Brecken's new pool. I could hear Brecken laughing and giggling away, and I almost had another complete breakdown as I sat inside in my recliner missing out on all of that great play time and memories. I feel like I'm completely missing out on what could be up to 3 months of Brecken's life! BUT, I just have to keep reminding myself that all of this bedrest sure beats the alternatives...being in the hospital on bedrest again or having a tiny baby in the NICU for weeks!

We greatly appreciate your continued prayers and support for our family during this difficult time! We definitely know that no matter what the doctors say about predictions or odds, God is in control of the situation and with Him all things are possible!

"For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37 NIV

God bless and stay cool this weekend!

Once again no news is good news...

Things have continued to stay pretty stable since my hospital visit on Saturday. Late this afternoon I was finally approved to get my care transferred to the perinatal doctors, and my appointment is next Tuesday (the first available appointment). I pushed to get an earlier appointment and even offered to go down to the clinic at Abbott instead of Maple Grove, but that was still the first appointment available and the doctor had put in the notes that I just needed to be seen in 1-2 weeks. I said to the gal, "Well I guess I'll just make another trip to the hospital if things progress before then." That is really all the updates I have. Sorry I didn't report sooner...I'll admit I was an emotional mess yesterday (mainly because of lack of sleep). Instead of giving you my sob story though, I'll keep it light and share some of Brecken's recent funny quotes for something more positive and enjoyable to read :)

When giving him a bath one night (pre bedrest), he was playing with some toys and said to me, "I want some letters, please." I dumped a bunch of his foam letters in the tub, and he started moving them around and said, "Ummmmm...I'm looking for a certain one." I have no idea where he got the word "certain" from let alone how he knew how to use the word correctly in a sentence!

Last week one day I asked him if he was a good boy at daycare. His response was, "Yeah...tomorrow I be naughty." I just about burst out laughing, but instead I kept it together and talked about why that maybe wasn't such a good idea ;)

Also last week DJ had Brecken give me a hug and kiss before they left for daycare. Brecken did just that and as soon as we was done, he said "Daddy give Mommy a kiss!" DJ then came and gave me a kiss good-bye and turned away. Brecken looked at him and said, "And a hug too!" So DJ had to turn around and give me a hug too. :)

Brecken can always brighten my day with the funny things he says and his extremely caring, loving personality!

Oh, and if you're wondering about how my dad is doing, he was released from the hospital late on Friday and was cleared to fly home on Saturday. He is now giving himself injections twice a day and has to get his blood checked daily until his levels improve. Once his levels improve, he'll be switched over to a blood thinner pill for 3-6 months.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support! We are so blessed with wonderful family and friends!

Saturday night at the hospital!

We took a trip down to the hospital (Abbott Northwestern) last night. I was feeling constant cramps plus my abdomen was tightening up like a fist on and off...when the tightening started to happen more regularly, I decided it was time to call the doctor. The doctor said I better come in to put the monitors on. WELL...the monitors showed "irritability of my uterus" about every 6 minutes! They said it wasn't true contractions because contractions have to last at least 40 seconds each, and each one of my episodes was only about 30 seconds. However, since there was such a regularity to these occurrences, the doctor said to start an IV of fluid and give me a shot of terbutaline (Brethine). It's basically a drug used to stop preterm labor. When the nurse told me that's what they were going to do, I went ohhhhh boy here we go again. Those meds make you feel terrible! When I first went in the hospital in Brecken's pregnancy, I had two of these shots plus I was on a high loading dose of magnesium/"Mag" and I felt absolutely miserable! Thankfully with just the one shot this time, I just felt super jittery and it wasn't that bad.

My care is now going to be transferred completely over to the perinatal (high-risk OB) doctors mainly to avoid confusion because my regular OB is in a completely different hospital group than the perinatals. I am supposed to set up an appointment with them this week (they have a clinic in Maple Grove) and they will get my care officially transferred. My OB is fantastic, but I am kind of glad that I'll now be solely in the hands of the preterm experts.

I'm now WIDE awake after only about 3 hours of sleep because I don't do anything but lay around all day! I am again feeling an occasional tightening this morning, so PLEASE PRAY, PRAY, PRAY that it goes away on it's own and doesn't become anything regular.
By the way, this eventful day all happened at 27 weeks, 5 days - the exact time that Brecken was born!

Thank you for your prayers. We know how powerful they are, and miracles do happen!

Dr. Update

DJ and I went and met with my OB doc this afternoon and heard relatively encouraging news. She said she's still fairly optimistic about me making it close to term because the cerclage is still intact, and I had a negative test result for the fetal fibronectin test they did last week. I am on fairly strict bedrest (only allowed to be up for showers and quick meals) for at least the next month. If at 31 weeks things haven't gotten worse, I can probably start increasing my activity some. If I make it to 36 weeks, they'll let me do anything I want. She said it's pretty difficult to give specific odds, but basically my chances of making it to term are quite slim but she is optimistic that I can make it at least close to term. Keep the prayers going - we know they work!

Also, my parents left early Wednesday morning for Florida for my cousin's graduation. My mom called today and informed me that they were at the hospital! My dad's arm was quite swollen and after a trip to the clinic, they were redirected to the ER. It turns out he has a blood clot from donating blood earlier this week. They are admitting him overnight to make sure the blood thinners start taking effect. He should be released tomorrow, but it is questionable whether or not he'll be cleared to fly home on Saturday. Too much excitement this week!

And...BEDREST!

It's official...I'm now on bedrest at 27 weeks (Brecken was born at 27 weeks, 5 days.) I went in Tuesday for my biweekly ultrasound to check my cervix, and I now have new funneling and have shortened from 3.9 to just 2.1cm (in 2 weeks)! :( Grrrrrrr.... The cerclage is still in place, which is a good thing. That probably prevented this from happening any sooner and kept it from shortening any more. At the ultrasound imaging center, they called the oncall doctor who informed me that I needed to be done working and be at home on bedrest, and that I should go see my doctor this week at her next clinic day. I'm meeting with my regular OB this afternoon, so I'll post again later with further details. Right now, I've just been told that I need to be in bed at all times except for showers, meals, and brief occurrences. PLEASE PRAY FOR BABY TO STAY IN FOR A LONNNNNNNNNNNNG TIME (like 10 more weeks!) More details to come after my appointment...

Never a Dull Moment

The "excitement" continues... I'm sort of embarrassed to admit (even though I know I probably shouldn't be) that DJ and I went down to the hospital a week ago Saturday (5/12) for me to get checked out. I was feeling an occasional tightening in my abdomen and was worried that it could possibly be mild contractions starting, plus (what pushed me over the edge to go in) was the fact that I had fairly intense vaginal pain every time I stood up on my feet. Once again, thankfully everything was fine! I also had my usual ultrasound check that next Monday evening, and that showed that my cervical length was still in stable condition and everything looked great...such a big relief (for a few days anyway ;) I'm starting to realize it's going to be a lonnnngggg few months with me agonizing over every little pain/change I feel! With Brecken's pregnancy, I literally didn't feel a thing and was then rushed to the hospital when they discovered that in 2 short weeks my cervix had almost completely vanished. Therefore, every time I DO actually feel pain, I start to think that more must be happening than last time because last time I felt perfectly fine and look at what had all been happening! Even though I don't like going in just to hear that everything is totally fine (and that I'm pretty much paranoid), I know that I would forever feel guilty if I didn't get things checked out and later found out that things had started to progress in the wrong direction.

Today I had my usual clinic check-up and everything looked great again. Because of my history, the Dr. did do a fetal fibronectin test to determine my likelihood of a preterm delivery in the near future. The results are already in, and it was thankfully negative which is GREAT because that means I have a 90% chance that I won't deliver within the next couple of weeks (I said to myself this test BETTER have a negative result!) If it would have come back positive, that result would not have been as definitive - a positive result is only about 50% accurate. If it was positive, they would likely have restricted my activity and possibly given me steroid shots for baby's lungs just to be on the safe side. I'm sure they'll run the test again in a few weeks.

Brecken has also been adding "excitement" to our household over the past couple of weeks. About 2 weeks ago, he had an ear infection in both ears, and the right one was so bad the doctor said he had blisters on his ear drum and it was about to rupture. Thankfully, we got the medicine in just in time and we never saw any fluid drain that would indicate a ruptured ear drum! However, he was quite crabby to say the least - I don't think we've ever seen him act as sick as he did with this particular ear infection! Then last week he developed a terrible rash, which has cleared up in some spots but has spread to new areas. We initially thought it could possibly be related to the antibiotic, but he had this same exact rash almost one year ago to the date and he wasn't on any meds at that time. Plus, he's been on this same antibiotic a couple other times w/o any issues at all. DJ is taking him back to the doctor tomorrow morning to hopefully find a solution since none of the ointments we've tried seem to help, and the antibiotic was done on Friday. Thankfully DJ's work schedule is more flexible so he can take Brecken to the doctor (even though it kills me as a mom to not be there!). I guess I also have enough of my own doctor appointments to deal with right now. In fact, I now call Mondays, "Medical Mondays," because every single Monday I have two appointments - an injection plus either an ultrasound or a clinic check-up.

We were very busy this past weekend with a trip to the Como Zoo on Saturday morning and then a wedding. Sunday was church and trying to catch-up on house stuff (as well as a much needed nap ;) For Memorial Weekend, we'll be staying home this year because I am not allowed to leave the Twin Cities area ALL SUMMER :( With my history, they don't want me to be too far away from Abbott Northwestern & Children's in case I would deliver early again. Out-state hospitals just don't have the capabilities of caring for tiny preemies. Hopefully, it's just an extra precaution and we won't be dealing with the NICU this time around! (even though the Children's NICU is fabulous)

Well enough rambling...enjoy this beautiful spring weather!

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!