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.)

BIG News!

This is Dr. Brecken, and he says there's a baby in Mommy's tummy! And YES, he is absolutley right :) We're happy to announce that we're expecting Baby #2 - due date is August 27th, so I'm 13 weeks. (Maybe this will be my excuse as to my lack of blog posts because I have been absolutely exhausted lately.) I really can't complain though because I haven't had any morning sickness and the fatigue has just recently started to improve some too :) We are very excited to add to our family, but we're definitely nervous too since most of you know that our first baby was born 3-months premature. They of course are taking lots of precautions now that they are aware of my situation, but there is never any real guarantee. We trust that God is in control no matter what, and we know that He will be with us through whatever might come our way. They say I have about an 80% chance of making it to 36-37 weeks (Due date would be 40 weeks). I have to remind myself of this fact often when I start to get nervous. I am all over the place with my emotions (Hmmm...maybe those pregnancy hormones are to blame for some of that ;)...one day I feel completely at ease with the pregnancy, and the next day I'm a nervous reck. We would greatly appreciate any prayers for comfort, peace, and a healthy pregnancy :) Thank you and God bless!

Brecken can be so funny!

Brecken has really started to talk a lot more lately - more phrases/sentences instead of just a couple of words, and boy is he hilarious! He frequently makes us laugh out loud, and I just had to share the funniest thing I can remember from the past few days... I put him on his potty after breakfast yesterday morning, and as soon as he sat down, he looked at me and said, "I need book, please!" HAHAHAHA! I definitely laughed out loud. (It's funnier in person!) I did do just that and went and got a book to read to him. As soon as I finished, he said, "Different book." The funniest thing is that I don't think he's EVER seen anyone read on the pot, so I just have no idea where he got his from. I guess maybe males are just born reading on the pot? Hope this made you smile a bit. I'll do a Christmas post soon hopefully.

A Catch-up post

Well it's been awhile since I've posted...lots has been happening, but I just don't find the time to write as often as I'd like. In my last post on Halloween, Brecken had come down with another fever and high cough. His fever improved after a couple of days, but his cough continued to get worse despite the instructions from the pediatrician to start the Albuterol nebulizer treatments at the very fist sign of cold/congestion symptoms. I took him to the pediatrician again that Wednesday, and thankfully his lungs were still sounding clear. However, since the Albuterol didn't seem to be doing enough to prevent the upper respiratory troubles, the dr. came up with a new plan. She said that if we have to use the Albuterol as often as we have been this fall, Brecken will eventually be less responsive to the drug and we won't have it when we really need it. She recommended starting him on a different nebulizer medicine once a day to prevent respiratory problems. With all of Brecken's respiratory illnesses (one late last spring and 2 already in October), she said he is border line being diagnosed with asthma. This new medicine should hopefully prevent him from having more respiratory illnesses documented in his chart, which will prevent him getting the "asthma" label. For now, he's just listed as having "Reactive Airway Disease" which is essentially asthma type symptoms triggered by colds or allergies. So this is the new addition to our nightly routine:

Brecken is such a trooper with his daily neb treatments. He often insists on holding it himself :) I was quite hesistant about putting him on this daily med, but after further research we decided it is truly what is best for Brecken right now. It seems to be doing the trick, and he's been healthy for a full month now...hallelujah!

In more exciting news, we've had a busy few weeks. Here are some pictures from our recent fall events.

One last trip to the park

My friend, Steph's, wedding 11-19-11

Snow!

Thanksgiving with the Hoelscher/Schmidt family

Peek-a-boo! (Christmas tree box)

Brecken helping to decorate for Christmas ;)

In case I don't get a chance to write before Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May the miracle of Christmas fill your heart with warmth and love!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Our little lion was sick, so we didn't get to go trick-or-treating :( We were really bummed (well mostly Mommy and Daddy since Brecken doesn't know much about it yet.) He has even been practicing his lion roar and saying trick-or-treat, but I guess we'll have to wait another year. Although I do plan to bring him over to a couple of our neighbors later in the week once he is feeling better. He came down with a pretty high fever yesterday afternoon and has started coughing again. The dr. told us earlier to start the nebulizer at the first sign of any respiratory issues and so far that seems to be keeping things under control. We're thinking it's probably just a virus because there was a girl at daycare last week that had similar symptoms and was out for several days. Anyway, enough on our little sicky. Here are some Halloween pictures...

Vocab. Parade at school - check out those lovely pants

Mommy made Pumpkin Pancakes for Breakfast on Sunday

Carving with Daddy

Poor Brecken - sick on Halloween

Brecken is a Big Boy

I have suddenly realized that Brecken is really growing up... About a month ago we converted his crib to the toddler bed, and recently we have packed away the sippy cups and high chair and took down our baby gate. Wow, Brecken is definitely not a baby anymore. How did this happen...where does the time go? I have to say though that I just love the age he is at right now....he's just getting to be so much FUN!