Maternity Photo Shoot at 35 Weeks

My pastor's wife took these pictures for me when I was 35 weeks pregnant.

35 1/2 Weeks

Only 3 and a half weeks until our scheduled delivery! (Save the date- Friday, January 29th.) I am so thankful that we will be having a 2010 baby. God has been gracious to us indeed.

Comparison- 34 weeks gestation v. 5 weeks old

These are all pictures of Austin when he was five weeks old. He would have been 34 weeks gestation if he hadn't been delivered prematurely. I am 34 weeks pregnant with David right now, so it is interesting to think that the baby growing inside of me is likely at least this size.

Celebrating 5 Years of Marriage

Joseph and I had our 5 year anniversary on Saturday, December 19th. We weren't able to celebrate on our actual anniversary (labor and delivery triage doesn't exactly count as a romantic date), but we were able to have a nice dinner on Christmas Eve at Chili's.
I am feeling much better, and the contractions have been significantly reduced this week. I'm beginning to think that the contractions must have been brought on by the flu, so that sets my mind at ease about having a recurring problem with preterm labor. At any rate, we don't have much time to wait before David arrives. I will be considered full-term in three weeks, and the c-section is scheduled for five weeks from now. Baby David will be here sometime in the next month, and we are very excited to meet him!

Lots of Updates- 34 Weeks

Let's start the middle of last week...

Wed. Dec. 16- My doctor appointment went well. We scheduled David Noah's delivery for Friday, January 29th, and he weighed in at 4 lb 12 oz on the ultrasound.

Thurs. (33 weeks)- I took Austin to work with me, which would have been a fiasco in itself... however, I also came down with some form of the flu- body aches, shakes, low grade fever, weakness, etc. I was pretty well bedridden once we made it home from work.

Fri.- continued sickness

Sat.- Our 5 Year Anniversary- sickness, plus contractions- Joseph put me on bedrest for the day, but by evening, I was getting contractions every 3 minutes or so apart. We called some friends from church to watch Austin and headed to the hospital. It took all night for the nurses to slow down my contractions, which came as close as 2 minutes apart at times. Believe it or not, morphine was what finally did the trick. Who would have known that morphine could be used for such a purpose.

Joseph's parents came up late Saturday night to take over caring for Austin while we were at the hospital. We got home about 4 am on Sunday, and I spent Sunday and Monday on bedrest. Donna stayed with us until Tuesday night when my Mom came up to take over the task of caring for Austin and housework. I worked Tuesday morning and a little bit today, but otherwise, I have tried to rest as much as possible. Thankfully, bedrest has helped with the contractions. I am 34 weeks pregnant today, so we are at a safe place for having this baby- however, at least three more weeks would be ideal for David's optimal health.

I don't seem to be showing any signs of preeclampsia through all this, so that is good. Hopefully, I can just rest for the next few weeks and keep this baby inside a bit longer. He measured good last week, so he should be over five pounds by now. Babies usually gain about a half a pound a week from here until delivery, so he should be a healthy size by the time he is full-term.

So, Joseph and I didn't have much of an anniversary celebration this year. Instead of going out to eat, we spent our evening in labor and delivery triage. However, it all turned out ok. I'm so thankful to still be pregnant, and I am slowly gaining my strength back. Between the sickness, the pre-term labor and the effects of the morphine, I have been pretty weak. It has been a blessing to have family in town to care for Austin and the housework, though. Joseph has been working extra shifts at work this week because of peak season at UPS, so we couldn't have managed without our moms' help.

The rest of my family is coming up tomorrow for Christmas. It will be a nice visit. They are bringing their beagle dog, so Austin will be thrilled. If I am feeling well enough, Joseph might take me out to dinner tonight for a late anniversary treat. Mom is here to babysit, and it would be nice to get out of the house for a little bit.

32 Weeks

David has made it three whole weeks past where Austin was born. That makes such a huge difference! Even if he were born today, he should be able to breathe without oxygen and take food by mouth instead of through a feeding tube. It also wouldn't take too long for him to regulate his own body temperature and sleep in an open air bed instead of an incubator. He would probably only have to stay in the NICU for a few weeks instead of the 2 1/2 months that Austin spent in the hospital. We are so thankful for this great blessing, and we are optimistic that I will go to full-term. If all goes as planned, I will likely have a scheduled c-section 7 weeks from now. That isn't very much time at all! Since Austin is fully recovered from his surgery, I have been plugging away at my master to-do list, trying to get as much organizing and cleaning done as I can before the baby is born. I've made some progress, but I still have several projects to complete.

We put up our Christmas tree last week. Austin is thrilled with it. He gets to turn the lights on every day when he wakes up, which is a responsibility that he takes very seriously. Austin has also been introduced to the world of video games, and he is already hooked. Joseph got out his old Nintendo 64 system the other day, and Austin loves to sit and watch him play Mario. I think Joseph is happy that Austin shares his love for playing video games.

Austin had his wound checked at the surgeon's office last week, and his incision looks very good. The first thing Austin wanted to do when he got home was to take a bath. He hadn't been able to take one since the surgery, so he was ecstatic to be able to splash around and play with his boats and fish. Austin can now officially resume normal activity, so we are happy to all be able to go to church in the morning, barring any sudden illness. Austin will be so happy to see his friends again.

31 Weeks and a Update on Austin

Well, Baby David has made it to 31 weeks gestation. That is almost two weeks past where Austin was born. We are so grateful for the Lord's protection over our second son. Things are going well with the pregnancy- no signs of preeclampsia this time.

Austin is doing very well after his surgery last week. The incision on his back looks great, and we visit the surgeon's office next Thursday so they can check it out and give us the all clear to resume normal activities. Austin is so ready to get out of the house! Tuesday night, his friend Ali came with her parents to bring us a meal, and Austin was so excited to have a friend over for a little while. They played puzzles in the floor, and I think he would have played with her all night if she could have stayed.

One of the disadvantages of having spinal surgery on the lower back is that baths are a no-no. This makes for a very sour and stinky child. Even Austin himself is begging to take a bath these days. He told Joseph this morning that he couldn't take a shower because he had just had one yesterday. I'm sure his logic was, "Dad, if anyone needs a shower, it is me. You think you are dirty? I haven't had had a bath in a week and a half!" We gave Austin a sponge bath the other day, and he was very cooperative and happy while we wiped him down; however, it was all a big misunderstanding. He thought that once we had given him the sponge bath, he was going to be able to take a real bath in the tub with his toys. Needless to say, we had a very upset child on our hands when he realized that he couldn't get in the bathtub.

29 weeks

I can't help but remember what was going on at this point in my pregnancy with Austin. For those who are interested, I will give a little history. Conveniently, the days of the week coincide exactly with this pregnancy's dates, so I will give you a rundown of the events that led up to Austin being born at 29 weeks, 2 days gestation (which would coincide with this coming Saturday).

Monday 9/18/06: Routine doctor's appointment- My blood pressure was a little up, and I was having contractions pretty frequently. I was set up with an appointment for the next week. I stayed home from work that day and was terribly sick all night long.

Tuesday 9/19/06: I went in early that morning to visit the lab and asked if I could see a doctor since I was feeling very ill. At this point, my blood pressure was 150/100. The doctor surprised me with the information that I was developing preeclampsia and had two possible outcomes: #1 I would be monitored for a little while in the hospital, go home and spend the remainder of my pregnancy on bedrest, or #2 I would have to deliver this baby prematurely. As you can imagine, I was in total shock. I was dressed in office attire and planning on going to work after my short visit to the doctor's office. Instead, I was taken down to the labor and delivery unit where the real drama began.

Not only was I dealing with high blood pressure, I was also having pretty frequent contractions. This was of concern to the nurses who were hooking me up to monitors regularly throughout the day. That evening, my contractions were about 3 minutes apart, so they gave me several doses of a potent drug called terbutaline, which is designed to stop contractions. This drug had the terrible side effect of making my heart feel like it was going to race out of my chest. Little did we know that it was doing far more damage to my body than good.

Wednesday 9/20/06: My mom came up to be with me in the hospital since Joseph had to work at night. I don't remember anything about the events of that day. I think they told me I would probably go home within a few days and be on bedrest. However, that all changed in the middle of the night when it became obvious that something was not right. I had been having a strange feeling in my chest all day, but the nurses never could detect anything wrong with me. Finally, late in the night, I was feeling really out of breath and terrible, and one of the nurses checked my blood oxygen levels, which apparently were dangerously low. Thus began the scariest night of my life. I was rushed around the dark and quiet hospital on a stretcher in the middle of the night for various diagnostic testing to see what was wrong with me. They had an oxygen mask on me, and I seriously thought that there was a possibility that I and my baby were dying. God was gracious to me, though. He comforted me with the words of a hymn we had been singing at church. I believe it was A Mighty Fortress is Our God. I know I sang what I could remember of the hymn, though I'm not sure if it was audibly with my lips or quietly in my heart.

Thursday 9/21/09: I was very sick all through Wednesday night and Thursday. The doctors decided that I had developed pulmonary edema, basically fluid in the lungs. This caused my oxygen level to drop, which obviously had a negative effect on both my body and the baby's. I continued to need oxygen, and my blood pressure continued to rise, although nobody really told me how high it got. I was also on a diuretic medicine to get rid of all the extra fluid in my body and in my lungs. The pulmonary edema could have been caused by the severity of my preeclampsia or as a side effect of the medicine they had given me to stop contractions the night before.

Friday 9/22/09: I don't remember anything about this day except that Joseph's parents came into town to see me in the hospital. They brought a ton of baby shower gifts that had been given to us by a Sunday school class at their church. I remember that it was fun to open the gifts even though I was stuck in the bed. I think it was probably on this day that they told us our baby would need to be delivered soon- probably within the week, maybe a little longer. We talked with a neonatologist, who gave us the statistics for a 29 week preemie. He had a great chance of survival and only about a 10% chance of a serious problem like a brain bleed. He said that once you get to 28 weeks, the baby usually does pretty well.

Saturday 9/23/09 Austin's Birthday: I was actually feeling pretty good on this morning. I was able to get out of bed for the first time, and I remember eating a good breakfast of milk, eggs, etc. (You know, all the food you shouldn't eat before having surgery.) My labwork was looking pretty grim, however, so the doctor said they would be doing my labs every 12 hours or so and if they got bad enough, they would need to deliver the baby. Immediately after the doctor left, the nurse charged into the room in a frenzy, put me on oxygen and said that somebody needed to contact the baby's father because they were rushing me to the operating room. Austin was going into distress and needed to be delivered by emergency c-section immediately! Joseph was actually at home sleeping since it appeared that I was doing better earlier that morning. Somehow he managed to shower, get gas in the truck and race over to the hospital (through a flood at that) and make it in time for the surgery. I think it was like one of those scenes from a movie where they are scrubbing the dad up as he runs down the hallway to the delivery room. If he had been a few more minutes, my mom would have been in there for the delivery. I am so glad Joseph made it, though. Austin was delivered by c-section and rushed up to the NICU only moments after they allowed me a very quick glance at my new baby. For the next 24 hours or so, I was restricted to my bed again since there is a risk of seizures if preeclampsia gets too advanced. The only thing I can remember about the rest of that day is that God comforted me through some scripture verses I had recently memorized. I remember reciting them to my mom immediately after the surgery when they brought me back to my room, and I asked her to read scripture to me. Looking back, it is encouraging to remember God's graciousness to me.

The Next 2 1/2 Months: Austin had been born at 29 weeks gestation weighing 2 lbs, 8 ounces and was 14 inches long. He stayed in the NICU for a total of 72 days and he needed oxygen for about a month after he came home from the hospital. We spent many long days at the hospital visiting and caring for our fragile little son, but God was faithful to us during that trial. Austin is now 3 years old and has been relatively healthy for a preemie. He hasn't had any serious developmental problems and the spinal surgery that he faces next week is completely unrelated to his being premature.

Pregnancy #2 with baby David Noah: The doctors told us there was a risk of me developing preeclampsia with subsequent pregnancies but that there were measures they could take to reduce that risk in my case. As such, I have been on a baby aspirin and extra folic acid and have had more frequent appointments and ultrasounds than is typically routine. I am happy to say that I have made it to the point where Austin was born and am now entering uncharted territory. Every week that David Noah stays inside of me is vitally important. If Austin had been born even a week later, his stay in the hospital could have been half as long. If he had been born a month later, he would have been home in just a few short weeks. 35 week preemies sometimes even go home from the hospital when their mothers are discharged a few days after delivery. We are very encouraged with this pregnancy and are trusting that God is sovereign over the course of events that will lead up to the birth of David Noah, hopefully a scheduled c-section the end of January. Whatever happens, God is in control of the events of our lives and our hope is in Him.

27 Weeks

Here is a picture of me at my shower. I'm starting to feel more discomfort, especially when trying to sleep at night, but for the most part I really do enjoy being pregnant. It is such a joy.

26+ Weeks Pregnant

The pregnancy is going well. Our baby is growing, and no signs of preeclampsia on my part.

25 1/2 Weeks Pregnant

Here are two ultrasound pictures that were taken yesterday. You can see his profile and his little arm resting on his forehead, and just for fun, I think it looks like he is blowing bubbles (although I'm not sure if this is possible in the womb). Everything checked out great. All his vital organs are developing properly, and his growth is normal. I am close to 26 weeks now. The past few weeks have passed by very quickly. Only about three months until our due date! Please continue to pray for a late January birthdate. January 14th is when he will be considered full-term.

Pregnancy 24 Weeks

I had my latest prenatal appointment yesterday at 24 weeks. Here's the latest statistics:
1. Blood pressure is great- no signs of preeclampsia. The doctor encouraged me that my chances of going to full-term are good.
2. Weight is good- I've gained 16 pounds so far, which is healthy for a person my size.
3. Baby is measuring great- even ahead of schedule, which I am very excited about. After having a 2 pound 8 ounce firstborn, knowing that our second child is growing well is a great joy.
4. I go for my next ultrasound in two weeks. It will be exciting to see our little boy again. They will be checking his size (which seems to be healthy) often to make sure my placenta is functioning properly (which could be an early indicator of preeclampsia).

5. Hope you enjoy the latest belly picture.

23 Weeks and Growing

I am about 23 1/2 weeks pregnant now, and I finally had Joseph take another picture for the blog. The last one was from when I was 19 weeks pregnant, four weeks ago.

Our baby is growing!

Of course, Austin wanted to have his picture taken with General, the dog. It is affectionately named after his Papa Gould's faithful furry pet, and the resemblance is quite striking.

17 Weeks Pregnant

I'm starting to fit into my maternity clothes a little better now. The pregnancy is going well. I've been feeling the baby move some this weekend, which is very exciting. I had a prenatal appointment today, and everything was fine. They are going to call me to make the ultrasound appointment, and I can't wait! It will be so exciting to find out if we are having another boy or a little girl. I will honestly be happy with either.

Pregnancy- 16 Weeks

I don't have any new pregnancy pictures of me, but one of my websites says that our baby is about the size of an avocado, weighing 3 1/2 ounces and measuring 4 1/2 inches from head to bottom.

Pregnancy Update

We are so excited to be having another baby. I hope to keep everyone updated throughout the pregnancy, and I promise to start posting pictures soon. Believe it or not, I already have a little baby bump, and I am only 10 weeks along. With Austin, I didn't start showing till probably 14 or 15 weeks or more. It should be interesting to note the changes in this pregnancy from the last one. The biggest change we hope to have is that this baby will make it to full-term. Please pray that we have a 2010 baby!

I feel like I have had more nausea with this baby than with Austin. I've also been starving all the time, but nothing sounds good to eat. I've recently discovered that salad with strips of steak on it appeals to me, along with yogurt with berries or granola mixed in. I have been eating multi-grain cheerios and drinking carnation instant breakfast as well. I can hardly stand the thought of eating any kind of sandwich, though, so I'm a little stuck as far as lunch options. When I was pregnant with Austin, I ate a pbj sandwich and a banana just about every day, but neither appeal to me this time. It's funny how things change that way.

I remember hearing the old wives tale that women who experience minimal nausea tend to have boys, and women to have severe nausea tend to have girls (because of extra estrogen or something). Based on that, I think Joseph is betting on a girl, but I think it will probably be a boy. (I mean I haven't been as sick as most pregnant women I know) Either way, its a win-win situation. If we have another boy, Austin will have a little brother to play with, and we won't have to buy any new clothes or toys. If we have a girl, I will have a daughter to dress like a baby doll, which would be so much fun for me.

All my doctor appointments have gone well so far this trimester. We have heard the heartbeat twice, once on a ultrasound and once in the office. According to one baby website, our little child is about the size of a kumkuat, weighing like a quarter of an ounce. How tiny! From this point on, he or she will start growing exponentially, though most of the baby's weight is put on in the last few months of pregnancy.

It's going to be so much fun for me to document this pregnancy through my blog, and I promise to start posting pictures/ videos of Austin again too.

By the way, in case you are interested, I put a ticker on the right hand side of my blog that tells how many weeks I am in the pregnancy. Once I get to 37 weeks, I will be considered full-term. That is our prayer.