Time is flying by-

I keep telling myself I am going to catch up on my journal, my blog, the babybook, picture albums.. and I keep getting further and further behind. We just got back from a trip out East. We survived the car ride, barely. First stop was Folsom, PA where Aunt Linda lives, the next day we back tracked a bit and went to Myerstown, PA to see Gary's cousin Billy and his family. Back to Aunt Linda's for a day trip then on to Milford, DE to see Grandma and Grandpa Bruce. We had a great time and all too soon it was time to load up in the car and head home again. That was the longest car ride ever- 17 hours. Traveling with two kids isn't much fun in a Taurus.

Gearing up for Halloween now, Gunner wants to be a hunter, but can't take a weapon of any kind to school. I thought about finding a deer carcus for him to drag in with him, no really. I understand the zero tolerance policy, but come on, a toy bow and arrow on Halloween can't be allowed? Oh well. Guess I should have thought about that one sooner.

Gary is performing major surgery on the old plow truck. Agent Orange as she was so loving named is getting a new to her engine. Not something that impresses me, but I'm sure the snow will be deep and plentiful this winter so it has to be done. The new plow truck to be is not going to be used for that reason this year since it has a tweaked frame and the plow wouldn't even sit level. Good times all around.

We heard recently that Gary's oldest niece Sydney is headed for a "correctional" facility to be determined by the judge. That is a story in itself, but we won't go there. It is sad for the rest of the family but hopefully her mom gets the wake up call.

Emmerson is starting to go, she rolls over very well and scootches backwards. Yes backwards, she only has reverse. She plays well with her things and her hand eye coordination is great. She is starting to like vegetables and has had a few fruits. Today when her Nana gave her peaches after a few bites of green beans she burst into tears when Nana tried the green beans again. She then smacked her hands on the tray and hollered till she got more peaches. That is my girl, can't deny her attitude one bit.

Gunner had a double ear infection before we left for vacation. His allergies are giving him fits. We are doing breathing treatments pretty regularly to try and keep him on the upside of the season. No flu so far, knock on wood. He has an appointment on the 28th of this month to see the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to talk about tubes again since his from last year have fallen out.

And on a final note, we are down to one dog. Poor Kegger went to be with Jesus last Saturday. Gary and I knew we had to make the call and get it done, but it was hard. We didn't tell Gunner until right before Gary was ready to leave for the vet. We all said our goodbye's and Kegger had one last car ride with Gary to the vet. Gunner is sad, but on the flip side is happy for Kegger because he and Bear are together again and he just knows Kegger is running fast!

Professional Photos

We got so lucky and found a wonderful photographer! Dave from Davyn Photography- he is the absolute best. He and his wife Robyn run the business out of their home and do the most amazing work. I will be a customer forever- especially considering how affordable the prices are! Here are some pics from the session we had done when Emmerson was about 1 month old.

Some photos

First photo-



First visit by Gunner




Pretty on the pink blanket




Just Chillin in the incubator




First night home-



Those looks explain a lot







Sleeping prince and princess

Be careful Gunner- hauling a precious load

Mommy's girl

Making progress in school- or so we thought

Well the rest of last week went better for Gunner. The time out break down was as follows: Tues-3, Wed-1, Thurs-1, Friday-0! Started week number 2 off with a sick boy on Monday who couldn't go to school, and then on Tuesday no time outs and a report from Mrs. Doyle about "the best boy ever" then Wedenesday he got a time out for hitting someone! What to do? We think we are making progress and wham- he hits someone?

Princess- is still a princess. She didn't care for green beans and HATES peas. I gave her a few spoonfuls last night and she literally made a gagging, hissing noise and spit them out. I tried a few more spoonfuls with the same result and then later tried slipping them in between bites of cereal. She ended up crying. I gave up on the peas.

We are taking a mini vacation this weekend- off to Binder Park Zoo, a hotel with a pool per Gunner's request and then the Air Zoo. We wanted to do a weekend to the UP, but with little time and trying to save up for a trip out east next month, we figured smaller scale was good.

Gunner helped me stain the deck. It is a small one we put on off the addition, that isn't finished. Since there is still housewrap and not siding yet, I let Gunner have a paint brush and go to town. He loved it! And as long as I followed behind to smooth his work out, it turned out great.

Where to begin-

It's been so long since I updated anything on here... Let's see hmm.... highlights

I went back to work June 10th- spent most of the summer doing nothing at work
Emmerson almost killed me, I was so exhausted for awhile I was dizzy and lightheaded.
I pump so much milk we currently have 4 freezers full- and I am giving at least 4- 8oz bags a day to a family who's baby was born March 18th and the mom has Leukemia and is unable to nurse.
Gunner turned 5 on July 27th! We had a very busy weekend- Grandma and Grandpa Bruce came out on the 24th, we had a great cowboy birthday party on the 25th, Emmerson was baptized on the 26th and we had some more wonderful pictures taken on the 27th.

August brought several nights of Emmerson sleeping from 11pm till 6 am- and then as suddenly as they came - those nights disappeared. She turned 4 months old and had a checkup- which went well. She weighed in at 15.4 lbs and got more vaccinations. On the 19th of August Nana sat her in the highchair for the the first time and on the 23rd of August I let her try sucking on a fresh pear which she LOVED! At the end of the month I attempted to get Emmerson to sleep in her own bed in her own room... bad idea! She will nap there but flips out when she wakes up alone. Gunner also played Flag football. It was only a 3 week season with 2 games, but he loved it and is excited for next year.

Sept. 8th Gunner became my Kindergardner. And received 3 time outs his first day. Was Mommy proud. Day 2 - only one time out, so at least we are heading in the right direction.
Emmerson is still extremely high maintenance, but is at least consoleable most times. She has Nana right where she wants her.



I swear I am going to be better at updates...

2 Months in to this Adventure

So our baby girl is 2 months old. She has managed to completely turn our lives inside out and upside down. Even though our lives are total chaos- we love her to pieces and wouldn't trade her for the world.

Emmerson rules the roost. She is so high maintenance that we are unable to do anything these days unless she is sleeping, which is rare. Gunner still loves her unconditionally which is amazing. It is my fault when she cries, since obviously I am doing something wrong.

7 weeks out

So I finally published the post I wrote a few weeks ago... sorry! It has been so long already that I figured I would give you a run down



Fri May 1, 2009 - Emmerson came home from the hospital

Sat May 2, 2009- We took Emmerson to visit my grandmother Louise

Mon May 4, 2009- Emmerson went to see Dr. Rao and also had labs drawn to check

bilirueben levels... they were fine and we didn't need to use her

biliblanket any longer.

Stopped in to work to see everyone



Thur May 7, 2009- Gary went back to work and Gunner went back to Nana's (just us girls!)

Mon May 11, 2009- Emmerson went back to see Dr. Rao, her weight was up again and she

doesn't need to come back until she is 2 months for shots!

A month later...

So I have become one of those bloggers who used to drive me nuts! There I was following a blog and suddenly they would quit posting! It used to drive me crazy, how was I supposed to know how things were going if they couldn't update their blog? I wanted to know all about their new babies or whatever else was going on in their lives.

NO SLEEP, that is what is going on in our lives, or at least mine anyways. Maybe I should go back a bit and fill in a few details. Anyways I apologize for not keeping everyone updated. I swear I will try better. And once I get back to work I will have lots of time.

Where to start? On Saturday April 25, 2009 I got up and got ready for the day. We (Gary, Gunner and I) went to Bob Evans for breakfast and got haircuts for the boys. We also made a stop at Meijers before heading home. By the time we were almost home I was pretty uncomfortable. Thinking I just overdid it a bit (that and the combination of being constipated) I headed for bed and what I figured would be a long weekend of laying down. I got more uncomfortable as the afternoon went on. I finally managed to cure the constipation issue and felt better for a bit. I couldn't tell if I was having contractions or not I was just very uncomfortable and crampy. I finally gave in and called the on call doctor and they advised me to go to the hospital to be checked since I had a cerclage. I called Gary in the garage and told him to come get cleaned up. (He had asked hours ago if we should go to the hospital) We dropped Gunner off at my mom's house with a backpack for overnight just in case. All we told Gunner was that we were going to see the doctor to check the baby.

When we got to the hospital around 5:00 pm, they took me to triage and got me in a gown and waited for Dr. Anderson to get there to check me. The nurse didn't want to check me considering I had a cerclage. That was one painful check. I almost went through the roof. Dr. Anderson decided to remove the cerclage since I was having contractions and we didn't want to damage my cervix further. Once the cerclage was removed (which was a completely horrid feeling procedure) I went from 1 to 5. They made me lay around a bit more and once I moved from 5 to 6 they decided that was it I was staying. By this time my best friend Stefani had arrived. She works at St. Mary's and got to come in to help deliver the baby. I got moved from triage to a room and we waited for the anestethiologist.

Stefani had arranged for me to have Kristen as a nurse, which was awesome. Kristen was hilarious and took excellent care of me. Stefani and Kristen also pulled a few strings to get me a good anesthiologist. My epidural went great and once it was in I was ready for the evening, so I thought. While I was hanging out the group decided to order chineese. Once it arrived they all ditched me to go eat, Gary included. But I was fine with that. I even suggested it so I could sleep a bit. I'm not sure at which point I started to vomit, but once I did I was done. I know the first time wasn't my fault. I hadn't eaten since breakfast and now it was after 9 pm or even later, I can't be sure of the time exactly. After throwing up I was so thirsty! So dumb me guzzled the ice water Stefani brought me. I apologized to her immediately. And right after that the water all came back up. That set the pace for the night. I threw up countless times. After I was completely dialated Stefani and Kristen had me do some pushing to see how I would progress. I guess I did ok since they went ahead and called Dr. Anderson to the room. Mind you I was throwing up in between pushes all this time. Gary even had to help hold the barf bucket. There was nothing left to throw up so I just retched and heaved for awhile too. It was pretty awful. Once Dr. Anderson got to the room we got down to business and pushed for real. Myself I think I pushed for like 3 hours but they all tell me it was probably less than an hour of real pushing. I still don't believe them. The epidural was great and helped me survive it all. Dr. Anderson threatened to do an episiotomy at one point because they just didn't think the head was going to fit and the next push the head was out. I did the same thing with Gunner, once they threaten to cut I got serious. That last final push and then the gush of everything and here was baby. I believe Stefani made the "girl" call. Although when the head was out and they were suctioning the babies nose they all got in a last minute what do you think it is. Which is comical now but not funny at the time. I didn't even get too grossed out when they laid the slimy, goo covered little girl on my stomach. She looked kind of weird at the time since her face was so swollen and red. I was kind of in shock I think. They got her cleaned up and worked on her for a bit. She had a bit of fluid in her lungs she was having a hard time clearing out. They weighed her and let us hold her for a few minutes then took her to the nursery to get checked over. I was whipped. Gary made a phone call or two and I called my mom to tell her Emmerson Lucht Bruce was born at 2:22am weighing in at 7 lbs even and was 21 inches long. My mom was pretty bummed that we asked that everyone stay home and not come to the hospital till the next day, she did it though and kept Gunner for us so he was comfortable and happy.

The next day after we went to see Emmerson we got the word that even though she was doing ok, they wanted to move her down to the NICU. They wanted to start her on antibiotics since her blood counts were off and they thought she may have an infection. We were ok with her going to the NICU since we had been there and had a wonderful experience when Gunner was born. And on top of that the rules had changed and Gunner could visit her once a week and more people would be allowed in to see her than before. Gary went home that night to take care of things at home and to reassure Gunner. I slept great by myself and barely woke up when they came to check on me during the night. The next morning the doc released me and Gary picked me up on his way to work. Leaving the hospital without a baby this time was a bit sad, but not nearly the devastating blow it was with Gunner. I knew she was fine and it would only be a few days before she was ours to keep. It is amazing how different things are the second time around.

It's been 35 long weeks....

Happy Monday all. Today was a bit different than I thought it would be. Yesterday I had every intention of calling the doc today to see if they could get me in. Weekends are rough. This past weekend was horrible. I had quite a bit of cramping and my bp was through the roof for the majority of the weekend. I could blame it on Gary and Gunner- they are enough to raise anyones blood pressure. I think it is mainly because of all the activity and the lack of peace and quiet. I also am up quite a bit more when everyone is home. This morning I felt better and even after taking Gunner to preschool my blood pressure was ok. After a nice long morning snooze my blood pressure was 123/78. So I decided to just hang out since I do have an appointment on Wednesday anyways.

This week isn't so good for a baby anyways- my nephew Trevor's Birthday is Wednesday and we are having dinner at mom's house for him on Thursday. I do think Friday would be an ok day. 4/24 sounds like a good date, goes with 7/27. Plus my personal nurse is working on Friday anyways. Part of me wants to throw in the towel and have this baby right away. The other part of me thinks- damn, I've made it this long, I might as well go all the way. It's hard to admit how lousy I feel. Especially since I have been one who was rubbed the wrong way quite easily by complaining pregnant women in the past. I guess if you took the context of the situations into consideration- I still have a right to be pissy about several of the conversations and comments made in the past.

Last week nothing major happened either. I spent the whole week laying very low since the bp issues started good friday. Of course Easter weekend was rough- Saturday we did Easter with Nana and Papa which included dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Not a lot of rest for me. Then on Sunday we had dinner with Gary's parents. I tried to rest till dinner time but between getting up early with Gunner so we could find eggs and his basket then him running in and out of the house, not much rest was gotten that day either.

Once Monday the 13th rolled around, I was in bed and out of commission for the whole week trying my best to keep the bp down and avoid a hospital stay. All week long my bp numbers were good until late evening when the Gman gets delivered back to me. Early Wednesday morning (april 15th) I had a couple hours of intensive cramping. I was planning on calling the doc that morning also but the cramping subsided and I felt ok afterwards. I am thinking part of it may have been a bit psychological since Julie (Billy's wife) predicted April 15th as a due date. Luckily she was wrong. Then again a weekend hit and I was miserable. I'm not sure how many more weekends I can get through at this rate.

I'm getting to the point of pondering everything. I keep thinking about the upcoming changes. I worry about the delivery (pain! since 2lb 10 oz was a breeze) I worry about how Gunner will react, I worry about the names we have picked, and how we are going to cope with another child in our family. I have a hard time imagining how I will be able to love someone the way I do Gunner. I had the same issues with Gunner. I didn't really bond with him while he was inside- it was this abstract idea of a child, then he was here and BAM! I was in love. It is kind of the same with this one. I have a life growing inside me, a child Gary and I created, and I feel weird even talking to it. My mom talks to my stomach all the time. I hate people touching my belly, yet I can't quite get over touching my belly myself. It's weird. I get terribly upset at the thought of something happening to this baby, but one of the first thoughts on my mind is how would Gunner react? Then I think about how would I react. Is this normal? I know I would survive, because I have Gunner. And then I feel guilty, shouldn't I be more attached to this baby? Maybe I distance myself to avoid the possibility of heartache? Maybe I need to up the dose of my happy pills now...

I think I have way too much time on my hands. I just lay in bed and stare at the ceiling and think. It sucks. I think way too much. I have this vision of the delivery planned out. Gary and I only- then we will let Gunner in next to meet the baby. He would be out in the waiting room with my parents. That is unless we are welcoming this kid in the middle of the night. I can invision the look on his face and the smiles. I can play it all out in my head and then I think about what if it doesn't go that way- and it pisses me off. Something that unpredictable shouldn't be able to upset me so, but it does. There are certain people I would rather not even see that day, yet I will have to. The thought of having to be nice also makes me mad. I used to think about how I would look at work to all the students waddling around the halls. That didn't pan out either. Maybe it is because I can plan nothing when it comes to pregnancy that I get so frustrated. Maybe it is because of all the curves we have been thrown in our personal lives lately. Maybe it's just because you can't plan or predict life- only God knows what is going to happen. Maybe if I just gave up trying to plan and just went on faith. So many maybes.

That is enough rambling for now I guess... Hope everyone has a good week.
I will update everyone after my doctor appointment later this week.

Latest news...

Well here we are at 33 weeks and 3 days. This morning I got up and got Guns around for his dentist appointment. My mom played chauffer for the day. Guns just had a check- up which went really well. No cavities for our little man. He also spent the day as a cowboy. Wranglers, belt, wrangler shirt and boots, not to mention the cowboy hat. Since he was a superstar in the dentist office behavior wise I let him wear the darn hat. A dentist appointment may not seem like a big deal (since it was just a cleaning) but for Guns it is. He hates the dentist! The first time I took him for a check up or cleaning he refused to have xrays and it took 4 of us (the dentist, 2 hygenists and myself ) to hold him down so the dentist could look in his mouth. Mind you his dentist is a pediatric one and is a saint. He should be given a special award for his mild manner, calm voice and patience.

After a visit to Great Grandma Louise (my grandmother- mom's mom ) we headed back to the beltline for my doctor appointment. The whole troup ended up in the room with me. I lost a pound, my blood pressure was a bit high but ok (124 over 84) the babies heart rate was 150 and I measure 35 weeks. The doctor is so excited to see me still pregnant at 33 weeks. My complaining didn't get me much sympathy- since all I really can complain about is what most women deal with- it just happens to be new to me. Next appointment is in 2 weeks. Hopefully after that it will be weekly- especially since the doc who did my cerclage said he wanted to check my cervix at 36 weeks to see how it was holding up and then determine a date to cut the suture.

What blows my mind the most is that I am even having to consider things like "removing the cerclage". I still can't believe how fortunate we have been with this pregnancy. While bedrest blows and I was really hoping to make workwise- we are at an awesome point. And I have the feeling this kid is going to hang on until the very end. God has been very good to us, first our miracle baby boy Gunner and now a pregnancy that is slowly creeping up on full term. Even with all the other things in our lives have gone haywire we have been truly blessed.

8 months and counting

Not much going on here lately. Last week Thursday I had another ultrasound. The good news is that my cervix hasn't changed since my last ultrasound over a month ago. That is wonderful. We couldn't get any kind of picture of the baby. The baby is head down facing my back. We did get to see lots of hair. It was quite cool to see all the little hairs floating on peanuts head. The appoinment with the doctor afterwards was pretty routine. Everything looks good from that aspect also.

Hitting the 32 week mark on Monday was cool also. This means I am 8 months pregnant. Another milestone I didn't know if I would ever see. In 4 weeks I will be getting the cerclage removed. The doctor who placed the cerclage prefers to remove them at the hospital. This is my preference also. Sometimes women go into labor immediately, sometimes within days and sometimes it can be weeks. I am hoping I have at least a few days since I will be finally be able to get out and do some things.

Last Friday we took Gunner to Kindergarden round up. Basically it is just a chance for us to introduce the kids to the building and the teachers. We get to meet them and see everyone. He seemed to enjoy it. I got through it without too much emmotion but when the day of kindergarden comes for real I will be a mess.

Nothing on the agenda this week, but next week I have another doctor appt and Gunner has a dentist appointment. Next week is spring break so he doesn't have any school. I guess it is supposed to be a fabulous week weather wise- not!

31 weeks

Wow- it's been a bit since I updated this blog. 31 week today. Pretty cool stuff. So far everything with the baby is great. I have an ultrasound followed by a doctor appointment on Thursday. I am hoping we get another picture of the peanut. The peanut is still quite active but is running out of room, I don't really feel kicks so much as stretches these days. Depending on what side I lay on the baby pushes and prods that side like I was squashing it. I have hit the 10 pound mark. That is what I've gained and boy do I feel it. I guess all pregnant women feel really uncomfortable but this is my first go round for that kind of stuff.

What is really weird to contemplate is when we brought Gunner home from the NICU I should have been about 33 weeks pregnant. Weird thing to sit and think about, it is amazing how different everything has been this time around. Thankfully!

The weather gave us a teaser last week. I was really starting to get cabin fever on those 57 degree days and now that the wind is blowing and it feels like 20 degrees outside, staying in isn't quite as bad.

My mom keeps asking when I am going to get ready for the baby. I'm not really sure what I need to do. We have diapers, wipes, and a bassinet. Granted the bassinet bedding needs to be washed. I can't buy much until I know what the baby is. I have tons of soft, cuddly blue blankets and even several new neutral ones. The only thing we really need to get is a new car seat. I haven't decided whether to pick a neutral one or pick one for a boy and one for a girl and then once the baby is born have Gary go get it. I guess that is why so many find out ahead of time. I just think being surprised is awesome. Especially since so many people are itching to know. We haven't made any definate decisions on names. We are closer to a final name for a girl and are slowly coming up with some options for a boy. And we only have to pick first names since this babies middle name will be "Lucht" also regardless of gender.

And no matter what Gunner says- I am still pregnant, we don't know what it is and we haven't decided on a name. For the second time Gunner has told his preschool teacher that he has a brother. I think that is what he is hoping for. This time he told her his name was Conner Lucht Bruce and she believed Gunner since she knew Lucht was a family name and that made sense to her. What tripped up Gunners story is when she asked if he remembered how much his brother weighed. Gunner's response was "he was really big" - " he is so big he put his cowboy boots on and went outside to play with me." She knew the kid was full of it then. That is my boy. Gotta love him.

Another week down

So here I am in the third trimester! Another first for this second time mom. I am pretty excited about making it this far. Gary is having a great time laughing at my belly. While I have only gained about 3 lbs, everything has been redistributed and the budda is starting to be quite noticeable. It is fun times all around. Especially trying to do things like shave my legs...

Had to be up at the crack of dawn on Tuesday to do my 3 hour glucose tolerance test. That is just not nice to do to a pregnant lady. I had to fast for 12 hours and then the test is 3 hours long (hence the name). It wasn't too bad except for that first hour after I drank the glucola- I really thought I was going to be sick for awhile. After the first hour I headed upstairs to Labor and Delivery since Stefani was working and crashed in a triage bed while she did the remaining blood draws. It is sometimes who you know. Laying down for the last two hours was great. And amazingly enough when your best bud is a nurse and wants the results of a lab back- you get to find out right away what the results are. I passed! Thank god for that one! Most likely the doctors office will call with the results next week too- I just smile and don't let on I already know.

All in all not much else is new. The weather is breaking a bit today. We are slowly getting settled in at the new house. My disability forms went through amazingly quick so now I just am waiting for the mail to bring me my money! That is one relief- I figured for sure I would have to fight that one. AFLAC has been quite good to me I must say. Gary is still working basically a second shift. Which he hates, but at least he is working. I stay up till he gets home and we watch a bit of TV together before we crash- so usually I am not in bed till 1 or 2 am, which is ok since I usually nap in the late afternoon. I hope this warm up is the start of spring and not just a teaser- Gunner is ready to be outside running around without all the snow clothes instead of cooped up inside or all bundled up.

More pregnant than ever!

So, we hit a major milestone! Tuesday was 27wks 1day (when Gunner was born) and here I am still pregnant! I had a doctor appointment that day and everything was fine. Blood pressure was good, lost a pound, baby heart beat 146, and I measure 28 weeks (beefcake!) I don't have to go back to the doctor until March 11th. They will probably do another FFN test again (and we will hope for another negative like last time!) I do have to go next week and do a 3 hour glucose test. YUCK! This involves fasting for 12 hours and the test itself is 3 hours... that is a long time without food for a pregnant lady! Even though most of the hours will be nightime, I imagine I will still be quite grouchy by the time it is over. The baby is still active and getting more forceful in its movements. Gunner told the people at church that his mom is having a boy and his name is Kevin. Where he came up with that? No clue. He likes to make up stories. Gunner has been a champ. While he has a hard time listening and following directions and is going overboard with the backtalk- he is such a help to me. Last night after his papa dropped him off around 8- he did a load of laundry. He pushed the chair up to the washer, picked up all his things out of the laundry pile, climbed in the chair and threw them in. We did the laundry soap together and when they were done, he pulled them out of the washer, threw them in the laundry basket on the floor and then got down and shoved them all in the dryer. What kind of 4 year old is that awesome? This morning I had to yell for him when I was in the shower, and he came and got my razor which I forgot before I got in. He grabs me towels and will try to help put socks on me (which is not necessarily a help- but he feels useful!) He has been amazing.

The move last weekend went well. I stayed with Gunner at my mom's house while everyone moved our stuff. So when I showed up it was all over and we just have to put things away. Gunner seems pretty happy with the move, although when he is mad he tells us he is going to the old house by himself. We did have a hard time catching 2 of our outside cats. I actually had to get in on that one. Gunner and I caught Nittany and put her in the truck which was running when we were looking for Punt. When we came back to the truck after giving up on Punt for the night, the doors were locked. I almost freaked! I knew Gary was going to explode, then I realized not only did Nittany lock the doors, she turned on the blinkers and rolled the window down, then jumped out!! We did end up catching both cats, but it involved me sitting in the snow waiting for 10 minutes under the deck for them to both come to me so I could get my hands on them. Once I had grabbed them both Gary jumped out of the truck to save me from the savage clawing they were trying to give me. It was a lot of excitement for someone on bedrest. Currently all the cats are happy in the barn and both dogs are outside at the new house and last night decided to play with a skunk. They so tick me off.

All in all things are good. Hopefully things pick up at work for Gary, that is about the only thing we are annoyed with right now. I also can finally submit my disability papers tommorow, don't even get me started on HR at Ferris! So hopefully they go through first time without a fight. We will see. Still laying low, and praying for a big healthy baby. Each day that passes makes it just a little easier to breathe.

26 week update

Ha- I snuck out to the library again. Yesterday was a long one! My best bud Stefani took me down to the doctor for my ultrasound and my doc appt. The ultrasound was better! My cervix length is 2.2 (which is up from last week!) Shows that the bedrest is paying off. The doctor decided to go ahead and give me the steroid shots for babies lungs- even though things are ok right now. I was totally happy with that call. So yesterday I got a shot and I have to go back to the doctor today to get the second one. I also failed my glucose test- BUT that may have been affected by the steroids they gave me 30 minutes before they poked my finger. So next week at my doct0r appointment we will figure out whether I get to redo the hour long test or if they are going to make me do the 3 hour test.

This weekend is the big move. Gary has a lot of things moved out of the house already. The phone company is all set, the dishnet work is all set- so in my case- the necessities are covered. I am pretty bummed about it. I have known the move was coming- but that doesn't make it any easier to go. Gunner is excited one minute and overwhelmed the next. Hopefully he handles it well. The kid has had a lot thrown at him lately and it has shown in his behavior. We are trying to deal as best we can and get through this before we really crack down on how he has been acting.

Keep praying for baby bruce-

25 weeks

The inevitable arrived on Monday afternoon. Bedrest! After a not so good ultrasound that showed a CL of 1.7 and funnelling- I am down for the count. Hopefully down for at least another month or so. The baby looks great and is still very active.

I am off work till after baby is born, I can venture out for lunch or dinner occassionally- which I am trading for time at the public library to use the internet. I am still allowed to move around the house pretty freely but I am unable to do laundry, dishes, or grocery shopping. After approximately one day- I am aching all over my back and hips from laying so long.

Gary is busy, trying to do everything at home and also get us ready to move very shortly. It is hectic but we also new this was a possibility. Keep praying for the baby and lots of time for me to be bored silly. My next check up is next week- hopefully a week of bedrest makes a positive difference!

24

Week 24- yup if you read this, it is almost solely outlining my pregnancy. Sorry, but for us right now that it the most important thing going on. No appointments this week- so it will be a long and boring one for me. Today baby Bruce is quite active and kicking the crap out of me. I can tell baby is getting larger since the kicks feel totally different. A few weeks ago all I felt was this butterfly like movement or flip flop in my stomach. Now- I know the kid is there. No one else can really feel it yet, but I can tell a big difference. The weeks are dragging by for me, I can't wait to get to the end of February so I can feel a little more confident about this baby's chances.

This weekend Gary painted, big surprise. He is making a lot of progress at the farm. I like to avoid thinking about moving, but the big day is coming up way too soon. I can only do a limited amount to help and we are trying to finish the upstairs rooms before we move anything. The biggest obstacle will be finding (and paying for) carpet for Gunner's room. And having it installed- that is not something we can do ourselves.

We also took Gunner sledding again on Saturday afternoon. Well, Gary took him sledding and I watched from the top of the hill. We didn't stay as long this time since the wind was so awful. Gary gave me his coat to put over my coat and my teeth were still chattering. Gunner was sweating after climbing up and down the hills. At one point Gary laid on the intertube and Gunner and Paige sat on his back like they were riding a horse. It was funny to watch till the very bottom when Gunner fell off and was dragging behind tangled up in Gary's legs. From the top of the hill it looked like Gary ran him over with the tube, but Gunner came up laughing and smiling. Regardless they didn't ride that way again.

Ending week 23

So here we are, almost at the end of week 23. Nothing too major happened. Doctor appt on Wednesday was totally routine, my BP and weight were great (didn't gain again!) and baby's heart rate was 146. I have an CL ultrasound on Feb 9th then another appt on Feb. 17th when they will do the glucose screening.

We are supposed to take Gunner sledding again tommorow. Should I say Gary is sledding I am watching? The temp is supposed to be ok, but chance of freezing drizzle- hopefully it isn't too bad out. Gunner is pretty excited about it, he and Gary both had fun last time.

Gunner seems to be feeling ok- which is a relief, the last cold he had took forever for him to get over. Saying a prayer for my brother in law today, he had to see the specialist to get more input on making a choice between fusion and amputation of his ankle. Its going to be rough no matter what choice he makes. Hopefully God leads him down the right path.

We are busy all the time and don't seem to get much done, not sure what it is we used to do before Gunner or how we will manage after the new baby is here. It is always crazy. The only good thing is that each day the flies by gets us one day closer to a healthy baby.

Week 22-

Last week Friday we had a bit of excitement- and not the good kind. I took a late lunch at work only to discover (warning TMI for most men) bleeding and a small clot in the bathroom of Walmart. Of course I freaked- called my doctor. They had me come in to be checked. Gary met me there since he knew I was pretty upset about it all. The doctor thinks that what happened is that the bottom stitch pulled through on one side. At least that is what it felt like to her- although she didn't put the stitch in. Luckily I have two stitches. There didn't appear to be any new bleeding and the cervix still felt quite long to her. Regardless she sent us to the hospital for an ultrasound to check cervix length. We killed some time since the appt was at 5:30- Gary was only too happy to not be at work since it was subzero temperatures and he was supposed to be out on the dock. This was the first ultrasound Gary has been able to see. Since it was to check cervical length it was internal and of course you don't really get to see the baby well. We did see hands and feet flying around like it was practicing karate. It amazed Gary at how much the baby was moving. Myself I have been feeling these movements quite well for a few weeks and it even amazed me. The good news was the tech told us the cervical length was 3.3 still and 3.0 under pressure (which is down from 3.2 under pressure on Monday) She wasn't able to tell us anymore and we had to wait in the waiting room for the doctor to be called and call us back. Eventually we were given the go ahead to go home. We stopped for a bite to eat and I went home to get Gunner who was at Nana's house and Gary went back to work (poor guy!)

I had taken Monday off anyways since there were no kids at Ferris so I called the doctor's office and got more in depth info. No funnelling and yes my cervix is closed. And "go back to work" I was kind of thinking maybe they would tell me to only work part time or something, but 3.3cm is a pretty normal cervical measurement even if I am only at that because of a nice sewing job by one awesome OB doctor. I hit the 22 week mark yesterday and can't believe how active this baby is. One more week till "viability" which will make me breathe a tiny bit easier, but not much. We don't want "viable", we want healthy. I told Gary as we waited in the waiting room Friday night all I want is "one of those". I said this as I motioned to the extremely pregnant lady across the room. He said" a tumor" and I said " no jerk- a great big pregnant belly that looks ready to burst" It isn't asking for too much is it?

Next scheduled Dr. Appt is Jan 28th. Hopefully we don't have to make any special trips between now and then.

21 weeks

21 weeks down .... hopefully around 15 more to go if not more. I worked in the morning and then headed to Grand Rapids for another ultrasound and cervical length (CL) measurement. The baby looks adorable- we watched it yawn twice. Not little petite yawns, huge I'm exhausted yawns. It was really cute. Average sized head still and the peanut has gained 6 ounces since the last ultrasound. It nows weighs roughly 15 ounces. One more and it will be a whole pound!
The CL was a little disheartening. It was only 3.3. Which itself isn't terrible but three weeks ago it was 4.1. One thing I thought about later was the first ultrasound where I measured 4.1 the tech made me prop my butt on a wedge shaped pillow so my bottom was up in the air much higher than my head. This time I laid flat on on the table. So I am wondering how much of the change can be contributed to the positioning. Hopefully at least some of it. One positive was that my cervix was still closed and there was no funneling! Yeah! I checked with the doctor's office and asked whether I should be making any changes in my routine because of the CL change. Luckily that was a no. I just have to continue to follow the restrictions and take it easy but I can still go to work. They also mentioned that they won't worry till the CL measures under 2! That seems scary, but then again I do have 2 stiches holding things together.
The semester started yesterday- so all the wonderful students are back! Yes that was sarcasm. I did miss the activity, but as tired as I am- the thought of 16 weeks of these monsters makes me exhausted. (Notice the planning- they leave for the summer and I go on maternity leave! Now if my cervix cooperates with the plan...) I have lots of student workers scheduled this semester (what budget?) and hopefully it won't come down to needing them deperately since I am on bedrest and the replacement is clueless.
I am dreading later today and the rest of the week- the subzero temperatures and -19 windchills make me want to curl up in bed and stay there. Hopefully we don't get a crap load of snow on top of it all. I heard temps will be very cold for about 10 days. I can hear the propane meter smoking as I type. Fun times! I love winter! Stay warm-

Dr appt. update

Absolutely nothing new at the doctor appt. I have an ultrasound set up for Monday to check my cervical length and get better pictures of two things they couldn't see clearly on baby the last time. Blood pressure was a tad high but ok, Baby's heartrate was 153, and I am measuring 22wks (I'm only 20!) so if all goes well we could have a beefcake on our hands in May. I am still working and have another OB appt in 3 weeks. That appt will be right about the time that baby will actually be viable. Or for those of you out there that have had normal pregnancies- the baby would actually have a snowball's chance in hell if born then. (As opposed to anytime from now until then) The cut off is 23 weeks, if a baby is born before that there is nothing the doctors can do for it (legally) so that is our next "milestone" if you will. At 23 weeks with Gunner I was in the hospital having an emergency cerclage. I'm hoping this time the 23 week mark passes more uneventfully. I don't have big dreams these days, just seeing the third trimester isn't so much to ask now is it?

20 Weeks

So yesterday was the official halfway mark of the pregnancy. It was pretty uneventful. Getting up and getting ready for the first time in over 2 weeks was rough on all of us. I had to take Gunner to Grand Rapids for an eye doctor appt- just a routine check up. He is farsighted which the doc believes will become nearsighted in the future and possibly may need glasses later on in school. But considering his eyes only got to develop 2/3 rds of the way before he was born- it was a great check up. And while he is farsighted, it is nothing abnormal for his age and attention span since he wouldn't finish the tests each time before giving silly answers. I headed into work for half the day and got caught up on all my internet surfing.

Gary is right in the slow season at his work so his schedule is screwy. Yesterday he went in at 1, today at 3, and of course he isn't happy about it. But considering all the unemployed people out there- at least he is working. So he is miserable right now.


We did a lot of nothing over the New Years holiday. Well I should say Gunner and I did nothing, Gary worked pretty hard getting the "farm" house closer to completion. He finished the drywall in what will be Gunner's room and got the insulation blown in the attic spaces.

Tommorow is my next doctor appt. Keep baby and I in your prayers. We are praying that the cervix measurement is still good and hasn't changed much if at all. I will update you more then.