Out with 2009 and In with 2010

If this is blurry to you...you might have had a little too much sparkling cider last night! :o)

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! I can't believe it is already 2010 time surely flies! 2009 was an overall good year for our family and we have been very blessed! Here's a brief run down of 2009....

Will

Continues to be extremely busy doing real estate, bpo's (broker price opinions which is basically a mini appraisal for banks prior to foreclosure on a house), REO's repo'd houses, Short Sales as he is an expert in this field and working with investors. He is always adjusting to this ever changing economy and market. He puts his family first in every way and we truly love and appreciate him! With the exception of his busted hand and wrist he has had a healthy year and that is great for a diabetic. He loves hunting but seemed to be a little too busy to do much of it in 2009 but is starting 2010 off doing what he loves hunting javalina! I hope he gets one today so he can finish sanding the crib and start all of the painting for this baby. :o)

McKenna

Continues to grow everyday and is 5 foot 4 inches tall at 11.5 years old. She is a wonderful and caring girl! Her church teachers, leaders and school teachers always tell me what a nice and good girl she is...and we are so proud of her. She is becoming a great little baker and cook! She's in 6th grade already and doing very well in school! She kept busy with volleyball, 4H sewing and ceramics class and piano off and on. She is extremely excited to finally get the baby sister she has wanted since she was 3 years old and I know will be a great help.

Calvin

Also continues to grow everyday and for some reason I can't recall his height but he is over 4 feet tall I think right at 4.5 feet tall. He is a typical little boy always wants to play, ride his scooter, play his DS, loves music, dancing especially break dancing and singing but most of all this little boy LOVES to do anything and everything with his Daddy! He only wants to eat what his Dad eats, he wants to go everywhere with his Dad and loves hunting with his Dad and will walk for 8-9 miles without complaint tracking! Calvin is in 2nd grade and is doing well. He still plays piano and is doing some 4H. In 2010 he wants to do some football and karate. He too is excited for a baby sister although he would have preferred a brother.

Me

I received a promotion at the school district and continue to work full time. It keeps me extremely busy and sometimes stressed with all of the responsibilities, but I'm so grateful to have a job where I don't have to commute more than 3 miles a day. I'm still loving the whole blog thing and am grateful it counts as my journal which I was NEVER good at. 2009 was a miracle year for me personally with the blessing of this pregnancy! I love being a Mommy and love babies did I mention that I love babies?!!! We were ready to submit all of our paperwork to LDS Family Services to adopt when I found out I was expecting. Although this pregnancy has been a bit of a struggle, it is also a huge blessing and miracle that we are so excited for! We have a wonderful family, extended family, ward family and many wonderful friends we consider family that have made a big impact in our lives. We feel truly blessed to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and appreciate all of it's teachings that Family Comes First and that Families are Forever! Without God our Heavenly Father, his beloved son our Saviour Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost...2009 wouldn't have been possible, we love them and know that they bless our lives daily and pray they continue to bless each of us in 2010!

From our Family to Yours....

2010 brings our family a new year of opportunities and a brand new baby girl that we have longed many years for!

We anticipate on 2010 being a great year and we wish each of you a JOYOUS and PROSPEROUS 2010!

Let's make it a great!!!

Going to have a baby in 2.5 - 3.5 weeks

I'm due on Valentines Day but according to my doctors, she will be joining us in probably in about 3 weeks because they want to take her between 36 - 37 weeks so that would be anytime between Jan. 17 - 24 ish. In a way I'm really excited for several reasons selfishly because I'm not as comfortable as I'd like to be and won't have to go full term and also because I can't wait to hold & kiss on her! Then part of me is a little nervous mostly because I don't feel ready for her yet mostly because I don't have everything I need for her yet and want her to be healthy. I honestly think she will be fine but then there's a tiny bit of worry in the back of my mind for the what ifs like her lungs and the possibility of blood transfusion(s).

I did get a car seat, stroller, swing and a diaper bag last weekend so at least I have a car seat to bring her home with. Will needs to finish sanding and painting her crib & changing table, we need to paint her room (buy paint first), wash the clothes that my sister gave me & her bedding. BUT I still need to get diapers, wet ones, soap, lotion, bottles, going home outfit, headbands, blankets and the list goes on and on (hopefully I will remember what else I need, it's been so long! ha ) and I need to do it fast, but I also need to keep my feet up and take it very easy. A bit of a dilemma. :O) My doctor put me on the contraction monitor today and they were about every 20 minutes and at a 60 on the scale, so she said I'm pre-term labor that's why she wanted to put me on bed rest. I begged her not to and promised to lay down if I had more than 4 contractions per hour it would totally shorten my maternity leave and I'd rather spend the time with the baby not on bed rest.

Next Monday I'll have blood work done again to see if the antibody level has increased in my blood then that Wednesday, Jan. 6th they'll do another ultrasound/Dr. appt to see how baby is. If any of the levels have increased, antibody or baby's anemia we might have this baby girl that same day, however Will and I are optimistic and feel that everything will be alright. We will take it week by week. I just hope that my Mom is able to change her flight to be here with me if not she'll be coming on Feb. 5th which is still good.

What NOT to say to a pregnant lady & Belly shots

Taken 12/23/2009 @ 10pm

^^^^^^^^CAUTION ^^^^^^^^^

This post contains complaining and may be offensive to some the author apologizes in advance READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

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Recording my baby's development and had requests for a couple of weeks now of current belly shots. I'm 33 weeks tomorrow the baby is probably about 4.5 lbs and 18 inches long. I've gained 21 lbs so far and this will probably be the baby that I gain the most with. But ya know there's nothing better to say to a pregnant woman who feels like a beached whale trying to waddle back into the ocean that she is huge especially by another woman who has children of her own! It really takes a genius to come up with this great comment! Isn't it common courtesy or common sense to NOT say things like that even if you think it? As if the constant stares at your belly aren't enough but to go and add such nice and sensitive comments like wow you are huge....really does a wonder on this whales confidence. I think I need a pregnant shirt that says, "If you can't say something nice to me, then please don't say anything at all"....or "yes I know my belly is big, yes I feel huge and NO I'm not due any day now although I can understand how you might not be able to calculate my due date but let me tell how blessed I feel to be having another child because bottom line this is a gift from Heaven and your stupid comments shouldn't make me want to cry about it" or "no really please tell me how huge I am because I couldn't tell that my belly was bigger because my feet still look skinny!" or "YES... I'm growing another human life in my belly so undoubtedly it makes my belly bigger!" Now maybe I'll change my mind about the shirt thing tomorrow and this is just the lack of sleep I've been experiencing or the hormones talking but seriously say something else besides WOW YOU ARE HUGE to pregos we don't care to hear what we already know and feel!!!! The kids put their letters to Santa on the tree because we didn't mail them in time. I let them decorate the tree all by themselves this year and decided to not have a theme and be all controlling and matching....it felt nice. :o)

I seriously had 4 hours of sleep last night due mostly to my hip and the extreme pain it causes when I try to roll over in bed so I can try to sleep on one side or the other...yes it's the beached whale syndrome and feels great to try and sleep on the side that has a dislocated hip & pelvic & s.i. bone. She's worth every ounce of pain I have and more! I can't wait to have a baby girl in this house! :o) Worked 6am to 1pm then went shopping from 1:10pm until 4pm, wrapped gifts for the next 2 hours, then drove with the family out to a friends house that is about 40 minutes away, visited for a couple of hours and delivered all the gifts and bags of clothes, decided to skip the Temple Lights tonight and drove home as you can see in the picture my eyes are looking pretty droopy and sleepy town is calling my name.

Update 12-22-09

Been too busy to update my blog but we are all doing well. I'm not ready for Christmas and am so glad that tomorrow I get off at 12:30pm and then have all day Thursday off. As of 12/18 Friday baby girl's anemia is the same and my antibodies are the same so she's safer to stay right where she is at! What a huge blessing! Calvin & McKenna are on winter break and loving it. They are excited for Christmas of course and enjoying playing with their friends and outside the past few days. It's still 65 or so degrees here although today it was a bit colder and we had a good rain storm. Will is luckily staying busy with real estate and bpo's. He seems to be working all of the time but at least a lot of it is from our very own home. My belly is getting huge and I still am amazed every time I feel the baby move! I feel so blessed to be having another baby so no matter what drama or pain she is worth it! :o)

Baby Sophia Update

Went again today and had a level 2 fancy ultrasound and baby Sophia's anemia levels were lower today than Friday so that is good news!!! Her blood is healthier today than Friday! She looked great and then we waited and waited to see the specialist....the perintologist and she talked to us for a very long long time. Basically she wanted to do a bunch of non-sense tests that wouldn't result in anything for this pregnancy. She had both of us go get our blood drawn today and so by the time we were done it was an all day event with a ton of waiting in waiting rooms!!! She wanted Will's blood to confirm that he is a carrier of Big E since the baby is and to see if he has two Big E's or one big and one little e which will determine the risk for anything in the future. She wanted to test my blood to see if my antibodies had increased and we will have the results on Friday. If my antibody levels have increased then they will have me come back in for another ultrasound right away if they are the same or less it will be in 2 weeks. So in other words and to sum it up she might come early but she might just stay right where she is at and if my levels and her levels stay good she could be a full term baby which would be the absolute best thing!!! Thank you Heavenly Father!!!

Dr. Appt Results & Pics of Our Baby Girl

Yesterday the Dr.'s office called me and said that I didn't need to see a genetics specialist that I needed to see a perintologist and one wouldn't be in until Monday so I would only have an Ultrasound. So I went to the ultrasound and my Mother-in-law Maggie met me there. When the tech was done she said she had to have a doctor review it but that Baby girl probably Baby Sophia was great! 3 lbs 12 oz with their fancier machine and at the 48% percentile of babies at this stage which is 30 weeks 6 days so practically 31 weeks.

A doctor came back and said she needed to continue with the ultrasound to look at one more thing she was a genetics specialist and extremely nice! She looked at the babies brain and at a specific blood vessel in her brain and explained to me that it appears that the antibody anti-e is possibly taking effect on the baby by causing her to be anemic and they determine how anemic she is by looking at this vessel in her brain, the faster is goes the more anemic she is. She said she was a little anemic but would have to put the numbers into the complicated equation to tell us how anemic (should know Mon).

She explained more of what the anti-e was and that Will is probably a negative blood and carrier of anti-e and that I probably developed the antibody because I'm obviously not a carrier of it in my blood. She said this probably happened in a previous delivery or miscarriage. She said that the perintologist would go over all of this on Monday and that they might want to test Will. She told me that our baby was great in every other way but Monday they want to do another ultrasound to look at that vessel in her brain to see if she is more anemic and we can go from there. I asked her if she is what would they do she said that they would access how anemic and try to have her stay in the womb until at least 34 weeks if I was less along like in the 20 weeks and she got more anemic they would want to do a blood transfusion through the umbilical cord which can pose a few risks but because I'm further along they would take her via c-section and she would possibly have to get some blood transfusions as soon as she was delivered to give her clean blood that isn't being attacked by the anti-e antibody. So she said everything looks pretty good come in Monday and let's see what levels we are at and hopefully we can just do an ultrasound every week to make sure she's not in the severe anemic stage and we can get you past 34 weeks. That is only 3 weeks away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at her chubby little cheeks so cute!!! I can't wait to kiss those lips!!!

It was a relief being able to talk to a doctor who explained this a bit more to me. I asked if I could do anything to help her anemia because I'm anemic also and was just given a RX for iron she told me to take it...it couldn't hurt but it probably wouldn't do much good if the anti-e was the culprit making baby girl anemic because it was in her blood trying to destroy her red blood cells making her blood more watery thus going faster through her vessels. We left with hope because I thought they would say oh you need an amniocentesis right away and blah blah instead she said your baby is good size, overall very healthy, moving great and responding well and super cute she should be fine even if we had to take her early.

BUT Holy cow we don't have anything set up or bought or ready for this little girl and she could be born in 3 weeks (well actually less I guess but Monday we'll see for sure)! I hope she isn't because that is still too little and she would probably have to stay in the hospital for awhile until her lungs developed fully etc. I would prefer 6 weeks before delivery. :o) We haven't cleaned out the room that will be hers and currently it is a craft office room for me with all sorts of junk in it, we need to paint her room, need to sand and paint the crib & changing table, get bedding, we don't have anything else for her so I need to get the basics and a car seat immediately! Brandy gave me lots of clothes luckily some are preemie clothes because Kyah was only 5 lbs so I need to wash them up and sort them. I don't have a dresser for her or anything I'll need to get diapers and stuff and pack up my bag and be ready I just in case. I truly feel stressed to get ready and usually would have been because I'm such a planner and want everything perfect but life has been too crazy busy and work has been extremely busy with 10 -12 hour days this entire week.

By the way thanks so very much for caring, for praying for us, for offering to go with me to the appointment and for the words of encouragement it truly has helped!!!! I appreciate it so much!!! I plan on getting a blessing this weekend and going shopping & packing my bag today!!!

Here's some pictures of baby from yesterday....look at those full lips and chubby cheeks!!! I LOVE IT!!! Allot like Calvin had. Sorry if these pictures freak any of you out I'm amazed and love seeing what she looks like because I'm so impatient! The best part about this whole ordeal to me is the awesome 3d or 4d ultrasound that shows me exactly what she looks like because I love that kind of stuff it amazes me! :o)

This one the cord is near her face on the right side so it made it a bit blurry

and she didn't turn all the way so the machine couldn't get her full face

She's not a hairlip she was starting to make a face and the cord is still there
The tech said she has hair but you can barely see any both of my other two were baldies :o)

Her face is in there and she had raised her hands & the cord so it's a bit blurry

Her profile with both fists up...if you look close you can see her full lips sticking out. :o)

Again, thanks for all the support and prayers! We hope this little dolly stays right where she's at and that she doesn't get more anemic and we can go full term or at least a few more weeks so she's got a better set of lungs. :o) Sorry Mom looks like you might have to change your flight.

A little nervous - level 2 ultrasound & genetic spec appt tomorrow

So today the referral department had the specialists office call me and they wanted me to come in today or tomorrow for the level 2 Ultrasound and said that immediately after the fancy ultrasound that I would be seeing the Fetal & Women's Genetics Specialist. I asked them why and they said it was because of the antibody anti-e in my blood. I asked why they needed to see me so quickly and she said because it said on the order ASAP.

So I'm scheduled for tomorrow at 1:30pm and Will can't come with me because he is having more dental work done and can't cancel because the dentist will be closed during the holidays and having to utilize the insurance before the end of the year thing.

Do these people know how much of a heart attack or worry they can cause a pregnant lady who has wanted another baby for 7 long years??????? To top it off I'll have to go alone and probably not remember a word they say.

Still hoping that all is well and TRYING not to get stressed out about it.