Dinner and a Movie...well kind of..

All week we were looking forward to going to dinner with our friends to celebrate his birthday at The Melting Pot! A place we've never been and had heard so many good things about and how wonderful their cheese & chocolate fondues were. We had 6:30pm reservations for dinner and planned on going to a movie afterwards. Great date night right?

Prior to that I was trying to find out my lab results and ended it up not getting anywhere with my doctor's office. Mind you that they were supposed to tell me on Wednesday so two days later I hadn't heard anything. At about 7pm the doctor that owns the practice called me and said that I needed to go to the Hospital due to lab results on my blood and that I might have the baby over the weekend but that they needed to do a 4D ultrasound Doppler test on the baby first to see her levels.

We weren't about to rush through this wonderful meal experience (don't think you could if you wanted to because you cook your own food in the pot and there are so many courses). I have to admit I probably wasn't the BEST company due to the circumstances and made a few calls even at the table like to my Mom. That same night my Aunt Debbie was airlifted from ShowLow, AZ to St. Joseph's Hospital for emergency back surgery and told she might have bone cancer or a a bone disease. We are praying for her as she had surgery today 5 herniated disks in her back OUCH!

The food was great the company even better and the dessert was awesome!!! We've decided we needed our own melting pot to do this at home...YUMMY! Plus my husband totally looked hot and treated me so kind. :o) He was the one that got out the camera to take pictures at dinner! It was an awesome dinner.

We opted to skip the movie obviously. We went to the hospital to see Dr. Partridge who was on call and at the hospital expecting us but he was delivering a baby so we waited, waited and waited. I spoke to the head nurse who told me that they didn't have the 4D Doppler system even at the hospital and that Fetal Women Center was the only place that did and it was closed til Monday but she asked us to stay because the Dr. wanted to check out the baby. I had good baby movements going on and knew in my heart she was fine, without that Doppler test they couldn't tell me anything anyways so after waiting a little while longer, I told them we were leaving. Will and I had a lot of sugar and he left his insulin at home so we needed to leave anyways.

(not sure why this pic is so small)

So Saturday I was LATE to my own baby shower! I overslept and then had a ton of phone calls regarding my visit to the hospital and my Aunt's condition etc. I took McKenna and her best friend Sierra with me. We drive up to the street and it was packed with cars we had to circle around the block 3 times before I was able to park and then waddle my way to Robyn's house. :o) We walked in and all the cars must have been there for me...30 or more people! I thought it was come and go but everyone was on time except me dang it! :o) I was very embarrassed and humbled by all of their wonderful love and support. We were absolutely spoiled ROTTEN with gifts & yummy food & tons of it and beautiful pink roses with balloons! (I will post seperately because there are more pictures and I took pictures of all of the beautiful gifts we received once we got home) Thank you isn't nearly enough to say to these wonderful friends and family of mine!!! WOW!

I can't seem to get enough pretzels in this pregnancy or ice :o)

Look at all of these gifts can you say spoiled rotten?! More to come about the adorable gifts!

Beautiful family and friends (can you spot Kenna?)

More B E A U T I F UL friends and Family!

I loved the adorable outfits & dresses!! Girls do rock!!! (Hey where'd my big belly go besides the double chin I almost don't look pregnant! lol ha ha)

After the shower my ex-step-mom Sheri and her daughter Anna came over and visited and that was absolutely wonderful! I love them so so much! It was so great to visit with them for so long too!

We then had more company and then Calvin wanted to use his McDonald's gift card from Christmas to buy us dinner and wanted to spend his Walmart gift card as well so we went. So sweet! Calvin swiped his card but Will cancelled it and used his for dinner but Calvin did pay for ice creams. Sweet boy!

Unfortunately as the night progressed Will told me he was having kidney stones again. A problem he has had for about 6 years now but it got severe and at 7am he asked me to take him to the hospital after suffering all night. POOR GUY!! So off we went to back to the same hospital where they confirmed his kidney stones and a UTI. He had a rough day. Our friends The Amador's brought us a nice roast dinner over and we ate cake & ice cream for dessert with them as well. SO NICE! Kathy helped me sort through all of the baby items and remove tags etc.

FINALLY TO OUR MOVIE....well kind of....

This morning first thing I called the FWC where I've had all of these fancy ultrasounds and scheduled another one, then called my doctor's office and requested they fax over the order. The ultrasound showed that she was fine and healthy with 156 heart beats per minute, at 6 lbs 6 ounces and in the 74% percentile as far as growth goes. It also showed how cute and chubby she is! Her cheeks crack me up and I can't wait to kiss on them! They said her belly is in the 93.5% so she's trying to compete with my belly I guess. ha ha

(look at these cute chubby cheeks!)

The specialist came in and said that her anemia blood levels were less than last time which is great news! It means that her blood is getting stronger and that my blood (antibody E) isn't destroying her cells like before. Dr. Solomon said she expects this baby's blood to continue to stay where it's at or to get even better! YEAH!!! She said that she would not recommend delivery at 36 weeks as the other specialist Dr. Ponkey suggested with these results. So I began to ask her why they wouldn't give me the shots to help develop her lungs if they are worried about her lungs being developed etc and that if they did the amnio that they want to do at 36 weeks wouldn't that allow my blood to seep into her area and possibly attack her again....she said VERY GOOD POINT! See I knew I didn't want some stupid risky painful amniocentesis done!

Baby Girl Sophia

The tech and I were laughing at how chubby her cheeks were and she opened her eyes and then it looked like she started to cry and she snapped a picture. Poor baby! I explained we loved her cheeks.

And so she calmed back down and fell asleep again. So cute or at least this Momma thinks so. :O)

I'm so thankful that she is ok and they said that I don't need weekly blood work done because it doesn't matter what my blood is doing...I just need weekly Dopplers to test hers. Anyways I go to my regular Dr. Carrion this Wednesday morning and hopefully we can go ahead and schedule the c-section date between 38 -39 weeks (so like Feb 1 or 2nd) as she stated before so it was a great ending to such a wonderful Friday night beginning. :o) This movie (ultrasound) was much better than any of the others we were going to go see!

Baby Girl Update

Went to an ultrasound and doctor's appointment bright and early this morning and this baby girl is 5 lbs 12 oz already at 34.5 weeks! She was moving around and doing well according to the ultrasound but boy was she making mad faces anytime they scanned over her head. :o) The lab results with the crucial blood work which pretty much determines everything was not in yet and will take another 1-2 days so this little girl stays put. My doctor said she would call me with them.

My doctor who is very nice and whom I really like said because I am basically "refusing" the amnio that they will not schedule the c-section until 38 weeks because she has to follow the specialists instructions. So I said isn't that better for her anyways?! :o) The weird part is this....they won't give me steroid shots to help develop her lungs because I'm more than 34 weeks and they won't stop labor either....the specialists wants my doctor to perform an amnio at 36 weeks to see if her lungs are developed and if so do the c-section same day if they aren't developed enough then wait one week and do c-section. So why not schedule it at 37 weeks without a risky and painful amnio? But they will NOT schedule the c-section before 38 weeks without an amnio in case the lungs AREN'T developed. Am I the only one that doesn't think that makes any sense????

If the blood work comes back elevated at all they won't care about her lungs and will do the c-section immediately anyways so what's the difference??? They will continue to perform weekly blood work on me and weekly ultrasounds on her. So basically I don't know a thing. I just keep taking my iron supplements and eating as much iron to try and get rid of the anemia we both have.

So we are hoping that this baby girl will be born Feb. 1 or 2 instead of anytime in January and if the ultrasounds are anywhere near correct on her weight she will be an 8 plus pound baby even being 2 weeks early! :o)

Still undecided on her name.....terrible I know! I was praying though one evening a couple of weeks ago and Chanell popped into my head and I really like that name also so basically I can't decide and everyone has an opinion in my immediate family also. We'll know for sure when we see her or at least before we leave the hospital. :O)

How I Feel....LOL

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)