Contractions

On Monday I went to the hospital for my Non-Stress Test which I have scheduled for every Monday & Thursday. This test checks for contractions, watches the baby's heart rate, and checks for good movement of the baby. They also check my fluid level every Thursday. After being hooked up on the monitors for about 15 minutes they discovered I was having contractions every 3 minutes! So I was moved to triage for more testing.

In triage the contractions started to get even closer together and much stronger, I was definitely feeling the pain and pressure from them at that point. They tested my urine and blood pressure for any signs of preeclampsia, but they were both fine. They then did a FFN test and a few other as well. I was not dilated at all which was a good sign. Then I was hooked up to an IV to see if I was dehydrated, but that didn't stop the contractions. So at 5pm I was given a medication called Procardia to try and stop the contractions. By 7pm they decided I needed to be admitted because the contractions were still every 2 minutes. I continued to get the Procardia every 6 hours and finally in the early morning hours of Tuesday the contractions slowed down to about 1 every 10 minutes and I wasn't really even feeling them. Around 9am I was told they were going to discharge me since the FFN test was negative, I was not dilating, and my contractions were slowing down. So I am now at home on bedrest and taking the Procradia every 6 hours.

I went to see my OB yesterday afternoon and they were pretty reassuring that they felt with the negative FFN I would be ok for the next 2 weeks. This test checks for a certain protein which shows up just before delivery. So a negative FFN test is about 99% accurate in predicting you will not deliver within the next 2 weeks of when the test was done. They told me to remain on bedrest and using the Procradia as precautions. The OB also told me that since Tyler is such a big boy he would more than likely do well if he were born anytime after 34 weeks (which is next week). She made it sound like if I do go into labor they would probably go ahead and deliver him anytime after 34 weeks. I am nervous about going on Thursday for my next NST because if I am having tons of contractions again I will more than likely be re-admitted to the hospital.

Of course, throughout this whole thing we had to worry about the boys. Ben had taken half a day off from work on Monday because we were getting our new roof. So luckily, he was home to get the boys off the bus. But I had our only car at the hospital with me so we wanted to figure out a way for Ben to come get it. After lots of discussing Ben dropped the boys off to a neighbor (he grandson is in Zak's class) and then drove his work truck to his work which is right next to the hospital. Then somebody from work dropped him of at the hospital. He then came and sat with me in triage for a while. The plan was for him to go pick up the boys and go home for bedtime, but at 7pm when they said I was being admitted I went into am emotional meltdown. So Ben went home and took stuff to the boys to spend the night at our neighbor's house then he came and spent the night with me. The boys behaved very well and they did fine, but I was worried about them all night.

Bedrest is very difficult since I have the boys at home. Last pregnancy I could just lay in bed all day and not do anything, but this time things are very different. Ben and I talked last night and have tried to set up various plans to try and make it easier. This is really putting everything on Ben's plate now so I feel bad, but it is only temporary. I am making lists of things he needs to buy or do. The boys are also having to deal with this change. They are having to do more on their own and to help me, but they are also getting to watch more TV and play Leap Pads more often.

Pictures

Earlier this month the boys' school had a fundraiser at Chuck E Cheese. Of course, we gave in and went for a little while. The boys had a blast playing games and seeing their friends while I sat around eating pizza and talking to other parents.

We have finished working on Tyler's room now. We added some baseball wall decals to try and break up the color a bit. Here are some pictures of everything...

I can't believe Tyler will be born in 4-6 weeks probably! The boys keep asking if it is time for him to come out. They think it is pretty neat to watch my belly move around as Tyler moves. Zak thinks that means he is too big and needs to come out.

Update On the Boys

I haven't done an update on the boys for a while so here goes...

Zak: He is a social butterfly at school and at home. When ever we are outside playing he will talk to anybody that walks by and asks them to play with him. He really likes school and seems to be doing well academically. He is very excited about having a baby brother coming soon and is always talking about baby Tyler. I am not convinced he really knows or understands what a baby is since he calls most toddlers we know babies. We recently measured both boys and Zak is now 41 inches tall and weighs about 35 pounds. He still looks so small compared to everyone else in his class, but he is also the youngest in the class. I took the boys shopping yesterday to start getting their warm weather clothes and was shocked to see what size shirt they needed! Right now they have been wearing 3T and 4T tops, but after trying on various sizes we ended up getting the 5/6 in the boys section. They are growing up so fast! He is still wearing 3T shorts unless they have the adjustable waistband then he can wear a 4T in those. Zak is definitely an athletic kid who loves to play all kinds of sports. We signed him up for t-ball which starts very soon. He is extremely excited about it. This Fall he is going to play soccer even though he would really like to play football. His favorite things to do are play on his Leap Pad, play video games (mainly sports themed ones), and run around with the dogs.

Ryder: Ryder is doing good in school. He enjoys going and has started to become more social with the other kids. We had his IEP meeting a few weeks ago to discuss his progress and next year. He will be getting speech therapy over the summer which is good. We have no idea how he will do next year with full-day school and a larger class with a faster paced academic schedule. But everyone is on the same page and will be watching out for any issues that might come up. He is not excited about having a baby brother on the way and makes it very clear to just about everyone. We are trying to keep him involved with preparing for the baby, but we are already seeing regression in some areas. Potty training has become an issue once again along with more tantrums and he is wanting me to do things for him that he used to do on his own (putting shoes on, helping with jacket, etc). Ryder is now 42 inches tall and weighs about 35.5 pounds now. We have stopped all of the ADHD medications because of bad side effects and now he has lost a little bit of the weight that he had gained while on them. We are still going to behavior therapy twice a month to work on various things instead of trying more medications. He recently went to an ENT who wants to do surgery. She will definitely take out his adenoids and do a scope of his sinuses, but he has to do a sleep study before they decide if his tonsils will come out too. The sleep study will be in a few weeks and his surgery will probably be sometime this summer. Ryder is also going to play t-ball this summer and do soccer in the fall. He is not as athletic and does get very frustrated when trying to keep up with other kids, but we think it will be good for him to play some team sports. He also loves to play his Leap Pad and sports themed video games.

Working on the Nursery

I figured I would start with some belly pictures. I have done a good job of avoiding the camera, but the boys always want to take pictures and my belly ends up being in some of them. These pictures were taken when I was 29 weeks (2 weeks ago). I am all baby out front now.

Zak was talking to Tyler

Ben has been busy working on the nursery. He had to Spackle a bunch of areas where the boys had made holes and dents. Then he let the boys help him with the painting. The boys had lots of fun, but of course Ben had to go back over their wall to fix it.
Ben ended up painting the ceiling, walls, trim, and doors. It looks so good now. The color is hard to really get a good picture of because it looks different from every angle and in different light.
We now have the changing table/dresser and crib in the room. We also got a small rug to cover some of the floor.

Now for an update on how things are going with the pregnancy. I had a growth scan done at 30 weeks and Tyler is measuring very big! He was measuring at 4lb 4oz which is in the 83% for size. They expect babies to be around 3lb at that point. More than likely his bigger size is due to my Diabetes. My blood sugars had been under really good control, but the last 2 weeks or so things have been crazy. The high risk OB and regular OB both told me it isn't anything that I am doing wrong, but between 28-35 weeks they tend to have control issues with most Diabetics. I talk with the high risk OB twice a week about my numbers and we make changes to my pump settings frequently. I have almost tripled the amount of insulin I am using now and we might have to add an injection of a different kind of insulin at night if things continue this way.

I have my next growth scan at 34 weeks and if he is still measuring big they will do another scan at 36 weeks. If he is huge at that point they will talk about delivering him around 37 weeks (week of April 18). Next week I start having non-stress tests done twice a week because of being Diabetic. That test takes about 30-45 minutes and just looks for contractions, watches the heart rate of the baby, and checks the fluid level. My last 17P shot will be March 30 so after that there is a higher chance for me to go into labor at any point. I will have a scheduled c-section at 39 weeks if I make it that far which would be May 2.

Getting Ready for Tyler

Recently I have started to really feel the need to start getting things ready for Tyler's arrival. I will be 26 weeks along tomorrow and am started to feel very pregnant so I want to get things done while I still feel able to. We are going to turn the playroom into Tyler's room which means the boys' bedroom will also be their playroom.

This weekend we moved the toys into the boys' bedroom. Now we need to figure out exactly how we plan to organize the toys because right now their room is chaos and filled with lots of stuff. We are going to hang the TV on the wall and get rid of the dresser it is sitting. Then we are going to get some storage bins that fit under their bed to help hide some of the clutter. We are also looking into various storage units for their room. So far they are very excited about having the toys in their room and just fine with Tyler taking over the other room.

We also started to get some baby stuff that we need for Tyler. Babies R Us is having a big trade-in event so we took advantage of that. We traded in an old car seat, exersaucer (used by Piper, the boys, and Maddie), and stroller (no need for a double anymore). That gave us 25% off three new items. We got a new travel system (actually my mom bought this for us as a gift), exersaucer, and high chair. The boys were very helpful in picking out the things we got, they enjoyed trying out the various strollers. We also started to look into dressers for Tyler's room and found one at Ikea we like. It is the perfect height to also be used as a changing table which we never had with the boys.

Dresser (not sure what color we would do yet)

High Chair

It turns into toddler seat, booster seat and a regular chair

Travel System

Exersaucer

It is a play mat, exersaucer, and standing toy

As you can see, we really like the products that have multiple purposes and grow with the baby. It helps save some room and money! Once Tyler is a little bigger we plan to get another Radian car seat (like the boys use) because they fit well 3-across in our car. The newer version of the car seat actually works for rear-facing, forward-facing, and a booster seat. We plan to keep Tyler rear-facing as long as possible (the boys were over 3 when they turned forward) and this seat would allow for that.

We are also talking about what color to paint the room. The only room in the house we have painted since moving in is the boys' bedroom. So we figure if we don't paint it now then it probably won't ever get done. At the moment we are pretty sure it will end up being green because the boys think that is the right color. We want them to be involved as much as possible.

Immunologist Appointment

This morning we had Ryder's Immunology appointment. He gets blood work done every 6 months and then we have an appointment to go over everything. His blood work looks really good which is always nice to hear. His overall IgG is up to 952 which is much higher than he started at and is now in the normal range. They also look at specific antibodies within the system and he is showing protective levels in 10 of the 14 they look at which is great since he was none to begin with. We will keep his weekly infusion dose the same for now.

We talked about the infections Ryder has been having which tend to be sinus, strep or pneumonia. He has been on antibiotics 8 times in the last year which they consider too much still. After doing an exam the Immunologist agrees with Ryder's pediatrician that his tonsils are probably the culprit. He has HUGE tonsils which always look red. The Immunologist said they could be harboring infection in them which could also be the cause for his chronically swollen lymph node behind his ear. So we have an appointment with an ENT on February 16. The Immunologist works closely with this ENT so they know how to handle CVID patients. It looks like we will probably be planning a surgery date for Ryder after the ENT appointment to get his tonsils (possibly adenoids too) out.

A quick update on myself and the baby. I had an OB appointment last week. Everything looked good with myself (urinalysis and blood pressure). I have gained about 9.5 pounds so far and will be 25 weeks along tomorrow. The baby's heart rate was in the 130s and seems to be measuring about a week ahead. I talked to the OB about my concern of having another hernia and she confirmed that I definitely do have one. Last pregnancy I had one on the left of my belly button and one under my belly button which were both surgically fixed when the boys were about 11 months old. This time the hernia is to the right of my belly button. This means I will be needing surgery once again at some point after I have this baby. Not looking forward to it. We will probably put it off as long as possible because Ben will use his time off for the delivery of the baby and my c-section recovery. So he won't have more time off until 2013. The recovery from the hernia surgery will not allow me to pick up the baby or the boys for 2 weeks so I will need help.

Fetal Echo Appointment & Name

Things have been pretty crazy since we got home on January 3. We have not even completely unloaded the car from our trip yet! I had a fetal echo ultrasound done on January 5. This test was scheduled because mothers with Diabetes have a higher risk of having a baby with heart defects. The test showed the baby's heart looks good with no obvious problems. They went ahead and did a growth scan as well. So as of January 5 (I was 22 weeks) the baby weighed 1lb 2oz and everything looked good. My cervix was also still looking really good. I see the OB next week for a regular appointment and then I have another growth scan on January 31. I will have growth scans every 4 weeks until I deliver.

I announced the name we had chosen on Facebook while in Florida, but in case you missed it I wanted to add that here too. The boys are now using his name all the time so we decided it was time to let everyone know....

Tyler Luke Croissant

Pictures from Florida

I just wanted to post a few links real quick. I have been posting pictures from our trip to FL on my Facebook page. Here are the links to those photo albums for people to see who don't have Facebook. We leave FL tomorrow and will get home on Tuesday.

Christmas in FL

Zoo in FL

The baby is a....

BOY!

Today Ben & I got to see the baby for our anatomy scan. They looked at all of the organs and said everything looks good. They also measured my cervix since 19 weeks is when I started to have issues with the boys, but everything looks great so far. I will go back for a fetal echo cardiogram on January 5 which is a few days after we get home from FL. This scan is done to take a close look at the heart since my Diabetes puts the baby at a slightly higher risk for heart defects, but as of today it looks good. I look forward to getting to see the baby again!

Ben was definitely disappointed we are not having a little girl. We made the decision before getting pregnant that this will be our last baby so I plan to have my tubes tied during the c-section when I deliver this baby. He is very happy that this baby is healthy and things look great. I will admit some disappointment as well since Ben & my mom had done a good job of convincing me this was going to be a girl. But deep down I love the idea of having another boy! We had a girl name picked out very easily, but now have to go back to the drawing board to come up with a boy name. We have both thrown around a few names, but none that we could agree on.

School Pictures

The boys had their pre-k pictures done in November and we finally received them. I am so happy with how well they turned out! I know looking back at my school pictures I am not pleased with any of them, but I think these of the boys are really good.

I know I have been slacking on the blog. We have been really busy with the holidays coming up. We need to get all of the gifts bought and wrapped along with the house picked up and everything else ready for our trip. We are leaving December 22 on the auto train to go to FL and visit my mom for Christmas. I am so excited! We have told the boys they are going on vacation and getting to ride a train, but have not told them where we are going. It is going to be a big surprise for them. We will get back to MD on January 3 so it will be a nice vacation.

Zak has really been misbehaving recently. It seems to be a huge power struggle between him and myself. I know he is testing limits and this phase will end at some point, but it makes it so difficult some days. He is doing well in school and seems to really enjoy it. We were told he is definitely a social butterfly in the classroom.

Ryder has been struggling with behavior issues as well. He started on a medication for ADHD and irritability in September, but the positive effects we did see wore off. We have recently had to increase the dosage and hope to see the positive results once again. He also had a potty training regression, but that seems to be much better now.

I have been doing well. I am still having issues with morning sickness which is no fun and insomnia has been pretty bad as well. I did start weekly progesterone shots (17P shots) to try and help prevent pre-term labor this pregnancy. There is a nurse who comes to the house each Friday to do the shots which is nice. I have my anatomy scan on Monday and we are hoping the baby cooperates so we can find out the gender!

Ben has been working a lot recently. He has been in Kansas City all this week for training.