Yesterday was pretty eventful for the Mitchells. I woke up Wednesday morning to use the bathroom per usual and noticed I had some bleeding. Not a ton but enough to cause some concern. So I called Dr. Khater, who of course is closed on Wednesdays. He called me back shortly after and asked how much bleeding, "Enough", was it bright red or dark red, "Bright Red", and if I had cramping, "No". He wanted me to head over to the hospital so we could see where this blood was coming from. So I called Marty crying hysterical of course and he came and picked me up. When we arrived they immediately brought me to the exam room and hooked me up to the monitors so they could monitor the baby and make sure she was still doing OK. Of course she was kicking and moving around with a nice heartbeat of 160. They also checked to see if they could pick up on any contractions, the answer thank god was no. So far so good. Sweet Dr. Khater rushed to the hospital as well to see me and do the check up himself. (Now starts the TMI) He examined me as if I was getting a pap smear to see if he could see any blood. Good news no blood! He said the vagina is like a reservoir and if I was bleeding from somewhere he would have been able to see some left inside. Alright good news again. He did however want to order a full ultrasound and check on baby and my cervix. The ultrasound tech we had was amazing, usually they don't do much talking but this lady made sure we knew exactly what she was looking at and what she was doing. Surprisingly the baby was very cooperative she said and she was able to do a full scan on her entire body to make sure every little nook and cranny was perfect, and it was. My cervix was still closed (obviously because of the cerclage) I wasn't dilated, or funneling and my placenta was still attached looking good. She did stop for a moment and ask Marty just how tall he was because her words exactly, "This little girl has some very looonnnggg legs!" We made our way back up to our room and Dr. Khater said everything looks as it should. He thinks I could have bled a little from the internal ultrasound I had on Tuesday from maybe irritation. Overall GREAT news! Even though we were beyond scared, and nervous the results came back wonderfully and we were sent home. I will of course be checked on my Monday appointment with Dr. Font. So it is back to resting! I haven't bled since (knock on wood) and have been taking it easy as usual. For an even more eventful Wednesday, Fox News came to our house last night to interview Marty about the huge million dollar drug bust in our neighborhood (I swear we live in family friendly neighborhood). Below is the story but I am sure you can find his handsome face on video if you google it :). Marty's Debut
Here we are! Past 24 weeks. Ahhhh! I literally woke up smiling this morning. Yesterday hitting my 24 week milestone was a little bittersweet. The superstitions in me made yesterday a bit of a roller coaster. Even though I was beyond excited to hit our first mini goal, I still went back remembering at that moment what I was doing with Sloane. 4:00am water broke, 10:00am pitocin started, 4:00pm epidural given, 6:32pm she was born. However here we are moving along strong at 24 weeks 2 days to be exact :). At this point our baby girl is as big as an ear of corn at about 12.5 inches and weighing over 1 1/2 pounds. She can now sense what is upside down or right side up. Her respiratory system is also rapidly growing, lungs are developing in preparation for breathing, moving amniotic fluid in and out of the lungs, although for now she still gets oxygen through my placenta. With all that said we had a great doctors appointment today as well, and she even cooperated and gave us a few good pictures.
Profile with her cute little nose
Big feet!
How far along? 24 weeks 2 days Total weight gain: 10lbs Maternity clothes? still wearing yoga pants, however those are starting to get a bit snug Stretch marks? No Sleep: a lot of side to side moving however its not bad Best moment this week: hitting our first mini goal and becoming farther and farther along Miss Anything? Same old, miss doing things for myself and not having to rely on others. Driving too, and just the outside Movement: she has been moving a lot. Mostly at night and after eating, and when we yell her name and play music for her :) Food cravings: blow pops, my iced chai tea from Starbucks, and my mom's meatloaf! Anything making you queasy or sick: brushing my teeth still, and I constantly smell cigarettes which is weird since we don't smoke but it makes me feel sick Gender: Girl! Labor Signs: none and thank jesus! Symptoms: still a lot of bloody noses, heartburn like none other, and itchy belly Belly Button in or out? in still but its starting to show signs of popping out Wedding rings on or off? on Happy or Moody most of the time: I'd like to think happy :) I am getting cabin fever though Looking forward to: my next mini goal at 28 weeks, and of course my baby shower in 6 weeks It was so nice to finally see the baby not upside down today. She was moving like crazy and gave us a couple good shots of her cute little profile, and big feet! She is in the 50-75% in weight so shes growing right on target and average. My cervix measured at 3.9cm which hasn't really changed which is great. Cerclage looks good and my belly is also measuring right at 24 weeks as well. I had another blood draw today too because for the past two weeks I'd say at least once a day my heart starts beating fast and I find it hard to breath for about a minute. It goes away and like I said maybe happens once a day but just to be safe Dr. Khater also wants me to get an EKG. He said it could be anything, possibly my thyroid but that we should get it checked out. They also sent out another pee culture to see if that bacteria will still show up after taking the zpak from two weeks ago. Fingers crossed that comes back OK. My injections have been going as well as expected too. I receive my shots pre-filled in the mail each month in packs of 4. If you remember 5 weeks ago I got an allergic reaction on one of my butt cheeks so for the past month we have just been injecting in the opposite cheek. Last week we tried again in the "bad" cheek and ended up with a hematoma. Not a big deal at all but it was back to the "good" cheek this week and it went flawlessly. Maybe a bad batch of injections the last time? Monday we see Dr. Font and I scheduled my next appointment with Dr. Khater in 3 weeks where I'll receive an ultrasound, cervix check, the usual. However that morning I will also take another 3 hour glucose test GROSS disgusting. I opted out of the 1 hour knowing the last 2 times I have failed miserably, so we decided to just go straight for the 3 hours :). Lucky me. I passed at 8 weeks so lets just hope we pass again! With ALL that said, here is to another quiet week and new mini goals :).
Yesterday was Sloane's 8 month birthday. Every month Marty and I have gone out to see her and send out a balloon to our little angel. Unfortunately yesterday Marty had to work a twelve hour day so by the time he arrived home with her balloon it was too dark. But you better believe we will be out there today! One of my best friends Taryn sent me this rainbow picture from yesterday, that she saw from her house right before sunset. I know that was Sloane shining bright on her birthday! I missed her more than ever yesterday. This week has been hard anyway being my 23rd week which is right when things started to happen. It would be impossible for me to not think that way, not to think about the what happened at this time and be very nervous. I know Sloane is keeping an eye on me and her sister and we have one of the best guardian angels on our side. I just cant help but think about this time with Sloane, and what I was doing, and what was happening and if there was something I could have done. I will miss my daughter more and more everyday not having her here with me, but I will also do anything in my power to keep her sister safe. I cannot wait until the new milestone, I cannot wait until my first mini goal is complete! Only 5 more days! This week has been pretty quiet, I am just taking it one day at a time laying in bed. I have had quite a few visitors these past two weeks which has been nice because that always makes the days go faster. Plus some of them bring us food :). Monday marks 24 weeks, our first goal. Then its onto our 28 week mini goal! We have an OB appointment with Dr. Khater on Tuesday so we will be able to not only see how my cervix is holding up but also take a peek at our little girl :). Happy Birthday Sloane! Mommy and Daddy are coming today to send you your balloon! It looks like you celebrated a little with your friends, missing you more than you'll know Sloaney Baloney :) xoxo
This MFM appointment was short and sweet. Went in to do a cervical check and Dr. Font said it looks excellent. He was very happy with the measurement of my cervix, which measured past 4cm. Phew. So for at least today I am remaining positive and very excited about that news. Next on the list is to get to my first mini goal of 24 weeks! I received another injection this morning as well which the nurse did a better job of not using my butt as a dart board. I will say that this batch is a bit thicker and hurts a little more than usual going in but it's manageable. One other piece of great news, we received our Materni T21 results back and all came back low risk for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 13, and Trisomy 18. So overall a very positive day. Baby girl was not doing much this morning, just moving a little bit but probably thinking it was too early for her to be bothered, after all it was only 10am :). For a few weeks now whether it be in my head or really something, "down there" just hadn't been feeling normal to me. Sorry TMI but I keep you all updated on everything! I had called Dr. Khater a week ago telling him exactly what I was feeling. Not burning while I pee but burning after and possibly some yellow discharge. He wanted me to come in and do a urinalysis and see just what is going on. After 2 days we finally found out that I did not have a bladder infection or urinary tract infection, (good news) however there were traces of bacteria in my urine and he wanted to nip it in the bud. In any other case of these traces of bacteria in a pregnant woman he wouldn't prescribe anything, because the body would fight it off on its own; but because of the cerclage my body is constantly trying to "fight" something off because it is a foreign object inside me. So he prescribed a Zpak to help get rid of the bacteria before it turned into something worse. Today was my last dose of the antibiotic, and when I go to my next appointment with Dr. Khater on January 29th they will do another urinalysis to see how it worked. So fingers crossed :). This of course makes me nervous because infection was what in the end made me be induced and deliver Sloane. So any type of infection or "weird" feeling worries me especially at this time. I am still laying down and resting as I should and it seems to be working so I will continue to do so especially these next two weeks. I just started making a Tutu this past week to keep my mind occupied (Thanks Susan). And little Miss Sloane had another tiny visitor last week who dropped off some Valentines day goodies.
Politics. Religion. Breastfeeding. Three topics never to be discussed in a group. Ha maybe not breastfeeding but as of lately in my life it has come up a lot. Even before I was pregnant with Sloane, I nannied for a mom would breastfed for a year so I was well aware of what to possibly expect. I was also aware of just how special breastfeeding was between mother and baby, and after watching this bond between the two of them I grew even more biased towards breastfeeding. (Side note: this is my opinion and many might not agree with what I say, I don't judge those who haven't breastfed or decided against it, I just have a very strong view on why you should). I was breastfed, and if you know my mom she also has strong opinions :) so when I was pregnant with Sloane, she told me I would breastfeed. (Yes she told me, didn't ask :)). At that point I didn't really have a strong view on whether or not so I just agreed to it and felt that I should. So there I was, whenever someone would ask, "Are you planning on breastfeeding" I'd say yes, but I didn't really know why it was so important. I had been around babies that I had to make formula for just as much as I had been around breastfed babies, and didn't really realize how intense I would get one day about breastfeeding my own children. It wasn't until Sloane was born. As soon as they whisked her away to NICU one nurse asked are you going to breastfeed? I said yes of course and she said that they would start to have me pump immediately. Unfortunately I didn't get to pump or give Sloane any of my milk, however that didn't mean my body understood that my baby had died so my milk supply came in, three days later right in time for Sloane's funeral. I was upstairs and had finally decided to take a shower following her birth (I was not wanting to clean off her "smell" from my body) and was standing in front of the mirror crying. I no longer had my round baby belly, but instead I had these two ginormous boobs, rock hard, leaking milk. And they wouldn't stop. Every time I cried my boobs leaked which was a lot so it was difficult to get what was happening under control. Instead of being able to give my daughter exactly what she would have needed I was trying to figure out how to stop it, and hide them because it was just another kick in the face. My baby had died and my body thought when I cried that it was my baby. After taking about 2 weeks for my supply to dry up I didn't think about it again until of course we became pregnant. That's when I knew 100% that I would breastfeed this baby. I saw what my body was capable of, I saw what I could have given Sloane and it was without a doubt in my mind that I would breastfeed this baby and give her what Sloane couldn't have. Unless of course some how my nipples fall off or this baby is born prematurely and we have to plan otherwise. I should add my birth plan ideas are what I call them. At this moment we cannot really have a plan, so much can happen and I would hate to have anything in my head and it go into it and have nothing go my way. Which I learned the hard way. I have been able to talk openly with one of my friends about my feelings towards breastfeeding and I have been so LUCKY to get so much information from her. I feel its so important to learn everything you can, what to expect, what not to expect. Just knowing that anything can happen and it will and being given all this information ahead of time I am very thankful. I know it could go two ways, my baby latches immediately and my milk supply comes in easy, or none of that happens and it will take time and a lot of patience. It is good to have those around you on board with your breastfeeding plan, and I have already mentioned to Marty that he by no means can ever allow me to take the easy way out by purchasing formula. I will be breastfeeding no matter how difficult it might be for me, I am a fighter and have had to be extra strong lately so I know we can do it. My friend found this article and sent it to me last week, and I have to warn mamas out there that may read it, it will make you cry. It is an article in the eyes of a baby, and just puts everything into perspective, from their view. Well there it is, my loud opinion on breastfeeding! Enjoy the article because I have already read it about 5 times :)
First I must warn everyone that I will be photo bombing you with a bunch of photos of Marty and I. Just so he can look back and see how lucky he is to have me :) He is actually so lucky this birthday because he gets to take care of me all day! He of course will be working as well, and going to get his license renewed however when he gets home from work, my parents will be coming over to celebrate and he got to pick what we have for dinner...Red Robin was his choice! My favorite I hate it. But anything for his birthday :). So Happy Birthday to my handsome, smart, talented, caring, loving did I say good looking husband! I love you! xoxo
Ashley's got the night off from her blogging duties so I'll be filling in. Tonight I write from the Lone Star state, Texas! I am here for work and will be here until Saturday. I had to drop Ashley off at her parents house earlier today, she's in good hands with her parents but she will be missed. We won't get to talk too much while I am away so if you've got a free minute, give her a call and keep her company for me.
I have to keep up with the amazingness of this blog, so I too have to post some photos. This is where I am currently, the Gaylord Texan Resort.
Lobby still decked out in Christmas decor
The Cotton Bowl is Friday night here in Dallas and the Oklahoma University Football team is also staying here. Although Ashley has converted to a die-hard FSU fan, she still has flashbacks of the days when she rooted for OU. Here is photo proof from years ago-
I'll track down some players and have them sign a t-shirt just for her.
Keep in mind I'm here for work, they already have us doing some work related stuff. Tonight at dinner, we had to provide an update on our business development plans for 2013. Our company is pretty tough on performance so they actually record our sessions, mine is below.
All kidding aside, being away from home isn't all fun and games. I do miss Ashley and wish I could continually be there to make sure we're moving in the right direction in our journey. Like I said, I know she's in good hands and my girls Lucy and Lola are keeping it real for me until I get back. When I do get back, Ashley and I will be getting close to her first mini-goal of 24 weeks. As we draw closer to that mark, I am reminded just how strong Ashley is. Most of you see one side of Ashley, the happy, make you laugh side, but beneath the animal print is the heart of lion. Her strength is unwavering and I know it's not easy to be in her shoes. I would honestly go insane if I had to be laying down all day, heck I can't sit still for 4 minutes! She's already one heck of a mother for everything she has done and is doing everyday. I am hoping for a quick few days in Texas so I can get back home!
Sorry if my post wasn't as spectacular as Ashley's are, I'm a first-timer. I will sharpen my skills and post again in February when I head west for another work event in wonderful Henderson Nevada.
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