Pregnancy Update ~ Week 26!

Can I get a Whoop Whoop! Less than a 100 days to go! 98 to be exact... but probably less. With a scheduled C-Section in my future my doctor will do it around 2 weeks early!

Here are some of the most recent pictures of our little cutie-patootie from last week's doctors appointment.

I love love love that I get to see him so often. For as crazy nervous as I am right now, I am beyond thankful that I get such a wonderful reassurance every two weeks that he is still ok! I have noooo idea how I made it through my older boys pregnancies with hardly any ultrasounds!

Pregnancy Update:

How Far Along: 26 Weeks!

Size of Baby: About 13-1/2" long and around 2 pounds. I'll find out next Tuesday how much more he has grown!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Surprisingly holding steady. I don't think that I gained or lost weight this past week or two.I thought that I would have gained a ton of weight with the steroid shots. I could tell a lot in my face that I was retaining tons of water.

Maternity Clothes: All the time. Nothing fits anymore. At all.

Gender: Still a little boy cooking away in there!

Movement: Some days he's a rock star (thank goodness both yesterday and today) and moves all the time. Other days it seems like he just wants to take a break and its just tiny little flutters only here and there that drive me crazy!

Sleep: This has been getting better this week! (I know I just jinxed myself...) My regular OB said that it will be hard for me to sleep now while on partial bed rest. The lack of movement on my part accompanied by the lack of sunlight will really mess with my internal clock.

What I Miss: Being a regular active Momma that can completely take care of her family! I know that I'm doing what I need to do for this baby right now but it still makes me sad that I have 3 other guys here that I can't take care of like I'd like to.

Cravings: Red meat (I can not get enough hamburgers right now!) and cole slaw. Yummy!

Symptoms: I'm starting to swell now in the Texas heat! Other than that I feel pretty good physically!

Best Moment This Week: Knowing that the 3rd Trimester is just around the corner! Some Internet sites I look at say that this starts at 27 weeks and others say 28 weeks. What the heck? In the past I've always gone by 28 weeks but considering that 27 weeks is just next week for me I may change my mind and start my 3rd Trimester then! :)

House of Stink

Ya'll, I have been about to puke for over a day now. Can you guess why?



The offending popcorn bag...



+

Burned up inside of my microwave...

=



The worlds worst smell EVER!

I have been trying to get Graham just a little bit more independent this summer. One of the things we've been working on is microwave popcorn. We've made popcorn together a million times. We've read the directions together and I've showed him which buttons to push on the microwave. (We have an older built-in microwave that came with the house and there is no "popcorn" button.) Yesterday I let him do it on his own. He asked if it was ok and I had said yes. I heard him start the popcorn and then for some crazy reason I made the worst decision EVER. I.got.in.the.shower. Midway through my shower Graham came to the door and said that the microwave was SMOKING. I jumped out and removed the still smouldering popcorn and tossed it outside. I was upset with Graham that we had a popcorn problem in the first place but really its mostly my fault for letting him and not observing better :(. I was very proud however that in the time that it took me to jump out of the shower he had managed to turn on the ceiling fan and opened the back door to let smoke out...

Long story short, our house STINKS. By late afternoon my throat hurt from the smoke that I guess just wouldn't go away?? And now I have no idea how to get the smell out of our house. I would febreeze everything that we have but there are almost no soft-surfaces downstairs for me to spray it on (we have leather couches and no curtains). We have mostly tile or and hardwood floors and just one area rug that might be holding odor. I had thought about going to the store and buying like 20 boxes of baking powder and just leaving them open and out in hopes that they would absorb the smell. Blech! My nose is already crazy sensitive from just being pregnant. I can almost not stomach the burnt popcorn smell I have going on over here!

Does anyone have any ideas on good odor removal. Help!!

A Big Thank You!

So to be totally honest, it's been a really rough morning for me emotionally. I've cried off and on and wondered endlessly about the health of this baby. I'm sure that 90 % of what I've been thinking and feeling is all in my head. I can't stop myself from wondering if he's ok. I can not stop over-analyzing if that baby is moving enough or not. I don't want anyone to panic. He has moved today, but in my mind all I can think about is "Has he moved enough?" and "Last week his kicks, punches, and rolls felt stronger, right?", "What if he's in some kind of fetal distress and I just don't know about it yet". I know I've said this a couple of times before, but I just can't seem to stop the catastrophic thoughts from rolling through my head. I feel as though I have laid around half of the morning either watching the boys play and praying to God to make all of this work out. In some moments of desperation I pray to God to help make the baby move for a second to give my mind just a little bit of peace. I know that if I would just suck it up and buy a hospital grade Doppler I probably would have the peace that I crave but I'm just soo worried that I wouldn't use it right and then not be able to find the baby's heartbeat and really scare myself for no reason.

I know that a lot of you ladies that I've connected with while blogging have lost kiddos, but not so many of us seem to have come out on the other side yet of a successful pregnancy after such a great loss. For those of you who have did you feel like you experience similar anxiety? Did you feel like you compared one pregnancy against the other too much?

Now that that is off my chest, I wanted to say a quick thank you! Amidst my praying this morning I checked my email a couple of times and read some super awesome comments with ya'll reminding me that you guys are praying for us too and that I'm not all alone over here. Your loving comments were a God-send when my head was in too dark of a place this morning.

Lots of Love to all of you and thank you thank you thank you!

My Dog and I Both Have 'Roid Rage

All I can say right now is "what a freakin' week it's been". It feels like for.ever. since I've posted (technically it's been almost a week since I did!). I know my sweet hubby did a quicky post update for me on Tuesday night but I might as well do a better re-cap of all that's gone down.

I went into my specialist appointment on Tuesday morining all sunshine and roses expecting to have great cervical results! I had been feeling awesome "down there" since my last appointment. I had no pain, no pressure, and most importantly no sense of fullness. The previous appointment 2 weeks before that I had pretty much all of the above symptoms but had great cervical measurements! I just knew that my lady bits were going to be getting an A+! How wrong wrong wrong I was. They always start my sonograms with the interuterine cervical check first. The first measurement was great at 3.5. The next went down to like a 2.8 and just kept on going.... down. The tech and I were basically sitting there watching my cervix change while I was laying flat on my stinkin' back. The last measurement she took was 2.2. Overall the lowest being at 2.2 is not really all that bad. They said than anything below a 2.5  was defiantly short though. Great news was that the baby looked awesome. ( I promise to post songram pictures maybe tomorrow).  He was in the 74th percentile for size and weighed in at 1 pound 15 ounces (although when they gave me paperwork later about the visit the data had changed to 1 pound 13 ounces and 69 percentile. How the heck does that change from what an ultrasound machine says to what their computer system says??? I must ask next time...). My doctor was actually on vacation while I was there for my appointment so her nurse came in to speak to me. She was really positive about everything and basically explained that the "final piece to our puzzle was steroid shots" for the baby's lungs. Cerclage - Check!, Bedrest - Check!, Progesterone - Check!, and now Steroid Shots - Check! The nurse made it sound like all I had to do was run on over to Labor and Delivery to get the first shot then come back the next day for the next one. No biggie right?? I got there and they said that my regular OB who had been already notified of what had happened wanted me admitted for observation. Ugh.

The portion of my story about being at the hospital is not nearly as exciting as the doctors office. I layed there. Alot. They barely even checked on me except to move me 3 times to 3 different rooms during the middle of the night. They had better not charge me for the sleeping pill that they gave me that I didn't get to even enjoy. :) After my 2 shots and 2 days it was concluded that I was having almost no contractions and the baby's heartbeat (when they checked it) looked great.



Here is lumpalicious me. I swear to God that I can now thank the steroids for enabling me to now see my own cheeks out of my own periferial vision!!



I went in on this past Thursday for my regularly scheduled OB appointment. My doctor is still so sweet to me despite my bitter complaining about having to stay in the hospital. She just kept telling me that she wanted to be sure that I was ok after "our pervious loss". I realized then that I was just being stupid. The whole time with Caroline all I ever prayed for was more time or another chance. Now I have both and I'm being a stink about my care?? I need to shut up and stop complaining. But, while I'm at it .... :) The steriod shots make me feel like crap. I woke up with all of my joints aching and feeling a little flu like. I feel hung-ver and dehydrated but with out the fun party from the night before. I got my first shot on Tuesday morning and here it is Sunday and I still feel like I've been run over....

My awesome doctor also told me that while it was great that we reached my first milestone of 24/25 weeks gestation she would love love love it if I were to make it to 28 weeks. She said that while I may have already achieved viability the chances of having a baby with blindness, deafness, neurological problems etc. goes down tremendously at 28 weeks. She was practically doing a cheer for "3 MORE WEEKS, 3 MORE WEEKS!". I adore her and her tiny goals she sets for me.

Later on that evening I took a step out onto our back patio area and promptly tripped and fell to the ground. I managed to fall only onto one knee and then flop crazily onto my side. I was totally stunned for a second (and shed some hormonal tears) but picked myself up and went to lie down. That night I woke up around 1 am to use the bathroom and realized that I was spotting. CRAP. Really?! I thought to myself! All that I had just been through the past week and one stupid trip and fall is going to be the end of it all? (I was super tired and thinking only catastrophically at the time). I went back to bed, on my left side, perfectly still only to get up once an hour to check for more spotting, for the rest of the night. Thankfully there was no more. I called my doctor first thing in the morning dreading what she was going to say. She only wanted me to go back on strict bed rest for the rest of the weekend again thank goodness.

One would think that the drama would end right there huh? Not a chance. While all of this was going on our little dachshund Crash started to act funny. He wouldn't hardly move at all. Bobby and I have had a dachshund before that we had to put down because of a slipped disc in his back (it tends to go right through their spinal cords and its horrible) and Crash was acting a lot like him. Crash finally made it to the Vet on Thursday when I got out of the hospital and sure enough, he has a slipped disc. The doctor hopes that if we can get the swelling to go down then the disc might slip back into place and stay there for a number of years. Guess what Crash is on now?? STEROIDS AND BEDREST. We are both bitter Betty's right now...

***Also, I swear I just hit spell check and nothing came up as misspelled. I can not believe that with how long this post is so no comments about my horrible spelling ok? ****

Hillary's Cervix Of Doom Part 2

Hi All! This is Bobby, Hillary's hubby. So Hill went in for a check up with the specialist today and they found her cervix has shortened again. 2 weeks ago everything looked great, now today not so much. They are not super worried about it since she has a cerclage in, but admitted her to labor and delivery to observe and administer steroid shots to help the little guy's lungs develop faster. She has been in there since before lunch time today and will probably not get out till after lunch tomorrow. Please pray that this is just precautionary and will not be needed soon.

Much Ado About Nothing Monday

I have a lot of random, jumbly things going around in my head right now so I'm going to use bullets again today. I love those little things! :)

• Graham and I were talking this morning about really nothing in particular and he told me very matter of factly "I hope that nothing tragic happens to my baby brother." (He watches waaaaaay too much tv and has become more than a little dramatic at times....) I told him that I hoped so too and that we needed to just keep praying that God keeps him healthy and safe. He told me (again very dramatically but now with a very "like duh" tone) "Mooooommmm, I already do. I pray everyday for him!" Despite the tone I teared up. I had no idea that he had private moments with God where he prayed!

• I woke up this morning, checked my email and noticed that I received a comment. I love comments! That is until I read it. I was pissed.

"Frameless Shower Door has left a new comment on your post "Keepin' It Real Thursday":

These days all Frameless Shower Door are very fashionable and are popular with many people for their sleek modern look. All frameless shower doors are made from thick tempered glass that is incredibly hard to break. This means it is possible to get years of performance out of an all frameless glass shower door.



Posted by Frameless Shower Door to Our Hopeful Life - Welcome to the Mueller Family! at June 20, 2011 3:24 AM "


Seriously??? I try soo hard to be the nice blogger who lets people comment anonymously etc. but then you go and stick a sneaky little Ad on my blog? I remember this post. It was a funny spoof on how yicky my shower door was. Does that  mean that they went searching for people with yicky shower doors to try and sell them something??

For real Frameless Shower Door Company. I want some payment for you Ad placement!! A-holes.

• On to better news, I have an appointment tomorrow at the specialist! Yea for getting to see the little guy again! If everyone could say a quick prayer for great cervical length (I know, super gross to pray for my lady parts but I'm not proud anymore...)!

• I plan to ask my doctor tomorrow about the Progesterone shots I've been taking. I started out with no problems at all. I scoffed at all that I had read about bad reactions and praised my amazing body for handling them so well. Until about 3 weeks ago. My rear is now covered in bumps, lumps, and puncture wounds. All of those bumps, lumps, and puncture wounds ITCH like crazy. And bleed. And bruise. That is what I get and deserve for being so smug.

• I lost some followers a couple of nights ago. All at the same time. There were there and then they were gone. I was pretty sad about it on Saturday. I don't feel like I'm either all that controversial or all that boring. I don't feel that I've suddenly changed my topics of discussion that would turn people off. Oh well! What can I do? I refuse to be a 35 year old Middle School girl that will worry about this anymore. I really just felt like talking about it for a second to get it off my chest. (you know, if they are secretly still reading and now feel a teensy bit bad about hitting the "Unfollow" button)

• Bobby made the best food yesterday for Father's Day! Ok so just the meat, but it was sooo good!



I totally  made Bobby pose for this picture. He thought I was crazy but I'm sure that he secretly really liked me taking pictures of the smoke ring on his meat! :)




Here is a random picture of the rest of our Father's Day lunch. (Made by me so you know it was good too :)





Hope that you all are having a fun random day too!

Happy Father's Day To The Two Best Dads!

I feel that right now I am the luckiest lady alive! I have been blessed to have had such a wonderful Daddy and now I have the best husband ever who is also such a amazing Daddy!

Bobby, my love, I am soo thankful every single day that our boys are blessed beyond belief to have you as their father. I know that as they grown into strong, capable, independent young men they will see that they have gotten these amazing qualities from you! Their sweet, fun, and spunky personalities are due to your guidance and support.

They have (and are still) learned so many things from you in their short little lives. They both share your love for the outdoors and nature. They will both grow up to be avid hunters and fishermen. I could not be more proud of their ability to be self-sufficient if they ever needed to be! They both love and respect their parents, friends, elders, and God. It warms my heart soo much that they have this compassionate nature that they inherited from you!

At the tender ages of 9 and 3 they are both already amazing little guys and I can't wait to see how much more they learn, grow and develop with you as their Daddy!

We all love you soo much!



Sweet Bobby holding Graham for the first time! Poor guy, I think he was soo scared (if you couldn't tell by the look on his face :). I completely understand though. Graham was a pretty sick little guy who spent his first 4 days in the NICU. I also think that Graham was the first baby that he ever held!






Here is Bobby and Graham on the day that he was released from the hospital. They had finally brought him to my room and we were beyond relieved. I'm soo proud of my Bobby. Look at how natural and self assured he is holding Graham just a couple of days later! What a pro! :)

 This is Bobby and Grady when he was about 2-1/2 months old. I love love love this picture!

 

Here are my sweet boys several days after Grady came home from the hospital. Can you tell that Bobby already needs toothpicks to keep his eyes open! :)



 I also couldn't do a Father's Day post without stopping for a second to talk about my Daddy. Sadly he passed away in November of 2008 and I miss him soo much!

Circa 1976



Daddy's little girl!



I miss him soo much. So many times I want to call him on the phone when I have a problem that I need his advise on. Now, I just stop and think "What would he do?" and that is usually my answer! :)I feel so sad that he will never get to meet our newest baby but at the same time feel so fortunate that our dear little Caroline has a Grandparent in Heaven to watch over her. My dad was an amazing husband, father, architect, grandfather and so much more!

I hope that everyone had just as great a Father's Day as we did! Bobby made us all some of the most amazing BBQ that deserves its own post for tomorrow!