Wow, I just realized how much BETTER I was at journaling when I was pregnant with Kenna. Of course I had all the time in the world as I sat in my hospital bed, but still, it makes me feel bad.

Yesterday was my 32 week appt with Dr Schwartz. I have been contracting more this week, but he doesn't seem too concerned about it. Of course as the pregnancy progresses, it will be more common to contract more. Both cerclages are still in place so that is a good thing. Dr Schwartz gave me a refill of brethine while I was there. I explained that I'm not taking it every time I contract, just when they start to become too close together or very painful. He agreed with my regimen and thinks I'm using the medication appropriately.

The baby's heart rate was in the 160s this week, which is very slightly higher than normal but she was bouncing all around in there. I feel like she is moving all the time! She is either doing somersaults or hiccuping constantly! Yesterday she was flipping around in there and Kenna was able to see my belly move. It was cute. She loves to talk to the baby and feel her move. She is always asking if the baby is awake or if she is kicking.

Over the weekend we went camping at Missisinewea reservoir. It was a great little vacation. We have realized we are quickly outgrowing our camper. It only has 2 beds and bunk. The bunk is the area we use to store our clothes so then we are down to 2 beds. With the belly I have, Tony and I could not even share one bed in the camper so we had to sleep in separate beds while Kenna stayed with mom and dad. Kari, Tim and Andrew went camping as well. I think the kids had a great time. Dad took the boat down and took it out various times. Kenna loved the "boat ride" and was even talking about it this morning. She had a blast on the water!

Kenna is doing excellent going on the potty. She has been in big girl panties for well over a week and a half now, only wearing pullups at night and naptime. I'm so proud of her. I love not carrying a diaper bag everywhere, but can't get too used to it because it will start up again in less than 7 weeks when the baby is born!

I'm sitting here right now with Kenna on the couch. She has been doing wonderful going on the big potty today and has not had any accidents in her big girl panties. However, she will not listen to me. I have been arguing with her all day because all she wants to do is exactly what I have told her not to do. I finally got her calmed down a bit to sit with me at watch a movie. She wanted to watch Anastasia. Of course it is about a princess but some parts are pretty scary for kids. Tony and I alway skip through those and she always mentions not liking the scary part. So here is the conversation we just had:

Me: Kenna, do you want to watch a movie?

Kenna: Yes

Me: How about Anastasia?

Kenna: Yes, I want to watch Anastasia. Do you like the scary parts?

Me: No I don't like them

Kenna: Its ok mommy. You don't need to be scared. I will be right here behind you and everything will be ok.

I don't know if I should feel protected if she is BEHIND me! Ha ha.

I had my 31 week appt yesterday. Things still looking good. Dr Schwartz did an exam which caused me to start bleeding but he didn't seem concerned. He said that if all goes according to plan, he will take the cerclage out at 36 weeks. I can't believe that is less than 5 weeks away. The last few months have seemed to fly by!

I have been contracting some the last few days and have taken brethine 2 times in the last 48 hours. The most recent was this morning. I feel horrible- racing heart, nausea, headache, dizziness, etc, so having a 3 year old that won't listen to me has been a challenge.......

31 weeks

Wow, hard to believe we are 31 weeks already. At this point with Kenna, I was already in the hospital for 6 weeks! And on bedrest at home for 6 before that! It proves how much smoother this pregnancy is going! I actually cannot complain about much- just having to use the restroom about every hour. Other than that, I feel GREAT!

Doctor appt and a fun night out!

Today was my 30 week appt. Tony had taken today off work and I was thrilled that he would be able to join me. After waiting quite a while, we were told that Dr Schwartz was "MIA" and they were not sure when he would return. To be completely honest, I was a little apprehensive about seeing a Nurse Practitioner since this was the first time that he had not ordered an ultrasound to check for cervical length. But when Jennifer, one of the NPs, came in our room, my anxiety was eased. We first met Jennifer when I was in the hospital for the long haul with Kenna. Jennifer worked night shift and we always knew we were in good hands with her. She was also present when Kenna was born (and of course took care of us the whole night before -Kenna was born at 7:23 am) She has since become a nurse practitioner and works with Dr Schwartz. She used the doppler to obtain the baby's heart rate which was in the 130s. The measured my belly which measured at 33 weeks (I'm not quite 31). We will take a big baby! I also received another dose (booster dose) of steroids to help the baby's lungs. Luckily it was only one dose instead of 2. That means I don't have to find someone to give me the second or give it to myself. Lets just say its not the most enjoyable thing to get!

I decided to get Kenna's hair cut short for the summer. She has SO much hair and it is very thick. I think she looks adorable (and so grown up!) with it shorter. For dinner we went to Sherri's place in CC, then to the park to play. One our way home we thought it would be fun to take Kenna to Paiges Crossing to play some games. There wasn't much for her age group but she did do pretty good at a little basketball game toss.

We had to talk her in to riding the horse because what she really wanted to do was hit the baseballs in the batting cages. I have a feeling that Daddy's love of baseball is rubbing off a bit..........

Ice cream, skating and an appt

I had to take some pictures of McKenna eating an ice cream cone. It was adorable. She loved every bite of it. She started out with a popsicle but when Tony and I had ice cream cones, she quickly changed her mind.

Yesterday was my 29 week appt. My cervix looked stable with measurements still in the high 3s. The baby has flipped over and is now breech. This bothers me a little because she has always been cephalic (or head down). I really hope she changes her mind and flips back around because I really don't want to have a c-section. Dr Schwartz says that there is the option to try to move her as it gets closer to time of delivery so we will just have to see. Her heart rate was in the 140s -150s as it has always been. He said we will have another round of steroids next week which will continue to help develop her lungs. We have another appt scheduled for next Friday but no ultrasound. I think he is becoming more comfortable with our progress and will begin loosening up a bit, which is a good thing.

Kenna got a new pair of Dora roller skates and has had a great time with them. Of course she has had daddy to help but it is so cute watching her try to skate. She really enjoys it!

Pictures

Here are the ultrasound pictures from last week. I LOVE the first one. We have another appt on Thursday for our 28 week appt with labs and yet another ultrasound.

A LOT to post!!!

First of all, I will start with our milestone of 27 weeks! I had an appt with Dr Schwartz yesterday. My cervix is 3.8-4.1cm which is wonderful. Baby's heartrate was 158 and is still measuring perfect. The ultrasound tech even took some 3D pictures of her face, which turned out wonderful!!!! I almost had tears in my eye seeing her face so clearly (although I'm NOT ready to see her in person yet!) I will scan them in as soon as I can!

Next big item is we have been trying to potty train McKenna. We have out good days and bad days- she just isn't catching on. She has had more accidents than number of times we have made it to the potty but I guess it is a blessing that she is trying. We had to move the potty out to the living room for her to sit on it. She won't sit in the bathroom. Whatever works, right?

Now, on to Kenna's birthday party on Saturday. We started with lunch- hot dogs, chips, etc. The kids had a blast playing outside even though it was very windy. The temperature was 84 so I think the wind was a blessing- they would have been pretty hot without it!

After playing outside, we had cupcakes and Kenna opened her presents. The theme was Tinkerbell so we had chocolate, white, and strawberry cupcakes with "fairy dust" on them (aka sprinkles). Tony and I bought Kenna a new bike which she was pretty excited about, although we have yet to ride it outside!

Sunday we went to the zoo. Mom and dad got us season passes for Christmas so we thought we might as well start using them! We rented a wheelchair for me so I didn't have to walk all the way around. Kenna had a blast. She loved seeing the animals and riding the rides!! The weather was perfect. There was quite a few people there but it wasn't unbearable.

We brought Kenna's swimsuit so she could play in the fountains (we learned that lesson last summer going to the zoo with Ang and the girls last summer).

Yesterday after my good appt with Dr Schwartz, Kenna and I took a 2 hour drive to Grand Rapids to see Tony. He is working up here this week so we decided to pay him a visit. Kenna did fabulous on the way up (although only took a 30 min nap). The hotel has a great pool/splashpark/ waterslide area instead of just a pool and hot tub (although they have both of those too!). Daddy and Kenna had a blast while I sat on the outside and took pictures. I imagine we will head down there again today!