Lots of things....

It has been a week since I have posted but it seems like so much longer than that~

A few weeks ago, we went to our friend's Andrew and Kati's wedding. It was a great time. Kenna loved dancing with all the kids. She had a cute pink dress with flowers and looked like a little princess! She is so beautiful!


Over Memorial Day weekend, we celebrated Mom, Kari and Granny's birthdays. Andrew and Kenna had a great time driving the JEEP around the backyard. Kenna drove a while then let Andrew drive. When she was driving, she was much more interested in the "extras" of the JEEP instead of actually driving. Ha ha!

33 weeks! YEAH! I had to take a picture of what my belly looks like from my view. Ha ha!

This past weekend we went to Gma Dee's house in Ohio for Tony's cousin Tylers graduation party. It was a nice getaway weekend. Kenna did great. She is still wearing big girl panties and going potty on the potty. She didn't even have any accidents while we were gone. She also slept on the floor in our bedroom for the first time. This has been the first trip we haven't brought the pack n play with us. She really is too big for it, but it was nice to have her own "bed". She is so great at going to bed that it really wasn't a problem.

Kenna had a great time at the McCabe's watering flowers and the garden with Aunt Reeny. It was a beautiful day out. We ordered pizza and sat on the back porch at ate it. (I got a salad because the baby doesn't usually like pizza. I haven't been able to keep it down for months!)

I just love this picture McKenna looks so innocent!

After we got home from Ohio, Kenna decided our plants need watered too. Aunt Reeny helped her practice while we were still in Ohio, then she thought she was a pro 3 hours later when we arrived back home. She told Tony and I that she needed to water the rock too because it needed water to grow. It was hilarious!

Now the last bit of news. Dr Lewis, our beloved neonatologist in the NICU passed away on Tuesday morning. His health has been a bit shaky the last few years. I cannot begin to express how much he meant to me. He was an excellent teacher and cared beyond belief for those tiny NICU babies. He would pace next to babies not doing well until he could "fix" it. He was very generous and gave routinely to the Toys for Tots program and bought Christmas presents every Christmas for the babies in the NICU around the holiday. When I was pregnant with Kenna and staying with mom and dad, he would call me at home to check in. Once admitted, he would visit me every day he was at the hospital and sternly tell me "I do not want to take care of your baby!" It sounds mean as I type it, but I knew what he meant. He wanted me to stay pregnant with her as long as possible so he wouldn't have to take care of her. If he wasn't on call on the weekends, I would frequently get a call to my hospital room making sure I was still doing as I was told. I don't know if I ever saw him "cuddle" a baby but the first picture of him with Kenna is priceless. His expression is meaningful.

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.