35 Weeks

I haven’t posted in a while because life has been crazy!

We had a wonderful baby shower at my work! We got so many things and feel overly blessed to have so many sweet people in our life!

I have been fighting some sickness the past week. I have had a head cold and a cough and went to the doctor. He gave me a Z-Pack and it seems to be helping slowly. While at the doctor they took my blood pressure and pulse and both were high. They made me come back that afternoon to check again. It was still high so they had me give a urine sample to test my protein and while we waited on results they had me lay in a room with the lights off for about 30 minutes and just rest. They kept coming in and checking on me and finally checked my blood pressure and pulse and it had gone down. My urine also came back ok so they let me go. If it wouldn’t have they were going to send me to Lawton to Dr. Lennon. Dr. Sheets really thinks that the Sudafed I took that morning is what made both go high. It is on my approved medicine list, but it does have that reaction he said. That was a little bit of a scare, but all turned out well!

I go back to Dr. Lennon tomorrow. I think she will start wanting to see me every week from here on out. I will be 35 weeks pregnant this week – 5 weeks left!

Last time I went to Dr. Lennon 2 weeks ago she checked and told me he had turned head down in the correct position to be born. He is getting ready! I have been feeling uncomfortable as he grows. I can feel every move he makes and with him getting so big there isn’t much room for him to move. I think a few times he has found different organs inside and started pulling on them just to see what would happen and it hurt! :)

Last night Justin was watching him just move all in my tummy and he would push a little at him and he would push him right back. He did it for at least 10 minutes. It is so cool that he is interacting with us.

We are getting ready. We were told to already have our hospital bag packed a few weeks back just in case but we just haven’t had the time. We went yesterday and bought all the things we need to pack my bag and the baby bag so that we are ready whenever this little boy gets ready. It is nice knowing that everything is in order so we don’t have to stress (more than we will be) when that time comes.

I cannot believe it is almost January and he is due in January. It use to feel like a while away but it is so near now. Of course I am getting scared a little bit, but I am also very ready for it to be here. Lots of people told me that God lets you be pregnant for 9 months so that you are so ready for the baby to come out that you do not get as scared of the labor. I am there for sure!

Please keep praying for this sweet little boy. He has a big few weeks coming up as he finishes off his development in my body and then gets to come into this crazy world. Please pray for a safe and healthy delivery and for the doctors that they have the knowledge to do what is best for him at each moment. Please keep Justin in your prayers. As excited as he is, I know he is very nervous as well making sure that both the baby and I are ok all the time. He goes above and beyond to do anything he can to make this as easy on me as possible. He is so excited to meet this little boy and I know when I go into labor he will be stressed. He is a fixer and it will be hard on him to not be able to take pain from me. And please keep me in your prayers. I have lots of fears about the labor and delivery part. I think a lot of it is just fear of the unknown. My body obviously doesn’t have a good track record with doing things normal so I am just praying hard that this is one thing that it does right so that this little boy come out healthy and safe.

Thank you all so much for caring about us the way you do. We couldn’t ask for better friends!

J&M

30 Weeks!

I cannot believe that our little man will be here in 10 weeks! That seems like tomorrow!

Well an update - first on me. I have been feeling good - and getting big! There is no hiding this baby bump anymore! The worst part is having to get new clothes! I hate spending money on stuff I will only wear a few months.

I took the Gestational Diabetes test again a few weeks ago and I missed passing it by 7 points. So I ended up having to take the 3 hour version. With this test I had to fast and then drink a glucose drink that is double the sugar as the last test and get my blood drawn 4 different times in a 3 hour span. I got the results today and I passed 2 of the 3 parts. She said that you have to fail at least 2 to have the gestational diabetes so I do not have it. The part I failed however is one that usually indicates that the baby will be big (I was already fearing that!). She said to watch my carb intake to help this but not to worry about that too much. She still wants me to enjoy all the Thanksgiving food! Ha!

She measured my tummy and said I was measuring perfect so he must not be too big yet. She wants to do another ultrasound before he is born to check his weight so she knows what to prepare for. Since my last appointment 2 weeks ago I have not gained any weight. She was pretty surprised with this I think since this is when you usually start packing it on. So I am thinking I will start gaining more soon. I am not sure how I have not gained since I can promise my tummy feels much bigger each day!

Justin and I have been attending birthing classes for the past few weeks over in Lawton. Some of the classes stuff was silly but some of it was really good. We got to tour the labor and delivery wing and that helped me the most. I like visualizing things - it just helps me prepare more. I am glad they are over with because going to Lawton every Wednesday from 7PM-9PM was wearing me out - but I am so glad we decided to do it.

We had a 4D ultrasound last week and this little guy did not want to cooperate. The ultrasound tech said that she thinks my diabetes test that I took that morning was the cause. Usually a little bit of sugar will make babies active, but she thinks he got too much and it knocked him out! She was shaking him and had me jump up and down and he did not budge. That is not like him at all since he is usually a wiggle worm!

We went back today to try again before my dr. appointment and he was back to his old self. He was actually a little too active! He wanted to keep his hand and feet in his mouth so we couldn't get a full face picture, but we did get some good ones. At one point he had both feet and hands on his face trying to eat each one! He was pretty cute to watch and it was so amazing how much you could see. She gave us a video at the end of the whole appointment so we have a 25 minute movie of him just moving around and making faces.

Here are some pictures.

This is of his face - he has his little hand in a fist by his face.

This is of the other side of his face. You can tell his hand is up but the other thing is his foot. You can't really tell here but she would move the thing around and you could see his toes.
This is his face again with his hand and his foot.

His eyes look weird here but she said they are open here. It is hard to tell but he is looking to the right side (his left). You can see his eyeball looking that way but mainly you just see the white of his eye. Kind of weird but kind of cool.

We have a disk of about 35 pictures - these are just a few of the good ones. It was really fun to see his personality come out some. She would shake my tummy to try and get him to stop eating his hand or foot and he would open his mouth almost like a scream and then make a funny face. He was reacting and that was pretty neat to watch.

Today was a fun day. Getting to see him (especially in 4D) just makes everything more real. I can feel him move all the time but getting to see him in action and see features on his face really makes us get more excited if that is possible!

He will be here soon!!!

6 1/2 months

Last week I went to the doctor. I was 25 weeks. She let us have an ultra sound even though insurance only pays for one with her. Since we have an IVF background she could justify this one. This was our last ultrasound with her. We have a 4D ultrasound scheduled at another place in November so that should be fun. After that we will not see him again until he is born!

The great news is she checked everything out and he looks like he is developing perfect. She was able to check brain function, deformities and his heart. She said he is looking wonderful!

When they weighed him he was already weighing in at 2lbs! He should be around a 1.5lbs. She asked our birth weight when we were born and said he may be taking after his daddy (9.4lbs)! As much as I am nervous and dreading him coming out a big baby - I am so thankful he is healthy and growing so great!

I go back to her in a few weeks. She wants to do the gestational diabetes test again even though it came back fine when we did it at 15 weeks. She said this is the normal time it is done so she wants to check it again just to be cautious. After this next appointment since I will be in my 3rd Trimester I will start going every 2 weeks! I cannot believe we have made it to the 3rd trimester! It has flown by!

Life is about to go even faster as the busiest time of year at work is approaching. I know that after this wonderful week off for Fall Break that it will be a sprint until January 1 and then he will be here shortly after. That thought scares me and excites me at the same time!

I have not been sleeping well and have been fighting migraines and backaches. I know those are normal but it has been rough just dealing with the same things every day. I am so grateful to be pregnant that I do not want to whine about anything that comes with it, but those are things I have been struggling with. I think after a few days of sleepless nights is when I feel the worst and cannot shake the pain. Lack of sleep really messes with you! It is only Tuesday of the break and I have already had multiple naps and I feel like a new person.

About this little boy - He is a very active little guy still. I can feel every move he makes and it is wonderful! He kicks me constantly and moves around a lot. I thought I was feeling him roll but during the ultrasound I was watching the screen and felt that feeling I had been feeling and on the screen he was stretching and grabbing his foot and stretching more. So I guess the "roll" feeling was his hands and head moving as he stretched! Justin and I lay in bed every night and just watch him kick. When I lay down is when he is most active so right at the beginning he will go crazy. My stomach looks like I am popping popcorn! He loves fruit and I eat lots of grapes, oranges and apples. He doesn't like chicken(which was my favorite) and has to be in the mood for Mexican food. I use to crave chocolate milk but that has went away and now it is regular milk. I have been drinking orange juice to try to keep my immune system healthy and he really isn't a fan of it, but it hasn't gotten to the point that I can't drink it anymore. He doesn't like cakes or chocolate too much and that has really been weird. I will pass up cake for fruit now and that is not like me! :) When he goes crazy kicking if I touch my stomach he keep kicking, but if Justin touches it and talks he calms down and stops. It is kind of weird that he senses him and knows his voice but it is so awesome.

Ok here are a few pictures from our last appointment. Expect more after the 4d ultrasound!

This one is a great one of his profile. He has his little hand up that you can see too.


This is one she got in 3D. It is a little distorted because the placenta is near his face. His nose looks big here but she said that when she clicks to 3D the sound bites combine in one spot and that is where they did on this shot.

This last one is the one that is the clearest. I think in this one he has my lips and Justin's nose. The eyes are still not clear enough. He looks like Justin when he is asleep but he may have my big eyes. His eyes should be opening now so that should help define that more. Of course he is developing so much every day that he will probably look much different in a few weeks when we see him again.


Growing him has been such a joy. We are loving every minute and cannot believe he is almost here! I love our little family and am so excited that we are at this point. I do not want to rush him because I want him to keep growing and getting healthy so I am not going to say that I cannot wait until he is here, but I cannot wait until that next chapter! He is our miracle boy and I love sharing our joy with you guys!

J&M

Nursery

We have been working on the nursery the past month. Justin has worked so hard remodeling the room. He started by replacing all the trim. I didn't realize how much trim can make a room look better until he did it! He also replaced a fan, refinished the window sill and painted all the walls. Instead of just doing 1 color we decided to be a little creative since our bedding has multiple colors in it. Working with some friends he came up with the square idea. He measured off and taped these squares so that they would be perfect - and I promise you he has them PERFECT! They look sooooo neat!

Our room had an old weird looking fan so we knew we wanted to replace it. We found this one and it is perfect. It is smaller than a regular fan so it almost looks like it is suppose to go in a baby room!
Last week all of our furniture that we ordered came in. Here is how it looked when he started.
He was so excited to get to work. He is really good at this kind of stuff. Notice the dresser in the background already finished. Now he is working on the changer/hutch combo.

And here it is a little while later all finished!
Here is a picture of the crib and the changer/hutch all put together.
Here is a closer look at our bedding. It has a few colors of blue and brown in it. Very simply and cute!
Here is a picture of the whole room. It is hard to get a good angle where you can see it all. We still haven't got curtains or decorations so this is just the remodeled room with furniture and bedding in it.
I couldn't leave off a picture of our little man's closet! We went on vacation a few weeks ago and found so many outlet sales. I think he is a little spoiled already but it was so fun to get to buy stuff for him! The vacation was our last big one just the 2 of us and it really ended up being all about getting him stuff!

I am so proud of the nursery. I love the fact that Justin took so much pride in it and remodeled it so that it looked nice for our little man. As we were hanging up all the clothes it was so crazy to imagine that in just 18 weeks we will have a little boy to dress in these clothes. We are so excited and blessed!

Update on our Little Man

Today we had another doctor appointment to see our little man. He was very active and stubborn and would not show us his face! He had it buried into my back and would not turn over. The ultrasound was about 15 minutes long and he moved his arms and legs the ENTIRE time. Once again the ultrasound tech told us how active he is. I would say he is taking after his father, but we all know who is calm and who is high strung in this relationship! He had no problem showing us his boy parts and how good he has gotten at kicking, but we did not get a good picture of that sweet little face which is a little disappointing!
The wonderful news is he is developing perfect. He was actually measuring a week ahead of my due date. He weighs 9 oz (normal for how far along I am is 5-7oz). Justin was a big baby (9lbs 4oz) so he may just be taking after his daddy!
Our last appointment we had the Down Syndrome test and the Gestational Diabetes test. Both came back normal. She said I hadn't gained hardly any weight since we last saw her so she expects me to gain this next month. I am surprised I haven't gained because he has really made me start pooching out!!! Thank goodness for maternity clothes!
Also since the last time I posted we had a little scare. About a week and a half ago I started bleeding. It was on a Sunday so we ended up making a trip to the ER out of fear. Everything turned out okay even though the ER visit scared us more because they basically said it may be a miscarriage and only time will tell. We did call our dr the next morning and she was out for a few days but talked to her on-call doctor and he took my worries away and said I was not having a miscarriage. Basically what the ER doctor told us is what what would be true of someone early in pregnancy, but considering how far along I was the symptoms would be different for a miscarriage.
Today at our appointment she said she hadn't heard about my bleeding (which we were surprised about). You could tell it bothered her. She checked me out and made sure things looked okay today and they did. The other doctor had told me I could bleed a lot more than I did before I called anyone out of concern but she advised us different today. She said any amount of blood I need to call her because she wants to know and if it is a weekend I need to go to the ER in Lawton. She wasn't trying to scare us but wants us to be near her if something happens. She is OVERLY cautious with me, but with how nervous we get at every little thing because of what we went through, I like her being cautious. She isn't going to treat us how most doctors would treat normal patients, she is trained to be on high alert at all times. She gave me restrictions for the next few weeks just to make sure the bleeding doesn't start back.
We are really liking Dr. Lennon. She is very good at what she does and you can tell she knows what she is doing. It is easy to trust her and I really like that fact. I still miss OU and Dr. Craig but I really think God placed us with Dr. Lennon for a reason.
Even though we didn't get many good pictures today, I cannot write a blog without sharing one! I think the only picture appropriate for today would be a picture of him kicking since that is what he does all the time! So here is his foot in the air during a kick.




Have you ever seen such a cute little leg/foot?
I cannot feel these kicks yet but should within the next few weeks. As she was listening to his heart on the doppler she heard him kick. She was surprised I didn't feel it because of the force in the sound! It may be a painful few months when I start feeling this little guy kicking!!!

That is all the update for now. For the first time in a LONG time we do not have another appointment for a full month! Not sure what life is like without seeing a doctor more often but we are soooo grateful to be at this point. In the meantime we(meaning Justin doing all the hard stuff and me buying all the cute stuff!) are working on his nursery and I bet the next update will be about that!

J & M

Watching Him Grow

There are many things that are hard about going through infertility. Lately though we have been able to see some cool things. When you go through fertility you are on such high alert that you get to see your baby early. I thought I would share some of these cool/priceless pictures so that you can see the miracle that we have been able to see.

This first picture is what they gave us on our transfer day. This is a picture of two 6 day old embryos. They did place both in me and only 1 - our miracle boy - made it. I know this just looks like a picture of cells but knowing that is our baby 6 days after conception takes my breath away.

This next picture is our first appointment after we got 2 positive blood tests. This is our little man at 7 weeks. You can't really tell anything other than something is in there and we could hear a sweet little heartbeat.




This next picture is only 2 weeks later. So this is the little guy at 9 weeks. If you look hard you can tell where his head, arms and legs are. Just to help - his legs are closest to the words. At this appointment we saw him kick those tiny legs for the first time!

This next picture is a little small. You can click each picture and it will make it bigger if you can't see as well.
This is our little boy at 12 weeks, just 3 weeks after the last one. You can see his profile in the first one and his legs and feet in the second one. He kicked almost the whole time we watched him this day. He has been an active little guy from the beginning.

This last one is what I posted on the previous post. This is him at 15 weeks - just 3 weeks after the last picture. You can see his nose and mouth and body defined. This is from the appointment where we found out he is a boy.

Scroll back up and just look at the pictures. In just 15 weeks he went from a group of cells to a handsome and defined little guy. Seeing this unfold is like getting a front seat to see a miracle that God is making.

I hope you each remember that you are a miracle too that God made to do great things for Him!

Love you all!

Update and surprise!

It has been a while since I updated. I want to continue this blog now that happy things are going on!!!

Well first off we did get released from our fertility specialist early on in July. That was for sure bitter sweet. We love those people so much and it is hard to leave the security of their care.
When we came back to my regular OBGYN we found out that she is retiring in December. Since I am due in January she had to refer me to another doctor. That was nerve racking because I wanted the security of my doctor I have had for so long.
She referred me to Dr. Carol Lennon who is the high risk specialist at MMH(Lawton OBGYN). I am not high risk necessarily, everything is going smooth so far but with our history it is nice knowing we are in her care.

Today was our first appointment meeting her. We could tell immediately she was a high risk specialist because of how much information she wanted!!! After a good appointment meeting and talking with her (and hearing the heartbeat) she sent us over to do some testing. I wasn't planning on doing the Gestational Diabetes test today - that is usually done later on - but since our infertility came from my PCOS and PCOS patients are at the highest risk for it she wanted to know immediately if that is something we are facing. We will know the result of that in about a week.

We did get to find out a secret today! We found out the sex of our baby. So now instead of Baby Smith we can all call it.....
Baby BOY Smith!!!
We are PUMPED that it is a boy and cannot wait to start buying things and preparing for his arrival. Before you ask if we have a name I do want to be up front with everyone and tell you that Justin and I have decided that we want to keep that between us until his birth. It will add a little surprise factor and give us time to nail down exactly what we want. We are not trying to be 'little turkeys' by keeping this between us, just is a decision we made a long time ago.

So now what you really want - pictures!
Here is his handsome profile.

Here is him showing us that he is for sure a Boy!

And here are his cute little feet!




We are sooooo excited today. I think we have been so reserved and nervous that we have not felt the full excitement that this baby has brought. Today seeing him and knowing it is him has really helped us get a little more brave with our excitement and see how real this is. I cannot believe we are at this point. We are blessed beyond words. God is good!

J&M