2004 Pregnancy

Tuesday, May 18, 2004
(Baby #4 – 4 weeks)

I’m pregnant again!

I don’t have to tell you that I was on pins and needles waiting for my doctor to call with the pregnancy results! I finally called at 1:00 and the news were better than perfect – I’M PREGNANT! Anything over a 5 is considered pregnant and my number came back at 95! We wait 2 more days and then retest. Hopefully the numbers will double which indicates a good strong pregnancy!

We had an amazing dinner. We’re telling everyone that will listen that we’re pregnant so we went out to celebrate. While sitting at the table, Kristi and I were talking on the phone. She heard the server come up and demand that I put the server on the phone. I did and within a minute the server told me congratulations on my pregnancy. Within 5 or 10 minutes a different server came up and put a balloon on my wrist and congratulated. Then throughout the meal a different server would come and tie a balloon on my wrist and congratulate me also. It was an almost constant stream of servers and balloons and I was loving every moment of it!

Carter Story: I was in the lobby of the school telling some mothers who were waiting on my results when Carter came up. I told him that he was going to be a big brother again and he asked me to lean over so he could whisper something in my ear. When I leaned over he said “but mom, isn’t your belly supposed to be bigger?” I said it will happen all too soon! LOL

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Thursday, May 20, 2004
(Baby #4 – 4 weeks 2 days)

I got the results from my second pregnancy test and they aren’t exactly what we were hoping for. He doctor really wanted to see my level at 157 but it was only 143. The nurse was the one to give me the news and after crying for a solid hour, I called back to see if the doctor would return my call. He called about an hour later and the first thing out of his mouth was “congratulations on your pregnancy”. I said “well it’s not exactly what we were hoping for today” and he said “it’s not exactly bad either”. After talking for a long time I’m feeling somewhat better. He believes we started out with multiples and are now carrying one baby. I hope that’s all it is and that everything is okay. I won’t be able to have another test until Monday. It’s gonna be a miserably long weekend! I think the absolute worse part will be having to tell the boys. They are so excited about having another baby in the house! I guess I now know why people wait until after they see a heartbeat to tell people! Please say a LOT of prayers for us and our baby. I can’t bear the thought of losing another child!

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Monday, May 24, 2004
(Baby #4 – 4 weeks 6 days)

Well I went in for my third blood test and it wasn’t as good as we had hoped. My number was only 237. The doctor is convinced that it’s over and said I should stopped my medication. I told him that I wasn’t ready to give up since the numbers were still increasing and asked if I could stay on my meds and retest on Wednesday. He thinks it’s hopeless but finally agreed that it wouldn’t hurt anything. I’ve heard of too many success stories with numbers as low (or worse) than mine and I’m just not ready to give up on little bean!

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Wednesday, May 26, 2004
(Baby #4 – 5 weeks 1 days)

What a day! The boys and I headed off to the airport around noon. Despite an hour delay, the boys were amazing. Just as we were taxiing for take off I got a message on my phone indicating voice mail. I quickly called hoping that it was my fertility doctor and it was. My number needed to be 393 and it was … 425!!!!! We still have a long way to go but we’re finally heading in the right direction! Since I’ll be out of town for a week and a half, I won’t be having any more bloodwork done (yippee) and will just go for an ultrasound on June 7th!

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Monday, June 7, 2004
(Baby #4 – 6 weeks 6 days)

WE HAVE A HEARTBEAT!

As you can imagine we were terrified to go for our ultrasound this morning. Luckily we didn’t have to wait long as the second the ultrasound touched me you could see a strong heartbeat! Little bean is measuring 6mm and had a heartbeat of 108. The doctor said the heartbeat is on the low end of normal but was overall pleased with our progress. He wants to see us back in a week to check the growth.

Cute Story: On the way home from camp I told the boys that I had a very special picture to show them when we got home. They were all excited and wanted to know who the picture was of. I told them that it was our new little baby. They got all excited and Nathan asked what the sex of the baby was. I said it was way too early to tell and that we would have to wait a couple of weeks. I then asked what they wanted – a boy or girl. Nathan says he wants a girl, Carter said he wants a girl and Andrew said he wants a boy. Carter then asked me what I wanted and I said I didn’t know but I kinda thought it was going to be another boy. Carter then said “it can’t be another boy, it has to be a girl”. I asked why and he said “because we already have too many boys!” LOL

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Tuesday, June 8, 2004
(Baby #4 – 7 weeks)

It is so much fun having children old enough to truly understand what it means for mommy to be pregnant. When I was pregnant with Andrew, Carter and Nathan were only a year old and had no concept of what it meant when I said there was a baby in my tummy. Today when I went in to wake up Andrew he was having a very difficult time waking up. I scooped him up into my arms and cradled him in my lap. He laid there for a few minutes sucking his thumb and then all of the sudden opened his eyes wide, removed his thumb and said “Am I sitting on the baby?”. I laughed and said “yes” and then with a very worried sound in his voice, he asked “Am I hurting the baby?”. It was the most precious thing I’d ever heard!

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Monday, June 14, 2004
(Baby #4 – 7 weeks 6 days)

We had a wonderful second ultrasound. Little Bean doubled in size going from 6mm to 12.8mm in one week. His/her heartbeat went from 108 to 120. The yolk sac was 6.1 compared to 5.5 last week and the gestational sac was 20x10mm. In layman’s terms – it’s all GREAT! My fertility doctor is so pleased with everything he has released me to my OB/GYN!

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Wednesday, June 16, 2004
(Baby #4 – 8 weeks 1 day)

I had my first OB consult today and everything went well. Dr. Bayouth is confident that if we can get past 14 weeks we will be able to deliver a healthy baby. As opposed to Dr. Riggall, he wants me to stay on all of my medication until the 14th week. He said it can’t hurt to stay on them so he’d rather err on the side of caution. Being on the cautious side also means that he will deliver me at 37 weeks as opposed to 38 weeks. He doesn’t want to take a chance of me going into labor with my thin uterus and he said most women go into some form of labor between 37 and 38 weeks. We also talked about the possibility of gestational diabetes so to again be on the safe side, he’s going to do a glucose tolerance test at 10-12 weeks as opposed to waiting until 24 weeks. All in all I think it was a good appointment!

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Thursday, June 17, 2004
(Baby #4 – 8 weeks 2 days)

Dr. Riggall called today to let me know the results of my latest bloodwork. He was pleased with my estradial (1185) and wants me to wean off the medication (although I won’t pursuant to Dr. Bayouth’s wishes). However, he wasn’t pleased with my progesterone levels (31.4). He said they are okay levels to sustain a pregnancy but indicate that the placenta has not taken over the production of progesterone. He wants me to continue my shots and have an ultrasound (yippee) next Wednesday! Needless to say I didn’t argue as this means one extra ultasound for me!!!

Some very exciting news today – I was able to hear the baby’s heart beat for the first time using the home dopper (BabyBeat). It’s really too early to be able to hear the heartbeat but I was lucky enough to find it three separate times for about 4 seconds each time. I think since this is my 3rd pregnancy my uterus is probably bigger than most people at this stage, making it easier to hear. Whatever the reason — I HEARD IT!!!!

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Wednesday, June 23, 2004
(Baby #4 – 9 weeks 1 day)

I had another wonderful ultrasound today. I’m 9 weeks into the pregnancy and proudly have LOST 2 pounds (trust me this is good as I gained 20lbs taking hormones to get pregnant). Little bean measured 23mm (that’s just shy of an inch!) so s/he doubled in size again; the gestational sac was 25mm; the yolk sac was 6mm and the heartbeat was 120. I’m still concerned that the heartbeat is too low but the doctor assumes me it’s perfect. I later got to thinking that it makes perfect sense because the baby was sound sleep. Usually at this stage in pregnancy I see them wiggling around like little acrobats but not this baby – sound asleep! Boy or girl they take after their mama and are NOT a morning person! LOL

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Wednesday, June 30, 2004
(Baby #4 – 10 weeks 1 day)

I had another great ultrasound today! Little bean is now measuring 3.29cm (just over 1¼ inches) and had a heartrate of 186! Unfortunately the doctor has diagnosed me with anterior placenta previa. That means that the placenta is growing on the front of the uterus and just over my cervix. There is every possibility that the placenta will move up as it’s still early in the game. The doctor just wanted to warn me about all the risks should this not resolve. He mentioned again an early delivery (which we already knew due to my thin uterus), the possibility of bleeding heavily during surgery and the high probability of a hysterectomy. There is also a high chance of placenta accreta (where the placenta actually grows through the uterus) should the placenta not move on it’s own. It’s a lot to digest but it is early in the pregnancy. I’ve seen way more placentas move than actually stay put and of the ones that stayed put everyone had a happy outcome. I’m just thankful that I have such a great doctor who will monitor me closely. Look on the bright side – I now get more ultrasounds! I have an OB physical next week and then another ultrasound two weeks after that. It sure is amazing to see the weekly changes in our baby. He/she was kicking and punching up a storm as if to say “let me sleep!”

This is a 3D image of a 10 week old fetus – to give you a clearer idea of what our baby looks like at this stage

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Monday, July 5, 2004
(Baby #4 – 10 weeks 6 days)

What a day! I have a doppler that I rented that allows you to listen to the baby’s heartbeat anytime you’re feeling anxious (which is at least twice a day for me!). Well today the heartbeat was loud enough for all the boys to hear. I wish I could have captured their reaction on film – it was priceless. Of course the pricelessness only lasted about 3 seconds before the endless barrage of questions hit! LOL

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Wednesday, July 7, 2004
(Baby #4 – 11 weeks 1 day)

I had a regular OB appointment today and other than gaining 2 pounds everything went great. I sure hope the rest of the pregnancy goes smoothly from here on out.

I was able to record the baby’s heartbeat today! If you wanna hear, click here.

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Thursday, July 22, 2004
(Baby #4 – 13 weeks 2 days)

I had an amazing ultrasound today. Little bean is finally looking like a real baby instead of an alien! LOL It was by far the most hilarious ultrasound I’ve ever been too and I’ve been to a lot! The baby was just chilling out, laying on his/her back and having a grand old time. The doctor really wanted to get some good measurements and would jiggle the transmitter to get the baby to move. The baby would just wave at us and then go right back to whatever he/she was doing before. It was absolutely a riot! The baby never did cooperate – just kept waving at us.

Our baby is now measuring 7.16cm (which is 2.8 inches). His/her heartbeat was 158 and everything was absolutely perfect! The doctor said my placenta is still completely covering my cervix and he believes I already have accreta (where the placenta deeply imbeds into the uterine wall). I do have an increased risk of preterm labor, need for transfusion during delivery and possibly a hysterectomy. It’s still too early to be freaking out as anything can happen between now and delivery. I’m just relieved that he’s so on top of things and is preparing for the worst. I’d much rather prepare for the worst and not get it then be surprised in the end! He does want me to see a hematologist so we can stay on top of my blood disorder, which is currently in remission and he wants me to see a urologist just in case we need one during delivery. The BEST news doctor-wise was he’s ordered a new 4D ultrasound. I’ll be far enough along that we’ll be able to tell the sex of the baby and will get a really good idea of what he/she looks like. From a medical standpoint the ultrasound will give us a clearer picture of what’s happening with the placenta so we can be even more prepared.

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Friday, July 30, 2004
(Baby #4 – 14 weeks 3 days)

Well, I finally have a big enough “bump” to start taking belly pictures. No need to remind me that the baby is only 4 inches and the rest is me! Just enjoy how cute I look in my new outfit!

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Monday, August 9, 2004
(Baby #4 – 15 weeks 6 days)

What a great day! I went for a 3D ultrasound and unfortunately the doctor doing it didn’t feel it was warranted despite having a prescription from my perinatologist to do one. Ugh! Oh well, I can’t complain because I did get a one hour traditional ultrasound that was very thorough and diagnostic. The baby had a heart rate of 154 and weighs 4/10ths of a pound. Everything on the baby measures right on target at 15 weeks 6 days with the belly measuring 16 weeks 3 days (budda belly like mom!). We tried twice to see the gender and were able to get a pretty clear picture. The tech wasn’t willing to commit 100% because it’s still so early but was very confident that it was a GIRL!!!!!! John was priceless and just kept saying “really, yeah, are you sure, really”. I just kept thinking about our friends who were told for sure they were having a girl and his name is now Lawrence!!! LOL

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Wednesday, August 25, 2004
(Baby #4 – 18 weeks 1 day)

I had my amnio today and everything went great. I was surprised at how painless it was – I didn’t feel a thing! Before doing the amnio the doctor did an extensive ultrasound. The baby is measuring perfect for 18 weeks and had a good strong heartbeat of 150. All signs are still pointing to a girl so I’m cautiously optimistic! Of course our number one concern is a healthy baby. We’ll get the results in 2 weeks. In the meantime, I’m supposed to be on bedrest for 3 days. I have the easy part – it’s John that has to make sure 3 boys are taken care of!

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Monday, August 30, 2004
(Baby #4 – 18 weeks 6 days)

I went in for my one hour glucose test today (bluck). As suspected I failed the test. I’ve always failed the one hour regardless of whether I had gestational diabetes so today’s results weren’t a shock. I’ll go Wednesday for my 3 hour test which I REALLY hate. Not only are you stuck at the lab for 3 hours but you’re also made to fast. Whatever it takes to make sure our baby (and mom) are healthy!

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Wednesday, September 1, 2004
(Baby #4 – 19 weeks 1 day)

Today was my dreaded 3 hour glucose test. It actually went faster than I was expecting. I took my laptop with me and watched a three hour movie I hadn’t seen in a long time. Before I knew it, it was time to pig out at lunch! I’ll get the results in a couple of days.

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Friday, September 10, 2004
(Baby #4 – 20 weeks 3 days)

I called my OB first thing this morning to try and get an answer about my tests. Unfortunately the answering service operator was having the same kind of day I had yesterday – talk about a grouch! I left a detailed message and hoped for the best. Ten minutes later the doctor called back in just as fowl a mood as the operator. He was stating that the office had no power and since the office was closed they had no way of getting mail and that I would just have to wait until power returned. Oh well!

Since the boys were already at school I decided to go back to bed. A few minutes later John walks in with the phone saying “hold on she’s right here”. I’m thinking to myself that it had better be important to wake me up! LOL It was the nurse from the doctor’s office and she was calling to tell me that the amnio showed a very healthy GIRL!!!!!!! The bad news is my glucose test showed I have gestational diabetes. In the grand scheme of things it could be a lot worse. After having gestational diabetes with Andrew I know what to expect and how to manage it pretty well. After taking a short nap I woke up and went “pink shopping”. What a treat to finally be on the pink side of the store!

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Saturday, September 11, 2004
(Baby #4 – 20 weeks 4 days)

I’ve been really bad about belly shots. Here’s my 20 week belly! Makes me shiver to think I’m only halfway through and already quite large!

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Monday, September 27, 2004
(Baby #4 – 22 weeks 6 days)

I HAD AN AMAZING OB APPOINTMENT! It was so good I don’t even know where to begin! 🙂 For starters Emily weighs approximately 1 lb 5 oz (which is right on target for where her brothers were at this gestational age). Everything looks normal – heart, liver, kidneys, bladder, etc. The amniotic fluid is the perfect level and my cervix is nice an long (no pre-term labor here! LOL) The placenta has moved up and is no longer covering the entire cervix which makes me at less risk for a bleeding episode pre-term. Everything is looking right on track for a scheduled c-section on January 4, 2005! Oh, and the coolest part, I got to see her stretching and yawning! It was TOO CUTE!

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Saturday, October 9, 2004
(Baby #4 – 24 weeks 4 days)

More belly pictures! I can’t believe I’m almost 25 weeks! This pregnancy is starting to fly by!

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Monday, October 11, 2004
(Baby #4 – 24 weeks 6 days)

Exciting baby news – I felt Emily’s hiccups for the first time. I was playing around on the computer (like always) and I started to feel her hiccups. It’s the strangest and most wonderful sensation there is!

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Friday, November 12, 2004
(Baby #4 – 29 weeks 3 days)

Today was the day I’ve been waiting a LONG time for – we had Emily’s 3D ultrasound. What an amazing sight! The best part was seeing her yawn! Some of the pictures aren’t the best in the world but that’s because her FOOT was in front of her face! The poor thing is folded in half with her butt sitting comfortably on my bladder (that explains a lot LOL) and her head and feet tucked under my left rib cage. It’s amazing how fat her little cheeks are already and she still has 8 weeks to go!

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Monday, November 15, 2004
(Baby #4 – 29 weeks 6 days)

I had an OB appointment today and everything went well except for needing to start insulin. Emily has just gotten too big for me to maintain the diabetes with diet alone. Other than the insulin we just talked about the weeks to come (which are coming all too quickly!)!

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Tuesday, November 16, 2004
(Baby #4 – 30 weeks)

Unfortunately, I spent the evening at the hospital for the first time during this pregnancy. I was having classic pre-eclampsia symptoms with dizziness, headache, racing heart and seeing black spots. I would like to say it was a pleasant experience at the hospital but it was anything but! I was there for vitals and it took them nearly THREE hours to take my vitals. Then they sent off some blood work and kept me waiting nearly THREE more hours – never again to take my vitals! I was furious! Good thing it wasn’t an emergency!!!!!! Luckily my blood pressure is fine and I don’t actually have pre-eclampsia.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2004
(Baby #4 – 30 weeks 1 day)

I followed up with my OB today and he’s not concerned at all about what happened yesterday. I complained about the hospital and he said I was one of the lucky ones that some people wait up to 6 hours before being seen! HELLO?!?!?!?!?!? They need more triage help if that’s the best they can do!

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Tuesday, November 23, 2004
(Baby #4 – 31 weeks)

I had a wonderful sonogram today (sorry no pictures). Emily is weighing approximately 4 lbs 6 oz!!!!! She’s measuring exactly on target. My amnio fluid is on the high side but still considered normal. Cervix is good and strong so no signs of pre-term labor in the near future. We discussed a game plan for the future considering my high risk pregnancy and his ill-timed vacation (wink) and have decided to do a lung maturity test in 4 weeks. If her lungs are mature then we will do the c-section that day or the next. If not, then we will just wait out his vacation and hope for the best. I’ll still only be 37-1/2 weeks when he returns from vacation but with Emily being so large and me measuring ahead 3 weeks, it would be better for her and me if her lungs were mature and we could deliver at 35 weeks. So, looks like we might have a daughter in FOUR WEEKS!!!!!!

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Wednesday, November 24, 2004
(Baby #4 – 31 weeks 1 day)

I had my diabetes class today which lasted 4 hours. Nothing like sitting in a room with other people hearing just how poorly you eat! LOL

Since I don’t have a lot of belly pictures, I snapped off a few today.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004
(Baby #4 – 32 weeks)

Andrew and I headed to his school bright and early so we could help set up for “Milk & Cookies” this evening. It’s basically storytime with arts and crafts for kids and their parents. Afterwards we headed over to my doctor’s office to a weekly check of vitals. We then headed straight home and crashed. Unfortunately by early evening both Andrew and I were throwing up and quite sick. To make matters worse I started having contractions. By 10:00 it was bad enough to call the doctor and head off to labor and delivery. Luckily when I got there they were able to take me straight back. They hooked me up to a monitor and I was still having contractions. They ran a bunch of test and by 1am decided to start me on Magnesium Sulfate to stop the contractions and admit me. I don’t know how many of you know this but Mag Sulfate is a wicked wicked drug – it does it’s job but not without horrible side effects. Within 10 minutes of receiving the first dose I was throwing up again. Nothing like have a stomach virus AND Mag all in the same night! LOL Sometime around 3:00am I was settled into my room and John went home to relieve Gerry and be with the boys.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2004
(Baby #4 – 32 weeks 1 day)

Last night was the worst night I remembering ever having. The only way I was able to survive was to have ice in my mouth at all times. This makes it quite difficult to sleep so I was up all night! The doctor is keeping me on the Mag and a clear liquid diet (which I must add is a clear liquid diabetic diet!!!) and will see how I do in the next 24 hours. The day was really rough for me especially when it came time for the boys to visit. I felt so bad for them having to see me so sick and even worse that I really couldn’t interact with them. In classic Nathan form he wanted to know what every machine in the room did. He is going to make a great doctor some day. Carter, my impatient one, checked things out for a moment and then when he realized there was nothing to do he wanted to leave. Andrew was just too adorable for words. He loves to rub my arm when he’s insecure or doesn’t feel well. He had been crying for me all day and when he got there he sat at the foot of my bed, sucking his thumb and patting my foot. John said “Andrew you can rub mommy’s arm – it’s okay”. Andrew looked at me and said “no daddy, mommy doesn’t feel good”.

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Thursday, December 2, 2004
(Baby #4 – 32 weeks 2 days)

Hospitals are definitely not the place to get any sleep! After 2 days of not sleeping I finally fell comfortably asleep at 1am — wouldn’t you know it, they came in at 2am to wake me up to move me to another room! Seems I was in the wrong department due to overcrowding and they finally had a bed available in the right department. UGH! I was able to get a few winks until 7am when I woke up feeling like I was drowning. I was having a real hard time getting my breath. Luckily the doctor was there and came in immediately. An unfortunate side effect to Mag Sulfate can be wet lungs and gee – I got it! They immediately stopped the Mag and put me on Lacix and breathing treatments. I was sent for an EKG and chest x-ray and thankfully everything was normal. I still have fluid on the lungs but it wasn’t bad enough to show up on x-ray. By mid-afternoon I was finally starting to feel better. By evening I had taken a turn for the worse again. I developed a condition in which my hands and face would go completely numb and then my fingers and hands would curl up on themselves. The doctors were puzzled and started thinking neurological problems or perhaps shingles (I was recently exposed to chicken pox and Andrew had the mildest of cases). The neurologist called in a bunch of bloodwork and scheduled to meet me in the morning.

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Friday, December 3, 2004
(Baby #4 – 32 weeks 3 days)

It was another rough night but I was able to solve the mystery. I was having a reaction to the Albuterol treatments being given to me every 4 hours by respiratory therapy. Within 5 minutes of doing the treatment my hands would begin to quiver, within 10 minutes they would be numb and within 15 minutes they would begin to curl up on themselves. The respiratory therapist had never heard of such a reaction and seriously doubted that it was the Albuterol. When the neurologist came in I told him about my suspicions and he said that it made complete sense even though he had never heard of it happening. My calcium levels were very low which can attribute to numbness and tingling; given the fact that I already have carpal tunnel and the time frame I gave for the onset of the side effect he said it all made complete sense. It was just a matter of having all the wrong things happen at once causing this most adverse reaction. He wrote an order for calcuim IV supplement and stopped the Albuterol. When my OB made his rounds he went ahead and ordered some more Lasix. For the first time in DAYS I was feeling human again by early afternoon.

With everything that’s been going on the OB ordered an ultrasound. It was a really quick ultrasound and I didn’t get much information from the tech but I learned that they guesstimate Emily as weighing 4-1/2 pounds. My cervix has shortened by 1.5cm but that’s normal this late in pregnancy. They also said that the amnioc fluid looked normal. WHEW! Finally a report that came back NORMAL!!!! 😉

The doctor went ahead and gave me my first of two steroid shots and agreed to keep me overnight for observation and give me my second shot tomorrow (they have to be given 24 hrs apart). This way on the off chance that Emily is born earlier than planned she’ll have a better chance of having mature lungs.

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Saturday, December 4, 2004
(Baby #4 – 32 weeks 4 days)

After many sleepless nights I was finally able to get some restful sleep last night. I was feeling quite confident that I would be going home today but I was wrong. The doctor came in, looked at the fetal monitor strip and said there was no way I was going home today. I’m having too many contractions and Emily’s heartrate decelerated during a few of them. The new game plan is to have me on the monitor for 24 hours and if need be start Terbutaline tomorrow for the contractions. If Terbutaline is necessary I suspect that it will be Monday or Tuesday before I get out of here because you have to be monitored for 24 hours after starting any anti-contraction drugs. Oh well, I’m honestly quite happy where I’m at. At least I know that Emily and I are in the best possible place for us right now. John and the boys are holding up pretty well considering the circumstances. We’ve had an overwhelming response from parents, teachers and friends. Two nights last week volunteers supplied dinner for John and the boys that was enough to last several nights. The school has bent over backwards making arrangements for Andrew to be in after school care so John can pick up all three boys at the same time and friends have been pouring out of the woodworks offering playdates and such. I get tears in my eyes thinking about all the wonderful people around us willing to help in our time of need!

WOW – how could I forget the biggest part of my conversation with the OB? We had already planned on doing a lung maturity test on December 22nd to check to see if Emily’s lungs are mature. If they are we’re going to go ahead and do the c-section and if they are not we’ll wait until January 6th when he returns from vacation. I was asking about how long it takes to get the results and he said a day or two. I told him about the scheduling problem and his vacation scheduled so he agreed to schedule the c-section for December 23rd. This way we’ll get the results of the test back faster and if need be we can cancel at the last minute. SOOOOO, we have a tentative date of December 23rd to meet Emily!!!! Hard to believe that’s only 19 days away!!!

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Sunday, December 5, 2004
(Baby #4 – 32 weeks 5 days)

YIPPEE!!!!! I’m home! The doctor came in this morning and was convinced that the contractions I’m having are Braxton Hicks. After checking to see that my cervix is still in great shape he sent me home on strict bedrest. I can’t thank everyone enough for their prayers and generosity. I don’t think we could get through this difficult time without the love and support of our wonderful friends and family! THANK YOU! Monday,

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December 6, 2004
(Baby #4 – 32 weeks 6 days)

I had a follow-up appointment with the doctor today and everything is looking good. Emily was quite active on the monitor and I’m not having any contractions. The game plan now is to have bi-weekly monitoring sessions, sonogram next Wednesday, amnio to check for lung maturity on Dec. 22nd and tentative c-section for Dec. 23rd. He did tell me today that I shouldn’t get my hopes up for a delivery on the 23rd because he’s still not sure her lungs will be mature enough for an elective c-section but it’s still worth doing the test just to see.

I’m headed back to bed and will update as I can! Wish us luck – this is going to be one strange holiday season with mommy in bed!!!

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Thursday, December 9, 2004
(Baby #4 – 33 weeks 2 days)

Bedrest is going better than I expected thanks to all our wonderful friends. I honestly don’t know how we would manage if there weren’t so many volunteers taking the boys and/or bringing us food. Saturday,

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December 11, 2004
(Baby #4 – 33 weeks 4 days)

John and the boys had a big day today. They went to the Science Center to help celebrate Aria, Anique and Elizabeth’s birthdays. While they were gone I was able to get the bedding put in Emily’s crib and cradle and then yes I went back to bed!

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Monday, December 13, 2004
(Baby #4 – 33 weeks 6 days)

It was back to the doctor for me to have my bi-weekly NST. Emily is doing great and I’m not having any contractions. The doctor is easing up on my bedrest restriction and has made me more or less house bound. I’m still taking it easy but it is nice to have permission to do a few things around the house (few being the operative word!).

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Tuesday, December 14, 2004
(Baby #4 – 34 weeks)

I met with a urologist today. My perinatologist said he would feel more comfortable having a urologist present during the c-section so I went for a quick face-to-face hello with the new doctor. I can’t tell you how enjoyable it was meeting with a doctor when you are actually healthy! It was the fastest appointment ever!

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Wednesday, December 15, 2004
(Baby #4 – 34 weeks 1 day)

Gee guess what I did today – went to the perinatologist! It seems like I live there these days! LOL I was supposed to get an ultrasound but since I got one last week he didn’t see a need for another one. He did hook me up to the NST machine to save me a trip tomorrow (what a nice guy). The game plan is still to have an amnio to check lung development next Wednesday and then if her lungs are mature do the c-section 7:30am Thursday morning. I can’t believe we’re a week away from potentially delivering! WOW

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Monday, December 20, 2004
(Baby #4 – 34 weeks 6 days)

I had a wonderful appointment this morning. It was just with the nurse and only for a vital check and to be put on the NST monitor. I only had one contraction and little Miss Emily is doing great! I’m getting more and more excited about potentially meeting her on Thursday. I hope she’s ready to have her first Christmas with her big brothers (who are WAY more excited than John and I that’s she’s almost here).

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Wednesday, December 22, 2004
(Baby #4 – 35 weeks 1 day)

I had my amnio first thing this morning – well actually it was supposed to be first thing – the doctor was running late. After waiting on pins and needles all day we finally got the news at 4:30pm … her lungs are not mature. Of course our first priority is for Emily to be healthy but at the same time you can imagine my disappointment.

Since I thought today would be the last day I’d ever be pregnant, the boys and I went and had our pictures taken. I’ve always wanted a professional pregnancy picture and figured today was my last chance. I’m not crazy about the pictures but got them anyway since I’m hoping in years to come I won’t be so critical of how I look! 😉

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Thursday, December 23, 2004
(Baby #4 – 35 weeks 2 days)

I met with the doctor first thing this morning to go over our new game plan and to have the NST to check Emily. She’s doing great and I only had 1 contraction. I was able to get the results from the test yesterday. On the first test she needed a score of 55 to be mature and she was a SIX; on the second test she needed 2.5 and she was 1.3. So she was REALLY not ready. Thank goodness we have the technology to check before delivery! The new plan is to retest her at 37 weeks and then proceed with the c-section. That would put us back to the original planned date of January 4, 2005.

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Friday, December 24, 2004
(Baby #4 – 35 weeks 3 days)

Since I wasn’t crazy about the pictures taken on Wednesday I decided to have them redone. Unfortunately I don’t like the new pictures any better. I’m starting to think it might be the subject matter since I went to a different photographer! LOL Again, I’m hoping in a couple of years I won’t be so critical of myself.

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Sunday, December 26, 2004
(Baby #4 – 35 weeks 5 days)

Well, I’m back in the hospital. John took me to triage at 9:30. After being monitored for a couple of hours and getting a full ultrasound they finally admitted me. I’m having a few contractions so they put me on Terbutaline every 6 hours to stop them. Since my doctor is leaving town tomorrow they have admitted me until he returns on January 3rd. The plan right now is to do an amnio on Jan. 4th to see if Emily’s lungs are mature and then hopefully do a c-section the following day. She’ll be 37 weeks then so hopefully she’ll be ready to meet her family — I know we are ready to meet her!

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Thursday, December 30, 2004
(Baby #4 – 36 weeks 2 days)

Today is day 5 in the hospital and I have to say I’m going completely stir crazy. On average I get 10-12 needle sticks a day, am only allowed out of bed for short trips to the bathroom or shower and have a very restrictive diabetic diet. This isn’t nearly as much fun as the Four Seasons! LOL

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Friday, December 31, 2004
(Baby #4 – 36 weeks 3 days)

I had a nice long visit with the boys this evening and we had our own private New Years Eve party. They came in with party hats and all. We had a wonderful time and are all anxious for the new year and our new baby!

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Monday, January 3, 2005
(Baby #4 – 36 weeks 6 days)

We did a repeat amnio today to check Emily’s lung maturity and it appears that she’s incredibly happy where she’s at – her lungs are still too immature for delivery. She’s just like her mama – she’s going to do things on her terms and her time frame! LOL Today we were looking for 55 and she was 12 and on the second test we were looking for 2.5 and she was 1.4. The game plan for now is to wait another week or week and a half and test again. So, it looks like hospital food for me until she’s born.

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Tuesday, January 4, 2005
(Baby #4 – 37 weeks)

The doctor came in this morning and confirmed the game plan. He will do another lung maturity amnio a week and a half from now (I’ll be 38-1/2 weeks). I’m really not sure what we will do at that point if Emily’s lungs aren’t mature. Right now I need to concentrate on not going into labor before we can do another tap. I have to admit hospital bedrest is not for the weak! It has been much harder than I imagined. Each time the boys leave, a piece of me goes with them. I long to have all my family under one roof again. I also long for uninterrupted sleep that lasts more than 2 hours and a day without needles! Today’s big excitement was the 2 hours spent with 3 different nurses trying 4 different times to start an IV!!! I now have a deeper appreciation for what patients go through when they are labeled “difficult stick”.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. I have no doubt that things will work out in the end – I just wish I wasn’t going to miss Carter & Nathan’s birthday and party next week!

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Thursday, January 6, 2005
(Baby #4 – 37 weeks 2 days)

I had a wonderful visit with the doctor this morning. I think the plan is to test Emily again on Thursday the 13th and hopefully deliver her on the 14th. Of course the twins are hoping that she’ll be born on their birthday!

As you can see the boys came for a visit this afternoon and were actually able to stay for an hour and a half! Usually they get bored after 30 minutes so this was a special treat for me.

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Friday, January 7, 2005
(Baby #4 – 37 weeks 3 days)

I had another ultrasound today and it seems that Emily is never coming out! LOL She weighs approximately 7 lbs 1 oz and is doing great. My cervix has gone from 4cm to 4.8cm. I think I’m the only person in the world who has strong contractions and her cervix gets longer! LOL

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Monday, January 10, 2005
(Baby #4 – 37 weeks 6 days)

I had another amnio today to check Emily’s lung maturity. She looks absolutely beautiful on the sonogram but unfortunately she’s still not quite ready to meet us. Her numbers did jump so it won’t be long now. She went from 12 to 17 on the S/A and 1.4 to 1.7 on the L/S. The doctor had told me beforehand that if the L/S was a 1.9 or higher we’d deliver tomorrow and if it wasn’t then we would deliver her next Tuesday without another tap. I’ll be 39 weeks at that point and the risk of staying pregnant beyond that is just too high. So it seems as if Emily has chosen her birthday — January 18th!

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Tuesday, January 11, 2005
(Baby #4 – 38 weeks)

Well, I think I’m going to stop mentioning Emily’s birthday because the plan has changed again. Based on yesterday’s test results the doctor doesn’t feel very comfortable delivering Emily next week without another test. The hitch is if the test comes back negative then we can’t electively deliver on Tuesday and will have to wait another week. He assured me that I will be fine if I go into labor so long as I remain in the hospital. Now that my life is out of danger, we feel we have to do everything possible to give Emily as long as she needs to mature. So I’m just like any other pregnant woman right now – I have no idea when my baby is coming! LOL Her due date is January 25th so it can’t be too much longer!

The boys came for a nice long visit this evening and we had a little picnic in the room. It was nice having such a long and fun visit and nice eating something other than hospital food!

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Monday, January 17, 2005
(Baby #4 – 38 weeks 6 days)

Well the day has finally come – today is the last full day that I will be pregnant! My c-section is scheduled for tomorrow morning bright and early at 7:30am! The boys came by for a quick visit and of course one more photo shoot with mom’s belly. I’d like to say the visit went smoothly but with emotions at an all time high it was a wee bit stressful. 😉

In the last three pictures the boys are modeling my craft project for the day – a diaper wreath. Monday through Thursday the antepartum patients meet in the “den” and have different activities. Monday is arts and crafts, Tuesday is Bingo, Wednesday is a variety of things from educational talks to bedrest aerobics and Thursday is movie day. It’s a great way for the girls to get to know other patients and have an hour outside their room. I’d like to say I was a huge participant but sadly today was my first (and only) visit to the “den”. It always seemed that I was either too drugged or sleeping (yes I do sleep from time to time *wink*).

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Tuesday, January 18, 2005
(EMILY’S BIRTHDAY!)

I couldn’t have written a more perfect birth experience if I tried! The nurses started my IV at 5:00am and by 6:00am I was off to the pre-op area. Memories came flooding back as they wheeled me to the first bed which was where I was prepped for Carter & Nathan’s delivery. At one point I think we had 8 or more doctors gathered around my bed discussing the game plan. Partly because it was shift change and partly because I never could do anything the easy way! 🙂 At 7:30am they wisked me away to the OR. We opted to do a combination spinal/epidural so that I could have the full coverage of the spinal (and hopefully avoid feeling the surgery like twice before) and I could have the post-op coverage of the epidural. Everything went well with the spinal placement and I was shocked at how fast it took effect. As soon as I was numb the urologist put stints in place in case I ended up needing the emergency hysterectomy. Once the stints were in place they brought in John and the c-section got underway. The surgery seem to last forever and I wasn’t hearing Emily cry so I started to freak. Turns out they had to do a lot of work getting past adhesions from previous surgeries. Before I knew it I heard “the head’s out” and in true Becca form I elbowed John and told him to “get a picture”. LOL I still wasn’t hearing Emily cry which was nerve racking but as soon as they got her completely away from me, she threw a fit that any woman would be proud of! I felt bad for her but it sure was music to my ears! She didn’t stop screaming until they put her back in my arms at which point she let out a huge sigh and stopped crying! It was one of the happiest moments in my life. My daughter was only minutes old and I was able to comfort her. The hospital has a new policy that allows the mother to hold her baby so long as both are stable. Words can’t express the joy and happiness of getting to hold my child while I was still in the OR. I’m used to get a brief peek (that I barely remember later) before having my child rushed to the nursery. I held Emily for what seemed a lifetime before they finally said she needed to go to the nursery. It was at this point that they pushed the Versaid into my IV and I don’t remember anything until waking up in post-op!

I spent an hour or so in post-op being monitored and getting my pain under control. As luck would have it my epidural came out so they ended up putting me on a Dilaudid PCA pump. Fine by me as Dilaudid is the “good stuff”. LOL Another hospital policy change allows for newborns to be brought to post-op so that mommy and baby can go to the room together. Unfortunately Emily’s blood sugars were too low so they had to keep her in the nursery. No problem because they just wheeled me in to where she was. Again I was on cloud nine getting to see her so quickly. I’m used to having to wait hours before I see my child.

After a long visit with Emily I was wheeled to my room where I was informed not to get comfortable. As with any perfect day, you need a perfect room and as luck would have it they were cleaning the “suite” for me! I barely got moved to the bed when they told us that the suite was ready. This room was HUGE. It was actually a three room suite equipped with “dining area”, “den” and “bedroom”. It was quite a change from my little clausterphobic room that I had lived in for 3 weeks! I was able to take a brief nap and then they wheeled Emily in to me. She was even more beautiful than I originally thought. John left to go get the boys and brought them back around 4:00pm. They were on cloud 9! They wanted to know everything about her from how the delivery went to how her blood sugars were! I can’t tell you how amazing it was to finally have all four of my children together with me in my bed. Saying I was in heaven just doesn’t do the moment justice! The boys oo’ed and ah’ed over their sister until almost 7:00pm when they left to go have dinner. Shortly after they left Miss Susan came for a visit. We did our “girl thing” for a couple of hours and then Emily and I hung out for a while. It was the perfect end to a perfect day!