18 month old and 1 week to go

I know I have been very quiet lately, sorry! I am still pregnant and getting rather uncomfortable at this point. Today marks 38 weeks and 1 day of pregnancy, only 1 week until my scheduled c-section! My bags are mostly packed, the baby's bed is set up and his clothes are all washed! I REALLY wanted this little guy to wait until March to come and I got my wish. Now all I wish for is that he will be healthy!

We went to our last visit at the perinatologist on Friday and the baby is looking great! They did a biophysical profile (BPP) and he scored 8 out of 8. He is in the 65th percentile for weight (approx 7lbs 7oz at this point) and looks great. His kidney measurement is still higher than "normal" but still in the mild range. It looks like his official diagnosis is Hydronephrosis Grade 1 and he may need a scan before or soon after he leaves the hospital.

By the end of each day I really start to feel horrible, my back begins to really ache and I start to get more contractions but nothing serious yet. If nothing happens before it, we will meet this little guy on Monday the 8th, my c-section is scheduled to start at 7:30am and we will need to be there at 5:30! :) Early day but I haven't been sleeping great anyway.

Brandon is doing great! He had his 18 month well check last week and the doctor is pleased with his progress in language. We had to do some sort of assessment (I think for autism) of his verbal/word recognition skills and he scored in the "not a concern" range for everything! Yay! He is talking more and more; he now says "Hi', "Daddy", "Mommy", "Me", "No", "Amy", "Backpack","Oww" (what he calls the cats based on the noise they make) and has imitated "Thank you" once.

He is a very loving baby who gives tons of kisses especially when you are giving him something he wants, I think it is his way of thanking us. I really hope that he will adjust well when his little brother comes home and that he is ok with me being gone for 3 days. He will get to come visit me but he is such a momma's boy that I know he will really miss me and I will miss him!

Ok, here is a picture of me at 36 weeks 2 days (2 weeks ago). It was taken with my cell so not the best but you get the idea!

Ok, I need to go lay down! Will update when he comes!

Baby # 3 update

I haven't updated much on baby # 3 due in March. Things are going pretty well. I am now 29weeks, 3days along and the baby is measuring perfectly in the 40% percentile at about 3lbs.

We have already had 5 ultrasounds so we have a lot of pictures of the little guy. Why 5 ultrasounds you may ask? Well, we had 2 at our regular OB and 3 so far at the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist (or perinatologist). We went to see her for the first time about 18 weeks along and everything looked ok. One measurement was a little "on the border" so we were asked to come back at 26 weeks to check on everything. The measurement was of the renal pelvis which is part of the kidney. If you think about the kidney itself as the branches and leaves of a tree then the renal pelvis is the trunk of the tree. It is actually where the urine is stored before it travels down to the bladder. Well, the measurement of this is important and should be less than 4mm. At the 18 week ultrasound one kidney was right at 4 and the other was under. When we went back at 26 weeks the 4mm kidney was now at 7mm and the "normal" kidney was at 4mm. We went back yesterday and the 7mm kidney is now at 7.4mm and the 4mm kidney is now at 6mm.

What does all this mean? Well, we don't know. It could mean nothing and it's just something particular with our little guy that will go away on it's own before birth or shortly afterwards. It could mean that he has something called reflux where the urine refluxes back up to the renal pelvis from the bladder (much like stomach reflux). It could mean a lot of other things that I'm not supposed to worry about right now.

The doctor is telling us not to worry; that we are just going to keep an eye on it right now. 4mm-10mm is considered a "mild" case so he is falling in that range so far. The plan going forward is to monitor this measurement so we will go back at 34 weeks and then 38 weeks (one week before delivery) to check. He will probably need to be scanned in the hospital after birth to see a better view of this (it is harder to see the full picture through my belly). If he does have reflux we will need to see a pediatric urologist and the baby will need to be on a low does of antibiotics for his first year to prevent infection. Hopefully any kind of surgery will be unnecessary.

We are praying that this is nothing and resolves on its own by birth. Will you please join us in this prayer? Like I said the doctor is telling us not to worry but, seriously, how can I NOT worry. I do have a peace that everything will be ok but still worry given our history.

Other than that one anomaly, the baby is looking great. I have now had two 3D ultrasounds done and can tell you that he is a very handsome boy who looks like his dad. His Dad, by the way, does not want to see the 3D pictures so I will not be posting them for you to see. [sorry!]

Here is a video of the baby moving his mouth (you can also see his heart beating) as well as a few pictures!

Thanks for your prayers!

It's been a long time!

I bet you were all wondering where I went. The past couple of months have just flown by and so much has been going on. I don't think I have blogged about this yet but, we are expecting baby #2 in March! Yes, Brandon is going to be a big brother at the tender age of just 19 months. This newest addition to our family was a very big surprise, but very welcomed! I always joke that God must have a big sense of humor!

Brandon is doing so well! He has really bonded with both Patrick and me; we are just so in love with him! I mean, come on, wouldn't you be?



He brings joy to each day, we just love spending time with him. He started walking about a month ago and has just really perfected the skill! Everyone said that we would question why we were so anxious for him to walk but actually I love it! I don't have to carry him everywhere and, he was into everything when he wasn't walking, so it's pretty much the same.

Another new development is that we have moved to the new house! Yes, it finally went through and as of Sept 11th we are the proud owners of a bigger, better house! I love the new house, all the bedrooms (3) are on the same floor and I have a formal living and dining room. PLUS I have a huge eat-in kitchen! Yay! The family room downstairs is where you can find us most of the time. We have the TV there plus the office and a play area for Brandon. It's great!

Today we went to the perinatal specialist to make sure everything looked good with the baby. It went great! I am 18 weeks, 5 days and the baby is measuring perfectly!



Oh, by the way, it's a BOY!!!! Yes, that's right...I am going to be the mom to 2 boys under the age of 2! Yikes, I will be busy! I am over the moon that everything looks good with our little baby boy and just love the doctor we went to. We are going back when I am almost 27 weeks along to check in with the little guy and make sure everything is still looking good. We have such great doctors who totally understand our worry and fear and are doing everything in their power to help us through this pregnancy.

I am feeling pretty good, the first trimester was a little difficult with morning sickness. Actually mine was at night but I guess it's still call morning sickness! :)

The final update is the blog itself. Did you notice I have a new look? I was lucky enough to WIN a blog redesign and we just finished all the changes last week! What do you think?

Ok, that's all for now!