Thankful....

I am thankful for my family. I am so lucky to have a terrific husband and two awesome kiddos. I am thankful for such wonderful family members who are always willing to lend a hand and are great people to hang out with. I am thankful for some fantastic friends who are there to laugh with, cry with, vent with, shop with, and so much more. I am thankful for good neighbors. I am thankful for my health and to have a roof over my head. I am thankful so many things, the list goes on and on. At a time when many have little or nothing, I remind myself of what I am thankful for.

Six Months

My younger baby is now 6 months old. Where does the time go? Phoenix is growing so fast, and with the second child, I feel you learn to appreciate all the changes so much more. You are not hurrying the new and exciting things like with a first baby. Even with the appreciation for him in the moment, the moments fly by much too quickly. He is skootching himself around the floor and has gotten into crawl position a few times. Daddy thinks Phoenix may crawl by Christmas. I think he may be right. Looks like we'll have another early walker most likely.

Prematurity Awareness Month

November is Prematuriy Awareness Month. Every day 1 in 8 babies born in the U.S. arrives too soon. Premature birth can happen to any pregnant woman, and no one knows why. It is a serious, common and costly problem. The March of Dimes is leading the campaign to reduce premature birth by supporting research and by educating the public and health care providers. On a side note, the leading cause of known premature births is from preeclampsia.

As a parent of a preemie, I appreciate all the work that the March of Dime's does. You can see Ariana's MOD Band here:
http://www.marchofdimes.com/howtohelp/b.asp?band_id=7479

Running for a Cure to Preeclampsia

There is a woman who I find courageous and inspiring. Her name is Jill and she is running in the New York City Marathon in a few days on Nov 5. She developed HELLP Syndrome during her pregnancy and went through a nightmare. You can read her story here: http://www.bigapplemiraclemarathon.com/index.htm

Jill is doing an amazing thing, both personally and for the Preeclampsia Foundation. I am so proud of what she has accomplished!

Those ADS!!!!

Jeez, I can't wait until the Nov. elections are over! I'm so sick and tired of all the tv commercials. He did this, he did that, she did this, she didn't do that. Come on!! I don't want to hear anyone attacking another candidate! Can you just tell me who you are and what you can do for our state? I'm so tired of the attacks. Of course, with the prez election shaping up for '08 I think it will be one loooonnnggg year.
That said, please get out and VOTE!! And please be an educated voter, do the research to see what candidate best fits your views.

Been Awhile

Well, can't tell I haven't been here in a while can you? Things are rolling along here.
Phoenix is now 5 months old and is growing so much each day. He loves to eat cereal and just tried carrots (which he LOVED) and peas (didn't like at all) this week. He's rolling onto his tummy all day long and cries when he gets stuck. He hasn't quite figured out the whole rolling from tummy to back thing yet.

Ariana started preschool this month and is lovin' it. She has so much fun and is learning new things which is always cool. She's excited for Halloween and can't wait until we have snow that stays on the ground so she can make snow angels. She, too, is growing up fast. She recovered quickly from her surgery and is breathing so much better now. For some kids solid foods don't start until a couple days post-op, but not our kid. She wanted pancakes within hours.

Jason is a walking fiend lately. They started a walking challenge at work and he's been walking up to 5 miles a day! Way to go, hon!

I'm enjoying my current job of parenting. ;-) Two kids is so much more difficult than one, but it's worth it. I'm taking two classes that just started. One is a digitial photography course for 3 weeks. Very interesting and I learned quite a bit from the first class. I'm also taking a belly dancing class. Great fun and exercise!

Well, that's all for now. The phone is ringing and I've got a crappy diaper to change.

Hello

Well, it's Monday. I have 3 more days left of work and then I'm officially a stay at home mom. I'm sad, yet happy to leave work. I'll miss my co-workers tremendously. However, I'm excited to spend time with the kids and be there for them.

Ariana has her surgery Wed. She's having her tonsils and adenoids out. I'm sure it will go well, but I still worry.

Our newest family member

Phoenix Alexander was born Monday, May 22, 2006 at 1:12pm. He weighed 5 pounds 6 ounces and is 18.5 inches long.

37 weeks!

BABY DAY!!!

36 weeks, 3 days

I saw the OB this morning for a check. I'm dilated to 2 cm!! So, with the way my blood pressure has been and the dilation....we are GO FOR LAUNCH!! Baby Phoenix will be arriving sometime on Monday, May 22!! I've reached the point with my gestational hypertension that it's not coming down well with rest and that is not good. At this point, things would probably get worse rather than better. So the line has been reached and I'll be induced early Monday morning. If something happens over the weekend, we will roll with it and deliver.

So keep us in your thoughts for a smooth, easy, fast, and as painless as possible labor and delivery! We'll get the word out as soon as we can once he's here!

36 week update

My bp is up yet, and I had a big spike so I am waiting to hear from the doctor about what he wants me to do. Even resting, my bp is running 150s/high90-100s.

Update: We ran up to the birthing center as my bp was up yet in the evening. Had an NST where baby did great. He had the hiccups while on the monitor and that was pretty cool to listen to. My bp did come down a bit while there, and I got sent home with instructions to relax. Quite honestly, this visit to the birthing center was awful. I'm so scared and the nurse was just horrendous. Not supportive at all. I left in tears. I just want my baby out and for both of us to be safe.

36 week BPP

I had my BPP today and we checked out great. 8/8 again. We did a weight check on Phoenix and with his measurements, they approximate him to be 5lbs 10oz. These can be off by 1/2 pound or so, so we could be having a 5-6.5 pound guppy! I've got another face shot.

My blood pressure has been up with a couple spikes here and there. Keeping an eye on that.

36 weeks!

We made it to 36 weeks!!! WOOHOO! That was the ultimate goal! My bp is continuing to hang out around 140/90. The nurse that took it initially got a low reading of 122/73, but I know that was not right. The OB retook it himself after looking at what she had down. He got 138/88. We are still rocking along. Baby's heartbeat was good on doppler. The OB felt around and Phoenix is still head down. He thinks baby will be a smaller baby. Since Jason and I don't really have any giant genetic material, I'm not surprised. ;-) We may be plump, but we're not super tall people.

The plan is to continue on and see how things go. I have a BPP Tuesday, and return for an OB check, labs & NST on Thursday.

35 weeks, 3 days

I am still pregnant! We saw the OB today and things are still looking okay. My blood work came back alright, and the NST this morning went well. My bp has been running great yesterday and today, which is nice. While I'm ecstatic that things are going well currently, I'm still a bundle of nerves just waiting for something to happen. I feel like I'm a ticking time bomb waiting to get sick. Each day helps Phoenix, but each day seems to make me a bit more neurotic. (no jokes please ;-) )

We continue to take things day by day. I see the doctor on Monday and have a BPP on Tuesday. Apparently, I was contracting on the monitor this week and he suggested that maybe the stomach pains were caused by the contractions. He sympathized with the anxiety that I am feeling. The normal aches & pains of pregnancy have extra meanings for us as they can be signs of preeclampsia. He's worried that if I could face a failed induction resulting in a c-section if my body just isn't ready to have this baby. With a complication like preeclampsia, the body knows the baby needs to come out and thus starts to prepare itself for delivery. At this point, because I don't have a serious enough complication my body isn't making itself overly ready like it did with Ariana. So, we are still rolling along and hoping for the best.

35 weeks, 1 day

I woke up today not feeling well and having epigastric pain. I called into work and said I felt cruddy so I'd be staying home today. The pain came and went all day. I laid in bed all day and my bp was running just over 140/90 all day. I called the nurse and she said to try laying down to see if the pain went away. If not, I could come into labor & delivery to get checked over.

Jason did talk me into going up to L&D. I was not impressed with the nurse I had. She hooked me up to the monitors and we got to listen to Phoenix for a while. That was very reassuring. My bp was okay there, and of course the pain went away while I was laying there. So, back home we went. I was instructed to call the office Wed if the pain continued.