Our 6th year Wedding Anniversary

September 1, 2001

Two young crazy kids in-love took the plunge.

We got married a few days after Tropical Storm Allison dumped 37 inches of rain & flooded the roads forcing my sister, parents and I to evacuate to higher grounds, which happened to be into my new one bedroom apartment that was unfurnished (except for one bed & a couch.) Its was a disaster. The morning of my wedding day it rained and I cried. My mom trying to comfort me told me its Good Luck (whatever) but I just knew no one would be able to make it with the floods and barricaded roads. But by the time I got to the church there was this beautiful rainbow in the sky, something I'll never forget. It was there to remind me that our Lord made Noah and his descendants an everlasting promise, that after each storm there would be a rainbow. (Gen. 9:1-17)

The wedding ceremony & reception went off with out a hitch. Despite the floods & closed roads our church and reception venue was filled with family and friends and I couldn't have been more happy. It truly was the most perfect day that every little girl dreams of.

Skipping ahead 3 (wonderful) years, we began TTC. Figuratively, that was our bad flood. The flood of emotions, infertility and continuous heartbreaks after each pregnancy loss. I never thought we'd ever see a rainbow or an end to these tragic painful years of trying to have a baby and failing.

Here we are 6 years later, celebrating not only our anniversary but now we are about to see the rainbow we have been waiting so long for.

Our son.

Thank God.

NEW Birth Date

After a brief conversation with my Ob this morning, she informed me that the c-section date has been changed. The c-section will be done on Sept. 6th at 7:30am.

So here's my schedule for next week:

Sept. 1 -- Our 6 year Wedding Anniversary
Sept. 3 -- Priest, Father Jack is coming over to bless us & baby (9:30am)
Sept. 4 -- I have a pre-op/last OB appointment (2:20pm)
Sept. 5 -- Pre-op/admissions at the hospital (10:00am)
Sept. 6 -- C-Section (7:30am) Baby's Birth Day!

I am so excited & anxious to meet our son. I pray that the surgery goes well and he is ok. I don't know what issues we're are going to have to face once he's born, but I DO know that what ever they are, with plenty of prayers and each other we're going to be strong enough to make it. So to all my cyber-sisters out there, my husband and I thank you for all your support and well wishes. We just ask that you continue to lift up our son in prayer.

The miracle that this little boy already is to us probably wouldn't be, had it not been for the power of prayer.

Last ultrasound pic

Here's the last ultrasound picture at 33 wks 5 days

weighing 4 lbs 13 oz

11 days to go until Baby Day!

The 2ww

So just when I thought the 2 week waits are over, their not. Although the kinda 2ww we're in, is very different then the normal kind we're used to. We're in a 2ww for our c-section! We finally set a date, we're having our baby Sept. 7th. YAY!

These past couple of days, I've been so busy, busy, busy from the bed-quarters. I've called the hospital to get my admission papers sent to me, so I don't gotta worry about that when we go in on the big day. I've found the most awesome I mean awwwwesome pediatrician for my son, which is going to work hand-in-hand with my pediatric neurologist. And today (as I'm writing this) my husband is at BBiesRus buying the travel system (carseat & stroller combo) that I ended up finding online. We have our bags packed, baby's clothes blankets and bedding washed, all that we're missing now is... the baby!

I have one more Ob appointment, Sept 4th will be my pre-op appointment and hopefully by then I'll have put together a birth plan. I know, I know, bad me. I haven't done that yet... So if anyone has any suggestions for a c-section birth plan PLEASE send them my way.

Ultrasound

Today we're 33 wks 5 days. I tell ya, time is really starting to fly by...

I had an appt this morning with my Maternal Fetal Med. Dr. and it went well. During the ultrasound this little boy was soooo active. His heartbeat was 161 bpm, and he is now weighing a nice 4 lbs 13 oz. Just little 3 ounces shy of FIVE pounds! I really didn't expect him to be so big, I was thinking/hoping he'd be a little over 4 but had no idea he'd be pushing 5. That was definitely a pleasant surprise. My MFMD said that if my Ob schedules our c-section at 36wks, than this was my last ultrasound. If she schedules it to be done at 37wks then we'll have one more ultrasound.

So tomorrow I have an appointment with my Ob, and we're gonna set our date. I'm so, sooo excited. Its taken me quite some time, but now that we're rearing the end of this pregnancy I'm finally excited, and anxious to have our baby. I mean, we've wanted a baby for so long, but with our last 3 years of trying, dealing with IF and experiencing 3 losses it took us a long time to accept that a live baby could actually be born at the end of this pregnancy. We were taking this pregnancy day by day, and just accepting that with our past we were scared into being cautious about opening our heart. I finally feel that my heart is completely opened to him and we have fallen in love with him and I have to say it feels so good. For us to finally be able to love opened heartedly with no caution behind it... It really does feel so good.

I just pray to God that the love and faith that we have in Him will continue to carry us through to the end of this journey, so we can start the next.

33wks.

Thirty three weeks, can you believe it?! Just 3 weeks to go!
(Give and take a few days, since we haven't set a date yet.)

This week has been a good week. I've been getting up a little more, rotating from the bed to the couch, then to the recliner. Its been nice. My back and hips are feeling a lot less achey which makes me one happy, waddling-around, big bellied gal.

I've had quite of bit of company these days. My grandma came over to visit because she told my mom she wanted to see me pregnant. My mom told her that I don't got much longer that I will be pregnant, so my mom brought her over and they spent the day with me. My little ol' grandma is so sweet, my mom brought us lunch and when we were done she picked up my plate and started washing dishes, wiping down counters and cleaning my (already clean) kitchen. I begged her to stop, but she insisted. She said she didn't want Richard to have to do anything when he got home from work, except but tend to me.

Then one of my aunts got word that my grandma came to visit me because I'm in my last weeks of this pregnancy, then SHE wanted to come see me too. So yesterday I had her over for lunch. It was nice. I got to give my MIL a break from me & my house and I got to visit with someone else.

Baby update: He's growing, getting heavier and making it quite challenging to get to sleep at night. He seems to be confused as to when its night & day. Right around midnight, whether I'm asleep or awake, he gets a burst of energy. If I'm asleep he wakes me up with his karate kicks, and tumbling. I sometimes snuggle up close and put my belly close to Richard's back while he's asleep to see if his movements are strong enough to wake him up, and they are! Like this morning. The alarm went off at 5:00am, Richard hit snooze, but from 5 till 6 I couldn't go back to sleep because this little guy got the hiccups. And there is no way I could get back to sleep with my belly jumping every few seconds. I just lay there quietly rubbing and rubbing my belly hoping to somehow soothe him so they'd stop. Eventually they did because I dozed off and when I woke up the hiccups were gone.

Nursery news: Richard has been working on the baby's room. We've put it off for long enough, and now that we're just 3 weeks away he's now starting to get it together. (We put off doing the nursery because we were scared and didn't know if this pregnancy was going to work out or not. Guess that's just how a pregnancy after losses goes.) But now that we are getting down to the wire, we're having to work double time to try & finish. We had painted the room before we were pregnant, but we didn't finish the trim. So while he was working on it I snapped a quick picture of Richard after he had pulled up the carpet and was working on the baseboards. But lemme tell you, I got in SO MUCH trouble for getting up, walking over there, and not wearing a breathing mask in that room, just to take this one quick picture. Don't tell Richard I said this but, it was worth it! He finished painting the room and the carpet is gonna be installed this weekend. So right now its not much of a nursery, and probably won't be till after I'm able to go pick out the "perfect" crib & accessories.

32wks

Another week down, and 4 more to go.

Yesterday I had an Ob appt and it went well. Baby's heartbeat was 146 bpm, and my fundal height is maybe two inches below my bust. The nurse was like, "Girlfriend, how are you breathing?!" I answer, "I bearly am." I guess since I'm short (5'2") and I gotta short torso my breathing feels compromised with the pressure and weight of this little guy pressing on my lungs. And laying down isn't helping my breathing or digestion, but I gotta do what I gotta do. Funny but at this rate, if he continues growing like this he's gonna be up under my boo.bies soon! And I'd be the first woman ever to sport a Boobelly! LOL
I digress, back to the appt. My Ob said that since we're getting really close to the end it would be ok for me to ease up in the strict bed rest. I still can't go shopping, but it would be ok if I was to walk around a little in the house, and sit up a little more. She said that should help with my back & hip aches, help my breathing and lessen indigestion. My husband wasn't with me, and since he's the strictest one on me, I was tempted to ask for that in writing! But he understood, and last night I got the privilege of sitting in the recliner for an hour. Ohhh the simple joys I get from sitting down. I'm sure those that have "served time" on bed rest, understand. It was great. So at my next Ob appt (Aug 21st) we're gonna set a date for the c-section. OMG I so can't wait! I've been looking at the month of September, weighing my options as to when would be the perfect birth date. So here's what I got so far:

Sept. 1 - Is our 6 yr Wedding Anniversary
Sept. 3 & 4 - Would be ok
Sept. 5 - Is exactly 36 wks.
Sept. 6 & 7 - Would be good
Sept. 8 - SIL's b-day
Sept 9 & 10 - Would also be good

But of course ANY of those days would be a good day to have a baby. But if I had a choice as to the ideal date I'd say the 7th or 9th simply because its a week after our anniversary, so birthday parties can be planned, as well as Anniversary weekend getaways (much further down the line, of course.) The 10th is ok too, I just don't want anything to close to the 11th because of the tra.degy of 9/11. Not for superstitious reasons, just don't want every birthday to be gloomy or saddened by anniversary of the world's loss of that day.

31st week - Baby's Name

As used to it as I should be by now, every week that passes is still so amazing to me. Today we're 31 weeks along and I am so thankful to God that He has blessed us with another week. This week also marked my 15th week on bedrest, which I must admit is now a little easier with the thought in mind that we just have 5 more weeks to go.

Baby update: He's now weighing 3 lbs 9 ounces, and is still head down face down. His movements in utero have changed so much these last two weeks. For the most part he is pretty calm, and his movements were gentle. But these last two weeks he's kicked it up a notch and is showing me that he is getting to be pretty strong. Yesterday my SIL & niece came over to visit and he happened to have the hiccups and they lasted probably a good 15 minutes. My niece sat next to me in bed and had her hand on my belly to feel him hiccup for a while. She thought I could help him get rid of the hiccups by drinking water or by holding my breath but I had to tell her that wouldn't help, they'd go away on their own in time.
As far as our son's name, we have named him but have chosen to keep it somewhat of a surprise. So to all yall in blogland, hang in there just 5 more weeks until its revealed. However, I will say that we have chosen to honor our angel son Erik Michael and have chosen to give this baby the same middle name, Michael. And with St. Michael being the Patron Saint of protection, we saw it to fit him well since we know he is being watched over by angels.
But that's the only clue yall get for his name. :)