She's here and I'm a bit late...

Emily Faith arrived on July 3rd, 2007 at 3:15 am. I was induced due to preeclampsia on the 2nd. I had 10 hours of labor and about 12 minutes of pushing. It was a great delivery. I had a very horrible aftermath, with hemmorhaging and blood clots, surgery and blood transfusions but in the end, now that I am almost back to normal, it was worth it to have my miracle here with us.

On the eve of 9 months

Well tomorrow I will be 36 weeks pregnant! A milestone of all milestones in a sense. They won't stop it if I go into labor now. My doctor is happy with Emily's growth, she is probably weighing in close to 6 - 6.5 lbs right now. I am already 75% effaced so that usually means dilation may start any time, yay! I have had some major swelling issues, but my blood pressure and protein levels are just fine as of last check, so as long as I can keep my feet up I can still feel my feet! Otherwise when they swell it feels like the skin is going to split open and a constant pins and needles feeling as I walk on them.

I'm ready to meet my little girl. I'm ready to hold her in my arms and face to face tell her how much we love her and want her. That she is truly a gift from God. There is no other way to explain it. I get all teary eyed just thinking about the day I will give birth to her and look at her for the first time. That connection. I really look forward to it for my husband as well. Something he was never able to do with his son and being such a part of this with his daughter is a dream I have for him. I can't wait to see Emily in her Daddy's arms and the man he will become when he sees his daughter for the first time. It's obvious the hormone levels are on the rise. I'm a raging nut one minute and a babbling sentimental idiot the next, I have a feeling I will be riding this hormone wave for the next few months as life transitions from being a family of 2, to a family of 3 and 4. It is that time again, summer time and our biggest chunk of time with Nathan's son. This year we will have 5 weeks with him and another blessing God has given us, after our time, he won't be returning to Hawaii, he will be staying right here in Oregon. He moves back basically when he comes for our visit. This is something we have prayed for since he moved 2 years ago. God has been so faithful to us this last 9 months. Prayers for both our children have come to fruition and I am still in awe.

This summer is going to be busy and hectic and I'm positive not without it's ups and downs but I know who I am counting on when I start to doubt...

Watch out world, Emily Faith is on her way!

This was Saturday at my baby shower, 35 weeks 4 days

Has it been that long already?

Oh I am I a horrible blogger. I'm sure once I have my daughter I will want to share every tid bit and poopy diaper story just like the rest but have not wanted to be a pest about my lack of ability to be good at being pregnant. You guessed it, still have the nausea and guess what's supposed to happen in 6 weeks??? You got that one too hey, I'm supposed to birth a child!

Let's say I am scared to death. My biggest fear is I am going to be horrible at birthing just like I am at gestating! So my newest pregnancy ailment besides swollen hands/feet, heartburn, acid reflux and general uncomfort, oh lest not forget, feeling sick all the time is ophthalmic migraines. They are these fun headaches that sometimes don't come with headaches, oh did that not make sense to you either? So here is what happened a few weeks ago. I was hanging out with some girl friends and all of a sudden I lost the peripheral vision in my right eye, then I started to get these crazy flashy zig zag lights in the same eye. So I lied down and within about a half an hour it was gone. Of course it happened again a few days later while I was driving at night. So I felt as the needy little pregnant lady I have been with my doc, just to hold off on telling her til my next appointment only a few days ahead. No biggy right? Wrong...after a discussion about TIA's and other stroke factors being that a pregnant woman has an astronomical amount of extra blood in her body, she consulted with a neurosurgeon and an ophthalmologist. Guess who was getting her eyes dilated the very next day. Yep you got, sickly over here. Of course all looked well but I had the classic signs and symptoms of ophthalmic migraines. What can you do for these you ask...in a pregnant woman, nothing! So I have had about 4 more and one of those did turn into a full migraine for 24 hours and 2 episodes of vision loss. At least from what I've read and they told me, there isn't much danger with them.

So besides that all is well. Emily and I have gained a whopping 7 lbs this pregnancy, that is from my first OB appointment at 9 weeks. Makes me proud. I'm hoping to break the 10lb mark by my due date. Anyone want to place bets? At this point Emily is great, measuring right on schedule, using her parasitic powers to gain every ounce from me. She is estimated to be about 4.5 to 5lbs right now. I get to have a baby shower up in the good ol' Emerald City this coming long weekend with a few old friends from Canada and few that have defected south like myself. Then the following weekend is the big one here at home and also the light at the end of the tunnel will get a whole lot brighter, it will be 4 weeks until I become a real life mom.

Here are a few pics of me getting ever larger....





The last one is me at 33 weeks, last week. My mom was dying to see how big I was so while I was on the phone with her I had Nathan take some pictures so her, my sister and my nieces could see how big my belly was.

4D How cool!

Here are a few images of our daughter Emily. She is so perfect. Loves to smile and laugh already. Has the cutest little mouth and chubby little cheeks. What an amazing way to bond with your unborn child. If I could figure out how to download the video of the whole thing I would be happy but for now, these pictures will have to do.

23 weeks and hypnosis

So tomorrow marks 23 weeks. Miss Emily is growing like a weed. Me, I'm still trying to gain my first pound. I have to drink things like whole milk, eat ice cream, danishes and anything that has more calories than the average meal. Sounds good to most folks, the whole unrestricted diet but when it comes to my appetite, a lot of those things are sweet and well, sweet stuff hasn't really interested me lately. My goal is that by March 28 I will have gained some wait, anything really will be good. Otherwise my doc said she is going to send me to the Perinatologist (high risk OB). My doc, the sweet girl she is, always refers to Emily and all fetuses as "parasites", basically she is going to take all she needs from me and leave me with nothing. Which for Emily is great, in the end for me could be bad but so far so good. Although today I have started to the shakes in my hands. I thought it might be due to hunger but I have eaten 3 times since it started and its still there. Guess we will have to watch that.

Today I went to the Hypnotherapist...this is our last resort for my tummy aches. It's also the last time I'm suppose to talk about my nausea. You know the whole positive thinking approach. Only allowed to discuss it with my husband and doctor, that includes myself she said. So since it's my last straw, it has to work right? Right, that's what I thought!

I have to say even with my woes of pregnancy I love being pregnant. I love knowing my daughter is growing inside me. It is amazing when she moves about and plays dancing games on my bladder during church. Even more fun is when she pushes my stomach so far up my torso that it feels as though I have a 12 inch knife blade tearing through my esophogus! Thank goodness it's ok for me to take Z*antac! I have learned a lot about myself. I have a dream so big to be a mother, I will endure it all to see her in the end, happy, healthy and chubby! And I might even do it all over again. I just need some of that Mommy amnesia to get over the fear of 9 months of nausea.

Here we are at 22 weeks. All happy and pink. We will go for our 3d/4d ultrasound on St. Patty's Day. My mom is going to take the train down to visit for the weekend and to join us for the main event. I will be scoping that screen for any additional parts. I'd die if Emily was really and Austin and our child's whole wardrobe would be pink!

She has a name!

Our daughter now has a name. Emily Faith. I was really wanting Emma but hubby couldn't quite get into it and he suggested Emily which after a few days I realized was just as pretty. Faith is a very obvious name, we had so much faith in God for the past 2 years there was no other choice. She will always be our reminder that faith is a necessity in life and especially through the hard times. I can't wait to share with my daughter why we chose her middle name.

For anyone interested here is Emily via my belly at 19 weeks. I still have not gained a pound, still down 6 lbs since my first prenatal visit at 9 weeks.

It's a Girl!

She's perfect and beautiful. She has long fingers like her mommy, not sure if she has daddy's nose cause she did't want the tech to take that picture, makes me wonder!! Here is my daughter, 18 weeks 3/4 days. My due date was moved up 3-4 days to the end of June, will have to double check with my doc.

I'm a bad blogger

I apologize, I've been a bad girl. I have not blogged in a month. I'm going to lose the 4 readers I have due to my inability to think of something entertaining to tell you about my pregnancy and life. Well here is your update for the last month...

Update 1: I will be 17 weeks on Tuesday, praise God!

Update 2: Yes I'm still sick! One of the main reasons I can't think of many new ways to say "throwing up and nausea suck" but it's all worth it in the end. I have not gained one pound. At last count I had gained back 2 of the 10 lbs I have lost so far. I am on my meds still and thank goodness for FMLA cause I would not have a job at this point if I didn't.

Update 3: I look pregnant and here is a photo to show you that you can grow a belly and not actually gain any weight.


Update 4: You are guaranteed to get another update no later then January 31. I have my gender ultrasound on the 30th. My guess is boy, my husband just thinks it's a kid.

Update 5: I moved my baby this afternoon. They were situated up on my right side under the lap top and I was like, gosh that spot is awfully firm, so I sort of laid into him/her, ok before you call cps, I'm kidding, I just kind of pushed and low and behold they sort of moved. It was cool. I think I have felt a few twitches and kicks but that is the all time coolest thing so far.

Update 6: Your intestines do really just get shoved up into your stomach and lungs. I can now here my stomach gurgle louder than ever and in the most unusual spots, like they are coming from my ribs or something. This pregnancy thing is pretty interesting, even if it is all about being nauseous, all the time.

Chicken Soup you are not my friend

So I fell off the "I haven't puked" bandwagon. I fell off last Friday, it was a quick fall and I haven't fallen since. Weirdest thing...I felt kind of gruff in the morning so decided it was a good day to stay home. I didn't eat too much for breakfast but made sure to have some water to hydrate myself, learned that lesson once already! So lunch starts to roll around and I said, "well I'm actually hungry, chicken soup sounds good and should be easy on my tummy, its just broth and noodles and both are good for the morning sick lady". How wrong was I? The last bite, I'm off and running and very kindly my dog followed me and sat right by my side as his poor mommy barfed her little guts out. He nudged me as I went to get up and clean myself off as to say, "Hey lady, you not going eat that?" Sorry that was bad but I'm positive that is what he was thinking!

In other news, I am 11 weeks today, the bean seems to be growing up a storm my lower belly is starting to harden, like I might have a muscle down in there under all the chub. I had to ask the nurse last week at our OB group appt, why if my baby is the size of a strawberry does the upper half of my belly stick out so much like I'm 6 months preggo?? "Oh that's just your bowels, they are distended, nothing is working properly in there right now". Ya tell me about it.

So next week is the big week, 12 weeks, I head into my Second Trimester. Can you guys believe it? I surely can't since I'm asking. I feel different, I'm growing out of certain garments at an alarming rate and others are just a bit tight, but sometimes I really find it hard to believe that this week my baby is the size of an apricot already. He/she moves around, kicks me, punches me and it all goes unnoticed. I talk to the baby, tell them how much we love them but I can not wait until next week when they will let me hear that little heartbeat, thump thump, thump thump. I won't lie, I'm still scared to death that I will get some bad news but try to take each day and the signs of things going well to try and ease my mind. Gosh it's going to be a long 40 weeks folks!

Please Lord!

Let me feel better! Sorry I have been MIA...last you heard I was heading to spend a lovely Thanksgiving with my family...right so we drove 4 hours, got their Wednesday evening, I had been given a medication to help ease my morning sickness, got really bad right after my last post, anyway we got to my parents, I went right to bed and then woke up the next morning to take my meds and enjoy the day. So that didn't happen, I ended up going right back to sleep for ohhhhhhh the rest of the day, got up for dinner and then headed to phone because I was having anxiety attacks and restlessness, I spoke with the nurse and she said, oh that is one of a very rare side effect from that med. Great I get the one super rare side effect...at this point I am pacing the house, feeling like death and sleeping. So my thanksgiving day stunk to put it nicely. Friday morning I woke up feeling worse than the day before and not even being able to get water down. I knew it was time to go home and go to the doctor.

5 hours driving home because I needed to stop about 5 times and I am in the hospital with a blood pressure of 91/35 and being pumped with iv's and 2 litres of fluid, they said I was a little "dry". 5 more hours in the ER and we get home, I got a new medication that didn't give me problems and I am on the road to drinking fluid and thinking about eating. So a week and a half later I am hoping and praying that there is only about 2 weeks left of this...we shall see.

Other than the morning sickness, I have just been plugging along. Got a quick little peek at the bean last week at my appt and boy what a difference 3 weeks made, it looks like a real baby now. I go today for an information session at my ob's and then my next appt is my 12 wk appt for the end of my first trimester on 12/20.

People at work tell me I'm getting chubby in the belly but I don't see it, I just see the fat I had before LOL.

Hope everyone is well.