Pregnancy Update

So this pregnancy is proving to be a lot more for my body to handle than my previous pregnancies. I think the main reason is my body didn't have time to completely heal before getting pregnant again. I believe doctors recommend you wait at least one year after a c-section to get pregnant again. Well, my body only had a whopping four months to heal before going through it again. I have been on medication to help calm contractions/cramping for a couple of months now and it was helping. I had stopped taking it as everything was calm and the medicine caused me to have terrible headaches.

This past weekend I started having even worse contractions that were completely different than what I had been experiencing. It's strange, they induced contractions after my water broke with Carter and I know they hurt. They hurt bad enough that I had an epidural but I can't for the life of me remember exactly what they felt like. I think that is God's way of making sure you have more children. So, this past weekend I didn't know what to think. I knew that if I called my doctor he would tell me to go to the hospital and get checked out. That isn't so easy to do when you have a 3 year old and an 11 month old asleep at 10:30 at night. It probably wasn't the smartest decision but nonetheless I decided to just take my medicine and go to bed. They never got better but they never got worse. I think part of me wasn't that concerned just because after twenty something hours of labor with Carter I never dilated past 3 cm and my body just wouldn't go into active labor.

I called my doctor's nurse yesterday morning and she scheduled me to go in at 2:30 that afternoon. One of my friends let me drop Carter off at her house and he played with her three kids while I went to the doctor. So much easier to take one kiddo to the doctor than two! My mom met me at the doctor's office since John had meetings he couldn't get out of. He did an internal exam and everything seemed to be fine. I wasn't dilating and my cervix was still very high. He also did a Fetal fibronectin test which indicates if you are likely to go into labor within the next two weeks.

Dr. Jacoby called me this afternoon with the results. Normally his nurse calls me when it is good news so imagine my surprise when he called me himself. My heart sank when I heard him on the other end of the phone. But, luckily it was good news. The fFN test came back negative which means I am good for at least another two weeks. He had me keep my scheduled appointment for July 21st when I will be 31 weeks. Hopefully everything remains uneventful until then!

Another Practice Photo Shoot

Yesterday I loaded the boys into the car around 8:30 and we headed to a nearby park for me to practice taking some pictures. Carter was a great sport but quickly got over it! He was fascinated by a turtle that was about 50 feet away from us. Preston did great and since he isn't a fan of the grass, he didn't move from his little blanket I sat him on. It quickly, as in a matter of 5 minutes, got super hot and humid so we were only there for about 30 minutes but I'm glad I took them out there. The more practice I get the better I am learning my camera and the better I can get. Not to mention the cute pictures I'm getting of my boys!! I just hope they don't hate me for always taking their pictures!! I posted some of the pictures on my other blog. I hope you enjoy!

New Favorite Bible Verse

All of our boys have what we call silkies. They are the best things in the world. Both Carter and Preston are very attached to theirs. My nephew, Cayden, was the first in our family to have a silkie and I think he called them his binky. Anyways, you can get a little piece of fabric sewn on the side of it that says, "Under His wing God showers me with comfort. 2 Cor 1:15." I have made sure to get all of our silkies with this as I think it has a great meaning. I just ordered Baby #3's silkie with his name on it and so excited to have gotten in the mail the other day. On the package there is a sticker and it says:

Precious is God's unfailing love

Trust in the shadow of His wings

Psalms 36:7

This just spoke volumes to me this past week. We have been praying for Baby and his health and I need to always remember this verse! I hope all of my kids can feel the comfort of knowing God and trusting in him!

27 Week Doctor Appointment

I had my 27 week doctor appointment today and it went great! We had a sono done to check on the cyst that had developed on Baby's brain. It had completely resolved on it's own like Dr. Jacoby said it would. We couldn't be more happy and grateful. We had a lot of people praying for us and are very grateful for all of the thoughts and prayers. She went ahead and took measurements of the baby and he is measuring right on track. I am currently 27 weeks and 2 days and he measured 27 weeks 3 days. He is approximately 2 pounds and 6 ounces and in the 49th percentile. He is now transverse and laying on his back with his head and arms and legs up in my ribs. It is definitely making it uncomfortable for me! I had gained 7 more pounds. I couldn't believe I had gained that much in a matter of 4 weeks but the nurse said it should all even out as I have only gained 20 pounds all together and it's about average for being 27 weeks. I think we need to lay off the daily snow cones though! :) My blood pressure was 110/70 . I also had blood drawn for the glucose test. I should find out early next week what the results are. I hope I passed and don't have to go on a diabetic diet. I haven't had gestational diabetes with either Carter nor Preston so I will be a little shocked if it shows I do have it. I have been more tired lately so I am assuming my iron levels are low and need to start supplementing but should hear about that next week too. We talked about getting my tubes tied and we still haven't fully decided on if we want to do that. It will only take an extra five minutes in the operating room while I'm having my c-section but it is just so final. I know I don't want to have any more kids but totally eliminating the option makes me a little sad. There are days that I am 100% sure I want my tubes tied and then days that I'm only 75% sure. I know I shouldn't do it unless I am absolutely 100% sure so we have a couple of more months to talk about it. We also talked about when to schedule my c-section. He said I could pick any day the week of September 14th. I don't really care which day and I don't think I will make it that far anyways. Preston didn't make it to his scheduled date so I'm not too worried. My goal is to make it to September. If I make it to September then I will be happy. It is going to be one long hot summer though. It was supposed to get up to 100 degrees today. I'm not sure if it did but it is miserably hot!!

Here is a picture of his profile.

I asked her to confirm that he is still a boy and he is definitely all boy!! :)

How do you teach a 3 year old about disappointment?

I had to see, for the first time tonight, my three year be let down by a complete stranger. I responded to an add on Craigslist for a Little Tykes picnic table. It would have been perfect for the boys in the backyard. I was the first to respond and spoke to them on the phone. I told them we were on our way. The man asked that I call when I got close so that he was expecting us. I called him just 20 minutes later once we were closer and almost to his house. He informed me that he had just sold it to a lady that was at his house buying another item. He apologized and we hung up. I had already shown Carter a picture of the table and he was super excited! As we were turning around to go home, I told Carter that we weren't getting the table and were going home. He started to tear up and was so disappointed. How do you explain to a three year old that sometimes we run into not so nice people? In the midst of him crying he told me that he was sorry that we didn't get the table. My heart just broke. I explained to him that it wasn't his fault by any means and sometimes people just aren't very nice. I know this is the first of many times that he will be let down in his life but three years old just seems so young to start those "life" lessons.

New Playset

We decided a few months ago that we needed a playset or something in the backyard for our three boys to exhaust themselves on. Our house is just too small for the energy of three boys. A neighbor of one my "mom" friends had just sold their house and the new owners did not want their gigantic playset that was in the backyard. Their loss was definitely our gain!! John and his buddy Todd spent all day last Sunday disassembling it, moving it and reassembling it. It was a huge task that took them just over 11 hours to complete. I made sure they stay hydrated with a ton of cold water, Gatorade and made sure they ate lunch and dinner. They worked so hard and it paid off! We have an awesome playset in the backyard now.

You Just Never Know Who Needs a Smile

While Carter was at MDO today, Preston and I made a trip to Wal-Mart. It is so much easier to run errands when you only have one kiddo. That is one thing that I completely took for granted when I just had one. But anyways, as Preston and I were strolling through I almost ran into an older lady that was pushing her cart around the corner. I politely apologized and backed up. Well, Preston, being Preston, starts giving her the biggest smiles and reaches his hands out towards her. She smiled right back and talked to him for a minute. She leaned to me and thanked me. She said you have no idea how much I needed that smile today. It made me feel so good that my little man was able to make some one's day just a little better. In fact, it made my day a little better knowing that Preston, at 10 months old, was able to make an impact on someone. You never know what's going on in other people's world's and today just reminded me to smile as much as I can.