Play Date w/ B

I was the baby in the family. Not only amongst my mom and dad but out of all my cousins as well. I always felt there were YEARS between me and my cousin next closest to me in age. As I got older I realized B and I were only 2 years apart. As children we saw each other often but didn't have much in common. As adults we have become good friends and his wife, A, is a very dear friend of mine. So when I learned she was pregnant and our due dates were only 6 weeks apart, I was beyond thrilled! Cole was going to have a cousin to grow up with. A and I try to get together often so we can have some girl time but also to let the boys play. Since my bed rest has been lifted some B and A invited me over to their house for a play date. All I had to do was show up and they would help with Cole. How could I pass that up! Cole and I spent 4+ hours playing indoors, outdoors and sharing toys.

Cole is taking the food off his plate and putting it on B's Cole thought is was funny he was caught in the act
Sharing a little jiuce
Aunt A pushing the boys on B's bike

Cole taking a dip in their pool Tent with bounce balls inside. The boys were in HEAVEN!! I guess he was thirsty

Aunt A, hurry up and peel that orange. We're straving boys!!

Cole keeps growing :)

Life has been so hectic these past few months that I haven't really been posting much on Cole. For this I am sorry because he is a cute kid and deserves his own posts :)

I can't believe how much he is turning into a toddler. The only words he speaks that we can understand are; more, mama, dada and all done (in sign language). However, if you ask him a question he can answer yes or no by shaking his head and he knows exactly what we are asking!

His favorite things to do lately are playing in his pool w/ Zabdack, picking fresh peas from his garden, going to the park, terrorizing the dog, help grandma clean the floors and playing golf with daddy.

I hope you enjoy the pictures or our every growing boy!

Cole loves to help swifter the floors

Cole and Zabdack play in the pool together. Cole loves to splash Zabdack and Zabdack just takes it all in. This is going to be a fun summer of splashing and playing!

Cole is taking a break from playing for a snack of goldfish. Zabdack always sits and waits for his bite :) Good thing Cole likes to share!

Cole's first bubble bath. He loved having bubbles to pop and put on his head

It is ere how similar Cole and Brian are. Not only do they look alike but they sit the same way as well. I came downstairs to them watching tv and sitting the same way. Nothing in this picture is posed. Just father and son watching golf

It's hard to see but Cole has de shelled a pea pod and he is enjoying all is hard work. This kid LOVES fresh peas from the vine. Next year I will pant 10 pea plants to keep up with his need!

Baby # 2 Update

I'd be lying if I said bed rest was easy. I have spent the last 12+ years taking care of myself and all of a sudden I am having to depend on others. I was raised that needing others is a form of weakness. I need to work hard at life to get what you want when I want out of it. So, going from being independent, taking care of my family to needing someone to sweep my floor, pick Cole up when he is hurt to laying him down at night has been extremely mentally hard on me. My mother, who has volunteered to play my role for the next few weeks/months has been a savior in all this. She is doing her best to keep things as much the same as they were before but and I'm sure she is just as excited to get back to her "normal" as I am.

Things have actually been moving forward better than I anticipated. I continue to see the specialist weekly and weekly the news has been positive..."no change"! Due to my "no change" status the restrictions have slowly been getting lifted. I am allowed to use the stairs several times a day and I can sit in the recliner as much as I want. Of course, the more I lay down the better for me and the baby but having just a few of the restitution's lifted has been like Christmas in May! The most exciting part is I have been given the green light to go to the beach on Memorial Day as long as I promise to stay in my lounge chair and let my sister chase/play/entertain Cole.

As soon as I find my scanner I will upload some very cute 3-d pictures of our son. It is very obvious he and Cole have the same nose, mouth and cheeks!

Complicated Pregnancy

I thought the day of Cole's seizure was the worst day or my life! Well, I now have two worst days of my life. Neither day is less significant than the other because on each of these days I thought I was going to loose one of my sons!

On 04/12/10, Brian and I went in for a routine ultrasound to take the measurements of our sons size and organs. All seemed to go well until I received a phone call from my doctor that he wanted to see me ASAP. I went in the next day and was informed I had a short cervix. A typical pregnancy is between 3-5cm. I was measuring at 1.5cm. I was placed on limited activity and scheduled for a follow-up appt. on 05/03. I took to the limited activity as best I could. I had family and friends step up to help with Cole, Zabdack and taking care of my house.

On 05/03, I went in for the follow-up. I could tell on the tech's face that things hadn't improved. After 45 minutes of talking with the radiologist and my dr. I was told to go straight to his office. I went in and was told I was being placed on strict bed rest and to see a specialist ASAP. I had gone from 1.5cm to 1cm.

I was able to get in with the specialist on 05/05. The tech took my measurements and said I was now at a .9. I lost it. I couldn't control the tears. The specialist came in and did his own exam and confirmed the tech's numbers. He had me get dressed and ask I meet him in his office. This is never a good sign! The doctor was AMAZING! He explained all my options and said the first course of action we needed to take was checking into the hospital. So at 10:00am on 05/05, I was being admitted to labor and delivery. *Side Story* I remembered when I checked into the hospital to give birth to Cole I saw on the board mom's at 21weeks, 23weeks and 26weeks and I remember thinking to myself, "Wow, I feel so bad for them." Now, I was checking in at 22weeks 0days. I had become the person I felt sorry for exactly, to the date, 16 months before!

Our first plan of action was to stay in the hospital on 100% bed rest and take a course of medicine for 24 hours to see if we could get my cervix to lenghten. This was the least invasive procedure and one I was praying would work. At 8am on 05/06, the ultrasound tech rolled into my room, the doctor followed behind and Brian and I sat and waited. After I was checked I got the news I didn't want to hear. My cervix had even shrunk more. I had gone from .9cm to .8cm. Once again the water works began. My husband grabbed my hand and just kept saying everything would be okay. The doctor laid out our options:

1. Continue w/ the current meds and hope things don't progress
2. Have a cerclage to close my cervix
3. Do nothing and hope things stop on their own

Each option had their own risks. If we choose option 1 or 3, I may continue to efface and the shorter the cervix the higher risk of going into active labor. If we choose option 2, my water could break during the procedure and I go into labor, my body could reject the stitches and I could go into labor. Brian and I were faced with, in my opinion, horrible scenarios no matter how we looked at it! After discussing the options, risks and benefits of each option we opted for option 2. I was terrified but knew if anything went wrong I had given our son the best possible chance of staying put for, hopefully, many more weeks. I was scheduled for surgery at 12pm on 05/06.

I opted for the spinal block so I could be aware of all that was happening during the procedure.
The procedure was quick (about 5 minutes) and afterwards the doctor came to me, grabbed my hand and said it went better than expected! I was wheeled into recovery spent an hour in there and then wheeled back to my room. I had made it past the first risk, no leakage. Now we needed to wait and see if my body rejected the stitches. As the spinal block wore off the contraction monitor watched closely for any preterm labor signs, signs of infection and all the while watching our sons vitals. At first I was counting the minutes, then hours in hopes everything would work out. I was told if everything went perfect I would be released from the hospital on Sunday.

Well on 05/07 at 5pm the doctor rolled in with the ultrasound tech to look at my cervix. After a quick review my doctor turned to me and said, "Happy Mother's Day! Would you like to go home tonight? Your cervix has gone from .8cm to 4cm!" I could have kissed him and I would have kissed him if I was allowed out of bed! I called my husband who has been to the hospital as much as a 16 month old can tolerate and asked him to come get me.

I am on STRICT bed rest with daily medicine. I can get up to use the restroom, take short showers and attend my weekly ultrasounds. I have never been so excited to see my bed! My goal is to make it to 28 weeks; however, I wish to make it to 42 weeks. If this baby is past due it would be a great ending to this story!!!

For a few days the fear of loosing my son was so real, raw and impending that at moments I couldn't breathe. I tried to stay positive and but I have to admit there were moments I couldn't get all the what-if's out of my head. It was because of all prayer from all of our family and friends, my constant texts and e-mails from my friends and my babyfit friends that kept me positive and moving forward. I am so lucky for each and every person in my life whether they are Internet babyfit friends, friends I've had since school, friends I meet through work or family I could never thank them enough for pulling for my son and willing him to stay in my belly!

Here's to many more weeks of being blissfully pregnant!

Worst Night of My Life!

Cole had been sick for a few days but nothing alarming. He had a clear runny nose, low grade fever, and a little cranky. On Thursday night his temp started to get high so Brian and I had Cole sleep with us. On Friday he woke up feeling better and I thought the worst was behind us. Then Friday night came and his fever returned. Brian and I decided to take shifts so I slept with Cole in the guest room. At 11pm his temp was pretty high, 102.4, so we took a luke warm bath. We laid back down and both of us slept off and on. Then at 2am Cole leaned over on my chest and was just staring at me. I noticed he was shaking so I picked him up and felt he was ON FIRE. I laid him down to take his temp but I noticed something was off. He wasn't responding to anything; touch, movement and worst of all his eyes didn't move. I did the finger test and he couldn't follow me. I then tried to stand him up and he couldn't stand on his own. I put him in my lap and did a few basic commands and still nothing. My son was a shell. I grabbed him and ran upstairs to get Brian. I yelled to Brian that we needed to go to the ER that something was wrong with Cole. At that time, I turned on the light and realized Cole wasn't breathing. I started screaming that Cole wasn't breathing and we needed to call 911 Brian flew out of bed. Just as he went to take him from me Cole threw up all over me, Brian and the carpet. I left Cole with Brian and ran to call 911. When I returned Cole was breathing heavily. He was alert but lethargic. Brian was holding him and trying to keep him calm. I was beside myself with worry. I have the best husband who knows I need to fix things and since I couldn't fix Cole he had me running minor errands to keep me from collapsing and going into preterm labor. I fetched his shoes, some gum, the dogs leash, turned on the porch light and then the fire department showed up. They evaluated Cole and said they felt he had a a febrile seizure. Cole and I were transported to the ER and Brian followed right behind. When we arrived his temp was 104.2. They are predicting his temp reached between 105 to 106. After 3 hours in the ER his temp was under control (99.8) and they ruled out phenomena through chest x-rays since his chest was retracting when we were brought in.

We spent the rest of the weekend with a close eye on Cole to ensure his temp did not get to high.
On Monday morning when I went to change Cole's diaper I noticed a rash on his belly and back. We were going into see Cole's doctor this morning so we figured we discuss the seizure and now the rash. We meet with Cole's doctor and it was confirmed that Cole had been suffering from Rosella. I was happy to have a diagnoses but I was still saddened that my son had to endure such a horrific moment. The doctor ensured Cole doesn't even remember the seizure but it is a moment that will forever be etched into my brain.

I am so thankful Cole has returned to his energetic, happy, get into everything self.

For the definition of a febrile seizure go to the Mayo Clinic website: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/febrile-seizure/ds00346

Visit with Grandpa

My father-in-law spent a few days with us in early April. J greeted Cole with a stuffed puppy dog that Cole loved and still plays with. We enjoyed a nice dinner out and called it an early evening. The next day was Easter so we went to church and after church enjoyed a nice brunch. Cole's favorite part of brunch was grandpa giving him endless chocolate chips. I sat back and watched the two of them bond over chocolate chips. Afterwards we went home for Cole to find his Easter basket and all the goodies the Easter Bunny left for him.

For Cole's 1st b-day, J and A sent Cole a 4x4 wagon. Brian and I have been so busy with life that we hadn't put the wagon together yet. Grandpa couldn't believe that his grandson had gone almost 4 months without this wagon so he pulled out the wagon box, some tools and daddy, grandpa and Cole started to put the wagon together. It was fun for me to watch the 3 generations work together. Brian was handy with the hammer, grandpa put the wheels and base together while Cole sat in the in the wagon the whole time instructing (by saying more) where to put everything. After the wagon was put all together grandpa took Cole for many rides around the living room then the backyard the next day. Cole has enjoyed his new wagon and we are still taking daily rides. Thank you grandpa and A for a great gift!!

On our last day with grandpa we took Cole to Pretend Play. Cole and grandpa spent hours walking around playing at the pretend beach, building a fort, planting vegetables. However, I think Cole enjoyed being pushed in the car the most.
It was a wonderful long weekend and we were sad to see J go. Our next visit with J & A can't come soon enough! And grandpa, we will be working on expanding Cole's vocabulary beyond mama and more. There are no guarantee's but we'll try :)

We're having a Boy!

On April 6th, I had my first ultrasound appointment. By my calculations I was 17w 5d on the day of the ultrasound. We got into the tech's room and she turned the lights down, put the wand on my belly and quickly lifted it. She stated, "I already know what you're having. Would you like to know?" I replied, "YES!" She placed the wand back on my belly, I looked up to the screen and there was no need to say a word our son was doing a full head stand with his legs wide apart. He is not a shy boy AT ALL! I heard her say, "It's a BOY. Congratulations." All his measurements were either right on my anticipated due date or measuring a little larger (18w 2d). His heart, kidneys and brain looked fantastic but the shot that always amazes me is the spine. It is amazing how perfect his spine looks. We were even able to count his fingers and toes :)

I have to share a little secret: I have to admit I was beyond thrilled to be having another little boy for two reasons; 1) I know how to be a mom to a boy 2) Brian and I will be trying for baby # 3 (when the time is right). You see if this baby had been a girl Brian was ready to stop. He wanted a 4 family household. I on the other hand have always wanted more than 2 children so 3 was my compromise.

This little boy is already so loved and wanted. I am happy to say this pregnancy has been going rather smoothly and we are very excited to meet our little boy in 21 weeks!