Had my 2-week post op check

Had my 2-week post op appt today. Everything looks good! The nurse told me how much smaller I look. 24 lbs gone! :-) Hoping it will be even more when I go back for my 6-week check up in June.

Lost all my baby weight..

I am thrilled that I am now officially 1 lb less than what I weighed when I started this pregnancy. It's nice to feel normal again without all the pregnancy hormones running through my system as well!

Incision check

Had to go in to have my incision checked out today since I got out of the hospital. My incision is really red, so I have to go back and have him look at it again next week to make sure an infection doesn't develop. All I know is that I am really sore. :-(

Trying to lose this baby weight...

I'm thrilled that I gained 21 lbs during this pregnancy and I'm already down 16 lbs. 5 more to go and I'll be at my starting weight. YEAH!

The amnio is set

Kids are with the sitter now in preparation for the new little princess' arrival. Having my amniosentesis tomorrow.

Amnio is done...

My amnio is done...wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be although I am a tad sore. If baby's lungs are developed she will be born around noon tomorrow. Yeah!

Kicks and nudges

I am enjoying the baby's kicks and nudges. Can't believe that I really may be holding her in my arms tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to hold her!

34-week check up

I went in and had an ultrasound this morning to check the size of the baby...she finally showed us her face!! So cute! I think she's going to look like Deidra. After that, I had my appt with the doctor. The nurse said my blood pressure was really high so she was going to let the doctor listen. He came in and talked to me and listened and wound up sending me to the hospital to be monitored for an hour. Had a low blood sugar attack while I was being monitored and found out that those were contractions that I had been feeling. At the end of the hour, the doctor came in and said that he feels it would be best if I was admitted. Going to go home and get a bag packed...

C-Section on Monday

Is having the baby via c-section on Monday. I can't wait to hold her in my arms.

Elevated blood sugars

Is beyond frustrated...my blood sugars are way elevated again...they were really good at home. I feel like crap and really wish Andy could stay with me tonight. I guess these steroid shots to mature the bab's lungs are really doing a number on me.

Whine ahead...

We went to bed just before midnight...the dog woke up whining this morning and scratching in her kennel and I asked Andy to go see if she had to go out to go to the bathroom. He let her out and she went and he got her settled back in her kennel and he came back up to bed. I asked him what time it was and he said it was almost 2:30. I tossed and turned trying to get back to bed, but couldn't get comfortable and I was hurting and so I got up for awhile. Around 4:30, I decided to try to get back to sleep only to toss and turn some more...Andy's alarm went off at 5. I fell asleep while he was in the shower and then he kept trying to get me out of bed. I felt sick to my stomach I was so exhausted and I hurt from head-to-toe. Shortly after 6:30, I came downstairs and the kids were all in full force...screaming, giggling, not wanting to listen, throwing fits. I had a short temper tantrum of my own and Andy left for work. I apologized to him afterwards, but I just don't think anyone truly gets how miserable I feel. I wish these littles would learn to listen and follow directions and that they didn't have to be so LOUD in the mornings and that they didn't need all the constant redirection that they do. I took Deidra to school and got a headache from how loud the littles were being and it seemed like the quieter I asked them to be, the louder they'd get just a few seconds later...I finally turned up the praise music and prayed for patience to get through this day. I'm no dummy...I realize that when Melina comes it's all going to get worse for awhile before it gets better, so I guess it's time to just realize that I'm going to be feeling like this for awhile. I just wish I knew how to teach them self-control. I realize having 2 with ADHD, that's hard for them...but it's the ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) that gets to me sometimes...they're not going to listen and are argumentative or that much more determined to do what they want to do. I try to be patience, but on days like today it's hard to be so tired and feeling the way I am and putting up with it all when it's non-stop some days that is very difficult. These are the days that I seem to pray constantly.

Bought Melina's Crib Bedding...

I fell in love with a pink and brown crib set from Babies R Us (the Mia Rose collection). It was a little bit more than what I wanted to spend on crib bedding however. I was ebay hunting over the past couple of days for little girl outfits and pajamas and I decided to see what they had as far as crib sets went. I found this 9 piece set that was also in pink and brown butterflies and I decided that this was just as cute. I got the mobile to match as well. Andy got some money for some computers that he sold today as well, so that worked out pretty well to be able to buy her bedding now. I can't wait till it arrives and I can finish decorating her little area. I need to wait a few more days to order her wall art. Then her little area will be finished.

Giving Melina her eviction notice...

I reached 34 weeks today. I'm one week away from the point where I had Deidra. I've been having early labor signs since Thursday afternoon...diarrhea, upset stomach, lower back pain, and contractions coming every 15-20 minutes...however they only last about 20-30 seconds before they end. I kind of freaked out and got scared and I made Andy stay home with me on Friday. I didn't know how fast labor was going to go and I said that if I went into labor on my own, I'd give it a try before opting to have her via c-section. However, if we wind up having to take her early, I said I'd just go ahead and do the c-section. We didn't have her bed up or anything either and I just wanted his help getting set up for her to arrive. I wanted her to hang in there until today though...so tonight I started walking (we walked North Park Mall) and I'm going to start taking evening primrose oil to try and soften my cervix and ready it for labor. I told my parents that today I am formally giving her her eviction notice. My Mom thought that was so funny. My Dad told me that I better chew a piece of gum and swallow the message with it to make sure that she gets the message. I've been miserable for the last few days...my back hurts, my stomach gets so tight with the contractions, I have carpel tunnel in both hands and it makes the bends of my arms down to my wrists and fingers just hurt, my feet and ankles are swollen and now even my legs are bothering me and I'm getting the sciatica pain. I feel extremely blessed to be having her and that God is giving us another precious little one...I am just ready to hold her in my arms and kiss her precious little head and see her beautiful little face and hold her little hands and feet..and pet her little head of hair that they tell me that she has. I am just ready. I'm doing my best to hang in there...but I can't sit for long, I pace the floor, I sit up and rock back and forth, I lay on one side and then flip to the other, repeat the process all over again. I just cannot get comfortable no matter what I do. I go in on Thursday for another ultrasound to check on her size...I'm really hoping that she will be born soon. Granted, I want her to be as healthy as possible....I am just more than ready to meet her. :-)

Finally all set up...

for Melina's arrival. Andy helped me get the cradle out and I washed the bedding and we got it all set up. He also put the crib up for me, but we have yet to purchase the bedding for that yet. I feel relieved that her little area is coming together though and that if she is born soon, that her cradle is all ready for her. Now to finish washing her clothes and so forth. I went up to Wal-mart today too and got her an outfit to wear for her newborn pics and a couple other newborn outfits.

Purchased the Crib and the Car Seat

We had a garage sale and with the profits we went and bought Melina's crib and her car seat. Now to just be patient and wait for her arrival!

Pregnancy Induced High Blood Pressure and Gestational Diabetes

I went into the hospital Friday evening because I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for 2-3 hours and wanted to make sure nothing was happening. I had called the nurse and she said that if drinking fluids and laying down wasn't helping, that I probably should go in and get put on the monitors and see what was happening. I put out a call to my Mom and to Andy to see if someone could meet me up at the hospital with the kids. Couldn't get ahold of anyone, but thankfully Deidra was a huge help and she got them all in their shoes and in the car and sat with them while I got all hooked up to the monitors. I was SO proud of her. She really stepped up to the plate and was such a big help. Andy got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the way to the hospital, but was able to inform me that my Mom was on the way.

The nurses informed me that they didn't think I would be going anywhere as my blood pressure was really elevated and my urine was full of sugar. I told them I had just done my gluclose test in the office but that I hadn't gotten my results back yet and that was the first urine check that I had done since I found out that I was pregnant. Sure enough, she put a call out to the doctor and he wanted me admitted. They did an ultrasound that night to check on the baby...they measured her and she's right where she should be. They said she's about 3 lbs and 7 oz and that she even has hair. I was so surprised that they could tell that she's got hair already. I didn't know that you could tell that from an ultrasound.

I met with the doctor the next morning (not my own, but another doctor in the practice) and he said it was hard to tell what was going to happen, but that we needed to get a 24-hour urine specimen and that they may need to send me to Dallas to be monitored up until I had the baby. He ordered some tests and said we'd go from there. I instantly started worrying about the girls upcoming adoption and Andy told me to quit worrying and that we'd get it all figured out even if he had to do court with them himself.

Deidra spent Saturday night at the hospital with me. It was SO nice to have her up there and she was trying so hard to look out for me. The nurses all got a kick out of her. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of her and she sat up on the bed with me and told me that she loved me and that she loved Melina too. I knew she was worried,but I kept trying to reassure her. So, I think it did us both some good to spend some time together up there.

Every day it seemed I'd be told, well maybe we can get you home in the morning after we see what your 24-hour urine says, but there was a reason to keep me just one more night. I started insulin in the hospital and my sugar levels were still really high. My blood pressure is still up as well. My regular doctor came back from Haiti and came in to see me on Sunday and told me he really wanted to see if they could get my sugar levels down to a certain level before they sent me home. However, he understood that I had a lot of family responsibility at home as well. I went ahead and found a sitter for the little ones until we found out what was going to happen and asked her if she could keep them from Sunday night to Wednesday until Andy got home from work. Thankfully, she had no problem with that and she was a huge help. She even brought the kids up during the day on Monday to say hi after they played in the park.

Monday, I was hoping to be able to go home that morning, but the nurses told me that he wouldn't let me go home with a sugar level over 170. He wound up ok'ing another dose of insulin as the cafeteria messed up and sent me a breakfast tray that wasn't on the diabetic plan and then it came down somewhat. He told me he'd start the paperwork to get me out of there after dinner if I compromised with him and came into the office 1-2 times a week until the baby was ready to be born. So, I got to leave on Monday night around 6:30. I came home on blood pressure meds and the insulin. To say I'm a bit overwhelmed with everything else going on is a bit of an understatement, but I'll get it all figured out after a couple of days. Just going to have to be a bit more of a rigorous schedule with eating at scheduled times and checking my sugars first thing in the morning and 2 hours after I eat meals.

Thankfully it's Friday...

I'm tired, that's for sure. So glad that it's Friday. I'm missing my hubby. He's having to work a lot, even at home, lately. While I'm glad that he has the ability to do that, I wish we had more time to talk and connect with one another lately. The kids have had a lot of energy lately and some attitudes going on. Can't wait until the weather gets a bit warmer and there's not so much mud outside so that I can start letting them play in the backyard some more. They have energy to burn!

Going to try to get a list of things together (Andy and I started it) for what we need to finish getting for Melina and some stuff for the house. I need to price everything and make a list from lowest to greatest and start buying things as we can. The kids want to paint their rooms as well, so we're going to have to start doing that one room at a time. Lots of plans and ideas flowing around. The girls want their room in Dora, Josiah wants his room in Spiderman, and Deidra keeps going back and forth. Her latest is a zebra theme with pink thrown in. I told her she'd be better off finding some bedding that she really likes and planning her color scheme for her room on that. I'm going to get Melina set up in the sitting area of our room and I'm going to decorate her little wall in butterflies. I think she's going to be in our room for the first year and then once she turns a year old, we're going to transition Little E in with Deidra, and then Melina will go in with Baby T. I think that should work out well.

My brother, Jimmie, helps with a mowing and lawn business during the summer with his old football coach, so I'm going to see if they can give me a price on putting sod in our backyard. And then, we're going to put a kennel back there for Lucy. The dog pretty much has free reign over our backyard, but Baby T will not play outside if the dog is back there, so I usually have to bring the dog in while they go play outside and I don't really think that's fair to the dog. So, I think a kennel back there will help. I can just put her in there then while the kids play.

Lots to figure out and accomplish and I think next month I'm going to try and do a garage sale with my brother here at our house and get rid of their stuff and ours that we no longer use/need and is just laying around taking up space.

My sweet Deeders...

I love my Deeders. I was crampy last night so after I took a warm shower and decided to lay on the couch, Deidra decided to pamper me and she wouldn't let me get up. She brought me a box with my book, a CD, toilet paper, and the stuffed mice that she wants to give Melina, and some cough drops in it. Then, she lotioned my legs and feet for me and even gave me a little foot massage. Then, she brushed my hair and put it in a ponytail and then gave me hot chocolate. So sweet!

First Big Baby Purchase

I picked out all of our baby items that I wanted for Baby Melina once we found out it was a girl. :-) Toys R Us has been out of stock on this bouncy seat since Christmas and I finally found it on Amazon for a bit more. Andy got a gift card the other day to Amazon for helping someone out with some tech issues on their laptop and so he told me we could use it for Baby. So, he just ordered her bouncy seat for her. I'm so excited!

Melina

Baby Melina is one active little girl. She loves to dance and thump around in there. She's much more active than Deidra ever was, but I love feeling her move around in there. The girls love to feel my belly and Josiah gives her kisses. Deidra was snuggling with me on the couch one day and she reached over and poked my stomach, the baby kicked her back, but her kicks arent' strong enough for anyone but me to feel right now. I just thought it was cute that she'd poke her and the baby would kick her back each time. Deidra so cannot wait until she's here. We're all so excited for her to come! I can't wait to hold her!