Turkey comes early to the Brady Bunch House

This next post was supposed to be a continued update on our little turkey's 'roasting' journey, but instead I am thrilled to say, it's going to be a little more exciting than that!

My next OB appointment #10 (39 weeks) was scheduled for Tuesday November 19th at 12:45pm, however nature had different plans. On Monday I started to lose my mucus plug and a quick trip to the restroom at 2:30am on the 19th resulted in not only the full loss of my mucus plug, but my water decided to break too! This was a first for me and to throw me off even more, after my water broke all the random contractions I had been having over the last few months stopped too! Hmmm

Call to the staffing service resulted in NO call back from the on call doctor and after an hour wait and another call to the staffing service I was conference? in with my OB (who wasn't on call) and instructed to go straight to the hospital. During my wait on a return call Eric and I had gotten ourselves fully ready to go, except getting everything into the car and verifying what the kids were going to do. Now that it was about 4:30 am, we checked with Jarom to see if he'd rather go to school (which would require us to take Bre with us) or stay home and watch Bre. He chose to stay home, I think deep down we all thought we may up to another day before Turkey would make her appearance.

Kids are back to sleep, car is loaded including the car seat (the base had been in the car for the last week), and Eric and I are off to the hospital. I have to say it was kind of weird heading that way and the staff in the ER probably thought we were crazy because we were just laughing and joking the entire time we were getting checked in. I have no clue why they had us pre-register because we ended up registering again, but oh well we were in no hurry and at least we were humoring the Registration staff at 4 in the morning.

Maternity ward called, wheel chair brought over, we were wheeled out of the waiting room back to the ER for yet again more registration stuff, and then wheeled up to the second floor to labor and delivery. I put on my lovely hospital attire, got strapped up to monitors, which just showed no contractions, and waited to see what our outcome was going to be. The on call doctor had two scheduled c-sections to take care of before he would see us, so our RN was hoping contractions would start up before he arrived, but stated that we would be staying until our Turkey arrived.

About 8:30am we spoke with the doctor and he recommended changing the external monitor to an internal monitor and to continue to monitor my contractions, which were just starting back up, and after some time determine if I needed to be started on Pitocin. Because Turkey was sitting so low, it took a bit longer than expected to get the internal monitor in, and sadly it fell out shortly afterwards, but no one, including myself, realized this until about an hour or so later. While the nurse discussed this with the doctor, I was able to go and use the restroom (maybe tmi, but the longer I could put off a cath the better!). They decided to go ahead and start me on Pitocin and replace the internal monitor, and the nurse asked if I was going to go ahead with an epidural or continue to try and do this delivery naturally. At this point, I decided I wanted to hold off and see how I could handle the 'new contractions' as I was doing pretty good so far, and to be honest I was terrified of having a bad reaction to the epidural like I did when I had MyKayla. While the nurse gathered all the necessities for the meds and new internal monitor, she had re-hooked me up to the external monitor and my contractions seemed to be doing pretty good on their own, coming pretty consistently and ranging from a 4 to an 8.

Once the meds started, my contractions dropped down to a 4 with each one, but they were coming right on top of each other. They were enough that I was really debating on the epidural, our final decision on getting it was trying a little test to see if I could focus enough to be able to push (no I did not practice pushing) when they told me too. Turns out, I couldn't, and I had such mixed emotions that I actually started to cry, which in turn made Eric feel even more helpless because he knew my hesitations, knew I was in pain and unable to fully focus if needed, and while he wanted me to be comfortable he knew he couldn't fix or chose the right choice, because deep down neither of us knew what to do. The nurse checked to see how dilated I was and since I was only at a 4.5-5 she said I could wait until I was at least 7-8 to make my choice. She did state that if I waited until an 8, there was a possibility that between sitting up and getting the epidural I would go straight into delivering our turkey. Within 30 minutes of starting Pitocin, Eric and I decided the epidural was needed and he contacted the nurse to start the process.

A few minutes later our nurse had returned, she did a quick check and determined I was now at a 5, so we had plenty of time, the anesthesiologist had been notified and would be in shortly. Our doctor was also notified and he was to be called after the epidural was in to replace the internal monitor. Eric was asked to step out while they placed the epidural, this was new to me but I am glad that he was asked to leave because of the events that happened within the next 10 minutes (or less) were more than enough for two people to witness. Once I sat up my contractions seemed to be on top of each other, I mean no break in between, not even enough to take a breath. I felt awful, I was in so much pain, and as much as I tried to sit still, I felt it wasn't enough.

While the epidural was still being place, my contractions jumped from a constant 4 to a constant 10 (several apologies spoken here) and then there was the pushing sensation (more apologies). I told the nurse my body was pushing and I was trying to fight it but it wasn't working (even more apologies). No the epidural was not fully in! They both told me to lay on my side, I told them I couldn't, I needed a minute (massive apologies), they helped me into an almost laying position, the nurse did a quick check and hit the nurses button so fast and requested the nursery and the doctor STAT! Yep never a good sign.

Slight recap of those few minutes: No I didn't cry although I really wanted too. Yes I apologized over and over to the nurse and the anesthesiologist, they tried to refrain from laughing, but a few snickers slipped out between the two of them. They told me to stop apologizing for having a baby, I told them I was apologizing for being non-compliant, which made them laugh even harder! The nurse regained her composure and told Eric he needed to come in cause it was time to have a baby while the anesthesiologist attempted to finish starting the epidural.

I won't bore you with any more details other than once the epidural was started, the room was set up, the doctor was ready to go, the contractions slowed down! For me this was good, it gave the epidural a slight chance to take affect (not enough though I still got to feel everything). Three sets of contractions later our turkey was here.

I had some slight complications, so I wasn't able to really hold or see turkey for about an hour after she was born and Eric and I thinking we were being smart by not hauling all our stuff in realized our camera was still in the car. Yep we are that awesome, you'd think with us each having three kids we would have made sure we had the camera with us, but thank goodness for cell phones!

Now that I have bored you with our dramatic day that was supposed to be just a regular OB appointment at 12:45pm turned into the birth of Turkey.

Born at 11:34am Central Time
Name: none at this time, so she will be known as Turkey!
Weight: 7 pounds 7 ounces
Length: 19 1/2 inches
Head Circumference: 13 inches

The final stretch...literally!

Welcome to my third trimester!!! Thank goodness! While I know this little turkey should continue roasting I am so ready for her to be out in the world reaking havoc on the entire world and not just my insides!

I realized that while we were waiting to make our 'surprise' announcement public I had been keeping a slight journal on here regarding my appointments and how our 'little turkey' was progressing. But ever since I published that post, I have written nothing...anywhere. So in an attempt to allow this turkey to know a little bit more about her 'roasting' process, and to share my pregnancy drama with the world (or the select few that actually read my blog, I am going to keep sharing my pregnancy drama with the world!

Currently we are in week 28 and while my next appointments are scheduled for next week, on the September 10th with our specialist and on the September 11th with our OB, I have had a few appointments between my last blog post and now, so here goes on a slight recap.

8/20 3 hour GTT. Today was a much better experience than my one hour glucose testing. Maybe it was because I didn't have to drink that nasty drink until I arrived at the doctors office or maybe it was because I wasn't the only one there having to spend hours in the lab waiting room. Thankfully I chose to stock up on some stuff to haul with me to my appointment, a freshly charged phone, iPad, my chargers...just in case, and book that Eric had just finished reading. My schedule worked out bit better than I had planned so I arrived at the lab much earlier than I was scheduled too with the hopes they could work me in early and I was so thrilled when they could. The second victim arrived about 30 minutes after me and she had been able to not only arrive with similar items to keep her occupied, but she managed to make her husband come and sit with her the entire time. We believe there was at least one other victim with us, but she chose to sit on the other side of the waiting room and appeared not to be as chatty as we were.

The gal next to me was a bit more aggressive than I was as she waited after each of her finger sticks and obtained her results. Turns out by the third stick she had failed every hour since drinking her nasty drink. So on my last finger poke I asked the lab tech how my results were and she said that mine looked pretty good. She was a bit nervous and told me that my blood sugars were actually dropping faster than they like to see them and she recommended that I either stop by the hospital cafeteria or one of the fast food places next to the hospital before heading home as my last reading was 114, guess they like to see it closer to 140's. But for anyone who knows me I am not fan of eating out, especially when it comes to fast food 'crap'! My mother's response to my email update on my visit and their recommendation of me grabbing some 'crap' food was (and yes I copied this exactly from her email response) "You are not my child. If I hadn't watched you be born I would deny you. I believe if a doctor told me to eat junk food I would be all over it. But good to know no diabetes" Can you feel the love???

8/26 Emergency doctors office visit (not the emergency room). Well I decided to see what it would be like to kiss the sidewalk! About 7:15am after putting Breanna on the bus, I was walking back across the street (her bus came from the wrong direction so we had to cross the street for her to get on the bus) and I recall starting to walk up the driveway entrance but next thing I recall was sitting on the sidewalk. Hmmmm. From the injuries and discomfort I felt it was obvious I took the majority of my fall to my left knee and tried to brace myself with my right hand, but I also had scraps and that burning sensation of road rash on my left thigh (side) and my left calf (again the side) which is a bit confusing.

After picking myself up from the sidewalk, a quick wave to the bus driver so she knew I was okay, I made my way into the house. I was a bit nauseous and lightheaded, so I grabbed a water and made my way to the closest chair to regain my composure before I started cleaning up my wounds. For anyone who knows me I am not one to run off to the doctors for every little thing, but after talking with Eric while I tried to clean the sidewalk out of my now huge hole in my leg, we decided it might be worth at least talking with someone at my doctors office to see if I needed to be seen, especially since I didn't recall how I ended up on the ground, Eric felt more comfortable if I just touched base with my doctor to let them know I fell.

Of course when I called the office wasn't open yet, so I had to call the answering service, which the gal I spoke to seemed annoyed that I was calling them less than 30 minutes before the office opened. She did offer to contact the on-call doctor to have them call me, but I didn't feel that was necessary, I just wanted my doctor to know what had happened. Eric decided he'd hang around until I heard from them just to make sure I didn't need to be seen, he didn't feel it was wise for me to be driving, but after an hour we hadn't heard anything so I made another call to the office. Because of the incident I was told I had to speak with the on-call doctor/ staff, and they felt that since I didn't recall falling and hadn't felt the baby move (which is odd for her she moves ALL the time!) I had to go in. My appointment was made for 10:45am and they weren't sure which order they'd do everything, but they gave me a heads up that I would do some lab work, fetal monitoring, see the doctor, and possibly an ultrasound.

So that appointment lasted almost ALL DAY LONG! The nurse for the on-call doctor forgot me, more than once. The worst time was when she was supposed to check my blood pressure every 5 minutes after sitting, standing, laying down, sitting again, (she had no clue what she was doing) she didn't do the sitting and then forgot me when I was standing for over 30 minutes!!! I knew my blood pressure was going to be higher than usual cause I was ticked (Eric and I both looked for her several times), I was moving here and there, and worse part, I had to use the restroom! Finally we were able to see the doctor, who was a chatty one, but by that time I had finally felt the turkey move, although the movements were minor and we weren't sure if they were going to be enough. Her heart beat was fine, but the on-call doc felt more comfortable if I did an ultrasound to watch her movement, re-listen to her heart beat, and make sure the placenta was still in place.

So after another wait, we were seen for an ultrasound and everything looked good. Little turkey was as uncooperative as usual, turned enough that the tech couldn't get a picture or even see her face, she kept those knees locked so still no extra confirmation she is is actually a she. My ultrasound results showed that I was 26 weeks and 4 days (3 days earlier than expected due date), turkey's heart beats per minute were 146 and she was 2 pounds 6 ounces.

I also had to choice to be observed for the rest of the 24 hours after my fall either in the hospital or at home. I had too much to do at home, I know this is lame but I have a schedule, I like to keep to my schedule, and I was already 6-7 hours behind. So Eric got to babysit me the rest of the day, I am sure he was excited, but if I had to be admitted to the hospital he couldn't have gone to work anyways! Yep find the positive in everything.

9/10 Specialist appointment with Sacred Heart (29 weeks). Today was the usual appointment with my specialist, they call you back the nurse checks your urine, weight, BP, pulse, and then verifies that nothing has changed since the last time they saw you. Of course I had a few updates with failing my one hour glucose test, passing the 3 hour GTT, and then my fall. All of these she didn't seem concerned about at all. Next they escort you back to the waiting room, which is always a fun treat as they are sub-leasing space from another medical office, so all of their patients look at you funny when you get called back right away only to return back to waiting room to wait.

Once I was called back for the second time, I was escorted to one of the ultrasound rooms, given a quick run down of everything they were going to do today, which basically consisted of checking all the turkeys measurements and the amniotic fluid. Since I am so far along, and my cervical lining was being monitored more by my OB/GYN's office, I had the option to 'opt out' of that portion of the exam. But due to my fall I decided it would probably be best to take one more peak to make sure everything was still okay. Today's tech was somewhat in-between the other techs I have had when it came to communicating with me, she told me a few times what she was looking at, she told me the heart beat which was 133 beats per minute, and after her portion of my appointment was over she informed me that my cervical lining was now at 3.7, so not too much of a change over the last few months! She then inputted her info into another computer and retrieved the doctor.

My doctor today was not the same one I have had with this clinic, so I was a bit surprised and was unsure how much of my history he already knew versus how much I was supposed to 'catch him up on.' He appeared not to know too much and when I told him about my fall (that the RN had already documented in my chart), his 'obsession' I mean attention of my appointment became more focused on my leg (which probably looked worse than it was because during my ultrasound my leg was in just the right position to rip the majority of my scab off my knee. I then learned about his spinal fusion and all the things he couldn't do...and in between his comments about himself he said everything looked good and overall he didn't see any reason why I needed any additional appointments at this time. Hmmm okay, well then I will take that positive and see my way out! I also knew, and so did they, that I have an appointment tomorrow with my OB and she would be calling to get a prelim report before or during my appointment so I would be able to get a bit more information tomorrow. I was also given 2 pictures, neither of them really all that good, but here is the best one.

OH!!!! I almost forgot. Once the ultrasound tech heard that we had been having difficulty with this extremely modest child on 100% confirming the sex, she made every effort to try and find out for us. Of course little turkey was head down back on my right side and a leg on my left, but sure enough the other leg...blocking the view. Just like all the other techs, she bounced on my stomach to try to get 'turkey' to move but she had no luck. She proceeded to get her measurements and every time she felt or saw the turkey make movement she rushed back to take a peak between her legs. Finally after about 20 minutes, the little turkey moved her foot just enough that we could confirm (100%) turkey is truly a GIRL! Unfortunately she moved that foot back so soon we couldn't grab a picture, but at least we know for sure we have to find a girls name and we should probably start buying some stuff!

9/11 OB appointment #6 (29 weeks). Today's OB was short and sweet as usual. I started with the lovely scale, which in all honesty really isn't fair, I mean you have to come in with a full bladder and then they make you weigh first...come on! Yeah I guess I am having a hard time with the whole weight gain! It really isn't that bad, and based on the size of her, the size of my chest (without getting too graphic I went from a F to a FFF), the size of my belly (placenta, amniotic fluid, and all the other stuff needed so she can continue to vacation in comfort), I guess my weight could be worse. I can still fit into most my normal clothes, although I seem to wear my handful of maternity shorts instead of dealing with my belly bands for my normal shorts and pants. After my weight the nurse told me to go tee-tee in the cup she was handing me. I have lived in the south for a total of 3 years and I swear I still can't get over some of the phrases southerners use, this being one of them. I knew what she meant, but I really wanted to reply, "You want me to do WHAT with the cup?" but I refrained! After the whole tee-tee portion was over (yes I am laughing hysterically as I typed that), it was time for a BP check which was nice and low as usual, and a quick lab draw and so far this nurse is my FAVORITE when it comes to lab draws, I didn't feel a thing, of course it helped she used a butterfly needle.

Off to a patient room to wait just a bit while they make sure my doctor obtained the prelim report from my appointment yesterday. Then a quick listen to little turkey's heartbeat, my belly measurement, and yes I asked a few questions! She wasn't as testy as she was at my last appointment, but I think after seeing and hearing about my fall, she was a little more perceptive on hearing me out. She was able to give me a few stats on yesterdays appointment, little turkey weighs 3 pounds 1 ounce (on 8/26 she was 2 pounds 6 ounces) and her amniotic fluid was at a 10! She didn't know what their recommendation was on any follow-ups, but I told her they didn't make a follow-up appointment while I was there and that I had gotten the impression that unless something major came up I wasn't needing to see them again, she agreed. We also discussed how my insurance, who offers amazing prenatal benefits, offers a free breast pump and supplies IF I obtain it either through her office, the hospital, or DME and how I was enrolled in their Healthy Pregnancy program, which she acknowledged and stated they send her their notes quite frequently. We also discussed their recommendation on having me get the flu shot and while she suggested it, she we discussed the risks versus the benefits of getting it while pregnant. Based on my previous history with flu shots of always getting sick afterwards, she was leaving this option fully up to me and since Eric is AGAIN coming down with something, and even though he has been a complete sweetheart and staying pretty much away from me and even sleeping on the couch, I figured it would be better to risk getting sick after the shot instead of getting sick for not getting the shot. So another poke was given in the opposite arm of my blood draw and my appointment was done, and to top all that off because things, minus the fall, have been going so much better my next appointment is in 4 weeks.

10/09 OB appointment #7 (33 weeks). Well this was a quick in and out appointment. I did the usual weight check, blood pressure check and pee in a cup, followed by a nurse checking turkey's heart beat, which she said was great, then my doctor came in for about a minute (serious one whole minute) measured my stomach said things look great and on track and see you next time as she handed me my check out papers. I guess all the 'fun' appointments start at the next visit, so until next time!

10/30 OB appointment #8 (36 weeks) So here we are at the first 'fun' appointment, we started with the usual weight check, pee in a cup, and blood pressure check and here is where I am going to start to embarrass myself... At this point I have gained 22 pounds, I know that this isn't much and I am right on track for my recommended 25-35 pound gain and my doctor is thrilled with where my weight it...and in a sense I guess I am too. I have been lucky enough to still have a figure (front view) followed by a huge belly (side view), yep I think I will take it one step further, since I have posted it on Facebook and post a few pics. My blood pressure is a really high for me, but of course no concern to my doctor as most people's BP is much higher, today it was 116/72 my normal range is 90(or less)/50-60.

Next I was of to a room, undressed from waist down, and now I wait. Thankfully for not very long. Little turkey is still pretty active for how little room it seems she has to move around, that it took the doctor a few minutes to find her heart beat, then a quick measure of the big ole belly and thankfully it was quick because my doctors hands were freezing, which automatically gave me the chills. Now for the 'fun' part, a quick swap for the required strep B test, followed by a check to see if I am starting to dilate. I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions for almost 2 months, so my doctor wasn't too surprised to discover I was already dilated to a 2 and my cervix was nice and thin. And while we didn't discuss me going into labor early, we did discuss that due to my previous c-section that inducing was not an option, which is fine with me, as I am scared to death of what lies ahead. While my c-section was ages ago and followed by 2 v-backs, I definitely don't want a repeat c-section and my last delivery resulted in so many complications, including a bad reaction to my epidural I am hesitant on going down that path again too. So at this point in my head natural delivery is looking like my only option and that scares me too! So the longer this turkey stays roasting the better...although I really don't know if this belly of mine can stretch any more. Well here is hoping that she stays in her oven till my next appointment in 2 weeks!

Here are a few pics that I took 10/23/13 at 35 weeks. Here is where I am going to brag a bit, those jeans in my fuzzy picture are my regular jeans and yes they are actually buttoned! Of course I didn't sit down in them!

11/13 OB appointment #9 (38 weeks) Not much to update for this appointment. My doctor was running late due to a early morning surgery but thankfully she rushed to catch up on all her appointments so I was seen about 20 minutes or so after my scheduled time. The downfall was the appointment was even more rushed than normal. Besides the usual weight check (I've gained 21 pounds so far), BP check 122/68  (really high for me, but within normal limits so they aren't concerned) - the nurse used the wrong cuff and had it placed it on my arm incorrectly but who am I to a RN how to do her job, and a urine check (I'm never told these results). A nurse checked turkeys heart beat, which it took her quite a bit of time to find it and even then she only listened for a second and her response was, sounds good nice and even beats. ummmm okay. She then had me undress for my pelvic exam, which turns out I am now dilated to 2.5 cm and my doctor believes turkey has dropped just a bit, which would obviously be the cause for my increased discomfort. Like most my appointments, once I was placed in a room my appointment was done and over with within 5-10 minutes.

Good news is my next appointment will be on the 19th and every week after that. My doctor doesn't believe that turkey will actually make her grand appearance early, although if she doesn't come before Thanksgiving I think Eric will have a heart attack knowing that she possibly could come during the last football game of the season. Other good news, we finally have a car seat, stroller, and turkey's crib came yesterday. Since it took us a bit more time last night to figure out an arrangement in our master bedroom, re-arrange furniture, and do a massive cleaning spree, the boys are planning on putting it together tonight. So for now this post is going public and it will either be updated as needed or maybe our next post will be of turkeys arrival. In case you are wondering, NO we don't have a name yet!!! Until next time.... here are a few pics of me and turkey roasting at 38 weeks.

Well, that explains a lot!

Great start to our Spring Break vacation...

Eric has been sick with a chest cold for what seem like forever, Breanna has even come down with a few of  his symptoms, mainly head congestion and a slight cough, and for the last week or so I have felt like blah. Of course I had assumed most of Bre's symptoms were allergy related because the pollen is everywhere and appears to be an inch think on everything in and outside of our home. Thankfully I had already decided to keep her out of school today (3/22) because we are leaving around 1pm to start our Spring Break vacation. I am so glad I made this choice earlier, as Bre woke up with a fever! Yep joy! Starting vacation with two sickies, and me not at 100%.

I had hoped my symptoms were a combination of me trying to fight off the bug Eric has been caring around for the last month and the pollen, but I was wrong...

While somewhat completing my pre-vacation preparations and packing I realized (the day before we were due to leave) that there was either a slight mistake on my calendar OR 'Houston we have a problem!'

Okay, so we have a little problem....

After giving up on trying for another child (months ago) it appears we have to come up with another name for our blended family, as we will no longer be the Brady Bunch!!!! Now lets just hope we don't have to go with Eight is Enough!!!!

3/22 Made a quick call to my doctors office to change an upcoming appointment from a regular yearly to prenatal, they inform me before they can make that change I need to come in and do some labwork to make sure I just didn't have a faulty home test. Since we are leaving to go out of town today and my appointment was scheduled for the week after we return from vacation, they were able to squeeze me in at 10 (20 minutes after I called). I quickly throw on some clothes and mascara, brush my teeth, throw my hair in a pony tail, grab Bre (who was home sick), and off we went.

After a short wait, quick trip to the restroom to provide a urine same, and a confirmed pregnancy test, I was handed a two plus month supply of prenatal vitamins, given a quick congratulations and sent back to the front desk to change my appointment.

4/17 Our first official OB appointment. We started our morning off with a quick ultrasound just to verify location of the 'babe' and to verify dates. Thankfully the little turkey (and yes there is just one!) was viewable with a regular ultrasounds, so I didn't have to do a transvag ultrasound, AND we even got to hear the heartbeat.

7 weeks 6 days

I have to be honest, even with two positive confirmations, the ultrasound, and hearing the heartbeat, this still doesn't seem real!

Eric was able to come with me, but unfortunately he had to participate in an interview process at work and had to leave before we met with the doctor. So he ended up leaving right before they called me back to do all my lab work. The office's computers were down today, so my appointment was a little very unorganized! But after a quick weight check (haven't gained anything at this point YAY!), peeing in a cup, and what seemed like an endless blood draw, I was off to a room to met the doctor. As I was waiting, I could hear the staff discussing canceling the rest of the days appointments, including all the patients waiting in their waiting room. Since I had already been in the office for almost an hour and a half, completed all my labs, had all my stats taken, and was in a room, I had hoped the doctor would at least see me and I would avoid having to come back another day.

About 10 minutes later, the doctor did come in and she finish my appointment, although it was quite rushed. So a quick pap and pelvic exam (and I mean the fastest one I have ever had!), breast exam, a few quick responses to my questions, verification of my due date, my appointment was over and I was on my way.

5/15 OB appointment #2. This appointment went much smoother than my first, as I was in and out within 15-20 minutes. I have gained just a little over 1/2 a pound, they actually took my blood pressure this time, which was a little high for me, but because it's still in normal range they weren't too concerned. She spent a few seconds of listening to the 'turkeys' heartbeat and the remainder of the appointment discussing whether or not to do some genetic testing (the main reason why we are really behind on announcing our little 'turkeys' future arrival). Based on several factors, genetic testing is a must (Eric, my doctor, and myself all agree). Due to my age (yeah I am not sharing) and my already high risk of miscarriage, we opted not to do an amniocentesis but will do a high def ultrasound in the next few weeks, followed by additional lab work at my next months appointment. Until we have all of our results, we agree to not share our news, so as of now, no one knows!

Eric and I decided at some point we may not be able to hide the pregnancy, so we are going to tell all the kids in person. Jarom and MyKayla will find out as early as June 10th when we pick them up in Atlanta and we are still working on when we will see Eric's kids next in order to tell them. Hopefully the ultrasound will be done before we see any of the kids (just in case), however the final genetic labwork tests won't be completed until after Jarom and MyKayla arrive, but we are crossing our fingers that everything is and looks good. We are both hoping all the kids will be here for our ultrasound when we find out the sex and maybe we can hide this pregnancy until then!

5/16 This might be lame, but this is the first night I slept all night! Okay midnight to almost 6am, but almost on a nightly basis I am up at midnight, 2:30am, 5am, and then 6:15 when the alarm goes off! You have no idea how excited I am!

6/4 Genetic testing with Sacred Heart Health. To be honest this appointment was joke to me. First I was given the incorrect address and by the time I got to the correct address and checked in it was exactly my appointment time. I then found out they never sent me any of the required paperwork, so I hurried and completed it and turned it back in 10 minutes after my appointment was to start. 20 minutes later I was called back just to 'check me in' which took 20 minutes. The 'check in' process was having a front office person take my weight, escort me to a room where a nurse was waiting, to be asked the exact same info that I had just filled out while she put it on another piece of paper! She then took my pulse and blood pressure and verified I had left a urine sample. To me all of this seemed excessive just to do a detailed ultrasound for genetic testing, but heck it's their office and protocol, so who am I to complain about their process. I was then escorted back to the waiting room, but was told I should be called back immediately because my appointment was before all the other ladies in the waiting room. Boy was she wrong, another 30 minutes and everyone but the 11am appointment was called back, seen and half of them left before I was called back.

The ultrasound tech explained how she would take measurements and then the doctor would come in to discuss the results and discuss any options for genetic testing, IF I wanted to do genetic testing. HUH????? This is the whole reason why I am here!!! She was just as confused as I was, so she talked about amnio (which we already ruled out) and having me come back in a week or two for a blood draw (which I am already doing next week at my doctors office). I explained to her that the only reason why I was here was for a genetic screening. She understood and got started on the ultrasound. I have to say she was one of the better techs I recall ever having, she let us ask questions and even though she wasn't supposed to tell us anything, she gave us some info. Little turkey looked a bit cramped already and seemed to enjoy having his (no we don't know the sex - we tried, but I think its a boy) hands in front of his face, he never did put them in his mouth and the entire time he was in an Indian style sitting position (even though he was on his back), hence why we couldn't verify the sex. We did find out that 'little turkey' weighs 4 ounces with a heart beat of 140 per minute.

The doctor came in after she completed the ultrasound and did his rant about genetic testing (again the only reason why we are here) and stated that everything appears to be perfect, but wanted us to come back in a month or so to do an anatomy ultrasound, which we are doing at my OB between 18-20 weeks. I currently don't have this scheduled as we are working on all the kids schedules to ensure they can all be at that appoinment! But even after I explained I was already having this done with my regular OB, he went ahead and scheduled me an appointment. UGHHHH! So besides the extreme lack of communication and reason for my appointment, I also realized that my high def ultrasound I was supposed to have today was done on a regular ultrasound machine, my 45 minute appointment turned into a two hour appointment, and this possibly unnecessary ultrasound will cost us a pretty penny! But on the positive side, we got two new pics of our little turkey and Eric lost 3 hours of work time (okay that was a bit sarcastic!).

14 weeks 5 days

6/12 OB appointment #3 and additional genetic testing. Today was the basic OB appointment which started with the lovely weight check...ouch! So many road trips and eating crappy fast food over the past few weeks has definitely increased my weight, which my doctor was pleased to see, but I don't think she'd be happy to hear how I put on those few pounds. UGHHH! I also had a blood draw before seeing my doctor, this draw was to test for Down's, spina bifida, and some other birth defects. Since we live in a smaller town, they had to send out my labwork to Birmingham and they don't expect to get my results back for about 3 weeks, which means I won't get these results until my next appointment, so frustrating. Even more frustrating, my doctor didn't have the results from my ultrasounds appointment from last week and after I told her what occurred at my appointment she was just as confused as I was, but told me to hold off on canceling my next appointment with them just in case there was some misunderstanding. She also did a quick heartbeat check...well not so quick little turkey was being a bit uncooperative so it took a bit of time to hear the heartbeat, but once we did things sounded good. So unless I get a call with lab results, my next appointment will be July 10th, starting with another ultrasound for them to look at all the anatomy, and hopefully find out the sex, followed by meeting with my doctor to go over all the past genetic testing results and determine if we can finally share our news!

6/16 Well we had to share our news with some of the kids. Joey is in town for the next few weeks to play on a tournament team up here and Jarom and MyKayla flew in last week. Tomorrow Breanna's Miracle League is having a free event for team members and their families at the local water park and all of a sudden I have a belly, and we are not quite sure how I could pull off hiding the belly in a swimsuit...so as much as we wanted to hold off on telling the kids until they were all together AND we had all of our results, we had to spill the beans.

Jarom, MyKayla, and I were playing DICEcapades and my pawn was in the trivia section. Eric decided he wanted to read the question to me, which I knew instantly what he was up to. Instead of him sharing our news, he was going to 'ask a question' which I would have to respond with the news! Such a brat!!! Thankfully, Joey jumped in to hurry to answer the question (even though he wasn't playing). At first no one got it and I was laughing hysterically, so Eric informed them that they were going to be older siblings, which all of them already are...I think he was a bit nervous to tell them earlier than we had planned, so he had to expand his explanation. We weren't quite sure if the kids were in shock of our news, or they just didn't fully comprehend what they just heard, especially since none of them had even noticed any signs of me being pregnant. I think over the next few days or weeks it will sink in, if not, it will be more real to them after our next appointment since we plan on taking all the kids to the ultrasound so we can all find out the sex of the baby together.

6/24 On Friday, I had missed a call from my doctor, I don't know what it is about Comcast down here, but my phone never rang today! BUT there was a message from her about 11:40am asking to call if I received her message before noon, as their office closed early on Friday's. I got her message at 3:30pm, when I picked up the phone to call her...ugh! After speaking with her today around 1:30pm, I am glad I missed her call. She first went over my ultrasound results from 6/4 and their results and recommendations were no where near what they had told me, but either way there was nothing bad about either results. They recommended to her to do additional lab work (which how they explained it to me was the same lab work I did in her office on the 12th, but low and behold they were different...dang!) and while my ultrasounds looked great, due to previous problems with Ms Bre and a bit of my medical history, they recommended doing a few more diagnostic ultrasounds testing at my next ultrasounds with them July 23rd (so it's not just an anatomy check, as they explained it to me), this will include some anatomy measurements, echocardiogram, and due to my previous medical history, they want to monitor my cervical lining to ensure I can carry full term and not have to be on bed rest or have extra monitoring throughout the remainder of this pregnancy. Regardless, this was good info to know and no new 'surprises' with the results she received. whoooo

I am thinking our conversation is over when her tone changes slightly, she has some other things she'd like to discuss...um okay. I am a bit confused as I know my lab results from the 12th aren't due to come back for at least another week and possibly up to another 3 weeks....but she has them now and there is a slight problem. While many may disagree with some discussions Eric and I made early on in this pregnancy, she is fully aware of our family situation, has full information on Bre, and understands between the two of us, this is baby #7, AND I have been unsuccessful on obtaining a job still. She also understands that at my next appointment is when we find out the sex of the baby (which will be before I meet with her), and that all the kids will be in town and we plan on bringing them to the ultrasound appointment, therefore she had put a rush on my labwork (I didn't know this til today) and one of the test came back positive. Now before anyone (including myself...yes I need to keep reminding myself) jumps to any conclusions, based on my age, she expected a slight positive on this one test...but instead of a 1:110 (or higher ratio) it came back lower...much lower! Per this test I have a 1:45 (or a 2%) chance of having another disabled child. While this doesn't seem high to many people, and some may not even consider a 2% change a real risk, but even my doctor is a bit nervous.

Early in our appointment 'talks' we both decided that an amniocentesis was out of the question unless there was an extreme urgency to do it. Today in our discussion, she still felt that we had another option, another blood test. This new test would test for the same things as an amnio, but on my blood/DNA and not the babies and the results would be so similar that she felt the risk of the amnio still wasn't worth it.

7/2 Genetic ultrasound appointment (previous scheduled for July 23rd), but due to our limited time frame, and maybe even some slight miscommunications on the previous ultrasound, my doctors office and I determined we should move this up to help us all determine what will be the best decision(s) when the final lab results come back...yep still waiting for those! I can say I am a bit stressed out, and for those in my path or cross my path right now, I feel for ya!

10:45ish am we started our ultrasounds. Today we had a different tech from our last visit, who didn't communicate or show us as much, but she did point out parts of the brain, heart, kidneys, arms, legs, and some facial features. This babe loves their hands in front of their face, still haven't caught them sucking any fingers but every tech so far has had to do a little bouncing on my belly to try to get the arms/ hands to move away from the face. This visit seemed to focus more on the echocardiogram than anatomy, even though some key measurements were taken. At this time the placenta is still a touch low, but has moved up (which is a good sign) and they are somewhat positive it will continue to move upward. Just as with our last appointment the doctor stated everything looks great, no abnormalities seen at all, making the doctor believe still this is a perfectly healthy baby. He also tried to get another peak at the sex of this little turkey, and this has to be the most modest kid he's ever seen (his words)! With several attempts at views and trying to get the babe to change positions, the little turkey kept those legs locked. So it appears we have not only a very modest kid, but the little turkey is already made it clear who is in charge!

19 weeks - HI!!!!

Again we discussed additional options for testing and his advice, again, is to do an amniocentesis. Eric and I decided we'd wait to get the latest lab results before making this decision on taking this risky step. We also learned we have an additional 4 weeks (if needed) to make a decision on whether or not to continue with this pregnancy.

1:25pm I received a call from my OB's nurse letting me know my latest lab results were in. Deep down I was expecting her to put me on hold so my doctor could pick up the line, but instead she let me know the tests all came back negative! And while they can't guarantee 100% there won't be any problems, they felt confident in saying 'almost' 100% this babe won't have Down Syndrome! Thank goodness!

7/6 Eric felt the baby kick for the first time. I guess while I was half asleep the little turkey was kicking up a storm and I grabbed Eric's hand and placed it where the turkey was kicking so he could feel it. Honestly I don't really remember doing this, but I am thrilled to have shared my internal beatings with him.

7/10 OB appointment #4 and ultrasound. Both of these seemed a bit rushed and off for my doctors office. The ultrasound was to be over 30 minutes long and include a dvd, but instead we ended up with a 15-20 minute ultrasound and she kept all of the views on her monitor instead of turning on the tv so we could see what she was looking at. She did eventually turn it on when the kids came in to learn the sex of the babe and provided us with 3 pictures...which weren't even really worth getting...just wait, you will see.

The OB appointment was just as short and consisted us just talking for a few minutes and that was only because I had a few questions. She didn't even listen to the heart beat, I guess she got enough from the two second heart beat screening from the ultrasound tech. Overall, what I thought would be a great, fun appointment, especially since things are looking great for this tyke and pregnancy, turned out to be a huge disappointment and a waste of an effort of dragging the kids along. We did find out that our little turkey currently weighs about 12 ounces.

So without further adieu here are our not so great pics from today's appointment.

Creepy looking 20 week profile picture

Can you tell what you are looking at???

  I will give you one final hint...and I'd like to introduce you to....

Alice!!! Just kidding on the name!

7/26 Another ultrasound today (22 weeks)! This appointment and the next one (in 2 weeks) is just to check my cervical lining to ensure this little one is going to stay put for a while longer. So far things are looking good, my cervix has thinned just a touch, but not enough for any concern at this point. The tech today was awesome and took a peek at a few things and attempted to get us a new profile shot, but of course this little turkey was uncooperative. Turns out those contractions I have been having the last two days may have been due to her turning, she is now head down and her cute little face is out of view. Her heart beat was 144 bpm and little chunky is now 1 pound 2 ounces. Her measurements and weight put us at 4-5 days ahead of our Thanksgiving due date. Sadly at this point we still haven't been able to notify all of our family and because of that, all of our friends are still out of the loop of our news, and this post remains a draft.

8/7 We are currently 24 weeks along and hopefully this will be the last ultrasound for the next month as our next one is scheduled with our specialist for Sept 10th. This appointment is like our last, just to a quick check my cervical lining. As for now, everything is looking great, now lets just hope my doctor thinks the same next week when I see her again.  I was able to listen to her heart beat and watch her on the television screen, but I forgot to find out how much she weighed.

Today our little turkey is back in the breech position and as usual, was pretty active during the appointment, which allowed the tech to capture some of her movements in a few pictures!

This was our first picture of the day, the bubble like object you see is the umbilical cord and although she appears to be laying on her back with her knees bent, she is actually in the breech position, her back is on my right side (which she has favored this entire pregnancy) and her feet are on my left side.

Out of all the pictures I received today, this one showed her facial features the best. While it is hard to tell, she had moved her legs from the bent position above to having her feet above her head, which is easier to see in the next picture.

And not only did she move her feet above her head, she was also moving her mouth (which obviously is harder to capture in a picture) and her fingers. With every ultrasound we have had she has always had at least one hand in front of her mouth, but so far she doesn't appear to be a thumb sucker.

Again...or I should say still, some of our family hasn't been notified but will be told this weekend! So hopefully I will finally be able to share our news on here sometime next week!

8/16 OB appointment #5 and glucose testing. My morning started off with drinking that lovely (disgusting) glucose drink and I could tell within minutes of completing it I was going to have an elevated glucose test results, I felt awful! Sure enough my test results were elevated, although the doctor didn't tell me how elevated...and to be honest the more I see her, the less I like her as a doctor. She has always been a quick in and out appointment type of MD, but usually (even though she comes across as annoyed) has answered my questions.

Today though she was beyond rude, maybe she was just having a bad day (it was only 9:30am by the time I left) and I was just getting the butt end of her negativity. Either way, she asked how I was feeling, I tried to tell her how crappy I have been feeling for the last month and a half (ears clogged and draining), how the little turkey NEVER sleeps and how tired I am (I look like I have 2 black eyes kind of tired), and I attempted to ask a few questions regarding my glucose levels along with a few clarifications on my limited travel restrictions, my last US, and to clarify how far along I am versus my US calculations (my LMP, cycles, and the average due date for most women is already off by a week or so). Her response to me, well if you don't feel good you can take Benadryl, Sudafed, and something else...no she never checked to see if I was getting sick or just having allergies, and with all my other questions, her response was "Does it really matter?", UMMMMM I guess not! So I can't tell you how much she weighs, what her current length is, or what her heart beat is. She then escorted me out of my room to hand me my check out sheet and said "See you in four weeks".

I tried to get clarification on my next glucose testing, but she just responded the front desk will schedule it, then said again "See you in four weeks!" Okay, okay, I get the hint. Sadly no one else was much more help, the front desk scheduled my appointment for 4 weeks, then told me to go to the lab to schedule my next glucose test as she handed me my checkout form, I had to ask where the lab was, yeah I guess that's part of an advantage having the RN do all my lab work within the doctors office to not know where it was! Off at the lab, I got my appointment scheduled, didn't get any instructions on what my restrictions are or if there is any prep for that appointment, so this might be a bit interesting! Anywhoo, here it is a few hours later, I still feel like crap (and probably why I am even more annoyed with today's appointment) but the day must now go on.

On a good note, I think we have finally told everyone whether via phone, email, or in person, to finally be able to share our news with everyone...so as of today this long post is going public!