29 Weeks: Bed Rest Day 63

I've actually made it through 9 weeks of bed rest? Wow... and it's probably over half way over too! Today I'm taking bed rest to it's full extent... I'm freaking uncomfortable! Everytime I stand or walk I have a moderate amount of pressure and I am just generally exhausted. Also I feel like I live in a bubble, and Anya isn't even here yet. I miss my friends :(

I had my lovely weekly cervix check and ultrasound this morning! To which I found out why I'm so uncomfortable... Anya has been head down for 10 weeks now, but up until this week there was a tiny pocket of fluid between her head and my cervix that she used to have room to put her hand on top of her head, no more! Her head is now pressed hard against my cervix with no room to spare :-P Luckily, my cervix is still closed and measuring at 2.3cm! Given that I've been increasingly uncomfortable for the last 2 days, I was afraid it would be shorter. Also, the amniotic fluid is 16cm, which is right on target. Everything still looks good with Anya too, and she weighs an estimated 2lbs 10oz!! She is in the 42nd percentile for her gestational age, so basically on track.

That is really the only "update" I have this week, I miraculously only had one appointment!! Next week, I have 4. Monday is my OB appt and my "diabetic nutrition counseling" appointment, and Thursday next week is my pediatric cardiology appointment (for a fetal echocardiogram) and my last cervix length check.



As far as crocheting goes, I made a gift for a friend, I had another friend ask me to make two hats for her and I got them done this week, and I've been working on Emoree's big sister present :) I'm really excited about it! I will post a pic when it is complete, but she won't see it until after Anya is born, because it is her present from Anya. And of course, I finished Emoree's loom hat that matches one I made for Anya!

29 Weeks: 196 lbs (+ 7.4 lbs)

28 Weeks: Bed Rest Day 56

Hello Third Trimester!!!! I sure hope to know you longer this time than I did with Emoree. Can I ask for 9 more weeks? :o) It is crazy hot outside today!! 97 degrees.. heat index 102. Normally I love the heat and will spend the day in the pool getting sun... but being pregnant if it's over 90 degrees after an hour I'm done. Maybe I will go back out later.

First I am going to give an Emoree update! Yesterday she had 4" cut off of her hair! She has had plenty of haircuts, but this was by far the most drastic. It is now shoulder length and easier to brush and maintain.. since she hates having her hair brushed and she swims all summer. I am letting her bangs grow out. She had her 4 year well visit yesterday at the pediatrican, and she weighs 48.9lbs and is 41.75" tall!!!! She is a big girl! She is in the 95th percentile for height and weight. She had 4 vaccines (MMR, chicken pox, tetanus, and dTap or polio?) yesterday and I was told she is good on vaccines now until she is 11 years old! Unfortunately all last night and today she has had a bad fever and chills... hoping this is gone by tomorrow :(

Also while we were at Emoree's pediatrican appointment yesterday, we talked to the pedi about Anya. I am very happy to hear that she currently has two patients with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, and she trained under one of the doctors who was part of creating the Norwood (1st) surgery that Anya will have, so she is very knowledgable and comfortable with handling Anya's diagnosis. She also said if we have any issues after hours once Anya is home, we will have direct phone access to her, and we won't have to use the after hours messaging on call system. Big relief! She also said even though she isn't connected with UMMC, to call her when I am in labor or when Anya is born because she will make a trip over to UMMC to check in on her.

Monday I had my 27-28 week OB appointment. All went well except my OB told me I do have gestational diabetes :( I've been testing my blood sugar for two weeks 4x a day, and she said half of my numbers are too high and that I need to go to diabetic nutritional counseling (scheduled July 2nd) and continue to keep track of my blood sugar levels, and that if they continue to be high she will put me on meds :( Next OB appt scheduled for July 2nd right after the nutrition appointment.

Today I had my cervix check, which measured 2.0-2.3cm! Still holding stable ;) They told me they will probably measure my cervix for 2 more weeks just to make sure it stays stable. They also printed me 4 pictures today, Anya was semi-cooperative :) I got to see the fetal cardiologist again today too, she wanted to make sure she saw me because she was going out of town for two weeks. The tech was asking her a lot of questions about what she was scanning and Anya's specific defect, so I got to learn a lot more too... apparantly she really IS more stable now than she was when she was first diagnosed. The fetal cardiologist said that Anya was alot more critical when first diagnosed because her PFO was closed / nearly closed and she had a lot more pressure in her arteries than she does now. Now her PFO looks okay, which alleviated pressure. It was good to hear :) The tech also asked about the surgeries, her aorta, and the left side of her heart, and the fetal cardiologist said the surgeries rework the "plumbing", but they can't fix the left side of the heart, which I already knew. She doesn't have a left aorta, because there is no blood flow in the left so the aorta never formed.

At the end of last week I made Anya a 0-3 month size elf hat, its more of a photography prop than anything, I love it :)

This is something quick I made, a thick newborn loom hat :) Emoree likes it and wants one of her own, I started it but I need to get more yarn to finish it.

Not crochet, but special none the less :) I made this to hang on the front of Anya's NICU isolette <3

My current in progress projects are Emoree's big sister present, and a gift for someone else.

Something else special... I have lined up a professional photographer from Heartlove Photography to take pictures of Anya in the NICU before her first surgery. This is something special that I really want to do. Heartlove Photography is affiliated with the NILMDTS organization (among others), they are an organization that has professional photographers signed up with them to take portraits of critical ill and bereavement photos of infants in NICUs at no cost. I am familiar with this organization from back when I used to stalk pro photography forums when I was first learning how to use my camera, I just never thought I'd have a reason to use it... but anyway she emailed me back right away and said to keep her updated, and to let her know when she is born so she can come do photos for me, because I want them done before her first surgery.

28 Weeks: 197.6 lbs (+ 9 lbs!)

27 Weeks & 2 Days: Bed Rest Day 51

This week has been pretty normal, 2 doctor's appointments, and I've gotten back into crocheting big time :) Also something else pretty special... I started getting my first kicks in the ribs a few days ago!! Anya is SO active, much more than Emoree ever was. Sometimes feeling my belly I can feel Anya pushing out a body part... usually a foot or her butt and its so cool because I can feel the edges of her foot through my skin <3

I had my regular weekly cervix check on Wednesday morning, and Anya looks stable and good, but just as stubborn as ever because she will NOT turn her face around for a picture!!! Still head down and facing back. The amniotic fluid was measuring at 16cm, which is good! My cervix length is measuring at 1.8cm-2.1cm, short but stable, and still closed. Apparantly the perinatalogist (who I do not see regularly) leaves notes for the techs to ask me... at least this is what the tech told me on Wednesday because she said she had to ask to make sure I was still "behaving" on bed rest, because Dr. Harmon wanted to know. I'm being good! Ecspecially now that I'm back to crocheting, all I do is sit on my butt!

Thursday morning I had a renal ultrasound. Not pregnancy related, but my new OB is very thorough and since I have a unicornuate uterus, she wanted me to have a renal ultrasound because its all connected and comes from the same place during development. The tech scanned and measured my right kidney fast and easy... she spent a lot longer on the left side. It turns out, no left kidney for me! It didn't suprise me much. She said a normal kidney in an adult female is about 10cm, and my right is measuring 12cm most likely to overcompensate for the lack of a left. Good thing a person can live normally with only one kidney :-P



I've been testing my blood sugar 4x a day for just over a week now, and I didn't think I'd get used to the finger prick as quickly as I did. I used to freak out about my fingertips bleeding, but the finger prick isn't too big of a deal. My morning fasting # is usually in the normal-high range... 88-101. After breakfast is always high... 130-150. Lunch and dinner is give or take.. it varies from 110-150. I may or may not have gestational diabetes.. I'm supposed to take my chart of my #s I've been keeping to my OB on Monday.

Now for the fun stuff!!! I finally found a pattern for booties that I like, so here is Anya's first pair of baby booties, of course with a matching headband. Headbands are so easy to make sure will probably have one for every outfit.

This is my biggest project, EVER. I started it over a year ago well before I had even planned to conceive Anya. Last week, I pulled it out of the closet and started crocheting like crazy... literally hours at a time. It was less than half done when I started back on it... but I added 10+ rows each day to get it finished because I was determined to have it done before I started other projects!! It measures 42"x36", so it is a decent size baby blanket too.

I love this!!! I've never crocheted clothing before, and when I saw this pattern I decided I had to make it. For the price of the yarn, I made this whole set for under $6. It is a 0-3 months size dress and diaper cover, with a 14" crochet flower headband. I'm excited to eventually take pictures of Anya wearing it :) I made this whole set in less than 2 days.

First bare belly shot :-) 27 Weeks!!!! I took these yesterday. You can see how tan I am getting sitting out in the sun on nice days... with my arm next to my white belly lol. Anya is growing!!!

27 Weeks: 194.2lbs (+5.6 lbs!)











26 Weeks: Bed Rest Day 42

Today is just a quick update, no pictures, sorry! I had a fetal echo this morning, and Anya is still looking stable. They didn't give me a weight approximate today. There was a small concern about amniotic fluid level, but the fetal cardiologist came in and measured it again and said it was okay, just a tiny bit lower than last week. My cervix length is a stable 2.2cm :) short but sticking!
Today is my first day tracking my blood sugar level... It's not as bad ad I thought. After all, I'd rather do this then take the 3 hr glucose test! This morning when I got up my number was 102, about 2 hrs after breakfast it was 121, and now 1 hr after lunch is 110! If my blood sugar numbers stay looking good I may only have to test for 2 weeks.

25 Weeks & 5 Days: Bed Rest Day 40, & Emoree's birthday!

This past week has not felt like bed rest at all, thankfully! I've been busy and had no alone time, which is why I haven't posted in 10 days :-P We went to the ocean, celebrated Emoree's birthday, I had quite a few appointments, & Emoree's 4th birthday party!! So I have alot to say, and I hope I remember it all!!

I like things in chronological order, so that is how I am going to start :) Saturday, May 26th we went to Ocean City, MD!! Emoree has been asking for months to go, and this trip was a suprise quick one night trip. I thought when we drove over the drawbridge into the city she would know where she was, but she didn't. I finally told her and she was so excited!!!!

Just before we got into Ocean City we went to the outlet stores, namely Children's Place. I love that store! I spent $27 and bought Emoree 2 shirts and a dress, and Anya 4 or 5 items. I really can't do much since I am restricted to bed rest, so the only thing we really did Saturday afternoon was go out to dinner. We went to Dead Freddies, which is pretty awesome! Emoree never even sat at the table.. she was too busy playing on their huge pirate ship!

Sunday morning we went out to breakfast, then went back to the place we were staying and packed up. Then we went to the boardwalk, the highlight of my trip because I finally got my Thrasher's fries!!!!!! They were SOO good and I smothered them in apple cider vinegar. Yum! They also have the best lemonade too :) While I ate my fries, I sat on a bench and Emoree played in a castle on the sand for nearly an hour! We went to Candy Kitchen because I wanted peanut butter and chocolate fudge, and got Emoree a lollipop and ice cream. Then we headed home.

I also want to throw in my belly pic here, at 24 weeks & 4 days since I had my mom take a picture of me in the sand :)

On Tuesday, May 29th, I had an appointment and met with the pediatric cardiac surgeon again. He is pretty awesome, and just wanted to make sure I knew what to expect after Anya is born through the first surgery and between surgery #1 & #2. I also had an appointment to tour the NICU where Anya will spend her first few weeks! It is not as impressive as GBMC's NICU where I had Emoree, but UMMC cares for these heart babies, so that is where she needs to be! There are 3 seperate rooms where the babies are, and each room is based on what level of care they need. They also explained to me that I will most likely not get to hold her right after she is born, but I expected that. They need to stabilize her and start her on prostaglandin IVs to keep her fetal shunts open until surgery. Once they clean her up in the delivery room, they will show her to me to say hi real quick before taking her to the NICU. They request no visitors to the NICU for the first 1.5 hours, because that is when they are working on stabilizing her and getting her hooked up to everything. Grandparents (my mom and dad) and I are really the only ones that are going to see her while she is in the NICU, but I will post many pictures and updates. I may take Emoree to see her, it depends on how Anya is doing.

On Wednesday, May 30th, Emoree turned 4 years old :) Hard to believe my little 3lb 15oz & 17" baby 4 years ago has grown up to be this incredible 47lbs & 43"!!!

For her birthday, first Grandaddy took her to Denny's for breakfast, then we went to the B&O Railroad Museum. They had many trains to see, and we also got to ride one! They have 1 mile of track that they do tour rides on in a commuter train. They also had a little train and carousel that Emoree liked too.

Next we took her to Chuck E Cheese for a late lunch. She loves the rides and photo booths there :)

That night we had cake and presents with just family. I got her a Dora balloon too, because she requested previously that she HAD to have balloons on her birthday!

On Thursday, May 31st, I had two appointments as well. The first was with pediatric cardiology for a fetal echo. I was there for an hour and everything checked out okay, Anya is growing appropriately and there is no change to her heart. The second appointment was just for my cervix check. The tech had a hard time measuring my cervix :-P as they usually do. She couldn't get an accurate measurement, and I saw that the numbers she was getting were all over the place. She told me I have a 'dynamic cervix', which means it is constantly changing. They decided that my cervix is still over 2.0cm, and it could be anywhere from 2.0cm-2.7cm. Anya wasn't cooperating for her photo shoot... Her face picture is distorted by how low she has her head in my uterus, and the 2nd picture shows part of her foot. They did tell me she weighs approximately 1 lb 11 oz now!!! She is growing!

Sunday, June 3rd was Emoree's birthday party!!! We had such a good time. She had a few friends her age that she loved playing with too, we had a pinata with LOTS of candy, and she got LOTS of presents too!!!

And of course, Emoree & Mommy :) I am 25 weeks & 4 days here (taken yesterday). Yes, I wear this dress alot.... it is my favorite and only 1 of 2 maternity dresses I own.

This morning I had my first appointment with my new OB. I am so glad I like her! She is very thorough too. My BP today was 131/87 (I'm recording it, since I actually remember it, lol). She went over my pregnancy history and medical history. Due to my unicornuate uterus, she is sending me for a renal ultrasound to check my kidney function, since having half of a uterus can cause kidney issues (meaning, they don't know if my left kidney is functional, and she would like to know since I have a family history of kidney problems). She also sent me for bloodwork (they took 7 vials!) To recheck basically everything, including my thyroid function (since I am hypothyroid and on meds for it). We also talked about the failed 1hr glucose test I had... and I told her I don't want to do the 3 hour test. She said my other option is to test my blood sugar daily, which I agreed to so she gave me a script for a glucometer. She also took me off of my metformin, since I was taking it for PCOS and she said it doesn't do much help after the first trimester of pregnancy. Which means yay, no more PM pills for me!! I only have AM prenatal vitamin and thyroid medicine :)

The highlight of my appointment this morning is that my new OB is in total support of a VBAC!!!!!! I am SOO EXCITED! Note to Anya: you BETTER stay head down or you are punished! I found out only last month that my uterine scar is NOT vertical, but that it is transverse! She explained the risks, and said there are more risks involved with a repeat c-section then with a VBAC w/ previous low transverse uterine scar, which is why she supports it. She said she was going to check over my old surgical notes from my old OB to make sure that due to my unicornuate uterus they didn't "extend" my incision into the upper part of the uterus, but as long as it is a  low transverse scar, I go into labor on my own (which REALLY shouldn't be a problem for me!), and Anya stays head down and doesn't show signs of stress during labor, that I shouldn't have a problem with a VBAC! This made my day and week!!

One side note... my doctors have decided that my due date is September 8th rather than the 12th... I don't know where they came up with this, but I am not changing MY dates, since I know what day my insemination was!!!! So... today is 100 days until my due date!!!

25 Weeks: 192.4 lbs (+3.8 lbs)