32.5 Weeks

I had another doctor appointment today and all looks good. Well, as good as we can tell:). I haven't been having many contractions so he didn't check me as he doesn't want to check me if it's not neccessary as to not make things worse. I have to remain on Procardia and bedrest, but there is now a light at the end of tunnel! 2 1/2 more weeks of strict bedrest!! I'll then be 35 weeks and at 35 weeks he'll ease my restrictions (whatever that means) and then at 36 weeks he'll take me off of bedrest completely! I'm not going to return the preemie clothes just yet (I'd hate to jinx it--j/k, I'm really not supersticious), but a little bit longer and he won't need preemie size! He does have a cute Christmas sleeper, but I really don't think he'll need that as quickly as Christmas is approaching! This bedrest has been hard on Joe since he now brings Layla away every morning and therefore gets into work late, so it's nice for him that it's only 2 more weeks of that and those 2 weeks are both holiday weeks so after this week it's really only 6 work days. I'm sure he'll be glad to be able to spend more time at work to try to get "caught up" (if there is such a thing!). I have learned through this pregnancy that I don't plan on ever being pregnant this time of year again. I've missed (will be missing) all the fun holidays and everything that goes with them (ie Christmas shopping)! I was on partial bedrest for Halloween, so I did get out, but I just sat there and we didn't take Layla around to people b/c of that and then I missed Thanksgiving, and now Christmas and New Years! Not to be a complainer--I realize things could be a LOT worse, we will just be more careful in planning the time next time:). And I don't like thinking about getting to the hospital in a snow storm and we seriously have had times that we were about not able to get out due to living in the country. Ok, enough complaining:). Oh, wait, I'm not quite done. I don't know if it's because I'm not used to sitting up or what, but just driving to the doctor today and sitting in the office I was so uncomfortable. It definitely brings on contractions! Hopefully once I'm off bedrest I'll get more used to that again b/c all I wanted to do was lay down and curl up on my side! RV's heartbeat was 145 and I measured 33cm which I guess is pretty normal for 32 weeks--he said I was 31cm 2 weeks ago.

Here's my 32 week pic...


We're also making progress on finishing our basement. We've hired some help with part of it, so that helps it move along much quicker!! The trim is up and the cabinets are in. The next step is painting the trim, putting the counter tops on and then painting and flooring and we're done (and a few other things in there)! So maybe in 6 months we'll be done--j/k! Hopefully not too much longer before Layla can move into her new room!! (Maybe before RV arrives??)

18 Month Stats

Joe brought Layla to her 18 month appointment today and all checked out well! Joe said she only screamed 95% of the time:). Like normal, she was fine in the lobby--it's when she enters the room that flashbacks of getting poked must come back to her and she starts crying. I thought it was a good experience for Joe to have to take her to an appointment--haha, only kidding, Joe:). It did make me think though how difficult it will be when I have to bring RV in and Layla will be screaming even if we're not there for her! She might need to go to a sitter:). Layla is still small (shocking!), here are her stats:

Height: 31 3/4" - 25th%
Weight: 20 lbs - 3rd%
Head: 47.8 cm - 75th%

Her percentages for everything are very similar to where she's been at for awhile now--except at a year she wasn't quite on the charts for weight--at least she made it on now:). Thankfully the nurse today let her keep her diaper on so that may have helped:). She's doing good though, she's growing at the same rate which is a good thing. She just doesn't gain weight that easily. The girl can eat--trust me! Guess she could change to forward facing in her carseat now, but since she doesn't mind (or know better) being rear facing and they now recommend kids stay rear facing until 2, we'll probably just leave her rear facing since it's safer. She was able to get her 2nd H1N1 vaccine today too--they got them in yesterday--so that worked well! Now she's super safe from the flu:). Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone is enjoying the snowy day! I'll be staying inside as always:).

Fetal Fibronectin Test

I had a fetal fibronectin test done last Wednesday at my appointment and called today for the results. It was negative! The test can tell if any fetal fibronectin as leaked down yet (it is kind of like the glue that attaches the fetal sack to the uterin lining--it starts leaking down prior to delivery)--since it was negative that means it's not leaking and I am therefore not going into labor for the next 7-10 days for sure after it was taken (or obviously possibly longer) and it gives a 95% likelihood of not delivering for the next 2 weeks. So the 2 weeks gives me until mid next week! I'll be 32.5 weeks by then! I then have another appointment next Wednesday so I'll get checked again then. I still have to remain on strict bedrest as a 32.5 week baby is still not ideal. I can't believe this baby will be later than Layla! We've been worried this pregnancy that RV would come much earlier than Layla and now he's later! I'm sick of bedrest, but am so happy that RV is staying in longer and that he will therefore most likely have a shorter hospital stay than Layla had! Praise God!!

Getting Ready for Christmas and Enjoying the Snow

Layla had her first sledding experience yesterday with Joe! She wasn't happy about walking in the snow, but did like the sled ride.

Elv had fun chasing/being chased by the sled...

Lindsey and Jonathan came over this week to help while I'm on bedrest. I really appreciate it so that Layla can stay home with me (and I can therefore seen her)--otherwise she goes to baby-sitters every day.

Jonathan and Layla enjoyed watching a video together...both kids LOVE their pipes (which surprisingly Layla's isn't in on the pic) and their blanket buddies. I'm not sure when we'll make Layla give up her pipe--probably not anytime too soon. She's been begging for it more lately and I give in more since being on bedrest! :(

This is where we put Layla when she can't decide what toy she wants out of her trunk:). She actually plays in it for awhile.

Jonathan enjoyed playing in it too...

Joe was very nice and put up our tree and Christmas decorations on Thanksgiving with help from Layla.

Layla loved pulling out the ornaments. And since they've been put up, has actually been good about not pulling on them (or the tree). She loves to point out those she recognizes--Minnie, a bus, Elmo, bears, etc., but is even becoming less interested in doing that. She surprisingly isn't as excited about the gifts wrapped in Minnie and Elmo paper as I thought she would be.

She listened nicely to me from the couch when I asked her to pose by the tree. She doesn't smile for pics when you ask her to though...she needs to work on that key part of being in a picture:).

18 Months/31 Weeks

I can't believe my little girl is 18 months old today! It is sad in a way that she is growing SO quickly! Although as we prepare for a second child, I am glad that she is as old as she is:). I don't think I could handle two babies! She is learning more and more words, but I'm not sure she's hit her "word boom" yet. Around a year she suddenly picked up a lot of new words, but I think typically around 18 months they also start saying a lot more words. She's just had a steady increase in words--not tons all at once, so we'll see if she hits that stage or not. And she pretty much just says single words--she doesn't put words together yet. She finally started calling her pipe a pipe (well more like 'pie')--up until now for some reason she's always called it 'ba'. Sometimes it's still 'ba'. Her favorite characters to talk about and watch/point out anywhere she sees them are Elmo and Minnie. I don't think she gets that Mickey is different than Minnie b/c we've only focused on telling her Minnie and getting her Minnie dolls. I can see how it's confusing for her:). She still loves toys that play music and loves dancing to them. She loves her shape sorter (if you tell her which one goes where) and the Good Night Moon book (actually she has two identical ones and loves to read both of them). Just recently she's gotten more into books again. She doesn't like messes. Often when I get out of the shower, my clothes that I left on the floor have disappeared--sometimes she puts them in my hamper, but other times she places them in random drawers. It teaches me not to leave clothes out or I might not find them back for awhile:). She loves Elvis and although she tries to disipline him with "down" and "no-no", for some reason he doesn't listen to her real well:). Most days now she is down to one nap, but it's only 1.5 hours, maybe 2 if we're lucky! And then she sleeps like 12-13 hours at night still. I'm hoping she learns eventually how to take at least a 2 hour nap! We've been doing time-outs with her for awhile now and they normally seem to really help settle her down and stop her from whatever naughty behavior she's doing. Next week is her 18 month check up, so I'll have her stats then. I'm curious to know what she weighs. She's typically a good eater (she likes all sorts of foods), but she always has been--she just doesn't put on weight. If only I could be that lucky! :)

I can not seem to locate my camera cord, so I haven't been able to download any pictures recently. It's very frustrating--I know I put it in a "good" spot, I just can't figure out where!!

I'm 31 weeks tomorrow! 3 more days puts me at where I had Layla--so hopefully we get there and then some! Last night was Steve and Heidi's wedding--I was sad to miss out on it, but thankful I didn't go into labor during it so that Joe could be there:). We praise God that RV is still in and pray for his healthy arrival whenever he decides to come!

Update

Thanks to all that have offered help!! It is much appreciated! I didn't mean for my previous post to sound like I was begging for help:). We've actually been doing good with help with Layla--so don't take it personally either if I don't take you up on your offer to help:). I know that dealing with an 18 month old for an entire day is a lot of work for anyone!

I had an appointment today and I am actually less dilated!! I was 1 1/2 when I left the hospital a week and a half ago and today he said it's closer to a 1! He said that makes sense that it'd go down since my contractions have been a lot less. And my effacement hasn't changed--still 40%. He was so pleased by this that he didn't schedule me for another appointment for two weeks. Maybe this kid won't end up being a preemie! Right now our goal is another two weeks, but then we'll keep hoping for more weeks after that. I'm only a little less than a week away from where I was when I had Layla and with her I was I think maybe at like a 2 1/2 and like 80% effaced a few days before I had her. So I know things can change quickly, but since I'm only at a 1 and 40% effaced I feel like I at least won't have him for a little while now--at least not on Heidi and Steve's wedding day:). 36 weeks is where they no longer would try to stop labor since that's close to full term--so if we make it that far he'll take me off of Procardia and bedrest. He also discussed with me "the plan" of what to do if I do go into labor early again. Last time my water broke, so I knew to head to Spectrum. I was almost fully dilated by the time they got me hooked up and checked me and sent me immediately to the delivery room where I started pushing and about 30 minutes later she was out. Typically the second pregnancy goes even quicker, so especially if he's a preemie and has breathing troubles, we obviously don't want to be having him in the car! I pray my water breaks again so that we know I'm for sure in labor, then depending on the severity of my contractions, if they're really bad, we'll stop at Zeeland and they can always then send RV to Spectrum or if I think I can make it to Spectrum, we'll keep going. Hopefully there's no snow storm:). If I'm closer to 32/33 weeks, then heading right to Holland would be an option since they have an intermediate nursery there for 32/33 week+ babies. If I just start having worse contractions, we'd just go to Zeeland first to see what's going on. So we don't have an exact plan laid out, but we pray that all goes smoothly when the time comes and that we have a healthy baby boy no matter when he is born:). His heartbeat today was 150.

Double Stroller

So I've been trying to figure out what double stroller to go with. I don't want a sit n' stand as Layla won't be old enough for that. We have a Graco infant carrier so I'm thinking a Graco stroller would probably be best. I was thinking of getting the Duo Glider. Anyone have any opinions on double strollers based on experience??

Also, I'm still just chillin' on bedrest. Layla got a cold on Saturday and Joe is now sick so hopefully they get better soon! We were trying to be careful about getting sick in case we end up having a kid in the NICU soon (and obviously wouldn't want to get him sick and they have strict rules about how long you have to stay away if you are sick) but apparently that didn't work! So far I'm not sick though and Layla is on the mend--she just had a runny nose and cough. Maybe Layla and my flu shots worked:).