Friday, April 22, 2011

Holding Steady

WOOHOO!!! I went to the doctor yesterday to get my cervix meausred again. Last week it was 1.2cm. This week it measured 1.3cm and after about 30 seconds it was 1.8cm YAY!!! The doctor was very happy that it hasn't gotten any worse and so was I.

We also did our monthly measurements of the kido. She is currently estimated to weigh in at 3 lbs. and 10oz. That's about the same size Allie was at this point. I was measured at 30 weeks 1 day and Allie was born at 30 weeks 3 days and weighed 3 lbs. 8 oz. The doctor said she thinks the baby will be around 8 lbs. when she is born.

The sonographer showed us our little girl using the 4D ultrasound again. She is just too cute!!! We got some great pictures of her again. Allie thought it was really neat seeing the baby on the big screen.

Of course, I'm still on bed rest. I don't have to go back to the high risk doctors for 2 weeks. I'm soo happy my cervix is holding and isn't shrinking away.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

1.2 cm and counting

I went for my weekly exam with the high risk specialists today and also visited my OB for my monthly check up. Well, they measured my cervix again and it's gone down to 1.2 cm. Last week it was 1.9cm and before that it was 2.8 cm. If it is below 1.5cm there is a greater risk of delivering early. This means bed rest continues and I have to be careful and really stay down as much as possible. The doctor really wants to get at least another month out of me before I deliver. I really want to make it to June.

They also did another fetal fibronectin test and the results came back negative. A negative fetal fibronectin test gives a more than 95% likelihood of remaining undelivered for the next 2 weeks. I was very happy to hear the nurse say negative when she called.

When I had my ultrasound I also got to see my little girl using the 4D technology. She is sooo adorable and looks a lot like her big sister Allie. They have the same cute little nose and perfect chin. Allie goes with me to all of my appointments and was amazed at the pictures we got of her baby sister. She kept pointing and saying baby sister. I'll have to have Will scan them so I can post the pictures for you guys to see.

Bed rest... it's been over 3 weeks now. It's very boring and restricting. I really hate not being able to get up to do the dishes or do a load of laundry. I sincerely hope that I'm able to take care of some things before our little girl arrives. Link

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Happy Unbirthday

I have an app on my Iphone called Cupcake Maker. It's a game I guess you could say in which you choose a flavor and go through all of the steps involved in making a cupcake. You mix ingredients, line cupcake pans with decorative cups, bake them, and finally decorate them. I got this particular app to show Allie and teach her some sequencing. I showed her how to do all of the steps once and then click the next arrow and she got it down fast.

Well today, she was making cupcakes and decided to decorate one and added a few candles to it. She handed me the phone and said, "Happy Birthday Mom!" I looked at her and then at the phone and she said, "Candles Mom, blow them out." I told her it wasn't my birthday and asked her if it was hers. She said no, so I said it was both of our "unbirthdays." We sang "Happy Unbirthday to Us" and had a ball. At the end of the song we cheered and both blew out the candles on the screen.

Monday, April 11, 2011

And We're Off

I've been debating for awhile on whether or not I should create a new blog for our family. I finally decided to just get started. I figure I can keep people updated about what's going on in our lives and have some fun at the same time.

So about the family...

We moved to Jacksonville, FL in September of last year. One of my sisters live here. She has a daughter a few months younger than Allie and also has a 4 month old son. I love being near her and am grateful that we get to raise our children together.

I was a director at one of the Sylvan Learning Centers here. I absolutely loved my job. The people are all wonderful and I couldn't ask for a better working environment. I haven't been in the classroom since I left Washington Middle School in 2008. Sylvan has been really great for me.

I am 28 weeks pregnant with our second daughter. My due date is June 29th. Allie will be 3 about a month later. I'm on bed rest now due to a soft and short cervix. I'm getting weekly progesterone injections to help prevent preterm labor. I've been a stay at home mom now since March. I got to be home with Allie for about 3 weeks before my doctor ordered bed rest. I've been on bed rest for two and a half weeks. We're trying to prevent having another kido early. Allie was born at 30 weeks and 3 days and the doctors and I are doing everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The reason I became a stay at home mom to begin with was that my husband got laid off. We had been very blessed in the fact that we were both working and he was able to do all of his work from home. He got to stay home and take care of Allie while I went to work. Well when he lost his job he had to look for work again and was not able to find anything that he could do telecommuting. He got a new job and seems to be very happy. He says that it seems like he's known the people he's working with now forever. When he started his new job I came home.

Allie is crazy smart and really curious. She's always very observant too. Each night when we read bedtime stories she always notices something new. The other night we were reading a book and there were two bears building a snowbear. Allie looked at the picture and pointed to the coal nose and said, "Mom, his carrot is missing." She looked all over the page for a carrot because she thought all snowmen had carrot noses. It was too cute. She loves to watch Nick Jr. I watch shows with her and we talk about what we see. Being on bed rest has forced me to be a little creative with what I can do with her. We play a lot of educational games on my iPhone. She knows her way around my phone like the back of her hand. She loves to do puzzles, paint, draw, play tea party, and of course make lots of animal sounds. She has soo much energy it's crazy. She's my little bundle of joy and I love her to pieces.

We talk about the new baby with Allie all of the time. She gives my belly hugs and kisses and even high fives. She likes to put her ear against my belly and listen to her little sister. The other night she really cracked me up because she lifted up my shirt and put a piece of pasta in my belly button and said, "Here you go sister, eat up." She also tells us to be quiet sometimes because the baby is sleeping. Her little "shhhhhhes" are so cute!

We're still working on names for this one. We had an idea but I really want a name that people can spell. I hate having my name always spelled incorrectly. It drives me nuts. We worked really hard when we named our first daughter Allison Kayla Baumbach.

Will, my husband, spends his time when he's not at work doing a variety of things including developing web sites, playing games online with friends, coding all sorts of things, and relaxing with Allie and me. He's been playing World of Warcraft and leading organized groups. He is really interested in checking out the new Star Wars Old Republic game that is due out any time soon. I think it might be fun to play myself but, I'm on bed rest and it is due to come out soon. The likelihood of me having time to play a game like that with a newborn is not very high.

We also have a wonderful dog Nikki Nicks. She's a black lab/german shephard mix. She loves playing with Allie and going for walks whenever she can. I'm very grateful that she seems to love kids and puts up with a lot from Allie. Allie likes to chase Nikki around sometimes and be silly. She'll try and put dress up jewelry on her too. It's cute and Nikki doesn't complain.

I look forward to updating this as often as possible with news about the family and sharing pieces of our daily lives with everyone.