30 weeks, 1 day

Well, since my last post I did finally hear back from my doctor. He played a very long game of phone tag with the Urologist, but they were finally able to talk about my case. The end result is that we are all finally on the same page and everyone is happy and confident that waiting until Hannah is born to do anything about my kidney is the right choice. Since we have already discussed inducing at 38 weeks with my OB, we have decided to stick with that plan. Henry and I are confident that she will be fully baked and ready to breath by then, especially since Seth was born at 38 weeks 2 days and was perfect! Otherwise, things have been going well. I am extremely tired and am experiencing the lack of sleep I never experienced while pregnant with Seth. Now I understand where all of my friends were coming from when they described this "symptom" to me. The only hard part is having my roudy 1 year old to chase after. Speaking of which, he was sick at the end of last week and I have discovered that Seth has the same reaction (and then some) to Dimetapp that I do! I gave him a dose of it before a nap and he did not get drowsy at all. In fact, he became downright hyper! Seriously, he was so wired and wouldn't take a nap, that I finally took him to the outdoor Outlet Mall down the road to walk around for an hour and a half. He finally fell asleep in the car around 3:15. He then took a nice long nap and went to bed at 8:00pm. Needless to say, I was exhausted! The only other notable changes could be that I have been feeling bigger and bigger every day! I guess that Little Miss is running out of room so she has started doing some strange things to stretch out. I'm not complaining, I love the movement, but it is most uncomfortable when I am sitting down to eat or sitting in an upright position just to rest. It seems like the only time I can rest well is if I am laying down because I must be encroaching in her space when I sit upright. We had another doctors appointment today. I will be going every other week from now until 36 weeks when I go weekly. My pressure today was ok, 130/60. It was mentioned that the top number was a bit high, but that was all that was said. I did have a tremendous weight gain this time...6 pounds! I guess the brownie craving is starting to catch up with me! I asked the doctor about my measurements and he said that I am exactly the same as I was with Seth, weight and everything! Now, we just have to play the waiting game to the end! All said, I am still feeling good. I enjoy being pregnant and will miss it when I am through. The reward at the end is so much greater that I can ever imagine!

Pregnancy Pictures

Well, I haven't heard anything new from my doctor, but I thought I would go ahead and post a couple of recent pregnancy pictures. They were taken on Friday night by Henry. I was 28 weeks, 5 days pregnant. Henry and I cannot tell for sure, but we both think I am actually smaller with Hannah than I was with Seth. Probably not by a whole lot, but that's ok.

Overall, I am still feeling good. Just a bit more tired than usual but that could be due to chasing after our sweet climber all day long and a lack of ability to sleep at night. Hopefully, things will settle back down and I'll be able to sleep again before we hit the end of the pregnancy.

September 6, 2007 - 27 weeks 3 days

Well, we had another OB appointment yesterday. So far things are still looking really good. My blood pressure was 128/70 and my weight was only up another pound. I am still really shocked about the lack of great weight gain this time around but, as the nurse explained it, this is a different baby and different pregnancy! I am not doing anything to try not to gain weight, but I guess I am more active this time around, so that could explain it! Hannah is still doing wonderfully. Her heart rate was nice and strong. I had to have the Rhogham(sp?) shot before I left. I don't generally like being stuck, but I can handle it most of the time. The only problem with the shot is that it stings really bad and leaves your hind end sore for several hours afterward. But, As always, I will do whatever is best for me and Hannah and this shot is absolutely medically necessary, so the temporary pain is worth it! Unfortunately, I left the appointment feeling somewhat unhappy with things again. I shared the notes from the Urologist with my doctor and he seemed a bit concerned with the plan of keeping Hannah inside until 38 weeks. Long story short, after much discussion with Henry and my parents over my own uneasiness, I called and left word for my OB to call me back on Monday. I plan on telling him that I trust him and I need for him to be ok with the plan. I will ask him to contact the Urologist himself and come to whatever conclusions they can together. Right now, they are both willing to do whatever the other feels is best and while that is great it has left me in the middle making all the plans. I am not doctor and I will never claim to be so I will feel much better knwoing that they have spoken to eachother and come up with a plan that makes them both happy. Most importantly, I need to know that my OB is confortable with the plan. I know he is concerned about me and the baby and since I could sense his concern yesterday it made me feel concerned now as well. So, hopefully, I will talk to my doctor on Monday and then he'll talk to the Urologist and we can come up with a plan that suits us all! As always, I'll update when I know more.

The past couple of months...

Well, as promised here is an update about me and Hannah and what has been going on the past couple of months! You might notice that after this post there are several others. I was keeping another blog but decided to move all of those posts here as well in order to have everything together. Feel free to read on if you like. There are also a couple of pictures of Hannah from each of the ultrasounds. Many of you know what has been going on but in the event you haven't heard here it is. Around my 13 week appointment I mentioned to my doctor that I have been having a pain in my right side for quie a long time now. After describing the pain to him he decided that I needed to have my gall bladder scanned. It took me a long time to get it done but I finally had the scan done around 20 weeks. At the scan we found that everything looked normal with my gall bladder but they found a mass on my kidney. After having an MRI (without the contrast) and consulting a Urologist it was determined that the mass is not a fatty tumor nor is it a cyst. Right nowmy Urologist is calling it a tumor and "assuming" it is cancer. The assumption is based solely upon the fact that "it's the only thing left to assume" according to the doctor. The assumption came as quite a shock to me and my family. Of course we were all immediately concerned about my health as well as Miss Hannah's health and what this does in terms of my pregnancy. Thankfully, my health still remains wonderful as does the health of the baby. Truthfully, I feel healthier this pregnancy than I did with Seth! After the initial shock, we immediately began trying to figure out what to do. Many questions were asked and it was determined that we will keep an eye on the tumor to make sure there is no abnormal growth and there being none, we will schedule surgery for a month after Hannah is born. I am a bit freightened about the surgery having never gone under the knife before, but I can honestly say those have been some of the least of my worries. My biggest worries were making plan for my family. What would we do with Seth and Hannah while I am in the hospital? How does Henry handle splitting his time between Seth and me and Hannah. Hannah will more than likeley not be able to stay with me in the hospital so he'll (Henry) be her main caretaker during my stay there. What is recovery going to be like and things like that. Fortunately, now that we have an idea of what will be happening many of my worries and fears have been put to rest. I am still nervous about the surgery, but having so much family and so many friends surrounding us, I am confident that my own little family will be well taken care of in my abscence. Henry is the best Daddy I could have ever wanted for my children and he is totally devoted to their care, so I really have no worries there either! So, that in a nut shell is what has been keeping me so busy these past couple of months, along with chasing after my toddler and trying to keep myself awake during the day. I don't remember being this tired at this point in my pregnancy with Seth but, then again, I didn't have Seth to run around after yet! As far as the pregnancy goes, I am doing quite well! I go back to the doctor tomorrow for a regular check up but until then I can tell you that my last blood pressure reading was 110/60, and my weight was only up a total of 7 pounds! This is quite an accomplishment in both areas for me as at this point in my last pregnancy my pressure was already creeping upward and my weight gain had soared past 20 pounds already! My belly is growing every day and boy can I feel it!!! I love it though. Feeling the baby move is nothing short of a miracle to me and makes me smile just about every time, although I do have my moment when it is a bit more painful than pleasant. All in all, I am feeling great and I cannot wait for the day we get to meet this little angel in person!

August 14, 2007 - 24 weeks

Well, I had my 24 week appointment today. It went very well, if I do say so myself! I had to drink the nasty stuff they give you before they do your glucose test. Then, I met with the PA. We had a nice long chat about all of the stuff going on in my life right now. She is a great lady and a part of me wishes that she could deliver me because she'd be great! Hannah is doing fantastically. Her heart rate was great and I only gained 2 pounds!!! The best news was that my blood pressure was 110/60. I was thrilled to hear that. Otherwise, there's not a whole lot to report, just you every day appointment!

July 16, 2007 - 20 weeks and she's definitely a girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound and appointment today. My Mom came to see the "live action feature" we are calling Hannah Grace Crafton. She seemed quite pleased to be there and very excited that we found out for sure that our girl is a girl! Everything else looks great! The baby looked perfect and seems to be growing just as nicely as before. The issue with my placenta is a non-issue now. It seems that it has moved up to a point that the doctor is no longer concerned about it. My blood pressure was great again and my weight gain was another 4 pounds. I am going to try to work on keeping it down to a minimum over the next few months. The less I put on the less I have to take off!

June 26, 2007 - 17 weeks and it's a...

Girl...possibly! The doctor did the scan today and we were thrilled to find out that the baby is currently looking like a girl, but since (s)he wasn't in the best position he would not commit to (him)her being a girl. So, I am going to hold off on buying anything pink until we have our next scan in three weeks and we've decided to be somewhat reserved with our excitement until we know for 100% positive. Aside from that, everything looked pretty good. The baby looked GREAT! (S)he was measuring 17 weeks 2 days, which puts (him)her right on track and the heartbeat was nice and strong. There was one small concern but, it is something the doctor is hoping will correct itself as the pregnancy progresses. When the doctor was doing the scan he noticed that the placenta was quite low, very close to the cervix. This can cause placenta previa, so we are going to be keeping an eye on it to be sure it grows /moves higher on the uterus the further along I get. Again, this is nothing to be concerned about at this time, the doctor just wanted to give us the heads up so that we are aware of the reason we'll have a few more ultrasounds. My blood pressure was great and technically I only gained one pound, although I did gain back the 4 pounds I had lost at the last appointment. Oh well! I'll take a net gain of only one pound at this point! As always, I will post another update when we know for sure that this littl emunchkin is a girl. (I feel like it's a girl, and so do a bunch of other people!)

May 25, 2007 - 12 weeks, 2 days

I had a doctor's appointment today so it is time for an update. To be quite honest, while I knew I was pregnant already, it really hit home today when I heard the heartbeat for the first time. That alone is what assures me that everything is going fine and that I am in fact, pregnant! I know it sounds silly, but an ultrasound is just a picture, the doppler used to hear the heartbeat is what says it all to me. It reminds me of the little miracle I have growing inside me right now. I left the doctor's office on cloud nine and I don't think I have come down yet. Anyway, on with the update! As I mentioned we did hear the heartbeat for the first time today. It was "very strong for 12 weeks" according to the nurse practitioner. She was pleased at how strong it was. It was in the 160s and for all of you familiar with the old wives tales about the heartbeat and gender prediction, she said not to try anything yet, the heartbeat is always that fast this early on. My blood pressure was great and my weight was actually down 4 pounds. This would normally be concerning, but with a heartbeat so strong, the NP said there is nothing to worry about. I have another appointment in 4 weeks and then at the following appointment we'll have the big ultrasound. I was informed that my doctor won't do the "big ultrasound" a day before you are 18 weeks. If you ask me today, I still think it is a boy, but during the first 16 weeks of my pregnancy with Seth, I was sure he was a girl. I only changed my mind 2 weeks before we found out with him, so who knows! Maybe my "Mommy instincts" are backwards at the beginning of the pregnancy!!! Either way, I will be thrilled and all I truly want is to have a healthy baby and pregnancy. As for my early pregnancy symptoms, I am doing well. I was having constant morning sickness but, that seems to have subsided to only once or twice a week. And, otherwise, I am still really tired all of the time and getting more excited each day! So, that's all for my update for now. I'll write more as I know more! Thanks for reading!

April 19, 2007 - 8 Weeks and Counting...Up

Well, now that the news is out I figured I should go ahead and start with the updates and how I am feeling. My pregnancy with Seth, aside from the preeclampsia at the end, was super easy. I was famous for telling everyone that if we hadn't gone through what we did to have him, I never would have known I was pregnant. I never had any morning sickness, no real food aversions, and aside from falling asleep at 8pm every night, I wasn't really tired during the day. This pregnancy is completely different already! I have had all day sickness, I have been so sleepy all day long, and my "rhinitis", a.k.a. stuffy nose, is back with a vengance at night. I also have been having trouble feeding Seth certain foods. The smell of the food kills me! I have just been feeling crappy in general and I never even thought to connect it with possible pregnancy until last week. After seeing the baby on the ultrasound yesterday I am sure that this is a great thing, no matter how much sooner than our "plan" it has come. That is the part that always amazes me. Seeing that tiny little baby with the even smaller heartbeat always confirms for me what a miracle each and every baby is. So, all in all I am ok. Now that I know the source of my discomfort, it is all worth it! We are extremely excited and we know that Seth will make a great big brother. My grandfather always says that babies bring luck and right now I feel like the luckiest woman on earth!

April 19, 2007 - Surprise!!!!!!!!

We're having another baby! We found out on Friday and it was confirmed yesterday by my doctor that I am in fact 8 weeks pregnant. We saw the heartbeat and my doctor says everything looks great! So, sometime around December 3, Seth will become a big brother for the first time! We were quite surprised by this new little one. This truly was a miracle and gift from God. After all of the trouble we had getting pregnant with Seth we just never figured we would be able to get pregnant without seeking some assistance from the fertility specialists again. We are totally thrilled and I have to admit that I am still in shock. I can't wait to see where this new adventure in our lives will take us. So, now we wait to find out, boy or girl?!?!?!? We should know by July, so I'll update then!