Birthday Dinner

My stud husband woke me up on Thursday singing happy birthday! When I got home from work, there were 31 red roses waiting for me. They are beautiful and still blooming!





That night we went with Chuck and Nicole to Maggiano's: FABULOUS Italian food. We ordered family style and were able to try all kinds of yummy appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts. We were beyond full when we left and even had some to take home!





It was a wonderful evening and perfect birthday.

It's crazy to think I'll be a mom for my next birthday!

'Little' B-Rob Needs Your Prayers, Please!

During all of our ultrasounds (about every 6-8 weeks), the doctor measures a few different areas of the baby to watch for normal growth: the length of his femur and the circumference of his head and abdomen. In addition to these measurements, he also checks for the amount of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby, his heart rate, and the flow through the umbilical cord. Up until this point, our baby was growing at the same rate, landing in the 50th percentile for the measurements and the right amount of amniotic fluid with a great heart rate and flow.

We had our latest ultrasound on Tuesday of this week (May 6). Two weeks ago and this past Tuesday, showed 'little' B-Rob slowing down in growth. Two weeks ago he was only in the 30th percentile with the measurements, but still had great flow, heart rate, and fluid. This week, he was even lower than the 30th percentile. What this means: He is still growing, but not at the rate he should be. The doctor also checked for 'breathing': Babies take practice breaths which can be seen during the ultrasound as his little diaphragm moves up and down while he is awake. It took awhile to wake him up, but once he did, we were able to see his little breaths (a GREAT sign of healthy development!)

So here's where the doctors are going from this point: I will have a non-stress test twice a week in which I'll be strapped to a heart monitor for the baby. It will record the heart rate for about 30-45 minutes. The doctors are looking for an increased heart rate when the baby wakes up and moves around as compared to the heart rate when he's sleeping.

We will also have another ultrasound next Tuesday (5/13) to test the amniotic fluid, making sure all is well in that area. The following Tuesday (5/20-the last week of school!), we will have an ultrasound to do all of the measurements again. This is the big one: If little B-Rob is still measuring small, the doctor will do an amniocentesis to check his lung development. Depending on those results, our little man or woman may make an early appearance into our world!

All three of us need your prayers, but please pray especially for this tiny baby still trying to grow and develop inside of me: for safety, growth, and healthy development inside of me and when he makes his grand appearance. Right now, we're at 34 weeks and he weighs just about 4 lbs.

Bill and I are doing well. I'm getting past trying to figure out what I did wrong, but still fall into those thoughts sometimes. Bill stops me and reminds me of the doctors assurance that nothing we did caused this or can change it. The doctor also told us that if he was overly concerned about the baby or me, he would have sent us right across the hall to be admitted that moment. They just want to monitor more closely to keep an eye of his progress!

We've been praying now more than ever before and are at peace that God holds His tiny child close and protected.

We will keep you posted as things progress. Thank you for your prayers and love through this...it's been quite a ride!

Mom and Dad Bethel Visit!

This from the end of March, but thought I'd show some pictures anyway! My parents came to visit over our Spring Break to see our place and hang out with us. We slept in, ate breakfast late, and just got to hang out together! My good friend Bethany had a baby shower for me that weekend and my mom was there to celebrate with us. I will post shower pictures when I get them! But for now, here are some pictures! I'm not good at taking pictures throughout the trip, so these were taken at the airport! I promise to get better!

Cute Momma Joy and Daddy Dan (Grandma and DanDad to the little one growing in me!). The next time we see them, we'll be parents!

Bill and I!

A Perfect Weekend in Breckenridge!

Bill and I decided to take a much needed weekend away before we add to our family! We left Friday evening and were checked into our hotel by 7 Friday night. It's wonderful having a place to go that is just over an hour's drive away (we bought a time share during our honeymoon...check out our honeymoon blog for details!).
Saturday we ate breakfast at our favorite place (Columbine Cafe) and then walked around downtown. It was a BEAUTIFUL day to spend outside, enjoying uninterupted time together! After a couple hours of walking downtown, we went back to our hotel room to rest...well, I rested! It was obvious my energy and ablity to move my body has change significantly over the last few months!
We went out for a late lunch/early dinner (to beat the ski crowd) and then walked more before getting some ice cream!
Sunday we went out for breakfast (same place...it's just the best!) and then headed home!
It was a WONDERFUL weekend. We can't wait to take the baby up there this summer to continue our family vacations!
Check out our pictures!

My cute hubby!



In front of Maggie Pond!

The ever growing belly!

An overnight stay in Labor and Delivery

Since when does the stomach flu land one in the hospital?

...when there's a baby involved, evidently!

Last Sunday (3/30) I woke up just fine, but by noon couldn't keep anything down. After my loving (and a little frightened) husband tried ers, toast, water, and Gatorade, we finally called the on-call doctor who prescribed Zofran (anti-nausea). I took it, waited about 10 minutes and threw that up also. The doctor told us that the only other option was to head to the ER to get some fluids and make sure the baby was OK.

So we headed to the hospital, bucket on my lap, and surprisingly got right in at the ER. After hooking me up to an IV to get fluids, they tried Zofran again (through the IV), which did nothing. So they tried something stronger: Phenergan. Which also knocked me out! I barely remember anything from that point on, except when the ER nurse came in and said they were taking me to Labor and Delivery. I sat straight up (probably turned white AND green) and started questioning why I needed to be in place where babies are born! Our baby isn't ready yet! He assured me that they wanted to monitor the baby's heart rate and movement and to see if I was cramping or having any contractions.

During all of this, Bill was right by my side, helping me to the bathroom, calmly (at least on the outside) reading his book and getting whatever I thought I wanted!

We got settled in around midnight, and the L and D nurses hooked the monitors up right away for the baby and I. Although I was cramping a little, everything was just fine with the baby and me. By about 4AM, I finally felt better and was able to sleep longer than 30-45 minutes at a time. I had some water, Sprite, and half of an English muffin. Once I was able to keep that down and another hour of baby monitoring, I was released. It was determined that I had the stomach flu: something I normally wouldn't even call a doctor about! But when there's someone helpless growing inside me, everything changes. I guess this is God's way of getting us ready to have our mind tuned into someone else from now on!

The nurses brought in a bed for Bill, so he was able to stay with me all night (he'll have the same kind of bed in our room when the baby comes). It wasn't the most comfortable thing, but he was glad to be able to stay with me.

We got home Monday morning (obviously not going to work!) around 10 and I slept most of the day. Bill brought me food when I felt like eating and by that night, I was feeling much better!

We both went to work the next day...

Until about 9AM. Bill came home with guess what? The stomach flu! He was home the rest of Tuesday and all day Wednesday. This is from a man with an iron stomach! I guess it was a pretty bad case going around. I didn't feel like such a wimp after that!

The up side of all this (besides that everyone is just fine now!): We got to see first hand what the rooms look like, the little bed that the baby will be in, and how the monitoring will go!

Thank you for your continued prayers for our little one and for the parents to be!

I'll post more pictures of my expanding belly soon, although we may have to get a wide angle lens for it! I exploded over spring break (2 weeks ago) and had some trouble getting back to being on my feet for work last week!

Happy Easter!

We spent a WONDERFUL day with Bill's family and the Hartogs. Bill's mom made a yummy lunch and then we played dominos before having dessert (homemade ice cream and Momma Joy's brownies!)

Bill and I arriving at lunch...

Bill and Chuck waiting patiently for the ladies to get their food!

Pat showing off our yummy lunch!

All of us eating lunch!

All of us playing Dominos while digesting. Bill's sister, Alice, called from Poland while we were playing so we all got to talk to her! It was great to share that time with her, we just wish she could have been with us!

...and of course, a picture of the ever-growing belly! We're feeling A LOT of baby kicks and punches lately, especially after I eat!

Knocked-up in Nashville!

February 28 - March 1

My best friend since high school, Laura, and I got to spend an incredible weekend together celebrating our newest adventure in life: PREGNANCY! She's due the middle of April and we are about 8 weeks behind her and Neil. It's been so fun going through this with her. We always joked about having kids at the same time, and now we are really doing it!! Here are some pictures from our trip!

Laura's husband, Neil, works for Big Idea (Veggie Tales, 321 Penguins) and had to work late on Friday, so we brought him dinner to the studio. While we were there, we met one of his co-workers who hooked us up with 2 Veggie Tales CDs, one of which he sang background vocals on! So our kids will be all set with Veggie music!

Since Neil works for 321 Penquins, we had to get a picture of us with the penguins

This one was for Bill! We found a Bob the Tomato Storm Trooper and couldn't pass up the photo op!

Before I left on Sunday, Laura, Neil and I went out for lunch. This was the extent of taking over Nashville for the weekend!

Laura and I had a GREAT time catching up and sharing stories of our wonderful hubbies, marriage, planning for our babies, reminising about high school days, and planning future vacations as our families grow!

Neil spent most of the weekend finishing our AMAZING wedding video! If you ever need anything on video, Neil's your man!

Thank you to our hubbies for understanding the need for a girls weekend!