Oh, Hi! {Five on Friday}

Oh, hi there!  Sorry for the lack of blogging lately - 8 months pregnant + almost 3-year-old + major home renovation + T's best friend living with us + the rest of life = crazy busy days!  But, here I am, with an invigorating Five on Friday update...

O N E

First things first... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MAMA! Y'all, I have the best mama in the whole entire world.  She is who I aspire to be.  She is amazing to say the least, raising four kids alone after my dad passed away when I was seven.  She is the definition of beauty, persistence, positivity... She is my favorite woman in the whole world.  I love you, Mama.  To the moon!!

T W O

Ok, this is wayyyyy overdue... We had the most perfect sprinkle for Rocky a couple weeks ago. It was at a country club here in town, and it was so nice.  I was able to keep my emotions in check until the end, when I was just overcome with such joy and so humbled by the fact that we were there to celebrate OUR baby.  A year ago we were just starting our first aggressive fertility treatments, and here we are now, counting down the days until (and saying lots of prayers for) our little miracle.  So to all of you who had a hand in planning the sprinkle, and to those of you who were there, thank you for taking the time to make us feel so special.

T H R E E

So, my feet are still covered in dust.  We are 3 weeks into our big home renovation, with no end in sight.  Well, that's a little dramatic.  I'm sure we'll be finished in a few weeks, but it sure feels like there's no end in sight!  I know I sound like such a whiner, because we are choosing to and fortunate to make these upgrades to our house.  But I have to admit it's been a lot harder on CK and me than I thought it would be.  The mess, the noise, the missed naps, the having-to-be-out-of-the-house, the decisions, the setbacks.  So I'll be celebrating like crazy when it's all said and done... and also hiring a house cleaner.

F O U R

Well, we had our appointment with the Maternal Fetal Medicine (at-risk) doctor today.  I've been equal parts terrified and excited about this appointment.  Ready to make a plan for our Rocky, scared to know risks, worried they'd find something wrong.  They did a very in-depth ultrasound, looking at every single part of our baby.  (And yes, we had to look away quite a bit so we didn't see the goods, or lack of goods!)  Everything looked great on the scan... except for the fact that he/she is already estimated to be 6 POUNDS.  Y'all, I'm only 33 weeks!  So he/she is measuring like 2-3 weeks big.  Yeesh.  So, in a crossing of wires of some sort, the doc only had the summary sheet of my Repeat Loss bloodwork, which is what revealed my clotting disorder.  So we're now waiting on the MFM to get the full report from my OB from North Carolina, but the tentative plan is to switch from my current blood-thinner shot to one that has a shorter half-life around 36 weeks, and then we'll most likely schedule an induction around 39 weeks.  T and I felt great after the appointment, and I know we'll feel even better after we have a set plan in place.  The MFM is supposed to call today or Monday, and I'll follow up with my regular OB on Tuesday to finalize everything.  As always, thank you so much for the continued thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes.  We continue to be humbled by the outpouring of love and support from our family and friends!  And here, you guys, is Rocky...

F I V E

For the first time ever, T is taking CK out of town without me this weekend!  I have mixed emotions about it - I'm gonna miss them, obviously, and it always scares me when my loved ones travel... but I have to admit that I cannot WAIT to have some time all by myself!!!  I have a prenatal massage scheduled for tomorrow morning (thanks to my sisters Linds, Whit, and Jamie Marie!) and other than that, I have no plans whatsoever.  I plan to be equal parts productive and lazy, but we'll see how that goes. :)  I know, however, that on Sunday, I will be dying to have this wild little girl back in my arms!

Have a great weekend!!

My Feet Are Covered in Dust

So, as if being 8 months pregnant and chasing around an almost-3-year-old wasn't enough, we decided to throw some home renovations into the mix.  

Like, MAJOR renovations.

Just a tiny, tiny taste of it all...  Though this picture doesn't even begin to capture the chaos.

Some of the items on the list include knocking down two walls, patching hardwood, rewiring electric and plumbing, sheet-rocking around columns and beams, replacing major piping in walls, installing new hot water heater, painting entire interior, and a total rip-out and redo of both the guest and master bathrooms.

At one point yesterday there were thirteen men working inside my house.

Y'all.

I'm SO excited about what the end result will be, and I feel so grateful that we're able to do this...  But I guess I didn't realize how crazy it would make things.  Our entire house is a disaster area.  Everything seems to be covered in dust, all day long, especially our bodies.  The water and power are in a constant state of being turned on and off.  And the noise, OH the noise - trying to get a nap-hating toddler to nap through construction noise is comical.

So I'm not complaining, because it's all going to be so awesome and I realize how fortunate we are... but I am complaining, because I'm EXHAUSTED and this body is DONE.  We're two weeks in with a few setbacks here and there, and we honestly probably have at least 3 weeks to go.

Rocky, stay put for awhile.

And the rest of you guys... please have a drink or three for me.

Never Lose Hope

Oh, my sweet Rocky, how you continue to keep us on our toes.

Yesterday, we had our 31-week checkup.  All was well with me and my little miracle, praise The Lord!  Strong heartbeat, good tummy measurement, and he/she is an active little thing.  I never have to do those "kick counts" because the punches and jabs happen all day long.  Not to mention the fact that I can distinguish the body parts as they move across my stomach - like "Oh!  That was an elbow!"  

So amazing.

So anyway, as I've discussed before, after losing our last two babies they realized I had a blood-clotting disorder that was possibly to blame for ending the life of our little ones.  Apparently I pass clots throughout my body constantly, which aren't necessarily life-threatening for me; however, when they are passed to a growing fetus/placenta, the tiny little veins can't handle them.  Because of this, I was immediately put on blood-thinning injections (Lovenox) as soon as I got pregnant back in February.  It's a shot I give myself in my stomach (yes, even in my growing bump!) every night around 6:30.  It's not entirely painless, but it's nothing that me and Rocky can't handle.

I was told in the beginning of this pregnancy that I would need to stop the Lovenox at 36 weeks because you can't have an epidural if you're taking it (and just as a friendly reminder, I was in labor with CK for 22 hours and she came through the pipes with all of her 9lbs 14oz).  I never really gave the Lovenox a second thought, and have been counting down the weeks until I get to stop having such a sore and bruised tummy!

And then, last week, I started worrying - is Rocky really going to be okay without the blood thinner?  Is he/she strong enough, are his/her veins big enough, does the placenta still need it?

So I decided to bring it up to my doctor at this week's appointment.

I said, "I know I'm supposed to stop the shots in a few weeks, but are we sure the baby is going to be okay without Lovenox?"

And she told me it was time to refer me to an MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine, aka "at-risk" doctor).  She felt like he could examine my situation with more expertise and give us the best advice moving forward.  Apparently, we may not be 100% sure that Rocky is ready to be without blood-thinner; however, being on Lovenox during labor and delivery means there's a high risk I could bleed out.

Needless to say, yesterday was an emotionally exhausting day.

It's hard, ya know, because you get so far along, and you start to think you're in the "safe zone," that this is all really going to happen - and then it's like a kick in the bruised stomach to hear that, wait a second - there are still all kinds of risks, all kinds of things to worry about.  And I know no one can promise me it's all going to be okay, but I'm just so tired of always being so scared.

So, that's where we are, me and Rocky.  We meet with the MFM in a couple weeks, and I am hopeful that he will give us all the information we need to feel confident in a decision as we move forward.

I am terrified.  Tears have been shed, sleep has been lost, worry has dominated every single thought since yesterday.

But...

I am hopeful, always,  Because from the very beginning of this journey, I promised myself I'd never lose hope...

Five on Friday!

Can y'all believe it's September?!  Wow.  Anyway, I'm back with another riveting edition of Five on Friday!

O N E

Y'all.  I'm getting big, and slow, and tired!  It's like the third tri came in with a BANG and here I am, 31.5 weeks pregnant, and I truly feel like a moose.  During CK's first day of preschool I was so anxious to be productive I walked our 3 mile neighborhood loop, did 4 loads of laundry, and got a jumpstart on cleaning the house.  I was so proud of myself until, about 2:00pm, I felt like I was dying.  My body was NOT happy about my level of productivity that morning.  So I learned the hard way that it's time to slow down a bit, which is tricky when my nesting mind says, "Go, go, go!"

T W O

Speaking of preschool... Oooooh preschool.  As most of my readers know, CK has been in daycare/preschool her entire life up until we moved here in January.  Since then, it's been just me and her, all day everyday.  But because she's had so much practice with being away from me with her past (and with going to the nursery every Sunday for church), I didn't think the transition back to preschool would be THAT bad.  Cue day 1.  We'd talked at length about preschool, what it would be like, how I'd drop her off and pick her up, what she'd do, etc.  We talked about being brave, and being a big girl.  And honestly, drop-off wasn't too terribly bad.  They had to take her out of my arms, but she wasn't crying or anything.  However, when I picked her up I learned that she panicked every time they asked her if she needed to go potty.  And then she told me she didn't play on the playground, only stood and watched her friends play.  And that at snack time, she didn't drink their water, because she wanted her water.  So we had another long talk.  And cue day 2.  Drop-off was a DISASTER.  I bolted out of the room while she was on the ground screaming, "I WANT MY MOMMY!  MOMMY DON'T LEAVE ME!"  I got in the car and called T, holding back tears while he convinced me I did the right thing.  I was over it pretty quickly because I had plans to meet a friend for a kid-free breakfast (and the angels sang, HALLELUJAH).  When I picked her up, she was all smiles and I was told she had a great day.  And on the way home she told me about her new friend, the books she read (a mouse shared a strawberry with a bear!), and even sang me their Circle Time song.  Whew.  Operation preschool... check!

T H R E E

And speaking of going potty - I am happy to report we've made MAJOR strides in the no-more-diapers department.  She's pretty much in panties all day long, with an accident maybe here and there.  SO proud of her!  And also so proud of her new little morning routine.  She's doing great in her big girl bed, and our plan was to have her yell, "Mommy, I'm ready to get up, please!" when she woke up in the morning.  And then I remembered the nightlight my older sister recommended.  Basically you set the moon to change into the sun at whatever time you choose.  And then you convince your toddler that she may NOT get out of bed until she sees the sun.  It.is.magical.  I've watched her on the monitor for several mornings now as she wakes up, sits up, and looks at her nightlight - and if it's the moon, she'll lie back down.  And repeat.  And repeat.  and repeat.  Until she sees the sun.  And then she bounces up - and y'all - SHE MAKES HER BED.  And only then does she happily and proudly exit her room to tell us she saw the sun!!!!  Oh, my big girl.

F O U R

Anyone else think this season of Big Brother is so boring?  Every week I'm disappointed.  Of course, I still watch.  But I'm kinda over it.  And sooooo ready for fall television!

F I V E

But my favorite thing about fall?!  College football!!!!  I haven't mentioned in awhile how much I love college football.  I love a good Saturday morning with ESPN on the tv, apps in the oven, counting down 'til kickoff.  Now, last weekend didn't turn out so well for us Tiger fans, but we had fun watching with friends, anyway!  This weekend we get to cheer on our new team, the Wolves!  That's right, we're headed to our first West Georgia football game, and I'm so excited.  I'm mostly excited because a friend invited us to sit in her box suite which will be stocked full of food and drinks and AIR CONDITIONING.  Music to a big ol' pregnant moose's ears.

So Go Tigers, and Go Wolves, and have a great weekend!

2-Year-Old Preschool

Last night...

 This morning...

Dear time,

Please slow down.

Love,
CK's mama <3