31 weeks... what a scare

I was excited as usual about being another week farther along when I started bleeding. I was at home abiding by bed rest and watching a movie on the couch, when I felt the bleeding. My MIL and friend drove me to hospital. Michael was out of town with work and had to rush home. During the trip I started gushing blood. I was terrified! we got to the hospital and the gushing continued for awhile. They ran some tests and did a sono. After about 24 hours the bleeding was down to spotting. They have given me two doses of steroids to try and get Kennedi's lungs to mature a little faster. I'm still on the terbutaline to make the contractions stop. They had to increase the dose yesterday. Right now I'm still in the hospital with some light bleeding. Kennedi has been responding well to all the stress, thankfully. Right now the Dr is waiting to see what will happen over the next few days. Whether or not I will quit bleeding or start back again. He said yesterday that if the bleeding stops that he might send me home on monday. I'm not really looking forward to that. Michael and I have never been so scared as we were that day. There was soooooo much blood and it all happened without any kind of warning. We live 20-25 minutes from the hospital and the Dr informed us yesterday that the next bleed will be worse. All the more reason I'd rather just stay here so that they can do an emergency c-section right away and make sure that her and I both have the best possible outcome. Michael and I told the Dr yesterday that we would prefer to stay just because of the fear. 

I finally got 4 hours of sleep tonight, for the first time in 2 days. But I woke up from a bad dream that I started bleeding again. Michael has been sooooo wonderful and all of our family and friends have been so supportive. I think after this is all said and done Michael is going to need a major massage. He is sleeping on the oh so wonderful pull out beds here in the hospital so that I don't have to be alone at night. His family and our friends have been taking rotations coming by and making sure I'm not alone. Michael has told his work that for now he can't be going out of town again. Thankfully his office is 5 minutes from the hospital. I will keep yall posted as things happen. 
 

30 weeks!!!

We are 30 weeks today!!! I am so happy that we have made it this far. We had the 3D/4D sono this weekend and I started crying as soon as they got the first image of her face. Michael and I fell head over heels in love with her. She was sooooo perfect but we are biased of course!. She was a little TOOT for the first 1.5 hours. She kept burying her head in my uterus and would not let us see her face. We tried moving, drinking apple juice, Michael talking to her and nothing was working. The sono tech was about to stop trying, so I asked if I could try one more thing. I put my legs indian style like I sit at home and leaned back. She fell right down into place and we got the best views of her. It looks like my placenta previa has moved dramatically too! It's still covering the cervix but only barely!! I'm hoping that it will continue to move the rest of the way and I can have a vaginal birth instead of a c-section. She has lots of hair according to the sono tech! I think she has my mouth and nose and Michael's chin for sure. She yawned, cried, and stuck her tongue out at us all within a matter of minutes!! Now I can't wait to just hold her for the first time. I know I'm going to be one of those emotional mothers that cries for days straight after she is born!

Update on our little miracle

Today we went to the Dr for a regular follow up and sono. She has grown sooooo much! Miss Kennedi weighs 3 pounds and 7 ounces now, she was moving all around and everything looked really good. Her weight was in the normal 50% range. The placenta is still covering the cervix completely but she said that from what she could see it looked like it had moved a little! The Dr will continue to keep me on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy and on the medications but he did decide to move my terbutaline to every 6 hours instead of every 4 since the contractions have been under control and the bed rest is working effectively. I asked if we could go out to eat for my birthday and he said YES!!!! I'm soooooo excited about this. I have been getting really stir crazy with being at home all the time. He said to take it easy and as long as my uterus was behaving then we could go. I've gained 24 pounds total this pregnancy!!! But he says that it's all baby and perfectly normal. We are having a 3D and 4D sono done on sat., Michael said that he finally wants to have one. He had previously said that it weirded him out but he's really for it now. I'm wondering who's nose and lips she's going to have. Our shower invites have gone out and people are starting to rsvp to it. I'm getting more excited because it's getting closer to her coming. The Dr says because we are doing sooooo good that as long as we don't have any bleeding episodes he will do my c-section at 38 weeks. So in about 8 weeks or less she will be here! I can't wait to hold her, I know that I will be crying my eyes out for days. This has been a long time coming for our little baby. I can't wait to see Michael hold her for the first time! He's going to be the best daddy I've ever known!! 

Oh we have been dealing with a stomach bug going around our house. Michael got it two days ago and Meredith started throwing up this morning. I've been taking my zofran to prevent it from happening to me. I'm afraid if I get it that I will go back into pre-term labor. I'm praying that I have a good immune system and can fight it off.
 

almost 27 weeks!

So bed rest is bed rest!!! I'm very thankful for all the family and friends that have come by and called. It really helps the time pass. I can't believe that it's been almost 2 weeks already. I really hope that time continues to pass this quickly. I have a Dr's appointment this Friday. I still contract multiple times throughout the day. The medication is doing a good job of keeping it under control though. I have to say one of the hardest things right now is getting use to having some take care of me. Other than Michael of course. 

The nursery is almost done being painted. It's def purple!!! I think it will look so good once the furniture gets in. Speaking of....I called to see why our furniture had not come in yet as promised and the lady told me that it would be an additional 6 weeks!!!! I was pissed!!! Kennedi might bed here by then!!! Not that she would be home but I'd really like to have the room done prior to her arrival. Well when I called and let them know I was upset, they asked me if there was anything that we still needed for the nursery. I told them the only thing we needed was the rocker and they gave us a $750 dollar rocker/recliner that we had been wanting off the showroom floor. I guess that will keep me happy for another 6 weeks till the rest of the furniture gets here.

Nothing else new to really update for now.

BEDREST... WHAT?!?!

On Tuesday I woke up went to the gym and went swimming (the Dr had told me I could), then went and ran a couple of errands. At around 2 I started noticing that I was having contractions that were coming pretty frequently. My friend Kristin (who is also pregnant) and I finished up with the errands and came home. I drank about a liter of water and put my feet up trying to get them to stop. No such luck. I started timing them and they were coming every 7 minutes. I tried taking a shower to relax and that made them come every 5 minutes. I called the Dr and he said to go to Labor and Delivery to be evaluated. When we got to the hospital they put me on the monitors and Kennedi went nuts!! She hates the monitors and starting kicking them non-stop. My contractions were still every 5 minutes. The Dr came in and ordered some tests and terbutaline to get the contractions to stop. Because I have placenta previa they did a sono to see if the placenta had moved any. It had not. Kennedi was measuring right on her dates and weighed 1 pound and 12 ounces!!! I was sooo proud!. They ran a fetal fibronectin test which came back negative!! That test is done to see if the hormone that gets released before the baby is born is present. It should not show up at this point unless I will be having her within the next two weeks. My blood work came back that I am anemic. Because I have a blood disorder that means I can't take iron. So if after further testing it shows I'm still really anemic then they will have to give me a blood transfusion. 


After all the testing they moved me to a bigger room and kept me over night. The contractions stopped around 2 am and then at 650 am they started coming every 7 minutes again and then within 30 minutes they were coming every 3. The Dr and the nurse came in and said we were not going home with that happening. So another shot of terbutaline and starting on oral terbutaline is what they ordered. That knocked the contractions out for awhile. Then at 3 they started coming randomly, which is ok. The Dr came in and asked if I wanted to go home, of course I said YES, as long as I was safe to go. So he sent me home on the medications and modified bedrest, meaning I can get up and go to the bathroom, take a shower once a day, and sit up to eat as long as I'm not contracting bad. 


I came home and have been having contractions every once in awhile. The medications make my heart rate jump up to the 120's and even 130's today. It makes me nervous and shaky! But it's all completely worth it as long as she stays in there for awhile longer.


I went back for a follow up appointment yesterday. He told me that because I still have contractions when I sit up for more than 15 minutes that I will be on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy! I asked him if I did like I was supposed and stayed in bed, how long did he think that I could keep her in. He said that because of the previa that it would depend on when I started bleeding. If/when that happens they will have to go in by c-section and get Kennedi out if the bleeding is too bad. If it's only a small bleed they will move me to the hospital for the remainder of the time and keep me on complete bed rest there. He told me that for now his goal was to keep her put until 32 weeks. Long term goal is to keep her in till 35. So it looks like she will be an April or May baby. He did a glucose test and an iron workup to see how anemic I am right now and will make a decision on Monday if I need a transfusion. 

We have been really blessed with a great support system. Michael's step mom has moved in with us for the remainder of the pregnancy so she can help me. Since I'm not allowed to get off the couch during the day or out of bed at night it's really nice to have the help. We have had numerous friends and family come by and visit. I love having the company to talk to. I'm not good at learning not to do things. I joined netflix and friends have brought books, the hubby got me a new sudoku book. I've got the laptop and tv going all the time. It's going to be a long ride but it will be well worth it when she is healthy and closer to term. We are keeping our prayers going non-stop for our little baby! I think the only way I'm going to make it through this is with wonderful support and a positive attitude.


I'm 25 and a half weeks right now. So we have at least 6 to 9 and a half weeks left.

WOW it's been a long time!!!!

I'm not so great at this blog thing but I'm going to try and start being better at it. Well it's been almost 9 months since I updated...that's sad! All of you know what's been going on lately with the pregnancy and all things preparation for little miss Kennedi Fate Soape to join our little family. I decided I better start posting some pictures and more frequent updates. Tomorrow I'm officially 25 weeks pregnant and man time feels like it's starting to fly by.

As far as the pregnancy is concerned: it's going good. I'm still having contractions daily and sometimes if I'm on my feet too long they start coming every 5 minutes. So I'm having to learn to relax a little and stay off my feet as much as possible. I've gained 19 pounds total so far and I'm feel like it's a normal amount. Other people think I look "huge" but I'm trying to learn to not let that bother me. I'm carrying Kennedi all in my belly. Michael says I don't even look pregnant from behind! Such a sweet man!!. As far as we know right now I still have the complete placenta previa which means I will have to have a c-section when I get to 37 weeks. I'm ok with that. We have been put on complete pelvic rest and have been told to take it easy on my days off of work. They are going to do another sono at my 30 week appointment and see if it's changed. The Dr didn't seem hopeful that it would. I've been doing a lot of research on it and it's really kind of scary. The statistics say that by 32 weeks pregnant 70% of women with previa's have already started bleeding and had to go on complete bedrest! I'm praying that's not the case with us. Most importantly I'm praying that we make it through the rest of this pregnancy well and that in the end Miss Kennedi will be healthy and in our arms!! I go back friday for another Dr's appointment...this time I have to take my glucose challenge test!!! NOT FUN!

Michael's work has been staying busy! That's a blessing for the most part but has brought with it some stress. He's doing a good job at balancing everything right now. Unfortunately he's had to take over most of the house hold chores, including cooking dinner for me on the days that I don't get home from work till 8. He's a amazing man for which I'm truly grateful for. He's over the moon thrilled about having a little girl and has been getting all excited about decorating her room and getting everything ready!! Right now he's in a raquetball tournament and has been doing really well in it! He took the semester off of school so that we could get ready for the baby coming. It was a good idea since work has picked up. He's still doing his drill weekends once a month. They are going good. He's up for promotion in April!!! I'm hoping that he gets it! He reenlisted for another 6 years. A little scary but he loves it and the insurance is incomparable!.

My work has been busy too. Lots of premature babies being born these days! I still love taking care of them though. On our unit we have 5 pregnant nurses. It's a baby boom! The first ones should be going out on maternity leave the first part of April. I feel bad for all the nurses that are going to have to cover for us while we are gone.

I guess that's a pretty good update for now. I'll post some pictures after this weekend. We are heading to see Michael's sister this weekend and do some decorating for the nursery!

update...

Well it's been awhile and alot has been going on. We ended up pregnant this last month. It came with excitement followed by a lot of fear. This past weekend I lost the baby at 7 weeks. The Dr said that it quit growing at 5 weeks. This makes 2 miscarriages in 4 months. It has been a really hard long journey these last few months. We have been talking and have decided that it's best if we take a break for awhile from the trying. We want a baby more than anything in the world but I just don't think that we can handle the disappointment again right now. So we are not going to try but not going to prevent either. We have decided to focus our attention on traveling and having fun together again. Not that we haven't had fun together, but we have realized that things have either been sad or scary for the last 7 months and we are just worn out emotionally.

So the first thing that we are going to do is take a vacation for our 3rd wedding anniversary. We are not sure yet where we are going but it will be wonderful to get away. We have also decided that if we are not pregnant by January we want to take a vacation to Ireland, we have been wanting to go there for a long time.