Ethan and Lisa: May 2012

It's been awhile since I've posted, so I'll just give a summary of what this last month has brought.

At the beginning of the month, I was 29 weeks weeks pregnant and NOT feeling well. I had hardly any energy so it was hard to pick up Julia, hold her, go up and down the stairs, etc. I also found myself getting many braxton hicks contractions. On Mother's Day while I was sitting in church, I started counting the frequency of my braxton hicks contractions and they were coming about every 3 minutes! I was concerned because by this point I was only 30 weeks and knew I shouldn't be feeling them so frequently. So, Ethan and I decided to go to the hospital to monitor the contractions. Sure enough, the nurse told me they were coming too frequently and said that we needed to slow them down or else it could put me in danger of preterm labor like my last pregnancy. She explained that our little boy is so active in the womb and every time he moves a lot, I get a contraction... She gave me a shot of something to slow down the contractions. After less than an hour, the contractions had slowed down quite a bit and I was released to go home. But, I was put on "modified bed rest" which basically means I should rest as much as possible but can still get up as needed. I also have to take medication once a day to help "relax" my uterus. It seems to be helping, but the medicine makes me very tired. I have discovered that if I wait to take the medication until lunch time, then I have more energy in the morning. So, that has really helped.

Well, recently God has given me more strength and energy. I actually have been able to be a little more active which is a huge blessing! I can hold & carry Julia more and play with her more (rather than laying down all the time). I do have to really take it easy and sit and lay down a lot, but I am so excited to have a little more energy. Hopefully it will stay that way until this little boy arrives. By the evening I'm pretty wiped out, but I guess that is normal for many pregnant women, so I can't complain.

Now I'm 33 weeks. By this time in my last pregnancy I was on strict bed rest, so I'm doing better this time around and thanking God for that blessing! I still look quite small (people are always shocked when I tell them I'm 7 months pregnant...), but my belly is popping out a little more. Here's a picture I took yesterday.

My doctor says that he is head down which gives me a good shot at a vbac. I'm praying that I will be allowed the privelege of a vbac (regular delivery rather than another c-section). Please pray with me but most of all, I would trust and rejoice in God's sovereignty no matter what.

We have a name picked out for our little guy... Caleb Andrew. :) Can't wait to meet him!

So, some other things that happened in May was that my friend Caroline threw me an amazing baby shower! Once I get pictures from a few of my friends, I'll post them. It was so fun to see so many of my dear friends and get some wonderful gifts for my little Caleb.

Julia's had a few trials this month. First of all, she took a pretty nasty fall on some cement stairs (tried to step down 2 steps without anyone holding her hand). Thankfully, she did a somersault rather than a face plant, so that helped break the impact of the fall. But she had a big scratch on her forehead and nose as well as a few other scrapes. Surprisingly, she didn't cry too long. She cried pretty hard at first, but after being comforted by her mommy for about a minute, she said, "play" and wanted to go back and play outside (I was at a friends house with other kids). Wow, she's one tough cookie. Here's a picture of her the day after.

Another trial Julia had was she had roseola last week. On Monday she had her 18 month check up and she received a few shots. So, when she got a fever that night I thought the fever was a result of her shots. But when her fever kept rising, I got concerned and took her to the doctor on Tuesday. The doctor wasn't concerned since she was still eating, sleeping, and playing. Well, by Tuesday night her fever spiked to 105! So, we were very concerned and took her to the doctor again on Wednesday. They checked for a urinary tract infection but it came back negative. Well, her high fever continued and she didn't want to eat anymore, so once again I went to the doctor on Thursday... The doctor on Thursday (I saw a different doctor each day) suspected roseola based on the high fever but lack of other symptoms. He also checked for strep throat (which came back negative) and did a blood sample. The blood sample showed a virus was in her system. So, that was reassuring knowing that the virus was causing the fever and nothing more serious was. So, we knew we just had to "wait it out." Thankfully, on Friday her fever finally broke and on Saturday she got the rash... It wasn't until Monday that she finally started acting "herself" again. She was one whiny and tired girl last week. But, I loved all the cuddling I got from my sweet girl who normally isn't a big cuddler. I will always cherish those special moments where she is comforted in my arms.

The face of a sick girl

On a happier note, my friend Elizabeth and her daughter visited recently. Her daughter is 2 days younger than Julia so it is fun to get together. We took a birthing class together and delivered at the same hospital. :) Her daughter Sophia is so cute! Last time we got together, they were both still crawling. Now they are both walkers and quite active. This time the two girls interacted more with each other which was super cute.

Running around

Sophia

Julia with her "be-bee" (baby)

Julia is getting so big. Here are her stats from her last doctor appointment:

Weight: 22 pounds (15%)

Height: 32 1/2 inches (70%)

Head: 18 1/2 inches (75%)

So, as you can see she is getting quite tall! She's been outgrowing her pants pretty quickly but I didn't realize she was taller than average. I hope she doesn't grow up too fast!

Enjoying Jamba Juice with my daughter after my last doctor appointment

Love her smile!

Her hair is FINALLY growing!

She loves drawing... and she has a fascination with her yellow crayon. Not sure why, but that is always the crayon she draws with lately.

And, here's a video I took of Julia this morning saying "thank you" for her milk. She is saying so many words lately. It is soooooo fun!

Ethan, Julia, and I went to San Diego last weekend. We wanted to have one last vacation before our little boy arrives (or before I get too pregnant to go anywhere). San Diego was a perfect get-away because it was only a few hours away. We arrived Thursday afternoon and left Sunday afternoon.

Ethan always gets us great deals through Priceline.com. So, we got a great deal for the Sheraton right on the water front. Our balcony had a view of the water and Coronado. It was really nice! Our room was quite large which was great, especially now that Julia is getting more and more busy... more room for her to run around, explore, etcc.

Vacation was really good for me, physcially. I have been getting pretty worn-out in my 3rd trimester (I'm 29 weeks). When I was pregnant last time with Julia, I felt pretty run down and was getting a lot of braxton hicks, but I assumed that was just because I was teaching full-time, on my feet, not resting, etc. Well, I am starting to feel the same way even though I'm home and resting a lot more than last time. It appears that my body just handles pregnancy this way. It seems that as long as I'm resting a lot and getting to bed early, that I have more energy during the day and don't get as many braxton hicks. Thankfully, I know the warning signs, so I'm hoping that if I just lay down/sit down whenever I'm getting braxton hicks/tightness, that I can keep from having to go on complete bedrest like last time (at 32 weeks).

Anyway, vacation was good because Ethan held Julia a lot, took care of many of the diaper changes, etc. It was a good break for me and I was able to sit or lay down a lot. Also, vacation is so good for our family. Ethan and I love having quality time together. It's also so good for Julia to spend so much time with daddy. She is usually pretty clingy with me at home, but on vacation she starts to prefer daddy and gets close to him. It is super sweet.

It was so cute to see her personality come out more during vacation. It appears that she might be more friendly than I realized. At restaurants, she kept smiling at all the servers and would make these cheesy-silly faces to try to get their attention. Also, when anyone would show interest in her, she would try to make conversation with them by using her limited vocabulary such as saying "shoes" and pointing to her shoes. Then she would say "dada" and point to Ethan and say, "mama" and point to me. It was fun to see that.

Here are some pictures of our special time in San Diego.

The San Diego Airport was pretty close to our hotel. So, we parked in a local neighborhood and let Julia watch the planes fly overhead. She likes airplanes, so it was fun for her to see them so close.

I think this picture is cute because Julia and Ethan have similar expressions.

Julia watching the plane fly overhead

We found a yummy ice cream place. The lady at the shop asked if she could give Julia her own ice cream cone with a little tiny scoop. Julia enjoyed it and ate most of it!

Such a big girl!

This was at breakfast our second morning. Julia was tired because we had kept her out late the night before and she woke up early that morning (funny how you would think that she would sleep in when she goes to bed late, but it doesn't work that way as many of you know who have kids of your own...). The sweet part about this picture is that Julia hardly ever snuggles with daddy. But, like I said, vacation is good. It is sweet to see Julia get more attached to Ethan while on vacation.

Why is Julia's mouth wide open? Because we were drinking an iced vanilla latte. Whenever Julia wants something of ours, she opens her mouth all wide. It was hilarious. We let her have a sip (I know, shame on us!) and she liked it and wanted more.