Grace's PDO Easter Egg Hunt

Grace had an Easter Egg hunt at PDO and this video is too cute not to share. Before the kids went out, the teacher told us that each kid was supposed to get 12 eggs. I looked at her knowing full well my child was not going to stop at 12 and she said we would divide them up after the hunt was over. On the first afternoon, which is the one Dan took the video of, she would shake the eggs and throw down the ones that didn't have candy in them. That's my girl. On the second day she was super smart and bypassed all of the kids and ran to the farthest end of the playground instead of getting caught up in the crowd right inside the gate. Oh my, it was so funny to watch. The best part was Dan giving her high five afterward and calling her his over-achiever. When I told him the point was not how many eggs she got but whether or not she was going to share her eggs at the end, he just looked at me smugly and said, "I'm just saying. Our child is awesome."
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All the little guys in her class waiting for the hunt to start. JJ, Zayden, Oliver, and Harry.

Can we please stop taking pictures and hunt eggs??

Shower for Audrey and Grace

My sweet friends and sister gave us a beautiful little shower for Miss Audrey and Grace (at least it seemed like her shower too; she had just as many gifts as the baby!) It was so precious of them, complete with all of my favorite breakfast foods and amazing cupcakes!
Thank you to my amazing friends for such a great afternoon after an incredibly stressful day.

My hostesses and the side of the beautiful table! Amber, Wendy, Loren, and Tina

Nana, Grace, me, and Mimi

My beautiful sister

I hope it's not rude to pick a favorite gift, but this one sure was fun to open! Especially when I found out they have a matching outfit for Grace!

Loren made these adorable blocks for the nursery

Nana, Grace, me, and the amazing bowl of coffee punch. My favorite!!!

Sweet Brooke and Grace. They played and ran around the entire shower. So sweet

My sweet girl and her cheesy grin

Although you can't tell by her expression, this was one of Grace's favorite gifts, a Jessie doll from Toy Story. She won't stop saying "Yee-haw!"

Grace's adorable Minnie dress from her Mimi

My sweet friend Kristin. Isn't she beautiful? (You will notice our "skinny arm" trick that I used in most pictures. I am terribly vain and afraid of "fatty pregnant arm" so I try not to let my arm lay flat on my side. Kristin humored me and did her own skinny arm pose.)

My handsome hubby who doesn't seem to care if I have pregnant arms or not. He is the best.

Thank you again to my sweet friends and everyone who came. I love you guys and am so grateful Audrey gets to meet you soon!

Doctor Appointment Update part 3

I have amazing news!
I went to Dr. Atkinson last Monday because I was having terrible cramping and what I thought might be contractions. My Dr. wanted me to hook up to the monitor because she wanted to give me something to stop the contractions if I was having them. I was pretty uncomfortable and just knew something was wrong but of course the second they hooked me up all pain stopped. They even had to come in and buzz the baby when ten minutes before I thought she was going to poke a foot right through my belly. (Isn't that how it always works??) I only had a few mild contractions and "uterine irritability."
Since I was already there and my sonogram was scheduled for the next day they went ahead and checked me out. I 100% do not have placenta accreta like they were worried about! As a matter of fact, my placenta has moved up! I have not dilated and my cervix has not shortened from 5 weeks ago. The only issue was increased vascularity near the placenta, but they aren't concerned about it because they know about it ahead of the surgery and will be ready.
When I saw Dr. Owen on Thursday she was positively giddy. She showed me images from my sonogram 5 weeks ago and compared them to Monday and I believe her exact words were "This looks like a completely different person. Other than an increased blood pool, I have no concerns of an accreta." Praise God!
So I am still on the schedule for May 24th (3 weeks from tomorrow; are you kidding me?) and am counting down the days. Some days I feel ready but most days I am scared out of my mind and wish I had more time before her arrival. I am having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, still a lot of cramping, and have to stay down most days longer than I am up. I hate not feeling well and want to keep charging but this baby girl and my body seem to do best when I am not stressed and off my feet.
Dr. Owen wants me to stop working on Friday (I will be 36 weeks), stay off my feet, and keep stress to a minimum. She will be out of town the 12th-23rd so the goal is to keep this baby cooking until then.
Thank you for all of your prayers and concern. I am so grateful for the peace God gave me as I have truly not felt a lot of stress about the situation. We are almost there!

Easter Sunday

We had a great time on Easter with family. Grace was certainly into the Easter egg hunting much more this year than last year.

Nana bought us matching aprons and we had so much fun baking bunny cookies!

"Baking" with Mommy

I am not much of a baker but I make a really tasty chocolate mousse pie and Grace loves to help me make it. Her favorite part is licking the spoons after we finish mixing it. There is a cute video at the end of her laughing and "helping."

Our Family of Three Photo Shoot

You have heard me rave about my dear friend, Alisa, and her amazing photographic talent. This blog will be no exception! I scheduled our "last family of three/ Grace's 2 1/2 year pictures/ a couple of maternity pictures photo shoot" with her about a month ago and after two reschedules because of wind and allergies, we finally took pictures this week. Alisa is more than an incredible photographer, she has also been a dear friend of mine for the last five years. And I think that is why she does such a great job capturing our family. She loves us. And we love her. And she understands that two minutes before the shoot, my child may or may not decide to poop in her underwear. It's all part of the fun.
I can't believe the next time she takes our picture it will be as a family of four at the hospital in a few weeks! I feel like we were just there having Grace!
Enjoy the pictures, and feel free to call my awesome friend anytime to schedule your own family shoot. Find her info here. Thanks again, Alisa. You are fabulous.

The GGG and a family shower

Every year my mom's family gets together for a mini family reunion, otherwise known as the Girdner Games Gathering (GGG). All of the furniture is taken out of the living room and card tables are set up with Spades, Hearts, Pinochle, Risk, Wahoo, Things in a Box, Yahtzee, and our favorite nightcap, Outburst.
Grace had a blast this year playing with her cousins, learning to play golf, and watching movies with Keaton.
My sweet family also threw us a little baby shower. It was so great! I have already used the gift cards to buy a new video monitor and loads of diapers!

All the girls after the shower. Note the professionally made banner behind us. We take these games very seriously.

Grace enjoying her first cupcake!

learning how to play golf with Aunt Lori. Her cousin Joe was so patient playing with all the kids.

Is there anything cuter than Big sister and Lil' Sister matching shirts? I think not!

Grace wasn't left out- half the gifts were for her. It was so sweet and thoughtful!

30 weeks. 

We had such a great weekend seeing family and playing games. And we are so grateful for the sweet shower. Can't wait for next year- can you believe we will have a a 3 year old and almost one year old???

Doctor Appointment Update

I had another non-stress test today and appointment with my OB that went much better than two weeks ago.

* No signs of pre-term labor. Baby is doing great on the monitor and I'm not showing any signs of contractions.
* I had a steroid shot today for the baby's lungs and get a second round tomorrow. This is precautionary in case she takes the baby earlier than 39 weeks. It has made me incredibly crampy, but they said that is a normal side effect.
* Dr. Owen is still unsure of the date she wants to take the baby and is going to reassess at my week 34 sonogram. Depending on the findings, she is either going to schedule me early or leave me at May 24th.
* Depending on what she sees at 34 weeks, she can do an MRI to determine the "level" of accreta (there are three types) and will want to do an amnio test to make sure the baby is ready because she will take her early because of my health risk. Hopefully, like she said, this is just a "weird" thing my body is doing and there is no accreta. That is specifically what I am praying for.
* She did not put me on bed rest (thank you, Lord!) but more of a "half rest" meaning she knows my work schedule is half days and when I'm not at work for those 5 hours a day she wants me off my feet. Because I am not showing any signs of previa or pre-term labor she said she doesn't think I need to be on it. If the accreta is present (which we are praying it's not) there is nothing we can do to prevent it or remedy it until the actual surgery.
* I am feeling pretty good, just realizing that my limit of what makes my cramping start and what makes me feel bad is much lower than I had with Grace. I hate feeling like a wimp, but I am realizing this pregnancy is just tougher for me than I had with Grace. I have also had the realization in the last two weeks that my body is telling me to slow down and when I do, I feel so much better. Only 7 more weeks from today if we go until the 24th of May. We can do this.
* So all in all, great news! I wish I did not have to wait until 34 weeks to find out but I am happy to hear less urgency in my Dr.'s voice and at least have a plan. I left feeling like she is concerned and wants to be prepared, but is not expecting the worst. That is a sigh of relief. I have had a few moments of anxiety, but mostly I have a lot of peace. I know that whatever the outcome is, God is walking with us and this baby is His, just as Grace is his, and our little angel baby is His. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Hopefully, each week will bring a little more good news and this was just a scare.

I had a sonogram and doctors appointment about a week and a half ago that did not turn out as planned. I am still processing everything they told me and seem to be worried about, so I hope this makes sense. I am going to use bullet points because that seems to help me keep the info straight in my head. (Oh, and if you don't want to read words like uterus, cervix, and placenta, now is the time to stop reading).
To keep things short and sweet, this pregnancy has been a bit rougher than I had with Grace, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Cramping, spotting, and low fluid levels have been an issue as of late but we have been chalking it up to stress, being on my feet more than I should be, and dehydration (although less than 100 ounces of water a day is a bad day for me. This baby just needs A LOT of fluid!)
I had a great sonogram on the 21st. She is growing beautifully, already estimated at 3.7 pounds, heart, brain, everything looks great. The only issue has been this "cluster" of blood vessels around my uterus (such an awkward word) that they have been checking every sonogram. Luckily Dan mentioned at the end of the sonogram that they needed to check the "cluster" and when they did it appears to have grown. A lot. And not just grown but moved to a place near the lining of my uterus, which is also getting a bit too thin for the Dr.'s comfort. So here is a quick breakdown of what ensued over the next hour:
* Dr. Atkinson let Dr. Owen (my OB) know about the blood situation and told me best case scenario that I would need extra blood during my scheduled c-section. He left out worst case scenario.
* He seemed more concerned about the cramping and spotting than Dr. Owen has been. He did a swab test and an internal sonogram to rule out pre-term labor symptoms and make sure it's not a bacterial infection causing the cramping and spotting. All test have come back negative.
* I walked into Dr. Owen's office right after the sonogram and she was clearly flustered and upset about the blood situation. She then proceeded to tell me that they are concerned about placenta accreta, which is when the placenta grows up into the uterus and attaches itself. The only way to get rid of the placenta is to cut it away from the uterus, leaving the uterus wall too weak to carry another baby, so they will more than likely perform a hysterectomy. Deep breaths.
* She then told me that she wanted to do non-stress tests every week and that she was giving me a steroid shot at week 32. And that I wasn't on bed rest yet, but I better take it extremely easy and stay off my feet as much as possible or it was a certainty (she knows I am deathly afraid of bed rest so I know if she puts me on it, it's serious). Oh, and I also got put on pelvic rest (sorry, I'm not going to explain it on the blog). Fun times.
* She also told me that she was nearly certain I was not going to make it until May 24th, the scheduled c-section date, and that her dad was most definitely going to assist in case there are any problems (he's an OBGYN in case you were wondering if she was just very family oriented). More fun times.
* The non-stress test looked fine on Monday. Baby girl was kicking like you would not believe and the nurse explained some things to me that helped a lot. I asked her why the non-stress test if I was clearly not having any contractions and my cervix is "a great length," according to the Dr. It seemed a bit dramatic to me. She explained that they have to make sure I don't have any kind of contractions or labor because of my thin uterine wall. That made sense to me.
So here we are today. I feel okay, just more like I'm 38 weeks pregnant instead of 31. I'm not terribly stressed or worried (worst case scenarios are just that, and until Dr. Owen tells me that I for sure have an accreta I am not going to get worked up about it). I have another appointment on Tuesday with Dr. Owen and another non-stress test, so hopefully we will have more answers and can get some kind of a plan going. I am trying very hard to stay off my feet and keep the stress level down so I don't have to go on bed rest.
And on to a lighter note, I have a precious pumpkin that keeps me laughing every day. This week she is very into wearing her tutu. Here she is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in her favorite chair and "skirt." Her allergies have been terrible so her poor eyes were barely open.