Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. Each year, over half a million dreams are shattered. Out of 3.3 million born alive, some 30,000 die during the first 28 days. Another 39,000 babies are still born. Miscarriage occurs in fifteen to twenty percent of pregnancies, while ectopic pregnancy occurs in one percent.More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism. On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them.

It was a long road for Eric and I to get Lydia. I will be thinking of the 2 babies Eric and I lost today and feeling very grateful for the 2 children I have.

I joined a group of women online after our first loss. I know some of them read this blog. My thoughts and prayers are with you. I know you will get your baby...some day...some way.

10/13/2009

Mid-October already?!? Where has the time gone? Lydia is two months old. She is "talking" and smiling. It's, of course, adorable. She still looks just like her daddy. Lately we have been a little confused about when it is day or night. She's kept us up until 4 am a few times, which is tough when you have to get up for work at 5:30! Hopefully we can get that straightened out soon. I'm just glad her gas and colic issues seem to be getting less frequent. That was awful. Seeing her in pain was the worst.

Caitlyn has been busy with middle school stuff. She has been practicing her trumpet and seems to love it! She went to a dance last Friday and had a great time. I can't believe she is going to dances already. How crazy is that?!?

Eric and I have just been trying to keep up with all of this and our jobs. I had another child start at my daycare last week. He's the same age as the other preschooler I have and they get along great. I'm so happy this is working out. I love being able to stay home with my girls and make a living doing something I really enjoy.

First Day of Middle School!

Caitlyn started middle school this week! She looked so small compared to the other kids that were at that school!

She, of course, did great on her first day! She had a little trouble with the locker, but found some one to help. She also remembered where all of her classes were. Monday night I was so nervous for her, but she showed me what a grown up girl she has become! **Insert sniffle here!***

Pictures

My friend Mary (http://www.marydrummerphotography.blogspot.com/) came over and took some fabulous pictures of Lydia and the rest of us! Thanks again for coming out here, Mary!!

Our first week as a family of four!

It's been great! Lydia is a wonderful baby. We've had a couple of nights that she spent more time awake than asleep, but it really hasn't been that bad. Eric is really amazed! He was picturing long, sleepless nights with a screaming baby. So far.....we haven't had that! She has been eating like a champ. Eric calls her our little piggy. It's very fitting since she snorts, eats a ton and has a pink complexion. lol!

Caitlyn is also adjusting well. She loves to hold and kiss her little sister. Our attention has, of course, been taken up quite a bit by Lydia. Caitlyn has been awesome through the whole thing, though. She's looking forward to school shopping and band practice next week. I can't believe she's going to start middle school in a couple of weeks!

I'm healing. That 8lb 6oz baby left me feeling quite sore, but the pain meds have been doing the trick! We've been able to go shopping and for walks around the neighborhood. The discomfort I have now is nothing compared to the constant contractions and pain I was having towards the end of my pregnancy. It feels great to be getting back to normal!

Eric and I are feeling truly blessed!

Pictures from the big day!

Lydia is here!!!

Wow! Things sure can change in an instant. I went home from my 39 week appointment on Tuesday thinking I was going to be induced next week and then woke up at 1 am to my water breaking! I sure didn't expect to have a baby so fast after that appointment.

So, here are the details......

I had my 39 week appointment on Tuesday, August 11th. She checked my cervix and gave what I thought was bad news.....1cm dilated, baby's head is high and we would talk about an induction the following week. So, Eric and I left thinking Lydia was probably going to be here next week. When I got home, I realized I had some spotting. I called the doctor and her office informed me she could of irritated my cervix, but that it was normal and to call back if it turned into more than spotting. The spotting stopped about 7pm that day.

Well, I woke up in the middle of that night. It was about 1am. I felt pressure in my uterus, stood up and felt a small gush. I went to the bathroom and inspected things. Nope, it wasn't pee! ( Hey, peeing your pants would not be that uncommon at 39 1/2 weeks pregnant!) I called labor and delivery. The nurse thought this was still from the exam I had earlier. She told me to lay down for an hour and if I had more gushing when standing up, to call back. Well, I never had another gush. Just constant spotting. I also thought that if it was my water breaking, I'd be getting some strong, constant contractions. I was getting contractions that were way stronger than anything I'd had in the weeks before, but they were still not regular. The were anywhere from 10-45 minutes apart. I decided to see what would happen that day.

All day I continued to have discharge/spotting and strong contractions. A few of them brought tears to my eyes. At about 5:30 pm I decided I'd call again. This nurse was way more concerned. She said I needed to head in immediately and be checked to see if I was ruptured. I called Eric and we got to the hospital at 7pm. The nurse did a swab and found out that I was ruptured. They figured I'd had a small leak. Once your amniotic fluid starts leaking, they want you to deliver with in 18-24 hours. After that you risk getting an infection in your uterus and passing one to the baby. Bad news for me.

By 8:30 pm I was hooked up to pitocin. The contractions immediately got strong and regular. I asked for the epidural and was informed he was on his way to the room next door and would be sent to me next. I kept having really strong and sharp contractions. A really strong one caused my water to fully break. That was interesting! Thank goodness it happened on the hospital bed and not my own!

By 11:30pm I thought I was going to die. The contractions were coming right on top of each other. I couldn't breathe and seriously thought I wasn't going to make it! The anesthesiologist finally walked in around midnight. It was also around that time I started running a fever and was shaking from it. Sitting still on the edge of the bed while having contractions and the shakes was not easy! Eric was a great support though and got me through it.

By 1 am I was finally numb. It was heavenly!!!! The nurse checked my cervix and I was about 7cm. All of those contractions apparently worked!

The bad news was that by this time, I had been ruptured for 24 hours. I was running a fever and my white blood cell count was up.

The nurse checked me again at about 2:30am and I was 9cm and nearly 100% effaced. The doctor got there at about 3am. She was not happy at all that a previous nurse had told me to stay home the night before. She said baby needed to be out by 5:30am or I was having a c-section. I really did not want that at all. She knew that, so I'm sure that's why she let me labor some more. They turned the pitocin way up. I could feel the contractions through my epidural! They were not unbearable, but I was amazed by that. At 5:30 my nurse was back to check me. She said Lydia was much lower and I should try to push and see if I could get her to come down. Well, apparently I'm a great pusher! She said she'd get the doctor and I should continue practice pushing during contractions. The doctor said things looked good and my awesome pushes should have Lydia out in no time. She was right! About 5 pushes later, at 5:59am Lydia Jule was born! She weighed 8lbs, 6oz and was 21 inches long. The first thing I said when I had her was, "Wow, she's a giant baby!" Next I said, "She looks like her daddy!"

Eric and I are so thrilled to finally have our little girl here! After trying to conceive for 2 years and going through 2 miscarriages, it often felt like this day would never come. Lydia truly completes our family. We love her so much and can not imagine our life with out her. Caitlyn has been walking on cloud nine and it has been so fun to watch her with her long awaited sister!

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported us through the journey of bringing a child into this world! It was a long road for us and we couldn't have done it without you.

39 week appointment

Insert very long sigh here! All of those contractions have done absolutely nothing! The doctor said I'm about 1cm. I'm pretty sure she was just giving me that, so she didn't have to tell me there is nothing going on in there and see me cry!

I guess Lydia is going to be stubborn like her dad. He was born way late. Thanks Eric!

I made another appointment for Tuesday. If I'm still showing no signs of having this baby, I'll be induced Thursday night. I'm happy we have a plan and that there is an end in sight! I really hope I don't have to be induced and that she decides when her birthday will be, though.

So, I'd really appreciate any labor starting thoughts and prayers you can spare!

I don't like my doctor today!

I had an appointment this morning. I told her about all of the contractions I've been having and how I'm really looking forward to being done with this pregnancy. She stuck to her guns and told me she would check my cervix at 39 weeks, which will be next Tuesday. I pretty much knew she would say that, but deep down I was hoping to be checked today and induced next week. No such luck! Apparently, she doesn't think wanting to be done being pregnant is a good enough excuse. Darn!!

I know she's right and that I just need to be patient. (Not one of my strong points!) I want Lydia to be ready and I'd prefer to not have a c-section, so I guess I'll try really hard to be patient!

She did say Lydia's head is nice and low and that these contractions are probably softening things. I sure hope they've been doing something and I can't wait to find out on Tuesday. Although, I'd be perfectly happy with going into real labor before then! I guess I'll have a long talk with my little girl today and let her know that she can get things going now!

Full Term!

I'm a little over 37 weeks, now. So far it's been a rough one. I've had many sleepless nights thanks to the contractions. They are strong enough to keep me awake, but according to the nurses I've talked with, they are not strong enough to be "real" labor. I've also been told this could be the start of labor and a sign that I will have her this week, or it could go on for weeks. Blah!!! I'm exhausted and really don't want weeks worth of sleepless, painful nights! Exhaustion does not help all of the emotions I've been feeling lately, either. I'm anxious and nervous about giving birth and bringing home a baby. I'm worried something will go wrong or not the way I'd like it to. I'm tired of constantly being in pain and feeling enormous. All of these things are ten times worse when I get 2 hours of sleep!

I guess that 39 week induction is sounding more and more appealing! I'm so excited that the end is near and we will be meeting our little one really soon. I also can't wait to be back to "normal"!

Baptism

Eric, Caitlyn and I were all baptized today! Caitlyn has been interested in being baptized and attending church for a while now. I was never baptized and my family never attended church. I decided a few months ago to find a church that we could all feel comfortable attending. We had been to an Easter event that the Zimmerman Community Church held this year. I also read a little about them on their website and called one of the pastors. We decided to check them out one Sunday and have now been attending for a few months. The children's' Pastor is great and Caitlyn really enjoys his program. I also enjoy the messages that are given and think it's great to have as many positive influences in Caitlyn's life as possible. One of the Pastors has a pool at her home and held the baptism service there today. It was a great experience for our family and nice to be able to get to know some of the other people that attend the church.


Here are some pictures of Caitlyn...

36 weeks

We had an ultrasound today. It was fun to see her cute face again! Lydia has chubby cheeks and was playing with her foot. She is estimated to be about 6lbs 7oz already. Whoa! My doctor said she might do another ultrasound at 39 weeks and check to see if I've dilated at all. If things look ready, then we could induce at that point. I'm not sure how I feel about being induced, but I guess I'll worry about that later.

Everything was looking good for me. I scheduled my last 3 appointments! I'd be okay with only making it to one more, though :-)


Here are some pictures of that cute little face. I can't wait to meet her!

And here's one of her foot....

Fun things we've been doing this summer!

Mid July already?!? Where has the summer gone? I've really enjoyed the lazy days by the pool and lake this year. We've also done a bunch of grilling and roasted many marshmallows over the fire pit that Eric made! So far, it's been a great summer. Here are the highlights!



Mike and Julie's new house has a neighborhood pool. Caitlyn spent the weekend at there house and I think 90% of her time in it!

Sorry the picture is a little dark, but there is Eric enjoying his fire pit on the 4th of July!

Eric, the grill master!

Caitlyn and I did not have to work on July 3rd, so we spent the day at Big Lake.

Hope everyone else is having a fabulous summer!

34 weeks

I had my 34 week appointment today. Everything was great! I can't believe we only have about a month to go before we meet this little one. We scheduled our last ultrasound for July 17th. I can't wait to see how big she is! Hopefully she'll still be head down and looking ready to meet the world!

As my dr would say....I've made great growth. lol! Here are some new shots of the belly...

Last night we finished up the nursery! Well, we still need to find a couple of pictures to hang on the walls, but it's 99% done now and I love how it turned out!

The letters I painted and hung above her window...



Crib, swing and Eric's awesome paint job!







Other shots....

Well, as my due date approaches, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. After going through 2 miscarriages, I think the thought of something going wrong is something I'll always have on my mind. I've been nervous before each milestone in this pregnancy and this last one is the big one! Here's hoping we have a quick and easy delivery that results in a healthy, baby girl.

Baby Shower!!!

Today Eric's mom had a baby shower for Lydia and I at her house. It was so much fun! She had such cute decorations, great food and fun games. It was so great to see everyone who made it to the party! They were all so generous, too. I can't wait to dress Lydia in her new outfits and use all of the fun stuff we got.

I'm so grateful to be having what looks to be a healthy little girl and to have such a great family and friends in our life.

Father's Day

Father's Day started out with a Twins game! I ordered the tickets last week as part of Eric's gift. Our team lost, but it was still fun to go to a game.

That evening we went to Eric's parents house. They grilled some delicious dinner!

It was a great day. I hope Eric enjoyed it!