Well, we kind of thought we might begin the new year with a new baby – this morning I lost my plug (yeah, if you don’t know what it is, don’t look it up) and had contractions throughout the day, but they haven’t gotten much stronger despite their regularity.  For those who don’t know, losing a plug can mean labor will start right away, or it could mean labor will come eventually, so really, losing the plug doesn’t mean anything.

I had a scheduled appointment today, anyway, so he ran yet another ultrasound (if we had better insurance I’d be overjoyed) to measure my cervix, which is still not effacing or dilating (that’s good).  He says baby needs to stay where she’s at for 10 more days, then she’s free to come out when she so pleases.  She’s still a she, her hair is growing, and she’s weighing in around 5 lb. and 12 oz (normal).  She’s right on target as far as head and leg measurements go, but this chubby little girl is 2 weeks wider around the middle than her due date predicts  

One hang-up – my platelets are still falling.  Normal is 150, last appointment 2 weeks ago they were at 120, so he called for another lab last week and they were at 105.  To give you an idea, below 100 they won’t give an epidural (which is good – then I don’t have to worry about accidentally getting one when I don’t really want one!), which must be where I was at with Peyton, since I asked for an epidural and by the time the guy got there to shake his head no, I was ready to push anyway.  My doctor said they don’t really do transfusions until around 20, so I still have plenty not to worry about.  I gave my doctor the contact info for the hematologist I saw with Peyton regarding the Von Willabrands, so Dr. Cook will call him to see what my levels were doing last pregnancy.

Anyway, happy New Year!  I celebrated by buying a recumbent exercise bike, though I’m not sure I dare to use it for the next 10 days.  Since it was dinner time and I was in Bellingham still, I picked up KFC and we celebrated New Years Eve with a bucket of chicken and some potatoes and cole slaw :-)

The problem with America is the parents.  Parents like this, who teach their kids it’s okay to do wrong in order to get what they want.

No wonder our schools are full of lying, cheating, stealing…the kids are well-educated at home.

(one day late)

Since we didn’t get to see any of you on Christmas, here are a few pics so you can be there with us virtually.

Peyton woke up at 7:45, so we snuggled in bed a few minutes before we went out to see what we had put in each others’ stockings (Santa doesn’t come – we don’t have a chimney.  Instead, we give gifts to each other to show how much we love eachother).  Peyton’s was stuffed with colors and stamps and bubblegum, Daddy’s was filled with candy, and Mommy’s had rocks in it…beautiful diamond earrings   (This was SUPPOSED to be a small Christmas, Daddy!)

The highlights:  Peyton LOVED his guitar from Grandma Patty & Papa Lee, we’ve been playing a lot of Hullabaloo, a game from Gramma T, and the tents & tunnels we bought him are his “house” and “Bob’s,” a local burger joint, where he orders food and pays using his new Cars wallet.

We also bought Super Mario Galaxy for Peyton and James to play together on the Wii, but Peyton is only allowed to play the Wii if he takes a nap.  He didn’t nap yesterday.  He “rested” in his room for a while, but he never went to sleep, so we didn’t get to play the games.  At dinner time, Peyton gave Mommy and Daddy a surprise gift – he said “I’m tired, I’m going to sleep,” and he did.  He went to his room, turned off the light, shut the door and went to sleep.  At 6:00.  We spent our extra-long evening watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie and wondering what time Peyton would wake up.  He didn’t get up again until 6:45 this morning…I wish I could sleep that long!

This was our first Christmas alone – we enjoyed the peace of it since we didn’t have to run from party to party, but we also missed everyone!  It was a long day without friends and family to keep us busy!  And I actually had to make dinner this year…I had planned on buying a small ham or something but I never actually did, so we had a regular meal plus apple cider.  Next year we’re going to think a bit harder before we decide to do Christmas by ourselves!

Finally, a picture for you from Peyton’s drummer-boy stint at church for the kids’ Christmas service:

Someday I’ll upload pictures again.  There are so many projects going on right now – so many little things that I’m trying to take care of for school, Christmas, the baby – and I can only get so much done each day!  This pregnant belly may look like a basketball, but it feels a lot more like a bowling ball, even when I spend most of my day at work in my chair. 

Grocery shopping tonight was a chore, but I made it…at least out of the store.  I always forget that I’ll have to load the groceries into the car after I’ve bought them.  Oh, and I’ll also get to lug them into the house and put them away.  And after I finish that, I have to make something of them for dinner.  In the future, I’ll try to remind myself of this before I load the cart…I’ll bet I cut my bill in half.

Today we had our 32 week appointment – other than having to wait an HOUR to see the doctor (why in the world would they have me come in 15 minutes after someone who was having a 45 minute procedure done???), it was a great appointment!  I don’t have Gestational Diabetes this time around (I celebrated on the way home with a Milky Way), I only gained 2 lbs. in the past month (the month before I’d gained 9!), AND I got a surprise ultrasound because the doctor wanted to measure my cervix to make sure the contractions aren’t doing anything.

He first checked the baby – she’s still a she, she’s head-down, and she has hair (he pointed out the fuzzy line around her head)!  He measured her belly; up until this point, she’s been right on target in all her measurements, but today perhaps she’d had too much to drink because she was measuring 2 full weeks ahead of schedule.  Ultrasounds are often incorrect in their assessments of a baby’s weight, but if today’s was accurate, she’s going to be a chubby little girl!

My cervix is totally normal.  He first pointed to an oval on the screen – the baby’s head – then at a very thin white line – “the way out”   I suppose if the white line looked like a tunnel we’d be a bit more worried

Still, he gave me the run-down just in case- if we go into labor now, they’ll try to stop it, or at least slow it enough to send us to Seattle to make sure they’ll have the resources necessary.  If I make it to 34 weeks, they’ll probably try to slow labor, but they wouldn’t move us to Seattle because everything is developed by then.  If I can wait 2 weeks after that, they let nature take its course.  We’ll see what happens – it would be nice to have this baby in my arms rather than on my bladder (which was a very squished-looking shape on the ultrasound – no wonder I have to pee every 30 minutes!), but we thought Peyton would come 3 weeks early and that didn’t happen.

One issue we’re checking – my platelets were slightly low, so I have to have them checked again in a few weeks to make sure this is not a trend.  He said that platelet counts often come back slightly lowered in pregnant women, so he isn’t worried, but he does want to double-check.  I asked about VonWillabrands, and he says this is not related – obviously it’s the “same animal,” but it’s a different sort of problem.

Peyton cut another link off the chain today, but as it grows shorter it seems his own fears grow larger.  The last day or two he’s decided at bedtime that he doesn’t love girl babies; he wants a boy baby (though he spends the rest of the day hugging my tummy and telling our baby he loves her).  He’s also been praying at night that God will help him to take care of the baby.  Perhaps it will be better for him once the baby is here – it seems his own worries are bigger than reality will be.

Some of you may remember that I had some pre-term contractions with Peyton.  They didn’t hurt, but they came 5 minutes apart, a minute long, starting a month or two before his due date.  The docs put me on medicine to stop the contractions, and we thought we’d have a baby the day we got off the medication. 

Sure enough, the contractions started up again with their annoying regularity.  We visited the hospital on Christmas night of 2003, but they sent us home.  A few days later, we went back again, only to be again sent home.

After two weeks of being off of the medication, they induced labor.  Now the 5 minutes apart contractions were stronger, more annoying, and just as helpful in doing absolutely nothing to get labor going.  After 17 hours, my body decided it was tired of the contractions and my water broke.  Peyton arrived an hour later.

4 years later, it starts again.  For the past few weeks when I’d notice contractions, I didn’t think much of them.  They weren’t regular, but they were there.  If they seemed to continue, I’d sit down for a few minutes until they went away.

Thursday night they started while I was making dinner, and when we sat down to eat I thought I ought to time them.  They were 3-5 minutes apart, lasting at least a minute.  After dinner I went to lie down, but it didn’t do any good.  Three hours later they were still a nuisance, coming every 2 to 4 minutes, lasting about a minute.  They still didn’t hurt, so while I was a bit concerned, I wasn’t concerned enough to go to the hospital. 

Friday morning I called my doctor, only to find that he’s out of the office until Tuesday.  I called Labor & Delivery, and they heard my story, then put me through to the triage nurse.  She listened to my story, then told me to call the doctor on call.  I hung up and called my doctor back because he had a message with a number connecting to the doctor on call.  I called the number.  I talked to the answering service lady.  She gave me the number of the doctor on call.  I called him.  I told his nurse the story.  She put me on with a different nurse, so I told her my story.  She grabbed the doctor, so I told him the story.  How many times have I had to explain this, now?  Anyway, he told me to go in if it continues and they’d monitor me for a few minutes.  He also said to tell them he’d order the fetalFibronectine test, which can accurately tell if a woman has an elevated chance of giving birth within two weeks. 

So I caved in and went to the hospital as soon as school let out.  They monitored me and no, I wasn’t crazy; the contractions were real and they were about 5 minutes apart.  The nurse checked me for a bladder infection and ran the fFn test, but they had to keep me until the results came back…probably one to two hours.

There I sat, listening to Lauren’s heartbeat and watching the monitor as the contractions came.  I had books in my purse, but it was on the floor.  I had to go to the bathroom.  Eventually the nurse brought me some juice and told me how to unhook myself so I could use the bathroom.  While I was in the bathroom she dropped off a sandwich and apple slices with caramel dip. 

When I had nearly finished my free (until insurance finds out) dinner, she returned with the results – no bladder infection, and no baby in the next two weeks.  I was free to go home and not worry   They offered me some medication, but they said it was optional, so I turned it down.  They don’t hurt and they aren’t doing anything (at least for two more weeks), and I see my regular doctor this week Friday anyway, so I’ll talk to him about what he thinks is best.

We’ve less than 10 weeks now – 9 at the most, 8 ’til the due date, 5 ’til baby is full-term, and 2 ’til the fFn guarantee runs out.  I think we can make it!

Sorry this is such a long post, but you need an update on Peyton, too.  He was an amazing drummer boy in church yesterday!  I’ll post video or pics as soon as I get the chance to load them.

However, he’s also beginning to stress about the baby.  I don’t think he understands that he’s worried about change, but he’s been regressing lately.  We’ve had #2 accidents almost every night when he waits too long to get to the toilet, and he’s been throwing lots of fits lately as he tries to take control over silly things at what seem like the worst times for Mom & Dad (ie we’ve gotta get out the door and he decides he does NOT want to wear that shirt anymore).  Yesterday he was crying over the length of the ribbon that hangs the drum around his neck…I was about ready to chuck the dumb thing in the trash, but that wouldn’t have solved his problem.  We’d appreciate prayers for him in the coming weeks, as his world is changing and he doesn’t quite know how to keep up with it, and prayers for us as we’re trying to help him adjust and hoping to keep our sanity (or what we have left of it).

As Sunday came to a close, we placed bets on the chances of havng a late start the next day.  According to the news, a “pineapple express” was coming in to melt our snow and flood our rivers, but after several days of 30* weather, who’d believe the weather could get into the 50s?

Monday made us believers.  When I pulled out of the garage Monday morning, my windows completely fogged up because it was 60* outside and only 40* in the car.  A hot breeze blew throughout the day, threatening power outages, and the warm rain melted the snow before school let out.  That’s one way to clean up after the rain! 

I suppose if we’re going to have snow, it might as well come on a weekend and be cleared before Monday morning!  As much as I love snow days, I don’t think I want to go to school on Friday the 21st during our Christmas break, and I don’t want to lose our holidays in January, either. 

Warning for this weekend: snow in the forecast again…Peyton and I are seeing a local theatre do High School Musical…Peyton is going to be a Little Drummer Boy on stage in church on Sunday…other news to come…

The snow stuck this time!  We got an inch or two yesterday, so I had hopes that Peyton could open his special gift from Gramma and Papa after nap and we could go sledding.  But then Peyton decided to “rest” instead of nap, and he was so grouchy the rest of the day that there was no way I’d take him out of the house.

This morning the snow was still there, but the rain is supposed to come in for the rest of the day, so I thought we’d better get out there before the snow is gone!  I let Peyton open his gift – he calls it his snowboard   We bundled up right away – the snowsuit that was HUGE last year is just right for him this year…I can’t believe how fast he is growing up! 

The snow was just starting to fall lightly as we headed to City Park at 8:00 this morning.  Maybe because it’s Sunday, or perhaps because it was so early, City Park was empty – Peyton and I were the first to leave footprints there this year.  The first run Peyton wanted to go by himself, but the snow was so powdery and the hill we’d chosen wasn’t quite steep enough.  I got on with him for the next run and all the extra weight on the back helped.  After that he went by himself down the trail we’d made.  I did my best to give him a good start, but pregnant bodies don’t quite work as well. 

The snow started coming down a little heavier after an hour, but Peyton was so reluctant to leave that he started making unintentional snow angels (ie throwing a fit).  Mommy won, however, and we come home for breakfast and baths.

Right now it’s still snowing pretty heavily…if this rain comes in we’ll flood; if it doesn’t, we may have a snow day tomorrow!