Katelyn, Conner and Caleb! » March 2006 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Sat, Mar 25, 2006 1:32 PM
We started something new with Katelyn's Cubbie verse this last week. I wrote it out on a notecard in big letters and put it on the fridge for her.

She has learned it so well! I there's two reasons... I remember to remind her more often to say it and other people remind her to say it. But also, she likes being able to look at her verse and "read" it.

This has worked so well that we're starting next week's verse early. It's a longer one so she needs the extra time with it.

Katelyn earned her Jumper patch last week! She's so proud of it and even though she hasn't recieved it yet, she turns to the back of her book to point it out. And she'll tell you where it should go on her vest. Right now she has a loaner vest while we wait for the next size up. The current one is the perfect size for her right now which means that she'll outgrow it long before she finishes the next two years in Cubbies. So we're going one size up.

So go ahead and ask her about her verse tomorrow at church... "He made everything beautiful." She's very proud of herself and if you get her to pay attention long enough to stop and think, she'll gladly say it to you.

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Fri, Mar 24, 2006 12:38 PM
How much cuter can this get? Katelyn and Conner put themselves down for a nap today. I admit it... I fell asleep before they did it though. I was up later last night and the kids woke up early this morning so I didn't get the sleep that I need. So I've been rather tired today. Katelyn is a little sick so I encouraged her to go take a nap by saying that I was going to. I closed my eyes for a little and when I opened them, the house was super quiet and about an hour had passed.

There's stuff for the kids to get into but most of the dangerous stuff it up high or inaccessable to the kids. So I wasn't worried. They might have emptied out my toiletries drawer or dumped their toys all over but that was about it. But nope... they were both asleep on the bed in their room. Katelyn under the covers, Conner on top, sharing a pillow. Conner had a pacifier and a sippy cup.

I guess waking up well over an hour early did them in! That and they're both fighting colds. Runny noses but Katelyn also has a cough and a fever. So they need their sleep.

I took lots of pictures and will get one posted. I need to download my camera.

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Sun, Mar 12, 2006 10:13 PM
Katelyn has a new toy of choice. She was given a belated birthday present yesterday from her grandma. A Fisher Price tea set. She loves it.

Yesterday her favorite phrase was "No boy, no play my teacup" Boy is her name for Conner. And she didn't want him playing with her teaset. At all. No touching, no looking, no nothing.

We tried getting her to put it "up high" for the night so that Conner wouldn't play with it. Nope. She insisted that she needed to curl up around it all night to protect it from Conner while still having it near her.

Today Katelyn came home from church and immediately grabbed my bag of Red Raspberry Leaf and wanted tea. And she wanted it in her teapot. So I made some for me and then poured a little into her pot. She happily drank it after pouring it into her cups. But then it was time for a nap and somehow my telling her that the tea stayed downstairs didn't make it through to her. So we had to wash bedding this afternoon while she cried becaue we'd taken away her tea. Another conversation and she now knows that tea stays downstairs not upstairs. *whew* Future crisis averted!

She spent about an hour today after cubbies pouring tea back and forth from her teapot and the cups. It was apple scented so it made the house smell very good. I'm not sure how much she drank of it though.

But we each had teacups at dinner and the kids drank apple juice from the cups. It's good practice for Conner. He's not all that great at drinking from a regular cup yet. And this was in small enough amounts that when he spilled it wasn't a big deal.

No teacups in bed tonight... they're drying after being washed out in preparation for tomorrow's play.

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Fri, Mar 10, 2006 3:42 PM
How to guage an illness in Conner:

He's laying down willingly even after a nap. And even covering up! Yep... he's sick.

He's smiling for the camera when I decide to document his laying there willing. I guess not to sick.

He doesn't eat much lunch. Yep... definitely sick especially since it's something he likes.

He decides that he needs a cookie like his sister. Definitely not too sick.

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Tue, Mar 7, 2006 2:25 PM
This was totally a God thing....

We went in for the ultrasound and the tech seemed a bit confused at first.... looking all over very quickly. Then she asked me where the hematoma had been. I told her left side and she looked more closely there. There was no sign of anything. It was completely gone. Not even a trace. She said she usually can see signs of it having been there but this time there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. That huge pool of blood had completely disappeared. She even looked back at my chart to make sure it had been there... LOL! She remembered it but needed proof even for herself.

Prayer is amazing.

We met with the OB afterward and he said that there was little to no chance of it returning and as far as he was concerned, I'm off all restrictions and back to normal activity. Wow. I mentioned all the people that had been praying for exactly this result and he quoted a line from M.A.S.H. along the lines of "God heals, I collect the fees." He said that's what most of medicine is all about. I have to agree. :D

I asked him if this might affect the birth at all and he said not at all. Eric asked if we should just go on with our original plans for the birth then... he said not a problem at all. Yay!!!! Back to homebirth plans!!!

I'll go back in a month and get a follow up blood test for TSH levels. They were low but everything I've read about low TSH with high T4 don't match what usually happens with thyroid problems. But it can be caused by high stress. I certainly had that the week before that blood draw! So I'm not real concerned about it.

Everything else is totally normal. Praise God!!!

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Tue, Mar 7, 2006 9:00 AM
Yesterday was full. Only spotting all day was the tiny bit there when I woke up.

Today so far, it's just the tiny brown spot there when I woke up. Brown is good. It means it's old blood getting out instead of new blood bleeding.

Today is the OB appointment and the ultrasound. I should have more news after that.

Arthur has figured out this bedrest thing. As long as he doesn't jump up on me, he's allowed in the house while I'm on the couch. If he jumps, he gets put out. He also has figured out that he can bring me a ball, drop it next to me on the couch and I'll throw it for him. He likes that. So does Conner.

Conner is trying so hard to get Arthur to chase a ball. The problem is that Conner hasn't figured out that when you toss a ball for a dog, you have to throw it away from the dog so that the dog has to chase it. Conner throws it right between Arthurs feet. No fun for Arthur.

The stuffed animals and dolls are still on bedrest. Katelyn stole some of the couch pillows and has them spread out all over living room acting as pillows and blankets for the animals and dolls. They're all lovingly tucked in for the day.

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Mon, Mar 6, 2006 4:48 PM
For all you medical types (or just curious types, like me): According to ultrasound, the hematoma was 8.6cm x 4.3 cm x 3.1 cm. For reference, the baby's length (Crown to Rump) was 73.5 mm. So yep, it's big.

Small bleed last night. I woke up to it. Nothing today... no blood, no cramps, nothing. We'll see what today's extra activity brings.

I had a chiropractor appointment today at noon. One of the adjustments was near my pelvix or lower back. It needed it. The last time he was there I couldn't feel the adjustment but my muscles felt the change all evening. Today he basically moved it back a little. He said it was slightly swollen right in that spot. I always feel like my body works better after an adjustment. It could just be placebo but right now I'll take what I can get. :D

I had the nurse intake appointment today. The bloodwork was back. Thyroid was a little low and will be rechecked in a month. She didn't have anything that she said to do about it though. Iron levels were down and white blood cell count was up but that's very likely related to bleeding. It should go up also.

All in all a good appointment though! Pretty basic. She did look for a heartbeat for me when I asked. I felt better with that after the cramping this last week. Heartbeat was in the mid to high 150's.

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Sun, Mar 5, 2006 9:29 PM
No spotting today other then on tp! And yesterday's spotting was only super late at night. Yaaaayyyy!!!!!

I've discovered that it's one thing to be still all day when you're feeling sick. But it's another to bed on bedrest when you feel fine otherwise. Mentally you know it's the right thing to do, but physically you get so antsy.

I'm currently watching the LOST season 1 on DVDs. And reading a whole pile of books that I was loaned. I should finish up the scarf that I'm knitting Katelyn too. She'd be excited to see that and be able to wear it.

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Sat, Mar 4, 2006 7:14 PM
Conner and Katelyn have decided on a new game that Katelyn calls, "Wuff chase me!" The problem with this game though (from Arthur's point of view) is that he's faster then they are so he usually ends up in front of them and has to stop and wait for them to get in front again. It brought lots of happy, laughing kids though! And I hope it'll help to wear them out for bedtime. They do laps through the living room and down the center hall in our house. It's a pretty clear shot and makes a nice loop.

Update on me: I haven't felt baby today but that's normal for this early on. It is a worry for me though because feeling movement is so reassuring to me. However, on the plus side, I haven't had any spotting today or cramping. That is a really good sign.

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Fri, Mar 3, 2006 7:17 PM
Today's update: Things are going *much* better today. It means that being on the couch is starting to get to me. It already was but now I'm feeling it that much more.

Bleeding today has been light. Red, but light. From what I've read (before, when I thought I was miscarrying) that kind of bleeding after passing clots is normal. And I'm not even close to the amount the OB nurse told me was time for me to worry.

I think (if you know more about this, please correct me!) the bleeding has something to do with the clot acting a little like a scab. When a scab comes off, you will often see a little blood... when the clot comes out, it follows with a little fresh (thus the red color) blood. But hopefully it'll turn to brown within a few days which would mean old blood.

Please still pray about next weeks appointments. Monday is the intake appointment and I just meet with a nurse. Tuesday is the ultrasound appointment and the OB appointment. I'm praying that the hematoma (I feel like I'm throwing that word around like a pro now) is gone or greatly decreased. That this stuff yesterday was my body getting rid of it.

Fun stuff:
Ever since Sunday I've feel baby moving! At the time on Sunday, I thought I was imagining it and that my mind was playing tricks on me. But it was right where the ultrasound said baby was (off center to the right) and I've felt the same thing throughout this week. This has been so encouraging. It's the tiny little flutter stuff... like pop bubbles from a glass of pop.

Conner has taken it upon himself to make sure my laptop is always connected to the power cord. The cord comes out occasionally for various reasons so when he sees it's out, he grabs it and puts it back in. He's figured out where it goes on my computer and how to get it into the hole.

Katelyn is taking the role of caretaker very seriously. Today she tucked me in for a nap on the couch. She got me a teddy bear, tucked it in next to me, made sure I had my head closed and every time I made noise (tried to talk) she very loudly and emphatically shushed me.

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Thu, Mar 2, 2006 10:00 PM
I passed a couple of larger clots and then my cramping went way down. I called the OB on call and he said that the bleeding wasn't heavy enough to worry about at this point and the cramping going down was a good sign.

I'm relieved. I just don't know what to consider normal with all this. When to worry, when not to... it's all new territory to me.

On a cute note, Katelyn decided today to put all her stuffed animals on "bedrest". She had them all laying down on the couch and chair in the living room.

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Thu, Mar 2, 2006 6:31 PM
I'm pretty worried. I'm passing clots now. Not much except when I'm on the toilet though. Please pray about this... that the blood vessel that's feeding the hematoma/hemmorage close off and that the hematoma dissappear.

I have another ultra sound scheduled for Tuesday morning. Please pray that everything looks good then.

Thank you.

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Wed, Mar 1, 2006 9:00 AM
How to pray for our family right now: Please pray that the little one inside me remains healthy and pray that the sub-chorionic hemorage goes away and does not threaten this pregnancy.

We've had quite a scare the last few weeks. I haven't really posted about it because everytime I told anyone, it seemed to stop. I felt (emotionaly, though I know this isn't true logically) that I was calling wolf.

Basically I've had a couple episodes of bleeding. The first lasted only a half hour and then was gone with nothing further for over two weeks. Then, on last Saturday I had period-like bleeding accompanied by period-like cramps. Strangely enough, it went away during the day. But then it came back over night for two more nights.

On Monday we called around to see if I could get an ultrasound somewhere other then the ER. We had that yesterday.

Both Eric and I were terrified that I had miscarried. We had come to the point that we were convinced that I had and this was just to confirm it so that we could decide how to proceed. But while we were there and before we could get into the ultrasound room, the nurse offered to try to find a heartbeat with a doppler. Now both Katelyn and Conner were difficult to find on the doppler. But this baby cooperated and we just cried. Both of us.

We waited for about an hour after that for the ultrasound room to become available and had one. The baby is measuring right on schedule and was moving around kicking and waving and even flexing his/her fingers. But... there is a very large thing that they called a subchorionic hemorage there next to the sac. Basically it's like a pool of blood, similiar to how a bruise is a pool of blood just under the skin. Hopefully my body will absorb it. But this one is rather large. To my untrained eye, it looked as big around as the sac and baby but I don't think it was as thick. I suspect this is why I was showing early and why my uterus measure large when the nurse measured it. I also think it's why my maternity clothes stopped fitting as well when I started the second episode of bleeding.

This increases my chance of preterm labor, of having baby in the NICU and of having a smaller then normal baby. Since I'm past 12 weeks, my chances of miscarriage are much lower but they are still higher then the general population of pregnant women.

I am currently on "pelvic rest" which seems to be similiar to bedrest but not quite as strict. I do definitely need to keep the kids off my belly and any pressure off my belly. Right now the pool of blood is not between the placenta and my uterus and that is really good news. We just need to keep it from being pushed under the placenta. Pressure on my belly could cause that.

So.... that's why the need for prayer. Please pray for the continued good health of little Baby Larson and pray that this pool of blood dissapear quickly. I figure that if God can take away tumors, he can certainly make my body absorb this! So we're praying hard here that he does.

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