Week 36 Appointment #2

**If you didn't see my update in my Week 36 Appointment post, my blood work came back with no major concerns though some acid level was borderline.

Landon @ 36w3d

Today's appointment was the same as Monday's with one exception - it started off with us seeing our boy! Another thorough ultrasound showed that he is weighing approximately 6.5lbs., amniotic fluid levels are good, blood flow through the umbilical cord is good - you get the idea, everything with him is good :) A check of my cervix showed that it was still good - high, firm and closed. Landon is still not ready to join us - which is another good thing, as we are not quite ready either!

Now the not so good. My blood pressure was still high. I heard the words borderline pre-eclampsia, modified bed rest and last day of work. Talk about some stress factors! My doctor ordered me or I guess, rather, advised me to stop working to reduce stress. Um...do you not know what I do?!? Okay, he probably doesn't, but come on!  If he had taken my blood pressure right then I think he would have admitted me to the hospital for observation which is a possibility at every appointment. *BTW: For those of you who don't know what I do, I teach 2nd/3rd grade special education. Not a job you can just stop going to exactly. And, it does not really cause me a lot of stress....

Anyhow, I agreed with my doctor no more work, however, Todd and I talked about it on the way home and I explained to him that I could not not go to work on Thursday and Friday. I needed time to not only get ready for a sub, but to process that I was going on maternity leave three weeks early (something we did not budget for). Todd agreed but only because the doctor said modified bed rest and he knows me well enough to know that having Wednesday be my last day would be more stressful than it being Friday. Oh, and, I had to agree to let the nurse take my blood pressure at school. If it was high, I will leave. I can handle that.

So, this is where we are at. I have been officially diagnosed with borderline pre-eclampsia and put on modified bed rest. I have to take my blood pressure daily. If it is above 140/90 I have to call the doctor and will most likely be admitted to the hospital for a 24-hour observation. I will have two appointments per week until Landon's arrival. I will have blood drawn at both of these appointments. If the levels of platelets or the acid are higher than my baseline, Landon will be arriving within 24 hours of when we got those results. At one of those appointments, we will also have an ultrasound. My last day of work for 15 weeks is this Friday. Whew!

My next appointment is next Monday when I will be 37 weeks and considered full-term. Praying that we can make at least that far!

We ask that you continue to pray that my platelet level and acid level remain at my baseline or lower so that Landon can continue to do what he needs to in there :)

I'm In Love With A New (Little) Man

Like I mentioned in my previous post we were able to surprise my mom with an ultrasound today. My mom asked me how long it would take. I told her about 5 minutes since it wasn't routine and just for our pleasure. I was way off. I should have said more like 30. Yes, we got another very thorough ultrasound today including more 3D shots! An excellent (FREE) early Christmas present for my mom who was in awe the entire time....

The tech performed another anatomy scan and while the first one was amazing at 20 weeks this one was even more so because he is now so much more developed and about 3x bigger. Leg and arm bones, heart, stomach, kidneys, bladder, rib cage, spine - everything looked, well, like it should, not like blobs or sticks or simply a hole. His face, hands and feet are more defined and we could see his facial features along with each little finger and toe. And, once again he was very active kicking, waving and yawning. At one point we even got to see him play with his toes!

As for results, baby boy is measuring in the 52nd percentile weighing 2lbs 13ozs. He had a healthy heartbeat of 163. And, while he is currently breech, there is no concern because we still have 11.5 weeks to go. Everything on my end looks great as well - cervix length, amount of amniotic fluid, weight gain (14 lbs. to date) and belly measurement are right where they should be.

And, now here is the new love of my life. While I loved him before, I felt a connection today as I watched the monitor and then, once I got this picture I couldn't stop looking at it, overwhelmed with love for this miracle growing inside me.

28w3d

Surprise for My Mom

My mom is here for Thanksgiving and tomorrow is our 28-week appointment so she will be coming with us. While she has seen pictures of her first grand baby, she has yet to see an ultrasound of him and not just of our baby either, but of any baby EVER. Seeing as how our pregnancy has been (thankfully) uneventful, there was no need to schedule an ultrasound, however, I wanted to surprise her so I asked for one. My doctor called yesterday and said we could have one! I am really excited that we are going to be able to share this experience with her....Details and pictures to follow :) Oh, and we are pretty excited that we get to our boy again, too!

Our Baby Boy

3D Profile shot

Like I mentioned in my previous post our visit today was perfect in every way. The u/s was about 30 minutes long and very thorough. The tech pointed out his tongue, nose, eyes, ears, stomach, kidneys, heart, brain, spinal cord, each of his tiny leg and arm bones, his hands and feet, his ribs and of course his boy parts :) In fact, as soon as she put the wand on my belly his boy parts were the first thing we saw. We also got to see blood flow and him swallowing.

He was not very cooperative as he kept moving around, but she was able to get some still shots of him in 2D and 3D. We also have the whole u/s on DVD - it so cool! I can't wait to share it with my mom and mother-in-law in a few weeks at our baby showers in Michigan! I hope to get some still shots off of it, but for now will share the still shots that the tech printed out for us.

His current stats:

• He is measuring 20w6d (a little ahead of schedule!)
• He currently weighs 11oz.
• Heartbeat 140

Profile - Look at the little nose!

A little foot

How we know he is a boy!

As for my part of the visit, it was perfect, too! Everything inside and out is how it should be and where it should be :) I have gained a total of 5lbs. According to my iphone application, What to Expect When You Are Expecting, I should have gained about 10lbs. My doctor wasn't concerned though, so neither am I especially since our boy is doing so well.

After our apt. we went out to lunch and then to Babies R Us to complete our registry there. I think we are about done. We added clothes and some gender specific items. I hope to get our Target registry done for the most part as well this weekend. Do babies seriously need all this cute crap?!

I will share tomorrow how we told our moms what the gender was. And, without further ado, my 20 week belly shot. Yes, I know there is not a lot there! The women I work with comment on this daily! I will have to post my other belly shots so there is something to compare this one too because my belly has gotten bigger - trust me!

20 Week Belly Shot

On a side note, I want to thank GOD for the positive BETAs my fellow embryo adoption girls have gotten this week. So far we are 3-for-3!

So many things to praise GOD for....

The Noorman Family Would Like To Announce...

Another awesome visit including a 1/2 hour u/s which we got on DVD! Lots of photos including a 20-week belly shot coming tomorrow along with details of our baby boy and the visit overall :)

Praising GOD tonight!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

You know when you were little and you couldn't sleep the night before Christmas? All you could think about was what Santa had put under the tree for you....Well, that is how we are feeling tonight only we are waiting until tomorrow to see what GOD has blessed us with!

We are having the BIG u/s tomorrow and couldn't be more excited. Though as I write this, Todd is sleeping :) I, however, am wide awake. This u/s seems to have taken FOREVER to get here. Today seemed like the longest day and now in about 10 hours we will know whether we are having a baby boy or girl!!

Tomorrow is also the long, very thorough anatomy scan. Though not inclusive it should give us a good idea of how things are developing and whether or not there are any complications at this point. Not only that, we haven't seen the baby since week 12 and are anxious to see what he/she looks like at this point in the pregnancy.  At our 6 week u/s they used a machine that produced 3D/4D images. I am hoping that this is the machine they use tomorrow!

PREDICTIONS
-We have a lot of predictions from friends and family. Most say girl.

-We have also asked the Magic 8 Ball. When asked if we were having a boy it answered, "Yes" and when asked if we were having a girl it answered, "You may rely on it." Go figure.

-We then did the Cabbage Test. This test revealed a boy.

-About a month ago I felt like we were having a boy (and still do a little bit!).

-Todd doesn't feel one way or another, he just wants a girl.

Whatever GOD has blessed us with we will be eternally grateful for this wonderful blessing He has given us!

Thanks to those of you who continue to follow us on this incredible journey! Updates tomorrow!

*The Cabbage Test can be found here: The Cabbage Gender Prediction Test

An (Uneventful)* 16 week Appointment

It seems that after four, very difficult years of trying to get pregnant, God has blessed us with an easy pregnancy (thus far)! Today's appointment was like the others - everything perfect :) We didn't have an u/s, but did get to hear the heartbeat which we hadn't heard since week 6.  I have gained 3 pounds - a little low, but the doctor wasn't too concerned as long as I continue to gain weight over the next few months at a somewhat faster pace. We also scheduled the BIG u/s for Tuesday, September 28. I can't wait to find out if we are Team Pink or Team Blue! I am starting to have somewhat of a baby bump - will post pictures soon!

Hope you are all having a blessed week!

*By uneventful I don't mean it wasn't exciting (because it was!) - maybe a better word to describe the apt. would be uncomplicated or perfect :)

Perfect (Again!)

We had our 12w2d appointment and u/s today. Once again we were amazed at what the u/s showed us! The u/s tech took us on a little tour - we got to see arms, legs, hands, feet, spinal cord, eyes, nose, ears, heart and even a tiny little stomach :) Apparently, the baby did not like all of the exploring, however, because he/she turned completely around. Where he/she started off facing us, we ended with his/her little backside looking at us. The u/s tech also did a 3-D scan. Nothing too exciting at this point. In fact, to be honest, the baby looked a little creepy! Heart rate today was a healthy 148 and he/she is actually measuring a little big right now at 12w4d. My apt. with the ob was a little less exciting. He checked my cervix and uterus. Again, the ob told us that the baby could not be looking any better!

Our next apt. is in a month. We will not be having another u/s until week 20 where we will find out whether we are having a baby boy or baby girl. We are already counting down....

I have about 10 posts to post. I hope to get to those before Friday - before my first day back to work - Yuck!

**This post is dedicated to DANA NICOLE BURCH**

Absolutely Beautiful!

We had our second u/s today. What a beautiful sight! Baby is continuing to measure right on track - 9w2d. The heartbeat was a healthy 175bpm. His/her little arm and leg buds were moving like crazy. The u/s tech commented on how active he/she was :) 

We also had our first apt. with a regular ob. He commented on how healthy the placenta/baby looked and told me to keep doing whatever it was that I was doing because it was working. We couldn't have asked for better news than that!! The due date is still February 12, 2011.

I am still not experiencing morning sickness - not complaining! I use the bathroom about 15-20 times a day thanks to my tilted uterus. I could be sleeping better, but overall I cannot complain. This has been a (thankfully) uneventful pregnancy thus far.

I am still on the progesterone injections 2x daily and taking Estrace 2x daily. Once the NEDC gets the results from the ob, I will know whether or not I cannot reduce the amount or even stop taking one or both completely. If I can stop the injections, Todd and I won't know what to do with ourselves at 10AM and 10PM everyday (though I am sure we can think of something!) :)

Our next u/s and apt. with our ob is schedule for Monday, August 2 or in 3 weeks when we will be at the start of our 2nd trimester.

I have a lot of posts yet to post of what has been going over the past couple of weeks which I will post soon (so patience DANA BURCH!). Those posts will get you up to do date with what has been going on....

The Sights & Sounds of The Day

Today's ultrasound made up for the four years of seeing an empty womb on the monitor. The tech had no problem locating our precious baby :) He/she is measuring 6w1d with a heartbeat of 119. Along with the u/s, I had blood work done.  We will find out tomorrow whether or not we need to keep up with the Progesterone shots and Estrace.

In other news, I still don't have any nausea. I do have to go to the bathroom at least once an hour. At night it is even worse - I probably go to the bathroom 5-6 times in the first hour after I lay down. I eventually get up because I can't sleep. I have been falling asleep around 3AM for the last two weeks. Not fun, but at least I am on summer break! Heartburn hasn't been bad since that first weekend after implantation took place. I am hungry more often but have actually lost 4 pounds since we found out I was pregnant. However, I do not fit into any of my pants OR shorts due to the bloating. A shopping trip is needed in the near future to solve this problem as I am getting tired of wearing the few bottoms that I own that actually fit me. Good thing I will be home on Friday to go shopping with my mom!

No other news to report as of now. I do have a week's worth of old posts that I will post within the next couple days. I know you all will be waiting for them :)

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers - GOD is good!

*Baby is circled in pink!

Harder (and Longer) Than a 2WW

I truly think this 9dw has been harder (and longer) than the 2ww was. While we have had the positive pregnancy tests, and I have had some pregnancy symptoms, seeing the baby(ies) is what is going to seal the deal for me  :) 

During our fertility journey I have had numerous ultrasounds to check out this or that. Though not painful, they aren't a treat either. Oh, and I am not talking about external ultrasounds. Anyhow, today will be the first time we see the baby(ies) and we couldn't be more excited!!

Thanks to those who have sent their prayers and well wishes!

Rest Assured

After much prayer and talking with the nurse at great lengths several times yesterday, I am good. Dr. Keenan is not at all concerned that my BETA did not double for three reasons. One, the first BETA was so high. Two, while they like to see the number double in 48 hours, it can actually take 48-72 hours to see this happen. Three, it did increase 65%. As for the estrogen, he is not concerned with this either since I am taking Estrace, 2mg, 2x daily. Yea!

On to other news: We will be 5 weeks this Saturday with our first u/s scheduled for Monday, June 21! Since my cycle was controlled with the Lupron, using the date of my last menstrual cycle would not have given us an accurate due date. The nurse used the last day of Lupron to calculate our DD giving us a due date of February 12, 2011. Oh my...this is all starting to seem more real :)

Since Todd and I are both teachers we have the summers off. Last summer we started Summer Date Days. One day a week we go on a date. We do something different each week. Today is our first Summer Date Day of 2010. We are going to pick up Quiznos in Nashville and eat in Centennial Park followed by a movie and some shopping. I love date days!