Happy New Year continued...

forgot to mention that they did another FFN test tonight and it was negative! yay! so we should have at least another week before baby arrives but hopefully many more than that!

Happy New Year!

well, sort of. i had some spotting so we went back to the hospital. they kept me on the monitor for a few hours and checked my cervix. it's still at 1cm but when i have a contraction, it goes to zero and starts to dilate. not good. so the dr now has me taking 20mg of procardia every 4 hrs instead of every 6 hrs. i just have to keep an eye on my blood pressure to make sure it doesn't get too low. we watched my cervix for a while as i contracted to see it change and saw the baby basically poking at my cervix like he was TRYING to get it to open! he literally had his finger poking my cervix like he was thinking, "hmmm... i think this is the way out". knock it off, baby!! the dr pushed on my stomach a little to get him to move away from my cervix and he finally moved. :)
i have an appt to see dr. connelly on wed. i'm hoping i don't have to make any trips to the hospital before then! Happy New Year!!

belly pic 28 weeks

don't worry... i was only out of bed long enough to go pee and take a quick belly pic. yay for 28 weeks! man, i need some mascara PRONTO!

see? back in bed with the little lo...

so far so good....

ahh.... it's nice not to have anything alarming happen for a couple days. no spotting, no contractions. not to say that i don't worry about it all the time still but at least things have seemed to calm down for now. today i feel very weak. i think it's because of the procardia and my level of total inactivity. maybe my blood pressure is running low again. at least i don't have the nurses coming in every 5 minutes to check my blood pressure and temperature anymore. i mean, i appreciate it and all, but it gets annoying. john is the best nurse anyway. he takes care of me better than any of the nurses ever did. i love him so much. i'm the luckiest girl in the world to have someone like him. he woke up this morning and went to del taco to get me a breakfast burrito. yummy. he went to church this morning and i'm sad that i couldn't go with him. we go to the best church in the world (sandalschurch.com) and i haven't been there for a long time. i miss it and everyone there. i miss fresh air and the outside world. i miss being able to sit up. i have to lay on my side at all times (except to eat and shower) to keep extra pressure off of my cervix. but all of this will be worth it if it means that the baby will stay put for a while longer. please baby, stay put!! at least i have lilo, my mini weiner dog, to keep me company. she's constantly by my side and doesn't mind at all that i'm stuck in bed. she'll bring me her ball sometimes and we'll play fetch for a while but mostly she's right here, snoring in my ear. i missed her when i was in the hospital. i think she missed me too. :) hopefully i'll be stuck in bed with her for many more weeks to come.

What a rollercoaster!

so.... we spent 10 days in the hospital after the dr saw that my cervix had shortened even more than before. they put me on 20mg of procardia (a smooth muscle relaxer) every 6 hrs to prevent my uterus from contracting and gave me steroids to help the baby's lungs develop in case they couldn't stop labor. luckily, they stopped labor and seemed to have things under control. they moved me from labor & delivery to the post partum area and that was "home" for the next several days. they finally dicharged me on sunday, 12/23. we got to spend christmas eve in OUR OWN BED!! it's so much better than a hospital bed or the recliner/"bed" that john had to sleep on. christmas morning was nice. our families came over to celebrate with us and i was very careful not to get up except to use the restroom. but... it didn't last long. around 3:30 on christmas day i noticed a tiny spot of blood when i used the restroom. so off to the hospital we went. we were hoping that it would be a quick trip and that they would send me back home but in the back of my mind i knew that wasn't going to happen. they hooked me up to the monitor and it showed that i was having pretty big contractions. i wasn't even feeling them!! then they checked my cervix and said that i was dialated 2cm!! WHAT!?!? they put me on magnesium and loaded me into an ambulance to go to kaiser in baldwin park (fontana was too full to take me -- kaiser riverside doesn't have the licensing to take care of a baby less than 32 wks gestation so that's why they had to transfer me). i was really scared. john followed me in the ambulance and met me in baldwin park. there we were, back in labor & delivery. i had an IV with magnesium (pretty nasty stuff), antibiotics and a catheter (didn't like that AT ALL!). after the contractions stopped they moved me to their post partum area and we stayed there for the next couple of days. we thought that since i was dialated they would keep me for a while but they sent me home yesterday. neither of us were happy with that decision since the last time we were sent home i ended up being dialted to 2cm after only 2 days. but, we had no choice so back home we went. then the drama continued this morning when i started spotting again. this time we went straight to fontana to avoid the whole ambulance ride thing. they hooked me back up to the monitor and the contractions were pretty small. after taking another dose of procardia the contractions went away. whew! they checked my cervix and it hadn't changed so they ended up sending me home again. i'm really hoping this weekend is uneventful! i'm using john's laptop right now and i'll try to keep my updates more frequent. but i'm really hoping that i don't have anything new to report for a while. my next dr appt is on wed, jan 2nd. i'm finally at 28 weeks and the next milestone that they want me to get to is 32 weeks. i'll be 32 weeks on jan 22nd and i'm going to try my best to get to that point. :) wish me luck!

27 week & 2 day "photo shoot"

Kim had her appt. with her Dr. today & here's the latest...
The Ffn test came out negative!!! That means that they have at least 7 more days! Her cervix has shortened a little more & is now at 1 cm., so she's staying another week & they'll test her again next Thursday. She says, "thank you for everyone's prayers, they are working!" Oh yea...they also found out today that they are a couple of days further along than they thought (they thought she was 27 weeks today, but that changed a little). Every little day helps a lot since the Dr. says that he's almost sure that the baby will be early and every day he's inside her is like 2 days less in ICU. be patient, baby. :)


p.s.~isn't my nephew handsome! :)

almost 27 week update...

Hi, this is Shannon...i'm updating Kimmy's blog while she's in the hospital. Here's the latest:
not much has changed, which is good news. the plan for now is to keep her AT LEAST until Thursday and the dr. will check her cervix then and do some other tests & tell them what he wants them to do after that. We went to see her tonight and she's doing really good...she wasn't having any "real" contractions (they're giving her something to help keep contractions from starting)...she's only having Braxton-Hick "like" contractions, which is normal & the baby is kicking and moving A LOT! everything seems really good and we'll just continue to pray that he stays put for a while longer. :) i'm sure kim will update (or have me do another one) as soon as we know more.

26 week video update...

Fetal Fibronectin

my results were negative!! yay! having a negative fetal fibronectin test result means that i have about a 99% chance of NOT going into labor within the next 2 weeks. that's really great news. now i just have to stay on bed rest and go back to see dr. montgomery on 12/20 so he can check my cervix for changes. i'm feeling much better about everything now. baby is really active and loves getting his feet in my ribs and kickin' away. i love feeling every little movement. as long as he's moving i feel like he's ok so he can kick me all he wants!

Update

today's doctor's visit went as well as possible. my cervix has not changed, which is really good news. dr. montgomery performed the Fetal Fibronectin test (to see if i am at risk of going into labor within the next 2 weeks) and we should have the results no later than tomorrow. he said that he expects it to be negative, especially since there has been no change to my cervix since monday's visit. if it is negative, then he is going to see me in two weeks to check my cervix again for changes. in the meantime, i need to stay on bed rest and take it as easy as possible. however, if the test results come back positive, then he'll bring me back in to be admitted into the hospital. so we should know by tomorrow what the next step will be. i'm feeling much better about everything after today's visit. i'll post again as soon as the test results are back.

Bed Rest

i saw dr. montgomery yesterday so he could check on the baby's development to make sure everything is still going well. the good news is that the baby looks great. all of his organs and parts are in tact and where they should be. the ultrasound looked perfect and he is a beautiful baby, if i do say so myself. i love him so much already.
the bad news... my cervix has shortened to the point where the doctor is concerned i will go into preterm labor soon. my doctor wants me to carry the baby through the next two weeks for sure, and then if possible, make it to the 32 week point. at that point, the baby will be far enough along to have a good chance at survival without having severe lifelong health problems. he put me on bed rest and is bringing me back in for a Fetal Fibronectin (FFN) test on thursday. that test will tell him if i am at risk of going into labor within the next week or two. if i am, he will admit me to the hospital and give me steroids to help the baby's lung development along in case the baby arrives. if the test shows i'm not at risk of going into labor within the next week or two, then he will most likely put me on medications and keep me on bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy.
i'm so scared. i love this baby so much and have wanted him for so long. i pray that he is healthy and that i'm able to carry him to term.

belly pic 24 weeks

wow... my belly is huge... check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

john's parents had everyone over for turkey dinner and the food was outstanding! since both of our families live within 3 miles of eachother, we get to spend a lot of holidays as one big family. it's such a blessing that we get to be with everyone so often. here's a picture of us in front of john's dad's orange tree. look at that belly! happy thanksgiving!

22 week doctor's appointment

i'm happy to report that all went well at my doctor's appt yesterday. dr. connelly checked my cervix and it is still 100% closed and she did an ultrasound and it is still the right size. i haven't had any contractions since tuesday night so things are looking pretty good. i'm so relieved. she encouraged me to continue drinking lots of water and to listen to my body when i might start to cramp. she said that if i start feeling like something isn't right, i should go to the labor and delivery ward to have them check on me. but hopefully the cramping is over and it's smooth sailing from now on... i have an appt with the genetic doctor on december 3rd for another detailed ultrasound so we should have more pictures of the baby then. can't wait!

Uterine Irritability

yesterday wasn't a fun day. i started having menstral-like cramps early in the day and they kept occuring every few minutes or so. sometimes it would only be a minute before one stopped and another one started. i researched online to see what it might be and concluded that it was round ligament pain or braxton hicks. i emailed my nurse to see what she thought but didn't hear back from her and toward the end of the day i started to worry. i called the labor & delivery ward and the nurse told me to come in for observation. they hooked me up to a monitor and gave me fluids to keep me hydrated.

it turns out that i have uterine irritability. google defines it as "weak but frequent pre-term labor contractions". my pregnancy book says that it's possible that premature labor could be prevented by full or partial bed rest and/or the use of medication. my doctor checked my cervix and said that it is still closed and the right size but asked me to stay home for the next 1 or 2 days and drink lots of water. TONS of water. she said that i need to monitor the contractions (how frequent, how long, etc.) and lay on my left side. if i notice that they are getting more consistant or getting stronger, or if i start bleeding or leaking fluids, i need to go back to the hospital.

so it's a little scary... but baby's heartbeat sounds good and he's moving around a lot so that gives me a lot of comfort. john has been a Godsend. he takes such good care of me. he's going to be such a good dad. he's such a great husband. we see dr. connelly (my OB) on thursday and she'll check to see if my cervix has changed. hopefully a little rest and lots of fulids will quiet this irritability and get things going smoothly.

He's kickin'!

i've been able to feel the baby move for about 2 weeks now and i love it! i've been trying to get john to feel him move but every time he puts his hand on my belly the baby stops moving. yesterday was the big day because john felt him for the first time! it was so light that he wasn't sure if it was actually the baby but I assured him it was. i'm so happy. we meet with dr. connelly on thursday for my 22 week appointment so don't forget to check back then for an update! :)

belly pic 20 weeks

here's the latest pic of my baby bump! we're halfway there!

It's a....... BOY!

we had our "anatomical survey" ultrasound today and everything looked GREAT! the genetic doctor did a bunch of measurements and carefully studied every part of our baby. he said the risk of trisomy 13 or 18 is still 1 in 82 (based on the blood tests and NT scan) but it is a really, really good sign that he wasn't able to see any of the traditional trisomy characteristics in today's ultrasound. he said that from what he could see, everything looked perfect which was music to our ears. we couldn't be happier. i cried tears of happiness for half an hour.

and to top it all off, we got the wonderful news that we are having a baby BOY!!! we both had a feeling that it would be a boy (along with most everyone else!) and we are so excited. so thankful, so happy, and so excited. Thank you, Jesus!

16 week doctor's appointment

today we had our 16 week doctor's appointment. normally they don't do an ultrasound at 16 weeks but since we've been a little concerned about the trisomy possibility, the doctor gave me an ultrasound to kind of ease our minds. baby was moving around a lot which was great to see. the heartbeat looked and sounded perfect so that was another huge relief. dr. connelly said that from what she could see, everything looked really good but we will know better in a couple of weeks when we have the detailed ultrasound done with the genetic doctor. i haven't felt any movements yet but i was told to expect to feel those closer to 20 weeks. can't wait!

it's been a while...

it's been a while since i posted so i thought i'd give an update on what's been going on. i'm now in my 15th week of pregnancy and officially in the 2nd trimester. i'm happy to report that 90% of my nausea is gone! i only threw up a few times but i felt nauseous every day and a lot of times it lasted all day long. the only thing that has been an issue (aside from my nasty cough --but that's not pregnancy related) is my sciatic nerve. sometimes i'm totally fine and have no back pain what-so-ever but every so often i get this shooting PAIN in my lower back and my feet feel like they're on pins and needles. last saturday i was up ALL NIGHT with back pain. it was miserable but the next day it was completely gone.
i meet with my doctor next monday for my 16 week appt. then on Oct. 19th i have another ultrasound scheduled so we should be able to find out the sex of the baby then. so far almost everyone has guessed that i'm having a boy! girl or boy, i don't have a preference... i'm just praying for a healthy baby!

belly pic 12 weeks

lots of people have asked if i'm showing yet so here's a quick pic of my belly bump. it's growing! :)

baby update week 12

we got a call from kaiser 2 days ago informing us of the results from the genetic blood tests that were run. the blood tests showed that there was an intermediate risk of the baby having down syndrome. they scheduled an appt for us to come in today to do an ultrasound to measure the baby's neck. the ultrasound measurements, combined with the blood test results, indicate that the risk of down syndrome is very low. however, they did say that there is a 1 in 82 chance that the baby could have trisomy 13 or trisomy 18 -- both of which are lethal. if the baby has either of these things we could lose him/her before or shortly after birth. ***BUT, and this is a BIG BUT, there is a 98+% chance that the baby is perfectly normal and healthy. the ultrasound pictures were beautiful. we're praying for the best and put it all in God's hands.

baby bennett @ 11 weeks

i had an appointment with the midwife yesterday for a physical/pap test. her name was rebecca and she was really nice. while i was there she asked me if i wanted to see my baby again really quick. of course, i said YES! the ultrasound pics didn't turn out so great because my bladder was empty and it was such a quick thing but it was still really cool. baby's heartbeat still looks great. it is so amazing how much he or she has changed over the past few weeks. i know it's a really long way away, but i can't wait to meet him or her face to face. my due date is March 22, 2008 (3 days before my birthday!). what a great gift.

baby bennett @ 8 1/2 weeks

i met with my regular OB today and we got to see our baby again. it was so cool. he or she was wiggling around a lot (sounds like a bennett already!) and the heartbeat was really strong. the doc said that everything looks great. we're both excited and very, very happy. :)

we're back!!

we had a great time in serbia and italy! the wedding and reception were beautiful and we loved the serbian people. italy was gorgeous and we took a TON of pictures. here's one of us at the Colosseum and in the rain in florence. we visited venice, florence and rome. all three were great but we liked florence the best even though a huge rainstorm went through the city the day we arrived. it was fun. we got home last night and although we had a wonderful time, we are so happy to be home. my nausea wasn't too bad on our trip, i've found that if i keep something in my tummy at all times it doesn't get too bad. so we ate a lot of pizza, pasta and gelato (yum). i have another doctor's appointment today at 3pm so i'll try to post again later today! :)

baby's first picture!

we got to see our baby's heartbeat! we are so happy. i cried when i saw it. the ultrasound tech said that it is a strong heartbeat and that all of our baby's measurements are exactly where they should be. i am so thankful that our prayers have been answered. today is a great day. we leave for europe tomorrow. this is going to make our vacation SO MUCH BETTER!

1st doctor's visit

my doc wants to see me before i leave for vacation so i have an appt for this afternoon at 2:30pm. normally the infertility clinic has you come in at 7 1/2 weeks to see if they can find a heartbeat. if they do, then you move on to a regular OB. if not, they bring you in until they can find one, or until they find out why they can't find one (miscarriage, etopic preg, etc.). since i'm only at 6 1/2 weeks, they probably won't be able to see a heartbeat. the nurse has already warned me not to panic since it's so early. there is a small chance that they will be able to see one. I really, really, really hope so.

Europe

a couple of our good friends are getting married in serbia on aug 4th. we weren't sure if we were going to be able to go since our lives had sort of been put on hold for the last 2 years from us trying to get pregnant. well, we were feeling a bit frustrated about the whole thing and ended up getting back more from our tax return than expected so we decided to go ahead and plan our vacation. since we were already going to serbia we decided to also spend some time in italy. neither of us had ever been to europe and we've always wanted to go. we booked our trip a few months ago. we leave on july 31st. i asked my doctor if traveling to europe was ok since we just found out that i'm pregnant. she said that it was fine and just to drink lots of bottled water, no ice, etc. i'm still really excited to go but now i'm getting nervous that something could go wrong while we're out there. i guess that if something is going to happen, it's going to happen, and if the doctor said i should go, then i should go. i just pray that everything will be ok. it will be nice to spend some time with john in a romantic country like italy before we have a little one arrive. we just celebrated our 4 year anniversary. i'm such a lucky girl to have a wonderful husband like john. I LOVE YOU BABE!

our story

we've been trying to get pregnant for 2 years and have spent the last year going through kaiser's infertility program. all of our testing showed that we were physically able to conceive, it just wasn't happening no matter what we tried. i became very frustrated, to say the least. june was my 7th cycle of clomid and my 3rd month of the clomid "combo" (clomid and injections). if it hadn't have worked, i would have had to move on to strictly injections, which i didn't want to do. i was beginning to think that it would never happen for us and maybe i should just give up. i was shocked to see the faint line on the pregnancy test last weekend. i was scared to get excited until i knew for sure so john went to the store at 5:30am and brought home 2 more tests and all of them gave a positive result. we are both so happy. we've been praying all day every day that the pregnancy will go smoothly and that our baby will be healthy. we are so excited. :)

Kimmy's first belly pic...

only about 260 days to go...

about 3 weeks along!

off to santa barbara!

we left for santa barbara for a weekend trip yesterday (saturday) morning after we found out that we are pregnant! we found out at 5:30 that morning...

We're pregnant!!!

this picture was taken last weekend at a friends wedding before we knew the latest news! :)