Small Update

I am 18 weeks pregnant now -according to books the baby should be about 5 1/2 inches long. I can feel the baby move more, but I'll notice it and then the movements will be gone. My queasy morning stomach is pretty much gone. I'm still tired a lot and trying to just take it easy when I can. My cold is gone. Very small snow showers were coming down throughout the day today. Nothing major, but winter is coming.

Called Friday and twice Monday for my urine test results from last week. I finally got a call back Monday afternoon. The nurse said the results are normally transmitted electronically to the doctor and that he had them on his desk. She didn't know the results, but that the doctor would have surely brought them out to her to take action if they were abnormal. I asked her to call me when he released them, because as everyone knows, I don't feel comfortable with anything! I would just like to hear the results! - still no call today.

Waiting on Andrew and Amelia to get off the bus. Tonight is Amelia's last gymnastics class.

Appointment Day

I'm a few days late here with this entry... but went to the doctor on Wednesday. Here's the latest...

Gloria called me right in...had my littlest helper (Ava) with me today. She charmed her way into getting a lollipop from an office worker within minutes of entering the office. Gave my standard urine sample which I noticed right away didn't look right (dark in color). My blood pressure was 131/62 (a bit higher) and weight 162lbs. I've had a cold since Monday. Actually the whole family here has had a varation of the the cold except Amelia (Amelia has a super immune system). It's just a head cold for me and I would have to say that Wednesday morning I felt my worst -very heavy headed, tired, runny nose. You know... standard cold symptoms.

Gloria performed the standard sonogram. She said the baby looked good. Everything was good. She mentioned she wouldn't check fetal measurements today because they don't like to check this every time. I kind of thought this was why I was going to the doctor every two weeks - to check that the baby is growing as she should. Gloria briefed the doctor with the day's scan, the doctor then came in to talk to me. She also said the baby looked fine, but that she had been discussing my case with the other doctors in the practice and they are thinking of how to treat me in the future. Since I have not been diagnosed with any known platelet or other blood abnormality, I guess it's appearing that the doctors would still like to treat me further as if I do have a platelet or blood abnormality. I was a bit taken back by this, as I thought that issue was laid to rest. I do understand the need though that the doctors need to be proactive. The treatment, if I am understanding correctly would be steroid injections or blood transfusions. Dr. Manley said she would still discuss a course of action with her partners and get back to me on this. I asked if I should have blood/urine labs done again, just to keep that checked. It's been since the start of the pregnancy when all of this was last checked. Dr. Manley said, no that it was too early in my pregnancy for pre-ecclampsia to come on. Nothing would be gained from these tests. I did ask her to check on my urine sample given that morning. She did, and came back with opposite information.....telling me to yes, go ahead and give a 24 hour urine sample. My urine was very concentrated and showed +2 for protein, +2 for blood. I am not as concerned about the blood finding, that is normal for me, but the protein is not. The nurse came in to ask me if I was drinking a lot. I said I thought I was, but that morning, no I was running and getting everybody off to school and getting to the appointment in rush hour traffic. I had of course eaten my fair share, but now that you mention it - drinking - no. She told me to keep water with me all the time and especially being sick I should be doubling my fluid intake.

When I returned home, I started the urine test immediately and went for the blood draw the next day (yesterday). I am now waiting on those results - hoping that my kidneys aren't beginning to show trouble. I will return to the doctor in 2 weeks - Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

I did look up the term "lake in Placenta" on line yesterday. I was told at a previous visit, a "lake" appeared on my sonogram scans. Apparently, from what I found online this is a fairly normal finding and doesn't pose trouble (and this is what the doctor told me previously).

Most all of my friends and family know about my pregnancy now. Everyone has been so great and supportive and wishing me well. I am thankful to have everyone praying for me and giving me such great support.

Amelia Hope

Today is all about Amelia - as she loves to say. :)

As I was wrote in an earlier post - in 2003 we were trying and trying to have another child. We couldn't make it happen biologically, so we started researching adoption. We spoke to agencies all over the country that specialize in domestic adoption, we went to our local county social services to learn about foster care and adoption. We were being told that domestic adoptions had very long wait times and that our chances of being selected by a birth mother might be less because we were already raising a handicapped child. With the county, it seemed like foster care was just temporary - that we would be helping a family get their life back together while we took care of their child. Neither of these ideas sounded like a road we wanted to take at that stage of our lives, so we looked to international adoption. We spoke to many agencies who worked with children needing homes in China, Mexico, Russia and Guatemala.

July of 2003 after our second miscarriage we spoke with very good friends of ours who had just completed adopting a beautiful girl from Guatemala. They spoke highly of their agency, so we quickly called the agency for more information. We learned that we could adopt a boy or girl as early as 5 months of age, that only one parent had to travel to complete the adoption, and that we fit the criteria 100% to be considered to adopt by the Guatemalan government. It was August or so of 2003 when the agency told us that Guatemalan adoptions were on hold, but to keep preparing our paperwork so that we could be put on a wait list as soon as it became available again. The paperwork gathering that is needed for adopting is how to I say this.....HORRIBLE! It's a lot of time, organization and money.

Finally we had heard by September that adoptions were open and we could be put on the wait list for a girl. Our paperwork was complete and had been sent to Guatemala. December 8th - I got the call that twin girls had just been born that day. They appeared healthy and were a good weight. We received pictures of the girls. They were beautiful. Dave was at training for his work down in Georgia - he was gone for several months, so I called him and told him the news. He was hesitant about the twin part of it, but we decided to go for it. Well, as part of the referral we received pictures, very general information about the health of the babies and of the mother. The mother was 17 and couldn't keep the babies. We waited for the next set of medical tests to come in. December 23rd we got the call that the twins which we were to be named Amelia and Ava were carrying the HIV virus and that they could not be adopted. This news came right before Christmas and Dave was coming home from his training - we were shocked. Turns out that the birth mother probably had no idea she was even infected with HIV and that the agency would have to tell her that she was very sick, along with her babies.

That very same night we were given information on two more girls born earlier that week. We were given two more girls to adopt because we were in the process to adopt these twins. We chose just one girl - Amelia Hope, who was just born December 16th. Her mother had given birth to her in a very rural Guatemalan town - Huehuetenango - some six hours from Guatemala City. Amelia was now safe in foster care in Guatemala City. Her mother could not keep her and traveled through very mountainous, third world roads to give her up. It is amazing to me Amelia was born so very, very far away and found her way to us!

We received monthly updates - (which we camped out by the computer for). While we waited for Amelia my Grandma passed away. She knew about Amelia before she died, but would never meet her and experience the happiness she brings. We were told by the end of April that we could make travel arrangements to come pick her up and bring her home. Dave and his mom made the trip to Guatemala - staying with the lawyer who prepared the paperwork. They arrived at the airport thinking that they would meet Amelia the next day, but as a suprise the facilitator took Dave and his mom immediately to meet her. Dave tells me he will never forget seeing her big ol' face with a huge smile across the room. He knew it was her right away. Amelia being only five months old, didn't miss a beat. She took right to Dave and Grandma. Her foster family was sad for her to go. They had cared for her for five months as she was their own. Dave, Grandma and Amelia spent a day or two handling the paperwork and touring Guatemala. They arrived home May 18th, 2004. Me, my mom, brother Andrew, and uncle Jon were all there to meet Amelia at the airport. My huge wait was over - finally my baby was here - sleeping soundly in her car seat and oblivious to everything - but here.

Amelia is now almost five. She has a lot of energy - always has. Caring for Amelia was effortless, no therapy, no weekly doctor visits, no worry, just pure joy- still is. Amelia loves to be read too, loves the library, loves school, loves her stuffed animals, puzzles, drawing, playing outside and exploring and learning about everything.

Dave and I couldn't imagine life without her - always happy and easy going. Adoption opened up a whole new world for us. Strangers are always stopping to tell us how lucky it is that Amelia found such a good home, but we are really the lucky ones to have found her.

The Weekend

Today I am 16 weeks pregnant. I called the doctor's office this morning to see if the AFP blood test results came back yet - they did and they came back normal. So another hurdle down - (a hurdle that was big in my mind at least). I'm pretty sure I've been feeling the baby move now for a good week or so. It's small little flutters, but I am almost certain that's what it is. I'm still pretty tired and prefer staying home these days. I'm just tired and happy to lounge around here. This really isn't how I normally am, but I figure it's good and that someone's telling me to take it easy! We've started sharing our baby news with our family and friends.

Saturday was Andrew's Fall Horse Show. The day was really beautiful - a nice, sunny warm day. The students all "compete" with their class - showing off what they have learned with this season's riding lessons. Andrew showed me how he is now using a new saddle where he can sit unassisted with two sidewalkers. He had to stop half way through his "show" as the saddle broke! Good thing he stopped because I was beyond freaked out at how his head was bobbing and bouncing around on that horse. It looked bad. Not sure I'm too comfortable I want him riding with that saddle again. He was awarded his 18,000th green ribbon for participation. Dave and I always joke - Can't they just give him a different color ribbon - just this once! During the show - families bring all sorts of food, hot dogs and hamburgers - so we all had something to eat and enjoyed the morning. The girls enjoyed playing in the dirt on the driveway with the two boys they had met. The photos above are of Andrew on Lightening and Andrew with his prized green ribbon.

On Sunday morning we went to our favorite weekend spot - Baker Park in downtown Frederick. We get our breakfast out and eat it there and take a walk and play on the different playgrounds. The leaves were beautiful and of course I had my camera......Note - Dave's facial hair - slowly we are loosing the beard and back to just his face. :)

Today and tomorrow the kids are off school, so Dave stayed home with us. We took the kids to the Germantown Indoor Pool. The pool was empty - the kids enjoyed the pool and the cool slides.

Halloween

Happy Halloween!!! - 2008

This year we have Drew as a vacation traveler guy, Amelia as the beautiful ballerina, and Ava as the spooky, scary skeleton. The kids each had a party and trick or treating at their different schools this week. Tonight, the kids will go out up and down our street. It's warm this afternoon, hopefully it will stay that way!

Appointment Day

Yesterday was a doctor appointment day. Gloria (the same sonogram tech I've had since the start and I finally got her name) called me in. The usual appointment stuff - blood pressure 110/50, weight 160lbs..all good. When we started the actual sonogram, Gloria said that she should be able to tell the sex of the baby during this scan and asked if she could see did I want to know. I said yes, but asked her if she could just write down the sex so that Dave and I could look at it together that night. She said she would do that. First things first.... the baby is still doing good - 154 beats for heartbeat- the first "pose" of the baby today was with the hand in the air - waving. The baby was moving today - more than last week. Might have been the sugar in the ginger ale I was deliberately drinking before the appoinment....Gloria said the baby looked good and that it was measuring at 15 weeks 5 days - ahead of my 15 weeks 2 days - so good. She finished her job and then left to go get the doctor. She said she was pretty sure she had an accurate read on the sex of the baby.

The doctor came in and said "I hear we could see the sex of the baby!" I said, yes, but that Gloria was writing it down for me. She said, "Oh, I was almost going to tell you." So, she didn't tell me, but did start looking at the sonogram pictures - and right away said "there she's waving at you!". Then realized what she did. She hugged me and apologized a bunch for spilling the beans. I kind of thought really all along that the baby was a girl. I could even see for myself when the technician was looking down at that area. I can't tell a lot of what they are looking at usually with the sonogram, but during that part of it, it did seem like thats what I was looking at.

So anyways, the doctor mentioned that her "not to worry spot" from last visit was probably the placenta "clumped" up at the bottom of the uterus - covering my cervix - she called it placenta previa. Now, I have heard of that, but wasn't sure what it meant to me and this pregnancy. She said it was really only an issue, if I were to deliver vaginally. She said that a lot of times the placenta is down low and as my uterus expands, the placenta should expand and "move" a bit. The doctor also pointed out an area on the sonogram , called a "lake". If I understood correctly this was an enlarged blood vessel - she said she would watch it and "not to worry". Okay then....

I also had my blood drawn for the AFP levels. I am hoping that this will be an indicator as whether the placenta is working properly. She mentioned results would be back in 3 days or so. I have my next appointment in two weeks. Dave had been calling, and calling during the appointment. I called him right away and told him what happened - that I knew the sex of the baby, so he said to go ahead and tell him.

So, it's a GIRL!!!! WOW!!! Good news of course, but still have never ending worry for the 20+ weeks to come. I'm feeling a bit more eager to share our news with everyone.......I've tried to scan the letter and a sonogram picture.... let's hope it works! Tomorrow is Halloween.

Pregnancy #3 & Pregnancy #4

Have to make note of just one bitty thing this morning.....I am home ALONE! I have not been home alone for as long as I can remember....... I'm kind of liking this!!

As part of this blog, I did want to document all of my pregnancies. So here's what happened the third and fourth time I was pregnant:

Dave and I had been through even more testing after Jacob's death. We saw hematologists, urologists, pregnancy specialists, fertility specialists, genetic specialists, and so on.... All to come to the same conclusion that there was not an exact reason as to why I was having trouble with my pregnancies, but that it did look like a bleeding problem with me, so if I were to get pregnant again, putting me on the blood thinner -Lovenox would be the course of action. I had also coordinated my care with the specialists at Georgetown University Hospital. I was very pleased with the care and expertise that they were offering Dave and I.

So with this information, we did get pregnant again in the spring of 2003. We had moved into our new home here in Frederick and easily got pregnant. Took the pregnancy test which was positive and did make the appointment to see our specialist at Georgetown. I was told to come at 6 weeks pregnancy age because this is when a fetal heartbeat can first be seen on ultrasound. Well, I went to the appointment thinking nothing of it, but only to be told, that no heartbeat was seen and that this wasn't unusual - we might have been a week or so off in our timing. So, I was told to come back in a week. I did, and no heartbeat again. At this point it was determined I had a blyted ovum (sp?) (a pregnancy sac was formed, but no baby). The doctor gave me medication to stimulate contractions in hopes that the pregnancy would terminate on it's own. Well, it didn't. So after a week or so and more sonograms I was scheduled for a D&C. Dave stayed with Drew and my mom and I drove down to Georgetown very early for this surgical procedure. I came home to rest for the day. A fluke -my first miscarriage.

Dave and I waited a few months and found out we were pregnant again in July of 2003. So, off again to Georgetown Hospital at 6 weeks pregnancy age to find once again no heartbeat. Another blyted ovum. (sp?) This was more of a shock. Now, I am someone who has had several miscarriages as well as all of my previous troubles. I asked the doctor to just schedule the D&C. I didn't want to go through the waiting and medication again. Once again, my mom drove me down to Georgetown while Dave stayed with Drew and I had the procedure. Once again, more unanswered questions, but with all of this sadness to deal with Dave and I were led a different way to expand our family - something we desperately wanted.