5 months

Where to begin! Things have been so crazy here!! I guess it started the day before Thanksgiving; I started having all my wonderful Crohn’s symptoms again. As it continued I decided Monday after thanksgiving to try and get into a Dr. My OB really wanted me to see a GI Dr and so off I went on Tuesday. Well he was a complete jerk. If you have not heard this story, sorry I can not bring myself to go back to it. It upset me so bad! Basically he told me I was high risk, at risk for miscarriage and I was beyond his practice, and I needed to go some where else. That was after he told me I should have been treated before I thought of getting pregnant. Need less to say I walked out with my mouth on the floor and got to my car and cried. I was so shaken. My OB’s office was appalled and again went over and beyond to help me. They spent all day finding a GI Dr to treat me. My OB saw me Wed and apologized over and over for what I was going through. They got me in with some one Thursday and he was great. He assured me there is not any thing that connects Crohn’s to miscarriage! The only concern at this point is I am again not getting enough nutrition, the baby could be under weight/malnutrition, and it could increase my chance for pre term labor. So he put me back on the steroids this time for 3 months. It has been a hell of a few days as they are not working yet. I know they will so I am looking forward to feeling better. This time he put me on another drug with them. It will help my Crohn’s stay in remission once we get this flare up under control. So I am on a ton of drug for the next 3 months (4 steroids, 8 pentasa, zofran, and progesterone shots). I also am starting progesterone shots this week. I will get them weekly in hopes to avoid pre term labor. Since I started dilating so early with Ava and the other risk of pre term labor my Dr is not taking any chances. I assure you I can not end up on bed rest again this time! These last few months have been a true test of faith. I could not have made it with out it and the help of Greg’s Mom this last week. She came out three days in a row so I could go to three Dr’s appointments (THANK YOU). This week we go back to the high risk Dr for another level two ultra sound. They will check again to see if Lily has any markers for Down’s. I will also see my OB again as he is seeing me every week or every other. Please continue to pray for us as I believe they are what carry us through.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we sure did!! Jackson is still talking about our Thanksgiving party! We had some of Greg’s family here to celebrate the day and help us eat the enormous amount of food Greg and I made! It was very special for us to start making memories at our house with some of our family! I hope to have many more holidays like this and our doors are always open to all!! SO on that note we will be home all day Christmas Day and hope to see some of you come over even if it is for a short visit!! There will be lots of food I assure you of that!
On another note I am sick again. It all started the day before Thanksgiving, yuck! All of the unpleasant signs of my Chron’s are back! I have been throwing up in the middle of the night too. I called the Dr on Saturday to see if he was on call, but he wasn’t. I called first thing this morning to get back on the steroids if that tells you anything. I am so anti steroids, but I refuse to let it get so bad I end up back in the hospital. I feel like a wet noodle! I have no energy and just want to do nothing. It makes me feel so guilty that I am not out enjoying my kids and doing fun things with them. There have been several days in the last 10 we have not been out of our pj’s..YUCK! I am waiting on a call back from the nurse. I see my Dr on Thursday, but did not want to wait that long to start the steroids. I hope getting on a low does will do the trick with out too many horrible side effects. I figure I would rather gain a lot of weight and have horrible acne than feel the way I do. Plus the meds give me a ton of energy and I get so much done! When you only sleep 4 hours a night there is a lot more time in the day! I have been doing a lot of research and from what I have found Chron’s either stays in remission while you are pregnant or can flare very bad. I guess I was just lucky with my first two! It also says that it is highly unlikely for a flare up to get better until after you deliver. Oh and steroids are really your only option while pregnant. On a positive note I am half way there!! In 19 weeks give or take we will have Lily Grace here with us! I go see my Dr on Thursday and the high risk Dr next Wed. I also get another level 2 ultra sound so we will get to see this pretty girl again!

It's another GIRL!!!

We just got home from seeing the genetic counselor (see previous post). She informed us that if you put 300 babies in a room with Down's half of them would have shown something else (such as clef pallet, fluid in the kidney, heart defect, web feet) on ultra sound. The other half would not. Our baby shows none of those things, but she can not tell us she does not have Down's. She has a half of a percent. She said we would have to decide if the amnio is right for us. I decided to take some time to see how at peace I am with the info we have today. I still feel like I want definite answer so I can prepare and educate myself more if need be. It is just something Greg and I have to decide on our own. Welcome to our family Lily Grace!!

Tomorrow

Life has a funny way of teaching you things! As you all know I had no intentions of becoming pregnant this time. It hit me out of know where and hit me hard. I was at a place in my life where everything seemed perfect. I had two healthy beautiful children, we were recovering financially from several things, I was recovering emotionally from the death of my best friend my Grandma, I was training to run a half marathon, and working on hitting my goal weight by my 30th birthday in December. For once in many many years it was all about me. God had other plans I suppose. It took me several months to deal with being pregnant. It did not help I got so sick I lost 19 pounds in 3 weeks, took a trip to the hospital for a quick stay, and have been on steroids for 3 weeks! I was finally feeling normal again. I am not sick, feeling full of energy, and appreciating the little things. I accepted God had given us a gift. This pregnancy has already made me so aware of so many things. My house will not always be perfect, it will not always be clean, I can not always make it to the grocery store, or make dinner, I won’t always make swim lessons, or Little Gym, and things will not always be prefect. I have learned just to go with the flow as the days go by and enjoy what each day brings me. I feel so much more calm and peaceful as silly as that may sound.
Thursday we were thrown a curve ball when I received a call from my Dr’s office. My blood test came back positive for Down’s syndrome. I felt as if someone was sitting on my chest and I could not breathe. My Dr had Greg and I come in immediately that day so he could give us some facts. He said my test came back 1 in 180 and he personally had never seen anyone with those numbers actually have a Down’s baby. There are false positives all the time. We have an appointment tomorrow with a genetic counselor who will give us more information. We then have an appointment for a level two ultra sound. Half of Down’s baby’s show some kind of mark on ultra sound indicating Down’s (half do not show sign’s). We also have an amnio scheduled and this is the only real way to know. Greg does not want me to have it done as it has a less than 1% chance of miscarriage. It is complete safe procedure, but he is against it. I am for it, if that is what the specialist thinks we should do. I want to know what we are dealing with and I want definite answers. Last night we went to eat dinner and we saw a little girl about 2 with Down’s. I think it was a sign. This child was beautiful, healthy, and her family looked so happy. You could tell the joy she brought to them. I know what ever the out come is God has chosen us for this child and he will lead the way.
So please pray for us. Pray that the Dr’s guide us to a decision we both are comfortable tomorrow and for the health of our baby. We have decided on names as well and will know tomorrow if it will be Brody Michael or Lily Grace.

15 months Ava Bear

Sweet Ava had her 15 month well check today. She was 32 inches putting her in the 97% for height. She weighed almost 25 pounds which puts her in the 80%. She is healthy as can be!!

Yay for GREAT news!!

I just got back from the Dr and I gained 2 pounds!!! He was happy so I am HAPPY!!! The baby had a great heart beat as well. I have to weigh myself every day and if I have any loss call, but other than that I don't go back for two weeks. He may be able to take a peek at the sex then, but if not we have our BIG ultrasound scheduled for Nov 30th. How exciting! I finally feel pregnant and not sick. I think my rounding belly may have something to do with this :). I am ready to enjoy and savor every minute of this last pregnancy I will have. I know God has blessed us in ways I did not understand at first, but now are becoming more clear. Thank you for all the support! Oh and most important the steroids have not turned me into a complete physco yet!! Only 15 days left!!

I am home

I am home and so glad to be here!! I had a good day and kept all food down. They had me on a very high dose of steroids and now switched me to oral one's. My GI Dr wanted me on them for three months and I cried when my OB told me that. He said he re wrote the orders for 21 days. We will see how I do then, I may have to go back on them. We are just going to hope for the best right now and take one day at a time. If you know anything about prednisone (steroids) you know it is NO fun. I am already feeling very irritable and could cry if you asked me too. It makes you a miserable person. I was very hungry this am, but have not seen a ravenous appetite yet, but it will come. I need to gain 12 pounds at least in 21 days. Please just pray that I make it through these 21 days with out too bad of depression or irritability. I also am really hoping my Chron's is not acting up as it has been in remission since I was 17. I see the Dr weekly so he is taking good care of me. I just love him! He is so caring and very compassionate! I know I am in good hands!!