Baby Shower

My best friends in Birmingham threw me the most fabulous shower this past weekend. It was absolutely amazing...I swear they all channeled Martha Stewart when putting the party together. My sweet girlfriend Katie does unbelievable monogramming and applique work and she did tons of outfits, bibs, and burb clothes that hung around the house. Tracy, who allowed us to use her BEAUTIFUL house, hand carved a baby carriage out of a watermelon...UNBELIEVABLE. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends who wanted to make this day so special for Perron, Stephen and I.

I got tons of wonderful things, and let's just say that he is basically clothed until he is 15. Both of my sisters were able to come for the shower and it was so wonderful to have them here to celebrate with me. Stephen's mom and one of my sister-in-laws, Sarah, also made the trip up from Mobile/MS which was so fun. It was such a wonderful time and to have wanted this for so long, and then to have had some of the ups and downs we have experienced, this was an extra special day for us. Enjoy the pictures!


Me with my fabulous hostesses!


The adorable monogrammed outfits and accessories that Katie made for me. They matched my baby shower invitation. So creative!


The adorable cake and diaper cake. Love the polka dot diapers!

Check out the spread...and the hand carved carriage. So cute!



THe loot before and after...






Stephen even showed up at the end to thank everyone and load up our goodies.

Oh Yeah...We Did Take a Vacation

With all these posts about doctor's appointments, medical blah blah, and not fun stuff, I realized I hadn't posted any of our vacation pictures. Although we did spend more time at the hospital then we wanted to, we did get to have some fun. Hope you enjoy!

Clean Bill of Health

Hello everyone! I wanted to give my report from my doctor's appointment yesterday. We had the repeat growth scan, fluid level check, and cervical length ultrasound. All of the tests turned up perfectly and there has not been a single centimeter change in my cervical length. YAY! That was the biggest thing I was worried about. They also did not even repeat the fetal fibronectin test. I had a feeling that all was going to be well because I haven't had regular contractions and no brethine since last Wednesday. I am working 6 hour days this week and so far I am feeling great!

I go back again next Tuesday, but that feels like an eternity away since I have been going almost every day for something. I truly believe that we are in the clear and I know in my heart we are going to be having a full-term delivery. It has been such a relief to feel like a normal pregnant person for the first time in a while. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers!

Love!!!

Quick Update

I promised Megan I would update after my doctor's appointment yesterday and then I was waiting to post the pictures from the 4D ultrasound first...and then neither happened. i will post the 4D ultrasound pictures this weekend and my posts will just be a little out of order.

I went to see the doctor yesterday morning and got a very good report. I had a really hard night Wednesday night. I had to take Brethine at 10:45 at night (I don't recommend that) and then had trouble sleeping. When I finally did sleep it wasn't for very long and I was up at 3:30. I was having a lot of anxiety, which I tend to have the night before my appointments, and could not sleep a wink. Needless to say, it was not good for my nerves and I was sitting in the exam room crying by myself when the doctor came in. I am sure he thought I was crazy.

The good news is that he noticed no changes since the last exam and he told me, based on his experience and my case, that he thought we would be delivering a full term baby. HALLELUJAH! That has helped calm me down a lot. I got my second steroid shot for lung and brain development and will not need another one of those. Thank GOD because they hurt really bad! I go back in Monday for a repeat full ultrasound, fluid level check, cervical length ultrasound, and Fetal Fibronectin test. If all those results are positive, then I truly believe we are in the clear. I will be almost 31 weeks at the time of the appointment. He is still allowing me to work up to 6 hours a day...he said psychologically it would be good for me...I wonder what gives him that impression :) So all in all, good news. I had a great day yesterday and felt like a normal pregnant person for the first time in 2 weeks. I am going to take it easy this weekend and hopefully this trend will continue!

Love!!!

4D Ultrasound

Stephen and I got to experience the 4D ultrasound today and it was awesome! We were so afraid that the placenta would completely block his face and we wouldn't get any good shots. Luckily we were wrong. He had his arms blocking his face the majority of the time, but we still got some cute pictures with only a little shadowing from the placenta. He has the most precious little nose and lips. During the ultrasound he was sticking out his tounge and drinking his amniotic fluid.

Psychologically it was really good for me to see him and was surprised by how much better it made me feel. Seeing him as little person helped me understand that even if he did come early that he was a fully formed little human and would be able to make it. That being said....he still better stay in there for several more weeks! I go to the doctor first thing tomorrow morning, so keep your fingers crossed for good news. I was able to go into work for 3 hours today and that went pretty well. I figure if i can do that for a little while then I will be able to get a good amount done.

Okay, enjoy your sneak peek of baby Perron. We love him so much already!!!

Setting up camp at the hospital

I have been meaning to post about all of this earlier but quite frankly I haven't had the emotional energy. Stephen and I left for our fabulous babymoon/Stephen's brother's wedding last Sunday. We were going to spend three nights at the Grand Resort in Point Clear and then head to Destin on Thursday for the wedding. On Tuesday night I started having contractions and was sent to the hospital in Fairhope. When I got there I have having contractions four to five minutes a part lasting about 45-60 seconds a piece and by the time they got me situated and got ready to give me a shot of medicine to stop them I was having them 2 minutes apart. They admitted me on Tuesday night, gave me a couple of bags of fluid, and a shot called brethine to stop the contractions. I stayed overnight and was allowed to come home in the morning. We left the hospital thinking that was fluke and thank goodness we won't have to go through that again. Well we were wrong!

On Thursday we were heading over to Destin and I started having contractions at the Alabama/Florida state line. I called my doctor and told them the situation and they said back to the hospital. We saw signs to a hospital and we took our second detour of the vacation. On a side note, I have never appreciated those blue hospital signs so much in my entire life...they really do work! At this point I was a little frazzled , but still holding it together pretty well. We got to the hospital and they sent me back up to Labor and delivery. I got another IV and they got me on the monitors and did a ton of tests. I was given a Fetal Fibronectin test which test for an enzyeme that is released 10-14 days prior to labor. This is one of the first tests they give to test for pre-term labor. Luckily mine was NEGATIVE! They also did a full ultrasound to measure the baby and check for cervical length. They want a length greater than 2.2 and mine was 3.1 cm so another great sign! They gave me another shot and sent me home to the condo. They said if I stayed on bedrest I could go to the rehearsal dinner and the wedding. So I laid around all friday and did what I was told. I got up to get ready for dinner and we made it through ordering before I had 10 contractions in an hour. They told me the day before that if I had more than 6 in an hour I had to come back...so back to the hopsital.

At this point I was absolutely fried and I started crying at the table at the rehearsal dinner because I DID NOT want to go back to the hospital. Anyhoo, Perron apparently does not care what I want and we were back at the hospital. Two shots of brethine later, and a few hours on the monitor and we were out again. We decided first time is a fluke, second time is bad luck, third time is a pattern and we better get the hell home. We got up on Saturday morning and started driving back. I was really stressed and scared I was going to start contracting on the way back. Luckily we made it home and I stayed on bedrest the remainder of the weekend.

I went to the doctor on Monday morning and told him my sad saga. He gave me a oral prescription of brethine and gave me a shot of some steroid that helps the baby's lungs. I thought all would be fine now that I was home and had gotten to see my own doctor. This morning I got up and got ready for work. I noticed that the baby really had not been moving much so I called the doctor's office on the way in to work. They told me to come in immediately to get checked out, so I literally threw my stuff in the office and ran back out. I picked up my mom on the way to the office and Stephen met us there. They got me back and checked out the babies heart rate which was great. I was having some little contractions and she did a cervical check on me. Unfortunately she thought I might have thinned a little from the day before and I was dehydrated so I had to get fluids. So needless to say, it was back to labor and delivery. They hooked me up to the monitors and they gave me another IV. I started contracting again while on the monitor so I had to have more brethine. The story of my life. After they gave me a bag of fluids I was able to go home and will hopefully make it at least to my next appointment on Thursday morning.

Please pray that my cervix stops effacing and that the contractions can get under control. I am thirty weeks tomorrow and I will feel better when I can at least say that. At this point, we are hoping we can make it to at least 32 weeks. After that I will feel a lot better. I think when I go in to see the doctor on Thursday we will discuss the possibility of bedrest and see what my options are. I am torn between wanting to keep working and take the brethine and not wanting to have to take a medicine that can potentially affect the baby and going on bedrest. It has been really stressful and emotionally draining. Luckily we are blessed with wonderful friends and family who have been taking care of us. Please keep us in your prayers and pray that he stays in as long as the good lord will let him and he is a healthy baby. Also, please pray for Stephen and I that we are able to find strength and reassurance during this difficult time. We love you all and I promise I will do a better job keeping everyone up to date.

Love!!!

The Saga of the Cyst Continues

So Stephen and I went in this morning to have a follow-up ultrasound of the cyst they found in my right ovary in May. I still have had some tenderness in the area, especially when Perron kicks me there, but I was sure that it had gone away. Wrong! It is still there. Luckily it is the same size, but now apparently it is a solid mass. I don't know if that meant it was a solid mass all along and they just assumed that it was fluid filled, or if it was fluid filled at one time and then became a solid mass. The good news is it hasn't grown in 6 weeks. I talked to the doctor (not my regular doctor) and she said that there was not anything that they could do during the pregnancy and that I shouldn't worry about it (yeah right). She said I would have to have another ultrasound 6 weeks after I had the baby to determine if it had grown any more. She said there would be two different methods of treatment. They would either continue to monitor it via ultrasound or they could go in a look at it laproscopically. She said if it had not grown at all she would probably recommend keeping an eye on it with ultrasounds. I go back on the 15th for my 30 week appointment and she said to talk to Dr. Edwards about what he thought was the right thing to do then. I asked like one million times (seriously you can ask Stephen) if they thought it was ovarian cancer and she kept telling me no....but I am still a tiny bit freaked out. Regardless, there is nothing they can do about it now and we will just have to play the waiting game a little bit longer.

As for Perron, we got to see him and get some pictures as well, which is nice. He appears to be doing good and it cute as a little button. We is already head down and is kind of curved like a C with his butt on my left and his feet, elbow and hands on the right....so that he can always kick mommy on her sore ovary. I am measuring right at 28 and a half weeks, which is great. We did get a little bit of sad news about our 4D ultrasound. It appears that in his current position my placenta (and his hands)is almost completely blocking his little face. She switched it to the 4D view for a minute to show us what we would see. You could barely see a tiny little part of his face...mainly placenta. We are still going to go and try on the 17th, but we will now just be prepared knowing we might not really get to see him that well. She said to drink a lot of caffeine and eat a lot of carbs at lunch to try and get him moving around. She said if we could get him to arch his head back we could get around the placenta. Keep your fingers crossed that he will cooperate.

We leave for the beach on Sunday for a whole week. We are going to stay at the Grand Hotel in Fairhope for three nights and then head to Destin for David's wedding. I am excited to have a whole week off work (even though I already have two conference calls scheduled). I will have lots of fun pictures to share when we get back.