Feathering my nest

I've had a sudden urge to get everything done these past few weeks. I've sewn all the bedding, sanded and painted furniture, hung pictures and curtains, scoured sales racks for baby clothing and unpacked all of our baby gear from storage. I've made lists of things to get done, cleaned the house like crazy, and even washed all of the baby clothes in infant detergent. I've even started making Christmas lists and started shopping, determined to get as much done now as I can, before Aubrey arrives, so I won't have to drag a newborn infant around the mall during cold and flu season. To say that my nesting instinct has kicked in is a bit of an understatement--Brad teases me that one day, he expects to come home and find a pile of old blankets, sticks and shredded newspaper piled in a corner of our bedroom!

Since I went into labor early with Aiden and ended up on bed rest a couple of weeks, I just worry that if I don't get things done now, something will happen and I'll be left sitting in bed down the hall from an unfinished nursery, unable to do a thing about it. I know, I'm probably being a neurotic mother-to-be, but with the same early pre-eclampsia signs beginning to show up that I had with Aiden, I'm a bit worried. Nothing to technically worry about yet, as my blood pressure is still low and I don't have protein in my urine, but with Aiden, I had swelling in my face, sudden weight gain, and spots/floaters in my vision weeks before my blood pressure went up--and suddenly I find myself with those exact same symptoms. I called my doc to give him the heads up and ask to see if he wanted to see me before my next scheduled appointment in a couple of weeks, and he said yes and squeezed me into his busy schedule on Tuesday afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed that these symptoms are nothing to worry about...and that I avoid having pre-eclampisa this pregnancy, too!

27 Weeks

It has finally happened...a total eclipse--I can no longer see my feet without some major bending over! And my "turkey timer" (a.k.a. belly button) has completely turned inside out. Just as I did with Aiden, I have had a sudden spurt of weight gain. No changes in appetite or diet, just a sudden increase in weight. Let's hope the trend doesn't continue!

Aubrey is growing right on track--in fact, she's even a little ahead of schedule. I had another growth check ultrasound at 26 weeks and she was 2 days ahead of schedule, with an estimated weight of 2 pounds. At my OB appointment on Friday, she measured at 29 weeks instead of 26 1/2. She's now tucked underneath my ribcage and spends much of her day kicking me under the ribs--just a little uncomfortable! She's a very active baby and especially loves to kick while I'm listening to the music in the car or when I am trying to go to sleep at night.

The pregnancy is going along well so far--I'm still being carefully monitored, but no major warning signs. I've had a ton of Braxton-Hicks contractions lately and a lot of ligament pain from her stretching me out. My belly feels like it is ready to explode, it is so tight. Some days, when she decides to roll over or stretch, I swear I'll be the first woman to deliver her baby via abdominal explosion instead of a vaginal or C-section birth.

Aiden is getting antsy for his sister to arrive. He's been spending a lot of time in her nursery while I'm making preparations, asking about her toys and telling me how he'll teach her how to use things. Halloween should be extra special this year, since I've told him that his sister will come some time after he gets to go trick-or-treating. He's doubly excited--buckets of candy and a new baby on the way!

Our friends, Brooke and Will Lasher, recently welcomed their son, Breckin, into the world and Aiden has had mixed feelings about the baby. "Baby Breckin makes me nervous" he told me one day, yet he has added him to his prayers and even tries to shop for him while we are out and about. He thinks the baby is cute and even patted his back and tried to soothe him when he cried while at our house last week, but was also a little jealous and asked me to put the baby down a couple of times. We'll see how this all plays out with Aubrey in a few months!

Here is the latest belly pic. I'm huge!!

24 Weeks

I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy has gone by! Of course, if you ask me at 10:00 at night, when my back hurts and my feet are swollen and my belly is tired, I usually feel like I've been pregnant 10 years, but when not so focused on my misery, I have to admit that these weeks have flown by. I guess having a 3 year old running around helps to keep my mind off the time!

Aubrey has become quite the kicker. Her blows now make my entire belly shake, and she is VERY active. She especially likes to kick along with dance music--every time I'm riding in the car with my music blaring, she kicks along with the beat and goes crazy in there! Last night, she and Brad had some bonding time--he would poke at her, then she would kick him back, over and over again. Finally, she got perturbed by his prodding so much that she squirmed around and rolled over, but not before a few hard jabs at his hand. Brad has informed her that he already has their first shopping trip planned--I think he's pretty excited to be getting a daughter who will likely enjoy shopping as much as he does. (Yes, my husband loves to shop. No, he doesn't watch sports on TV. I am one lucky lady!)

Aiden has really settled into his big brother role. When shopping the other day, he saw a baby toy, a soft plush Piglet, and asked me if he could get it for Aubrey. He brought it home proudly and told his daddy that it was for Aubrey, so she could have it in her crib and see it when she woke up in the morning. He keeps asking when Halloween will be here, since we've told him that Aubrey will come out sometime after Halloween. He kisses my belly at night and talks to his sister through my belly button.

Lately, the pregnancy has been going along uneventfully. I'm still seeing a rheumatologist, who believes I have "sero-negative lupus," meaning lupus without all of the crazy blood work. All of my symptoms and rashes point to lupus, but I only have one abnormal blood result, and not the usual array of serological abnormalities associated with lupus. Most doctors in the past have dismissed my symptoms since my blood work didn't align with the usual pattern associated with lupus, but this rheumatologist explained that about 5% of lupus patients don't display the typical blood work patterns, and has assured me that I'm not crazy. The good news: sero-negative lupus is usually a much milder disease and is unlikely to affect major organs, like my kidneys. Also, he has tested me for the most severe problems associated with lupus and pregnancy, and I test negative for those, so it is unlikely that Aubrey will be affected by my disease. Most of my symptoms have subsided for the time being, so he believes I am in a remission phase of lupus for now, and he's not going to put me on medication. I do have a few changes I have to make in the coming weeks, like getting lots of rest and making sure I don't over-exert myself. And I have to avoid sun exposure as much as possible, since the sun could potentially make my lupus flare into an active phase, leading to pretty serious complications for Aubrey and I. This part really sucks, since Aiden loves to be outside, but it is a small sacrifice to make to ensure Aubrey and I are both healthy.

I'm still seeing a high-risk OB in conjunction with my regular OB and they are watching Aubrey closely, but so far, she is doing great! We have another ultrasound scheduled with my high-risk OB next Monday to check her growth, but if my weight gain is any indication, she's growing just fine. I've gained 17 pounds so far, which is right on track for the 30 total pounds that they want me to gain. My blood pressure has been great, so no signs of the pre-eclampsia I had with Aiden in this pregnancy.

Here's another belly shot. As you can see, I'm getting pretty big. Aubrey's feet have taken up residence right under my ribs, I have a constant case of heartburn, and late last night, when I laughed, my belly button completely turned inside out. My "turkey timer" (as Brad calls it) has popped early this time around!

And the name is...

Aubrey Ryann Parker

We've finally settled on it. We've been testing it out, and it meets with Aiden's approval, so the decision is final. Now, let's just hope that this doesn't turn out like Aiden's name and suddenly become the most popular name in America. When we decided on Aiden, it was #32. By the time he was born, it had moved to #1! (Thank you, Sex in the City, for that one!) There is an Aubrey on the TV show October Road--let's hope that it doesn't catch on like the name Aiden did!

Now I just have to get the nursery ready. I've managed to clear out most of the storage boxes we had in there. But I have so much left to do in the next 18 weeks! I need to sort through all of Aiden's baby stuff to figure out what I can use and what has to be tucked away again. I have a dresser and a cabinet that we're going to use as a changing table to paint. We have to paint the walls in the nursery. I have to sew the crib bedding, bed skirt and window valance.

I've ordered fabrics--I just have to get all of the stuff sewn! (I figure I'd better get it done quick, before my belly gets so huge I can't reach the sewing machine.) Here's the fabric--we're going for a surfer girl theme. Wish me luck on this project--I'm not a bad seamstress, but I'm SLOW! Hopefully I'll have pics of a finished project to post BEFORE she gets here!



So much to do, so little time! Maybe all of the work will keep my brain busy and make the next 18 weeks or so go by quickly.

A little help in the name department...

We have picked out the first name for our daughter, Aubrey, but we're struggling a little with the middle name. I've posted a poll on the right of this page--please vote and let us know what you think. (We reserve the right to go with whatever name we want--just because one option wins doesn't mean we'll necessarily follow along. But input is always nice!)

Here are the contenders:

Aubrey Ryann (pronounced like Ryan): to honor my younger brother, Ryan, who passed away a couple of years ago.

Aubrey Elizabeth: after my great-grandmother Adams. She was an incredible woman.

Aubrey Anne: It was supposed to be my name when I was born, but long story short, the name met with disapproval from a family member and my name was changed to Angela Michelle.

Vote on your favorite, and feel free to post a comment to tell me why you do or don't like a name combo, etc.

20 Weeks

It's official...this pregnancy is half-way over! Ms. Parker should be here in 20 weeks! I can't believe I'm half-way through. Boy do I have a lot to do before she arrives! We went for our 20 week detailed ultrasound. Ms. Parker is perfect from her head to her toes. She's growing right on track, which is the best news, since that is the biggest worry (with all of the auto-immune/connective tissue disease symptoms I'm having). She's 13 ounces now and is very active. She showed off for my mom and Brad, who were both at the ultrasound. I even caught her giving me a hard elbow jab--I knew she was elbowing me in there. Not so bad now, while she's small, but in a few weeks, those jabs are going to hurt!

The mysterious cramps from last week have gone away and I'm feeling fine. They checked my cervix on ultrasound while I was at the Dr. and I'm not dilating at all, so they figure they are just really weird, really strong Braxton-Hicks contractions or some kind of muscle cramp from all the stretching of my uterus. Who knows?! As long as baby and I are OK, that's all that matters.

I've included a video clip from the ultrasound for those who would like to watch. And another belly shot, of course. I'm really sticking out there these days! I'm so jealous of my friends Andi and Brooke, two tall girls whose bellies were so cute and pretty--both of them have LONG torsos with plenty of room. Then there's my belly--a short, round bump that is already crowding my stomach and diaphragm and making me feel miserable when I sit down! Just wait--by the end, my belly will stick out like a torpedo! When I was at the end of my pregnancy with Aiden, I always looked like I was about to fall over forward, I stuck out so much!

A Scary Morning

I woke up this morning to excruciating pain in my lower left side. It was a deep, aching pain in my lower belly, all the way through to my back, and I even hurt in my hip and down into my groin. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom, the pain getting worse with each step, then began pacing around the house. The pains reminded me of labor pains, but they were only on one side and I could tell my uterus wasn't contracting. Brad had gotten up with his alarm a little while earlier and was in the living room, laying on the couch and trying to get himself awake. I went in a told him what was happening, how I couldn't get relief from this pain, how it was taking my breath away, and so after several more minutes of debating whether we should, we started getting ready to go to the hospital.

We woke Aiden up and took him with us to Baylor Garland, jammies and all. He was wearing his Superman jammies with the cape on the back, so everywhere we went, nurses and doctors were exclaiming how cute he was and how lucky they were that Superman was there. I didn't have to wait at all and was taken back quickly. The pains had lessened somewhat, and would feel better for a while, then come with a vengeance. The doctor did a pelvic exam, some blood work and sent me for a sonogram. Everything came back normal--Ms. Bean (and yes, the sonogram today still showed it was a girl) is growing exactly on track and was kicking around and showing off for the camera today. We even got to see her try furiously to get both of her thumbs into her mouth to suck--too cute! She kept rubbing at her face and trying to get that thumb in, and I think she finally succeeded.

As far as why I'm having the pains, the doctor's thought is they are muscle and ligament cramps from my uterus stretching, but I'm not convinced. I have had round ligament pain plenty of times before and this is definitely different. They sent me home with some strong painkillers to take and told me to follow-up with my OB-GYN tomorrow, so we'll see. But at least we know baby is doing well and all of the really scary things (problems with the placenta, etc.) have been ruled out.

Here are the sono pics from today. The pain is coming back, so I'm off to drug myself. I'll keep you posted!