No power up in KS

So I just got back from visiting my parents in small town Kansas. It sounds like the Tulsa area residents received a fair amount of snow, we just received ice. Although it was beautiful, it wreaked on the trees and power lines. We lost power around 4pm on Saturday and I believe my parents are still out! Luckily they have windows on every side of the house and it stays very warm.

Despite losing electricity I had a wonderful time. My siblings from Indiana were there, so it was nice seeing them again. Emmy didn't toss and turn too much this weekend, I think she was in a food coma! Seriously- there is WAY too much food available up there. My sister is a chef by training and my sis-in-law is a master entertainer. Put the two together in a kitchen and you end up with a 5lb weight gain per person by the end of the visit.

Anyway- nothing exciting going on other than that. It's been an hour since breakfast and I think I need some more food.......story of my life :)

Quick Update - 20 weeks

I had a dr's appt this morning and everything looks great. I am back in KS this weekend celebrating my nephews birthday. Emmy's heart was beating at 156bpm and she was busy kicking my bladder. I've been feeling her move alot lately, especially after meal times. It's fun because it provides some entertainment to my mundane day! So just a quick post for today, hope everyone has a good weekend.

3 hour nap

Wow, I took an almost 3 hour nap tonight and it felt great! Now that I'm awake and have eaten dinner, Emmy is swimming around.

So why did I take such a long nap you ask? Or you might not care, but here's the story anyway. I awoke this morning around 630am to barking at my bedroom dinner (which is at the front of the house). It didn't sound like our dogs- and they aren't escape artists so I didn't know what was going on. So I drug my sleepy body outside to see it was our neighbors dog. I'm not sure why he chooses our house, but this is the 2nd time he's shown up at our house after escaping from his yard. So I walked him over to his house and knocked on the door but no one answered. I didn't want to ring the bell in the event that the kids were still asleep. At that point I figred, "Well, I did my part"- and went back home to go back to bed. Hopefully the puppy is now back home in the confines of his "fail proof" fence. hah.

I proceeded with the rest of my day as I normally do, I even took a shower! My friend Amy came over for lunch and brought Sonic- yum! About an hour after that my mother-in-law came over with some VERY yummy fruit salad, green salad, and spaghetti for dinner. About 3 minutes after she left I broke into the fruit salad, my fave. About an hour later I heard some noises coming from my neighbors fence and some voices, I took a look to make sure our dogs weren't out there barking at the neighbors. It was odd, there were 4-6 men in the backyard and one had a badge on his sleeve. I looked out the front window and saw a cop car at the neighbors (same as this morning). I looked a little further down and there was an ambulance. Not sure what was going on, but my neighbors have had a busy day. I certainly hope that everything is OK.

So did anything weird happen to you today? Or just me....


Oh as of today, 2 weeks of bedrest complete- 8 to go! 20% finished!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

So I'll be making my way up to KS today, hooray.
I'm riding up with my bro, and we are meeting his wife and son somewhere nearCity then headed north. It will be a nice change in scenery, but hope Chris doesn't get too lonely here. I'm sure he'll stay busy enough with work.

On his to do list (notice I say HIS, not MINE) is to work on our closet doors. All of the bedroom closets are the two paneled, sliding doors. SO if you're on one side of the closet, it never fails that you need something from the other side. Right now we have NO doors on the closet in our bedroom, which is better than how it was. He is going to take the doors and trim them to the right size then put them on hinges so we can have swinging doors, HOORAY!

Hope everyone is having a great Friday and plans for a relaxing weekend.

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It's a Girl: Emmy Christine Sanders

I hope you enjoy the pink, it's the most girly pink thing Emmy will be getting from me. Hah. So at the 17 week appointment, we found out IT'S A GIRL, but wanted to wait for some confirmation before we announced it to everyone. So, with all hopes of a full term baby- Emmy is due to arrive August 12. We can't wait to meet her.

The DR's visit went well today. The cervix measured at 3cm, about the same as last Thursday. If things continue to improve or stay stable, they might increase the amount of activity I am allowed. Also, I did find out that I can go up to my parents this weekend and next as long as I'm not driving. The DR's main concerns were that I do not increase my activity level, and that I'm close enough to a hospital in case something does happen.

So, with me being the daddy's girl that I am- I know my activity level will not be allowed to increase. And in the event that a hospital is needed, Wichita is only 35-40 minutes away. We're good to go.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Emmy looks great, she was all stretched out today. She better enjoy it while it lasts, she'll be getting all cramped up soon enough.

Please pray for Chris this weekend and next. He'll be so busy with work this weekend and is traveling to Mississippi next week. He will really need some energy and safe travels.

Oh, one last thought-not a deep one at all. Weighed in at the dr's office and have gained a total of 14lbs, which is in the AVERAGE range. So that's good. At 12 weeks when I had already gained 10lbs, I was pretty worried about the weight that was to come. Whew, glad it slowed down.

19 Week - Belly Pic

Just thought I'd share a belly pic that I took today, 19 weeks. One week of bedrest down, 9 more to go. That is...10% completed.

Today is my sweet husband's birthday and he will be working into the wee hours of Thursday morning, poor guy. He will also be working all through the weekend and traveling next Tues-Thurs. I feel bad for leaving him this weekend, but if my DR approves I'll be traveling up to KS with my bro to see my parents. I need to get away from this house and couch for awhile. Plus, I have a feeling I'll actually be able to rest more up there- than here. If you think about it, anytime during the day I need something I have to do it for myself. When I'm up there, I know I'll have more help.

Exciting thing of the day: Chris's bday and my dad's bday presents came in the mail today. Thanks UPS man.

Today's Craft

I've see these cute crochet flowers and hats on Etsy so I thought I'd try it out for myself. Here is a picture of the flower, and here in a bit I'm going on a car-ride to Michaels so that Chris can pick out some more yarn for me. Chris had to work for most of the day today, so it almost felt like another weekday.

Here's a pic of my craft:

What I Did to Entertain Myself Today

So I made some matching earrings and a necklace today. I considered a bracelet, but I'm really not much of a bracelet person. I don't like how it hits the keyboard while you type. Today's been another good day. I'm really not finding it hard to lounge around....YET. It helps that it's an overcast day and that college basketball is on.

Chris has "Safety Day" today at work. Last year they gave away 18 Vizio's at the end of the day. In order to be eligible to win- you have to be accident free over the past year. So he's definitely in the running. Fingers crossed he wins.

That's all for now. I'm watching Everyday Italian and the dogs through the window, they are entertaining.

Prayer and Improvement

I want to thank you all for your prayers. Chris and I visited with the high risk dr this morning, and she also did an ultrasound to check on the baby and cervix. The head is still measuring a few days ahead, and the legs a few days behind- so I'm still convinced this is our child, hah! She also measured the cervix and found some improvement, so the bedrest is helping. I am allowed to be up on my feet around an hour a day. So that should leave enough time for showering, bathroom trips, snacking and making dinner every so often. I'm even allowed to go out to eat dinner every once in awhile, woohoo!

I had some friends come over today during lunch and it was GREAT t0 have company. I am so blessed to have great friends who have blessed me with or offered their company- you are so greatly appreciated. I hope you know.

That's it for now. Oh yea- my Dell Mini came in today. So I'm coming to you live from the couch on the Mini, and YES- I realize KU lost today.

Bedrest.

So it's official, even after a week of rest and not working out I have been put on bed rest. I have just a few errands to run and need to turn in my short-term disability paperwork at work.

So to recap, I had a LEEP procedure a few years ago. And it's know that LEEPs and cone biopsies can cause issues during cervix effacement (shortening) and dilation (opening) before you reach the 37 week- full term status. My dr has been keeping a close eye on the cervix through trans vaginal ultrasounds and everything was looking great......until the 17 week ultrasound. It revealed that my cervix had shortened from 4cm to 2.8cm. This new measurement didn't completely scare my dr, but she told me to take a "rest" week to see if no exercise would help the situation. I went back in yesterday for a follow-up and ultrasound revealed the cervix had further shrunk to 1.9 cm. This didn't sit well with the dr. After our consult, she went and met with a high risk dr. She came back in my room- and with the most apologetic face I've ever seen- informed me that I needed to be on bed rest ASAP. I have also been placed on a weekly progesterone shot to help the cervix. One great piece of news is that I show absolutely NO signs of dilation, it's nice and strong.

So here I am, blogging from my recliner (hey, at least I'm not bound to the bed and couch only!!). I got to see some great shots of the baby yesterday at the full anatomy scan. The heart looked strong and everything was right on track. So praise God that my condition is not affecting the baby at this point. OH...I go in to meet with a high risk dr this Thursday to sit and talk about options and statistics. Then, I have a follow up with my regular dr next Thursday. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of quality time at the dr over the next few weeks. It's strange to go from working out 4-5 times a week, working 4o hours, walking the dogs, and going back to school to DOING NOTHING! (Well, I'm hoping I can set up a little craft table by the recliner)

If you can, I ask that you pray for a few things right now.
1) Baby Sanders and his/her development
2) My condition
3) the dr's that are treating me
4) Chris, he's so busy with work already and his responsibilities just increased dramatically.

No workinng out for me

So, per DR's orders I am OFF of exercise right now. Apparently my cervix is having a hard time keeping up with all the activities I want to do. I go back for another appointment on Tuesday to find out if my week of rest has helped the situation. They have also started me on a weekly progesterone shot to help the situation. I just keep praying for, well...nothing in particular. I just pray that God helps the DR's make the best decision in my treatment. I'm a little worried and a little stressed, and it doesn't help that I have this WONDERFUL upper respiratory infection mixed in with some allergies. It's also March and mid-terms aren't too far away. I try not to think about everything all at once, because then I turn into a stress-ball. I've been so apathetic in the evenings and just want to hang out with Chris and watch TV. I have no desire to study, at all! One thing that I've started is voice recording the lectures and then I listen to them in the evenings. I hope this helps!

So one great thing about all these repeat ultrasounds is that I get to see baby "E" everytime too! I love listening to the heartbeat and watching the somersaults, kicks and jabs. I can't wait to feel those first movements! (or at least recognize them). Also, I'm very thankful I have a dr who has been keeping a watchful eye on my situation.