Half Way There!

Everyone has been kind enough to not ask for belly pictures or comment on how large my tummy is, but in order to document this baby I thought I'd get Buck to take a half way picture.  In this picture I'm 20 weeks exactly, but today I'm 21 weeks.  Its quite an ordeal to take belly pictures, so hats off to the weekly belly shot mommas out there.

I've been larger than when I had Millie for a few weeks, but I'm still not to Millie's gestation (23 weeks 6 days) yet.  That sure makes me scared for delivery!  Having a 1 lb 4 oz baby was still no walk in the park, and I obviously plan on having a larger one this time.  Let's just say in many ways I feel like this is my first pregnancy.

I've had an interesting few weeks since my surgery, feeling quite scared sometimes and totally at peace others.  At my first appointment back to the doctor after surgery I was surprised with a whole new list of physical restrictions in order to help me avoid bed rest.  I really thought the cerclage would help me be able to do more.  I was wrong.  I can't exercise and should avoid too much walking, can't chase Millie at the play ground, and I can't do any heavy cleaning, etc.  I know all of these sound like a dream come true to some, but it's really hard for me since I finally feel good enough to do these things.  It doesn't help that Buck is still swamped with studying for his last CPA exam so he can't pick up my slack exactly.  Soon though.

In practicing "taking it easy" for a week I managed to get myself pretty freaked out about bed rest.  What would I do?  I don't have any family here.  In some cases bed rest (at home) means you even have to have someone bring you food.  I could probably find someone to help with Millie but not stay at my house all day feeding me, too.  I came up with a few plans, and feel good about my situation.  I genuinely believed at first that this pregnancy would go completely smooth and I would feel confident the whole time.  I guess I forget all the little aches and pains you naturally get and have to interpret along the way.  I'm not good at guessing when I need medical help and when I should just "walk it off."

I went back to the doctor for my weekly appointment Friday (yep, weekly now) and shared my plans with them.  I was so relieved when I was told that they really don't think I'll need bed rest (though anything can happen, of course) and things couldn't look better for me.  They also mentioned I'm probably freaking out because I'm getting to that point where I had Millie, and my confidence will probably build up a few weeks after that point.  I got my first shot of progesterone which was huge.  Not too painful, but it's big enough that they like to tell you when they are half way done.  It has to be given to you in that portion of your lower back/hip that can hold massive shots.  I'll be getting that weekly.

It's not very entertaining, but that's my half way report.  I'm feeling healthy, but still can't eat like I used to.  Trust me, ice cream settles so much better than veggies.  Couple that with exercise restrictions and I should look like I'm carrying twins in no time.

On a family note, Buck has finished interviewing for new jobs (his ends in June) so hopefully the next word you hear from me will be about our plans!

Owie and Puppy

Buck's parents came to visit and also ended up with some pretty cute nicknames.  The grandkids call them Ahbi and Papi but Millie thought Owie and Puppy were a little more personal.

We were thrilled to have them here for a good week, and especially glad they were here for Easter.

Millie loves candy (doesn't everyone?) so naturally her Easter Basket was a big hit.  She enjoyed the toys too.

While they were here our winnings from the Harajuku Mini Collection arrived!  Millie is currently obsessed with strawberries so she loved it all.

Ahbi was thoughtful and patient to bring (and plant) a little garden with Millie.  It's sprouting, Ahbi!

Sometimes the camera is the only distraction that will work.

Buck's parents wanted to see a few sights in New York so we stayed over night just before they left.  We were lucky to visit the 9-11 Memorial.  I think Millie ran every square inch of it.

In New York you never seem to be far from a park.

For no good reason these are all the pictures I have of their visit!  They took a bazillion, don't worry.

We all loved having them here, but I especially enjoyed them spending quality time with Millie outside so I could spend quality time doing little things around the house.  I finally figured out how to describe my slow self.  What used to take me 15 minutes to do before having Millie started taking me 45 minutes once I had Millie.  That same quick task now takes me a week.  With extra help I'm back down to 45 minutes, which is progress.

This was Buck's Dad's first time to our town so we showed him the works.  We even ventured into new areas trying to help my sister-in-law find suitable towns to live in.

Thank you so much for coming!  Millie woke up looking for y'all several times since you left, bless her heart.

I'll post about Baby Bagwell later.  I've got a few things to say.  We're halfway there, by the way.

No-ey

Millie is quick to come up with nicknames, and her cousin Nora is now exclusively (in our house) referred to as Noey.

We were lucky enough to have the whole Dunnam clan (all three of them!) visit us for about a week.  We stayed busy and did our best to show off our neck of the woods.

We enjoyed "donation" day at the Bronx Zoo:

Our local Children's Museum

Our backyard:

Thank you Lala, for the dresses!

Hugs

And our home.  Thanks Uncle Aaron for building/painting/putting together Millie's learning tower! 

We also took them to Stew Leonards, the beach, the mall, our favorite playground, and of course our urban Target.

The girls had permanent smiles on their faces the whole week.  Watching them look at each other for the first time each morning was priceless.  Sure nap time and bed time were a little more difficult, but completely worth it.  They even shared Millie's toys without fighting.  Of course Nora did show Millie how to get into my makeup...

We're so glad they came to visit.  I still feel pretty guilty for not warning Millie when Nora was leaving.  I just pulled up to the airport and dropped them off, and said my goodbyes.  Only when I got back in the car did I realize Millie was bawling for Noey.  Those cries lasted nearly an hour!  Breaks my heart.  We do a little extra FaceTime here and there to make up for it.

Sweet, sweet cousins.

This Baby is Staying Put

For inquiring minds I thought I'd give you an update on how my "little" surgery went.  First of all I don't think any surgery should be considered little.  Yes, I know I'm a tad wimpy.  The cerclage was first described to me as a quick 30 minute surgery with a one hour recovery done in an outpatient hospital facility.  I'm not sure I would describe it that way.

With that description I was picturing something similar to having my wisdom teeth removed.  That's surgery, right?  Well for me, I'd say the surgery reminded me more of when I gave birth to Millie but a much quicker recovery.  Instead of weeks to recover I feel pretty much fine at 48 hours post operation.  I had Millie in an operating room as well, so I pretty much felt at home.  Just kidding.  Those bright lights and all that white?  No way can you feel comfy there.  Seriously an operating room resembles where you go when you're abducted by aliens in movies.  Am I right?  I know, I have an active imagination.

Anywho, the surgery went well and the whole OR staff claimed I was the best patient of the day.  But seriously there wasn't a single unkind person there.  It was wonderful and thanks to one mean nurse, a stark contrast to my recovery after having Millie in Utah.  The NICU was amazing there, I just somehow got stuck with a really crabby nurse for myself.

I got an epidural for the surgery and as soon as they were done I was able to move my legs and actually got myself into the next bed.  They all thought that was great (should I ask for an extra strong epidural with this next birth?) and had me sent to recovery.  I was quickly moved from one recovery (where mostly still asleep people are) to the next where they finally let you eat.  My whole recovery time took about two to three hours and honestly I thought the recovery nurses were going to faint with how "quick" I recovered.  There was a girl that had the same surgery by my doctor one hour before me that still wasn't moving her legs by the time I was walking and peeing.  Why do they keep spreading this rumor about the one hour recovery time?

Thankfully we had a wonderful friend to take care of Millie.  Even though she has her hands full with her own large family she convinced me she really wanted to watch Millie.  So kind.  It was a relief to have her there with this family knowing that if I took a little extra long to recover it would be okay.  She and her family loved and entertained Millie, and of course Millie wasn't really eager to leave when we went to pick her up.

In speaking with my doctor right after the surgery he informed me that had I opted out of the cerclage (it was totally my choice at this point since my cervix looked good on the ultrasounds) I would have gone into preterm labor again.  I do, officially, have an incompetent cervix.  That means something is wrong with my cervix, and there are like 10 things that can go wrong.  Specifically for me, my cervix is soft.  It is supposed to feel like your nose, slightly firm, but mine is much softer.  Because of that as soon as a baby gets some weight to it, it will come right out.  Hello 1 lb 4 oz Millie!  Of course now that my cervix is sewn shut we shouldn't have to worry about that.  There are still other factors to consider so I'll still be monitored and medicated, but for now I'm pretty happy and feeling secure about our sweet baby boy being full term.

Happy 150th post?  I should be on my 200th by now!