Back to Work...

Hmmm....There are so many ways to start this blog.  I guess I will start with yesterday.  Yesterday was my first day back to work after 12 blissful weeks of being home with my sweet baby boy.  And let me just say, in case you don't know, that I am completely in love with that 13-pound bundle of pure joy!!
I have been thinking about my first day back to work since our first day home from the hospital.  I remember sitting on the edge of our bed, peering over the side of the pack-n-play into the bassinet where the most beautiful little baby in the world was resting peacefully and thinking to myself, "How in the world will I ever be able to be apart from him?" That was the first of many cries I have had over this issue.
Since that night, I have gradually been able to seperate myself from him for small increments of time.  45 minutes to run to target and pick something up, and hour and half to get a pedicure with the girls, 2 hours to enjoy my sweet friend's baby shower.  Each time it was hard to say goodbye, but knowing that I would be back before he would even need to eat again made it OK.
Yesterday was a whole different ball-game.  I am so grateful that my parents were willing to stay in Dallas and extra day and half to stay with Jonah on my first day back.  Saying good-bye to him was one of the worst things I have ever had to do.  It ripped my heart out to know that I wouldn't see him for 12 hours.  All I could think about was the fact that he would eat 3 times without me, he would take 3 naps and wake up to see someone else's face, he would spend 4-5 hours playing with and talking to someone else.  I know it's silly, but I wondered if he would notice that I wasn't around and wonder where his momma was and why she wasn't here to take care of him.  Needless to say, there were many tears shed as I said good-bye and on the drive in to work.  That being said, I am thankful that I was able to leave him here, at the house, with people who love him and wouldn't be upset if I called 10 times to see how much he ate, how much he slept, where he slept, and what he was doing at that minute.  So it was a really hard day, but I survived.  Praise Jesus.
Speaking of praising the Lord, let me quickly tell you how God answered our prayers regarding daycare for Jonah.  Obviously, my parents can't drive to Dallas every Monday and Wednesday (I'm only working 2 days a week :) to take care of Jonah.  I have struggled since I found out I was pregnant with where we would be comfortable leaving our little boy each day.  I know there are amazing caregivers/daycares out there who would take good care of him.  But I couldn't get comfortable with the idea...even after checking out a perfectly acceptable possibility.  The Lord has provided in a mighty way!! 
Our small group, which is A-MAZING, has had and will have LOTS of babies who will all be close in age!  The oldest of the "babies" (one couple has a 6 year-old) is Preston who is around 10 months, Matea is almost 5 months, then we have Jonah at 2.5 months, Parker Ann will be here in 2-3 weeks, Harper Faith will come sometime in November, and Baby Petty will be here in late December or early January. Isn't that super exciting!!  Anyway, several of the moms are either working part-time or have flexible schedules!  Sooo...we have set up the Petty Playpen!  Manny and Bethany (our group leaders) have basically turned the upstairs of their home into a little daycare for our kids!  We have cribs/pack-n-plays, a swing, a bouncer, an exersaucer, blankets, etc, etc, etc and we are going to take turns keeping each other's kids.  We will set it up one month at a time.  On days where there will be 3 or more babies, we'll do our very best to have 2 or more moms! Some days will be tricky, and as the babies keep coming, things may have to be adjusted, but we have the month of August pretty much covered! 
It will never be easy for me to leave Jonah for the day.  And honestly, I hope there comes a time where I don't have to..at least for a few years.  But while I do, it's great to have this option!  I keep saying that it's one thing to know for me to leave Jonah with people who love kids, but it's another to leave him with people who love JONAH!  My friends love Jonah and they want to see him become a little boy and eventually a man who loves the Lord.  They want amazing things for him, just like I do.  Praise Jesus again!  Thank you friends, for being willing to invest in Jonah's life, and I can't wait to invest in all of Jonah's little friends!! 

Jonah's first 2 weeks!!

I'm playing catch-up here on the old blog, but I wanted to sum-up Jonah's first 2 weeks at home.  My mom stayed with me for pretty much the entire first 2 weeks.  It was nice to have the help, but it was even better to have the company during the day.  David's mom and dad came the wednesday Jonah was born and stayed until Sunday.  Let me just tell you that this little boy is LOVED by his grandparents!!  I'm pretty sure Jonah was held 75% of the time during the day those first 2 weeks.

My big concerns during those first 2 weeks are actually pretty funny now that I look back.  Our sweet boy wasn't waking up every 3 hours at night.  No one ever told me that this was ok, so I assumed I needed to be setting an alarm to wake him up and feed him all night long.  There were 2 nights in a row around day 9 or 10 where I slept through my alarm and he went 5 hours between feeding.  I almost cried!!  I felt like a horrible mom--I couldn't even wake up to feed my child!!! 

So when we went in for Jonah's 2-week check-up on May 26th, I was embarrassed to tell Dr. B that I had let Jonah go for 5 HOURS without eating!!  I was expecting a gentle lecture. Then came Jonah's 2 week stats:
Age: 9 weeks
Weight: 8.9 pounds    87th Percentile 
Height: 21.7 in           98th Percentile
Head Circ: 14.5 in      73rd Percentile
Our sweet boy had gained a full pound from his BIRTH WEIGHT (so a full pound, plus the 7 ounces he lost in the hospital.  He had also grown a full inch in length and a full inch in head circumference...in 2 weeks!! So, Dr. Benzick gave his blessing for us to let him go 5 hours between feeding at night.  True to form, Jonah started waking up every 3 hours starting that night!!!  I should have known not to brag on him!!  Our other concern at that visit was a very goopy right eye!  Dr. B took a culture that ended up coming back negative for infection a few days later.  So after a couple of days of treating with an antibiotic ointment, we got the clean lab results and thus became experts at the inner-eye-lid  massage!!

During those first 2 weeks, I had several "freak-out" moments.  Is his poop supposed to look like that?  Is his breathing supposed to sound like that?  Why didn't he wake up to eat--is he sick??  Is he nursing long enough? Too long? Should I offer both sides or just one? How do I make him stay awake to eat when he just keeps falling asleep? Am I a bad mom if I put him in his swing AGAIN-he was just in there this morning? It really all boiled down to one question: Am I doing the very best thing for him that I can do?  That became and still is the overwhelming desire of my heart for Jonah.  I know I will make mistakes, and I know I will fall short in motherhood.  I think I am supposed to.  Those will be the oppotunities to humble myself and teach Jonah about the perfection that can only be found in our Savior.  What a beautiful picture of our desperate need for a Savior, right?  Despite the failures that I know will come, I pray every day that the Lord will use every decision I make regarding Jonah's care to reveal Himself and His Grace, Love and Mercy to our little boy. 

I will leave you with pictures from Jonah's first 2 weeks

Jonah, meet Preston!!

 This might be one of my favorite pictures of Jonah EVER.  This was taken with an hour of us being home from the hospital.  David's mom was holding Jonah, and he put his hands up over his face like this and stayed that way for probably 5 minutes.  It was hilarious!!

 This was Jonah's signature nap-pose for the first few weeks.  I just love his sweet little hands!!

 2 reasons I love this picture: 1. We love that swing despite it's curious behaviors. 2. For some reason, i feel like we should replace the swing with a mechanical bull.

 4 words: Look At My Boys!!!!

 Preston liked Jonah back then.  Now, he tolerates him.  This was also the first, and one of only 2-3 times, that Jonah fell asleep on his belly.

 Here he is after his first sponge-bath at home.

Jonah's Nursery

This post won't be exciting or anything, but I wanted to post a few pictures of Jonah's nursery.  It's actually still not finished (even though he is 2 months old as I'm writing this), but he doesn't use it much yet, so I figure it's ok!  There are a few things I want to add and move around, but at least this way, there will be some evidence of what it looked like.  The picture quality isn't great because of the lighting and the shape of the room!  Maybe someday his room will look like what I envision in my head :)

First, you need to see what Jonah's nursery looked like about 6 weeks before his due date:

 Yes, I said 6 weeks before he was supposed to arrive!!  And then you have to add all of the stuff below to what was already stacked up to get the full picture of what was going on in there! 

 Needless to say, I am so grateful for good friends like Bethany and Jessica and my mom and David's mom for helping me "snap to it" and get things together!!  Like I said, it's not completely finished but it's at least cleaned out-lol!!

This is Jonah's crib and bedding! It took me forever to find bedding that I could tolerate because I had a very specific color scheme in mind, and I hate themes!  This isn't exactly what I had pictured, but it definitely came the closest--I love the different shades of green/blue and the pale jade we used on the wall!!

 I made the letters hanging above Jonah's crib, but I'm still looking into a way to make them look like they are hanging--I don't want ribbon, but I want something!  I just haven't decided what yet.  I also plan on putting a framed picture of Jonah on the tan wall above the crib.

 This is Jonah's dresser.  The lighting is terrible because I had the window beside the rocker open!  That rocking chair is cheap but super comfy!! 

This is Jonah's changing table: we bought it cheaply off of craigslist, sanded it down, and painted it to match the wall behind the crib.  I honestly didn't think I would use the changing table at all, I just thought I would change him on the floor or the bed, but I use the heck out of that table!!  **Sidenote about the table: The day we painted it, our good friends Jess and Clay were over hanging out and helping.  It ended up being a really fun night with some crazy storms!  We ended up putting on the last layer of paint JUST IN TIME for the power to go out!  They have been so good to us!!

 Here's a close-up of the letters:

Nothing fancy, but I love his room and I love him!!!

Welcome baby Jonah!!

So I'm going to try and sum up the last couple of weeks before Jonah arrived and his "birth story" in this blog! Obviously, this is coming a few days late, but you really don't have a lot of free-time with a newborn!

So, when we went in for our 37 week visit, Dr. N thought that we'd probably have to induce if Jonah hadn't arrived by about 39 weeks. This was based solely on the size his head was measuring compared to the size of...well, me. I was pretty excited about this news because I was starting to feel miserable--and it was nice to think we might have a specific date!

We went along for the next week and at 38 weeks, it was confirmed that he was measuring big enough that we needed to set a date for induction! Dr. N called over to the hospital and it was decided that Wednesday, May 11th would be the day! I liked this day for a couple of reasons- First, it was exactly one week before he was due so he'd officially be 39 full weeks, and it falls exactly between my brother and sister's birthdays (MK-May 4th, Kelly-May 18th). So, they would all have their birthdays on the same day of the week, 3 weeks in a row! Secretly, I was holding out hope that he would decide to make his arrival before that date came.

I would like to say we spent the last weekend before his induction date relaxing and hanging out, but we didn't! I was still running around like a chicken with my head cut-off trying to get things organized, somewhat picked up and cleaned, and get bags packed for the hospital! The weekend flew by, and on Monday I went to work like usual. The contract PT who was going to cover some of my maternity leave started that Monday, so Monday was a crazy day-trying to treat the few kids who came that day, organize my stuff so I could leave for 12 weeks, show her around (she's great, by the way), etc etc. I also had to go back to Dr. N's office Monday afternoon to decide if I needed to come in Tuesday night for *males might want to skip this next part* cervical "ripening" or if I could just come in Wednesday morning.

I went to his office at 3:00 Monday afternoon, and basically had made little to NO progress on my own (I was dilated to a finger-tip) and from his tone of voice, I think he was being generous. He decided I needed to come in Tuesday night at 9:00pm. I took Tuesday off, and was still busy all day getting things ready and we went to eat at Applebee's with my parents before we went to the hospital. (I chose Applebee's because I wanted something a little "lighter" and easily digestable just in case--you know what I mean?? We arrived at the hospital a few minutes before 9:00 in the middle of a crazy lightning storm with heavy rain! I kind of liked having that kind of weather the night before-I've always been a fan of thunder storms!

Once we were shown to our “Labor and Delivery” room, the nurse wasted no time in getting us checked in and ready to go.  Within an hour we had filled out paperwork, answered a million questions, had the IV in place (though it wouldn’t be hooked up to anything until the next morning), and external monitors in place!  That night we started *males might want to skip to the next sentence* Cytotec to help “prep” my cervix.  They had to come in every 3 hours overnight to administer the next dose of Cytotec.  Needless to say, we didn’t sleep much that night due to the 3 hour cycle AND my OCD-self not wanting to come off of the monitors! I do have to admit that it was kind of neat to hear the sound of Jonah’s sweet little heartbeat filling up the room all night!!

The next morning, Dr. New broke my water a little after 7:00.  I started having mild contractions, no big deal and definitely not regular, over the next hour-ish.  Then they started the Pitocin.  That definitely helped get my contractions going and they started to become pretty regular and stronger over the next couple of hours!  The nurse asked me where I felt the contractions and she seemed mildly concerned that I only felt them in my lower back and posterior pelvis.  She thought it would be best for me to put off the epidural as long as possible and try to stay on my feet or the ball for as long as possible to make sure Jonah got into the best position.  I did the best I could and put off the epidural as long as I possibly could!!  I lasted until sometime between 12-1 with what I considered very strong and very regular contractions.  And then Dr. Fox came in and the world was good again—epidurals are awesome!! 

I felt a lot better after the epidural and Dr. New came in throughout the afternoon to monitor my progress.  Despite the fact that I was contracting regularly and with good, strong contractions, I wasn’t making much progress.  At 5:00 that afternoon, Dr. New came in and said I was still at a 4 and his head was still pretty high up in the pelvis.  Dr. New was very aware of the fact that I wanted to give this little one as long as he needed to come out, but I could tell by what he was/wasn’t saying that we were kind of hitting a wall.  He said he would come back at 7:00 and see what was going on.  He also said he was concerned that Jonah was in an OP (Occiput Posterior) position, or “sunny-side up”.  Over the next 2 hours, my sweet nurse had me lie in random positions to try and flip Jonah over.  I was exhausted and so was my uterus apparently.  Despite increasing the Pitocin levels, my contractions started slowing down and decreasing in intensity.  Jonah also started having decelerations in his heart-rate, so they put me on oxygen. 

Dr. New came in at 7:00 and basically said nothing had changed.  He said he could feel the cone where Jonah’s head was trying to come through, but it just wasn’t going to fit.  He was also very sure at this point that he was not facing the “ideal” direction.  So, it was decided that the only way he was coming out, was a C-Section.  That was exactly what I had hoped and prayed against.  I remember silent tears rolling down my cheeks as Dr. New explained what was going to happen.  I wasn’t scared or worried about having a C-Section, it just wasn’t what I had envisioned Jonah’s birth to be like.  I wouldn’t get to push, or see my sweet boy right as he entered the world, and he wouldn’t be placed up on my chest for me to cuddle, kiss and admire immediately.  It was sad to have that image I had in my head taken away from me with one sentence.  But Dr. New was EXTREMELY kind and sympathetic toward my feelings, telling me “You did everything you could do, he just isn’t going to fit!”.  I didn’t really “DO” anything, but at the time, it was very comforting and I am so appreciative of Dr. New’s kindness in that moment. 

So, there it was, I was having a C-Section.  Once it was decided, everything happened EXTREMELY quickly!!  They sent David to go tell family and friends, while Dr. Fox and the nurse started prepping everything for surgery!  I had one person putting a hair net over my head, someone “boosting” my epidural, someone else hooking up 2 “bolus” bags of fluid to be administered BEFORE surgery could happen, and all sorts of other things.  Within less than 10 minutes, I was on my way out the door to the Operating Room.  They took David somewhere where he could get “dressed” to be in the OR. 

Once in the OR, things continued to move quickly!!  At one point, Dr. New peeked over the drape and asked me “Are you doing ok??”.  He seemed a little concerned, so I responded with, “Yeah, I think so—why?”.  He then told me that he had just pinched my stomach with a huge clamp to make sure that I was definitely numb!  I laughed and told him that I guessed it was a good thing I actually was numb then, huh??  It was nice to laugh.  Then David came into the room, and I remember telling him within a minute or two that “I could smell it”.  He asked me what I smelled and I told him, “Burning flesh”. 

It’s a very very weird thing to be on the other side of a drape, unable to feel anything, when you know that they are cutting you open and pulling the precious life you have been carrying for 9 months out of your body.  I could feel tugging and pulling, but no one was saying anything!  I’m sure there were machines and tools and equipment running, but to me, the room was silent.  The only thing I remember is Dr. Fox saying, “Wow, he really was stuck in the belly of the whale, wasn’t he?”-to which I acted offended, but really wasn’t!  And then he said, “Oh, I see a head…with the cord wrapped around it” and after a LOT of pressure on my stomach, I heard him!!  Just 3 or 4 little cries—and silent tears rolled down my face for the 2^nd time that day! They briefly showed him to me before taking him and David over to the table to clean the little man up.  I remember it being really quiet and asking Dr. Fox, who was still standing by my head, where everyone went.  He said they were on the other side of the room, we just had a really quiet baby! 

Then they announced his stats: Jonah Porter Forbess born on Wednesday, May 11, at 7:40 pm (remember, it wasn’t decided I was even having a C-Section until after 7!) weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce—20.75 inches long!!  Then David pointed out he still had a clamp on his umbilical cord, so they re-weighed him and he officially weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces!  David brought him over to me, all bundled up, while they finished returning my organs to their rightful place and closing me up!  I had a hard time turning my head to look at him, because it made me incredibly sick to my stomach to look sideways. But I definitely remember thinking he was the most beautiful thing in the world!!

The three of us had to spend close to an hour in the Recovery room, making sure everyone’s vitals looked ok, and discussing pain management, etc, etc before we could go out and introduce everyone!  What a sweet moment: being rolled toward the waiting room, holding our beautiful and perfect son (who was still just looking around with huge, clear blue eyes not crying a bit), and showing him to our families and friends, Jess and Clay.  We were definitely a proud set of parents!!

We had a relatively uneventful stay, despite having to stay until Saturday (Tuesday night-Saturday is a long time to be in the hospital).  All of the nurses, with the exception of one, were incredibly sweet and encouraging!  We had lots of visitors who came to meet our little boy, and felt extremely blessed by all of the love and support.  Dr. Benzick performed his circumcision on Friday and gave us an excellent report Saturday morning!  Jonah lost 7 ounces in the hospital, which was less than the expected amount, and showed no signs of jaundice at all!  Dr. Benzick though he did so well, that he gave his blessing to skip his 1 week check-up/weighing and asked us to make an appointment for 2 weeks!  We were discharged that morning, and were happy to head home! 

Before I can end this post, I have to take a second to brag on our little boy!  He was a champ from the beginning!  Looking back, his poor little head had been crammed into my pelvic bone with every contraction on Wednesday.  In surgery, Dr. New said he could really see how small my pelvic outlet was and there was no way he was going to make it through no matter how perfectly positioned he was!  Jonah’s poor little head had a huge cone coming off of one side!  Despite it all, he barely cried when he came out—or over the next few days really!  People kept telling us what a quiet, alert baby we had.  His sweet eyes would open and he would just look around, taking it all in.  He hardly whimpered when they pricked his heel, and he only cried for a few minutes after his circumcision (and that’s TRAUMATIC!!).  He was definitely the BEST and most preciously perfect newborn ever!  We feel more blessed than we could ever explain and we fell completely in love with our little boy immediately!

Here is Jonah in his carseat for the first time, getting ready to go home!!

This is just a precious picture of our beautiful little boy:

Here we are leaving the hospital as a family of 3!!!

What not to say to a pregnant woman...

UNLESS YOU'RE UNDER THE AGE OF 10!!!

Alright, well I meant to write this blog A LONG time ago, but things got a little crazy and here we are. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the lapse in time might have erased some of the things that people said to me--but I'll do my best to remember them all. The following are things that people ACTUALLY said to me, maybe not exactly word for word, but the message will be the same. The names will NOT be posted only because I don't want to point out that what was said actually did NOT come across useful, helpful, or uplifting in any way. Occasionally, I followed what they said with what immediately popped into my head at the time (though I refrained from actually saying it out loud).

1. As I turned the corner: "Oh wow, you're starting to look puffy in your face now."
-Yeah, you too (regardless of the truth in that statement)

2. "You like a miserable pregnant woman."

3. "How much longer do you have?" Me: "About 5 weeks." "Oh there's not way, you'll make it that long. You look like you are going to have that baby tomorrow!"
-Oh, did that sign on my butt finally light up saying "It's go time!"

4. Person 1: "How big was he at your last visit?" before I could respond, Person 2: "I know exactly how big he is, look at how big she is."
-Really?!?!?!

5. "I can't believe you're still here."
-What?? Was I on the brink of death or something?

6. "How far along are you?" Me: "About 34 weeks." "Oh wow-so you still have a long way to go!"
-Fractions, people. 34 out of 40 weeks does NOT mean you have a long way to go. It actually means you're getting relatively close. UGH!

6. "I don't think that baby can grow any bigger--I mean, where would he go??"
-I don't know, I guess he could move to my.....yeah, I won't finish that one.

7. "How do you keep getting up from the floor every day???"
-Um, the reverse actions that got me onto the floor?

Ok, people. It's NOT okay to point out how large a pregnant woman is. You wouldn't point how how huge a woman was if she wasn't pregnant. So what makes you think it's ok to say it because there's a baby in there?? What if I pointed out days when you were looking a little larger than usual-how would you like that? Don't tell a pregnant woman that she looks like she's going to have the baby any minute, unless you happen to be in the delivery room watching the monitors! Don't tell them that they still have a LONG way to go, once they get past about 28 weeks. That's not what we want to hear-thanks. So that's my rant. I want to finish it off with a few things that some of my kids from work said to me. The following are ok because these kiddos fall under the age of 10.

1. "So how do you change that baby's diaper when he poops in there?" -6 year-old little boy with his head cocked sideways while staring at my belly.

2. "Are you going to have to feed that baby?" Me: "Well, yeah--I will have to feed him" "Oh....with your breasts?" -6 year-old boy who is as tall as me while getting to 2nd base with both hands. In his defense, he was well-educated because his mom had just had a baby.

3. "Hey, why do you think Melanie's belly is so big?" "Because she at too much chocolate cereal."
-7 year-old little boy. Where did chocolate cereal come from????

4. "Your belly is going to get so big!" Me: "How big do you think it's going to get?" "Probably all the way up to the sky." - 4 year-old little girl. Needless to say, by the time I was getting ready to go out on maternity leave, if you asked her how big I wanted my belly to be, she'd respond with "medium-sized"

5. "Why is your baby still in there-I told him to come out last week." -same tall 6 year-old who copped a feel.

6. "So how is that baby going to come out of your belly?" -5 year-old little girl who cracks me up daily. My response: "Ask your mom," followed by a quick change of the subject.

7. "Oh wow, you're belly has gotten VERY big!" Me: "Do you think it has gotten too big?" "Oh yes!" -4 year-old twin sister of one of my little boys.

I know that there were more funny things that the kids said to me! I wish I would have written them down as they said them, because kids do not hold ANYTHING back! Not only did they say hilariously awesome things to me, but I could never count how many sets of hands reached out and groped my belly as I walked through the lobby! Most of the time it wasn't even a set of hands that belonged to one of the kids that I was treating!! But it was pretty awesome being pregnant while working around a bunch of kiddos--partly because of what I shared above, but also because it kept me active enough that I didn't gain a million pounds despite eating anything and everything I wanted! But that's a whole other blog post-lol!

33-34 Weeks...

So, I told you all in my last post that I would be posting on odd weeks due to the schedule that Dr. New had us following. And naturally, I am a little bit behind!! We had our 33 week visit on Friday, April 1st. David couldn't go with me because he was taking a CPA exam, so my sweet friend Jessica went with me to video the sonogram so David could at least get a peek at our little man! Once again, Dr. N felt like everything was going well with nothing to worry about! He answered a few of my questions like: "Why do I have a huge numb spot at the top of my ribs?"--Because the skin is being pulled away from my ribs, so the neural tissue is on tension. "How big is the little guy?"--Well, he's growing on target and Dr. N isn't going to make a guess at birthweight until I'm 36 weeks. "Is he still breeched?" --NOPE!!! He turned himself head down!! "What are the odds he will stay head down?" --Pretty good, most babies who are head down at 33 weeks stay that way. WHAT GOOD NEWS!!! So as far as we know, we have a healthy baby boy, who is starting to at least prep himself for delivery in a few weeks! Here's some updates:

Baby Stats: At 33 weeks, Jonah could be up to 20 inches long and weigh about 5 pounds already!! WHAAAAT?!?!?! That seems so huge, but looking at my profile in the mirror makes it seem a little more realistic! He is about the size of a honeydew melon according to What to Expect!

Development: His fingernails are now developed enough that they actually reach the end of his fingers--and to be honest, I'm terrified about having to clip those nails in a few weeks!! AAAANNNNDDD, he'd be so embarrassed if he knew I was talking about them, but Mr. J's testicles are beginning their descension into his little scrotum...shh!! Jonah also has an immune system that is developed enough to be able to start fighting infections! It's so crazy to think he started as just a little gummy bear created by the most elaborate Creator!

Weight Gain: So I actually asked Dr. N to give me an official total since the first visit at 8 weeks!! Drumroll please..................I had gained 22 pounds at my 33 week visit. That's actually better than I was expecting, but I am expecting SEVERAL more pounds to be added on the next few weeks--don't worry!

Pregnancy Symptoms: Oh MAN!!! I sometimes laugh when I look at the checklist of "possible symptoms" for each month, because I feel like I can go down the list and just check them each off! But I'll just share the ones that have been bothering me a lot lately! Heartburn: it's a KILLER!!! It doesn't matter what I eat or drink, I have it! Peppermint Tums and Zantac are part of my daily diet these days. I also have these little dark patches of skin showing up on my face: AWKWARD!! They tend to make me look like I have a man-stache! Probably too much detail to share, and now people will be staring at my upper lip, but I want to remember these things! I have also been swelling A LOT lately! Not only do I have cankles, but I also have Carpal Tunnel in my left hand (serious numbness and tingling in my thumb, index and middle finger) that gets worse as the day goes on, and I recently starting having some plantar fasciitis too! I love days when I get in the pool at work because it helps push the fluid back in where it goes. And lastly, I must be the size of Texas based on the comments I have been getting (more to come on that later: I'm working on a "What NOT to say to a pregnant woman" blog based on real-life experience).

Cravings: Nothing new here--same old stuff. Sorry!

Nursery: OMG!! It's a gigantic disaster!! And let me tell you why. David, Jonah and I have been UNBELIEVABLY blessed with 4 incredibly awesome showers!! We have been utterly blown away by the generosity of our friends and family! Our little Jonah is one loved little boy and he's not even here yet!! Every single thing we have received is still sitting in the bag in the middle of our nursery floor. I just have so much HOUSE organizing to do that I don't want to start the nursery yet!! And I have friends who are due AFTER me who are posting pictures of thier finished nurseries and it's stressing me out a little! I'm getting nervous about getting it all done!!! But somehow it will all work out, right?!?!

SO that's about it for now! We are scheduled to go back and see Dr. N on Monday, April 18th. I'm not sure what will happen at that visit because we will be just 2 days away from being 36 weeks--CRAZINESS!! So we will see. Time for pictures!!

So this is a fun "hippy" picture my sweet friend, Jessica, took when I asked her to take a few "maternity" shots to document just how big that sweet belly was (and you should see it now)! David is holding up the 32 sign because I was 32 weeks at the time!

The second picture is what the nursery looked like BEFORE we went to Lubbock for our 4th and final awesome shower!!

The last picture is what our car looked like on our way BACK from Lubbock: so now this is all added to the pile above. So, congrats to all of you organized moms-to-be...I'm not one of you. I'm unorganized and I'm trying to be ok with it!!

31 weeks...and a name reveal!!!

Hey everyone! So we only had to wait 3 weeks from the last appointment to have another one--that's why I am posting at 31 weeks (kind of random) instead of 32. And we are now on a schedule to see Dr. New every 2 weeks--so our next couple of posts will be on ODD weeks. The appointment went well--nothing too exciting to report! But I will update anyway-this is where we are at 31 weeks (and a few days):



Baby's stats: So as of today, I am 31 weeks and 4 days along--so we have 8 weeks and 3 days (technically) left. The baby could be up to 19 inches long (by now you my theory on how "long" our baby will be) and weigh up to 3.9 pounds. I feel gigantic, so maybe he does weigh that much!! He's a "head of lettuce" this week. According to Dr. New, his femur measured at 32 weeks the day of our appointment which was 31 weeks and 2 days. So for two appointments in a row, his femur has measured about 5 days ahead (I hope that means he wants to come a few days earlier than his due date!!).

Development: His digestive system is getting close to being ready for something other than sucking up amniotic fluid! He's also depositing more and more fat under his skin, so he'll be nice and "fluffy" at birth! Something that's exciting to me, is that the neural pathways in his brain are developing more and more quickly these days (I'm such a nerd), and he can now perceive information from ALL 5 SENSES!!! He could also be sucking his thumb (or fist), though we haven't caught him doing that on a sonogram yet.

Weight Gain: I'm thinking somewhere around 20-21 pounds at this point. And let me tell you something, I feel EVERY pound of it!!

Pregnancy Symptoms: Nothing super new these days. Still having lots of back pain!! I wake up almost every night because of my heartburn/reflux--but Dr. New told me to start taking Zantac to help with that, so we'll see! It is getting a little more challenging to get up and down from the floor each day at work! And the worst part of my back pain is that it is at its worst when I'm sitting down (in ANY position), which makes trying to sit down and get ahead on my documentation REALLY challenging! The newest thing, is that I have to pee ALLLLLL of the time these days--like seriously, I lose count around 8-10x/day. UGH!!! But, good news is that my sinuses have cleared up a little bit-which is a huge answer to prayer!! Oh, I just remembered one other symptom: I HAVE CANKLES!!! OMG--they are ridiculous!! Some days are better than others (ie. if I actually prop them up and drink an appropriate amount of water), but seriously--it hurts to take the first few steps in the morning because there is just too much fluid down there!

Cravings: Nothing new in the past couple of weeks! Milk, Rainbow Sherbet, Blueberries, Pretzels and Dr. Pepper---what an assortment!!

Belly Button: So long innie, HELLO outtie!! My little belly button is officially NOT little and NOT an innie these days! Startling fact I learned this past week: I can push my outtie in and it will disappear for a few seconds--I have to push out really hard and it eventually pops back out! WEIRD!

Baby's position: This is a new topic and one that I am requesting prayer over: our sweet little boy is currently breeched! Good news is: this explains part of the reason why I have to pee all of the time and why I can't ever seem to catch my breath. On our sonogram, his head was tucked right under my ribs and he was sitting square on top of my bladder! Dr. New said that at this point 1/3 of all babies are still sitting in the breeched position, so not to worry yet!! He said it isn't a big deal until we get about 4 weeks out! I am not worried at all right now, because I feel him moving around so much, but I definitely would prefer him head-down before it gets to the point of worry! So I am asking for prayer that sometime in the next 2-4 weeks, our little man will flip himself over!

And the finale: NAME!! We are excited to announce that our sweet little boy finally has an official name! It took a lot of thought, and a lot of prayer, and a lot of talking it out but we are proud to say that our son's name will be.............................

Jonah Porter Forbess

Porter is a family name: it's David's dad's middle name. The tradition in his family is that the boys are named after their grandfather! Jonah came partly because we just really like the name! I also have always liked the story of Jonah. I think that we almost ALL have a time when we know what the Lord is calling us to do and choose to run in the opposite direction. How sweet it is to know that God doesn't just let us run, but loves us enough to throw us into the belly of a whale until we figure out that his plan is better than ours!! So that is his name!!

And I will leave you with a picture from 31 weeks (and 3 days):

Please take time to note the size of my ankles--they're huge! And this is NOT at their worst! It's a pride issue with me (I used to think I had cute feet--sigh). Anyway, thanks for reading! If you can, post any comments on the actual blog instead of on facebook--I think it would be fun to be able to look back and see what people said along the way!! Thanks!!

28 Weeks

Here is a quick update from 28 weeks (ok, more like 29.5 weeks):

At our 28 week appointment, I had to undergo the infamous "glucose test" and have some blood work done! Good news is that I passed my glucose test with flying colors!! But I was a little on the anemic side, so I have to start taking an iron supplement every day--No Biggie!! My blood pressure was fine, and he said my weight was fine. So here's an update on the baby:

Stats: He could be up to 17 inches tall (again, I'm not getting my hopes up for an NBA star) and could weight up to 3 pounds. I will say, that Dr. New measured his femur to be 29 weeks when he was 28 weeks 2 days--so at least so far, he's not vertically challenged?? His heart rate has come down a little and was about 155 bpm this time.

Development: He is starting to deposit more fat underneath his skin, which means we're getting rid of that saggy skin and he's starting to look less like a scary skeleton, and more like a baby! He's big enough that his kicks, karate chops, and flips are much more apparent; and he's not big enough to have limited space...yet. Baby is also starting to actually hit the REM cycle during sleep, so maybe he's dreaming about how sweet and happy he's going to be?!?! Finally, it's important to note that if our sweet little boy were to be born from this point forward, he's got a really great chance of doing just fine!!

Weight Gain: my oh my...again, I can't say for sure because Dr. New and his nurse don't tell me how much I've gained, but I think I'm somewhere in the realm of 18 pounds??

Pregnancy Symptoms: Ok, keep in mind that I'm writing this a couple of weeks late--I'm just a couple of days away from being 30 weeks. But seriously, I am NOT one of those people who enjoys being pregnant!! I am DYING OVER HERE!!! Sometimes I think our sweet baby boy is trying to kill me from the inside out! I haven't been able to breathe out of my nose for basically 6.5 months. I wake up all of the time during the night because I can't breathe or I'm tangled up in that silly body pillow, my back hurts so bad that no position is comfortable AT ALL, and I have heartburn like no other. I've been on two rounds of antiobiotics for sinus infections and I am currently so stopped up, my ears pop when I swallow; if my ears aren't popping, then they are so stopped up that I can hear the swooshing of my pulse in my left ear; and I'm coughing up a lung. It's disgusting, really--miserable!!!! And I'm having to take a lot of different OTC meds which really stresses me out. BUT, THE BEST FEELING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD IS FEELING OUR SWEET BABY BOY FLIPPING AROUND IN MY BELLY!! And I can feel him A LOT now...little feet or elbows or fists pushing out on each side. It's so fun to just sit and watch him squirm around!

Cravings: I looooove a big glass of cold milk at night before I go to sleep and I've developed a taste for pretzels (which is weird for me). I still really enjoy my blueberries and vanilla yogurt in the morning. And unfortunately, I've been wanting a lot of Dr. Pepper lately--YIKES!! I'm trying not to give into that one very often!

Maternity Clothes: Thank goodness for the full belly panel in your jeans--that's all that I can say!! I have gotten QUITE the round belly lately and it doesn't fit into anything!! I'm anxious to find some cheap, but cute-duh, dresses for when it starts getting warmer!

Nursery and Name: Welllll, the bedding is in and currently in the crib-but I'll have to take it out and wash it when it gets a little closer. We have a slight issue with how the bumper fits in the crib, but we're working it out. We're almost done registering, and I will be glad to say that it's done!! We have a few showers scheduled for April, and I'm super excited! In the name department, we have CHOSEN A NAME!! We are telling a few people at a time, and a big announcement will come soon! It's extremely intimidating to tell someone the name you have chosen for your child to have for the REST OF HIS LIFE!! So I'm slowly starting to share the news. Everyone will know soon enough.

So overall, everything is great--other than not feeling well at all--lol. But I know that this will all be worth it the very second I see this little boy and hold him in my arms. I can't wait--even though there's still a ton to do! I'll leave you with a picture at 28 weeks...don't judge!!

Crazy Winter 2011!!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to take a minute to document the Crazy Winter Storm of 2011, because I know that 10 years from now, people won't believe that the entire DFW area shut down for 4 days!! And I took some hilarious pictures of Preston that I wanted to post!

So it started in the EARLY morning hours of Tuesday February 1st: it sleeted for around 3 hours straight! We awoke that morning to 1.5-2.0 inches of ice on ALL of the roads in the area! Schools were cancelled throughout the metroplex (which means no work for me) and most business shut dow. I was somewhat excited about the idea of having a day off of work. I had no idea that it was the beginning of being locked in my house for almost 4 straight days!

On Wednesday, schools were still cancelled and David's office was still closed so he worked from home for the second day in a row. We did venture out Wednesday night to meet some friends for dinner because I was already going stir-crazy!

On Thursday, schools were still closed (which meant a one-day work week for me), but David did pack up and head to work on Thursday. I guess I should make a point of saying that even though there had been no precipitation since Tuesday morning, nothing was melting because it didn't get above 20 degrees until Saturday!

So overnight Thursday to Friday, DFW was blessed with 6-8 inches of snow ON TOP of the ice that was still covering the roads. So again, schools were cancelled! BUT, I had a continuing education course down in the Medical District at UTSW, so I left the house a little before 6 Friday morning to make it down there at 6:55 (the course was supposed to start at 7). A coworker of mine had called all morning to find out if it was cancelled--because EVERYTHING was shut down again--but no one answered. I checked my email after pulling into the parking lot, only to find an email sent at 6:57 saying that the 7:00 course was cancelled for the day. I was NOT happy. It took me another hour to drive back home and when I got home, there was another email saying that they were actually going to start at 11:00 that day. Needless to say, I didn't make another trip down there. So Friday was a beautiful day of peace, quiet, and snow in the metroplex. By Saturday afternoon, the temperatures had risen to the mid-40's and the sun was out so everything was much better by that afternoon!

It was a crazy, fun, adventurous week and other than exhausting my PTO supply, it was kind of fun! I'll leave you with some pictures:

A cute little bird in the tree:

Snow Ice Cream on Friday--YUMM!!

Snow the berries in the backyard:

Preston couldn't hold back the terrier in himself so he kept sniffing the snow which meant a face that often looked like this:

Super Preston!!!

Mom, it's in my eyes!!!
Preston The Ferocious LOVES the snow!!


Thanks for reading everyone!! Hope you all had some adventures during the crazy winter storm!!

Change of plans for dad....

Alright guys--thank you for sticking with me as we navigate this uncharted territory as far as dad's status goes. There is more to update as of this morning! I would have posted earlier, but I just sat down for the day--lots of little errands and things to do after work today. But you don't want to hear about that, so on to dad:
Dad does NOT have spend the week in the hospital after all. He found that out this morning. He will go to an infusion center monday-thursday of this week to receive 2 of the 4 chemo drugs. The other 2 will be administered through a computerized syringe that he can be hooked up to at home!! So he's still getting the same "treatment", he just doesn't have to be stuck at a hospital to do it. Another bonus to this set-up is that it allows dad to continue the radiation of his elbow with the same people that were doing it before. Now, regarding the chemo drugs he will be on: they are the same protocol treatment that would be done for any soft tissue cancer of the GI-ish systems (ie. pancreatic, stomach, liver, esophagus, etc). That's what I understand at least. He will then have approx. 2 weeks off before repeating the cycle (if all goes as they are planning). I don't want to share certain details because dad hasn't necessarily wanted to divulge everything (and I definitely want to respect that), but his doctor gave him some insight into the odds of dad responding well to this treatment. While, we would love for them to say there is a 100% or even a 95% chance of this taking care of what's going on, that's just not realistic. But dad did say that he felt encouraged by the odds, and felt more positive and uplifted than he had in a while. So that's great--I love to hear dad say he is feeling "good" or "better" about ANYTHING these days!
Another thing contributing to dad feeling better today is the new anti-nausea meds that they started him on today. They wanted to get him started on something as he was beginning a new chemo cocktail, and so far it has made him feel SO MUCH BETTER today than he had been for weeks. In fact, he ate smoked turkey from Rudy's BBQ and cobbler for lunch, ANNNNND (drumroll please), when I talked to him tonight, he was eating chicken fried steak from Home Plate Diner with green beans and mom was making him a Coconut Cream Pie at his request! We'll see if he regrets these decisions tomorrow! I'm just glad he has an appetite for SOMETHING! Please pray in complete faith that the Lord will use these new drugs in a mighty mighty way to obliterate the cancer! Thank you all SO SO SO SO SO SO much for continuing to check-up on us and pray for our family! We feel tremendously blessed to be surrounded by such a faithful and God-trusting community! Much love to each of you from all of the Hyde/Forbess clan!