So, eventually I’ll get around to doing a post about how awesome my new baby is (here is a link to pictures), but for now, I only have time for a few questions for you.

Facts: Abigail is 25 months old and weighs 25 lbs.  She is still: in a crib, wears diapers, and eats in a high chair.

Questions: Did any of you have a similar situation with having a toddler, after having a c-section?  I’m wondering: how am I supposed to take care of Abigail when I’m not supposed to pick her up???  Seriously, I’ll need to pick her up out of her crib in the morning.  I’ll need to pick her up to change her diapers.  I’ll need to pick her up to have her eat lunch.  I’ll need to pick her up to put her in her crib for a nap and pick her up after her nap is over.  How is this going to work??

I haven’t picked her up since the night before the c-section, but that’s because Jonathan has been here all day with us.  He’s supposed to be going back to work on Thursday.

How long did your husbands stay home with you after delivery (especially c sections)?  Jonathan could still ask off for Thursday and Friday; would that buy me some time?

I wish I had my Piedade (our wonderful maid in Brasil) here to help out!

Okay, okay, here are a few pictures (Find more here):

UPDATE: Wow, thanks everyone for all your suggestions in the comments section!  They make me not so overwhelmed.

We want to wait to convert Abi’s crib to a toddler bed after Lydia starts sleeping 8+ hours at night (just in case, Lydia might disturb Abi enough for Abi to get out of her bed).  BUT, Abigail’s crib has a drop side, so I practiced today (with Jonathan, next to me) moving a chair next to the crib, dropping the side, and letting Abi climb in and out of the crib.  She did great!

As far as diaper changes, I think we’ll try them on the couch, since it will be hard for me to get up and down from the floor.

And I’m still not sure about the high chair.  Maybe we can try a seat the sits on a chair, so I can still strap her in.

Anyway, thanks for all your suggestions!

So, it’s been another busy week for me, full of multiple appointments every single day.

Anyway, I got the results back from my 2nd Bile Acid Test (the first one I had is what diagnosed me with Cholestasis), and it showed that my levels were within normal range!  Of course, they’ll have to test me again later this week.  I’ve been stuck so many times, it’s ridiculous.

But we were so happy to hear that the Bile Acid in my blood is within normal range.  Praise God!  I know so many of you have been praying for me and Baby, and that’s been a huge blessing.  Also, about 6 Elders from our church and 4 of their wives came over last week to pray over our family.  Thank you God for hearing everyone’s prayers.

Yesterday, I had a Non Stress Test, and during it, Baby was a bit sluggish and not moving much.  The technician came in and “buzzed” my belly with a sound wave thingy “to wake up Baby”, and all the sudden Baby started moving like crazy.  Poor thing was scared!  Baby’s heartbeat went up in 188 beats per minute; the highest I’d ever seen.  Normally, it stays around 133 until Baby starts moving, and then, it’ll go up to 150s.  So, 188 was crazy to see.

Anyway, my Perinatologist is “very ill (was admitted to the hospital) and won’t be in for at least this whole week.”  But he still would want me to have an Amnio if I delivered this week.  No thank you!

Today, I had an OB appointment, and she wrote me my “orders” for the hospital.  Unless something goes badly during this week, we will meet our Baby next week.  And don’t think you can come rob our house, which is what happened to a blogger friend during her hospital stay, because we will have our family staying here.

For the rest of this week, I’ll see the Gallbladder surgeon, do another NST, have another blood draw, and probably something else.

Oh and last Friday, I got my Braces off!  Only had them for 14 months this time!  But now, at night, I have to wear this psycho retainer that is connected in the back and doesn’t let me open my mouth.  It hurts, too.

Anyway, thanks for prayers.  Keep them coming.  And here’s a picture of my beautiful toddler!  Gorgeous, right?!

So, I briefly mentioned in my last post that an ultrasound showed that I have gallstones and sludge (still not sure what that means; anyone know?).  And I’ve been told it’s “common” in pregnancies, so I thought I’d ask if any of you ladies have had gallstones, specifically during pregnancy.

But, regardless, I wanna hear from those who have had gallstones or had their gallbladders removed (with or without being pregnant, male or female).  I’d just like to know what to expect.

My OB said that since I’m not experiencing any “attacks” that the gallbladder won’t have to be taken out soon after delivery (and for sure not between now and then).  She did say that since I’m young, though, that it is very likely that I will, at some point, need to have my gallbladder removed.  So, she’s going to set me up with a specialist sometime postpartum, just to establish a doctor-patient relationship, in case I do start to have big problems with it.

So, have you had gallstones?  Did you have your gallbladder removed?  Are you having bad side effects from the removal?  Any way you can pass the stones?

Here’s the most recent news of the Cholestasis stuff:

Wednesday

Abigail had her two year check up (I’ll try to do a small post about that later) in the morning.  And that afternoon, I had another steroid injection.  Zero fun.

Thursday

They called with the results of my Liver Function test.  The nurse said that it was abnormal and some levels were high, so they wanted me to do a Hepatic Ultrasound (I think it was specifically to check my liver).

Friday

Early this morning, I had the Hepatic Ultrasound.  Here are the results: “several micro-calculi with some sludge in the gallbladder . . . There are stones and sludge in the gallbladder . . . normal appearing liver and pancreas.”  Gallstones?!  UGH.  Has anyone had this?  Anyone during pregnancy?  During cholestasis of pregnancy?  The nurse told me this, and all she really said was that they probably won’t deal with it while I’m pregnant.  So, I don’t know what the next step for that will be.

After that, I had another Non Stress Test, and Baby moved well.

Next Week I will have . . .

• two days of Non Stress Tests
• another blood draw to check the Bile Acids Level
• an appointment with Dr. Devine (can’t wait to see her!)
• two days of Orthodontic appointments
• and whatever else they’ll throw at me

All that and needing to take care of Abigail and do daily housewife duties and prepare for Baby.  I have no idea how I can get everything done.  Soooo, you can pray for my stress level and sleep (I can’t sleep) and discomfort and itching and most of all, Baby’s safety.  Thanks!

I didn’t really want to make this a public issue, but I also don’t want to have to explain the situation a hundred times, so I’ll tell you what’s going on.

Last Week

So last week, I started itching all over.  I figured it was weather related, or if it was pregnancy related, there wasn’t a problem.  But at my OB check up last Thursday, when I told the OB about the itching, she asked me several questions.  At the end of the questions, she said, “Okay, we need to do a blood test to see if you might have Cholestasis. . . If you do, it could be very high risk for Baby.  You can take a look at itchymoms.com . . .”

So, I went home and looked at the website.  It scared me, and on that day and Friday, I thought, “I definitely have this.”  Saturday and Sunday, though, I felt better with the itching and thought, “I don’t have Cholestasis.”

What’s Cholestasis (ICP)

It’s a rare pregnancy disease; only occurs in 1 out of 1,000 pregnancies.  From what I understand, bile is made in your Liver and should empty into your Gallbladder.  With ICP, the bile either moves slowly or doesn’t move at all and causes build up, so it empties into your bloodstream.  Thus, the bile salts in your blood cause an internal itching and is basically toxic to Baby.  “ICP poses several risks that are of great concern. ICP is associated with an increased risk for infant stillbirth (intrauterine death of baby), premature labor, fetal distress, and hemorrhaging in both mother and child.”  So, the goal is to get Baby out not much later than 37 weeks.

Tuesday Morning

Well, yesterday, I got a call from my OB’s nurse who said,  “Your bible acid levels were elevated, so we’re going to send you to the Perinatologist (a high risk pregnancy OB) to do a Non Stress Test (aka, NST).”  I asked if I’d be able to speak to the Perinatologist, or if I’d only deal with his nurses.  She said just the nurses.  Then, I said, “Okay, since my OB is out of the office all week, could I speak to one of her associate doctors?”  The nurse said, “We reserve contacting them for emergencies.”  Ummmm, what the heck, lady.  My baby could die inside of me; that’s not an emergency?!  Needless to say, she made my cry (all the while, Abigail is saying, “Mommy’s sad.  Momma, are you crying?  Oh, Mommy, you need a Kleenex?”).  After a little more discussion with her, I got off the phone because she was not helpful; she didn’t even know how to pronounce the disease, and I’m sure I’m more educated about it than she is.

I called Jonathan, my mom, and my dad to update them.  My mom asked if she could call the nurse to give her a piece of her mind.  Jonathan said he coming home from work and later told me he was about to go up to the office and chew the nurse out.  Oh boy.  Thank goodness that right as he got home, my OB (whom we love!) called me.

She said she’s dealt with this before, and the outcome has always been good.  Only once was the baby put in NICU.  The babies tend to have feeding issues, but she gave the impression that she had never delivered a still birth from Cholestasis.  She told me she texted the Perinatologist that he needed to come in and meet with me when I had the NST.  She also answered a lot of my questions.  She’s an amazingly, intelligent, kind Christian, and we trust her very much.

Tuesday Afternoon

I went in and did the NST; Baby moved great.

Then the Perinatologist came in and answered all my questions and gave me tons of info:

• I was told I’ll be coming in twice a week to do NSTs.  If Baby keeps moving well, and everything else seems to look well, the longest I could go is 38 weeks.  If things end up not so good, 36 weeks is when they’d take Baby (this is next week!).
• I got a steroid injection to hopefully help Baby’s lungs mature, but I’m on the borderline of when steroids stop being effective.  The nurse said, “This is going to burn like the dickens.”  She wasn’t kidding.  Holy petes; it kept burning for around an hour or so, and it’s still tender.  Jonathan said the needle was incredibly long; ewww.  She also said the ‘roids would probably keep me wide awake– yea, considering I already have the worst sleeping ever.
• They did a Sonogram, and Baby looked great.  The estimated weight is already 6 lb, 11 oz.  All of Baby’s measurements were the size of a 37-38 weeks Baby in utero.  The placenta isn’t in Grade 3 yet (which is what happened with Abigail at 35 weeks and one of the reasons why they took her two weeks early), so that’s great.  It looked as if Baby won’t have much hair.  Thanks a lot Jonathan’s genes.
• I had to take another blood test to test for Liver Function.
• I got a prescription for Ursodiol.  It will hopefully help with the itching and move the bile salts into the GallBlader- rather than the bloodstream.

To those who’ve been praying

Thanks soooooo much.  I think my itching had lessened due to your petitions to our God.  Keep it up.  I really don’t care about the itching so much (even though it is very uncomfortable/painful); I just want to be able to see my Baby and watch Baby grow into a toddler/child/teen/adult.

To those who have/had Cholestasis

Please let me know who you are if you come across this.  I’d like to know more about it, and I’d like to try and help you if you’re going through it.

Jonathan and I were blessed to have a Babymoon weekend.  After Jonathan got home from work on Friday, we took Miss Abi to my parents’ house.  They were kind enough to watch her all day/night from Friday until Sunday church.  That was the longest time I’ve been away from her.

Instead of traveling 4 hours to my parents’ condo in the mountains, which was covered with snow, we decided to stay at our house.  Here were our rules: no cell phones (except to say goodnight to Abigail), no computer usage (except to watch hulu shows together), and we said we’d be able to spend the amount we would’ve spent on gasoline ($100) on going out to eat and doing other fun things.

So, Friday night, we ate at Carino’s.  This has been an eventful place for us.  It’s where we had our first date, where I told Jonathan we were pregnant with Baby #2, and the place from where I ended up getting really sick the last two times I’ve eaten there (my Birthday in December and Babymoon weekend).  So, I will not be partaking in their food for the next several months– if ever again.  Ugh.  I’m 31 weeks; when will the vomiting end?!  Anyway, after that, we rented a movie, and I explained the rules to our Valentine’s project for the year (instructions and pictures here).

On Saturday, Jonathan made me breakfast in bed: Butterscotch and White Chocolate chip pancakes!  Yum.  Then, we relaxed around the house until noon when we went out to eat at Taco Bueno.  After that, we looked at the Dollar Store to get Abigail some Vday gifts, then I got a pedicure and manicure while Jonathan got his hair cut next door.  Later, we ate dinner at Garcia’s and had the best waiter ever!  We came home and watched shows on Hulu.

On Sunday, we saw our sweet girl at church.  Daddy got a homemade card from Abigail, I got a red rose and sweet card from Jonathan, and Abigail got some flash cards, two books, and Reeses’ Pieces.  Later that night, we made a fruit dip and ate strawberries (recipe to come later).  Apparently, Abigail adores strawberries now.

Anyway, in case you didn’t know, I have the best husband for me.  I’m so glad we were blessed to spend our 8th V-day together.

Sorry for being the worst blogger, again.  We were on Thanksgiving vacation from Wednesday-Saturday (pictures to come later).  And since we’ve been back home, I’ve had to catch up on laundry, do regular household things, and finish up my Christmas shopping.  I still have a few Christmas sewing/making jobs left, but at least I don’t have to shop!

About the pregnancy: I’m feeling Baby move a lot more for the past week or so.  In fact, Baby’s moving now.  Last week, I started feeling better with the nausea/vomiting.  Since I felt good for more than 3 days, I thought, ‘I’m better finally.’  And then, Monday happened.  UGH.  Definitely not over the all day sickness.  The past three days have not been fun.  Please, please God make me better!  Okay, sorry about the whining . . .

Picture of Baby #2 at 13 weeks

I am now 20 weeks along, and knowing how my previous pregnancy went, it probably means I’m more than half way done!  Yea!

So, next Tuesday is the big Sonogram.  The one where we could find out the gender.  We’re still debating about whether or not to find out.  What do you think- objectively?

My cousin Katie got me thinking that it’d be fun to wait until delivery day to find out.  If we already had babies of each gender, I would so wait until delivery day.  But, I’m not sure since we wouldn’t have boy stuff if Baby is a boy.  And then, I thought since this is probably going to be our last baby, it might be fun to be surprised.

Either way, I think surprises are fun, so we’re thinking we might not let anyone know regardless of whether or not we find out.  Is this rude?

How did you decide whether or not to find out Baby’s gender?  Specifically, to those of you who waited, are you glad you did?

Another question: We took Abigail to Baby #2’s first sonogram, but we’re not sure if we should take her to this one.  We want it to be special, and it was hard the first time, because we were constantly having to answer Abigail’s questions/comments.  Also, we were wanting Jonathan to video record Baby’s movement on the monitor.  So, did you take your older kid(s) to your new baby’s sonograms?

Abigail at 20 weeks

The other night, as I was leaning over the trash can by my bed, I heard Jonathan say softly, “Try to keep it down.”

I thought he was referring to the stuff that was coming up out of my mouth.  I thought, “Aww, how sweet; he’s concerned, and wants me not to vomit.”

Then, he said, “Shhh.”

WHAT!  “I’m throwing up.”

“Oh, well, try to be quiet, please.”

I knew he was talking in his sleep because normally, he’ll turn on his lamp if he hears me throwing up after we’ve gotten into bed.  And when I told him about this conversation in the morning, he didn’t remember it.

So, yes, I’m still vomiting and feeling nauseated 90% of the time.  [Sidenote: For those of you who haven't had kids though, don't let this keep you from it.  I'm one of the rare ones.]  I’m still around 8 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight, and yet I’m growing a bigger belly more quickly than I did with Abigail.

I’m 16 weeks now.  Yesterday, Baby’s heartbeat was 152 beats per minute.  I think I felt some movement last night, but I’m ready for it to be the point where I feel Baby consistently.  Abi moved alllll day/night long, which might be why she’s so active now?

After talking with my OB yesterday, I got on the list to get the H1N1 shot, so they’ll call if when/if they have enough.

I had planned on doing a post last Tuesday (which didn’t happen) and then today on how to make baby burp cloths, but seeing as how I’m STILL pregnancy sick, I cannot gather the energy to do that.

Instead, I will solicit your help . . .

I’m trying to be informed about the flu and swine flu vaccines, so I can make a good decision for me, my unborn child, and Abigail.  I hear conflicting “evidence” as to the safety/harm of it all.

My OB said I should get the flu shot, but she didn’t mention the H1N1 shot, specifically.  I got the seasonal flu shot last year to try to protect Abigail and ended up getting flu symptoms four days later only for a day.  I predict that would happen again this time if I get the shot, but I wonder if that’s safe for baby if I show symptoms for a day?

And Abi hasn’t had her flu shot yet because they’re always out.

We live in Texas where 5151 people have been infected and 27 have died, as reported on July 24.  And it’s only gotten worse since then.  Two of Jonathan’s co-workers kids got swine flu and my hair dresser’s (who cuts hair in her home) daughter had it WHEN I WENT OVER THERE TO GET MY HAIR CUT . . . WITH ABIGAIL!  Ahh, thank goodness we didn’t get sick.  So, it’s not like it is not gonna get close to me.

Anyway, what’s your opinion on getting either shots?  Especially if you have  toddlers or are a pregnant, too, let me know.

So I’m a little slow these days getting posts up; sorry.  You might be slow, too, if you spent 100% of the day being nauseated and throwing up about 3x a day.  So, in case you didn’t get Abigail’s hint on Friday, I’m pregnant.  But I’ll talk about that later in many other posts, I’m sure.  It’s Abby time . . .

Here are some changes we’ve seen in Abigail over the past month:

• She loves to spin around.  She twirls in circles probably 10 different times during the day.  It’s fun to watch her get dizzy; she laughs at herself.
• She also likes to jump, and she’s getting better with throwing balls.  Sabra is finally playing fetch with her.  She’s already really precise with kicking a soccer ball (YEA!).
• She’s got at least 14 teeth.
• She’s becoming more of a Daddy’s Girl (yea!).  Because I’m not able to do much these days, Jonathan does 100% of her diaper changes, baths, etc when he’s home.  So, Abi’s going to him more when she wants a book read or wants a song played.
• She says pretty much every word we say.  She puts together 4-5 word sentences.
• She doesn’t want to get her picture taken much anymore because she wants to “watch” the digital screen on the camera instead.  You’ll see this in two of the video clips I put in her 18th Month Movie.
• She’s getting into stickers.  She’ll point to the one she wants and say, “Want this a one please”, and I’ll get it off for her.
• When she wants us to chase her, she’ll say, “I got you . . . bah, bah, bah, . . .”
• She’s wanting to be more independent: like in her eating (not wanting us to spoon/fork the food and give it to her).  And yet, she also wants to still be the baby: like in the last few weeks, she wants to be held more instead of her walking by herself.
• She sees friends–not just family– and calls them by name, without us having to say their name.

Well, here’s her 18th Month Movie below: