The Time Has Come...

Update on the pregnancy -- after mulling this over for the last week, I have come to terms with the inevitable: BED REST. It's time. Much harder this go-around for a lot of different reasons:

1. With Jake, it was an emergency situation and I had to go on bed rest ASAP or risk him being born super early. This time, it is more of a preventative measure so I have to be the one disciplined enough to pick a day and do it. Heck of a lot easier said than done.
2. In the middle of a huge project at work that I am the manager for.
3. Have little man Jake running around the house!
(BTW, those are in no particular order...)

And don't get me wrong, of course I am ridiculously concerned for the well-being of unborn little man and want to do everything I can to make sure he stays safe and secure for A LOT longer. But such a drastic change to your everyday life is hard to get a handle on. I HATE HATE HATE asking other people to do stuff for me, especially things like taking care of my child, doing my laundry, and cooking. Those are my responsibilities and I enjoy doing those things. Taking away the joys of hands-on parenting of Jake is definitely the hardest part about it all. It is unfathomably tough to not be able to pick up your child when he craves his mommy's arms. (*sniffle*)

Yet we need to do whatever we have to to make sure the newest addition isn't born too early. Living with the guilt of a baby born too soon and having to stay in the NICU for months, and heaven forbid, have developmental issues or lung problems would be much worse than the frustration we'll go through over the next 4 months to make it to May. I suppose I should look on the bright side that Jake isn't going to remember any of this :-)

My next check-up is a week from today (7th) and I know my doctor will discuss bed rest with me again so in preparation for that, I am going to start bed rest next week. If all continues to go well with the pregnancy and things stay shut and long (those who have been through it known what I mean!) then I will go in to the office one day a week for project meetings. My other days will be spent with my feet up, laying on my left side, glued to my trusty laptop. Thank goodness for being able to work from home. And a quadruple thank goodness for having the world's most supportive boss who isn't giving something like this a second thought. (Well we'll confirm that in March when it is bonus and raise time, haha!)

We're very fortunate that Allison is going to stay with us until the baby is born. She will be a godsend to helping take care of the dogs and Jake in the evenings and on the weekends. And of course all of the other family and friends we have in the area whom I know I can always count on. I don't know what we would do otherwise.

For now, 21 weeks and counting down to 37....!

Jake's Christmas Present from Daddy

The hit of the holiday!

'Twas the Night Before XMas - The Funny Version

Okay, this is a must see if you want something to tickle your funny bone! About halfway through listening to Jake's bear read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, we realized how fascinated & scared Mosley was of the talking bear. Jake about fell out of his chair laughing hysterically at Mosley jumping around.

'Twas the Night Before XMas - The Original Version

'Twas the Night Before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...

But Jake and Daddy still were! Here is the original version of Jake listening to 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Don't worry, we only got about halfway through when Jake decided to stop the talking bear and start it all over again!

Growing up, my dad would always read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to my brother and I right before we put out cookies for Santa and carrots and celery for the reindeer, and went to bed. So it's a tradition at our house for Paul to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to Jake before bed.

20 Week Update

We've made it to the halfway point in the pregnancy! It feels like the time has gone by so fast and yet so slow at the same time -- fast in that it's weird to say I am 5 months pregnant now and slow because of how yucky I felt for a couple months.

Had my 20 week check-up with my regular OB today. The last time I saw him was 4 weeks ago, right before Thanksgiving. Everything is still looking good with the stitches he put in and my cervix has remained tightly closed. The baby is doing well -- good heartbeat, growing well -- the last two sonograms showed everything looked healthy, including the fetal echocardiagram (detailed scan of the baby's heart).

So on to the bed rest topic.... the ever daunting topic that I never want to discuss. Keep in mind that none of this is a surprise because I knew my doctor felt this way about this pregnancy all along. The medical guidance on cerclage + bed rest has changed over the decades -- 70's said that if you need a cerclage, you sure as heck should be on bed rest too; 80's said a cerclage should be good enough and bed rest is only needed in extreme cases; 90's went back to the school of thought that the combination of cerclage and bed rest was best for carrying a baby to full term; and now, it's a little combination of both. My doctor said he feels good about the stitches and doesn't see anything to cause much alarm, but thinks that we're better to be safe than sorry and would prefer that I be on bed rest. Especially during these next critical 6 weeks where if the baby were to be born, the chances of survival are so slim (but let's not think about that...). So he asked me if me going on bed rest would cause any financial hardship or issues with job security. I am fortunate enough to be able to say no to those questions since I can either work from home or take disability through work. He said he'd like me to talk to my boss and see what we can work out so I can try to spend as much time on bed rest as possible and we also agreed that I would come back in two weeks for another check-up to see how things are going. So, more to come on all of this.

On another note, the Gunning household has been plagued with sickness, but luckily we're all getting better now before the holidays. Poor Jakey had croup again last week and a lingering cold that is now clearing up. Everyone else (including Jake) was hit with the fun 24 hour stomach flu... Better to get it all out of our systems now! This seems to be a bad winter for sickness. Seems like everyone we know has had a flu-type virus in one form or another. Hope everyone is better in time for Christmas!!

Jake -- The Working Man!

Jake was kind enough to offer to do my work for me today!! (Take note note of his lovely General Dynamics badge!!)

Rudolph the Red Nosed Jakey!

Jakey was helping me wrap presents this morning :-)

Our Christmas Spirit!

These pictures are from Jakey and I before our first holiday party together. He was such a handsome date!

Then the tuckered out little man on the way home.... it was a very fun and eventful evening for him! Most of the evening was spent wandering from person to person with a chocolate chip cookie in either hand!

Chloe's Piano Recital

As the proud aunt, I had to post this video! This past Saturday we went to Chloe's Christmas piano recital at her church. She played 'Rockin Around the Christmas Tree' and I must say, I was very impressed!! She is darn good. Way to go Chloe!!

Nana, Daddy, Aunt Allison, Aunt Gretchen, and Jacob were also there in full force to support! (I must also give Jakey a shout out for being so good... He pretty much sat there for 3/4 of the recital without making much of a peep!)

Drum Roll Please......

It is...... a BOY!!

Can you believe it?!? I thought for sure it was going to be a little girl, but the chromosomes had something else in mind! No question about it either, BG2's boy parts made a very distinct appearance during the ultrasound. I won't lie, I was kind of looking forward to decorating the nursery in pinks and greens and yellows, and buying cute little girl dresses. BUT, having another little boy is going to be a lot of fun. I can't wait to see Jake with his little brother and hopefully they will grow up being best friends. Maybe we'll get a girl on try # 3?? :-) Maybe we will wait and see how the rest of this pregnancy goes first!! Great news is that everything looked healthy with the baby, and that is a huge relief. No matter what the sex, Paul and I are so incredibly blessed to have two healthy babies.

This may sound weird but the profile pictures of BG2 look just like Jake at this point during the pregnancy -- same facial features. I can't wait to see how much they look alike!

Entertaining a 16 Month Old...

Sometimes there isn't anything better than a U.S. Mail bin to keep you occupied. Just ask Jake!

We also dress up in dresses courtesy of Aunt Allison (sorry, Paul....):



We run around naked after bath time:

And we climb in and out of toy bins!

Very easy to keep this kid happy!

Christmas Time at the Gunnings

This year Paul promised me that he would decorate our house with lights. He didn't disappoint. Of course it looks more spectacular in person but here is the front of our house decorated with our lights galore. We got the tree up and decorated last night too. So much fun! Now we just have to have people over to enjoy it!

Poll Closed!

For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the grand unveiling of BG2's gender, tomorrow is the big day! The poll is now closed and we ended up with the following results:

8 votes for a boy (38%)
13 votes for a girl (61%)

I am pretty sure that Paul kept voting for a boy so the results might be skewed a bit (just kidding!).

So now we all just have to hope that BG2 will let us see between the legs. Don't worry, I am sure that if you read this blog, you will get a text message or a phone call after we find out but I will also post an update about the entire appointment tomorrow. Because after all, the important point of this appointment is that we check baby bop from head to toe to make sure all is well and healthy. And that's what really matters. More to come!

Whoah.....

And to think.... I am worried about how it will be with taking care of just TWO children!!
Twins, Twins, and Sextuplets
Amazing!

XMas Tree Trip!

We went out to The Plains today to get our Christmas tree and take some pictures. ohmygoodness it was freeeeezing! Cold doesn't even begin to describe it. It was in the low 30's all day but the wind was frigid and made it feel like it was in the single digits. Still, we got to pet some baby farm animals, see Santa, and pick out a HUGE Christmas tree. We made it a fun family day with the three of us plus Nick, Chloe, Gretchen, & Allison. More pictures to come but here are a few for now :-)

Moving and a Groovin'

Within the last couple of days I have started to feel little BG2 moving around! It's comparable to feeling popcorn kernels pop inside of your belly. Very subtle little movements but they are there! So funny to me that at 16/17 weeks I have felt this baby move but with Jake, I wasn't convinced that I felt him moving until I was practically 24 weeks pregnant! Ha ha, I think with Jake I was waiting for some huge kick out of him to know it was real.

Pregnancy Update: I had my post-op check-up the day before Thanksgiving. My doctor is really happy with the results of the cerclage procedure and said I could be off bed rest for at least 4 more weeks. I go back in at 20 weeks (right before XMas) for another check-up and from there he said it is just taking it appointment by appointment. He said they really don't worry too much about anything happening now (between 16 and 20 weeks) but it's at 20 weeks and beyond that they will monitor much more closely for any changes to the cervix to indicate preterm labor. He told me (again!) just to really take it as easy as possible - no lifing over 20 pounds (easier said than done with a 25 pound 16 month old!), no exercise, limit physical activity, yadda yadda. No 6 hour long shopping trips (good thing I do my shopping online anyway)!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This was a special Thanksgiving for us because the two families celebrated together for the first time -- mine and Paul's. We're very thanksful that our two families are so close and get along so well. It makes for a very enjoyable holiday season for all :-) Jake had a blast with all of the activity and people to visit with, but he didn't pig out on turkey and mashed potatoes like the rest of us! He was more interested in walking around than being confined to his booster seat to eat. But we did capture a couple candid shots of him!

Arriving at grandma's!

Handsome Thanksgiving outfit :-)

Take a picture of me, plllllleeeassee! (loves the camera)

Relaxing after all of the festivities in his jammies.

And couldn't resist adding in a picture of mommy's belly AFTER Thanksgiving dinner :-) Hopefully this will help to start gaining some pounds!!

Yes, that is at 16 weeks. What they say about getting bigger faster with the second one is true!

Congratulations, Sara & Jason!

I have to give a shout out to one of my very best friends, Sara, who got engaged last night!! I know that she and Jason will be happy together for many, many years to come. And I can't wait for the planning and the wedding!!

Jake & His New Friends

Last weekend Jake had a double treat of meeting: Riley, granddaughter of Jake's grandmother's (Kathy's) very dear friend and Owen, Jake's 3rd cousin (pretty sure that is the relation there!!).

Riley is 12 months old and she and Jake just had the best time playing with each other. Jake gave her several big hugs so I think it might be destiny in the works.... oh did I mention that Riley and Jake were already betrothed to one another by their grandparents?!?!

Here they are having lunch together.... their first date! (That's pregnant mommy in the background.) They certainly enjoyed sharing their food, juice, and milk with each other!

Owen is just about 6 weeks old but Jake was interested in visiting with the little baby..... for a couple seconds :-) He was more interested in trying to climb in mommy's lap while she was holding the baby!

This is Owen with his mommy, Anna.

Hail to the Redskins!

Okay maybe it was a not so graceful loss to the Cowboys, but we're still 7-4 and that's nothing to be ashamed of! Jake has been getting in to the spirit this season and he wanted to show you!

He Talks!

Over the last couple of months, I have thought about Jake talking and when he was going to start spewing out words and phrases and sentences..... like, "Mo, No!" and "More Juice!". I have never worried about his progress with talking or brought it up as a concern with his doctor because (1) he is a boy and boys tend to take a little longer to talk, (2) he is a 6 week preemie, (3) he babble talks all day long, and (4) he will do it when he is good and ready! But of course as the doting mom that I am, I secretly hoped that he wouldn't have any speech/talking/developmental problems.

As my mom and I sat on the bed today and watched Jake crawl down off the side, he looked up at us and waved and said "bye bye" and at that moment, I realized that we have nothing to fear. Our little boy is talking his own language every day and is beginning to make the transition to our language so we can understand each other.

Then he walked over to Mosley who was chewing on a ball and said, "ball".

Phew, smart kid :-)

Surgery Update

The cerclage surgery was yesterday and it went well. My doctor said he "felt good about it" so here's to hoping I am waddling around still in May! I went under general anesthesia and the good thing was it was quick and I was back at home in just a couple of hours. Bad news is that it did a number on my body... I have been under anesthesia before and had the spinal epidural when I had Jake and never had a bad reaction to any of that. This time was just a tad different - actually, I have never been so sick before in my life. Luckily that only lasted about 12 hours and I have a bit of an appetite back today. The worst part about today is being so sore that I can barely move -- not from the surgery mind you, but from the anesthesia's aftermath. I am sure you can imagine why. Plus the tube they put down my throat when I was under the anesthesia did a number on making my throat and neck sore. But enough of that! Baby is good, I am good, and resting comfortably at home. I am on bed rest for a week but am able to work from home and have family helping out with Jakers. It goes without saying, but I am very appreciative of all of the texts and phone calls that I have gotten to wish me well and offering to help. It never ceases to amaze me that I have such a tremendous support network. I don't know what I would do without that!

Night, Night Jakey!

Jake loves rocking in his chair before bedtime! He and daddy are spending the night together all by themselves tonight because mommy is out of town at a meeting for work. (I think they secretly love that boy time together!)

Welcome to the 2nd Trimester!

We've made it! One trimester down, two more to go... So this is when I should start getting energy back, feeling a little better (normal, perhaps?), yadda yadda. Let's hope so. I can't deny that I have been feeling a little bit better but I still have good days and bad days. My pre-op appointment was yesterday.... surgery is a week from today. Baby bop is looking good! She/he is about 3 1/2 inches long now and the size of a lemon. Heartbeat was great and I could see the little legs kicking around (haven't felt the baby move yet). The placenta is laying a little low but my doctor said he wasn't too concerned about that as it usually corrects itself as the pregnancy progresses. The cervix is still looking good and is closed, so one week of bed rest after surgery and then he will let me do my thing until 21/22 weeks and we'll reevaluate. Here's to hoping that I can be big and fat and still waddling around at the end of the pregnancy :-)

Jake & Chloe

Last weekend Jake's cousin, Chloe, came for a sleepover with us (she is my younger brother's 6 year old daughter). She was such a huge help with Jakers. The two of them adore each other! I have never seen Jake so content as he was when Chloe was in the rec room playing with him and his toys. I could actually go in to the kitchen for like 5 minutes without him looking for me! They look a bit related, yes? Those Grant genes are STRONG!!

New BG2 Pics

In the last two weeks I feel like I have had like 12 more ultrasounds. Okay, maybe only 3 more but here are some of the newest photos!

First one shows the big head. Second one shows the baby's profile from the side. Third one shows the little one waving at mommy! And the last one is a 3D ultrasound looking at the baby from the top down. That's our little baby!!

Happy Birthday Paul!

It's the BIG 3-0 today!! I hope that you are as proud of yourself and your accomplishments as I am and as the rest of your family is. You have a lot to celebrate today! We love you!!

Jake's Nummy Nums

Okay this was TOO funny not to share! We all know how much Jake LOVES his nummys... they are his security blanket. Well the other morning he must have found like 5 nummys in his room because I caught him walking around with one in his mouth and two in each hand!

Halloween at Work

The ladies (and Jon) from the 7th floor got in to the spirit this year and we celebrated the holiday in style!

Belle: Jen
Snow White: Judy
Cinderella: Jenn
Sleeping Beauty: Abby
Poision Ivy: Jydonne
Dwight (from The Office): Jon

Jake's Halloween

Jake's second Halloween! He was a little more interactive this year. Some of you will recall last year and his blob status as a 3 month old dressed as Pooh Bear who sat in his car seat while mommy passed out candy :-) Daddy took Jake trick or treating to the neighbors' houses and Jake had a thrilling good time digging through the bowls of candy. I think his favorite part was seeing all of the little kids come to the door though. He LOVES other kids. The monkey costume was cute but he hates things on his head, hands, and feet, so the body part of the costume was the only one that really stayed on. Here are a couple candid shots that we managed to grab!

Cox Farms Trip

BG2 Update

For those who don't know, we called Jacob "BG" (for Baby Gunning) before he was born. Our new little bug has thus been given the nickname "BG2"!

I went to the doctor last week for another check-up and the little baby blob was measuring about a week bigger than we originally thought so my doctor changed my due date to May 12th and he said that is what he is finally settling on. I will be 12 weeks along tomorrow. I go in for another ultrasound and some blood work this Thursday (just routine stuff). It's a lot of fun to watch the little one twist around and kick its arms and legs! The baby blob is doing really well though - nice big head, looks like an alien, and luckily there is only one of them!

We find out if it's a boy or a girl on December 10th! I am so excited to find out before Christmas!! (I think it's a girl, but we shall see...)

Because of the preterm labor complications that I had with Jakers and him being born 6 weeks early, I am having a procedure done this time called a cerclage and that is scheduled for November 19th. This surgery gives me a better chance of carrying to term this time. I have to be on bed rest for a week or so after the surgery (luckily its the week before Thanksgiving) and then afterwards it's just kind of a wait and see thing. The worst case scenario is being on bed rest starting around 20 weeks (end of December..... yikes) but Paul and I knew all of this and the risks going in to the second pregnancy. Nothing that we could do would change the risks and we definitely knew we wanted to have more children. Luckily with a lot of close monitoring, this surgery, and possible bed rest, we have a very good chance of making it to at least 37 weeks. I'm nervous, scared, and excited all at the same time. Luckily I have the BEST family, friends, co-workers, boss, and daycare provider who are 100 % supportive and behind me the whole way.

So the tough part has been that this pregnancy has been a little rougher so far than the first. That has started taking an emotional toll on me, but I keep telling myself, just a couple more weeks and I will start to feel better. Between the utter exhaustion and nausea, it's been hard to keep up with things and I feel like I have done a whole heck of a lot of nothing for the last 6 weeks. That's not like me, and it's driving me crazy! I miss my love of all different kinds of foods so I can't wait to pig out very soon. In fact, I have lost about 4-5 pounds. So I will have a lot to make up for during the next 28 weeks!! But the worst is feeling like I haven't been able to do much fun stuff with Jakey. I know he doesn't care because he's just happy to be playing and hanging out with me.... thank goodness for Paul and Allison who have done so much to help me take care of him (and let me sleep)!

I'll try to post some new pictures of the baby blob soon. And as for Jake, he is getting better and better with his walking every day!! He is opting to walk now instead of crawling and he's getting really good at making it longer distances. I think he is just so excited and happy with himself that he wants to do it over and over :-) Taking all of the cool things he has done over the last 15 months in to consideration, this definitely ranks up there as the coolest so far!

Jake is Walking!

I got a cute video of him tonight! He is basically walking across the rec room on his own. Craziness!

First Steps

Jake took his first steps yesterday! Paul and I had seen him stand up on his own a couple of times, but when I picked him up from daycare last night he seemed to have mastered that skill over night. He stood right up in the middle of the living room and took 3 steps to me. He's not ready to run a marathon yet or anything, but our little man is getting that much closer to mastering the fine art of walking :-) As soon as I am able to catch him doing this on video (he didn't want to cooperate once we got home last night!), I will be sure to post it on here.

Jake's First Time at the Ocean!

OBX Trip

#7

Jakey sprouted tooth number 7 last week! It's another bottom one so 3 bottoms and 4 tops now. They are sharp little things.... like puppy teeth!

Jake's Announcement!!

Hey guys! Guess what?!? I am going to be a BIG BROTHER!! Check it out! My little brother or sister is due on May 18th 2009. My mommy is just a couple days shy of being two months pregnant. She and daddy went to the doctor's last week and saw my little brother/sister and its' heartbeat! Mommy hasn't been feeling so well for the last couple of weeks but she says that is normal and she will feel better soon. She goes to bed right after I do :-) I am very excited that I am going to be a big brother and mommy and daddy are happy too. I am going to be almost two years older than my new brother or sister and I am going to be the best big brother that there is!
Love,
Jake

Mo and B

I thought Mo and B needed a little shout out on here!

Yes, we still love our doggie babies and so does Jake. In fact, now he says "doggie"!

Feeding Time

Working on feeding himself..... he gets the concept, it's just a little messy :-)

PS - this is pre-haircut!

Harley Man!

Pics of Jake sporting his support of the Harley motorcycles! He gets it from his Papa!