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)!