Baby Update

Quick update on my doctor's appointment today:
--baby is doing quite well, growing well, very active, hard to find the heartbeat because he kept moving!
--we got to see the little guy on the sonogram today, purpose was to check the heartbeat since we couldn't find it on the doppler, it was about 150bpm which is normal
--he is kicking and punching me non-stop! Sometimes it hurts!

On to the more medical stuff:
--put me on the contraction monitor for 10 minutes, didn't have any contractions so that was good news. Based on that, decided not to put me on any medication at this point (like the yucky terbutaline). I can feel painless contractions throughout the day but they aren't regular or spaced extremely close together. (The nurse said to me, "really, even this early on?". I said, "yes, even this early on... trust me".)
--cervix has shortened slightly but not enough to be concerned. I didn't know this but 3cm or longer is what they want to see. Mine is 3cm. It's still stitched shut very nicely!! (my apologies, all of that info gives me the heebie geebies too)
--best we can do right now is bed rest and of course the cerclage that was done almost 2 months ago, might use medication down the road if needed
--between 28-30 weeks I will get a steroid shot to speed up/ improve the baby's lung and brain development in case he is born prematurely
--I asked, bottom line, what are the chances of this baby being born early. The response - without the cerclage and bed rest I would most certainly have this baby even earlier than Jake. With the cerclage and bed rest, it's estimated about a 60% chance of making it to 36 weeks or beyond.

Hey I will take it! We have a healthy little baby growing here. I think everything is going to go well and while it might be a very long 12-18 weeks, I will be so ecstatic to make it to the finish line with a new little bundle of joy to bring home. Jake needs a playmate!!

Fun Jake Pics

Happy New Year!

We wish you all a happy and prosperous 2009!

Our New Year's Eve celebration this year was pretty low-key.... just a couple people over to enjoy lots of good food and fun games. The two pictures below are of Paul and I with Jake dressed up in his New Year's outfit (from Auntie G of course!).

Baby Names

Our baby name poll was inconclusive! Ethan and Alex tied for first place. I LOVE the name Ethan -- in fact, Jake probably would have been named Ethan if Paul liked it. I also think that Jake and Alex would make quite a pair -- best buddies and brothers!

I did forget to put two names on there as options -- Colin and of course, Grant! I have quite a few diehard lovers of the name Grant Gunning :-)

So we'll keep discussing and Paul will inevitably not decide on a name until we hold little BG2 for the first time. Even though he knows that we really will have decided on a name way before that :-)

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!!)