baby # 3

Ok, I didn't get a very good picture of this, but if you look close you can see that Daxton's shirt says "BIG BRO" on the front of it. Most everyone knows by now, especially since their has been a bit of drama attached to it, but I wanted to "document" it so i could remember it down the road.
Back in October I had a suspicion that I couldn't ignore any longer, so while doing an errand for work, i stopped and got a test to "ease" my mind. Of course the results didn't ease my mind at all, because this was not something that we were planning for anytime soon, or at all according to Mike.
After a few weeks, I decided to tell my mom. I had made up a picture of our family from Daxtons party, that said something about
hrs spent on party planning.. about 30.
$ spent on party.... Too much!
Gratitude for my moms help...... beyond measure!!
telling you their are 5 of us in the picture.... priceless!!

And as you can tell (kind of) by the picture I told the rest of my family by having Daxton put this shirt on right before we sat down for Thanksgiving Dinner.I Think aunt Natalie figured it out first.. it was kind of funny!
We told Mike parents on The Thanksgiving at their house, the following Sunday, by giving his mom a knit Christmas stocking kit to make (she loves making them, and is all caught up on doing one for each of the grand kids). She figured it out pretty quick, and was very excited!!
So that is how this journey started.

Now The Drama..
After being extremely sick the ENTIRE months of November and December,Which is normal fro me- January seemed to be settling down a bit.. I had my first appointment January 8, 2011. where everything seemed to check out great. My Dr. had sent me down for an ultra sound to verify my due date, since Being on birth control can alter that. Everything looked great on Ultrasound, and i was quite surprised when the tech asked if i wanted to know what it was. I was only 13 weeks at the time, but she assured me it was pretty clear..
I couldn't believe it when she announced.... IT's A Girl!!!!!
At that moment My entire attitude about this pregnancy changed, I was walking on air. I had just accepted that my odds of getting a baby girl were extremely against me, and that it was unlikely to happen. (don't get me wrong, I Love having 2 boys- but i think every girl dreams about having a little girl buddy)

The following Saturday I awoke to a startling realization that something was wrong. We went straight to the ER where i was told The placenta had started to break away, and that i had a 50/50 chance of miscarrying. So i went home on bedrest and waited.... and waited......that was probaly the lowest point, not knowing what was going to happen, and not being able to do anything about it!!!
The following week i went to my Dr's, where they did another Ultrasound, and noticed their was a "bruise" of some sorts. I didn't really get many answers, only to take it easy and we'll see what happens. That week was extremely rough. If anyone even looked at me I started bawling!! I had my Dad and Brother- in -Law Paul give me a blessing, which seemed to calm my nerves a bit..
Time kept passing, and besides the horrible cramping/ sharp pains in my stomach, nothing else seemed to be happening. I was feeling very devastated and kept thinking the worse. At this point I was merely hoping and praying that I could make it to a point where she could at least survive!!
Finally at my 20 week appointment ultra sound I had 2 techs staring at the moniter and bouncing ideas of each other- I was finally informed that it looked like I had 2 placentas, and that they were attached together through a thin membrane- the biggest problem is that the umbilical cord seems to be attached, not into either of the placentas, but into the thin membrane between the 2. This presents the problems of the baby not getting all the oxygen and nutrients she needs, or at worst that the cord could become detached.
My Dr. was quite comforting after that, saying that it isn't a totally uncommon condition- theirs even a name for it- but she also said she couldn't promise everything was going to be alright, so she set me up an appt with a perinatologist.. Which i saw him this passed week. He was a very nice man, possibley even my new best friend!! lol.. In his check- up, he brought up a few more problems that could arise with this condition- and he wanted to be sure I didn't have that goin on. The big thing is when there are 2 placentas- the membrance connecting them has arterys & veins going through it. depending on where they are attached, upon birth- they could be ruptured causing the baby to bleed to death almost instantly! And happy to say in all his medical jargon it sounds like that shouldn't be a problem! :) and after about 20 minutes of him and the tech trying to find Exactly where the cord is connected, he thinks it is actually on the edge of one of the placenta lobes- which is still not prime location, but much better than on the thin membrane as previously though!! So he seems to think all should be well with a normal delivery- and a healthy baby, assuming nothing else comes up. I will see him again at 32 weeks to make sure all is well!!!!!

I want to express how much I LoVE my husband. These past few months he has shown me a whole new side of him, and caused me to fall even more in love with him.. He has been my emotional rock, as well as taken on everything from cleaning the house, doing laundry, cooking the meals, grocery shopping, taking care of our boys, and catering to me!! He truly is AMAZING!!!!!!

Sorry for a long post, but anyone that has been curious as to whats been going on with me, should now be updated. My days are still filled with not doing much, and still won't until this little one arrives- but now my whole mental outlook is much more positive and that is worth almost more than anything!!!