30 Weeks Down 10 More to go!

One of these days I’ll be able to say not much has happened since my last blog post… not today though!

My Dad came home from Hawaii Tuesday, which was great!! I went to surprise him at the airport and after that things got a little messy. In short terms.. here’s what happened:
Left airport > Got rear ended > After cops got there, store we were waiting outside of got robbed > Car cut off on me on the interstate (But immediately restarted) > Spent 2 ½ hrs in the doctor’s office >Me and baby (and car) are 100% fine!

There you have it… just another day in the life of Lacey. Luckily… the rest of the week was pretty quiet. Thanksgiving with the family both Wednesday and Thursday was great! I love my family so much!! They definitely give me a lot to be thankful for! Friday I went to work for a little while then hung out with Jason for the rest of the day… Saturday my dad started on Christmas Decorations. I literally went and took a shower and came out and my house was semi-decorated and the tree was up and light! Amazing! Also, Saturday night I had the chance to go out to dinner with some unusual suspects: My cousin Kevin from MD, his daughter Abby (who has grown so much in the past year!!) My Uncle Robert, Aunt Elsie, and cousin Neil (whom I haven’t seen in YEARS except for at his Dad’s funeral, which doesn’t count!) It was nice to have dinner with them all and catch up on how they have been and what they have been up to. They are all so excited about Charlotte. It was nice to see my distant family so enthusiastic about my little girl.

When I got home Saturday night, I wanted my picture taken in front of the tree, which somehow lead to my dad drawing a web on my belly (Charlotte’s Web)and taking pictures of that! Oh the fun we have!!







Well, to wrap this up, let’s talk about what’s going on with Charlotte in this 30th week!
• Mommy’s lungs can no longer fully expand because Charlotte is pushing up against them making Mommy feel out of breath all the time!! But no worries, Charlotte is getting plenty of oxygen and doesn’t even notice that I feel as if I’m suffocating.
• She is about 15.7 inches long and weighs about 3lbs!
• Her eyes and lungs continue to develop and mature.
• Her little feet have found my ribs and she definitely likes to poke at them causing me a world of pain!! Who knew those little legs and feet were so strong already???
• She’s very responsive to the outside world now! If there is a loud noise, or child crying or if I have the radio up, she starts moving about. She does however have a more defined sleep and wake pattern and lets just say, it’s not the same as mine! She’s pretty active every time I eat a meal, but she’s REALLY active whenever I’m ready for bed. I can see there are going to be some LOOONNNG nights in my near future.
• Lastly, she is starting to take practice breaths! I hope when we have our next ultrasound next Monday we get to see her doing this!!!

Well that’s pretty much it for now! I have an ultrasound next Monday (week from today – Dec 6th) So that will likely be the next time I update this thing! Also, I’m having my 3D Ultrasound 2 weeks from today!! Dec. 13th! So then the great debate as to who she is going to look like will finally be over!!

Weeks 28 and 29

Saturday November 13th was an exciting day!! I turned 23, it was my best friend Heidi’s grandparent’s anniversary as well as Jason’s parents anniversary, and I got to see my little girl kicking away on a big ultrasound screen! Jason, Chad and Mom all went with me to the ultrasound. I could sit there and stare at her all day moving around and it would never get old!!

After the ultrasound we went out to lunch at Red Robin’s for my birthday, then I spent the rest of the weekend at home on the couch because my tummy started bothering me after lunch. I think Jason and I might have picked up a bug cause he wasn’t feeling well either!




So on to the results of the ultrasound:

After waiting for 5 LONG days, I finally got a call about my u/s results from the Nurse Practitioner (my doc was out sick and the other doctor in the practice drug her feet at reading the results)

Good News: Charlotte weighed 2lbs 6oz and put her EXACTLY where she is supposed to be in weight!! Yaaaay! Also, she is head down and starting to engage (drop) so she likely won’t flip back to the breech position.

Bad News: They informed my sub-chorionic bleed has gotten significantly bigger. Therefore, I have to be very vigilant about my modified bed rest! Otherwise, if I’m not at work, I will be at home in bed or on the couch with my feet up. I have to follow up with another ultrasound on December 6th to see how fast this thing is growing now that I’m nearing the end of pregnancy. We will probably have ultrasounds every other week when I have my OB check-ups from now on just to keep a very close eye on it now that we are nearing the end. Dr. Grimes called when he got back in on Thursday and after talking to him, he doesn’t want me to get too caught up on any idea yet until they determine how fast the bleed is growing, or if it’s going to grow anymore at all – but more than likely he is going to recommend a scheduled C-section to deliver baby Charlotte. It will likely be scheduled for the first couple weeks in January. We’re not going to start discussing it too much though until after the ultrasound on Dec. 6th.

Today I am 29w2d and here are some fun facts about Charlotte’s growth this week:

• Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature
• About 250mg of calcium is being deposited in her body everyday from mine to help harden her bones! So Mommy has been drinking lots of milk so she can have good bones, strong bones!! As well as a good and hard head like her Daddy ;-)
• Her head is growing to accommodate her growing brain
• She has definite sleep and wake patterns now. She’s typically very active first thing in the morning and any time for about 30 mins after I eat. She maybe up at the wee hours of the morning when I’m sleeping, but she typically seems to settle in for sleepy time when I do. She’s not as active late night as I’ve read most babies are.
• Her kicks are getting so strong and her little feet have found where my ribs are!
• By the end of this week, she should be nearly 3lbs and measure about 17 inches in length!

Well, That’s all for now folks! I can’t wait for next week and my Dad coming home from Hawaii! I have missed him so much! I also can’t wait for Thanksgiving and all the yummy food me and Charlotte get to PIG OUT on!

In the Spirit of Turkey Day though, I will end this blog with a few key things I have to be thankful for this year:
• A beautiful, healthy little baby girl on the way. I can’t wait to be a Mommy!
• Jason, for being my best friend and giving me a wonderful baby girl
• My family because they are all amazing. I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am today without them.
• My mom for always being there for me. Especially holding my hair back when I puke or sitting by my bed all day and all night or in the wee hours of the morning at the Hospital. She’s done a lot of all of the above this year.
• God Blessing me with Angel’s to watch over me and my Baby Charlotte. (Miss you Grammy and Lolly)
• Having the blessing of a healthy child. Despite my pregnancy complications, Charlotte is a very healthy little girl. Not all my friends have been so fortunate this year, and watching them go through hard times has made me realize how precious life is and how there are no guarantees. It also reminds you to thank your lucky stars everyday when things are going good and not to take anything for granted.

Second Trimester Highlights!

So now that it is officially over, here are some of the more note worthy moments of my second trimester (7/28/2010 – 11/9/2010)

*Started out the second trimester on bed rest with a virus, but quickly bounced back!!

*The first 3 weeks of the second trimester I experienced a lot of nausea that I had NOT experienced the first trimester! It quickly went away though.

* I remained on “modified bed rest” until 20 weeks.

*When I was 14weeks pregnant, the doctor permitted me at the last minute to go camping and tubing with the family and said it would probably do me a world of good to get some fresh air and relax. So the day of the trip, I decided to go! August 13th-15th I went camping and tubing down the James River and had a BLAST!





*Tuesday, August 17th I fell down the stairs at my house and had to make my first trip to L&D. They hooked me up to monitors for a couple hours and then sent me home. The nurse had a hard time finding the baby’s heart beat because it kept bouncing off the walls! She told me I had a very hyperactive child!

*Jason’s parents, Uncle Russel, and the fabulous Grandma Bettie came into town on September 9th!!!

*September 10th we found out we were expecting a “Charlotte!” We also found out my subchorionic bleed has gotten a little bit larger, but still no real threat to the baby at this point.


* The last week in September my work moved me to my corporate office so I would no longer have to trek up and down steps all day!

* October 26th I made my second trip to L&D because I thought I was leaking Amniotic Fluid, thankfully I wasn’t!

*And to wrap up the second trimester, Oct.31st I was admitted to the hospital for a bladder infection and chronic pain. They kept me for 24 hours, pumped me full of Fluids, Antibiotics, and pain meds and sent me home to recover for a week and a half!
My Halloween Costume (for my cousin Katie's party)... kinda blurry! Unfortunately this was the best pic we got of it :-( I was a Penguine!



15 Weeks! Just starting to show!

20 weeks! Half way through my pregnancy and the 2nd Trimester!!

27 Weeks! Last week of second Trimester! Look at that Beach Ball!!!

27 Weeks!

So this is the last week of my second trimester! We’re now entering the “home stretch” of pregnancy! Woo Hoo! I think I get more anxious to meet her by the day!
So this week so far has been a rather rough one for me! What better way to end my second trimester though right? The last week of my first trimester I caught the stomach flu, now I’m finishing my last with an array of medical problems (minor ones though!) Because of all the meds they have me on for my bladder infection and Costochronditis, my system has been a bit “backed up.” So the past couple days have been miserable trying to get over the infection and now dealing with an achy belly! It all came to a fever pitch last night when Jason and I were leaving my cousin Shelly’s house and I was trying to make it to a bathroom and ended up throwing up out the window of Jason’s car multiple times and making quite a mess on the side of his car (and in my hair and on my clothes) EW! After that though and after I got home and washed up, I’ve felt a lot better ever since! And things seem to be moving along better now!

On a much lighter note, my mom washed some of Charlotte’s clothes yesterday, so I sat around putting them away today. I was trying to picture dressing her in all the little onsies and sleepers as I put them away. It made me wish she was here already, but I definitely want her to wait until she’s nice and ready before she makes her debut! Plus, I still have so much left to do to her room and what not before she gets here.

I started looking at different pediatricians the past week or so that have been recommended to me. I think Jason and I are going to start setting up some interviews and decide what doctor we like best. Also, I’m going to sign me and Jason up for all the birthing and parenting classes at the hospital. There are about 6 different classes we can take all included with our delivery at Chesapeake Regional plus a small $90 fee. (which is really good for all the classes this fee covers!)
Well, I think that’s about it for this week. I’ll leave you with some cool facts about Charlotte’s development this week. Also, make sure to tune in next week! 28 week appointment on the 10th followed by an ultrasound on my birthday (the 13th)!




• Charlotte is about 14.5 inches from head to toe and (hopefully) weighs over 2lbs!!
• She can now open and close her eyes (which are blue now.) and her retinas have developed
• She has developed or will soon be a set waking and sleeping pattern with the development of more brain tissue and function.
• Her lungs have matured a great deal and she is practicing breathing now! She also gets the hiccups every now and then. It’s so cute!

Happy Halloween! I guess I got the Trick instead of the Treat....

All about my Experience:
So as you may or may not know.. Sunday, October 31 (Halloween!) I thought I was coming down with a UTI so I went to Patient First to get checked. My initial tests came up negative but they said it could have been negative because of how well hydrated I was but since I showed all the classic signs they gave me some antibiotics to knick it in the bud. Well all the while I had woke up with a dull back pain which was progressively getting worse. By noon I was on the phone with Dr. Jordan (who was the doctor on call) in excruciating pain and she told me to go to L & D and she would meet me there. My mom took me to L & D and got me registered and checked in. I was taken back to an ante-pardem room and put on monitors. My memaw and Jason showed up at about the same time. I hadn’t even been there an hour when the pain got so intense me entire body was shaking and I was throwing up. Poor Jason held my bucket and my hair back at the same time. They decided to start an IV on me. Nurse Wanda wasn’t very good at starting my line but she finally got it a few sticks later OUCH. Dr. Jordan called back and they decided to admit me and she ordered antibiotics for my IV and a renal ultrasound. She also ordered me some Nubain to help with the pain.
My Dad came by the hospital before the U/s and brought my mom some food and a pumpkin with a Stork carved in it that he made free hand! It was so adorable! The stork said “Charlotte” in the middle of it. Then I had my U/s and it was determined that I have a bladder infection and Hydronephrosis, which is a blockage in the kidney that causes the flow of urine to the bladder to be obstructed and the ureter (tube that carries urine from kidney to bladder) to become dilated and or obstructed. This is due to my uterus pressing up against my ureter and kidney. It’s very common in pregnancy. Because of my pain and throwing up though, they kept me over night. Around 9:00 they gave me more Nubain and around 9:30 they gave me an Ambien and I was asleep by just after 10. I only slept for about hour and a half increments waking up in pain or when nurse Bonnie would come into check on me (She was my favorite while I was there). Jason stayed the night with me, though he didn’t get much sleep because of Nurse Bonnie coming in to check on me so much, which he didn’t mind, and because our daughter thinks my womb is a jungle gym at night and sounded much like a wind tunnel on the monitor.

The next morning doctor Grimes (my preferred OB) dropped by and told me more about the results of my u/s and that the antibiotics they had put in my IV and the ones Patient First had given me would work on getting the infection under control and that hopefully the pain would go away in the next 24 hours other wise, I might have a stone lodged in my ureter which they couldn’t see on an ultrasound and would need to do a catheter with a scope to see, but he didn’t want to do that as it would further irritate my tract. He also told me that if they could get my pain under control and my appetite back, I could go home. Then after that I tried to eat breakfast but was in between Nubain doses and in pain and threw up. We’re not sure if it was from the pain or if it was from all the narcotics on an empty stomach, but doc said no more Nubain since I wasn’t holding any food down. They hooked me up to a 3rd round of antibiotics around 10am and the rest of the day is kind of a blur due to the pain. Tina and Burt stopped by to visit me and so did my Memaw. My mom sent Jason home to get some sleep around 11 that morning because he was about to fall over tired. Mom had to go to work around 1:30 and Memaw sat with me until my dad got there around 3:30. Shortly after that I started getting hungry and asking for food so the nurse called the doc and they let me go home! I was excited. At that point I would have rather been miserable in my own home with my own Tylenol and my DVR.

Charlotte’s Experience:

Apparently she does not like it when people try to monitor her heart rate because she would not sit still long enough for them to get any kind of significant run on her heart rate. So we’re going to chalk her experience up to “annoyed” that’s what she seemed to be anyways. They had the volume on her monitor on and we could hear every flip, kick, and punch. Once again, I had every nurse in there telling me I had a very hyperactive child. I think it was all the fluids they pumped me with. She was just so well hydrated she thought she should go swimming! But anyways, what few runs they did get on her, her heart rate was normal and she seemed to be unaffected by Mommy being sick or any of the drugs they pumped me with. Jason was shocked I sleep through all that moving and shaking she does at night. Apparently her already high activity level picks up while I’m asleep. My mom said the same thing while she was there with me Monday afternoon and I was napping. It makes me smile to know I have a healthy happy baby girl, even if I feel like death is upon me!