Blog 11: Finally.. the Finish Line is in Sight!

6 days to go!!!

As most of you probably read in my previous blog I have struggled some with my health in the last month and am still having some issues with my bladder and kidneys. Because of how my little man is positioned on my bladder I just can’t seem to empty it all the way which has been causing me to get infection after infection! My doctor decided to put me on an antibiotic that will help with this, but unfortunately I have to take it every day til I deliver so instead of paying for refills on this prescription drug without really knowing how many more days I’ll need it my doctor decided to schedule an induction for April 25th. It is so nice to have a worst case scenario day in mind and has actually helped me get super motivated to attack the TO DO list I posted last blog. Lets go ahead and take a look at that TO DO list so I can assess what I actually have gotten done since I last posted:

1.Take down glass shower doors in Lucy and Baby Co’s Bathroom.
2. Install car seat bases
3. Re-pack hospital bag(since I had to kind of use it last week)
a. Pick up travel size toiletries because my hospital does not provide conditioner or bar soap!
b. Bring a real blanket!
4. Clean out vehicles (this is like half done)
5. Spray/kill dandelions.
6. Pick up correct diaper genie refills (No longer being sold so a new diaper genie has been purchased)
7. Wash up baby toys
8. Dust all the blinds in the house
9. Order and hang wedding pictures and Lucy’s 4 year shots

I think I am doing pretty good! The shower doors are something I will have to have help with for sure and the ordering of pictures will require a lot of sitting in front of the computer which I will hopefully have time for this weekend.. we’ll see.

So other than the serious TO DO list progress I have to tell you all about April 9th… I welcomed the Molly Maids into my home and something amazing happened and they left it sparkly, clean and fresh! Anyone who has ever thought about doing this should really have it done.. even if it is just once. It feels so good to have a clean home and to have it all done at once! None of that cleaning the upstairs and by the time I get the downstairs done the upstairs needs it again! Having them take the burden of scrubbing my house from top to bottom allowed me to spend my weekend free of cleaning and I even painted two pictures and decorated the empty wall in Baby Co’s room.

My house is still very clean and all I have to do is maintain which is soo much easier now!

Since this is probably my last pre-labor blog I wanted to share one more set of letters to Baby Co. I hope you all enjoy and hopefully my next blog will be to tell you about a short/easy labor!!

4/17/2012

Hey buddy, I am sitting here now with a lot going on. Mom went to a doctors appointment today and found out that you are going to come to see us next week! we can't hardly wait. I have something special for this letter. Your sister Lucy wants to tell you some things before you finally see her.

Dear Baby Brother
I love you! So please develop. I love you sweetie pie. I gave you a toy box today. You will love it. What is your favorite color? Do you want to go to Mexico with us next year? I want to take you to Mexico so you will have a chance to go there. You will love it. I swam with dolphins and you and mommy and me can do it again! Your room is awesome. It has blue diamonds. Real blue diamonds. We just did it like that for you. I want to teach you how to dance, how to swim, how to share and I love you and can't wait to see you and hug you and kiss you and teach you stuffs. See you soon! Love you baby brother!
Lucy


As you can see, we are all excited to see you. Mom is in your room right now getting things ready for you. She said she will write you tomorrow.
You have no idea how much you mean to me already...I absolutely love you and know that when i finally...FINALLY see you, that you will make me the proudest dad in the whole wide world! Love you son.
Dad


4/18/2012

Hi Buddy! In less than 1 week I will be able to hold you in my arms and say that to you! I am really not sure if this pregnancy has gone by fast or slow… I think right now it feels slow because you could be here any day and I am so excited to see you! You are quite the wiggly little worm and even though you are running out of room in my tummy you are always moving and kicking (you especially like to do this when I am trying to go to bed!). I will miss those little kicks and jabs, but am so ready to finally have you! Dad, Lucy and I are so excited to have you in our family and know you are going to fit in with us perfectly. We have been doing a ton of last minute stuff to get ready for you and even have your car seat in the car ready to go! It was so funny watching your Dad put it in.. he had just gotten out of the shower and put on clean clothes when he came out to the garage to help me... by the time he got both of your car seat bases installed in the two cars he was super frustrated, had a cut hand and was sweating like crazy! After he finished though he was so proud of himself for getting them in correctly and then we started talking about having you sitting back there in your car seat and I could tell how excited he was. I can’t wait to be able to take you places and show you things and just watch you grow up. You aren’t even born yet and I already can’t imagine life without you. I love you so much and will always do anything for you, remember this especially when you get older and know you can always come to Dad or me with anything you need or want to talk about. Nothing you say or do could ever change our love for you and we’ll always be there for you.
I love you! See you soon!

Love Always and Forever,
Mom


As you can tell Baby Co will soon be coming home to a house full of excited people! I can't wait to share his name and his sweet little face with the world!

Til Then,
Lexi

Blog 10: Are We There Yet???

Only 24 days until my due date!

When trying to get pregnant a woman can get pretty obsessed and as I described in my first blog I was a looney tune about wanting to get pregnant. Well, my desire to become pregnant had me peeing on a stick at the earliest possible time to have it confirmed that I was in fact pregnant. Due to my desire to know I found out I was pregnant at like 4 weeks and now that I am 37 weeks I feel like I have been pregnant FOREVER!

After I found out that I was pregnant it seemed like everyone around me was finding out they were also pregnant and everywhere I went I saw prego bellies and every time I logged into Facebook someone else was making their big announcement! It was super exciting and I loved the thought of all these babies being born all around the same time as my baby.. One problem with all this is that now all these people have their babies out and mine is still in and I am feeling like all these mommas are flaunting their babies like “ha-ha, mine is out!”! Even one of my fish gave birth this week and I swear every time I walk into Baby Co’s room she is mocking me!

Other than our new addition of two baby mollie fish, nothing too exciting has been going on especially with my pregnancy which I suppose is a good thing. Baby Co is a moving machine, my belly button has officially popped, and I have one swollen leg, but other than that things are pretty low key.

Swollen Leg ^^^^

The nursery is pretty much done and by pretty much I mean it is ready for a baby, but not totally decorated because I can’t quite decide what I want to put on one of the walls. I still need to get a few things and get his toys all washed up, but know I will still have time to do that kind of stuff after he is born since he won’t really be playing with his toys for a while. Fortunately, my to do list is pretty small, but unfortunately it is mostly stuff I can’t really do myself so unless I can recruit a little assistance it’ll have to go undone for now. Here is my list so far:

1. Take down glass shower doors in Lucy and Baby Co’s Bathroom.
2. Install car seat bases
3. Re-pack hospital bag(since I had to kind of use it last week)
a. Pick up travel size toiletries because my hospital does not provide conditioner or bar soap!
b. Bring a real blanket!
4. Clean out vehicles
5. Spray/kill dandelions.
6. Pick up correct diaper genie refills
7. Wash up baby toys
8. Dust all the blinds in the house
9. Order and hang wedding pictures and Lucy’s 4 year shots
So as you can see some of my list is stuff that actually needs to get done and some of it is stuff that can wait.. I just have random stuff I want done and am feeling like there is no good time to work on it..

As I mentioned before my pregnancy has been pretty relaxed, but my health otherwise has been a little iffy and last week I had a bit of a scare.. On Monday I came home from work feeling pretty crappy so I went to bed kind of early and ended up waking up around midnight with a fever of over 103! I took some Tylonel and went back to bed and was up several more times throughout the night just feeling awful. Tuesday was spent pretty much in bed and my fever continued to climb. I called my doctor who ran through a list of symptoms: “Does your back hurt?” Yes, but it always hurts(I’m pregnant!). “Are you peeing more frequently?” Yes, but I always have to pee(I’m pregnant!). “Are you having contractions?” No. “Are you leaking any fluid?” No. “Well, make sure you are keeping on top of the Tylonel for your fever and drink a lot of water and let me know if you don’t get to feeling better.” On Tuesday night I went to bed still feeling awful, my fever spiked to 103.7 and I woke up every single hour to pee. I woke up on Wednesday feeling even worse and called my doctor again to let her know I was getting worse. I was told I should be seen by a primary doctor so I got in to someone in town and after some testing it revealed I had a bladder infection and I was put on an antibiotic. I know the antibiotic wasn’t a miracle drug, but I just couldn’t believe that just a tiny little UTI was causing such high fevers and body aches. The next day I felt worse so I called my OBGYN and told her what the other doctor found out and told her that I felt worse. She ended up having me go into the hospital to get treatment for a kidney infection. I only had to stay one night, and felt tons better after getting medication through the IV and being pumped full of fluids! It was crazy how fast the kidney infection worsened and when you are pregnant it is so easy to miss the symptoms because it is normal to have some back pain and to have to pee all the time! I am just glad I stayed on top of my doctors and trusted myself that I knew something was wrong. Even though most people don’t study the human body as extensively as a doctor no one can know how you are feeling better than you and doctors only know what they are being told so the lesson I learned in all this is to speak up! (even though I felt like one of those annoying patients that called every other minute).. Had I not called back on Thursday to talk to my OB again I would probably still be at home, sick in bed, and waiting for my antibiotics to work.

On a lighter note I decided I should get some updated pictures of the nursery up so you could all see how adorable it is turning out! Any suggestions for the empty wall over the changing table would be appreciated too! Finding stuff to decorate a little boys room is so much harder than doing a girls and since we ended up kind of doing a golf theme it has made it even harder!

Blank spot in wall is to hide Baby Co's name and the fishtank houses the new baby mollies!

Well, it is almost baby time and I can’t wait! Cary is pretty darn excited too and after seeing what a mess he was trying pack stuff for the last hospital trip I know I need to get us just a little more organized I told him the baby wasn’t coming out when we went last time, but that we should bring our stuff just in case and he was in a whirl, packing things up and talking about how surreal everything was.. it was so cute listening to his excited voice talking about the chance he could have his little Tiger on his lap this weekend watching the Masters! I told him not to get himself too excited and sure enough we came home without a baby from our last hospital trip! Hopefully the next one will be the real deal and we will soon be welcoming our little guy home! Even though I still have a few things on my list to be done, our hearts are ready and our home is ready to have our sweet little man finally join it! Heck, maybe our fish giving birth is a positive omen and I’ll be next!!

Thinking baby thoughts!
-Lexi

Blog 9: Catching Up...

…time to take a breather and reflect on the last several weeks.

It has been way too long since I’ve blogged and even though a lot has happened I am having a hard time thinking of what to type.

January was a busy month in the Cochran house and it is hard to believe we are now in February! We started the month off with Lucy’s birthday! She is now 4 and I am starting to become one of those parents that talk about how their kid has grown up too fast! She has always been on the petite side, but this year at her check-up the growth chart considered her tall for her age! I also got to go in for a checkup at the beginning of the month and again towards the end and my little guy is doing great! We are getting pretty darn excited as his due date gets closer and closer!

We are officially in preparation mode for Baby Co and kicked it off with a fresh coat of paint! The nursery design was inspired by a lot of googling and a compilation of different rooms Cary and I liked and my own personal touch! We are still waiting on most of Co’s furniture to come in, but the walls being painted and the crib all put together makes imagining my little bundle of joy finally being here even easier! Once the layout and decorating is complete I will update the photos, but this is how it looks so far!

Along with painting and crib building we have been stocking up on baby gear and going through Lucy’s old stuff to see what needs replaced. Thanks to a little mouse friend that must have been living in our garage last winter the seatbelt on my running stroller and regular stroller look like someone cut them with a pair of scissors! That was not a nice surprise, but the trade in sale at Babies R Us certainly was! We took both of the junky/worn out strollers in and received two 25% coupons toward new stuff! We haven’t picked anything out yet so if anyone has suggestions on a nice running stroller I’d appreciate the input!

Like I mentioned before January was a very busy month and we stayed on the go with work, family events, birthdays, Lucy’s gymnastics, and doctor and dentist appointments! All of this came to a screeching halt towards the end of the month when I got struck with the Influenza bug and a respiratory infection. Somehow I slipped through the cracks this winter and missed out on my flu shot because of having bad colds every time I went to see my OB Doctor.. Of course a missed flu shot for me means I will get the flu and it hit me double hard with also being pregnant! I spent several days in bed with a high fever, terrible cough (so terrible that I ended up getting bruised ribs!), and a stuffed nose.. It was awful, but after a round of antibiotics and a lot of rest I got myself back up and running just in time to go on vacation!

Cary, Lucy, Carl & Cindy(Cary’s parents) and myself left last Saturday for a Baby Moon in Mexico! We stayed just south of Cancun at The Barcelo resort in Riviera Maya. It was so nice to escape together before Baby Co gets here and makes travelling a little more difficult for a couple years! We had an awesome time and the resort we stayed at was so kid friendly! Lucy was nonstop swimming in the pools and going down water slides! She even made a friend named Mikayla that she plans to keep in touch with through letters!

Each day they met up at the water slides, played til they were so tired they had to take nap breaks only to meet up again in the evenings for the kid disco!

During the middle of the week we ventured off the resort to a natural aquatic park called Xel Ha. It was very cool! We saw tons of different kinds of fish, a family of manatees, and Lucy and Cary even got to ride a dolphin!

They had a ton of stuff to do there otherwise like a lazy river to float down, zip lining, cliff jumping, rope walking and other nature activities like hiking etc. I definitely recommend checking it out if you are ever in that part of Mexico! Otherwise we ate a lot of delicious food and Lucy and I drank our weight in Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris and Pina Coladas (or as Lucy called them “kiddie cocktails”)! We had so much fun, but were ready to come home by the end of the trip.

Saturday we made our way home while Omaha and the surrounding area got hit with a big snow storm! Luckily it didn’t affect our travel plans much and my parents acted like Super Heroes that day and went and dug our vehicle out of the snow and picked us up so we wouldn’t have to deal with the snowy car lot and then we came home to an already cleared driveway and sidewalk and a fresh gallon of milk in the fridge (thanks again Dad and Mom!)! Yesterday was a day of laundry and getting things back in order to start the week!

Baby Co is definitely growing and my popping tummy is the proof! I can see that I’m getting more round and his kicks are getting so much stronger! Cary and him are already playing games together and enjoy pushing on me back and forth! Cary gives a little nudge and Co gives a big kick right back where Cary had pushed! It is so cute to see how Cary’s eyes light up when he can feel Baby Co respond! I know those two are going to be such good buddies and can tell Cary is already bonding really well with him!

The next blog will not be so long overdue that way I can keep it more about Co and less about random stuff! I am now almost 29 weeks pregnant and know the rest of my pregnancy will be over before I know it! I think this week I will try to start nesting! Is this something that can be forced? I really need to get going on it and will soon be ridding myself of excess stuff like shoes, clothes and purses so let me know if you are in need!! Cary and I already decided we are going to do a major de-clutter! I even have some furniture that needs to go (bookshelves, dressers, etc) so message me if you are interested or are looking for anything particular! I think it is time for me to wrap this up and get in some relaxation before bedtime, night!

-Lexi

Blog 8: Cary’s Letters to Baby Co: Another Reason Why I LOVE My Husband!

Hopefully after reading this he won’t have a ton of other women in love with him too!

Ever since I met Cary I knew he was special and that I was lucky to have found such a wonderful man to share my time with and now I get to share my life with him and I feel luckier every day because of that. I had never witnessed a love more true and deep than the love he expresses to me until he let me read his letters to Baby Co. Don’t get me wrong, I know he loves me more than anything, but the love a person has for their child is different, not more or less, but different in a way that cannot be quantified to even compare.

12/5/11

I wanted to write you real quick before I head out tonight and let you know that I have thought about you quite a bit lately. Things are going to really get interesting on Wednesday when we get to know more about you. We have picked out many things for you which you will learn from the time that we first set eyes on you. You know, it’s impossible for you to understand, but I am finding that I completely love you, everything about you, and yet haven't had the luxury of actually meeting you face to face. Your mother and I are so excited to have you join our family, and while it seems a while before we do, it will be here faster than we can imagine. I look forward to writing you again real soon. Your mom and I love you

Daddy


12/9/11

Well, we found out a lot more about you on Wednesday, and boy oh boy are we excited. Son, you are going to make a perfect addition to our family. I have dreamt about having a little boy for a long time, and it has only magnified in the past 4 months since I found out Mommy is going to have you. And, then I found out and am so excited. I look forward to having a best little buddy. I can't wait to have you join me for all kinds of boy stuff. Can't wait to do all kinds of things with you. I want you to know that your Mommy and I are so excited to have you join our family. We will be working on your new room very soon and it will be the best boy room ever. I love you so much already and pray that everything goes well for you while you are still in mommy's tummy. I think about you all the time...wonder if you can hear me talk to you. Wonder if you can hear me tell you I love you. Wonder if you are getting enough to eat. If you are comfortable, if you can feel me rub mommy’s tummy. I will do anything that I can for you. I just cannot wait to see you more and more in the coming weeks and months...and dream about the day I will get to hold you for the first time. Love you son.

Daddy


12/28/11

Hey buddy. I wanted to write you now that Christmas is over with. I do want you to know that I did get a lot of gifts from a lot of people this Christmas, but nothing was a better present to me than the news our doctor gave us about you! I think about you all the time. You are suddenly one of my best friends (along with your mom). I did get both a little sad and excited at the same time this Christmas because (sad) I didn't get to hug you and tell you I loved you this Christmas, but excited because I will be able to do that every Christmas the rest of my life! I am going to get started on your new room now that we got Lucy in her new room. Can't wait to make it super special for you! And it will be awesome that it will be right next to ours so that your mom and I can come in and see you all the time! Well, I am excited for you to join our family...Love you lots.

Daddy


I love you Cary, thank you for letting me share your letters; you are such a wonderful man and I am honored to be your wife.

Baby Update: Every day my belly grows bigger and the interaction between Co and the three of us is also increasing. Last night, Cary and Lucy were both able to feel some kicks and wiggles from the baby and I could see the excitement on both of their faces. It is just really neat to see how much the two of them already love our little guy and how much he already fits into our family. Our next appointment is on Tuesday and we will be doing the glucose test which I am secretly looking forward to for two reasons:

1. That stuff actually tastes good! Like an extra sugary orange soda!
2. It made Lucy go crazy and I loved feeling the 20 minutes of pure movement from the sugar high!

Hopefully that test comes back normal and we are in and out of there quickly because Tuesday is also my little Lucy’s Birthday! I took the whole day off so the two of us can have some fun! I think we may go to The Amazing Pizza Machine or see a movie or maybe both! The day will consist of whatever she wants after we are done with the appointment and we plan on having some fun!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know we had a great one and are looking forward to closing out on a great year and moving into an even better one! So much has happened this year; it’s hard to believe this is the last week of 2011 and then here we’ll be in 2012! For those of you I won’t see until 2012..I hope you have a Happy New Year, may 2012 bring you happiness, safety and good health!

-Lexi

Blog 7: Thank you for NOT telling the truth…

Most people HATE being lied to, but today… I LOVE IT!!!

What a relief! Today was our appointment with our High Risk OB Doc to take a closer look at Baby Co’s umbilical cord and it was kind of nerve wrecking! First a girl did the Ultrasound part and was looking very closely at the baby and measuring every bone, taking notes of all the organs, and monitoring how much fluid and blood flow is around the baby. It took forever for her to check him over and the longer she went without saying anything the more nervous Cary and I got! After over 30 minutes had passed she kind of chuckled and said she was getting tired of fighting our kid because he was rolling like a barrel, doing flips and just wiggling like crazy! She was having a hard time getting the pictures she needed for the full work up so she went and got our main Doctor to do the rest. He came in with a bright smile and the room instantly felt warmer and less stressful having his positive presence. He shook my hand, introduced himself and said, “The reason you are here today is for me to take a look at the cord insertion for fear of an abnormality, well, this is a short story and was originally untrue because everything looks normal, but I will go ahead and take an even closer look.” He began his portion of the ultrasound and got another huge grin. After looking things over for a few more minutes he shut the machine down and assured us that our umbilical cord is right smack in the middle of our placenta, exactly where it should be!!! He also went on to tell us that our baby is perfect and from an anatomical view we have a beautiful little boy that does not have a single thing abnormal about him!!!

We feel so blessed to be having a baby and to know that he is at no greater risk and that my pregnancy and delivery have no reason to be anything but normal is a huge relief! My Doctor gave me the ok to exercise again and get back to normal levels of activity! It was quite the scare for us and while it stinks that we were under extra stress for the last week it was only a week and to know everything is fine is such wonderful news I don’t ever have an ounce of annoyance over the first radiologist being wrong!

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope your Holiday Season is wonderful and safe! Today kind of felt like Christmas to me with the beautiful gift of good news!! Thank you all so much for thinking of us and keeping us in your prayers, who knows, maybe we had our own little miracle here!


-Lexi

Blog 6: Hello Baby _ _ _ _ _ _!!!

We are so excited to finally know who you are!

Yesterday was a very crazy day and definitely had its ups and down, but one thing Cary and I could not wait for was our ultrasound at 1 o’clock! I think it is natural to spend a lot of time wondering if the unborn child is a boy or girl and Cary and I were no exception. We talked endlessly about the little person and how we could see either one fitting into our lives so perfectly. After a lot of fantasizing and dreaming about our baby being either a little man or little lady it was almost sad to have that end, but also very exciting to be able to focus on who our baby really is! Knowing the sex of your child is definitely a personal preference and I can see why some prefer to wait, but for me I felt that it would help me bond better and quit calling it an “IT”! I always felt so awkward talking about my baby without a gender identifier and it is even more difficult now that I know “IT” is a “HE”!!!

That’s right; we have been blessed with a baby boy that is already a wild man! Yesterday during the ultrasound he was kicking and moving all around! The Ultrasound Tech could hardly keep up with his wiggles, but when it was time for him to let us know if he was a boy or girl he proudly spread those little legs and revealed a VERY CLEAR image of what he has going on!

Once we found out I could tell Cary was ecstatic because he has one dimple in his left cheek that was showing nonstop after we saw and had it confirmed that Baby Co is a little boy! Those that know my family also know that little boys are hard to come by and while we love our little girls it is nice to see some boys being added to the family tree without having to marry into it. It also is proof that having boys is not impossible for the Dunlop Women with my older sister having one just last spring and now I’ll be having boy number 2 right after him! Very exciting stuff for our family to welcome any new family member, but knowing that this is a little boy puts a little extra spin on things since I think if any of us were gambling people we would have bet on this baby being a girl…

As I mentioned before, yesterday was a bit of a rollercoaster and definitely had its ups and downs. After being on cloud nine from our ultrasound we had an appointment with our OBGYN to go over how Baby Co is doing and he looks great, has all his organs and limbs, 10 fingers and 10 toes and is exactly the size and weight he should be at 20 weeks! All a sigh of relief until our Doctor said oh and there is one thing we need to discuss as she walks over to the closest chair and sits down… this did not settle well with me and I was bracing myself for some not so good news (I could also see on Cary’s face all the worry I was feeling inside).. The Doctor went on to tell us that our child was healthy and perfect, but that his umbilical cord is not perfect and is actually connected to the placenta incorrectly… This happens in about 1% of pregnancies and does have a fancy name, but to prevent unnecessary googling (I’ve been told not to so I don’t want anyone else doing it either) I’ve decided not to post it right now. However, I will try to explain it the way it was explained to me and I just ask that everyone keeps our little man in your thoughts and prayers because at the end of this pregnancy all we want more than anything is for our guy to be healthy. So what this means for Baby Co is that his umbilical cord has a harder time carrying all the nutrients he may need to grow as big as he could/should be (Like I mentioned before he is perfect size right now and has been getting an adequate amount so far). The biggest risk for him is being born too early due to him not getting what he needs and becoming stressed... Our Doctor warned us that she has had to deliver babies as early as 25 weeks, but has seen them go much longer, even full term at 37 weeks! Our hope is that he stays in my belly for as long as possible, because most of us know that a baby delivered too early would have a very long road. The silver lining in all this is that they saw the problem (it is missed a lot because it isn’t common or an easy diagnosis to make) and now they can watch him really close! So close that I will be having another ultrasound already on Wednesday the 14th and then seeing a doctor every 2 weeks staggering doctor appointments and ultrasound visits with the High Risk OB team. I know that Co and I are in good hands and will have to trust our Doctors and most importantly God to watch over us.

While obviously my top priority is my baby and the fact that I will do anything for him and will make sure I follow any instructions I’m given to keep him as safe and healthy as humanly possible and my biggest fear is for something to happen to him and for Cary, Lucy and I to lose a family member that we already love very much.. I have my own personal fears and disappointments that honestly, I feel guilty for even thinking let alone typing for people to read, but this blog is if nothing else an honest view at what I am going through during this pregnancy and I am going to try to keep it that way. One of the things around this situation that disappoints me is now I am not allowed to exercise because I need to preserve nutrients for my baby. I am not a crazy work out fiend by any means, but I am an active person and I like to try to stay healthy and fit. This is obviously a small price to pay to keep Co healthy, but it was an outlet for me and now I feel more stressed and worried than ever and I won’t have that to turn to… and another thing that disappoints me is that I probably won’t get to experience having labor and then the delivery of my son, I thoroughly enjoy being pregnant and am sad at the high probability of that being cut short… not that I loved being in labor with Lucy, but that is part of the falling in love process.. You work so hard for that little person because you love them so much and it hurts and you think you might die and then they are there and everything is perfect as long as they are perfect and it is a very rewarding experience. The last thing is a huge fear of mine and that is having a C-section... I know they aren’t the end of the world and if that is what is best for Baby Co than I will do it in a heartbeat, but I’m really really scared. I delivered Lucy without pain killers because I am more afraid of the epidural than I am of the pain and there is a good chance this baby will be delivered by cesarean which means a spinal and a knife to my belly! Again, I know these thoughts are very selfish thoughts and I do feel guilty about them because when I find my mind going there I always remember what is important and who matters at the end of the day and that is the little boy who’s life depends on me.

Today I am 20 weeks pregnant! Officially at the halfway point... And now… the countdown really begins :)

-Lexi

**The Curse of Bog #5**

***For those that followed my wedding blog you may remember a post on having the stomach flu... well that was my 5th blog... and now here I am surviving a terrible stomach flu and writing my 5th blog on this countdown!!***

Talk about a CrAzY week! It all started on Tuesday morning at 4:30 AM when my little Lucy woke up from a bad dream and came in my room. As soon as she snuggled in next to me I could feel the heat off her body and knew she had a fever! I scooped her up and carried her back to her room, took her temperature, gave her some Tylenol and then I stayed with her til she fell back to sleep(by that time it was pretty much time for me to get up for the day and get ready for work). Cary woke up also not feeling well so Lucy and Cary both stayed home for the day and I went in to work. The next day was almost like ground hogs day because again at 4:30 I hear Lucy opening our bedroom door so I got right up and met her as she was walking in to take her back to her room so she didn't disturb Cary. I laid with her til she fell back to sleep and then again was in the position where I might as well just get up for the day.. Lucy was still running a very high fever and luckily Cary's parents were able to come in and watch her for the day while I worked and also went to the doctor which I will talk more about later.. As Wednesday went on Lucy got better and better and by the time I was off work she was full of energy and her usual orneriness so I was pretty sure school would be in her cards for the next day. Thursday morning, 4:30 AM, I hear crying coming from her room and slowly getting closer to my door. I again meet her at the door and find a very upset girl because she had just pee'd the bed (probably from all the fluid we had her drinking all day Tuesday and Wednesday). I get her cleaned up, pulled out her little mattress(we had this under bed from when she was first getting potty trained so if she pee'd the bed we wouldn’t have to make up her big bed in the middle of the night) and got her back to sleep before stripping her bed and starting the laundry. Again, by the time that was done it was time for me to hit the shower... I tell you what, 3 days of getting up at 4:30 had me pretty darn tired, but that was nothing compared to the tiredness to come...

On Monday, Alyssa, her friend Hailey, my mom, and me decided to make plans to see Breaking Dawn at midnight on Friday and I went ahead and bought our tickets online... no backing out after you buy tickets! Without knowing the week I was about to have I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but had I known the lack of sleep I was going to experience I definitely wouldn’t have bought myself a ticket! Anyway, it was too late for that kind of thought and Thursday came and I was exhausted, but I stayed up with the other gals and it was a GREAT movie! When Friday morning came I woke up feeling like complete crap, but figured it was just from being tired so I got ready for work and went in. BY 10 AM I had been sick 3 times and decided enough was enough and talked to my boss about going home. (I had planned on taking my half day for the week anyway so I only left 2 hours earlier than I had planned) When I got home I got sick again, and then laid down and fell asleep to wake up about two hours later to horrible pain in my stomach. I ran to the bathroom and started throwing up and knew I wasn’t just tired, I had the stomach flu! After doing this all day I finally called the OB doctor and asked if I could do anything to help myself or if all this throwing up could hurt my baby and she assured me that I wasn’t hurting my baby, but needed to get some fluid back into my body.. However my inability to keep ANYTHING in my body was worrisome and she thought a hospital stay with an IV and drugs to reduce my nausea were my best bet for keeping my baby hydrated... I asked her if I could try anything else first (ER + Hospital stay = $$$$$) and her being so awesome and smart prescribed me some drugs I could take from home to reduce my nausea so I could attempt to hydrate. Being as sick as I was I had no way of getting to the pharmacy... I was already so weak and sick I couldn't stand up because of dizziness so I had to crawl to the bathroom every time I had to throw up because every time I threw up the other end(SORRY!) had an equal reaction, so I had to be on the potty and throwing up into the trash can.. (Again, sorry...TMI, I know, but hopefully only understanding women or men who have a strong stomachs are even reading this!!)... Anyway, Cary was off from work at 5 so he was able to pick up my drugs on his way home and by about 7 PM (after the meds took affect) I was no longer crawling to the restroom every 20 minutes and was able to drink some 7UP, a little Gatorade/water mix, and I ate about 5 saltines. This seemed to stay down til this morning and while I am still not throwing up I cannot get very far from my bathroom or be on my feet for more than a little bit at a time due to being queasy and dizzy I at some toast and drank some Gatorade and neither took long to get rid of... my body isn't quite ready to let in much..

It is hard to believe what the flu can do to your body in such a short amount of time. On Wednesday I went to the doctor and was weighed and had gained 8 lbs since my first OB appointment and this morning I had lost 10... My pregnant belly looks all shrunk down and I miss it :( I know that it'll only take a day or two of being able to eat normal and it will be back, but right now I just feel so blah... Ok, enough of the poor me sob story and back to my Baby Co. Everything at the doctor on Wednesday looked good and normal, I had some blood drawn for the Quad Screen test, peed in a cup and listened to the heartbeat :) All was good and the best part of the whole appointment was the end when Cary and I got to go out to the receptionist and schedule our Ultra Sound!! It will be our 20 wk ultra sound and we will get to find out the sex of our little one and we are so excited! It is only about 2 1/2 weeks away and on December 7th, assuming I can get a hold of all my sisters, brother, and both set of parents I will be making the announcement on what we're having!! I am carrying high, my love handles are (were) big, I am craving salty food over sweet, the ring test is going in a circle and one chinese birth chart says girl and the other says boy... anyone want to make a guess?!

Til next time!

-Lexi