Week by week with baby Leah

I thought I should update you all on my condition, especially since you were probably wondering if you saw me at church, family things, or at the grocery store. :)  I had my third doctor appointment since finding out about my high blood pressure, and it went pretty well.  I officially got the diagnosis of mild preeclampsia today, and had more tests run, but I won't find out the results until next week, when I go in yet again.  We'll get to see the baby again soon, too, because we'll have another sonogram to check for the growth.  (Can't say I'm sad about that...)  Even though my condition hasn't really changed, the two doctors that I have seen have been much less concerned about me staying on strict bed rest, like the first midwife that I saw.  Basically, I was told by both of the doctors that I should rest as much as possible (whatever that means), but I can be up some too.  Pretty much, I have no idea what I'm really supposed to be doing, but I've been getting out of the house some and doing some of the house work, so things don't get so far behind.  Thankfully, I was able to get my registering done, which makes me feel a lot better.  I still feel a bit unsettled because I know that I could be put back on bed rest at any of these weekly appointments.  It's a little bit hard to make plans not really knowing how things will go the next few months, but after just one week of bed rest, I have become much more thankful for the ability to be up and about, even if I do have to take it easy.  My hips are feeling much better!  I'll try to keep everyone updated as things go along, but you can keep praying for me and Leah.  Yes, her name is Leah Clare. I had told some family members, and it got out.  Oh well.  Now you can pray for her by name. :)

When life comes to a screeching halt...

Well, folks, this is one of those days that crying just comes and I have a lot to think about.  But, I'll start with the positives first!  At around 20 weeks, I started to feel really, really great!  My sickness held on for way too long, but thankfully, after 4 1/2 months, I felt better than ever, and was loving being pregnant.  Finding out that we were having a girl was really exciting and getting to see her on that 21 week sono was amazing.  I started to get so attached to her after I saw those images of her and we started calling her by name.  She moves around so much now, and I can tell that she is growing because I can feel her move way up by my ribs.  This part of pregnancy is just awesome!  We got to have another sono today and she is about 2 pounds and looks just perfect.  What a sweet thing!

However, the reason for the sono today was because we needed to make sure that she is growing good because my body is not handling this pregnancy very well.  On Tuesday, I had a routine appointment for 26 weeks and got to do the glucose test.  Thankfully, that turned out fine.  No gestational diabetes!  But, my blood pressure was high.  It was taken 4 times, but they got high readings each time.  That meant that I got to have more blood drawn and also got to do a 24 hour urine test to see if the high blood pressure was causing stress to my kidneys.  I had to wait until this morning to get the results back, but I knew what could happen if the results weren't positive.  My sister Abi had the exact same thing happen to her when she was 26 weeks along with Alex, as many of you probably remember, and she was put on bed rest for 3 months.  Needless to say, I have been a bit of a wreck for the past few days, trying to get as much done as possible.  Justin helped me get the house clean and I did my grocery shopping, and went to a few Christmas parties just to ease the stress. :)

Today, we got the news that I was spilling protein in my urine, which means that I have a mild case of preeclampsia.  My blood pressure was also 166/90... I won't get into the nitty gritty details of this because it's a little hard to explain, but it's dangerous because blood flow is reduced to my organs, including the placenta, which could restrict the baby's growth.  It also just puts a lot of stress on my organs in general and if it would get out of hand, would mean that the baby would need to come out, as this condition disappears shortly after the baby is born.  This is very early for this condition to show up, which is why it is so concerning because my baby still has a long time to 'bake' so that she can be a healthy newborn.

So, now we wait, and I rest.  I have another appointment on Tuesday with one of the doctors, since I will not longer be able to see the midwives.  We'll probably know more then, but we are hoping that we can at least make our trip out to Indiana for Christmas celebrations.  With Abi, they were hesitant to let her come to Morton from Bloomington, so it makes me nervous that we may be stuck at home.  That would be such a bummer!  Besides the holidays, I just realized how much I didn't get done because I thought I had plenty of time.  The baby's room isn't painted, I haven't registered, we haven't gotten the baby's furniture picked out, etc.  All of a sudden, I can't do any of that, which makes me sad.  I am allowed to be up to use the restroom, eat, and shower.  This could be a long 3 months.  Last night, I read in John 6, all about Jesus being the bread of life.  I didn't know for sure then that I would be on bed rest, but it was comforting to read about Jesus being all that we need.  Nothing else really matters in life, but even so, we could really use your prayers!

Rearranging

Around here, we have been doing a lot of rearranging; both furniture and our lives.  Most of you probably know by now that we are expecting a baby around March 20.  We are very excited!  I have been wanting to have a baby since we first got married.  No surprise, if you know me at all.  But we had decided that I should finish school before we started trying.  I has been hard to wait that long, especially since we are coming up on our third anniversary next week!  Well, I graduated in May, so it was time, and God granted our request.  It puts a little bit of a wrench into my nursing career (not that I really mind...).  We decided that if I didn't get a job before it was time to announce our pregnancy, then I would not look for a job for the time being.  For one thing, I don't want to start a new job and then have to take maternity leave right away, and for another, I don't really want to have a full time job when the baby is born.  I want to enjoy my baby!  So, not sure how the nursing thing will all pan out, but I did what I set out to do and got a degree, and I'm thankful that I did it while I had the chance!

Really, I think that it has been a major blessing that I haven't had a job these past few months because I have been pretty sick.  I didn't think that I would have this much of a problem, and really, compared to some, I've probably had it pretty good.  However, that doesn't change the fact that on a lot of days it has been extremely difficult to get anything done because I feel like as soon as I get up, I'll lose what little I was able to get down.  At my last appointment I had lost a few pounds, and I broke down and requested some Zofran.  What a life saver!  Last week I started to feel like I didn't need it in the morning, but I still take it at in the evenings.  Things haven't been perfect, but I think I'm through the worst of it.  I am 14 weeks and I think that I'm starting to show, although it's hard for other people to tell.  As my friends said, my stomach isn't as "concave" as normal and I can't zip up my pants all the way or I feel like I'm going to suffocate the baby. :)  Here's my very first belly picture (a little pathetic, but it's got to start somewhere!):

Other than the baby, not much has been going on around here.  We finished up our master bathroom a month ago or so, and that has been wonderful!!  I especially love our new bathtub which is deep and big.  Perfect for soaking when I don't feel well.  We also got a new recliner, so we had to put our piano in the dining room to make some room for it.  Who knows if our dining room will ever actually get a table in it, but whatever.  It has been empty and it looks nice with a little furniture in it.  We also switched the furniture in the rooms upstairs because we are going to use the small room as the nursery.  Justin is thinking that we will probably get our carpeting soon, so our rearranging was probably in vain, but at least we got some things cleaned out up there.  It's been needing a clean out for a very long time.  So here are a few pictures of the house:

This picture is for my Aunt Patti, who made that wonderful vinyl for us when we got married.  I was so excited to finally get to put it up!  It looks great!

Horrible lighting, but this is a new table that Justin's parents gave to us.  It looks perfect in this spot!  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

This is the cleaned out nursery.  Not a whole lot to see in here yet.  Thankfully, we still have some time to get it all done!

This is the other room upstairs.  Not sure that I've ever put it on the blog before because it's always been a huge mess!  

Another view of the other room upstairs.  Justin gets to have a nice little area for his computer, and I get a sewing table.  I have lots of things that I need to sew before the baby is born!  Hopefully having it all set up will give me some motivation to do it all...

Master Bathroom!

Things have been a little quiet around here, as school has been done for about a month and a half and I finished boards in May.  I've been loving the time off, trying to make the most of it!  So far this summer, we've been to Alabama/Tennessee, Florida, and Indiana, and I am leaving tomorrow with my family on an out West camping excursion.  I'm leaving Justin behind for 10 whole days... Yikes!!  We haven't ever been apart that long, so we'll see how it goes!

The good thing about going away at this particular time is that I'm going to come home to a new master bathroom!  We are actually getting it done!  For the longest time, it was just studs in there, but when we got the house reappraised for refinancing, that was a bit of a problem.  We were able to get the new loan with contingency that we finish the bathroom in 90 days.  Justin was a bit on the upset side because he had dreams of tearing down the old decrepit garage and building himself a new one during the summer.  However, he gets to work on the bathroom.  It will be like magic!  Leave on vacation, and come back to a newly finished bathroom!

On Wednesday, we primed the whole thing in the morning and then painted it after we got home from church.  We were up a little bit late, but we wanted it to be done before the tilers came and we would have to actually tape things off and work around the tile.  No, no.  Must have a blank canvas to work with.  Much easier that way! The tilers then came in the morning and right now, the grout is drying.  Wow!  I'm loving it!

We hosted our young couple's Bible study last night and when everyone got the tour, someone commented that it was like luxury.  I have to say, that is how we feel, too.  We have never had a master bath, nor one that is this big and nice.  I feel very blessed, and whenever I walk in there, I can't help but pinch myself.  This is our house!  I can't wait to see the rest of it!!

Here is the soaking tub and the new surround.  Notice also the wall color. :)

Here is our new shower.  The shower head still needs to be installed, but Justin is excited because he picked out a panel that has four shower heads.  He is pumped about that...I suppose I am, too. :)

I finally got around to putting up new curtains in the living room and it really adds to the room!  Thanks to my cousin, Angie, who helped me pick them out. :)

Trim, Doors, Curtains, and Crafts

Dad W. and Grandpa W. have been faithfully helping us paint our trim and doors.  This is really exciting, because the trim makes the house seem a lot cozier, and I love it that you can't just see into my closet or that the gross stairway can't be seen from the kitchen anymore.  Dad has taken off several days of work just to help us out, and we are so thankful!  We couldn't have done all of this without the faithful duo.

You can't see very well, but Grandpa brought his own rags...old underwear.  Waste not, want not!

We didn't have a very convenient spot to put the trim once it was painted.  A good reason to go out to dinner!

Break has been really fun so far and has given me time to do things that I don't normally get to do, such as sew and do crafts.  For Justin's side of the family, I made flower clips for the little girls and fabric roads for the little boys.  Mom and my sisters-in-law got scrapbooks to put their Christmas candy and cookie recipes in.  I had such a great time making these things.  Mom W., Abi, and I got together to make the flowers, so Abi should get the credit for teaching me that skill.  I passed it on when we went to Indiana and Mom S., Sadie, Jessie, and I had a fun time making a bunch more.  I love making things when I have the time!

Don't I have some cute nieces and nephews? (Some of them aren't pictured)

I bought fabric for my curtains several months ago when I picked out paint colors.  I felt really blessed to find fabric that matched all of the paint colors that I had picked out and that was on clearance, with 50% off clearance even.  I got an amazing deal on the fabric and bought 11 yards of it for little more than I would have paid for the normal home decorating fabric.  Such a God thing!  I am now attempting to make my own curtains.  I can't say that I am an extremely talented sewer, but I can at least sew a straight line...pretty straight...and can look at tutorials online and pretty much figure out how to do things.  This is the first one that I have completed for the kitchen.  It is a mix of two patterns that I found via pinterest.  What a wonderful site!!  I don't have curtain rods yet, so it duct taped to a PVC pipe to give it the proper bunchiness and I am holding it up to one of the windows in the kitchen.  It is pretty much what I had in mind, although the fabric is a lot thicker than the kind in the tutorials, so it doesn't bunch quite as nicely.  I may end up using rings instead of putting the rod through the top seam, but I'm not sure that would help the bunch issue.  All in all, not bad for my first attempt.  I don't know when I'll actually finish them...seeing as I have 6 more to do just with that fabric and not including the two windows in the utility room, the three in our bedroom, or the windows upstairs.  I've got a long road ahead of me. :)  It will look great when it's done though!  I love being on break!