Noah's Room

Did a little nursery makeover today for my big boy. Hope he enjoys it!

Watch Lydia Grow...9 weeks old

Our Lydia Grace is 9 weeks old today!  Here is how she has changed over the last two months:

At birth: 8lbs 6oz, 20.5in

1 month old: 10lbs 10oz, 21in

2 months old:  12lbs 13oz, 23in

Lydia started smiling around 5 weeks old and she can sure dazzle the room now.  She especially loves to be called a "pretty princess" and "pretty girl."  Funny how women respond to flattery from birth.  :)

She also loves to be carried around in a wrap carrier and look at herself in the mirror above her swing.  She is beginning to like baths too.  She fits perfectly in her size 0-3 month clothes with no room to spare and is moving into some 3-6 month outfits too.  She is a very happy baby until evening when she has a fussy time and Daddy does the "Lydia dance" to calm her or Mommy wears her in her wrap.  She is a wonderful sleeper and does 5-7 hour stretches at night consistently.  We are so enamored with our precious baby girl!

Less is More

I was so excited this Christmas to peruse daily deals online, comparison shop, track prices...all to get my babies the very best toys for rock bottom prices.  Getting a great deal definitely gives me a high!  All these gifts were lovingly wrapped and placed under tree to delight my family, especially my son Noah who would be able to participate in this yearly unwrapping ritual for the first time.  So what happened?  Noah opened one gift, happily shredding the wrapping paper and handing the little pieces to Mommy for a "thank you."  Then he crawled off into the kitchen to play with a can of panko bread crumbs that never got put away after a grocery trip.  Later that day, he was entertained for a couple of HOURS by two Starbucks lids and two red plastic Solo cups.  So after this experience, it has really made me start thinking about whether or not a toddler NEEDS toys at all.  All this money we spend on educational toys to build motor skills and make our kids brilliant, and really they are actually born with this amazing thing called an imagination and skill building is a natural process that happens without our help mostly.  Sure, my son loves his shape sorter and his stacking cups, but he plays with non-toy items around the house in the same manner.  If I had it to do all over again, I'd buy him just ONE toy and put money in a savings account for a family vacation.  In fact, we may just do that next year!  People, not things, are what is really important in life, and I'd rather make memories than accumulate more stuff.  Yet another important life lesson I learned from my toddler.  :)

Longest. Pregnancy. Ever.

Let's start with the baby update, shall we?  Mommy now has a bunch of new issues, including but not limited to high blood pressure, proteinuria, elevated liver enzymes, and decreased renal function.  So I now have a grand total of TEN doctor's appointments in the next 14 days including weekly non-stress tests and ultrasounds.  I also get an ultrasound of my liver and a consult with a gastroenterologist (which will make 11 appointments).  Noah also has his 1 year appointment in the same building next week, so they may as well give me my own parking space.  Just saying.

On a happier note, my baby boy is turning 1 on Saturday!  Hopefully I still have time to make cupcakes with all this running around!  Hopefully Noah gets a party and not a baby sister for his birthday!  We shall see!  We got Noah's pictures done last weekend, and you get the first sneak peek!

We've Moved!

Many happy things in the past few months!  And hopefully now I will have time to update more regularly.  July was spent packing for our big move.  My mom was able to visit one more time to help with Noah and then Chris' parents came to help.  Our little Noah learned how to sit himself up and crawl shortly before his 9-month birthday, and also popped out his first two teeth (he now has 6 and is working on more).  August brought us the big move to our new 3 bedroom apartment which is working out wonderfully.  We also had our 28-week ultrasound which showed (yay!) no signs of the hematoma, or placenta previa, and that our little girl is growing well.  Our family also grew by one more with the birth of my cousin's new baby boy.  I'm so excited that Noah will have a cousin close in age of the same gender to grow up with just as I did!

September so far has brought two visits from good friends as well as the wedding of good friends...today in fact!  Pray for Chris and I as we leave Noah with a non-family babysitter for the first time!  I trust these dear friends completely (with 3 of their own they are the baby boy experts!) but I'll still miss my baby!  :)

Please stay tuned for more of our lives, I promise to write more often!

Busy busy busy!

I just realized that it's been about a month since my last update!  Much has gone on in the past few weeks!  We enjoyed a two-week visit from my mom, which was wonderful.  It was so nice to have her help and I know she enjoyed every moment she got to spend with Noah.  Since then, I have been on my own taking care of him during the day for the first time since my hospital visit.  I am very blessed that he is such a good baby and that he doesn't like to be carried around.  Much less lifting and strain for Mommy!

We have also spent quite a bit of time deciding whether or not we should move from our current apartment.  Our lease is up in September, and they are raising our rent by an astronomical amount.  Also, we could really use a little more space (specifically another bedroom...for our helpers to stay in and then for Baby Girl).  We did find an apartment that would meet our needs nearby and are in the application process.  Please pray for our move and that God would raise up helpers for us, since I will be unable to do a lot of the packing (lifting restrictions).  The pain in my hip has increased lately so please pray for that as well.  I still have a long way to go until this baby arrives (God willing).  I'm 22 weeks, 4 days and counting!  There will be much praise in this house on the day I reach viability (24 weeks).  Almost there!  But I sure hope Baby Girl stays put many more weeks than that.

Our last doctor's appointment went well; Baby is getting more active in there.  Next ultrasound will be at 27 weeks where she will be assessed for growth and placental function and location (currently too close to cervix).  We are still at risk for many complications from the SCH, including preterm labor, premature rupture of the membranes, continuing hemorrhage, and placental abruption.  While we are doing much better these days, please remember to pray for our health!

While I have much to occupy my days, I am still finding them to be quite lonely.  I'm unable to get out of the house much, and I haven't seen much of friends (not too many in this area).  I feel as though my "bed rest" has turned into "house arrest"!  Hopefully I will be able to reconnect with others in the near future!

The Gender Reveal!

First, the big news...

It's a GIRL!!!

Here she is with her mouth open (a preview of things to come?):

 
She appears to be quite healthy and growing well.  The only notable finding on U/S were that I had an SCH (no surprises there) that appears to be about the same size as before as well as a low-lying placenta.  I was really hoping the SCH would be significantly diminished (or gone) but that isn't the case.  We're not out of danger yet, but there is much to celebrate none-the-less.

In other news, I was happy to get out of the house a bit this weekend.  Since I haven't had any bleeding for two weeks, I felt comfortable enough to go out to dinner with Chris, Noah, and my in-laws on Saturday night.  We all enjoyed our French fare at Petit Robert, and Noah enjoyed his french fry and bite of french bread.  :)

On Sunday, we were blessed to be visited by my cousin Kathy and her husband Steve.  They got to meet Noah for the first time.  I also got to enjoy another dinner out at Bistro Chi where we actually ordered off the menu of it's sister restaurant, Kama Lounge.  Not bad Tapas for Quincy!

17 Weeks and Counting

Hello friends!  It's been a busy 10 days or so here.  I've been dealing with a root canal, a UTI, and hip pain, but all is on the mend I believe.  When it rains it pours, I guess!  Besides blogging to keep my sanity, I've also been participating in an online support group for women with SCH and answering medication-related questions on the Babycenter message boards.  And I've now won 311 games of Klondike.  Just keeping the brain active.  :)

Since I'm sure you're all wondering about baby, I'll give you the latest update from my appointment with my midwife today.  If you're confused, I now see a midwife, an OB, and an MFM specialist.  Lucky me.  Well anyway, the baby had a nice strong heartbeat on doppler and was very active.  My uterus has definitely grown and is "nice and big".  That would indicate the placenta is working (a concern, since an SCH is the result of a tear in the placenta).  We'll know for sure once I have my ultrasound on Monday.  Please pray for a disappearing clot and a healthy baby!  And stay tuned for the gender update.  :)

Noah is still thriving with his grandparents around.  He really enjoys his daily walks with them.  He's also been sitting up for longer periods of time and is getting ready to crawl by rocking back and forth on his hands and knees.  He also enjoys standing up and leaning on the couch or ottoman and playing with his toys up there.  My little man is growing up so fast already!  Here are my favorite photos of the week:

Playing with Noah

We have been very blessed to have Chris' parents staying with us these past couple of weeks.  They have been cooking, cleaning, and caring for Noah while I've been resting.  It is such a joy to see how they delight in him.  Here are a couple of videos they took while playing with Noah:

I have no idea how we'll manage once they leave!  I know Noah will miss them very much too.  Good thing we have them here for a couple of more weeks.  :)

A Little Update

Chris and I met with the MFM doctor today.  She was very nice, and asked a hundred questions.  We spent most of our time talking about how the avascular necrosis will affect the pregnancy, and how things will be handled in the future.  For example, I may need to be on blood thinners if I become less mobile (but not now), and I may need pain medication (so far, so good), and any surgery will likely wait until at least 8 weeks postpartum.  I'll have my MRI repeated then to see how things have changed.  She didn't seem overly concerned about the SCH since the baby is growing fine and there is plenty of fluid, both good signs that the placenta is working well.  Also, while the clot appears to be coming off the placenta (probably caused by a small tear or separation from the uterine wall) it is not BEHIND the placenta which would be much more dangerous.  I'll have my fetal survey ultrasound in 3 weeks where all this will be assessed again...and we'll hopefully find out the gender!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all my friends and family with little ones (and ones on the way).  This is my first "official" Mother's Day (I was pregnant with Noah last year) and I am certainly counting my blessings.  Noah is such a precious little miracle and I am honored to be his Mommy!  Such a privilege it is to watch him grow and learn and change every day.  We have had a very relaxing weekend as a family so far.  Yesterday my sweet husband Chris surprised me and his mother with flowers:

and then we all enjoyed a lovely lobster (lobstah) dinner.  Today Chris made me breakfast and I spent some time playing with Noah.  He likes being given his bucket of toys and picking out what he wants to play with (everything eventually ends up out of the bucket of course).  Today's play session was extra entertaining:

A bucket of toys makes a great hat, I guess!  He rolled into the bucket if you're wondering how he got there.  :)

Tonight Chris is doing nursery duty at church without me (what a guy!) and I'm continuing to rest up and hope my body is doing some healing.  I've been keeping busy reading and playing way too many games of Klondike on my iPhone (170 wins so far, lol).  Tomorrow is my appointment with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine (high risk) doctor and I'm quite nervous about it.  Mostly because I hate seeing a specialist of any kind, and I'm not sure she'll have a whole lot more to tell me besides "wait and see."  I'm thankful to have made it to 15 weeks today, and am hopeful for many more.  Keeping praying for us!

Meet Baby Lee

Ultrasound today!  Bad news first: SCH (subchorionic hematoma) is still there, and about the same size.  Good news: baby has grown quite a bit in the last 10 days, and is right on target for size.  It also has a strong heartbeat.  Meet Baby Lee:

The big dark spot underneath the baby is the SCH.  As you can see, it's huge.  But baby is still happily swimming around in there which is the most important thing.  Precious little one!

Little Milestones

Yesterday had it's highs and lows.  I went to the OB and heard baby's heartbeat again (yay!).  Then I met with the hip surgeon who was about as unprofessional as they come.  I'll be hitting the MD review sites to complain.  He basically said he wanted nothing to do with me until after I had the baby.  After he made fun of me, of course, for having two babies in a row.  Needless to say, when the time comes for me to have surgery, he won't be the one wielding the scalpel.  For now I will try not to think about it and will seek other opinions when the time is closer. 

That afternoon, I was pleasantly surprised to see this:

Noah sitting up and playing with his toys!  Before when I would sit him up he would whine and throw his body backwards, or else lean forward and roll over.  My big boy!  Seven months old now.  :)

I've also been really enjoying listening to Noah play with his grandparents, especially his grandfather.  Such a quiet man, he just comes to life when the baby is around.  His high-pitched "baby talk" is priceless!  I think Noah's grandmother is just as taken with him as his grandfather is.  What a blessing they have been!

Today has been a nice day of rest.  I have rediscovered the game Snood (as dear Melanie said, it was our generation's Angry Birds).  I've been playing on my iPhone.  Thank goodness for portable technology when you're stuck in bed!  Tomorrow is my next ultrasound appointment.  Praying for a much reduced blood clot and a healthy baby!

More Complications

This past week was rough adjusting to bed rest, and I miss caring for my baby Noah so much.  To think I have been complaining these past weeks about carrying him around, and now I can't!  Another blessing I took for granted.  Thursday we went to the OB and heard baby Lee's heartbeat, which was very reassuring.  And Friday I went for an MRI on my left hip, since I have been experiencing leg pain since last fall when I was pregnant with Noah and after 4 months of physical therapy I haven't improved.  The MRI showed that I have a condition called Avascular Necrosis.  This means that at some point last fall blood supply was interrupted to my hip temporarily and caused the bone tissue there to die.  It is a rare complication of pregnancy, and the mechanism of injury isn't known for sure.  For now, this means I have to be on crutches to protect the joint.  Most likely after this baby is born I will need surgery, possibly a total hip replacement.  This has been quite a blow to me, as you can imagine, given what else I have been through this week.

Next up is an OB appointment tomorrow, an ultrasound on Thursday, and on Monday a consultation with a doctor from Maternal-Fetal Medicine who specializes in high-risk pregnancies.  Please pray for us:
1) that the clot will have shrunk on ultrasound
2) that the baby continues to be healthy and grow normally
3) that the placenta is not affected
4) that I do not have another major bleed, and that I do not develop blood clots in my leg or lungs as a result of my limited mobility
5) for our family that is under a lot of stress right now

Thank you!

Surviving bed rest by blogging!

Today I decided to start blogging because I seem to have endless time on my hands these days.  How does the mother of a 6 month old accomplish this?  Bed rest, and a sweet mother-in-law to take care of us.  That's right, the Lee family is expecting another little Lee around November 4, 2012.  For those of you counting, that's 13 months after the birth of our little Noah.  This pregnancy started out easier than the first, but became complicated as of Monday when I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hematoma (don't look it up, you'll scare yourself).  Anyway, I'm on bed rest while we wait and see what God's plan is for our little miracle.  Trying to enjoy each day of it's life, however brief it may be.  I've never felt so terrified in my whole life, but I take comfort in the fact that God created this baby, loves it, and works through all things and circumstances.  Thanks for following us on our journey!