Updates! And Emmalynn is One!

Well, we got my lab results back on Monday. and things look... OKAY.
My Protein Level is 273. Pre-e is 300. So, basically it looks like I'm going to be getting it, it's just a waiting game (but there is a chance I won't get it at all!). They told me to take it as easy as possible and stay out of the sun/heat. Also, to drink lots of water and keep an eye out for weight gain and other symptoms. Basically, to keep doing what I'm doing it.

I have noticed that if I can spend most of the day inside/laying down I actually don't really have bad headaches and do much better. But, if I got outside I get exhausted SUPER fast, and the sun gives me a really bad headache.

However, when we got my lab results I went in to get my BP checked... and it was at the highest it has been yet. It was 118/85. Which for me, looks SCARY. haha. However, since then, I've taken my bp and it's only been about 110/75. Which is better, but still high for me. So, it is a little bit of a concern and they said to keep an eye on it and take it as often as possible or come into the office to check it.

I just met with a nurse, so I haven't heard the doctor's opinions or anything. I have an appointment this Monday where I should be finding out more about what is going to happen. Like how often they will want to see me in the office/how often I need to do lab work/etc.

However, since getting lab work done I haven't really had the scary chest pain. So that's good. I may have just over-worked myself way too much that day. I don't know.

Anyway, because of everything with my lab work and what-not, we actually haven't even had Emma open all of her presents yet! (she doesn't have many.. lol). However, she LOVES the puzzles she did get to open.

I can't believe she is one year old! I can't believe I've been a mom for one year! It's so crazy. she is getting way too big too fast! She took two steps by herself on her birthday, but that was it.

However, just yesterday she took four steps while Michael and I weren't even really watching! We both saw it out of the corner of our eyes... but my visiting teacher saw it! (Emma was walking to her.. lol).

At One Emmalynn:
Likes Eating - anything and EVERYTHING she can get her hands on

Loves to walk while holding your hand(s)

LOVES stuffed animals! She is always happiest if playing with a teddy bear or puppy

Likes to be outside, even if it's just sitting in the grass waiting for daddy to get home from work

Gets so excited when Daddy comes home - she recognizes the sound of the door and she also recognizes our car as it pulls up in front of our apartment (if we're outside or looking out the door)

Thinks it is so fun to look in the mirror (always has done this, but recently she just talks and talks and talks to herself!)

Says a few words. She knows who dada is. and is starting to figure out that I'm momma. Though, she'll say momma quite often... especially when she's upset/mad about being in her crib. She says nana (for banana) and boo bear (for blue berry). She also says Hi and Bye and waves when she's in the mood. But once in a while, we'll walk into a room and find her crawling over to a stuffed animal and then says "Hi". it's fun. She also says "pup" for puppy. She says a few other things, but I'll have to ask Michael. I can't remember them.

She is a VERY social baby. She hasn't gone through that afraid of people phase yet... and I'm not sure she's going to.

Church is hard. We have 1 O'clock church.. which is DREADFUL for Emmalynn. We wake her up from a nap to go every week. and then, not only does she usually take a nap around 3, but because she didn't get her full morning nap she is usually ready for a nap closer to 1:45... it's hard. But church is moving to 9 Next week! So hopefully that'll be MUCH better.

In church Emmalynn tries her hardest to sit with ANYONE but mom or dad. haha. She will squirm and whine until she finally gets away and hurries to someone else under the pews... it's hard. I've tried food distractions... toys... new toys. EVERYTHING it seems. She is just so social! If she had her way, she'd sit with a different in the meeting for a few minutes and then move on to the next person.

She also LOVES to find all of the sleeping babies on the floor in their carseats... or she likes stealing other kids binkies... even though she doesn't take one anymore and hasn't since she was like 4 months old! She just likes to take them and throw them.

Emmalynn loves to throw food on the floor now (this is a recent thing). She just likes to watch it fall.

She LOVES dogs. Even though we don't have a dog, she has seen quite a few. We actually 'rented' a puppy for an hour on her birthday for her to play with. She LOVED it... a little too much. The puppy didn't like her much. Emmalynn just thought it was an awesome stuffed animal that moved and licked her. haha. Everytime we've been outside or for a walk and there's been a dog, she has been so excited. Even if it's been a BIG dog. It's kinda scary for me sometimes! However, most of the dogs we've met have been VERY well trained, so it hasn't been too bad. Emma LOVES dogs though. She also likes cats... she's a very good petter at this point. She's actually pretty gentle, so maybe that's a good sign for the new baby coming?

Emmalynn is such a joy. She is a VERY happy baby. It is such a blessing to have her in our lives. Most of the time, when I'm having a rough day, it's not because she's grumpy. and she usually finds a way to make my day better. She is such a sweet girl and wants to help so much. She just hasn't quite figured out how to yet.

She is so caring, and loves other kids. She loves to play with people, no matter what their age. it's just a little scary sometimes when she wants to play with a tiny baby! It's fun to watch her try to keep up with older kids though!

Emma typically still sleeps quite a bit. She'll usually sleep from about 8:30-7 straight, nurse and then go right back to sleep until 9. Its VERY nice for me! She'll also then go down for a nap about an hour and half after she wakes up for the day that will usually last 2 hours. Then she'll be ready for a nap about 2-3 hours after that nap. and then ready for bed just a few hours later! It's really quite nice, except for when I have to do something in the kitchen. It's hard to keep our kitchen clean because Emmalynn's room connects with the kitchen... and doesn't have a door. It's got quite a big opening to the kitchen (probably about the width of 2.5 regular doors). and we just hang a nice curtain. But, it means I can't do anything in the kitchen (or anywhere in our apartment really aside from our living room) while she's sleeping. Which causes a problem when I need to make dinner/clean the kitchen or do laundry. She's turned into quite a light sleeper too... which makes it harder. Sometimes just walking through the kitchen/laundry room to the bath room wakes her up! Or flushing the toilet. We've been thinking about switching her into the bigger bedroom (our current room) just because it has a door and hopefully we'd be able to get away with doing things while she's sleeping.

Our apartment layout is pretty terrible to be honest... but it's the cheapest place we've lived. and it's in the best condition. It's just been... tricky trying to make it work. It's SMALL. I'm not sure I know where this little boy is going to go! There isn't room in our room (the bigger room) for a crib with our bed and dresser... and there isn't room in emmalynn's room for a toddler bed AND a crib/two cribs with a dresser. So, it'll be interesting trying to figure out where everyone is going to be. I'm not sure our bed and dresser will fit in emma's room... but I'm pretty sure two little beds will fit in our room... so we might just have to switch the kids into this bedroom. And just to be clear, we DO NOT have a huge bed. it's just a queen. So, that's how small our bedrooms are. We can barely get to our closet because our bed is almost too big for the 'big' room.

Anyway. Emmalynn is a joy. I'll post pictures/videos next time of her opening presents and what-not!

Pregnancy happenings.

Well, in my last post I had mentioned we were a little concerned about pre-e, but I was hoping I was just being paranoid especially since it is way too early to get pre-e! I'm only 23 weeks along! This baby has got to make it longer than that!

So anyway, we were keeping an eye out for symptoms and whatnot, but I thought I was being a little too paranoid and that the headaches were from heat/dehydration/etc. So we monitored my blood pressure pretty consistently every one-two days. We'd walk to the store in the evening just to get some exercise and take my bp. Last time with pre-e my bp never got super high, but it was always higher after walking/moving about. So, we were keeping an eye on it. But the highest it ever was at the store was about 110/75. Which, is a bit high for me, but after walking in the heat and being pregnant, that's not bad at all!

So that calmed my nerves. It was nice to see every once in a while that I really was okay, and my headaches were most likely from heat and exhaustion. And the sudden weight gain was only that one week. Maybe so that we'd pay more attention to symptoms of pre-e? Idk, but it was weird. So I wasn't super worried about that either.... until a few days ago.

I still was having headaches, but usually they'd back off a bit with Tylenol, but not go away completely. But this past week they have gotten worse and haven't gone away at all. But, Emmalynn had been grumpy and not sleeping well, so I thought I was just exhausted, until I started getting a severe chest pain on the right side to the point where I couldn't breathe it hurt too bad. And I stated swelling a bit more than usual, and I got blurry vision. But the scary one was the chest pain. I didn't have it much with Emma, but it did show up more towards the end with her pregnancy. So, the chest pain bothered me. I went to bed one night feeling really quite anxious, like maybe we should have gone to the hospital since it was after hours for the doctors. But, I got a blessing and decided it'd be okay and I'd call the doctor the next day to get an earlier appointment.

Well, yesterday was the day we called to schedule an earlier appointment. But, the receptionist had us talk to a nurse first. So after talking with the nurse we were told not to wait for an appointment, but to go to the hospital and talk to the doctor on call there and get tests done. So, since Emma just went to sleep, we decided to wait until she woke up from her nap. When she woke up, we dropped her off at a babysitters and went. Once there, I felt a lot less anxious because I knew they were going to check on the baby and run tests. Just that made me feel better.

The baby looks great still. He was VERY active while we were there, which was fun. :-)
My blood work came back looking fine, which doesn't mean a ton for pre-e. It just means I don't have eclampsia or HELLP. Which is a definite positive! However, there was protein in my urine. So, I get to do a 24 urine test! Yay! It was a little scary though, because they said the same exact sentence as last time. "We're going to do a 24 hour urine test just as a baseline so we can keep track of where you're at". Meaning they'll do more of them in the future. Which doesn't sound scary...
However, with Emma, when they said that, I found out a few days later that we were both in danger and I'd be induced. So now I'm paranoid again. But I know we're being taken care of. And I know things will work out the way the are supposed to. And who knows? Maybe there won't be a ton of protein present! And it won't be scary. Maybe.

I haven't had as much of a headache today though! So that's good, right?

I'm just scared that little Johnny is going to have to come before he's ready. Until we get positive lab results, my hopes are its at least not as severe as it could be and that we can at least make it to 32 weeks.

Anyway, here's to hoping and praying that this baby arrives safely and at the right time. :-)

It's a boy!

Well, a little while ago, we found out we are having a boy!

We are both excited, but I'm pretty sure no one is more excited than Michael. What dad doesn't want a little boy though?

The day we found out we went out and bought a few outfits because I had coupons and Burlington and babies r us were having sales on their winter clothes. Which is awesome for us since that's what we'll be needing for the first little bit anyway! I have already forgotten how tiny they are! I'm so excited to have a tiny baby around again! Although, a bit anxious about it too because we'll have a tiny toddler too! ... unless Emmalynn is a late walker!

Anyway. So far, things look great with the baby! He's growing perfectly. He's the right size for when I'm supposed to be due, he's already getting to the head down position, (but who knows if he'll decide to stay that way!) and his little body is moving fluids in and out and circulating blood properly. Yay for healthy babies!

I'm still feeling pretty good, but I am getting a little nervous about pre-e again. They are watching things closely, but I'm not entirely sure that matters unless they do lab work. Because the way they screen for pre-e is mostly high blood pressure and swelling...

Neither of which I had much if last time... At least not to the point of symptoms of pre-e. My blood pressure never actually got to be over 140/80 last time and although I did swell a ton(!) last time it didn't look like it to other people because it was my whole body, not just my feet/face. So I still looked basically just like any other pregnant lady because I started out tiny. I never swelled enough that I could push on my leg/foot/etc and see an imprint left behind.

So anyway, I've been getting bad headaches again that won't go away with Tylenol. Its only been the past two weeks or so... And it could just be the heat, but I've been drinking TONS of water again. And that's basically how I knew something was wrong last time. But, at my ultrasound they checked my bp and it was only 110/72 so they said there was nothing you wory about, but if the headaches didn't go away they would probably do lab work at my next appointment. That'll be the first of July. I'm still worried. I've been trying to take it easy and make sure to relax and lay down when Emma is asleep. I wouldn't be so worried I guess if it weren't for the sudden weight gain I've had combined with the headaches. I've been eating really well for the most part this pregnancy, but in two weeks I've gained 15 lbs. That's a lot!! I mean, I lost weight for some unknown reason in the beginning, so now I'm still in the normal range for what I should have gained up to this point, but still. It's scaring me.

Anyway, that's all that's new here! Emmalynn is almost a year old! I'm trying to decide what to do for her birthday... But we'll see. :-)