Cole Henry

Last night our dear friends Mark & Janna welcomed their precious little boy, Cole, into the world. He weighed in at 7lbs10oz. Mom, Dad & Baby are doing great. Congrats Williamson's...we can't wait to give Cole a playmate in a few short months!

27 weeks & sick!

What's worse than being pregnant with a fever, chills, body aches, runny nose and a cough? Having all of the before mentioned and a pinched nerve in your lower back. I'm a hot mess over here! I've read that pregnant women are more susceptible to colds and I guess it's true. I'm sure it's only temporary though so I'm trying to rest up and drink lots of fluids to flush this thing out!

My appt on Tuesday went well. The fluid has returned a little but still not too much and my cervix is still holding strong. The Dr. is still convinced the fluid will return and I will need another amnio but I'm holding out hope. They still haven't found any abnormalities with Jack but in the 3rd tri (which I am now it...woohoo) is when a GI tract obstruction would be visible via u/s. I may also get an MRI so they can better see his GI tract and bowels, therefore if there is a problem we will be better equipped to deal with it at birth. For now, so far so good and I am able to do pretty normal activity. I am still having quite a few contractions so I am being careful when it comes to physical things but I'm not constantly worried that the contractions are changing my cervix since it seems to be doing well.

Last night we picked up our crib and changing table!! I am heading to Portland for he weekend for my Grandma's 75th B day party so J is going to put it all together while I'm gone. I'll post pics when I get home. I can't wait to see it all put together!

Here is the big ol' belly at 27 weeks.

The timer has popped!

The turkey timer, aka my belly button, has officially popped. I'm hoping Jackson doesn't take this as an indication that he is cooked and ready to make an entrance. We need him to be well done!

I have to give a quick shout out to our kind and generous neighbor Barbara!!! She is the sweetest lady and we are so lucky to have her. She has been showing up at our door with meals this week and we couldn't be more thrilled. Barbara happens to be an amazing cook and has been sharing her dinners with us. THANK YOU BARBARA!!! We really appreciate the help.

The nursery is painted and we love it. J did an amazing job yesterday with the help of his mother, who has been over for the past 3 weekends painting other rooms gearing up for the nursery, Thanks Judy! We didn't choose the easiest paint job and we were a little worried that it wouldn't work but it is perfect. The crib and changer/dresser should be here by next weekend, our glider (which I absolutely love) arrived last weekend and then I just need to start decorating. J is putting up new molding today. We should have it all done in the next few weeks. We can't wait to get the furniture in and put together. I'll post more pics in a few weeks with a more finished product but for now I can't help but brag about J's amazing paint job along with a sneak peak of our bedding. My mom and Aunt Angie are making it all and made the ADORABLE blankets below. I'm so lucky!!

Not too much more to report. I am again very anxious to get into the Dr. on Tuesday and see what is going on with the fluid and my cervix. My contractions have been minimal all week, nothing timeable so that is good. I'm feeling quite a bit of pressure and I have been getting crampy in the evenings but this could just be normal pregnancy stuff. I've been trying to take it easy but it is really hard to not get up and clean my house, do laundry, cook dinner and just go to the store. I am working during the week and hoping that after Tuesday I can continue to do so.

More of the same

After a long appt today with a thorough scan of Jackson's heart I was luckily sent home with not too much to report. My cervix and fluid levels have held strong for the week. I am so relieved! My cervix (since I know you are all so anxious to hear about it's progress) is still at about 2cm. It should be about 4 cm at this point but with no change since last week I'll take it! My fluid level increased very slightly but nothing of concern. I received the 1st of 2 steroid shots in my bum. The steroids will help Jack's lungs mature so if he is to make an appearance his lungs will be more developed. I also had a FFM done where they test for a protein that your cervix makes before going into labor. If the test is positive there is a high chance of going into labor in the next 2 weeks. I will get the results in the am and they will repeat the test every week.

Along with a heart scan the u/s tech and Dr took a good look at his intestines, esophagus, bowels and stomach. Everything is still looking normal with nothing popping out that is of concern. The Dr is still sticking with her theory that with the severity of my fluid level last week there is more than likely something going on that caused it and it will more than likely return. We don't know how long it will take, what kind of a toll it take on my cervix or what we may find in the next few months or after I deliver that is causing the fluid. I tried to get a ton of answers from the Dr but there are still so many unknowns.

I was told to be on very light duty. No housework, grocery shopping, long periods of time standing, etc but I haven't been put on full bed rest yet thankfully. If there is any cervix shortening in the next few weeks than the complete bed rest is imminent.

So, for now no bad news. I will continue to go in every Tuesday for a fluid/cervix check in hopes that we will have more days like today with nothing new to report. J and I are in pretty good spirits just trying to take it 1 day at a time. We have become pretty accustomed to things happening to us that are out of the ordinary and I don't think we will be surprised or shocked regardless of the outcome of this situation. We have been trying to prepare for bedrest and a preemie/NICU baby. I get upset when I think about my labor and delivery. I selfishly feel like I am going to be cheated out of a normal birth experience. More than likely after Jack is born he will be whisked off for testing and head to the NICU. I've always thought I would have my baby, he would be put on my chest, nurse and he would be mine. This will most likely not be the case for us. I know in the grand scheme of things it isn't a big deal but after being cheated out of a normal conception I was looking forward to a normal birth with a healthy baby who never has to leave my side. Again this is all speculation and I want what is best for Jackson to be the top priority but I'm having a hard time accepting that part of our situation.

More to come with some nursery updates this weekend!

6 month update- Happy Valentines Day

With all of the drama I forgot to put our month 6 fruit and a 25 week belly pic on the blog. I know you have all been anxiously awaiting these exciting events!

1st a quick update on our situation...we got great news yesterday that our tests for chromosomal abnormalities all came back clear. Babies with Downs Syndrome have an increased incidence of excess fluid so we were relieved to find out that this is not the cause. Babies who have a birth defect in their GI Tract also have a very high incidence of excess fluid and after doing a lot of reading on line I am thinking that if there is a cause in our case, this is a likely one. Our Dr. talked to us about this in length as well. Basically there could be an obstruction or a disconnect in the babie's bowel which would inhibit him from properly processing the amniotic fluid and would in turn lead to an excess amount. If this is the case we may not be able to diagnose it until after he is born. It is sometimes impossible to see in an u/s. Luckily the prognosis is very good with a GI tract problem. It would require surgery right after he is born but after repaired should pose no problem. Of course this is all a guessing game right now.

I have been having a few contractions in the evenings but nothing too consistent. I'm trying to drink a ton of water and I'm taking Advil round the clock which is supposed to help with the contractions and help reduce fluid. I'm very anxious to get into the Dr on Tuesday to see if any fluid has returned as well as make sure my cervix hasn't changed.

I've had a few people ask me what this little guy's name is. It isn't a secret by any means but for some reason I have yet to announce it here. If you know me in real like than you most likely already know but for those of you who are wondering his name is...Jackson Ray Vann. Ray is my Dad's middle name and Jackson has no real meaning but we like it.

This month little Jack is supposedly the size of an eggplant and weighs between 1.5 and 2.2 pounds but on our last u/s he was already weighing 2.2 pounds so he's definitely ahead of the curve! You can also now hear is heartbeat just by putting your ear to my belly. J heard it the other night, it was pretty cool.

Of course here's the belly pic today at 25 weeks 3 days.



We are having a great Valentine's Day so far, or I guess I should say I am. There are a lot of other things J would probably rather be doing! I woke up to him making me a fantastic breakfast of homemade pancakes which were soooo good (luckily I happened to be watching when he tried to put 2 Tablespoons of baking powder in the batter instead of 2 teaspoons)! Then I drug him to Babies R Us with me so we could register. It took longer than I expected but we got it done. We then stopped at Home Depot (the highlight of his day) and got all the paint for the nursery and now J is making me dinner while I sit here hoping these few contractions I'm feeling are going to go away. I also have a special dessert I picked up the other day that I can hardly wait for. It's the small things that get me excited these days! That's it for now...I'll leave you with a few pics of J making me a very tasty breakfast. He's so cute in the kitchen, notice the heart pancake :-)

Another scary evening...

Wow, our situation took a turn for the worse yesterday. We are doing well and coping but we were hit with a pretty big blow yesterday that will really make the next 3 months interesting to say the least. Here is the story...

I was at home yesterday and still felt like I was having quite a few contractions. I counted about 7 in an hour. The Dr. happened to call to check on how I was doing and I told her about the contractions. Of course she immediately told me to come in so they could monitor me and make sure everything was ok.

I got hooked back up to the monitors and my contractions were constant and about 1 min apart. They checked my cervix and it was down to a 1.9 from about 2.4 on Sunday! Anything below a 2 is in the danger zone. The Dr. made a few calls and she immediately sent me over the high risk Dr across the hospital. J met me there and they did a complete u/s and checked my cervix again and this is when we realized there was something really wrong. During the u/s it was discovered that my fluid levels were extremely high. Normal fluid levels are between 10-20, 25 is considered high and mine was 31. This was putting pressure on my uterus and cervix and causing the contractions.

The Dr came and basically explained to us that if we hadn't have caught this I would probably have gone into labor in the next week or so. My cervix was already at a very dangerous level and another couple days of contracting like I was and this baby would have been born. She immediately rushed in all of her staff and did an amnio reduction right there in her office. This is where they stick a very long needle into your uterus through your stomach and remove some of the fluid. She removed 1 liter, over 4 cups of fluid from my uterus. It was not fun! My stomach looked smaller right away and I felt a lot less pressure. She then sent me over to L&D to monitor my contractions and thankfully they had subsided.

We got home at about 10 last night with a lot of questions and unknowns. Most importantly, why is the baby producing so much fluid? There is a 30% chance that we will never know why so much fluid is being produced and everything will end up normal but it's more likely there is something wrong that is causing the problem. We are doing a ton of tests via blood, amniotic fluid and u/s to try and rule out as many causes as possible. There are some very serious problems associated with excess fluid and there are also some more minor ones. At this point we have no answers.

Another concern is when will the fluid return? Will I need another amnio reduction? My cervix is now so short there isn't much wiggle room so if I have any contractions and the fluid returns it has to be dealt with asap. More than likely the fluid will return and another amnio reduction will be required. I will be monitored weekly and as soon as the fluid level gets high again she will do another amnio to reduce it. Anymore shortening of my cervix will lead to bed rest. Therefore, when the fluid returns if I am having contractions they need to be caught asap.

The good news is that the little guy is looking great on the u/s and still measuring about 2 weeks ahead. There are no abnormalities that can be seen and he was very active all day yesterday. He is also weighing about 2lb2oz which is great.

I think we have a long 3 months ahead of us and we have no idea what will happen. We are hoping this little guy will stay put for a while longer and we will do whatever we can to make that happen. Now we wait...for test results, appts and progress. Other than being a little sore from the amnio I am feeling fine and trying to take it easy today. I'm watching out for contractions and trying to drink lots of fluids. My next appt is on Tuesday and they will measure my cervix as well as the fluid levels and of course I will post an update as soon as we know more.

1st trip to Labor & Deliver...check!

While pregnant you spend the first 36 weeks of your pregnancy fearing the labor and delivery part of the hospital and then the last 4 weeks you can't wait to get there. We had our 1st chance to spend time in it a little too early last night. Our uneventful weekend turned out to be exciting after all!

Here's the story...

I over did it a little on Saturday by working out pretty hard, cleaning the house, cooking and baking and helping J move all of our office furniture out of the nursery so we can start working on it. On Saturday night I was up 5 times going to the bathroom and I woke up with some bladder pain on Sunday but I thought it was just the baby laying on it funny. We spent the whole day on Sunday visiting friends and then I went to my friend Mary's for her B-day get together Sunday evening and the pain in my bladder kept getting worse and worse. I got home at about 8 and I was so uncomfortable I realized that this pain wasn't the baby but I had a UTI (bladder infection). The pain got more and more intense and I couldn't lay, sit or stand and I knew I needed to take something to sleep. I asked Dr. Google what to do and it said that a UTI while pregnant can lead to preterm labor and I realized that I was having some contractions (I've been having them for a few weeks now sporadically but they were pretty regular at this point).

I decided to call the on-call Dr. at my clinic to see what I could take to make it through the night. She asked if I was having contractions and decided she wanted me to go into L&D to test for the infection and get medication. Off we went to the hospital thinking we would be in and out in no time. They hooked my belly up to the monitors to check on the contractions and to my surprise I was having constant contractions about 1 minute apart. Obviously this was very worrisome. They immediately gave me a shot of something nasty that stopped the contractions that also gave me the shakes. They also found blood in my urine which confirmed the UTI. The Dr. came in to the hospital from home to do an u/s and check on the size of my cervix. Sure enough the contractions had already shortened my cervix to a borderline length of 2.3 cm. Anything under 2.5 cm is a little concerning.

Luckily they sent me home with an antibiotic, pain meds for the infection and an assignment of bed rest for a few days. I have another u/s on Thursday to check the baby's weight and my fluid level so we will do another cervix check as well and hope that everything has settled down. I'm still feeling a few contractions but they are a lot further apart and I think that having a few everyday is normal.

So here I sit, working from home trying to drink lots of fluids and hoping that my body decides to cooperate for 3 more months. J decided to work from home today too and is taking good care of me. I'll post more on Thursday after the next u/s.

An exciting week!!!

Not an exciting week in the way most people think of exciting...like a birthday, wedding, anniversary, vacation. Nope, none of that going on around here. We are actually quite boring. We have been getting rooms cleared out so we can paint this weekend and just hanging out while trying not to stress over the news every night. But...it is an exciting week for us because this is the week of viability!!! After going through infertility I think most women take on a slightly more paranoid approach to their pregnancy than someone who did it the old fashioned way. At 24 weeks babies can survive in the outside world. Obviously this isn't ideal and this little guy has a lot more cooking to do but it's nice to know that if something were to happen that he may be okay.


Other than that, the only other exciting news to report is that my brother is now engaged! He and his new fiance are expecting a baby at the beginning of Aug. which is very exciting. Our babes are going to me only about 2 months apart. I'm looking forward to many fun cousin play dates this summer. Congrats Joe and Val!


Here I am again in all of my big bellied glory. Sorry if you are getting tired of seeing it but it's fun for me to go back and see how big I am getting. Only about 16 more :-).
Other than feeling like I have swallowed rocks every evening due to indigestion I'm feeling pretty good. Little things like putting on my socks, shaving my legs and working out are becoming a little more arduous and I feel like I am huffing and puffing all the time but so far nothing major to complain about.


We have yet another u/s next week to check on my excess fluid and the growth of the babe. Although it is fun seeing him I don't think my insurance company thinks it is very fun getting all of the huge u/s bills. According to the Dr. we will continue to have these every month to make sure everything is okay so I hope they get used to it. I'll post next week with more info on our linebacker.