Hi everyone! Sorry I didn't post on Tuesday after my doctors' appointments. This week has been busy. Monday I had my very first baby shower. It was hosted by my fellow third grade teachers at CPES for the rest of the faculty and staff. It was so much fun to celebrate with my co-workers. I have been at Chelsea Park for six years now and the faculty and staff feel like family. They have been through this infertility journey with me. I was showered with gift cards, adorable baby gear, and even money to use on needs as they arise.
Tuesday morning w had our two doctors' appointments. At Dr. Gonzales' office they did ultrasounds to check the babies' heartbeats and measure my cervix. The heartbeats were all in normal range and my cervix is holding strong. While the babies were being scanned we saw a funny little sibling interaction. One baby struck out with a tiny fist and the neighboring little one punched back! All that was separating them was the walls of their sacks. I hope this is not an indication of things to come!
After Dr. Gonzales we saw Dr. Straughn. My biggest concern was my newest symptom, ITCHING! I have been itching for almost two weeks. I itch from the base of my scalp to the soles of my feet. At night I wake up three to four times because my feet itch so badly. I tried Aveno baths, Claratin . Benedryl cream, lotions, and finally ice. I now sleep with ice packs so that I can stick my feet under them when they begin to itch. I was concerned that I might be having liver issues because I'd read that could cause extreme itching in pregnancy. Dr. Straughn had blood work drawn to check and thankfully I heard back yesterday that everything came back normal.
Tuesday afternoon I went back to school for a shower thrown by my class and moms. That was fun. The kids loved the shower games, especially the candy bars diaper game. The students had to open a diaper to reveal a melted candy bar, then guess what kind of candy was in the diaper. The expressions and exclamations of disgust were hilarious! I came home with LOTS of diapers and wipers as well as some adorable onesies. By the times I got in my car at 5:00, the whole cab smelled like baby from the diapers and wipes sitting in the warm interior.
Wednesday was a rest day. I took the day to stay home in bed. The morning was slept away and the afternoon consisted of grading papers and writing thank you notes in bed. Ahhhh! So nice. I'm looking forward to more rest soon. I now have only one week of teaching left and that will only be four days because I'm taking next Wednesday as a mid-week break. I can hardly believe the end is in sight!
Friday, March 20, 2015
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Prayer and Praise
The past couple of weeks have really made me feel so much more like a mommy! One reason is my guest room. It is bursting with baby gear! Thanks to the BAMOM Twice As Nice Sale I am now the proud owner of nearly all my big baby items. My mom came up on Friday and I took a half day off so that we could go shopping. The pregnant BAMOM members get to shop early so we were let in at 2:00. The strollers were all lined up inside the doors. I knew that I needed two snap-n-go stroller bases for our infant car seats. It was like a feeding frenzy arounds the strollers. If Mom had not put her hand on two snap-n-goes we wouldn't have gotten them. That was the first three minutes. My second must have was a Chicco Keyfit 30 infant car seat. I had arranged to buy three of the same model from a triplet mom in our group. When I was sure we'd secured our strollers, I left them with Mom, walked around to the car seats, and BINGO! There was the car seat! It was not exactly the same color cover, but it coordinates. The other three are light grey, dark grey, and sage. The one I found was green and black. It also came with two bases. At that point Mom had to go and check out with those big items and I kept shopping. That led to four bouncy seats, a portable swing, and two over-the-door bouncers. Mom made another trip through the checkout. Next came a big baby gate/room divider for the space between our living and dining room, a whale-shaped baby tub, two bath seats, a few fitted crib sheets, and three mesh bumpers ( I already had one). By the time we left, the back of Mom's van was packed. She said it looked like we were setting up a daycare, and it did!
On Saturday some items went on half-price so we went back again, this time with my mom, my sweet mother-in-law, and Donny. This time we dove into baby girl clothes. Merril is pretty much covered with clothes because one of the moms from my class at school gave me seven big diaper boxes of boy clothes. I'd washed them, but Friday evening Mom folded and sorted the into huge ziplock bags by size. That made pink and frills the order of the day on Saturday. Oh my, I love pink and frills! We walked out with 109 pieces of baby girl clothes (mostly onesies and PJs) for $140! Wow. I feel like a Mommy.
Another reason I feel like a Mommy is the mommy concerns and boost to my prayer life. I'd gotten so used to feeling the babies, but the past week and a half I felt nothing. First I tried to push it away. I'd tell myself that they were growing and sleeping. Then I'd pray and go on. That sort of worked, but then I started waking up and thinking about it. Those wake times turned into hour-to-two-hour intense prayer sessions. I kept going to Jeremiah 29:11, God has plans for my babies, and Psalm 139, God knows what is going on inside me and is knitting them together. I was on pins and needles before our Wednesday appointments. Thankfully, at Dr. Gonzales office, when I told the ultrasound tech my concerns she immediately checked for heartbeats. They were all there! I will admit, a few tears slid down my cheek.
I was able to then soak in the images of my sweet, Merril, Molly, Dorothy, and Georgie. They are so close together. They can't move without bumping into each other. There is still growing room, but is amazing to see them little head by little head or head to little rump. Out of curiosity I asked show large my uterus is now. I was shocked as she pulled the ultrasound wand up to below my solar plexus and said "well, there's one up here." Then she pulled it down to just below my pelvis, "and one's down here". My entire belly is babies! I had no idea. It is amazing what that little muscular organ can do! She also checked my cervix and it is still strong and has shown no change. Oh, what a relief!
Next was Dr. Straughn. It was a quick in and out. My weight gain is good. My blood pressure was excellent. She talked with us a few minutes, smiling and nodding the whole time. We left feeling so encouraged and at peace.
Since our appointments were so early, we took the opportunity to visit the staff at Alabama Fertility Specialists. We hadn't seen them since we were released at the beginning of January. A quad pregnancy makes pretty huge changes in two months. They were all thrilled to see us and kept saying how great I looked, every pregnant girl needs to hear that. Karen gave us huge hugs and a smile that warmed me from head to toe. All the nurses circled up and cooed over the newest ultrasound pictures, exclaiming over "such big babies!" That made me giggle. They are used to tiny little peanut babies. After that point they have to hand over the care of those tiny lives to another physician. They help begin fulfilling dreams, but then have to unselfishly allow another to finish the work. That takes a unique, humble, wonderful person. I will be eternally grateful to all of them, and our babies will know the amazing people who helped them become part of the world.
I feel like a Mommy. I humbled, grateful, and blessed Mommy.
On Saturday some items went on half-price so we went back again, this time with my mom, my sweet mother-in-law, and Donny. This time we dove into baby girl clothes. Merril is pretty much covered with clothes because one of the moms from my class at school gave me seven big diaper boxes of boy clothes. I'd washed them, but Friday evening Mom folded and sorted the into huge ziplock bags by size. That made pink and frills the order of the day on Saturday. Oh my, I love pink and frills! We walked out with 109 pieces of baby girl clothes (mostly onesies and PJs) for $140! Wow. I feel like a Mommy.
Another reason I feel like a Mommy is the mommy concerns and boost to my prayer life. I'd gotten so used to feeling the babies, but the past week and a half I felt nothing. First I tried to push it away. I'd tell myself that they were growing and sleeping. Then I'd pray and go on. That sort of worked, but then I started waking up and thinking about it. Those wake times turned into hour-to-two-hour intense prayer sessions. I kept going to Jeremiah 29:11, God has plans for my babies, and Psalm 139, God knows what is going on inside me and is knitting them together. I was on pins and needles before our Wednesday appointments. Thankfully, at Dr. Gonzales office, when I told the ultrasound tech my concerns she immediately checked for heartbeats. They were all there! I will admit, a few tears slid down my cheek.
I was able to then soak in the images of my sweet, Merril, Molly, Dorothy, and Georgie. They are so close together. They can't move without bumping into each other. There is still growing room, but is amazing to see them little head by little head or head to little rump. Out of curiosity I asked show large my uterus is now. I was shocked as she pulled the ultrasound wand up to below my solar plexus and said "well, there's one up here." Then she pulled it down to just below my pelvis, "and one's down here". My entire belly is babies! I had no idea. It is amazing what that little muscular organ can do! She also checked my cervix and it is still strong and has shown no change. Oh, what a relief!
Next was Dr. Straughn. It was a quick in and out. My weight gain is good. My blood pressure was excellent. She talked with us a few minutes, smiling and nodding the whole time. We left feeling so encouraged and at peace.
Since our appointments were so early, we took the opportunity to visit the staff at Alabama Fertility Specialists. We hadn't seen them since we were released at the beginning of January. A quad pregnancy makes pretty huge changes in two months. They were all thrilled to see us and kept saying how great I looked, every pregnant girl needs to hear that. Karen gave us huge hugs and a smile that warmed me from head to toe. All the nurses circled up and cooed over the newest ultrasound pictures, exclaiming over "such big babies!" That made me giggle. They are used to tiny little peanut babies. After that point they have to hand over the care of those tiny lives to another physician. They help begin fulfilling dreams, but then have to unselfishly allow another to finish the work. That takes a unique, humble, wonderful person. I will be eternally grateful to all of them, and our babies will know the amazing people who helped them become part of the world.
I feel like a Mommy. I humbled, grateful, and blessed Mommy.
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