Walking in Daddy & Mommy’s Shoes

April 12 & 19, 2008
MaKayla loves to pull our shoes out of the closet and walk around in them. It is so much fun watching her. She is so proud of herself when she gets both shoes on and can take a couple of steps.

Crazy Hair!

April 7, 2008
MaKayla’s hair is finally starting to really grow, YEAH!!!! I can’t wait to do her hair in little piggy tails and barrettes. Little girls are so much fun!

A day out with Daddy!

April 5, 2008
After visiting me in the hospital, MaKayla and Andy went to the park to enjoy the nice spring weather. From what I was told she really enjoyed the slide. Here are some of the pictures that Andy took of their day out together.


After the park, Andy took MaKayla to McDonald’s. This is her first experience with fast food. She didn’t care for the fried chicken nuggets, which makes me happy but she did enjoy her apple slices and milk. At least they are offering healthier food choices now!
After about two minutes in the 2-3 year old part of the play ground MaKayla became bored and discovered the bigger kids climbing in the tunnels. Andy turned his head for a second and the next thing he knew she was up inside he tunnels. She didn’t know where to go or how to get out. The bigger kids were climbing over her and Andy was afraid she was going to get hurt. So the good Dad that he is climbed up in the tunnels to get her. He said that the tunnels are not made for adults =). When he would get close to her she would giggle and crawl away. He finally did get her out of the tunnels and took her back to the appropriate age section. She ended up pushing down a little boy and Andy decided it was time to leave. Poor Daddy!!!

Magnesium Sulfate

March 29, 2008 30 Weeks Pregnant!
Yeah, we have made it to 30 weeks! This is a huge milestone for us!!!! This is a safety point that I have been looking forward to. If I were to go into labor at any point now, Dr. Manas would be able to deliver you. That gives me much comfort! Hang in there a little longer sweet pea, I would love to carry you until at least 35 weeks! It won’t be long until you are in our arms!



April 5, 2008 31 Weeks Pregnant!
We are getting closer to the time that we will have our baby in our arms. I am getting really excited and nervous now. I know the pain that I will experience as this little one makes his or her grand entrance into the world. With MaKayla I didn’t know what to expect and this time I do which makes me more nervous. This week the pictures were taken in the hospital.


April 2, 2008 30 Weeks 4 Days Pregnant!
I was admitted into the hospital today for a magnesium sulfate wash. My body had become so used to the Terbutaline pump that it had become ineffective. The plan was to flush the Terbutaline from my system with magnesium sulfate and give my receptors a rest. I was told it would take 48 hours and I would be sent back home on the Terbutaline pump on Friday. I was a little nervous going into the hospital. I research magnesium sulfate and found that it can make you nauseous, extremely hot, dizzy, blurred vision and very lethargic. I walked into the hospital at 11:00am. I talked the nurse into letting me wear my own pajamas which she was not trilled about. I was warned that if anything happened that they would cut them off of me. I gave her permission to do so if need by. I was just happy that I didn’t have to wear a hospital gown. The nurse started an IV in my hand at 1:00pm. At 1:30pm I was give a bolus of magnesium sulfate of 2g. Then the mag was turned down to 1g per hour. 10 minutes after the mag was started I immediately started feeling hot. A while later I became tired and had trouble focusing my eyes. It only really bothered me when reading or trying to focus on something. So reading was out but I could watch TV. I was very thankful that I didn’t get any of the other side effects. I was given bathroom privileges since I was doing so well. I was so happy that I didn’t end up with a catheter.


April 3, 2008 30 Weeks 5 Days Pregnant! CL 1.2 -1.7cm
Dr. Manas had two nurses take me over to his office in a wheel chair for an ultrasound and exam. He did another Fetal Fibronectin (fFN) and an exam. He said he could tell that my cervix was getting softer and shorter. The ultrasound tech did the ultrasound with Dr. Manas observing. The baby looked good and was still breach. The amniotic fluid level went down a little to 22.6 cm. My cervical length also went down to 1.2 – 1.7 cm. We will have to wait and see how Fetal Fibronectin come back. On the way back over to the hospital I began feeling a lot of contractions with some little twinges of pains in my abdomen. The nurse put me on the monitor and I had 8 contractions in less than an hour. The nurse called Dr. Manas who order the magnesium sulfate to be increased to 2 grams an hour. The increase made me extremely tired like I needed toothpicks to keep my eyes open. It also made concentrating my eyes even harder. The increase in mag did the trick and the contractions were soon under control.

April 4, 2008 30 Weeks 6 Days Pregnant!
Dr. Manas came by in the morning to visit me. The Fetal Fibronectin (fFN) came back positive. It does not mean that I will go into labor but it means that I don’t have that two week security any more. Dr. Manas explained that because of all the changes that have occurred with the shortened cervix, positive fFN and all the contractions yesterday that he didn’t feel comfortable sending me home. He spoke to an internal fetal medicine at Rockford Memorial to get a second opinion. The other doctor agreed with the treatment that Dr. Manas was doing and said that he should order some additional tests to see if I have an infection that was causing the increased amniotic fluid. So I had some blood drawn and we just have to wait for the results. Dr. Manas said we will take it one day at a time. He wants to wait and see how my contractions are throughout the day. If everything goes well then he said he would lower the mag at 6:00am tomorrow morning and start the Terbutaline pump at 12:00pm and then begin to wean me completely off mag. I so hope that everything goes well because I really want to go home. I miss Andy and MaKayla so much!

April 5, 2008 31 Weeks Pregnant!
The blood tests to check for infections all came back negative. My contractions have been pretty stable with fewer than 8 per hour which Dr. Manas was happy to see. The magnesium sulfate was decreased to 1 gram per hour at 6:00pm. At 12:00pm, the Terbutaline pump was started at the same settings as before. At 6:00, the nurse turned off the mag all together and took out my IV. It felt so good to get that out of my hand and not have to pull the IV cart with me to the bathroom.
My friend Becky Ecker came up at 11:00am and brought me the Terbutaline and ice cream. I have been craving ice cream since I was first admitted into the hospital. It tasted so good! Andy and MaKayla came up to visit me in the afternoon. It was so good to have visitors. I was very lonely and bored being cooped up in the same four walls for 4 days. MaKayla ate my snacks that I had next to the bed and loved walking the halls and seeing the babies. We took our 31 Week pictures in the hospital. They may not be pretty but it gives a true account of our journey together.


Here I am all hooked up to the monitors and the magnesium sulfate.


MaKayla eating her snacks in bed with me.


Andy and I together in the hospital.

April 6, 2008 31 Weeks 1 Day Pregnant!
With the magnesium sulfate completely out of my system I was feeling back to normal. It made it even harder to stay in the hospital. Dr. Manas called at 9:00am and said that he could come and see be after 1:00pm. My contractions were down to 1-3 per hour and I wanted out of the hospital in the worst way. Dr. Manas agreed to let me go home, YEAH! I called Andy and they picked me up at 10:30am. It was so good to be home and back in my own bed. My contractions increased to 6 per hour but I was still under my threshold. I just made sure to stay lying down on my side. I do not want to end up back in the hospital.

Happy Birthday Honey!

April 1, 2008
We celebrated Andy’s 33rd Birthday!! My friend Becky made him a chocolate birthday cake for me since I was unable to this year. It was very yummy!


MaKayla was very happy to help Daddy open his presents. She gave Daddy a subscription to Hot Rod magazine. Maybe they can find a car project that they can work on together in the future.


MaKayla loves to climb on anything. I can see a lot of falls in our future.


Andy has been talking about how he loved the pillows at Hampton Inn every since he traveled for work. We have bought him several pillows over the years and he has never found one that is comfortable for him. He is always waking up with a sore neck and shoulder. So, I did some research and found that when the Hampton hotels switched over to the dream collection there was a lot of requests for their new bedding. They actually opened an online store and sell the whole line of their dream collection. I lucked out and was able to purchase him the pillow that he loved. A bonus was that it was one of the cheapest pillows that we have purchased.


Andy has really become interested in the characteristics of wine. I thought the perfect give would be a 3 month wine club. Each month he will receive two bottles of red wine. Each will come with a newsletter with the region of where the wine comes from and all the details of the winery. It also teaches you how to pair the right food with the right wine. I think he will enjoy the three month wine discovery.


Baby Morris wanted to Daddy a birthday message and asked for my help. He loved it!

Getting So BIG!

March 31, 2008
MaKayla is getting to the point where she is about to outgrow her infant seat. I researched for quite some time on the safest toddler car seat on the market. We chose the Britax Regent car seat which will keep MaKayla in a five point harness until she reaches 80 pounds. At her rate she could be in high school and still fit in this seat =). It was a bit pricey but you can’t put a price on a child’s safety.

She sat in it as soon as it arrived. Although she didn’t want Daddy to strap her in. I think she is really going to enjoy riding forward facing. We are most likely going to wait until the new baby arrives before she actually starts riding in her new seat. It is so exciting to watch her grow!


March 30, 2008
Okay, she is not being very lady like but I thought this was a funny picture. She must get that from her Daddy =).


March 29, 2008
We have had some requests for Ike pictures. So for all you dog lovers out there, this one is for you! Here is Ike snuggling his pillow in his bed. He has a rough life!

Our Egg Baby!

March 23, 2008
Andy and MaKayla stopped to get face paints on their way home on Easter. After MaKayla went to bed for the night, Andy painted my belly in a giant egg. It took an hour for the master piece to be completed. When I stood up to take pictures my skin stretched and you could see little cracks in the paint.


The final master piece!


Andy did a fabulous job!


Daddy, Mommy & Baby Egg


I am monitoring our egg to make sure it doesn’t hatch too soon!


March 24, 2008
I wanted MaKayla to see my egg belly so I left in on for her to see the next morning. Some of the paint cracked and fell off but most of it was still there. As soon as I uncovered my belly, MaKayla ran over to investigate. She loved it! She instantly gave the egg a kiss, it was so cute!