Ty's 2nd Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Ty's birthday at Bouncertown with his cousins and a few favorite friends :)

AND...they're off!!! Bounce away Brie!

Ty's cousin Griffin

Friend Katie & Cousin Montana

Weeee...! Ty's cousin Layla

This would be when the staff had to go up and get Ty from the top of the big slide b/c he wouldn't come down. LOL :)

Cheeeeese! Ty's cousin Brie

Ty's Great Grandma Black, and puffed up momma (being good and staying in my seat).

Oooo...Pizza Time!

Ty was excited about his Diego cake and ready to DIG IN!!!

He wasn't sure what everyone was doing when they sang Happy Birthday to him. But he joined in clapping at the end :)

Make a wish!

YUM!

Dig in "Mamble". Ty's best friend, Campbell.

And "Mamble's" adorable brother, Cooper.

Present Time!

Me & my beautiful mom :)

My SIL Dana, who I owe a huge thank you to, for running the show for me.

This adorable little guy is Kyler. He's my friend Brandy's newest addition :)

Cousin Brayton practicing his Spider Man moves.

We all had a great time!

Beautiful Weather & Clean Cars

We have had a few days of beautiful weather. It's been nice to open the windows and hear the birds chirping, especially while on bedrest. Tonight, the boys were outside for awhile, so I decided to see what they were up to. This is what I found:

My sweet boys were washing my car!

Baby Shower

My wonderful friends from church hosted a shower for both myself and my friend Aimee who is due about a week after me (yes, I know...I look MUCH further along ;)
A HUGE thank you to Bobbie Jo, Traci P., and Jennifer for putting it on.

I received so many wonderful handmade gifts. These girls are so talented. Above is an adorable tag blankie and bib from Sarah Pead. Below with the monkey blanket is some cute burp clothes from Kellie Nowacki. The yellow one has a banana stitched in it- LOVE IT!


The blankets under my arm are just a few of the handmade gifts from Bobbie Jo, along with the handmade thank you notes AND everything else she organized for the shower!

And this ADORABLE monkey outfit from Debbie McDowell is what I have decided to bring Drew home in :) I don't know what is with my monkey obsession all the sudden.

And my mom got us the one big item that I felt we still needed: the swing :)

There were so many other gifts that I am so thankful for. These are just a few that were captured with a picture.

Friendship is such an amazing church because it lives up to it's name. These are a few of those awesome ladies and the current Pregnant Women of Friendship :)

34 Weeks!

Yea! 34 weeks. Each week is another milestone from here on out. As a NICU nurse, at this point I know that Drew is capable of suck/swallow/breathe coordination. It's all just such a miracle. I remain on modified bedrest at home, which despite an occasional boring moment, I have begun to enjoy. Ah oh!...that probably means it's coming to an end ;)
There are definitely feelings of guilt watching Dennis & family members pick up my slack. But at the same time I feel so blessed to have that support.

Drew is now measuring 6 lbs 5 oz by ultrasound.
He looks nice and healthy and is very active.

I have switch to a new medication to control my contractions, Procardia. It has WAY fewer, if any side effects, and seems to be managing my contractions much better.

Ugh...Bedrest

After multiple visits now to the hospital with consistent contractions that would not stop, it looks like I'll be on bedrest for the long haul. The ctx started at 30 wks, then again at 33 & 34 wks. The Terbutaline didn't work for very long and they increased it over the weekend. Unfortunately that too wasn't enough, and the side effects were becoming too much. Now I'm on Procardia. The ctx still come and go, but at least they "go".

My parents have been an incredible support through this. They have set up a "Boys Room" at their house for our boys. And a "Girls Room" for Greg's girls. Ty has a racecar toddler bed at their house and has been enjoying his sleepovers there.

And Dennis...I can't say enough about how incredible he is as a husband and daddy. It's so hard to stay down and watch him take over Everything that has to be done. The cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, taking care of Ty...on top of his two jobs! I tried to get up and pitch in one day and make dinner. Big mistake, the ctx started again. So as much as I want to help, I can't. I try to thank him a million times over because that's all I feel I can do. He's amazing though and just keeps trucking on without complaining.

I have much more respect for women on bedrest now. I've always heard them "complain" about how difficult it is. But like with most things in life, you can't ever truly understand until you experience the situation for yourself. Most people would give anything to be told to stay in bed for several weeks. The problem is, during pregnancy, you're so uncomfortable, that you don't rest that well anyway. As soon as I find a comfortable position, my leg falls asleep, or my hips start hurting, or I have to pee for the million'th time.

It's hard not to be selfish and just want this kid out. I know he's better off each day he spends in the womb. There is also a lot of time to sit and think. And as a NICU nurse who probably knows too much, all the possibilities run through my mind. March is a confusing month for us anyway. Our miscarriage was in March '06, Riley was born & passed in March '07, and Ty was born in March '08. I just want this kiddo out and healthy. But God is reminding me daily that He is in control and He has perfect timing and wants good things for me. So I just hang onto that for now.

Nursery

I think I'm finally done with Drew's nursery. As you can see it's a Monkey theme. So fun :)

This is the Build-a-Bear that we picked out for Drew. Each of our boys have one with a recording inside of their OWN heartbeat while inside my tummy.

Preterm Labor and Bedrest

Today we had the joy of visiting Triage again with contractions. After laying on the couch and drinking lots of water for over 2 hours, I finally decided I needed to call the doctor. So just like last time (3 weeks ago), it took 2 shots of Terbutaline to get the contractions to stop. Thankfully I wasn't dilating yet. This time they sent me home on oral Terbutaline and instructions that said: No lifting, cleaning, cooking, or physical activity. Basically BEDREST.

It's kind of a cruel joke to be told to be on Bedrest, but to also take this medicine every 4 hours around the clock that makes me jittery and feel wired. That along with the "Nesting" I've been having, is conflicting. But for the health of my baby, I'm trying to stay down.

My next appt is on Monday, and I'll be 34 weeks.
We're getting there. Hang in there Drew!

Let the Potty Training Begin!

Ty has been showing some interest in the potty lately. It helps that there are a few older kids in his class at school. He's been watching them and wanting to sit on the potty too. So his wonderful teacher, Miss Doughtery, suggested we start letting him wear pull-ups during the daytime so that he can learn to pull his pants down & up.

So far so good. He has learned to pull them down, sit on the pot (ever so briefly), point himself down, and is starting to learn to pull them back up. Still no results in the pot, but hey we'll take it! Since is is not even quite 2 yrs old (his birthday is coming soon on March 14th), and with the addition to the family coming, we will just take his ques for now and see where it leads :)

What's in a Name?

What's in a name? Well, when it came to naming this baby, I'd say it took a LOT of thought and back & forth. The other two boys seemed so much easier, the names just came to us (well, to Dennis). This time we struggled. Maybe it's b/c this is our 3rd boy, maybe b/c we knew it was our last. Some of the contenders have been: Trey, Owen, Zander, & Hayden. We liked them all, but none of them felt right. Then finally, it came to us: DREW! I love it! It is a name I have loved from before any of my pregnancies. It never felt right for Dennis until this kiddo.

We considered multiple middle names. Ty already has Dennis' middle name, Allan. We thought about doing that again with this kid, thinking that it wasn't fair for Ty to get his daddy's legacy and not this one. Then we thought about Nicholas, similar to my middle name Nichole. But it didn't flow well. The boys on my side of the family have the middle name Joseph. But we didn't care for him possibly being called DJ. So finally we decided to give him my dad's name for a middle name: Thomas.

DREW THOMAS BLACK
I love it!

I've started weekly doctor appts now. At each visit we are also having a NST (non-stress test) and ultrasound for a BPP (biophysical profile). Both monitor how well the baby is doing and maturing. These extra tests are due to the fact that I've had preterm labor before and that I am measuring 4 weeks ahead (mostly b/c I have extra fluid and big babies). This weeks tests went well. They are estimating that Drew is approx 4 lbs 12 oz, which is in the 88th percentile for babies at this stage. Needless to say, if he keeps up this pace, he's on his way to being a 10 pounder!

Bruiser

Ty woke up this morning with this big scratch across his eye & cheek. When I took him to preschool, they wanted him to be checked out because there has been a bout of pink eye going around. So while at the doctor, they did a test to make sure he had not scratched his cornea. They used this orange dye that won't come off for several days.

In the end...no pink eye and no scratch. Just a few battle wounds :)

30 Weeks!

I'm 30 weeks pregnant now with Baby #4.
It's been interesting this time around, to say the least.
With all the illnesses at this time of year, this pregnant woman has been no match for all the germs. I've had multiple bouts with the stomach flu, sinus infections, and bronchitis.
Over-all pregnancy-wise everything had been going perfectly until this week.
I think my body was finally saying it has had enough, and I started contracting.
After laying down and drinking lots of water, the contractions were still 2-5min apart and it had been 3hrs. So we took a quick trip to the hospital. After 2 doses of Terbutaline, they finally stopped and we were able to come home.

Today I had my 30 week check up with my OB. Turns out I have an infection which was likely the cause of the contractions. So she's putting me on an antibiotic which she says will most likely make me nauseous. So if it gets bad, I'm to take the phenergan I have left from the stomach flu, which in turn will make me sleepy. I guess rest is what I need right now anyway.

The baby seems to be doing great through it all. He's VERY active, which is reassuring. I'm measuring 34 weeks in stead of 30. So starting at my next appt and every week after that, I have to have an ultrasound and biophysical profile (BPP). The BPP consists of an ultrasound to monitor the baby's heartrate, tone, movement, breathing, and amount of fluid around him. They're just wanting to monitor him since I am so large to watch to see when he's ready to come out. My guess is, it will be before my schedule C-section on April 5th!