Not too much longer now!

The last month has been very fun and exciting! I went to the hospital again (not so fun), had my baby shower (so much fun), and have been running around like crazy to get ready for Molly's arrival! Not to mention that today I had an exciting doctor's appointment... :)

So, not long after my last blog post, I noticed Molly wasn't moving much one day. It seemed like she did this about once per week, and it would make me feel nervous all day each time. So I finally decided to just call the doctor and see if I could get an ultrasound to ease my nerves. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal. The nurse on the phone, however, seemed really concerned and told me that if I was having decreased fetal movement, that I should go to triage in the hospital. Not again! So after debating with myself about going to the hospital, Ben reassured me that it was ok and we decided to go in. Turns out everything was fine. Molly started moving not too long after we got there and got the monitors strapped onto my belly (of course!). The nurse said her heart rate was reactive, more like a full-term baby's than a 30-week baby! (I was 30 weeks along at the time.) We also asked for an ultrasound and they found that she was responding well and she was head-down! She seemed to be sleeping, so at one point they used a little buzzer to wake her up to see her move. She jumped. It was kind of sad, but really cute.

A few weeks later, I had my baby shower. Several friends from my life group hosted it, and my mother-in-law allowed us to use her home. The shower was wonderful! I felt very loved, and it was so much fun to celebrate our little Molly. God has really blessed us with wonderful friends and family and a wonderful church body. Thanks to our generous friends and family, we got almost everything we needed for Molly's arrival.

Since my shower, I have realized that Molly could actually arrive really soon, so I have been working like crazy to get everything ready. I've been out shopping for the last few things we need, washing baby clothes, organizing the nursery, and doing lots of other stuff around the house to get things ready. Ben has been very helpful in the process! I think I've bought pretty much everything we absolutely have to have in the very beginning, so now I just have to start working on cleaning the house, finish packing our hospital bag, and create our birth plan. Still so much to do, and who knows how much time I actually have to finish it all!

Today I had a doctor's appointment. I've been going every other week, but starting with my next appointment (in 2 weeks), I will be going weekly. The doctor confirmed my STRONG suspicion that Molly dropped last week. She checked me and said my cervix is very low. So low that she doesn't know how I'm walking around anymore! Lol. I'm dilated 1cm, which I suspected to be true after having lots of surges (contractions) 3 minutes apart a couple weeks ago. Since my mom always had her babies early, and especially since I had Elam at 36 1/2 weeks, the doctor thinks I will probably go early with this pregnancy too. She said at this point if I went into labor, they wouldn't stop it and Molly should be fine. Exciting! My mom had each of her babies about 3 weeks after she dropped. We'll see if that holds true for me. I'm currently 34 weeks and one day, so it's possible Molly could be here in a couple weeks! (Or really, any time!) So after my appointment, I felt even more like I needed to get everything done around the house very soon!

So it looks like my pregnancy is winding down! In a way, it seems like I've been pregnant for SO long, but I still can't believe it's almost time! It seems like it almost snuck up on me recently. Ben and I are both so excited and can't wait to meet our little Molly!

June 25, 2011

33 weeks, 1 day (June 30, 2011)

Two trimesters down, one to go!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted an update! A lot has happened since my last entry. We've decided on a name for our little girl, hired a doula, had a few scary experiences and a LOT of wonderful ones!

Soon after we found out that our baby was a girl, we decided on her name, Molly Samantha Ness. We love the name Molly because it seems so sweet and meek. We chose 'Samantha' to honor my cousin, Samantha Baxter, who passed away suddenly in a car accident at the age of 17 on December 31, 2009 (the same year Elam passed away-- a difficult year for our family!). My aunt Johanna, who kept up with Elam's story and loved us/him so well, has been so strong as she has been walking through the daily process of grieving her beautiful daughter Samantha. So we wanted to honor both her and Samantha. Also, we chose the name Samantha because of it's meaning, "God has heard", because we know that God has heard and generously answered our MANY prayers over the last couple years for another baby. The story of Hannah in the Bible was meaningful to me during that process, and we had thought about using the name Samuel as a middle name for a boy. And Samantha is derived from the name Samuel. We are SO grateful for our little Molly Samantha and we absolutely can't wait to meet her! I still marvel at how God has been so generous to give us another baby. Not that I didn't think He was generous, but I feel so very blessed to have this privilege, one that I did not earn or deserve.

We've had a few pregnancy scares in the last couple months (but everything is OK!). In April, I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions, which I never got while pregnant with Elam. At the same time the contractions showed up, I started feeling a lot of pressure and had other symptoms that made us wonder if I was actually in pre-term labor. So we went to the hospital, and found out that Molly was totally fine and I was not in labor. They suspected that I may have actually had a small kidney stone! As long as Molly was safe, I did not mind! Thankfully, if it was a kidney stone, it wasn't a bad one because I was never in excruciating pain and the discomfort was gone in a week or two. I still have a lot of contractions, though. A few weeks ago, I started having them really frequently, which again was a sign of possible pre-term labor. Since then, I've had to decrease my activity level, quit exercising, stay hydrated, and put my feet up a lot. My OB prescribed a mild medication that can stop the contractions. It's actually a blood pressure medication, so it could make my blood pressure drop too low, leaving me feeling dizzy and lightheaded. I looked up the drug online after she prescribed it and saw that is a category C drug, which means it's not generally considered safe for pregnant women. So I'm not going to take the drug and just try to work through the contractions, resting when I need to. I'm working on easing myself back into mild exercise if my body will allow it!

Also in the last few months, we decided to pursue a completely natural, drug-free birth for Molly. To help with that, we decided to hire a doula (labor assistant). The one we chose, 'Beulah the doula', is awesome! She's very experienced and supportive of whatever decisions we make. As a doula, she will help with relaxation and natural means of pain-relief. She'll also reassure us and help us make decisions in the labor and birth process. Ben and I have been reading a lot of books about labor and birth, including a couple books on different methods. It's been very nice to learn so much, especially about how birth is a natural process that God designed my body to do, rather than a scary, risky, medical emergency-waiting-to-happen. Until I started learning more, I was pretty scared of the idea of giving birth, let alone doing it naturally, but now I'm just really excited about it!

Also, I have to brag on my husband for a minute. He has been so encouraging about natural childbirth, and he's determined to be the best labor coach I could ever ask for. He's been reading several books (on his own intiative, I might add!) to prepare, reading many parts he finds interesting out loud to me, and we're going to be practicing the relaxation methods together over the next couple months. I feel very blessed to have such a supportive, encouraging, and proactive husband! Through this entire pregnancy, I've been thrilled to watch him get excited about our little girl, pray for her, talk to her, kiss my belly, be protective over me, and prepare for her arrival. Not only that, he's been so patient and helpful when I've not been feeling well and when my activity has been restricted. I'm overwhelmed by what an amazing family God has blessed me with!

Over the last few weeks, Molly has gotten significantly stronger and more active. I love feeling and watching my belly move. Every day, I could (and have) easily spend a lot of time just sitting on the couch or laying in bed just watching. It's the most amazing feeling (and probably one of the strangest feelings, too). In April, a crisis pregnancy center in the area was offering free ultrasounds to train their staff, so I had the privilege to see my little girl again. She was doing very well, and I got to watch her yawn and move around for almost an hour! I'm not scheduled for any more ultrasounds during my pregnancy, but my doctor is willing to let me have one whenever I want it to help put my mind at ease, knowing Molly's ok.

I'm so excited to be in my third trimester. It's even more exciting that it's now June... I can now say that I will be full term NEXT MONTH! I might even give birth next month! The next couple months are filling up fast with birth classes, a baby shower, more reading, and LOTS of preparation for Molly's arrival. I'm especially excited about my baby shower. When I first got pregnant with Elam, I was really looking forward to the fun of registering and having a baby shower. But, although I registered for a few things just in case, I never really got to experience all that with that pregnancy. So it's really exciting that I will get to experience that soon and celebrate our sweet Molly with friends and family!

Well, I think that pretty well sums up what's been going on with my pregnancy the last couple months. Life is good! Please keep praying for our little Molly. Thank you! :)

Easter 2011


29 weeks (June 1, 2011)

Important Milestone Today!

Our mid-pregnancy ultrasound was today. As the sonographer checked each of the baby's features, particularly the ones where Elam had had birth defects, I was tense and practically holding my breath. But all of the baby's measurements were normal, and she was very active. They checked her brain, heart, and other organs, and they all looked great! And they confirmed that she is definitely a girl. She's gained another 2 ounces since the last ultrasound, so she now weighs 8 ounces! Her heart rate was at 147bpm. We learned that the placenta is attached at the front of my uterus, which explains why I haven't been feeling her move much. It was nice to know that there was an explanation for that. Eventually she'll be big enough that it won't matter, and I'll feel her plenty. I loved watching her move around on the ultrasound, and we even got to see her yawn! We are SO grateful to the Lord for our healthy little girl! This was a very big milestone for us, as it was at the mid-pregnancy ultrasound where we found out that Elam had serious problems. Feels like we can breathe a lot more easily! I cannot explain how much of a relief it is to have this ultrasound out of the way! Now to start more planning... :)

A little baby foot. Each hand had 5 fingers and each foot had 5 toes! Everything looked great!

It's a GIRL!

Our mid-pregnancy ultrasound isn't scheduled until this upcoming Monday, but we had a quick ultrasound on Friday, March 4, where we learned that our baby is a GIRL! More importantly, we learned that she looks very healthy so far. So why this early ultrasound? For my sanity's sake! Over the last couple weeks, I had been feeling more and more anxious, especially with the big ultrasound approaching. The mid-pregnancy ultrasound was where things took a difficult turn for us in the last pregnancy, and Elam's birthday was this past week, so it was constantly on my mind. I finally decided to just call the doctor and ask for a quick ultrasound to check the baby's size. Elam was so behind in his growth last time, which was the first sign that something was seriously wrong.

So at the ultrasound, immediately I could tell this baby was looking better. I could see a lot more features than I could with Elam. And we learned that she's a girl. She was very active. I loved watching her kick! All her measurements were great-- still a few days ahead of schedule! The sonographer checked a lot of different organs out, and all the results came back normal. I was so relieved! It is so nice to have a good, positive, normal, healthy ultrasound this far into my pregnancy! I just laid there on the table, tears in my eyes, thanking God for my healthy baby.

I still have my ultrasound on March 14, where they'll hopefully do more measurements and confirm that she is, in fact, a girl. (We already feel really confident that she is, though.) :)

At this point, my nausea is mostly gone. I have my moments here and there, but I never feel sick all day anymore. I'm still feeling pretty tired all the time, but that I can work with! I've gained some weight. I finally gained all the weight back that I lost during my first trimester, and then I gained another 2 pounds. I'm hungry just about all the time now and I can eat almost anything I want. I'm definitely at the point where I'm enjoying my pregnancy. I've been feeling the baby move for several weeks now. It's just been a feeling of pressure, not the fluttering sensation. I'm hoping that will start soon. So anyway, overall I'm doing well and I'm so grateful for my healthy baby girl. Can't wait to see her again on Monday!

This is the best we could do to see her profile. The placenta is right in her face, but you can still make out the nose.

16 weeks

One trimester down, two to go!

I have reached my second trimester! The risk of miscarriage is really low now, so that's reassuring. I have been off of my Zofran pump for about a week now, and I've had good days and bad days. But my bad days are not nearly as bad as they were before I got the pump! I'm hoping all the nausea will be gone soon. The good thing is that I'm able to eat like normal. I've been a lot more hungry and having lots of cravings. Unfortunately I still haven't gained all the weight back that I lost while I was sick, but hopefully soon! My next appointment is in a week (February 28), and I'll schedule my ultrasound when I'm there. That should be in about 3 weeks! Can't wait! After that ultrasound is over, we'll start working on doing more planning and preparation, which will be fun! Right now, I'm working on getting back to my old responsibilities and routines. I'm starting a prenatal exercise routine, and I'm aiming for 5 days a week. It's nice to be able to exercise again!

Recent cravings, in order of severity:

Jalapeno-pickled carrots (with chips and salsa)
Coca-Cola-flavored Icees
Sprite with coconut flavoring
Chocolate
Strawberries
Chocolate-covered strawberries
Orange-mango juice

14 weeks

Baby is doing well. Mommy? Taking it one day at a time...

The last several weeks have been eventful (sort-of) in my pregnancy. I have been meaning to post for a while now, but haven't done much of anything due to my nausea and fatigue! My day-to-day life over the last month mostly consists of eating and sleeping. So, aside from that, here's what's been going on:

I had yet another scare with my pregnancy on January 17, so we went in for another ultrasound. The baby was fine, and they couldn't find the reason for my bleeding. It's common that women experience this during their first trimester without having any other problems, so the doctor isn't worried. This ultrasound, though unplanned, was exciting because the baby looked more like an actual baby and less like a blob (like it looked last time)! We could see the baby's brain, arms, and legs, and the baby wiggled around some. The baby measured a couple days ahead of schedule-- I was 9 weeks, 4 days, and it measured 9 weeks, 6 days. It's always fun to maybe be a little ahead of where you thought you were! As a result of this ultrasound, they moved my due date to August 17. Not a big difference (only 1 day), but at least it's in the right direction! Oh, and my cyst had gone down to 7cm, so it was nice to see that it was shrinking, as expected.


Since my last post, my nausea only seemed to get progressively worse. None of the medications my doctor had prescribed were helping. So I called my doctor and they said the only other option would be to try to get a Zofran pump. A few days later, an infusion company delivered my supplies and a home health nurse came to set it all up. After increasing the dose gradually over the next week or so, I started feeling some relief. I'm currently at my maximum dose, and it does take away some of the nausea so I am able to eat more normally and gain back some of the weight I've lost. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get back to "normal" life as much as I'd hoped because, as the nausea has gotten a little better, I've realized I'm constantly exhausted. Also, the insertion site for the pump hurts a LOT, which can make it painful to walk. I'm still debating about whether it's worth the pain...

My doctor had scheduled an ultrasound on January 28 to check on the cyst. The ultrasound went well. The cyst had gone down to 3.5 or 4.5cm (compare that to 7cm at my ultrasound less than 2 weeks earlier!). The baby was very active, so we got to see it wiggling around and kicking its legs. We looked at its arms and legs, which looked like miniature baby arms and legs. It was very exciting to see the baby this time, as it's starting to look more and more like a little baby and it's moving around so much. According to my due date, I was 11 weeks, but the baby measured 11 weeks, 5 or 6 days. It may seem like a small difference, but it's very encouraging, given that Elam frequently measured so small in his ultrasounds. This baby is already bigger than Elam was at his ultrasound at 12 weeks, 3 days!



At my 12-week doctor appointment, the doctor was very glad to see that my cyst had been shrinking so quickly. She doesn't think we need to continue doing ultrasounds to check on it because she expects it to be gone in no time. I got all my routine pregnancy bloodwork done at this appointment, and everything came back normal. My next ultrasound will be the in-depth one where they do all the important measurements and check for any problems. Because of our experiences in my last pregnancy, the doctor said we could get this ultrasound a couple weeks early, just to alleviate any worries we may have. So it will be scheduled when I'm about 18 weeks.

Over the last several days, I've experienced some shortness of breath. I tried to ignore it and hoped it would go away on its own, but I ended up going to the doctor on Wednesday. They couldn't find anything that was wrong, so they sent me home and told me to watch for any signs of infection-- fever, headache, congestion, etc. I'm hoping it goes away soon because I'm ready to get back into some light exercise and a more normal life in general!

Ben and I have been able to hear the baby's heartbeat several times now using our fetal doppler we bought when I was pregnant with Elam. It's nice that any time we wonder if the baby is doing ok, we can just check its heartbeat at home. What a blessing the doppler has turned out to be! Please continue to pray for the baby's health, and my health, particularly the breathing issues.

Back Home

We've been back from our trip overseas for about a week now. Our trip went well, although I felt very sick the whole time. We really enjoyed getting to spend time with our friends and getting to see the interesting city where they live. Our flight to London was canceled, so once we got rescheduled, we only had one full day there. It was nice, but we'll definitely have to go back to actually get to experience it better.

During the trip, I had a small scare with my pregnancy. We went to the OB and had an ultrasound to check on the baby. The baby was fine, but they found a large cyst (8.6 cm) on my right ovary. The doctor seemed really concerned about it bursting or twisting, especially during our long flights. From that point on, I tried to take it a little easier, and nothing happened during the flights.

A few days after we got home, I had another scare. My first ultrasound and appointment with the doctor were scheduled for the next day, but we went ahead and got the ultrasound early. Again, the baby was fine. Its heart rate was 165bpm. It measured for 7 weeks and 5 days, which is exactly on track for my due date of August 18! The cyst measured 8.0 cm. They weren't sure what had caused my bleeding, but the doctor didn't seem very concerned the next day. I was really surprised that there was only one baby-- I had the sonographer double-check. With my hormones being so high, and feeling so sick, and showing already, I really expected there to be twins. My OB nurse seemed to expect it, too. But only one!

My cyst has been causing a lot of pain and discomfort, but my doctor doesn't seem too concerned about it. The cyst was caused by the Clomid that I was on. Typically a cyst like this one would go away on its own, usually around the beginning of the second trimester, as pregnancy hormones naturally decrease and stabilize. I have another ultrasound on January 28 to check its progress. It's possible that I could have to have surgery to remove it during my second trimester, but we're praying that it goes away on its own.

The doctor gave me more medicine to help with my nausea, but it doesn't seem to be working. I can't believe how sick I've been with this pregnancy! It's so different from when I was pregnant with Elam! I was sick then, but nothing like this. I'm hoping and praying that it will go away soon, but trying to keep in mind that it's worth it in the end!

Ultrasound photo - January 4, 2011