Cancer

 It has been so long since I've blogged. I don't know if anyone will read this. If nothing else, I want to saved so my children can read my thoughts as they grow up. Life is extremely busy and I just haven't carved out the time from our busy schedule. However, I feel it's time I try and make this a priority. Journaling has always been a way I've been able to express myself and putting my thoughts down brings clarity. 

The title of this blog is Cancer. Almost two weeks ago we found out that my husband has colon cancer. This came as a complete surprise. He had been having blood in his stool since August and it was getting worse in September. It took a few months to go to the doctor, get blood work done, visit the GI doctor, and schedule a colonoscopy. Finally the day before Thanksgiving he had his first colonoscopy. What should have been a simple in and out procedure of being there no more than 2.5 hours, turned into us being there 4 hours and discovering he has a massive tumor on his colon. They sent him for a CT-Scan and blood work under STAT, which means life-threatening and needs to be done ASAP. They also did a biopsy of the tumor. We went in the following Monday to see his GI doctor. Since it was Thanksgiving they hadn't gotten the biopsy results back but did have his blood work and CT-Scan results. Both looked good. Praise God! The following day the doctor called and told him the biopsy came back and he has adenocarcinoma, aka colon cancer. This was a Tuesday and the kids had dentists appointments in FW and I was gone with them half of the day. When I got home, my husband was still working and it wasn't until I was making dinner that he came in the kitchen and told me. Tuesdays are our hectic evenings. My oldest has basketball practice and all of the kids have Trail Life and American Heritage Girls. We didn't get a chance to fully process it together and basically ate and split to get kids to activities.

While at Trail Life and AHG, some elders from church came up and prayed over us and a few friends joined in the prayer. I'm still in shock but also am hopeful that he can beat this. We are so blessed that the cancer hasn't spread. Later that week we went to the surgeon's office and sat down in his office to talk about surgery. He said he would remove a foot of his colon and test the surrounding area for cancer and that would determine what stage of cancer he has. He said he's extremely lucky it hasn't spread and is not stage 4. He said it was stage 1, 2, or 3, but we wouldn't know until after surgery. He will spend 5 days in the hospital and then it will take 4-6 weeks to recover. We asked if there were dietary changes he could make. He said no. This is frustrating because there is so much you can do if you have cancer. We asked his GI doctor the same question and he told us eliminate pork and eliminate beef for now and if you want to eat meat only eat fish or a little chicken or turkey. But really he needs to eat lots and lots of vegetables. The surgeon also told him he's most likely had cancer for 5-7 years!!! 😧

This leads us to what are we doing now. My oldest had a basketball tournament in San Antonio. We had planned to go down earlier than we did but since my husband will be missing a lot of work coming up, we went up the day before. We still got to take the kids to Sea World like I had planned a few months ago. Anyway, going out of town made it a little difficult keeping with our new diet but not completely. My husband has cut out sugar completely. We are juicing organic vegetables daily. Mostly carrots, ginger, beets, celery, greens, and an apple. We're eating big salads, nuts, seeds, and some clean fish. After just one week of this he's lost 8 lbs and I've lost 5 lbs. Weight loss isn't the reason for this it's to kill the cancer cells and make sure this tumor doesn't grow and spread. We've been having oatmeal with blueberries and pomegranets for breakfast, black coffee, and for dinner more vegetables and legumes. We're reading all about alternative methods of fighting cancer. By nature, I question everything and after watching my step-brother die of cancer earlier this year I'm frankly disgusted with the cancer industry. I'm disgusted with the food industry. Our food is killing us and causing so many diseases and it's so hard to break the cycle. Yet in our country there only "proven" mainstream ways to treat cancer, which most fail, is to have surgery, chemo, and or radiation. Billions of dollars are spent on cancer patients, they feel like crap, and lose the will to live. When I truly believe there are other ways. They take work, but there are other ways to kill this disease. 

What are we going to do? Everything is up to my husband on what he wants to do. Of course we want the cancer out. He is tenatively scheduled for surgery on the 17th. However, insurance hasn't approved it yet. Meanwhile, we are cleaning up our diets and looking at alternative methods, including beating cancer with the fenbendazole protocol (oddly enough, we have tons of this medicine unopened because we give it to our goat), ivermectin (say what?! look it up!), and dietary changes. Chris Beat Cancer is a fabulous resource on beating cancer with food. My friend's brother-in-law beat stage 3 bladder cancer with fenbendazole, which has been proven to shrink tumors. I ordered the powder which is what is recommended, we have the liquid. I'm starting to think maybe we could all use a little deworming. Many national healers tend to believe cancer is a parasite. I am not a doctor so I don't know. But I was a journalist in college and know how to reasearch things. I love looking at the research and reading stories about people who healed naturally. Also each person has the ability to take their health into their own hands. It's not the governments job to keep us safe and well. In fact, it seems like they are okay keeping people unhealthy and sick with their poisonous GMOs and processed foods. 

People ask me how I'm feeling. Truthfully, I'm pissed off. I really am. I am frankly angry and it's not at my husband, it's at being lied to by the FDA. I'm angry that cancer is still the 2nd leading cause of death in America, with almost 600,000 Americans dying every.single.year from this dreadful horrible disease and the same old methods are not working well. I was pissed when my brother died from it and yet the drug companies were able to come up with a vaccine to cure covid, which isn't working well and has caused a ton of health problems for many people who have gotten it. Meanwhile, good doctors are able to treat high risk people early with proper protocols and people are recovering easily from it when given the right stuff. We all had it last December and rested and took the vitamins that were recommended. Now you can get the anibody infusion and/or take other things and recover quickly at home if you need it. I have fully vaccinated friends who have gotten the disease and did the antibody infusion and recovered. It's all about the choice and making the best decision for yourself. I don't want to pursuade anyone from doing what they feel is best but I don't think any medical thing should be mandated. I have two blood clotting disorders and am unable to get it. I get my antibodies tested every 6 months and they are still sky high. I also am so so sorry if you lost a love one to covid last year. I'm sorry if you lost a love one to a cancer, a car accident, or other disease. Losing a love one is hard. I'm just angry because of stupid covid we weren't able to see my brother as much during his last years of life and yet cancer kills more people every year than covid did/does.

Please keep us in your prayers. Life is short, we all know this. But seeing diseases eat away at people we love is so hard. My kids are worried and we're trying to be optimastic. We are blessed with some of the best of friends who are going to help us by loving on our children and caring for them so I can be at the hospital with my husband. Please send my husband some encouragement. He's been under a lot of stress at work and working so much extra for the past two years. 

Also, if you are not a Christian, please talk with me. Our biggest hope is in God and through prayer and petition I believe my husband can beat cancer. Please keep him in your prayers. 

Easy to Make Sinus and Allergy Shower Discs

I'm participating in two more swaps. The next one is a Sip, Swap, and Snack, Homemade Edition. Nobody knows what people are going to be swapping but it has to be homemade. I got this idea from the last swap I did, the Crunchy Body Swap. Someone made some citrus shower discs and I thought I should make some but would gear them toward sinuses and allergies since Fall and Winter will be here before we know it. I decided to make mini discs and ended up making 72. I wanted to have enough for 20 women to get 3 each and have some left over. Some will probably break as you're getting them out of the liners. I think I lost 4 of the 72. I'm not sure how many ladies will be participating in this upcoming swap as the last day to commit is this Friday. However, being as pregnant as I am, I had to get this done.

Here's how you make these awesome discs! I made two kinds. One geared toward adults and one geared toward kids age 2-10. You can basically add any combination of essential oils you want, as long as they are considered safe for who ever will be using the discs. In the main disc, I used Eucalyptus, lavender, and cedarwood, which are all good at helping with allergies and sinuses. In the kid safe version, I used a a KidSafe blend*.

Allergy Shower Discs 
a knock-off of Vick's Shower Tablets

2 cups baking soda
2/3 cups of water
pure Eucalyptus essential oil (not recommended for children under 10)
pure Lavendar essential oil
pure Cedarwood essential oil
foil mini muffin liners
mini muffin pan
food coloring, optional

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your mini muffin pan with foil cupcake liners. Then mix the baking soda and water, it should be a thick paste. Add food coloring if you want. Fill each muffin liner halfway with the baking soda mix, add 2-3 drops of each essential oil, then add more baking soda mix on top. Then bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool completely. Then carefully remove the discs from the liners. Add another 2-3 drops of essential oil to each disc. Let dry and wrap individually in plastic wrap. Store in a sealed container. I put these in snack size baggies, since I always have plenty of those, and will add a label to each one. I put three per bag.

*To make it kid friendly, avoid Eucalyptus essential oil. I used Plant Therapy's KidSafe, Sniffle Stopper. I also added a few drops of green food coloring to the mix so we could easily tell the difference.

Another good combination would be peppermint, lavender, and lemon. However, since I'm about to have another baby, I'm going to avoid peppermint essential oil since I'll be breastfeeding.

My Daughter's Natural Birth Story

Beautiful Girl!

We're adjusting really nicely to being a family of four. Our daughter is such a sweet and dare I say, easy baby. She's very content, sleeps very well, and is very happy.  Giving birth to her was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I told my husband that there is now no need for me to run a marathon. As giving birth to my daugther was one of the hardest but most rewarding things I've ever done! It felt like a marathon in and of itself. I gave birth to Blue Rock naturally and without drugs as well but it was a different experience. I don't know if I was just younger and since I didn't know what I was doing was able to block out more of the pain or what. Anyway, on with the story. By the way, if you have no interest in reading about this, please STOP here. :) If you're interested, scroll down and read on!



Before she was born



Now she's here!

Walking around the atrium after my water was broke

I love how as women, we have so many choices when giving birth. If we want to have a natural and drug free labor and delivery and everything is going well, we can.  If we want some medication to help with the pain, that's available too. Any choice a woman makes is usually very personal. There's no right or wrong way to get through one of the most exciting times in a woman's life. For me, I'm a huge fan of natural childbirth. Maybe partly because my own mother was and things like this tend to run in one's blood. I also didn't want to deal with the possible side effects. That is not to say that at certain times of my birthing experience I didn't secretly wish they would have given me an epidural. But overall I am so glad I was able to give birth to another child naturally.  Especially since this pregnancy I had to be on blood thinners and I really didn't want to risk anything by adding more drugs to my body. If you are considering a natural and drug free childbirth, you can do it! In the U.S., it seems like it's important to find an OB who is familiar with it and supportive or find a good midwife.



My baby's due date was January 23rd. She was born 10 days early, on January 13th. Although according to my first sonogram, they put her due date as January 26th. So she was anywhere from 10 to 13 days early. Either way I was 38 weeks along.

Eating crackers and drinking juice while being monitored

I had been having contractions for weeks. These were close contractions 2-3 minutes apart for hours. I had stopped taking my blood thinners two weeks before she was born since I had started dilating and having regular contractions. Being off blood thinners can be risky but so can giving birth and being on them. Since I've never had a blood clot, I just have two blood clotting disorders, I thought the risk of being on them was higher than getting off of them in time for birth. Saturday night I had horrible chest pains. I called the nurse on call to ask her about it. She said take Tylenol and see if that helps. Two hours later she called back and asked if I had blood clotting disorders. She had remembered my doctor talking about a patient who was having regular contractions and on blood thinners. I told her yes and she told me to go to the hospital. Blue Rock was already asleep and thankfully my sister was able to come and stay at our house with him. I got to the hospital and they made me stay the night. I think it was just my costochondritis acting up. In 2007 I found out I had it and it's very painful. The nurse told me my doctor would see me in the morning and probably induce me. My OB stopped by on her way to church and said she could break my water after church was over to start labor or I could go home. I was hungry and wanted to eat. The nurse told me I couldn't eat anything so I asked to leave. I was discharged and went and got a donut, something I rarely eat, went home, showered, and went to church.

Laboring on the birthing ball

Monday morning my OB's nurse called and asked if I wanted to have my water broken today and be induced. I had a dream the night before that my daughter was born. This originally wasn't my first choice but after thinking about how she would only get bigger the longer she was inside me and how utterly uncomfortable I was, I told her yes. Also my specialist would have wanted to induce me Thursday if she wasn't born by then so I figured, why wait? This is America after all. Also I have a 4-year old I had to find care for. I was still in a lot of pain from the chest pains and just tired. She told me to head to the hospital. I called my husband and he came home from work. We got there around 10:15am. At around 11am, a nurse came in and wanted to start me on some pitocin. I told her no and that from my understanding my doctor was going to just break my water and we'd go from there. She called my doctor and confirmed that's what I wanted. At 11:45am, my OB broke my water. What a mess! Ha! I'm glad I was there and not at home. After she broke it I went walking for 45 minutes. I was able to drink water and juice and eat crackers. My parents were at the hospital and so was my sister and Blue Rock. We all walked together for about 45 minutes. Then I told them to take Blue Rock and we'd call them once our baby was born. Labor can take a while and I knew since I wasn't getting pitocin it could be all day. My husband, of course stayed with me. He is the best birthing partner. Very encouraging and helpful. If you don't have a partner, hire a doula. You need someone who can be a strong support for you.

My awesome birthing partner aka the man I love!!

Basically every 45 minutes I needed to be monitored for about 10-15 minutes to check on my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. Baby girl was a champ the whole time. Her heartbeat was steady the whole day. After getting monitored I sat on the birthing ball for about 45 minutes and walked around the room. Then was monitored again. Then ready to try walking the halls again. My contractions were getting stronger and I was only able to make it around the nurses station before walking back to my birthing room to sit on the birthing ball. About 2 hours before she was born the contractions starting getting more intense. An hour before she was born I thought I might die. I prayed and prayed to God to get through it. Okay, I really didn't think I was going to die but they were getting very strong, long, and painful. I'd breath and remind myself that the pain would all end once she was out. Finally the time came and it was time to push, she was born at 5:52pm. It was awesome how fast my doctor came in as well as the nurses. It took 4 pushes for her to get out. The ring of fire was absolutely horrible! But like I said it lasted a minute or so before time to push again. Even though in the moment you think the pain will never go away, it does. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear which was better than the 3rd degree I had with Blue Rock. My baby was immediately wipped down and placed on my chest. She was perfect and absolutely beautiful. Breastfeeding has been going well and we are so in love with her.

It's getting uncomfortable

One strange thing after she was born was how much pain medication the nurses tried to give me. One kind of pain medicine they said would take away any pain I was having. I thought after all the pain I just went through there is nothing more painful that I could be experiencing now. They also offered me Tylenol, which I also nicely refused. Not wanting drugs in my system or my baby's is important to me. I did use the Epifoam, ice pack, and spray. Again, no judgement of anyone who wants the pain medicine. People's level of pain differs. For me, personally, I just didn't want it.

Breathing and working on bringing the baby down

At the time I thought this would probably be the last time I could give birth. Now that it's been almost 2 weeks, I could go through it again. Of course I don't have the best track record for carrying babies to term. So for now, I am just so thankful to God for my two healthy children, an overall easy pregnancy and natural childbirth. When I found I was pregnant I was scared. Scared of losing her. I praise God for blessing us with her. Children are truly a gift from God.



I'm getting tired

She's here!! Hallelujah! I did it!


How sweet to hold a newborn baby!

38 weeks and going strong!

38 weeks!

We are getting close to meeting our sweet baby.  I keep telling myself that anyway.  I'm not sure if she will ever come. I'm in my 38th week, am 4 cm dilated, and 70% effaced.  I'm also having very regular contractions and have had to stop my blood thinners.  I'm exhausted, am having horrible heartburn and reflux, and am ready to meet my baby!  I know lots of women don't have their babies until 40 weeks or later.  That could be me!  I thought that would be what would happen when I was pregnant with Blue Rock but he came naturally at 38 weeks.  The labor I'm experiencing is called prodromal labor. Every day, many times, multiple times a day, I have regular hard contractions.  Sadly these contractions lead to nothing.  At least I'm dilating, I wish it was more.  My doctor swept my membranes on Thursday and said she thought she'd probably see me in the hospital this weekend. I'm not sure if that will happen or not. 

Friday I was bleeding quite a bit and I called and the nurse told me to get checked out.  I really didn't want to go to the hospital but I went and sure enough nothing really was progressing and thankfully the baby was fine.  After laying in bed for a while they checked my contractions and I had 2 strong ones in 15 minutes so I was able to leave.

Last week my OB said she could break my water on Monday if I wanted and hadn't had my baby yet. I don't think I'm going to do that. I'd rather he strip the membranes some more and see if something happens then. Since I need to be on blood thinners and can't, it's not good for me to go too many weeks not being on them. So maybe next Wednesday. I really don't want a lot of medical intervention but am also exhausted. I've also been drinking red raspberry leaf tea and taking evening primrose oil. I haven't today and should. But the past few days I have.

We finally saw our baby's sweet face on Thursday. I think she looks like Blue Rock did. She's been so low and hiding that we hadn't been able to see her. I think since we turned her some last Sunday she was at an angle we could see. Her poor face was smashed up against the inside of my belly but at least we saw her. Her nose and lips are not as big as the picture seems. When we saw her moving around and after she moved her hand away, her features weren't so exaggerated. None the less, she is beautiful. It was so neat to see her blinking her eyes too. She measured a little smaller than on Monday at 7 lbs, 2 oz. Seems like a perfect size to me! :) 

As my daughter's birthday is coming nearer every day, I am reminded how precious life is and how truly blessed I am to be pregnant and carrying a baby again.  I know many women would give an arm or leg to have a baby of their own. I think about my past and how a year ago I sort of gave up the hope of having a child. Then I ended up getting pregnant and now here we are. I'm also trying to enjoy these last days with Blue Rock who is so excited about having a sister. God has blessed us again. We are truly thankful to Him. And I want to hug and send my love to the women who are trying to conceive but haven't yet or who have lost a baby or more. I am sorry.

Long Labor and 10th Wedding Anniversary!

The baby is still not here. I'm learning to have more compassion toward women who have long drawn out labors. It's truly exhausting! This is such a different experience than I had with Blue Rock. We thought she might be coming on our anniversary and if I would have stayed at the hospital she would have! Friday night we thought my water broke. We headed to the hospital and the test came back positive. They had me lay in a bed and wanted to continuously monitor the baby's heartbeat and my contractions.  That was uncomfortable. Laying there they were a consistent 2 to 3 minutes apart. I was dilated at 2cm like Monday and about 85% effaced. However, I thought it was strange that more water wasn't coming out. I thought I'd be sitting in a puddle. I finally asked the nurse about it and she said they have gotten some false positives.  I asked if they could check again or open a new batch. She said it would be inconclusive if they had a positive and a negative. My doctor was away on family business and the doctor on-call agreed to do another kind of test like they used to. I told them that if my water hadn't broke I'd rather go home and labor there. The nurse wanted to keep me over night and induce me Saturday morning. When the old kind of test was done and came back negative I was told I could walk around a bit. I walked 30 minutes and came back my contractions were really strong at 1 to 2 minutes apart but I wasn't dilating anymore. I asked to go home. It was 1am. Finally about 1:30am they let me go and told me to come back in the morning. I was there 7 hours and nothing! It was nice to sleep in my own bed. There was no way I could sleep in the hospital bed with the monitors on my belly. My parents kept Blue Rock for the first time at their house. It was really nice of them.



Our 10 anniversary! I'm so tired here!

Saturday was our 10th anniversary. We spent our 5th at a castle in Germany and our 10th at the hospital mostly at home. I was pregnant with Blue Rock on our 5th and our daughter on our 10th. That's pretty neat. I should write a whole post about the last 10 years. They have been great! We exchanged gifts Friday night before going to the hospital. My husband gave me beautiful diamond stud earrings and a beautiful necklace with 1 Corinthians 13 on it. I gave him a Pebble watch and a Bento Box wrapped in foil. For modern gifts it's diamonds, for traditional gifts is aluminum and tin.  He went with modern and I went with traditional. Love him!! We woke up Saturday morning and got ready and picked Blue Rock up from my parents and went to lunch at Outback. Contractions were still going on but it mainly feels like lots of pressure with some pain. Saturday night my dad got back and he was able to watch Blue Rock so we could go to dinner. I wasn't very hungry so we ate at Boston Market. I'm so glad throughout our marriage we've eaten at so many nice restaurants. Originally we were planning on going to Del Friscos but since we weren't sure if the baby was going to come we needed to stay within about 10 minutes of the hospital and ate at Outback for lunch. We thought about going to Red Lobster that evening but I couldn't stomach it.

My parents were not able to keep Blue Rock Saturday night.  Thankfully, our preacher and his wife took Blue Rock Saturday night to their house. It was his first time to spend the night at a friend's house. They have 3 kids and he didn't want to go. I felt horrible making him go while he was crying and begging not to go. He knows them and their kids and has been to their house a number of times so I knew he'd be fine. They said he stopped crying shortly after he was in the car with them. The next day he told me he was scared but ended up having a lot of fun at their house. I was so glad! He wanted to go back over and play.

Meanwhile, Saturday night I was bleeding some. I decided to see if I bled a lot or my water broke before heading back to the hospital. I was still really tired from the night before and decided to just go to bed. Sunday morning I woke up with bad contractions and lots of back pain. I was hurting all over. We waited until 7am to go to the hospital since I didn't want to enter through the emergency entrance. I had a better experience Sunday morning. The head nurse was great and when I mentioned how bad my back hurt she said it sounded like the baby was sunny side up and if we could turn her the back pain should go away. She showed me how to do the runner's position and after about 15-20 minutes I felt her turn. When I sat up the pain went away. My contractions also slowed down. The nurse helping me Sunday morning was really nice. They wanted me to get a sonogram to check everything out. The baby looked perfect and since I was dilated to 3cm she gave me the option of going home and staying. If I was at a 4 then I would have had to stay. I told her I wanted to go home.

We made it to the end of church service and got Blue Rock. Then we went to lunch and I came home and rested all day. I took a shower and got in my pajamas. My back pain is mostly gone, the contractions are still going on but overall I'm feeling better.

Laying in a hospital bed will not help labor progress

This morning I had a doctor's appointment. My doctor said some women just have long labors. The baby seems like she'll come then will stop. She said since things moved fast with my son then I needed to be prepared to have her at home. She gave us cord clamps and a bulb syringe. She told my husband what to do if we got in that situation. She said she's right there and could come anytime. I asked about stripping the membranes. She said to come back Thursday if she's not born and she'll do it then since I'll be 38 weeks. That's a more natural way of helping move things along. The baby is measuring 7 lbs, 12 oz. By law she can't induce until 39 weeks unless one of my maternal fetal medicine doctors approve it. Which the older one in the group I go to most likely would. So if stripping the membranes didn't work she could break my water Monday and we'll have her then. However, I would rather have as little medical intervention as possible. So hopefully she'll either come before Monday or the stripping of the membranes will work. I also don't want to have a super big baby. Blue Rock came at 38 weeks naturally so maybe she will too. Thankfully her head is engaged my body just has to release her.



We are ready for anything!

When I was getting my sonogram this morning the nurse said, "your baby is really moving around!" I looked down and she was. Since she's constantly moving and I'm having constant contractions I've learned to block them out more.

Please pray for a safe delivery and a healthy baby and mama. When I was pregnant with Blue Rock and thinking about delivering in Germany I would remind myself about how Mary gave birth to Jesus in a barn with Joseph and most likely no doctors and lots of animals around. Not the most clean or ideal situation. I live in a clean house and the hospital is 10 minutes away. I didn't have any drugs with Blue Rock and I'm not planning on having any with this baby. If I'm induced I have heard that the pain increases greatly. I'm not opposed to pain medicine I just would rather not have any if I'm doing okay and the baby is. Now I'm going to go rest. I'm tired.

By the way, when we showed up at the hospital Friday night. There was a baby being wheeled into the nursery. Blue Rock asked, "is that my baby sister?" I told him, "nope, she's still in my belly." Haha!

35.5 Weeks! Feeling better after being really sick!

I went to see my OB today. I've been going to my specialist weekly, which I don't think is really necessary, I'd rather just see my OB. But rather than see both every week, my OB said to wait until I'm 36 weeks to see her. Well, I got bronchitis and was very sick last week and had an appointment scheduled for today that they told me to keep since I was sick. I felt like I was on death's bed last week. I hadn't been that sick in a long time! All I wanted to do was sleep, I was barely hungry, and would go from sweating to freezing. When I got medicine from my general practitioner, I had an allergic reaction to it. I broke out in a horrible rash over my belly, sides, and arms that itched. I thought it was PUPPPS, which I had after Blue Rock was born. I almost went to the hospital that night but was honestly too tired and weak to go. I thought I was dying and prayed that God would give me strength. I knew I was too weak to have a baby at that time. The next day I had bad chest pains and difficulty breathing. It seems like it was a bad reaction the z-pak they gave me. I stopped taking it after only having taken it for 2 days.  I had to get chest x-rays to rule out pneumonia. Thankfully everything looked good and I'm finally on the mend. Poor hubby and Blue Rock both got the flu and hubby also got strep throat. I lucked out not catching either of those. We're still sleeping in separate rooms just until we know everyone is better. They told me I could take Tamiflu but I'm not going to take anything else unless I'm sick and truly need it.

Since I was at my doctor's office today, she said we'd go ahead and monitor the baby and that way I can cancel my appointment for Friday with the specialist. I had a sonogram and they monitored the baby's heartbeat, movement, and contractions. My OB told me I need to see her next week at 36 weeks so I'll have to tell his office I'll see him sometime but we'll have to wait because she really needs to be the one monitoring everything from this point forward. Thankfully baby is still doing great. I haven't gained weight in a few weeks but the baby has! It seems like with Blue Rock I really didn't gain any weight the last few weeks with him either. She literally could be here at anytime. I just want to make it past Christmas and new years. I think we will. Although I cannot wait to see her!

By the way, I have to brag on some of my friends. Last week was super hard, I felt absolutely horrible most of the week. 3 different friends brought me meals, one friend sold me some oils and a diffuser which I've been wanting which helped me breath better, another friend delivered some Christmas cookies I bought but was too sick to pick up, and another one came and cleaned my house! I could not believe she cleaned for me. That is probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I really missed my grandmother last week. I used to like going to her house when I was sick because she knew how to help me get better faster. I miss having my mom around too. I know she would have come over and helped me. I hope I'm as good of mom as she was. Then God put these sweet friends in my life to help me out.

How far along? 35.5 weeks

Baby’s size? She weighs about 6 lbs, 11 oz. - another big baby!

Total weight gain: 40 lbs gained! 

Maternity clothes? Yes and I'm getting tired of them and am outgrowing them...sigh.

Stretch marks? Maybe a few new ones.

Sleep: Okay. I have to get up to go to the bathroom quite frequently. I'm very tired so it's been pretty easy to fall asleep.

Best moment this week: Friends coming over to help me by bringing food, oils, and cleaning my house when I was sick.

Miss Anything? My pre-pregnancy weight. Love this baby but am getting uncomfortable and want my body back.

Movement: Yes, all the time! She is very active!

Food cravings: Nothing particular at the moment.  When I was sick I stopped drinking coffee so I cured that bad habit before the baby arrives.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Spicy foods at night cause heartburn which hurts!

Gender: Girl!!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks Contractions. They monitor me weekly for the contractions and it was neat seeing them on the chart.

Symptoms: Growing belly and lots of movement and kicking. Having to go to the restroom frequently.

Belly Button in or out? Flat unless I cough, then it sticks out. Kind of funny.

Wedding rings on or off? Off!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and blessed!

Looking forward to: Meeting my baby.

Please pray for: A healthy baby and pregnancy.

Here's the sign I made to cover over the baby's changing table.  She's considered a rainbow baby because she's born after a loss, actually 4 losses. A good friend of mine who is a talented artist is painting another verse for me on something. I can't wait to see what she comes up with! I'm going to make a rainbow mobile with Blue Rock to hang over her changing table. We've just been too sick and tired to do anything else at the moment.

34 Weeks! Nursery is almost ready!

I had my weekly doctor's appointment on Tuesday. Baby is doing great! She's measuring 5 lbs, 4 oz. Her head was too low to get a look at her face. It looks like I might not be able to see her sweet face again until she's born.

This past weekend we got her nursery in order. This past week I've been washing some of her clothes. Her room was Blue Rock's playroom.  I was worried that Blue Rock might not like his playroom moved. However, he was so excited to find out his sister's room will be next to his room.  We have moved his playroom mostly upstairs. I was debating whether or not to get rid of our guest room and move his playroom in there but it's nice to have an extra bed.

How far along? 34 weeks

Baby’s size? She weighs about 5 lbs, 4 oz.

Total weight gain/loss: 39 lbs! 

Maternity clothes? Absolutely! I've never weighed this much before! Sadly some of them are not fitting as well because I've "exceeded" the weight for them!

Stretch marks? Maybe a few new ones.

Sleep: Terrible! I wake up to go to the bathroom 3-4 times a night. I'm really only able to get comfortable laying on my right side since I can't lay on my stomach or back. When I lay on my left side, Gracie moves and kicks like crazy.  She's one strong baby! Also I'm starting to have heartburn and reflux. Thankfully Apple Cider Vinegar is helping but certain foods I cannot eat at night.

Best moment this week: Getting the baby's room ready for her arrival! Also when I asked Blue Rock what he wanted for Christmas and he said a Gumball Machine. When I asked if he wanted anything else. He said, "yes, some toys for my baby sister!" What a sweet and kind son I have!
 
Miss Anything? My pre-pregnancy weight. Love this baby but am getting uncomfortable.

Movement: Yes, all the time! She is very active!

Food cravings: Nothing particular at the moment.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Spicy foods at night cause heartburn which hurts!

Gender: Girl!!

Labor Signs: Braxton Hicks Contractions. They monitor me weekly for the contractions and it was neat seeing them on the chart.

Symptoms: Growing belly and lots of movement and kicking.  Having to go to the restroom frequently.

Belly Button in or out? Flat! Blue Rock loves this!

Wedding rings on or off? Off!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and blessed!

Looking forward to: Meeting my daughter.

Please pray for: A healthy baby and pregnancy.

Here are some pictures of her nursery. I just ordered her curtains and curtain rod. I'm trying to decide how to decorate her walls. I'll probably do some kind of custom wall decals or something. I want a verse on the wall above her bed with maybe her name. Then maybe some pictures or something on the other wall. I don't know yet.

33 Weeks Pregnant - Gaining Weight

I'm seriously ready to have this baby. Although to keep her out of the NICU, I want to wait at least a few more weeks.  Ideally, after the new year. I am getting, shall we say, very uncomfortable, especially at night. During the past few weeks I started experiencing heartburn and reflux which hurts! It's hard to get comfortable at night, although I am super blessed to have one of the best beds in the world. We have a Tempurpedic with an adjustable base. Thankfully, my husband doesn't mind how I want to control the base. When we were purchasing a new mattress last January we thought about getting dual control bases but that makes for an awkward middle and our son sometimes joins us at night. A good mattress is essential for sleeping well.  In fact I haven't needed a true pregnancy pillow because my bed is so adjustable and forms to my body. What keeps me up at night is the baby kicking, it feels like she's trying to kick my stomach open, and the heartburn and reflex. I hate complaining because this is such a special time in my life so that's all I'll say about that, at least for now.

I saw my specialist yesterday. They monitored the baby's heartbeat for about 30 minutes then I had my ultrasound. He said that she looks like the best baby he's seen in a long time as far as activity level and growth. I'm on Lovenox injections which can cause a baby not to grow as much. Thankfully she's had no problem growing. She's very active, there are a few times a day I won't feel her as much and I think she's probably sleeping. Otherwise, she's moving, stretching, eating, and growing. :)

I've now gained about 40 lbs so far during this pregnancy. With my son, I gained 44 lbs. Some women get very worried about gaining weight. My advice is to not worry and just try and eat as healthy as you can. I'll be honest, I think I'm part French because I like having a little dessert everyday. Truth be told, sometimes a little more than a little. However, I try my best to get a good combination of proteins, vegetables, and fruits. Especially with the cold and flu season upon us, it's essential to eat the best we can, pregnant or not. So unless you have specific dietary restrictions or your doctor is worried, I wouldn't worry about it. Some women gain a lot, some a little, and some none, which I have no idea how that's possible. Once the baby is born, then you can worry about losing the weight. I'm high risk so I haven't done a lot of exercise during this pregnancy. With my son I did and I still gained 44 lbs. So really, I don't think it affects your weight gain as much. Although in a few weeks I'll start walking a lot more when it's closer to time to deliver.

I don't have really any new information from last week. I also didn't get any new pictures yesterday since they are all in 2D and aren't very neat looking. Next week I'm going to see my regular OB so I should hopefully get a good picture then.  The weather in Texas got up to 80 degrees today. It's supposed to be below freezing starting tomorrow and through the weekend. I'm trying to enjoy the nice warm weather while I can. I can't believe how warm it is!

32 Weeks!

I'm 32 weeks and went to see my specialist today. I'll see him weekly now until delivery which means I will not see my regular OB until 36 weeks. There's really no reason for two doctor appointments weekly. Plus it's hard to find someone to care for Blue Rock while I go to these appointments. Thankfully my dad has mostly watched him which has been great. I prefer my primary OB, her ultrasound machine is so much better and she'll be the one who will hopefully be with me during delivery. However, the specialist insists that it's important for me to see him.

Baby girl looked great today! I had to sit on a chair and let them record her heartbeat for about 30 minutes. Then I saw the doctor and he did a pretty detailed ultrasound. He told me if I start having any signs of preterm labor then I need to go to the hospital. Let's hope she doesn't come this early! Of course I'm looking forward to meeting her. I know our lives will change completely when we add a new baby to our family and daily routine. Blue Rock is super excited and I love that!

Baby Belly!

How far along? 32 weeks

Baby’s size? She weighs about 4 lbs, 4 oz.

Total weight gain/loss: 37 lbs! Looks like I weigh what I did last week.

Maternity clothes? Absolutely! I've never weighed this much before! Sadly some of them are not fitting as well because I've "exceeded" the weight for them!

Stretch marks? No new ones.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good. I have to get up one or two times a night to go to the bathroom, though.

Best moment this week: When Blue Rock looks at my belly and feels his sister move. He then lifts his shirt and tells me he has some babies in his belly too! He insists that I feel them because he has more than one in his little belly!

Miss Anything? Being slender. I can't fit around things like I can when I'm not pregnant. Although I love this belly because it holds such a precious gift.

Movement: Yes, all the time! I think she moves the most when I'm trying to sleep at night but throughout the day she moves and kicks. She feels like she's taking up my whole belly. I feel her on both sides and love watching my belly move. It's very surreal.

2D sono of my baby girl!

Food cravings: Um, sweets! I broke down and bought some Oreos the other day. So good! I pretty much will bake cookies if we're out of them. Actually I bake them even if we have them because I want another kind.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Not really. I've experienced heartburn which is horrible. Milk and Raw Apple Cider Vinegar has helped.

Gender: Girl!!

Labor Signs: Just Braxton Hicks. The other day I had a pretty bad one.

Symptoms: Growing belly and lots of movement and kicking.

Belly Button in or out? Flat! Blue Rock thinks it looks funny.

Wedding rings on or off? Off!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and blessed!

Looking forward to: Meeting my daughter.

Please pray for: A healthy baby and pregnancy.

31 Weeks!

I had my 30 week doctor's appointment today. The baby is doing beautifully. She has long legs and looks like she's going to be tall or at least a long baby. Her legs are measuring two weeks ahead. The amniotic fluid looks great. It was neat to see that measured, we have not seen that before. Her head was facing my back and toward the placenta today and so we didn't get very good pictures of her. I did get a picture of her spine but I'm not going to post it. The ultrasound tech/nurse told me that if I were to have her early, she'd have a very good chance of making it. She said preterm girls tend to do better than boys. I never knew that. I just want a healthy baby and would love her to make it to full term. Since my specialist doesn't want me to go past 39 weeks, she'll be here in 8 weeks or less! There is still lots to be done! After we get her nursery set up I'll post pictures, I'm hoping to get most of that ready this coming weekend.

How far along? 30-31 weeks

Baby’s size? Over 16 inches, about the size of a coconut. She weighs about 3 1/3 lbs.

Total weight gain/loss: About 37 lbs! Packin' it on!


Maternity clothes? Absolutely! I've never weighed this much before! Loving the stretchy pants!

Stretch marks? No new ones.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good. I have to get up one or two times a night to go to the bathroom, though.


Best moment this week: Listening to Blue Rock talk about how much fun he's going to have with his baby sister. Feeling her kick and move and enjoying the life growing inside me.

Miss Anything? Being slender. I can't fit around things like I can when I'm not pregnant. Although I love this belly because it holds such a precious gift.

Movement: Yes, all the time! I think she moves the most when I'm trying to sleep at night but throughout the day she moves and kicks. She feels like she's taking up my whole belly. I feel her on both sides and love watching my belly move. It's very surreal.

Food cravings: Pretty much what ever is in front of me. Lots of sweet things too, which I'm trying to avoid...not easy. I'm hungry all the time.

Anything making you queasy or sick: No. Although I can't eat anything too spicy or heavy too close to bed or I start having reflux.

Gender: Girl!!

Labor Signs: Just Braxton Hicks.

Symptoms: Growing belly and lots of movement and kicking.

Belly Button in or out? Flat!

Wedding rings on or off? Off!

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and blessed!

Looking forward to: Meeting her!

Please pray for: A healthy baby and pregnancy.

Excited to be in the 3rd Trimester!

Love my beautiful baby girl!

I am so thankful to be in my 3rd trimester!  I went to my 38 week appointment this morning.  I really love my doctor and her staff.  Since I just saw a specialist and had an ultrasound they weren't going to do one today. I was a little disappointed as I had hoped to get some new pictures because my sister needs one.  So the sono tech told me she'd go ahead and do one for free so I could have some new 3D pictures.  The specialist didn't get very good pictures when I went to him.  My doctor just didn't want my insurance company to reject the bill and me pay out of pocket $150.  This was so nice!  I love doctors who go above and beyond for their patients.  I feel blessed to get these pictures every time I have an appointment.

Look at her sweet arms and legs!

Gracie was hiding her face so it was kind of hard to get a good picture of her.  She was hiding in the corner on my right side where I've had cramping and pain.  The ultrasound tech told me babies tend to have a favorite place to "hide" and so that's probably why I've been having pain there.  We got some sweet pictures, I did the glucose test, which the orange drink really didn't taste too bad.  I had four vials of blood taken and got a rhogam shot.  Everything looks wonderful and she's growing perfectly.  I now get to see my doctor every two weeks.  After losing 4 babies, I am even more thankful to be pregnant with a healthy baby and each day is a day of thanksgiving and rejoicing.

How far along? 28-29 weeks

Sweet face

Baby’s size? A little more than 15 inches, about the size of a butternut squash. She weighs about 2.5 lbs.

Total weight gain/loss: About 31 lbs! Packin' it on!

Maternity clothes? Yes!  I've never weighed this much before!  Loving the stretchy pants!

Stretch marks? No new ones and my old ones have pretty much vanished.  We'll see what I look like once she's born.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good. I have to get up one or two times a night to go to the bathroom, though.



Arms and face

Best moment this week: Looking at car seats, strollers, and other baby items. We gave most of my son's baby things away so it's fun getting to shop and look for baby things again.  I'm enjoying being in the U.S. looking at baby things.  With Blue Rock I shopped in German stores or online. It was also nice having Blue Rock with me to sit in the stroller so I could push it with a child in it. At first he was happy to do this but after a few times he no longer wanted to get in a stroller.  It's been a while since he's used a stroller. :)

Miss Anything? Being slender.  I can't fit around things like I can when I'm not pregnant. Although I love this belly because it holds such a precious gift.

Movement: Yes, all the time!  I think she moves the most when I'm trying to sleep at night but throughout the day she moves and kicks.  She feels like she's taking up my whole belly.  I feel her on both sides and love watching my belly move.  It's very surreal.

Food cravings: Pretty much what ever is in front of me.  Lots of sweet things too, which I'm trying to avoid...not easy.  I'm hungry all the time.

Anything making you queasy or sick: No.  Although I can't eat anything too spicy or heavy too close to bed or I start having reflux.

Gender: Girl!!

Labor Signs: Nope.

Symptoms: Growing belly and lots of movement and kicking.

Belly Button in or out? Getting flatter everyday.

Wedding rings on or off? Off. I weigh 40 lbs more than I did when I got married almost 10 years ago. Most of that is due to pregnancy. :)

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and blessed! 

Looking forward to: Meeting my daughter.

Please pray for: A healthy baby and pregnancy.

Natural, Homemade Gummies for Cold, Flu, and Sleep

I'm stepping up in my homemaking skills as I'm on my quest to make and know what is in the foods I eat.  I also want to know what's in the cold medicines we take.  A friend posted this recipe from Real Food RN on Facebook and it looked like something I needed to try.  I halved the recipe and it made plenty, 34 gummies. I used all organic ingredients except for the gelatin, which I ended up getting at Target. Sprouts usually has gelatin but was sold out. You can also get kosher gelatin online. This was my first time to make something like this.  It took me about 10 minutes.  I got all of my ingredients at Sprouts except for the gelatin, which I got at Target.  I'm sure places like Central Market and Whole Foods have these ingredients as well.  You can also buy these ingredients online.

How do these ingredients work? Tart cherries and gelatin promote sleep, elderberry syrup boosts the body's immune system and can prevent both acute and chronic disease, and raw honey (try and buy local) is proven to be anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal.

Natural, Homemade Gummies for Cold, Flu, and Sleep

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup tart cherry juice
• 2 Tbsp gelatin - the box came with 4 packets, I used 2
• 2 Tbs Elderberry syrup (Sprouts brand is organic) - or make your own
• 1 Tbs raw honey

Directions:

• Heat 1/2 cup of juice until bubbling
• In a glass jar combine gelatin and heated juice, stir briskly to dissolve gelatin. Mix really well as it is kind of lumpy.
• In a medium bowl combine the risk of the ingredients and whisk until well combined. (Note: do not use honey in this recipe if you plan to share these gummies with anyone under the age of one year)
• Pour into molds, I got my two colored ones in the $1 section at Target and the other is just an small ice cube tray I had on hand
• Put molds into refrigerator until set, at least one hour
• Store in glass jar in refridgerator.  They should last a few weeks.
• Enjoy!