Sneak Peek

Okay, well this may not be the "filled with pictures" post you were expecting, but I have something awesome to share!

We had an ultrasound today to get one last check on Will's size. The past month or so he has seemed to have been measuring bigger, but last week the doctor was concerned he may be smaller than she had thought. I kinda thought it was silly at first. Who cares if he is big or small, he's coming in 5 days no matter what! But we went ahead with the appointment to check him out (plus, it's always fun to see your lil guy in there moving around!) Well, she did the ultrasound and everything looks great. He is measuring about 7lb 2oz (give or take a pound), but is about a week or so behind in size. That doesn't mean too much though, as he is really healthy. They said the highest score rating you could get is an 8, and Will scored an 8!

This is the third ultrasound we have had. The first was the "gender" ultrasound at 21 weeks, and then I had a precautionary one when I did that stint in the hospital about a month ago. Keith missed that ultrasound as we had no idea what time I was going to have it, and he wasn't able to make it to the hospital in time to go with me. He really didn't want to miss the opportunity this time around, so he took the morning off and brought Jack along as well. Jack got to hear Will's heartbeat and also got to watch, but he was more concerned about all the goop on my belly and what the tech was doing than really paying attention to the black and white blurs on the screen. We could see Will's little profile and head shot, and tried to explain it to Jack, but it is sometimes hard for adults to see, let alone 1 year olds.

Right as we were finishing up, the tech said "I would do a 3D image for you, but this little guy's arm is right in front of his face." I poked my belly a little bit, and Will seemed to move slightly. Then she went from a different angle and said "Well, I'm going to try it anyway and see what we come up with." Sure enough, she was able to get a glimpse at Will's little face! He moved his armjust enough so that we could make out his eyes, nose, and lips. Wow, what an AWESOME thing to see! It finally, for the first time in 9 months, felt REAL! I looked over at Jack, and his smile was a mile wide. It was amazing to see him light up as he got to see his little brother for the first time. What a special moment.

So here is the sneak peek of what is to come in only 5 MORE DAYS!

(he looks a little like his brother, what do you think?)

Quick Post

I made it to 38+ weeks! We have scheduled a date for a repeat c-section. If Will doesn't come on his own, and my body doesn't progress into any labor, then October 5, 2010 we will help things along a bit and welcome Will Patrick into the world! This is only 6 days away, and we're THRILLED! Hopefully my next post will be filled with pictures of our little guy!

still waiting!

So we're still waiting on Will. Looks like he may go full term after all! The tease last weekend didn't help, but I go in Wednesday to schedule his "birthday" and it looks like it will be in less than two weeks; that ain't too bad.

We were able to get a few pictures taken, which was awesome. I think it's fun for the kids to see what I looked like when they were still in my belly! Jennie Pyfferoen did our pictures, and she did a great job.

We can't wait to have our little baby in the pictures with us! Next up, Mandy and Dylan are coming to visit and help out this week. With Keith at work during the week, and me still needing to rest most of the time, this will be an awesome help. We're so lucky to have family willing to travel and help us! Jack is also super excited to spend some time with his cousin. Should be a fun week ahead!

More News!

So at today's doctor's appointment I was confirmed that by Sunday, Will is considered full term and it's time to leave it up to him (and my body) to decide when he is coming. I have been told to stop taking my meds on Sunday/Monday and then to go in once contractions start up. Wow, I could technically have this little boy THIS WEEKEND!! So exciting!

What a week!

Sorry for the quality, Terbutaline makes me shake. And pray I make it till Thursday so I can get my hair done! (35 weeks)

Well, what a week! More excitement and adventure going on at the Brawner household. After last weekend's stint in the hospital, being sent home on an eventually modified bed rest, I prepared to sit around until at least October or whenever we decided to schedule our c-section. The reason for the scheduled c-section is because of my lack of progression during labor with Jack (considering his size and also the induction medications) and the probability of that happening again. Even with the strong contractions I was having last weekend, my cervix was showing NO SIGNS of any change. The good news was that everyone is healthy, bleeding had stopped, and bed rest was only precautionary and to prevent any further bleeding or strain. I was released to drive to future doctor's appointments, and even told that I may be taken off bed rest in a week or so, depending, as there was really no sign of risk.

My father and stepmother got into town late Thursday night to spoil me for a weekend and help watch Jack. What a BLESSING that turned out to be as the turn of events on Friday took Keith and I BACK to the hospital! I woke up Friday morning only to see more bleeding, and enough that it shook me up quite a bit. I hadn't done anything! No lifting, no straining... I had driven to a doctor's appointment the day before, but it was more sitting around than walking. I couldn't figure out what could be wrong, and assumed the worst. (though I felt normal) I had noticed that the night before the contractions had been stronger than usual (since I had been taking a procardia every 6 hours), but nothing else out of the ordinary. When we got into the hospital, the nurse told us that there was really no other tests that could be done. I had already passed all the tests, and the placenta looked great, cervix had showed unchanged, and I wasn't a risk for preterm labor. Plus, at this point, I was almost 35 weeks (which can be considered full term over 37 weeks in some cases). I had already had the precautionary steroid, and there was really not a whole lot they could do. She hooked me up to the monitors to make sure the baby looked ok (which he has never looked anything but) and she decided to check my cervix just to see... Well, it turns out that I was 1-2cm and 90% effaced! That's farther than I ever got with Jack! So it turned out that the bleeding was natural cervical change, the contractions were true, and that Will was just on his way EARLY!

Because I'm as far along as I am, they didn't pull out any of the "big guns" to stop the contractions. They gave me a few more doses of Terbutaline and a prescription of it to take home. My next orders were to sit and wait. Since no medication can stop TRUE labor, when the contractions come back, just like in any situation, we are gonna have a baby! WHAT EXCITING NEWS!! This could be ANY time, ANY day!

So that puts me to where I am now. It's Sunday afternoon, I'm still technically on bed rest. We'd like to keep Will cooking as long as possible, but I'm sitting and waiting, and counting any contractions I may feel. I still have some here and there, but nothing substantial. 6 is the magic number; if I have 6 in an hour, then we go in. This has made it so much more exciting because there is no "planned" date and time. We truly get to wait until Will (ultimately God) is ready. We still get the element of surprise. Also, if I continue to progress, there could always be a chance that when the contractions come back I will have dilated enough to proceed with a VBAC. That would be a totally unexpected and exciting experience!

Yet again, my socks have been knocked off at what God's will is revealing throughout this whole pregnancy. So excited for the next chapter to unfold!