Saturday, January 29, 2011

One more way this pregnancy is my hardest one...

Thursday morning I called my doctor to tell him about some preterm labor symptoms I was experiencing, so he sent me to the hospital to get checked out. I'm not contracting & I'm not dilated...but I got a positive fetal fibronectin (fFN) test. If it had been negative I would've been sent home and back to regular activity, because a negative result means it's 99% sure I won't give birth within the next 2 weeks. A positive result is less useful information. From what I've learned over the last couple days, fFN is a protein that acts like a glue to keep the amniotic sac in place. If it shows up at this point in my pregnancy (32.5 weeks), it may mean that the glue is disintegrating ahead of schedule. From my reading, it sounds like most, or at least many, of women with positive fFN tests go on to deliver at full term. But there's a higher likelihood than if it had been negative.


So now I'm on bedrest. With 3 kids (and a few pets) to care for, errands to run, cleaning to do, etc. My doctor admitted that it was probably being overly cautious, but worth it just in case. I'm having a hard time not doing a quick chore or two every time I get up to go potty (which is pretty often since I'm supposed to drink 8 oz of water every waking hour), but I would sure feel horrible if this baby came 7+ weeks early because I couldn't resist the urge to move the laundry along or something! I'm at the computer right now, which I'm not entirely sure is allowed (I tried to call yesterday, but my doctor wasn't in and the person I talked to wasn't really clear about), so I'd better go lay down again. Wish us (all 6 of us!) luck!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

David's Baptism

Well, it took longer than I intended (what doesn't?), but I finally got some pictures from David's Baptism day uploaded!

So, last year we had church 1-4, then David's Baptism was at 5 (on November 21st). I didn't think we should try to make it home and back, so we just hung out in the church for that hour. David wanted to get his white jumpsuit thing on almost right away, so we have quite a few pictures of him in it. I thought he looked really cute! Of course the pictures didn't capture that, he looks kinda scared/scary...

Like here, he looks very unhappy, but it's the best one I got of the three of them.

Katy had a lot of fun having so many grandpas there! Grandpa Smith, Grandpa Morrill, and Great-Grandpa Smith were all there, making Katy one happy little girl!

Passing the time with Where's Waldo.

I'm busy reading, Mom...

Awww, David and his Daddy :-)

And somehow I totally forgot to have a picture taken of our whole family, so here's proof that I was, in fact, present for the festivities. After the Baptism we went back to our house to have spaghetti & two kinds of crock pot sauces (angel chicken & chicken cacciatore) with Grandma & Grandpa Smith, Aunt Hannah, Grandpa Morrill, Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa Smith, Great-Aunt Patti, Great-Aunt Peggy & Great-Uncle Steve, and my cousin Elena, her husband Kyle, and their kids McKaylee & Marlee. It was a full house! But even with the big crowd, we greatly overestimated how much food we would need and ended up eating the leftovers several times that week.

I ended up typing this up in bits and spurts throughout the day today, hopefully it didn't end up too disjointed!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

David's Birthday!

I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions this year, since they always just end up making me feel guilty. BUT I did decide that I will be better about blogging, as it is the only journal-y kind of thing we have. I have several things from the end of last year to post about, and I'm not even going to really stress about getting them in order or anything. I'm trying to keep my expectations low in hopes of actually achieving them. :-)

So David's 8th birthday was November 17th. I was feeling too (lazy) tired to wrap his presents, so we put them all in bags. It sure made clean up easy! Here he is with his haul (another bonus of bag use - everything looks big!).

David has been asking for this electronic Pokeball for a while, so Ryan got it for him. There was much excitement.


I was sneaky and went to the school book fair on Monday the 15th while the boys were in class and got this for him. Then Tuesday the 16th was family night at the book fair, and he really wanted to get it, but I told them I'd spend $5 each and it was 7 or 8 I believe. So on Wednesday the 17th he was surprised to get it for his birthday!

David had a very boring birthday cake. And we didn't even have it until the day after his birthday. Sorry, buddy! See, these things are part of why this baby is our last. I'm pretty lame at most things while preggo. At least Daddy lit it in a fun way!

Big eight year old David. He's looking so grown up!

So, I thought I'd write a little "David right now" info.

  • David is very into Pokemon. Playing Pokemon games on his DS is probably his favorite way to spend free time.
  • When not having "screen time," he usually builds with legos or trio in the playroom.
  • Lately he's also been very interested in Origami, and is pretty good at it.
  • He is an excellent reader, and I'm constantly struggling to find enough stuff for him to read. We actually have a difficulty that the stuff at his interest level is below his reading ability level, so he can blow through a chapter book (he really likes A to Z Mysteries right now) in an evening. He also really enjoys Pokemon books, especially the "fact" ones, and world record type books.
  • David is doing much better in school this year, not getting in trouble anywhere near as often. He enjoys his once a week Excel class, except for the fact that he has to get up so early (I wake him up at 6:20, and his bus comes at 6:48. Other days his bus comes at 8:58, and I've only had to wake him up a couple times ever).
  • David has recently discovered a talent in art, and has done some really good pencil drawings (mostly Pokemon, of course).
  • He loves to eat fruit (This is nothing new, I caught him getting himself fruit out of the fridge at 1 year old), and is generally pretty happy with anything I make for dinner. When we go to a fast food place he orders a cheeseburger, ketchup & pickles only, and if we go out to eat he orders a pepperoni pizza if it's an option (cheeseburger if not).
  • David is very excited to have a new baby brother, and loves to feel him kick. His second fast Sunday since turning 8 was a few days ago, and he told us that he fasted for the baby.
Well, that's David in a nutshell at the moment. Next up on things I plan on blogging about: David's Baptism!