Pregnancy drama

I don't like to blog too much about my problems but I've decided to share. I figure for one thing, maybe more prayers will help. Also, I find that talking to people who have had similar problems makes me feel so much better. I wouldn't wish a worrisome pregnancy on anyone but if you find yourself having similar problems, I hope you will call me. I hope I will be able to say "I've been there. I know how scary if can be. But everything will be just fine.".

I started bleeding and spotting with this pregnancy around 8 weeks. It was so weird because it was the same length in pregnancy and the same exact week (3 years ago) that I had my first miscarriage. Obviously, I didn't miscarry though. I had these episodes about once a month until the end of Dec. It has been more frequent and heavier bleeding the past month. Thank goodness we have good insurance. I have been to the doctor 5 times and one hospital visit this month only.

Last Friday night, I started bleeding and passing large clots of blood. We spent about 6 hours in the hospital being monitored and evaluated. They found nothing and sent me home. I went in Tuesday for a follow up with my doctor. The ultrasound indicated that my cervix had shortened therefore placing me at high risk for miscarriage or preterm delivery. They did not put me on bed rest but told me to limit my physical activities. They wanted to see me again in 2 weeks unless something happened before then.

Today, I had more spotting. My doctor and ultrasound doctor were both out of the office. I still had an ultrasound and saw the nurse practitioner. She sent me to a prenatal specialist. They did another ultrasound. My cervix seems to be fine which is great news. The doctor did find bleeding on the placenta near the umbilical cord though. It doesn't seem to be causing a problem to the baby now. As the pregnancy progresses, she fears that it could cause him to get less blood flow. I am still at a high risk for preterm delivery. They will do another ultrasound next week.

I will likely be given steroid injections beginning in a week and a half. This will help the baby's lungs develop more rapidly if I were to deliver early. Preterm babies who have received steroids through the mom have less of a chance of having complications after birth. If I do happen to go full term, the doctor does not want me to go past 37 weeks which will be the beginning of May.

I actually feel more reassured today than I have all week. I am comforted knowing that so many doctors are monitoring me so closely. It makes me feel better knowing that the baby is measuring large for his age too. Two different doctors have estimated that he already weighs about a pound and a half. Every time we have an ultrasound they comment on how active he is also. Until now, I have thought, "geez, we are really going to have our hands full with two wild boys". Now, it makes me feel good to know that he is healthy and very strong.

As for me, I cannot do strenuous exercise (darn). I can still pick up Luc but can't carry him around all the time. I can still work. I am suppose to rest as much as I can. SO if you come to our house, it is a wreck. The hardest thing for me is not cleaning. I HATE having a messy house and I hate not having something cooked for supper every night.

Like I've said before, one good thing about all this is that we get to see his cute little face quiet often. Maybe I'm a bit biased but he is super cute. Here he is with a little smile.

"Hey everyone!"

"P U ,what's that smell?"

Ice Kim? Miss Cream?

Miss Kim Ice Cream from Noelle McNeil on Vimeo.

Texas Tech future? I hope not.

The ultrasound tech asked me if I am a Raiders fan. I didn't know what this hand signal meant. I think Joe and Kim will appreciate it.

Girl fun

We went to our friend's Caren and Jason's to eat not long ago. Luc loved playing with Maize's girl toys. He sure does make a beautiful little princess.

Then he comforted Maizie outside after their prom date. haha I love this picture.

Funny things Luc does

Tonight, Luc and I were playing on the floor. All of a sudden, he whacked me in the head and fell on the floor laughing. I, trying to keep a straight face because of the shock, looked him in the eye and firmly told him no hitting and if he did it again he would go to time out.

A little while later, Luc sat Monkey against the wall on the floor, walked away, and said "time out". I watched as he went back over there, laid on the floor in front of Monjey, pointed his finger in Monkey's face, and said "Montey, hit Mama? No? Otay! Dime Out". Then he picked Monkey up and gave him a hug. haha I started laughing so hard that I had to walk out of the room.

Later, he put all his farm animals in a pile. He stood up over them, clasped his hands, and said "Deah Dod, Dant oo Dod" (Dear God, Thank you, God). I guess he was praying for his animals.

For Brian

For those of you who know how terribly annoyed Brian gets with loud eaters, this is for you. For those of you who don't know, Brian will literally not eat around certain people (there are a few but I won't name any names). He absolutely cannot stand smacking or any kind of loud eating. Well Brian, you might really be in for it for years to come. And it looks like Luc might even do it more when he knows it annoys you. I'm sorry!

Smack! from Noelle McNeil on Vimeo.

ABCs 123s

Luc has picked up some things lately. First, I was writing his name in the bathtub. I wrote and said "L" then he finished "U C". I probably spell it out loud as I write it so he probably picked it up. It probably also helps that his name is super short.

I also noticed that he was counting some of his cars one day. We do count things together sometimes but I rarely go over 5. Maybe they count at his preschool.

LUC 123 from Noelle McNeil on Vimeo.

We have been singing the ABCs. He can say all but "jklmn" by himself. I always have to help him through those.

ABC from Noelle McNeil on Vimeo.

Dinosaurs

Here are Luc and Brian playing dinosaurs. It is pretty hilarious when Brian does it. I tried to get Luc on video doing it but he wouldn't really do it. Usually he tries to do exactly like Brian, noises and all.

Daddy dinosaur from Noelle McNeil on Vimeo.

Luc dino from Noelle McNeil on Vimeo.

Hunting

Hunting can be the most peaceful, relaxing thing you can do...when your in a comfy place. I love to just listen to the birds and watch the squirrels play. Of course, I prefer to see deer when I'm out but that doesn't always happen. I was able to go while we were at home but I didn't kill anything. Luckily, Heather did and was kind enough to let us bring the whole thing back to Austin with us. Thank you Heff! It has been delicious!

This may be why I didn't see anything. It is really hard for me to sit still and be quiet sometimes...especially when someone else is in the field that I was suppose to be in, and I'm having to sit on an uncomfortable tree stump rather than a chair in a hunt house, and the sun starts going down, and the coyotes start howling right beside me. So here's your laugh for the day...

Hunting alone from Noelle McNeil on Vimeo.

Sunshine!

We had a beautiful day Friday. We decided to head downtown to the Nature and Science Center and to Zilker Park with Kristen and Annie and Jenifer, Caden, and Caleb. We all had so much fun.

The kids loved digging in the dino pit.


The animals were a big hit too

Luc and Caleb played some music for us

Annie and Luc waiting patiently for the train ride around the park

Luc's excitement this week

They are replacing the roof on every building at our apartment compplex. This week they were working on the building across from us. It has been a great opportunity for me to get things done. Luc has been so interested in the workers and machines. It keeps his attention for a really long time too.

When is enough, too much?

Luc's collection of bedtime friends seems to increase every night. Sometimes I take some of them out of his bed after he falls asleep only to find him crying in the middle of the night for cow who is not in his bed anymore. I guess if he's comfortable I'll just let him have them.


Oh and if anyone wants some stuffed animals, I am filtering through them. We have way too many.

Silly Luc

Maizie and Anderson

Maizie and Anderson came over to play last week. The kids had so much fun playing and Caren and I had a lot of fun catching up. I didn't get any great pictures of the kids together. They were constantly on the move so it was pretty hard to get a shot.


Luc loves to dance. There is a Wiggles dance video that we let him dance to sometime. After playing and lunch, we put on. Anderson really had a lot of fun. This boy has some moves.

Nathaniel Cooper

Nathaniel pass away last night. At just 22 years old, he was so young and had so much more life to live. He was such a sweet, lovable, happy person. This has been the biggest nightmare for his parents and family.

This is the best picture I could find from my computer. Nathaniel is on the left with his older brother, Brandon on the right. He will definitely be missed.

Update on Nathaniel

Doctors came in at 12:00 today, to tell the family it was time to remove the respirator. Papers were signed by parents, witness and attorney allowing Nathaniel to remain on the respirator for 15 more days, if the parents desire.

Nathaniel is an organ donor, so that further complicates matters on both sides.

Your prayers are greatly appreciated. Please continue to pray and pray and pray.

Praying for Nathaniel

My cousin, Nathaniel, was in a terrible accident at work on Monday. He has been in a coma since the accident. Today the doctors ran a "blood flow test" on his brain. The results indicated that there is no blood flow in the brain. The hospital has told the family that Nathaniel will be taken off life support tomorrow at noon.

Nathaniel is a strong young man, psychically and mentally, but his life (like ours) is totally in our Lord's hands. We just pray His will, will be to give Nathaniel more time on this earth. The family has a strong faith in God and are not ready to give up.

Please pray for Nathaniel. Also pray for his parents, Karen and Mike, his brothers, Brandon and Josh, and his sister, Michelle. This is very tragic and devastating to the family.

Thank you to those of you already praying!

Update on baby boy #2

I had my 20 week ultrasound today. The baby looks great. He has all 10 fingers and 10toes. All of his organs look good. His head is measuring at a normal size which is very good. Luc's head never measured normal. This may be a good sign for delivery since my doctor (and myself) have been concerned about another vaginal delivery.

Well here he is, rubbing his eyes

He seems to keep his hands by his face like his big brother did

May have another big foot to buy shoes for

Cute profile

As for me, they could not find the hematoma that the doctor in Alabama supposedly saw. That means we are back to not having any idea why I've been bleeding and spotting. The doctor did say that since there are no signs of abnormalities and everything looks normal, he is not concerned about the spotting. I just hate not having a reason for this. We are super happy to have another healthy baby though. Luc got to see a picture of his baby brother. He looked at the picture and at my belly. I'm pretty sure he is very confused about this baby talk.

***Update: Here is my growing belly

Reunited with Ryan

Luc asked for Ryan and Annie a lot while we were gone. One our way home, he asked numberous times to "see Ryan". Once when we were exiting for gas, he started clapping and saying "yeah, see Ryan". It was a huge tantrum when he realized we were actually not seeing Ryan then.

Well he finally got to see Ryan Sunday night. Kim, Joe, and Ryan came over to eat and play. Luc was so happy to see them. Of course, he wanted to give "iss im" lots and lots of hugs. He and Ryan played so well together. They danced, wrestled a little, played a running game, slid into each other, and gave fist bumps. I'm so glad Luc has friends that he loves so much.

help with blogging

Does anyone know how to delete comments made to a blog post? Also, is there a way to limit who comments? I don't want people I don't know to comment.

Luc's first haircut

I have been going back and forth about cutting Luc's hair lately. It has gotten a bit out of control. Since I can't put a clip or something in it to hold it out of his eyes, I decided it is time to for the first trim.

I got out my hair cutting scissors Monday night but Brian talked me into not doing it. This morning we took him to a cute little kid salon, Pigtails and Crewcuts. He asked to ride the car but once the lady put the drape over him, he was not happy.

"Seriously, why are you doing this to me?"


Then he finally warmed up. He ate cookies, held Harold the helicopter, and watched a movie.


BEFORE


AFTER

Happy New Year

We shot a few fireworks for Luc before bed New Year's Eve. He loved the fireworks on the 4th of July and at the Christmas tree lighting at Macy's. He was so excited about them until Brian lit them. The loud ones scared him to death.


He did enjoy the sparklers.

Scare at home

On Christmas Eve night, I began bleeding AGAIN. It couldn't have happened at a more inconvenient time. It was late and we had to drive up to Brian's parents the next morning. I called the on call doctor who advised me to go to the ER. We decided that since it seemed just like the past 3 episodes and I could feel him move around a lot, we would wait it out. By Christmas night, I was fine.

A few days later, it began again but this time it was a lot more than the past. I went to a doctor who did an ultrasound. They found a hematoma on the placenta. I had to see my doctor today just to make sure everything is okay. My understanding is that it is a pocket of blood that typically clots off. Today my doctor warned me that when this happens I will probably bleed a while lot and have lots of cramps. She warned me so that I wouldn't panic if it happens. She told me not to worry about avoiding my normal activities like walking around, carrying Luc, etc. I do have to go back every time I even have the slightest spotting. I think they will monitor to make sure I don't lose too much blood.

Well with all these complications, I have been able to see this sweet baby more often. We haven't had our anatomy ultrasound but we did confirm our assumptions about the sex. He is definitely a boy...another very active one. Luc is going to love having a little brother to play and wrestle with...after he gets over the new baby taking over a lot of his mommy time.

I never got to see this with Luc. He kept yawning and yawning. It was so cute.

ICE!

While we were in Madison, we drove up to the ICE exhibit in Nashville. This year the Peanuts gang was featured. Everything was made from ice. It was awesome.

Of course it is a huge freezer so you are asked to dress very warm and they give you a heavy coat to wear also. My body was warm but I couldn't feel my toes by the time we left. Luc enjoyed it for the first couple of mintues then he wanted me to hold him. I think his feet were hurting too.

The sculptures were amazing. They were very detailed. There was a huge ice slide that we got to slide down. Luc liked the slide. He got stuck going down and had to have some help from the workers.

Afterwords, we walked around the Opryland Hotel and warmed up.