Third Trimester! Counting down...

I've been enjoying my third trimester so far. Granted, I've had some pretty severe back pain and I still have a bit of morning sickness. Mostly the back pain though. But I'm so happy and excited to have our little boy in like 2 1/2 months!

I just love feeling him kick and wiggle...he does a lot of that. He means the world to us and after all the waiting and everything we've been through, we appreciate him so much. I feel so blessed I can't even explain it.

I've been getting a lot bigger recently. I guess our baby is doing some serious growing :) At my last check up I'd gained at least 25 lbs since my first appointment and 10 of those were in the past four weeks. Here are a couple of pictures for ya. (Taken yesterday at 28 weeks. Only 83 days to go!)

Larry's Before and After

Super sad, pale Larry before surgery:

Larry feeling better and getting some color after surgery!

It's been quite a battle with the nemesis called Crohn's Disease. Poor Larry has been so sick for a long time. He finally had his surgery on Nov 29th at St. Marks hospital. It's nice living so close to the hospital because it made it easy to visit and go back and forth. The surgery was originally postponed to see if one more treatment would help over two months...well it didn't really. Then it was postponed for an additional week due to a sudden cancellation. (His doctor was sorta banned from the hospital for his attitude problem. We like him though!)

Well, as I said, last Monday he finally had the 3 hour long surgery done by a different surgeon, Dr. Cavin. He was really helpful with the whole process. Larry had about a foot of both the large and small intestine removed as well as his "faulty gallbladder." He also had an ileostomy done which pretty much means a little part of his intestine is sticking out of his stomach and he has a bag on him. I know, isn't it lovely?! This way his intestines can heal and he can continue treatment to try and keep his disease under control.

Unfortunately the ostomy didn't turn out how it's supposed to, but it still functions right. Since he's been on prednisone (another nemesis of Larry's) the tissue was really damaged and tore so easily it made the tissue difficult to work with) We're hoping the ostomy dealio is temporary and they can hook him up later.

After the surgery I was surprised to see that he actually had color in his face. He looked pretty good (and handsome as usual). The pain was pretty bad at first but got better.  He was discharged from the hospital on Thursday Dec 2nd. He's been doing okay but seems to hurt more now :(

I really am proud of Larry for being so patient and strong through everything. I don't know how he does it. But through it all he's taken good care of me. I love him so much :) We've really appreciated the prayers, meals, and support of friends and family. It has meant a lot and uplifted us. Thank you so much!

22 Week Ultrasound

I had my follow up ultrasound on 10/27/10. The month prior, the doctor was unable to see the heart well so he wanted to check it when baby was bigger. This time it was clearly visible and everything looked normal. Yay! We could still see the bright spot but the doctor wasn't concerned about it. This time we had a different doctor. He seemed more relaxed and told us our baby boy looks great and he thinks it's highly unlikely that he has a chromosomal abnormality. He thinks the club feet are isolated and his only issue. And he assured us that it's easy to treat. We're so grateful to be able to relax more about everything. We just love our baby boy so much!

I've been doing a lot of research trying to understand it all. We're hoping to take him to Shriner's Hospital. Right now the plan is to have him evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon when he's born. We'll then wait a week to get his casts on so he can relax at home with us. The treatment is called the Ponseti method. It's a non surgical method that uses physical therapy and casting to correct the feet. There is only a minor surgery involved instead of a series of big surgeries.

To put it simply, he'll get casts on both legs that go from his toes to groin. They'll be changed once a week. When he's about three months he'll have a tenotomy, which is a simple surgery where they cut the heel cord (achilles tendon) to allow the muscle to lengthen. Then he'll have a cast for a few more weeks. After that he'll wear a bar with little shoes attached to it. He's gonna be a good snowboarder in no time.

I'll have to give him sponge baths since he can only have a real bath once a week. I feel like he's a tough little guy and will probably handle it all better than me. I just love him so much already, I feel bad he has to wear casts right from the start. But it'll fix his cute little feet quick so he can walk normally and play like little boys should.

So...back to the ultrasound. Baby boy was doing yoga so it was hard to get clear pictures. I'm not sure how doing yoga influences a good profile picture though. They only gave us a couple pictures and the profile ones were unrecognizable. I feel kinda bitter at the tech for it. I've nicknamed her "poundy woman" because she was pretty much attacking me and baby with the ultrasound wand to get him to move. We didn't appreciate that ;) We only got two distinguishable pictures...

This is his cute little face...he looks kinda like a kitten. Thank goodness he's not a kitten though :) 

This is his cute little hand.

Since we didn't get a lot of pictures, it made me really want a 4D ultrasound for Christmas. (Hint hint...wink wink.) I just want to see him better on ultrasound...it's $150 though. Larry isn't going for it at this time. I'm determined to get my wish though! Maybe I'll wait to ask again when he's on some serious pain killers...hmm. Speaking of which, the poor guy has been really sick. He should be getting his surgery soon hopefully. I feel so bad for him.

I wanted more pictures so I pulled out the ultrasound video from his 18 week ultrasound and took screen shots. Yeah...I'm talented like that. Ha.

My baby has the cutest little toes! :D I just can't get over his cuteness.

Look at the cute little club foot.

I think this is the other club foot. I know one of them looks more turned in than the other. See his cute leg with the little foot turned to the side?

 He is so precious! Look, he's sticking out his little tongue. I love this little boy!

Our Little Boy!

 Look, he's smiling!
What can I say? We are SO in love with him already. On September 29th we went in for the big ultrasound. It was so exciting and wonderful to see him on the screen and realize what a miracle he is. He measured right on target for his due date, February 27th 2011. Then the big moment came where we saw his legs kicking about and, as we could see right at that moment, the ultrasound tech told us we're having a little boy! We both thought so and mentioned it many times before we found out. But there was something about that moment. I just felt so in love with my baby boy. It was just pure joy.

He was kicking and moving a lot during the ultrasound...which he's always been good at. I just adore him and love feeling him kick. He especially likes to kick when I eat strawberries. Hehe. He was so cute on the ultrasound (of course :) he kept licking his lips, sticking his tongue in and out. He must have been thinking about strawberries.

The ultrasound tech started looking closer at his feet and told us that she was going to have the doctor come in because she thought she saw that one of his feet was clubbed. Well the doctor came in (little did we know he was about to scare us like none other) and told us that he wanted to take a good look at our little boy. I started to worry a bit. Then he said that both his feet were clearly clubbed and that he'll need to be treated right after he's born. (If you look in the "I'm A Boy" picture you can tell that his feet are turned down and inward.) Fortunately it can be fixed so he'll be able to walk normally. He may just walk a little later than babies tend to. He'll most likely have surgery and start physical therapy from the time he's born. And he'll wear casts that go from his feet to the top of his legs for about 6 months. Then he'll wear a brace on his feet that looks like a little skateboard. We have decided to take him to Shriners Hospital. We're really grateful to have all the options of such great children's hospitals right here in Salt Lake City.

Well, as I was saying, the doctor told us about his clubbed feet. We think they're so cute and he's still perfect of course. But I felt sad that he'd have to go through the challenges of getting them fixed. Yet I was relieved that it was something they could correct. But the part that really scared me was when the doctor looked at his heart and told us about a bright spot, or calcium deposit in his heart called an echogenic cardiac focus. He said it's pretty common, but with the clubbed feet, it could indicate chromosomal abnormalities. They were especially markers for downs syndrome. Way to scare the crap out of the happy parents to be! I quickly came to terms that it's okay if he had downs, though I hope he doesn't so he can have an easier life. It was the other syndromes they told us about that are really severe that scared me, since those babies can't live. I grieved and struggled and focused on that...took the fun out of things. We went home and cried and worried so much.

They did a quad screen to look into the likely hood of down's syndrome and stuff. A couple days later, (which seemed like forever) my doctor (Dr. Watts) called and said they were normal and negative for an increased risk of down syndrome and it was only 1-2%. He also tried to reassure me not to worry about the other syndromes. Yet I still went to fearing the worst. I'm finally feeling better and being rational. I feel at peace when I focus on how his brain and spinal cord are normal, he has long legs, and measured perfectly. The chances of the chromosomal abnormalities are really low yet I still worry here and there. I have to try really hard to be positive and have faith that my little boy will be okay. Because he will! I'm having a follow up ultrasound to check on his heart  in a couple weeks (they couldn't see the right ventricle well because he wouldn't hold still and kept moving). They also want to check on the bright spot.

If you're wondering what we're planning on naming him...well...we're not going to decide until he's born. It's kind of a battle between me and Larry as we don't quite agree. How do I explain this...Larry Allen II wants to name him Larry "Allen" III since his due date is on Larry Allen I's birthday. It does seem appropriate since his dad is in heaven and probably thought it was a wise choice for our little boy  to be sent to us at this time. So I like it but I just wanted to choose his own unique name. I want to name him Hayden Elijah, which is a great name if I do say so myself ;) I have my reasons and meaning behind it to. Mostly because I always thought my first little boy would be named Hayden (then I met Mr. Larry and found out he may have other plans). But also because of the meaning of the name Elijah, after the prophet who had some strong characteristics that I'm convinced our little guy has.

I can't say how much we've appreciated all the prayers and support. It really has strengthened my testimony of the power of faith and prayer. We're so grateful for our family and friends who called to talk to us, came and visited, brought us meals, (and baby gifts for our sweet little guy) and helped us stay positive. We are so grateful that our Heavenly Father is entrusting us with such a precious son to raise and love as our own.

Now for more pictures of our preparations for our little BOY!

See he's growing and so am I!

I got him this little outfit. It's so fun to shop for him. It can take a little time though cuz he's special and I have to find him clothes without the built in feet. And  they need to be loose enough to fit over his casts. 

The nursery :D  We've already gotten quite a bit done...we were too excited. It's coming along great! It's fun making a cute and cozy place for our little guy to relax in.

Our baby on the way!

Okay, so I haven't updated the blog in a long time. You probably already knew that Larry and I are expecting the cutest, sweetest baby ever February 27th 2011. The due date is special because a few other significant things that happened on that date.
1. Larry's Dad's Birthday
2. Larry II and I got engaged
3. I got my Patriarchal Blessing

Of course, baby's aren't born exactly on their due date all that often, but you never know.

Here's the lo-down on the pregnancy so far...

June 16th: Positive pregnancy test! 3 1/2 weeks

July 6th: First ultrasound, saw and heard baby's heartbeat! 6 weeks 2 days

Okay, so you can't see much here because the baby was so small. But notice the waves at the bottom of the pictures. That's the baby's heartbeat :) It was such a relief to hear the heartbeat. We could even see the tiny heart beating on the ultrasound.

July 27th: Second ultasound, baby already looking cute and moving arms and legs! 9 weeks 2 days. Baby measuring right on for due date.

Baby grew a lot! First profile shot of our baby. Larry thinks the baby looks just like him. Ha. I know some people have a hard time understanding what they're looking at. Baby's face is on the left side of the pic. If you don't get it, I'll just assure you that you're looking at the most precious baby ever. Okay, I'm biased already. I hadn't shared the ultrasound pic yet because it's so special to me.

August 17th: Well, that's just today...the newest thing going on is that I can hear the baby's movement with the fetal doppler. He/she moves a lot, it's so cute :)

It took a lot of time, prayers, and well, fertility medication to have our baby coming along. Then more medication to sustain the pregnancy. I struggled a lot with my fears (due to my history of miscarriage) but Larry gave me a couple blessings that helped me a lot early on. We appreciate all your prayers and know they have helped. It's also been so great to have the doctor tell me everything looks great and is going well.

It's been a difficult pregnancy as far as morning sickness goes. I've never thrown up so much in my life...like you all wanted to know ;)  I've been on medication for it and thankfully, only get sick in the evening instead of all the time now. I'm not complaining, though. I was told early on that it was a good sign! So that helped get me through it.

Anyway, in October I'll have an ultrasound to find out if we're having a little boy or a little girl. Neither of us have any clue. It seems most the time I have it in my mind that it's a boy...but hey, I go back and forth. Girl or boy, it doesn't matter. We're just grateful to have a healthy baby.

I'm about in my second trimester now at just over 12 weeks. Speaking of which, I've read different things...not really sure when it starts. Either way, it's a relief. I still have a hard time with my worries but it gets better and better with time. It's been especially nice to be able to listen to the baby's heart beat every day with the doppler. My doctor was impressed with me for being able to find it starting at 8 weeks. I think it was one of those tender mercies to be able to hear it and calm my fears. I'm so grateful to have our baby coming to us. I know he/she is a very choice spirit of our Heavenly Father.