Happy 13th Birthday Taylor!

My beautiful niece, Taylor, turned 13 this past Friday. I have been in her life since she was 4 years old and to think that she has been in my life around the same age Ethan is, is so crazy to me. I have watched her grow up from a cute little girl to an amazing, smart young lady. She does so good in school and has the best attitude on life in general and I can only hope that when my little girl is as old as her that she is just as smart as she is. She had a nice pizza party with all her friends as well as all the family and she got a new iPhone for her birthday she was so beyond excited! The look on her face was priceless. :) After pizza we all went back to her house and hung out visiting with each other and just relaxing as a big family. It was nice to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in several months and to be able to celebrate her birthday with her! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR RAE, I LOVE YOU!!!

26 weeks

The 26 week mark has been quite hard, because of our visit to the hospital (see previous post) and because we are slowly approaching the make when I had the boys 27 weeks 3 days, so for me to get to the end of 27 weeks and keep on trucking, I will be celebrating but coming up to that time makes me a little more anxious. Most of this week consisted of me relaxing and just laying around, Shauna has picked up alot of my slack and has been cleaning for me and doing as much as she can when shes home and not at work. I have also been trying to get the referral process going again for the specialist so I can be watched a little more closer than I am now just to prevent this little girl from coming early. I am started to make more lists and starting to try to get things in order, my hospital bag is semi packed already and I plan to start putting the nursery together slowly since I am limiting myself a little more. She has been kicking like crazy and I haven't really had many symptoms this week besides the contractions that I had and some minor indigestion. I did a comparison picture of the very last pregnant picture of me with the boys, before we went to the hospital and of McKenzie, the pictures are one day off, but its so crazy to see how different my belly looks at the exact same gestation as with the boys.

Comparison Pic-

 26 week pic-

Symptoms- 
contractions
heartburn
indigestion

Labor & Delivery Visit

Well so it happened, our 1st trip to labor and delivery with our little princess, I was hoping that we would get to avoid going to the hospital until a little closer to her delivery date but looks like she wanted us to have a little reminder of what happen to us last time with our boys. Last Sunday, Jan 13th I started having lower back pains that would last a few seconds to several minutes in the evening as well as some minor cramping in my lower abdominal area, I didn't think much of it thinking it was possibly a braxton hick but my tummy wasn't getting hard like when I had my braxton hicks with the boys and since they are all I have to compare to it, I didn't know what to expect. Then Monday rolled around and I kept having more and more of the pains, but I wasn't really timing them or keeping track of how far apart they were. By now Monday has come and gone and Tuesday had now approached. In the morning I mentioned to Shauna how I had been feeling and she asked if I should go to the hospital and I told her I was going to call my OB before doing anything. I called them after their lunch was over and they took my message to the Nurse Practitioner who always sees me, she said that she thinks I need to go to the hospital just to make sure because of my previous history she wanted to make sure I wasn't contracting. We arrived at the hospital around 630pm, Shauna left work early so she could go with me. They got my previous history and started to hook me up to the monitors. The nurse, who was awesome by the way, said that the pains  I was feeling could be round ligament pains since they aren't consistent but the monitor will tell us whats really going on. I did a urine sample and we listened to McKenzie's heart rate for a quick second then hooked up to the contraction monitor. She monitored me for about 20 mins and saw some irritation of my uterus going on (which basically means mild contractions) She called my OB he requested that I get a shot to stop the irritability and for me to be checked to make sure I wasn't dilating. I wasn't!! which is awesome!!! She gave me the shot, which is quite horrible and just the way I remembered them last time with the boys. She said she would monitor me for 30 minutes then we will go from there, after the 30 minutes was over she said I still had some irritation so we went with another shot, 30 minutes passed and she said that she wanted to give me the 3rd shot just to be on the safe side but she only saw mild irritation this time around. I got the 3rd shot and we were discharged to go home after about 3 hours. She said that this didn't mean that McKenzie is coming early so not to worry and that if I have more than 5 in an hour and I can not make them subside with lots of water, laying on my side, and making sure my bladder is empty then come back in. I'm glad its all over and hope we never have to do it again but glad we went to make sure all was OK. I see my Dr on the 28th so I will talk to them then about precautions in the future.

25 weeks

14 weeks left and approximately 95-99 days until we get to meet our little girl. As you have read previously the appointment went great and so did her ultrasound. I have been feeling a tiny bit more tired than usual but I think its just from being super busy this week. She has been moving around like crazy kicking all the time and its such a wonderful feelings. Shauna & I got to see her move from the outside the other day, its so cool and as I'm typing this right now shes kicking me lol My hair follicles have been hurting again and my nose has been burning but I'm wondering if its just cause I'm tired. We have ordered more of the things that we need for when shes here and I have started to pack the hospital bag just to be prepared, having a preemie before makes me aware that things can happen in an instant so even though we know we have 14 weeks left we still are very cautious. I am trying to rest more and trying to do things slower so I don't trigger any kind of preterm labor :) I'm beyond excited that things are getting closer,, we are looking into changing my last name to Williams before she is born, and looking into the bonding time so Shauna can take 3-4 weeks off with me after the baby is born. Things are becoming so surreal. eeeekkkkk

Symptoms:
heartburn
burning nose
sore hair follicles
stretching

Ethan's 5 yr Checkup

Yesterday was Ethan's 5 yr checkup with his pediatrician, Dr. Sharma he has seen this pediatrician since he was born and could not have asked for another ped like him, hes great with him and hell continue to be McKenzie's pediatrician as well :) Anyway back to Ethan's appointment, we have been preparing him for it for the last 2 weeks because he had to get shots and even though I didn't want to scare him I didn't want him to be shocked either. The night before he woke up crying from a dream I don't know if this had anything to do with him knowing he had an appointment the next morning, but anyway he slept in our room in a comfy made bed on the floor the rest of the night. Once we got to the Dr's office I wore a mask because of all the flu outbreaks and since I cant take anything to help it I wanted to take precautions I also Clorox wiped our chairs we were sitting in before sitting. We went back into the triage area and Ethan got his ears tested, which were good, he is 44 1/4 inches tall and he weighs 39 lbs. He also did a vision test and passed as well. We wanted to be seen by Dr. Sharma, and once he came in he checked Ethan's heart rate and had him to a few jumping exercises to see his progression from last year(as before he couldn't jump with two feet off the ground at the same time, he can now) Last year we tried to get his shaking checked out(when he does fine motor skills with his right hand he tends to have tremors and sometimes with his left hand) but when we checked it out last year they wanted to sedate him to do the test and I refused, well its been a year and he still has the shakes so we got a referral to see the neurologist again and see him Jan 31st to start the process over again. Dr. Sharma said he is above average on his height and he is average on his weight so he looks skinnier than he actually is because hes so tall :) Next up was shot time :( we knew this wouldn't be any fun but we had to do it anyway.....He had to receive 3 pokes total which included 4 different kinds of shots, so when we started he started crying real bad and once we got to arm number two he was over it but he still finished and only cried for a few minutes after we were all done. We asked him if it hurt more than he expected and he said yes that it burned more than he thought :( After that we got a sticker for him and made an appointment for May 20th to get his TB shot done before school starts. Then we were headed over to the blood lab because little did we know he needed blood work to also check for anemia. So we quickly explained it was easier to do it the same day then wait to do it another day so off we went. He had to give a urine sample which he thought was weird at first but he did great and afterward said "Well that was kinda fun" lol but the next part wasn't fun at all. We had to have the help of 2 techs and I held his body while Shauna held his legs he screamed bloody murder, but once the needle was in and the rubber band was untied he calmed down. I was so very proud of all that he had been thru so we went to Target to pick out a couple hot wheels for his good behavior and cause mommy felt bad for him :-/ overall he did an awesome job!!!

Last night we went to take off his band aids and he said he was all healed, and after they were removed he started to get a rash on his arm where the shots were given he didn't have a fever and he was acting just fine thou but I still let him sleep in our room again last night in his comfy bed. This morning its still there and hot to the touch but he said it doesn't itch, I gave him a Claritin last night and Ill give him another tonight as well as I outlined it so I can watch to make sure its not growing or spreading. He did great and I love him bunches.

McKenzie's Ultrasound

Today we went to Heavenly 3D ultrasound where we got to see McKenzie for approximately 15 minutes. I love going to this place because the ultrasound tech is awesome and so nice and she always gets McKenzie to give the best profile pictures. :) I made sure to drink a little orange juice before going so she would be a little more active. She was definitely moving around in there she was positioned with her head on my left side, booty on my right and he legs were up by her head lol crazy girl. She yawned 2 times while we were looking at her and she even made a big kick that we saw, also putting both her arms behind her head I just love watching her move around. The tech also let us see her in 3D we aren't actually doing a 3D package until Feb 16th so it was nice to see her in 3D she didn't give us any pictures but you can see the 3D shots in the video so we paused it and took a picture so we'd have one. So far it looks like she has Ethan's nose, lips, and chin. :) We got to see her little hand and arm up by her face and a good shot of her umbilical cord as well. The tech was training someone and asked if she can show her a few things at the very end, she showed her where my cervix is, a shot of my whole placenta, the cord blood flow, and where the umbilical cord comes into the placenta, I heard her tell the girl that everything looks good and correct. They aren't allowed to tell the customers any medical information so I was just ear hustling hehe She has gotten so big since the last time we got to see her and its just an amazing feeling to see her grow and know that she is the same size almost as when Evan was born and slightly smaller than Ethan at birth. ♥

Here is the video from today also if you fast forward to 3:10 on the video you can see her in 3D and see her yawn, shes still tiny in there but looks so much like her brothers :) fast forward again to 4:02 shes in 3D again and again at 8:22 enjoy :)
 

6 month Dr appt

This past Monday we had our 6 month Dr appt check up and since it had been 5 weeks since our last appointment we could not wait to see our precious princess. I had to do my glucose test so when we first got there I dank the wonderful orange drink in under 5 minutes and waited. We went back to the room, my blood pressure is good, my weight not so much but the OB didn't mention it at all so she must not be worried about it I think I worry more because of how hard it will be to get it off but its all worth it. Once in with the OB she said I am looking great that the anatomy scan came back great with no abnormalities which was such a relief to hear. I told her I have had maybe 3 braxton hicks that I could actually make out she was thrilled to hear that as I was already having several contractions by now with the boys. She measured McKenzie on the ultrasound and she is measuring 26 weeks 3 days so slightly bigger and she is approx 1 pound 9 ounces. I asked if they would be willing to follow a cesarean birth plan to a certain extent if I create one and to my surprise she said yes they would accommodate the best they could. I asked a few questions about my cesarean itself and she told me that I need to take it easy now, with more resting in between just to make sure I don't start preterm labor. My next appointment is in 3 weeks and I will have the glucose results next week. We discovered I have 6 more Dr appts before she will be born and that we have approx 99 days until she will be born based on the apprx scheduled cesarean date. I'm beyond excited and glad we had such a good appointment, we also made an appointment with the ultrasound place so we could see her alittle better and we will do that tomorrow so I will post a little photo shoot of her then. :)

Ethan's January Update

Ethan is now 5 years old and growing up so quickly. He has a Dr appt on the 10th for his 5 year shots that he needs before he goes to kindergarten :( so I have started to prepare him a little bit for the shots but I'm going to be very sad when he has to get poked 3 times. We will also do a well checkup and make sure everything else looks healthy with him, I am going to pursue the neurologist again regarding his shaking in his hands so it can be addressed before he goes to school which will be hard for me because he has to be put under to do the nerve test but I still think its necessary so we will go thru with it all now. He also has his 6 month dentist check up on Jan 29th to check his teeth and get them cleaned, I think he has 2 cavities so hell have to get them filled if so but I am going to wait til the end of this month to post about both appointments. So far this month we have been trying to do things we don't normally do like, painting, a little play time outside as its way cold and I don't want us getting sick, and hes going to play with play-doh today. I'm trying to spend a little more time with him even though I'm with him every day I clean, cook, blog, etc and just set an amount of time for just me and him to do stuff then of coarse when Shauna gets home from work we all play together in his room. He's very excited about his little sister coming and now plays with the teddy bear that has her heartbeat on it, the teddy bear has a diaper on and sometimes will go into the crib, swing, and bouncer lol its rather cute!! Also adding a few pet pics hehe also a short little video of Ethan singing in the shower :)

All about Ethan:

1. Whats your favorite color?
Green

2. Whats your favorite toy?
Rescue Bots

3. Whats your favorite TV show right now?
Animal Planet

4. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Animal Scientist

5. What kind of food do you like?
Rice

6. Tell me your favorite animal?
Hippos

7. What do you like to do for fun?
Play ball

8. What's your favorite number?
10

9. Whats your favorite movie?
Cars 2

10. How old will you be on your birthday?
he said "5" then he said "ummmm 6 lol"

24 weeks

This week marks a huge milestone for us during this pregnancy and even though nothing is guaranteed until we are holding our sweet princess in our arms, 24 weeks marks the moment of viability which means that if I am to go into labor now the NICU and L & D unit will do their very best to not only stop it but if she is born they will do everything in their power to keep her alive and allow her to grow and develop in the NICU. Now this is by far what we want, we of coarse want her to continue to bake an additional 15 weeks until I am 39 weeks and make it to my C-section date, I however have a feeling that she is going to try to come approx 4-5 days before my scheduled date, that's just my gut feeling :) The scheduled date will be around April 16th depending on when the Dr has surgery dates available. This week has been pretty fun, we managed to set an exact date for the baby shower so we now have things going in that aspect getting addresses ordering invites and talking about decorations etc. We have our 3D ultrasound Feb 16th, our maternity pictures March 2nd, and our baby shower March 3rd. We also have 4 weeks before I will start seeing the Dr every 2 weeks instead of every 4 weeks which means time will just start flying by. We made a few purchases that we need for McKenzie when she is born such as car seat, stroller, bouncer, bed set, etc. and we received several clothes from a friend of ours that are in perfect condition and she has so many 0-3 months clothes already. I just love little girl clothes :) hehe I have noticed that I can not eat alot of cheese anymore because it makes be get really bad indigestion and my tummy gets upset. I have on and off heartburn nightly before bed, and she has been kicking up a storm. Our next Dr. appointment is this coming up Monday on Jan 7th so I'm looking forward to seeing her again its been 5 weeks and I'm dying to see how much she has grown :) Yay for 24 weeks, Yay for more than half way done, and Yay for starting to prepare for her arrival woohoooo

24 weeks-

Symptoms:
indigestion
heartburn
sore back
slightly uncomfortable

Baby progress @ 24 weeks-
Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Baby pic @ 24 weeks-

New Year.......New Beginnings!!

New Years Eve was very fun and we had a blast. Our friend, Chris, came up to ring in the New Year with us and spent the night so we started out with dinner at home, baked spaghetti, and I also made brownies. We spent the evening playing, laughing, and watching the many New Years Eve programs on TV, we bought some apple grape sparkling cider to "pop champagne" when it was the New Year and Ethan thought it was so cool. When we were opening it and pouring it he asked if it was fr adults only and we told him no baby you get some too, you should have seen his face he was stoked! We counted down and then screamed HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! giving kisses to my little man and babe and telling Chris Happy New Year. :) We stayed up for another 45 minutes or so just hanging out and then we decided it was time for bed. New Years Day was all about relaxing, watching TV shows together, and playing in Ethan's room. Included a picture from 2007 when Ethan was born also, its amazing what 5 years can do :)

2013......Its going to be an amazing year and I'm looking forward to so much this year. McKenzie will be born, Ethan will be starting Kindergarten, Ethan will be 6 years old, and we get to enjoy all the holidays as a family of 4! I am looking to start a new career somewhere else but expect it to take some time after McKenzie is born so Ill continue to work at Verizon until then. Shauna and I will have been together for 9 years already, wow time really flies by when you're in love ♥ I think that even though this year many things are going to change and we will have some challenges in life I think that the more we experience the stronger of a bond we have as a family and as a couple. I could not be more blessed with the family God has given me and for all the blessings that I have in my life, a great wife, wonderful kids, amazing in laws, and being able to continue our journey!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE MAKE 2013 THE BEST YET!!!