And the doctor says...........

Still no flip at 36 weeks. Baby L had up until yesterday's doctors appointment to flip and her big fat head is still right under my right rib. So, we ended up scheduling the c-section for January 14th.
I am apprehensive about it just for the fact that it is ANOTHER surgery in my book of surgeries and the whole unexpected. My focus has to be on the fact that this the most positive and happy surgery I've ever had.

I have started to feel a few random contractions. They aren't too bad... yet. The doctor feels everything is moving on schedule and still expects her to be a small baby.

Mom asks me a lot how I am feeling these days and I thought I would share a few of things I tell her b/c apparently she thinks it is funny. I try to cherish these feelings b/c in all truth pregnancy is really a fleeting moment in life.
- The waddle has started... especially if I have a full bladder. That's pretty funny - it feels funny and I'm sure it looks funny.
- I can only fit my feet in my tennis shoes now, which is a little frustrating. Never in my life did I think I would be wearing compression knee-highs. Can you see it? yeah... no.
- Bending over, getting off the floor, or tying my shoe should be classified as an Olympic event in my life right now due to difficulty.
- I can not get enough food. I feel like I am always hungry or eating. Stephen even commented that he can't wait until this is over sometimes because he feels like he has to keep up with me. It is pretty funny to see him watch me eat dinner, he will just look at me like "are you ever going to stop?"

The doctor will check ONE last time next week to see if she has flipped (mainly because she really didn't want to have to do a c-sec to begin with), but at this point chances are not great and I am sure she will induce on the same if she has flipped. Baby L seems to have found a comfy spot or her bottom has fallen in to my pelvis and its too difficult for her to flip. I have been able to feel or tell that she is dropping.

Either way.... Baby L will be making her arrival on January 14, 2009!

Merry Christmas

We had a blessed Christmas and hope you did as well!
Stephen & I had about 5 days of just us time and it was real nice… knowing next year (okay, within 2-3 weeks) it is going to be all about Baby Lasseigne. We did not do anything real exciting… well I take that back, we played with our new Wii a lot. Here are a few pictures!

JT opening his stocking.

Yea! My diaper bag!! I LOVE IT!!

Stephen sportin' his own "manly" diaper bag.

Stephen wanted his own diaper bag... so JT listened and got him one for Christmas. Also, Santa brought us our travel system and an extra base. Stephen installed the bases and mirrors and we are set. Next step is to find somewhere we can go to get them checked that they are installed properly.

Stephen assembling the stroller.

Stephen showing off the stroller (and my diaper bag attached)!

I do have to brag on him for a minute..... he gets MAJOR brownie points for this. I decide on a whim... like most pregnant women, right?... that I wanted to go to Silks-A-Bloom for their 50% Christmas sale the day after Christmas. I had an idea of how much of a mad house it could be and tried to prepare him. Stephen jumped right in there, grabbed boxes and stood in line with me for over an hour to check out. I could not believe how cool he was about the whole thing... mind you lots of people were highly impressed that he was out in this mess helping me. I was so proud and can not wait to put up all of my goodies next year... especially when Baby L will get to enjoy them too. THANK YOU AGAIN HONEY!!! YOU ROCK!

Nursing Class

After our OB appointment last Thursday, Stephen & I got to experience nursing class. I would say it was interesting and informative. I will admit I was a little thrown by the fake boob she used to explain things and the anatomically correct baby dolls. I think it was great to have Stephen there so he could get a better understanding of the whole process as well. I will also admit that at times I was embarrassed,-Stephen ...of course, as cool as a cucumber.

TURN BABY TURN...

Last Thursday we had our 34 week appointment (I am a little late at posting this). Not much longer to go! After our doctor was listened to her heartbeat I asked her if she felt Baby Girl had flipped yet. She got excited and kind of got us excited b/c she was hearing her heartbeat a little lower than usual. To double check we hurried in to the ultrasound room with anticipation that she was a studious & intelligent little girl that obeyed her parents….well, she is obviously doing this her way (probably just as her mom or dad would). Right where we thought was a hard little bottom….. was still her big ole noggin!
It was good to be able to see her and to know she had gained a pound since the 32 week ultrasound.

IF SHE DOES NOT FLIP….
This then led to the discussion of our delivery plan. She has until our next appointment to flip (Jan. 2nd), if she does not flip we are headed for a c-section. At one point Dr. Deed said she would just use my old scar from all of my previous abdominal surgeries. After having 9 months to think about this… and knowing this particular incision had been opened up 5 times, I questioned why she planned on going that route. (Remembering how long it took me to recover from all of those surgeries and a newborn on top of that, not cool. Not to mention the whole short-term disability nazi’s.) Her answer was simply “so I wouldn’t have to put another scar on your belly.”
Well, well, well… My poor stomach already has enough scars at this point – seriously, what is one more in all reality? Does it bum me out? Extremely. Just like every other surgery before- if I don’t have a choice, then I don’t have a choice – if it is for the best then it is for the best. As our pastor reiterated this weekend “God’s grace is sufficient!” Look at what all it has pulled me & Stephen through. So we left it with me thinking it over if I wanted her to do the typical cesarean incision or use my old scar.

IF SHE DOES FLIP….
Dr. Deed wants to take her early, more around the 38 week mark. She felt that because she is a small baby the longer she cooks the more stress it could put on her the further along we get. Even though we won’t get the “Honey, its time…” moment I would much rather go this road.

I am getting more apprehensive but it is peaceful to know that we will soon be able to meet our little angel. Either way, she will be making her arrival either the week of January 12th or January 19th. No February baby after all.

Now that we are at 35 weeks, our fruit comparison is the size of a honeydew! HA!

(Pictures are from my company's christmas party... as you can tell, I was exhausted by the end of it... and still had to be responsible for making sure the bill was paid - sorry no real good belly shots.)

33 weeks - starting to get uncomfortable

I think I have ventured in to the physically uncomfortable portion of pregnancy. Here are a few of the issues:
- Usually by the end of the day my ribs are sore from slouching... she is teaching me a thing or to a/b my posture while at my desk.
- Shall we talk about my swollen foot? It is only my bum foot that swells really bad. I think I am going to just have to shift to tennis shoes only and work will have to get over it... and so will my wardrobe.
- No more regular size meals. If I eat like a normal human being I feel sick afterward, so it is short frequent meals all day.
- It's official, I have reached the "I feel like a cow" part of pregnancy.

Overall we are doing good and I know these are issues everyone deals with, which makes them a little more bearable.

At my 32 week doc appointment she said that ultrasound reported that she was measuring a tiny bit smaller than average. However, she is not real worried about it because I was such a small baby. She is still breach, so we are hoping she will flip in the next couple of weeks. She is moving around frequently and it is getting to where you can see my whole abdomen warp at times. Wierd but amazing.

Over the weekend I accomplished the one goal I wanted to do for the holiday season... just to get the tree up... which took help from mom and Stephen. The rest of the house won't be decorated but o-well. I just know I will not feel like packing it all up in January.

It is neat to imagine that this time next year I will have a 10 month old on my hands during the holiday season. I can't wait. It will be so much fun!

It is the time of the year for holiday parties and Stephen & I wish for everyone to have fun and be careful.

Late thanksgiving wish

I meant to post this last week... sorry.

First, we want to start off by letting everyone know we hope you and your family had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for and blessed with the wonderful friends and family we have in our lives.

We were able to have a nice quaint thanksgiving at our house this year with the Lasseigne family… and Stephen’s cousin Michael was in town for the LSU game (which we won by the way!!! Barely.) – so it was such a treat to have him over to our house.

Stephen fried his first turkey and did an awesome job (I will add a pic soon). I attempted my mom’s famous mashed potatoes for the first time… by myself (while she was visiting Mickey & Minnie in Orlando). That was the only thing I was real nervous about turning out okay. She has no real recipe, so I only called her about 20 times and they still ended up a tad runny.

The next day he got a wild hair to make turkey gumbo from the carcass (that just sounds so icky!) like Jessie Mae & Josie Mae used to do. You can tell he does not cook on real regular basis b/c he did not realize that gumbo takes 6-8 hours to make; it was good and even I ate it!

We spent most of the weekend trying to relax as I enter week 32, the start of the eighth month. Thanksgiving wore me out. I really started to recognize my limits this past weekend. Running errands won’t be the same for the next few months.

JT (the boxer) has started to really recognize that something is about to change. We catch him walking in and out of her room often. I have to wonder why he’s doing it. If only I could speak dog….

Baby Girl is doing great. She is moving around like crazy in my belly. She usually gets the hiccups the same time everyday, around 4:00. I hope she is trying to turn b/c I am starting to feel a lot more movement on my left side. I can’t figure out if is a foot or elbow, more than likely a foot. Also around bedtime, she has been doing (what feels like) rolls. It is weird b/c it seems like I can almost anticipate them coming. I think she takes a nap from about 8am-9:30 am and then again from around 3:00-4:00. Other than that I feel her on a regular basis. There have been a few nights she has woken me up, but not many.

Could she be a February baby?

Just maybe.

We had the ultrasound today to check her size. I have been a little worried that I am not as big as I should be this far along in the game. We have not received the final results from the doctor, however, according to what we could see with our own eyes and the technician everything looks good. She is measuring a week and 2 days behind the original ultrasound. If it is anything like last time the doctor hardly blinks when they hear that. She was kicking up a storm too!

Don't ask me how they measure it, but she weighs exactly 3.6 lbs right now. It was really neat to see her. We were anxious to see if she would show us her face; all she would give us is half to a 3/4th view- we got to an eye socket, half of a nose, a cheek (chubby by the way), lip line and chin. The technician mentioned that she might have long legs. Stephen & I couldn't really figure which side that would have come from, his grandfather had long legs but not much of my family really did. Her heart looks great, you could see all four chambers, it no longer looks like a fluttering butterfly. (I was a little bummed but they didn't give us any pictures to share this time around.)

Currently she is breach. Her head is just to my right of my belly button, you can often see it poke out more and it is as hard as a rock! (If she is as stubborn as her mom and dad then we are in trouble....) Her back curls around to my left side and all of her feet and hands are on more toward my right side of my belly. She has really liked the right side of my body, she was hanging out there at the 20-week ultrasound. We need lots and lots of prayers that she will flip between now and the time she decides to make her arrival. If she does not, we all know what that means.... c-section. In which this will be Amy's 6th abdominal surgery. The doctor has already said she will use my old incision, which is vertical - instead of the normal horizontal bikini incision. With all of the scar tissue that may be going on in my abdomen, for my safety and hers we REALLY do not want a c-section.
We would appreciate lots of prayers for her to flip.

Stephen, myself, JT & Baby Girl hopes every one has a blessed and stuffed Thanksgiving. I think it is going to be unseasonably warm here... and Stephen is going to fry a turkey for the first time. I love fried turkey.