37 Weeks

December 27, 2008, 37 Weeks. I'm hoping baby hartley decides to make his appearance soon because I'm ready to not be pregnant anymore. I've been battling horrible back pain and my ribs are badly bruised and that makes it hard to sit or lay down.

It was 60 degrees today and I wore short sleeves outside!!! So strange to think that we just got a ton of snow and now it's all gone and the sun is out and the snow is melting.

My Dad, Step Mom and brother Travis were supposed to fly to Michigan to visit but Lisa woke up Tuesday morning really sick and she didn't feel like flying and she didn't want to come up here and be around me so I wouldn't get sick. She was completely devastated that she couldn't be here for Christmas.

Jerome and I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on Christmas Day. This movie was good but I thought they could have added the content in half the time it was. Half way through the movie I was ready to go home and rest because it's hard to sit in one place for a long period of time. Christmas was really hard this year because we were not with family which is rare for me because family is so important to us. Next year we will make up for it and we will have our son with us too.

Christmas is almost here

It doesn't seem like Christmas, probably because I've been miserable lately and still have 4 weeks to go. The baby is still moving a lot so he must have some room left in there. At my weekly appointment yesterday the nurse said I was starting to thin out, so things are progressing as they should. I think my mom thinks the baby is going to be born around Christmas but I beg to differ. I think I will go into January but deliver before my actual due date. Jerome seems to like he will be born January 7th because there isn't a college bowl game that day!!!! He is scheduled to have the eye correction surgery January 9th so we will see what happens. They were really busy the first 3 months of the year so he had to schedule an appointment. My back seems to progressively hurt worse each day and I'm still not sleeping. I'm having the "fake" contractions that are uncomfortable. I'm nervous about knowing when I'm in labor and wondering if my water will break. My mom told me that her water never broke with us kids and my sister's water slowly leaked when she had Andrew. I guess time will tell. I'm going to have Jerome take some more pictures of my belly before I have the baby.

Updates

Apparently I have a problem drinking enough water because I was in the OB triage again on Sunday having contractions. They said I was dehydrated and that can cause contractions. The baby is still moving around like crazy but soon he will run out of room. This week I will be 35 weeks so not much longer before I get to hold our baby. We can't wait, especially Jerome.

32 Weeks

8 more weeks to go. I've had a rough week with this nasty cold and still trying to fight it off. My back is killing me and I'm not sleeping well at all. The baby is doing great. I think his feet are up in my ribs because the skin around that area is really tender. This makes it hard to sleep on my side because it seems to get worse when I'm laying on my side. Seems like every position I try doesn't help and to think there are women that have bigger belly's than I do, how do they handle being uncomfortable all the time. Jerome and I are now doing some inventory and making a list of the things we didn't receive at our baby showers, we want to have everything in order by Christmas just in case this little guy decides to come a little early. Harley is still trying to adjust to the apartment living and I know he misses being able to go outside and run around in a yard. Hopefully by the summer we will have a different place to live.

1st Baby Shower

I had my first baby shower that my mom and sister had for me back home. It was great to see some friends and family that I don't get to see very often. I got a lot of wonderful things. The baby seems to be moving more and more each day. I'm now 28 week almost 29 weeks and I'm now starting to have the "uncomfortable" pains that my doctor says is "normal"!!!! I'm sure it just gets worse as the end of the pregnancy nears. Jerome, Harley and I are going up north for Halloween weekend to his Dad's. We haven't seen most of his family in a long time so we are both excited to spend a couple of days with them.

Updates

I finished my first class towards my masters and started my second class. It's been interesting to say the least. Taking classes online is totally different than going to a class at a university. It's a lot of reading and writing. I will have to take a leave of absence after this class because the next class will run into my due date.

My next appointment is October 22nd. I will be 28 weeks. Jerome is excited about Halloween and he picked out a freaky looking costume to wear. We will be going up to his Dad's the weekend of Halloween to participate in the haunted house that they do every year. I'm not sure what I will dress up as, I'm still thinking about that.

My first baby shower is October 25, 2008 back home, my mom and sister will be hosting it for me. I'm getting excited about it and hope to see some friends that I haven't seen in a long time.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been really busy with work and school. I'm taking classes towards my MBA online. It's been different adjusting to the online environment. The class is a lot of writing and reading. They are 6 week courses and I'm in the 6th week of my first class and I will be starting the second class October 14th. That class will run until November 24th and then I will have to take 60 leave of absence because the next class will run through my due date. Work has been really busy and I hope it will slow down soon.

I've had a lot of pain in my left leg and I know it's mostly due to the fact that I sleep on my left side and the way my leg is positioned it probably cuts off the blood supply and then aggravates my leg. This is the same leg that I had surgery on 6 years ago and it's always bothered me since but I think it's worse since I've been pregnant. I've also been getting more migraine headaches, which is not fun!!

I hope to post some "belly" pictures soon, I keep forgetting to have Jerome take some pictures. He has been working for Campus Den for all the home Michigan football games and that causes him to have to work a lot more at Meijer, so needless to say he is really busy.

Feeling Better

I had a check up appointment September 16, 2008 and I seemed to be doing better than I was last week in the hospital. I had some blood drawn to see if there was an issue with my gall bladder since that runs in my family. My next appointment is September 30, 2008 and I will be 25 weeks. Next week I turn the BIG 30, Wednesday September 24, 2008!!!! Seems crazy to think that I will be 30.

Each day I can feel this baby moving and it gets stronger and stronger everyday. He still has plenty of room to move around in there so I don't feel him moving all the time. I went to visit Uncle Dave and Aunt Judy today at the tailgate for the Michigan State game. It was a wonderful day, the sun was out and it wasn't too hot. I enjoyed visiting with them and eating all the wonderful food that was prepared. Someone asked me if I was excited about having a baby and I said "of course". But I know that our life is going to change drastically once I have the baby. I'm a little nervous about everything but I think that is normal. I will have to learn as I go. Jerome remains excited that we are having a boy and he can't wait to teach him how to play sports.

Another Stint in the Hospital for me

I woke up Wednesday morning with extreme pain in my lower abdomen and lower back. Thought it was a normal gas pain at first so I got up and showered and drove to work. The pain got worse by the minute and I was in tears and doubled over in pain. I called the doctor and they instructed me to go to the triage at the Family Birthing Center at St. Joe's. Jenny took me there and sat with me for a while. Once they determined I probably had a kidney stone, she left and went back to work. They did an ultrasound of my kidneys and didn't seem to find anything conclusive. Dr. Davies was on call and she said it was probably still kidney sludge or a small stone based on my urine test so they wanted to keep me for a little bit to monitor me and the baby. They gave me the option to go home or stay and I went home. I got sick on the way home, I felt sorry for Jenny because I was puking in a bag in her car. She is such a great friend. I had her take me to fill my script for pain medication and when I got home and tried to eat a bagel, I instantly got sick. I was puking from 6:30pm to 10:00pm when Jerome got home. I called the doctor again and she said to go back to triage so I did. I was there until 11:30pm last night when I called Jerome and told him to come get me because I was feeling better and I wasn't comfortable.

I'm home today and I feel better, still have a little bit of pain and have a killer headache but it's better being home.

So since there is always something going on in our lives that mostly involves me going to the hospital about something, I thought I would update everyone.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!

I had my ultrasound this morning and we found out we are having a boy. He is healthy and weighs 13 ounces. I go back to my doctor on Thursday for my normal monthly checkup and he will let me know if my due date is still on track based on the measurements. Jerome is excited to say the least!!! I was hoping for a girl not because I didn't want a boy but because there are so many boys in our family already. But I'm just happy he is healthy. Right now the name we have picked out is Cade Michael Hartley. Jerome's dad is happy because now the Hartley name will be carried on. It's amazing how you can see so many things on the ultrasound. He was moving around which was really cool to see.

Busy at work

My surgery went well and my finger seems to be healing good. I just hope my nail goes back straight. Work has been so busy lately. Nice to have work to do because it makes the day go by faster but at the same time it's getting harder and harder to work long hours. I get tired faster. Jerome's work is always busy and frustrating for him at the same time. Dad and Lisa were here visiting yesterday, it was so good to see them. They have been on the road traveling since the beginning of July visiting many places out west. They have been here since last weekend and they are watching Andrew for Stacey and Kelly since they don't have daycare these last two days of August. They are enjoying the time with Andrew and can't wait for our baby to make his or her entrance.

Tomorrow will be our 2ND wedding anniversary, so hard to believe it's been two years since our wedding. A week from tomorrow we have our first ultrasound and hopefully we will be able to find out the sex of the baby. Jerome is so excited, it's so wonderful to see the excitement in his face when he talks about our baby.

I have been feeling better lately which is nice. I have started to feel little flutters in my belly the last few days. It's a weird feeling and I think it's the baby but I'm not sure.

Going in for surgery

Tomorrow I'm going in for a 3rd surgery on my finger. Hopefully this is the last surgery and it can finally heal all the way. I'm nervous about it because I can't eat anything after 6:30am and the only thing that keeps me from throwing up is eating frequently throughout the day. I'm sure the surgery itself will go fine. My surgery is scheduled for 12:30pm at St. Joe's Hospital in Ypsilanti, MI.

I went in for my first check-up with my new baby doctor last Friday. He seems really nice. I have an my first ultrasound is September 2, 2008 at 8:40am. We will find out the sex of the baby. Jerome is so excited!!!!

Life in an apartment

Since we closed on our house we have started to settle into our apartment in Belleville, Michigan. I hated to sell our house but we will be ok. Our goal now is to plan for our baby and hopefully I can enjoy the rest of my pregnancy!! Jerome is really close to his job and I'm about 20 minutes away, we are both enjoying the shorter drive which = less money spent on gas. Harley still isn't quite sure what to do, he wanders around a lot but he will get used to the apartment. I am now 16 almost 17 weeks and feeling better. Work is so busy lately and it's been hard to balance work and taking care of my health. I have to learn not to work so much for the remainder of my pregnancy because I'm going to get too worn down. It's been difficult to adjust to the many different aspects of pregnancy. I have not felt anything really but I'm sure that will be coming soon. I'm still losing weight but my doctor is keeping a good eye on me.

I have scheduled my first appointment with my new doctor for August 8, 2009. Hopefully then I will be able to schedule the ultrasound sometime the end of August. I have a scheduled surgery on my pinkie finger for August 13, 2008. I will not be put under because I'm pregnant so they will be numbing the finger and the area around it. They will have to cut the top of the finger to get to the wire that is around the bone and then cut in a few places. Since he has to use wire cutters I have to go to the hospital for this. I'm not looking forward to this because I remember the pain I was in after the 1st and 2nd surgery and since I can't take pain medication it probably won't be fun.

Back to Work

Thursday July 24, 2008 I went back to work after being off for a month. I'm feeling much better and I hope to continue to feel good. I still have my times where I'm not feeling good but nothing like I was last month.

We have sold our house

We heard from our real estate agent that the offer was accepted. We went looking for apartments yesterday and found one that we like that falls in our budget. I'm sad that we are moving out of our house but I'm sure it will be OK. Going from a house to an apartment is going to be a challenge for me, mostly because of the privacy will not be the same. I've been on short term disability for a few weeks now because I have been extremely sick with the pregnancy. I'm 13 weeks today so hopefully I will start to feel better soon. I should be able to return to work July 23rd but I will have to wait and see what my doctor says when I go back for a check up. I have not gained any of the weight that I lost so I get concerned about that, thinking maybe the baby isn't getting enough nutrients but I'm able to eat and drink so that is good. I've been having problems with my pinkie finger, same injury from my car accident back in 2005. It's extremely sore and swollen so I called my surgeon and I have an appointment this Friday for him to look at it. I will need to have the metal that was left in my finger around the joint that was fused during my second surgery. Since I'm pregnant the only option is to use a local numbing and he will have to cut the top of my finger to remove the metal. I have to go to the hospital for this because they have to cut the metal because there are two knots and they wouldn't be able to pull that through the skin without cutting the knots off first. I'm nervous about this because everyone knows I can't stand the sight of blood and when the numbing medicine wears off I will not be able to take any pain killers. I wanted to make sure my finger was well healed before I have the baby in January.

Waiting for the day that I can say I feel better

I had to go to the emergency room because I was having stomach pains and some bleeding. We went at 4:30am and they gave me an I.V., also had an ultrasound to see if they could tell where my pain was coming from. The baby is fine and they were unable to tell me what was causing my pain in my stomach. They will be keeping an eye on me for the next month to make sure everything is still o.k. I'm ready to start feeling better and hopefully that will happen within the next few weeks, once I'm out of the first trimester. My next appointment is July 9, 2008.

Check Up

I went to the doctor again today and he gave me a different perscription for prenatal vitamins to see if that helped. They checked my weight and I hadn't lost anymore weight but I also didn't gain any either. They tested and I was still slightly dehydrated. I have to go back June 10th for a weight check and if I feel like I'm not feeling any better they may consider a picc line, which I'm not looking forward to. I hope I get better enough between now and next week so I don't have to have that inserted. Hopefully soon I will have some good news to report!!!

Still not feeling well

I went to the hospital Friday May 30th for an I.V. to try and replace the fluids that I wasn't keeping down. I felt a little better after that but for some reason I knew that wouldn't last long and I was right. Saturday night and all day Sunday I was miserable, I was throwing up again and couldn't find a comfortable position to lay in. Sunday night I wasn't able to sleep either.

Today I'm at work but will be leaving at 3pm to go to the outpatient I.V. clinic for another round of fluids. I might go again one more time this week if I feel I need it. My next check-up appointment is June 13th and I think this appointment is mainly to make sure I'm getting fluids and food to stay in my stomach.

Not Feeling Well

I haven't been feeling well the last week or so, I've been getting sick all day long. This part of the pregnancy is not fun and I hope it's over soon. I would like to enjoy being pregnant but right now it's hard to do. Today I start my masters program online with University of Phoenix and I'm a little nervous because I haven't been to school in over 6 years. It's going to be a challenge for the first class because I will have to find time when I'm not working and not puking to do my homework. Since I've been sick Memorial Day weekend was not fun for me. Saturday May 24, 2008 I went to my sister's for Andrew's 2ND birthday party, it was nice to see Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Dave, Aunt Judy, and Kyle as I don't get to see them often. Sunday May 25, 2008 Jerome and I had a tiger's game to go to, I was miserable the whole game. It was really warm and I was sick to my stomach the whole time.

I'm Pregnant!!!!!!

We found out I was pregnant on May 14, 2008 when I took a test and it was positive. I took one the next day and it was positive also. I have my first appointment on May 30, 2008. Jerome and I are excited because we have been trying for such a long time.