Pregnancy Update

Well we are having this little girl in 2 days! I can't believe that it is here. I am trying to get things caught up before her big debut. So here is some info as of late.

How far along: 37 weeks and 5 days
Weight gain: 21 lbs (8 of which has come in the last 2 weeks from major swelling!) As my blood pressure has risen I have started to swell quite a bit. I'm hoping they will give me a diuretic after delivery so that I can pee some of this fluid off quickly! My hands and face are the worst off.
Rings on/off: Once I hit 36 weeks my hands swelled at an incredible rate. I was so sad when my rings no longer fit. I am now wearing a silver thumb ring on my wedding ring finger. LOL. And...It doesn't even come close to fitting on my thumb. Haha. I can't wait for my fingers to be back to normal.
Stretch Marks: One. Unfortunately I got my first stretch mark last week. It is small and connected to my previous C-section scar so it almost looks like a continuation of the scar. I'm hoping come Monday they will cut it out when they do my new incision! A girl can hope right?!
Food cravings: Nothing really sticks out. I can only eat a few bites before I have horrible reflux. So I feel like 1st trimester all over again eating a few bites of food every hr. This little one feels like she extends up to my throat. I have been craving Pepsi...so I'm trying to get it in before she comes and I'm nursing.
Belly Button: Still in. Like I said before...worlds deepest belly button over here.
What I miss the most: being able to breathe and be comfortable in general. I have been feeling pretty dang uncomfortable for a few weeks now. I always tell Jeff that maybe if I was a few inches taller and didn't have such a short torso maybe these last few weeks wouldn't be so horribly uncomfortable. I am short of breath all the time. I think being on bed rest for the last month hasn't helped at all either because naturally your body becomes weaker.
What I am going to miss the most: I really have tried to enjoy this pregnancy as much as possible. I love this little miss so much and love her constant movements. I think that I will really miss feeling her move around. It has been so fun for us to have a fairly normal pregnancy. I love our nights when Jeff can just lay there and chat with her. Whenever he starts talking to her she starts a moving. I think that she and her daddy are going to be good buddies.
What I am excited about: Monday! I can't believe that I'm going to be holding my baby girl! I'm a bit nervous about how I am going to have enough time in the day to meet both of these kiddies needs. I hope she is a good easy baby since her big brother is a handful.

I am so glad that they moved up my c section to Monday the 12th. I have been pretty sick the last few weeks with my blood pressure being high. It really just makes you feel horrible in general. Kind of flu like. Basically horrible headaches (nothing works for them), visual disturbances like spots, sparkles, double vision etc, swelling and aches in general. Baby girl has handled it all well and my labs have looked good so they wanted to wait until either my kidneys or liver started to show signs of failing. Over the last week however my pressures spiked pretty high. So at my Thursday appointment they changed their mind. My pressures were quite high even while I was in the recliner having my stress test on the babe. Then the ultrasound gal cam in to check my fluid and took a look at my placenta. She then decided to have a "teaching moment" with the nurses in the room. She started showing them things about my placenta and when I asked what that all meant she said "it means that your placenta is done. It has done everything that it is going to do for the babe." I really thought I was going to have to plead my case, but the Dr was on board. I mean really I have made it farther than anyone thought I would. She will only be 2 weeks early which isn't a big deal.

We are so excited for this little gal to join us in 2 days! I have made a to do list with many unnecessary things on it to try to get done before Monday. Poor Jeff! LOL. I'll have to take a few last prego pics and add them on here before Monday.

Maternity Pics 34 weeks

Our friend Amy did these pics for us and we love how they turned out. She always does a great job! It was Feb. 12 which is Dylan's bday and I was 34 weeks. It was cold and raining and you couldn't even tell. I was just starting to swell from the high blood pressure, but oh well! Here are some of our favorites....

All About Dylan

Where to begin about my little man...He is the cutest little boy ever! I wanted to write down an update and some of my favorite things about him now that he is a big 4 yr old. I can't believe how fast time is going. We have been through A LOT with this little boy of ours and although there have been a lot of really tough times in the last 4 years he is worth it all! He is still our little ball of energy and is obsessed with all sports, Toy Story, playing "Caesar" (chase and wrestling) with his Daddy, and his best friend Mommy.

As I have done the past yrs I wanted to note down his sizes of things...

Weight: 27 lbs
Height: 36 inches
Shirt size: 4T
Pants: 2T
Shoes: toddler 6

Medically with Dylan we still have a lot of challenges with his gastrointestinal system and immune system. He is making improvements, it is just a slow process. Winters are difficult because he gets sick so easy. He still has his feeding tube which we will probably still have for a few more years. He is slowly making progress with eating. He is willing to taste more foods and isn't quite as nervous as he used to be. We are far from being tube free, but we are so happy with how far he has come.
His current favorite foods...
Cheesy noodles (easy mac)
Buzz and woody fruit snacks
Chocolate Bark (Kit Kat)
Pepsi and Dr. Pepper
Gia (yogurt)
Cheese (only if holding the whole block!)
Chocolate shake (from Inn and Out)
Chex (cheese flavor)
Chocolate milk
Pancakes with syrup
Cheetohs
The cereal OHS
Now if we could only get him to eat more than a few bites maybe he'd get some fat on him! He still gets 100% of his daily needs by tube and then everything he eats on top of that is bonus.

He also started on growth hormone shots in December. He gets an injection every night before bed. Dylan is such a trooper. The first 2 days were torture of Jeff holding him down and me doing the shot, but after that he was used to the shot and takes it like a champ. He rubs the spot and says "Ow that hurts" then gives us a high five and moves on with life. He is such a good boy.

While Dyl is super active and always on the move, he really is such a snuggler and loves to cuddle. I hope he will always be this way. He is really into holding hands which I absolutely love. He loves to be held. He is always saying "Mom I hold you". So cute. He loves to get in bed with mom and dad. He snuggles into the middle of us and puts his arms behind his head like he owns the place. He is in for a serious shocker when Lucy gets here!

I love that I am his best friend. He loves loves his Mom. I love it. All I ever wanted to be when I grew up was a mom and it really is the greatest.thing.ever. Jeff tells me I coddle him and spoil him! I probably do, OK I do... but he is one special boy.

He loves to play with his Dad. I love to watch them. He loves to be chased and loves to play "skinnies" Skinnies is wrestling/boxing. I'm not sure where he came up with that word, but it is hilarious. He likes you to hold out your fists and he jumps around and hits his fists against yours like the boxers do. It is pretty entertaining to watch! He is still obsessed with Golf. He has the Golf channel on most of the day while he is playing. He prefers to watch sports over cartoons. We watch a lot of the Golf Channel, ESPN, Sports center etc. He still loves Mickey Mouse, Curious George, the Wiggles, and Toy Story. He loves to play on the iPad. It amazes me how he can navigate it. We often find him in the sports folder looking at ESPN.com. He definitely loves sports. We love to watch Big Bang Theory and so does Dylan. He sings the theme song and dances to it. I have got to get it on film. He tries to put off bedtime by saying "Uh I watch more Big Bang?" He is sleeping like a champ in his big boy bed. We are so proud of him!

He has been singing a lot lately. He has such a cute little voice. His favorite songs are...
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
ABC song
Happy Birthday song (for some reason he always says happy bday Dear Daddy)
No more Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Itsy Bitsy Spider
5 little Ducks

His favorite places to go are...
Trafalga (the Golf place)
Cabelas (the fish place)
Grandmas house
Jack and Jills Bowling

He is still going to Preschool at Sego Lily Elementary 3 days a week. The bus drivers that take him to school are the cutest ladies ever. They love him so much and make it easy for me to send him. I need to take a picture of Dylan, Sally, and Debbie. Sally is always texting me and calling me to check in if Dylan has a rough morning or if he is out sick(which he was most of February). He doesn't like leaving his Mom to go to school, but once they drive away he usually accepts the fact that he's going whether he likes it or not! His teachers say that they are seeing quite a bit of progress which makes us happy! I love putting his artwork on the fridge when he brings it home. So fun.

I love the things that come out of his mouth. I need to be better about writing them down. He is such a crack up.

All in all we feel extremely blessed to have Dylan in our family. I often think back to the early days of his life and how difficult of a time it was for our family. The helplessness you feel as your watch your child fight for his life is something that I don't wish on any parent. He is such a fighter and we couldn't be more grateful that he lived and is here with us today. He can be a pill for sure but has such sweet spirit and I can't imagine life without my little shadow. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father entrusted him to us!

34 weeks update (Feb.12)

* I'm well into 37 weeks now, but wanted to go back and document a few things...so here is when things started getting a little scary with this pregnancy.

February 12th was Dylan's birthday and Mom turned 34 weeks! Big day for us. We had had a stressful few days as I started to have problems and there was a good chance we were going to be having the baby. On Thursday the 9th I noticed that I was starting to swell. I blew it off because I had eaten some popcorn the day before and I don't tolerate salt very well with my pressure problems. On Friday morning I woke up not feeling well. Headache, visual changes, swelling... All high blood pressure signs. I got myself ready for the day since it was a Dr. apt day. and got Dylan off to preschool. I checked my BP a few times and knew things weren't looking good. So off to the doctor I went. I called Jeff and my Mom on the way to fill them in on the latest. I was at the Dr office for several hrs. They did a stress test on the baby. She was a little sluggish and my amniotic fluid was really low. My blood pressures were really high even when I was laying down. I could tell the nurses were nervous, but they wouldn't tell me what it meant that my fluid was so low. So after the stress test I waited to see the doctor. He came in and talked things over with me. When your fluid drops that dramatically and you have high blood pressure it means that your placenta isn't functioning as well due to the pressure. The amniotic fluid is a result of what the baby is peeing. If it can't get what it needs via the placenta they don't pee as much. GREAT. So he told me the dreaded words BED REST. Boo. I would have to come back Monday to check levels again. If they were better we would see the specialist on Tuesday, and if not we would head to the hospital then....but be packed and ready to have a baby. Ah! So I had a bunch of blood work and urine tests done that weekend. We quickly realized that I was not a very good "bed rester". I kept getting in trouble all weekend long! I have since become much better, but still can't stand it. It is really hard for me to lay around, be lazy, and ask people to do things for me. We did an impromptu birthday party for Dylan that Saturday. I didn't want his birthday to get looked over in case we had the babe. Amy also did some quick family pictures and maternity shots that Sunday. We love how they turned out. It was cold and rainy and you can't even tell!
By the time Monday rolled around my fluid had come back up to acceptable levels so we waited for Tuesday's visit to the specialist. She was happy with how Lucy looked and my labs looked really good as well. Her first words when she came in the room were " Oh my gosh why are you growing such a fat baby this time!" Lucy was measuring in at 5 lbs 12 oz. What a big girl! So we were instructed bed rest and lets hope for 37 weeks. I now have one visit a week to the specialist and one visit a week to the Dr office. I look forward to those days because I have a reason to get ready for the day in something besides jammies and leave the house! Bed rest is not fun at all, but it seems to be doing the trick...so I'll stick with it.

Happy Happy 4th Birthday!

How in the world is my baby 4 yrs old! Crazy! Dylan is such a fun little man. He turned 4 on February 12th. We celebrated his birthday with a bowling party at Jack and Jills. Thanks to my family who made his day special.




After bowling we headed to our house for pizza, cake and ice cream, and presents. He was spoiled with Toy Story toys and a blanket, a mitt and baseball, toys, and a bike! Since I started having problems the day before his party and was put on bed rest it left Daddy to the rest of his birthday shopping and the details. Thank you to Gma and Gpa Cutler for dealing with the cake since I couldn't.
He loves to open presents.


Blowing out his candles on his sweet basketball cake. He loved it.


He thought this was the coolest motorcycle bike, but we ended up having to take it back and get a different one that fit him better. Luckily he Loves the one we ended up with. He loves to put on his helmet, sit on his bike, and have Dad push him around. Once we can be outside more we'll have to teach him how to pedal!

Gma and Gpa Davis came bearing gifts the next day on their way home from St. George. He was once again spoiled and loved his new toys.



Happy birthday Dylan. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Daddy's Valentine

Dylan worked really hard on Daddy's valentine. He was pretty excited to show him! I love these boys!

Lucy's room Sneak Peak

A few weeks ago we got Lucy's room put together and dragged all of the baby stuff up from the basement. Everything is washed, cleaned, put away, and ready for her. It was pretty funny because it was like it hit Jeff all of sudden that we were going to have a new baby really soon. He wanted everything done. It was great! Now we find ourselves hanging out in her room and getting so excited for her to join us. We left the full size bed that we were trying to move Dylan in to in her room so that we have a bed there in case she has a rough night. I think it'll be pretty nice for those bad nights! I have already utilized it a few times with Dylan being so sick and wanting to keep a closer eye on him. Then Jeff can actually get some sleep instead of Dylan taking over his pillow! We think the room turned out pretty cute. I love the hot pink and black. I got the toddler bedding set instead of the crib set since you aren't supposed to use bumpers anymore. It was less expensive and she'll be able to use it longer! So fun to be doing pink this time around! We are super excited for this little one. Now if I can survive this horrible bed rest for a few more weeks...I'm going crazy already!

Sick...again

This poor little guy can't catch a break. I thought that it being a mild winter that he wouldn't be as sickly. I couldn't be more wrong! He is on his 3rd bad sickness since a few days after Christmas. Lets hope we get it out of our system and house before Lucy comes!

Big Boy Room

We did it! We made the switch to a big boy bed several weeks ago. We had tried to move Dylan's room and put him in a full size bed but it was not working out. He was nervous about it and didn't want us to leave him. So we bought a toddler bed, Toy Story bedding, and swapped rooms once again so that Dylan could stay in his room. We put his bed in the same spot the crib was and that seemed to do the trick. He is such a creature of habit that we should have just done that from the start. Oh well! He LOVES his Toy Story bed. When we first put the bedding on he could not stop flipping the pillow over and over. Buzz is on one side and Woody and Rex on the other. Buzz is by far his favorite character, so he chooses to sleep on that side each night! I was really worried about the switch and wanted to leave him in the crib forever! For some reason he thought he was stuck in his crib...which was amazing for a boy that climbs everything and hates to go to sleep at night. That being said, we were already worried about how he is going to react when sister shows up that we didn't want him to think she stole his bed too. He has done amazingly well. Night one went great. Night 2 we had to put a child lock on the door knob and let him realize that he is stuck. By night 3 he had it down. It has been great since! Once we tuck him in and say prayers he doesn't even try to get out of bed. It is so funny to see him stumble out of his room in the morning and come climb in bed with us. Oh how we love this little man.


I'm not sure if I have ever posted a pic of his shadow box. So here it is. Jeff put it together for me for mother's day a few yrs ago. I love having his little tiny things displayed. It is a reminder of how far we have come!

Good job Dyl! To infinity and Beyond!

31 weeks- Pregnancy update

How far along? 31 weeks 3 days
Weight gain/loss? 13 lbs
Maternity clothes? Yes, and I am loving leggings this time around.
Stretch marks? NO! I really really hope it stays that way.
Food cravings? Mexican. Beans and rice from Miranchito to be exact.
Gender? 100% girl
Movement? Non-stop and loving it.
Belly button in/out? IN and seeing as I have the worlds deepest belly button I'd be surprised if it makes its way out.
What I miss? Deep breaths and being able to eat more than a few bites without reflux.
What I look forward to this week? Getting everything ordered for her room.

We are making it! I'm so happy that we are this far and still plugging along. I am...whats the word- uncomfortable! But I am extremely happy to be uncomfortable if it means I am still pregnant. We had another ultrasound of the little miss last week and she still looks perfect. She is measuring a little over a week big which is great news for us. She is still extremely active and seems to have an attitude. Every time I fold my arms, Dylan lays on my belly, or I even set something against it she starts kicking and shoving on that spot. She apparently doesn't like anyone in her space. She is pretty cramped in there considering I have no torso. Her head is clear down there and pressing on my bladder at all times. She likes to stick her bum out my left side and loves to kick my left ribs. She is wide awake pretty much all night and I'm afraid between her and her brother that I will never sleep again. Oh well! I don't sleep very well right now anyway considering I am back to potty breaks every couple hrs in the night. My sciatic pain is horrible on both sides and by evening I can hardly walk, I hope that goes away once she is here! I started my weekly Non-Stress tests/ultrasounds today with my OB and she looked perfect. My pressure is stable at this point, but seems to be higher when I am up on my feet. So I'm told that I am to stay down as much as possible. I'm doing my best with this because I really don't want to be put on strict bed rest. I'm not sure how I could manage that with my crazy Dylan. The Perinatalogist is extremely happy with how things are going, but she isn't willing to stop seeing me since in her words "You did almost die last time" So, she is going to do another in depth ultrasound at 34 weeks(on Valentines Day) and check everything out. At that point if I show any sign of getting sick or Lucy is distressed we'll just deliver. That being said, my anxiety has kicked in. It isn't really related to Lucy. I am not worried about another c-section or the whole newborn thing and all that comes with it... I am worried about her big brother. I just feel so bad for him that his little world is going to be majorly rocked, and he really doesn't have a clue that it is going to happen. He has been alone for so long and required so much extra attention that I'm sure it is going to be an adjustment. I just hope that little Miss Lucy is a mild tempered easy baby! Is that so much to ask after what we went through with Dylan? LOL! We are so excited for this little princess and hope that she stays put for a few more weeks. I would love nothing more than to make it to 39 weeks!

The Big 30

Jeff turned 3o years old on the 9th! I debated on throwing a big party, but decided that we should have a weekend just for us. I figured it would probably be awhile before we can do that again with the baby and all. So a big thanks to Gma and Gpa Davis for keeping Dylan for us. We spent an afternoon at the spa getting pampered. Pedicures, manicures, and a couples massage. It was delightful, however my masseuse was an extremely strange person. When we left she gave me a crystal that I should hold because "it is really good for your ovaries." Hmm... OK lady! We shopped, went out to eat, and went to the movie. It was fun to have my man all to myself! I just wish that we would have taken pictures. That week we also took Dylan to his first Jazz game which was a total hit. He loved it. Then we spent some time with Dyl at Trafalga golfing and playing arcade games. It was a fun weekend! Happy birthday babe...30 looks good on you!



This is Dylan's favorite game. He could shoot hoops all day long if we let him.

Cake number 1 at Gma and Gpa Davis' house.

Dylan was a big helper with both cakes when it came to blowing out the candles! And...he pretty much opened all of Dad's presents.


Birthday Kisses? Yes please!

Ringing in the New Year

Since we were all recovering from the horrid stomach flu we spent New Years Eve with just our little family. It was great! We took Dylan bowling which was a total hit. He absolutely loves bowling. We played for awhile in the arcade. I'm not sure what it is about boys and arcade games, but Dylan and Jeff had a great time playing. We went to dinner and then hung out at home. Dylan was of course up at the 12:00 hr to ring in 2012 with us. We had sparkling cider and went outside for some fireworks. Dylan had to run back to the kitchen for something before we went outside for the fireworks. He came running back with a bag of marshmellows! Jeff and I were cracking up. He apparantly thought that we were making a fire to roast marshmellows :)



We are excited for 2012 and adding our little princess into the mix!

Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas! Dylan was such a riot this year. He loved everything about opening presents and was so fun to watch. Christmas eve we spent at the Davis' with Gma, Gpa, Mark, and Nat. We ate dinner and played games before heading home to have some time for our little fam. Dylan chewed up most of the carrots that we left out for the reindeer, but Santa still paid a visit and left some fun toys.

Jeff and I got up early and did our gift opening before the little mister woke and the chaos began. Jeff spoiled me rotten like he always does....my main gift he surprised me with was an iPad. LOVE LOVE it. It has been so fun!


It took a long time to get through present opening because Dylan wanted to play with every single toy before opening another.

He got a "cowboy" gun and a "pirate gun" that he plays with all of the time. He is really into guns right now and is very entertaining. I'm just glad that he has finally stopped using my blow dryer as a gun now that he has some that he likes!



Taking a rest after the first round of present opening! He loves his Wiggles guitar that Santa brought. He likes to jam. I took a lot more video this year than pictures, but I can't get blogger to post any of them. He is so dang cute and funny.

Next up was Gma and Gpa Davis coming over with loads of presents. Dylan was spoiled rotten as usual :) and so were we! After they headed out to drive to AZ to see Michelle we went to the Cutler house. We were once again spoiled rotten there! I managed to take about 2 pictures there which did not turn out. I need to steal some pics from my Mom and Sue. I promise Jeff and I were present at all the festivities. We managed to just get pics of the little one! Lucy of course wasn't left out either...she got more than enough presents for someone that isn't even born!

All of Dylan's loot at the end of the day. Yes...spoiled.



He is the CUTEST!

This post is a month late, but we hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season. It is such a great time to focus on Christ and spend time with our family. We are so blessed!