Our first trip to the hospital. . .and 38 weeks!!

This past week was a bit scary. I felt tons of movement on Monday from our little Levi. He was just kicking away! Well, Tuesday there was less movement. . .well, not so much less movement, just lighter movements. . .I still had enough - they say to count 10 movements each hour. . .but, I was really keeping a close eye on things. . .figuring that Wednesday he would be back to bouncing around. This has certainly been a pattern for Levi - where he'll move tons one day, and will chill the next day - but then move again the following day. Wednesday I kept another close watch on movements. . .and felt like they were consistent with Tuesday's movements. . .Thursday when I woke up, I was determined to make him move - and move hard. But, I couldn't get much results. I started to panic some. . .and asked Brian to come talk to him to see if he would move. He did, but just not hard enough. It's difficult to explain, but I just didn't feel comforted by his movements. I decided to go ahead and stay home that day, and just lay low - laying down and resting. Kenzi woke up and I was certain he would bounce around when she talked to him. . .he always does. . .but, again, it wasn't much - so I decided to call the doctor. They called me back and said they wanted me to go ahead and go to the hospital for a non-stress test. Of course not long after I called the nurse, he started moving quite a bit. . .and although I felt better with that - I still wanted to hear and have definitive information that he was doing just fine. We went to the hospital and they put us on the monitor. He was moving like crazy - his heartrate was fluctuating like they like to see, and so, it was just a matter of time before we were discharged and sent on home with the reassurance that everything was going to be just fine! I was so relieve to not have to rely on what I was feeling - but could HEAR that he was doing just fine! You can listen to his heartbeat in this video. . .the most precious sound!!

The next morning I went to see my doctor, Dr. Finke, and everything looked really great! She does want me to come back this next week to have a sonogram. She's concerned that he might be getting too big. His heartrate at the appointment was 136. There was no protein in my urine as there was last week, and my blood pressure continues to look good. I have gained a total of 17 pounds. Dr. Finke also said my cervix has softened more than it had the previous week - but there is still no dilation at this point. I am definitely ready to hold this little boy. . .and am trying to keep my mind open to this week's sonogram and appointment. I don't want to get my hopes up that I'll be induced!

Mom and Dad came into town this weekend to take Gary and Tony back to Spring with them for the week. We had a great weekend. . .I have a beautiful computer that is working so wonderfully now! (which explains all the posting! I will tell you a secret though - I'm in my recliner with my keyboard in my lap so I can have my right foot elevated. . .it's taken on a new shape and is quite FAT and swollen!!)

Mom and I washed all of Levi's clothes for 0-3 months, blankets, washcloths, towels, bibs, and sheets. . .We also packed his bag for the hospital. It's just hard to know how big he'll be - so I'm not quite sure what he'll wear home. I have a couple of options. Kenzi's going home outfit was easy because it was a dress, and it really was easy to not be too concerned. . .but, I really don't want his outfit to completely swallow him! So, we'll just wait and see. We also bought letters to make up Levi's name and painted them for his room. They turned out cute.

I really just need to get my bag ready for the hospital. I can't believe I haven't done that yet. It's hard to pack ahead of time. I did have Mom take a picture of my belly. I even took a couple bare belly shots, and I'll share this one with you. . .

Gary (17) and Tony (13) are growing up. . .it's awesome to get to see them both. . .and so here's a picture from today before they headed to Spring with Nana and Papa. I love that they'll get to see Levi after he's born! They'll be here in Texas with their mom through the middle of July and then will head to Virginia together to be with Brian.

Well, that's all for now - we're just waiting for God's little miracle to be born!

Mackenzi turned 5. . .and graduated from Preschool!

Somehow I missed posting that Kenzi turned 5. . .and then also that she graduated from preschool!!! I started a post, but then didn't finish because it woudn't upload my pictures. . .and now it won't let me go in to fix it. . .so, I'll just start here. . .

She had a wonderful birthday on May 28th. We had her party the weekend prior at the Don Misenhimer park. She wanted a soccer theme. . .and this was after she told me, "Mom, I can just have a princess party since we already have princess napkins at home." Well, the princess napkins were from her 4th birthday party. I assured her we could change the theme up, and buy new napkins for her party this year! How precious is that? I think we're being successful in teaching her to be frugal. . .although maybe I need to work on that as well! Ha!

We really had a great time at her party. I never book the pavilion there, it's pretty expensive, especially on Memorial Day weekend. . .but, we've been successful in being able to utilize it for two years - her 3rd and 4th birthday party. This year, however, there was a huge party there - so we walked on over to the other side of the park where they had a picnic bench, and tons of trees. We always have come prepared to have chairs for seating, so it really turned out just fine. Kenzi wanted a pinata this year, and so we found one at Party City that was a soccer ball. She also wanted a cookie cake instead of cake. . .she's the only child I know who doesn't like cake. . .but, she doesn't. So, after much thought and pricing of cookie cakes, I figured I could make this cake myself! So, I did! It turned out very yummy, and Kenzi was really excited about it. I'm sorry I don't have pictures to upload from her party. Unfortunately my computer crashed, and so I don't have them saved on this computer.

On her actual birthday, Brian decorated for her - so when she woke up, she would realize that it was her birthday. It's funny, but this is the first year for her to realize that her birthday party was on a different day than her birthday. . .each year before she has been really confused, and tells us very adamantly that she already has had her birthday. . .or basically just that her birthday party day is her birthday. . .this year she figured that out. She kept saying at her party that she wasn't 5 yet - it was just her birthday party day. But, on her birthday we bought a cookie cake at Kroger to take to school for her to share with her friends. . .and then when we got home that afternoon, we took her to On the Border for dinner where she wanted them to sing to her, until she saw someone else being sung to - the problem was that he was older, and so they had him doing silly things - like waving his arms like a bird while they sang. . .and putting a cone cup in his mouth as a beak. . .she didn't care for that and didn't want us to have them sing to her. . .only they had already been asked. . .and were headed our way. She just had a terrible look on her face as they sang, but was fine afterall.

We also took her afterwards to buy her a betta. She had been wanting a fish, and since I've had bettas before, I figured that was a good fish for her - one that would last, that is pretty easy to take care of. . .and one she would enjoy. She named her betta, Kate. We nearly managed to kill Kate with the change in water. . .or scenery. . .or whatever. . .I'm not sure. We didn't think she was going to make it - but I did a few things - put her back in the bowl she came in - and used different water. . .and after a week of not eating. . .she finally started to eat and really looked much better. Now we have a pretty purple fish who is eating and doing just fine. Oh - we didn't really tell Kenzi which fish to pick out - and subsequently, she picked a "boy" fish as is labeled on the bowl. . .only, we refer to Kate as a girl.

The Thursday after her birthday was her preschool graduation from Cross of Christ Lutheran School. It was a very exciting day for Kenzi and for us, too! Kenzi got to wear a little blue gown and a hat as well. The kids sang a couple of songs for everyone too. Kenzi really enjoyed the year with Mrs. Hinckley as her teacher and Ms. Candy and Ms. Stella as the aids on her room. She made quite a few friends, and is really missing them this summer. She is such a big girl!!! She is definitely ready for Kindergarten - only she will be going to public school in Mansfield at DP Morris Elementary.

ROCKWAY SHOWER - June 8th

ROCKWAY SHOWER

Our hometeam hosted a shower for us on June 8th. It was at our pastor and his wife's house, Keith & Sarah Wiginton. It was a lot of fun. We had several stories to tell from the shower. . .after we got there, our friend Kelly came rushing in with the cake. She had her little daughter Bayley with her. She and Sarah were talking and then Sarah looked at me and said that Kelly had been through quite a bit to get the cake there! Apparently Bayley wanted to see what the cake was about and leaned over it and destroyed the top of it! Kelly was so frazzled by the time she called Costco and managed to get it taken care of. She apologized that it didn't have Levi's name on it - and told me how cute the top of the other cake was! I felt sorry for her! I hated being the reason she was so frazzled. The cake was a very yummy, yummy cake!

Our hostesses also prepared a couple of scrapbook pages for the guests to write blessings/prayers for baby Levi Garrett. When I saw that, I just knew right away that I wasn't going to say anything, and that I knew how easily it would be to cover up Garrett, since that isn't Levi's middle name. I wasn't too worried about it until I overheard someone asking Brian what Levi's middle name was. Then I stepped into the kitchen, and walked back in. Sarah looked at me and said, "What is Levi's middle name? Did we get it wrong?" And I just smiled and told her that his middle name is Ashton, and that it would be no problem for me to fix that on the scrapbook page. She said the person who told her that was POSITIVE of his middle name. Which was funny because it happened to be a friend of mine, Stephanie, from my Bible study. Then she came over and said she was sorry, she knew we had just talked about his name the previous Monday at our study. It was funny.

We are truly blessed to be a part of a church family who is so loving and caring. I believe wholeheartedly that God put us there. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I wanted them, especially our hometeam, to know right away that we were pregnant because I felt that we needed as many prayer warriors as possible to be praying with us for a healthy pregnancy. The love and support that we have been shown throughout this entire process has been truly incredible. I wanted so desperately to share how special they all are to me at the shower, but I knew I wouldn't make it through telling them. . .I did, however, ask that a group picture be taken. I want to be sure to tell Levi how much he was prayed for by all of them. They are very special to us, and to him. Here is a collective picture of Levi's gifts from the shower.

The addition to our family. . .

37 Weeks!! Time has flown in some senses, but in others - it seems like I've been pregnant forever! I did go to the doctor this past Friday and she said that I'm starting to efface, but not dilating quite yet. I did have a trace of protein in my urine, but she wasn't concerned of that. My blood pressure was 116/60, so with that, there was nothing to worry about either. I go back this Friday. . .I think it's fun and stressful some at this stage when we're just waiting. . .each week we hope to see some progress, but with this not being my first pregnancy, I know that it can be a matter of an afternoon that all will progress, and so I'm not worrying too much about it. I do know that I feel like I can't make it the next 2 weeks. . .just the normal backaches. . .my big fat foot. . .and just not being able to sleep. . .but, we'll keep waiting on God's perfect timing!