28 weeks

 Here is what I look like today. I'm still small compared to some people but I just feel so huge.

At my Dr appointment yesterday:

• I have gained 22 pounds so far.

• My belly measures 27 weeks

Family Visits

Last week, we had the pleasure of having Mike (David's oldest Brother) and his family drive down to California from Arizona. It had been 5 years since they made the drive out to California. They arrived late Wednesday, so the fun started early Thursday. Once the kids had breakfast and some play time with their cousins, we got dressed and set out for the beach. We drove down Santa Monica. I was 79 degrees when we arrived but the kids didn't care. They had fun playing in the water and with their cousins.
                                    
The first thing that Andrew wanted to do when we hit the beach was do some boarding. He caught a few waves until the lifeguards had them come in because of a rip current. But it was good timing, the wind started to pick up and the Temperature started to go down.

 Kaitlynn and Mackenzie became best friends.

 Andrew and Tyler were best friends too. At one point, Andrew used Tyler as a shield and a buggy board.

On Friday, David took his Brother Mike on a Motorcycle ride. They left at 7 am and arrived back home around 11:30. Mike fell just a couple times and David was able to get almost all the falls on camera. The ride wore Mike out but he managed to keep it together to Drive back to Arizona after dinner Friday night. It was quick trip but everyone had fun.

Riding bikes this Summer!!

We have been hard at work this summer.......

 

 Andrew approves this Video!!! I hope that you like it..

We are so Proud of the progress that we have accomplished in such a short amount of time.

4th of July 2013

 Every year we make the drive down to San Diego, Ocean Beach, to watch the fireworks. We take over Carol's cousin, Penelope's house. We left our house at 9 am to make the drive. We had Andrew go potty before we left the house and Kaitlynn said she didn't have to go. As we were driving down the 5 freeway and had just passed the last civilized exit in Burbank, Kaitlynn informed us she has to go potty and can't hold it. We told her that we will try to find an exit for her to be able to go potty. We pulled off at an exit in LA and searched for a public restroom. We finally found a Jack in the box, Kaitlynn and I ran inside to the bathroom. Once that was over, we got back on the freeway and crossed our fingers nothing else would happen.

But we got kids, so something has to happen right?!? Right! As we were driving along the shore line at Camp Pendleton with no exits in sight, Andrew informs us, "I have to go Potty and I can't hold it." We searched for a place to pull over. Drew kept saying, "I can't hold it, pull over there (pointing to the side of the freeway)" We finnally just stopped on the side of the freeways and let Andrew go potty. Okay, both kids have gone potty and we can make it to Ocean Beach without anymore stops. Yeah!

Kinda Wrong?!?! As we were pulling off the Sea World exit, Andrew says again he has to go potty. (We are only 10 minutes from our destination.) After his first potty break, he downed his water bottle. I took my water and put it into his bottle to give him a plastic bottle to pee into. While still driving/moving, I instructed Andrew to stand up and go potty into the bottle. I held Andrew the best I could as he peed into a bottle.(Nice to be a boy!) We arrived safe and sound at Penelope and Bob's house. We ate some lunch and changed for the Beach.

 Everytime we go to Ocean Beach, we hit the 'Dog beach' side. On dog beach, there is a long shallow section and the waves crash much further out. It is a great place to take younger kids because they can play without being over powered by the waves. David took Andrew out boogie boarding and he was able to hold a wave. If he fell off the board, Andrew could just stand up and make his way back to David. 

 While they were out in the water, Kaitlynn was happy to be digging in the sand. This girl loves to get dirty.

 Once Andrew was done because he got cold, it was Kaitlynn's turn to try for the first time at boogie boarding. While trying to take picture of David and Kaitlynn, Andrew ran off out of sight. So this is only picture I got of them too because I was busy searching the shore and water for Andrew. David and Kaitlynn came in after Kaitlynn fell into the ocean and got cold. Now we both were searching for Andrew. We switched kids and David went into the water to search. As I was walking Kaitlynn back to our stuff to get her warm in a towel, I spotted Andrew bye the Lifegaurd tower playing. I ran over to get him before he moved. Everyone was safe and sound and OKAY!

 We then decided to bury the kids in the sand because Andrew saw some teenagers in the sand and thought it was cool. It warmed them up and everyone was happy again.

 Once they were warm again, we decided to walk over the people side of the beach to find the rest of the family. We found Darren and Carrie's family and continued the beach fun. Andrew had fun Jumping over the crashing waves and body surfing. Then Andrew attempted again at the boogie board. He made it all the way into the shore and went back out for some more fun. Andrew stayed out until he got cold once again.

 Kaitlynn was very happy to just run away from the incoming waves and scream. After a little bit, the sun started to go behind the clouds and we packed up our stuff to walk back to the house. Once back at the house we took baths to clean off the sand and got dressed into dry clothes. Now it was time to relax and play with the cousins. They stayed upstairs for most of the afternoon playing with blocks.

 

 

 After eating dinner we got our jackets on and walked down to the beach to watch the fireworks. We found a perfect spot to make camp and waited for them to start. Both the kids were very interested in the fireworks display. Andrew wanted me to take pictures of every firework that were being set off by other people. At 9 pm the fireworks from the pier started.

 At Ocean beach, the tradition after the fireworks display, there is a Marshmallow fight. Andrew and I got caught in the middle of it. Andrew thought it was funny to be hit in the head with a marshmallow. After we made it through, I turned to wait for David and Kaitlynn. They were right behind us and got hit too with Marshmallows. Once safe again at the house, we took potty breaks, said our good byes and got in the car to drive home. Kaitlynn passed out as soon as the car started moving and Andrew passed out after 20 minutes. The drive home was suppose to take 2 1/2 hours but we hit Disneyland traffic and he arrived home at 1 am. What a fun day!!

25 weeks

On Monday July 1st, I had a very important and very anticipated OB appointment. I was able to have my IUD removed.

It was successfully removed with no problems. I searched the internet for info on the removal after 15 weeks of pregnancy and there isn't any info. I still had the precaution of going into preterm labor or miscarrying. But when they did an ultrasound of the location of the IUD they saw that it wasn't touching the sack and most likely would come out without a problem. So you have heard it her first, at 24 weeks 6 days, my Paragaurd IUD was successfully removed.

Once the IUD was removed, I did start to really feel some braxton hicks contractions. I probably have been having them for some weeks now but I just started to paying attention to them. I guess I thought that this girl would lay low in my stomach and put a ton of pressure. But after some research, I realized that I was feeling Braxton Hicks. I didn't have those with my last two pregnancies, so this is a new experience to me.

SO at 25 weeks pregnant, I am IUD free and only have to worry about the APS issue. I walk once a week for 3 miles. Which is really good for me. Not only am I doing 3 miles at a 17:36 min/mile average, I am doing it while pushing a stroller with a 30 lb child in it and being pregnant. I'm really happy with that and hope to be able to keep it up till the end.

This girl moves all day long and at times it really hurts when she does. I have yet to get her movement on camera but I will at some point. I still can't believe that this all is happening and that I have like three months left.

22 weeks and gender

 So I know I have been slacking on updating on this pregnancy. These ultrasounds are from 21 weeks. We met with my high risk OB on Friday 6/7/13. His name is Dr. Marc Incepti. We had to do the background workup leading up to now. We talked about Andrew's pregnancy, Kaitlynn's pregnancy, how I was diagnosed. We also talked about the IUD and the moment we realized we were expecting and going to the Primary Dr for help. Once we were done with all of that, we were able to move on to the ultrasound. I was crossing my fingers that the baby had moved and we could get some better shots. We sure did get some good shots. The Dr even took some 3D shots for us. (I have always wanted a 3D shot.)

 He took some detailed measurements of the baby; the brain, liver, lungs, head, legs, arms, stomach, all fluids, and a shot of the IUD.  Once he was done with all those measurements, the baby is right on track, gaining weight and is very healthy. I am the healthiest high risk patient he has even seen. I will be seeing him next month on the 12th and then decided when we will start my non-stress tests. They generally start those in the 6th month and I will be in my 6th month next month.

Here is the gender shot for those that don't know yet.....Kaitlynn was correct on her prediction. If she was wrong, we think that she just wouldn't except it. Kaitlynn wanted a sister and she got one.

22 weeks

Here I am at 22 weeks. I have only gained 11 lbs so far. This girl moves all the time! So I have two OB drs that I have to go see. I see my regular OB next week and then the High risk Dr two week after that. My regular Dr is here in the Valley and the High risk Dr is in Mission Hills next to the Hospital. The funny thing that I thought of a couple weeks ago, is that all three of my kids will be born at three Different hospitals. We haven't moved either.

Swimming

At the end of the summer last year, David and I had gotten Kaitlynn swimming. This year,since I'm home this summer, I have been taking the kids to the pool. The first couple of times to the pool, I just put them in life vests, that way I could relax and not go in the water or worry. After a few times to the pool, i started to sit on the steps and have Kaitlynn swim to me. I found out this year, that Kaitlynn is a mad man in the water if she has goggles on. Once we found out this fact with Kaitlynn, we let her loose in the water under supervision of course. If we keep up Kaitlynn's confidence, she will be going all over the place bye the end of summer. For now, she still thinks that she will sink.

5 years ago

 In May 2008, for Mother's Day, I got my first motorcycle. I was so happy that I was able to get my first bike. We practiced in the COC parking lot. We worked on my shifting, braking, and turning.

 David was preparing me for the MSF class(motorcycle safety course) and making sure I was comfortable on the bike. We practiced having me riding the bike whenever we had some time. I took my permit test and was cleared to drive the roads. But I wasn't able to take the Freeways or Drive at night according to the laws of the permit. David was trying to get me comfortable with driving canyons and was sending me up soledad and connecting back to Sierra high way. I was getting better each time I drove the road. Since I was doing so good, David had me run an errand for him. I was asked to mail out a package for him at the UPS distribution. The only way I could get there, since I can't drive the freeways, was to take Sand Canyon to Little Tijuana over the Mountain. I made it safely to the Distribution and mailed out the package. I called David when I got there and when I left. As I was riding home, I was coming down the Sand canyon side of the mountain and tragedy struck.

6/12/2008

 I rode of the side of the road, hit the dirt, I was high sided off the bike (thrown over the left side of the bike) and I slide down the street on my back. I was in a lot of pain. When I got to my bike it was laying it's right side in the dirt on the side of the road. I tried to lift my bike back up since it was leaking gas from my full tank but I just couldn't from the pain i was in. I did start to cry since I was all alone in the side of the road with no one to help me pick up the bike. To my luck, a biker riding bye stopped and helped me move my bike and stayed until I got a hold of David. Once the other biker knew I had help coming, I said Thank you, he rode away. I laid down on the side of the mountain and waited for David to drive up to me. (I could hear him coming as he drove up the canyon) Once he got to me I was put in the car while he assessed the damage to the bike. He had to do a little work to get the bike into gear so he could ride it home while I drove the car down the mountain. Once home we assessed the damage to myself. I called into work and we went to urgent care to get my wounds cleaned and x-rays done.

This is my bike after the accident. I bent the handle bars, broke the foot peg off, broke the turn signal off and damaged the whole left side of the bike. I wasn't able to ride the bike for several months because I had to recover from a separated left shoulder and broken left thumb. I believe I got back on the bike in early December and found out I was pregnant with Kaitlynn at the end of December. This required another absence from the bike. I had to wait till she was born and then wait till I was healed from the c-section before getting back on the bike. I do have to admit that it did take me some time to get comfortable turning again in the canyons. I would get flash backs to the crash every time I had to turn to the left. I just took my time and went slow until I worked through that fear.

The bike continued to be my transportation to work and back for the next four years. I had the opportunity to ride my bike in the rain which wasn't fun. I got some upgrades done to the bike and was really enjoying the bike. AND then......

 7/29/12

I was coming home from work, going up sand canyon from sierra high way. A road I had been driving for many years, I was pushed wide on the last turn going up the hill and layed the bike down in the dirt. This time I slide on my belly in the dirt. I called David, who was currently in class, to inform him that I had just crashed. David asked if I was okay and asked me to check the bike. We then decided to have me ride the bike home, which i couldn't shift out of first because the shifter was smashed to the side of the bike, and David would leave class and meet me at home.

 This is how my legs looked when I got home. I even tried to clean my legs by myself. Once i composed myself, I got dressed and walked across the street to the neighbors. My friend Sophia was babysitting Andrew and Kaitlynn, I tried to be strong and not show pain to the kids. Sophia knew something was up and insisted on me telling her. I stayed at her house until I heard David drive up and asked if she could keep the kids for a little bit longer. I slipped out of her house and back home. David checked out my wounds and we cleaned them again.

 We wrapped them up with gauze and medicine. The next day, i went to work. I couldn't bend my leg so my walking was really slow. Some time after the crash, i ended up going to the Drs because my left thigh just wasn't getting better. I took six weeks off of work to let my leg heal. To this day, I still have numbness and some pain in that spot. Know one can explain to me why.

 After this crash, we fixed what we could to get the bike to run and I got back on the bike. I rode the bike again everyday to and from work. I even rode the bike for the first four months of this surprise new baby. Since I've been out on Disability and not riding, David decided it would be a good time to sell my bike. David has been wanting to get me a new bike for some time now. SO we decided that now is the time to sell since I wont be riding a bike for the rest of this year and probably majority of next year. So David bought all new parts to make it looking good to sell.

 6/7/13

It was put up on Craigslist late Thursday night and my bike was sold by 3:30pm 6/7/13. I will miss my first bike but looking forward to what comes next.

A huge thanks!

Earlier this week, I had asked my Facebook friends to keep me in their thoughts and prayers. I had a couple friends comment that they would be happy to do me the favor.

I want to thank all those who stuck to that commitment because all your prayers helped. Today I got some great news. My OB dr called to let me know how his talk went with his pernealtoligist. After discussing what my risks are with this pregnancy with having APS, and my IUD in place, they feel good about moving forward. My OB dr is ok with having me under his care and having his pernealtoligist overseeing my care too. My lovenox was also approved! 

 I'm just happy to finally have a Dr to watch over us after all that has gone on these last few weeks.

Thanks to my friends and family! I'm not out of the Heath risks, I just got to a good point today. Still need all the thoughts and prayers till the end!

It's official

Well, I finally saw an OB yesterday. Got some of the labs taken care of and got a detailed ultrasound yesterday. They measured everything and also tried to get a gender. The interesting thing is, My IUD was found. The baby is perfectly healthy and going great. I was put on bed rest yesterday and I'm trying to take one day at a time. I also got news that I'm going to be receiving my Lovenox later this week. I just have to pick it up from the Dr office because my new medical group doesn't do home deliveries.

 

Baby's full arm and hands: left and right

Baby's head: looking through the skoal. Baby was laying face down and wouldn't flip over

Baby's full leg and foot: left and right