almost time...

hey girlie. well we have our last dr appt scheduled for wednesday, june 2 at 2:30. they will either send us that evening to be induced or sometime on thurdsay - so within the next week - mom should be working on delivering you! hope you are ready to make your arrival - because we are soo soo ready for you! we had another ultrasound on yesterday to see how big you are and you looked great. they are estimating you at 6lbs 3ozs! you are a big girl now! and your fluids were higher than they have ever been since our abruption - plus you rocked your stress test. apparently you just decided you are pretty happy in there!! you have also been a busy little bee lately - keep it up until it's time to deliver.... can't wait to meet you next week. i'm going crazy trying to get through the next few days - soo ready to hope my beautiful baby girl!
we love you so much!

36 Weeks!!!

hey pretty girl! we are officially 36 weeks along now and you are doing great! we got released from st. johns this past friday and mom has resumed bed rest at home - doing extra time in bed and laying down to make sure your fluids stay nice and high. we went to st. johns today for our 2x/week appt and you were doing fantastic. your ultrasound looked great - you had fluids of over 10 cms and you were super super active. of course you got a bit lazy during the first part of the stress test, but you were super busy at the end and passed with flying colors. my blood pressure was low too - so we both did great today. according to dr. laue yesterday we are ready to be induced next week. i need to touch base with her this week to get it all scheduled - but looks like we will be induced next tuesday or wednesday! jsut in time to be a perfect bday gift for mommy! can't wait to meet you penelope! i love you lots and am definitely ready for you to be here... we'll see you again on friday and see how big you got. until then - stay active so i can worry less about you!
ps - your big brother gatsby was taking a nap on my bare belly today and you jacked him in the head with your foot - nice shot.
pss - please remove your feet from my right ribcage. thank you.

35 Weeks

well ms penelope it's been an eventful week! we hit the 35 week mark this past tuesday on the 18th and we also ended up back in the hospital at st. johns the same day. between our monday and tuesday appts you had dropped, mom started to dialate 1 cm, your fluids dropped down under 7 and your stress tests weren't great - so back to st. johns for us! it's thursday now and you are looking really good - being very active, your fluids were back up yesterday and you rocked your stress test - so if all goes well today i think we might get to go home tomorrow...
then just back to the regular bed rest at home, monitoring, etc until we get your little butt to 37 weeks :)
i'll keep you posted lady :) love you lots!

failed stress test!

hey lady
another dr. appt today and you failed your stress test - what's up with that girl!?! you had a good heartbeat and were moving a round a lot but they just weren't getting the fluctuations you needed and they couldnt get a good baseline to go on so the drs suggested we do a biophysical profile during the fluid ultrasound. this is the first time we've done that. you have to do 5 tests in 30 mins, each worth 2 points each - so the possibly score is ten. you need an 8 to pass and a six is borderline - meaning it's up to the dr if they want to admit you for more observation. well we started out already failing the non stress test so you had to go four for four to pass! which you did! whew! you make me nervous girl. you based hte movement portion with flying colors - they waneed to observe 3 movements on the screen - that was easy. then you had to practice your breathing for 30 straight seconds - took a few tries but you did that too! you passed fluids - had to be over 6 cms and you were at 8.6 - not great but still acceptable. finally the last portion was tone. you had to flex your feet and hands and punch/kick me - i knew you could do that! but i was pretty pleased to be punched today :) so - it took a bit over 20 mins (you had 30) - but you passed baby girl - good work. i just have to keep an eye on you again this weekend - increase my fluids, lay flat, and watch your movements... of course it's on fridays you like to be uncooperative so i can worry all weekend... not very nice young lady!
and next time - no skating by your test with a C or B - we want an A penelope ann!

Thunderstorms!

hey little girl - we had crazy loud thunderstorms last night - thunder/lightening - just plain loud. pretty much kept me, dad and gatsby up for awhile... and you! you were a little crazy girl last night - i'm thinking you aren't a fan of the thunderstorms! each thunderbolt had you jumping all over! i love that you are reactive to things on the outside -its' awesome. can't wait to interact with you more!
love you penelope!

Nursery!

well penelope your nursery is completed! all it's missing is you! our favorite person ever - Dawn Stevens did it for us -and i'm posting her contact info below because she is amazing...

we found her on about a year and half ago and she made the bridesmaid gifts for my wedding and she has just done more and more for. she made our all our bedding - crib skirt, bumper, quilt, the curtains, the little pillows on the chair and even the little coat and diaper clutch i posted as a gift - her etsy store contact info is below and she's fantastic - highly highly highly recommended.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DSCHICBOUTIQUE

enjoy the pics!!!

34 Weeks!!!

we made it to our first goal! when we ended up in the hosptial 3 1/2 weeks ago - the first goal was to get her to the 34 week mark - and we officially made it and miss penelope is doing great. had a big day of dr. appts yesterday. did our growth ultrasound at st. johns where peneloep measured 4lbs and 14 ozs - almost 5 lbs! she's getting so big and the drs are very happy with her growth. other good news is my fluid levels ar eup higher again - 11.5cms which is back in the normal range - a bit lower, but still normal. and my BP looked pretty decent - also good news!
so overall it was an awesome check up. dr said to just keep doingg what we are doing - so more bedrest for me - which just means more growing for her - so we'll take it. we'll still do the st. johns visits 2x a week and see dr. laue on mondays - and we'll just take it week by week. so now the goals are just one week att a time. trying to get to monday and 35 weeks.
was soo good to see you again penelope - you looked fantastic in the ultrasound and just can't believe what a big girl you are! howeve,r you have to keep being active for mom - all this bed rest and worrying is definately starting to wear on me. it's scary to constantly worry that you are okay and always be paying attention for movements... so you need to keep those movements big and often so i can worry just a little bit less. god we can't wait to meet you and it's getting closer and closer.
love you baby girl..

Rough Week

not too much to report these last couple of days... mom has been feeling kind of crappy lately with heartburn, lack of sleep and the resurgence of morning sickness. it had been present the whoel pregnancy but by some miracle - the day we ended up in the hospital a few weeks ago - the sickness stopped - i forgot how awesome it was to wake up and not get sick. but - as of today it's back again - i'm hoping its a fluke - but i'm thinking i probably just need to accept it. one good thing about bedrest is that when you get sick in the am - you can just lay down and take a nap instead of trying to get yourself to work - so i got that going for us!
you are getting super duper strong ms penelope - your little feet have found my ribs and seem to be your favorite place to hang out. instead of kicking like you did when you were smaller - most of your movements now are related to your hiccups (your poor child) or shoving your feet into me! hurts a bit - but makes me happy that you are growing so big and strong!
can't wait to see how big you are during our US on monday!
newest pregnancy discovery is hip pain... i gues it's nature getting reayd for the big day - but wow - it hurts bad. sleeping is pretty uncomfortable on sore hips, along with walking... but the good news is that my body is getting ready for you... so crazy to think of how all the little aches/pains, etc that go with pregnancy are all there for a reason - part of getting ready for you to make your appearance. well - except morning sickness - i dont quite understand the reason for that. that part just sucks. (i suppose "suck" is a bad word that i shouldnt use on your blog... oops!)
love you my little kicking queen!

uncooperative little lady :(

hey baby girl..
what was up today with the silence during the stress test! you are a silly goose... today was an off day for us. you were pretty quiet so the testing took a while, your fluids were a bit on the lower side - still okay but definately lower than they have been - although the nurse said that is so hard to really get a good measurement - so as long as it all looks better on friday we are good. my bp was a bit high today too - so maybe we were boht just having an off day.

on the plus side - god you are cute girl. your ultrasounjd was adorable today - you are serioulsy teh cutest little thing ever... all the nurses always comment on how cute you are - and i'm sure they say that to everyone - but i have to agree. you look like a little doll. we got to just watch you for a bit on the screen - moving around, moving your eyes, hands in your mouth - just looking damn cute :) and they noticed yoru hair again - i'm wondering how much you have..
four more weeks (hopefully) then i get to meet you!
love you baby girl. rest up for friday and be good for our next round of tests!

your big brother!

hey girlie - mom again...
just wanted to fill you in on your big brother gatsby! your future boyfriend donovan visited this weekend and we were curious to see if gatsby was good with babies. and he did great.... donovan played with him, walked all around, and was even baby rough with him... and gatsby did wonderful. he has one goal when a baby is around... lick lick lick.
so expect a full face licking when you arrive.... he'll be so happy meet you too... and i'm sure happy to have me off his spot on the couch :)
lots of love from your whole family!
we'll check in tomorrow baby girl after our visit to st johns.. we get to see your face again. i love tuesdays and fridays :)

33 Weeks!

hi little lady,
we have made it to 33 weeks and you are still doing great. we visited dr. laue today for our weekly appt and everything went wonderful. my blood pressure was fantastic and i gained weight again my belly grew - all good signs that you are growing strong :) your heartbeat is good as usual and i'm not having any contractions so we are going to keep moving ahead to 34 weeks. we have a big ultrasound next week that will give us a good indication of how you are doing, growing, etc. but if all continues as well, then we'll keep pushing for 37 weeks. the dr didnt want to give us a specified due date right now... but your mother can be kind of a pushy (you take after me)... so she at least narrowed it down to a range for us. if you keep cooperating, growing and looking so great - then they we will schedule our delivery between june 2nd and 4th... looks like you might be my bday buddy after all. i of course asked, but there will be no getting off bedrest or even moving to modified bed rest until you get here.. so mom has about 4 more weeks to hang tight and keep you growing and happy.
i get a bit frustrated sometimes... but we know it's the best for you. and the other good news of the day - mom got ambien! thank god... i can't wait to sleep through the night again! makes for a happier me, and ultimately a happier you!
we love you so much baby girl...
on other news - we had our last shower this past weekend and your dad subbed in for us... we got so many great gifts and your room/stuff is almost ready to go.. we ordered the last few things and have a couple other things to pick up - but then mom and dad are set your arrival... well as set as anyone can be...

cant wait to meet you, hold you, hug you.

love you so much penelope anne!
-mom and dad

my little hiccup queen

hey little lady. just got back from another check up at st. johns and you did great as usual! we did an ultrasound to check fluid levels (which were great) and we got to see your adorable little face again.. poor child - i think you have your dad's nose... let's help you grow into that :)
and we could see you have hair already on that US. no wonder mommy has such nasty heartburn this pregnancy - the old wives tale must be true. for some reason you are looking more like YOU. i recognize you when i see you on the US and i just know it's you. and you look like your name to me - you are definitely a little penelope.
they took moms blood pressure too and i did my best yet - only 116! I have never been below 130 - so clearly bed rest is working.
and you once again rocked your stress test - you passed during the first 5 minutes of the 20 minute test... you did some great movements and you were a busy little bee- which is exactly what we wanted!
keep being such a good girl - makes mom and dad feel so much better.. and makes bed rest so much easier knowing you are doing so well.
we'll see you again on tuesday... can't wait. love you baby girl.
you are currently hiccuping like crazy... you get them probably about 4 times a day - poor thing. you must get that from me... i have terrible hiccups - your dad and uncle kyle say i sound like a prehistoric raprtor. it's awesome. i hope these are a just an inside the belly thing for you... i'm not going to lie though... i kind of like it - it tickles but it's last for like 20 minutes each time and you get all frustrated - so i get lots of you and me time while you just hiccup and kick the heck out of me :) it's going to be weird when you are born becuase i'm soo excited to see you and hold you.. but i think i'm going to miss having you all to myself!!!
love you so much penelope...

a story for penelope

hey little lady... mom being on bed rest gives me plenty of time to fill you in on the past 8 months since you came into our lives. wanted to tell you about the day we found out we were pregnant with you. it was simultaneously the greatest and most terrifying day of your dad and i's life.
i remember we were going to go out that evening to our favorite dessert place, Harvest, for drinks and bread pudding to celebrate our six month wedding anniversary.
for some reason when i got home that day i had the urge to take a pregnancy test. i had taken a few the week before and they were both negative so i was pretty sure that there was no chance i was pregnant. maybe it was because we were going out for wine, or maybe it was the start of maternal instincts, but yep, it came back positive. and i'm pretty sure i just stared at that test for an hour. then for some reason i decided i needed to leave the house, wait an hour, then come back and take another. so gatsby and i went to the dog park and when i got back home - there it was again - another positive test. for some reason i didnt FEEL pregnant though - so i thought it was a false positive. i spent a ton of time on the internet searching false positives until i figured out that they pretty much don't exist. i couldnt wait for your dad to get home from work - so i called my friend michelle - and asked her if there were any such things at false positives.. then i think i did a lot of girlie laughing screaming crying and jumping around. decided i'd wrap up the tests and put them as a present for you dad for our anniversary ...looking back now the bag i used was pink - maybe that was the sign you were a girl! :) i also made frito casserole for dinner - classy huh? but it's a favorite of ours. when your dad finally got home i was going crazy! i had just been pacing all around the house. and then i pounced on him to open his presents.. i tried to act all nonchalant - turns out i'm terrible at that. he started to take the tissue paper out and then just stops and said "oh my god we are pregnant" and we both just stood there and stared at each other. two people who have never been at a loss for words could not figure out a single thing to say or do. we just sort of somehow made it through dinner, and just spent the rest of the night saying "oh my god" "i can't believe it" "oh my god." when we woke up the next morning we found we had left out all the dinner stuff.. the food was still on the stove, drinks still out of the fridge, i dont even think we remembered to feed poor gatsby... i guess that was the start of us losing our minds over you...

32 Weeks!

well miss penelope you are officially 32 weeks today and from the looks of the ultrasound and stress tests you are doing fantastic.
we are still getting prepared for you to be an early arrival - according to the dr. we will do our best to get you to 34 weeks but definatley will deliver you by 37. crazy to think you could be here in 2 weeks. maybe you and mom can be bday buddies :) that would be a fantastic birthday present for you to come out at 37 weeks...
but you looked so good during today's test and were actually cooperative for the first time during your stress test. the dr wants to see variations in your heartbeat of at least 15 beats between resting and active state and you gave her up to 30 beats - that's our little over achiever.
you of course gave the US tech some trouble - saw your little hands and feet kicking at the doppler like crazy any time she put pressure on my belly - you seem to hate being pushed. between that and your hiccups the poor girl had a bit of a hard time with you... then a student came in to try and do some practice on us - oh my goodness child - you were having none of it...
we will go back for our next stress test and bp check on friday and we get another ultrasound in two weeks to see how big you are and to see your pretty face again!!

love you baby girl!

April 26, 2010

hi penn - mom and dad here.

you have already started to show us how you intend to change our plans and our lives. mom is 32 weeks pregnant and you seem determined to make your appearance much earlier than the normal 40 weeks. guess you just can't wait to meet us.

mom is home on bed rest from now until hopefully at least 34 weeks, as the doctors want to keep you comfy and safe at least that long. hopefully you will be cooperative!

judging from what we know of you so far - that is unlikely though. you definatley have a mind of your own and distinct personality already.

a few thing's we've come to love about you already:

you keep us on our toes

you are stubbon as hell (clearly your mother's daughter)

you hate to be pressured.. whenever the drs do any sort of testings for contractions, heartbeat, etc and push on mom's stomach - you push back with a venegance.

you appear innocent - but we know better. your 31 week ultrasound is our favorite... little casper face looking straight at the screen like "what's the problem here guys?"

your big brother gatsby loves you too... he puts his paws on mom's belly sometimes.. we like to pretend he's looking out for you already.

we met with Dr. Laue today to discuss our path forward for bedrest and we are meeting the drs at st. johns tomorrow to take another look at you and see how you are going...

we will have a better idea of our options then.

for now - be a good girl and stay nice and safe in mom's belly... and keep growing big and strong.

as much as we can't wait to meet you and hold - it's not quite time yet.

love you penelope!

-mom and dad