9 -9-09 at 9am

Yes, the 9's seem to be prevailing. Thankfully, I have no issues with the number 9!

I saw the doctor today and he seems confident that I can make it until next week's scheduled c-section. I was 3 cm dilated today, which is only 2 cm more than two weeks ago, so I feel a little more confident we will actually make it, too. I did see my favorite doctor today and though we had to wait an hour and a half, he was still thorough, even though it was after 5pm. We didn't end up leaving the office until after 6pm. He made sure my Beta Strep test was taken and all the pre-op paperwork was filled out. He did say I do not have to have an amniocentesis before the c-section, so I was very glad about that. He said you won't make it much past next week anyway, so I don't see the point in doing an amnio.

Melody looked great on the NST once again, and I only had a couple contractions in the half hour, which is about normal for me right now. I'll return on Thursday for my last NST and then on Tuesday morning for an anesthesia consult and bloodwork. My c-section wil be on the 9th at 9am unless something changes.

At this point, I will not be surprised if Melody arrives earlier than that, but I won't be surprised if she waits, either. I'll just try and be patient and wait and see.

My Mom and Dad plan to arrive tomorrow afternoon, so we are looking forward to that. I'm just trying to enjoy the time to get a few things done before Melody's arrival. But, for the most part, all I want to do is sleep.

2 Posts in a Day!

For an update, see the following post. This is a family update in pictures. In my perfect world I'd grace my blog with pictures daily. But, since my world is not perfect, you'll just have to take them when you can get them. :)

Did I mention Joel currently has a fascination with tape? This was not a form of punishment, he did it to himself!

LEGO City, which I previously blogged about, has grown from this:

To this:

First Day of School Celebratory Breakfast. Pancakes and sausage. I was in the doghouse for not putting chocolate chips in the pancakes for the first time. Oh, the horror!

My valiant attempt to get all four kids together on the first day of school.

Elizabeth doing her 4th grade work. Math wrap-ups.

David doing his schoolwork. Just look at the enthusiasm on his face! Can you say 6th grade?

Hannah is a diligent 2nd grader.

If I could discover a way to bottle the enthusiasm with which Joel approaches school work and taking out the trash and give it to middle schoolers, I'd be rich!

10 Days and Counting

Nope, no baby this weekend. I have heard from a few of you calling and emailing saying, no blog, does that mean you had the baby? Friday and Saturday I have feel completely exhausted and depressed. Just ready to have this baby and have my body back.

Today was a wonderful change. I felt better. That was a blessing as today was our MOMS Club Workshop. I am an international volunteer with MOMS Club and this is a once a year event where all the MOMS Club board members from Clubs all around the area come for training and fun. There were about 200 moms from most of the 52 clubs in our region. I thought the day was awesome, and I take no credit for it as I really didn't do any of the planning. I wasn't sure I'd even make it to the event. I had a wonderful time with the rest of the MOMS Club volunteers and we went out for dinner afterward. As if we needed more food! I am blessed to know these moms and be able to spend time with them. It was fun and encouraging. They really are amazing women.

Tomorrow we will head to the doctor in the afternoon. I have a couple of appointments and apparently one will count as my pre-op for the scheduled c-section on the 9th. We will see what the doctors find tomorrow and if there is any reason to hurry up the delivery date. I kind of hope so, but know that each week is probably better for Melody and I really can hang on 10 more days, right?

12 Days

I have 12 days at the most to go before Melody's arrival. Today I would prefer it to be less! However, we are really hoping Melody does not arrive over the weekend. They are just not a good time for Melody to get the care she needs. Monday I will return to the doctor for a non-stress test, regular OB appointment, and my pre-op for the c-section. We'll see how things look then.

I'm thankful we've made it through the first week of school. The kids now have a pretty good idea of what they need to do daily and that will help in the future. Kevin is really busy with work, so he is hoping to get a lot done this weekend. I should just try to enjoy the weekend, but really I am so uncomfortable most of the time, that enjoyment is just not what I am feeling.

September 9th!

The doctors have put their schedules together and they have decided to do the c-section on September 9th. I will have a my pre-op on the 31st when I have my next appointment scheduled. On the 8th they will do bloodwork and the amniocentisis to make sure Melody's lungs are developed enough to do the c-section. At least, these are the doctors plans as of today.

I'm not very confident this plan will work out. They keep saying "we don't want you contracting at home," but that is exactly what I have been doing. Today my lower back muscles are all tensed up from the contractions and my belly is sore. I haven't slept well the last two nights. Since about 3pm contractions have been between 2-4/hour. It is hard to tell if they are increasing in intensity.

I do have an NST test in the morning, so we will see what they observe on the test. I will talk with them further then if I am still concerned.

So, September 9th will be Melody's birthday unless she decides she'd prefer another date. Elizabeth would have arrived yesterday and Hannah would have arrived today, so we'll see if Melody continues that trend and decides to arrive tomorrow. I think that is why I'm more anxious right now. If we make it past this week, I may relax a bit and be more confident Melody will wait until the 9th.

My parents leave Idaho on Friday and will be here on the 2nd. So, we may all be hanging out for a week or so.

Reason for Praise

Today was Hannah's follow up ENT visit and we are rejoicing as we need to do NOTHING for now! The ENT said we can do surgery down the road if she keeps getting repeated infections of the cyst, or if it cosmetically bothers her, but for now it looks fine. She was excited, as are we. You can still see a small bump on her throat and she says it moves when she swallows, but it doesn't really bother her. So, for now we will just let it be. I'm breathing a big sigh of relief!

Today we also began our first day of school. It went fine, though I always forget how much work it is to get back into the routine. There were mostly complaints about the lack of television today. For our child who doesn't like change, the change to a new grade and new books was challenging, but we made it. Joel was the most excited to do his "school work."

I had 3 doctor appointments this afternoon. Melody continues to look really good. She has packed on the pounds in the last 2 weeks and they now estimate her to be 5 pounds 10 ounces! She also went from about the 13 percentile in size to about the 38th, so the doctor was very pleased with her growth.

I think I have the most ADD or scatterbrained OB doctor on the planet. Kevin is getting really nervous about this guy doing surgery! He asks the same questions every time. Are we doing a c-section or vaginal delivery? Hello, we've been talking about a c-section since 20 weeks! Anyway, I tried to get him to schedule the c-section for next week (which of course I had to remind him HE had originally discussed). He put a call in to the neurosurgeon as it won't do any good to schedule the c-section if the neurosurgeon is not available. We were unable to reach him while I was there, but hopefully when I go in for my NST Thursday morning the neurosurgeon will have given a good date for him to do the surgery. We were discussing many things as I followed him around the clinic (literally) and he dropped files, paperwork, etc. on different nurses desks. The looks on their faces is like, "the cyclone has arrived." Kevin said he reminds him of Robin Williams in the movie 9 months! It would be quite comical if we weren't trying to accomplish fairly serious matters. As I was making appointments for next week and we were discussing several issues, he says "but you're not going to go into labor because we're doing a c-section!" So in front of God and everyone else in the nurses station and the receptionists and patients checking out, I reminded him, "you are hoping I don't go into labor. That is why we are having this conversation!"

Needless to say, we are a bit frustrated. I'm hoping the neurosurgeon will give an acceptable date for next week. I'm just not sure the doctor will accurately explain why we should do it before 39 weeks which is the norm. The week after next is Labor Day, and I already know they are nervous about doing it that week. The following week I'll be 39 weeks and I think that is really pushing it to just hope Melody doesn't decide to arrive on her own before then. All of our children have arrived by 39 weeks. The boys almost exactly to the day. Of course, Melody could always just put an end to all this conversation and frustration by arriving anytime.

Hospital Run

Today was our first hospital run. I woke up about 3:45 and began having contractions. First 10 minutes apart, and then 6-7 minutes. I have been told to come in if I have more than 4/hour. This obviously was, so we began to get ready about an hour into this. They seemed to space out more as I moved around, but still kept coming. The nurse said we needed to come in, so about 6:30am we headed to the hospital. Thankfully, Carla was here to stay with the kids.

When we arrived they hooked me up to monitor contractions. They continued the whole two hours we were there at a rate of about 6/hour. Most were fairly small, but they were there. I was only dilated 1cm and this did not change over the 2 hours we were there. Based on that, the doctor felt we were safe to come home. I am to take it easy, but not on total bedrest. As we left the nurse said she thought she'd see us within a week. We'll see if she is right!

Throughout today contractions have continued, though I haven't really been recording them. I can ignore the smaller ones when I am keeping busy, though I still am having a couple bigger ones each hour. Melody is extremely active and sometimes her movements are pretty painful as she seems to stretch out and push on things, so it is easy to confuse these with contractions sometimes.

This is what happened with Joel. The "false" labor for weeks before he arrived. Pray for stamina for me, as it is really tiring. My back muscles are all tight and my belly muscles are so sore from contracting. Then at night I don't sleep well as I get woken up by a contraction and then end up awake for awhile counting the spacing. I have sympathy for women who are overdue with their babies, though I have never experienced it. But, these contractions for weeks before the baby is due are no fun.

The doctors really don't want to have me in an emergency c-section situation, so they want me to play it more conservatively as far as coming in. This is difficult to do with the contractions I'm having. Pray for wisdom as we really don't want to have to do the middle of the night runs again until the real deal. The doctor did send home a RX of terbutaline which he said I can take if contractions begin. He said if the medicine works to stop contractions, it is false labor. If it doesn't stop them, we know it is real. We hope the medicine might be a choice rather than having to go to the doctor, but I am not really excited about taking it at all.

Tonight I'm just hoping to sleep well. I'm tired.

Happy at Home

One thing I am extremely thankful for is that our children are so happy at home. They've been home all week, except for swim lessons once. I haven't heard one complaint. For the past two days they have been building LEGO City. Here is a picture of it in it's infancy.



LEGO City is much larger now and the latest additions are a drive-in movie theater and a swimming pool. They are trying to convince me that they need to buy sets for the city, but I am really enjoying their creativity with the LEGOS they have. They have all been involved and except for the times when Joel decides the city needs to be "bombed," they have been getting along beautifully.

Now, I know there are Moms who run around with their children all the time. I am not that mother, even when I'm not 8 months pregnant. Right now, I'm really thankful they aren't used to running all the time and being entertained.

Today I just decided to rest. Part of that was that I had contractions at the rate of 3/hour for 2 hours this morning and I have been told to go to the hospital if that becomes 4 an hour. At this point I'd like to avoid the hospital, so I thought resting was a good choice.

I also decided not to call the doctor. We prayed about it and decided if he called us, we'd take it from there. No one returned any of our messages today, either. As taking a wait and see approach was one of the options, we've decided that is what we will do. Hannah has now been 2 full days without antibiotics. The cyst is smaller than Sunday and Monday and she is in no pain and has no other symptoms. We'll see what the ENT says on Monday, but for now we will wait. I was worried she would get a lot worse and we would regret waiting, but so far that has not happened. Continue to pray with us for healing for Hannah's cyst. We are waiting upon the Lord and He is renewing us. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Tomorrow?

Today was a frustrating day. The hospital never called. I left a message at 12:30pm which was never returned. After calling several times I finally reached a person at about 4pm and she told me that had received no direct admit paperwork for Hannah. I then left messages for her doctor and the doctor's nurse, but neither of those calls were returned, either. So, I guess I really don't know what is happening. I'm hoping the doctor will call me first thing in the morning.

The kids played "city" with their lego all day long, literally! I had to drag them out the door to swim lessons. I got lots accomplished today, especially for school to begin next week. So, it was a productive day despite the frustrations. I have all the people waiting to watch the kids today and tomorrow, so they have all been in limbo, too.

Pray for wisdom tomorrow as we speak with the doctor and decide what to do. At this point I'm praying for the Lord to heal her. I'm praying that if/when we go in, they will send her home as they cyst will have shrunk on its own. She is off antibiotics as they were supposed to give her IV ones at the hospital.

Heading to the Hospital

Tomorrow we will be admitting Hannah to the hospital. The doctor gave us a choice, watch the cyst carefully at home, or go ahead and admit her so they can do IV antibiotics. The fact that the cyst has grown is indication that the oral antibiotics are not strong enough. The cyst is in her neck, so the concern is if it cuts off her air way, impedes swallowing, or impedes her vocal ability. Obviously, these are not things to mess around with. Based on the fact that I will be 36 weeks next week (which is when both the other girls arrived) we felt it might be better to admit her now. If we waited for the ENT visit Monday, we could end up in the hospital next week. We did ask they not call us in the middle of the night, but in the morning when a bed opens up. I'm hoping fairly early tomorrow we can get in. Going this route we will see an ENT tomorrow or Wednesday, they'll start her on IV antibiotics immediately and we'll know if draining or surgery are needed much faster.

Hannah is being a real trooper and handling everything very well so far. She is even talking about being brave when they put in the IV tomorrow. Pray that she really is. She happily packed her little bag and is all ready to go. She feels great and doesn't have a fever or really any other symptoms except a little trouble swallowing. We have child care for the other 3 covered for the next two days and then we'll see what the future holds from there. The plan is for Kevin and I to both go and get her settled and Kevin to stay until they at least have the IV in. Kevin will work tomorrow and then trade places with me at the hospital and he will stay the night with Hannah.

My appointments went fine today, too. They did measure a large contraction and a couple smaller ones on the NST today, which I think was the first time. I have had them, just not during the test. I have had a couple contractions per hour tonight, but I'm hoping it is just stress and they will slow down. But, I will be only a couple floors from where I need to be tomorrow, just in case! Melody is still measuring small for her gestational age, but I'm not surprised. I'll have another NST Thursday morning.

I am doing much better emotionally today, so I am praying for continued peace throughout tomorrow. Thanks for all your prayers and offers of help.

Tomorrow's Doctor Agenda

It looks like I'll be calling Hannah's doctor first thing in the morning. She woke up this morning and said, "my cyst is big again." My first thought was, I sure hope she is wrong, but she was not. It is not painful, but it is definitely growing. I suspect they might decide to drain it. Pray for us tomorrow as this was definitely not in my plans for the week.

I have a NST and a regular OB appointment in the afternoon as well. I don't expect anything earth shattering at either of those, but you never know.

I am trying and failing at not being overwhelmed with life. All the events coming up in the next few weeks are stressing me out. I have no control over them and I know I must go through them, but I am not looking forward to them. I'm just trying to remember that God doesn't promise that we won't walk through the "fire" but that He will walk through it with us.

Psalm 23:4
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

August Adventures

Hannah invented a "board game" which Mommy & the Melody belly are playing with her. The books all over the floor are the path.



Hannah's swollen neck from the cyst. This is what she looked like last Saturday. Continue to pray for her as the cyst appears bigger again this morning. That is not good after 7 days of antibiotics.



Elizabeth's new camera. This was her birthday present. It goes with her everywhere and she uses it all the time.

Joel jumps into the pool. He still protests, but he jumps.

Joel and Hannah at swimming lessons.

Hannah jumping into the pool. This is nothing short of miraculous. She now loves swim lessons and can swim across the short width of the pool by herself.

Elizabeth and David practicing the backstroke.

Another Doctor Day

Tomorrow we will head out early. First stop, Hannah's pediatrician to check on her cyst infection. Lord willing, they will find it remarkably better, or they may decide to hospitalize her. She is still a bit swollen, but not near like Saturday. The cyst is painful and hard to the touch. I'm hopeful we won't need to do the hospital route.

Then we will go to the hospital for a consult with the NICU team. We have a lot of questions about what to expect with a baby in the NICU for a couple weeks.

Finally, we'll have my non-stress test where we hope Melody will continue to be her usual active self and make her required heart accelerations in a small amount of time. If all goes well we can be home by naptime.

The patient relations representative at the Loma Linda was wonderful. She was able to clear up the insurance issue. (Yes, we have our current insurance through Sept. 1) She also had the ENT office call me within minutes. They were very nice and apologetic about the day before though it really isn't their fault if the computer gives them faulty information. Hannah now has an ENT appointment on the 24th. Her pedicatrician spent several minutes on the phone discussing the thyroglossal cyst. She feels that for now, we focus on getting rid of the infection before Melody arrives. The cyst will most likely need to be removed, but the ENT will decide that. It sounds like that will be elective, in which case we will probably try and do it over Christmas when the kids have 3 weeks off of school and Kevin is less busy at work. Not to mention, Melody will be much older.

Melody's Growth and Great Frustrations

This afternoon we had a NST, doctor visit and ultrasound. Melody is estimated to be about 4 pounds, so that is over 1 pound growth in the last two weeks. She continues to measure very small (not even in the 5%), but the doctor was encouraged that her growth continued upward. Her head is measuring the smallest, which is interesting as it could be very enlarged from hydrocephaly. All else looked as it should at the appoinments. We will return Thursday for another NST and a consulation with the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit).

This morning took me from a completely relaxed state after our two nights away to completely stressed out. I simply attempted to call the ENT and schedule Hannah for her visit this week as specified by urgent care. I also have a referral for this appointment. However, the ENT office informs me that out children's medical insurance was no longer effective as of JULY 1st! No, I tell them, that is not true. I just went through all this yesterday with the pharmacy. Apparently, Loma Linda has decided they no longer accept out insurance. However, I have been told that occurs on Aug. 1st, then Sept. 1st and now July 1st. I have already put in a request with CA Healthly Families to change our children's insurance to one Loma Linda DOES accept, however, that does not happen until Sept. Anyway, they refused to make me an appointment and wouldn't even let me pay cash for one as my kids are on a state program and they could get into trouble for accepting cash. So... I am still trying to sort the whole mess out. Blue Cross says I have an EPO, and can see any doctor I wish. I was especially irritated that Hannah's pediatrician and the provider relations person at Loma Linda did not deem it necessary to call us back today.

Pray for me as I hit the phones again in the morning. I am in tears in short order, which doesn't help me to calmly and rationally explain and work with the insurance company and doctors. Pray that they will return calls and that this can be sorted out. I think I can take Hannah to an ENT in Riverside with our insurance, but I know transferring her CT scans, etc from Saturday will be another huge mess. And then, if this becomes an on-going issues, she will have been seen initially by a doctor who won't be following up with her. Due to Melody's needs we have to be with Loma Linda for the Spina Bifida clinic and all the kids have to have the same provider.

Hannah's neck is still swollen, though it is smaller. I had hoped it would look better than it does by now. It is very hard and painful to the touch. She is not eating well as swallowing hurts her. I would really like to talk with a doctor this week and find out what their plan is. I have no idea if this is something that can wait or if it is more urgent. Of course, if it doesn't get smaller and clear up with the antibiotics, then it is more urgent.

To be like you

As a Christian, it is our calling and desire to be Christ-like in all we do. Of course, I'll never meet that perfection, but He is our example in love, faith and actions. Sometimes it is hard to think I could ever be anything like Christ. He is God, after all.

Then, there are times in life when God blesses you with people who exemplify Christ in their lives. Times when you realize, you're seeing Christ-likeness in someone else. Someone human just like you. When you see that, it blesses you completely.

This week we were once again blessed by some people who have shown us Christ's love. They love, give and encourage in ways that bless us so much. We are humbled and incredibly grateful to be on the receiving end of their faith in action. Not all who claim the name of Christ truly exemplify Him, but this week we have been on the receiving end of the faith in action of dear friends who truly know what it means to be Christ-like. God bless you as you have blessed us.

Hannah's Turn

Hannah awoke this morning with her throat swollen. She looked like she had the mumps. She had a mild cold and had said her throat was hurting and swollen yesterday, but I thought it was just her lymph nodes swollen from the cold. I took one look at her this morning and knew I had never seen anything like that before and so off to urgent care we must go.

Kevin took Hannah and left about 8:30am for urgent care. Kevin's Mom arrived about 9 am to stay with the boys, and Elizabeth and I left soon after to attend Ben and Sara's wedding. ( a couple from our church)

Kevin and I stayed in cell phone contact throughout the day. It took Kevin and 3 nurses to hold Hannah down while they inserted a heplock. Unfortunately, the nurse thought it would help if she told Hannah in great detail what was about to happen. They took blood to test for infection and then inserted dye in order to do a CT scan. The final result is that Hannah has a 2 cm thyroglossal cyst. Since she had the heplock in, they administered IV antibiotics and sent her home with a strong antibiotic perscription. We are to follow up next week with an ENT (ear, nose and throat doctor). The did tell Kevin it was not lymphoma as the shape is wrong. I am just glad I didn't know that is what they were looking for! Pray that it will shrink with the antibiotics. A quick Google search of "tyroglossal cyst" has told us that this was probably there since birth, but for some reason became infected. I'm assuming it was the cold she currently has. We were under the impression that they antibiotics would clear up the infection and therefore the issue. However, it sounds like surgery is often necessary to remove these. That is NOT what I need to hear or deal with right now. Please pray for us as we meet with the ENT next week. That Hannah will heal quickly, and that surgery will not be necessary.

Hannah wanted to come to the wedding after the doctor, and since the reception was nearby, Kevin and Hannah arrived as everything was wrapping up. But, they did get in on the In and Out burgers served at the wedding and of course, the cake.

I left the girls with Kevin and went to fill Hannah's perscription. The pharmacy then informs me that our children's medical insurance has been cancelled! I asked if I could just pay cash for the antibiotic, but as it was almost $150 we made some phone calls to insurance and were able to figure it out. Apparently we have new insurance numbers, but they have failed to send me new cards. Can anything be easy these days?

So, now the kids are all with Miss Carla, bless her heart. Kevin and I had already planned to be away for a couple of nights. Hannah said she was fine to be with Carla, so we decided to go ahead and go as who knows when we'll be able to do this again. We are near home, but in a hotel for a couple of nights. I'm trying to reduce the number of stress hormones I'm sharing with Melody!

Short and Sweet

Melody looked great again in today's non-stress test. I was only there one hour, so that was a wonderful change. We'll return on Monday for the next non-stress test, ultrasound and doctor appointment.

Early September?

Today was another full day at the doctor. The most exciting news is that the doctor said he'd do an amniocentesis about Sept. 2 and if Melody's lungs are developed enough, do the c-section the next day. That means she could be here in one month! That would be doing the c-section at 37 weeks, which is the earliest considered "term."

We had a non-stress test (NST) first upon arriving at the doctors. They are checking Melody's heartbeat, movement and for contractions. Also, they check amniotic fluid levels. Melody was her truly active self, so gave them great readings and a round of hiccups, too. My fluid level was 12.1, which I would have no reference for, but after hearing the other patient next to me sent to Labor and delivery with fluid levels at 4.1, I have a bit more of a reference point.

We returned to the waiting room to wait for the scheduled ultrasound. Over one hour later a doctor emerged and told us it had only been 10 days from my last one, and it needs to be at least 2 weeks, so we would need to wait until next week. Fine with me, but couldn't we have figured this out BEFORE the hour plus wait?

We then only had to have my checkup before leaving, but apparently the doctor seeing patients (not to be confused with the doctor doing ultrasounds) had left for some reason. So... we waited another good long time for his return. When he finally saw us it was 4:45 and we had arrived for this whole ordeal at 1:30.

I had hoped to get out of the NST scheduled for Thursday with the great results of today, but no such luck. I will have NST's Mondays and Thursdays until Melody arrives. The doctor is still concerned about Melody's size, and since we can't confirm growth with an ultrasound until next week, NST's will rule out problems in the meantime. Fluid levels are a good indicator of whether the baby is continuing to grow or not. Apparently, if fluid levels drop, the baby may not be growing appropriately.

As long as Melody's NST's and ultrasound continue to show appropriate growth and fluid levels, we will go with the 37 week c-section plan. If there is a problem with anything on the NST, I could be sent to labor and delivery for a c-section at any time. I plan to go to the one on Thursday by myself and figure I can always call Kevin if they decide to admit me.

Personally, I am not worried about Melody's growth. When I was pregnant with Elizabeth, this was their concern and they even had the entire neo-natal team in the delivery room when she arrived 4 weeks early. She arrived with 9 and 10 apgar scores and we were home from the hospital the next day! We do have some pretty short/small genes in our family, so I figure Melody inherited those.

The 37- week c-section plan comes from my history of pre-term labor. Both girls were born at 36 weeks. The doctor seems a bit concerned that Melody will arrive before her scheduled c-section, and the is one of our concerns as well. It is best for Melody if she is delivered before I go into labor and with the neurosurgeon prepared to do the closure surgery soon after. Of course, we can go with and emergency c-section plan, but that is not best.

Anyway, my prayer is that I will make it to early September. I would love to have the c-section without having any labor. Hannah's c-section was performed when I was already in quite a bit of pain. I think I was in transition labor. I'd prefer to avoid that!

Birthday and Baby Shower

This weekend was fun and busy. It started with Elizabeth's "Half-Sleepover" on Friday night. We ended up with 6 girls (including our 2) which was a really nice size. She had invited only friends from school as I knew I couldn't handle a huge party. We decorated pillow cases, ate pizza and doritos, decorated sugar cookies, played hide and seek with glowsticks in the dark, and watched the movie, Kit Kitteridge American Girl. Parents picked up the girls abour 10:30 and they were all excited about staying up late. It was a really nice evening.

Decorating Pillow Cases

Mikaela, Hannah, Katy, Savannah, Emily & Elizabeth

Me and my "Melody Belly"

Saturday was a baby shower hosted by the ladies of Missio Dei, our church. Elizabeth was so excited to have it on her actual birthday. She even got to go shopping for a new outfit with Miss Carla on the way. It was a wonderful shower and I feel abundantly blessed.

It feels almost criminal to have a baby shower when you are having your 5th child, so I have been dragging my heels about letting them plan one. But, they did spare my the measure your belly game, per my request, so what do I really have to complain about?

I learned a few things, too.

1) People WANT to help, and this is one way they can help. Let them!

2) Carrying a child with special needs and an unknown future is a very lonely place. Being blessed at a shower takes some of the loneliness away.

3) Getting lots of cute pink, new items is fun and brings back some of the normalcy I long for in this pregnancy.

Hannah & Grandma Allen

Lovely Ladies

Margie, Connie, Judy and Sheri