First week of Bedrest

My first week of bedrest has already flown by. Yea! And our little girl is also showing her more cooperative side. :) From our ultrasound on Monday to our ultrasound on Thursday, she flipped around and is no longer in breech position. She is still a peanut with plenty of room to move, but let's hope she stays in that position.

What does bedrest mean for me?
For the most part, I am to stick to pretty much only shower/bathroom activity and moving from the couch to the kitchen to the bathroom. Short distances, not very frequently, and moving slowly. I am trying harder to take it easier. It's hard not to impulsively jump up to get something you want when you are used to doing that. I'm planning out my little trips in advance so I do everything while I am up, and I definitely am doing better about keeping my trips up and down the stairs to a minimum.

Doctor's appointments?
I go every 3 days pretty much, so we know we are being very cautiously monitored and well taken care of. We always get an ultrasound and a nonstress test. So far everything has been great and our little girl passes her tests with flying colors. She gets a rating out of 8 points each time. 8/8 on her last three quizzes. :)
Yesterday was lots of fun and the ultrasound technician gave us extra time to watch her. My friend Ashley was so gracious enough to be with me for the day and she got to enjoy all the fun of seeing an ultrasound for the first time.
Our little girl has a decent amount of hair already, slender feet, very long toes, high little arches and a round little face. Although its still hard to tell, up to this point Todd and I have seen more resemblances to me. He was SO excited to hear that she has his long toes, and they are definitely his toes! The 2nd one is longer than the first. :) It's crazy that we can see those things already.
Aside from our little girl, I am also doing well and noticing such differences from the bedrest. Blood pressure is remaining lower and steady, and no more swelling.
It's been an adjustment leaving work and my love for teaching so suddenly and earlier than expected, but it wasn't as stressful as I may have expected.

Many, Many Thanks!
Todd and I want to give a HUGE heartfelt thanks for all the well wishes, positive thoughts, prayers, phone calls, cards, gifts and assistance that our family and friends have offered. We are so blessed and so fortunate to have such a supportive and loving family, and our friends who are like family.
With all of the doctor's appointments, my restricted bedrest, and the chance that things can change for me very quickly, we especially want to thank those that have offered to accompany and take me to our appointments. Many of our appointments have been during the day so far, and it has helped Todd not need to take too much time off of work, allowing him more time with baby when she is here and a little less stress too. Thank you Aunt Jodi, Ashley, and Heather!

I received some cards from my class the other day.
Below are just a couple.
(Click on them to see them larger)



(Don't you like how that one has me, baby (labeled), and Lucy all in bed. :))



34 weeks on Monday.
We will continue to keep you updated.

Our sincere appreciation for your positive thoughts and prayers.
Love, Lisa & Todd

Baby & Mama Update

We are rounding the corner of 33 weeks. Each week is a blessing. This little one is giving us a run for our money. :) This week was no exception. I was again having kidney related pain prompting me to leave work early on Wednesday and take off Thursday (likely kidney stone related again). Then we had an ultrasound and high-risk appt. on Thursday as well. I have been diagnosed with preeclampsia, which puts us at great risk to have the baby anytime now or possibly in the next few weeks. Either way the doctor made us believe there is a high possibility we would not make it to 37 weeks. Preeclampsia does pose more possible health risks for both of us, and the only cure if it becomes severe is for immediate delivery. I have received steroid shots to help speed up baby's development.
Our biggest goal is to make it to Valentine's Day, putting us at 36 weeks and we will be thrilled. However each passing day and week is a blessing in itself and we are grateful. According to the ultrasound she is still a peanut, just at about 4 lbs. 3oz. She passed all her tests very well (movement, practice breathing, growth). She is still head up in breech position, just to show how stubborn she is. :)
I have been ordered right away to bedrest, so that makes this past Wednesday my last day of work. Just trying to relax and stay off my feet as much as possible. I'm sure in a week I'll be needing things to keep me busy, so if you have any good books or magazines to pass my way, I'd happily accept. Otherwise, please just keep our little family in your positive thoughts and prayers.

Love, Lisa and Todd

Already a girly girl :)

She's not even here yet, but she is already a little girly girl. My mom has had some fun making some ADORABLE little hats for her. Here are a few:




And my sister was busy making these precious little hats as well...



(unplanned, but our little girl snuck her way into that picture, hence the big belly at the bottom :)

With a grandma and auntie like this, she is bound to be one well-accessorized little girl.


Other updates this week:
Baby girl Weimer is now at 32 weeks. (We are getting anxious to actually call her by name to everyone!)
Several doctor appointments each week now, everything is going well. This upcoming week will give us more information with an ultrasound coming up.
The baby room is awaiting one more piece of furniture and a few finishing touches, including some artwork by her two little cousins, and then we will be able to post a little video tour (with our new x-mas video camera).

Todd is working on his referee certification this month so that he can pick up a little extra income on the occasional weekends refereeing at volleyball tournaments. I love that it is a job he can go to, still enjoy, but come home and just be with his family. Our jobs teaching & coaching are both already such time-consuming professions that require a lot of time outside of our work day, and they are always on our minds. We often don't get that typical break where we are not "working".

I am trying to stay off my feet as much as I can, following doctor's orders. Our house isn't the cleanest, but oh well, at least my ankles don't look quite like an elephant's anymore.

I don't know what I would do without my amazing husband. He is the ultimate caregiver and has done so incredibly much to take care of us. I know I am the luckiest girl in the world.

After our little hospital visit last weekend, every moment that this little girl keeps baking we are so extremely grateful.
In the meantime, Lucy is enjoying being the only little baby of the house for just a little while longer.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Love, Lisa & Todd

Our First Hospital Adventure

Adventure may not be the right word, it makes it sound exciting and interesting. However, I didn't want anyone to be scared or worried if I titled it otherwise.

Early Friday morning Todd and I made our first trip to the Hospital, and hopefully the only one until March. I was up about midnight on one of many regular trips to the bathroom and realized I had an aching pain on the right side of my back. It quickly progressed into sharp shooting pains on the right side of my back that started to migrate their way around my side to the front of my stomach and I also felt tremendous pressure. I started getting sick and then woke up Todd right away knowing it wasn't something that seemed to be going away. I was mostly concerned that it was starting to affect the baby or cause contractions. We got dressed right away and headed straight to Maternity at Delnor Hospital by 2:30am. Me the nervous one, Todd the cool, calm and collected one. At that time, I didn't have any idea what it was, I was just worried it was going to induce labor and our little one still has some cooking to do. (We are at 31 weeks.) I also this past week am now considered high risk (with gestational hypertension and gestational diabetes) so I knew that upped my risks of going into labor early with any other complications.

We made it to the hospital and were set up in labor and delivery. Everything with baby seemed great. The nurses seemed to think that I had "that look", apparently the look of someone who was experiencing a kidney stone. That possibility had not even crossed my mind, but when they told me I was not surprised at all. It runs on my "Dalton" family side and my poor sister has had this look many times, I think she is nearing the double digits. The pain lasted until about 4:30-5am when they started to get fluids in me, I was extremely dehydrated (it took many attempts to get an IV set up). The pain immediately went away, so I did not need any pain meds. After that I was in the best mood and so grateful for what it feels like to be pain-free. I don't think I've had many pain-induced experiences, when the nurse asked me to rate my pain on a scale of one to ten when we arrived I had no idea how to compare it to anything, so it became "ummm....5, nope nope 6!". After the pain subsided I was cheery, happy and enjoying my restful accommodations. We had an ultrasound to check for kidney stones and was shortly released after that and everything looked okay. We left with somewhat of an inconclusive result however it was highly probable it was a stone and dehydration. So, you can imagine how much water I have been downing since. :)

Health update: I am now considered high-risk, but no reason for worry, just being monitored more closely. Gestational hypertension is pregnancy induced high-blood pressure. Gestational diabetes is pregnancy induced high blood sugar. Both are just how my body is responding to pregnancy. Gestational diabetes puts very little risk to baby, and may cause her pancreas to work a little harder if the blood sugar is not maintained. Gestational hypertension does pose more risks as they are monitoring me closely for preeclampsia. The high blood pressure is the greater concern, and the doctor has made it clear to stay off my feet as much as I can and to be prepared for possible bedrest. However, everything is going fine so far. :) Both conditions will only resume for the length of the pregnancy, doctors have said I fit into that category where they know both will be gone right after delivery.

Our little girl: While mom is all over the place, she is staying quite consistent. :) Her heartrate is always 158-160. Still a little active monkey, as the nurses call her because she is often hard to find to get a heartbeat read on. She is still pretty small and not into position yet, as she continues to perform regular flips. This leads us to believe we are not in store for a big baby (yet). We will be able to find out more as now we will have more ultrasounds to monitor everything closely from here on out.

So all is well :)
Looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

XOXO Todd & Lisa

Happy 2011!

It is hard to believe that 2011 is already here, especially knowing our little one will be here before we know it. We had a very quiet New Year's Eve at home, that consisted of watching a few movies and being cuddled up on the couch. (Well, I was moving around a lot because I definitely hit that hard to get or stay comfortable stage.) It also included setting our phone alarm for 11:45 so we could wake up for the official ringing in the new year because we knew we would never make it! :)
About halfway through watching The A-Team (which we really enjoyed if you haven't seen it yet) we noticed something was wrong. Our little Lucy was not with us! She always is, and if we are cuddled up on the couch, she is cuddled up on the couch with us. This led to pausing the movie to investigate. We headed upstairs to find...



...that's right, she thinks this new little room is for her. :)
Some of us will have some big changes to adjust to in 2011.

The baby room has been a work in progress this week. When it is finally complete we will post pics.

Hope you had a wonderful New Year's!
xoxo Lisa & Todd