Another Lake Weekend

This past weekend we headed to Innsbrooke again to spend the day and night relaxing at the lake. Brooke got some great one-on-one time with Grandma & Grandpa and was spolied as usual. Too bad that she woke up ready to go at 2:00 a.m. looking for Bella and ready to play. I think that we are going to have to go out there even more often to get her used to sleeping the entire night!

Brooke LOVED playing at the dock with the river rocks.

Brooke DID NOT love the life jacket that Grandma bought her. It was hysterical to watch her try and move in it-poor thing would fall down and not be able to get up or even roll over!! I think that we are going to have to get her the life jacket/swim suit combo.

Deperatly trying to escape from the jacket-totally claustrophobic at this point.

Moving on to Jack's life jacket. Roomy-but at least you can see her neck and she can breath.

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa J for having us!!

The NICEST Surprise

I was having 'one of those' days. I have been feeling so guilty. Guilty because I am not able to do as much with Brooke. Guilty because sometimes (like today) I do a bit more then I should-when I know that I should be taking it easy for myself and the baby. I decided to run out-just for a second-with Brooke and pick up some finger paints and some new shoes for Brooke (she was in a size 5 and measured a size 6.5..ouch). Both stores are minutes from our house and neither errand would take too long. We were gone a total of 45 minutes-maybe-but still, I felt bad for having run around town-I should know better....So-I was just having one of those down days.

I got a call from a friend-Katie-saying she was going to stop by. When she arrived at my door, she had this basket filled with 7 books and 4 DVD's all put together by my friends. It was to help me pass this bed-rest time-I was SOOOO incredibly EXCITED and SURPRISED and EXCITED and kind of wanted to cry I'm not going to lie... I must be so lucky to have the nicest friends. I don't think that I can totally express what it meant to me-and of all days today-to know that my friends are thinking about me and would do such a thoughtfull and generous thing. I have MANY hours of reading and watching to catch up on and I cannot wait. Thank you SO much to all of my friends that did this for me-you don't know how much it means :)

Appointment #2

Today was ultrasound day. I was looking forward to seeing what was going on up on the big screen. As expected, my friend the blood clot was still there. I was hoping that it would be the same size or smaller then our last appointment two weeks ago and it did measure the same size! Yes, a part of me was really hoping that it would have been smaller, but I am not going to complain. It could have grown, but it didn't-very good news. The baby-on the other hand-has grown (along with everything else)!! The little one measured right on target for our dates (16 weeks today) and my doctor was very pleased. Overall it was a good appointment and we will go back in two weeks to check in on the size of the blood clot and (again) will be praying that it is the same size or smaller. We go back (again) two weeks after that for the BIG u/s (at 20 weeks) and follow up on the blood clot again. So, I will remain on moderate bed rest for at least the next two weeks and maybe longer, but we are going to take it day-by-day. Maybe Gary will get some huge promotion and I will just stay home all the time :) Maybe not.....

Ok-not the best quality pictures, but I don't have a scanner at home that is easily accessible, so I had to take a picture of the picture. Seriously, though, what a difference two weeks makes!

14 week ultrasound

16 week ultrasound

One additional discovery at the ultrasound was whether Brooke was going to have a baby brother or a baby sister. Well, 60% of you were correct...Brooke will have a little sister this December! We are very excited and obviously would have been thrilled with a boy or a girl, but I think that Brooke will be pretty pumped to have a little sister to boss around :)

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers-keep them coming :)

1 Appointment Down, 1 Appointment to Go

I had my first of two doctors appointments this morning. I was not expecting to learn too much since we had not done an ultrasound yet. My doctor did let me know that from what he could tell, I was right on target in terms of growth-it is obvious if you look at the 5 pounds of fabulousness that I am currently carrying directly in front of me. He did let me know that 'typically' these things take 1-2 months to clear themselves up. As long as we keep an eye on the blood clot and the baby continues to grow, he feels very positive about the outcome. Yes, there is always a very small chance that something could go wrong, however, he chooses not to focus on that, but to keep the healthy outcome in mind. I am trying to figure out how I can think like him all of the time.....

We are pretty positive that tomorrow we will see the blood clot on the u/s, however, we are planning on seeing one that is 4cm or smaller-that is the goal. I am also planning on finding out if I am going to have to buy anything new or if Brooke's apparel will work just fine. Care to place a wager?? I decided to try a poll-let me know what you think!

In other news, we have to go to our other DR today (Brooke's) because she has decided that it would be fun to get some kind of funky rash. We are thinking that it could be from the sun, but our DR wants to make sure. I don't have her outside that much at all!!!

Till tomorrow....

Happy Dad's Day

Happy Dad's Day to all you Dad's out there!! Even though today is Father's Day, we don't get to spend it with Gary since he has to work. We did get to spend most of the day with him yesterday, though, even though he is always keeping busy doing things for us around the house-I guess that is just another reason he is such a great dad (and husband). He even let ME sleep in this morning-I mean, who does that??!!! I think that I am going to seriously owe him... :)

The weather was fairly decent yesterday so we decided to get some time in outside in our pool-such a fancy pool it is. Brooke still gets a little nervous sitting in it and she really doesn't care for the water fountain on the front of it, but she is getting better each time. I am thinking that swim lessons, though, may be in her near future-I don't want her to end up like me (who totally doesn't know how to do one 'real' swim stroke for the life of me!


This upcoming week will be information filled. We have two doctors appointment and should find out information on baby Fleming-including if this blood clot has gotten smaller, stayed the same, or (worst case scenario) gotten larger. I am praying-feel free to join in-that it is not option #3. We also may find out if Brooke is going to have a little brother or a little sister so stay tuned....

Seen any good movies lately?

So, Gary told me that I needed to remove myself from the Internet and from searching for WAY too much information on blood clots and pick up a hobby. If I am going to be sitting around for who knows how long, he thinks that I need to make better use of my time..and I am not going to say that I totally disagree with him. While I didn't find anything to occupy my time with just yet (Gary's only suggestion was learning how to knit like the lady who sat next to us at our last u/s appointment), I did watch a few movies this weekend instead of Googling.

The first one that I watched was He's Just Not That Into You. I have to say, I didn't have huge expectations, but it was really good! Obviously it is a total 'chick flick' but it had some good laughs and some moments that I think every girl can relate to-I say go out and rent it (or Netflix/XBox it like we do). The second movie...NOT so good. In fact, I think that I will go as far as to say terrible. Maybe I was not in a "I want to think about it" mood, but I totally dis-liked The Reader. I honestly love Kate Winslet and am looking forward to seeing Revolutionary Road, but the Reader-a no for me. It was all over the place...I am sitting still can cannot keep up!! The third movie I watched (this time with Gary) was Gran Torino-Huge thumbs up. He had some funny/light moments and ends with a really good message. We both would reccomend.

One of the worst things about being on bed rest is not having cable. We cancelled cable awhile back and I cannot say that I have really missed it..until now. Most of the shows that I want to watch at night are on local stations or I can watch online. However, when you have nada to do at night and it is the lovely summer line up of Who wants to be on a Japanese Game Show and Wipeout the option of watching TLC and/or Bravo seems like such a luxury.

I have rented a few TV series from Netflix that Gary and I are going to watch-these include Nip/Tuck and Dexter. I am hoping that these shows will get us through the summer and into the Fall TV Lineup. I think that I have offically made it clear to everyone that Gary and I are total losers and do nothing at night except sit and watch a movie or a tv show...maybe we should knit...or make that paper chain....

I am thinking that I need to make a list and send Gary to the library. Anyone have any good book suggestions? I will also take movie and hobby suggestions..please don't hesitate.

Tick-Tock

Is anyone else counting down the days until right after Thanksgiving?? No, it is not because I am a huge Turkey fan, but this pregnancy so has me on edge that I am already starting to contemplate making a paper chain for the next 26 weeks-thoughts?

I had a DR appointment today and all-in-all it went well. I still have a blood clot, but it has not grown in size. It has not shrunk in size either, but staying the same is better then getting larger I think. The baby is growing, though, and that is what is MOST important. We will follow up with our doctor in two (long) weeks and find out if there has been any change (shrinking please). Until then, I will remain on this 'modified' bed rest and hope that it will bring healing along with it.

I just remembered two people that is counting down the days until T-day...Maggie (Big 20) and Amy b/c she actually does love turkey :) Maybe they will help me with my paper chain.

New Swing Set?

My blog updates lately have been pretty debbie right? Sorry for that-I am trying to get some positive and good news out there and hopefully that is what Wednesday will bring. Until then, how about a Brooke update? This past weekend we went to my brother and sister-in-law's house and Brooke wanted to move in. They have a swing set in their backyard and Brooke was in total heaven. Gary has decided that his next project (following the 10 he already has) will be to build Brooke her own. I informed him that they do sell swing sets that he can put together without having to design it, cut the wood, etc...but he thinks that it will be 'fun.' How does that sound fun?? I am for sure keep you all updated on that little project-maybe we will sell them on the side-what do you think??? Either way, we have officially turned a corner and home improvement is totally 'fun.' I did get Gary some pretty nice tools for his birthday and they will be put to some good use-Fathers Day is just around the corner...

The Waiting Game

I have been waiting by the phone all day long. Waiting for my doctor to get out of surgery and be able to provide me with his opinion as to what is going on with me and what he feels the best course of action (if any action is allowed) will be. I did get to speak to one of the nurses in his office today and she was able to answer a lot of my questions as to what is going on with me and this pregnancy. She did tell me the medical name of what is going on-Moderate Chorionic Separation with a blood clot. After searching the internet for information (because that is what I do best) I have determined that it is a blood clot between the placenta and the uterus that as caused the placenta to tear itself away from the uterus a bit. I have read about MANY women that have had this happen-some with very, very positive outcomes (I am trying my best to be an optimist and an optimist only...very difficult for me). There are not too many answers out there as to what 'causes' this to happen. The only thing that I can think is that this is attributed to my blood clotting disorder, but who knows. The one question that I really want an answer to, though, is the one that no one will possibly be able to give me-what is going to happen next?


UPDATE: My Doctor just called as he just now got out of surgery for the day. He let me know that he had already looked at my ultrasound from yesterday and although concerned, he is quite optimistic. I am going to continue to stay off of my shots and just stick with the baby aspirin that I taking. Additionally, I am on bed rest except for 'maybe' being up and moving under 8 hours a day. No lifting, etc. This could be considered a vacation if I didn't have a 19 month old and a job! He also reschedule my u/s so that I come in next week instead of the 17th. I am glad that I only have to wait 6 more days to have more information instead of 13....keep the prayers coming...

Back to the blog

I have been a little MIA from my blog lately and I cannot blame myself-there has been a lot going on in our little world. Friday night, we had a bit of a pregnancy scare and I ended up going to the local ER to get everything checked out. We saw the babies heartbeat and even got to see the little one moving and kicking around. We headed home with instructions to take it easy and to call our doctor on Monday. I had an appointment with my doctor this Tuesday and again we were given good news, but were scheduled to have an ultrasound done today to see what exactly was going on with me and our baby. After the ultrasound today, we were told (what I like to call) 85% good news and 15% not so good news. I have some blood around the placenta that occurs in 20% of all pregnancy's. Out of these pregnancies, 85% of women go on to have no additional problems and carry to term. 15% of these women either deliver the babies early or could have a miscarriage. I am planning to be in the 85% category :) All we can do is continue on with what we are doing-staying healthy, etc-and pray for the best. We will not turn down any additional prayers as well :)

In other news...
New Things with Brooke
-Constantly saying the word "MINE!" I cannot tell you how much I dislike this word. I don't know where she could have learned it...Jack anyone?? We had a play date just yesterday with a friends children and if they even looked at her toys, she would bust into tears! I was so embarrassed-she really needs to work on the whole sharing thing...only child much???

-She went pee pee on the potty again!! This time it was not accidental either. We were in the bathroom and she wanted to sit on her potty. All I had to do was turn on the faucet and there she went! Afterward, a piece of candy was given as a reward and dancing was had by all :)

-Telling mom to be quite by "sssshhhh'ing" me. Again-where does this come from?? I guess what I have to say is not that important, especially if something REALLY important is going on like The Wiggles or Dora.


Lastly-I find it quite amusing that I received a phone call yesterday (on my cell no less) inquiring as to whether or not I would be interested in participating in a case study about nicotine. I had to currently be a user of said product, though. Unfortunately, I had to pass. The man on the other end of the phone must have sensed my 'great' disappointment and let me know that I should not worry-there is a new study coming up that was for Twinkie lovers. Would I be interested in coming in to eat some Twinkies?? I could also invite friends-any takers?? I have to call them back early next week...how do these people find me??