1/27/09: Today Ayla is 2 weeks old already. The fastest two weeks of my life. Her umbilical cord fell off yesterday to leave a cute little "outtie". I'm wondering if she'll have that outtie like me through the majority of her childhood. One day when I was a pre-teen, mine just turned into an innie. Almost overnight.
Ayla is still sleeping a lot but finds little times before or after a feeding to try to stay awake and look around. Lately that has been in the middle of the night. But last night was a good night- she went down after every feeding and let me sleep! What a Good girl! ;)

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1/24/09: We stopped by the pediatrician's office today to weigh Ayla and she went from 4lbs. 11oz. last Saturday to 5lbs. 3oz. today! She gained 8 oz in a week which is a half a pound. Right on schedule!
She went with us on her first "running around" trip today to the bank, Target (very very briefly), Walgreens parking lot and to the pediatrician. She loves the car ride!
Tonight Gus and I are meeting friends for just a couple of hours at Dave and Busters while my Mom baby-sits. I'm not quite ready to leave her yet but I know that I have to get used to it. Next weekend, Grandma Mary and Grandpa Gus are babysitting while Gus and I stop by Baby Dylan's Benefit in Illinois.

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1/21/09: Ayla turned a week old yesterday! Gus and I were discussing last night how she's already changed so much. She looks different already, she's become very demanding of her bottle when just a few days ago, she didn't know what a bottle was! She looks around more, but still sleeps a whole lot. She kinda likes bath time and diaper changes now too (as long as she's warm). 
We just got her 1-day-old pictures back from the hospital. I'll scan those in soon. We couldn't beleive how much she's changed in looks from one week!
I'm working on her announcements now and will have them sent out soon. See Ayla's blog for a sneak peak of one of her pictures on the announcement (my favorite picture!)

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1/18/09: Another great night with Ayla home. I actually had to wake her up for both of her feedings in the middle of the night! She's getting very comfortable in her room and bed and mommy got to sleep!
Grandpa Gus and Grandma Mary finally got home from Florida and got to meet Ayla!!! She was wide awake as soon as they got here. I posted pictures on the Ayla Blog. I was so happy they finally got to see her. I gave them a photo album of all the pictures I took of her first 4 days of life.
Ayla is so funny. She is starting to get mad when I burp her and she stretches her neck, looks towards me and opens her mouth in a perfect "O" searching for her bottle again. She gets mad when she cant find it. It's too cute.

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1/17/09: Ayla is doing great and last night was so much better. She slept in her own crib and I had the video monitor set up so I could see her every movement at any given time. I slept well and she woke me up exactly every 3 hours for feedings. I would be up for maybe an hour total between changing, feeding and putting her back down. I think I got a whole 6 hours of sleep and that was with going to bed late and getting up somewhat early for her first doctors appointment.
The pediatrician said she looks great and does not have to come back until she is a month old but we can come in and throw her on the scale just to make sure she's growing adequately.

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1/16/09: Ayla is definitely keeping us busy and tired. Our first night home, I got no sleep. At 5 am, Gus woke up and had me go to bed at 6 am and I napped until 8. I listened to every little noise she made and every little whimper and just never fell asleep. Last night I had her sleep in our room in her porta-crib. I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm putting her in her room so hopefully I wont listen to every little noise. I will have our video monitor (and her room is right next to ours) so I will hear her cry but hopefully I get *some* sleep ;)
She is so worth it though. I love when she lays there looking around... it's so cute. Daddy is trying to keep her awake now so we can feed her and put her to sleep.
I added pictures of her coming home to the Ayla Blog.

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1/15/09: A Thank You posting for my fellow myspacers and those who check into my website:

Thank you to all the comments and emails and guestbook signatures on my website- they all just keep pouring in!

I know I made my *rough* pregnancy very public- it was sort of a therapy for me to talk about what was going on. Thanks to all who watched over us, supported us and sent well wishes to us through the past nine months. It was definitely a roller-coaster and the support and advice we got from each of you really helped get me through it... and Gus too.

I was rewarded after having such a horrible pregnancy with an amazing labor. People kept telling me that they just *knew* my labor was going to be easy after all that I've been through, and it was for the most part the easiest labor I've ever heard of! ;) But the most important part is with all the health conditions that happend to me, Ayla came out extremely healthy! Small, but healthy.

Ayla will be 2 days old today and they are saying she is ready to go home. I'm the one they have to watch over! Not the 5 lb baby! ;) They may let us go home late this evening, or tomorrow. I'm looking so forward not only to bringing my little girl home for the first time but trying to get into some sort of new normalcy in my life. But it was all so worth it for this amazing little girl.

Now I know what it really feels like to be a new mother. The best feeling in the WORLD.

Thanks again to everyone. And you know me, I'll keep adding pictures ;)

-Amanda

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1/14/09: Don't wake me because I must be dreaming.

She is just absolutely amazing. I cannot even describe with words how beautiful she is. I'm having trouble keeping my eyes off of her to even update this website! But I want our family and friends who are out of town to be able to see her so I think it's pretty important to do.

It's about 6 am now and she's laying on my lap. I can't get enough of her. She was 5 lbs 1 oz but seems so solid for her size. She does not seem fragile at all. She is so great... most importantly she is healthy! As healthy as can be! She went through the night holding her body temperature, her lungs are great, everything is great and so far they are saying she is going home with us tomorrow! We could not have asked for anything to go better. Gus and I are just so thrilled. And I have never seen him so happy in my life of knowing him- Yesterday was the happiest day of his life. Just watching Gus with Ayla is awesome. Last night she dirtied her diaper for the first time and I can't walk right now, so he changed his first dirty diaper with the nurse standing by to watch him. He did great and Ayla didn't even cry. He had to change her again shortly after and again she did not cry! She shivered from the cold and laid there wide-eyed watching her Daddy.

The labor started out rough yesterday morning because I wasn't supposed to start going into labor yet! I quickly started contracting and by time I got to a "2", I was throwing up on myself and my water broke! The nurses started rushing around (I don't remember much at this time because I was in so much pain and sick) and soon I got the epidural. Once I had the epidural I must say that I had the smoothest labor ever. By 5:30 we were ready to start pushing and at 5:47 we delivered our angel. Gus and Mom both assisted in my labor by holding me up and holding my legs while I pushed. Pushing was easy with my epidural and I must say... I actually enjoyed the labor! When she came out, I thought, "already!?" I got so lucky. Bad pregnancy, great labor.

I just fed Ayla and she ate more than she was supposed to! Oops- she's really getting that sucking down and that was only her 4th feeding! She was done in 5 minutes! Daddy is holding her now :)

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1/13/09: 12:35: Amanda is now at 4cm at 80%. They are giving her magnesium to prevent any seizures. Her contractions are 2-3 min's apart.  So far everything is going good since she got the epidural at about 10:30. I will keep you updated.

1/13/09: 7 am: We are moving right along and I've been having contractions all night. This is supposed to just "get me ready" for real labor. I've been extremely uncomfortable but I know it only gets worse from here. Once I get the patosin, I can get a couple of doses of pain medication before getting the epidural but I have to be careful because I can only have so much so of course I'm waiting until I just can't stand the pain. In exactly one hour I'm finished with this first process and will be starting the second process of being put into labor. Eeeek!!! Wish us luck and get ahold of Gus if you would like to keep informed. Thanks for checking in on us :)

I'm going to be a mommy soon!!! How amazing is that...

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1/12/09: UPDATE: 11pm: Gus and I are getting ready for bed. This may be my last posting, or I may be able to post tomorrow morning before taking my patocin. Check back! In the meantime, I'm adding a few hospital pictures to the Ayla blog. 

8 pm:  I'm in my labor room now and we will be begining the process in just a little bit. They say I'm going to be "comfortable" tonight and should get some rest before tomorrow morning when they start me on patosin in my IV. Then labor will begin. Gus ran home to get some pillows and blankets and will be staying with me. He's also taking Chino on a short walk. Poor little guy has been alone a lot and is probably wondering where I've been the past week! I can't wait to see him. Anyone want to volunteer to let him out to pee tomorrow or the next day? ;) Gus and I will be finishing our "Lamaze" videos tonight.

6pm: We are starting my induction tonight. It will start slow, and I should be able to get some rest tonight. We are getting "started" after dinner and I'm getting moved back over to Labor and Delivery. I will be given a sleeping pill while going through this first stage. Tomorrow they will give me patosin in my IV which will start my labor. This will still probably take a while and according to Dr. McDaniel she thinks this will take me 2 days total but I could have Ayla as early as tomorrow. I do not know if I will be able to update after this, but feel free to call or text Gus for information. He loves to keep people updated so don't worry about bothering him! His cell is 314-803-4115.

3 pm: I spoke with Dr. Webb, one of the high risk docs here at St. Lukes. After reviewing Ayla's ultrasound and my preeclampsia tests, he's wanting to start inducing now. Possibly tomorrow. He said there is no "urgency" at the moment but Ayla is just as ready now as she will be at the end of the week, and my condition can only get worse. He is thinking it's smarter to go ahead and do it. He is talking with Dr. McDaniel to see what she thinks and how her schedule looks then he said someone will get back with me and let me know if we are going to begin. Check back and I will keep you all posted.

Gus and I are watching our Lamaze video's tonight... wish I didn't miss that class. I'm nervous.

2 pm: So I went from a "400 and something" to about a "1500" in my preeclampsia status. 1500 is still on the lower end. If I were to reach 5000, then they would immediately induce. I'm still slowly progressing but nothing to freak out about at the moment. I guess the blood test showed the same thing.
I just got back from Ayla's ultrasound and they still have to tell me how her blood flow was, but her fluid has gone down again to a 7.7 (I've been worse) and they think she is about 5 lbs which is great (for her!). She should be more and she's considered to be in the 23rd percentile but I'm happy with the sound of her weight. I hope she is a little bigger than that by the end of the week! The entire time we were there she wouldn't stop "practicing her breathing" again. She is an over-achiever in that department! She is supposed to practice for at least 30 seconds in 20 minutes or something like that but she is always practicing! I think she's looking forward to coming out!

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1/11/09: I just spoke with Dr. McDaniel and we discussed my induction. She will be starting me on Friday night. She said it will most likely be a longer process because I am not dilated. Gus asked her if she had to guess, when would we be delivering and her guess is Sunday. She said Friday night would be a slow process and I should be comfortable and be able to get some rest. Saturday, they should start me on patosin in my IV which will help to move the labor along. She said I could go faster than expected but like I said, she expects a delivery on Sunday the 18th.

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1/10/09: I know a lot of people are watching the site for new information so I thought I should post "something" for today. There is no new news other than I'm taking a new 24 hour urine test starting at 5 am tomorrow morning, ending 5 am Monday morning to check on my preeclampsia status. I really don't think it has progressed because like I have said before, my symptoms and issues really calm down when I'm in the hospital and being so well taken care of. I have a feeling Ayla is going to come no sooner than the 17th which is a good thing because every day that she stays in is better for her. We are just making sure I don't get sick while "incubating her" as the doctors like to call it.
Monday the high risk doc said I'll go back over to the ultrasound labs to check up on Ayla and see how she's doing on the inside. Last time we checked (yesterday) she had improved in every aspect!
I'm getting very bored of the hospital and my butt has never been so sore. I get up every 45 minutes because I can't stand it anymore. I'm not supposed to get up, but all I do is either use the restroom or circle my room for a minute then get back into bed. Plus that will help with avoiding blood clots- that's another excuse to get out of bed! ;) It really sucks to be on "real" bed rest. I thought I was doing it at home, but it wasn't like this.
My mom had a good idea. I might see if they will let me have a wheel chair tomorrow and maybe Gus can wheel me out to see the babies or to sit in the waiting room for a little while for some new scenery. I've asked my family not to come visit right now, because first of all there is nothing going on at the moment, and secondly, they've stuck me in this tiny room just outside of Labor and Delivery (so I'm out of their way) and there are no couches, rockers, or recliners in here. Gus has one dinky chair and he's so uncomfortable when he comes. So I've told people you might as well wait until this weekend to come. Saturday will be a good day. Gus can always call you when Ayla is getting close- just let him know. Sunday will probably be even better. Who knows how long my induction will actually take on Saturday! We'll see. :)

Today Gus brought in Ayla's diaper bags in which I bought online so I could see them in person. I was very picky for some reason about the ones I picked out. I bought a large one and a small one and they are both soooo cute. They remind me of how I have this Baby Page decorated right now. They are dark brown and soft pink. Very cute. He also brought in Ayla's baby book in which I ordered. I started filling it out with family information and various questions it has asked about my pregnancy leading up to Ayla being born. The book is adorable! I had one when I was a baby and I like to look at it, so I'm sure she'll like to see hers someday too.

Jake and Kim came to visit yesterday and help Gus take my car back home so it's not sitting in the parking lot all week. They brought me a pretty yellow rose and a balloon! That was sweet. Thanks guys :)

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1/9/09: The test results from yesterday show that my preeclampsia has definately progressed but not as much as doctors had feared. They think I might have been too dehydrated to get a proper reading so they will repeat this same test from Sunday to Monday. I also had an ultrasound today and Ayla looks amazing. The fluids around her have gone up a little (back into the safe zone) and her blood flow, breathing patterns and so on look great. Whenever I stay in the hospital for a little time, things always look better. I think it's because I'm not actually getting good "rest" or fluids when I'm at home. The IV helps a lot. This is all great news. If we can make it to Saturday, January 17, we will have a much better chance of having a baby that is ready to come out!

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1/8/09: Gus sent me this from home. The subject said, "Where is my sister?"

 

4:30 pm: Ayla is coming! We are still waiting on test results, but taking into consideration all that has been going on with me, they have scheduled my induction for next Saturday, January 17, however I'm staying in the hospital and if anything gets worse at anytime, we will induce sooner. Either way she will be born by the 17! I will post more after my test results come back and after my OB comes to see me.

5:30 am: I woke up at 5 am so the nurses could put Ayla back on the monitor and watch her. She looks great. We did some testing last night. My "dip" urine test came back +1 when it was +3 at my doctor's office... that's the same test. We are doing the 24 hour test now which is much more accurate and can tell me where I'm really at with this preeclampsia. If it comes back negative or low, I'm going to be so mad because it means I was sent back here for nothing really. This is getting really frustrating. I know we need to check for mine and Ayla's health but I'm very aggrivated. They tell me I'm coming close to "crossing this line" into the danger zone with one aspect or another but in the meantime I'm in and out of the hospital. It's frustrating when they say you need to be here, and then they tell you your okay for now, go home.

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1/7/09: I had my regular appointment today with my OB and my blood pressure was kind of high, and my urine test came back +3 with protein which is really bad. That means my preeclampsia is full-force. With everyhing that had happend yesterday and my protein count today, Dr. McDaniel sent me back to the hospital to get admitted to take  a 24 hour urine test. If the 24 hour test comes back bad like the one did today, then we will go ahead and induce so that the preeclampsia does not get worse. We wont know anything until that test is completed at 4 pm tomorrow. They have me on a clear liquid diet and are preparing for "possible" labor. I'll let you know what else I find out.

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1/6/09: So I had a nonstress test and ultrasound today and Ayla is definately slowing down in her movements on the nonstress test. She technically "failed" her test on both Friday and today. The doctors aren't showing too much concern because her other tests  are good. They can see that she is still moving and not in distress by the ultrasound but her fluid is definitely draining. I measured my lowest with fluid around her today- a 6.6. You don't want to be lower than an 8 and Dr. McDaniel said if we reach the 5's we will induce. My tests showed my preecalmpsia is progressing and my blood pressure is still elevated even when resting. With all of this, the ultrasound ladies and I thought for sure I'd be admitted again to the hospital but the doctor told me to go back home to rest and to call if my preeclampsia symptoms get worse. I guess we still haven't quite "crossed that line" of needing to deliver Ayla yet. I see Dr. McDaniel tomorrow anyway and we'll see what she says about all of this.

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1/4/09: We just had a great baby shower! I'm so glad I got to go and Gussie and I are so grateful for all of those who came. We cannot tell you how thankful we are.
After the shower, I got to sit down and look over everything in depth. I read the cards again, admired the bags and ribbons and bows, saw the details in the clothing, and played with everything! It was so much fun.
After making sure my blood pressure was okay, and when I was feeling rested, I got up and started putting much of it away but some of it will have to wait until tomorrow. We really got everything we needed and wanted for Ayla!
Thank you to all of you!!!

Click on the "Baby Shower MO" link on the left side of this page to see pictures.

A very special Thank You to the Sansone girls: Mary, Leslie and Sarah for putting the shower on for me!

A Special Shout-out: Thank You so much to Jakita (Mary's friend from work) for Ayla's Snow White Disney DVD! That was so thoughtful of you and I was so excited to add that to her Disney collection!

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1/2/09: 6 pm: They are letting me come home again! I'm very excited and they are also letting me go to my baby shower for 2 hours! That's better than nothing at all. I'm going home to rest because none of my tests have gotten worse and I will just keep my frequent appointments to check on Ayla and I until it's time to deliver. Their goal is to hold out another 2 weeks but Dr. Webb (the high risk doc here at St. Lukes) isn't sure if I will make it. We will try! He is not worried about the safety of Ayla at this point he said, but he would like her to be able to go home with me when she is born. That would be so nice. Time to go home and rest!

2 pm: I saw Dr. McDaniel today and it looks like I could be staying in the hospital until I deliver. Gus was worried I'd be living in the hospital for a long time, but she said it won't be a long time because with all of the "almost" dangerous conditions I have right now, Ayla will be coming sooner than later. Today I have an ultrasound and we will see where Ayla stands with her bloodflow and fluids.
I seem to do a lot better while in the hospital than at home, which Dr. McDaniel says some women just do better here. My blood pressure however is still going up sometimes even when on rest. I will post more when I know more.

4:30 am: Ambien works wonders! I haven't fallen asleep this easily and Stayed Asleep in a long, long time. Right now it is 4:30 am and I had just woke up to go to the bathroom (one time between 10 pm and 4 am instead of 5 times!) Once awake, I called the nurses because it was right about the time they said they wanted to monitor Ayla for an hour so that is what we are doing now. My blood pressure is pretty good- slightly on the high side but nothing bad. I feel like a million bucks because of that sleeping pill. That was 6 hours of straight sleep! I still can't believe it. Insomnia really is a horrible thing.

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1/1/09: 9:30 pm: They gave me a sleeping pill. I didn't want to take it (they always offer it to me) but this time I did. I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping the past couple of weeks. I usually sleep about 4 (very interupted) hours a night. Lets see how I do with the ambien. Goodnight!
5 pm: I wish someone else was here to watch my belly. Ayla is quite active right now (she usually is when hooked up to the monitor- she likes to show off!) but her legs are pushing my belly out more and more now. She's getting bigger and stronger I guess and she keeps sticking her feet out for me to see her! It's really neat.
2 pm: Happy New Year! Today I woke up with a horrible headache, high blood pressure and I was seeing "sparkling spots" in which I've never seen before. I thought for sure that it was preeclampsia kicking in so I called my doc. Of course she said to get to the hospital for testing. My urine test came back fine and they are still considering me to be a very mild case of preeclampsia- nothing dangerous yet but they are having me stay the night in the hospital tonight to be watched. My blood pressure goes back and forth from high to normal. I always seem to do much better once I get to the hospital- maybe it's because I'm hooked up to machines and constantly monitored and I listen to Ayla's heartbeat? I don't know. It's almost like I'm a nervous wreck at home and my blood pressure goes up and I start feeling bad. So I'm not really complaining that they are keeping me again, I'll do what it takes to make sure Ayla and I are healthy.

Read about Preeclampsia

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12/31/08: Geez. So today I had a scheduled doc appt with my normal OB and just from getting up, out of bed and getting ready to go there made my blood pressure go high. It scared Doctor McDaniel so she sent me back to the hospital for testing. The blood test came back no worse than before with my preeclampsia and my blood pressure went down the 3 or 4 hours I was there laying. Ayla still looked great so they sent me back home again. This was the 6th hospital visit in a row. Basically now they are looking for any "TINY" sign to deliver her and I'm sure it wont be long from now. Friday is my next scheduled doc appointment at the ultrasound place which is in the hospital. If anything changes in the next 2 days, she's coming. We'll see but I have a feeling it will be within a week now just by how everyone is acting with me. Maybe a couple of days.
In the meantime, I'm driving myself crazy with trying to figure out if my headaches are worth going back to the hospital for! Still sinus headaches that I've been having? or preeclampsia headaches that they keep warning me about? I don't know. Back to bed rest!

Have a great (and safe) New Years Eve!!! We'll be celebrating by watching the Dark Knight on bluray!

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12/30/08: 7 pm: I am finally home. Dr. Webb (the high risk doc) came to see me and said I am to be on strict bed rest. The only reason I am allowed out of bed is for bathroom, shower, and to eat if I have to and the doctor. They are saying that I cannot go to my baby shower this Sunday (if I even make it that far without having Ayla) but I'm going to ask Dr. McDaniel tomorrow too. If she says no, then I'm going to listen because the point of this bed rest is to keep my blood flowing in the placenta, and to keep my blood pressure down. Dr. Webb said he thinks by me resting, I should be able to manage my preeclampsia for a while but he said it will eventually get worse. He bets that I'll have Ayla within a couple of weeks. I will be going to the doc and being monitored at minimum of 3 times a week and even start taking my own blood pressure at home. Looks like Ayla will be here pretty soon for sure. I hope I can hold her off a little while without hurting either of us.

12 pm: Dr. McDaniel (my OB) just came to see me and said that even though some of my testing is coming back good, that I do have mild preeclampsia. The only way to not let it progress is to stay on bed rest. That is why my blood pressure has been good while in the hospital. Then she repeated what I already know: after the testing today, if things have not gotten worse, I will get to spend my bed rest at home. Otherwise if it has gotten worse, I will either spend bed rest here, or we will have to induce. We are trying to hold out but if anything changes for the worst the best result is to deliver early. Dr. McDaniel is happy that I've had the steroid shots for Ayla's lung development. She also says Ayla looks very good on the monitor.

10 am: So far today, my blood pressure has been great and my swelling is even going down ( a little, but still pretty swollen). I am just waiting for Dr. Martin's ultrasound lab to call me to let me know Dr. Webb ( a high risk doc that wants to see me) is there and we will do the same testing we've been doing every day. A non-stress test on Ayla, Dopplers on her bloodflow, check the fluid around her, etc. If nothing has gotten worse from yesterday, then I'm thinking they are going to let me take my bedrest at home instead of the hospital. If they send me home, they said I'll come in every other day to do the same tests over again until something changes for the worse then we will induce. I'll write more today.

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12/29/08: I'm back in the hospital again. I was at work today like normal and my doctor's office called to ask me what had happened over the weekend. On Friday I had an ultrasound and Ayla did not pass her non-stress test and Dr. McDaniel (my OB) was out of town so the ultrasound people here at St. Lukes told me to go to labor and delivery on Saturday for another non-stress test. After being tested for preeclampsia, they had me come back on Sunday as well. Dr. McDaniel was upset that they sent me home and didn't have me check my own blood pressure while at home. Today Dr. McDaniel is back in town and called me at work at noon to tell me to get back to the hospital. I am staying here tonight while they run more tests. The tests keep going back and forth saying, no you don't have preeclampsia and yes you do. Another problem we are having is the fluid around Ayla is really draining and she doesn't have much left. Also her size is a factor (she's not getting nourishment from my placenta) and the blood-flow to her isn't the greatest. All of these reasons are why they are watching me over night and tomorrow I am going back for another non-stress test and ultrasound. If I look okay tomorrow, they are going to send me home on bed rest. They said for sure I'm done with work until after I have the baby and if tests come back bad tomorrow, they are keeping me in the hospital and inducing soon. The high risk doctor here thinks I'll have Ayla within the next 2 weeks if he had to guess. He said I most likely will not make it a month. I will post more tomorrow when I know more.
The doctor said if born now, Ayla is in a very safe zone and will be just fine! She's had her steroid shots for her lungs and would probably just have to stay a couple of weeks, if that. We are crossing our fingers for a healthy baby girl!

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12/28/08: It is Sunday night and we are home from the hospital testings. Everything went good (better than before anyway). Ayla passed her non-stress test well, and my blood pressure is not as high as yesterday. Still a little high, but not dangerous. I passed both my blood and urine tests for preeclampsia though they did find a little protein in the urine again but that could indicate the same thing as the blood pressure: preeclampsia might be beginning with me. They will just watch me I guess when I come to my 3 doctors appointments per week. Every Tuesday and Friday I have an ultrasound and non-stress test at the hospital, and every Wednesday I have a non-stress test and visit with my OB. So Tues, Wed and Fridays I'm at the doctor being supervised. I received my second dose of steroids for Ayla's lungs so if anything does happen, they can get her out quickly and her lungs should be in good condition for being delivered which makes me feel better about delivering her early if we have to.
In the meantime, I am really getting into the 3rd trimester (and preparing for delivery) aches and pains. Last night and today I've had contractions which I wouldn't call... "painful" but definitely on the uncomfortable side now and the pressure radiates into my lower back which is very painful. The hospital knows about this and says its normal for this stage in pregnancy especially since they are random and not consistent.
So now my job is to take it easy, drink lots of water and call if I have headaches, more consistent contractions, or weird pains in my belly, or feel sick. Maybe she will last longer than I thought on the inside... but I'm relieved to know that I'm in a decently safe range if she does need to come out. I'll keep you all posted! I hear a lot of you have been logging in to check up on me- I appreciate it! And I like hearing from you guys in the Guestbook!

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12/27/08: Again, we went back to St. Lukes today and I got admitted because of my high blood pressure. I have not had high blood pressure at all in this pregnancy except around the gall bladder incident and then it went right back to normal after my surgery. Today, Ayla passed her non-stress test with flying colors but when they took my blood pressure, it was really high. It continued to be high for an hour and they expected the worst: preeclampsia. I have all the signs of preeclampsia (swelling, protein in my urine, headaches which may be from my sinus cold), but my blood test came back fine today. They kept me for about 6 hours and monitored my bloodpressure which went from high to normal to high again. I am doing this 24 hour urine test (peeing in a jug for 24 hours) and they also gave me a steroid shot (I will get another one tomorrow) for development of Ayla's lungs to prepare for preterm labor. I do not have preeclampsia at the moment but they beleive I could be starting to develop it. They went ahead and sent me home tonight (even though they wanted to keep me initially) and I'm just carrying around my "pee" jug and taking it back tomorrow. Tomorrow we will run more tests along with get another steroid shot then go from there. If I do have preeclampsia, they will deliver. I will write more tomorrow!

Compliments of Gus... what would he ever do without that iphone? ;)

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12/26/08: We went back to St. Lukes today for another ultrasound checking on Ayla's fluid levels (and other things) and her non-stress test. She failed today. Her non-stress test didn't show the activity they wanted to see and they kept her on there for almost an hour instead of 20 minutes. Also the ultrasound showed her practicing breathing for only 10 seconds at a time. They want to see 30 second intervals. There were other things they tested as well and when she fails any of these, it indicates that she could be under distress. The only good news I got out of the ultrasound is that my amniotic fluid around her went from 9 centimeters to 11. That could be from me drinking more fluids. I'm trying my best to drink as much as possible.
Tomorrow the ultrasound place is not open so they are sending me to Labor and Delivery at St. Lukes to get another non-stress test. If she fails this one, then I'm not sure what happens... she may be induced? Or they will put me on bed rest? I don't know... I'm getting worried. I'm really wondering if she'd be better off outside of the womb rather than in.

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12/23/08: We can't catch a break.
Today we had Ayla's ultrasound and she is still behind in size. She went from about 5 days behind to about 2 weeks behind. She is not in danger at the very moment but they believe she may be eventually. They have came to the conclusion that there is probably something wrong with my placenta and she is not getting as much nutrients as she should. This would also explain her high AFP levels that we freaked out about a while back. They had came to the conclusion that the high levels were due to the passing of Baby B, but never ruled out that there "could" be something else wrong. I am going back for another ultrasound this Friday (the day after Christmas) and not only do I have a doctor appointment once a week (every Wed) until I deliver, but I have 2 ultrasounds a week (every Tues and Fri) until I deliver. They will watch her closely, make sure she still has fluids around her, and check on other little indications that she could be in danger. If anything gets worse, they will deliver. The high risk doc is confident that even if we had to deliver now, she'd most likely be okay. Ayla is doing all of the things she is supposed to, swallowing, practicing breathing, digesting and urinating, she just isn't growing like she should. It's not the worst thing that could possibly happen, but it's scary enough.

I posted some new postings on the Ayla Blog. There is a link to the left side of this page to visit the her blog.

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12/22/08: Ayla has been doing very well but today was a little different. I had contractions all throughout the day, though they were not very close together. After work, I was in so much pain in the pelvis area that Gus had to help me walk. After talking with a friends mom, and my OB, I was told to go to St. Lukes just in case and they checked me out. I was only there about an hour or so and they determined my pain is simply a bad case of my ligaments and muscles stretching and hurting in my pelvic area. I just need to take it easy. It is common, too, to have mild contractions about this time (which they were mild). Ayla is fine still and tomorrow I have an ultrasound. I just have to take it even *more* easy! 

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12/19/08: OMG! 8 Months!

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12/13/08: Gus finally felt Ayla move today! Before, he could never catch her at the right time. Sometimes he would keep his hands or lay his cheek on my belly for 10 minutes at a time and she'd stay completely still but as soon as he'd move, she'd kick! Well today I was working in the kitchen and I put both my hands on my belly because I felt her moving around and then felt her kick on my right hand. Gus was standing by so he knelt down and put his ear and cheek up against where I had my hand and she kicked again! It shocked us both and he said, "She kicked me right on my ear!" hah. I was so happy he finally felt her move because she's getting to the point sometimes where my whole belly makes a "jerk" when she kicks hard and I didn't understand why I was this far along and he hadn't felt her yet! Gus always likes to say, "That's my girl!".

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12/8/08: Ayla is really moving a lot. I can tell when she is napping and when she is awake. She's been hiccupping a lot as well- I can feel them! A lot of people have been calling to see how I've been feeling lately and really, I'm feeling great! Like I've said in an earlier post, this is the most enjoyable part of the pregnancy now. I can handle the uncomfortable sleeping, swollen feet, barely being able to put my socks and shoes on, heavy belly, etc. I still consider myself to be feeling great! ;) I do realize though, I still have 2 months of growing to do. That is going to be a whole different story once I get to 9 months!
I see the past couple of days that I've had a lot of visitors to the website. About 20 visitors a day or more! Thanks for visiting!

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30 weeks along!

12/5/08: Wow... I made it to week 30!  That is really far along! Starting in 2 weeks, I go to doctors appointments once a week until I have Ayla. We are also doing what is called a non-stress test once a week on Ayla because of her being a little behind in size and because of the AFP scare which was that hormone that said something was wrong, but we couldn't find it. That hormone can prevent a baby from growing (among many other things) and they just want to be able to watch her weekly just in case. If they find something is going wrong in the weeks to come, then they could induce labor if they needed.
So far, she's been moving a lot. I do baby kick counts every day and she's on track. I'm definitely gaining weight... I've gained about 27 lbs but can tell my face and hands and feet are getting much bigger too and definately getting very uncomfortable when sleeping, walking... almost anything. However this is the most pleasurable time I've had thus far in the pregnancy.

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I have archived the first part of my pregnancy so that this page will load faster for my visitors. Please click on the link below to read anything I've posted from June to November.

June-November Baby Page Postings
Back Home

I added even More pictures of Ayla on her Blog!!!