24 weeks

Baby's now the size of a grapefruit!

Baby cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.



24 weeks gave us a little scare.

Cody had been snowmobiling this past week and we were excited to have him home on Sunday night. They got back to Sioux Falls shortly after 6pm. Cody's snowmobile was in the back of the pickup and they were trying to get it onto the trailer....and he hurt his back. He called me on his way to Brandon and you could tell the pain was taking his breath away. Great, when I'm excited to have his help again with the kids, now he's worthless! He got to Brandon and was not able to hardly move. We all felt so bad. The kids were so excited to see him and he was in a lot of pain and unable to get down to play with them like he had wanted. I helped load up the car and we were headed back to Brewster.

On Sunday, my mom and I had gone into Sioux Falls to do a little shopping. Most of the day I had been complaining that my back was hurting. I chalked it up to being pregnant and just dealt with it. Later in the evening I kept telling my mom that my backache is starting to feel a little like the back labor I was having when the twins were born. I didn't know what the issue was.

I decided to drive back to Brewster and let Cody just rest in the passenger seat. We had gotten on the interstate and were busy chatting away, when I had to stop him mid-conversation. I mentioned that I am a little freaked out almost feel like I'm going into labor!  I don't know that I would have thought that much about it had I not been pregnant, but my increasing symptoms were kind of freaking me out. I mentioned possibly pulling off at Luverne and going to the Emergency Room. He thought if we were still this close to home, let's just turn around all together and head back to Sioux Falls. So I pulled off on the exit and headed back home. I had called my mom and told her we were coming back and I think I needed to go to the ER. Cody didn't think he would be able to come with me because of his back and thought it would be better if my mom took me in.

When we got back to Brandon, the kids were both sleeping in their car seats, so we unloaded them and put them straight to bed. Cody and my mom switched places and off we went. As we started driving, the pain was starting to intensify. My knuckles were turning white hanging on to the door handle and I was starting to panic. As we pulled off of the interstate, I had my mom pull over onto a side road because I was going to be sick. Now I'm really nervous.

As I walked into the ER, the lady at the front desk asked if I was in labor. I DIDN'T KNOW! I told her I'm only 24 weeks, but am having terrible back and lower abdomen pain. She got me upstairs to the OB unit right away. This was huge, because the waiting room was packed!  I was glad I was pregnant at this moment and didn't have to wait along with everyone else. As we were wheeling through the halls I was going to be sick again. Luckily we found a garbage can just in time!

Once upstairs, I was hooked up to monitors to check for any contractions and to look at baby's heartrate. They also checked my cervix. Everything on the baby's end was great, he was a rockstar!  He wasn't phased a bit and I was guaranteed I was not going into pre-term labor!

They were looking for something Renal, because my pain was primarily on my left side...possibly a urinary tract infection/bladder infection/kidney stones, etc. They placed a catheter to drain some urine for a sample and were going to look at it quickly. She also told me the doctor had ordered some Tylenol for my pain. TYLENOL!!  What the heck was Tylenol going to do for me?!?  Pretty sure I wouldn't be in the emergency room if Tylenol was going to cut the pain. She asked if I wanted something stronger and I didn't hesitate a bit!

The quick test came back showing a significant amount of blood in my urine, so the next step was to take me down for an ultrasound of my kidneys and bladder. Everything looked good. The tech didn't see any large stones or any swelling. The OB Dr. came to visit with me and said that just because the ultrasound didn't show any kidney stones, doesn't mean there weren't any there. She was pretty confident with my symptoms that's what was going on. She discussed the fact that there really isn't anything we could do, but to wait. She was going to send me home on some pain medication, what to watch for, and if I was ok the plan. I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with this pain, but if that's what the dr. felt most comfortable with, then that's what we were going to do.

As she was working on writing up discharge papers, I started throwing up again. When the doctor came back in and saw I was still getting sick, she had made the decision that she was going to keep me and admit me to the hospital. She said if I couldn't keep any pain meds down, then we couldn't control the pain, and that would be NO GOOD!  She was going to get me hooked up to an IV, start some fluids, and give me some anti-nausea medication as well as IV pain meds.

After about four hours I was up a regular room, and with the IV started, I began feeling much better. My mom stuck around until after they put my IV in (because we all know what a freak I am about needles) and then she went home around 12:30am to get some sleep. I didn't sleep well that night but was no longer in pain. I was feeling back to normal the next morning so they released me right away. We were out of there by 11:00 and off for some lunch. I haven't felt a bit of pain since, so they are thinking I must have passed the stone. I don't care what happened or how it happened, I'm just glad the pain is gone!  I compared this pain to that of being in labor. My doctor looked at me and agreed...she said kidney stones are probably the one thing that you could compare to labor pains...it was awful!


So there is my story (not so much in a nutshell) but a bit of an unexpected Sunday night.

23 weeks

Baby's now the size of a pomegranate!

Baby's little face is fully formed...minus the baby fat, of course. Also, with his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as a dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't phase him when he hears them outside the womb.

At our last ultrasound, the tech confirmed that baby boy's feet are way down low and his head is up towards my ribs. I wasn't surprised at all to hear it was his feet kicking me down there :)  He's been pretty hard to feel just by placing your hand on my belly, but boy is he active from the inside!  Tonight was the first time that I looked down and could actually see movement from the outside...it was kind of awesome!



22 weeks

Baby's now the size of a papaya!

Baby's settling into sleep cycles, snoozing about 12 to 14 hours a day. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.



a yucky saturday

We came home this weekend to attend the baptism of some good friend's little guy on Sunday. We were home Friday night. Neither one of the kids slept well AT ALL that night. We were up a lot with them all night. Saturday my parents went into Sioux Falls to get a new computer and some groceries. Cody, myself, and the kids stayed in Brandon and after the kids had lunch we met up with my mom to do some shopping. We went to Scheels, made a stop at Taco Bell, and then headed to Gordman's. We were in there about a half an hour before both kids started throwing fits and wanting out of the carts. Cody took Kaden and started walking around and Grandma took Kenley out, and she laid her head right down on her shoulder like she was going to go to sleep. I wasn't too far away when I heard my mom say "Holli, come here please, Kenley just threw-up."  I looked at the floor and I couldn't believe that had all come from this little girl. As I was walking up to them Kenley started in again, and just puked and puked and puked...I don't know that I've seen soo much throw up, even from an adult!  (I know, a little graphic, sorry).  My mom was holding her and she was throwing up directly into her chest. This was an incredible mess!  I froze...I didn't even know where to begin to attempt tackling this situation. Cody went to get somebody to help clean up, I ran to get new clothes for Kenley and mom, Cody ran up front to pay for them and we made our way into the restroom to get cleaned up.

Cody NEVER comes shopping with us, but he had nothing going on yesterday so he thought he would hang out with us.  Thank the Lord. I honestly don't know how we would have done it without him to take care of Kaden.

We packed the kids up and headed back to Brandon, praying she wouldn't get sick again in the car. Both kids fell asleep on the way home, so we were in good shape.

For the next four and a half hours, Kenley continued to throw up around the clock, every 15 minutes. She however completely emptied everything in her belly the first time, so these dry heaves were absolutely miserable for her and almost unbearable for me to watch. 8:40 was the last time she had thrown up and she then went to sleep. We kept her on the living room floor and took shifts sleeping with her. She slept throughout the night and has been much better this morning.

We've been pushing fluids with her this morning and are keeping her on the BRAT diet. Hopefully it was a short-lived flu and we won't have to deal with it from Kaden. Cross your fingers!

21 weeks

Baby is now the size of a banana!

Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion, and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. You may soon feel like baby is practicing martial arts as initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to the activity as you get to know baby better. In other developments, baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

I continue to feel great!  As I'm sure most of you've remembered, we had our 21 week ultrasound on Tuesday (I honestly have been too busy to even sit down and blog about it until now...so sorry). Things looked really good with baby. This ultrasound was the "big" growth and measurement ultrasound and also because this pregnancy is considered an "IVF pregnancy" they did an Echocardiogram of the heart, as there are increased risks for heart defects. But all of baby's organs looked fantastic. We are growing like a weed too. Baby is measuring a week and 4 days ahead of schedule, weighing in at a whopping 1lb. 2oz. already!!

We met with the Perinatologist, who also looked at my placenta and discovered what they call a "marginal placenta previa."  Which basically means that my placenta is too close to my cervix at this point. It's not covering my cervix, which is good, but it's about as close as it can get. This can cause bleeding and problems with baby and mother during delivery, so it has to move away from the cervix before we get close to delivery. The doctors feel that it was found early enough in my pregnancy that they are confident as my uterus continues to grow that it will pull the placenta up and away and we shouldn't have any issues later down the road.

Here is a picture comparing both pregnancies at this stage in the game. I told you I feel just as big as I did with TWO babies.

The big news Cody and I were hoping to find out was the sex of this baby. WOOHOO...are we excited now!!!

Yep, IT'S A BOY!!!

I have always had the feeling it was going to be a boy. For some reason I could just picture us with another little boy. We are so very excited and things are finally starting to feel real. I am excited now to get talking about names and get the baby's room going!!

Meet our little guy:



IN LOVE with this song right now...

20 weeks...half way there!!

Baby's now the size of a cantaloupe!



Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Baby is also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper.

I cannot even believe that I am halfway done with this pregnancy. WOW!  Things could not have gone any better up to this point and I only hope the second half goes as well.

We have our next ultrasound on January 10th, which is when we will finally find out the sex. We are both very excited. I think at that point is when things will really sink in. We are going to have to get started pretty soon rearranging our house to make room for the baby's room. This room is currently where our laundry is as well as our computer, so these things will have to be relocated. But I'm excited to put together another nursery.

Baby is moving around like crazy.  I can't wait until it's strong enough to where Cody can start feeling it from the outside. I feel like I'm already a lot bigger than I was with the twins at this point. The dr. told me to expect that because my uterus was soo stretched out the first time that it will expand very easily this time around. That's for sure!

Florida...playing by the pool

Lazy days, playing by the pool.

So enjoyable, so relaxing.



Florida...a day at the beach

We drove down to Sanibel Island to take the kids on their first trip to the beach.

We stopped at the "Island Cow" for lunch and filled our bellies...in order to prevent hunger meltdowns later on.

 *we gave this girl a lemon, to see what kind of reaction we would get out of her.

and she ended up loving it!

she sucked it completely dry.

what a nut :)

We then found a parking lot, packed our bags and headed out to the beach.

Our plan was to change the kids into their suits once we got onto the beach.

But Kaden, he decided he was ready to get wet.

He marched his little butt right into the ocean...fully clothed, shoes and all.

I think he would have kept right on walking had Cody not stopped him!

The kids did awesome...they just loved it!!

Me, the wet clothes, the sand in every crevice, and the heat, about put me over the edge before getting everyone loaded back into the car.

But the joy in the kids' eyes made it all worth it!

After the beach we did some shopping on the island and then went to the outlet malls in Fort Myers.

It was a great day!

Florida...vacationing

We absolutely loved having no agenda.

We really had nothing planned, other than relaxing and enjoying the kids.

This worked out well for us :)



Florida...kayaking

We have a kayak on our back deck.

Cody had to wait until the sun went down to get in the water.

He says it's because he didn't want to burn.

I think it was because he had to build up some courage to be in the same water as our new alligator friend :)

His first comment...after he stopped shaking and caught his balance..."apparently this kayaking isn't for everybody."

It took him a little while to get the hang of it, but he actually did pretty well with it.

I, on the other hand, was not going to attempt it.

Florida...the alligator

So we have this alligator.

He is a friendly alligator and enjoys hanging around behind our house.

Our house is right on the canal. The canal this alligator must call home.

Initially, it was pretty cool to see an actual alligator in the wild...especially as close as he was.

But once we were used to him, we just waited for him to come by.

We actually named him, Ray :)

our Florida trip...the beginning

We've been anxiously waiting to leave for Florida for quite some time. Our family was down here 3 years ago when my sister got married in Bonita Springs. We decided this past summer that we would take another trip down over Christmas and were excited to bring the kids!

As the time got closer, my excitement to bring the kids turned into a high level of anxiety. Once we got down here, I knew things would be fine....but it was the thought of getting here that made my blood pressure rise.

My parents were driving, which made packing a lot easier. We sent our big suitcase and a lot of the kids's items with them. So as far as traveling on the airplane, we just had to bring the essentials. Lots of diapers, snacks, and new toys. We flew out of Sioux Falls at noon. We weren't able to get a direct flight, so we had a layover in Dallas before flying into Tampa.

We left Sioux Falls at noon on Christmas Eve. Getting through security with two kiddos who would have rather wandered away from the adults they were with, was a little hairy. Our first flight, which was just under 2 hours, we were on a VERY SMALL PLANE. We were squished in there tight!! We didn't even have room for our carry-ons under our feet. They had to be put up above, which was not the handiest! About half way through our flight, Kenley thought she had had enough. At which point she started screaming and screaming and screaming. There was absolutely nothing we could do to calm her. If you've heard Kenley when she's really mad, she has a cry that could deafen the deaf. And there was no stopping her. As Cody was attempting to stand with her in the aisle, the flight attendant came over with a little motorcycle that was left from the flight before us. This was the one thing that finally distracted her enough to stop the screaming. She then finally fell asleep from pure exhaustion. Kaden on the other hand, slept from shortly after we took off until we pulled up to the gate in Dallas.

We were very thankful for those around us, who calmed my "hysterical mom feeling" with a child who would not stop screaming, as they were very friendly and let us know that her screaming was just fine. I should add, that on Friday before we left, I brought both kids into the Doctor because they had nasty colds and had been very irritable. Kenley was diagnosed with double ear infection. This and flying was a bad mix!!

When we landed in Dallas we had a 2 1/2 hour layover. This was great to be able to let the kids down and run around, have some time to eat, change diapers, and just collect ourselves. The kids were wild! They loved running the halls and kept us on our toes!!

The second flight we had a bigger airplane and it was a huge relief. Again though, just under a two hour flight. We kept the kids distracted with some toys, food, and drinks. But once again, there came the dreaded point where Kenley lost it. I cannot even describe to you the screaming. At one point her and I were both crying. I couldn't handle it. There was nothing I could do for her. She wouldn't take anything I was offering her and was just throwing herself around in pure hysterics. I felt bad for her, I felt bad for me, I felt bad for Cody, I felt bad for everyone around us. It was awful. Out of the blue, she decided she would take her pacifier and she once again fell asleep in pure exhaustion. Boy were we glad when our flights were done!!

We arrived in Tampa about 8pm. Both kids were hungry and extremely crabby. We found a spot where we could change their diapers and I made a big bottle for both of them. Cody gathered two carseats and two strollers from baggage claim and we headed across the street to get our rental car. After 45 minutes, we finally got to the car and were on our way. We had a 1 1/2 hour drive to get to our final destination. The kids were asleep before we even left the parking garage and slept the entire way. We arrived at the house at 11pm where my parents and my sisters family were waiting for us.

We had a long day. We were ready to be done. But we sure were ready for some relaxation and Florida sun.

Let our vacation begin!!

Christmas #4

We arrived in Florida late Saturday night (I'll write more specifically on that later).

Christmas morning we were planning on opening gifts when everyone was up.

 Kaden decided he was going to sleep in!

 And he didn't get up until 10am!! 

He has never slept that late. I think he must have been exhausted from our big day getting down here.

This finished off our Christmas celebrations.
We are beyond blessed and are thankful every single day for the life we have been given.

We hope you all had an amazing Christmas season.
Celebrating with the ones you love.
And remembering the Reason for the Season.