Thanksgiving Blessings

God has given us many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! We are thankful that Hannah Kate is healthy and safe and looks awesome on ultrasounds! We are thankful that we have Rachel and Leah for now and hope that we get to spend a little bit of time with them when they are born. We are thankful for kind and smart doctors!

Here are the highlights from today at Vanderbilt:
*We had an ultrasound that lasted one hour. Fun times, but my bootie was asleep by the end from trying to be still for that long!
*They did anatomy scans for the babies. Hannah Kate looks perfect and is still Hannah Kate not Daniel! Rachel and Leah look the same-not really any new news to report. During the scan, the lady was pointing out the heart, there are the different chambers, etc. I was thinking, "Wow, that's neat that you can see that. Aw, look at the little hands, feet, etc. That's cool how she can just push one button and it puts the whole word on the screen for the body part instead of her typing it all out...." Then, my brilliant pharmacist husband says, "Can you see the Ductus Arteriosis?" I just laughed. They then proceeded to talk about whatever that is in the heart and where it is, etc. I'm glad he knows medical lingo!
*Ultrasounds are amazing. The babies are the size of mangoes this week and you can see ventricles in the brain on an ultrasound (and whatever that Ductus thing is Wesley asked about in the heart!)-and those are tiny!
*We saw the other high risk OB (Dr. Bennett) and we like her too. She and/or Dr. Carroll (the doctor we saw last time) will do the c-section.
*She said our goal for now is to make it to 28 weeks. After 28 weeks, then 32, then 35 (which is our ultimate goal). I am supposed to stop working at 20 weeks (which is in 2 weeks!), but I am going to try to spring for another week and a half to be able to finish out before Christmas. She said I need to take it as easy as I can-no heavy housework or lifting, stay off my feet as much as possible, etc. She wasn't overly concerned about anything at this point, but said it's just "common sense" that I need to be taking it easy.
*She said at this point the babies are the right size, etc. and to not be too concerned about me not gaining weight. She said for me to eat as often as I can stand to eat and to eat whatever I can. She said that means if it's just milkshakes, then eat milkshakes! (My kind of doctor!) She advised for me to be eating every 2 hours.....that's a lot of eating!
*We met the neonatologist at this clinic for the first time. He was very nice as well. He asked right away if we had chosen names and then called each baby by name for the remainder of the visit. I was impressed! When he left, I said, "I LIKE him! Do you know why?" and Wesley immediately said, "Because he called them by name. I was thinking, 'Denise is eating this up!'" He basically went over what would happen in the surgery room, what to expect, etc. Hannah Kate will have a team of four people working on her: a neonatologist, a neonatal nurse practitioner, respiratory therapist, and a NICU nurse. He said depending on how far along we are, she may not need all of them, but they will all be there and ready. Rachel and Leah will also have a team waiting for them. Their main priority is cleaning them up and getting them ready for us to hold and keeping them comfortable. He said there's no way to know how long they will live, but he is leaning more towards minutes/hours. He referred to minutes for the majority of the conversation. He said that God made a heart to last a lifetime, we just don't know how long the lifetime is. Makes sense to me! He then went into the details of what to expect based on how far along we are and what complications may arise for Hannah Kate. If we make it to 35 weeks, he said she could be in the NICU as little as 3 days.
*We go back on December 22 (the Wednesday before Christmas) to see Dr. Carroll again. We will keep going every 3-4 weeks until we have to start going more often.

I'll include a couple of ultrasound pictures for you to enjoy. :) Then, I have got to get busy knitting a Christmas stocking for Hannah Kate (I want a picture of all of our stockings together....I know she won't know if it's ready or not!)!!
Love you all,
Denise and Wesley

Here is a profile picture of Hannah Kate from yesterday's visit at home with Dr. Holmes.

This is of her feet from today.

A highlight from yesterday at the doctor at home-Dr. Holmes measured my belly for the first time and said it should normally be how many weeks I am +/-4 but that I will be bigger.....I was 18 weeks yesterday and my belly measured at 24 weeks! Ha! I'm advanced! And yet still I have gained only 2 pounds total.....oh well!

"I felt something MOVE!"

Last night, Wesley was mashing on my belly, acting like he was going to able to feel babies moving. I went into the whole, "I am not even sure if I have felt them, I'm really sorry it's going to be awhile before you feel them," spill....but he continued. Then, he jerked his hand back (like he had touched the electric fence), squealed (I have a feeling he won't like the term "squealed," but this is the truth!), and said, "I felt something MOVE!" I thought he was joking at first, but then I saw that his whole face was lit up. So, somehow, Wesley managed to feel the babies move, but I didn't. Then, he went into the whole, "I know this is backwards, but one day YOU will feel them TOO," spill. It was hilarious. I didn't even care that he felt them and I didn't! I am pretty sure I felt them move yesterday morning when I was doing small group with my class. (I have "felt" movement a few times before, but it's when I was thinking about how I wanted to feel it-so I think I made it up. Yesterday morning, I was thinking nothing about that, so that is why I think it was real!) After his successful try then, he mashed even harder on my belly trying to feel them. At one point he said, "There's something moving right under my ring finger," and lifted his hand up so I could feel in that one spot. I didn't feel anything. One day! :)

And a funny story from today, the sweet little girl who pats my belly at school said:
Mrs. Skelton, your belly keeps getting much and much bigger!

Drumroll, please!

Over 50 people voted on the blog and 18 people on my Facebook status..........and here is the truth...Well, this is the truth as of today. (I really maybe shouldn't have hyped it up so much today because it is early, and we can't be 100% sure yet, but.......)
...GIRL...
...GIRL...
...GIRL...
: )
Insert obligatory "potty-bowl" view picture (thanks, Kyle, for allowing me to borrow the terminology) here:Like the "?" that Kelly, the ultrasound lady, typed in. That made me laugh! I am 16 weeks today, so it is a little early to be able to tell. She said 3 white lines generally mean "girl parts." We are going with girls. Wesley expressed concern that this will really be a boy and then he will have gender role issues because I called him Hannah Kate in the womb. It's not like I'm dressing a boy in pink clothes! I don't plan on buying anything pink yet just in case, although I am very anxious to start knitting a Christmas stocking! I guess I can wait a couple of more weeks for that.
The rest of the appointment went well. Baby heart rates were good, my chest x-ray was clear, the EKG was normal (we think-that is what the lady told me yesterday when she did it, but Dr. H hadn't received the results yet), my heart rate was normal (thanks to the medicine), and I got my flu shot! I go back on Tuesday, November 23rd, to the doctor here and the next day is our next Vanderbilt appointment. Dr. H pointed out that today was my first appointment in awhile where we didn't have a new problem. Hopefully, this is starting a trend! Oh, and I lost my pound that I had gained, but she thinks I will do better about gaining now that my heart rate will be normal.

Random thoughts:
*Our poor child is having her "girl parts" posted on the world wide web.....but it's normal to do this. That's a little odd! I hope she doesn't mind!
*Names: Hannah Kate, Rachel and Leah. We don't have middle names chosen for Rachel and Leah yet. We really wanted Bible names and Rachel and Leah suddenly popped in my head Sunday night because not only are they Bible names, but they were SISTERS! (The boy choices were Joseph and Benjamin...BROTHERS!) Hannah Kate will be Hannah Katherine (maybe) but we will call her "Hannah Kate."
*What a sigh of relief that we will not have a Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego (sorry, Wesley, they really are fantastic names!).
*I never felt like I KNEW what they were....I was thinking maybe 1 boy and 2 girls.
*I wanted to go to Babies R Us today to look at stuff, but Wesley voted no. I'm hoping for this weekend.
*Moms, what baby necessities are necessities???

And a sweet/funny story: Yesterday, one of my sweet girls (her mom is expecting also), gave me a big hug, patted my belly, looked at me and smiled a huge smile, then walked away. It was great! She didn't say a word. Some of my kids have figured out that there is something in my belly, but their sweet parents have told them not to say a thing. I am wondering how long until someone says something. I am betting this week or next week!

Baby Spice

I think every post should have a fun title....it was this or "update" and "update" is not fun.
We went to see our doctor here again today (this makes 3 weeks in a row-I told them I just need a standing appointment!). Last week, she wanted to have blood work done because my heart has been racing. The nurse called Monday and said I have an "extremely" hyperactive thyroid and needed to come back in this week. Wesley was not happy with that diagnosis and said there is not a good medication for this during pregnancy. We prayed, friends prayed, and today the doctor said it's only mild. She was surprised that the nurse had said it was extreme! She showed us the numbers from the blood work and the number that is important was 1.97 (normal is 1.76). She is going to check with the high risk doctor Monday, but she said they probably won't put me on any medicine for the thyroid at this point. She did give me a prescription for medicine to help with my heart rate and I have to have an EKG on Monday. I also had to have a chest x-ray done. I have pleurisy and it had gotten better this week. Last night, I coughed, felt a pop, and had extreme pain all night/most of today. I figure I might as well have an exciting pregnancy, right?! I go back to see her Tuesday/Wednesday and for the EKG and chest x-ray results, medicine decision, and an ultrasound. She told me today that she knows I don't want to miss school, but I'm too complicated to come for a 4 o'clock appointment anymore! She wants me to come in earlier so that I can have labs/ultrasound done when needed. I LOVE my doctor. She is so good to us and she gives me a hug before I leave every time. Today I was joking about all of these "issues" I have, and she said, "I'm glad you can laugh about this!" I am very thankful for her.
Oh! Here's another highlight of today's appointment: I gained 3 pounds! I have lost 2 pounds during the whole pregnancy, so I was super pumped to finally see the number go up (the only time in my life, I'm sure!).

Okay-enough of that, every post must have a fun title AND pictures!

Last week was Red Ribbon Week at school. One day was dress like a band/rock star "Band together against drugs." Higginbotham decided the Kindergarten ladies should be the Spice Girls because there were five of them. She also decided I should be "Baby Spice" (hence the title of this post)....very clever, huh? It was difficult to find a Spice Girl outfit because .... 1) they weren't very modest and we were going to be modest! 2) my belly is big and I don't think Spice Girls had big bellies! Oh well! It worked out well because I finally posted something on Facebook about our pregnancy, so some school people knew the news....they definitely knew when I "unhid" my belly and had "Baby Spice" pinned on my belly! Here are the Spice Girls with the guy from Kiss. Coach Dance went home during lunch just to put his makeup back on for us!! On another school note.....I have told my classroom parents that we are expecting and that there are complications so that they would understand why I have been/will be out so much. I have not told the kiddos-I said that they could just notice when my belly is large. One of the moms emailed me last weekend and said that her little girl said, "Mommy, Mrs. Skelton rubs her belly sometimes. I think there's a baby in there, but I'm not going to ask her because I don't want to pull my clip!" Yesterday, one of my boys (who is just about eye level with my belly) was talking to me and I was rubbing on my belly.....he just stared at my stomach and had his head turned like a puppy dog...it was hilarious. I would l love to know what he was thinking!

Here is our first baby hat! I bought this yarn at about 7 weeks and got green, yellow and white since I was ready to knit but didn't know to use pink or blue......things got crazy and I just finished it. Oh well. They can just have yellow and green ones in addition to their pink or blue ones!