Upcoming Celebrations

We have had 2 x-mas' so far and we are going to have 2-3 more, I think.

We are going to have the Ostroski X-mas with Mr & Mrs O and Mike on Monday night. Mike, Bob's brother, only has a short time off of work during the entire year, so we are very privileged that he is going to be able to make it to OH to see us. We usually try to incorporate an x-mas gathering when he is around. Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom were going to come into town too to celebrate. However, Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom have caught some kind of icky sick bug. So, they have decided to stay in Chicago - Thank you - we really do not want to get sick. So, we are going to do part of the x-mas celebration without them because a couple of us have gifts for Mike for his big vacation trip. He is flying from Cleveland to head to Manchu Piccu for 8 days.

So, when Mike returns from his trip, we will celebrate again, with Aunt Sue & Uncle Tom. They are hoping to be able to come into town the weekend he returns. Hurray, another x-mas!!!

Then, when Jake is born and the weather isn't so crazy, my mom is planning on coming and bringing the girls' gifts - so we will have another x-mas.

Celie loves presents so I am sure she doesn't mind all of the various x-mas'. So, we will have a lot to celebrate in the upcoming weeks/months.

Christmas Day

Christmas day was filled with excitement. More for me, I think, than the girls. We even had to wake Celie up because she was still sleeping when Anna decided to wake up and come down stairs.

Santa had come and eaten the cookies and milk we left for him.

Celie had to try her new bike. Santa also brought her a white wicker basket for the front and a pink bike bell for her handle bars. Notice the nightgowns that both girls are wearing.

Anna opening up her doll.Celie's Baby Chou Chou, Bob insisted that we must ask Santa for this doll for Celie. He insisted that Celie had been asking for it for weeks. She is opening a share present for the girls - the movie Wall-E.


Both Celie and Anna got some Disney figurines and a couple of board games. Celie got a scrapbook and some Mickey Mouse stickers. Anna got doll accessories that included a stroller, a pack 'n play, a diaper changing mat/bag, a bouncy chair, and a floor play mat.

Anna was so tired of opening presents and wanted to play with things, that she still has a couple of things under the tree that are still wrapped. We might get around to opening them in the next couple of days.

Celie sees her BIG Santa Present

Santa was good to the girls. Santa also had special wrapping paper that was much different then ours (definitely wanted to make sure that any pictures taken depicted different wrapping - I am sure that our smart girls would figure things out before their time on that one). However, Santa did not wrap one of the presents for Celie because it was just too hard to wrap a bike. So, here is some video of when Celie first came down the stairs.

1st of Many

Christmas this year has been very unpredictable and feels very "un"X-mas like. Because of the impending wait and see of Jake - and the various trips to the hospital, it has been hard to schedule things. Also, with everyone on various work schedules, etc. it is difficult for everything to happen on X-mas day. So, this year, like many others, we will have multiple x-mas'.

I have a feeling that Celie will not mind at all.

The first x-mas was the M&D x-mas. On x-mas eve, we let the girls open the presents from us. We were hoping that this would distinguish the difference between our presents and those that Santa brought. As well as, we were hoping that they wouldn't get too bored with opening presents, etc. if we divided them up.

Anna is becoming quite the ham. When the camera comes out, she is front and center saying Cheese.


Celie showing off her candy glass bead necklace from us. She loves it.

Buckeye candies, a chocolate covered oreo and a sugar cookie w/a glass of milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.

We got the girls mostly clothes for x-mas - so the excitement of playing with something before bed wasn't really there. However, I did buy the girls matching nightgowns with the princesses on them. I wasn't quite sure if they would like the nightgowns, as they usually sleep in 2 piece pjs. However, the both wanted the "dresses" on right away - even before opening their other presents. They also wouldn't take them off - all of the x-mas day the ran around the house in their "dresses" until bath time. I guess they were a hit and I should get them a few more.

Cookie Making

Because Santa would be coming, we had to make cookies. The girls and I had made some sugar dough ahead of time but we hadn't rolled out the dough and baked the cookies yet. So, I decided to do that project with the girls on Tuesday night.

Here are girls and I rolling out dough & making sugar cookies. We were to frosting them on X-mas eve, but we still haven't gotten to the point of doing that. We might tomorrow. We had good alternatives for Santa.

Full Term!

I met with an at risk OB Dr. at the hospital where we are going to delivery because my Drs' office wasn't open today. I had an ultrasound to look at Jake, his movement and the amniotic fluid around him. Everything looked great. He even has some hair that the sonographer could detect. He has shifted down and his head is very low - and boy can I feel it.

My blood pressure was good 110/60 however I had +1 of protein in my urine - so I am sure that we will be watching that. I was puffy and my eye hurt, but otherwise, I was fine and he is doing great.

There is no course of action really - just more wait & see. My next Drs. visit is Tuesday.

So, today we are at 37 weeks - which is considered full term. Celie was born at 37 weeks exactly and Anna at 38 so we are pretty confident that whenever he comes, he will be just fine. Can't wait!!

Keeping on

I had a check up with my Dr. this morning. They monitored Jake's heartbeat and his movement. I am about 1-2 cm dialated. My blood pressure was 128/68. So, everything looked good. I am now on a 2 times a week schedule for seeing the Dr. So, everything Tuesday & Friday I will see the Dr.

There is no idea when Jake will come. So, it is still a wait and see game.

Next appt. - Friday. We will be 37 weeks so he can come anytime and I will be completely happy.

False Alarm

This week has definitely been an interesting one. Since it has been a long week - I will be brief.

It all started on Monday morning when I went in for my check up. Blood pressure was up - sent to Triage - observed by a high risk OB at the clinic - decided to induce me - induction didn't work - cervix didn't ripen that well and I maxed out on Pitocin - still nothing. stopped treatment - seen by a neurologist to find out if there was anything behind the headache's that would be cause for another induction/c-section. CT scan came back negative - so they sent me home Wednesday evening.

I had another appt. today. My blood pressure was 130/90 - elevated for me - but since I didn't have any other symptoms, they sent me home and will be monitored and visit on Tuesday and again on Friday. They will be doing ultrasounds to check on Jake from now on. They are monitoring his growth and the fluid around him. If either of those change in the negative direction, there would be reason for concern and then they would induce.

One observation during my stay at the hospital was that as long as I am basically tied to a bed, my blood pressure tends to go down and my symptoms lessen greatly. So for the remainder of the pregnancy, I am on bed rest. I only really get out of the recliner/out of bed to eat, go to the bathroom, and of course, keep everyone updated.

So, that has been our saga this week. We hope to have a VERY UNeventful weekend. But hope you have a great one.

Visiting the Doctor

This morning I was feeling fine so I decided to take Celie to the grocery store to get the house stocked back up before Anna woke up. (Anna hates it when we leave her behind and cries for awhile afterwards). Halfway through shopping, I started not feeling so great. I started to feel warm and weak. So, I tried to hurry out of there.

Once home, I let Bob unload the groceries and I sat down to see if I could feel Jake. I was a little concerned because I hadn't been feeling Jake as much as I had in the past. So, I called the Drs. office. They told me to come in so they could check me out. My Dr. was out of town so I was seen by her colleague. So, Bob logged out of work, we packed up the girls and headed to the Dr.

Bob and the girls dropped me off and they went to go get some lunch and drive around so they wouldn't go crazy in the waiting room. The saw me right away. I had lost a pound since Monday and my blood pressure was 132/83 - so creeping up again. They decided to run some blood work. Jake sounded good. They monitored me for 30 minutes. His heart rate and movement was good. They also did an ultrasound to make sure my fluids, placenta, and he was doing o.k. They are estimating him to be about 5 # 7 oz. right now. Everything checked out o.k. He is moving - I just can't always feel him. So, though I hadn't expected or wanted to spend 2 hours at the Drs. I am glad to have peace of mind that he is doing great. Bob and the girls came and picked me up and we all went home and Bob went back to work and the girls and I watched a movie. It was a great afternoon.

Bob did tell me that during the driving around, he passed the Drs. office a couple of times and each time he passed it, Celie spoke up and said, "Daddy, mommy is at the Dr. You passed it." She was very concerned that they were leaving me at the Drs. office. I am very flattered that she knew where I was & was concerned. I am a lucky mom.

Triage, Again

Last night around 8:30 pm I started having contractions. However, these contractions continued and were pretty consistent - 1 every 10 minutes - all throughout the night and into this morning. At about 10am I called my OB to let her know what was happening. She told me to go to Triage to get checked. Depending on what we found, would depend on if I came home or would be admitted.

Bob called his parents to see if they could come up to watch the girls. They said yes. So, the plan was that Bob & the girls would take me to the hospital and then he would come home and wait for the O's to arrive and then come up to the hospital.

In Triage, they took my blood pressure and set up the monitors for Jake's heartbeat and my contractions. They also took a urine sample. My sample came back with sugar, bacteria & protein in it. Not necessarily a good thing. So, after the resident OB checked my cervix and my blood pressure taken - it was 110/58 at first - they determined that I must have a bladder infection and that is what is making me having contractions because the contractions I was having were not progressing my labor in any shape or form. So, they gave me a prescription/antibiotic for the bladder infection, told me to drink LOTS of liquids, and be on bed rest. They also gave me a shot of tributuline again for the contractions. They did stop - however, I have been experiencing a few random ones this evening. My ending blood pressure on this trip was a whopping 110/31.

So, after 2 or so hours in Triage, I was released and able to get dressed. I went to the lobby downstairs to call the house. Bob answered and I told him that I was free to come home. He reached his parents on the phone and they had been seriously delayed due to a bad accident ahead of them. So, they decided to go to Ashland to be closer to us in case we needed them on Monday (my next office visit). So, Bob piled the girls in the van and they took their time to come get me (the roads were a little suspect from the lake effect snow). He encountered 3 different accidents on the highway to come get me. All of us were hungry, so we decided to take the scenic way home and stopped in Solon for a late lunch. The girls were awesome and everyone was full. We then headed home & Bob went out to fill my prescriptions.

This triage experience was definitely better than the last. I am not sure if they weren't that busy this time or if the staff was that much more together, but everyone seemed to be doing everything right, in sync, and with a purpose. I was very happy that I was only in there for 2 hours.

So, the next news will probably be after Monday's office visit.

Low Key Birthday

Unfortunately for Celie, she had a very low key birthday this year. We had scheduled a party for her on Saturday, but had decided to cancel it because of my recent stint in the Triage. She really didn't know it was going to happen, so that was good. But the mommy guilt still exists.

On Friday morning after some toast, I stuck a candle in a cupcake that we had made the day before. Everyone sang her happy b-day and she successfully blew out her candle. The rest of the day she played and then after a kick trip to the grocery store after dinner, we all had round 2 of the Celie b-day cupcakes. Celie got to blow out another candle. After cake, Celie opened up her b-day presents from Bob and I and from Anna. We got her a Fancy Nancy book, a black fleece jacket and TinkerBell PJs. Anna got her TinkerBell Fairy figures. She loves them and hasn't stopped playing with them since last night. They even went to bed with her. She fell asleep with 3 in each hand.

Hopefully, next year, when she turns 5, we will be able to celebrate with a little more fanfare.

Best x-mas present ever

I know that one should not receive x-mas gifts early, necessarily. However, I did receive a GREAT x-mas present - early.

In researching the address, etc. for our dinner out to Lolita - see Lolita post - I noticed that they were having a sign up to take a cooking class with Michael Symon at Lolitas. There were 5 different themes throughout the year of 2009. The classes are on Tuesday nights. You do not actually cook the meal - but see how Michael prepares it and get to eat it along with a wine pairing.

This definitely interested me and Bob being a new Michael Symon fan, especially after eating at Lolita's, he said that I could sign myself up for a class. I told him that was a great x-mas gift from him.

Last year, the cooking series sold out in a few days. So, I was geared up to be on the phone promptly at 11am on Dec. 2nd to keep the redial going until I got through. So, it took me 25 minutes to get through, but I finally did!! I am signed up for the Comfort Food class in April of 2009!!! I am so excited. Merry Christmas.

Triage

I had my 33 1/2 week check up on Monday. I felt fine in the morning, but by the time I got to the office for my 1pm appt. I felt awful.

My blood pressure was up and my hands were puffy and I had a headache that wouldn't go away. So, my OB decided that she would send me to triage so that I & Jake could be monitored and they could run some blood work. But before I left the office, she wanted to do an ultrasound to see how Jake was developing and the fluids around him, etc. Misty the ultrasound technician said that he looked good. She was estimating him to weigh around 5# 3 oz. My Doc said that was really good for his gestational age. Misty also said that she saw hair/peachfuzz on him. I said that was more than his sisters had. His heart rate was good as well. IT was just me that was a mess.

So, I headed to Triage. On the way, I called Bob and left a message - he had gone to the Farm to go hunting. I also called Mrs. O, who was watching the girls, to let her know as well. On my way to the hospital, Bob called me back and said that he would pack things up and come home. Smart move, I thought. I got to the hospital and into the Triage area. They set me up in a room, had me give a urine sample and hooked me up to the monitors. It was 2:15/2:30pm.

They finally drew the blood to send to the labs at 4:15pm and hooked me up to some fluid IVs. At about 6 pm I asked if I could have something to eat - they said that I would have to wait until the lab results came back. I was thinking that they should be back soon and that Bob and I could go get something to eat at a good restaurant. (Bob had gotten to the hospital around 5:30pm). So, we waited. The results didn't come back from the lab until about 9 pm and everything was normal. So that was good. My blood pressure had come down - however, the concern for my OB was that I had started contractions - 2-3 every 15 minutes. She didn't want to send me home with that many just in case it were to spawn labor, etc. So, they gave me a shot in the arm of Tribuline (sp?) which was supposed to stop the contractions. I asked if I could have a snack - no go because the medicine can cause nausea - great. It was a good thing that I snuck that Wendy's in before my Drs. appt or otherwise I would be passed out from hunger. They had to monitor me to see if my contractions stopped - so that was another 1 or so.

Finally, at 11:00pm they decided that I had no contractions for over an hour and I was free to go home. YEAH!! But by that time - no restaurant was open on a Monday night - not even a Wendy's. So, Bob and I headed home on some slippery roads - it took us 45 minutes to get home because of the roads.

I made a salad as soon as I was inside. I needed to eat something. Then went to bed. Thank goodness Mrs. O was here to take care of the girls. She is staying until Thursday morning given that I am feeling o.k. I have been trying to stay off my feet and not do much. But I have been noticing some contractions again. So, I am just trying to keep Jake in there as long as we can. I will be 34 weeks tomorrow - so that is good.

That has been our excitement this week. Hopefully, we won't have any more excitement like that. but who knows.