Shall We Take Bets?

So most of you know at least a little bit about what's been going on with me this past 6 days or so but, in case you don't, I'll recap:
Had a doc appt last Wednesday and found out my blood pressure was high again. My nurse took it twice before having me lay down and relax which got us a much better reading. So because that was the 2nd visit in a row that my readings we high, the doc wanted me to cut my work hrs for a couple of days and go back on Friday to have it re-checked. Well, even with reduced work hrs, it was still high on Friday so he put me on BP meds right away and I had to go back in AGAIN today for a re-check. Thankfully, today's reading was spot on so I'm cleared to continue working just 4hrs/day for this week and I'll go in again next Monday for another check. Then, next Friday (the 12th) I'll go in for a regular check up to see how Jaxson is doing and see what progress (if any) is being made it terms of his delivery. The doc has already said that, with my BP issues, he'll be looking at inducing me sometime between 37 and 39 weeks which is sometime between Oct 10th and 24th. So I'm hoping that next Friday he'll give me some sort of indication of when we might induce.

Personally, I was hoping for 10/11/12 but doubt that'll happen since my appt isn't even until the 12th. So I'm curious to hear when everyone is betting he'll come! Shall we start a betting pool? :)


On a slightly diff note, my sisters threw me an AWESOME baby shower a lil over a week ago. We had about 13 or 14 people and it was a blast! Here are some pics:

Adorable decor by my sis, Jeni

Super cute diaper motorcycle by my sis, Julie, and friend Phedra

Homemade shopping cart cover!

Hoping the knit hat will be part of his Halloween costume!

What great sports!

Lovely co-workers and myself

Been an eventful week and 1/2 and I just hope that time keeps going by smoothly so that I can meet my baby boy in the next few weeks!!

Lots To Report

First off, if you haven't notice the cute little countdown right about this post, I'm now at 34 weeks - only 6 weeks to go! Haven't had much to report from the Doc because all is well. Jaxson is definitely making it know that he's running out of room! He's as active as ever throwing around his weight from side to side and jabbing/kicking me in the ribs to make sure I don't forget he's in there :-P
This part of the pregnancy is definitely getting more challenging for me. I've gotten used to having days where I'm pretty uncomfortable but this week has thrown a new challenge at me...NO SLEEP! On Monday night I woke up at 1:00am and was fully awake until 6am. So with only 3 hrs of sleep under my belt I called my boss and he said to come in whenever I was ready, thank goodness! Then again last night was another Monday. I woke up right before 2am, was awake until 5am but slept till 6:30am. I felt too bad to call into work again so I went in anyway but made it till about 11 when they sent me home to rest. Thank goodness, because about 12:30pm I was out like a light for 3 hrs. I sure hope I can figure out some sort of remedy because I can't keep going in late or leaving early every time I lack sleep. Any advice?? I know, gotta get used to it for when he's born, but once he's here I don't have an alarm clock telling me to get dressed and go be nice to people for 9hrs!!

Ok, enough of the pity party...here's the belly pic :-P I think I've put on some bulk since my last pic 5 wks ago!

34 wks exactly!

Time for a subject change...Del's job. Last post I talked about Dellas taking on new responsibility at work with his boss having left and that we hoped it would go well and pay off. Well, it has started to! Yesterday Del came home and announced, in his usual nonchalant fashion, that he got a raise!! One of the head honchos called him into his office, gave him lots of GREAT compliments and said he's getting a raise effective Oct 1! The gist of what the boss said is that Kiewit rarely does this but they're giving him a bi-annual raise. Usually they only give yearly raises but they make exceptions for those who are doing particularly well. So he got this raise and should plan to get another come March or April. He also said that very few Engineers in the history of Kiewit can take on the amount of responsibility that Del has and handle it as well as he has. He's impressed with Del's ability to manage everything that they keep throwing at him so this is their way of showing their appreciation. I'm SOOO proud of my hubby and knew his hard work would pay off! I'm glad it came when it did because he's had a few challenges this past week so this was a great boost for him!

Not only was yesterday "pay raise day" but it was our 3rd anniversary as well :-) We didn't do much last night but celebrated last weekend with a trip to downtown Seattle to check out the new ferris wheel and then dinner in Bellevue. Unfortunately the views were pretty hazy due to several wildfires in central Washington, but it was still fun!

At the top of the Seattle Great Wheel

Lastly, we got a special package from a far off land a couple days ago! Auntie Ris and Uncle P sent over a package for Jaxson from Kwaj and I was very excited to see the contents :)

Not sure why I can't get it to turn the right way, you can just tilt your head :-P But Thank You Aunt Ris and Uncle Peter!

So as the blog title warned, I had lots to report but I think I've covered it all. Got a doc appt next week which MIGHT give me a tiny idea of when this little guy will be ready to come. The goal is to make sure he's already "assumed the position" and see what other progress (if any) I've made. So until then!

Baby Update and More

Where to start...
First and foremost, all is well with baby :-) I've been tested for gestation diabetes and passed with flying colors. I do need to up my vitamin D intake again but that's not a huge cause for concern. He's definitely growing and making sure I know it! He's very active, especially in the evenings, and it's fun to watch and feel him roll around now.
When you get to the video, watch the area closest to my arm (upper left area). Do you seem him moving then kick??

29 wks

Now to switch gears, I have been so focused on baby that I haven't really talked about anything else in our lives! Dellas is going through a pretty significant change at work...his immediate boss has put in his notice and Friday is his last day. He has accepted a job offer in BOISE, believe it or not, and has already purchased a home there. So although we sort of wish we could follow him back there, this is looking like it might open some doors for Del. Del doesn't have the 5 yrs experience required to officially take over the Superintedent position, but it sounds like Adam's boss is going to hand over a chunk of what Del and Adam were working on together to Del! Since Del worked so closely with him, he already has most things planned and figured out but now he's taking on a few of Adam's old responsibilities that he's never dealt with before.
Anyway, without going into a ton of detail, the bottom line is that this is a huge compliment, opportunity, and challenge for Del! He is now "Acting Superintendent" on one area of the project...so WHEN all goes well, hopefully Kiewit will recognize his accomplishments and he'll look really good :) And even though he may not reap the pay benefits of doing this level of job right away, we hope it'll pay off when reviews come around!

That's all for now! I might have more baby pics in a few weeks when my OB does his own ultrasound. If not, I'll at least have something to report from that appt :-)

Another Baby Photo Op

Today was our check-up ultrasound and we couldn't have asked for a better visit. The doc said the abruption repaired itself just like he was hoping so there's nothing to worry about anymore with that. Although I was hoping that Jaxson would cooperate better this time for pics he was even worse! He had his back to us for the first several minutes so doc had me turn to one side, then the other, then almost onto my stomach trying to get him to turn. We got a couple peaks but he'd turn back to quick. So we left him alone for a bit before trying one last time and we got a few good shots of him.

Chillin in almost the exact position as last ultrasound

 

Cock head to your right - he's smirking a bit.

 We got a couple others but these were the best, in my opinion. I still maintain that I think he has my nose and lots of people seem to agree; mom thinks he looks like a Hultz (her dad's family) and reminds her of her dad.
The doc did some measurements again and Jaxson seems to be staying in the 60th percentile range in overall size. However, the size of his head is in the 92nd percentile!! Lol, the doc said "wow, your little guy has quite the melon!"
Next ultrasound is in 5 weeks but this time with my own OB; he likes to do his own check up around 32 weeks. Not sure he does these fancy pics though, so might be the last of these.
Now to leave you with the most important pic...the belly pic :-P

26 wks 5 days

It's Decided...

Most of you know that Del and I have been calling Baby Clark by one particular name but now that I have completed my project for his room I'm ready to officially announce it :-P
So, without further ado....

Jaxson Andrew

This little project only cost me a whopping $12. My mom was nice enough to let me steal from her plethora of scrapbook paper to make the letters. Then after some shopping around, I finally found these frames at Target for $2 each.

Now, hopefully in the next 3 months I don't change my mind on his name! Haha. Even if I did, I don't think that Del and I could agree on another one. So I think we're pretty committed to Jaxson :-P

Oh, also while I'm at it...I had my doc appt yesterday to go over my little gene thing. To keep it very simple, with my good health history my doc doesn't see anything to worry about at this point. If I start showing signs of certain conditions then we'll change directions. Or if in future pregnancies I have problems with miscarriages, then I will need to go on some extra medication. We will still be watching the abruption to make sure it hasn't worsened, but he has no reason to believe that it will.
Now I'm just excited for my next ultrasound on the 30th because I'll get another look at Jaxson! And hopefully he'll be a little more cooperative and show us his precious face :) :) He's definitely getting good at reminding me of his presence every 4 hrs or so by kicking and rolling around, so maybe he'll let us get a look at him while he's at it :) And right as I typed that he kicked me haha so maybe not :-P

Well, until next time!

Summer Has Arrived

Well, the hecticness of summer has started! This past week Del, Oakley, myself and Baby took off down to Klamath River, CA for a Ramey-Grow Family Reunion for 4 days and had a blast catching up and meeting family! We spent lots of time in the sunshine and heat hanging out by the river and eating way too much. Perfect situation for a pregnant lady :-P ...except for the heat....definitely got a taste of the swollen feet and ankles thing! But it was totally worth it.

Chillin' on the Scott River

Sisters in law with Oak

Mom Clark enjoying time w/her granddog

The rest of July is looking fairly slow, so far, but come August and Sept I've got something going on almost every weekend!

In the world of baby, all is well, mostly. I did get some genetic testing done and found out of I have a gene called MTHFR. To put it as simply as possible, having this gene mutation can cause several different health issues but it's also linked to several pregnancy complications. So far Baby Clark himself hasn't given us any signs for concern but the one thing that caused my doctor to ask I get the testing done was some bleeding of the placenta (placental abruption) that we found at my 20 wk ultrasound. It was very minor and not a major concern, but now that we know I have this gene I'm thinking they'll want to monitor me much closer. Placental abruption can be scary because it can happen at any point in the pregnancy without you even knowing it and, if severe enough, will cause a miscarriage. I'm not saying that this WILL happen, just saying the cause for concern. This MTHFR gene also interferes with the absorption of folic acid, which is very important to babies, so I have been prescribed a folic acid supplement on top of my prenatals.
I meet with my doctor next week to go into more detail about where we go from here. I'm not sure what to expect at this appt, could go lots of directions so I'll keep you all posted!
Just keep us in your prayers that I'll be one of the many women who have full-term pregnancies and a healthy baby in spite of me having this rare gene. :-)

23 wks 5 days

Del modeling the burp rags Mom Clark made!

1/2 Way Done!

Today we had our 20 wk anatomical ultrasound with the radiologist. My mom even came up from Olympia to meet her newest grandson so it was an extra fun appt.
Our baby boy was a little bit camera shy but with some coaxing, bouncing and shaking we were able to get him to look at us for just a couple pics.

Baby Feet!

Such a dramatic pose

We of course looked at all his vitals and everything looked good! As far as the doc could tell, Baby has all 10 fingers, 10 toes, and a nice strong heart. Our "slightly increased" chance of spina bifida was addressed right away and there was no cause for concern.
I'll leave you with what people are always asking for...a belly pic :)

1/2 way!