29 weeks and 4 days - 7 nights in the hospital as of now

Dear Baby Ethan,

Today Cindi and Sara from work were so sweet to come and visit.  They bought me lunch from Paradise Bakery, some work reading, and some other magazines.  It was so nice to see some familiar faces!  Then Father Hahn our new priest at St. Robert Bellarmine came by.  He said a prayer for us and visited for a bit.  He just blessed our house last Saturday, so it was nice to see him..

The Stats

The current count is that I have spent 7 nights in the hospital.  Because of the placenta previa they will not let you go past 36 weeks.  Thus, you will likely be born around September 4th.  As of now, I may be in the hospital another 6 weeks or so, which is 44 nights, or 1 month, 13 days.  Only 7 more Wednesdays!

At last measurement (Monday July 6th) when I was 27 weeks and a few days you weighed approximately 2.6 pounds and were in the 51% percentile, so they were not concerned about your growth.  We should have another scan in a few weeks, perhaps around August 3.  It's funny that your weight is about 1.5 pounds over the average listed here - http://www.babycenter.com/average-fetal-length-weight-chart.

Love you baby Ethan!

Momma

Just over 6 weeks until we meet you! - 29 weeks and 3 days

Dear Baby Ethan,

We are so excited to meet you.  I'm a bit sad that it will be sooner than we had expected.  Your due date is October 3, 2015.  At our 20 week ultrasound we were diagnosed with complete placenta previa.  As of now, the placenta is still fully covering your exit! We had expected to have  c-section anyway given that I had a c-section with your sister Rose.

Past Bleeds

On June 20, 2015, I had my first spotting episode.  There was a clot of bright red blood.  I was in the hospital 3 days and then they let me go home because I had no other issues.

Last week I had a very scary bleeding episode.  I felt a small trickle on my leg while I was sleeping.  I got out of bed and felt a huge gush of liquid.  I thought perhaps my water had broken. Instead, when I found my glasses and the light I saw blood everywhere.  I ran around a minute or so trying to decide what to do.  I went to the bathroom just as your dad stumbled in and a huge blood clot feel out.  At that point I was still bleeding a bit.  I ran into the kitchen and asked your dad to call an ambulance.  We could not leave your sister alone.  So, the ambulance came.  By that time the bleeding had stopped or at least slowed.  I stayed in the hospital for about 1.5 days.  Because the bleeding had stopped so completely, they said I could go with no restrictions.  It was quite scary. But, they said because  I had a long cervical length of 4 cm, that I only had a 20% chance of bleeding issues.  I was fine the rest of the week and had a great time hanging out with your grandparents, Aunt Daisy, Uncle Kevin, and new baby cousin Anna Beth.

Yesterday (7-20-2015) at about 3:30 am I felt another trickle and went to the bathroom to check it out.  There was a gush of blood into the toilet.  I told your dad that I needed to go to the hospital.  I did not think the bleeding had continued, so I thought I could drive myself.  I called my OBGYN on the way, and confirmed they thought I should be checked out.  When I saw Dr. Dalke with the high risk group yesterday he strongly suggested that I think about staying until you are born!

The Plan

I spoke to your dad and our family.  I learned that it is possible to lose all of one's blood volume in 10 minutes with a bad bleed.  If I were to go home, they said I would need to be monitored 24/7 which is not possible if I work from home, drive places, do quite a few things! Also, it is scary how fast and serious the bleeds can come on.  They have always stopped quickly, but the next one might not.  With a heavy heart we all agreed I should likely stay here.  We will see if the doctors directives change.  But, for now that is the plan.

The Stats

The current count is that I have spent 6 nights in the hospital.  Because of the placenta previa they will not let you go past 36 weeks.  Thus, you will likely be born around September 4th.  As of now, I may be in the hospital another 6 weeks or so, which is 45 nights, or 1 month, 14 days.

At last measurement (Monday July 6th) when I was 27 weeks and a few days you weighed approximately 2.6 pounds and were in the 51% percentile, so they were not concerned about your growth.  We should have another scan in a few weeks, perhaps around August 3.  It's funny that your weight is about 1.5 pounds over the average listed here - http://www.babycenter.com/average-fetal-length-weight-chart.

I have gained a bit more weight this time, and am up to 150 or so.  I am not surprised given that I cannot lift, work out, or do much!

Going forward

We currently have your baptism scheduled for October 11th.  I am praying that you stay in as long as possible so that we can avoid the NICU.

I am very grateful that my job and boss have been so flexible. I am able to work from the hospital quite easily.  My work phone is forwarded to my cell phone, and I can get all documents on our legal drive as long as I have an internet connection.

I am praying that you stay in that long.  I want you to have the best shot at having no issues.

Visits Lately

Your daddy and sister Rose have been so sweet and visited me every day I have been in the hospital.  Today was even your daddy's 32nd birthday!  A bit of a sad birthday for him.  We got Rose a baby doll to start practicing for when you arrive.

Love you baby Ethan!

- Mommy

Dear Jesus, please be with my baby Ethan.  Help him to stay inside and safe until early September.  Please help him to grow well and keep us both safe.  Help him to be a Godly man who is always close to you and good to others. Lovingly yours - Angela

12 weeks and almost 16 months

12 weeks and 16 months

I am now officially 12 weeks along with Cutie #2.  I have a bit of a belly now, but I’m not sure it is clearly a baby yet.  I have been very tired this pregnancy.  However, in the last few days that has gotten a lot better.  My back has started hurting some now, so I am having to try not to carry Rose as much. There has been very little nausea this time.  Things have gone quite smoothly.  We pray for you every day several times Cutie #2! We do not have a name for you quite yet.  I’m sure it will come soon after we find out if you are a girl or boy in May.

Rose, you are growing so fast! Your Ummichi and Uppachen came to town on Monday.  Your daddy got you a new princess toilet that sings when you go potty in it.  Yesterday (3-24) you actually went pee and poop in it! I can’t believe you are patient enough to sit there for a little while at only 16 months.  You have started trying to talk a lot more.  You say “oh wow” quite clearly, and “hi”.  You started singing what was almost distinguishable as “twinkle twinkle little star” last night, with some of the hand motions we have done a few times at story time.  It is so sweet how you like to sing.  You still love to be carried.  But, I have been trying to just lead you by the hand to a chair to hold you there or some other distraction.  You are quite needy in the evenings and mornings sometimes.  You constantly want to be held by me.

Health

Your health is quite good.  Your do not have as much of a runny nose right now as you have.  You definitely still have asthma, but it is not quite as bad.  We stopped doing your nightly breathing treatments about a month ago.  Then a week or two later your cough came back.  But, we decided to let it go and see how you do.  You do not wake up during the night coughing at all, so we have decided to not start back on them yet.  We do have a humidifier/purifier/heater in your room going at night always. 

Activities

We have been enjoying going to the park when it is warm.  It is two blocks from our new house.  You are very good now at crawling up the stairs, and you will ride down any of the slides with me.  You also like to go in the swing.

Eating

You are now very comfortable with your Nubie sippy cups.  We use the slow setting still so you have to suck to get milk/drinks out.  You still can drink a whole cup quite quickly. So, we do not expect to change that soon.  You do not quite eat everything that we do.  But you have a pretty good diet.  On the weekends we have toast with pumpkin butter and fruit in the mornings.  You love bananas, peaches, and pears.  I try to get you to eat some veggies and protein at lunch and dinner.  You will often chew, but not always swallow, cauliflower.  You will eat rice and beans quite well.

I feel so privileged to be your mommy Rose! You are a lovely and sweet little girl, and I can’t wait to see the person that you become.  We pray you will be a good and godly person.  We pray for your future spouse if that is your vocation.

New baby bird

I normally write letters to baby Rose.  However, it looks like we may be blessed with another cutie around September 30th! We are so excited for you cutie! I hope that we can handle you and your sister Rose.  I'm sure God would not have blessed with the two of you if we couldn't handle it.  We got our first faint positive on 1-22-2015.  I wanted to share the news with everyone.  Around April 10th we should be able to tell more people about you.

We are praying hard you are healthy and safe.

Love you,

Mommy 

We fit

Dear Baby Rose,

If all goes well in about about 8 months you will have a new sibling. in thinking about bringing a little baby into this world, it makes me reflect on how we fit right now. You love to be cuddled. And any time that I'm able to, I try to hold you. Just like in these pictures. We fit so well. But, I know we can make room for new for a new little sister or brother. I'm excited for the sister I know you will be. Because I will tell you all the time to be kind and loving to your siblings. They can be your best friend, and I understand you and our family like no one else can. I hope that you and your sibling are able to find a friendship and companionship that I have always longed for. Your auntie Daisy and Bin are very close, but not quite the same.

Love you,

Momma

14 months

Dear Baby Rose,

I can't believe that you're 14 months old! You are such a sweet little girl.  You have your times every day that you want to be held, and I need to do other things.  But, I try to take time to just hold you each day.  I so appreciate your sweet little hugs where you wrap your arms around my neck and lay your head on my shoulder.

Likes
being held, bread, meat, bananas, yogurt, peaches, pears, our dog pistol (you think she's hilarious).  You will usually eat beans.

Dislikes
Kiwis - I have been trying to feed you more with your asthma.  You are so-so on vegetables (green beans, corn, etc.  Sometimes you will eat them, and other times you throw them on the floor.

Medical
We do your steroid breathing treatment every day still.  The last indication from the doctor was that we should do it twice a day until your cough is gone.  Each time your cough is quite gone and we just do it once a day for a bit, a little cough comes back.  It is very cold here right now, so that may be part of it.  We do have a humidifier in your room now that we use every night.  That does seem to help.

Development
You can say momma, and dadda quite clearly.  Everything else doesn't quite  make sense yet.  It sounds like you are saying nana and ba ba also.  You are quite close to walking.  You took small steps for a foot or two with me over the weekend.  You dance to most any kind of music.  It is so adorable.  You shake your butt from side to side.  It was quite a trip, but I think we are off of bottles now.  We tried prior to our trip to Ireland, and ended up going

Moving
We took possession of our Shamrock house in Omaha December 8th.  We have been living there most of the time since then.  We still have our house in Eagle, and have been trying to move all of our things out of there.  We are hoping that a buyer will be interest in the next few months.  We still have the condo.  Your dad has been working hard to finish all of the tiling there so that we can rent it out.  The Shamrock house is smaller than our Eagle one, but it is quite a bit easier to take care of.  I think we will have a great time in the pool this summer, though we will have to be careful to be sure you are safe!

This is your daddy's favorite picture of you lately.  He calls it your Mulan picture.

Christmas

Dear Baby Rose,

Your second Christmas was a great one.  We headed to Kansas City on the morning of Christmas Eve.  We went straight to Grandma Dorothy's house where we enjoyed food and exchanged presents with Aunt Cindy, Uncle Royce, Cousin Kelli, Kami, and James.  Aunt Cindy and Uncle Royce gave you a whale.  You looked so cute in your Christmas dress that Noni brought you back from New York. We then went to church at White Church with Grandma Dorothy, Grandpa John, and Noni.  You really enjoyed looking at the lights.  There was a harpist who did a beautiful job.  We then went to dinner at Herford House near Noni and Grandpa's house where we had an amazing four course meal.  We shared stuff mushrooms, buffalo wings, and spinach artichoke dip.  We then had soup and salads.  We all had steak of various kinds.  Then amazing desserts were brought out.  We tried Georgia peach pie, custard, and carrot cake.  

After dinner, we went to a 10 pm mass at St. Patrick's where Aunt Cindy is the Director of Music.  It was a lovely mass, but we were all very tired from our long day!

This was our Christmas card for this year.

On Christmas morning Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa John joined Grandpa, Noni, your dad and I for breakfast.  We had corn beef has, eggs, potatoes, and povitica.  Grandma always brings povitica from Strawberry Hill in Kansas City.  It is about $20 for a loaf!

We really enjoyed spending time with everyone! We then exchanged presents.  Noni brought you many beautiful clothes from New York.  Grandpa bought you your first train from Zoom.  It is a circus train with animals (like giraffes) and hay for them to eat.  Grandpa and Grandma got you a Pew Wei fancy bicycle that you can use to learn to walk.  They also got you a few cars to play with.  

On Christmas Eve we went to go visit Grandpa/Lolo Phil, Lola Maribeth, Nicole, and Natalie.  It was great to see them all.  You were such a sweet little girl for the trip.  We love you so much, and are so thankful that God entrusted you to us!

Love you,

Momma