26 weeks, 1 day

  I'm not sure if many people are still keeping up with our journey but for those who are, I hope you don't get tired of my weekly pregnancy updates.  I just can't think of anything more interesting or exciting than the upcoming birth of Canon.  I sit here and wonder if any one has ever been as excited as I am?  I know that nuts and that, yes, there are many people just as giddy but I feel like the luckiest girl alive.  Child birth and growing a baby in my tummy amaze me beyond words. What a miracle God has given us.  I try not to wish this pregnancy would hurry and pass because I love feeling Canon move in my tummy and like I said,  I am simply amazed with the entire process of baby growing.  I know there will be plenty of times when I will get on Canon's nerves when he grows up and I'm sure there will be times when I let him down but I hope he always knows how much he is wanted and loved. 

Anyway, here is a picture of us at 26 weeks.  Trent wouldn't let me put my hands on my hips so I look like a soldier standing at attention. 

Interesting Dr. Appt.

  Yesterday, I had a check up with Dr. G.  Everything looks good and just as I began to ask about how long I would be able to travel, she began to laugh.  Although, I haven't been able to go anywhere outside of Lake Charles for quite sometime, I figured in the next few weeks things would calm down and I would be on the go again... Guess I was wrong!  Dr. G didn't even let me finish my sentence and was already telling me, if I was going to have a baby shower, that my friends and family would have to come to me.  So, for the next three months, I will still just be sitting in LC.  I have friends and family lined up to come and stay, so it shouldn't be too bad.  I go back to Dr. G this coming Tuesday to have another FFN test ran to see if labor is eminent, which I don't think it is. If I get another negative then I am on a more lenient bed rest.  If it is positive, it looks like I may be laying in bed for the next few weeks-months.  I have appointments lined up for basically the next four weeks in a row, to see the specialist and have my glucose test, then back to Dr. G.  At least that breaks up the day a little bit. 

25 Weeks, 2 days

  Goal # 2 finally met.  It seems like it took forever and a day to get here but it's official, baby Canon is now viable.  Since he is such a big boy, we estimate that he is about 26 1/2 weeks as of now.  At  our last ultrasound I was 24 weeks 2 days and he measured 25 weeks 3 days. So he is about a week ahead still.  This makes me and his daddy very happy. 
  On a different subject, my in-law's came to visit this past weekend and we accomplished quite a bit. My husband wheeled me around a few different furniture stores, in hopes of finding a new mattress set and we were successful.  Our new king size mattress was delivered today and hopefully it will make my back feel much better since we opted to go with a firm one.  Our previous bed was a queen so we decided we needed room for when Canon wanted to sleep with mom and dad (LOL).  Saturday night we met with our friends at Steamboat Bill's and had boiled crab, which was delicious. 
  This coming weekend will be the 7th in a row that I have stayed in South La. and I am about to go bonkers.  Our entire family is in North La. but since that is 3 1/2 hours away I am restricted from going to visit right now.  Hopefully I will receive good news at the doctor tomorrow and can ateast get home for Thanksgiving!  If not, oh well, Canon is # 1 priority right now and from here on out. My mom and mother in law are coming back to visit in two weeks and we are going to go register for our sweet boy.  I can't believe that we are going into our third trimester in just two weeks.  Here we come!  I'll update soon and let you know how my appt. goes tomorrow.  Please keep the prayers coming! 

4-D ultrasound, 24 Weeks

My handsome boy!

Look at those sweet lips!

Our appt. went GREAT today!  Canon is in the 64th percentile and is averaging 1 pound, 12 ounces.  The average 24 weeker is a little over a pound so he is a chunky monkey. My cervix is still 3.7, which thrills me.  The Dr. doesn't think I will have preterm labor and so I am hoping to go all the way.  God has truly blessed us and we are over the moon in love with Canon.  I love watching Trent's face when we have ultrasounds because he is so proud of his boy.

24 Week Belly Pic

Here we are at 6 months!

I Just Have to Brag a Little!

My little sister Madison made homecoming court this year and I was so very proud of her.  She's not actually so "little" anymore, being that she is sixteen.  My dad has four daughters and I am by far the oldest.  Madison, like I said is sixteen, Bailey is thirteen, and Mabry is almost nine.  Anyway, I was supposed to go to North La to do Madison's hair and make up but obviously I was not able to travel almost four hours to do that.  I wanted to brag a little and leave you with a few pics of how beautiful she was.

Madison, Bailey, and Mabry

Madison, Dad, and my step mom Melanie

Madison and her friend Lauren

My precious papaw Delton.

Didn't she look amazing? I sure think so.  I am pretty partial though.  I wonder if Canon is going to have her beautiful blonde hair? All three of my sister's have beautiful eyes and hair, so we shall see...







Were pushing 24 Weeks!

Saturday, we will be 24 weeks.  The past few weeks had been kind of rough but we are so thrilled that our sweet boy is growing as he should.  We will go Monday and see exactly how big he has gotten and hopefully receive all great news.  The contractions have slowed down thank goodness and we know that the prayers are working.  We want to keep Canon in my tummy until he is full term and ready to make his entrance into the world.  He has us wrapped already!

We Passed the Test...

This past Friday night and then again Sunday night I had to go to labor and delivery because of these crazy contractions.  Between 7 pm and 8:10 pm I had fifteen that I had counted.  At this point I felt there was a problem.  So for at least the fifth time, Trent and I made our way to the hospital to check on Canon and see what in the world was going on.  I was told once again that it was probably another infection causing the contractions and also the fact that I have terrible tummy issues.  They got me all hooked up and sure enough they were picking up each contraction.  The Dr on call decided to run a Fetal Fibronectan test which is what I had done a few weeks ago that the specialist told me to throw out because I wasn't far enough along at the time.  This time we had it ran and waited patiently on results.  If it came back positive I was told I wouldn't leave the hospital, basically until we had Canon and that if it were positive there was a chance that he would be born in 10-14 days.  As you can imagine, we panicked.  In 14 days, I would only be a little over 25 weeks.  So, my questions began, what will you do to stop labor if need be and how will you  save my very small baby?  Although, she was trying to be confident and very sweet, the nurse seemed to scare  us even more.  So, Trent and I kept praying and asking God to give us and Canon the strength to get past this.  I know God won't give us more than we can handle, but at this point Trent and I were at a breaking point.  Not to mention that the monitor started dinging and the babies heart rate was all of the sudden unable to be heard.  I began screaming for nurses (who probably thought I was insane) and they came running.  They quickly got his heart beat on the monitor again and said he was just crooked in my tummy, which was causing the machine trouble reading it.  This was a huge sigh of relief.  A few moments later the nurse comes in an tells us that my test  was NEGATIVE.  Hallelujah, God heard our prayers. We were told that there was an extremely high false positive on this kind of test and so not to be surprised if it came back positive.  So, after all of the scares and heartache, we were sent home once again, with reassurance that Canon wouldn't make his entrance for at least another  two weeks.  We go back to the specialist Monday and are supposed to have the test ran again soon to see if we are still in the clear.  Thanks for all of the continued prayers.  We need them so much right now.  Trent jokes and says that Canon is not going to have any brother's and sister's because of all of the scares that he has put us through.  I now realize though what a blessing it will be to have at least one child to love and watch grow.  It just may be quite a while before we plan to have number 2, 3, and possibly 4.  Yes, we want a large family if possible.

Week 23 and a devastating few Days...

  According to "What to Expect When Your Expecting", Canon now weighs just over a pound and is around eleven inches long. He is now moving and distorting my tummy.  Trent and I love it.  He melts our heart.  We do miss Parker and Easton an awful lot and the closer Canon's arrival gets the more we miss them.  November 20th will be a year since I had them and that just blows me away. My boys have spent almost whole year in Heaven, what an amazing time I bet they have had but this Mama sure misses them.  Canon will never take their place but he will for sure fill an emptiness that we've been carrying for the past year.  It still blows me away that I have three boys.  They are all three loved more than words can say.

  This week has been a pretty difficult for Trent and I and has definitely been the most devastating days of some of our best friends lives.   This past Monday my dear friend gave birth to her son and was expecting to be home in just a few days from the hospital.  The baby needed surgery but from what we thought, it seemed pretty routine and he would be just fine.  Wednesday morning, there were complications and the baby didn't survive surgery.  I can't imagine their utter shock and disbelief because when I received word of what happened, I could hardly breathe. My situation was nothing like our  friends but to know that they had to feel the pain and torture of losing a child brought back a flood of emotions for Trent and I.  If you will please take a moment and pray for our dear friends.  I have talked about them before on there but for now I am not going to use their names.  They are strong believers and with God I know they will be able to move forward.  We are attending the memorial service tomorrow and I pray that everyone can rejoice for the birth and life of this beautiful little boy.  I know Easton and Parker will love having a new friend, although we wish all three of these precious boys could be here with us.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14
 

Everything is Looking Up...

We were able to see the specialist today due to some scary pains I was having in my lower stomach and we got great news.  My cervix looks great and is not funneling or opening.  We will go back in two weeks and will be checked again.  I will keep taking the Procardia until my Dr thinks it is safe to stop, which could be a while.  The side effects have gotten less and less and the most that happens now is I become very hot and have trouble sleeping after I've taken a pill.  I can deal with that though.  My regular Dr did a Fetal Fibronectan test today but the specialist advised me not to take it to the  hospital to gets results because he said at this point in my pregnancy there is a high chance of a false positive.  The way this test works is to predict if labor is eminent in the next three weeks.  We agreed with him that if it did indeed come back positive that I may have a heart attack, so we took his advice and chunked it in the garbage.  Like I said, I will go back in two weeks and we will go from there.  Thanks for the prayers and kindness.  We have been on pins and needles to say the least.  I just want my baby to be healthy and full term.