Working on JD's room!

We have spent several weeks trying to figure out what we wanted to do in his nursery. We ended up switching bedrooms around so that Lauren would have a bigger closet and JD would have a bigger room. Baby furniture takes up a lot of room!! After that was settled, we began thinking about decorating. We decided on a monkey/safari theme. Then, we found some cute wall sticker/clings on Etsy. They came all the way from Tel Aviv! So we left the room a cacky color and just put those on the walls. I think it turned out pretty good!

James David Crews

We got a great report from our high risk doctor today! James David is growing ahead of schedule! We are 27 weeks and he is weighing in at 2 lbs 9 oz. We go back in 3 weeks for another ultrasound. Then, we start going twice a week for baby "well" checks. They will be making sure James David is still growing and active. They will also be checking my fluid levels. Dr. Collins wants to induce around 37 weeks so that will be anytime between January 30 and February 6. That's mainly to avoid any late complications on my part (preeclampsia). But so far, I am having no signs of that.

We are doing good!

Although I have the same medical issues (hyperthyroid, blood clotting and now gestational diabetes), we have them under control so far! The baby is growing a little ahead of schedule and at our ultrasound today the baby's estimated weight is 1 lb 6 oz!! I am 23 weeks and 2 days.

We are celebrating Lauren's 8th birthday this weekend! Time is really flying!

Our Big News

We think it's finally safe to tell that we are expecting! We had our 20 week ultrasound today and confirmed that it's a BOY! We are due February 20! After weeks of trying to come up with a boy's name, we have decided on James David Crews! He looks very healthy on the ultrasound and growing right on track.

Ready for Fall

As you can tell by my early background, I am sick of this hot weather and ready for football season and Fall. We had a really great summer! We went to Tybee Island for a week and spent some time in Savannah. The girls are already planning next year's vacation there! We also welcomed a new niece/cousin last week! Baby Aydan Blair was born last Wednesday with a head full of black hair! The girls loved holding her. Logan compared her hair to Adam Lambert - that should tell you how much she has!

We also found out that a few friends and family members are expecting little ones in the next few months! Congrats Jennifer, Niki, Kelly and one that I can't name just yet cause I'm sworn to secrecy! Also congrats to Dexter and Melanie who will be going to China in October! We can't wait to meet Lucy!!

Hopefully, we will have an update on the girls next week! Court this Friday!

Endocrinologist - Round 2

So I am heading back to see Dr. Hancock next Monday. I am praying really hard for good news that my blood work is returning back to normal and no other issues have come up. According to my OB, Dr. Hancock has to give the "ok" for us to start trying again. I still have a clotting disorder and there isn't much to do about that except continue the extra folic acid and baby aspirin. As for another issue that seem to be lingering, I am naively hoping it's just my imagination.

Way to go Lauren!

Lauren scored her first goal last Saturday!! Unfortunately, her team hasn't won a game yet. They are all really young so it's not too surprising. Some of the teams they are playing have bigger kids and hispanics on them. So we are kind of like the "Bad News Bears" of AYSO. LOL But Lauren is improving every week and I am so proud of her!

Bummed by Doctor News

So I finally saw the endocrinologist a couple of weeks ago. I was hoping that he would take me off all my meds and say everything is fine. Boy was I wrong! Seems that while my thyroid levels seem to be getting better (I think anyway) that he has found a goiter and two toxic multi nodules. I'm not exactly sure what that means but he said something about not knowing how big they were originally so he is keeping an eye on them to see if they get any larger. I still have hyperthyroidism but he doesn't think it's Graves Disease. But, I am having blood work every 8 weeks and seeing him every 10 weeks. I think his hope is that the levels will gradually keep going down and he can adjust my meds slowly to get me off of them. He is taking me off the heart medicine this week. So we'll see if the heart palpitations have gone away. Bad News - No baby until at least the end of the year. Good News- he will closely monitor me during the next pregnancy and adjust meds if/as needed. He thinks the hyperthyroid played a part in the preeclampsia. So hopefully with a OBGYN, Perinatologist and an Endocrinologist, we can make it!

April Showers... bring May flowers

Let's hope anyway! So, I am ready to skip right thru March and into April for several reasons.
1- We may actually have custody determined in April!
2- My birthday is in April but I'm not thrilled about turning 33.
3- Our niece Emery will turn 1!
4- Easter
5- Warm weather- finally!
6- TTC - you really need to be a woman to understand that!
7- March 20 eventually has to come. Hopefully I can keep busy that day.

We turned in the Murano last Friday and got a new Maxima. I must say I LOVE it! My main form on transportation hasn't been a car in over 10 years. So I feel like I am driving a sports car and Stephen is quick to remind me that it's nickname is "the four door sports car". It's so much fun to drive. I found myself looking for reasons to drive it yesterday. It has a double moonroof which the girls love. It was nice to open it during the warm weather this past weekend.

Nothing too exciting this week!

Ready-Set-Stop - AGAIN

So court was put off, again, until April. The judge looked at our witness lists and said we couldn't possibly get to them all in one day. So we needed two days to devote to this. It was looking like next December until the judge took pity on us and gave us a Thursday, April 22 and one of his "office" days on Friday, April 23. So, I'm still driving to East Tennessee weekly. YUCK! I try not to think about it too much because it makes me mad, sick, tired, etc...

I finally got around to reading the Twilight Series this week. Yes, I said week. I read all four in about 6 days. They were all so good, especially Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I have a feeling that the movies won't be as good as I have pictured in my mind. I'm trying to prepare myself. Seems like that is how it always goes.

Go Colts!

Nothing New Yet

So I went to my primary care doctor this week for more blood work. He will check it out and then see if I need to be referred to an endocrinologist. I'm hoping all my thyroid levels are back to normal. But I can't help but worry about them going crazy again during the next pregnancy.

We will hopefully be going to court next Thursday, Jan 28th. This is our 4th court date and we haven't made it to the court room yet. So I'm hoping next week this will all be over. Say a little prayer for us and especially the girls.

I have two friends going thru difficult pregnancies/births. Shana delivered twin boys at 24 weeks on December 12th. They lost Evan but Eli is still fighting. So please pray for him and his parents. Kristin is in the hospital hanging in there. But she has had trouble with asthma, contractions and blood pressure. And, baby Bethany is going to need special attention when she makes her arrival. So please pray for both of them.

Post Pregnancy Meeting with Dr. Collins

We sat down with Dr. Collins, our high risk doctor that we love, yesterday and went over the results of the autopsy. Jacob was small for his age which we knew. His heart was enlarged but no deformities. In fact, no deformities of any kind. All the genetic tests were negative. He had all his organs. They honestly don't know why his heart was enlarged or his brain blood flow was so high. They think that it was just a "freak" incident and it more than likely won't happen again. They even sent samples to the Smith Lipil Opitz people and it was negative. This is the best possible news we could have gotten! We are free to try again as soon as my thyroid and blood pressure issues are under control. I am meeting with an endocrinologist next week to see what I need to do.

Starting Over- Hopefully!

I go back to the doctor next Tuesday, the 14th. My appointment is with the high risk group that took over my pregnancy. They will hopefully have answers from Jake's autopsy. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he had a very random complication and that there is like a 1 in a million chance of it happening again. When I look back over this pregnancy, I remember having a "gut" feeling something wasn't right. It's very hard to explain but I just didn't feel the same as I did with my first two. I was unsettled that whole time. I didn't even tell one of my best friends I was pregnant until I was about 14 weeks along. I was afraid something was going to happen with the pregnancy. Maybe it was because my body was trying to tell me something. Or maybe it was God's way of preparing me for what was to come.

So, I'm expecting the doctor to run more blood work on me. We have to see if there are still lingering thyroid issues and blood clotting issues. Maybe that is what made Jake growth slowdown. I really hope it wasn't SLO. If that's what it was, we have a 25% chance of it happening again. YIKES! I hope we get good news and can start over soon!

Please continue to pray for us!