Happy Birthday Mommy

Haley and Rachel with mommy

 Today is the day we celebrate the most beautiful and precious women in my life and that of course is my wife Amanda. She has been the greatest blessing for my life. We cherish the moments we have together and with our precious girls.  I am often in amazement by the many things Amanda does each day. She is a great example to our precious Daughters.  Happy Birthday Babe, (Mommy) we love and cherish you more than you know.
Love Thomas, Haley & Rachel.

Amanda's Birthday cake.  She loves cookie cakes.

26 Week Update

 

How many weeks?  I'm 26 weeks.  Another week gone by without any problems.  Yea!!!

How am I feeling?  I'm still feeling well.  No problems.  I'm sleeping well and I've been lucky that I don't usually have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.  I'm sure that will come though.  I enjoy feeling Kayla kick and am enjoying this pregnancy overall.  Its great to be this far along. 

Weight gain?  Yes I have gained a pound since last week.  I'm up 17 pounds total weight gain.  

Doctors appointment?  Yes I will be seeing my OB this week.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Rachel and Haley with Daddy before he went to work today

Happy Birthday Daddy!  Today is Thomas's birthday.  Today we celebrate him.  We love daddy and are so happy to have him in our lives.  The girls love their daddy.  They are definitely daddy's little girls.  I'm so very grateful to have Thomas as my husband and the father of my children.  I love him so very much and am grateful for all he does for our family.  What a blessing he is!

For his birthday I made vanilla cupcakes that are filled with a vanilla filling and topped with lemon icing.  Yum!!! 

25 Week Update

How many weeks?  I'm 25 weeks.

How am I feeling?  I continue to feel well.  I don't have many complaints.  I'm just so happy that I've gotten this far in this pregnancy without any problems.  I'm also so very grateful to not be on bed rest.  I do continue to worry though that things will change and I will eventually be on bed rest or in the hospital.  I am trying to not worry and have faith that all will be well this time.  This pregnancy and baby girl are a true example of the love my Heavenly Father has for me.  He has blessed me so much with Rachel and Haley and now this precious little Kayla.

Weight gain?  Not this past week.  Maybe I can eat more :)  The scale showed today that I have gained since the beginning only 16 pounds.  Last week showed 17 pounds.  Maybe last week I was retaining some fluid.

Doctors appointment?  I don't have one this week.  Last week I saw my OB and all continues to look well with my cervix and showed no funneling.

Baby preparation?  Have not done anything with the nursery this past week.  I did start a little art project for both Kayla and Rachel and Haley's room.  I am making a wood sign for their walls that says "I am a child of God".  I'm going to paint them pink of course.  They are going to be cute.  I look forward to finishing them.

Haley's Endocrinology appointment

Haley had a follow up appointment with the endocrinologist today.  After her appointment back in May 2011 with this endocrinologist, she had some blood work and a hormone stimulation test done to see if she was going to need growth hormone medication.  Well the results from those tests were all normal, but the doctor is still recommending her to go on daily growth hormone shots.  Haley's rate of growth in regard to her length has been consistently way below the 5% percentile on the growth chart (see her chart below).  She is very short and small for a 2 year old.  Though I'm so happy that she has finally made it to 20 pounds!!!  The doctor told us that children who are born so prematurely such as Haley usually need the growth hormone to help them catch up despite having normal growth hormone levels.  The doctor feels that Haley will benefit from the growth hormone therapy.  We are nervous about it since it will require daily shots until she reaches puberty.  We do want Haley to be able to reach her height potential so we are going to move forward with the process of starting her on the growth hormone shots.  If any of our blog readers have any experience with growth hormone therapy and have any advice for us, we would be so glad to hear from you.  

Haley's Length for age growth chart

Haley

Haley

  

All about the Girls

It has been a while since I've posted an update on the girls and their progress.  They continue to progress with the therapy (OT, PT & speech).  They are each making good progress one way or another.

Rachel:  Rachel is not walking yet, but she is cruising the furniture and standing up by pulling up on anything she gets her hands on.  Rachel recently got SMO's (supra malleolar orthosis).  They are like ankle braces which help Rachel have better stability with her standing and will help her with her walking as she progresses with that.  SMO's help children with low muscle tone.  Rachel has some low muscle tone which is slowing her down some with  her walking, but she will get there.  Rachel has been walking using a push toy.  She's doing good!  As for the progress with her eating, she is making small progress.  It has been a challenge getting her to eat.  She does ok with chewing food, but she doesn't want to swallow it.  Since the beginning of her feeding therapy back in December 2010, she has made progress.  She used to not want any food in her mouth.  She now accepts some foods in her mouth, but she 50% of the time spits it out after chewing it up.  Rachel is still fed completely through her g-tube.  We are making progress with getting her to wear her glasses and hearing aids.  Slowly, but surely she will be wearing them 100% of the time.  Rachel is definitely growing.  She now weighs 25 pounds and is 31 inches long.  Rachel is such a beautiful girl.

Haley:  Haley also got SMO's since she mildly toe walks and has a wide stance.  The SMO's will help define her walking.  Haley has made some progress with her speech.  She is saying "ma, ma" and other babbles.  Haley saw her retinal specialist last week.  He is pleased that he still sees some retina in her right eye and is pleased with the vision she has.  She is able to see some light, colors and objects.  We just don't know to what detail or how much.  She is able to get around for the most part, but she does sometimes bump into things as well.  Haley has no fear and rarely cries when she falls down or hits something.  Haley has a vision impairment teacher helping her.  Lately Haley has not been wanting to wear her glasses.  So we are working on that.  Haley wears her hearing aids ok, but she sometimes pulls them out too.  Haley has finally made it to 19 pounds!  She is actually about 19 1/2 pounds and 29 1/2 inches long.  She is a little girl, but is so cute.

Lots of recent pictures:

Rachel wearing her SMO's

Haley wearing her SMO's

A close up of the SMO's.  Haley's are pink and Rachel's are purple

Rachel standing well with her SMO's on

Rachel walking with her toy

Cute little Haley

Rachel about to eat this Cheeto

Haley

Our cute little Longhorn fans.  Go Texas Longhorns!

  

24 Week Update

How many weeks?  I'm 24 weeks! 

How am I feeling?  Still feeling good and sleeping well.  I'm feeling bigger and I have noticed I don't walk as fast as I used to and it's harder to get up off the floor.  I have also been having Braxton Hicks contractions.  I was so worried when I started feeling them, but my doctor said they are common.  He does want me to call him if I have 4 or more an hour.  I have been doing so much better at keeping my self hydrated.  That seems to decrease the Braxton Hicks contractions.  Other than these common pregnancy symptoms, I'm doing good.

Weight gain?  I have definitely gained some weight the past couple of weeks.  Though it seems my weight fluctuates a little from day to day.  The scale today shows that I've gained a total of 17 pounds.  My hunger has been getting the best of me.

Doctors appointment?  I see my OB this week.  I see him every 2 weeks.  He has been seeing me every 2 weeks since I was 8 weeks along.  He knows my history and wants to keep a close eye on me just in case.  Also he wants me to feel reassured by allowing me to see him more frequently.  I get an ultrasound every time.  My doctor is awesome! 

Baby preparation?  We have been looking around online for a chest of drawers that closely matches the crib.  I have found one, but just haven't bought it yet.  Also I bought a curtain rod for the valence that a good friend made for me.  I haven't hung it up yet.  As soon as we get the nursery complete, I will post pictures. 

Rachel and Haley's reaction to the pregnancy:  So far Rachel and Haley don't seem to notice that my belly is getting bigger.  I have told them that they have a little sister on the way, but I don't think they understand.  Rachel has one time patted my belly, but I think she was just copying me patting my belly. 

23 Week Update

 

How many weeks?  I'm 23 weeks!  This is the longest I have ever been pregnant.  I'm so happy to have made it to 23 weeks.

How am I feeling?  I''m still feeling good, but I'm definitely feeling bigger.  I'm back to sleeping well.  I haven't been waking up in the middle of the night unless Rachel or Haley wake me up.  I'm enjoying feeling Kayla move more and more.  She is definitely an active one.  I'm starting to feel more confident and peace of mind that things will continue to go well for this pregnancy and that I will make it to full term (or at least close to full term).  I'm so glad as well to be up and about and not be on bed rest.  I hope that lasts. 

Weight gain?  I don't know exactly how much I have gained since last week.  We were out of town this Labor day weekend and I didn't weigh myself.  Seeing how much I ate this past weekend I know I have gained some weight.  I'll update my weight gain next week. 

Doctors appointment?  Not this week.  My appointment with my OB last week was good.  I got another peek at Kayla on the ultrasound.  All continues to look good.  My OB is awesome and I feel at ease with him.

Cravings?  I still haven't had any strange cravings.  I'm just hungry most of the time and eat what I am in the mood for.     

Baby preparation?  Even though we have a lot of clothes that Rachel and Haley wore, I did get a couple of new things for Kayla.  Its so much fun to look at newborn little girls clothes again.