Dreycin's first halloween pictures!!!!

We had our weekly sonogram yesterday and we got Dreycin's first halloween pictures. It was kind of funny because the tech was looking at his tummy and said do you see the pumpkin face, and we were like what Oh my gosh, weird. So we took it as a sign that Dreycin will make his birth day before halloween! The first two pics are of his little hand and face and the last two are the stomach "pumpkin" faces. Lately ive felt alot of "pressure" down in my uterus area, and am constantly needing to go pee everytime I stand. Ive also been having more braxton hicks especially in the morning which they say sometimes you get them when your dehydrated so ive been trying to drink alot of water....key word trying! I also got my flu shot yesterday which i was dreading. Im honestly trying to not, and stay away from crowds but we have had a handful of pregnant women in the CCU with the swine flu. SCARRY!

Also, today was my 1yr anniversary at Norton Suburban hospital definitely the best & my first professional job, post grad that ive had!

Blessed....

We are truly blessed to both have parents in our lives that support us as much as they can. I just found out today that my mom will start her new position as a NICU nurse here in Louisville on Oct 19th, right in time for Dreycin's birth day! This weekend we also had Papa Joe here visiting, getting to know us and our life here in Kentucky. here are some pictures of him and Derek that I took over the weekend.

My Smarty pants husband :)

My wonderful smarty pants husband has been accepted at Eastern Kentucky University for the Bachelor of Science in Correctional & Juvenile Justice Studies program! It is completely online, but the school is about 1hr away. He already has 50credits from the past year at Central Texas Community College, so he is considered a sophomore but will soon be a junior!!! About two years ago I had tried my hardest to convince Derek he could do school, and now he's talking about doing EKU's master's program for criminal justice. Before you know it we will be getting the initials DR in front of our names(ha ha).....Derek says that no one in his family has obtained a Bachelor's degree and he wanted to be the first so here he goes! He starts Oct 19th at EKU, and in the meantime is still taking one last class at CTC. No words can express how proud I am of him and his determination. He works 12-14hrs a day and still manages to come home and do homework for hours....and now a baby. We'll see how everything goes, but im sure we'll manage!

Work Shower

My wonderful co-social workers Yolanda and Peg planned a baby shower for me on the mother baby unit! I got some cute clothes, a diaper cake,giftcards to BR'us, a beautiful blanket hand crochet, even a mommy gift and some awesome food!

33wk OB appt

This week we started my weekly Biophysical profile appts, which means we get to see Dreycin every week on ultrasound. My mom is here visiting right now and was lucky enought to catch a glimpse of her first grandson in 3D! Dreycin definitely has his daddy's little pig nose, and mommy's lucious lips! Afterwards we met with the Doc and I lost 1lb, which was no coincidence since right before my appt I had a grilled ham and cheese and well....lost it all. I dont know if it was because it was a deli meat or because its pork or what? who knows.....i weigh a wopping 196lbs right now (total 16lbs). on the weekends my weight goes down too i think because i sleep so much! I also talked with my doc about Dreycin's circumcision which will be a mogen clamp and our birth plan. The doc let me know that he does not encourage episiotomy and that he would rather let the woman tear naturally or gently massage to help the area stretch. (this may be too much information for some, but oh well). I also saw my acupuncture doctor yesterday who made a prediction of the weekend of Oct 16th...which just so happens to be LinzPea's wedding weekend that I was suppose to be in :(
The pics from this week weren't the best and im too lazy to scan them right now!

Nesting.....

So i totally uploaded the pictures backwards, so you'll have to scroll down then up to see the whole process of us getting ready for Dreycin! We got the room all done, washed all the linens, got everything out of the boxes. Derek put together the playard, stroller, and helped me put the letters my mom and I painted (yep we painted them, they are AWESOME). Somehow my mom has gotten Derek to go on a cooking kick, and in the pic below he was cooking stuffed bell peppers! Him and my mom went grocery shopping and he even bought the ingredients to make a pot roast! Did i write that we bought a deep freezer? well we did, to help for space with all the milk production i will have.....but also to have room for our meals/meats. ive been stocking up everytime I go to the grocery store. Plus my mom made a lasagna and froze it. With the winter we had last year, im not going to want to get out with a newborn!

Finally.....good news!!

Today we went for our ultrasound and I found myself wanting to cry on the way because Derek or I were not looking forward to going. We got there, and had a different tech, a different room, and the doc im not so fond of...GREAT! We started the u/s and the first measurement she did was the lateral ventricle and it was .80 (remember anything more than 1.0 is not good) and then she took two more measurements and they were each .84! somehow with a miracle it shrunk! We didnt get to see our baby boy in 3D but the tech did show us that he had a little bit of hair but not very much! Seeing Dreycin's eyes on the monitor, I see Derek completely! Afterwards we were on our way home and I got a call from my doctor saying that he was not worried about the elevated protein in my 24urine for now, and we would discuss further at my appt on monday.

Last night I fell asleep with Derek's head and hand on my tummy. It was so funny because I tried to put my hand on my tummy too, and Derek picked it up and said "see this hand, you get to feel him all the time, its my turn." Derek prayed, and I dont remember falling asleep. We've gotten in the habit of having Derek read to Dreycin before we go to sleep. The two books that we have been reading are I'll see you in the morning and I love you stinky face(Derek's choices)!!!

8months...almost in the home stretch!

So here are some belly pics I took this morning before work. Im now 32wks and the tiger stripes are very evident now! Something I inherited from my mom :)
Im kind of bummed right now, I just talked to the high risk nurse from my doc's office and she said my protein levels and other numbers were elevated from my 24hr urine and she had already faxed my doc the results to see what we are going to do?? The waiting game, great?!?!

Clumsy.....

Well yesterday I was walking and BOOM, lost control my ankle rolled and I was face down before I had even known what happened. The first thing i thought was oh my gosh how did that just happen? I sat down for a minute and then thought oh man I need to go to the bathroom to make sure im not bleeding, everything was fine. My left knee was hurting because i had scraped it along with the back of my left hand. For the most part i think my boobs took most of the hit but then I noticed Dreycin move so far up into my right rib cage. Dreycin usually, always is laying on my right side so i think my body intuitively went to the left side. When I told Derek I had fallen he was like "Are you serious, Damn Cindy." Before having to tell Derek I felt fine, but then thats when the tears started and I felt bad about falling. We went to the ER they put me on the monitor, and my first blood pressure and for next couple hours was 140's/90's. They checked my urine and found protein too, high enough for them to start throwing around the word PREECLAMPSIA, which the doctor said is pretty common with women who are pregnant with Lupus. Then they started saying that I was probably going to be there for 24hrs for urine and blood pressure monitoring. the nurses suggested I lay on my left side turn off the tv, and dim the lights to see if we could get my blood pressure down. They came back in and put a catheter in me to get urine. At this point Derek is like "I had so much homework to do and Im not going to be able to sleep here" and I got really pisted off and was like go home. I was pretty sure i would be fine through the night by myself but then he was like "no, ill stay." I told him once they moved me from Labor and Delivery Triage to Antepartum then he could go home and get me some stuff. Dreycin's heartrate had to be monitored for at least 4hrs after the fall, so we knew we would be in triage for at least that long. We also got an ultrasound, they wanted to make sure the placenta was ok through the fall. Dreycin looked great on the monitor, he just didnt like the monitors on his territory so he was trying to kick them off and wouldnt stay still. At one point Derek was moving the monitors around and the nurse came in and said "Do you want a job or what." About midnight last night they came back in and said my blood pressures had been down for more than a few hours and said that they were going to let me go home and do the 24hr urine instead of keeping me inpatient. I have to follow up with my doctor tomorrow and take my urine in. I started it today at 11:40am, and my blood pressure was 126/88. so far so good.

Remembering 9/11

Today 8 years ago I still remember that I was in my 1st semester at Collin county community college. I had just finished up in Algebra class and happened to glance at the TV in the student lobby and saw the first tower with the plane in it. Shortly after I called my mother who had just gotten home from working that night, we were both in amazement. I just went home, they cancelled all classes. Today I am married to a US Marine that has served 1tour in Iraq and now have a brother in law, Elliot going over to Iraq in about a month to serve his first tour. Its such a surreal reality that 8years later 9/11 is still playing an impact so closely in our lives. I have such a HIGH view of respect for anyone who signs their life over to the military, it is the utmost commitment anyone could ever do and something that can never have a price only PRIDE. I see enlistment as a dutiful action to your family, or sometimes people need a little structure in their lives and the military DOES DO THAT! Almost every man on my "Doss" side has been a servicemember. Military life is what im use to, being away from family, sometimes all alone, living in different places, being the outsider looking in. Its been an awesome experience, but there are many sacrifices that are made by families. I dont know how I got through almost 5months of Derek being gone, going to grad school, working 2 jobs, and being alone in North Carolina, but again I saw my mom do it for 20years while my dad was in the Army. Sometimes the wives are mom & dad. I remember when he went to Saudia Arabia and Iraq for Desert Storm i had a dream that he came home injured, of course he came home fine but then I didnt understand that daddy was driving a fuel tank and it was actually a pretty dangerous job. I even remember my entire school all grades (it was a small school)made cards and we sent them to my dad over there. The day he came home was amazing, I still remember watching with my family all the soldiers marching into the plane hanger, and all the decorations in yellow. The reality today is that most soldiers come home and you cant SEE their wounds they not so subtly underlie in emotionless actions (sad reality of working in a psych hospital with servicemembers). 9/11 still impacts our lives. God Bless our military their families, and the many sacrifices we make(to have that good health insurance)!!


on another note, im not feeling so hot for the past two days. either sinuses or a cold dont know. i actually got sick last night and well we had to change the sheets because it was uncontrollable. today i went back to eating ramen noodles because the warmth felt so good on my throat, and nothing sounds good except carbs. today i put in a call to the doctor to see what i could take since im pregnant but havent gotten a call back. i went ahead and took a small dose of steroids to see if that would help. last night i used benadryl and chloraseptic spray along with tylenol. i cant wait to sleep in tomorrow and sunday! Derek and i completed week 2 of prenatal classes. last week was Labor and Delivery, which Derek was like "man if i was a woman i would be freaking out." he said that class was pretty stressful, but the class this week was infant care and breastfeeding and almost put him to sleep. next week 9/16 is postpartum care and infant massage, and right before that is our ultrasound and we get to see Dreycin again! my mom also comes in town 9/17 thursday for a weekend visit. And then the next weekend Papa Joe Gwartney is making his debut here in kEntucky for his first visit! Im so happy for Derek, he is smitten to say the least of the relationship that has blossomed with his father. Elliot will be in this weekend stopping in only to rest for 1night for his 24hr journey back to New York.

1st Prenatal Class

Yesterday was a crazy day, I had work in the morning then went to the dentist for my checkup and cleaning and afterwards my gums were bleeding so bad and hurting like they have never hurt before. PS i take care of my teeth so i know it was due to lack of brushing and flossing! I guess its because the pregnancy? Afterwards I went home and had time to rest for about 30min then Derek and I went to Chili's to grab something to eat before going to our 1st prenatal class. We shared the Oldtimer and 1/2 order of cheese fries(yumm my favorite)! We went on to the prenatal class and once we got there I realized that my purse was soaked with water, well I guess I hadnt screwed the lid on all the way and everything in my purse was wet.....including my samsung blackjack phone which is my life because of the calendar in it! As i proceeded to dump out my entire purse on Derek's seat water went everywhere. I had to stand on his side and clean out my purse because we were parked on a busy street in front of the hospital. We were kind of running late so i did what i could to dry everything off with a blanket derek had in his car and we went up to the class. It was all really good information for labor & delivery, but I see those instruments everyday here at work and pretty much know somewhat what would be happening to me in the hospital! we also watched a vaginal and csection delivery dvd, and got a tour of the mother/baby unit on the 3rd floor at University Hospital. The 2hr class turned into a 3hr class and we didnt get home until almost 10pm. Im pretty sure we both went to sleep pretty fast last night from being exhausted. Even though Derek thought that the month of September would be pretty easy at work with no students, they are still busy at work so he has been tired and has alot of catching up to do on his college courses. We have 2 more weeks of prenatal classes, the next one is Sept 9th and its on breastfeeding(which we are going to do) and the last is on postpartum care on Sept 16th. Derek said "I usually go into things without thinking, but THIS im going to have to mentally prepare for"!!!!As for me, I have had to start sleeping almost upright with lots of pillows. My heartburn gets so bad, and then my legs are so restless if im on my side so laying somewhat on my back is the only way i can fall asleep. In the middle of the night I also have to get up about 2-3x to go to the bathroom. Usually i can fall back asleep on my side propped up. I would say im looking forward to a long labor day weekend, but Im working sunday and monday, off saturday and tuesday.

So i dont think i mentioned this in the last blog about our OB appt, but the doc said that I was measuring at 32wks closer to 33wks. I mentioned to him that the date we were using as my first day of my last menstrual cycle was actually the date of my last pap (bc for the life of me I cannot remember my last cycle, i think it was right before my pap) anyways so I think there is a good chance that im about 1-1.5 wk ahead of what we are saying I am. Im still shooting for the Nov 2nd full moon as my delivery date!