29 Week Update

Size of baby:  Baby Boy weighs about 3 pounds and is a little over 15 inches long, about the length of a loaf of bread.

Total weight gain/loss:  +21 pounds.  I'm really hoping to keep my weight gain to 30-35 pounds.

Maternity clothes:  This is becoming pretty repetitive.  Pants, yes.  Shirts, sometimes.

Gender:  Boy

Movement:  Yes.  This morning during church it felt like he was trying to stretch out across my stomach, but I don't think there are 15 inches of room for him to stretch in!

Sleep:  Not pleasant.  Nearly every time I roll over I end up getting a Braxton-Hicks contraction.  I recently started sleeping with a body pillow which is a little more comfortable, at least for my hips.

What I miss:  Being able to do things comfortably--sleep, bend over, hold Maddie, etc.

Cravings:  Still the usual sweets.

How I'm feeling:  I'm beginning to feel a little overwhelmed that Baby Boy will be here in 11 weeks or less.  I guess it's time to make a final decision on his name and to get started on his nursery.

Highlight of the week:  Entering my last trimester!  I'm also still loving how much Maddie adores her baby brother.  She pretends to hold him, sings to him, and talks to him.

29 weeks

Well it's a few days later than planned, but here is an update on Eric's hip:

After five hours of surgery Eric's surgeon told us that what we had thought was likely bone death was in fact a recurrence of the giant cell tumor.  Just like last time he removed the tumor, used adjuvants such as liquid nitrogen to kill any remaining cells, and then filled the affected area with bone cement.  The remainder of the bone that he dug the original bone cement from was filled with bone graft.  A funny little side note:  Eric hates what he refers to as "dead people stuff."  This means that if you die, he doesn't want you to leave anything to him.  Well it turns out the bone graft that was used in his femur was from a cadaver.  Oh, the irony!  :)

It took longer than expected for Eric to come out of recovery because they were having trouble managing his pain.  Finally, 10 hours after arriving at the hospital, Eric was admitted to a room.  He was in good spirits and requested Whataburger for dinner.  That was a bad idea. . . anesthesia=nausea=vomit.

We ended up spending two nights in the hospital.  Maddie came up to visit Eric a couple of times and found all kinds of buttons that she desperately wanted to push.

Since being home Eric has done really well for the most part.  He's doing his best to help out with chores and Maddie, despite being on crutches and not being allowed to put weight on his right leg.  Eric will remain on crutches and off of his right leg for two months.  After that he'll spend about one month on one crutch as he adjusts to bearing weight on his leg.  This means that he should finally be able to bear weight without crutches around the time Baby Boy arrives.

So what will Eric's future be like in regard to his hip?  We don't really know.  His surgeon, who is also his doctor, believes that at some point Eric will need a hip replacement.  He said it could happen as soon as six months from now, it could be in 30 years, or Eric may prove him wrong and never need one.  Eric will continue to go for yearly follow-ups for at least the next 10 years to monitor for anymore recurrence of the tumor, as well as to simply see how his hip is holding up.

Thank you for your prayers about Eric's surgery and recovery.  Please continue to pray for his recovery as he returns to school next week.  Oh, and say a prayer for me too if you think about it.  I am officially in my third trimester (yay!), but instead of being able to take things a little easier I'm going to be working a little harder to keep up with Maddie, the house, work, and Eric's needs.  We have plenty of family and friends around to help out, I just need to remember to ask for help.

Tomorrow morning Eric is scheduled for hip surgery.  You can look at this post to see what got us to this point.  Eric seems pretty indifferent about the whole thing.  I'm thinking he doesn't remember the pain involved with his first surgery.  I, on the other hand, am terribly anxious.  Please pray that the surgeon is able to remove the metal and cement successfully.  I think that's really the biggest concern, other than the small chance that what we believe to be bone death is not that at all.

Another seemingly silly thing that I'm anxious about is that while I'm in the waiting room, Maddie will be on the road to Austin with my mom to pick up Rachel from the airport.  Maddie has never traveled out of town without me and I'm sure she'll be fine, but I know I'll be nervous.

Assuming all goes as planned with the surgery, we should be settled back at home by Saturday and I'll update on how everything went at that point.  In the meantime, I sure hope I can manage to find a comfortable way to sleep on a hospital couch for two nights!

27 Week Update

Size of baby:  Baby Boy is about 14.5 inches long and weighs almost 2 pounds, about as hefty as a head of cauliflower.

Total weight gain/loss:  +18 pounds.  Seems like a lot when you realize the baby only weighs 2 pounds.

Maternity clothes:  For sure with pants and occasionally with shirts.

Gender:  Maddie's going to have a baby brother!

Movement:  All the time.  He kicked Maddie's hand the other night and she said she felt it, but she didn't react so who knows.

Sleep:  Starting to get uncomfortable.  Every time I roll from one side to the other I can definitely feel the added weight of my belly.

What I miss:  Not worrying about what I eat.  I've never been a particularly healthy eater, but since I have this little boy that is depending on me and what I consume, I feel guiltier than ever about my eating habits.

Cravings:  I ate 11 Oreos over the course of this afternoon.  Enough said.  See above.

How I'm feeling:  Big.  I get up and down a lot while playing with Maddie and I'm finding myself having to get into a crawling position before pushing myself up from sitting to standing.

Highlight of the week:  Talking to Maddie about what she's going to do with Baby Brother.  We've been reading her a book titled I'm a Big Sister and she has started picking up on things that big sisters can do.  She tells us she's going to "hold her, rock her, and sing baby songs."  Don't worry, we're working on using the correct pronoun.  :)

27 weeks