Avery, up close & personal

This is a phenomenal 3-D ultrasound image of the "bun in my oven." Can you see it? Its her face! You can see her eyes, nose, and her mouth is open. That's the umbilical cord to the left of her face. Wow! Just wanted to share...big thanks to Uncle Chris for using his super-scanning skills so I could post this image.

Lots going on here

Let's see..where to begin. Shelby came home from the hospital only to have an allergic reaction to her antibiotic the next night. Then the next morning I discovered that both the girls had head lice. Fun, fun, fun. We got those situations under control then I started having contractions on and off. I saw my midwife on Wednesday January 3rd and everything checked out o.k. I was just to take it easy. I'm sure sleeping in a hospital bed with a 4-year-old for 3 nights didn't help much. On Sunday my OB called to say that she was reviewing my non-stress test from that week and didn't like how the baby's heart rate dropped. She was very concerned and wanted me to have an ultrasound the next day to measure my amniotic fluid level and check the baby's growth. The next morning they saw me first thing. The ultrasound was perfect. The baby is 1lb. 8 oz. and the amniotic fluid level is good. Everything looks great with her. So then I started having stomach/intestinal cramping on Friday. I thought it was from an antibiotic that I am taking, but as the day went on I started feeling worse and worse. I spoke with my midwife and she said that if I was having that feeling more than 5 times an hour then I needed to get checked out. That was happening so we had to do some juggling as we weren't going to drag along the girls to the hospital with us. My Mom had some things going on but shuffled them around to help us out. We don 't have anyone else we can call on and have help us at the drop of a hat like my parents. Scott stayed home from work and took me to the hospital to get checked out. At that point I was hurting so much that I wasn't sure if I was having stomach cramps or contractions. We got there and they hooked me up to the monitor. I was having contractions but nothing regular like I was going into labor. My urine test came back showing I was dehydrated. They put in an IV and dumped 2 bags of fluid in me in about 45 minutes. They re-tested my urine and it showed my blood sugar was high. Like really high - over 1000. So they did a finger poke and it came back fine at 175. I was running a temp, too so they aren't sure if I had something viral or what. I am to see my doctor early this week. I'm just taking it easy and trying to drink and eat so I don't end up dehydrated again.

By the way, the baby has been given a name. Avery Elizabeth.