Hello Summer!

Things have definitely been crazy busy over here in Miller land :)

About 2 weeks ago, I started getting my progesterone shots to help keep baby Samantha in there as long as possible surrounded by lots and lots of amniotic fluid :)  The shots don't really hurt going in, but they do hurt and leave my muscles sore for a couple days after.

Last week we also had our first perinatologist ultrasound appointment.  All was well, Samantha was measuring big and weighed in at about 9 ounces.  We got a ton new pictures that look a lot like the other ones we have.  Basically, she's still at the gestational age where she looks like a cross between an ape from planet of the apes and an alien.  Next time (July 7) she should have more fat on her with more visible features :)  My cervix looks good, nice and long and closed. 

Kaitlyn is doing great!  She is loving summer vacation, aside from the whole missing going to school and her friends and all of that lol.  But, she does enjoy sleeping in, staying up a tad later and having fun play dates earlier in the day during the week!  She has her second loose tooth.  She's terrified of losing them though, so she doesn't really play with them.  She thinks they hurt when they fall out since she's seen friends lose them and bleed.  The one on the bottom is really, really loose now though.  Dusty asked her yesterday if he could slip a string around it, and the other end around a rock and drop it for his Father's day present and she said absolutely not!

We all went camping this weekend.  We went up to Salt Springs Resivour with Nana, Papa, Auntie Christy, Uncle Dennis, Camaryn, Auntie Stephanie, Uncle Craig, Hope, Beau, Auntie Jamie, Uncle Joel, Carmen, Tim and his girlfriend.  Kaitlyn did great!  She spent nearly the entire weekend absolutely filthy, and loved every second of it.  The cutest part was when she sat in front of the fire, put her hands behind her head and said "relaxing by the fire, it's so nice."    She did great.

For the past 5-6 months, Kaitlyn has been asking us to take off her training wheels on her bike.  We've kept putting it off telling her (and believing) that she was too young and we would really like to wait until she was older.  Well, when we got up to go camping Hope had her bike.  Her training wheels were off so she could practice and learn.  Kaitlyn decided to pick up the bike, sit on it and just started riding it!  So much for that traditional moment of daddy holding on to the back of the bike and running with her while she yelled "don't let go" as he slowly did.  Our little princess sure does pick up on things rather quickly and she is quite the over achiever!

I'm going to start uploading pictures soon!  I don't has as many as I'd like, but I'm sure there are others who want to share ;)

Today we are packing, packing, packing.  Our flight leaves at 7 AM for Buffalo, NY!!  Kaitlyn is so excited to see her cousins!!!  Then, we leave on Monday the 28th to head to Alabama where Kaitlyn is so excited to see so much more family!!

19 weeks pregnant!!!

We're almost halfway to full term!!! 

Baby's Growth and Development at 19 Weeks Pregnant

During the weeks before, during, and after your 19th week of pregnancy, your baby’s brain develops at a phenomenal rate. Other systems continue to grow.

• Your baby now measures about 6 inches, or the length of a summer squash.
• When you're 19 weeks pregnant, your baby's brain develops millions of motor neurons. Neurons are nerves that help muscles in the brain communicate. This new and ongoing development means your baby can make purposeful and involuntary movements. She can suck her thumb, move her head, or make other moves that you might start to feel.
• Your baby's hearing is even more developed when you're 19 weeks pregnant. She probably can hear external sounds and conversation by this time, or will very soon. Your voice is the most pronounced. She can hear you talk, hum, and sing!
• Your baby's skin is covered in a white, waxy, protective coating called vernix.
• Under the vernix, the fine hair called lanugo continues to cover her skin.
• By your 19th week of pregnancy, your baby's kidneys function. Her urine is excreted into your amniotic sac, the bag of fluid in your uterus that contains your baby and amniotic fluid. Your placenta then removes the waste.

18 weeks...

Holy Moly, we're halfway to wear they think I will deliver and nearly 1/2 way to the due date!!

By week 18 of your pregnancy, your baby's crown-to-rump length is 5 to 5.5 inches long. Your baby continues to develop fat layers and weighs about 5.25 ounces. Your baby will continue to grow and develop, but the rapid growth will slow down for a little while. You will be able to feel your uterus just below your bellybutton. If you put your fingers sideways to measure, you can feel your uterus about two finger-widths below your bellybutton. At this point of your pregnancy, your uterus is approximately the size of a cantaloupe. Although weight gain varies from woman to woman, your total weight gain at this point should be 10 to 13 pounds.

At this time if you had an ultrasound, heart abnormalities can be detected. If the ultrasound technician detects abnormalities, further ultrasound exams may be ordered to follow the baby's development. There is still space available in your uterus and your baby will be active for periods at a time. Your baby may sit cross legged or turn somersaults.

Around this time, your baby becomes more sensitive to the outside world and shows her presence through powerful kicks and prods. The bones through which sound is passed to the inner ear have hardened and the parts of the brain that receives and processes nerve signals from the ears are developing. This means that your baby can hear now. Your baby will get used to familiar sounds, such as your heart beating, familiar voices, blood rushing through the umbilical cord and other daily routine sounds. Your baby will become startled if he hears a loud sound.

17 weeks!!

This picture has prompted Kaitlyn to decide that this week, she will be calling Samantha "Onion Baby."  Oh her creativity ;)

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

How your life's changing:

Quick Clicks

• Ultrasound exam
• Baby Names Finder
• Childbirth classes
• Protein in your pregnancy diet
• Stretch marks

Starting to feel a bit off balance? As your belly grows, your center of gravity changes, so you may begin to occasionally feel a little unsteady on your feet. Try to avoid situations with a high risk of falling. Wear low-heeled shoes to reduce your risk of taking a tumble; trauma to your abdomen could be dangerous for you and your baby. You'll also want to be sure to buckle up when you're in a car — keep the lap portion of the seat belt under your belly, drawn snugly across your hips, and also use the shoulder harness, which should fit snugly between your breasts.

You may also notice your eyes becoming drier. Using over-the-counter lubricating drops may help. If your contact lenses become uncomfortable, try wearing them for shorter stretches of time. If you still have discomfort, switch to glasses until after you give birth.

The Wishing Star

Last night we were driving home from Sunday dinner I pointed out the wishing star to Kaitlyn as it appeared out her window.

She said she made her wish.  Curious, Dusty and I asked what her wish was.  She told us that if she told us it wouldn't come true.  A moment later, she told us it didn't matter, it couldn't come true anyways.  With our curious really peaked at this point, we asked again.  She asked us "If the wishing star is so close to Heaven, why can't it bring Matthew back?"

Which lead to a series of questions about the ability of God to create life, the universe, Heaven, how we meet the ones we've loved and lost in Heaven.  Which, in the line of thought of a 5 year old, lead to the question "Why does God create people who are bad?"  Which obviously led to a discussion on free will. 

A discussion on free will, 9:30 at night on a Sunday.  What an end to the weekend.

16 week appointment

Yesterday was my 16 week appointment.  It was a basic appointment, listened to the heart beat on the doppler (she cooperated much better this time and we didn't need the u/s machine!), weighed me (up 11.6 lbs since the get-go, which is ok) measured my tummy, still measuring ahead a couple weeks, took my blood pressure, nice and normal, and talked about the plan the perinatologist gave us.

My progesterone shots still aren't ready yet :(  But, the good news for Dusty is he won't have to administer them like he thought.  Instead I will head to their office every week to get it.  So, no concern about doing them wrong :)

I did develop a bad case of the stomach flu that started yesterday early morning.  As of now it's been over 24 hours since I've been able to keep any food down :(  As a precaution he put me on strict bed rest through at least today.  If I'm still getting sick, I have to stay in bed, doing nothing until I am 100% back to normal.  This really sucks since I missed Kaitlyn's last day of school's pizza party, taking her out to celebrate the end of Kindergarten and today I'm missing her last t-ball game.  :(  But, it will mean for a healthy baby and in the end it will work out.

Kaitlyn's Allergy Appointment

Went, um, interesting.

Kaitlyn had the allergy skin test done.  Which kinda sucked, but wasn't the end of the world.  The idea was we could find out exactly what she was allergic too and how bad, then start the allergy shots to correct it, which would help the sinuses and prevent surgery.

So, I had to hold her while they scratched her with all the allergens and then hold her arms steady for 20 minutes so that she wouldn't scratch.  After the first 2 min, she did great. 

Guess what she's allergic too.  Absolutely nothing.  The kid who has been treated for severe allergies for the past 3 years does not suffer from allergies of any kind.

Which put us back to the drawing board.  She agreed the sinuses were horrific and were going to cause long term damage if we don't figure out what is wrong and soon so it can be corrected.

She said it's obvious Kaitlyn has bad asthma.  She could hear the wheezing and it could be partly because of the sinuses or causing the sinus problem.  Only way to find out is it aggressively treat it to find out. 

For the asthma we are upping the doseage of singuilar at night.  Adding symbicort, and increasing the nasal spray.

She also thinks Kaitlyn has silent reflux.  So, she is going on a disolvable prevacid. 

Hopefully that's the solution.  Next steps would be testing for cystic fibrosis (which is really unlikely) or Auto Immune Deficiency (also unlikely).

We return to see them on July 6 for the next step.