Happy Birthday, Liam!!

I can not believe it has been almost 3 weeks since Liam came into our lives. How did we ever live without him. He is such a joy to have in our family.

Noah is such a good big brother. I will admit that I was nervous at first, giving how Noah had been acting the last few months, but he is doing so much better than I ever thought. He loves Liam more than anything. He loves to kiss on him, hold him, help change him and just watch him. I do get nervous over how much he does "love" Liam. I am constantly watching out for Liam's little head to make sure "Brudder" doesn't love on him too strongly.

It's amazing how you can go from looking like this ......

 

 

to this ......

 

 

in just a matter of time. The preggo pic is me the Sunday before Liam came on Thursday. I was exactly 39 weeks pregnant in the picture.

 

 

Dr. Hoover agreed at my 38 week appointment to induce me on Thursday, March 7th. Having never been induced, I was unsure what to expect. She told me to report to the hospital on Wednesday evening at 5 pm. We convinced the family that there was no need in coming to the hospital that night. Keith and I looked forward to starting the process that night and then a good night of rest. Boy was I wrong! Gigi and Granddanny came and picked me, Noah and Maggie up and took us to UAB to meet Daddy. He got off at 4 so we had plenty of time to grab a sandwich at McAlisters before heading up to Labor and Delivery. Dr told me to eat a light dinner and that is just what I enjoyed (with a huge glass of sweet tea!!)

 

We got into our labor room (LDR 8) about 6p. The lovely hospital paper work, doctors talking to us and iv sticking began. The nurses changed to night shift at 8p so nothing else really started until after shift change. I had the sweetest night nurse that night to help take care of us. I wish I remembered her name but she was very young (apparently all of my nurses were super young ... they were all younger than me!!) She and the on call doctor came in about 8:30 to start the process. They put in some kind of catheter (not the real kind) to try to make you naturally dilate more without medication. At the time of arrival, I was 1 cm dilated. The procedure that they did was more painful than the actual delivery part. Mental note: if I ever do this again and they induce, ask for pain meds BEFORE the procedure!!! Oh my word. And it didn't help that she had to do it 2 or 3 times (I lost count) because the placenta was tilted. Who knew?

 

After the painful procedure, we were set the for night. I got to enjoy my tea until midnight then it was ice chips only. Keith went right on to sleep while I stayed up texting with my momma and the staff wives. Thank goodness for group text! Texting lasted until almost 11:30 when we all decided that we must get rest - after all, I had a BIG day ahead of me and needed rest. But I could not sleep. My mind would not shut down. I was excited, anxious and nervous all at the same time. I missed my little buddy more than anything. Keith's cell phone rang about 2 am with a phone call from Gigi. I instantly had a panic moment wondering what was wrong with Noah. Well, it wasn't Noah. It was Maggie. She was having a breathing attack and Gigi wasn't sure what to do. Once she settled down we headed back to sleep. Ha - yeah right!

 

 

The night slowly crept by. My nurse came in at 5 am and helped me take a shower and they started my iv of pitocin at 6a. Overnight I had dilated 2 more cm. Shift change happened a little earlier than 8a but I had a precious nurse again. How funny is it that my actually LDR nurser lives about 5 minutes from us - in Corner!! We know a lot of the same people and it made for a fun and easy day! Epidural came about 8 am when my contractions really began to pick up. The epidural had to be done twice because the first one when into the wrong place. Nothing like 2 big sticks in the back in between tough contractions. And of course they make the hubby leave during this part.

 

Family began to trickle in about 9:30. Pain eased up but I got to where I didn't feel too good. Liam's heart beat was a little higher than everyone wanted it to be. Once my water had been broken, Dr. Hoover realized that Liam had pooped. She was a little concerned and wanted to have Peds in the delivery room just to make sure things were good.

 

Waves of nausea passed by me, tried to sleep, couldn't sleep. It felt like we had been going at this for at least 24 hours and it really had only been about 3-4 hours. Dad had to work that morning but planned to leave work at noon. We realized things were progressing a little faster than expected and so Dad left Riverside at 11:30. He made it to UAB in record time - by 12:30. I was at 10 cm and ready to push about 12:15 but Dr. Hoover said we could wait a few minutes to give Dad time to get there to see us before. What a blessing she was. In the mean time, she went out to check on Noah and played with him and his monster trucks for a few minutes. Papaw made it just in time to kiss me before it was time to start pushing.

 

Pushing lasted through 9 contractions - 25 minutes - and Liam was here at 12:54 pm. When he came out the cord was wrapped around his neck 2 times. Talk about scaring his mommy and daddy (and doctor!) Fortunately everything was fine but that was the reason for the elevated heart rate during the contractions. Fortunately we had a huge team of pediatrician in the delivery room and they were right on making sure he was ok, which he was. He actually was better off than Noah was when he was born.

 

Littlest Man weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. I call him my little "odd baby" because his birthday is 03-07-13 and he was 7 - 11. HAHA! He looked just like Noah only he has a head full of dark hair! So opposite from the rest of us!

 

Our new little family of 4

Mommy, Noah and Liam

 

 

Little BB - ready to go home on Saturday

 

Brothers - waiting on our discharge from the hospital

 

Noah and Liam on Friday, March 22nd at Gigi's house

Liam is 2 weeks and 1 day old

 

 

 

Everything was perfect. I could not ask for a better delivery story, team of nurses or a better doctor. I absolutely love my new OB and don't see me changing any time soon, unless she goes somewhere else. The care at UAB was wonderful, the security measures are impressive and they get high stars in my book.

 

 

God blessed us yet again with another precious baby boy. He is perfect in every way. He is eating good and sleeping good. He reacts well when he hears his brother. We could not be any more happier with our little blessing.

 

~Randi

 

First Trip To Children's Hospital

I am WAY over due on typing this post (since it happened 2 months ago yesterday!) but I feel that it is a worthy blog post. We experienced not only our first Children's Hospital ER trip but our first middle of the night ER trip with Noah. I think making it almost 4 years is a pretty good record!

It was a Thursday night/Friday morning when Noah woke us up crying. It was not very late, maybe only 12:30 or 1 am. Keith actually woke first hearing Noah crying. I was obviously good and asleep that I didn't even hear him. Normally I am the one that hears him first. Keith walked in his room to Noah sitting on the floor crying. Noah mentioned that his head was "wet" so Keith felt the back of his head and knew instantly what he would find (it was obviously pitch black dark in there.) He picked him up and brought him to his room yelling that Noah was bleeding and to wake up. Talk about a bad way to wake up!!! We quickly realized the entire back of Noah's head was wet with blood. We couldn't quite see how bad the cut was but we knew we needed to head to the hospital either way. It's scary with head injuries because you never know how bad they could be. What could appear minor could be life changing and vise versa - what appears life changing may be nothing. We were not sure what to expect. The only thing we figure is he

We calmed Noah best we could as we both got ready to head out. We did not realize how cold it was outside (haha) and just about took Noah to the Jeep in his pjs and no socks. I don't even know if he had his jacket at the time. It also didn't help that I was applying pressure with a wet towel to the wound.

We quickly headed out best we could. Instantly called Papaw (my dad) to make sure we were doing what we needed to do. Papaw is the police officer/former medic in the family so he gets all of the medical calls. We said we were doing everything fine, slow down, take our time getting to the hospital. It was not worth a risk of having an accident to make things worse. He had just taken something to help him sleep and he had to be at work early the next day. He said what I figured he would say and that was Nina was on her way to meet us.

We called Gigi and Granddanny to let them know where we were headed. We laugh now but they originally thought we were headed to the hospital for me and Baby Liam. We didn't know that THAT phone call would come just a couple of weeks later - LOL! They told us to keep them posted on what was going on but they kept checking in with us because neither of them could obviously go back to sleep.

I was dreading a full waiting room and hours of just sitting with Noah and a bleeding head. Keith kept prompting me to talk about how bad his head injury was so that they would take us back immediately. I kept thinking they would notice it with all of the blood! Keith dropped Noah and I off at the front door of the ER and I was shocked to find not one person waiting in the ER waiting room. I have no clue how we got that fortunate!! When I questioned it the nurses even told me to "SHHHH" (laughing of course!) They never have nights like that. So, we were taken immediately back and examined.

The sweet triage nurse too his vitals, looked at the wound and assured us it was not as bad as we thought but would require a few stitches. She bandaged his little head and sent us back to an actual room. This is where the waiting came!! We didn't realize at the time that the waiting was to help a deadening medication sink into the wound so they could stitch him. It's the little things you obviously don't think about.

After waiting a long while, the doctor came in to see us. He assured us the same as the triage nurse but didn't think the medication had worked on his head. It had fortunately stopped bleeding so he could actually see the wound. He had the nurse apply another round of medication to the head and we waited some more. We knew we did not want them to have to inject a shot in his head to deaden it.

Let me just say that I was not prepared for the stitches part. Hearing Noah scream was the worst ever! It was worse then when he broke his arm!!! They had to put him in this blue papoose thing that pretty much restrained him. Houdini figured out how to wiggle his arms out go figure. A male nurse walking down the hall heard the screams and came to back up. He pretty much laid across Noah (without hurting him obviously) to help hold him down. This preggo mommy held it together but MAN!! I think it did freak the nurse a little when she figured out I was almost 31 weeks pregnant.

We received 3 stitches in our head with instruction to follow up in 5-7 days with our pediatrician to have them removed. It was a rough week of keeping his head clean and dry but we managed!

We got back home about 5:30 am and we were beyond exhausted. Keith and Noah both took naps but I was wired. I did not let Noah out of my sight at all that day!

We had tickets to Monster Jam that night and we were so excited to go but questioned if it was still a good idea. Poor baby was so excited about it also so we decided to give it a try but let him make the call when he was ready to go. We made it just passed intermission when he said "I'm ready to go home. I've seen enough." He was beyond being a trooper! I was bummed we missed the best part of the show but I did not and could not push him to stay! Our Monster Jam experience did bring out a new phase in Noah. Now we own almost 20 monster trucks and we have several recorded on the DVR and he acts out Monster Jam with his own trucks. He even swapped his birthday party to Monster Jam.

We obviously have a few iPhone pics from our hospital experience. We couldn't let his experience pass down.

In triage getting our vitals and a little hospital gown

We called this our 'Superman" headband - with medication

The horrible blue board! Noah will not forget this board!!

Post stitches. Saline was used to flush the wound which made his hair look worse!

Can I say how bad his head smelled for a couple of days. The smell of blood reeks!!

Noah and Jake at Monster Jam. He was such a trooper in his cute monster truck shirt Mrs. Kim made.

He was also proudly wearing Papaw's  headphones. (Looks like we will be asking Santa for a set this year!!)

 

 

You know, you always try to find a positive out of every situation - the ONLY positive we have found for our ER trip is the threat of the blue board. If Noah is doing something that might hurt him, we remind him of the blue board at the hospital and he stops what he is doing. Bless his heart, blood does freak him out now (guessing he won't be a doctor now!). Every time he hurts something, even as simple as stumping his toe or even cutting a hang nail from his finger, he freaks thinking he will have to go to the hospital if it bleeds. His exact words is "my bleeding stuff". Goodness! I wished I could take the pain for my baby but knew I couldn't. 

Happy Birthday, Buddy!!!



I can not believe it has been 4 years since my favorite little buddy entered our world. I had no clue what a joy he would bring to us.

 

We celebrated his birthday party on February 16th with family and friends. I know I was nervous about his party but everything turned out perfect. It was too cold for the moonwalk (which Noah and I were both disappointed with) but we had a great time anyway! Ree Ree made a "tire" cake for us and Aunt Jonica helped ice it and decorate it up some. Ree Ree also made small "tires" for each of Noah's friends to decorate their own. Keith and Uncle Shane attempted to make cotton candy. It tasted wonderful but I think the dog next door enjoyed a majority of it because of the wind. It was funny watching the little beagle chase it through the yard. HAHA!!

 

Noah got lots of wonderful gifts and fun new toys. His favorites include the bow and arrow from Nina and Papaw (thanks, mom!!) and the dvd player for the car from Gigi and Granddanny. Boy, do his grandparents know him or what. We do joke on the bow and arrow. He is great at it - has a natural stance and all. It just took some talking to on where we point and where we do not point the arrow. I will say - the arrow is not an arrow. It is a suction cup, but still. Gotta learn now for the real one one day! He loves it because he says he is going "Squatch" hunting -- his Daddy is so proud!!!



 

Blowing out the "Tire"

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...

 

Attempting at the Cotton Candy

 

Decorating the tires

 

Even "Mr. Keith" sat with the kids to decorate a tire

 

Aunt J and Ree Ree ROCK!!!

 

Lunch with his friends!

Opening Presents

 

More presents - with help from friends!!

 

 

 

Noah's actual birthday was this past Sunday and of course it was spent at church. What a better place to celebrate his birthday! We did go to lunch afterwards and let the birthday boy choose. Big shock - he wanted chips and cheese. We headed to the Mexican restaurant and Mommy took one for the team. I thoroughly enjoyed my Mexican lunch - especially since it had been over a month since I had eaten anything like that! I figured it would either send me into labor or a gall bladder attack. I was hoping for the 1st one but got nothing! HAHA!!

The afternoon ended up being absolutely beautiful!! Aunt Audrey sent Noah a John Deer tractor with "monster truck tires" so we headed outside to play. He had a blast playing in the mud. He was SO filthy when we finished that we threw his new socks away. They looked like they had soaked in chocolate milk. His jeans, shirt and shoes went straight to the washer. I even had to wash the washing machine before I could wash the next load. We stripped Noah of his clothes on the back deck and Keith literally carried him straight to the tub. He was filthy even under his clothes. But my Buddy had a blast and I let him enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

 

And while this post is all about Noah -- today is pajama party day at school. They are studying the letter "P" at school so they wore their pjs today, enjoyed popcorn, (caffeine free) pepsi, pudding, and watched Peter Pan. He even got to take Bo and Mickey with him to school. Needless to say, he was very excited about going to school this morning!! I know he will have a blast at naptime!

 



 

Noah's "bestie" is Michael and he is in the blue plaid.

Jonah is a close 2nd and he is in the red angry birds.

I know they have so much fun at school!!!

 

 

God certainly blessed our lives when Noah entered the world on February 24th, 2009. I look forward to many more years of fun and excitement with my Little Buddy. It's only going to get better!!! 

 

Just a downer day

I feel like "Debbie Downer" today. Am I allowed to do that? I would say yes but not just because I am 9 month pregnant. I think we are ALL allowed downer days. I normally do not use nor like to use my blog as a venting place but I felt like today would be a good day to actually put my feelings and emotions out in writing. Again - I don't do that often enough either. I wish I did.

Today is Friday, February 15th. It is the date of birth of a very special man in my life. My Granddaddy. I would love nothing more for Liam to grace us with his presence today. But I've given up on that wish - especially since it is 2p already. Something drastic would have to happen quick. (Then the other side of me is not quite prepared like I would like and so that would not be good either!!) This is a day that I think about my Granddaddy for mainly the entire day. My Granddaddy was always my main man, besides my Daddy, of course. We loved to fish together, go on trips, go to the movies and just about anywhere we felt like going! It was a very hard day when he died almost 11 years ago. I wasn't quite sure how we were to continue on with life without him. It almost seems unfair to go on. And I would give ANYTHING for him to know my boys!!

Tomorrow is Noah's birthday party and I feel like a slacker momma. (Poor Baby!!) His birthday is not until the 24th of this month but I decided it was best to have his party early because of Liam. Now I am wishing I had waited until after Liam. And let me just say -- for the record -- it absolutely stinks to work for an inflatable company and not be able to use an inflatable for your son's birthday all because it is too cold outside! UGH!! I started planning Noah's party in September - yes, 5 months ago. He wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party. I tried to discourage since we had already had one but there was no changing his mind. So I looked and pinned on Pintrest and marked as favorites in Etsy and just about had my game plan down. We were able to get free tickets to the Birmingham Monster Jam show in January so we took Noah. Little did I know that it would start a new phase with us. He absolutely loved it!! And in just 5 weeks, our monster truck collection has grown from 2 trucks to 12! He is obsessed - literally!! Needless to say, his party has changed to Monster Jam. (Not to be confused with just Monster Trucks in general -- it must be Monster Jam!! Grave Digger and all!!) So I went back to the drawing board. Pinning and "Favorite-ing" Monster Jam birthday ideas. Then I got sick! Blah!! It just went downhill from there. I feel like his little party has been thrown together, nothing executed as this planner momma had visioned. I told myself that it wouldn't matter because we still had the moonwalk -- that is until the weather people reported an "Arctic blast" of cold air for February 16th. There was even talk of the "S" word but I think it is extreme North Alabama. So, we had to cancel the moonwalk and now it will just be a party in the house I guess. Nothing special. Nothing fancy. I am very thankful for a huge playroom downstairs because I guess that's where the kids will play. As of Tuesday morning I had no clue what I was even going to do for a cake for his party. (Seriously, slacker momma here!!) Aunt Jonica and Ree Ree both offered to help wherever they could. Aunt J has been really sick so I was afraid to ask her - honestly! Ree Ree offered to make cupcakes for us just after I decided to do little chocolate bunt cakes as "big tires". The kids will each get to decorate their own tire. I think it will be a fun activity for the little ones. It will end up being a good party, I have no doubt. Just hate it when my plan doesn't follow through.

So what am I doing now? I am looking at Pintrest and Etsy and planning Noah and Liam's birthdays. I HAVE to make up to Noah next year for his big 5th birthday and it will be Liam's 1st. They must be done correctly! (Yes, I think it is an illness that I have. HAHA!) I've convinced Noah to have an airplane birthday and we will have his party at the Southern Museum of Flight. Noah and I decided that Liam needs a Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday. By the way, there is some super precious Hungry Caterpillar birthday stuff out there. I think I do need to start planning now and start buying now! HAHA!!!

I think I have vented enough for one day. I'm gonna cheer up, finish out this work day and go meet my boys for dinner and birthday party shopping.

~Randi

The Story of Liam - as it continues to grow

My doctor asked me last week how my pregnancy with Noah went. My response - FLAWLESS. Then she asked, "Was he a good baby?" My response - YES! She said, "Darn, I was hoping you would have issues now and then have a good baby also." Yes, that means, I can not seem to win with this pregnancy with Liam. He has thrown me curve balls the entire time.

As I mentioned in the previous post (which was forever ago!!) Liam was quite a surprise for us. We were trying to get pregnant but were having some issues. Let me rephrase - I was having some issues. My body would not cooperate and do what it needed to do for the pregnancy to be an option. We tried for month - help from the doctor to regulate things. May/June was our last month to try to regulate before a more drastic measure would be taken. It was beginning to get frustrating, I was discouraged and began to wonder if Noah might be an only child. The thought scared and upset me but I knew I would be happy with my little buddy. My disappointment came more for him.

The end of June came and my body still had not done what it needed to do. More frustration came. The nurse gave me one more dose of medicine to trigger things with the instructions to call for an appointment with the doctor. I was already upset because 6 months before I found out I was having thyroid issues (which is common in women) and knew that could be one cause of issue. Then reality hit that I was getting older and things weren't as "easy" as they used to be. Yes, it is hard to admit that! I've always been the baby - and now I'm the old one having issues! UGH!! Back to the story - so I took the final round of medicine and waited patiently. Nothing happened. The day Keith and I were to leave for Kid's Camp (for my first trip ever) I noticed I had a pain that seemed all too familiar. I took a pregnancy test and was SO excited to see a little "+" sign. I asked Keith if that is what I think it is and he agreed to my findings. He told me not to get too excited that we should call the nurse. She told me the same thing Keith said: "Don't get too excited yet. Could be false positive from the medicine." I told her I had no clue how it could be positive since my body did not do what it needed to do - so I thought. I'm still puzzled.

So mum was the word. Couldn't tell anyone. I went to the Dr the next week for blood work. Received a phone call the next day -- I was excited to answer the phone. Not so much. The nurse told me that I was in fact pregnant but my numbers were very low and that was not a good thing. She phoned in a prescription of progesterone that I was to take immediately that evening and again the next morning and come in that afternoon for more blood work. My numbers needed to double by the next afternoon. I was crushed. I called Keith in tears completely unsure what to think. I cried out saying "I want to tell my mom!!" Why is it - a girl always needs her momma - no matter HOW old she is!!! He agreed and we decided to tell just our immediate family and the church staff what was going on. We felt our little bean needed all the prayers we could get. We needed him to stick! I cried on my mom's shoulder that night and she assured me that we would get through it no matter what. God had a plan and HE was in control. Our sisters each seemed to already know that we were pregnant - how they do that, I have NO idea!!

The blood work the next day was encouraging but not as we had hoped. It was higher which was definitely a good thing but had not quite doubled. This meant that I would be on the progesterone twice a day every day for the first 12 weeks and I had to have my blood taken every week. It was a long 12 weeks but definitely worth it. The lab girls at the dr office are wonderful!!

Everything seemed to truck right along. At the 12 week mark, the nurse went to hear the heartbeat and couldn't find it. Talk about another freak out moment. I headed to ultrasound and she found him tucked really high just fluttering right along. And trust me - he has been there the WHOLE time! I swear he is kicked back on my ribs!!! HAHA!

At 20 weeks we headed back to ultrasound for measurements and gender reveal if we wanted. We had the tech write it down and we hosted a gender reveal party for our family and close friends. That's when we found out Robert Liam would be joining our family. Noah was so excited. I admit, I was convinced he was a girl because he had been dealing me fits so much!

The 24 week appointment came and it was time for the dreaded sugar test. Yep - failed it the week of Thanksgiving. Trust me, I enjoyed every bite at Thanksgiving dinner because I knew I had a 3 hour test ahead of me and the results of that test may tell me I couldn't eat anything that we enjoyed at Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I passed my test and could carry on.

Christmas came and I started my every 2 week appointments. I could not believe we were already to this point. We had just moved to Corner in December and everything was hectic to say the least. I sat in my appoint on Jan 3rd and told Dr. Kennedy that I had a feeling I would not make it all the way to March 11th. She said that I was measuring a week ahead and he was already head down. Needless to say - I freaked because we had not even put up the crib yet. (We JUST did this weekend. HAHA!) She told me I better get to work. 2 weeks later I was headed to my appointment and cancelled on the way because Birmingham was having a small snowstorm. It was horrible trying to drive and quite honestly, I didn't want to have a wreck and have to go to the hospital in snow and ice. I rescheduled my appointment for the following Monday afternoon.

The weather was cleared the next day and everything was back to normal. Saturday was mom's bday so we headed to Trussville for a bday party for one of Noah's friends then to lunch with Mom and Rinda. We enjoyed dinner with Gigi and GrandDanny before loading back up to head North to Corner.

Sunday was a typical day for us. Church that morning then we grabbed lunch and did our weekly grocery trip. Nap time came and it was wonderful! As it was time to get ready for church, I started having a pain in my back that felt like it was coming through to a spot between my ribs. I don't think I had ever been in so much pain. Seriously! I tried to make it at church but it didn't happen. I started feeling nauseated and light headed. I sat in the room with Keith and called the on call doctor. He told me it was probably a muscle spasm and how I could relieve the pressure. Nothing worked. I told Keith something wasn't right and I felt we needed to head to Brookwood. We called parents on the way. Let me just say - they ALL beat us to the hospital. LOL! Disadvantage for living 45 minutes from hospital! They had a wheelchair waiting when we pulled up and had me registered with the nurse. Advantage to parents beating us to hospital! We weren't there long before the nurse told me I was having contractions and my bp was raised. It wasn't long after that I started throwing up. I cried because Keith and Mom saw me get sick. The nurse came in and became my best friend with the medicine she put in my iv. It was obvious we were not going anywhere that night. The on call Dr came and evaluated. He still thought muscle spasm but said my OB would probably order a gallbladder ultrasound the next day.

I slept off and on pretty much all night - thanks to the wonderful medicine. Poor Keith did not. Dr. Kennedy came in that morning to check on me. She told me the sad news that I couldn't eat or drink anything ALL day and that I would have to go to radiology for the ultrasound. I was upset to find out that my gallbladder has "too many gallstones to count". That can't be good! The nurses all told me that gallbladder surgery can be done while pregnant. That thought freaked me out! Dr. K sent a surgeon in to check on me. He told me that I am too far along and Liam is too high (as he has been the WHOLE time) for them to do anything now. The good news is that my gallbladder is not infected so there is no rush to get it out at this time. Liam can keep cooking. Bad news is that I am on a very limited very strict diet here on out. No fat/lowest fat diet - ie: lots of grilled/baked chicken or fish. No dairy (which is a big killer for me), no creams, cheese, coffee, carbonated drinks, fried foods, etc. As Dr. Littleton said, if it tastes good, I can't eat it.

This also means that Liam is in no danger, he did not cause the gallbladder issues though pregnancy can contribute to inflammation. I was discharged on Tuesday with instructions to rest and recover, a prescription of pain pills in case I get into trouble and to call Dr. Littleton after I deliver to set up surgery to have it removed 2-6 weeks after Liam is born. How lovely is that - 2 recoveries ahead of me. Double time for Keith to be off from his new job. Nice!!

It's been 2 weeks since all of that happened and as of last Tuesday I was already down 5 lbs. I'm trying to find a bright side to this ordeal. The end is not in sight for us - I guess that is a very good thing. Just means momma is miserable. Liam is still has high as he can be but I have not even started the progression part. My bp was raised last week at the dr office but it came down before I left so nothing to worry with right now. We will go as long as we can and won't start talking about induction until 38/39 weeks unless we start having issues. I am 35 weeks today so I still have a little while to go! My belly has gotten much larger and I am having contractions already but nothing consistent. Life must carry on at this point.

Keith started a new job today and Noah started his new school last week. The baby bed and changing table have been set up. Waiting on the bedding to arrive, washing clothes and getting organized is what is going on now. The ladies at our church gave me a tea yesterday and I was more than thrilled with everything. Liam received lots of amazing things and I was so honored. God has brought us to an amazing place at Highpoint. I still feel like I am dreaming that we are here with them. As Keith keeps reminding me - all of this is just another chapter in our book. I'm just anxious for the chapter on Liam's birthday!

~Randi