1 Week Old

What an amazing week it's been. I cannot believe my little booger bear is already one week old. Just so y'all know this is the coolest kid ever! Even if he did keep me up ALL night last night he's still pretty darn awesome.

I cannot even describe motherhood. It's funny because before I got pregnant, even during pregnancy, I made fun of "those" mothers. You know the ones that are pretty much stuck on their kids and that's all they talk about and blah blah blah, yea well now I understand and it's totally back firing on me. I seriously need to win the lottery so I can stay at home all day and love on this kiddo. I can sit for hours and just look at this precious face. He's my little miracle from God and I cannot thank him enough for this gift he has given me. I feel so blessed.

So this is what Brody's been doing this week:

• He can totally turn over to his side. Not sure if they are suppose to do this yet but he does it all the time. I will put him on his back and before I know it he will be completely on his side.
• He's starting to smile. I don't think he means to do it or knows he is doing it although Grammy begs to differ but he's smiling and it's so cute
• He loves to eat! We are breast feeding and he rocks at it. It really is so easy for us and he will latch right on and go to town...I think he's a little piglet like his cousin Ben was. He's been eating every 1 1/2 - 2 hours and will get milk mustaches. It's hilarious.
• He loves to pee on his momma. Seriously I've been sprayed probably 5 times already. I'm getting better but those little weewee's are so unpredictable.
• His favorite spot to sleep is on mommy or daddy's chest with his arm propped up under his cheek. He looks JUST like his daddy when he sleeps like this.
• He snores!None of his clothes fit, they are all so big still. He's still a face scratcher so he has to wear the long sleeve mitten shirts and they are almost impossible to find! The only size that fits him is the Gerber or Carter Newborn and they are still a little big.
• The only time he cries is when he's wet or when he's hungry.

We went to the doctor this morning because he needed to get his privates checked out and guess what?! On Tuesday he weighed 5lbs 11oz and today he weighed a whoopin 6lbs 6oz!! That's 2oz more than his birth weight. The nurse and doctor were shocked and said that was an amazing weight gain, he said we are rockstars at feeding :) This was such a relief and I felt my first success as a mother!! Good job Brody

Please turn the lights off!

Our 1st walk





Look just like daddy here!

Got milk? Look closely and you can see his milk mustache on the left

Love,

LeAnn

Priceless...

168 shots in the stomach
10 weeks of bed rest
5 trips to hospital to stop labor
8 weeks of jittery medicine

Waking up to this everyday

Priceless

1st Pedi Visit

Went to the doctor today and Brody is doing good. He's at 5lbs10ozs which is up 2 oz from when we were discharged. Obviously he's a little baby so we are really pumping him fully of mommy's good stuff and I'm trying to get him to eat every 2 hours instead of every 3 hours like we were doing. He's such a good eater but falls asleep so its a challenge to get him up & going to eat. I don't blame him...who doesn't love sleep!

His jaundice is pretty much gone and they didn't even check his levels today because his yellowing was pretty much gone. We are still opening up the blinds and having him in the sun during the day which I think has really helped.

The 1st night home I got a much needed 6 hours of sleep and last night I got about 3 which isn't too bad. B took Brody after his feeding today and I took about a 45 minute nap which made a world of difference!

Grammy came over yesterday to hang out with the little man and it was such a big help as it allowed Brandon and I to get some rest and do a little laundry and unpacking. Thanks Grammy!

We just got this delivered from Nana:

Oh goodness its amazing, I've been craving fruit and this is just a little bite of heaven, thanks Nana

Aunt Mandy brought us some yummy chicken and dumplings Sunday and the church is bringing dinner every night this week. We are so blessed, thanks everyone!

Still working on that birth story

We are home

It feels so good to be home. The past 3 days have been amazing and words cannot describe this little miracle! Right now little man is eating so I leave you with some pics...I will update in more detail later:

The last moments of life without Brody

Mommy and Aunt Marcy







Aunt Mandy

Hearing test

Andy wasn't too impressed

But Ben was

Daddy time

Proud Papa

Grammy loves me!

Poppy and Brody

Nana and Brody

Meeting my great grandma

The Family

Uncle Roddy and Aunt Leah

Aunt Margeret and Reagan

Daddy and Brody reading boxscores at the end of the day

Aunt Sherri

Aunt Heather

Alex and Aunt Katy

Aunt Vanessa

Now batting....

Brody Eric McCollough
6lbs, 4oz
18 1/2 inches
born at 3:26am on Friday February 20,2008

Today's the Day!!!!

Hey guys coming live from L&D...today is Brody's birthday!!!(Hopefully it won't be tomorrow)

I was feeling flush last night so I started tracking my blood pressure and it was high. Went in for my appointment today and it was still high so Dr. B decided to pull the plug and send me over for induction.

We just got here a few minutes ago and my blood pressure is still up 130/98. They are running blood work to see if I need some meds to lower it and then will start me on pitocin

I knew I should have eaten a better breakfast :)

Still Here....Still Pregnant

Just a quick update, I'm still here and still pregnant...no Brody yet.

I started having what I call "real" contractions last night and whoa....these suckers hurt. I mean they take over my whole body and I can't do anything but concentrate on breathing and even sometimes that's hard. I had 2 last night and then I had 2 in the middle of the night around 2:30 that woke me up from a deep sleep. Forget the whole no drugs thing I will NEED that epidural! After those 2 I had pretty strong ones but they weren't the same. I just keep trying to visualize my cervix dilating in hopes that it is!

I was going to call the doc first thing this morning before my 9am Lovenox shot to get her to check me but my contractions tappered off around 8:00 so I held off on the call. Held my breath and took my shot, so now I cannot go into labor until 9pm when it would be closer to getting the epidural and the Lovenox would be out of my system.

I have a hair appointment at 1:00, need to look pretty for my son's arrival, she will probably get all the foil in and then my water will break! :) After that I plan on coming home and doing some laundry and things around the house just in case she sends me to the hospital at tomorrow's appointment. It's also a BEAUTIFUL day outside so I will probably walk around the block a few times.

Last night my sister in law treated us to a great dinner at Gloria's. She swore it would put me into labor as it did her friend a few years ago...but no such luck thus far. But thanks again Marcy for dinner! So as of right now I've tried PF Chang's spicy chicken and Mexican food...I really think I need Leah's hot sauce to do the trick :)

Still contracting, still pregnant, still waiting :)
Have a great one!
LeAnn

Stinker!

My son is a little stinker...I cannot believe he won't come out! Brat...just like his daddy :)

Well 5 more days! I slept so good last night and didn't even take any drugs. I'm pretty sure I snored the roof off because at one point I got up to go to the bathroom and B was turning on the humidifier, I asked what he was doing and he said turning this thing on to try and drown out your loud snores!

By the way, I don't snore!

I'm extremely crampy but contractions haven't been too bad this morning. One woke me up at 4:30am but then passed and I didn't have another one.

So we wait....and wait....and wait....5 more days!

LeAnn

Standdown

Well I'm back home.

We had the ultrasoound and Brody gained a little bit more weight and is up to 2660 grams or 5.86 pounds. He was very active and both the tech and Dr. B assured me he's ok just small...he was very active and the u/s tech said if he was growth restricted he wouldn't have that much energy to move all around like he was.

Dr. B checked my cervix again and it hadn't changed from this morning so we are waiting. She wants me to check in right before my shot at 6 if I feel any differently.

We set up another appointment for Thursday and also set the induction date for Monday the 23rd but she doesn't think I will make it to Monday.

So we wait!
LeAnn

Come on baby!

Went into the doctor's this morning after calling them to tell them I lost my plug and she wanted to check me:

I'm 2 cm dilated
80% effaced
Brody is now at a -1 station
I'm contracting every 5 minutes

She thinks I'm in early labor and wants me to come back at my regular scheduled 2:10 appointment so that we can get the ultrasound to check his growth and she wants to recheck my cervix. She told me that today could be the day!

So I go back at 2:00 and we will go from there! I'm going to get my bags ready and put in the carseat then grab some lunch!

Come on Brody!
Love,
LeAnn

Something Is Happening!!

*************TMI ALERT***********************

Brody is definitely making his move. I had EXTREME backache all day yesterday which I think was back labor or his head moving further down and last night I lost my mucus plug!!! I've managed to get a couple hours of sleep last night but kept getting woken by contractions...Brody is definitely on his way out, I'm calling the doc when they open this morning to see what to do!!!

Update soon,
LeAnn

Hard...

I think I'm experiencing the first of many times I'm going to be scared out of my mind for my child...I think this is the start of motherhood...I think this is going to be hard!

Why isn't he thriving...why isn't he growing and getting fat and chunky...am I not eating enough...good enough? I want him to be plump and fat. I want him to be on the higher end of the bell curve not the lower end. What am I suppose to learn from this...patience? will this make me stronger? A better mother? Better wife? what????? Is it suppose to make me only want one child instead of the 5 I originally wanted?

This is mentally exhausting. Between the contractions, no sleep, hormones, Factor V, daily shots, worrying...

He weighs 2500 grams, he needs to weigh 3000 grams on Monday to be average...come on baby you can do it, please gain some weight. Just be like your cousin Ben and eat everything you can get your hands on :) Don't be picky like your mother and father!

I hate this crap! I hate being high risk and monitored all the time because we don't know if he's ok or not...I'm SO READY TO HOLD THIS BABY IN MY ARMS...I feel like I can protect him better if he were just out already. I know...patience

Oh by the way, my son loves to make me pee on myself...not even kidding...he likes to give the bladder a little squeeze...he's so like his father! Isn't pregnancy lovely. I guarantee you he is in there just laughing away as I run to the bathroom.

People stare at big fat pregnant people, I no longer have a face they just look straight at the belly, yes I know I waddle and that I'm huge. It's even better when you and your husband are trying to squeeze through the doorway and it just doesn't work anymore. We laugh all the time at how big I am. The belly is just huge...if you can't tell I'm ready for this part of it to be over.

I am blessed to have such great family and friends that check on me daily. B has been so good and my sanity and my parents have been life savers as well. I have so much to be thankful for so just ignore all the whining...I just needed to get it off my chest.

Love,
Pregzilla(aka LeAnn)

Doc Update

Had our 36 week doctor's appointment today and Brody didn't grow that great this week. Last week he was in the 50th percentile and now he is in the 25th percentile. He is just a little over 5 1/2 pounds and over the past 3 weeks he's only gained 200 grams. So we are going back on Monday to check on him again, if he hasn't caught up or grown that much we will go ahead and induce. She said she's a little concerned but not enough to pull the plug yet and wants to see what he does over the weekend. Obviously, this isn't the news I was hoping for, any parent wants their child to thrive but the doctor assured me that I'm a better incubator right now than if he were to be on the outside so we are just in a waiting game. I'd feel alot better if he was still in the 50th percentile or higher instead of going backwards but nothing I can do but put my faith in the Lord that all is well.

I haven't dilated any further but she said he is now at a -3 station where last week he was still "floating" so at least he has dropped more.

She also thinks that I will be able to get an epidural. She said once I get to the hospital they check my blood every hour for clotting and that she hasn't had a patient on blood thinners who hasn't been able to get an epidural...it might be last minute but I will most likely be able to have one!!

If we don't induce this coming week it will be the week of the 23rd for sure, which is only 11 days from now!!! She said we can pick the birth date on Monday which of course I'm going for sooner rather than later, so if I have it my way it will be on the 23rd.

Til next time,
LeAnn

100th Post

Wow, I just saw that this is my 100th post! Just wanted to give a little update on how the week is going.

Got a call from my nurse today and my Group B strep test came back negative! YEA: one less thing to worry about during delivery.

I've had a pretty good week. I haven't had as many contractions but the ones I have are so painful, strong and long....I swear some of them last 6-7 minutes. They are mostly at night and last a couple of hours then putter out.

I have a TON of questions tomorrow for my doctor. My main concerns are his growth, if he isn't over 6 lbs tomorrow and still measuring behind I'm going to be super worried. The thing with Factor V is that the placenta starts to clot as it ages and stops functioning properly which in return can cause Intrauterine Growth Restriction(IUGR) which basically means the baby can't grow that well inside the womb. Anyway it's the #1 concern on my mind right now. The next thing is the whole heparin. I really don't want to stay on Lovenox during delivery and would really love an epidural but also I'm worried about C-Section while being on Lovenox. Will I just be put under, will I have to have a blood transfusion if I bleed a lot, what are the steps we take after delivery to ensure I don't clot??? And then of course I want to talk about induction! I'm so ready....we are so anxious and just ready for Brody to be here, I feel he will be safer on the outside than he is on the inside right now so I really want her to induce me as soon as it is safe for Brody. I can literally feel his head hitting my pubic bone at times and trust me this is not comfortable or painless. I feel like he's trying to beat the door down but it's locked right now...come on baby find that key :) I guess we will know more tomorrow.

I've pretty much done everything possible to start labor naturally, I've given up and know that it's not on my time schedule, it's on his, so I wait....and wait....and wait.
We found this swim suit for Brody's Disney trip this summer, isn't it the cutest:

And B finally got his diploma in the mail:

Here's my 36 week pic I forgot to take on Sunday:

Today I'm 36weeks and 3 days...only 12 or so more days!!!
Til tomorrow,
LeAnn

36 Weeks

I cannot believe it. Only 2 more weeks and I will be holding the sweetest little boy in my arms. This child is no doubt a miracle for making it through this pregnancy and will be the biggest blessing in our lives. I cannot wait to meet him!

I had a good weekend. It's amazing what a little sleep can do. I didn't realize how much I have't been sleeping but after Thursday's news of not being able to get the heparin my nurse suggested I take Tylenol PM, so I did and boy did I sleep good. I don't even think I woke up once. That left me feeling refreshed Friday and just in a better state of mind. Friday was a great day with little contractions toward the evening but nothing big. I went ahead and took another Tylenol PM Friday night and once again slept great! Saturday turned out to be great as well and I had very little contractions. I went to the movies with my parents and then went to watch Brandon's basketball game at church. I decided not to take another Tylenol PM last night and wouldn't you know I contracted all night and got no sleep! Today was a rough one with a lot of contractions that were pretty strong and painful. They tapered off about 6 and haven't been bad at all this evening. Hopefully I will be able to get some sleep tonight.

I'm really thinking about bribing the doctor into inducing me next week, anyone have suggestions on how to do that? I know her surgery days are on Tuesdays and I think that is her induction days as well so I'm hoping to have her induce me next Tuesday, if not it will be the next week for sure but I'm seriously thinking about getting on all fours and begging for mercy :)

Here is what's going on with Brody this week:
Baby’s development is nearly complete at this point and it can be termed as full term baby on completion of 36th week. The baby will now move and position itself for birth. The baby will move down now and its head comes to rest on the pelvic bone bowl of the mother. This is the most significant development at this stage. The baby is positioning itself for delivery. The baby’s approximate length from head to toe is 20 inches and approximate body weight is around 2.8 kg or 6 pounds. At this stage the baby is storing as much fat as it can and the cheeks, knees and elbows start dimpling due to fat deposition. The baby’s brain is developing at a rapid pace. The baby is practicing the action of blinking. Baby’s gums become strong and rigid and there is full development of the sucking muscles. The baby swallows a certain amount of amniotic fluid daily and excretes it as urine. There is a balance maintained between the amount of fluid swallowed and excreted.

The ultrasound tech told us Thursday that Brody is already in the pelvic bone bowl and in the birthing position so I feel very blessed that we don't have to worry about breech or anything like that!

Hope everyone has a great week!
Love,
LeAnn

Ha!

Freaking hilarious!

Well ain't that some crap!

****Warning: this post is going to be a self-pity post with me mostly whining, I try not to do this but the happy juice has been all used up! I’ll try to replenish over the weekend****

I told my husband when I wanted to start trying, which was pretty much the day after we were married that pregnancy was going to be perfect! I couldn't wait to get big and what could possible go wrong, you are growing and creating a new life, pregnancy is perfect: I'm now eating those words.

We had our 35 week doctor appointment today. Brody still weighs 5 1/2 pounds this week, the tech said last week’s measurement could have been off a little or this week’s could be off. He said the further along you go the harder it is to get accurate measurements which is hard for me to understand if you are having weekly growth scans…what’s the point if they aren’t accurate. But Dr. B assures me he is doing just fine in there. I’d rather see growth each week but I’m trying not to worry about it too much.

My cervix hasn’t changed which really ticks me off. I’ve been having very strong contractions the past 2 days and just plain miserable so I figured something was going on in there but apparently not. So I’m still 1-2 dilated and 50% effaced.
She took me off bed rest and is allowing me to do things as I can. If I get into too much pain then I’m suppose to get off my feet. She also said if I go into the L&D to get checked or because of the contractions that she will no longer stop labor and if they try to give me terb or Procardia to refuse it.

Now to the crappy part:
She gave me my prescription to switch over to heparin, which is a shot twice a day instead of the once a day with Lovenox. The reasoning behind this is so that I can have an epidural when I go into labor. I cannot have one on Lovenox until 36 hours after my last shot and obviously most labors don’t last that long. The heparin you only have to wait 12 hours and even then there’s medicine they can give to reverse heparin so that I can have the epidural. I go to the pharmacy to get it filled and they said there’s been a recall and to contact my doctor. So I called them back and she ended up calling me at 5:30 this evening to let me know that there’s some kind of national recall/shortage of heparin and I will not be able to switch, which pretty much means I won’t be able to have an epidural when I go into labor. Are you freaking kidding me…my body and I have been through complete crap the past 8 weeks and now I’m not gonna be able to have an epidural. Sure there’s demarol but it doesn’t numb the nerve-endings, not to mention we’ve already established our kid has a big head like us….not to mention that god forbid I do have to have a c-section I’ll have to be put under because I won’t be numbed up!!! I knew that there was a possibility that I wouldn’t be able to have an epidural if I went into preterm labor but in the back of my mind I know I’ll go all the way until induction. And the past two days I’ve realized these contractions really can hurt and I’ve been looking forward to the epidural.

I’ve pretty much been crying all night and I’m just so tired. I know it’s just the hormones and the fact that I’m scared of the unknown, fear can be a pretty strong thing! I feel like it’s one thing after another. I know part of pregnancy is to be uncomfortable towards the end but I literally feel like I’ve been hit with a baseball bat over and over again. My stomach is so sore from the constant contractions and emotionally I’m depleted. There’s so many what ifs and what happens if this happens that I’m just done! I have my faith, I know this is what’s best and that the Lord has it all mapped out for me but at the same time is it ever going to end? What more do I have to go through to hold this precious baby and am I strong enough to get there? I’ve stuck myself every single day in the stomach for over 200 days with medicine that burns like I’m on fire, I’ve spent almost 8 weeks in bed taking medicine that makes me jittery and the whole time hoping it’s not somehow affecting this baby, I’ve been through test after test to make sure by body isn’t giving up and slowly hurting and killing my child. I’ve sat up night after night praying for my child’s safety knowing my body isn’t the best place for him but the only way for him to enter this world and to my amazement he has answered every prayer I’ve whispered. It’s completely sucked everything out of me and I just don’t know how I’m going to get the strength to deliver.

We go back to the doc in a week for another growth scan and appointment. We will talk more about pain management and induction.
Til then,
LeAnn

Finally Progress!!

Well last night was a tough one and I had contractions nonstop until 4 am. I couldn't sleep or get comfortable at all and was having that "gas" pain that I had a few weeks ago, which very well could be gas! This morning I wasn't feeling Brody at all and just couldn't get him to move a lot. I figured it was because I was up all night and he was sleeping but I went ahead and called the dr just to be safe, I feel it's my motherly duty to protect this little guy and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

We did a NST and he looked good although his heart rate would drop during a contraction. Dr. B wanted to check his fluid just to make sure and said if the fluid level was good then she wouldn't worry about the drop in heart rate. So off we went for a BPP ultrasound and all looked good. We could really see Brody "breathing" in and out and he waved to us as well.

During the scan I had one long and strong contraction that Dr. B could see and feel so she wanted to check my cervix and finally

I'VE DILATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm in between 1-2 cm and 50% effaced. I had the biggest grin on my face and she could tell I was excited, she said finally you are doing something! It's so frustrating to be so miserable with constant contractions and know they aren't doing a darn thing, at least now I feel like my misery is actually doing some work!

I could walk around like this for 2-3 more weeks and nothing happen but she thinks it could be any day now.

Keep in mind that my prediction for his arrival is the 6th(Friday) and B has been saying the 9th(background: Brandon's baseball # growing up was 29 and if he were to come on the 9th it would be 2-9...wouldn't that be cool!)
So here's to a start!
LeAnn

35 Weeks

Whew! I don't know about y'all but I sure am ready to get this show on the road! Come on out Brody, momma's ready!

We only have 3 more weeks until I'm induced, 2 if I can talk Dr. B into putting me out of my misery :) I'm still contracting like crazy and I haven't taken the Procardia since Friday. They are definitely getting stronger and closer together but still aren't 2-3 minutes apart for 2-3 hours.

Brody thinks he has all the room in the world in there as well because he's been very active the past two days and making my belly look very funny at times, I love it and sure will miss that feeling!

I ventured out today and went to church and lunch with my husband. It was nice to just get out and the day was beautiful.
21 days, I just can't wrap my head around it!
My work is throwing me a baby shower at the school on Wednesday afternoon and I'm super excited to see everyone, I've missed them a great deal.

Please keep my sister in law in your prayers, she has pneumonia, I hope she has a speedy recovery in case Brody decides to come!!

Here's Brody's development this week:
Your baby weighs 5 1/2 pounds and is over 18 inches long. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.
35 Week Belly(Momma's gettin' big!):

Also if you could pray for Brody's growth: I'm a little concerned after learning that he isn't measuring a week ahead anymore(he was measuring 3 days behind on Thursday but B assured me it's because he has his short legs!)It's hard to explain but they measure his head, belly and femur bone. His head was measuring a week ahead, his stomach on time and his femur a week behind. They then take the average of the three for an overall average. All the other scans he's been measuring 7-10 days ahead for an average of 7-10 days ahead, well this week he's measuring 3 days behind. The doc didn't seemed concerned and I know they always say give or take a few days from the scan but when you are use to your little guy measuring ahead and then all of a sudden he isn't it's hard to not worry. This is a very critical time for him right now because it's usually when the placenta starts to break down and form clots for Factor V patients. We go back on Thursday for another growth scan and if he's still behind I'm assuming she will go ahead and induce me, so just something for all my prayer warriors to keep in mind. Thanks so much!

Til Thursday,
LeAnn