Squish's First Embarrassing Photo, Name, and more

I figured since we weren't technically the ones that took the photo, Squish can't hate us for taking it right? Squish is officially a girl - and here is the photo to prove it.





Looking at the photo, her bottom is towards the bottom right. Her legs come up to form a "V" towards the upper left... in the middle, the three lines, sort of like a cheeseburger in black and white are her "goods". Think she'll hate us for showing this off already?

Kelley and I have decided on a name. I really wasn't sure how long it was going to take us, I figured we'd still be fighting over a name when Squish was born. So...

(Insert drum roll here....)

The name is . . .

(Insert next drum roll . . .)

Kaitlyn Elizabeth Doern





Kelley and I had been sending names back and forth and neither of us liked the names the other was coming up with. He sent me "Ruth", I mentioned "Lorelei", which was sent back "Elizabeth", and so on. He likes the more old fashioned names - I like the more romantic names. I guess he was typing in "KD Recipes" and loved the way "KD" sounded - so that turned into "Katie". (This is what I remember from him telling me.) He then put in "Elizabeth" - and called me asking what I thought of "Katie Elizabeth". "Kaitlyn" happened to be one of the names I had on my list - so I asked about "Kaitlyn Elizabeth" - and Squish has a real name! Pretty sure "Squish" is going to stick forever, as I'm still calling her that, but for all formality, on on paper, she'll be "Kaitlyn Elizabeth Doern". I'm very surprised the naming didn't come to blows at some point (me wailing on Kelley) - I think I might have enjoyed beating him, he deserves it now and then.

In other news - Kaitlyn has decided that I am her punching bag. I don't think it would be so bad if it actually felt like I was being bopped from inside, or something like that. For me Squish wiggling feels like hunger pains, and sometimes makes me feel nauseous. I've found that Kaitlyn really has objections to cold liquids, or anything cold hitting her. It gets her to squirming around in there. Well last night she was in a very rowdy mood and was making me feel miserable. I spent awhile rubbing my tummy, sometimes calms her down. I even walked a little bit (yes I know bad Tammy, but I cut my shower short for it) - hoping the movement would calm her and get her to relax - that didn't work. Finally I sat in my recliner rocking for awhile, and either she was so exhausted from beating me up or it worked, and she slowly stopped beating me up and relaxed.

Next thing I know I guess Kelley decided he wanted to feel Kaitlyn kick, so Kelley decided to wake her up. Kelley proceeded to poke and prod my tummy for a little while - which got her wiggling again! I had just calmed her down. I guess Kaitlyn was in a mood because she spent a little while beating me up again. Not nearly as long as she was up earlier, thank goodness. At the same time she woke up about an hour after we tried to head to bed, and started beating on me again. As sick to my stomach as it makes me feel, as nauseous as it makes me, it's very reassuring and great to feel her moving and shaking in there. My one big rule right now is no kicking my cervix, it has enough issues.

Not so great news about my cervix...

Good news is that Squish is definitely a girl. The ultrasound tech took a confirming look for me today. We have her first embarrassing picture now. The good "between the legs" shot that is now in our file showing we are having a little girl. She was also measuring about 10ounces, maybe a little bit more, and wiggling up a storm in there. The ultrasound tech told me I would have my hands full when she was born as much as she moves around and wiggles during her picture taking. I guess Squish was cooperating at first and then got fussy with the poking from the ultrasound machine, so it took a little longer.

In other news I am on complete bed rest right now. No more getting up and down frequently, and since showers are my "splurge" I'm allowed 20 minutes to shower. This is the bad news. My cervix wasn't great when they put the cerclage in, which is why I was put on moderate bed rest - it had gone all the way up to 3.8 as of two weeks ago. I was told by my perinatologist (high risk OB) that I could do more, and do light bed rest. Then we had the fun with preterm labor, and I was put back on moderate bed rest. The good news at the time was that my cervix was holding steady at 3.8.

Today my cervix decided to go crazy. They say that a cervix can change drastically and quickly, for no apparent reason. Well, today instead of doing just 3 cervical length measurements, which they normally do (and take the average) - I ended up with closer to 8. The first measurement, and longest was 3.2cm - down from the 3.8cm. It then went to 3.1cm, and then proceeded to drastically shorten, and quickly. The other numbers they mentioned were 2.8cm, and 2.6cm, and then 2.6cm with funneling. (Funneling is BAD). The good news is that the cerclage is in there, and holding strong. Other good news is that I am not shortened, or funneling, down to the cerclage stitch.

As I mentioned, I am now on complete bed rest - so my walking privileges have been revoked. They also don't count sitting up as bed rest anymore, so I have to be laying down in one form or another so that the weight of Squish is off of my pelvic area. I was told complete bed rest until, at the least, Monday, and to avoid doing a whole lot, for probably the next month or two - we want Squish to stay put as long as we can keep her in there.

Please keep us in your prayers, we are one week away from the time in the pregnancy when we lost our Christopher, which makes these changes even more scary. For Squish to be considered "viable" - meaning able to be saved, and that they will attempt to save her, she has to stay put until 24 weeks, but her chance of survival isn't great then. At 28 weeks she'll be fully developed, just gaining weight, so we'd like her to stay baking in here until then, I'd love her to make it to 35 or even full term. I'm turning 21 weeks tomorrow, so we still have quite a ways to go, hopefully.

As I mentioned, keep us in your prayers. It's all in God's hands, I know that, and I know He has a reason for all things. I just pray that His plan in all this is for us to bring home a beautiful, healthy, happy baby girl.

I do have a pair of pictures, I have to scan them in and will probably have Kelley do that as it requires standing and I'm not supposed to be doing that.
~Tammy~

20 weeks, starvation, and contractions, oh my!

20 Weeks, Starvation, and Contractions oh my!

Yay! We have reached the halfway point! That is great news!
Lets see, how are things going?

Cervix check - I wasn't scheduled for another cervical length check until this Friday, but Squish had other plans. I guess when you have a cerclage in, and go into preterm labor they automatically check your cervical length (CL). My cervix, even after the preterm labor, contractions, and stuff, was holding steady at 3.87cm on Thursday. I have another CL check scheduled for Friday.

Baby News - Squish is doing great! As I mentioned in my last post, we found out that our little Squish is a GIRL! We found this out thanks to our little girl throwing a temper tantrum on Thursday, apparently she's big on attention, and I wasn't giving her enough. Guess we have a Diva already. I saw the three lines, indicating a girl, while they were measuring her thighbone. Asked the tech, who was surprised we didn't know what we were having yet, and went back and confirmed the three lines and girl. She did say that she was only wrong once, and she picked it up at the next ultrasound. If Squish is a boy, he was hiding his good really well. I figure I'll ask for confirmation on Friday.

Squish is looking good as well. She was wiggling, squirming, and bouncing all over the place at the ultrasound. The ultrasound tech from Thursday totally understood the difficulty with figuring out what we are having after her trying to check on Squish. We had all sorts of movement, and it was a tad bit frustrating for the tech. We FINALLY got a good shot of the heart, all four chambers, only took her 10 minutes to get it. She worked for that one after hearing they hadn't gotten that shot yet for the anatomy scan. She quickly looked over everything else, but said she was giving up on most of the shots due to our extremely active little girl. Guess I won't be needing to work on losing weight after she's born, I'll have my hands full. Due to the situation they don't offer pictures of the ultrasounds, so I don't have any to offer, but will get more this Friday!

Name News: Kelley and I think we've come up with a name. Still thinking on it, and letting it settle to make sure. I really figured it would take a lot longer than it has, so we shall see if it sticks.

Tammy News - I'm exhausted. You would think as much time as I spend laying on the couch, or in bed, I would have an over-abundance of energy. I'm actually thinking that the bed rest is what's sucking the energy out of me.

I'm also starving 99% of the time, and can't find a single thing to eat. My main wants right now are Arby's, fresh strawberries (good ones not the all half white ones), pineapple, and good fried rice. No, as of yet, not all together. I have had a "pregnant food moment" that Kelley was both disgusted and amused by. I had finally gotten some strawberries (ooohhh and they were good) and had reheated some velveta cheesy mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes didn't taste that great reheated - then I got this great idea, and ohh it was delicious at the time, cheesy potato covered strawberries. Looking back, it sounds nasty, but I assure you it was wonderful at the time.

I had another round of contractions this morning, not nearly as bad as Thursday. I did everything I normally do on Sunday, with no extra's and apparently little girl thought it was too much. The contractions started about 2-3am, but did not end up being more than 2-3 and hour so I was under the 4 and hour rule. Mostly they were every 30-45 minutes. They stopped around 7am. No pressure or anything else, which is good. I am taking it easy, as per my OB's orders. He said to do even less, at least until my appointment with the high risk OB on Friday. Mainly he wants me taking it very easy, mostly bed rest and about 1/2 hour total on my feet per day. I figure I'll do whatever it takes to avoid being put on complete bedrest, or hospitalized bed rest.

Baby Gaga Report:
Fetal development in pregnancy week 20:This week you're carrying about 10.5 inches and 10.5 ounces of solid baby-miracle-goodness! Their little delicates bones continue to ossify and toughen while their itsy bitsy finger and toe pads are finishing up. Your little monkey now has teeth buds, although they’re hidden beneath the gum line. And finally! Their limbs have reached their relative proportions—no more alien baby! Their cute pink lips are more defined, and might be helping out in a bit of prenatal thumb-sucking. If you have a little boy, then their tiny testes are descending, though they have not yet passed the abdominal wall. What’s more, eyelashes and eyebrows are also visible. At this point, your little one really looks like a miniature baby—and we do mean miniature as your little swimmer currently weighs a mere eighth of their final birth weight. With half the pregnancy behind you, the most significant gains are yet to come!

And how's mom doing? Not that we need to tell you, but your baby may sometimes seem like a kick-boxer in training with no appreciation for your exhausted-pregnant-momma sleep needs. Still, before you start yelling at them to calm it down in there, remind yourself that your busy baby really have no idea if you’re rolling If you have already enrolled in a Lamaze course, consider coupling it with either a swimming or yoga course (or both!) out of bed or cozying up to your partner for a good nights rest. Unfortunately for your sleep schedule, your little independent thinker will continue to operate on their own time table throughout the rest of the pregnancy. And you thought rebellious behavior only started around puberty!

Have you enrolled in a Lamaze course yet? The now-renowned courses teach various alternative birthing and breathing techniques, not to mention the oh-so-valuable lessons involved with natural pain management. (Visit http://www.lamaze.org/Default.asp for more information.) If you have already enrolled in a Lamaze course, consider coupling it with either a swimming or yoga course (or both!). Both forms of exercise focus on controlling your breathing (a large part of the Lamaze philosophy), while at the same time increasing blood flow, strength and flexibility. What’s more, many yoga studios and swimming pools cater to pregnant women (and couples) offering low impact sessions perfect for you and your partner.

http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/calendar/week20