Time for a baby update! This post has been long in the making, but with kids, traveling, and holidays, I am just now getting to it.
At 28 weeks, we had an ultrasound at our regular OB just to confirm he was growing correctly and everything looked okay. He passed this ultrasound with flying colors, actually weighing in a little large. Everything else looked okay, but they still wanted me to go to the perinatalogist at 32 weeks for my Level 2 ultrasound to verify everything looked good and blood was flowing well through the 2 vessels he had.
So, at 32 weeks, we trekked over to the “high-tech” doctor for another Level 2 ultrasound. I was a little nervous for this ultrasound knowing that it was a big “moment of truth.” Either he was growing or he wasn’t. Either his kidney was back to normal size or it wasn’t. Either blood was flowing correctly or it wasn’t. And not to mention they can see in so much depth with that ultrasound that if something is wrong, they would surely be able to find it at this stage in the game.
Now for the long-awaited update: All was well!! His kidney was back to normal, he weighed in at 4 lbs, 15 oz which is in the 82nd percentile (though she said this may be a little high of an estimate depending on how long his torso is – lets hope it is a little high!), and blood was flowing correctly. Ed hasn’t gotten to be at a lot of my appointments due to either being on campus or keeping the kids, so it was fun for him to be able to join in. The first thing the xray tech commented on was his hair that he already has – she said its not long, but he definitely has a good big (explains all the heartburn!) – too funny that he will probably be born with more hair than either of his sisters had. Even cooler was that we got to see Blake doing something called “practice breathing” where they look like they are actually breathing while in the womb. The xray tech said that much in the same way that babies exercise and stretch their leg and arm muscles, as they get closer to birth, they stretch their lungs by practicing breathing. What a fun thing to see on an ultrasound….I am learning so much more about babies and how the Lord designs them this time around because of all his health issues.
So, without further ado, here is our little boy at 32 weeks:
Last week, my husband asked me what we were doing next weekend (meaning not the coming weekend but the next). When I responded that we had a cookout dinner with Campbell students (that a couple from our church so graciously hosted!) on Friday night and a birthday party the girls were planning on going to on Saturday, he sighed. Why you may ask? Because he had something up his sleeve. Oh, yes he did.
He proceeded to tell me that he was sweeping me away for the weekend to a surprise location and while he didn’t even want to tell me that much, we had to decide when we were going to do it and who was to watch the kids. So, we made plans for his parents to come in and watch the girls and for us to leave for the surprise location after the Campbell dinner. He tried really hard to keep it a secret and for the most part, he did (which is a big deal since I usually like to try hard to figure things out). I did manage to figure out we were going towards the coast and away from the mountains when we were talking about childcare arrangements.
I am sure that Ed did plan surprise trips and outings like this before we had kids, but in the whole time we have had kids (4.5 years), this is a first. Needless to say, I was very excited and proud of my man for planning something like this and keeping it a surprise from me. So where did we go?
When I was entering the address in the GPS Friday night, I found out that we were traveling to Beaufort, NC (spoken like Bo-fur-t which is so weird to me because Beaufort, SC is spelled the same way and pronounced Bu-fur-t) and that a church family that we love and adore had graciously opened their place for us to use for the weekend. It is a quaint and historic town on the river but about 15 minutes from the beach. Needless to say, the views are amazing, the locals are so friendly, the food is delish, and it all reminded me of the town I grew up in. Did I say the food was delish (the pregnant side of me would keep talking about the food)?
We slept in, had a late brunch at a fun breakfast location seated right on the river, we toured the Maritime museum and learned all about how Blackbeard had wrecked the Queen Anne’s Revenge there, we shopped in all the quaint shops, we watched movies during the day (all you parents of littles out there know how big of a deal and how much of a treat this is), we spent lots of time reading fun books, spent lots of time with the Lord (I am reading through the Psalms and reading this great devotional on it so this was a real treat to dive into it), went to the beach, and just relaxed. I felt real lazy and honestly, it felt real good! Very heavenly. It was also great to just reconnect with Ed before this little boy makes his appearance. All in all, it was a great weekend and I am so thankful that the Lord provided that haven for us to use and a husband who took the initiative to plan it. Here are a few pictures from our trip (can you believe we didn’t even take one picture of just us?):
When I was little, summer was my favorite season. Why you ask? Because I loved being out of school and going to the beach all the time. As I got older, I began to love spring – something about flowers blooming, grass turning green, new life springing forth, and warmer weather. Well, friends, I think my preferences are changing once again. I now LOVE fall. The cooler weather, the leaves changing color, all things pumpkin, fall decorations and activities, and the excitement building because Thanksgiving and Christmas are on their way.
This past week, we participated in quite a few fall activities.
Fun on the Farm and Hayride – A sweet family in our church has a farm and invited the whole church out to enjoy it by eating delicious food, going on a hayride, playing on the playground, seeing the animals, and playing games. The girls have a blast every time we go and this time was no exception. Here they are enjoying the horse tire swing and going on a hayride (one of their first ever I think!).
Trunk or Treat with our neighbor’s local church – Our neighbor’s attend a church near us (actually where Kinsley goes to preschool) and invited us to go with them to do Trunk or Treat. It was so much fun seeing the kids dressed up, looking at the different Trunk decorations, and of course, getting candy! Most creative costume goes to the family who all dressed up as different characters from the movie “Jaws”…from Jaws himself, to the girl who had an arm missing and blood all over her outfit, to the boy who had blood on him and half of his life raft missing, etc. Kinda grotesque, especially at a kid’s event, but so very creative. Best trunk goes to the people who had a car labeled Student Driver and had “dead bodies” hanging over the top of the car and under the car, including a real kid laying under part of the car. Again, kinda grotesque, but added much needed humor and uniqueness among the Elsa’s and Anna’s.
Naylor Farm/Corn Maze Field Trip with Kinsley’s preschool class – My parents came into town to visit us and kept Emerson for the morning so I could join Kinsley’s class on their field trip. It was so fun seeing the kids get excited about the hayride, feeding the animals (check out the picture below of Kinsley getting to feed a bottle to the calf they rescued), playing on the huge playground, jumping in the corn box, navigating the corn maze, and eating lunch (probably their favorite part judging by how many times they asked to eat). I also loved getting to meet the other kids and their parents.
The hayride was rather eventful. They warned us that there were things that flew during the ride and to let them know if the kids would get scared so they could avoid it. Kinsley does get super scared with every little thing, but I didn’t think it would be a big deal. Um, it was a big deal, especially when the witch flew right into us and the spider came down almost on top of her head. On the ride back, the little boy sitting across from her kept looking at her. His mom, who was sitting beside me, told me that he had just said to her “Mom, she is so beautiful” and he kept staring at her. Kinsley was bashful and kept looking away because she had heard it all. Good thing her daddy wasn’t there 🙂
Puppet Show at our Community Center – My parents and I took the girls to a free puppet show about Halloween hosted by our community center. To say it was packed with kids is an understatement. We made a mistake by not packing a snack at a time when they would get hungry and getting there late, which left us sitting in the back. Kinsley did okay with the exception of asking over and over when it would be done but Emerson was all over the place. I thought it was a disaster and never planned on going to another one. Kinsley, however, listed it as the thing she was thankful for that day and kept talking about. Not sure what changed – ah, the fickleness of 4 year olds.
Halloween – On Halloween, we had brunch and games with our staff team, and then loaded the girls up to go trick-or-treat downtown with some friends (the local businesses all give away candy – love the perks of a small town!). They had a blast, especially once we got past Emerson taking out every piece of candy that got put in her basket and wanting to eat it right then.
Then, that evening, we went trick-or-treating with a bunch of our neighbors in our neighborhood. It was great to meet more people in our neighborhood and the girls literally trick-or-treated until they dropped (and us too!). Kinsley was a snow princess (she loved the all white dress, all the sparkle, and the hoop at the bottom that made her skirt sway) and Emerson was a fairy. Man, having two kids who can trick-or-treat definitely increases the candy haul. We have candy flowing out our ears!
And how could I forget pumpkin carving! Ed and Kinsley (mostly Ed) carved an Elsa pumpkin and a Statue of Liberty pumpkin (both designs picked by Kinsley). I am not sure what happened to the pictures of them, but trust me, they looked great for the few days they lasted!
