quick update...

THANK YOU for all of the wonderful prayers!! We totally got the miracle we were hoping for! :) I spent nearly all day Friday under ultrasound machines, checking out our little munchkin. The first appointment was with the maternal-fetal specialist. They did confirm that she had a TINY bit of fluid around her heart, but everything else looked okay. The doctor was really optimistic, but decided to err on the side of caution and refer me to a fetal cardiologist down at Riley's Childrens Hospital.

So I spent the afternoon waiting to get in to see a doctor down there, finally got in to the room only to have a "fellow" (aka not the "official" doctor) use me to have a practice session on. Apparently he had never done an echo cardiogram on a fetus before. He was nervous and kept thanking me for letting him practice on me (as if I had a choice). He practiced for about 45 minutes before going to get the real doctor. She came in, looked at the baby's heart for all of 10 minutes, and determined that everything looked wonderful. While Naomi does have a little more fluid around her heart than the average baby, it is not worrisome, given how little it is. Her heart checked out perfectly. PRAISE GOD!! :)

So now we wait. I am REALLY hoping that Naomi decides to come on her own before Friday. Otherwise, we'll be checking into our hotel hospital room at 7:00 in the morning this Friday to be induced. While I'm not crazy about the idea of being induced, I'm also not crazy about the idea of having another 9-10 lb baby and enduring another 4th degree tear. Naomi is already measuring in the 80-85th percentile for her age. I'd say that's big enough. ;)

I have continued to have contractions off and on (for well over 2 weeks now). And the newest thing is that I am enduring the horrific pain of a pinched nerve in my lower back. I have been given a prescription of Vicodin, which does NOTHING to help the pain. I am just supposed to take it easy for the remainder of this week. I just hope these days fly by! :)

crazy week...prayers, please!!!

This is going to be a long post, but I want to keep everyone in the loop...and let you all know about our crazy week...

so we had to take mona to the ER vet on tuesday. she got into the trash over the weekend and then couldn't keep ANYthing down. she was acting horribly lethargic and hiding from us (totally unlike her). we knew that she had gotten a hold of a steak bone, so we were worried that maybe something got lodged in her system. but apparently with a dog her size, if they consume too much fat from beef (basically what's left on a steak bone), that it can actually cause pancreatitis (a life-threatening condition for dogs). so it was pretty scary. she almost had to be hospitalized. she had x-rays done of her intestines to find that everything was going to be okay, though. she got a shot of anti-nausea medicine and we gave her Pepto for an entire day. she still has diarrhea, but is back to her normal self!

then comes wednesday. isaac woke up unable to WALK. he would take a few steps, but then one of his legs/hips would completely give out, making him fall. he would struggle to stand back up, only to fall right back down when he tried to walk again. it was THE most heart-wrenching thing to watch. i gave it about 5 minutes (wondering if it was just maybe that his leg had fallen asleep or something), and then called the doctor. they got us in right away. after checking him out, the doctor sent us over the hospital for...X-RAYS. second day in a row of x-rays for our family!! isaac was a trooper through it all. he was completely confused as to why his body wasn't letting him walk like he wanted to. just as in mona's situation, the x-rays came back normal. WHEW! so apparently, isaac has a condition known as "toxic synovitis." simply put, the virus he's had for the past several days caused inflammation in his hip, rendering him unable to walk. the good news is that it isn't long-lasting and should go away with his cold. we've had him on Motrin, and he is walking much better now! who knew that a cold could effect a child's hip?? weird!

so then when I thought our week couldn't get any crazier, thursday comes along. i had my 37-week appointment yesterday, and found out that i am no more dilated (major UGH) and just a tiny bit more effaced. apparently naomi is nice and cozy in there! :) but we began discussing the decision between delivering vaginally again (with a risk of re-tearing and causing permanent damage to my pelvic floor) or having a c-section (which also comes with lots of risks). in order to help us make our decision, she sent me for an ultrasound yesterday afternoon to check on naomi's size.

the ultrasound seemed to go wonderfully. she is nice and healthy, head down and everything. she is measuring in the 83rd percentile for her age...they are estimating that she is already close to 8 lbs. my doctor called me shortly after the scan and said, "well, i have good news and bad news." the good news is that naomi is not AS big as isaac was at this age! :) i knew that already. so then the bad news: she has fluid around her heart.

hmmm. so what, exactly does this mean? other than it's "bad news" from the doctor? well...i don't exactly know, and neither does she. the doctor mentioned that it could be a structural abnormality or a sign of an infection. i am going to a maternal-fetal specialist first thing this morning for a level-2 ultrasound. they will take TONS of pictures of her heart and measure to see exactly how much fluid is surrounding it. the results of this test will determine the next step, although the doctor suggested that we keep our afternoon open in case we need to be seen by a fetal cardiologist to have an echo cardiogram done on her.

though i am prone to worry like crazy (and scour the internet for possibilities), i am actually remarkably calm right now. maybe it's because we really don't know anything yet. or the fact that i haven't done any research to figure out what COULD be wrong with her. or maybe it's because this has already been SUCH an emotionally draining week with so many scares that have turned into huge sighs of relief? really, i know it's a God-thing...His peace passes all understanding! (Philippians 4:7) :) i am just trusting that God has a plan...and i'm just going with it. we'll deal with whatever comes our way. we are praying for a miracle this morning...that this ultrasound reveals that nothing is even wrong with her heart!

whew! so that's a recap of our week. sorry it got so long! :) i'll update when i know anything else. in the meantime, we'd really appreciate your prayers!!

Quick update...

I had my 36-week appointment this morning. And I am excited to announce that Naomi is working her way out!! :) The doctor went ahead and scheduled the induction for 7am on June 5th, but she HIGHLY doubts that I'll even come close to that date!!

This morning, I was 2-3 cm dilated and 70% effaced...and she is head down, ready to go!! This is right about how far I was when I went into labor with Isaac (at 37 weeks, though). So my body is doing its work...preparing the way! And boy can I feel it! Each day, I have at least a couple hours of discomfort and some pain associated with mild contractions. But at least it's encouraging to know that my body is working toward getting ready for the BIG day!! The more work it does now, the less time I'll be in active labor! Woo hoo!! :)

It's just so crazy knowing it could be any day now. I am SO afraid that I am going to wait too long before heading to the hospital (which is a good 25 minute drive, given it's not during rush hour). We are praying for wisdom and for comfort in knowing that God's timing is perfect. He already knows the exact hour she'll arrive. How cool is THAT? :) Wouldn't it be nice if He made that knowledge available to us? ;) Hehe.

Anyway...we are super excited and are really looking forward to meeting this precious little girl! I'll do my best to post an update when she arrives, but last time it took me a few days! :) So please bare with me!

nursery is done...nesting is not...

We have finally finished the nursery! Woo hoo!! I have been nesting like CRAZY these days. I think this little chicky is going to be coming earlier than our induction date (which, I think will be set at June 5th). She has dropped quite a bit and I have been having contractions off and on over the past several days. This is all SO different from how things happened with Isaac. I am 36 weeks along now, so only one week away from how far along I was when I had him!! Craziness!

That said, she could still decided to wait until later. You just never know with these babies. ;) I will find out tomorrow if I am dilated or effaced at all. I always look forward to knowing those kind of things. I am hoping to hear that I've made some progress!! I will update after I know more.

In the meantime, here are some photos of our nursery...I am really happy with how it turned out! It's so fresh and girly!! :)

35 weeks!!

Well we are in the home stretch!! If she doesn't come on her own in the next 2.5 weeks, they are planning to schedule an induction in THREE weeks. Whoa! Where does the time go?? I'm really not too keen on the idea of being induced so I am REALLY hoping that she just comes naturally right at the end of May! :) We'll see!!

Anyway...here are some photos that a photographer friend of mine took this morning. I had a vision for exactly what I wanted, and she was able to deliver! I am very happy with how these turned out. And in case you were wondering, NO...my belly doesn't really look that flawless. I have a nice set of stretchmarks left over from Isaac. But we don't really want to see those, now do we? ;)
Isaac is always lifting up my shirt, and saying "Baaaaybeeeeee!" I'm not sure if he truly understands what's in my belly, but it's still super cute to see and hear him say. :) I am praying that he handles this transition well. He's such a fun little guy...and I don't want that to change! I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I'll update when I get a chance as to whether I'm making any progress!! :)

Rainy Days...

Isaac and I had fun yesterday, playing with bubbles and then playing out in the rain! This was his first experience with rain, and he had a BLAST! :) Here's just a sneak peek at a couple of the photos I took. The rest can be seen on my photography blog at: http://blog.leslieober.com/
Isaac had is 15-month checkup last week and here are his numbers:

Weight: 24lb, 2oz
Height: 30.75 inches
Head Circumference: 18.5 inches

That puts him in the 40-45th percentile in each category! Our big guy isn't so big anymore!! :)

Update on Naomi...

I had a doctor's appointment this morning, and all is WELL!! :) I began having some hefty contractions last night, but apparently they didn't do anything major. Hehe. I had an ultrasound this morning as well...and she is PERFECT. She is measuring EXACTLY right on for 33 weeks. She is estimated to be around 4lb, 10oz right now and appears to have some chubs on her! It wouldn't be an Ober baby without the chubs, now would it?!?! :) Unlike her older brother, it also appears that she may actually have some hair on that head!! Here's a short little video from the ultrasound today. Without knowing what's what, it may be hard for you to understand what you're looking at. But it's her squishy face (she moves her arm over it at the beginning). ENJOY!

almost 33 weeks...

Can you say HOLY BELLY!?! Hehe. I am feeling GINORMOUS these days. And managing a squirrely little 14-month old boy has grown to be QUITE the feat. I can still pick him up, but it doesn't come without some pulling and pain in the back. And we finally decided to start getting things in order to prepare for little miss Naomi's arrival (which could be in about FOUR weeks!). Time has just FLOWN by with this pregnancy.

Last time, I could have told you exactly how pregnant I was and exactly how the baby was growing at any given time. I was submerged in baby books, learning everything I could about the little life growing inside of me. This time is SO different. I have given very little thought or prayer to this precious girl growing inside of me. I haven't day-dreamed as much about her arrival or what she'll look like. I haven't spent time wondering about what her future holds or what kind of person she will be.

I did all of these things with Isaac. And I've heard that this is normal. But wow, the feelings of guilt can be overwhelming at times. It leaves me wondering...am I capable? To raise and nurture more than one child? To stretch my mind and heart to care for another living, breathing baby? Wow. And I feel busy NOW!?! One thing I have to keep reminding myself is that people do this ALL the time. I was even 16 months apart from my sister. If everyone else can do it and survive...then so can I! ;)

Despite these little feelings of doubt (and they are little), I am most definitely feeling excited. Words cannot begin to describe the love I already feel for this precious life growing inside of me. Actually brings tears to my eyes to think of it. But I also cry when I think about the impending changes that are about to take place....mostly wondering how it will affect my relationship with Isaac. Will he still be my sweet baby boy? Will he feel slighted? Will he grow to be jealous? Will he understand what's going on? Oh man...when I think about these things, I get so sad. So I just don't think about them very often. Hehe.

Anyway...geez...this turned into a long post. Sorry! Didn't expect to unload all of these hormone-crazed feelings on you! Thanks for reading! On a fun note, that background in the photos above is a wall in Naomi's room!! The other three walls in the room are the same color as the beige square seen in the photos. We've finished painting and are just waiting for the furniture to arrive. I'll post some photos when it's all done. :)

Been WAY too long.

UGH. Taking care of a 14-month-old, being nearly 32 weeks pregnant, AND starting up a new business (which is doing VERY well, btw) is sucking every last bit of energy out of me!! Thus the lack of blogs lately. :) Down the road, I plan to merge my photo blog with my family blog...having it be a photography/family blog in one! Because let's face it...I'm not doing so hot at managing two right now! Hehe.

Anyway...I am doing pretty well. Was officially diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and have been having to prick myself to test my blood FOUR times a day. ICK! My levels are staying nice and low, so I don't think I have it very bad. I just produce BIG babies!! :) I will have an ultrasound in a week and a half to check on Naomi's size. Hopefully we find that she is just right on track (not over-sized like Isaac). I'll update when I know more!

Here are some recent pics (sorry there's so many...it's been awhile!):

From Easter...

Some of our precious boy...

And finally...what I'm looking like these days...

(with my best friend, Mary...she's due one week before me!)

update and pics...

So I guess I spoke too soon in my last post about Isaac finally feeling better. He woke up two days later with another whopper of a bug. He's chugging along, but still has the ever-present snotty nose and nasty cough. UGH. This kid is seriously a virus magnet!! My hope is that it'll just make him stronger in the long-run! :) Aside from being sick, he is actually doing quite well. He spends 90% of his day chasing after Mona. This kid is IN LOVE with her! He squeals after her, lays his head on her, kisses her, pets her (we're trying to teach how to do that gently)...he JUST adores her. And recently, I've caught him telling her "guh-gawl" (good girl) and "baw-beh" (drop it) while he's playing with her. It's really quite adorable.

News on the pregnancy side of things...I am feeling pretty good, for the most part. I have bouts of back pain here and there, but overall I feel pretty good. The doctors are planning to keep a close eye on the size of the baby this time around, so that's good. :) I am a little over 29-weeks along...and time is FLYING by! We still have not made ONE purchase for this little princess...and haven't started anything on the nursery. We have A LOT to do!! The doctor guesses that she could come early just like Isaac did, so we are prepared for that. However, if she does not come on her own before I am 38 weeks, they will induce me. So I will not go any longer than 38.5 weeks!! I'm not crazy about the idea of being induced, but if that would decrease the chances of me having another massive tear, then I am all for it!! ;) Hopefully she'll just come on her own time around 37 weeks. Oh man...I just realized that that's only EIGHT weeks away! AH!!!

Anyway...here are some recent pics from our life (sorry...none of the preggo belly...I need to get some soon!):

I was going to do all black and white, but I just loved this last one in color! ;)