Bed rest Update

 It's been a tough 24 hours. 

Last night I had a really, really bad mystery disease episode. 

Like I basically thought I was going to die bad.

Think many hours spent either on the toilet with a puke bucket in my hands

or laying on the ground next to the toilet with the puke bucket next to my head.

And hives and bright red skin and uncontrollable shaking/chills and horrible cramps. 

Thankfully me and baby survived the long night.

Mainly thanks to my awesome husband. I'm so blessed by him!

Then this morning I went to the doctor for my long awaited follow up ultrasound/appointment. 

Me and my husband (and I think all the people who have been helping us) have been praying I would get off bed rest. 

This past month has been really tough on everyone. 

Well, the ultrasound showed that the subchorionic hemorrhage has not gotten any smaller.

I don't even know how that is possible. 

They also found something weird with the baby's bowels so they had us come back later in the day for another ultrasound with the perinatologist, 

The pertinatologist said that I won the prize for the biggest subchorionic hemorrhage he has ever seen (yay?). I guess it is bigger than a grapefruit and still takes up half of my stomach. 

Picture is of part of the hemorrhage 

They said that it is really rare (concerning) that the hemorrhage hasn't gone down at all in the past month. 

They think it has possibly become a giant blood clot and may not come out at all.

Which basically means I am on bed rest for at least the next month.  

I go back for another ultrasound in 3 weeks and if it hasn't gone down by then I may possibly have to be on hospital bed rest (boo!). 

They also spent a ton of time looking at baby. 

There is definitely something weird in/on his bowels/colon. 

They are not really sure what it is at this point but they said it could be anything from a cyst to cystic fibrosis.

I have to do some blood tests and we have to go in for some genetic counseling to try to narrow down the possibilities. 

In the meantime they are going to continue to monitor it but they said as of now there is really not a whole lot they can do. 

Thankfully other than the colon/bowel issue baby looks great and is measuring right on track! 

Everyone keeps asking how we are doing and to be honest I'm not really sure.

I think we are still trying to process all of this news.

I was so sure that this trial was almost over but now I'm having to wrap my mind around the fact that we still have a long road ahead of us.

I don't really feel anxious or worried about the outcome of things (with me or baby), I think I am just more worried about how our family is going to survive another month (or lots of months) with me out of commission.. 

Luckily the one thing I am sure of is that God is good and in control.
All of this is a part of His sovereign plan and it will be used for His glory 

and for that we rejoice. 

Mommy date...bed rest style

Mackenzie has definitely had the hardest time with me being on bed rest. 

She was in desperate need of some Mommy time so last week I had my mom take the little ones to Bible Study and I planned a Mommy date at home with me and my biggest. 

She loved every second of it! 

We started off with a super girly, pink, sparkly mani and pedi.

Because every girl loves to be pampered. 

Then we painted pumpkins and pinecones. 

pink. of course.

with glitter.

  

and rhinestones. 

We also ate lots of Kettle corn, played with her dolls and spent lots of time coloring and drawing (her favorite is to tell me what to draw and then color the picture once it's all done). 

And we even got to eat lunch with Daddy. 

I asked her if she liked eating with just the two of us and she said, "Oh yeah!". 

I love spending time with my big girl!  

And just because they are too cute not to share...

My friend came by the other night and we painted some Pinterest inspired pumpkins. 

It was so fun! 

Here's a shot of all of them...

Mine is the blue with the polka dots which I love!! 

I just wished we had used fake pumpkins instead of the real things so we could keep them forever. 

A peek at our week!

We have officially survived 3 full weeks of bed rest!  

I have another doctors appointment and ultrasound on Monday.

I'm praying baby is healthy and I'll be back to normal soon! 

My husband has been such an awesome helper/hero while I've been stuck on the couch.

He even took the big kids out one night after Maddie was in bed to see "Brave" in the dollar theater by our house.

I'm so blessed to have such a great hubby! 

Hello fall and happiness.

Courtesy of my mother in law.

Maddie's new obsession. 

Our church had a Harvest Festival the weekend before Halloween and....

I escaped!! 

It felt so good to wear real clothes and breath fresh air and to be a part of real life again

(at least for a couple hours). 

Don't worry I was in a wheelchair with my feet up the whole time :)

There was so much fun stuff for the kids to do at the Harvest Festival.

And it was so good to be able to watch the kids be out of the house running around and having fun. 

Taking a ride on the spinning machine. 

a.k.a. Daddy

Aaron also took the kids out with some friends to go trick or treating on Halloween night. 

And I enjoyed all the perks of being a Mommy with 3 little kids who hit the candy jackpot this year. 

So thankful for good friends and visitors! 

And game nights.
Thanks for letting me win guys.
4 times in a row :)

This guy cracks me up. 

Man they are cute. 

Here are two more of my lifesavers. 

They come on Wednesdays and Fridays to party and play and take care of us all. 

If I get off bed rest I'm going to have to think of a way to keep them coming for our weekly play dates :)

 This week we made homemade play dough and these fun pictures!!! 

Who knew glue, watercolors and salt could be so cool together. 

While Aaron took the kids to a friend's birthday party

Lauren, Becca and I played Ticket to Ride.

 and ate Halloween candy :)

Best big sister in action...

helping her brother button his pjs. 

Hope you guys had a fun Halloween and a great week too!

A peek at our week

Woo hoo! 

2 whole weeks of bed rest down! 

Hopefully only a couple more to go.

I can't tell you how excited I am to get back to normal life. 

I'm definitely going to look at the little (not so little) things like walking, driving, being outside, playing on the ground with my kids, even cooking and cleaning with a whole new perspective once I'm up and about again.

*Feel free to remind me about the cooking and cleaning part if I forget :) 

But in the meantime I'm trying to make the best of being on bedrest.

One of my favorite perks is getting so many visitors. 

I think Aaron and I definitely feel more loved on now by the people around us than we ever have. 

So many people have totally stepped up to the plate and gone above and beyond to help us. 

We are so blessed! 

Anyways, here's a peek at our week through the camera lens of my phone. 

Enjoy!

This girl cracks us up

We have been blessed with so many yummy dinners. 

This bed rest thing is not helping with the pregnancy pounds. 

monkey see. monkey do.

The only person Wesley will willingly nap with. 

bedtime stories with Nonna and GranDaddy 

Mackenzie is such a little momma.
Sometimes Maddie just loves to cuddle with her. 

Aaron came across this old picture of me when I was little. 

I think it's the only picture I have that Maddie actually looks like me.

The other 99% of her is all Daddy. 

I had an at home Mommy daughter date with Mackenzie 

And my 3 favorite people decided to have a little Halloween prep. 

Oh, I love them!

Hope you guys had a great week!!

Yosemite Photo Recap

 Remember way back when (2 months ago) we went to Yosemite?

I just realized I never posted any of the pictures! 

Here's a little photo recap of our awesome trip.

Side note...yes we survived the hantavirus and I wish I could go to Yosemite at least once a month (darn you 6 hour car drive). 

Our trip was filled with lots of beautiful views, bike riding, hot chocolate, 

swimming, banana boat smores, deer and BEAR spottings, 

playing in the dirt, exploring, laughing, campfires, great times with friends and so much more. 

I love camping! 

Until next year Yosemite! 

P.S. Per your request I'm going to be doing a camping with kids post (hopefully it won't take me 2 more months to write it but don't hold your breath). 

One week down...and some new news!

We did it! 

We survived the first full week of bed rest 

(with LOTS of help from friends and family). 

And...I have some good news!! 

So I started bleeding again Wednesday night and had to go back to the doctor first thing Thursday for another ultrasound.

Well during the ultrasound they realized that I don't have placenta previa!!

(I'm not sure how they messed that up before but whatever) 

I actually have a really large subchorionic hemorrhage which is the same thing I had when I was pregnant with Madelyn (just worse this time). 

Basically a subchorionic hemorrhage is a huge pocket of blood in your uterus.

Here is a picture from the ultrasound...

Can you see the thick white line down the middle?

Well the part on the left hand side is where the baby is and everything else on the right is blood (yes like half of my uterus right now is filled with blood. kind of gross and freaky).

So the long and short of it is that I'm still on bedrest but finding out that it is a subchorionic hemorrhage instead of placenta previa is great news. 

Hopefully in a few months the hemorrhage will be gone and I'll be back to normal. 

Yay!

I go back to the doctor on November 5th so I'll keep you posted on my progress. 

In the meantime I've been doing lots of bed resting. 

Last Sunday at church one of our good friends was baptized.

I was SO bummed to have to be stuck at home

but thanks to technology I was able to kind of be there to see it. 

Yet another reason I love the iPhone.

Yay for face time!  

Although I haven't really been bored on bed rest (since I'm at home with the kids and whoever is helping us during the day) I was able to start a book on my to-read list. 

I've also got lots of couch snuggles with my boy. 

My favorite!

And thanks to a friend, I found my newest series to watch. 

so. funny.

On Tuesdays my mom has been taking care of me and the kids. 

This was my view from the couch.

I love them!

My aunt brought me a hand sewing project to keep me busy.

Can't wait to start!

We have a big comfy chair with an ottoman in our living room that I spend most of my day in. 

It allows me to be in the middle of the fun and craziness and to visit with our helpers and "play" with the kids.

I told Aaron that it's going to have a permanent indent in the bottom cushion by the time my bed rest is done. 

We have been SO blessed by our friends and family that have been helping us during this time!

Every day it seems like someone does something or brings something that totally amazes me and makes me so thankful to have such wonderful people in our lives. 

We have been blessed with yummy meals and treats,

people coming over to watch the kids or to stop by for a visit, 

and friends helping to clean my house! 

I'm feeling totally spoiled on bed rest. 

Thanks for everyone who has helped or prayed or texted or emailed or called to say hi or to check in.
We feel so loved and supported during this time!