Baby's big enough, room is ready, bags are packed...can't be much longer now!!

Looking into Owen's room from Brady's crib

Looking into Brady's room from Owen's crib

35 weeks

He's GROWING!!!

We had our best appointment yet on Wednesday. We were elated to see that Brady's estimated weight was 5 pounds and 3 ounces! That means he gained about 22 oz in 10 days! His heartbeat was strong and mom checked out ok too (not much of a change.) The dr. seemed so pleased in fact that he said mom might be off strict bed rest in 2 weeks and we'd be able to just wait for Brady's arrival with less anxiety! Thanks for all the prayers and support, everyone played a part in this good report!

Here are some new pictures we got from the ultrasound...

Face

Hand on his forehead

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Great appointment today!

We had a great visit to the doctor today! Brady's heartbeat was a good 146 and he now weighs 3 lbs and 13 oz which puts him in the 57th percentile at almost 31 weeks (or a tiny bit bigger than average).

The best news we got was that my cervix has grown! (I didn't even know that it could!) Last week it was 1.1 cm and today it was up to 1.3! This was a real relief since I'd been told I'll be hospitalized if it gets below 1. They didn't even give me a steroid shot today as planned since they are optimistic he's not coming in the next week or two. 

The not so good news was that I was about 2 cm dilated. We go back next Wednesday so I'll just keep my feet up and fingers crossed until then :)

Thanks to everyone for your support and prayers.

Pics from Ultrasound!

Face

Profile

3-D

See you again soon Brady...but not too soon ;)

29 week apt/ultrasound

We got to see Brady again today. The nurse even showed us some 3D images which we'll post. He weighs 3 pounds 1 ounce! His heartbeat was 161, and he's measuring between 29-30 weeks. The little guy looks scrunched up but very comfortable in Momma's belly.


That part of the appointment was very fun. The time with our doctor was a bit more serious. There's two things we have to watch: the placenta being low, and Amy's cervix thinning too quickly. So Momma's on modified bed-rest and we'll check back in with the doctor once/week. We're praying that God will keep the baby safe and cookin' a little longer.


In the meantime, we're putting the finishing touches on his room. We received his baby furniture last week right before we went away to Savannah, so we spent most of this week putting it all together and cleaning out his room and his closet - we're pretty much done now, it's all ready for Brady. We just have to put some  stuff up on his walls and hang curtains and blinds. Amy's also going to get down Owen's clothes from the attic - Owen agreed to give them to his little brother. Amy can't wait to see the little "woof", her favorite onesie.


We'll update this more in the coming weeks.


We love you Brady,
Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother Owen

Owen "helping" daddy put the crib together

Daddy working on the crib

Momma at 29 weeks (7 months)

Baby Niner is BACK!!

Baby Niner #2 is on the way and we're excited to share photos and information with you again! Here are the 18 week ultrasound photos...

Baby Niner is Here!

Owen Stephen Niner arrived Tuesday, September 30 at 1:19 pm. He weighed 8 pounds and 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.

Thanks to all of our family and friends for their love and support, Owen is very blessed to have you all in his life.

The nursery is ready!

We finally have the nursery exactly how we want it! You'll notice our bags are packed - we're ready, we just need the little guy to arrive.

Here are some pictures of the nursery:

Appt. with Dr. Vuoung

We haven't seen Dr. Vuoung in a while, and she clearly remembered us and was excited to see Amy so far along and with such a big belly! A lot of the doctors are fairly subdued and matter-of-fact during these appointments; Amy and I wonder if they enjoy more the work they do at the hospital when it's time to get hands-on and deliver babies, instead of meeting with a bunch of couples and talking to them for 4-5 minutes during daily appointments. Dr. Vuoung, though, is always really happy and excited, which is great. I told her that the surgery she did on Amy last fall clearly worked, and she laughed.

Just like every other appointment, we heard Baby Niner's heartbeat immediately once the nurse put the jelly and the "sonar detector" on Amy's belly - his heartbeat was loud and strong. Dr. Vuoung said Amy is measuring perfectly, and her weight is just right - not too much, not too little. I know Amy was especially relieved to hear that, since a couple of doctor's told her she was gaining slightly more weight than they wanted during the second trimester. Those yoga sessions and taking Bailey and Daisy on walks clearly helped!

We told Dr. Vuoung that we picked a pediatrician, Dr. Barrocas, who is the same doctor that sees her daughters. We brought a copy of the birth plan Amy typed up, but after talking it over with Dr. Vuoung, we didn't even add it to our doctor's paperwork - the "plan" is so straightforward and hands-off, we all agreed we don't need a formal document. Dr. Vuoung also confirmed that the baby is head-down, which for me was a huge relief since I've heard Nana's stories about how Jenny and I were breach - I'm excited that he's head-down and getting ready to go! Finally, we talked over the details of the 2 circumcision options we have: one is the normal procedure any adult can image, but there's another one where they place a plastic contraption over the little guy's thing and he wears it for a week or so while it does its job. We'll probably opt for the normal procedure, done at the hospital a day or so after he's born.

Amy is 36 weeks today, and she's less than a month away from the 10/22 due date. She's having trouble sleeping and she's uncomfortable all day, but her health and the baby's health is fantastic, and her spirits are really high. One month to go - or less!

Sean

Apt. with Dr. Josephson

We just got back from our appointment with Dr. Josephson. She's the newest doctor at the practice, there are five total and we've seen all but one so far (any one could be on call when you deliver so they ask that you schedule at least one apt. with each.) She was great and the appointment went really well. The baby's heartbeat was 145, the lowest it's ever been but perfectly fine. My blood pressure was fine and measurement was right on track for 33 weeks. The dr. felt around my belly, she said she saw a foot! And that he is head down with his butt facing forward on my right side. It was neat to hear about what he was doing and where he was!

Next week we have 'off' as Sean puts it, then we start going to dr. apts. every week! Hard to imagine we're getting close to crunch time but we're very excited to have the little guy out in the world with us before much longer.

Dr. Apt/Childbirth Class - Aug. 19

On Tuesday, August 19 we had our 30 week checkup with Dr. Gorsuch. Everything looked good! Heartbeat was 152. She said we needed to find a pediatrician soon so we put it on our list and will be comparing two this week.

We also started childbirth preparation classes at the hospital. There are about 10 other couples in the class with us. Some of what we're learning is really interesting and new to us, some we'd already heard or read, and some (those videos!) is just downright frightening, lol, but we're glad to be going through it together and feel sure it can only help us when the big day arrives.



Here's the latest belly pic:

Nursery Furniture Arrives!

Baby Shower - August 10

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted (more on that later)...a lot has happened in the last month. While we were up in Maryland for Jim's wedding, Mom and Jen threw baby Niner a shower. It was such a great day, so much good food (of course) and so many of our loved ones attended: Bebbie, Lois, Nancy, Lori, Robyne, Marie, JoAnn, Anne, Sharon, Katie, Erica, Emma and Reagan. We had a great lunch, guessed a how many jelly beans were in a bottle, everyone left some advice in a notebook for us and then we opened gifts. Sean even got something special - a Diaper Dude Bag! After the shower we spent the night with the Kinsey's and watched the Olympics and everyone had a chance to feel the baby kick! It was a really nice visit even though it was a short one.

We received so many great gifts (Mom and Jen nearly bought out the Toys R Us) that we came home feeling like we were really ready for the baby to arrive. But not quite yet, he still has some growing to do. We knew we could keep busy washing all of the little clothes and blankets we received and putting things away in the nursery. We just had to wait for the furniture to arrive...

28 Week Appointment

We had our monthly appointment yesterday with Dr. Little...For the diabetes test I had to drink a bottle of really sweet fruit punch, but it wasn't so bad. The appointment went well, we heard the baby's heartbeat (168) and she said my measurement was perfect. It might have been the first appointment (since morning sickness) where I had some things to complain about: really bad heartburn (she said it's probably here to stay) and a pain under my ribs on the right side (my uterus apparently, also here to stay). But everything is going well, I just need to keep exercising so I'm not as big as a house when he's born. They'll call me if anything comes out of my blood tests, so no news is good news. And now we're going to be having appointments every 2 weeks instead of 4 - time is flying by!

The Nursery

Last weekend Mom helped me paint the nursery while Sean was out of town for work. We also hung a wall paper border that matches the "Farm Yard" bedding set we got. Should anyone bring their measuring tape into the baby's room they'll find the border exactly 16 3/4 inches down from the ceiling all the way around the room - thanks Mom. Well, except in that one pesky spot!