Most Amazing Baby Shower Ever!!!!

Today was my baby shower and it was absolutely AMAZING! My mom, sister and sister-in-law went way above and beyond to ensure that this day in my life was unforgettable and boy did they succeed! I could not have asked for anything more. Mom stayed the night with us Friday and began prepping for the shower immediately. Rhonda and her mom came over early on Saturday morning and they decorated the entire main level of the house (with some of Tim's help) and it was absolutely adorable. While the decorating was going on Mom and Tim ran out and picked up some balloons and the cake. People started showing up around 2pm and before I knew it there was a house full of family and friends celebrating our little blessing! There was so much food (as always) and it was all so good! We played a number of games and I opened a never ending sea of gifts. We were really spoiled and I can't begin to thank everyone enough for all of the incredible gifts we received. Tim's sister Angela and our friends Greg and Adrienne came all the way up from Richmond just to celebrate with us and Aaron, Candace and my old Brownie leader Ms. Pam came down from Maryland. Ms. Pam and her daughter Cindy made us an incredible diaper cake full of diapers, bibs, onesies, spoons, pacifiers, rubber duckies and much, much more. The favors my mom and Rhonda made were just amazing! They were little boxes with personalized M&Ms that read Tyler William and Mommy's Prince! I have included a few pictures below. We greatly appreciate everyone who came and are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who care so much. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Love Kelly, Tim and Tyler :)

If you would like to check out the rest of the pictures you can go to:

http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj136/tegibso/Baby%20Shower_092808/

My Anniversary Present!!

So two years ago I married a wench and 2 years later she bought me a winch! Just kidding Kelly I LOVE YOU!! Tony came over and helped me install it today. The winch is a Warn M8000 on a A to Z fabrication winch mount which was a part of the gift as well. Everything went smooth except for mounting the solenoid (the black box with the "W" on it). I guess you're supposed to buy an extra mount from warn, but Tony searched the net and found that most people just rotate the drum and use band clamps to hold the box down. After we wired the winch up we went in the street and wrapped the cable tight. He also wrapped his cable tight since we were out there. Here are pictures.

What has two thumbs and was admitted to the hospital?

Well it all started yesterday when I went in for my regular 30 week check-up with my OB. The Terbutaline I was taking to reduce my contractions stopped working and I started getting contractions consistently every 4 - 5 minutes that morning. My doctor did an internal exam and I am still not dilating which is great news, but she did send me over to the hospital to be monitored. Once there the monitor showed I was contracting every 5 minutes. I was given two shots of the Terbutaline and two pills of a new medicine called Procardia. Procardia is actually a blood pressure medicine, but it is also used to treat pre-term labor. After all of that I was still contracting on a regular basis, so they admitted me over night. The contractions eventually began to subside and were registering about once every forty minutes. I was released around 8am this morning. I am still getting contractions, so I am monitoring them at home. My doctor officially put me on bedrest effective today through at least October 12th. Fortunately it is modified bedrest, so I am not confined to bed 24/7. Fun times!

Here are a couple of pictures Tim took yesterday.


Here I am being monitored.



















Here is a picture showing my contractions (on the bottom) and Tyler's heartbeat (on the top).














Another picture of my contractions on the monitor, also registering the fact Tim was making me laugh the entire time. :)

30 Week Belly Pictures

Today we officially reached the 30 week mark or 32 on Tyler's schedule. ;) We drove down to Tim's mom and dad's and picked up the nursery furniture today! I can't wait to get it unboxed and moved up to his room. We are hoping to be able to do that tomorrow.

Here are a couple of belly shots from today:

29 Week Ultrasound and Baby Update

On Tuesday, Tim and I went to see the Maternal Fetal specialist for another ultrasound. As usual Tyler is still measuring exactly 2 weeks ahead. He's a big boy at 3lbs 10oz!!! My amniotic fluid is back down into normal levels which is great news. However, my doctor thought that the high fluid levels was the culprit to my contractions, so we still don't know what is causing those. I had to retake the 1 hour glucose test last week and I just barely failed it this time around. The cutoff my doctor uses is 130mg/dl and I was 135mg/dl. Go figure. So on Thursday, I went in and did the 3 hour glucose test. I should have those results on Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday we go back to see our regular doctor for our 30 week checkup.

Here are a couple of pictures of Tyler at 29 weeks 3 days (or 31 weeks 3 days according to his schedule - ha)

George Washington National Forest (GWNF) Camping/Wheeling

Travis, Tony, Marcelo, and I all went to GWNF to do some camping and jeeping. The women were going to come, but since Kelly's knocked up we figured all the bouncing around wouldn't be good for her or Tyler. So the weekend turned into a guy's trip. Travis and I left around 6:45pm Friday to head out on our 2 1/2 hour trip to the forest. After stopping at McDonald's to eat, Walmart to pick up a camping grill, and getting a little lost from the directions given to us we arrived about 11:00pm to set up camp. Tony and Marcelo made it there about 9:30am Saturday morning and we hit the "trails." One spot we stopped to "pose" for a few group shots on a rock. The trails were alright, but we found one area that was what we were hoping the entire place would be like. The section was only about 20 yards long, but the left side had a pretty decent drop off the trail and plenty of rocks to climb down. Everyone made it. I was the only one to try that side coming back up and it required the use of Tony's new winch. Coming up the other side was challenging, but everyone was able to make it up with the stacking of some rocks. We drove back up the hill and found a clearing to camp for the night. The next morning we chose to hit the spot again on the way out. The cb's made traveling back and forth better, especially when I found out that I can hook up headphones to mine so I can hear everyone with the doors off. I'll post more pictures when I get them (marcelo). Here is an e-mail I sent to someone looking for information on the forest and the trails (incase anyone else wants to know):
"Here is the information for the OHV trails at the Dry River Ranger District..... the site has directions, but they're a little off. I'll give you all the information I know because it's pretty hard to find on the web. When you go 33W off of 81 you drive about 10 miles out of the city of Harrisonburg (the road goes down to 1 lane). Take a right on 612 and drive about 6 miles. 612 will make a hard left which looks like a different road, but you need to take the hard left to stay on 612. A mile or so down the road you'll come to a stop sign where you make a left to stay on 612. Another 1/4 mile or so and you'll see Gospel Hill Church. There will be a sign that says ATV/OHV trails. Make a left directly after the church on FDR 72. You need to drive another 6 miles on FDR72, which is a rocky dirt road. Once you get up to the top of that you'll see a sign on the left for parking. Make that left and follow the road to the trail head. You'll come to a big opening that people park to offload their 4 wheelers. From there you'll see a trail straight ahead and a trail to the right. The trails go in V shape with one ending and the other going to 33. The left trail has some turnoff's that take you over to the power lines and the one to the right has some steep rocks towards the end that make it hard if you're trying to get back up unless you have a decent lift and a good spotter. It does make it quicker to get back out to 33 when you're leaving. You'll see the rock ledge and the steep drop off to the left. You'll know when you see it. There is a bypass to the right that is less drastic. Once you get to the end of that trail you're back on 33 and you can make a left to head back into Harrisonburg. Sorry if this is a bunch of information, but I figure it's better to have more than not enough. "

Tyler's First Football Experience

Watching the Steelers/Eagles Preseason Game at home. My Hines Ward jersey still fits... well sort of. :)

When did new home appliances become so exciting?!

Our new washer and dryer were delivered today!! We ordered the:

• LG 4.2 Cu. Ft. Ultra Capacity Front Load SteamWasher and
  
• LG 7.3 Cu. Ft. Ultra Capacity Electric Dryer with TrueSteam Technology

We were able to stack them giving us lots of storage space upstairs, which we desperately needed. I am already breaking them in washing the clothes Tim brought back from his 3 weeks in England. I can't wait to start washing all of Tyler's things! Those of you that are already mom's are probably laughing right now. Here are some pictures:

What a night...

Yesterday while at work I noticed I kept getting what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions. They were sporadic at first, but then I started to notice that they were coming a bit more regular. So around 12:30pm I started tracking them. Turns out they were coming about every 30 minutes. I called my doctor around 3:00pm and the front desk said the nurse would call me as soon as she was available. Well at 3:30pm I was ready to leave work, so I decided to just go over to my doctor's office since it is across the street. When I got there I was able to talk to the nurse in person. My doctor was also in the office and said she would like to go ahead and do a pelvic exam just to be on the safe side. My cervix looks good and I have not dilated. She also did a fetal fibronectin (fFN) test, which is a protein produced by fetal cells and a type of fibronectin. It "leaks" into the vagina if a preterm delivery is likely to occur and can be measured in a diagnostic test. I will have those results on Monday. After the exam my doctor said she would like me to go over to labor and delivery at Reston Hospital to be monitored for a few minutes to make sure we weren't missing anything. I walked over to the hospital, they got me registered and took me back to a room to start the monitoring. Turns out I was actually having contractions every three minutes that were lasting approximately 40-45 seconds each. They weren't painful at all, just a bit uncomfortable. So my doctor ordered two shots of Terbutaline and a pill to stop the contractions. That seemed to do the trick. So she gave me a prescription for Terbutaline that I am supposed to take every four hours from now until whenever. I was told not to work today and to call the office Friday to let them know how I am feeling. Then on Wednesday I have my regular 28 week appointment where they will check me again. I was finally discharged from the hospital around 9:00pm. I am feeling fine and Tyler has been bouncing around the entire time. Tim is on his way home as I write this and we can't wait! Always something exciting... huh?

Just my luck!

Brits are nice. So nice they decided they wanted the navigation in the rental car more than I did. They took it in the hotel parking lot while I was eating dinner. It was still light out!! I found out when I got back to my room and saw the announcement on the TV. They smashed the drivers side window (great thing it’s raining today). Guess I get to see how the L-3 insurance works ;) Wish me luck!

I found out more information Today (08/06). I guess there was an off duty police officer in the parking lot when it happened. He was able to get the Registration Number (British for License Plate) of the vehicle and knew the people who took the GPS. I'm not really worried about it because insurance will cover it. They must be stupid thieves because they left my Oakleys sitting in the center console. Also, the Marriott was about get catch them on camera. I'm waiting for Hertz to come to come to the hotel to switch cars so I can drive to Molesworth and drop off my badge then head to Heathrow to turn in the car and go to the Hilton at the airport for the night. ONE MORE DAY!!

26 Week Ultrasound

Today I went for another ultrasound to have my amniotic fluid measured. Tim is still in England so my mom and dad came with me. I was so happy to have them there!! Well two weeks ago my fluid was at 24.3cm and as of yesterday it is 26cm (supposedly the cutoff is 24cm). The doctor isn't too terribly concerned with this increase. He said in most cases high fluid levels go unexplained, but that I do need to pay particular attention to any contractions I get as it could be a sign of preterm labor. They also went ahead and measured Tyler at this appointment as well. He is doing great! He is measuring at 28.5 weeks. He is 2 weeks ahead of schedule, however this has been consistent since our 12 week ultrasound. They said he is 2lbs 10oz and his heart rate is a strong 138! They also said that although he is big, he is proportion it so there isn't any concern about his having a big belly. The doctor does want me to redo the gestational diabetes test at 28 weeks just to be on the safe side. We go back in 3 weeks to measure him again. Here are some pictures we got yesterday of our big boy!

Tim's Trip to England

I'm currently in England right now filling in for one of my company's site reps while he's taking leave. I flew out Sunday the 20th around 10pm and arrived in London at 1030am on Monday. I found out that my cell phone didn't work like AT&T told me when I landed. I went to Hertz to get my rental car. Usually since I'm in the #1 Gold Club all I need to do is find my name on the board and go get my car. The only problem is that my name wasn't on the board when I arrived. I had to go inside and wait in line to get my rental. I was 3rd in line when I got there so it didn't take long. The rep told me that I could upgrade from what I rented to a Saab for 40 pounds (80 dollars) a day. I declined and said I'd like what I rented along with the "never lost" navigation. After waiting about 30 minutes someone finally told me the car was ready. They told me it would be pulling around to the front of the building so I grabbed my bags and headed outside. I waited another 10 or 15 minutes and a Saab pulled up and the guy said it was mine. I guess they didn't have what I rented. I got in the car and set up the navigation. I tried typing in "RAF Molesworth," but nothing was found. I knew if I could find my way to Huntingdon I could get to the base. The only problem is I didn't know if the spelling was "HuntingTon or HuntingDon." Of course with my luck I picked the wrong one, which was found. I started following the directions on the navigation and about 30 minutes later I realized I was on M40West and going the wrong way. I pulled off M40 and searched for a hotel I had stayed at before, which I should have done in the first place. I had to back track about 30 minutes so I lost about an hour. I drove about 2 1/2 hours further north to RAF Molesworth to get the badges and id's I needed for my stay. I left to check in to the hotel around 500pm. I'm staying at the Marriott in Peterborough, which is about 30 minutes away from the site. I knew how to get back from my previous trips, but I figured I'd try the navigation. The navigation took me down some back roads that had me feeling like a grand prix driver. Some spots on the road were so small and had tall brush growing on the side of the road so when another car would pass you'd wind up putting the side view in the brush. Needless to say I don't drive that way back anymore. The Marriott I'm staying at is pretty nice, nothing too fancy, but it's in a nice area and within walking distance to two restaurants even though I've been eating dinner at the Marriott. I was able to get my cell working after I got back to the hotel so I have that available.

Here are pictures of my rental and my drive home.

Nursery Pictures

Here are some pictures of our nursery. We went with the smaller of our two spare rooms because we didn't want to loose our guest room, but i think it will work out. I can't wait for the furniture to arrive! We are going with a vintage sports theme.

UPDATE: 24 Week Ultrasound

Quick update; I just got the results of the gestational diabetes test and the results were normal! My OB had mentioned at our last appointment that if the results were normal they would like to re-do the test at 28weeks, because that is the schedule they prefer to follow. So I will most likely be doing it again, but at least it is normal this time.

24 Week Ultrasound

As most of you know we are seeing a maternal fetal specialist due to an abnormal AFP screening result. This screening tests for a number of different things, but the main concern for us was spina bifida. Well good news is they have completely ruled that out, however they have no idea what could have caused the slightly elevated result. It very well could be nothing, but since they can't explain it away they are being overly cautious. So with that said we went for an ultrasound this morning and Tyler is looking great! We are supposed to be 24 weeks 5 days, but he is still measuring a week ahead (which has been consistent since our 12 week ultrasound). He weighs exactly 2 lbs! During the ultrasound he was moving his mouth, we saw his tongue and he even yawned! He also has hair! It is the cutest thing! Now the specialist is concerned about his size and the amount of amniotic fluid I have because it could be an indicator of gestational diabetes. Although I am within the normal range for the fluid, I am falling on the higher end of the scale. So we are going to remeasure my fluid in 2 weeks. Tyler is also measuring within the 64th percentile range, which is good but he has a big belly right now which could also be an indicator for gestational diabetes. Basically instead of a long skinny baby, we have an apple shaped baby.

I also had my regular 4 week checkup with the OB this morning. They had me do the gestational diabetes test and we should have those results on Monday. My Dr. also tape measured my belly and it is at exactly 26 weeks as well. Our Dr. doesn't seemed concerned by any of what is going on. She said that she does want us to go back and have the fluid checked to be cautious, but she thinks with our family histories that he is just going to be a big baby.

So all in all things are going well and we aren't very concerned with any of what is going on at the moment.