THE 'DREIER FAMILY ADVENTURES' CONTINUE....
THE 'DREIER FAMILY ADVENTURES' CONTINUE....
WITH ANOTHER BABY ON THE WAY!
Last Saturday morning (3/21) Elliott and I were leaving town to go visit Aunt Rachel and the cousins in North Carolina. We had a somewhat early flight so we had to get up early for Tony to take us to the airport. I had a crazy feeling that I should take a pregnancy test first thing that morning (maybe the crazy feeling was knowing there would be a lot of wine at Rachel's house?! Ha.) and couldn't believe what I saw (kinda hard to see in the picture)!
A SECOND LINE!
I will never forget showing Tony the test and him saying, "I don't know that's a pretty faint positive, I think you should take another one just to be sure!" Hahaha. Well, I didn't have another test and I also don't think there is much gray area with pregnancy tests saying "maybe"... granted, the second line wasn't very dark, but it was still there.
So, we somehow managed to find out I WAS PREGNANT, pack the bags in the car, stop for a quick breakfast, and then get Elliott and me to the airport. On the drive we called and told my parents... and I knew there was no way on earth that I was going to be able to keep this a secret from Rachel so she was going to be the next one in our families to know.
We got to the airport, on the plane and the whole time I just kept thinking, "Is this real?! I'm going to have two kids??" Soooo many thoughts consumed my mind... everything from growing our family and having 2 kids, Elliott being a big brother, who will this new baby be, am I going to be ready for this, will I have my hands too full, am I going to miss just having time with Elliott, how will this pregnancy go? JUST. SO. MANY. THINGS. But, we had a great flight, Elliott did wonderfully (thanks to snacks, nursing him to sleep, and headphones to watch the iPad) and we made it safely... except our bags, but they eventually came behind us on a later flight!
The next morning (Sunday) I woke up to find that I was bleeding. It wasn't just a little bit, but it wasn't enough to make me think that I should rush to the ER either.... but it still sucked and was pretty disappointing and scary to see. I called Tony the next day and, thankfully, we were able to talk to his mom and she was able to tell us what to keep an eye out for and calmed us down some. (Surprise, we're pregnant! ... And can we also get some medical advice?! Haha. Sorry, Nana.) I wasn't sure if I was having a miscarriage, but we were only there for a few days so I wanted to try my best to enjoy the time we had. And we did have fun! It was good for us to go spend time with them. We met Baby James for the first time, even though he's not such a tiny baby anymore! Elliott meeting him started with a (hilarious!!) big spit up all over Elliott that Elliott was NOT happy about because he doesn't like being messy... but it ended with Elliott giving him so many hugs and kisses! We had lots of laughs, cooked dinners, played outside, had soccer practice, took the big kids to/from school, and even had some adult girl time with a couple of Rachel's friends. Annnnd I realized I have a very "first time mom" cautious/sheltering (maybe even... should I say, overbearing) approach to parenting my child. Haha!
- Elliott got to go to the store with Aunt Rachel and she gave him an entire chocolate chip cookie-- a first for him!
- He ate way more " real people" food than he usually does and it wasn't always cut into tiny little pieces!
- I actually left him for the first time (besides Sunday school) at a drop in child care place with people I didn't even know for a few hours!
- He ate ice cream, climbed up and down the stairs, played around little Lego pieces, went outside with his cousins, had a bath with more water than I've ever put in the tub (see pic, it's not like it was even that full!)... had so much fun and to my surprise, SURVIVED- no falling, no choking, no drowning! Hahaha!
It was hard to leave but I was also kind of anxious to get home. While I was there the bleeding continued the whole time (despite more pregnancy tests that said +) and I was able to set up an appointment to see my doctor but they said that, in the mean time, if I wanted to go to the emergency room then I could be evaluated there.
So, we got home on Wednesday evening. Tony picked us up from the airport and we decided to go ahead and go over to the ER to see if we could get an HCG test and ultrasound. My mom was nice enough to meet us there and take Elliott home so he didn't have to be at the hospital.
We waited for hourrrs at the hospital. My HCG levels were kind of low but really until you have a follow-up test to see if they're going up or down, it doesn't mean too much. Based on the calendar and how far along I should be, you should be able to see something, but the ultrasound couldn't.... HOWEVER, I'm pretty good about tracking my cycles and don't think I'm as far along as they say, which could make a difference in the ultrasound showing something. The doctor there wasn't too incredibly friendly and said that most likely I had miscarried but it was hard to know and I would need a follow up appointment with my doctor.
While we were there at the hospital my mom sent a text that it was 85 degrees in our house and she couldn't get our a/c to cool down the house. LOVELY.
The next day sucked. I was emotional, hot, and was trying to be patient and loving with Elliott while I found someone to fix the air conditioner and anxiously waited to go in for more blood work so I could compare some numbers and see if they were going up or down.
In the meantime, even though I wasn't very patient, the bleeding stopped (awesome!), the a/c was fixed (hallelujah!), I was able to go in for more blood work (good!), waited over the weekend for the numbers (boo!) and THE NUMBERS WENT UP!! Such a relief!! This week I'll continue to do blood draws for HCG numbers and I have a doctors appointment next week and they will do an ultrasound!
Things are looking up, little baby!! Keep on growing!
