1 Month

My doctor's appointment on Friday went well.  Valerie is getting bigger (thank goodness!) and is weighing in around 3 lbs, 5 oz.  She still has a strong heartbeat!  She is also in a breech position.  Her butt is down and her head is up around my belly button.  There is a chance she could still flip around, but the doc says at this point she is probably in this position to stay.  The bigger she gets, the less she moves around (except for her kicking & head butting me :)).  So we are praying she flips, because if not we may not have the easy & peaceful delivery we are hoping for.  If I deliver her breech, there is even less of a chance that she will be born alive.  She will be put under even more stress going butt-first.  As of right now, we are sticking with our plan--regular delivery, no monitors on.  Hopefully a c-section will not be required, although a tiny part of me wants one, so that there is a greater chance of us meeting Valerie alive! 

We have decided to be induced so our family will be able to schedule off work to be there with us.  We have a tentative date of May 25th--so 1 month from today.  If I am not ready (cervix has to be soft), I will just push back my date until I am ready.   Can't believe that 1 month from today, I could be working on delivering Valerie.  Words cannot even begin to describe how I am feeling, so I won't even try.  I am trying to be be strong on the outside, but am completely crumbling on the inside.  I spent all of church yesterday in the bathroom crying because I just lost it.   I can write about it, but just can't talk about it.  That is why this blog is so helpful to me.  If someone even mentions it, tears just fill my eyes.  This is the hardest experience I've ever had. 

Lilly had a wonderful Easter weekend!  She got to color eggs, hunt for eggs, and even got 2 Easter baskets!  She also got to see her cousins (Nicole, Olivia, & Logan) who kept her entertained and played outside with her for hours!  Love them!!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Well I'm about 32.5 weeks now, which just seems crazy!  I have another appointment at St. V's this coming Friday.  Apparently they wanted to make sure the baby made it this far before seeing me again.  So we will go in for a growth scan and to make sure everyone is on the same page for a birth plan.  Please pray that Valerie is still growing.  I feel like I am big everywhere except my belly.  In fact, we went out to dinner the other night and our waitress was 6 months pregnant.  When she found out I was 8 months pregnant, she was very surprised.   She said, "you are so tiny!"  And yes, we looked about the same.  I said that she is very small.  Kyle wondered why I didn't tell her that Valerie was sick.  I never tell anyone that Valerie is sick.  Even at all my market day sales, i pretend that nothing is wrong.  I answer everyone's questions (how far along, due date, name, etc...) with very positive answers and insist that we are so excited.  Should I be doing that?  I don't know, but I feel like I can't get into it all the time and it is nice pretending for a short while that everything is really fine and we are super excited.  

Speaking of out to dinner, Kyle & I tried the restaurant Perkins the other night.  Has anyone ever been there?  It is kind of a restaurant where older people frequent quite often :)  But we tried it, basically because Applebees & Chilis had a 20 minute wait and it was already 8:00!  Anyway...we liked it a lot.  On Wednesday's they have free kids meals & .99 pie slices!!  Their pie is SO GOOD!  We are going to start going every Wed.!  For under $20, we got 2 adult meals, 1 kids meal, and 3 slices of pie (the waitress gave us an extra to take home).  

I will update after our appointment on Friday!  Please keep praying that Valerie hangs in there for another 7 weeks!   

Target Trip

So I thought I would take a different turn today with my blog post.  Don't worry, I have a doctor's appt. on Monday, so I'm sure I will update on the baby situation then.  Still crazy to believe I am almost 32 weeks.  It is going way too fast!  Today I wanted to write about my Target trip.  Remember, I am getting back into my deal shopping :)  I started slow today and only got a few things, but I got a few great things for only a few dollars! 

Here is what I purchased:

Dove Men Body Wash-on clearance for $1.98
used $1 Target coupon + $1 Manufacturer coupon
=Free

Dove Deep Clean Body Wash- $3.79
used $1.50 Target coupon + $1 Manufacturer coupon
=$1.29

Rimmel Mascara- $2.99
used $2.00 Manufacturer coupon
=$0.99

Special Promotion:
2 Diet Pepsi skinny cans (pack of 4) $1.99 each
2 People Magazines $4.49 each
automatically took $6 off my total since I purchased 2 diet pepsis
used Buy 1, Get 1 free Diet Pepsi coupons
used 2 $2.00 People magazine coupons
=0.97 for 2 packs of Pepsi & 2 People magazines (will give one to my mom :))

Total purchase=$3.25 (not including tax)

Awesome price for 7 items, including: 2 body washes, mascara, 2 magazines, & 2 packs of Pepsi!!!  Needless to say I will be continuing my deal shopping!  Did anyone watch Extreme Couponing the other night?  Awesome, but crazy!  Who needs 75 boxes of pasta!!  They did inspire me to start couponing at grocery stores, just not to such extremes...

What's happening at 30.5 weeks?!

This is something I saw on another blog and thought it was cute! 

How far along: 30.5 weeks
What's up with baby: Valerie is probably just over 2 lbs and is doing well inside my belly!  If only she could stay in here forever.... 
How I am feeling: I am pretty much feeling huge!  For example, getting out of bed and out of the car make me feel like a whale.  I have also started swelling! Thank goodness I had maternity pictures taken already :)  My blood pressure has been high (147/?, 137/81) the past couple of nights, but today at the dr. it was very normal at 120/81. 
Latest cravings: Cereal (but only at night), chocolate, Chinese food, frozen yogurt.  With lilly I craved fruit constantly!!  Valerie likes the yummy stuff :)
Other pregnancy symptoms I've been experiencing: Heartburn, morning sickness (at this point it is here to stay), sleepiness-i'm so tired, yet can't sleep through the night because i wake up at least 4 times a night to go to the bathroom.
Emotions: I am feeling more and more sad as this pregnancy goes on. I have good days and bad and sometimes just can't stop crying.  I know my emotions are all out of whack because I am pregnant, and it doesn't help being in my situation. 
Preparations: I have had maternity pictures taken and have Valerie's outfit.  We have also decided what to do if Valerie passes: arrangements, etc...Still need to:

• make appointment with our pastor to talk about baptizing Valerie as soon as she is born. 
• call Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep to schedule a photographer for her birth.
• pack hospital bags.

Doctors Appointments: Still going to the doctor once a week for heartbeat checks.  In a week or two, will start having full checkups weekly.  I can't believe it is alreay time for that!!!

Please continue to pray for baby Valerie!!!  We know her diagnosis--Trisomy 13, Tetralogy of Fallot, other heart problems, and single umbilical artery--is not good, but we are still praying for a miracle!!  We know that the majority of miscarriages are because of a trisomy early on in pregnancy, which is why we know that Valerie is SO strong and wants to live!!!  She has made it through 30 weeks so far.  There is a reason Valerie was not a miscarriage early on, she was supposed to make it this far and we are supposed to meet her!!!!