EARTHQUAKE!!!!

It is Tuesday night and Dylan and I survived our first Earthquake. I do not recommend it for fellow pregnant women. We had just finished eating dinner and making cookies and a very FULL ashley was sitting on the couch talking with Casey's mom. When all of the sudden the floor started to shake. It took me a couple of seconds to figure out what was going on. But, the shaking bookcases things falling off the shelves was kind of a give away. I then jumped up and started to run outside. Then I looked behind me and realized that the family was running the other way. So, prego can move faster than she thought. I planted my feet and hightailed it towards everyone else. I figured if they were all running one way, they knew somthing I didn't know. As I ran towards the rest of the family it was like Jumanjii. The cats, dogs and I swear at one point a rhino ran through my legs and out the garage doggy door. Thank goodness Jake the snake decided to stay in his cage. As I ran to everyone they said to get in a doorway. Duh!!!! Pretty sure that I saw that on a vintage Saved by The Bell episode. So, into the doorway I went, while still talking to Cheryl on the phone. When all was said and done the earthquake was a 5.6 on the Rhicter scale, it lasted 12 seconds and the epicenter was 3 miles from the house. Max has said that the aftershocks are supposed to be stronger, I sure hope he was wrong! I don't know if my belly can take this! Dylan has been going crazy since this all started.

On a lighter note, today was another NST. Everything looked good again!! Fluids were high, heartbeat was strong, activity was consistent. YAYYY!!!!! I made good friends with a woman that is a Peds ICU nurse at the hospital. She is due the first week of december, so my guess is we will cross paths again in the next couple of weeks.

So I am sitting here curled up on the couch watching Boston Legal with a little girl in my tummy with Hiccups. She has been pretty quiet all day, but now that there is all of this excitement going on, she wants to be right in the middle of it. I sure hope she doesn't decide to come out and see what it going on!! She needs to stay in a little while longer.

Thursday is a 4D Ultrasound and Friday is back to the hospital for testing and then off to Jenny's house to have a play date with her and Taylor!!! And then Sat. Mimi (my mom) comes in. Oh, and we have decided that Cheryl(Casey's mom) is going to be known as "Apple" because she will be Granny Smith. So my mom is "Mimi", my dad wants to be "Big Daddy"(don't ask), Casey's mom will be "Apple" and Casey's dad will be "Grandpa Smith".

We hope that everyone is doing well and that everyone has a safe Halloween! Much love, ash and dyl!

Dylan's Nursery

Above is a quick snapshot of Miss Dylan's Sanctuary. The changing table arrived hours before we left for San Francisco. The room was just thrown together, it looks much better now! The Grandfather's spent a good amount of time helping place the beautiful "D"s that Dylan's Aunties made for her. Each Aunt made a "D" for Dylan at the shower, they are all signed and are something that she can keep forever.

T minus 18

Today Miss Dylan and I had a fun outing. We got to go to breakfast with Great Grandma Marilyn. We had such a delightful breakfast. This was the first time that have ever been able to spend with GGMarilyn. And what a doll she is!! Dylan is so lucky to have all of these amazing people in her life. Aunt Terri, Uncle Jay, and Max joined me for this breakfast. I think we all had the same great pancake breakfast. Yummy!!! Then it was off to finish our Halloween costumes for the Halloween party we were to attend tonight. We went to target, then to the grocery store to get things for our potluck dishes. I started to feel very faint while shopping. I was very hesitant to walk down the grocery store aisle by myself for fear that I was not going to be able to make it back to the cart by myself. After chugging a Gatorade and eating a piece of chocolate I felt much better. The Halloween party was fun. Aunt Terri went as a punk rocker, Uncle Jay as a scary old man, Max as just scary, Nadine as Raggedy Ann, and myself as Pregnant Britney Spears fully adorned with flour on my nose (her little habit), Starbucks cup fake cigarette, and baby doll that was dropped numerously throughout the night. This long night out sure kicked my butt the next day. I think I have finally recovered!!

For All the Moms

A newborn's conversation with God:

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"
God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."
The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."
God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."
Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand and when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"
God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care your angel will teach you how to speak."
"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"
God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."
"Who will protect me?"
God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."
"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."
God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."
At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."
God said, You will simply call her, "Mom."

Sent from Aunt Terri

Just another Wednesday!! Only 2 more left!!

Not much to report today. I finally heard back from the Fetal Treatment Center this morning. They said that everything looked good so they were not going to schedule another doctor clinic appointment and Ultrasound for a week and a half. They said that Little Miss Dylan is flourishing and now it is just having my body hold up for 2.5 more weeks. They did up my NST's to 2 times a week. So I got back again on Friday and that should be able to pick up if I I am having contractions. Yesterday I was having some pain that I had not had before. I woke up with pain in my lower back, it would kind of come and go during the day. And I also had some pain in my lower abdomen. Since the Sonographer told me I was having contractions on Monday I thought maybe I was having contractions. I called my sister-in-law Amanda who just had her baby 4 days ago and asked her for some advice. I thought maybe this was Braxton Hicks, she said she thought it could be real contractions. I tried altering my movement because that is supposed to differentiate false labor from true labor. My altering movements didn't change anything. I decided to lay down for the night and see if it went away. And I never woke up during the night, besides to tinkle. And this morning I feel fine. So, I am not quite sure what I was feeling. But I think it is all good.

Monday's Appointment

So yesterday was my new schedule of Monday appointments at UCSF. Originally I had scheduled them for 10:30 so that I didn't catch wretched traffic when driving in from San Jose. But, I got a phone call that I had to be there by 8:15. So, up at 5 it was!!! I was on the road by 6 since I figured it would take 2 hours with traffic. IT DIDN'T!!! I was there by 7.
I had my NST at 8:15 (well it was supposed to be at 8:15, I didn't go in until 8:45). Everything looked great. They checked my fluids and they were up to a 17.7!! Can you believe that? Less than two weeks I was at 6.1!! Then they hooked me up to the machine and just monitored Miss Dylan's heart, her baseline (what her heart beats at consistently) was its typical 139bpm. She was fast asleep (mommy hadn't eaten yet), so they couldn't get the accelerations in her heartbeat that they need. The Nurse brought me a piece of chocolate, I wasn't sure what it was for. She asked me to eat it, and so I did. About 30 seconds later Dylan began to go crazy. I thought she was going to break through my stomach and jump out. She was a little incredible hulk in there. The only problem with this was SHE DIDNT STOP!!! The way it is supposed to work is a)Dylan establishes her baseline (139bpm), b)her heart accelerates to 160+bpm c) her heart decelerates back to 139ish-bpm. d)repeat. Instead Dylan established her baseline at 139bpm then when she got the chocolate (mom isn't a chocolate eater) she went up into the 175+range (it has never been that high) and then established a new baseline at 160bpm. The nurses didn't know what to do. She just was not gonna lower her heart, she was literally HIGH off of the chocolate. Lesson we have learned from this: Ashley cannot give Dylan chocolate as a child if Ashley wants to stay sane. The nurses then did a BPP(?) and said they could make a viable case that Dylan was good and healthy so they let me run (and when I say run, I mean run) to my next appointment.
I zipped up my jeans (oh yes ladies and gentleman, I am still in my pre-pregnancy jeans, knock on wood), ran up the stairs, and ran down the street to get to my next appointment. My appointment wasn't until 9:30, but they wanted me there at 9:00. I ran in at 9:20. I sat and sat and sat, and then they got me in at 10:00. I needed to be at my next appointment at 10:30 and if I missed my 10:30 then I was in TROUBLE. The nurses brought me back, we talked about my health history, how I was feeling etc. The doctor was running behind so the nurses wanted to know if I would like a Flu Shot. Who knew you could have a flu shot when you were pregnant? I sure didn't. Apparently there is a killed (inactivated)virus flu shot that pregnancy women can receive. So, I got my flu shot! Then the doctor came in (Dr.Hopkins) and we talked a bit, she wanted to know how I was feeling and answer and questions I had. Dr. Hopkins informed me that we were not going to do the amniocentesis on the 14th before delivery. I told her about my right leg pain and she was concerned that I could have a blood clot building up in my right leg. She seemed to think that my pain is very uncommon ( I figured it was normal). She wanted me to have dopplers done by the sonographer on my leg to make sure there was no clotting. We finished up at 10:27, I switched into my running shoes and took off to the Ultrasound lab.
I made it at 10:34, just in time!! I had to wait another 30 minutes or this appointment (everyone was running behind today, maybe because it was a Monday). Dan was my sonographer, it was very odd having a male. I am not sure why, but it was just very different, not bad, just different. He checked Dylan's bowels, amniotic fluid and all the normal stuff. He didn't measure Dylan this time, which I thought they were going to, so we don't know how much she weighs this time. So sad!! He said he thought everything looked okay. They will review everything today in the department meeting and let me know how Dylan looks this afternoon. I think everything is great! I did have 3 contractions during my Ultrasound, I didn't know I was even having them, the sonographer told me I was having them. Other than that I think that we are still on track for the 14th! Dan also traced my vein through my leg to make sure that there was not a clot. He said he didn't see anything out of the normal, but the radiologist would look at it today and let me know if there is anything questionable.
So all in all it was a very uneventful Monday, thank goodness!!! I will let you guys know as soon as I hear ANYTHING!!! 16 days until daddy comes home!!!

Just Plain Randomness

Above is a picture from the AMAZING babyshower that was thrown for Miss Dylan a couple of weeks ago. I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family. It was the most beautiful, pink, girly, loving afternoon that I could have ever asked for. We had an afternoon tea at a new tea room in gilbert called Tea Dreams. All of the guests got to dine on finger sandwiches, scones, the tea of their choice and my favorite COSTCO CAKE (pictured above)!! All of Dylan's Auntie's then decorated wooden "D's" with pink and green paint and jewels. They are now hanging above her changing table waiting for her to come home. Thank you again to all of my friends and family that sent gifts for this little angel. I don't know what we would have done without everyone's toughtfulness. I have found myself pacing around Dylan's room almost in tears feeling like I have forgotten something, but then I remember all of the amazing women that I have behind me making sure that I am completely equipped for this little girls arrival.

In more exciting news...Dylan has a cousin!!!! Ms. Bailey Lou Smith (Casey's Brother Chris and Wife Amanda) was born at 7:30 on yesterday. She was 6lbs 14oz and 20.5 inches long. I can't wait to make a trip out to ABQ to meet this new little bundle of joy. Grandpa and Grandma Smith are currently out visiting their first grandbaby! And in less than a month they will have number 2!!

Now on to my complaints. When I sat down today to write this I took a pole of what I should write about. Uncle Jay and Aunt Terri suggested that I write about my painful leg that they hear so much about. So, here you go....MY LEG HURTS!!!! Not both legs, just my right leg. I pretty much hate my right leg right now. I have had a great pregnancy! Nothing to really complain about, but this darn leg is really starting to annoy me. When I roll over in bed I wake up in excruciating pain. When I have been sitting (couch, car, you name it) and go to get up to walk, I almost fall. Dad and I went to the San Jose Flea markets yesterday (that's just what we do, 6am on Sat. equals flea market), I was so proud of myself, I made it through the first flea market no problem. But by the time we got to the second one my hands a feet were completely swollen (might have has something to do with my sausage biscuit from McDonald's for breakfast) and I couldn't walk. I thought I would be funny (also not wanting my dad to know how much pain I was in) and race Dad back to the car. This was the saddest moment yet. It was so special, I couldn't run, it wasn't even a run. It was a ghetto grandma hobble, all I was missing was a walker. So at tomorrow's appointment it is on the top of my list to figure out what this is. I am sure that it is just something that could happen during pregnancy, but I would like to know if there is a way to relieve it. I try and stretch and keep my leg elevated. But nothing seems to help. On another complaint, I have gotten heart burn these past couple of days. I know this is common too, it is just such a weird feeling. And lastly, since Miss Dylan has grown so much in these past 3 weeks, she has doubled in size, I have beautiful stretch marks to prove it. I can't tell you how nice it is to know that the reason I have these "battlewounds" is because my little girl is getting big and strong.

So tomorrow is a big day at the doctors. I go into San Fran to have my weekly tests run as well as meet with the doctors. Let's pray for more good news!!!

Growing Belly

This is a picture of my belly at 32 weeks. Miss Dylan was breech up until this day. I was starting to panic because all of the research that I did concluded that after 32 weeks the baby is usually in its delivery position. I had a hard time fathoming that a little girl that has been living with her head up for 32 weeks would now just decide to suddenly want her head down. I did some research on how to get her to into cephalic position (head down). Yvonne, our childbirth prep instructor, has let us know that she was recently reading a medical journal that said that breech babies will follow the sound of music and turn their body around. She had not had anyone do it before. I gladly volunteered to be the test subject. That night with CD player in hand I went and found the Baby Professor CD that the grandma's got Dylan. I laid down and put the headphones very very low on my tummy and watched magic happen. I could watch my stomach roll as Dylan followed Flight of the Bumble Bee down to the bottom of my tummy. And sure enough 2 days later we went to have an UltraSound and the Sonographer said "she is head down" and I let out a giant "WOHOOOOO!!!!!". It worked!!! And still to this day little Miss has her head down!

We Now Call the Bay Area Home

Sorry it has been such a long time since the last post. The Internet at the Phoenix house has been broken and since I knew I was leaving I never got around to having it fixed. Anywho..... We are in California. We were not supposed to come up until the 20th, but things took a bit of a turn and the Doctors suggested we get up here as soon as we could. So Dad flew in last Thursday to Phoenix, I had the best going away dinner on Friday and we got in the car on Sat. to make our trek to the Bay Area. We got here on Sunday. I couldn't ask for a better place to stay. Casey's Aunt Terri and Uncle Jay have opened their home to a giant chocolate chip cookie making lots of sleeping pregnant woman. It has been such a blessing to be here and to know that I am among family.
I am sure that you want to know what made the doctors want me out here so soon, so before I forget I will digress. They measure little Dylan every two weeks or so to make sure that she is growing like she should be. The do an ultrasound in which they take a measurement of her femur(thigh bone), head, and abdominal cavity. IUGR (Interutirine Growth Retardation) is a common occurrence in babies with Gastroschisis. This means that the baby does not grow like they should partially because you absorb nutrients through your intestines and her intestines are not in normal working order. If IUGR sets in the surgeons usually want to get the baby out so that they can care for the baby and get her to grow. So.....at a recent Ultrasound in Phoenix we were informed that Dylan was in the 7th percentile. This means that 93% of babies are bigger than her. This also means that she has IUGR. The team in San Fran was concerned about this and asked for a copy of the Ultrasound. When they assessed the report(they know how to recalculate the numbers to not include the abdominal measurement because it is not an accurate measurement since it is missing organs) they concluded that Dylan was actually in the mid 20's as far as percentile. Twice a week I was having NST's (Non stress tests) done. During this I am sitting in a beautiful leather chair at the hospital for about an hour! They strap 2 bands to my tummy. One monitors my contractions or lack there of. And the other one monitors Dylan's heart beat. They want to make sure that her heart beat accelerates without any abnormalities. These tests have all come back beautiful. Literally beautiful, the doctor came in a told the doctor to take me off the monitor because everything was "BEAUTIFUL". The last test that I have run is an AFI which is an Amniotic Fluid Index. They do an Ultrasound in which they measure they 4 pockets of amniotic fluid in my belly. For those of you that don't know this, Amniotic fluid is the liquid that the babies live in, and it is also baby pee. An AFI level of less than 8 is not good and could mean the baby needs to come out ASAP. My AFI on October 8th was a 6.2%. As soon as the team in San Fran saw my AFI at 6.2% in combination with the Dylan's growth on the Ultrasound they suggested that it was in Dylan's best interest if I could get out to San Fran as soon as possible. So that is what we did.
Monday morning I had a meeting with the team at UCSF. My first appointment was a Ultrasound. After all of their measurements they said that Miss Dylan is 3lbs 15oz, so just shy of 4 lbs. This number is with a rough estimate of her intestines. They also said that my amniotic fluids came in at a 12.1%. WOHOOOO!!!!! That was cause to make chocolate chip cookies (not that I need much of a reason to make chocolate chip cookies these days). They also did an NST. The usually stubborn Dylan was very good and cooperative and accelerated her heart all by herself. Sometimes I think she is a mexican jumping bean in my tummy. She just hops all around in there. I was going to have to come back in on Thursday to meet with the Perinate Team. But I got a call on Tuesday saying that everything looked to good that they don't want to see me until Monday. I think that is the best news that we have gotten in a long time. So Monday I will be waking up at 3:15 to be at the hospital in time for all of my appointments. I can't wait for more great news.
And speaking of great news. I got Casey's plane ticket home. As of now he will be home on November 9th, just 4 days before his little girl will be here. We cannot wait to see him!!! I can't believe that it has been this long or that we are less than 30 days from having a daughter. The days are counting down, and I promise to to write more. We love you all and thank you for all of your support!