Baby update

Recently I have been having problems with my blood pressure and swelling. I was put on bed rest a week and a half ago to prevent labor as I was not at term yet. They have been doing lab work and monitoring the baby twice a week now to make sure everything is still fine. My swelling has pretty much gone away and my blood pressure has been lowering. I now have a problem with elevated liver enzymes. They don't have an answer as to what can cause that, it's just something that can happen in late pregnancy. My levels go up and down within just a few days. Now that I will be 37 weeks tomorrow, they can induce me if my levels continue to go up.

Those aren't the only issues I've had with this small blessing that has yet to make it into this world. I mentioned to the doctor on Monday that any ultrasound that I have had, the baby has been breech. That caught his attention and said that we could do a c-section. I do not want a c-section if at all possible so he suggested we do a basic xray for the quickest way to find out the position of the baby. Sure enough, baby was totally breech. So today, Ben and I made a trip to the hospital so they could do an external version where they "flip" the baby into proper position. I have heard this maneuver hurts like crazy, but I was determined to do it. An ultrasound tech came in to find the position of the baby. She couldn't believe the strange position of the baby and didn't know how the doctor was going to move it. This made me a little nervous. Doctor pushed and turned my belly a little, probably wasn't even five minutes, then he said he thought it had moved. Low and behold, it had turned! It was nothing like I expected. My nurse said that was the easiest version she has ever seen. Woo hoo! I had to be monitored for two hours afterward to make sure baby's heartbeat was fine and to make sure the move didn't cause labor to begin.

I go for another appointment on Thursday for more labs, etc. and we will see what he says. If things are elevated again, then we may have a baby very soon!

First Communion

We have been blessed to have celebrated Jasper's first communion. At our church, the pastor allows children to take communion as long as the parents agree to it without having taken the class. Jasper was very interested to start participating in communion. I had asked him if he knew what communion was about when he first asked and he had the basic idea. I told him he still had to take a class to learn a little more about it. The pastor held a class and he was the only one to participate. It was kind of nice that way. They also made unleavened bread to share on Maunday Thursday. He had fun taking the class and making the bread.

He was so excited that he could invite grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. to share in his night. Our family that was there with us got to join Jasper in the front of the church when he received his first communion and when he had the opportunity to give communion to Ben and me. He also got to share with his "supporters." Jordan is one of his sponsors and was able to take a night off of work to join us.

After the service, we had a small family reception with juice and cake.

We are very proud that Jasper was so eager to learn about such a special event and what Jesus did for us.

Patience

I continually have to remind the boys about using their patience for different things. It would be a good idea to practice what I preach! This has been a very frustrating nine months and I'm starting to lose my patience! I can't wait for it to come to an end with a cute little baby. My patience has been tested with serveral sinus issues, headaches, itchy skin, trouble with my hips out of place and a touch of the flu last week. Now to top it all off, I have extreme swelling in my feet and my blood pressure has been starting to go up. My NP wants to start seeing me weekly just to keep an eye on my blood pressure. I'm hoping to not have to stop working too early because of blood pressure problems. I would rather be off longer after the baby is born. I just have to be patient for about a month longer!