Announcing Ava Grace Peters!!!!!!!!!!

On Monday November 19, 2007 we welcomed a new member to our family!!!! Ava Grace Peters was born at 2:30 p.m. weighing 8 lbs. 9 oz. with a length of 20 inches. She has very dark brown hair and blue eyes. She looks almost exactly like Cristian when he was born.

Josh and I went into the hospital on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. to begin the process of induction. I was administered cytotech and monitored until approximately midnight and then we were released to go home. We went back to the hospital at 7:30 Monday morning and I was administered pitocin at approximately 8:20 a.m. Labor progressed very fast and by 11:00 a.m. the contractions were very strong. I was given some pain medication at 1:00 and at 2:00 the doctor returned to break my water since I was 90% effaced and dilated 6 cm. By 2:10 or 2:15 the contractions were strong and I began to feel lots of pressure. At approximately 2:25 I began to push and Ava was born at 2:30 before the doctor had even arrived to deliver her.

Ava and I were released on Wednesday November 21st because the doctors had to run tests on her for the Group B strep since I had not received both of the doses of antibiotics during labor since it had progressed so rapidly. She weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. when we left the hospital.

16th Doctor's Appointment

I had my 16th doctor's appointment today November 13th. The doctor measured my abdomen at 39 weeks. We listened to the heartbeat and it was about 140. I also had an exam which the doctor said that maybe I was about 2 cm dilated, but there is no change in the cervix.

I will be going into the hospital on Sunday November 18th and taking a pill (cytotech?) to start thinning the cervix and induce labor. I will have to be there for about 4 or 5 hours to be observed and if labor has not picked up in that time I will go home to try and sleep before I have to go back in the morning. On Monday morning, I will be back at the hospital around 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. to see what has happened with my cervix and the doctor will decide whether or not I will start pitocin. Hopefully, I will have the baby on Monday the 19th or at the latest Tuesday the 20th. Otherwise, the doctor wants to stop labor and wait until after the holiday.

Halloween 2007

Our Halloween pictures from this fall!!! Cristian was the black Spiderman. He and Josh carved pumpkins. Josh drew out the design for the large pumpkin (which we got from Jodi and Joe) and Cristian drew the face on the little pumpkin.

We took Cristian trick-or-treating all over town so we could stop and see people we knew. He got sooo much candy and we still have lots of it left!!! He had a great time and he is already looking forward to next year!!!

Baby Belly

Cristian gave my belly a kiss for pictures. We were taking pictures of my baby belly for the baby book and we thought this would be a cute picture. He kisses my belly, hugs it, talks to it, and sings to it. He is really excited about being a big brother!!!!! Only 6 days to go until I am induced!!!!!

Cristian's Learning to skate

This fall/winter Cristian will be learning to skate and play hockey. These pictures are from an open skating practice they had up at the sports center for the kids to practice their skating skills. Josh walked around on the ice to help him if he needed help.

He was walking at first and now he is starting to glide. Since we ended up getting him new skates, he has had to start over in a way to get used to skating in the new skates. He was slowly pushing with one foot and gliding, but now he is starting to push and glide again since he is breaking in his new skates.

Cristian is practicing getting up off of the ice by himself so he can get back on his feet.

Cristian's 1st camping trip

We went to my family reunion in Rhinelander in August. We decided to go camping for the one night that we were going to be there. It was Cristian's 1st camping trip!! He had lots of fun putting up the tent and helping making the fire. He was super excited to sleep on his new air mattress.

Cristian's Soccer

These pictures are from Cristian's soccer games this fall. I kept forgetting to put these on the computer so I finally did it before it came Christmas time!!!
Cristian had six kids on his team and they played 8 minute quarters. Each child was rotated in so everyone got a chance to play.

This picture is of my dad with Cristian because he was able to make it to a couple of games. Josh's mom also came up from the cities for one of Cristian's games.

Ear infection and cold

Yesterday, November 8th, I went into the doctor's office because I was not feeling well. I woke up with an extremely bad cold. I had a sore throat, stuffy nose, chest congestion, and my left ear was feeling blocked.

The doctor tested me for strep throat which came back negative, but I did have an ear infection in my left ear. Because I had such a bad cold and this ear infection, he prescribed antibiotics. I have to take 2 pills twice each day for the next ten days. I am also on the antibiotics for the yeast infection still.

I cannot wait until I have the baby because I am sick of being sick and taking all of these antiobiotics. I will be finishing this round of pills right around my due date. I hope that this gets rid of my cold and the ear infection. Trying to sleep has been uncomfortable because I cannot breathe through my nose and the doctor told me I couldn't take any type of medicine for the nasal congestion. I can however, take Robitussin DM for coughing which hasn't been that bad except for the mornings. He thought it would be a good idea to take that in case I coughed so hard that my bag of waters broke.

15th Doctor's Appointment

Yesterday, November 6th, I had my 15th doctor's appointment. This was my week 38 check up. I finished the antibiotics I was on and they still did a urine test which determined that I do not have a bladder infection, but there was blood in the urine. Since I still have discomfort and it is not a bladder infection, the doctor put me on an antibiotic for a yeast infection for the second time. He said that the infections could be causing a little bit of bleeding or it could be from my cervix thinning out.

I did not have an exam at this appointment which I thought was strange since I am two weeks away from my due date. We did listen to the heartbeat and it was at about 150. He also measured my abdomen and it was 38 cm.

We discussed what will happen if I make it to my due date. I want to be induced no later than the 19th (my due date) because it is just days shy of Thanksgiving and I do not want to be in the hospital over the holiday. As of right now, if nothing has happened by Sunday the 18th, I will be going into the OB Dept. of the hospital and being administered a pill to begin thinning or ripening the cervix. I am going to go back home to wait and see what happens until earlier Monday morning. On that day we will be going back to the hospital for pitocin, if needed, and hopefully labor will commence. My doctor will be leaving on Wednesday the 21st for his vacation so I am hoping that everything goes well and he will be there to deliver the baby. Also, I REALLY want to be home for Thanksgiving.

I am hoping that I go into labor on my own, but the closer the 19th approaches I feel even more discouraged than the previous day. I am still having contractions so I hope that they are thinning the cervix and dilating. My ankles are starting to swell so it looks like I have sprained or broken bones in my ankles. The pressure is increasing in my hips and groin so baby is probably moving downward.

My next appointment is Tuesday November 13th. I am hoping that progress will be made by then. I may end up going in before then because I am coming down with a nasty cold similar to the one I had when I was pregnant with Cristian and I really don't want to have to take antibiotics for that too. Also if the swelling does not go down in my ankles I may have to call the doctor's office and let them know that this is happening.

14th Doctor's Appointment

I had my 37th week doctor's appointment on Tuesday October 30th. Cristian and Josh both went with me. I gave another urine sample to be tested which of course came back positive for a bladder infection.

The doctor listened to the baby's heartbeat which still sounds good and normal without any pauses. He also measured my abdomen at 37 centimeters which is right with my pregnancy.

I also had an examination done to see if there had been any change since Sunday. There is still basically all of the cervix left and I am still only dilated to 1 cm. I was hoping for more because I really want to get rid of the bladder infection. He also did a test to make sure that I do not have a yeast infection along with the bladder infection which came back negative.

I also stopped working this week. I really want to rest and see if that will make a difference while I am on antibiotics. I have been really tired and feeling rundown. At the end of last week I was only working 3 hours a day because I couldn't stand without feeling lots of pressure in my hips and groin area. Contractions have really picked up and are becoming uncomfortable and more frequent. Being at work and having to do things while having contractions was not fun. My next appointment is Tuesday November 6th.

OB Department Visit

On Sunday October 28th I was having some cramping that was extremely uncomfortable and contractions as well. I called the OB Department at the hospital to ask them about the cramping because it was extremely uncomfortable and I was having a hard time just sitting still in a chair. I had also been having contractions on and off since last Thursday. The nurse told me to come in and see if I was in labor and to make sure I would get started on the antibiotics for the group B strep.

I drove myself to the hospital because it was almost ten o' clock at night and I wanted Josh and Cristian to get some sleep in case this was just a false alarm. The nurse had me change into a gown and I had to give a urine sample. Then she hooked me up to the machine they use for monitoring the baby's movements, heartbeat, and my contractions.

I was there until almost midnight. I was having irregular contractions which were about 2 to 10 minutes apart and I was still only dilated 1 cm and had not begun to efface. She said the baby's heartbeat was great and everything looked wonderful. She called the doctor to ask about running the urine sample which they ended up doing.

Apparently my bladder infection came back and that was what was causing the pain in my back and abdomen. The doctor was hoping that it was only the bladder infection and it had not spread to my kidneys because of the discomfort so they started me on antibiotics that night and called in the prescription for me to pick up in the morning when the pharmacy opened.