35 Weeks and into December!

I can hardly believe that we are into December already. It seems just like yesterday that we embarked on this journey, not knowing where it would take us. And now we are rounding the last curve. I am currently 35 weeks today!! The countdown is definitely on. We all survived a wonderful Thanksgiving, that went by way too fast. We spent  some nice time wiith my family here on Thursday, and after a little early shopping, we headed up north to be with Chris' family on Friday. I was very much dreading the long car ride, but after being awfully tired from the black Friday shopping, I managed to nap for about half the ride so it wasn't so bad after all. We spent some quality time together with the family, went to see the Blindside, ate like kings, played games, and just visited with each other. It was overall a really good weekend. I took Monday off to recoup, and head to my doctors appointments. First we had an ultrasound, in which baby scored 8 out of 8 (already a straight A student!!), and then we were off to the clinic for some NSTs and a visit with the doctor. Baby is doing great, and measuring right on track. She is approximately 5lbs 9oz (give or take 13oz), and is getting good at practicing her breathing. We got to watch her open and shut her mouth on the ultrasound, which was really neat. I will start weekly appointments now, which should mean only 3 more appointments before we get to meet our little girl.
After the doctor appointment, we met at the hospital to pre-register, and got to take a tour of the labor and delivery floor. Both of our older girls were born at this hospital, but it has been a few years for each of us, so it was exciting to see where everything will take place.
I definitely think the nesting instinct has kicked in. I haven't stopped since returning home from up north. I am trying desperately to get all the Christmas decorations up, presents bought and wrapped, house cleaned, baby stuff washed and ready....etc, etc, etc. My list is never ending, and it seems to take me a lot longer to get stuff done lately. Before we know it, Christmas will be here, and then a few days later, our biggest gift of all will arrive!! We all anxiously await her arrival!!!

32 Weeks

Can't believe we have made it this far, and then again....sometimes it feels like forever!! Had my appointment today. All looked good. Blood pressure is a little higher than normal, but nothing to be concerned with. Baby's heartbeat is 152bpm, and she is measuring right on track. She has been having tons of hiccups lately, and Dr. says that is a good sign that she is practicing breathing.  I got the much waited for H1N1 shot today. I hope I don't have any reactions to that. We scheduled the C-section for Monday December 28th, so it looks like we will have an after Christmas baby, unless she decides to come early. The countdown is ON!!

We all cannot wait to meet her! Life leaves us extremely busy all the way into December, so the time should go fast. We are busy getting her room ready for her. I love seeing all of the baby stuff fill our house, and the girls are excited every day to see what we have brought home or picked out for their little sister.

Our next appointment is scheduled for November 30, and we will have another BPP(ultrasound) and NST's (non-stress tests), just to make sure everything still looks good, but Doctor isn't concerned at this point. Hooray!!

Good News at 30 weeks

Today we finally got the ultrasound we have been waiting for. I was a little nervous, but was excited at the same time. The ultrasound tech said that baby looks absolutely perfect, and earned a perfect score on all the tests they perform!. I had a little scare with my blood pressure, but I think the first time they took it, they either didn't do it right or I was nervous and it was elevated. After they checked it again, it was back to normal, but it sure had me worried for a few minutes. I also did some non stress tests that tracked baby's movements and heartrate, but all looked good.   It seems that Christian will be a little more outnumbered in our house, as baby appears to be a GIRL. Girls will rule 5 to 1 if you count the dog! Poor Chris! Most importantly, baby is completely healthy and right on track. She is measuring in at 3lbs and 5oz, and is a very active little bugger! She is head down now, and moves constantly. We surprised both Holly and Alyssa and bought 2 little pink outfits, put them in gift bags, and had each of them open them up to tell the gender. I think they were surprised as they were both thinking it was going to be a boy, but I know they will be happy to take another little girl under their wing. Still not a definite date for the c-section, but Dr. said that she will be more likely to schedule it in 2 weeks when I go back.
It really feels good to keep coming home with good news. We are all extremely anxious to meet this new addition to our family, but will have to wait just a while longer. In the meantime, we will prepare for the new little princess!

26 Weeks!

Today was a great day indeed! To start the day off, Chris sent me some beautiful flowers at work, for no particular reason. He is so good to me. Not sure what I would do without him.
We had our 26 week appointment today. Everything is going great. I had my gluclose screening at our appointment as well. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, now we just wait to hear the results. Doctor says baby is growing just as "it" should be, and everything is going as planned. (He/She is an active little baby!)  I was hopeful to talk to the doctor into another ultrasound, but my convincing apparently does no good. She wasn't going for my sympathy card again, but when Chris piped in and asked her about another ultrasound (since we are extremely nervous and scared considering our past. ..blah, blah, blah) she agreed to schedule one for us for our next appointment in 4 weeks. So yippee! We are scheduled for a BPP (bio-physical profile, ultrasound), and a NST (non-stress test) on October 28th. We are extremely excited to get to see our little jumping bean one more time before delivery! We also "tentatively" scheduled the C-section for December 28th or 29th, but will discuss this more at my next appointment at 30 weeks. She thought that 26 weeks was still a little early to schedule definitely, but if everything goes well, she will still stick with Dec. 28th or 29th. This is all great news for us. It is hard to believe that we are so fortunate to have come this far without any problems. It sometimes seems surreal, just because we never thought it would happen for us!
Now I think we will start to do some baby shopping! It will be hard to buy many things since we don't know if we should plan for blue or pink quite yet, but we can get a good idea of what we want. And as you all know, I LOVE to shop!
As for our big kids, they are off and plugging away at school. It has been about a month since the start of the new school year, and both girls still like going everyday...so all must be going well! Homework is starting to flow and before we know it, it will be soon time for MEA break. We are all proud of how they both do in school, let's just hope that the good grades and reports continue throughout those teen years that are soon approaching!
Let's hope we can keep posting these good reports!! Love to all. :)

Week 23

Well again, we don't really have much to report. Which, is a good thing. At our last doctors appointment, we were told that the ultrasound revealed that our baby is growing perfectly. Dr. said that baby is in the 50th percentile, which means not too small, and not too big. She doesn't seem worried about the last ultrasound, and said that all was going smoothly. At my next appointment at 26 weeks, I have my diabetes test. Let's hope that goes well too. I am not looking forward to it, as if I remember correctly...it is a horrible thing you have to drink...but I have never had a problem with diabetes before. Baby is very active every day, so that is just a daily reminder that all is going well so far. The doctor didn't really sound too concerned with not being able to see all baby parts on the last ultrasound, and told us that we probably won't have another one unless something starts to go wrong. I guess this baby will be a surprise for all of us!!
Our big kids start school this week. Holly will be in 6th grade (yes I said 6th Grade!!), and Alyssa will be in 3rd grade. (Sniff, Sniff) They are growing up way tooooo fast!! Holly got her first pair of glasses today. She only needs them for reading, which is a good thing, but she looks so grown up wearing them. What happened to my baby girl? Alyssa is moved back to Mankato (let's hope for good!!), and will start back at her old school again on Thursday. I think she is excited to be back with all of her old friends again. We are happy to have her back in town!!
Not much else is new with us. We are awaiting fall to arrive, and as the forecast sounds....it will be right around the corner!

On to Week 21

Not much to update, but just thought I would let everyone know that all is going well. No news from the doctor after the ultrasound, so we assume all is well. I am heading into 21 weeks this week. Past the half way point...whoohooo! I am feeling pretty good. I have had alot of energy, but not quite as much as pre-pregnancy. My belly is starting to pop, but unfortunately I am wearing the belly all around, and not just in front. Hopefullly soon I will have the cute baby bump! My next doctor appointment is in a week and half. I hope to talk to doctor into another ultrasound. We are anxiously waiting to find out if we can up the testosterone in the house....or add to all the estrogen! The girls are anxiously awaiting to find out of they will have a sister or brother too. They have both voted for a little brother, but I am sure will be happy to spoil either. They both told us that if all they get for Christmas is a baby brother or sister, they will be happy.....but we aren't counting on it! We know that they will both make excellent big sisters! Well that's all for now. Short and sweet....which means....no news is good news...right?
~Sam

Dostert Party of 5?

Our family is growing; and well, so is my belly! We are indeed expecting a little one, due around January 5. We are all very excited for this new addition to our family. We have kept quiet for 19 weeks, just to make sure all was going well. Today was the 1st big ultrasound, and it appears that baby is healthy and everything looks good. It is a Dostert baby, so of course... "it"has to be difficult. Baby happens to be head up, and face down; so we didn't really get a good look at anything...including those important parts. The technician thought that maybe the Dr. would want us to go back in a few weeks to see if they could get a better look, but for now.....we plan for yellow and green!
Thanks to all of you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. The last few years have been quite the roller coaster, but we keep praying that this time around it will be smoooooth sailing!