24 weeks and counting

I'm trying to get belly pictures taken once every 4 weeks, so here are the most recent. Today makes 24 weeks, and I am still trying to rest and heal from the surgery. I haven't gotten a whole lot bigger because the surgery kept me from gaining too much weight (only about 4 lbs in the last 4 weeks), but she is definitely still growing. We were supposed to have a check-up with my OBGYN this morning, but he had to run off for an emergency delivery so we're going back tomorrow morning. In the mean time, here are the most recent pics of me and Abby:

Post-surgery update

I know I'm a little behind on blogging. We've had a lot going on, and then getting ready for neck surgery just kind of took over my life. There was a lot to do at work since I won't be going back for a few weeks. I had the surgery on Wednesday morning, and everything went very well. Dr. Tullis said he was able to remove the bad disc, and there were also several disc fragments that he had to go in and clean out which could have been causing quite a bit of my pain. They replaced the disc with bone and fused it together with a metal plate. The surgery itself only took about an hour. He said he was very pleased with the results, and the baby is doing great. I made sure they checked for her heartbeat all the time and that the meds were all safe for her, too. Casey made fun of me and said I was being paranoid, but I think it's better to be safe than sorry. We were able to come home Thursday afternoon, and mom will probably stay til Sunday and then head back to Memphis.

OH! For those who haven't heard, we have a name for the baby: Abigail Elizabeth Cochran. :) We'll call her Abby, and I'm so excited to finally have a name picked out. It took Casey a while to settle on it, but we're both happy with it.

They just gave me a prescription for Lortab to take for pain at home, but I'm trying to only take it at night when I sleep. The pain isn't terrible, and I want to get by on Tylenol (or nothing) as much as I can. The fewer drugs I take, the better off Abby will be. She is still kicking and moving so I'm not nearly as worried for her as I was. I think she'll be a strong little girl.

I do get tired pretty easily, so I think the blogging will have to end there. Thanks to everyone for the prayers and words of encouragement!

Halfway there

Casey got to put up the ultrasound pictures and video, but I guess I'm allowed to put up pictures of my big belly. :) I can't believe we're already at 20 weeks--halfway there! I look pretty tired in the full picture, but it's the best we've got for now. I'll post a longer blog about everything that's going on when I'm more awake. I just wanted to get these up before going to bed. I hope everyone is having a good week!


Oh, and this is the shirt Aunt Tara got her niece-to-be as part of my birthday present. She's SO clever. :)

This is how I keep going...

Life is hard.

Sometimes there is no good decision.

God is faithful.

Prayer can give peace.

Devoted family and friends are priceless.

Encouragement is a lifesaver.

Healing will come.

Wrap up

Ok, to quickly wrap up from yesterday's incomplete entry, I guess I should update on the medical issues. Not my favorite thing to discuss (it's never ending!), but I know people have been asking about it. My visit with the neurosurgeon was pretty uneventful last Monday because there's not much he can do without an updated MRI (the most recent one is from October). They did testing for carpal tunnel since I'm having weakness and tingling in my hands, and I had another MRI done of my neck this past Thursday. I'm going to see him again this Thursday (the 20th) to see the results of those tests and get his recommendations. He's definitely not pushing surgery unless this MRI shows that I absolutely need it. We don't want to put the baby in any danger--I just hope he'll have some sort of solution so I can get through the rest of this pregnancy without much pain! I'm still going to the Upper Cervical Center a few times a week, and that seems to be going ok so far. It's more of a long term thing, so I'm not expecting immediate results. We did look at my last x-ray the other day (it was done before I got pregnant), and apparently my neck is curving the opposite direction. Oh, so THAT'S the problem! Yikes! They're pretty sure that happened when I had my nasty wreck in 2001. Hopefully, they'll be able to work their magic over the next 6 months or so to help it correct itself.
In the meantime, I'm just trying to keep my head above water at work. I work Monday through Thursday of this week, we're off for Good Friday, and then... SPRING BREAK!!! Finally! Casey and I have already booked a place in Branson for this weekend, and I am SO ready to get out of town for a few days! Now I must say good night and hope that this post was enough to last everyone a few more days. :)

Not quite finished

I don't know why, but I just haven't been able to make myself update this thing lately! This past week was pretty terrible with work, but I survived and am enjoying the weekend. Mom and Dad came over Friday night to have my birthday dinner out at the farm, and then Mom and I did some shopping before they went back today. I've decided that everyone's birthday should be dragged out for at least a week. It's way more fun! Mamaw made some amazing food, I got great presents, and we had a really good time laughing all night. Mom and I didn't find a lot to buy today (hello, we live in Searcy), but I did manage to get my grocery shopping done. :) Tomorrow will have to be a day of work between going to church, but I'm not going to think about that just yet.

Apparently Tara is coming over to hang out for a little while, so I'll have to add more later. To be continued...

Snow!

I have no pictures to show for it, but it actually snowed here today! Several schools closed, but the co-op did not... sad. I did have to reschedule a couple of parent conferences so that was happy. It just kept coming down, so I decided to work from home today (not that my neck allowed me to do so for long periods of time). Hopefully, the pain will subside a little tomorrow and I can get some work done in the office. The next couple of weeks are going to be insane! I think I counted 23 parent conferences in 4 days next week. Yikes! I'm taking Monday off to go see a neurologist in Little Rock, and I am really hoping he will be able to suggest something to relieve this pain. If nothing else, I'd take a temporary solution to get me through the pregnancy!

Other than the neck mess, baby and I are doing really well. I keep pausing to see if I can feel her move around, but there hasn't been a definite sign of movement yet. I might be worried if I hadn't seen her squirming so much on the ultrasound last week. :) Casey, of course, is still being wonderful and taking care of us all the time. Meals aren't as much of an issue because several girls from church brought a TON of food over this past Saturday. Our freezer is packed, so we should be good for the next month! They've been so sweet about trying to help while we get these neck issues sorted out. Casey works until 6:00 every night, so dinner has kind of been a headache for us. I am so thankful for the Christian friends we have made in this young marrieds class at church!

Speaking of dinner, I'm starving and Casey should be home soon. I hope this update was enough to sustain you (Christy ;)).