My amazing pants

I know it's not quite time for another belly shot since I'm only at 25 weeks, but I just have to share this with everyone. No one warned me about the amazing maternity pants before I got pregnant so I've been learning as I go. Just in case there are a few of you out there who, like me, are still unaware of how incredibly flattering these pants are, here is something for you to look forward to:


I mean, really--who wouldn't want a pair of these?? I might just hang onto them after I've had the baby and pull them out for important events like Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner! Go on... you know you want to go out and get some just like them. :)

Baby checkup: Part 2

Well, I went back to the doctor today to finish our 24 week check up, and everything is fine. We heard Abby's heartbeat (strong as ever), and I let him reassure me (again) that these pain meds will not be harmful to her. I'm sure he's getting sick of me asking things like, "She won't be addicted to pain killers or anything, will she??" over and over again. Thank you, Dr. Thompson, for being patient with the paranoid mommies like me. :) They also gave me the bottle of glucose nastiness that I will have to drink right before my next appointment in 4 weeks for the gestational diabetes test. Ah, something to look forward to. Then 2 weeks after that appointment, we'll get another ultrasound! I'm very excited to see what she looks like at 30 weeks! It seems so far away right now, but the weeks seem to be flying lately.

The semi-down side of today's appointment was the discussion about whether or not I'll need to have a c-section. Between breaking my tail bone a year ago and then having this neck surgery, I think we are going to have to schedule a c-section. I'm not exactly in a position to be pushing much of anything out of my body in the next few months. I'm a little nervous about another surgery, but I know moms do it all the time (my mom did it twice!) so I'm trying to see the bright side. At least I'll know when she's coming! :) Other than that, this pregnancy is going really well. Thank you, Lord, for continuing to take care of this baby!

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. :)