The pathology results are in!

Well, after being as patient as I could be for the last couple weeks, I had my doctor appointment with both the dermatologist and the OB/GYN today. The report from the dermatologist is that I have PUPPP which is just a rash that occurs to some women randomly and is of no harm to either the baby or me! They have me on a medium-strength steroid cream that has been effective. This occurrence should completely clear itself up after the delivery of Baby Partin. According to the doctor, he rarely sees it reoccur in second, third, etc pregnancies! Yay--since we want 4, right John??? He is replying with a very enthusiastic "Ha ha, funny funny."

As far as my appointment with the OB/GYN, the baby is doing FANTASTIC! The womb is now stretched from about 2-3" below my bust to about 2-3" above the unmentionable region. Doctor says that the baby is very active and had a heart rate of 150 bpm. Any ideas if it is a boy or girl?

On a complete side note, I found this cartoon which is SO fitting! I am dying for a Diet Mt. Dew!

We finally did it!

Well, a lot of you have been asking, and we finally bit the overwhelming bullet and registered for Baby Partin! I will say that I have never felt so overwhelmed and lost as I did trying to figure out what breast pump and accessories that I needed. I think John and I stood in that section of Babys 'R' Us for about 30 minutes before a new mother/store employee came over to help us. We must have looked pathetically lost! Oh! And oh my goodness, there is a WHOLE WALL for BOTTLES! I mean, how difficult should it be to pick out a bottle for a baby? Apparently, there are many things new parents should consider when picking out a bottle! After two and a half hours, we wrapped up at Babys 'R' Us and went home! I also registered at Target from home this evening! So to summarize, we have nothing, we do not know what to do with the stuff we registered for, and we are registered at Babys 'R' Us (www.babysrus) and Target (www.target.com).

On a side note, Baby Partin is getting large enough and kicking hard enough that John has been able to feel it and I have been kept awake at night :). Oh signs of the things to come! We are having a great time however, March is quickly coming and we are very anxious!

Oh! The picture for this post is the 22 week cartoon featured on www.baby-gaga.com. Please note: I am due on March 5th and have NO CLUE what we are having! Just a funny ha ha for the week!

Waiting on the results from the skin biopsy...

I went in today to get the redness/rash of my belly looked at by a dermatologist. They did a skin biopsy that has left me with a few stitches and they are currently hypothesizing that it could have one of three different causes. Unfortunately, the doctor thinks it may be the worst of the three called Pemphigoid Gestationis. All I know right now is that if it is PG, it can soon begin breaking out from a rash into blisters primarily on my belly and back and it will not clear up anytime soon. In fact, PG is an autoimmune disease brought on by pregnancy in 1 in 50,000 women--essentially, the cells that protect my baby are attacking my skin. In addition, it will rear its ugly head everytime I have a child according to online medical websites. With respect to our baby, there is a 10% chance that it could be passed on and the baby could be born with awful blisters. Right now, I am praying that the results will come back that I have PUPPP which is a rash that goes away on its own after delivery and that the results do not show that I have PG. Please please please lift this situation up in prayer, if you have a spare minute. I hate to ask to be prayed for but I am in much anticipation and worry until I find out the results on Monday/Tuesday.

I had to share this picture!

I was sent this picture along with some other hilarious animal pictures but this one SCREAMED at me! Not only is it perfect because John and I are Wolfpack fans, but it definitely illustrates John and I. So I have decided that one scenario this could possibly be illustrating is me going on and on and on until the point where John shuts me up OR I am making sure John does not go on to say something he will regret. Based on how you know us, we will let you decide which scenario is displayed. Enjoy!

Why is my belly turning red?

Ok, so this may be too much information for alot of you, but I have found out something really interesting this weekend! I started getting little red bumps that have broken out all over my growing belly and they started itching like crazy. I looked into it online and it is called PUPPP which is essentially a pregnancy rash. There is really nothing they can do about it (although, I currently have the OB GYN office looking into it) and it does not go away until the baby is born, interesting enough. Apparently, only 1 in 300 pregnant women get the rash and 70% of those women have a boy! There has been some research done and "they" say that it has something to do with the male fetal DNA acting as a skin irritant to women sensitive to whatever changes it causes. Also, "they" say that it is not harmful to mom or baby so that is why no more research has been done--personally, I say that "they" have not experienced it before!!!!! So....until I have this baby, which could possibly be a boy or a girl really, I will be itching like crazy! What a way to spend my last four months of pregnancy (I am now 20 weeks along)! Although, to give my friend Katie McWilliams some credit, at least they aren't multiple kidney stones--I am so glad you feel better, Katie!

http://www.parentingweekly.com/pregnancy/pregnancy_information/PUPPP_pregnancy_rashes.htm

And he is at peace...

I just wanted to thank everyone for the prayers for my grandfather. Sadly, he passed away this morning at about 11AM. My mother spoke to him by phone about 10 minutes before he passed--we believed his heart stopped again while in the hospital. Please continue to pray for my family as we make preparations according to his wishes. Also, if you will pray that we only remember those moments that had a positive tone and forget any negativity that was encountered in his final months. We are grieving but are blessed that he graced this world for 82 years. Thanks again.

Prayers Needed!

I just thought I would use this tool to enlist some prayers from friends and family. My grandfather is in the hospital again but in this case, it is not just for medication tweaking and to get him back on track with respect to diet and water retention around his heart. The doctors have informed us that his kidneys are failing significantly and we know from past experiences that when the kidneys fail, so does his heart. When I visited him with my mother on Saturday, we witnessed him having another heart attack but this time, his heart stopped completely for the first time. Luckily, the hospital staff was excellent and were able to do CPR to regain a heart beat. He is still in the hospital until further notice which could be indefinitely. I should also add that he requested and signed a DNR form should this happen again. I just ask that friends and family pray that God's will be done and if a miracle falls under His will, he improves and if not, that his decline be peaceful, uneventful, and without pain.

Also, if you could pray that others relatively involved in this situation maintain a maturity that assists in maintaining peace and stability rather than some behaviors they have recently exhibited, that would also be appreciated. At this point in his life, he needs to reflect only on the good in his life presently and in the past. I pray that nothing steals us from positive moments of love, reflection, and respect in the days to come.

On a side note, my late grandmother's birthday is in a day or so and he laughingly told my mother and I that he is looking forward to "sneaking up" on her. I am glad that he sees the light of rejoining my grandmother among all of this uncertaintly and sadness.

Our Baby at 18 Weeks!

Today we got to see Baby Partin at 18 weeks! We went to the doctor and had a 45 minute ultrasound. It was really exciting and definitely confirmed that this child is its father's child. Baby was cool, calm, and collected with one arm propped behind its head and the other alternating between reaching out and grabbing its toes and waving at us by opening and closing its fist. At one point, it sighed/yawned as if to say, "I am so glad to meet you mommy and daddy but honestly, I am bored with this and would love to go back to sleep :)." Another confirmation that this is John's child is that its knee came very close to its nose on many occasions. Funny story, when John was in high school, he was doing the high jump in track and his knee came up and broke his nose. So.....first the cravings for orange juice and now the knee to the nose. If that weren't enough, our little baby's head is the size of an 18 week 6 day old baby rather than a baby that is exactly 18 weeks old. We can thank Daddy for that and I am sure I will be "thanking" him when it comes time to push!

But, the baby is completely healthy and everything is completely normal! They moved our due date from March 2nd to March 5th. We have the name picked if it is a boy but are struggling with a girls name. Any suggestions? Also, we have a very cool 15 minute long DVD of our little one...let us know if you would like to come over and see it!

Welcome to our Blog!

After some thought and consideration, we thought it would be a great idea to start a blog now that there are so many changes in our lives as a new family. John and I will celebrate our 3rd anniversary in December and have loved our time together both in marriage and in dating for now 7 years. This past summer we moved from the Raleigh area to Sophia (near High Point) in North Carolina. We think the area is beautiful and are glad to be closer to family but are terribly homesick for our friends back in Raleigh! Our careers are taking off, however, and God has blessed us abundantly. He has provided us a beautiful home, a wonderful church family at Emerywood Baptist, dependable and generous state-funded incomes, and now a new addition to our family. We are expecting our first child on March 5th and are anticipating the day we can meet baby partin face-to-face. I hope you all enjoy our updates on how work, family, home, and our pregnancy is doing! Above is a picture of our new home--we would love for you to come visit!