Baby Jake!

What a big little boy we have on the way! I love this picture of him smiling! He has such chubby cheeks and it has been so neat being able to see him so often. My stomach is getting so big and I have been measuring big so I asked the doctor about it. My original due date was February 20th and they changed it to March 5th because of an early ultra sound. The doctor said we could do an ultra sound to check things out. I went in and found out that (I was 32 1/2 weeks along) Jake already weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces! WHOA! We also found out that I have too much amniotic fluid. The doctors seemed concerned about the amniotic fluid but were acting so strange to Josh and me about everything. Josh has been with me at most of my doctors appointments the past month and a half because #1 I need someone to drive me (I'm not supposed to drive) and #2 we needed to find out what the problem has been with me. Anyway, we could tell something was off because of how everyone was acting, but no one would give us much information (and they still haven't so we have had to look a lot up on the internet and in medical books). Ever since then they have been monitoring little Jakey a lot closer. I have had an ultrasound every week now. It sure has been fun being able to see our little guy! He is SO active in my tummy. During one of the ultra sounds he actually flipped completely over while the technician was looking at him! Going in so often has been really tough on my body so it has been awesome to have the little reward of getting to see him while I am there!

At this week's ultrasound the technician did the baby's growth again (they aren't able to do it every time). According to what they have told us, Jake should've weighed about 7 pounds 3 ounces at this weeks ultra sound. To my surprise our "little" Jake already weighs 7 pounds 11 ounces!! YIKES! That was a couple days ago too, so he is even bigger now! I was 2 days shy of being 35 weeks even!! He is measuring big and my amniotic fluid is still really high so we'll see what happens with that.

With things being so difficult with my body during this pregnancy and with the fact that Jake is already so big we asked my doctor if we could deliver him early (provided he would be healthy enough to be born). The doctor said we could do an amnio to see if his lungs are developed enough to be born and then go from there. So that is our next step. I go into the hospital on Monday for the amnio and then we will probably get our results on Tuesday and find out if he is ready to be born. If so, then they will take him as soon as I can be scheduled. I am probably going to have to have a c-section because of his size. Ally was 8 pounds 2 ounces and it was just about the end of having kids (so we thought...but for good reason!) for me after she was born. We know that it is not good on my body to have big babies, so we are hoping things may go a bit better with the c-section. We know things will still be incredibly difficult since my body does not heal well from surgeries anyway, but it is worth a shot. If Jake's lungs aren't developed enough then hopefully they will tell us how close they are to being ready. It would be wonderful if he was ready to come out so I can begin the recovery process from this whole experience. I know it won't be easy, but we are confident that there is an end in sight (and if not then we will cross that bridge when we get there!). It sure does make everything seem worth it when we get to see him in those ultra sounds though.

Josh has told me that all of these trials we have been facing are only but a small moment in the grand scheme of things. It is true, and we will be blessed to have our Jacob for all of eternity! What a blessing the gospel is. The Lord has not left our side and I have felt so blessed. Although the pain has been quite a struggle at times I have not had cabin fever and I have not been really depressed this whole time. In my opinion (especially seeing how active I was beforehand) that is a huge blessing and I know that the Lord is and has always been there for me and my family. He has really helped me bare my burdens and has strengthened me. He hasn't always taken the pain away, but He has provided a way for me to cope with it and continue to have faith in Him and lean on His strength. He has strengthened Josh and the girls as well! I am so grateful to the Lord for that. I really feel so blessed and I know that come what may my family will get through these things if we continue to stay close to the our Savior.