24 - 24 - 24 - 24!!!

We FINALLY made it to 24 weeks! I am so excited. I had an appointment and my doctor gave me a hug because we made it this far. At this point, if I were to go into labor, the doctors would try to save the baby. That is so much better than with James and Hudson when we knew there was nothing that could be done. The baby is still breech with his feet down low - the ultrasound showed him kicking my bladder which was funny because I could see it and feel it at the same time. I have one more appointment in 2 weeks with an ultrasound and then they will put me back on a normal schedule. We are so excited to make it this far - now every day gives this baby a better chance.

Christmas Is Closed!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. The girls colored a beautiful Strawberry Shortcake picture for me and decroated the envelope and everything. Most of our digital camera pictures didn't turn out this year because a setting on the camera must have gotten changed and now everything is blurry (didn't this happen to us last year too??) Anyway, we need to figure out how to fix that.

Sydney got a Cinderella dress that she has barely taken off - oh and Cinderella slippers too...
Raleigh loves her new Posh Puppy that she had been asking for months for!

Sydney keeps asking James if she can dance with the "Handsome, Handsome Prince"

And...in Ceci's words...CHRISTMAS IS CLOSED!! We even found a new place for the Christmas tree until we find a place to dump it!

Where did all of the snow go??

This morning James has been having a little too much fun - he borrowed a friends 4 wheeler and has moved all of the snow from our entire front yard into one gigantic pile in the middle of the yard to help the girls build a fort. He has been giving the girls rides and they do not want to come inside. It reminds me of 3 wheel rides with Dad on snowy days!

22 Weeks

Okay - I appologize for my last blog - sometimes you just need to get something off your chest...I may have been a little crazy...

Anyway, I had a 22 week appointment and ultrasound this morning. The ultrasound is mainly to check cervical length in order to make sure it is still long enough. I have always been 4.0 - 4.6 or more - even the morning before the boys were born. Anyway, today the lady took the measurement many times and it ranged from 3.3 to 3.7. They even did an internal ultrasound for a more accurate measurement. Anyway, as I was waiting in the waiting room for my appt. with the doctor I had convinced myself that my cervix was thinning and that I was going to be on bedrest etc... By the time I was the doctor I was practically in tears...I cry everytime I see her anyway...she assured me that 3.7 was totally normal, I am not even on the bubble of her worrying about it yet. She wants it to stay between 2.5 - 4.0. She did another urine culture for me this week as well. She told me to take it easy for the next 2 weeks just to get to 24 weeks (okay, I can do that). She would really like to get me further but I guess we can only take a few weeks at a time. She also did say that if the baby was ready - she wouldn't mind delivering him at 37-38 weeks just to avoid something happening in the last 2 weeks. I am not planning on that happening but I am glad she is open to it.

Sydney is 3!!

Sydney celebrated her 3rd Birthday this week. She got to help make the cake and her and Raleigh decorated it. We had a soup bar dinner at our house and Sydney and her cousins got to go sledding. Sydney has been having fun playing with her presents too.

We had lots of left over soup which has been great to warm up for dinners! There was some left over cake but nobody knew about it so I ate the last 3 pieces for breakfast the past few days:)

Sydney has been riding her bike around the loop for the past few days. She can go pretty well over the carpet part now too. James keeps threatening to stick it in the shed until spring because she has been riding it so much.

James got to go to Raleigh's school to make Gingerbread houses on Friday. Raleigh loved having her daddy there. The gingerbread house was really cute. It now looks like a frosting house because the girls (and James) have been snitching the candy of from it.

21 Weeks

Today we made it to 21 weeks! Baby James was born at 21 weeks and a few days so I am guessing this little baby looks a lot like him - probably nearly 1 pound and 11 inches long. We still have a LONG way to go. If I could skip the next month of my life (Christmas and all) I would not be sad. It really will be nice to have the next few weeks behind us. I think I go to the doctor again next week for another ultrasound - I am not sure if they will keep seeing me every 2 weeks after that or if they will make appointments a little further between after that time. Hopefully the next month is uneventful!!

For Becky - the elephant picture

I promised my sister Becky that I would post this picture. Raleigh wanted to keep the elephants away so she made a sign. I actually think the drawing is good...the Penquin picture impressed me too. Where does she learn this??

Oh, It's an Elephant!

I had my 20 week ultrasound today - everything went well. The baby appears normal and healthy. I was happy to find out that the placenta was not close to the cervix which it was with both of the boys. That could be a possibility of how the infection got in. I was also checked again for a bladder infection - I am going to be checked every couple of appointments just to make sure there is no infection left from before. And, the baby is still a boy - we are happy about that ! (Although I would be just as happy if it were a girl). The nurse who did my prep work before I saw my doctor said, "oh, your first boy, that is nice". James looked at me and rolled his eyes...

I brought the ultrasound pictures home and showed the girls. Raleigh was excited and Sydney saw one of them and pointed to it and said, Oh, it's an elephant!! (She wishes). In her defense, the picture looked nothing like a baby.

And for another animal story...this morning the girls were playing "Cheetah and Horse" Raleigh was the cheetah and she made Sydney be the horse. Raleigh knows that cheetahs are enemies of horses. They were growling at each other and playing around and then all of the sudden, the horse (Sydney) had the helpless cheetah (Raleigh) in a headlock on the floor. Hmmm...picture that in the wild. It reminded me of Missy and Becky. I wish I had a picture...

Legs are crossed

Yup - my legs are not crossed (I haven't crossed them since May and I don't plan to until April) but...the baby's legs were crossed so they could not confirm that he is still a boy. The lady 2 weeks ago told me to have a double check during this ultrasound just to make sure about the boy parts because the last ultrasound was so early. I know what I saw last time so I am not worried but it would be nice to be sure!
Everything else at this appointment went well. My doctor is going to check my urine again every few weeks to make sure there is no more infection - they couldn't do it today because I still have antibiotics in my system - it will be nice to confirm that there is no infection. I go back in 2 weeks for the "20 week" ultrasound where they do all the measurements and stuff. I am glad I have had so many already because they have not noticed anything strange. It is fun to feel the baby kicking too - one of the best feelings in the world - I will never get sick of that. My doctor seems to be on board with checking me closely she does a good job of asking questions that could indicte any problems. Hopefully everything continues this smoothly.

You know it has been a "great" year when...

you get a calendar in the mail from a funeral home!!

James and I joke about being on the funeral home calendar list - we got the calendar yesterday in the mail - it sure is our hope to never be on the list again!

Today is the day in my pregnancy that baby Hudson was born - 17 weeks and 6 days. We already passed the time that he was born - very early in the morning. It is nice to be past that time but we have a long way to go. Little James was born at 21.5 weeks - it will be nice to pass that mark in a few weeks too. It is weird that I know exactly what this baby looks like now. I am hoping not to see him in person for a long time:)

More Medicine

Well, I am on yet another medicine starting yesterday. I finally got the results of the cultures from last week and I do have a bladder infection. The antibiotic that I have been on one week and then off a week is resistent to the bacteria so my doctor put me on a different kind of antibiotic. I am glad to get it taken care of. I really don't show many symptoms of an infection but I have learned that for me - that is normal. I had an infection when Hudson was born that I had no idea I had either. I was glad my doctor took me seriously when I said that something was not exactly right but I didn't know what it was. Hopefully we caught this one in time before it gets too bad.

We have made it to 17 weeks - 7 more weeks to go before I can breathe a small sign of relief. If the baby were to be born after Dec 31, the baby would have chance to make it on his own. I am hoping for many more weeks than that but it is my first goal that I would like to pass!

Also, little Piper is home from the hospital - she does NOT have the same virus that my other niece had - just coincedence that the spots she had were in the same places and looked similar. I am so thankful for that!

It feels like we've been here before...

It was a weird feeling again today. I visited my sister in the hospital because she had her baby last night. It was not weird to see the baby - even though Hudson and her should have only been 5 weeks apart. The weird part was that my new niece was born with the same virus that her older sister was born with 3 years ago. My other niece and Baby James were only supposed to be a few weeks apart as well. It just seems that everything that happened to my sister and I once have come back and happened again. My new niece is hooked up to IV's and in a special little room next to the NICU all by herself. She had a spinal tap and other tests this morning that were sent to the Mayo Clinic. The results don't come back for a few days but they are already giving the baby the medicines that should help clear the virus. I think she will be in the hospital for 2 weeks just like her big sister was.
I am asking for prayers for my sister and her family. Going through something like this one time is hard but the second time is terrible. They are worried about the outcome of the tests (which have the possibility of being really bad). But, luckily the virus in my older niece was caught before it got too bad. We need prayers that this virus is still in the beginning stages and can be managed. My sister will still have to be very careful with the new baby for at least a year to try to keep her from getting sick. In an older child or an adult, this virus does not pose a huge problem but it is very serious for a newborn.
I was glad to be able to go to the hospital this time. I was not allowed to go see my niece 3 years ago during her 2 week stay because I was pregnant with Sydney. I did go this time, trying to be careful to manage any infection for myself as well. We do know that in all of this, God is good and has a plan for our families. It just stinks that because of what my sister and I have been through it makes being pregnant and having babies full of so much worry. Even when we tell ourselves not to worry, the worry and fear are there consistantly. Please remember my sister and niece in your prayers today.

Baby Kuipers is a...

BOY!!!

I guess some benefits to having ultrasounds every 2 weeks is finding out that we are having a boy at 16 weeks. It really was not hard to tell either. I could tell even before she told me what he was. I am very excited. James and the girls are excited too!

Halloween with the Princesses

Halloween was fun this year. James and I took the girls around the neighborhood. Raleigh had a friend over so she went with us too. Raleigh was a Princess that could turn into anything and Sydney was Tinkerbelle. Sydney liked to use her Charm (her wand) and say "bibbity-bobbity boo" to people and turn them into things. She turned people into cats, dogs, pumpkins, and tigers. The people handing out candy just laughed.

Good Appointment Today

I had a doctor appointment with my regular OB this morning - besides waiting in the waiting room for over 1.5 hours the appointment went well. I had an ultrasound first and the baby looks great (same as the other kids - very active with a hand by the face). My OB agreed with the course of action for the antibiotics and agreed that the Zithromax Z-Pack that I took for the last 2 pregnancies would not have taken care of the specific bacteria that was found in my blood after the boys were born. She told me to take one of the other antibiotics for a week on and then a week off. I asked her about me being cold all of the time and she said I could be anemic or something so I had bloodwork done for that. Also, she said that if the symptoms start again like they did with the boys to call her right away and she would get me in with a different high-risk doctor. This other doctor is in the same building but a different practice. Hopefully I won't ever even need to talk to her. I got basic bloodwork done as well and I was chatting with the blood lady and since we were talking she filled up one vial of blood and then took the needle out. She had to start all over to fill up the rest of the tubes from my other arm. Those pokes along with the flu shot, I look like a druggie. I go back in 2 weeks for another ultrasound and appointment - hopefully everything is uneventful until then.

President Bush Waived To Us Again!

We went out this afternoon and the motorcade went right by our house! The girls had their American flags and were waiving them. President Bush leaned across inside of his car to waive to us again. Our street was blocked off by the police too. We saw him much better the first time but is was great to see him again! I tried to get a picture but we were waiving instead. I did get one of the bomb squad truck and the rest of the motorcade but not as impressive as the president. My friend Jessi and her boys were able to see the inside of the Bomb Squad truck and see the sniffer dogs because they were parked nearby for preschool. That would have been cool!

President Bush Just Waived To Us!

We saw President Bush earlier this afternoon! We heard that he was in town and we figured out that his motorcade was going to drive right by James' office so we brought James lunch and then everyone in the office and Raleigh, Sydney and I went outside to see him come by. The helicopter was right above us and the streets were all blocked off. It was fun to see the policemen yell at the cars to get out of the road. His motorcade came on the street right in front of the office and we were pretty close to the road and we could see President Bush inside his car. Raleigh and I were waiving to him and he smiled and waived back at us - it was pretty cool. I am going to try to catch the motorcade coming back later this afternoon - if they take the highway back to the airport, then they will come right by our house.

Apple Picking

We went Apple Picking this weekend. The girls wanted to go and we had a great time. For some reason we thought it was going to be a big process and it really did not take long at all. We made a big batch of apple sauce this weekend too. I am so glad that James helped peel the apples - it goes so much faster that way!

Hudson's Due Date

Today is Hudson's due date and it has been 5 months since he was born. It is amazing how much growing babies need to do in the last 5 months - especially seeing how small but perfect he was even at 18 weeks. It really is nice to be 11 weeks along with baby #5.

We went to Raleigh's soccer game this morning - she is getting better - she actually touched the ball a few times in the second half!
Sydney was practicing her soccer moves with Daddy while Raleigh's team was practicing. Then she played in the dirt while Raleigh's game was going on.

A Plan - for now...

I got a call from our infertility doctor today - he was just checking in with us. I told him about our appointment with the high-risk doctor and he seemed surprised. He said they had talked this week about our situation and he seems more on-board now. The infertility doctor told me to stop the antibiotic that I am on for now. I have another prescription from him that I am going to have filled and keep on hand. If I start to notice any change that would indicate an infection, I need to go back on both antibiotics right away. It seems like a good plan to me so that the bacteria does not get resistant to the antibiotic. I feel a lot better about it than before. I am still planning on seeing my regular OB in a few weeks and I will make her come up with a plan in my file for what to do if the symptoms start back up. The infertility doctor wants the high risk doctor to monitor us pretty closely which, I guess, is good - as long as he takes it seriously. We'll see how the next few weeks go - hopefully they will be uneventful.

Oh Sydney...

The other night Sydney was supposed to be in her room doing "reading time" before bed and I heard her say, "MOMMY, MOMMY - I NEED SOME MORE NEMO CHAPSTICK!!" So, I went in her room and said, why do you need more chapstick? She holds up an empty tube and says, "Mine's all gone"
-"Why is yours all gone?"
-"'Cause I put it on my aminals"
-"Why did you put it on your animals?"
-"'Cause they like it."
-"Sydney, we DON'T put chapstick on animals, we put it on little girls. "(James laughing from the living room)
-"Why?"
-"Because animals don't need it."
-'Yes they do."
-"No they don't"
-"Yes they do Mommy"
-"Can you show me where it all is?"
-"Look - on their mouths"
-"Sydney, you did do a good job just getting it on their mouths but don't put chapstick on animals again..."
-"Okay mommy, can I have more Nemo chapstick?"
-"NO - go to sleep!"

You cannot see it really well but the chapstick was around all of the mouths of ALL of her animals.

And just because Syd has really been fun lately I'm putting a picture of her in her dancing outfit - this is becoming a daily routine

Not a Great Appointment Today

We had our appointment with the high-risk doctor this morning. It really did not go very well at all. We had an ultrasound and everything looks great with the baby so far but then we met with the doctor to ask questions and go over stuff for this pregnancy. Because of his answers (or lack thereof) I cried throughout the entire meeting. He had nothing positive to say. Pretty much if I start to have the same symptoms as with the boys (bleeding, fever, etc) there is nothing they can do. He was not willing to do baseline blood tests or vaginal tests. He would have given me the same antibiotic that did not work with Hudson. Luckily our infertility doctor had listened to us and changed to antibiotic to something that will work to take care of the specific bacteria that they found in my blood after the baby was born. He told me my immunine system must be weak but that is typical during a pregnancy but that there was NOTHING I could do to help have a better immunine system (something I do not believe is true). Anyway, he is doing nothing proactive except I get ultrasounds frequently which will tell us nothing - the baby is always fine, cervical lenght always fine. He knows this but is doing this for our peace of mind. He seemed to think there was NOTHING we could do to prevent infection either - again, something I have a hard time believing. So, we will stay on our course of action, doing things (or not doing things) to prevent infections. We will just have to rely on prayer to help us through this one. I sometimes wonder how Sydney was ever born healthy. I really believe that if we can prevent infection, things may be okay. Our due date is April 22 so if we can make it to April we would be so excited. Please pray for our situation. We are very frusterated. We really do not want to go through what we have been through again.

Graduated

We graduated (again) from the infertility doctor!! Our ultrasound today went well. We have one healthy baby - he (or she) was moving arms and legs quite a bit already - fun to watch. Our doctor wants us to meet with the high-risk doctor in the next couple of weeks and wants us to be monitored pretty closely the entire time. Our infertility doctor told us that he wants us to keep him updated and if we are not feeling like we are getting the attention we need that we need to call him and he will make sure stuff gets done for us. We have been very impressed and really appreciate all that he has done for us with this baby and all of the previous ones as well. We hope we never have to go back to see him though :) I am still on lots of different meds and I will continue to be throughout the pregnancy. Hopefully the ones I am on will work this time. We are still praying for proactive, not reactive, doctors and no infections of any kind.

One - kind of...

We had our appointment with our doctor early this afternoon and we have one little baby with a very tiny little heartbeat. Everything looks good with the baby so far and our due date is April 22. There was another baby but there was no visible heartbeat (which should be there by now). So, we are very excited about having one but it would have been great to have had 2! Our doctor said there is about a 5 % chance that the other baby might still be okay. We go back in 2 weeks so we should know for sure.

Postponed...

I got a call from the doctor's office this morning and my appointment that was supposed to be tomorrow is postponed until Sunday morning. So, we have a few more days of waiting. We still have not told the girls yet - we wanted to make sure everything looks normal before we tell them...we'll know more Sunday.

Oh, and I finally got a new camera - it was going to cost more to send in our old one to get fixed than it is to buy a better camera - so, the battery is being charged and maybe we can start taking pictues again - truthfully, on our little vacation last week it was really nice to not have to even worry about taking pictures but it will be nice to be able to have pictues of Raleigh's first day of school next week.

Pregnant for number 5!!

I just heard from the doctor's office and my second set of bloodwork numbers came back fine - so...we are pregnant with baby number 5. My numbers were 77 on Tuesday and 197 today - they want the numbers to double so that is good. We will have an ultrasound in a couple of weeks and hopefully see a little heartbeat. My doctor is putting me on antibiotics 3 times a day - this is a different antibiotic than I was on for Sydney and Hudson. The one I will be on is the same one they gave me after Hudson was born in order to take care of the peptostreptococcus that they cultured from my blood. Hopefully this will take care of any problems before they become big problems. We are praying for:
1) A healthy pregnancy with NO INFECTIONS
2) Wisdom for my doctors (our infertility doctor, my OB, & the high-risk doctor) so they will be able to prevent infections and treat infections quickly if they come.
3) Peace for us - this pregnancy will be a constant worry that something may go wrong

Thank you for your prayers - We are sure God has a plan for our family even after all that we have been through.

LaBarge Party

We spent yesterday afternoon and evening at the annual LaBarge beach party at Uncle Jim's cottage on Lake Michigan. The water was super warm and the girls had a great time. James remembered to bring the kites - it was a perfect day for that too...

Raleigh and Sydney took turns jumping in the waves with Daddy - Raleigh said the big ones were the best.
The girls had so much sand in their hair - even after their baths!

The water was so warm that Raleigh said she was "so cold" when she got out of the water.
It was fun day - Becky was in town too so Raleigh got to hold Melodie - one of her favorite things to do!

Now just waiting...

My IUI yesterday went well. My mom had the girls so I spent the rest of the day on the couch. Hopefully taking it easy will help get us positive results! I still have to wait a few weeks before we know anything. I start progesterone shots tonight - James has to give them to me and he is really excited:) Now starts the waiting which is never my favorite part...

Raleigh's Birthday Party!

Raleigh had a great time for her 5th Birthday! We went to Sandy Pines on Sunday and celebrated Grandpa K's birthday too and on Monday Raleigh took her cousins to Build-A-Bear and then we had a LB party at our house. Raleigh loves being 5!

We're scheduled for Wednesday

I had more bloodwork and another ultrasound this morning. I have 4 follicles that will be mature by Wednesday so the IUI is scheduled for Wednesday morning. The nurse made sure I knew the risks with having 4 follicles. They normally aim for 2-3 for an IUI. There is a 2% chance of all 4 working and a 20% chance of multiples. I have had four in the past and I have never gotten pregnant with more than 1 at a time so James and I are not too worried. I am actually glad there is 4 because that gives us more of a chance of this working.

Doctor Appointment Update

I had a doctor appointment this morning. I have one follicle at 12 and a couple at 10. That means that they need a few more days to grow. They grow 1-2 (mm??) a day. They need to be around 16 to 22 for the eggs to be mature. So, the IUI will most likely be on Tuesday. I may have to go in on Monday for another ultrasound and bloodwork and then have the last shot that releases the eggs at the appointment or I may just have to take the shot on Sunday night, skip the ultrasound and go in on Tuesday for the IUI. I will know more this afternoon what the plan is. I also have a prescription for antibiotics for before the procedure in attempt to stop any initial infection.

Sydney's Sad Face

A few weeks ago, we all went out to James' and Hudson's spot to see their new headstone. We had to replace James' because they only allow 2 headstones per spot and we would have had too many with Grace, James, and Hudson. Sydney put on her "sad" face even though she wasn't really acting sad - I think it is just what she thinks she should do. My mom and I and to go pick up James' headstone because I could not lift it myself. We had to bring a towel and roll in onto the towel so we could lift it into the car. That thing is HEAVY! We are not sure what we are going to do with it yet - maybe have it polished down and made into a very heavy stepping stone for the garden... We have a picture of our family on baby James' first birthday at his "spot" - Sydney was a newborn - I really hope that can happen for us on Hudson's birthday:)

Ready to Go Again

I had a doctors appointment this morning - I am cleared to begin medicine for the upcoming IUI. I start the meds on Saturday and go back a week from Friday for more bloodwork and another ultrasound. The procedure will most likely be towards the beginning of the week of the 28th. I am hopeful that this cycle will work. We got pregnant on the first cycle with this procedure and these meds for the first 3 kids (I don't know why it did not work for Hudson). So, we are praying for:
1) 3 to 4 follicles that are the right size
2) wisdom for my doctor
3) no infections for me.

Little James

I was walking around the house last week holding Sydney trying to get her to fall asleep. I needed her to have at least part of a nap because we had to go somewhere that evening and she was just playing in her bed. Anyway, as I was walking with her I looked down and her blanket was covering 2/3 of her mouth and I was amazed at what I saw...the remaining 1/3 of her lips looked just like baby James' mouth. The part that I was seeing was just the edge of her lips, not the fullest part. I kept looking at her over and over because it was another reminder of what baby James would have looked like. I have seen him in her before - more so when she was younger. It makes me wonder what baby James and Hudson would have looked like when they were older. I really did not see many similarities between Hudson and the other kids but I think that was because he was a few weeks younger. I am always glad for moments like those - I wish they would come more often!

First Blog Post

This is the first post for the Kuipers Family Blog. I am not sure what exactly will go into it but it will probably be a good place to keep updates on our family. James and I are back in the all-too-familiar place of dealing with infertility issues (something we thought we were done with) and hopefully the upcoming issues related to another pregnancy. Although baby Hudson was born only about 10 weeks ago, we are looking forward to having more children and we pray that God will bless us again soon, just as He has done before.

I will probably mention updates on my doctor's appointments (that should begin soon) so instead of having to make a hundred calls to update people, I will only have to make a few. I am looking forward to starting the process of dealing with infertility issues again because hopefully it will be a step closer to us adding more children to our family. James and I are so greatful for our 2 girls and we are also blessed that God gave us our 2 boys - even though we could only know them for a short time. We look forward to learning what God has planned for us because he is FAITHFUL!