Just to confirm...

I think everyone knows by now, but we are expecting Nevitt baby #3. I am 16 weeks today and feeling pretty good. We are hoping to find out the sex tomorrow, so I will update as soon as I can after the appointment. This is a picture from last appointment, at 14weeks.

Slacker....

Yes, I know - I've been a horrible slacker on posting on the blog this year. I am working to remedy that. I am slowly going through videos and pictures and will post them in their appropriate time. I will put a "Slacker" label on them, so you will know they are added after the fact!

Tickle Tickle

This weekend, K-Kay and Papa were in town to help us with a garage sale. We took them to the Germantown Commissary for some good Memphis barbecue, and while we were eating, Grant took it upon himself to entertain Dean.

Dean's New Trick

Dean has a new trick and it is all he wants to do. He is officially cruising!!! He's only been pulling up for the last two weeks and he has jumped to full on walking with a push toy. He is starting to let go and gaining confidence with his balance. I guess it helps to have a big brother to chase after!

It's been a while....

WOW.... I just realized how long it's been since I posted. I need to be better about this. We have had quite a few changes since the new year! Dean is now 9 months old. He is crawling, pulling up, trying to learn how to walk and talking... "da da" is his favorite, followed by an occasional "ma ma". He's still pretty bald, although he is starting to grow some hair in the back! He's got an infectious smile that melts all your negative energy away. You can't help but smile when he's smiling at you.

Grant is 3.5 now. He's virtually potty trained!!!!! Yeah - this has been a very long road! But now he will stop what he's doing, most of the time, to go potty. He is such a smart little boy. He's always thinking and remembering things we have told him in the past - like not to stand on your toys or not to step on cheerios that Dean dumps on the floor. Then when he sees a toy or cheerio on the floor, he'll tell me he's not going to stand on it or step on it, without even a word from me. He is so caring and loving and ALWAYS wants to help - from making bottles for Dean to scooping Hudson's poop in the yard. Which brings me to the funniest story of all time....

As I said, Grant loves to help Daddy scoop poop. Even when Matthew's not home, he goes out and scoops Hudson's poop. Two Saturdays ago, Matthew and I were inside tending to Dean and Grant was outside scooping poop. All the sudden, we look out the kitchen window and see Grant with his pants around his ankles. Turns out, there was no more poop in the yard, so Grant decided to scoop his own poop! He made such a mess in the process that Matthew had to strip him and hose him off. It was classic. We're still laughing about it.

Here's my most recent favorite picture.....Adorable superhero shirts compliments of Ms. Cecile!

Dean Nevitt Look-alike Meter

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Grant Nevitt Look-alike Meter

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Water Baby

As you can see, Dean loves the bath! It's our fool proof way to get him to stop crying.

Push Ups

Grant wanted to show off his skillz!

Cute Pictures!!

Well, Dean is a week old today!!! He's doing really well and we're starting to get used to being a family of four! Here are some cute pics from the week!

Introducing....

Dean Matthew!!!

We got to the hospital to be induced yesterday at 4am and he was born at 10:03am. He weighed 7 pounds even and was 19.5 inches long. He's just beautiful. His big brother was soooo excited to meet him. We'll post the video of that later.

and here we go!!!!

Well, I just got back from my doctor's appointment and there's been lots of change since last week. I had an ultrasound today and Dean's estimated to weigh 6 pounds 7 ounces. My doctor is starting to get concerned because his belly is measuring about 3-4 weeks behind (which could just mean he's a little baby). My amniotic fluid dropped and my placenta looks aged, so they're concerned that my placenta is not doing everything it should be. Based on that, he said he was going to induce me on Monday.

Then he checked and I'm 3-4 cm dialated and 100% effaced. I'm also having contractions, but just nothing regular. He said he really doesn't expect me to still be pregnant on Monday. I've noticed a lot more contractions today than usual and I definitely feel different, so hopefully that means that Dean will be here soon! Monday at the latest though!

Or Not....

I had another doctor's appointment today and there's not been much change in the past two weeks. Here, we've been thinking this entire time that Dean would be born early, at least in August, and it's not looking like he's coming anytime soon. Apparently, he's just fine where he is. I have another appointment and ultrasound next Tuesday to see how much he weighs.

Not much change

I had another appointment today, and there's not been much change since last week. The good news is that I had another ultrasound today and Dean is estimated to weigh 5lb 10oz. That's a gain of 11 ounces in two weeks. They were very happy with that growth.

Getting ready....

I had a doctor's appointment today and I'm starting to dialate and efface, so Dean's getting ready to make his debut!

Now, I just have to get the bathroom finished and we'll be good to go!

35 Weeks!!!

I have officially made it farther than I did with Grant! That's good news.

I had a doctor's appointment today and everything was looking fine. My cervix has shortened, but that's not uncommon at this stage and they're not very concerned. They estimated that Dean weighs 4lb 15oz which is 14oz growth from two weeks ago. That is also really good news because they were slightly concerned that his belly is measuring small. Apparently I just don't grow big babies. They'll do another ultrasound on August 19th if I'm still pregnant and we'll see how big he is then.

I officially start weekly appointments next week!

Before Pictures

In typical Matthew and Christine fashion, we decided that preparing for Dean's arrival was not enough for us to be concerned about. We decided to remodel our bathroom less than 6 weeks before Dean's due date. We have been thinking about it for a long time, but kept putting it off. The reason we decided we needed to remodel the bathroom is that, since our house was built in the 1950s and people didn't take as many showers, we have a window in our shower. The people who lived here before us did not use our room as the master, so it wasn't an issue for them. But after three years of showers, the window has begun to rot and cause problems. So, we finally decided to go ahead and remodel it so we can enjoy some of the benefit of it. We hired some great contractors and they started the demolition yesterday.

Here's what it looked like before:

The problematic window:

They are finishing the removal of the lovely tile today and should have the tub installed today too. The tile guys are coming tomorrow to lay the tile floor. I'll take more pictures tonight.

33 Week Appointment

My appointment today was not with my usual doctor, since he decided to go on vacation! Despite the fact that I did not like the doctor I had today at all, everything was fine. My cervix wasn't changing much, Dean weighed in at 4lb 1oz and my fluid level was ok. It was about 1/3 less than it was at the hospital, but it could have just been the position that Dean was in. I have another ultrasound next appointment to check again.

Little Scare

We had a little scare this weekend. I woke up 5:30 Saturday morning and I thought my water had broken. Given our history, we didn't want to take any chances. We packed Grant up and headed to the hospital. They admitted me to L&D for testing and observation. They hooked me up to the monitors and I was having quite a few contractions. They gave me medication to stop the contractions. I had an ultrasound which showed that I still had enough fluid. According to the ultrasound, Dean weighs 3lb 12 ounces, which is great news.

I was admitted for overnight observation just given our history. In the morning, they repeated the ultrasound and I had the same amount of fluid, which was good news. We got to see the perinatologist that we really like and he felt pretty confident based on my cervical measurements and amniotic fluid measurements that my water had not broken. So, that was good news to us. We were not quite ready for a July baby!

31 Week Appointment

I had another appointment today, at 31 weeks. Dean was measuring 3lb 3 ounces and everything else seemed to be holding strong. I got the first of two steroid shots today and I will get the second one tomorrow on the off chance that Dean decides he wants to arrive early.

29 weeks and counting

My 29 week appointment went really well. Dean is measuring 2 pounds 13 ounces and my cervix is holding strong. The fFN test was negative again, which is great news. Other than that, nothing new to report.

Weekend Project

Daddy and Papa worked for 9 hours this weekend (Happy Father's Day!) to put together a swing set for Grant. He loves it and he has been trying to push through being sick just so he can play.

Status Quo

My 27 week appointment was today and I am happy to report we are maintaining the status quo. My cervix has not changed much since two weeks ago and the fFN test came back negative! I have been having some contractions the past week, but my doctor is only really concerned about them if they start having affects on my cervix, which they haven't so far.

Dean is weighing in at 2 pounds, 3 ounces! Grow baby grow! No new pictures this week as Dean was in a very unusual position, hiding as much as he could.

Another good two weeks.....

I had my 25 week appointment today. Everything went really well at my appointment. My cervix was measuring longer than two weeks ago, which is very good news. The fFN test came back negative again, so we're good to go for two more weeks. Dean is measuring really well. He weighed 1lb 11oz and was as cute as can be. The u/s tech and I have become "friends" and every time I come now, she does the 4D scan on me too. I definitely won't complain about that. Here's my latest pictures of Dean.

Counting...

Grant has learned to count to 10, and he loves doing it.

Basketball

Grant's getting ready to play for Jesuit....

Wow.... that was fast!

My doctor's office just called with the results of the fFN test..... and it's NEGATIVE!!!!

That's great news. That means no PTL and 99.2% chance of not going into labor in the next 14 days. I know that doesn't seem like much of a reassurance being so early, but these next few weeks are critical for development, so every day is precious.

So, we're off to Dallas this weekend and looking forward to seeing all our family.

23 Week Appointment....

Well, I had my ultrasound first today. My cervix was measuring a little shorter, but there was no beaking (opening), so they're not too concerned. Dean looked great and is measuring really well (1 lb 2 oz). My doctor was out of town this week, so I saw a different doctor in the practice. He's very nice, but he's not nearly as invested as my doctor is.

This was the first week of getting the fetal fibronectin tests (fFN). I will be getting these tests every 2 weeks until 36 weeks. I should get the results by tomorrow morning at the latest. Here's some info on the test.

WHAT THE fFN TEST IS:
Fetal fibronectin (also known as fFN) is a “glue-like” protein that bonds your developing baby to your uterus. Fetal fibronectin is a special protein that literally holds your baby in place in the womb. After the 35th week of pregnancy, it begins to break down naturally, and is detectable. If your body is getting ready to give birth prematurely, fetal fibronectin may be detected before week 35. From weeks 22 to 35 in your pregnancy, there should be very little fetal fibronectin detectable.

WHAT THE RESULTS MEAN:
A small percentage of women who get the test will get a positive result, indicating that your body is "leaking" fetal fibronectin. This means that there is an increased chance that your baby could arrive early, and signals to you and your doctor that you may need extra attention. It is important to note that not everyone with a positive test result delivers early.

A negative test result, on the other hand, can give you great "peace of mind". 99.2% of women with symptoms of preterm birth who have a negative fetal fibronectin test result will not deliver their baby within the next 14 days.

Daddy's Little Helper

After watching Daddy mow the lawn from mommy's lap, Grant finally decided to get out there and mow the lawn himself.... only after Daddy turned the big mower off.

21 Week Appointment

We had out 21 week appointment today. Everything looks just about the same as two weeks ago. My cervix was a little shorter, but nothing to concern my doctor. He wants me to keep doing what I'm doing, so that's what I'm trying to do. I haven't gotten any really good pictures of Dean lately. Hoepfully there will be a good one next time.

According to my doctor, the next three weeks, until 24 weeks, are the critical weeks for cervical issues. Most issues present at this time. He says this is when most women are admitted to the hospital for cervical issues. Hopefully, that won't be us. That's all for now. Thanks for checking in on us!