Abby has teeth!

We discovered yesterday that Abby has a new tooth! The strange part about it is that it is a molar and not one of the incisors which usually comes in first. It does look like she has another molar on the other side which is about to come through. It also looks like she may have an incisor pop through soon. No wonder she can't keep her hands out of her mouth lately!

Abby and her growling

Abby has learned how to make this new sound. It sounds just like a growl. It is the funniest thing we have ever heard! We're not sure where she got the sound from, maybe Sergio. Here's some recent picture of Abby and a video of her jumping, laughing, and growling!

Abby 5 months

Abby is growing so fast. She is almost 5 months old and is already wearing 6 - 9 month sizes in clothing. She is now rolling from front to back but not from back to front yet. We are working with her on sitting up. She loves to jump in her jumper. She laughs a lot now and gets a kick out of us blowing on her tummy.

Abby at 3 months

Abby is 15 weeks now, a little over 3 months. She is getting so big! She weighs 14.5 pounds now. She is holding her head up so good now. If I put her on her tummy she pushes up. She loves to sit up too. She can't do it by herself yet, but she sure is trying! She has a great smile! She loves for you to talk to her. She smiles and coos and loves the attention! Her Papi even said that he got her to laugh! Abby has been chewing on her hands and drooling a lot lately too. We think that she may have some teeth coming up under her gums, but we don't think the teeth are ready to break through yet. Abby has started taking a bottle twice a day to get ready for daycare. I'm going to be so sad the first day I drop her off for daycare! I'm going to worry about her all day! I just know it!

The New Baby

Well we've had the baby!  My water broke at 6 pm on Saturday March 28th.  We went to the hospital and they had to put me on pitocin since my contractions had not yet begun.  It's very important to have the baby within 24 hours of your water breaking to prevent infection to the baby.  Soon after they started my pitocin drip, they gave me my epidural so I never felt any pain!  It was a very easy labor.  They started my pitocin at about 9 pm and by 12 pm I was only 4 cm dilated.  I was already 3 before I came in so I was worried that this was going to be a long labor.  Well, by 2 am Sunday morning I was 6 1/2 cm and then by 3 am I was dilated the full 10 cm.  Wow!  So I started pushing about 20 minutes later once they got the room all set up.  Abigail Lauren was born at 3:49 am Sunday March 29th.  She weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces.  You can check out pictures on www.themackensfamily.shutterfly.com.

Baby Showers and More...

So I've had all of my baby showers so far and have gotten so many wonderful things for baby Abby.  Her room is completely stocked now and have all of you to thank for it!  I had so much fun organizing Abby's room and bathroom with all of her new clothes, toys, and baby products.  She has some of the cutest clothes I've ever seen!  We've already set her car seat up in the car so we will be ready to go when she decides to make her appearance.

Well, I started back to school 3 weeks ago.  I had one week of school, then we had spring break, and then school this week.  I went to the doctor on Tuesday and she said I was 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced.  Then Wednesday night, I began having contractions and so we went to the hospital when they were 4 min apart.  When I got there, they said they weren't that strong and gave me some water to make sure I was hydrated.  Since the contractions didn't get anymore severe and I didn't dilate anymore at the hospital, they sent me home.  I could have just been dehydrated or I could be in early labor.  I'm pretty sure I've had my "bloody show" (ladies you probably know what I'm talking about).  It is a sign of early labor.  My nurse saw some blood while I was there and I have had some since then.  It is caused from the cervix dilating and effacing.  I have also felt several cramps today although still nothing severe.  I have been drinking water constantly so that the next time I feel contractions, I'll know for sure that they are not from dehydration.  I thinking/hoping that it could be this weekend...but things hardly ever go the way we think, huh?  I'll keep ya'll posted and try to put some more pictures of my belly and the nursery up tonight.

Negative!

So my last protein test came back negative!  Dr. Dulaney said that if I felt like going back to work I could, and I said that I did want to.  I'm actually kind of getting used to my routine at home now, but it will be nice to get back.  I think it will make the time go by faster.  The doc told me that if I start feeling contractions or pressure again that I may need to go back on bed rest, but here's hoping that I don't.  

Doctor, Baby Shower, and More...

Went to the doctor yesterday and the good news is that I haven't dilated or effaced anymore.  Yea!  Doc did another protein test and we should hopefully find out the results of that by the end of the week.  If it's negative, I should return to work on Monday.

I had my first baby shower on February the 21st here in Memphis at my friend Amy's house.  The shower was hosted by Amy, my friend Brooke, and my co-teacher Tamela.  It was absolutely beautiful!  The food was wonderful, and they had a little diaper cake and a little baby sock corsage for me.  I also received some wonderful gifts for little Abigail and have already started setting up the nursery.  When I get my camera back from my sister (love you sis!)  I'll try to post some pictures from the shower.  I'm also going to take some pictures of the nursery and post them later.  

Abigail is moving and kicking all the time now.  I don't go very long without feeling her.  She is still being shy when other people try to feel her kick though.  Not sure why, but she'll just be moving and a jiggling in there and when someone puts their hand on my tummy to feel her, she just stops.  I don't know how she knows!  I've not been sleeping very well the past week.  I've had a really hard time getting comfortable and my legs get really numb and sore in the middle of the night.  I'm constantly tossing and turning.  I also have to get up several times a night to use the bathroom or turn on the fan because I'm sweating or get a snack bar because my stomach is growling.  No fun!  That's the only thing I'm worried about when I go back to school...that I won't have enough sleep to function.  Oh well.  I'll be back for a week, then spring break for a week then only a few more weeks after that.  I'm excited about getting back to the kiddos though.

Good News

Yesterday we received the results of the protein test and found out that it was negative!  So we have at least 2 more weeks with no baby which is a good thing.  In two weeks, I'll be tested again to make sure it is still negative and then I should be able to go back to work for a few weeks.  The doc still wants me on bed rest and Austin is being really strict on me.  He says that even though the test came back negative, I still can't do anything around the house.  It is so hard for me not to do anything!  I go back to the doctor on Tuesday, so I will let ya'll know any new updates then.

Complications...

So, if you haven't yet heard, I am on bed rest for the next 3 weeks.  I had my regular doctor checkup on Monday and asked the doctor to check me because I thought i was dilated.  Austin had checked me the week before because I was having some cervical pain and thought I was dilated maybe a half cm.  When the doctor checked me, she said I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced.  Then she hooked me up to this machine because she wanted to see if I was contracting.  And sure enough, I was having small but quite frequent contractions.  

So...the doctor is not sure why this is happening, but she gave me a steroid shot on Monday and another one yesterday.  This will help Abigail's lung development if she does come early.  The she prescribed me a drug to help with the contractions.  It is supposed to relax my uterus.  Finally she gave me a protein test yesterday and we should know the results of that today.  If negative, there is an almost certain probability that I will not deliver within the next two weeks.  If positive, there is a 1 in 5 chance that i could deliver within the next two weeks.  

Keep praying for us and I will try to give ya'll updates as I know them.  Believe me, I have plenty of time to update this thing now!

New Pictures Below

There are new baby bump pictures below.  Check them out!

Same Date...

So I talked to Austin, and he said that it was normal for the baby's measurements to be up to 3 weeks off in the 3rd trimester.  That does not mean her due date has changed, it just means that she is a bigger baby.  I guess it is still possible that she could decide to come early, but Austin says the due date is still April 22nd.  

When is she due?...

So I went to the doctor today and had good news.  I do not have gestational diabetes.  My blood sugar was 108 and it needed to be below 135 so that was good.  Also, I only gained 1 pound over the past two weeks.  This is good seeing as I had gained 10 pounds over the holidays!  I had another ultrasound today and had measurements of the baby taken.  The weird thing was that all of the measurements measured the baby at 30 weeks and I'm only supposed to be 28 weeks.  Not sure what this means.  I asked the ultrasound tech if that meant that the measurements were off and she said that she would think that except that ALL of the measurements measured 30 weeks, except for the abdomen which measured 29 weeks.  So does this mean that Abby will be earlier than expected or that she will just be a bigger baby?  The tech asked the doctor if she wanted to see me after the ultrasound and she said no, so I do not know the doctor's opinion on this matter.  I go back in three weeks so we shall see what happens.  The ultrasound said my due date would be April 8th.  I haven't had a chance to ask Austin what he thinks about this so I will update again once I talk to him.

Austin's Update (January)

So Jess is in her 26th week of pregnancy (that's almost 6 months).  I can finally feel Abby kicking pretty consistently.  Jess says she keeps kicking her bladder so I thought about getting her some diapers to wear, but then I thought again and figured that wouldn't be a good idea.  Abby appears to be a night person because she doesn't start kicking and punching until about 8pm.  I guess that might mean we are due for some restless nights.  

I just started my pediatrics rotation this month and am really enjoying the experience.  My rotation schedule has worked out pretty perfect as far as Abby is concerned.  I finished OBGYN in November and will finish Peds in early March.  I have already learned a lot about babies and what to look for when they're sick.  I'm sure it will still be a lot different with Abby because it will be OUR baby.  I'm pretty sure I can diagnose bronchiolitis with my eyes closed and a couple screaming kids in the room so we should be set for the winter months.  The only bad thing is that now I'm seeing all the bad stuff that can happen which will only fuel the paranoia when Abby is born.  

We are getting really excited about Abby's homecoming this spring.  I will finish my 3rd year clinicals in April.  After that my schedule should be much lighter which will allow me to spend much more time with Jess and Abby.  Jess and I are also thinking of doing an away rotation in Nashville or Chattanooga this summer.  Of course baby Abby would come with us which would allow everyone to see her much more often that month since we'll be closer.  OK, I guess that's about all for now.  I will try to update again before Abby arrives.  If not please forgive me, and if you don't I'll try not to lose any sleep at night.

Pictures of Austin and I during Christmas

After Christmas...

Hey all.  I have posted another baby bump picture below and should be taking another one tomorrow.  It's after Christmas now and we are back to the grind.  Christmas break was a lot of fun, but very exhausting.  We were all over the state of Tennessee.  Baby Abigail got some really cute things for Christmas such as clothes, a monogrammed blanket, a monogrammed bag, some slippers, and some snuggly toys.  Getting spoiled already!  :)  Thanks all for those wonderful gifts for her.  I'm sure she will love them!  We got back to Memphis on New Years Day and went the following weekend to register for Abby at Babies R Us.  It was so exhausting!  Austin and I were really excited and thought it would be so much fun, but by the end of it, we were both ready to get out of that store never to return!  The most exhausting part of it was not really knowing what we needed and/or not knowing what brand of each item that was the best.  For example, there was an entire wall of bottles.  We had to read the back of each package of bottles to see what each one was good for and even after that, we still had no clue as to what to get.  On top of that, I had really bad sciatic nerve pain that day (which is the nerve that runs down the back of the leg).  A lot of pregnant women get it because the weight of the baby pushes on that nerve.  It was awful!  I felt like I had to drag my leg through the store.  Baby Abby has been kicking me a lot more lately.  All the time actually.  She really kicks at night, so Austin and I are afraid she is going to be a night person and will keep us up all night!  We think that maybe she is scared of Austin because she stops kicking every time Austin tries to feel her kick.  Maybe she is not scared...maybe Austin just calms her down. :)  He has been able to feel her a few times, but not as many as I would have liked him too.  I go to the doctor again tomorrow for my checkup and my glucose tolerance test.  We shall see how that goes.  I will post more later.