20 weeks--it's a...

Yep, that's right--Baby Mo will be their little bro...

I had my 20 week doctor appointment yesterday, actually 20 weeks and 4 days, and we got confirmation of what we have known for 4 weeks. Another little boy will continue the legacy of the Mollenhauer family. The kids are super excited about having a new baby around. But apparently more excited about getting balloons than finding out if it was a boy or a girl!

The amniotic band is still present in an ultrasound. It has moved a little and we are hoping when we check back in 4 weeks that it will be completely gone. It is a little weird going to my appointments because the nurse asks me every time if I am doing an ultrasound this time. Shouldn't the doctor be determining that? Maybe I should get a fee for being part of my medical team! The challenge is that even if the baby got tangled, at this point, there is absolutely nothing we could do because the baby is not far enough along to be viable. We also found out just how rare it is--our doctor sees 1 about every 3 or 4 years.

Everything with the baby looks healthy so far. He is quite the squirmer. She was only able to get about 3 beats of the heart before he would move. After the third time, she decided to just measure off those 3 beats and the heartrate is within the normal range. The baby is measuring a week ahead in size. My blood pressure is good. This hot weather is really getting to me and slowing me down. The past week I have definitely felt the challenge of my age.

We do have a name picked but something needs to be kept a secret, right?

First tee ball game

Initially I had both Adam and Sara signed up for tee ball but with Sara breaking her arm, Adam is participating solo and loving it. He is in the tan hat, standing next to Shannon in the blue hat.

He got a pair of baseball pants for his belated birthday. At 6:30am on the day of his next game, he was in our bedroom fully dressed in his new uniform asking what time the game started! He also got a tee ball tee, Shannon bought him some tee balls, and I took him to buy a bat--he had to have the lime green one!

I think his favorite part is just hanging out with other boys, although it is a challenge for him sometimes to pay attention and not goof around.

It is funny how ridiculously huge the batting helmets are. Half the time it falls down over his eyes while he is trying to bat and flops around while he is running.

The end of preschool

It amazes me how quickly the kids' first school year passed. To celebrate, they had a little program.

The kids had so much fun and worked really hard. I think they were pretty worn out, though!

For those wondering, Adam is yawning and not singing his heart out!

Both my mom and Shannon's parents were there. It was hard for them to contain their excitement, especially Adam who kept waving to us.

I am so grateful to their teacher for her immense patience, passion, and outpouring of joy. It was a great first experience for me and I couldn't be more proud of how much both Adam and Sara have improved over the school year. Thank you Mrs. Ohlmann!

Mother's Day - Honoring the Mother of the Wonder Twins and Baby Mo

A lot of people broadcast their anniversary, birthday, and mother's day wishes for their loved ones on Facebook. I've tended to stay away from that because it seemed to not take as much effort as writing a post on the family blog. It's also time for me to originate a post for a change.

So, at the end of this Mother's Day weekend, which we spent in Lake Geneva focused on a birthday party for Jordyn, Adam, and Sara, the holiday that took a backseat can't go without comment. Mother's Day 2009 was the first one for JoLynn, although it should not have been since the wonder twins were not due until June 23. It was much different considering they were both still in the NICU.

Now, they're finishing pre-school next week and baby Mo (gender-neutral nickname for the gestating munchkin) is 15 weeks along in development. You only have to read the past blog entries over the years to recognize that JoLynn has taken the role and responsibility of mother very seriously.

JoLynn is a wonder woman. She went through three cycles of IVF including a ridiculous number of injections before a set of 5 embryos made it to the point of development that could be transferred or frozen. Adam and Sara were 2 of 4 that flourished at transfer in October 2008. Number 5 sat in the freezer until this winter when JoLynn endured another round of even more painful injections to give this little one a chance at life. And, it  has paid off.

In addition to doing whatever it takes to give her babies the best development opportunities both in the womb and in the world, she provides a set of skills and perspective to her employer that fills gaps in their abilities and helps them maintain a reputation of quality and service which defies the contractor stereotype. She pays the bills, plans and prepares most meals, and keeps the laundry straight.

She also manages the healthcare demands of 2 kids who have gone through seven surgeries, more labs and ultrasounds and doctor's visits than I can recall, along with the bills that would normally be handled through insurance. She monitors the development and health indicators that could signal problems in Sara's kidneys before they could be detected in a quarterly or 6-month checkup.

I could go on, but I'll just finish with this. For 16 years she has also tolerated and compensated for my shortcomings and weaknesses. For all that I've written about here, and all that I've left out because this is supposed to be a blog and not an encyclopedia, I want to go on record as saying "Thank you, JoLynn, for being a great mom to our great kids. I love you."

Freedom!

I can't believe how quickly 3 weeks have passed.

I think she was a little nervous at first about how they were going to get the cast off.

Can you believe part-way thru her saw broke and she had to hunt down another one?

We have all been joking the past few days, wondering what her arm would look like once it was revealed. Would it be wrinkly? Would it be smaller than the other one? Would her hair have fallen off? She just giggled. No wrinkles. But crazy, arm hair sticking up all over!

Once the cast was off they did another x-ray. There was no visible trace of a break anymore! That is just amazing to me how in just a few weeks a bone can grow new bone and fix itself.

Sara was excited to have the cast off. She was getting tired of talking to so many people about it. It was quite stiff at first and it hurt. I think she was afraid of using it, too. But as the day went on, she relaxed.

3 more weeks of limited activity--no running, no bike riding, no trampoline, no playground craziness. Then another doctor visit and we should be released. That's going to be a long 3 weeks with sunshiny days on the horizon!

She ended the day with a refreshing shower, instead of a bath with a plastic bag up to her armpit.

12 weeks

Last week I had my first OB appointment for Baby Mo #3. Honestly, I was a little nervous because my last visit a few years ago revealed my baby had died. I kept pushing those thoughts out of my mind.

We were ecstatic to see the baby moving so much the tech had a hard time capturing photos. It was funny because she kept talking about how the legs were outstretched and she doesn't usually see that.

 

We talked a little about avoiding pre-term labor but since it was so sudden with the twins, it is hard to provide a solution. He talked about possibly doing some kind of Progesterone shot once a week starting at 16 weeks for the duration of the pregnancy. I am classified as high risk again, which I expected. There is one thing they saw in the ultrasound that we need to keep an eye on. The top ultrasound photo shows a vertical gray line in the sac by the baby's feet. It is an amniotic sheet like a wall in the amniotic fluid. It could have been caused by scar tissue from my D&C. Usually that pushes out of the way as the baby grows. We will have to watch that it doesn't somehow get wrapped around the baby in a way that would cut off circulation.

I have felt pretty great so far except this week. But my pregnancy was quite easy with the twins, too. This week I have been exhausted and struggled with a migraine in my eye. I am thankful for all the ways my mom has helped. There isn't one thing she would say no to if I needed it, even if she is tired herself!

The kids are so excited about the baby. Adam is very protective, telling me things that I shouldn't be doing like mowing the lawn this summer. Obviously he wants a baby brother and would like to name him Max. He has also informed me that he is forgetful lately because the baby has affected his brain, too, just like me! My favorite is that Shannon had a conversation with him and asked "Do you think it would be okay if we put the new baby's crib under your loft bed?" "Sure Dad!" "The baby will wake up in the middle of the night and cry. You will need to change its diaper and give it something to eat." "Well, Dad, I'm going to be sleeping pretty hard..."

Sara kisses my belly, talks to the baby, and tells me she is so happy I'm going to have a baby. Obviously she wants a baby sister and would like to name her Kaylie. The other day when I explained how tired I was she told me "Considering that, I think you should plan for a nap today." I have noticed a strong mothering instinct in her since she was very small. I imagine some days she will be a great helper...and other days she will want to take over!

It is no surprise that we struggled with infertility for 6 years before our 3rd IVF led to welcoming Adam and Sara into the world. A few days after implantation, we learned there was 1 last embryo that survived to 5 days of life and it was frozen. Because Shannon and I believe that life begins at Day 1, we were not about to destroy that 5 day life. Time kept ticking and I wasn't getting any younger so we made the decision to rescue the member of our family who had been waiting since October 4, 2008. It has been a long road of shots, shots, and more shots. If you have not been thru this process, you have no idea how difficult it is. It definitely shows how much strength you have.

Here is the earliest picture we have of our baby after 5 days of conception. God is so amazing.

5 year check ups

We had our routine visit with Dr. Neese just after the kids' birthday. Adam is 42" tall (31st percentile) and weighs 35lbs (11th percentile). He continues on the track to be Mr. Tall and Skinny. Sara is 41 1/2" tall (31st percentile) and weighs 32.5lbs (5th percentile). Sara has had phenomenal growth since her robotic surgery. Adam has grown 2" in the past year and Sara has grown 2 1/2" in the past year. I can't believe how tall both of them have gotten!

We discussed shots that are needed before Kindergarten and Adam constantly clearing his throat. I started him on Zyrtec again and that seems to have helped. I pointed out a mole that has developed on Sara's head but Dr. Neese isn't concerned about it. The largest part of our conversation centered around Adam's challenge to focus during preschool. The teacher mentioned to me recently that she feels he is developmentally behind with impulse control. What mom wants to hear their rock star preemie is developmentally behind? I thought that was all behind us! Dr. Neese feels like most of it is just that Adam is very young compared to the other kids in his class. We did discuss the possibility of ADD because Shannon was diagnosed with that last summer and we definitely see some of those tendencies with Adam. Dr. Neese stated that studies indicate about 5% of children born full-term with no complications are diagnosed with ADD. However, for preemies who had some type of stress to the brain (such as an IVH brain bleed like Adam had), the rate can be 25-30% so it is something we may need to pay attention to further down the road. He suggested that we do not give the Kindergarten teacher any leading information to begin with and let her assess the first few weeks on her own. Then we can touch base with her about 3 weeks in to see if she is seeing any issues to work thru. Sounds like a plan to me!

In the same week, Sara had a routine visit with her Pediatric Nephrologist, Dr. Gordillo. Her blood pressure is great. Her weight is great. Her growth rate is back on the curve. And her urinalysis came back normal. The protein continues to be absent from her urine so her blood pressure medication is doing its job. He will coordinate blood work with her next robotic surgery in the summer to make it easiest on her.