the skinny at 32 weeks

ha, ha, i crack myself up!  the skinny at 32 weeks!  i'm not exactly skinny right now.  i'm full of baby!

so today was the long-awaited ultrasound.  we've been waiting with expectation for this appointment since our last appointment, april 4.  you might remember at that last ultrasound, the doctor confirmed that silas' abdominal organs are on the opposite side of normal.  everything below his diaphragm is flipped.  he checked for any heart defects then and found none, but did note that his intestines looked a little lighter than normal on the scan.  everything else looked great, and we felt so blessed leaving that appointment with such good news (considering some of the things we could have expected).

so we went in today with our arsenal of questions ready and praying that our little guy would still look great on the ultrasound.  and he did!  his heart was perfect with no defects.  the doctor said that if there was something wrong, we would have been able to see it today.  his stomach measured right on average which indicates that his GI system is working well.  his intestines looked perfect with no obstructions or signs of dilation.  everything is hooked up the way it should be!  he is in the 30% percentile for size so he won't be huge but he is following the path of his parents and brothers, ha! 

when we asked the doctor about his spleen, the doctor felt that because there were no other complications that he would likely have a normal spleen, just on the incorrect side.

the doctor even went so far to say that we should consider this a normal pregnancy and a normal baby, other than his flipped organs of course!!!

we asked him his opinion of what should take place after silas is born, and he said there was no need really of taking him to the children's hospital for an evaluation.  he referred us to seeking our pediatrician's advice and wisdom on silas' care after birth.  we couldn't believe our ears!  john and i were not looking forward to making a trip to the hospital after me giving birth and having to make lots of really important decisions regarding our baby at such an emotional and mentally exhausting time.

so that's the skinny on our really great appointment today.  silas was breech today, but i noticed that he just flipped this way a couple of days ago, and i feel sure with the way he moves around like a crazy man, that he will flip back to the head down position soon.

thanks for praying for us and for our little guy silas jack!  we are praising Jesus!

may madness and 30 weeks update

our last day of school was may 16 and we've been living it up over here at the rutherford casa!  we love the lazy days of summer and the opportunity to take a breather and enjoy the simple things of life!

one thing we did do before school let out was get some much needed haircuts.  burrito loves his hair and has very specific ideas about what he likes and doesn't like so his hair just got a good trim.  noodle, however, decided to go for a new summer do to look more like dad.  get ready for this before and after shot!

he looks so different but we've all decided it's a good look for him.  he does look more like dad and even older, though i hate to admit that! :)

we've had some super fun friend and family occasions to attend.  first was the once a year chance to see our "adopted" cousins from virginia beach and lubbock.  i wish i would have thought to take a picture of all the kids together but that would have been like trying to herd a bunch of cats!  so instead we settled for a "mom" picture.

my sisters from college

and here is a picture that just shows a few of the kids at a birthday party we were able to attend with our "adopted" cousins.  we just love them!

we celebrated the high school graduation of my younger cousin kelley so we thought it would be fun to take a picture of all the "roe cousins."  notice how we are ALL girls.

and now three of us have had kids of our own and all but one are BOYS!

we've also enjoyed being home and relaxing and enjoying the unseasonably cool weather for texas.  we've eaten lots of meals outside on our patio.  we love to sit back there and watch the birds and squirrels eat and play.

there have been several impromptu rain showers here and there so we've taken full advantage of playing in the rain too!

thanks to a generous gift from mimi and poppy, we have season passes to hawaiian falls (a local waterpark) for this summer.  since we won't be able to travel to the beach this summer, hawaiian falls will be our pretend beach!  the boys love to swim and do all the slides and it is so fun to watch them be crazy with john.  since i'm baking a baby, my participation is somewhat limited but we have had fun in the wave pool and lazy river.  i'm never a fan of swimsuits and so being 7 1/2 months pregnant in a swimsuit is really not my thing but swimming is about the only thing you can do in texas in the summer so i've learned to just get over it!  i'm only including the below picture because i wanted to document silas' first trip to a waterpark! :)

and speaking of silas, i am 30 weeks today and feeling every bit of it, ha!  i have another midwife appointment tomorrow and then the next level 2 ultrasound on june 19.  while it has seemed like it's been ages waiting for this next ultrasound appointment, we are thankful that we've been waiting with good news rather than bad.  the last ultrasound, while it did confirm that his abdominal organs are flipped, it also did not disclose any other problems.  we went into the appointment really not knowing what to expect and left feeling like we received the best news possible.  we continue to pray that we will once again receive good news at this next appointment.

i feel about 10 times larger than what i look in this picture.  and he's still a crazy thing, moving all over.  one new thing...he has had the hiccups a few times which is such an incredible feeling.  i'm really trying to be intentional in appreciating all the miraculous parts of pregnancy.  i've also enjoyed nesting a bit in the nursery and actually completed a pinterest project for his room!

this mobile hangs over his dresser which is also doubling as a changing table.  it was very simple to make...just scrapbook paper, dowel rods, ribbon and thread.

so that's a little picture of what we've been up to in the month of may.  looking forward to some june fun before little silas makes his appearance in august!

27 weeks and third trimester

may is such a busy month in the rutherford household!  there's my birthday, mother's day and the end of school and all that entails and without fail, it always seems to creep up on me each year!  we've had a lot of fun but man are we tired!

my incredible husband knows my love language exactly!  tulips, chocolates, and time with him!  he took the day off for my birthday and we had so much fun going to estate sales and antique malls while the boys are at school.

then the next weekend was mother's day!  i always prefer handmade gifts from my boys because i think they are the absolute sweetest thing!  burrito made me a flower pen in a painted flower pot and noodle made me a lovely brooch pin that i proudly wore all day.  i forgot to take pictures of these things but i did take pictures of the hilarious and super sweet things noodle made at school.

noodle's artistic rendition of me!

see if you can translate his writing

and then this past week was our last week of school!  monday and tuesday were burrito's and noodle's end of year parties at jump street (an indoor trampoline park) and then lunch at the park.  wednesday and thursday were half days and we celebrated the end of school with double scoops of ice cream at braum's!

check out that long hair!  we went for haircuts right after this but i'm not allowed to share pictures of that on the blog just yet per my little men! :)

and here's an update on our third little guy!  i am 27 weeks and getting big, big, big!

i am seeing my midwife every couple of weeks now just to keep on eye on him and we have our next ultrasound appointment scheduled for june 19.  we are really praying for good things to be seen at this appointment!  he is still moving around like a wild thing, so much so that my midwife could barely get a good heartbeat reading because he would move away from her prodding!  i'm finally sleeping better and as a result, i am feeling great!  though i am technically starting the third trimester, i feel like i am in the second trimester groove of feeling good and just enjoying being pregnant.  i definitely feel my older age this time around but i am so thankful to be pregnant and experience the joys of mothering an infant once again! 

the teachers at john's school gave us a diaper shower a few weeks ago and we were completely overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of others!  we received oodles of diapers and gift cards and we are so thankful to experience the love of others towards us and our newest little guy!  i have been enjoying nesting a bit in the nursery, though i still have a long way to go before it feels right!  it's been fun though to have a reason to craft and paint and make things. 

so i think that covers most of everything going on in our world right now.  we are pumped to be on summer break and after taking a few days of rest and relaxation we will start rutherford summer school.  we plan to really focus on reading, writing and math this summer with the boys to keep things fresh.  i love reading aloud to them so we will do lots of that as well, and of course all of the boy things like climbing trees, playing sports, swimming and digging in the dirt!

baby name announcement!

we are excited to announce that we have finally decided on a name for our newest son!
(and yes, this is one of the few posts where i will mention our sons' actual names). 

silas was a leading member of the early christian community who accompanied paul on his second missionary journey.  we knew we wanted another biblical and unusual name to go with our other two sons, titus and abraham.  i had originally read online somewhere that silas meant "the third" which i thought was totally appropriate since this is our third son but researching a little more, silas is latin for "woods" or "forest."  i like the first meaning better myself!

we picked jack for a middle name because our other sons have "j" middle names.  we wanted another name to also go with titus james and abraham jude.  i've always wanted to incorporate my hubby's name john in one of our boys' names but he's always been against it.  it was his idea to choose jack, which is often a nickname for john.  i loved it!  jack means "God is gracious."

so that's a little background behind his name.  while we love it, we have also experienced reactions of those who don't.  if you don't like it, please keep that to yourself.  you don't want to upset this already hormonal momma, alright?  ha, ha!

and here is an update on little silas jack:

 

i've definitely got the baby bump going on now.  i will be 24 weeks tomorrow, 6 months!!!  i had a midwife appointment this past tuesday.  i've only gained 6 pounds but she wasn't too concerned because silas is measuring close to normal size on that last ultrasound.  i was really sick early on in the pregnancy so i think that's why i've been slow to gain weight but if this pregnancy follows my previous two, you just wait!  i will be huge!  

his heart rate was 135 and he is still moving a lot!  we talked about several possible scenarios with silas' birth and i feel more at ease about things.  we are basically in a holding pattern until the next sonogram at 32 weeks, which would be the second week of june.  we would likely have another closer to delivery time, perhaps at 36-37 weeks just to triple check on things.  as of this moment, i still have the option of delivering him naturally in a birth center which is my goal and desire.  then we would head shortly thereafter to the hospital to have silas checked out fully by a neonatologist.  if anything new pops up on the sonogram, then we will just have him at the hospital and have everything done there.  

so my job right now is to just keep cooking this boy so that he will be big and strong when he makes his appearance.  i'm feeling good, just really tired.  i think it's a combination of keeping up with the schedules of my older two boys and worrying a bit about this little guy.  i stopped consulting "dr. google" which has definitely improved my nerves, and i'm trying really hard to trust God and have faith that He will provide for all of us whatever we need.

we are so encouraged by the kind words and prayers of our friends and family.  it is good to pray for silas by name.  thank you!

burrito is 9!

i know i say this every year (and i'll keep on saying it!), but i can't believe how fast my little men are growing up!

burrito you are my first born.  you made me a momma and i will always treasure that!  Some of my favorite things about you right now are you're love for listening to a good book (harry potter is your current favorite) and you're ability to do many things at once without missing a beat.  you love your friends at school but not so much the homework.  you amaze me with your memory of bible stories and it makes my heart so full to hear all that you've learned about Jesus and His Word.  you have endless stores of energy and you love all sports.  i love watching you pitch in your baseball games and shooting hoops in the driveway.  you still LOVE drinks and your favorite right now is coke. 

we celebrated your birthday this year with a family fun day spaced out over 3 days!  with baseball games on your actual birthday, we had to get creative in fitting in all of our fun activities.  your first choice was donuts at school to celebrate your birthday with your class.

next up was a fun family trip to it'z, a pizza buffet and video game place.  we had fun rock climbing, playing games and driving bumper cars.

we celebrated with mimi, poppy, stacey and sutton with a dinner at chili's, presents and chocolate pie.

we will conclude our weekend of fun with lunch with friends and red velvet cake!

burrito we love you so much and are so proud of the little man you are becoming!

please pray for our baby boy

To be completely honest, we've had a tough week at our house.  I had my anatomy ultrasound performed last Friday and received a call on Monday with some unfortunate news.   Our baby boy's abdominal organs are flipped, meaning his stomach is on the right side instead of the left, etc.  We were immediately referred to a maternal/fetal specialist and we had that appointment yesterday afternoon.  He performed another ultrasound to take a closer look and give us an idea of what we may be facing. 

He confirmed that the stomach and all associated abdominal organs are flipped.  The heart is not flipped and looks good with no sign of a congenital heart defect (a huge praise!).  The blood flow going in and out of the heart was going in the correct direction.  His brain looks good with no signs of any problems there.  He also looked at his kidneys, intestines, brain stem and maybe some other things that I can't remember now.  The only other concern was that his intestines looked "whiter" than normal on ultrasound, but he said that could mean nothing or it could mean something that we would check again later.

We went into the appointment fully expecting that this one appointment would be the first of many but the doctor felt like we should have a normal pregnancy with a normal delivery.  We've been seeing a midwife and the doctor said we could still have a birth center birth as long as we planned on having the baby evaluated by a neonatologist within 24 hours of birth.  He recommended that we see him again at 32 weeks (I'm 21 weeks now) for another ultrasound to take a look again once he's a little bigger.  If nothing is suspicious, then the baby will be examined after birth to check on things that we cannot see in utero.  With this organ flipping syndrome, there is usually an issue with whether the spleen forms or not.  The spleen is the body's organ to fight infection so if he does not have one, we would be looking at a daily antibiotic for the rest of his life.  This is something that we won't know until after he his born and the baby has an ultrasound.

So here are our specific requests at this point:
1.  An uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery.
2.  That although the abdominal organs are flipped, everything is "hooked up" correctly and will not require surgery
3.  That he has a spleen!

4.  That the ultrasound at 32 weeks will not reveal any further problems

4.  Wisdom in deciding where to give birth
5.  Wisdom in financial matters...this is REALLY overwhelming to me
6.  That we would be faithful in trusting the Lord in ALL things

So we are proceeding with hope that all goes well until we have the next ultrasound at 32 weeks.  At that point, decisions will be made about how best to proceed.  We are praising God for a good appointment yesterday.  We covet your prayers!

halfway there...20 weeks and the diagnostic ultrasound

i am 20w 4d today!  halfway there until we meet this newest little man! 

i've had so many emotions go through my head today.  it's good friday so we've done a good deal of talking and thinking about Christ and how he chose to die on a cross so that our sins can be forgiven and we can spend eternity with him.  while He conquered death and sin when He rose three days later, my melancholy self really feels the death part of it every good friday. 

and on the flip side, today was my 20 week diagnostic ultrasound.  we were able to watch this little guy growing in my belly for almost an hour.

death and life.  His death so that we could have life.

Jesus died so that all who call upon him and believe in him will have eternal life.  what a joy and privilege it is to raise up three men who i hope and pray will love and serve Jesus all their days.  i am so in love with my little growing family and the Jesus we love and serve.

the ultrasound to me is always fascinating and miraculous!  i really love the lady we've used for the ultrasounds this time around too.  she is a believer and really loves her job.  she always does a very thorough job and i always feel like she goes the extra mile to make it extra special for us.  she even gave us a disk of some the images she captured today.

 

can you tell what he is doing in this last picture?  he is sucking his thumb!  you could see his mouth and jaw move as he sucked.  it was amazing!

his heart rate was 148bpm and he was constantly moving!  on more than one occasion, she had a hard time getting a good measurement because he would not be still!  i've got another little wild man  baking in the oven.  i don't think he appreciated all the poking and prodding because there were a few really strong kicks from him that i had not yet experienced.  his gender was confirmed multiple times...he is definitely a boy, no doubt about it!  there was a point that she had to reload the paper so that she could print out some pictures for us so she had me hold the probe.  for a few minutes, i got to pretend that i was a sonographer.  it was so fun!  it makes me a little sad to think that if all goes well, this will be our last peek at him until he is born.  

i was thankful that we all were able to go again together as a family to do this.  the boys enjoyed making their own comments and diagnoses and asking lots of questions.  20 more weeks to go!