Coming Home!

Pictures from the day Waverly came home, after being in the NICU for 30 days! The kids were thrilled to have her home, and didn't want to leave her side!

When we got her out of her carseat, they wanted to hold her. Can you tell she was so proud?!?

Our THREE kiddos!!!
So excited and proud!
I LOVE this pic!

Awana Program

A few weeks ago the big kids had their Awana awards program at church. This awards program is a big reason why they did Awana this year in the first place. Last year we attended the program, and Kathryn saw all the kids on the stage getting awards and performing a song, and was heartbroken that she wasn't up there as well. So we told her she could do Awana this year, and she was thrilled (and for a while asked every week if it was her turn to get up on stage!).

The Puggles, Jackson's age group, was first to get their awards. It was hilarious seeing all the two year old chaos up there! Can you tell? He didn't know where to go...This is a blurry picture, but he was tickled to be on stage too!
With his award!
This is the Cubbies group, for Kathryn's age. Can you tell the difference in this picture than in Jackson's pictures? These kids actually stand in a line!
It was a very serious thing for Kathryn. She loves feeling like such a big girl!
We were so thankful for the Awana program this year! Kathryn learned a new verse every week, and I love how the Word of God is hidden in her heart. (Jackson's class did Bible lessons as well, but they didn't really memorize verses since some of them don't talk much yet!)

Sweet Baby

I couldn't decide which pic was best, so here are three very similar ones! :) She'll be coming home very soon, and we are SO excited! Remember you can check out her blog for more specific updates as we get them!

Family!

Waverly has had lots of love from her family in her almost-three weeks of life!





I love this last picture, how her Great-Grandmom, Great-Granddad, and Great Uncle Dan are hovering over her! They seriously did this for hours while they were visiting her, watching her sweet sleepy smiles (she loved it when Grandmom called her "gorgeous"!). Waverly, you are LOVED!

Family Pictures

Our family of FIVE!
Peeking at his baby sister...

She's such a proud big sister, and SO happy that it's a girl!

Waverly's Blog!

We've set up a new blog for Waverly's updates. Please visit www.waverlysjourney.blogspot.com to keep up to date on our little girl!

Waverly Ann Sink!!!

We'd love for you to meet the newest member of our family, Waverly Ann Sink!


She was born on Sunday, May 8 (Mother's Day!!!) at 6:23a.m., weighing 5lbs 5.4 oz, and 18.75 inches long. She is precious, and we are so thankful for our little blessing! She's been in the NICU (the reason for the tape on her face...I call it her mustache!). More updates soon to follow.

Update

Warning: Men, read at your own risk...Thanks for being patient with us during a little silence. I was admitted to the hospital last night (Friday), and they started Cervidil. They checked me this morning after 12 hours, and it did little to help my cervix. However, the doctor wanted to go ahead and try Pitocin to see if that would help to dilate me. After 8 hours on the Pitocin, I had only dilated to 1cm. So, they stopped the Pitocin for the night, let me eat dinner (woohoo! see the above picture of me "eating" my liquid lunch...), and at about 7:00 they are going to give me another dose of Cervidil. They will leave that in place overnight, and then will start more Pitocin in the morning. The doctor feels confident that that will do the trick, and we should have a baby by tomorrow. I was quite discouraged earlier in the day by all this, but am ok now (maybe because I finally got to EAT!). I am encouraged to know that we are getting closer to meeting our little one, even if it is a little later than we thought. Even though it's been a bit of a boring and slow day, I am also trying to be thankful for the quiet time (how often do us moms long for just a few minutes of peace, much less a whole day?!?). Thanks for all your prayers and concerns. A few specific prayer requests:
-the Cervidil could spark labor for me on my own. That'd be great!
-rest for tonight, if labor doesn't start.
-strength for delivery.
-and of course, prayers for our little Baby!

Baby is a-comin'!

After my appointments on Monday and then again today, the doctors agree that they should induce me on Saturday at 37 weeks along. So, I have one more appointment tomorrow to check on Baby, and am scheduled to go in the hospital Friday evening to start Cervidil and then will start the Pitocin on Saturday to start labor. The baby looked good on the ultrasound today. It still has the fluid in its ventricles, but was "breathing" well (we saw bubbles going in and out of its nose...so cute!). We also saw Baby swallow, which was good. And on the Biophysical Profile on Monday, Baby scored 10 out of 10. So, all those are good signs. For now, we just have to wait a few more days to see who God created this little one to be. And little he/she is...they estimate 5 pounds! Although that is normally just an estimate, they feel like they are pretty close on its size since they are able to get such good pictures and measurements due to all the amniotic fluid. So, about half the size of my last kid....whoa! Thanks so much for all your prayers, encouragement, offers of help, etc. We have been so blessed by the body of Christ and friends and family over the past several weeks. We look forward to introducing you to our Little Blessing very soon!

"I like dirt!"

Yes, that's dirt all around his mouth. It looked even better in person! This boy is so silly!
He just pointed to my belly button and said "Nose", as in, the baby's nose. He loves to feel the baby go "bonk", as he calls it, when Baby kicks. He is talking more and more these days. Common phrases are "She hit me", "I don't want to", "Watch this", and "Look at me!" He is still as sweet as he can be, but also in a very two-year-old phase of challenging what is asked of him. He still has a hilarious sense of humor. He loves to hit the baseball, and does so left-handed. He also golfs left-handed, but will throw and do other things right-handed. He likes to play with trains and cars, and often lines them up in a perfect line. He gets super excited when he sees trains "choo choos" when we're driving. He can recognize a few letters, including J (for Jackson), K (for Kathryn, who he usually calls Sissy), and B. He also counts, although I'm not sure how high he can get by himself. He often gets 1-4 by himself, and then sporadic numbers from there until 10. He likes to point out things that go around ("round, round"). He still doesn't seem to know his colors very well...he guesses everything is either blue or orange. Wonder where he gets that color combo from? :) He's sitting here with me now, and desperately wants to type, so I'll let him close it out.

llllll;hyi-iy

Preliminary Amnio Results

We got a call from the doctor on Friday with the preliminary amnio results. We will get the full results by the end of this week, but before the full results are ready, they run the test for the three most common chromosomal abnormalities: Down's Syndrome, Trisomy 13, and Trisomy 18. These three make up about 90% of the chromosomal abnormalities seen in infants. According to the doctor, this preliminary test has a "high degree of accuracy", and ours came back clear on all three. So, it looks like those are not what we are dealing with at this point. Like I said, the rest of the results (which tests for other chromosomal abnormalities) should come back by the end of this week. Of course, if there is something else going on with Baby (genetic, neurological, digestive, etc.), we won't know anything still, since they can't check for those via amniocentesis. So, we continue to wait and see! I have appointments this week on Monday and Wednesday so far (and we'll see if they add more on!). Thanks for the continued prayers as we wait and see what God has in store for our sweet little one!

Baby Update-Amnio Done

First of all, a few pictures from our ultrasound today. Baby keeps getting cuter and cuter!

What do you think, does it look like a boy or a girl??? :)

So, the amnio was this morning. My nerves were worse than the actual pain itself! I wasn't totally freaked out, just a little nervous about it all (and I've always had a hard time being able to turn my nerves completely off!). But, the test was pretty easy in and of itself. We should hear some results by the end of the week, and get the full results back by middle to end of next week. Of course, we will keep you all updated on that. Other than that, the doctor said that we really should be ready for Baby to come anytime now. I am not dilated at all, but when you have so much fluid, you could go into labor at any time. So, now I am trying to not freak out about how much there is to do and just do a little at a time and trust God for His timing!

Honestly, I am not sure what to pray as far as test results. So we are just praying for God's will for this precious little one, and trusting Him! Thanks for joining us in prayer. We feel so loved and prayed for.

And, just for fun, here's a picture of me from yesterday, Easter Sunday. Yes, I am measuring well beyond full term! Johnny's comment: "Well, at least we know what you'd look like with twins!" (hehe, I told you I'd put it on the blog...!)

Easter

Crashing Down

Normally this blog is about our family (mostly the kids), a way to keep family and friends updated (especially those who aren't close by). We intend to keep it this way, but have an added purpose to it now. Really, it still falls in line with our original purpose, but may seem a bit more focused on updating (and not so much of the little pictures and anecdotes as usual). Anyway...on Wednesday afternoon, when I came home, I discovered the above. One of the trees in our front yard had half fallen, brought down by the wind. I found it interesting that it was almost symbolic of the day....

I was arriving home after a doctor's appointment. On Monday, I had an ultrasound to check on Baby, since I was now measuring large. That's when they discovered I had extra amniotic fluid, and a few other concerns with Baby. Here's a picture from that day. Isn't it so cute?!?
At the appointment with the high risk doctor on Wednesday, they confirmed the excess fluid, and found several things of concern. The baby also has fluid in its lateral ventricles of the brain. The normal amount is less than 10mm. The left side had 13mm, and the right side had 21mm. Anything over 20 is considered hydrocephaly. We don't know exactly what this means for Baby once it's born, but it may mean a shunt will need to be placed to drain the fluid. Baby's head circumference isn't measuring large so far, so that's good news. They also found several other things of concern, including baby's size, eye spacing, abdominal size, chin, and possibly clubbed feet (although they now think not). Basically, they think that something may be going on with Baby, but aren't sure what. We have an amniocentesis scheduled for Monday morning, which will help us determine if it's a chromosomal abnormality, and if so, which one. It could also be a genetic issue, neurological issue, or digestive issue. The truth is, we truly won't know the full picture until Baby is born. So, in the meantime, we are closely monitoring Baby (and me) with twice weekly doctors appointments, ultrasounds, and non-stress tests. And then Baby will have further testing once it arrives (at least for the hydrocephaly, if nothing else). We should know a little more once the results come back from the amnio.

It's a lot for us to process, and still all so very new. We really feel like it's a great big question mark in many regards. We hope to be able to use this blog to keep you all updated as to our newest little one, as well as continue posts on our other bigger ones too! (Easter pictures will be soon!) So, back to the beginning, with the tree that came crashing down on Wednesday. In a sense, a lot came crashing down on us that day. Not our whole entire world...I know the news could have been much worse, and I know plenty of people who are dealing with some very big issues in life right now. But, at the same time, it's always daunting to hear that something could be wrong with your child, whether it's a baby in utero, or a grown child. However, we know that our God is big, and He is good, and nothing is out of His hands. I praise Him for how He is already taking care of our sweet little baby, and already has an amazing plan for his/her life. I know that He has us in the palm of His hands, too, and that His grace will carry us through, whatever may come.

Third Time's the Charm

So, I have been a horrible blogger lately...just no energy, I suppose! And I've been especially bad about updating about this pregnancy. So, Third Child, this one's for you!

These belly shots are from about 31 weeks along. I am definitely bigger this time around. In fact, I've got an ultrasound scheduled for next week to check on Baby since I am measuring large now. We'll see what that determines!
Most people say that I am "all belly", which leads most people to guess it's a boy. But, that's how I carried the other two as well, and as we all know, only one was a boy! Kathryn, however, is pretty convinced it's a girl (partly due to her Aunt KK!). Jackson changes his mind every time we ask him, so his opinion isn't valid at this point! Here are a few other random facts about this pregnancy:

-It gets harder every time! I definitely feel more aches and pains this time around.
-This is by far the most active baby I've carried. I felt it the earliest, and feel more movement, and crazy, big movements, than I did with the other two.
-The baby likes to wake up as I go to bed, and whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, it will often wake up as well.
-The baby seems to respond to Kathryn's voice when she talks to it.
-If it's not clear already, we are waiting to find out the gender till Baby is born! (We found out with the other two, but decided to wait this time!)
-My cravings have been pasta, soda, fruit with cottage cheese, bagels with creme cheese, orange slices, and chocolate! (Any guesses as to the gender based on cravings??)
-We CAN'T WAIT to meet this little one!!!