Counting the days (27 more)....Prayer Request

Alex and I went to the doctor on Monday of this week and had what should be my last ultrasound to check the cervix and to measure the baby. The cervix has held it's own and the baby is measuring right on track. The baby now weighs 5 lbs 11 ozs. It was moving around like crazy and as it has done everytime we have had ultrasounds the arms were right in the face. The baby is hiding, not really wanting us to see what it looks like I guess. It was grabbing onto its feet too. After some pushing around on my belly a little bit by the ultrsound tech, we were able to get one halfway decent profile picture. The baby looks so chubby. I am sure it is just the 3D image though. I gained another 2.5 lbs for a total so far of 16 lbs. I go back for a follow-up in two weeks at which time I get a good ole strep test done. That doesn't really sound like fun to me. Unfortunately, I have been experiencing more frequent trips to the bathroom especially in the middle of the night. Not getting much sleep. I also still have lots of swelling and now pains in my left hip (it was just my right..now both) along with lower back pains. I went to the chiropractic today and they made me feel good for a while, but the achiness is back. I do much better if I don't walk. I keep telling myself that all of these aches and pains will be well worth it when I can hold this little baby in my arms. 27 more days!!

Prayer Request.....
I just recently found out that some friends of mine who were due to have their first child May 5th ended up delivering their son March 19th. Mason Ryan was born 7 weeks early weighing 3 lbs 1 oz. He is currently in the NICU, but appears to be progressing well. He is now 4 1/2 lbs and has moved to a crib in the NICU. I just ask that you keep my friends Ryan and Carrie as well as little Mason in your prayers. We know God works in miraculous ways. We pray that Mason will be able to go home with his parents very soon. God Bless Ryan, Carrie and little Mason.


Baby Zehr at 34 weeks, 4 days

The Nursery

Back in February, on Valentine's weekend, Alex surprised me with many wonderful things. One of those surprises involved the baby nursery. Prior to that weekend the only thing in the nursery was a crib and white walls. We had many conversations about the nursery and ideas of what we wanted to do but wanted to wait until after the baby shower to really do anything. My baby shower was held that Saturday. Alex and I were spending the weekend at the West Baden Springs Hotel (another surprise). So after the shower, Alex and Dustin had taken all of the gifts to our house while the rest of us went ahead to French Lick as we were all having dinner together. After dinner we toured the West Baden Hotel and then they all headed out. I was extremely exhausted and so was my family so they headed out semi-early. I had made plans with my family to go to Home Depot on Sunday to pick out paint for the nursery. I wanted their opinions since they were in town and I now had the crib bedding to match to. Alex was going to paint soon so I could start getting things organized. We decided to come back to our house first and eat pizza together and then while the guys were watching IU basketball the women would head into Jasper to Home Depot. Little did I know that Alex still had surprises for me. Someone had asked me what all I got at the shower, so I went to the nursery where all of the gifts were taken on Saturday. The door was closed and as I opened the door there was Dustin standing there with a camera. I thought he was taking pictures of some of the gifts and I didn't want to interrupt him so I closed the door back but not all of the way. As I looked back through the cracked door I noticed the walls were yellow. I couldn't beleive it. I was completely surprised!! Friday night of that weekend, Alex had made arrangements with my dad to come to our house and paint the walls 2 shades of yellow. He had worked with my sister Tammy to determine the best colors that would go with the bedding that I had picked out. Then on Saturday, while I was at my baby shower, the guys came to our house and hung the wall border. Little did I know that my family had left 'early' Saturday evening to head to our house to put my nursery together. They had worked for a couple of hours that evening, unpackaging everything I had gotten at the baby shower earlier that day, putting things together and organizing my nursery. It brought tears to my eyes to know how wonderful my husband was in organizing a surprise such as this. He did such a wonderful job!!! I was also quite relieved to know that a big chunk of my nursery was complete. Over the past month and a half, we have purchased a few more items, hung things on the wall, and washed all of the clothes, sheets, towels, and blankets. The final touch was going to be placed this past weekend but unfortunately it did not go as planned. My sister Melanie had given me an Uppercase Living saying for Christmas for the nursery to be hung on the wall above the crib. Needless to say, we had difficulties with the saying not coming off of the paper to put on the wall and were unable to hang it. Such a bummer! I will have to come up with another alternative for that wall. I am thinking about putting the babies name there once it is known. I am now happy to share with all of you pictures of our nursery. We are pleased with how it all turned out. Now we just wait for the arrival of the baby. Enjoy!!!


I was surprised!!


My family trying to add the final touch. An Uppercase Living saying 'A wee bit of heaven, drifted down from above, a handful of happiness, a heart full of love'


The crib with bedding and accessories


The bedding set - My First ABC by Kidsline


The mobile


The hamper from the My First ABC collection


The glider where I will spend lots of time feeding. The yellow afghan on the back of the glider was made by my Aunt Pam and the green one was made by Alex's Aunt Arline.


This shelf displays items we received during our difficult month of September 2006 when we lost our first child and I had open heart surgery.


We will display this afghan given to us by co-workers at Kimball Electronics to remember our daughter in heaven that we lost September 7, 2006.


Willow Tree Figurines given to me during this pregnancy. These are wonderful additions to my current Willow Tree collection.


The changing table and wall art that goes with the My First ABC collection.


The drawers are stocked with some neutral clothes to get me started since we don't know the sex of the baby.

33 week update...belly shots

I went to the doctor again this week on Monday. Everything is still looking good. My feet are still pretty swollen. Doc just told me to try to keep them elevated and wear support hose. I have some T.E.D. hose from my open heart surgery so I wore those yesterday. Needless to say they don't work the greatest if you don't have your feet elevated while you are wearing them. My feet/ankles were huge by the time I got home from work. In prior weeks I was experiencing a lot of pain in my lower abdomen since it appeared I was carrying the baby rather low. Over the past week or so, the pain has diminished down low and now is more in my lower back. I think the baby has moved up a little bit relieving the pain in front but adding to the pain in my back. I gained 4 lbs in the last two weeks. I should start gaining a pound a week now. When I go back to the doctor in 2 weeks they will do growth measurements on the baby again and see how much it weighs. Doc's not going to let the baby get too big. The baby is still moving around like crazy....we love just watching my belly move. The baby also enjoyed the Chris Tomlin concert we went to last Friday night in Indy. It was dancing around in there a lot, so I think it really enjoyed the music. We are still on target for our May 15th C-Section.

8 weeks to go....lots of movement

We had another doctor's visit this week. All measurements were good. No further changes with the cervix and the growth measurements on the baby are right on. The baby weighs 3.9 lbs and the heartrate was at 128 bpm. The baby is moving around like crazy...I don't think it is just kicks...there is some rolling over or around going on in my belly. I am still really achy in my lower ab area. When you don't have much room the baby just hangs out in one area and it just happens to be down low for me. If I don't have to walk I am much better off....I move really slow when I do walk and of course I have the waddle going on. Don't get me wrong, but sitting isn't all that comfortable either. My tailbone starts to hurt after awhile. If I could lay down all the time, I would probably be okay. :) The good thing is I have only gained 9.5 lbs with this pregnancy. I can't imagine how I would be if I had a lot more extra weight on me. I met with my cardiologist last week and he said everything seems to be okay from a heart standpoint with the pregnancy. He has no concerns. I would have to agree with him as I haven't really experienced any problems as far as the heart is concerned. I have 8 weeks to go. Just taken it week by week now.

10 weeks to go

Though 10 weeks seems like a long time yet, I am just praying that I make it that far. I went to the doctor this week for my normal 7 month check-up of listening to the heartbeat, answering questions, etc. I had told my doctor about the lower pains that I have been having, so they decided to go ahead and do an ultrasound to measure my cervix again. They thought I might be having preterm contractions, so they wanted to make sure my cervix was remaining closed. My cervix had been measuring over 4 cm until this week when it dropped down to 3.5 cm. They also hooked me up to a monitor to see if I had any contractions, but I didn't while I was in there. The doctor then measured by cervix himself and said it was long and a lttle thin and that the head was down lower than what he would expect at this time. He said there was no concern for bedrest right now, but I will continue to go every 2 weeks to have my cervix measureed and growth measurements on the baby. So for now I just have to take it easy and call if I experience any problems. We are talking to the baby and telling it to hold off for another two months. :) Since I got an ultrasound I got to see the baby again. That's always comforting. We were able to get one good picture of the baby actually looking at us. My stomach also feels like it is bulging out more and more nowadays. It's going to be a long 10 weeks I am afraid.

Nursery pictures coming soon.......


Our precious baby...finally a frontal view although it looks plastered to the wall


Belly shot at 29 weeks

Baby Shower at Work

Last Wednesday, a few of my close friends from work threw me a baby shower. One of my co-workers even made a homemade cake for the occasion. There were several people that participated. We got a lot of awesome things for the baby. Alex even came back to his old stomping grounds for the occasion. I think it was good for him to see those he used to work with and vice versa. All of these people meant a lot to Alex and I especially 2 1/2 years ago when we had some difficult times in our lives with my first pregnancy, the loss and then my open heart surgery. Between this shower and my shower with our families and close friends, Alex and I are pretty set on the arrival of this baby. There are just a few more items that we need to get yet.

Surprise Weekend

My husband decided to pamper me Valentine's weekend. He started off by telling me to pack a bag for the weekend and that I was not coming home until after church on Sunday. I was not allowed to ask any questions. We had plans for lunch on Friday and the big surprises started after that. He arranged for me to have a half day of vacation and then treated me to a pedicure, manicure, facial and a prenatal massage. Once he joined me later that evening, we had dinner and spent some time together at the casino in French Lick. He's so amazing. It was just such good timing as I have been really stressed with the work situation and experiencing a lot of lower back pain with the pregnancy. I needed this relaxation time. On Saturday I had my baby shower with family and close friends. My family then joined us for dinner in French Lick and a tour of the West Baden Hotel. Alex, Breanna and I crashed in early. Just when I thought all surprises were over, I arrived home to another surprise Sunday after church. I thought my family was coming over for pizza and after lunch the girls were all going to go to Home Depot to pick out paint for the nursery and the guys were going to stay back and watch the IU game. Well, those weren't exactly the plans as my nursery had already been painted and decorated by my family. While Alex and I were away for the weekend, he made arrangements for my dad to paint the nursery on Friday evening. Then, when my family left us in French Lick Saturday evening they came back to our house and decorated my entire nursery with everything I got from the shower earlier that day. They had everything taken out of boxes and put together. I was soooooooo surprised. Thanks to the wonderful husband I have and the great families we have, this will be one weekend i will never forget.