Just got a call from my oldest daughter, expecting her 2nd baby Mar 10, her Dr. has put her on bed rest as of yesterday, thinks she is showing some beginning signs of "pre eclampsia" (she had to have an emergency C section three weeks early with her oldest Kate because she was going into toxemia - long story, not for here), Juli says shes not having any of the symptoms she had with Kate, its just her BP is going up, and her ankles are pretty swollen, but given her history the Dr is being very cautious, which I'm all for!

Anyway, she is just trying to get thru Kate's birthday party tomorrow and her actual birthday on Tuesday. Thankfully my youngest daughter happens to be there this weekend looking for houses as they are moving to the area in May, so she can help a lot with the party, and Juli has strict instructions to go to the party and stay off her feet and let everyone else do the work - its at Gymboree, so I think thats good - and she goes into the Dr again on Monday - but Juli feels that if she can get past Tuesday, which is Kate's 3rd birthday, then they will probably schedule her for Wed or Thurs. hopefully I'll know more Monday. We plan on going down on Tuesday anyway for dinner, we may end up staying longer than we think!!
We are just hoping it won't become an emergency this time, and it doesn't sound like it, but we are prepared for anything at this point - packing a suitcase to have ready tomorrow!!

Frank iis still not able to walk on his foot yet, so this all will be very interesting, although he can put a slight amount of weight on his heel with the use of crutches, and he actually gets around quite well, but still it does limit him. Oh well, guess he can just sit in a chair and put Kate on his lap and read to her and watch DVD's with her - and she loves her Grandad!
I'm ready for a new Grandbaby - don't know what it is yet, but I'm feeling very strong about a girl lately. :woh: :woh:

Congratulations! I'm crossing my fingers for an uneventful rest of pregnancy and delivery for Juli! The whole bed rest thing with pre-eclampsia gets very tired very quickly.

Masaki

JoAnn,

I understand how anxious you must be. We had one of those experiences with our daughter-in-law Lori, when our grandaughter Alex was born. Pre eclampsia...very scary.
Best wishes to Juli. I'm sure she is getting the best of care. And congrats to you on your new grandchild.

Betty

Congratulations on another grandbaby! Wishing Juli a safe next few days and delivery and Kate a happy birthday party. Thank goodness her sister is in town. Cheers, Anne

JoAnn, my good wishes go out to Juli. Hope all goes well for her. I can't wait to get a grandbaby one of these days!

Thanks you guys, I appreciate your good wishes, and hopefully things will go well and before we know it we will be holding that baby in our arms. I will keep you updated.

Masaki - yes you are right its really tiresome as she is so much like me and bedrest is like....I can't even describe it if you know what I mean.... - at least this time we won't be on a plane flying home from a cruise and not know what is happening.

Betty - yes it is scary - hopefully this time in the worst case it will be over before it really becomes an issue.

Thanks again everyone, its nice to have some friendly support.

Oliva - don't worry it will happen so fast you won't believe it!! Didn't your son just get married this last summer? We got them so fast we couldn't keep up, the three grandgirls we have are going to be in March/Apr - 5 - 4 -and 3, so this is the longest gap we've gone, my head was swimming it happened so fast!!

Thanks for your good wishes. I just want this be over for her - this will be her last one, she is 35 and as she puts it, shes pushing it! I had my last one just before I was 35, so I guess its "like Mother, like Daughter" so to speak.
(I'm just one up one her, we have 3, she is the oldest)

JoAnn, congrats on the new upcoming grandbaby! Nancy

Congrats and godbless- for the new grandbaby. Darbie

JoAnn - Congrats to you, Frank, Juli and the rest of the family. I know how excited you are about being a Grandmother again - and again! Please let us know when the little one arrives and that Juli is doing well. We'll be sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear from you.

Hi JoAnn -

Alan and I are sending best wishes to you and your family on the impending birth of your new, precious grandchild! One of life's greatest blessings, for sure!

You will all be holding this darling baby in no time. Hope all goes well! Please let us know!

Hi JoAnn (spelled just like my Mom's name) Congrats!! Make sure you stay at home. Our first Grandchild was born early because of the same thing your daughter is going through. The only bad thing was he was born 10 days early and we were on a cruise in Europe. Boy, I was sure upset to say the least. Aren't granchildren wonderful. You become in love all over again. Love, Mounds

JoAnn, we send our wishes for a healthy mom, a healthy baby, and an easy delivery!

Congratulations but what little I know about babies, they come on their own schedules regardless of anyone else's plans, parties, or birthdays. Hope it all works out.

JoAnn, how wonderful a new grandbaby will be! Please update us on Juli's condition and after the main event, the new babies name!

Hope Juli had an uneventful weekend and that your new grandbaby will have a boring entrance into the world, unlike Kate's!

JoAnn, I bet you jump everytime the phone rings!!! Such anticipation. We'll all be so exited to hear when the baby comes (and see if you're right about a girl :) )

How long will Frank be on crutches? Hope it's not for long. Those things wear a person out!!! Tell him to take care.

Keep us posted!!!

Juli will be in my prayers. Best wishes to ALL of you on the upcoming birth of this baby.

Trish

A quick update, and again thanks to all of you for your thoughts and wishes - it means a lot.

Its true as Cindi says, I do jump everytime the phone rings, and especially if I see Juli and Ben's number on the caller ID. And it will be interesting to see if I'm right about a girl, but I don't even really care, Frank would love, and I mean love a little Grandson (but let me tell you, those 3 girls are the light of his life), anyway, I was right with all three of them, so its probalby time I was wrong - hahah! :D :D

Anyway - Kate's birthday party today went well and Juli's Dr called to say that her blood platlets were up, which was a good sign. Best news of course is that she has made it 1 week longer than with Kate (Kate was 3 weeks early as posted above with an emergency Csection) so that is a goal met already. She will see the Dr again tomorrow, so we should have a better update then. However, the Dr is going to keep her on bedrest until she delivers, no matter what.

We are still planning on going down to Richmond on Tues and pick Kate up from daycare and bring her home and have dinner with them, and assuming all is well, we will come home that night, and then be prepared to go back when things happen. She is trying to have a VBAC birth, meaning a normal birth after a Csection, and her Dr. is trying to help that to happen, but of course, she will be in control and do whatever is necessary for a safe delivery of the baby and the health of Juli.
I will update again tomorrow, and thanks again everyone.

JoAnn, you have totally confused me. What is a "normal" birth after a Csection? They re-position the baby maybe, from breech or something? I just never heard of this, and wonder the advantage, after the mother has already been cut. Sorry if I seem indelicate.

Olivia,

In the old days, if you had a C Section, you always had to have a C Section. Now you can have a Vaginal Delivery (VBAC)After C Section because there are more modern medical techniques to monitor everything so it's less risky and easier on Mom and Baby.

But recent evidence suggests that VBACs (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) are perhaps not as safe as was originally thought. More OBs are leaning away towards doing VBACs at this time because of this. I'm sure Juli's OB is fully aware of this and will be monitoring things closely.

Olivia - the advantage is for the mother who desires to do a trial of "natural" childbirth even after having had done a Cesarean.

Masaki

Well as a little update, Juli's BP was up yesterday, so I don't think the VBAC will be an issue, as she shows no early signs of progressing towards going into labor. She goes in again Thurs, and they will do an ultrasound, I guess mostly to check the baby, but if her blood pressure is still up, and the Dr. told her she was only a couple of points away from the maximum the Dr will let it get, I suspect she will end up in the hospital Thurs or Fri having a C Section. We are going down this afternoon to have dinner with them, will come back tonight, then just wait it out.

Needless to say Juli is extremely crabby, and difficult right now, in fact she's downright impossible to even talk to. Laura, my youngest who was there over the weekend, said it wasn't a plesant experience, understandable, but not plesant. I'm sure she's miserable at 38 weeks, the bedrest is as Masaki said, "tiresome" and she's probably nervous and worried, but trying not to be.

Thats all I know now, maybe I'll know more, or have a better assessment of the situation after we see them today.

Hang in there. The best is yet to be, very very soon!

Please let us know.

JoAnn, please keep us updated on Juli's pregnancy!

Same here!

Masaki

Update. Our day with them yesterday went quite well. Juli's ankles and legs are in my opinion quite swollen, but not as bad as she was with Kate, but still.....her BP is as I said above up and right at what the Dr consider's her maximum. She is going in again tomorrow, and Juli feels, and I agree the Dr will finally say pick a day. Her guess is she might schedule her for Friday or Monday - I think we will both be surprised if she doesn't - we will pack suitcases and be ready to go if thats the case.
While we were there, her Dr's office called with her latest lab results, platlets are back up and no protein in urine, which would indicate more severe toxemia - so thats good, but the Dr also feels the baby is now over 8 lbs, and isn't dropping at all, and she told Juli she thought he/she was too big to drop down - so again another reason Juli thinks she will just schedule her to have the C Section. I think she was just trying to give the natural childbirth a chance because Juli really wanted it - but I also think the Dr won't let her go very much longer at all. Personally, I just wish they'd do it and get the baby here, I'm somewhat nervous about all this, but I also want to support Juli's wishes in all this.
Should know more tomorrow after her Dr's appointment.

JoAnn,
Thank you for the update. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and Juli. Her Dr. seems to have a handle on things...that's a good thing.

Betty

JoAnn,

I also send my thoughts and prayers your way. Just think, in a day or two, you will holding a new precious gandbaby!

JoAnn,

All kinds of positive vibes headed your way!

Nosy question, is Juli a small person? I ask because Sonja's first two were 8# 4 oz and 9# 3 oz; she scoffs at anything under that. Both were induced, and came in just three or four hours. Sarah wimped out at 7 1/2 lbs (but is the largest framed of all three of them), and didn't have to be induced. I remember them telling her that if she sneezed hard, Andrea would just pop out. Obviously she didn't.

Pam - no Juli is about my size, around 5'6", and I had one that was over 8lbs, amazingly he was two weeks early, both the girls were about 7 1/2 lbs (in the 60's & 70's, as you would guess that was normal) and they were both late. I'm not actually sure why her Dr. said that now that I think of it. She did have to have an emergency C Section with her first one three weeks early, as she was going into toxemia and Kate was only 7lbs 2 oz I think, at this point she is just about two weeks past where she was the first one, so that in itself is an accomplishment - still don't think the Dr will let her go much longer.

In this day and age, 8 lbs isn't *that* big. Sounds like Juli's doing good ... glad to see that her doctor's keeping a close eye on her!

Masaki

UPDATE UPDATE! Are you guys tired of this subject yet???

Juli just called on her way home from the Dr. Good news is her BP has stabalized, lab work is all normal and she's lost 2 lbs!! Baby is apparently 9lbs or over and seems to be fine. She still has not dropped at all. At this point they have rescheduled her for the Csection next Thurs the 10th, which is her due date. As long as nothing changes, and/or she doesn't go into labor before, that will be the day. She goes in again Monday for another check up and lab work. But right now her Dr. is comfortable with things as they are, and of course if she can get her to 40 weeks, which is the 10th, thats the goal, and Juli still wants to try natural childbirth barring unforseen circumstances and she does go into labor in the next week.
So thats the latest. Again, thanks to everyone of you for your support and words of encouragement, its really meant a lot to me. I will of course let you know when baby arrives. :) :) :D :D

Yay! Good news!

Bad news: You still are on delivery watch and worry!!

Yay!! :)

Masaki

Thanks for the update, JoAnn! Wow, at least 9 pounds, huh?!!!

We never tire of good news, JoAnn!

Soon, very soon! By next week, you will have a precious new member in your family and in your arms!

Looking forward to that Denise, actually its no later than Thursday that I'll be holding that little one. We are ready, I'm ready to have it over, and I know Juli is ready, she's just holding out for maybe going into labor, we'll see, I don't think she's really counting on it.

Amanda - thats what she said on Thurs, 9 lbs, but yesterday she mentioned that they think between 8+lbs and 9lbs, so I'm confused now myself. Guess we'll find out when he/she arrives. As Masaki said that seems pretty normal for this day and age.

If nothing changes then we will leave early Thursday and probably meet them at the hospital at 10 when she checks in, the Csection is scheduled for noon. I'm not sure if Kate is going to go to school and then we'd pick her up and take her over to the hospital, or she will be with them when we get there, I'm sure Juli will work all that out this week and let us know Wednesday.

Gotta go buy some baby stuff today!!! Yay!

Be sure to let us know just as soon as you can! What fun!

JoAnn,
Oh yeah! Don't you just love buying baby stuff?

Our very best wishes to you, Juli, and everyone!

Betty