Ultrasounds & a Baby Shower!

Last Tuesday, I went in to Dr. McDonald's office for my 2nd Biophysical Profile exam. The first one I had, landed me in the hospital so I was kind of nervous about this next one! Well, I once again was hooked up to the fetal monitors, and this time everything looked great! YAY! So, it was on to have a quick ultrasound to see how little Brooke was doing in my belly. It was a very fast ultrasound and the technician was clicking away on the machine. I had no idea what I was seeing on the screen! At one point, I thought I saw her face, but the screen image was so blurry it was hard to tell. The technician did say that she saw hair on her head! I was surprised since I was a bald baby. She couldn't tell how much...it could just be like peach fuzz! But, I can't wait to see if she will be a blonde baby like Reagan and I were. We keep thinking she will come out with a head full of red hair! My Nana is a red head, so we will just have to see! So, after the ultrasound, it was on to see Dr. McDonald. She said everything looked great and to keep being lazy. She still wants me to stop taking the Procardia at 34 weeks because she said after that point in pregnancy, there's no real proof that the medicine will still work. Which I am fine with...I'd rather not take any medication while pregnant especially if it has no use! And, this Procardia has been giving me some serious headaches. I will just make sure I take it extra easy once I'm off the medication so I don't have any more contractions.

On Friday, we went to see Dr. Gei again. Dr. M wanted me to see him again because he is a high-risk doctor and they have the better ultrasound equipment. They wanted to see if there was a reason why Brooke was so small. This ultrasound was very neat! We were actually able to see everything so clear on the screen. The technician was trying so hard to show us her face, but I think Brooke is taking after her mommy already...she was being very shy! First of all, she was face down and then she had her arm over half of her face! The technician was trying all sorts of things to get her to move her arm, but she just wouldn't. We were able to see one eye and her nose. Reagan and I both agreed that we think she's got Reagan's nose! Guess we will have to wait and see if our prediction is right! Dr. Gei came in after a while and talked with us while he looked at Brooke on the ultrasound as well. He said that she looks very healthy and even though she is underweight, the good news is that they don't see any reason why she is small. Her lungs look good, there's enough amniotic fluid, she's getting all the oxygen she needs...she's just teeny, tiny. I guess by the measurements they took, they were able to tell how much she weighs. Right now, she only weighs 3 pounds, 7 ounces. The average weight, where she should be at this point, is 4 and a half pounds. So, my diet has no restrictions which means eat as often and as much as I want! And, hopefully some of it will start fattening up little Brooke! He wants me to come back for a follow-up ultrasound on August 13th...we will see if she decides to stay in until then!

On Saturday, Gretchen, Lindsey, Keren, and Cathy threw Reagan and I a Hawaiian themed couple's shower. It was so much fun! They did such a great job and the decorations were so cute! We even had hula skirts to wear. Mine didn't fit so well...it popped off when I sat down! They made a diaper cake AND a diaper wreath! They decorated them with all kinds of much needed baby items and LOTS of monkeys!! Brooke is definitely going to be our "little monkey"! They made a fabulous meal with pulled pork sandwiches, pasta, potato salad, fruit, corn, and YUMMY petit fours for dessert. I was definitely stuffed after eating all that good food! Brooke received a lot of wonderful gifts. She got a cute bag with her name emboidered on it, lots of toys, some cute outfits, and lots more! We got some much needed baby items as well. Some of the things we received are her baby baths, bottles, lots of diapers, and a tubside kneeler. Thank you to everyone, we feel so blessed to have received all of these gifts! We also received a lot of hand-me-downs from Keren which is MUCH appreciated!! It was so good to see everyone. I loved being able to get out of the house to see my friends! Thank you ladies for throwing us such a fun shower!!

Baby Shower!

Even though I am on bedrest, I was given the "ok" to go to my baby showers as long as I sat the whole time! So, yesterday my aunts, sister-in-law, and close family friends threw me a "women's" baby shower! It was so lovely. They all did such a nice job with everything! It was so much fun getting to see everyone...I only wish I could have been able to get up and visit with everyone some more. Everyone was so generous and supportive...and they were all making sure I was taking it easy! (Although, I'm sure I was being a little stubborn since I kept telling everyone I was fine.) The cake was beautiful and super yummy! My sister-in-law made us a diaper cake (with help from my brother!! wow!) and it was absolutely amazing! Baby Brooke received a lot of wonderful things. She now has a closet FULL of clothes! And when I mean full...I mean packed with hardly any more hanging space! She's got more clothes than I do! I can't wait to dress her up in all the cute clothes. We also received lots of bibs, hats, and blankets. Gretchen and my mom both made blankets for Brooke and they are so pretty! The one Gretchen made is green with little turtles! It was her first blanket that she's ever made, and I am so honored to receive it! Brooke will love her turtle blanket. My mom made her one that's got lots of bright colors and will be perfect for tummy time. We also received a very special blanket from Reagan's side of the family that his grandmother made. It has been passed around to all of her grandchildren, and now it's being passed on to her first great-grandchild. It has all of their names and birth years on it. It is so neat to know that Reagan, his sister, and all of his cousins shared this blanket when they were all babies! The hostesses all pitched in and gave us the stroller we registered for! We also recieved our diaper bag, lots of books, gift cards to buy the dresser for the nursery, along with many other wonderful gifts! I am so excited and can't wait to use all of these new things. We are feeling a litte more prepared now that we have some of the "necessities" for Brooke. Thank you to everyone who came and shared this special day with me and Brooke! And thank you to the wonderful ladies who gave me the shower!!


Next Saturday is our couple's shower given to us by Gretchen, Lindsey, Keren, and Cathy. I am very excited for their "Hawaiian" themed shower they are throwing for us! Reagan and I feel truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives...and we are so thankful for everything you all are doing to help us bring this little girl into our world!

My Adventures to the Hospital again...& AGAIN!

Well, I was originally planning to just write this post to inform everyone about the weekly biophysical profile tests Dr. McDonald was going to start doing on me...however I now I have a LOT more news! My test was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but appearantly little Brooke just couldn't wait that long for us to hear her heartbeat! Tuesday evening around 5:30 I began to have a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions. As I've mentioned before, I had been having a lot of these lately, but this time things felt different. Around 8pm, I noticed that I was having them every few minutes. Reagan and I had just ate dinner and were sitting on the couch watching a movie. I decided to change from a sitting position to laying down to see if that helped. Reagan went to get his watch and a piece of paper and began recording my contractions. Well, the contractions did not go away when I layed down. They were coming about every 10 minutes and lasting 50 seconds on average. We decided to call our awesome friend Kendra...she's a labor and delivery nurse at a hosptial here in Houston. She told us we needed to go ahead and call Dr. McDonald, so we did. Dr. M told us to go ahead and go to the hospital and she was going to let them know I was coming. Well, I was thinking, oh goodness ANOTHER trip to the hospital and it's not even time for her to come yet! As soon as we arrived, the nurse hooked me up to some monitors to hear Brooke's heartbeat and to check my contractions. We could definitely see my contractions on the screen! As I said earlier, these didn't feel the same...they were a little stronger but not really painful. They were actually more annoying feeling than anything! My nurse examined me and said I was not dilated, so that was excellent news. They did do a fetal fibronectin test which basically would determine if I would be going into active labor within the next two weeks. Well, the test results were going to take a while so they decided to keep me overnight since my contractions were not going away. My doctor also gave me a medicine called terbutaline to stop the contractions. They had to give me three injections of this and it definitely helped! My contractions stopped, however the medication made me very jittery, kind of like I had drank way too much coffee!

The next morning, Dr. McDonald came to see me and said my test results for the fetal fibronectin came back negative, meaning that I would not be at risk for preterm labor. What a relief! So they were able to let me go home! I still had my regularly scheduled appointment with Dr. McDonald that afternoon along with the biophysical profile test, so she told me I still needed to come in for that. So Reagan and I headed home and it was off to bed for me! Right before I left for my appointment, I noticed I had a couple of contractions again. It was a good thing I was going back to the see the doctor! Well, the doctor was running late, so we didn't get back to start the BPP test until almost an hour after my original appointment time. The BPP test basically constists of 2 tests. They first hook you up to fetal monitors to check baby's heartbeat and to see if you are having contractions and how baby reacts to contractions. The second part consists of a quick ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid and baby's movements and muscle tone. When I was finally called back, the technician hooked me up to the monitors and told me I would be on them for about 20-40 minutes. Reagan was with me for this part, but he had to leave as soon as it was over because he had a meeting. While the technician was monitoring this, she noticed I was having contractions about every 4-5 minutes apart. She said that Brooke was reacting just fine to them, howeve she thought Dr. McDonald would need to examine me before doing the ultrasound. So off I go into another room for the exam. By this time Reagan had already left. As soon as my dr. began to examine me, I noticed she had a concerned look on her face. She then told me that since last week, my cervix had began to thin out a little meaning that these contractions are starting to do something. So, she said it was back to the hospital for me again...and this time she was expecting me to be there for 24-48 hours. Well, since Reagan was not there, I began to bawl! I was so scared becuase she said that we were going to have to try new medicines to stop the contractions, as well as getting steroid shots to help mature Brooke's lungs in case I went into labor. Even though my fetal fibronectin test came back negative, she didn't want to take any chances in case the results were wrong.

So, as I continue to bawl my eyes out, I get in my car and make my way to the hospital across the street. Mom told me she would meet me there while Reagan went home to pack us a bag for our stay. Suzy and Tom also came by a little later, as well as my dad. I checked back into labor and delivery and guess what...same room! This was also the exact same room for our hospital stay back in May when I had the stomach parasite! I need to get out of this room! I think Brooke likes it too much and keeps wanting to come back! After getting hooked up to the all the monitors AGAIN, I was also given an IV...thank goodness for that because I was told I could not eat until I stopped having contractions. (I should have eaten more for lunch that day!) Dr. McDonald prescribed a new medicine called Procardia to stop the contractions. My first dose was considered a "mega" dose and I was given 4 pills at once...and then I would receive one pill every four hours after that. I was also given antibiotics through my IV in case I had some unknown infection that could be causing me to contract. THEN, my first nurse leaves as soon as she gives me the Procardia, and a new nurse comes on to give me the first steroid shot. I would receive 2 of these, one every 24 hours. Well, 5 minutes after the steroid shot, a huge wave hit me and I was incredibly dizzy and light headed. I couldn't even see straight. The new nurse came running into my room to check on me. We found out that the Procardia lowers your blood pressure (which as many of you may know, I already have a problem with low blood pressure!) and along with the other 2 medications they had just given me, it was too much for my body to handle. My heart rate shot WAY down. After about 20 minutes, the extreme dizziness had started to go away but I was then on a close watch every time they gave me my next dose of Procardia! This medicine has taken a lot longer to control the contractions. I still had some contractions throughout the night, and we found that if I layed completely flat that they stopped. I was also given Ambien to help me sleep through the night and boy did that have a funny effect on me! Appearantly, about 10 minutes after getting it, I started hallucinating! I remember seeing all these crazy things, however when I woke up in the morning I thought it was all a dream until Reagan told me that it definitely was not! Well, there are some big spotlights in the ceiling and I appearantly saw 2 cartoon mice in each of them and the spotlight was there spaceship! I also saw lights flashing all over the ceiling and even asked Reagan "don't you see those?!" and told him he had 4 eyes, 2 noses, and 4 ears. This was all said in front of the nurse! I'm sure they both thought I had gone absolutely crazy! Well after that it was off to sleep for me. Even though I was unaware of it, I still had contractions throughout the night and was given another shot of Terbutaline to help. The contractions finally stopped sometime early this morning!

Dr. McDonald came to see me again in the morning and told me that I needed to continue bedrest laying flat to keep the contractions under control and that hopefully I would be able to go home Friday morning. I would most likely be sent home with Procardia to continue taking for the next few weeks to keep Brooke from coming too early. I was FINALLY given permission to eat as well! I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before so I was starving!! I'm still in the hospital as I write this trying to pass some time...can't you tell by how long this post is?! Lindsey and her mom stopped by this afternoon and brought me frozen yogurt from Swirl! yuuuuum!! So, I've decided to try sitting up to see if my contractions had officially stopped and so far so good! I've been sitting up for the past 4 hours and have only had about 3 contractions!! Which that's about normal for what I've been experiencing for the past few weeks. So, it looks like I will officially be able to go home tomorrow morning! I still have to get my 2nd steroid shot this evening but other than that, I'm feeling great! Maybe I won't have to be on strict "lay flat" bedrest and will actually be able to sit up from time to time once I'm home. My mom also informed me that a girl from high school is just down the hall moments away from having her baby today! We are able to see the monitors for all the patients and we recently saw that her monitors were turned off which means her baby is here! Such a small world!

Please keep baby Brooke in your thoughts...we can't wait to meet her, but we need her to wait a few more weeks before she comes! And since Reagan and I have had so much extra time with nothing to do, we've officially decided on her full name... Brooke Nicole Tielke! I'm really glad things seem to be doing better right now since I have a shower being thrown for me on Saturday! I'd hate for everyone to go to all that work for me and then I'm not even able to attend. I may have to sit the whole time, but I'm very much looking forward to it and seeing all of our family and friends! I will keep everyone updated if anything new happens. Thank you all for your love and support during this very scary time for Reagan and I!

Childbirth Class

Today we had our one day childbirth class. It was a very long day and my brain has been overloaded with labor, delivery, and baby information! I am really glad we decided to take a childbirth class. Reagan and I learned so much, and I walked away feeling much more confident about what's going to happen! In the morning, an anesthesiologist came in to talk to us about pain management options...the epidural being one of them. I have already decided that I will absolutely want an epidural! I am a wuss when it comes to pain, and after watching those lovely "miracle of birth" videos from the '80s today, I know for a fact that I do not want to do this natural!! (Bring on the drugs!!) The anesthesiologist was very helpful and showed us exactly what would happen during an epidural. We were also able to speak to a pediatrician and ask him some questions, too. My favorite part of the whole day was when the husbands had to learn massage techniques!! Our instructor showed them exactly how to massage our backs and our feet during labor! I am going to make sure Reagan gets in a lot of "practice" on these techniques before I even go into labor! :) Massage time was very helpful to me during our class today in another way as well. All day long I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions and was very uncomfortable. The massages really helped me to relax and the contractions went away for a while. I didn't mention this in the previous post, but I've had a LOT of B-H contractions. Dr. McDonald had told me I have to take it easy, so I did. Last week I barely had any contractions, but today was a different story. I think it probably had to do with not getting a lot of sleep last night and being really tired all day. I was put on "couch"rest when we got home by Dr. Reagan. :)

One thing that I was kind of shocked about (and thought it was poor planning on the hospital's part) was what they provided for lunch. First, they brought out sandwiches with lunch meat...and as most of you may know, deli meats are one of those "no, no's" during pregnancy. THEN, they brought out the drinks...every single drink had caffeine! I couldn't belive it! Guess the cafeteria didn't realize they were providing lunch for a room full of pregnant women.

Pregnancy Pictures

Here are some belly pictures I've taken throughout the last 8 months:

This was taken at 14 and a half weeks.

18 weeks

20 weeks

25 weeks

30 weeks

More to come soon!

It's a GIRL!

So, I have been searching for a blog website ever since I found out I was pregnant. I loved the idea of sharing this experience with family and friends online, especially those who live in other cities and states. Well, my search was not a very extensive one! I occasionally looked for the perfect blog site, but never found one that I truly loved...until now! (Thanks Lindsey for sharing your friend's blog with me!) So, since I am quite behind on sharing news and updates with everyone, I will try my best to go back and remember all the milestones of this pregnancy to share with you! Here are a few stories of some of the most exciting things that have happened in the past 8 months. It's long, but again, this is from the last 8 months!



December 29, 2008
This is a day I will never forget. I decided to go ahead and take a pregnancy test first thing in the morning, although I had a feeling it was too early to tell. I knew something was different with me because I had been having quite a few stomachaches in the weeks leading up to this day. My body just felt "off", but I kept thinking it was some sort of stomach bug. But, I decided to go ahead and just see if there was a chance I could be pregnant. So, the directions for the pregnancy test say to wait 3 minutes before your results show up...it took 30 seconds and the word "Pregnant" appeared! I think at that very moment my eyes popped out of my head and I fell to the floor with my mouth hanging open. I have never been more surprised....so I took 3 more tests just to make sure! And to my astonishment, they all said the same thing! This was probably the longest day I had ever experienced as well. Reagan and I had already planned to meet for lunch, however we met at Potbelly Sandwiches and I was not about to tell him the big news there. So I kept my mouth shut with a huge grin on it throughout lunch. THEN, Reagan worked later than normal this day...till after 8pm! I was just about to go crazy because I could not keep this secret any longer! When he came home, I handed him a card stating that I had a "New Year's" card to give him. When he opened it, the cover of the card had two little baby footprints on it. He looked a little confused...so when he opened it and saw what I had written (I'M PREGNANT!), he looked at me in disbelief. He honestly did not believe me...but then I showed him the 4 pregnancy tests I'd taken! Lo and behold he was ecstatic and I've never seen a bigger smile on his face!


December 30, 2008
This is the day we told our parents! We went to each of our parents homes and gave them a "belated" Christmas gift. We told them they had to open it at the same time because it was the same thing....we had found frames that say "I love my Grandma" and "I love my Grandpa". Well, as soon as the moms opened their gifts, they knew right away and were in shock! However, the dads thought this frame was for putting a picture of our dog Molly in it! But, I think once the moms said "You're pregnant?!", they got the point!

When we shared the news with my brother, Ben, and my sister-in-law, Windy, it was on a later date. We went over to Mom and Dad's to see them and their little girl, Kylie. I was holding Kylie in the living room when I said to her (loud enough so everyone could hear), "Kylie, are you ready for a new cousin?" Ben and Windy were very excited to hear the news! It's really great having a sister-in-law who just went through a pregnancy to share all her advice with me! It's been really helpful and I'm sure I will have plenty of questions once Brooke arrives!


We also shared the big news with Reagan's sister, Melissa and her husband, Travis. Travis was not in town at the time, so we went to Panera Bread with Melissa to tell her. Reagan wrote on a piece of paper "Are you ready...to be an aunt?" She was very excited. So, we then called Travis to tell him the news on the phone. They are both so supportive and helpful! Thanks Travis for all of the baby gear you've sent our way!!



January 20, 2009

My first doctor vist. We were taken in for an ultrasound first before meeting with Dr. McDonald. When we saw our little baby on the screen, I of course began crying! I was so happy to see that there was really in fact a little baby in my belly! Of course at the time, all it looked like was a little circle with a flickering heart beat, but it was still our baby and that was the best feeling in the world.

After this doctor visit, we decided to go ahead and announce to the rest of our family and friends that we were expecting!

April 20, 2009

On this day, we drove down to the medical center to see Dr. Gei for our 20 week ultrasound. We also found out some very exciting news...it's a GIRL! I honestly was shocked...and I think the rest of our family was too. We had all been predicting that I was having a boy. But, I was in no way upset! All I cared about was having a healthy baby no matter what it was. Dr. Gei gave us lots of pictures. He even took one where Brooke is giving us a thumbs up...she's definitely going to be an Aggie! :)

This day was also very special in another way. Later in the evening, Reagan and I were watching tv when I began to feel Brooke kick. I had already felt her kicks, however Reagan had not. So, he put his hand on my belly, and after about a minute, Brooke gave a good hard kick right to his hand! He couldn't believe how well he could feel her kick! Reagan loves to put his hand on my belly now while we are just lounging around and feel all of Brooke's movements! Feeling her move and kick is one of the weirdest...yet most wonderful...feelings in the world!

The picture below is not the one of her thumbs up, but a good profile shot of little Brooke.

I have felt very blessed throughout this pregnancy. I only had a couple mornings of morning sickness and that was it! I did have an every day kind of queasiness, more so at dinner time than anything else. I never wanted to eat dinner until I was about 13 weeks along. I also had the very strong "pregnant nose". Every morning when I opened the fridge, I would gag! I could not stand the smell...I kept telling Reagan that something had gone bad in the fridge, but he didn't smell a thing. I even bought those Arm & Hammer fridge things, but that didn't work! I would have to say my strongest pregnancy symptoms have been EXTREME fatigue in the first trimester, and then absolutely terrible migraines....imagine the worst headache you've ever had, multiply it by ten. That's what I felt. I was even sent to a neurologist by my ob-gyn because even she was worried about it. But, the headaches began to slowly go away as I got further along in the pregnancy (thank God!).

On the other hand though, I have had a few illnesses during this pregnancy (not related to being pregnant) that were pretty rough. I had the flu the week of my birthday, and being pregnant, there was not a whole lot I could take! I also had a very scary, and painful, illness back in May. About an hour after eating a turkey sandwich at Panera Bread, I began to feel a little nauseous. Well, it continued to get worse as the night went on, leading up to me becoming very sick! I thought I had food poisoning. I was having extreme pain in my abdomen, so much that my whole stomach was swollen and I looked much more pregnant than I actually was! Well, this whole thing had started on a Sunday. I missed Monday and Tuesday of work, and decided to try to make it on Wednesday since I had so much work to do with it being the end of the school year. I barely made it through the day. My stomach was so swollen that I could not feel Brooke's movements. This of course made me, Reagan, and both of our parents very worried. They all decided it was time to take me to the ER. When we got there, they took me right up to the Labor & Delivery wing and put me right on to a bed. They hooked me up to some monitors and I heard the best sound in the world...Brooke's heartbeat! Everything with the baby was fine, however I was still in so much pain and very sick to my stomach. They decided to keep me overnight, which was really neat since it gave us a little preview of the rooms we would be in when Brooke arrives. They let me leave the next morning, telling me that my symptoms were probably due to food poisoning. However, I still felt extremely sick. I decided to call Dr. Stein (my tummy doctor!) and got an appointment for the next day. He came in to the office just to see me! He said it was NOT food poisoning that I was experiencing...it was in fact a stomach parasite! Yuck... So anyways, he was able to find 2 antibiotics that were safe for me to take. Two days later, I began to feel much better! We still don't know how I got the parasite...but I'm guessing I got it from one of my students at school. Oh, the joys of being an elementary school teacher!

July 2, 2009

It was time to trade in my little coupe for a family car. I was very sad to say goodbye to my cute little Altima coupe...that I only had for a year and a half. But I was very excited to know that my "new" car would soon hold our little baby girl!

My old car. Bye, bye pretty coupe!

Hello new car! 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid