Baby girl Schwarz's nursery

We have been chipping away at it for the last few months in preparation for an early arrival but luckily it remains vacant. I admit that it isn't the "girliest" of rooms since the previous owners left the curtains and we kept the walls as is, but we are very happy with our results.

30 weeks

The picture I never took with Ryan - I had planned on it the morning he was born as we were supposed to go to a birthday party @ Yankee Stadium that day. I am 30 weeks today and Ryan was born at 30 weeks and 3 days so 3 more days until the biggest milestone of my pregnancy - I have been looking forward to this day for a long, long time. There were moments when I never thought I would get this far so we are *thrilled* to be in the 30's!!!!

10 Years @ Kling Stubbins

Congratulations, Mike, for celebrating 10 years of working at Kling Stubbins on July 9. Your commitment and dedication to your company over the last decade has been nothing less than spectacular. You have accomplished so much and I am so proud of you. I commend your delicate balance between work and personal life because after all, and I am sure you agree, you leave your job every day and come home to another job just as challenging - Ryan and me (especially lately!) Here's to another 10 years!

27 weeks & 4 days

I had an ultrasound earlier in the week and we got a great shot of baby girl Schwarz. All measures great with her as it has been and did with Ryan. She weighs 2 lbs 5 oz and is currently in the head down position.

My fetal fibronectin culture last week came back negative so for my 2nd bi-weekly test in a row it is 99% unlikely I will go into labor in the next 2 weeks. Although nothing has declined with my status, my OB agreed to give me a 2 part steroid shot (betamethasone) which is given to women in pre-term labor and helps mature the baby's lungs. My labor was so quick with Ryan (barely got to the hospital) so there was no time for me to get the steroids to help Ryan let alone any other medications. I had my first steroid injection along with my 17P injection Tuesday morning and then returned for my 2nd steroid shot yesterday. I have been *dreaming* of this moment for a long time and am happier and more confident than I have been in a while.

Ryan with Oma & Opa Rodman

Ryan has been spending a lot of time with Oma and Opa Rodman this summer since my activities have been limited. Typically Oma comes down to our house and stays over for a night or so a week but most recently they had Ryan at their house without me for the first time in a long, long time. He enjoyed playing a lot with his cousin, Lucas, while he was in Lancaster.

Ryan with Grandma & Grandpa Schwarz

Ryan has been spending a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa Schwarz this summer since my activities have been limited. Ryan enjoys riding on their John Deer tractor and riding his bike at their house among many other activities. He also had the opportunity to visit Grandpa's "boat office" as Ryan calls it. Daddy took Ryan on a 3 hour drive each way to Binghamton, NY to visit his Mom's side of the family for Father's Day - he did well for the long day trip and Ryan still talks about going back to Aunt Sandy's house (although I think that spoiling him with 5 icees has something to do with it!)






As e-mailed by Grandpa:
Ryan was a "Distinguished Guest of Honor" this morning at the Whitemarsh Boat Club (WBC) at the Hines Rowing Center!

He watched his DVD player for a bit (and was a very good boy) while WBC VP Grandpa Rick, Captain Jack Voss and Coach Mark Valenti repaired the Men's Eight Sweep Boat.

Then he was very excited to (1) Sit in the wakeless launch and the flatbottom launch (at the dock); (2) Sit in Grandpa's Vespoli Matrix 27 racing single, the Cor Fortius (while on slings in the boathouse); and (3) hold Grandpa's Concept2 sculling blades.

All along, he was a very well-behaved young man! Many of the high school girls who were attending the Lower Merion Crew Camp, and some of the elite junior boys from the Philadelphia Sculling Club Camp, stopped by to tell him how cute he was, ask him if he was a rower (he said "yes" every time) and give him a high five or a fist bump!

When asked, "Where does Grandpa row his boat?" he replied, with conviction, "The Skoo-kull River!" :-)







With Great-Grandparents Clarence and Anna Hoffmaster





Hanging with Mike's cousin Luke Scott

Monster Truck Rally

Never in a million years did I think that any child of mine would attend a monster truck rally (although Mike did say that you could have easily mistaken this event for somewhere in Central PA even though it was 10 minutes down the road in our actual Whitemarsh Township), but somehow Ryan has caught monster truck "fever"! He and daddy managed to stay there for a solid 2.5 hours of bliss so this was the second night in a row that Ryan was up passed hid bedtime. I give Daddy a lot of credit for going to this event solo with Ryan and 2 snow cones and a popcorn later they managed to hit the porta potty 3 times!

4th of July Fireworks 2011

Ryan stayed up like a big boy last night and we went to see fireworks at Mike's former high school. We grabbed some ice cream beforehand (as you can see on Ryan's shirt) and Daddy parked at the same secret spot he used to 15+ years ago. I was interested to see Ryan's reaction as he has never seen live fireworks like that before and he was amazed and at times he did say he was scared but never enough to leave Daddy's lap. He also *loved* his glow in the dark bracelets - they were a big hit! We didn't get home until after 10 so it's the latest Ryan has ever stayed up...

26 weeks

It's been a long couple weeks since my last update. At 23 weeks & 3 days my High Risk practice did a routine cervical check which showed that my cervix had shortened from 3.7 cm to 2.5 cm from the measurement two weeks prior. Anything below 2 cm is a red flag for them so I was borderline and trending in the wrong direction. Once my regular OB saw the report he placed me modified bed rest since his red flag is anything below 2.5 cm. Modified bed rest means no lifting, limited stairs and laying down as much as you can which is difficult for anyone let alone someone with an extremely active 3 year old. It was also explained to me that a typical pregnant woman who has no reason to be monitored may be walking around at 2.5 cm from this point until she goes into labor at full-term but unfortunately the medical field knows so little about unknown prematurity that they don't want to take any chances. While cervical measurements can fluctuate and a cervix is supposed to shorten as a pregnancy progresses, bed rest is not a proven remedy.

My appointment one week later measured my cervix at 2.5 cm again so while it had not lengthened which we were hoping for, it had not shortened even more which could have led to hospitalization, etc. My OB performed a Fetal Fibronectin culture 2 weeks earlier than scheduled and results came back NEGATIVE about 24 hours later which means that I was 99% unlikely to go into labor in the next 2 weeks which was a tremendous relief.

Last Wednesday at 25 weeks & 3 days my cervical measurement revealed that it had lengthened from 2.5 cm to 3.3 cm which was great news so we can rest a bit easier for now but are cautiously optimistic. My Doctor will continue to perform Fetal Fibronectin cultures every 2 weeks and I will be getting my 10th 17P injection this week.

On a lighter note, my last significant day of nausea was Memorial Day during my 23rd week and baby girl Schwarz is very active - the ultrasound technicians have also commented on this several times and I have told them that they don't know what active is until they meet her older brother.

We are very fortunate that both sets of grandparents have been a huge help watching Ryan for the majority of each day that we need and Mike has taken/will be taking some extra time off to help out as well.

We are taking it one day at a time...

Ryan completes his first year of pre-school

Congratulations to Ryan for finishing his first year of pre-school! He was in the Monday and Tuesday morning 2 year old program at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Lafayette Hill. His certificate was hand made with the hair and eye colors of each child in his class. They gave Ryan blonde hair and green eyes - it was one of the first times I had thought about his eye color in a while - my baby has green eyes! He will return to St. Peter's in September to start the 3 year old program on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings.

He is turning from a toddler to a little boy overnight and now he has yet another achievement to add to his list - potty trained! I waited until school was over and until I could function a bit more from the morning sickness and he has taken pretty well to it. He is 1.5 weeks into it and we are virtually accident free - he even got out of Grandma and Grandpa's pool several times to use the potty and went 3 times at a restaurant last night.

Ryan's speaking has also really impressed us recently, his sentence structure and vocabulary in particular.

Great job Ryan, you amaze us more and more each day!

22 weeks

Although I am feeling better than before, I still fight episodes of extreme nausea, acid reflux and now horrible allergies (headaches, sinus issues etc.) on top of everything. Mike continues to give me my 17P injections in which I end up with a week-long hive among other side-effects but we know it is completely worth it. Everything looks well at my weekly appointments and baby girl Schwarz is kicking more than ever now. Our families continue to be a huge help and Mike is my rock!

March for Babies 2011

We can't think of a better way to mark the half-way point of our pregnancy. The weather held up and we had another tremendously successful year raising an incredible $2,360. Your support is amazing and we can't thank everyone enough.

And whether you know it or not, this day is for you, Ryan, and all of the other preemies who have survived or not, as once again we renew our promise to give back a little for how very much we have been given with you...

It's a....

GIRL!!!! Most importantly, all measurements came back great from the 20 week ultrasound and baby girl Schwarz is healthy. We are *thrilled* that Ryan will be welcoming a little sister to the world!

18 weeks

Today is the 5th day in a row that I have felt better and we are crossing our fingers that my morning sickness is gone for good. I received my first injection of 17P/Makena (which is a medicine proven to prolong pregnancies in mommies with premature histories like me) last week. The nurse demonstrated it for Mike and so he will give me my injections weekly from tonight on. The medicine is a thick serum in sesame oil so it takes a while to fill the syringe and inject, but it is *nothing* compared to my last 3 months of misery and a baby in the NICU for 35 days....

Easter 2011

All "candied" up!