39 Week Prenatal Appointment

On Christmas Day, I started having some pain in my rib area on my left side. At first, I thought it may have been heartburn or something, but as the day progressed..it got worse. I tried to tough it out, but when I woke up the next morning, I hurt SO BAD that I was in tears just by barely touching the outside of my ribs. I got sort of scared that something could have been wrong, so I called the doctor. He called me in some pain medication and told me to take it and lay on a heating pad and if the pain didn't get any better to call him back later in the day. Needless to say, the pain medication didn't do ANYTHING to help relieve me..it just made me sleepy and itchy. I called Dr. Ratcliff back around 5:30 pm to let him know that the pain meds had not helped a bit and he told me to come up to the Labor & Delivery Center and have it checked out. As soon as Brandon got home from work, we headed back up to El Dorado and had it checked out. They monitored me and the baby for a while, did a urine specimen, drew blood, and checked my cervix. My cervix had started to soften, but I was still only about 1.5 cm dilated. My blood work came back fine. My urine had a result of +2 bacteria in it, so they encouraged me ONCE AGAIN to drink TONS of water and fluids...to force myself to drink as much as I can. It also had a little yeast in it, which they said was completely normal for so close to birth. My heart rate was pretty high while they were monitoring me, but it's always been a little fast anyways. They determined that my pain was inflamed ribs and cartliage. They gave me a big shot of Ativan and Vistril in my booty to help relax me some and help my muscles and joints from the pain. Let me tell you...I was higher than a kite! HAHA. They monitored me for about 30 minutes after they gave the shot to me. Then we had the long ride back home...but the shot gave me MUCH NEEDED relief. When Brandon and I got home, I washed my face and brushed my teeth, and went to bed. I got the BEST sleep I've gotten in a very long time. I slept for almost 12 hours (of course, still peeing every couple of hours) and probably could have slept longer. I felt much better in my ribs and legs and everything...for about 24 hours!! Then it all came back, but at least I got relief for a little while. I think my body was also hurting so bad because I've been so restless and not able to sleep for so long, my body was just exhausted... The pain hasn't came back as bad in my ribs, but I'm certainly still miserable with my legs and back and everything else, but the path down my pregnancy road is near the end! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!

I had my 39 week prenatal appointment on Monday - and was hoping my next blog would be that I've given birth to my son... HAHA. BUT.. My body "isn't quite ready yet". I've dilated to 2 cm and my cervix has softened more. Unfortunately, it wasn't softened enough for induction to be "favorable" yet. The doctor said that if I haven't went into labor before Friday, he'll see me then and likely keep me! I gained another pound in a week, so I've made it to gaining 20 pounds while pregnant now. I feel certain that sometime soon after this Friday, we will finally have our son here!!! I can't wait to meet him!

38 Week Prenatal Appointment!

We went to the doctor today in hope that we'd be told that our baby would be here REALLY SOON to meet us!! He checked my cervix and said I was only dilated to about 1.5 cm. We were a little disappointed, but we weren't too disappointed! He said that he could feel his little head and he's in position for coming out!!! YAY!! We just want Garrett to be healthy and ready to come out when he does!! We're just hoping it's really soon. HA. I gained a pound in a week - so I'm up to 153 pounds! Pre-pregnancy was 134, so I've gained 19 pounds now!! BIG MAMA! I am pretty darn miserable now, but it's definitely going to be worth it!!! Pray that my cervix will soften more and progress in centimeters before next Monday.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!!

37 Week Prenatal Appointment!

We went to the doctor today! I've gained a pound in two weeks! Dr. Ratcliff said that my Strep B test came back negative! Which is WONDERFUL, of course!! My blood pressure and everything is looking good. After he measured my fundus, he said "When will your family be coming in town?" (since I'd told him that all of my family and friends coming for the birth are obviously out of town) and I told him since it's the holidays, it's pretty flexible right now because people are home and off for the holidays! So he wants to see me this coming Monday and he'll check to see if my cervix has started to soften or if I've dialated any! He said that if I have, we'll go ahead and schedule to induce soon after!!! So please pray for me that my cervix has started to soften and we'll get to meet our son REALLY soon!! I can NOT wait!!! Love you all!

Brian is Back in the States!!!

Brian was transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center North yesterday! It's in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Therefore, he is only about 400 miles from his home town!! YAY! I'm so stoked. I can't wait to have Garrett and go see Brian a few weeks after Garrett is born. I know he'll be excited to see his new "nephew" who is so close in age with Levi. Brian is doing well..he's walking, talking more and more, eating, and drinking now!! They are estimating that Brian will be at BAMC for about a year for rehabilitation. I will soon have an address for everyone so they can send Brian letters, pictures, or whatever you want to him...That way we can keep him busy!! We also want to try to get his room decked out in LSU stuff so feel free to send him that sort of stuff too! As soon as I get his mailing address, I'll post it on here for you to start writing him! So check back for the address.

Thanks to First Baptist Church of Haughton, Ashley and Levi will be able to fly to BAMC on Christmas Morning so that Levi can finally meet his Daddy!! I know that'll be the BEST Christmas present that Brian has ever received! Thank you for all of your prayers and please continue to pray for him as he goes through rehab!!

Awesome News About Brian!!

Brian was transferred four hours away from where he was originally at to start his physical therapy. After getting there, they did a CT scan and said that they really feel he'd have a better recovery here in the states!!! I was so excited when Brian's sister called to tell me that!!! I was EVEN MORE stoked when they told me he'd be in San Antonio!!! Only about 6 hours away from us. He'll be transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center tomorrow!!

He's also started to whisper and be able to say a few things again. They said he was even walking around some today and was eating jello and drinking juice!! What a strong man! I knew he'd do so well!!! I can't wait until I have Garrett because a few weeks later we are going to head to see him with my Mom and brother!!! I can't wait for him to meet Garrett and to hear him talk again!!

Continue to pray for him for this long journey back home!!!

A little scare...

Brandon and I had our first "scare" during my pregnancy today! For the past few weeks, I've been feeling mighty weak and stuff at times. I know that a lot of my blood flow and stuff is really going for this big boy I'm carrying around in my belly... I've been having a hard time eating a lot (because there is NO ROOM) or eating anything that's really healthy for me.

So we needed to go to Wal-Mart to get a few items and soon after we got into Wal-Mart, I started to feel bad. Just felt weak and spacey feeling...By the time we got to the check out, I was really feeling bad. I was sweating so bad and told Brandon "I don't feel right" and the last thing I remember was the cashier looking at me saying "Are you okay?" and I shook my head no and said "Something isn't right" and the next thing I know...My husband is brushing my hair back telling me that it's going to be okay. When I finally come to, I realized I'd passed out and got REALLY scared and just started crying because I was scared something was wrong with my baby!! Not to mention I had about 50 million people standing around me staring!! So they got me over to the bench and sat me down for a few minutes...It's all still a huge blur to me. But I had to be wheeled out of Wal-Mart in a wheel chair. SO EMBARASSING!!!

After we left, I immediately called my doctors office and they wanted me to come in. I had to see someone other than my own doctor since my doctor is out on Thursday afternoons. =( Not to mention, we didn't get seen by the doctor until about two hours after the accident happened because we live an hour and fifteen minutes from the hospital!! And we had to come by the house to drop off the cold items before we headed up there...and of course, there is the wait at the doctors office! HA. So I was worried they wouldn't know exactly what went wrong because I was feeling okay by the time we got there. They said my urine was really concentrated and I needed to try to drink more fluids and take it easy!! We got to hear Garrett's heartbeat to know that he is doing fine too!!

Brandon told me that I'd better not EVER do that to him again! Bless his heart!! He was scared to death, but at least he was with me because he caught me before I hit the floor!!! I have the best husband ever!!

Updates!

I haven't been on in a couple days because once again, tragedy has struck close to home AGAIN. On Monday night at around 11:15 pm, Justin Ward, a very best friend to my brother, fell down three stories off the side of the escalator at the ElDorado Casino. He had horrible brain damage and was bleeding out of his kidneys. At around 1 pm yesterday, they pronounced him dead. I've NEVER in my life heard my brother so upset before. I couldn't even hardly understand what he was saying on the phone. I was just over at Jeffrey, Ashton, and Katy's house Saturday hanging out with them and Justin. You just don't think that in a couple days..something like that was going to happen!! I'm glad I got to spend some time with him shortly before his death and got to laugh about him and Jeffrey making bets and arguing about football!! R.I.P. Justin Ward! You'll be greatly missed!!!

Updates on Brian - He is doing so well!! He's completely off of the ventilator and is starting to say more and more!! He doesn't even have an I.V. in his hand anymore!! He's just taking care of himself! YOU GO BOY! He's lifting his head up off of the pillow and moving around in the bed all by himself. Sharon and Doug had to leave their sons side and said that was the hardest thing they had to do, but knowing that he's doing much better now has to be some sort of relief to them that things will work out just fine!!! In just a couple weeks, we'll be having Ashley and Levi over there to meet Daddy for the first time. I'm so stoked and amazed at all the help we've already been given!! First Baptist Church in Haughton has raised $1500 towards the trip already! We are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives and in our community. We are about halfway there now. Haughton High School and Middle School may be having a "Jeans Day" where if they bring $1, they can wear blue jeans instead of school uniform! Who wouldn't want to do that?!?! I know I always took advantage of days like these when I was in school. And each $1 would go towards Brian's trip! Haughton schools have THOUSANDS of students and we'd do great if lots of people participated. Thank you for your continued prayers...keep praying!!

Pray for the Adams and Ward Families each and every day!!!

Update on Brian!

Brian is doing good today! They had planned to take him completely off of the ventilator today, but when they tried sitting him up and stuff, he was really weak. So they don't want to rush too fast on taking it out! They're gonna let him build his strength up a little more before taking it out! His fever is under control. Once he is off of the ventilator, they will soon transfer him to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. It's about five minutes from Ramstein Airbase, so we're hoping that is where Ashley and Levi will be staying at during their trip over there! We are still needing to raise a bunch of money for the trip, so if you are interested in donating, please let me know!!!

They have sewn his head up and taken off all of the bandages. However, the part of his skull that they took out has not been put back in yet. They want to wait for the pressure to go down and stay down. So they will wait until after he is finished with his rehab therapy before putting it back in.

Tomorrow is the last day that Brian's parents will be in Germany before they come back home. So please pray for a safe flight back home for them and the strength to leave their sons side!! We'll hopefully have Ashley and Levi over there before too long so he won't be without family by his side before too long!! He's got his photo albums he can look at in the mean time!! =)

Please Help Raise Money to Send Levi to Meet His Daddy!

The past few days, I've been in contact with friends and family of Brian Adams. We've been trying to pull together ideas of how to raise money to send Brian's baby Levi over to Germany to meet his Daddy for the first time!! We're trying to set up donation jars at Haughton High School where we went to school, Brookshires where Brian worked, and Pepe's Mexican restaurant where we ALWAYS love to eat in Haughton!! Anything we can do to get Levi over there to meet his Daddy because it'll help in his recovery!!!

Please check out Levi's site for information on how to donate and for the story:
http://levislittledream.blogspot.com/

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers!

Great News on Brian!! Help Levi get to meet his Daddy!

Brian's Dad, Mr. Doug, called Kim this morning and said that they expect Brian to make a FULL RECOVERY from all of this!!! They are also planning to take him completely off the ventilator this weekend. Even more amazing news...they will be soon transferring him about four hours away from where he is now for Physical Therapy!!!! The doctors are amazed and shocked at how fast Brian has started to recover. He's a very lucky man!!!

I can't wait to see Brian and just hug and squeeze him!!! I promise to be gentle though..HAHA. I'll probably have to wait until after Garrett is born before I can see him though. Since I'm so close to my due date, I can't go far away from home!! It's gonna drive me crazy waiting to see him. I will continue to pray for him daily!!! Thank you all for all of your prayers!!! And lets not forget to thank God for keeping Brian alive and for giving him the chance to meet his son, Levi!!!

With that being said, we ALL know it'll help him 100 times more if he could meet and hold his son for the first time! Ashley has already taken him to apply for his passport (at only two weeks old! HOW CUTE!) and they are waiting to get it back..which we all know can take quite some time!! We're hoping to get Levi over there right after Christmas to meet his Daddy. Unfortunately, the Army will not cover Ashley and Levi's trip over there or the hotel or anything since Brian and Ashley aren't married yet. This trip is going to cost about $1000 for the plane ticket and up to $2000 for the hotel and rental car. So we are all trying to help in any way we can to spread the word and try to get Levi to his Daddy!! Can you imagine Brian's face when Ashley walks in to see him with their son?! It just gives me chills. If you can't help out, please don't feel bad! We all know this is a VERY busy time of year when we're all spending money. Trust me, as you have seen in my previous blog.. Brandon and I KNOW times are hard ourselves right now, but it doesn't hurt to ask for help for Levi!! Brian's been so strong through all of this and he deserves to meet his baby. If you have any questions, you can contact Brian's sister Kim at 318-426-1032. Or if you just want to send a donation towards the trip, you can mail a check to:Ashley Schmidt, 4415 Jeffers Drive, New Albany, IN 47150. More than anything, just keep praying for Brian's full recovery and for us to all find a way to get Levi and Ashley to Germany!! Thank you so much!!!!

Update on Brian!

I got a text from Ashley this morning and it said that Brian has pneumonia, but this is very common in situations like Brian when you're just being taken off of the ventilator and have been "immobile" for quite some time. So with the pneumonia, he is running a fever. But he is still responding and everything well. The doctors did a culture on him to see exactly what meds he needs to be put on, and will do that as soon as they find out! They also mentioned that we're still not quite "out of the woods" yet, but I do have faith in Brian and he's done so well up until this point, I think he's going to do great and come out of all of this well! Please continue PRAYING HARD though!!! The prayers do NOT need to stop or even slow down from what it was like last week because that helped tremendously!!! We need to keep praying like we all were when we found out about Brian!! Thank you for all the prayers!!!

UPDATE

At 9:20 this morning, I got another text from Ashley and the culture came back and it's NOT pneumonia!! It's an infection!! I'm sure they will be putting him on some strong antibiotics to clear that right up!! Praise the Lord! It's possible that he could still get pneumonia, but hopefully he won't!! Just keep praying!! Ashley said he's holding his cross in his hands right now!!! Also, the pressure on his brain is continuing to go down! It's now down to 5%! This is amazing news! They also said that his fever is starting to break!!! YAY for Brian!!!

35 Week Prenatal Visit and Update on Brian!

I got an update on Brian this morning that he has feeling in his feet! The nurse was tickling his feet and he was smiling and wiggling them! He can give a thumbs up, hold a picture in his hands, and squeeze someone elses hands!! They said you can tell he wants to talk so bad, but he's still on the ventilator. He's 75% off of the ventilator at this point! He can also follow with his eyes well..he watches his Momma's every move!!! He is coming back to us and they said the doctors are AMAZED at how fast he is recovering!! I feel certain its with all the prayers he's received and he's ready to meet his son!!! Hopefully we'll have more and more good news as the next few days pass!!! Thanks again for the prayers.

We just got home from our doctors visit! All is still going really well. They did a swab for Strep B today. I've gained 1 pound in two weeks! So I'm now at 151 pounds! We'll go back in two weeks from today and then we'll start going WEEKLY! Before we know it...Garrett is going to be here!!!

On the way home, I was telling Brandon about how much I just LOVE to check the mailbox for mail...and I don't know why because it's usually just bills! HAHA..Well, I was all excited to get to the house and check the mail. After today, I will NOT like checking the mail anymore. All we got was a Cabela's Magazine and a Tax Notice saying we owe $780 before December 31st!?!?! I'm so sick to my stomach. What makes it even more aggravating to me is that we were told that only houses that appraise for over $75,000 will be charged with the School District tax for the new Sarepta High School they will start building soon. I don't know if you've been to Sarepta, but there aren't many houses that appraise for much higher than that. There are lots of old frame homes, trailers and smaller hud-like homes. We have one of the nicer homes in the town. So since there aren't too many houses that appraise for more than that..the ones that do REALLY have to pay high price to take up for all the people in Sarepta who won't have to pay for it. No wonder everyone voted YES..because their houses don't appraise for over $75,000 and they knew they wouldn't have to pay for this new school!! UGH... It seems like we can't catch up! We just found out our air/heating unit has a mold problem and it's going to cost $1200 to get it fixed! Not to mention the outrageous amount we're going to have to pay the hospital for Labor and Delivery!!! All this world is worried about is money. All I can do it pray about it and hope we'll find a way to get through this horrible struggle!

Thank You Jesus!

I just woke up and was in pretty bad pain and it took me about 5 minutes alone to get the strength to sit up and go use the bathroom. This is pretty much how it is each time now and I'm sure it's only going to get worse in the next four weeks, but that is fine! I'll have a precious son to hold and love on...so this pain is worth it!! After I went to the bathroom, I was thinking about Brian and wonder how he was doing and I kid you not, as soon as I sat back on the bed to climb back into bed...I got a text message!!! In the past week, EVERY phone call and text message, my heart has just dropped because I didn't know whether it was going to be horrible news or good news. I felt pretty positive about this text due to Brian's great improvements yesterday. So I checked it and it was from Ashley and she said that Brian is awake!!! He smiled at his parents when he saw them in the room and is sitting there with his eyes open!!! This is truly a miracle and a blessing and God is doing work!! Prayers work when it is His will. It is His will for Brian to make it through this and be with his family and to meet his new son. I couldn't possibly go back to bed before coming to post the update!!! I'm just too excited and proud of Brian to go back to sleep and do it later! HAHA. Keep praying as he continues to come back and let's hope he'll be the same Brian and will be able to remember everything and be able to talk and all!! I know he will. Thank you again for all the prayers, but let's not quit praying just because he's awake now!!!!

When my MeMaw was diagnosed with cancer, we were told to all just read Psalms Chapter 23 everyday. I printed it out on little stock cards for me and everyone around who deeply cares about my MeMaw and to this day...I still have it in my truck. We prayed and prayed and God took care of her!! I knew He would do the same for Brian. Here is Psalms 23:

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

UPDATE -

After I went back to bed and got up, I had a few more updates on Brian. I am bawling my eyes out with happy tears now. They said Sharon (Brian's Mom) held up a picture in front of him of Levi and he squeezed her hand and tears started coming down his face. So he remembers having his baby!! They said he's trying to talk, but you know...being "away" for a little over a week and having tubes all down your throat for that long..it's gonna take a little extra while for that to happen, but I KNOW he will!!! I had to share the wonderful story!!!

GREAT UPDATE ON BRIAN!

I just found out that the doctors pinched Brian's arm and he moved so that tells us that he DEFINITELY felt it and his brain is functioning well in order for him to acknowledge that something was not feeling right to him! HA. I'm surprised he didn't wake up throwing fists everywhere!!! Wouldn't that have been a sight?! HAHA. So this is definitely good news and since this happened, the doctors decided to not give him anymore drugs and to start letting him wake up! YAY!! I also just got off the phone with Ashley (his fiance) and she said that his pressure on his brain has gone WAY WAY down...that it's down to 10% and that is AMAZING! They said when he came in, it was over 30%. Everyday seems to be getting better and better and I thank God so much for that and pray that he's going to wake up and be just fine!!! I knew Brian would be strong and keep fighting for us! I know that all of the prayers have worked wonders in itself and I know Brian and his family are extremely thankful for all of them! Please continue to pray as Brian slowly wakes up from this rollercoaster of a week and pray for the BEST! It's all up to Brian to continue being strong and finish the fight. They won't know if there is any brain damage until he completely wakes up, so continue praying HARD!!! Ashley is taking Levi to the doctor on Wednesday for an appointment and she's going to check with his doctor to see if it'd be okay for Levi to fly so they can get to Brian! Please pray for a good response so that when Brian is awake and alert, he'll get to meet his son soon!!! Brian will be in Germany for a good while after he wakes up because he can't fly or anything for a while because of the pressure and stuff...so it'll be a while before he's back into the States, but as long as he's getting better, THAT IS FINE!! I just know it'd make him feel 110% better if he got to meet his baby and hold him for the first time!!! I will keep everyone updated as I keep learning new things!!!

Thank you Jesus for the great news! Our God really is an awesome God, isn't He?!?