Follow-up with Dr. Onan

Yesterday I had my followup with Dr. Onan. Rex was doing great. His heartrate was 146, seems he likes to have that stable pace. Thankfully Mommy is feeling much better and I have been off of the medications since Friday. I am so thankful to have such a great doctor. It was nice to be able to relate and just discuss life. When we were talking about Rex's followup with the perinatal specialist, she stated she likely thought that they are being sure to follow me closer because I am in the medical field. She explained that when patients are in medicine, they seem to be over tested by their practicioners. So, basically... happy to report that I got a good report and that we are doing great.

We are hoping to touchup the rest of the paint tonight and put the crib together! I'll post pictures soon. Lee calls Rex's room the Kermit room since it is "Outrageous Green" by Sherwin Williams. I am sure that it will be perfect when we pull it together. I want it to look like a nursery, he's only going to be my baby boy once. I'm sure I'll think he is growing too fast! In fact, I already do. I can't believe that we are at the 5 month mark.

Hope you all have a great day.

Granddaddy and Nonna time!

As I mentioned in the previous post, Mom came and stayed with me during my time away from school. Dad was able to join her on Friday and we had a great weekend spending time with them. I have been so richly blessed. It seems lately when they come to visit, we are working on the house all the time. This weekend we managed to get Rex's room painted and the final details of the new guest room finished up. Lee and Andrew, Catherine's boyfriend, brought the dresser/changing table up and the nursery is beginning to take shape. It's hard to believe that I will be 5 months tomorrow! We can't wait to meet our little boy.

Mom and Dad are still debating, but currently Rex is going to call them Granddaddy and Nonna ("Nah-na"). Rex is moving around all of the time and his daddy loves to feel him move. We have made it a habit for Lee to talk to Rex when he gets home and it is so much fun to see how excited Rex seems to get when he hears his daddy's voice.

We are past the 22 week mark! Isn't that crazy? He will be here before we know it. I'll try to post pictures of our progress on the nursery in the upcoming weeks. Thanks to my Mom and Dad for being such a great help and we couldn't do it without you! We love you very much.

Back spasms

For those of you that aren't aware, I had a very difficult week last week. Friday the 8th, I began having some back pain as we went to bed. Hours later, I was still unable to sleep and it had progressively worsened enough for me to page my doctor and ask what she thought I should do. She immediately asked that I come to the hospital and be assessed. After some urine studies, an ultrasound and exam, I thankfully was told that I only had some musculoskeletal pain in my back that would hopefully clear up with conservative management. Rex followed his usually routine on U/S of moving around significantly, but the doctor said that he looked perfect. The doctor also suggested that I try a 24 hour course of ibuprofen, which is contraindicated in pregnancy but he said would be helpful for a short term course. With hesitation I took the ibuprofen with minimal improvement. I basically was stuck on the couch alternating heat or ice for the entire weekend. Lee was the best and waited on my every need, but it unfortunately continued to progress until Sunday evening when I was screaming in pain, crying, and having excruciating spasms that made it difficult to take inspire fully. After having Lee call the doctor (because I couldn't speak) we again headed to Central Baptist to be evaluated. I knew what the problem was, we just couldn't seem to get it under control. Once at Central Baptist, they realized that I was in desperate need of some pain relief and I was given two percocet and finally was able to rest a bit easier. I was sent home after a couple hours of monitoring with percocet and an ambien to help with sleep. As you all know, I am super resistant to taking medications if at all possible (worse now that I am pregnant) and had to quickly realize that this was needed!

Monday we had to go to the doctor again for followup at which time she put me on a week of leave from school. By the time I left her office I had instructions to take percocet every 4 hours, flexeril (a muscle relaxer) every 8 hours, and ambien at night to help me sleep. Even with these medications and conservative treatment, I was struggling to become comfortable. Lee was able to stay home with me on Monday and Tuesday, but thankfully a phone call to my dear Mommy and she came immediately to assist. She would explain that I likely don't remember much of the week while on medications. Lee apparently has some pretty funny stories to tell about things that I would say. Thankfully, by Friday I attempted weaning of the medication and have been successful with conservative management, a prenatal massage and tylenol as needed. Thank you for your prayers and support during that difficult time.

I have another follow-up appointment today. I'm finally back at school. The Anesthesiology department is so great and accommodating. They are very protective of me and the baby and have said that I will not have to make up any of my time off from last week.

Perinatal Ultrasound

Lee and I are so blessed. After much prayer from family and friends, we received the "He's Perfect!" quote from the perinatalogist at our most recent ultrasound. Due to some concern for abnormalities, Rex was looked at very carefully. We had a fetal echocardiogram, which is an assessment of his heart that looks at all of the chambers and valves. The doctor said that it looked great. It was really exciting to see his little heart beating so fast! Also, they took a very thorough look at his brain structure and facial bone structure. His cerebellum is a perfect dumbell shape and I think it looks like he is going to be super smart, judging by the perfection of the brain. The thickened nuchal region that they had seen on the previous ultrasound was simply an error in technique by the previous technician, which had caused us much unnecessary anxiety. He again was moving around a ton and was very difficult to capture. He still doesn't like to look at the camera, but they were able to capture a 3D picture of his little face. I'll try to explain the pictures as best I can. Unfortunately, the cord was right in front of his face which obstructs the view of his little nose. I may be biased, but I think he is the cutest little boy ever! We couldn't be happier.
The pictures:
1. The profile shot:
2. His little face (you can see his eyes, his little hand under his chin):

Trip to Alabama

Last weekend, Lee, Isabella and I traveled to Birmingham for Lee to be able to go to the Alabama football game with his dad. He had a great time and I was able to do some shopping with his mom. We took advantage of our Alabama attire to try to capture some cute family photos. It was great to see his parents and spend a bit of time with them.

Boy or Girl???

Last Friday, Lee and I went for the all important sex determining ultrasound. We are excited to say that our Baby J is a BOY!!!! Rex Anderson Johnston is perfect. He wouldn't really cooperate with us on Friday, other than being quite proud that he was a boy. Because they were unable to assess his heart, face, etc. they kind of scared us by saying we needed to be referred to a perinatal specialist to be sure that he was healthy. Needless to say, this caused a lot of anxiety and prayers were lifted up! It was hard to continue to have faith and wait until Wednesday. His heart rate at this ultrasound was 146, which is perfect. He has been moving around much more and we have been having so much fun. We have tried to scan the pictures so everyone can see just how cute he is.

This is us right after we found out it was a little boy!


The ultrasound pictures!
1. It's a boy (you can see his legs and a little something in between):

2. His little (or not so little) feet:

3. Flexing his legs, you see the bones of his legs and his little spine.
4. Top of his head, patting himself on the head with his hand.


Hope you enjoy these. I'll post pictures later of his little face and update how the follow-up ultrasound went.