TEN WEEKS LEFT!

First, let me say that keeping the gender of this baby has been terribly hard! After spilling the beans to so many people, we have decided to just let everyone know. We are having a..........Girl! We have named her Jesstine Jonelle Hutchins.

Well, we have reached the third trimester! Yeah! I am still having sleepless nights and lots of BH contractions, but we are taking it one day at a time. The baby is growing just like she should. I have managed to only gain 10 lbs.! That seems low to me because I should be up at 15 by now, but the baby is growing which is what matters. We saw the doctor today. He did do a sonogram just to ease my mind. We had to use the ancient machine, so we didn't get any great pictures. We did determine that Jesstine is breach. Not only that, but her legs are extended and feet up high by her face. It looked like she was sucking her thumb. She is measuring at 27 weeks (which is what I am at now). I am feeling better about this for now. I was concerned all night last night because she usually is quiet during the day and then active all night. Last night she was quiet all night after being active a lot of the day. I was up every three hours checking for her heartbeat. Not to mention, the repair guys were out fixing our bathroom and roof from the rain damage. Our room smells of paint fumes, so I slept on the couch. I have found it to be more comfortable than the bed lately anyhow!

So, Jesstine is doing well. We are aware that she is breach and we may be looking at a c-section. We hope that everyone else is doing well!

Love,
Stephen, Lacie and Jesstine Hutchins

Another Sleepless Night

Well, I guess I am getting my sleepless nights with a baby in earlier than most! I have really struggled with sleep for several weeks now! It all started about the time that we returned from our cruise and the braxton hicks started to happen. It doesn't help that I am anxious a lot. The funny thing is that I can be completely relaxed and sleep for a few hours, then the contractions hit and I can't get back to sleep! Needless to say, it happened again last night. I have been told in the past to just take benedryl and go to sleep. That hasn't been working. So, I called the doctor this morning. I got in for an appointment this afternoon. I told him about not sleeping. I also told him that when I can't sleep, I worry. I told him about all of the things that I worry about. He was so nice about it. He gave me some medication to help me sleep with the caveat that I only take it when I need it. At the same time we discussed my lack of weight gain. It is obvious that the baby is growing. My bump is measuring 27 cm. I will be at 26 weeks tomorrow, so that is one cm ahead. He basically told me to eat whenever I wanted and whatever I wanted (of course besides the foods I am not supposed to eat). My regularly scheduled appointment was not supposed to be until next week. He said he wanted to go ahead and see me then and he would get a sonogram of Herm to ease my mind about everything. So, the good news is, my doctor is listening to me and helping me with my anxiety. The bad news is I am still very anxious! I am thankful that Herm is a mover. Herm moves so much at night we joke that he/she takes after Grandmom and is a night owl! (Herm also dislikes milk and only likes peanut butter in small quantities). So, next week (Friday), I hope to have more Herm pictures for you. Please continue to pray for Herm and I. We only have 11.5 weeks to go! Pray for Herm's health and safety and my health (mental and physical) to get to August! Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

In Him,
Lacie, Stephen, and Herm

Update on Herm....Taco Bueno

Okay, so I guess I need to explain the title. My nephews are visiting this weekend for Mother's Day/Late birthday present for my mother-in-law. When I was pregnant with Babe B., Noah (the older of the two) had to put in his two cents on what I should name the baby. So, we thought we would give it a try this time as well. He wasn't as into it this time, but finally settled on "Taco Bueno" as a name for this baby. When they said goodnight before going to bed, they each said good night to Taco Bueno. The funny thing is that I can't STAND Taco Bueno as far as eating it goes! Anyhow, so just for this post we will refer to Herm as Taco Bueno.

I sent out an email to a lot of you Friday saying that I wasn't sure on the results of Taco Bueno's tests. Some of you may have had a sneek peek at Taco Bueno's lates pictures. Well, after I had posted them, I realized that they put my social security number on them! That isn't something I want floating around the internet. I will do some editing and re-post the pictures later. For now I wanted to let you know that not even an hour after I wrote my last email, we got a call from the doctor! He said that he didn't expect them to be there for a week, but he had them the whole time. They were just filed differently than he was used to.

Drum roll please.....Taco Bueno has a healthy heart! There is no evidence of the VSD that Babe B. had! Not only that, there were no signs of any other major defects. There is a small possibility for minor defects that can't be seen even on that high resolution. For all purposes, Taco Bueno has a clean bill of health!

Praise God!
Lacie, Stephen and Taco Bueno Hutchins

Just a reminder!

Just a reminder to all of you that Herm and Mommy have a big test on Tuesday at 11:00 AM! This is the echocardiogram (sp??) to determine whether Herm has the same defect as Babe B. and to make sure there aren't any other defects. Mommy is really nervous! I know I have had several people tell us everything will be fine, but until I see for myself, I am not going to be any less anxious. Also, I am still really battling contractions! They seem to hit about every night! I have had one or two nights without problems and it seems to have helped that I kicked the body pillow (mine is flannel so we have dubbed it the Flanocanda) out of bed. I am just using a normal pillow to support my tummy and that seems to have done the trick for the most part. I just pray that I get some contraction free nights one of these days! Really they are just making me more anxious. My prayer is to at least make it to August! I know that Herm will be healthy and strong enough if born even August 1! I would like to make it to August 8 if at all possible though! So, keep this big test in mind! We also have the glucose test tomorrow too! I should feel Herm move a lot then!

Praying and hoping!
Lacie, Stephen and Herm