Sorry it's been a few weeks since I last posted, I need to make this more of a habit! Today I am 25 weeks along, & things are still going really well! Our little girl is growing perfectly to the day of our due date. She is becoming more & more active kicking & rolling. In the last few days I have been feeling her hiccup... all these movements are an amazing feeling & reassuring! Although I won't lie, it can be a tad bit annoying in the middle of the night when you want to sleep. I know I know...you all are thinking just wait til she's born, she'll keep you up even more. :) Trust me I know life as we know it is going to change, & I feel we are as prepared as we can be. We are ready to tackle every little challenge of parenthood!
Last time I posted I talked about my doctor wanting to do a glucose test because there appeared to be a little extra fluid around the baby. The test came back fine- negative for gestational diabetes. Then I went for another sonogram at 21 weeks & the amount of fluid looked good. My pulmonary doctor was very pleased with my lung function when I visited him at 21 weeks also. And so far I have been breathing fine & experiencing absolutely no shortness of breath! We are hoping because of my scoliosis & me carrying the baby off to my left side that the baby will stay away from my lungs enough that I will not need the assistance of a CPAP breathing machine. We are keeping our fingers crossed!! We are scheduled to see the pulmonary specialist & get another sonogram October 28th. I will post after to fill you in.
Next weekend we are having our first baby shower with my in-laws in Nebraska. I'm excited to see the family & to see all the goodies we get! On November 6th my best friend is throwing a shower here in my hometown with my side of the family & friends. I am very blessed for having such a wonderful friend & family. Their support means a lot to us!
As I close this post I have something to announce... Our little girl officially has a name! Koralyn Lyric Gaines. It feels good to be able to call her something other than "The Baby" or "Baby Gaines"
Thank you again for taking the time to read my blog & for joining in my adventure to motherhood! Until next time...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Pregnancy from the beginning to current
Today I am 2 days into my 19th week of pregnancy. So far pregnancy has been fairly easy...I hate to use that word "easy" lightly but it really has been!
In the first trimester I only had a little nauseousness in the mornings an a tad here & there throughout the day but never actual sickness. There were no specific foods or smells that bothered me. The biggest thing was that I was VERY tired all day. It also seemed like I had to eat constantly.
When I had my first OB appointment I was very nervous that he would look at me & say "What were you thinking?" And say it may be to hard on my body. That was not the case at all. We have a wonderful OB & he was VERY optimistic! He didn't want to send me to any specialist til we got to week 15 which is past the first trimester. As with any pregnancy the first trimester is very vital & the risk of miscarriage is around 25%. So once we got past that critical time we would watch things a little more closely, & just have normal monthly check ups with him. At week 7 we had our first sonogram to see our little "blob" of a baby & hear the heartbeat. This was definitely a touching time for us & it felt real...there WAS a baby in there! :)
We had our 2nd sonogram between week 14-15. This was just to check on things & make sure the baby's heart was functioning properly. Everything looked good & we had a very active little one!
At week 15 our OB set up 2 appointments with a Pulmonary specialist & a Perinatologist.
The reason for the Pulmonary specialist was to test my lung capacity before the baby is big enough to have any affect on them. Then I will go back periodically to test them to see how much affect if any the baby is having on them. Most women do find it a little harder to breath towards the end of pregnancy so it is common to have some pressure on the lungs. With me it could be a little more because of the size of my torso. Plus my lungs are a little more restricted because of my MD & due to my spinal fusion surgery that I had when I was in 1st grade for my scoliosis. (this meant I had metal rods put in my back to straighten my spine) If the baby does start putting on too much pressure for my lungs & it is getting harder to breath they will put me on a simple breathing machine. (like a CPAP machine) And if it gets to be too tough for even the CPAP then they will probably just have to deliver the baby. Our goal is to make it passed 30 weeks then take it week by week then day by day.
The Perinatologist is basically a baby specialist. Here I received a level 2 sonogram where they can see the baby a little more than on a regular sonogram. They can see the heart, all 4 chambers, & the blood flow. They could see all parts of the brain, check for down syndrome, cleft palate, clubbed feet, & hernias. Everything looked great & is developing normally. We also found out we are having a little girl! :) She was very wiggly & active during the scan, stretching her legs straight, wiggling her toes & feet, putting her hands by her face as if she was posing for us!
The only slight concern the doctor had was that there appeared to be a little more fluid around the baby. Which is an indication of gestational diabetes. She assured us not to worry & this doesn't mean I definitely have it, it just means that she wants me to do the glucose test early. Which I will be taking this week, & will keep you all informed on the results.
On September 2nd, last week I had my monthly appointment with my OB. Found out I've only gained a total of 2 lbs since the beginning of the pregnancy, which surprised me & made me happy. :) He said he would like for me to see my Pulmonary doctor & Perinatologist again this month for another check up. The last few appointments with the Pulmonary doc, Perinatologist, & my OB my blood pressure has been running slightly high, so my OB put me on blood pressure medicine just to keep it regulated.
That brings you up to date on our journey through pregnancy. I have been feeling our little girl kicking which is an amazing feeling, & loving every second of my pregnancy! We've been picking out names, bought nursery furniture last weekend, & will be picking out bedding & nursery decor here soon. I will post pictures as soon as I have them.
Stay tuned...
In the first trimester I only had a little nauseousness in the mornings an a tad here & there throughout the day but never actual sickness. There were no specific foods or smells that bothered me. The biggest thing was that I was VERY tired all day. It also seemed like I had to eat constantly.
When I had my first OB appointment I was very nervous that he would look at me & say "What were you thinking?" And say it may be to hard on my body. That was not the case at all. We have a wonderful OB & he was VERY optimistic! He didn't want to send me to any specialist til we got to week 15 which is past the first trimester. As with any pregnancy the first trimester is very vital & the risk of miscarriage is around 25%. So once we got past that critical time we would watch things a little more closely, & just have normal monthly check ups with him. At week 7 we had our first sonogram to see our little "blob" of a baby & hear the heartbeat. This was definitely a touching time for us & it felt real...there WAS a baby in there! :)
We had our 2nd sonogram between week 14-15. This was just to check on things & make sure the baby's heart was functioning properly. Everything looked good & we had a very active little one!
At week 15 our OB set up 2 appointments with a Pulmonary specialist & a Perinatologist.
The reason for the Pulmonary specialist was to test my lung capacity before the baby is big enough to have any affect on them. Then I will go back periodically to test them to see how much affect if any the baby is having on them. Most women do find it a little harder to breath towards the end of pregnancy so it is common to have some pressure on the lungs. With me it could be a little more because of the size of my torso. Plus my lungs are a little more restricted because of my MD & due to my spinal fusion surgery that I had when I was in 1st grade for my scoliosis. (this meant I had metal rods put in my back to straighten my spine) If the baby does start putting on too much pressure for my lungs & it is getting harder to breath they will put me on a simple breathing machine. (like a CPAP machine) And if it gets to be too tough for even the CPAP then they will probably just have to deliver the baby. Our goal is to make it passed 30 weeks then take it week by week then day by day.
The Perinatologist is basically a baby specialist. Here I received a level 2 sonogram where they can see the baby a little more than on a regular sonogram. They can see the heart, all 4 chambers, & the blood flow. They could see all parts of the brain, check for down syndrome, cleft palate, clubbed feet, & hernias. Everything looked great & is developing normally. We also found out we are having a little girl! :) She was very wiggly & active during the scan, stretching her legs straight, wiggling her toes & feet, putting her hands by her face as if she was posing for us!
The only slight concern the doctor had was that there appeared to be a little more fluid around the baby. Which is an indication of gestational diabetes. She assured us not to worry & this doesn't mean I definitely have it, it just means that she wants me to do the glucose test early. Which I will be taking this week, & will keep you all informed on the results.
On September 2nd, last week I had my monthly appointment with my OB. Found out I've only gained a total of 2 lbs since the beginning of the pregnancy, which surprised me & made me happy. :) He said he would like for me to see my Pulmonary doctor & Perinatologist again this month for another check up. The last few appointments with the Pulmonary doc, Perinatologist, & my OB my blood pressure has been running slightly high, so my OB put me on blood pressure medicine just to keep it regulated.
That brings you up to date on our journey through pregnancy. I have been feeling our little girl kicking which is an amazing feeling, & loving every second of my pregnancy! We've been picking out names, bought nursery furniture last weekend, & will be picking out bedding & nursery decor here soon. I will post pictures as soon as I have them.
Stay tuned...
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Intro-my short bio
I will first start out by telling you a little about myself and my life up to this point. My name is Casey (Velvick) Gaines I was born February 22nd 1981 in a fairly small town in Kansas. When I was about 1 1/2 years old I was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II aka; SMA which is a form of Muscular Dystrophy. (Feel free to read more about this disease at www.mda.org)
Growing up I had a pretty normal childhood. Even though I couldn't run around like all the other kids I was around it didn't seem to phase me too much. I still did "normal" kid things, I loved to play with my dolls, play house, play tag, even kickball. I found at an early age that I also loved to draw & paint. (which ends up being my career that I will talk about later.) I had 2 wonderful parents that taught me to stay strong & positive, to be aware of my disability but to not let it get in the way of what I want to do in life. They NEVER said "No Casey, you won't be able to do that because your not able." When I wanted to be in a cheerleading group when I was in grade school my Mom was supportive & all for it.
As I grew up & went through high school I was part of our marching band. I loved band, choir, & art classes the most. I went out on dates, went to homecomings & proms, went to the skating rink on weekends with friends...lived a typical teenage life.
I graduated high school in May of 1999. By this point I was bound & determined to continue a "normal" life. I was going to take a big leap & be independent just like most do at my age. I attended college & lived the dorm life. I had the time of my life there. It was where I started to find out more of who I was as an individual. I only attended one semester for reasons I won't discuss on here. :) But I continued to work as an administrative assistant in the same town for a year after that, while living in an apartment with my best friend & cousin. That's when I met my future husband Kevin, on February 26th, 2000.
In 2001 we both moved to Nebraska where his family was & we both continued our education. I attended a Graphic Design school & graduated in May of 2003. Kevin attended business school graduating also in 2003 with an Accounting degree. We continued living in Nebraska working a couple different jobs. We had plans to get married someday but we weren't in a hurry & enjoyed our lives together as it was.
In October of 2007 we made the decision to move back to the small town where I was born & raised. On Christmas eve one of my dreams came true...Kevin proposed to me. We had came home from spending the evening with family. I was watching A Christmas Story & I noticed my screen saver on my computer was different...I looked over & it was a picture of Kevin & I. On it read I know we can't afford too much this year, (since we had just moved Kevin just started working & I wasn't yet, so there was no money coming in yet for extra things) so I just want to ask one thing...Will you marry me?" By that point he was on one knee in front of me!
the pic above is an engagement pic
We were married June 13th, 2009 in the same church my parents were married in almost 29 years earlier. It was definitely by far the happiest day of my life. It was something I dreamed of my whole life!
We were able to take our official honeymoon that following May 2010 to Florida. Thanks to one of Kevin's cousin, his gift to us for our wedding was to book us a condo for a week. We were surprised with something that would change our lives FOREVER! We arrived in Florida on May 21st and on May 22nd 2010 we found out we were pregnant!! This was another thing I dreamed about since I was pretty young. One way or another I wanted to be a Mom, preferably biologically & the ability to carry the baby myself. We were ecstatic yet a tad nervous knowing pregnancy could be more of a challenge for me than for a "normal" healthy woman.
the pic above was the day we found out we're preggo
In this blog I will talk about the joys & challenges of being pregnant with SMA & being in a wheelchair. This will give my extended family the opportunity to follow along & be aware of all my doctors visits to how I am feeling & dealing with pregnancy & of course how our precious little baby is doing. Also I hope that this blog can help other women who are in a similar situation as I am. Even though other women with neuromuscular diseases are starting to realize that they can become pregnant and carry their own children, there isn't much out there documenting their experiences through pregnancy and motherhood.
Thank you for joining in our journey of parenthood. And welcome to my blog Pregnant on Wheels!
Growing up I had a pretty normal childhood. Even though I couldn't run around like all the other kids I was around it didn't seem to phase me too much. I still did "normal" kid things, I loved to play with my dolls, play house, play tag, even kickball. I found at an early age that I also loved to draw & paint. (which ends up being my career that I will talk about later.) I had 2 wonderful parents that taught me to stay strong & positive, to be aware of my disability but to not let it get in the way of what I want to do in life. They NEVER said "No Casey, you won't be able to do that because your not able." When I wanted to be in a cheerleading group when I was in grade school my Mom was supportive & all for it.
As I grew up & went through high school I was part of our marching band. I loved band, choir, & art classes the most. I went out on dates, went to homecomings & proms, went to the skating rink on weekends with friends...lived a typical teenage life.
I graduated high school in May of 1999. By this point I was bound & determined to continue a "normal" life. I was going to take a big leap & be independent just like most do at my age. I attended college & lived the dorm life. I had the time of my life there. It was where I started to find out more of who I was as an individual. I only attended one semester for reasons I won't discuss on here. :) But I continued to work as an administrative assistant in the same town for a year after that, while living in an apartment with my best friend & cousin. That's when I met my future husband Kevin, on February 26th, 2000.
In 2001 we both moved to Nebraska where his family was & we both continued our education. I attended a Graphic Design school & graduated in May of 2003. Kevin attended business school graduating also in 2003 with an Accounting degree. We continued living in Nebraska working a couple different jobs. We had plans to get married someday but we weren't in a hurry & enjoyed our lives together as it was.
In October of 2007 we made the decision to move back to the small town where I was born & raised. On Christmas eve one of my dreams came true...Kevin proposed to me. We had came home from spending the evening with family. I was watching A Christmas Story & I noticed my screen saver on my computer was different...I looked over & it was a picture of Kevin & I. On it read I know we can't afford too much this year, (since we had just moved Kevin just started working & I wasn't yet, so there was no money coming in yet for extra things) so I just want to ask one thing...Will you marry me?" By that point he was on one knee in front of me!
the pic above is an engagement pic
We were married June 13th, 2009 in the same church my parents were married in almost 29 years earlier. It was definitely by far the happiest day of my life. It was something I dreamed of my whole life!
We were able to take our official honeymoon that following May 2010 to Florida. Thanks to one of Kevin's cousin, his gift to us for our wedding was to book us a condo for a week. We were surprised with something that would change our lives FOREVER! We arrived in Florida on May 21st and on May 22nd 2010 we found out we were pregnant!! This was another thing I dreamed about since I was pretty young. One way or another I wanted to be a Mom, preferably biologically & the ability to carry the baby myself. We were ecstatic yet a tad nervous knowing pregnancy could be more of a challenge for me than for a "normal" healthy woman.
the pic above was the day we found out we're preggo
In this blog I will talk about the joys & challenges of being pregnant with SMA & being in a wheelchair. This will give my extended family the opportunity to follow along & be aware of all my doctors visits to how I am feeling & dealing with pregnancy & of course how our precious little baby is doing. Also I hope that this blog can help other women who are in a similar situation as I am. Even though other women with neuromuscular diseases are starting to realize that they can become pregnant and carry their own children, there isn't much out there documenting their experiences through pregnancy and motherhood.
Thank you for joining in our journey of parenthood. And welcome to my blog Pregnant on Wheels!
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