16 weeks and 8 days....

I am 16 weeks and 8 days along.....  ok 17 weeks, but I meant to post this last week after my 16 week ob appointment, but things came up.

Baby sounded BEAUTIFUL. 150-160 heartbeats per minute and measuring just right. I brought the little kids along and they LOVED hearing their little brother/sister's heart beat. Eli touches my belly almost every day and says"baby," it just melts my heart.

I on the other hand, welp  gained 10 pounds in 6 weeks. Not what I was going for or what I expected considering I am still running 20-25 miles a week, is that really possible?!  I had sugar in my urine and ended up having to do the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes, usually done between 24-28 weeks. I also had my thyroid checked again with blood work as well.  My results came back Wednesday negative for gestational diabetes, thank goodness! My thyroid function is decreasing, but nothing too alarming at this point. Physically the size of the nodules still are about the same, a definite plus!

April 6th is the next appointment for little Baby Conrad, mark your calendars, it is for a 20 week ultrasound. We are so excited! When I was pregnant with Lilia and Eli we didn't find out their gender until birth, this time we are doing things differently. Matthew really wants to know and so do the kids. It is not official yet, but I am thinking Matthew and I will find out at the ultrasound and we will reveal the baby's gender to the kids and family on Easter in an Easter egg hunt, I'll keep you posted.

Last week I also made a trip back to the urologist with Eli. I had noticed over the past two weeks as I changed his diaper and gave him baths his testicles were missing, again! For those of you who don't know Eli's testicles never descended after he was born so he had a surgery (very invasive) at the end of January to fix the problem. To be honest I was panicked. We saw the urologist on Thursday. I was right they were/are missing, but they aren't as high in his abdomen as they were prior to the surgery and for now we are going to wait and see if they will do their thing on their own. We have a follow up in July and if they haven't returned to where they are supposed to be by then, then another surgery might just be in the picture. The urologist said only about 1% of the surgeries fail after 6 months and need to be redone, so we will just have to wait and see. We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed and prayers said around here that everything will work out.

Finally Friday when I planned to write this, Lilia came down with an ear ache and we had to make yet another trip in to see the doctor.  It was just one of those weeks, not to mention my cell phone quit working and when they sent me a new one on Wednesday that one didn't work either. Did I mention I am so glad it is a new week?!

Mr. Adventure

Matthew and a friend attempted to climb Mt. Adams this past weekend. It is really early in the year to make a summit trip, but they knew this and wanted the extra challenge. The trip was a sucess if you ask me. They didn't make it to the summit as planned, too much snow, but they did have a great time and made it back home. Here are some pictures of Mr. Adventure in action..

50/50

Where to start.....  I am thinking a time line is best

1/30 My first OB appointment. Baby measures fine and sounds healthy, but my doctor finds a lump on my thyroid.

2/2 Ultrasound done on thyroid.

2/6 Nurse calls and reads me results of ultrasound; 4 nodules (lumps/bumps) found on the right side of my thyroid.  One of the nodules measures abnormally large and I will need to have a biopsy. Turned out two of the nodules would be biopsied because of their size, the other two are very small. I feel worried, not too worried, nodules are fairly common, but still.

2/8 Ouch! Biopsy done; 3 samples from each of the two nodules are taken. Because I am pregnant I don't get the luxury of the nice anesthetic. Ouch! Almost 2 hours later and I can tell you a needle in your neck doesn't feel that great. I am told someone will call me with my results by Friday or Monday morning at latest.

2/10 No phone call

2/13 Noon still no phone call so I call the nurse to get my results. She tells me the doctor will be calling later that afternoon with my results and some information. WORRIED.

6 PM dinner with friends, my OB calls and lays it on me. The phone call is sort of a blur. Results were not what she expected.... possibly cancer... abnormal cells.... size of largest nodule is very concerning....  she's working on finding a specialist to see me, because I am pregnant it is difficult... found someone...

2/14 Specialist calls, earliest appointment is 2/29 and that is squeezing me in.

Fast forward through 15 days of worry....

2/29 I saw the thyroid specialist. He went over in detail my biopsy results and my options. There were 4 different types of cells found in the biopsy, not normal results. The size of one of the nodules is very concerning, it is covering a large part of the right side of my thyroid. The chances of me having cancer are about 50/50 the Dr said. 50/50 the glass is half full, right?!

In order to find out if I have thyroid cancer the right side of my thyroid needs to be removed completely. If I was not pregnant it would not be a problem, they would do it in the next few weeks. Because I am pregnant it is a little more complicated. See if they remove the right side and find out it is cancer then I need to have my whole thyroid removed and radiation, not completely possible since I am growing a new life inside of me. If they remove it and it is not cancer well then the nodules and bad cells are gone and we can just move forward (let's hope this is the case). The surgery to remove half of my thyroid is not typically dangerous, it is a night or two stay in the hospital, but with an increase in blood flow because of the baby the risk is higher of bleeding complications, if something were to happen during surgery, not likely but possible, the chance of me losing the baby are very high. Not a chance I want to take and not a chance the surgeon wants to take either. My OB will take monthly blood samples to run tests on my thyroid, if something changes drastically we will reevaluate otherwise,  I will likely have the surgery to remove the right side of my thyroid within a month or two of giving birth, when if something (cancer) is found it can be addressed. So now we wait, wait for our sweet baby to be born in August.

My faith has grown as I've looked to my Savior for peace. I think I grew my first grey hair too.  I am strengthened by my family and friends love and prayers through these last couple of weeks. My heart swells to know you all care for me, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I hope I can and do show my love for all of you as you have for me.

Kallie

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! We know we are a little early, but we couldn't wait to share the news....

the love in our family will grow again this year!

Baby Conrad #3 (#4 counting Kaine) is due to make their arrival August 20th 2012. If that date sounds familiar it's because it is Kaine and Lilia's birthday. We will have lots of celebrating to do this summer! We send our love and hope you all know we think of you often.

A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

I think it would be fair to say the Conrad family had a very merry Christmas. December was full of fun and meaningful Christmas and family events. We feel so loved and are thankful for the many blessings 2011 brought, we are looking forward to 2012! Happy New Year!