The remainder of my pregnancy...

So, I did a pretty poor job of continuing to blog throughout my pregnancy. I'm going to try to play catch-up a little with this post by recalling and documenting some of my pregnancy highlights.

July 3: Patrick was getting ready to head to the river for the 4th of July with his parents. I had to work, so I was staying in Anderson. But first, we had our gender ultrasound! The ultrasound tech (Susan Wham) was very sweet, and told us the gender by saying, "Patrick, it looks like in the future you'll have a fishing buddy to take o the river." Patrick's face was priceless, and we were both thrilled to not only be having a boy, but that all looked healthy.

Cravings: I can't say that I had too many actual cravings, but I did eat a lot of pizza in the first trimester. I also drank a TON of milk throughout the entire pregnancy.

Weight Gain: I gained between 18-20lbs while pregnant. I was very lucky and felt great so I was able to work out until the beginning of December. I went to Group Pump class at the Y and tried to take a walk 1-2 days a week.

Showers: Patrick and I were so blessed to have our family and friends to celebrate this time with. We had the following showers, hosted by:

Greenwood Couples Shower: Wilson & Laura Ackerman, Gray & Fran Ellenberg
Clemson Tailgate Shower: Heather & Sally
Greenville Baby Shower: Aunts Judy, Karen, Sophie, Dena, Christy, Melissa, Mary Beth, my Mom
Work Showers: Mackenzie organized my shower at work, and Patrick's assistants and hygienists in Abbeville threw a surprise shower on his last day

Scary news: At the end of November, I had a minor issue that I went to get checked out. Dr.Danielle Shelley is my OB-GYN, and she wanted me to have an ultrasound just to make sure everything was ok with Banks. The ultrasound showed that there was some excess fluid on his right kidney, and that it was enlarged. Dr.Shelley was so kind about giving this news, and actually walked me to the specialist next door for further imaging. I appreciated that so much, since I had gone to this appointment alone. The maternal-fetal specialist, Dr.Chapman with Greenville Hospital System, then completed a full ultrasound (45 min long) and gave me the news that Banks has a "dual collection" on both kidneys, meaning there are 2 tubes instead of one. Although this is an abnormality, it usually does not cause any problems for a person. However, in his right kidney, there is also something causing it not to drain correctly. Dr.Shelley and Dr.Chapman were both very kind and reassuring that this is something common in boys, but they would want me to be induced on December 19 at 39 weeks to get Banks started on antibiotics to prevent UTIs. Dr.Shelley and I were both excited that she was the on-call doctor that day. On the ultrasound at the specialist, Dr.Chapman also noted that Banks' abdomen was measuring very small, and she wanted me to come for weekly ultrasounds for the rest of the pregnancy to monitor this. Dr.Shelley laughed and said that it was because me and Patrick were both, "so scrawny."

The next step was for Patrick and I to go to Greenville to meet with nephrology/urology to establish a plan for after Banks arrived. We met with a Dr.Eison (nephrologist), which ended up being a frustrating appointment because he gave us no new information. We contacted Dr.Chapman again to discuss our frustration with that appointment, and she said that she would get in touch with the pediatrician we selected (Dr.Maddox) to make sure his antibiotics were ordered when he was born.

Although this news was very scary and we know there is a chance that Banks might have to have a surgery to correct it, I felt very fortunate to be at the specialist because of a kidney and not because of some of the more major reasons many parents have to face. We know all will end up OK because we will do whatever we need to do to make sure of it, and we've never been so sure that God is watching over us all.