I’ve been looking forward to the 30 week mark for the last few weeks. 30 weeks was our soft goal. Both Doug and I have been anticipating the 30 week mark since this journey began. Today however, my doctor said I was 28 weeks. I couldn’t believe what he was saying and I started to have an anxiety attack. Seeing my panic we went through my entire chart. He wanted to give us the  most accurate due date possible so we have realistic expectations.  We finally agreed that I was in fact farther along than 28 weeks, but not yet 30.

As of today, we are 29 weeks and 2 days. We will continue everything as we’ve been doing, including 100% bed rest. At this point it has to be ok because it’s what is working the best.

Now I lay here and wait for Sunday to come around. Just so we can hit our 30 week goal…again!

Unfortunately, our journey in life has forced us to slow down. Well, mine anyway. Many of you know we are expecting a second baby girl mid-April. A few weeks ago we found out she is very eager to arrive a lot sooner than later. I’m on many medications, injections and full time bed rest to try to keep her in as long as possible. After two weeks of bad news, we were told that I am stable for now. We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. Which for me, that means absolutely nothing!

I’ve posted two older posts today from NoThankYouPlease. This will give you a better idea of what’s been happening the last couple of weeks. For now, FrugalDay is on the back burner. It’s actually a huge relief. Many might think “bed rest” would give me a lot of time to get things done but it’s been quite the opposite. It’s actually a very lonely process that is wearing on me more and more each day.

We go to the doctor every Monday for our progress report. We will be posting updates as we get them. Right now we just ask for prayers that I get to stay home for the remainder of the pregnancy and won’t have to move into the hospital anytime soon.

I don’t know why, I just assumed that my second pregnancy would be just as normal as the first. Em was textbook, just a little early. I’ve heard of women having complications, but I never thought I would be one of them.

After my exam, my doctor came back in and said, “things have stabilized for now.” Everything we did last week actually worked. The bed rest, medication, and tears paid off. With the exception of contractions, the baby and I are finally stable.

Our goal of a 30-week gestation is just around the corner. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. At 30 weeks, a baby has the best survival rate. Just hearing “survival” for the first time was also a blow. I had never thought our baby wouldn’t survive.

All of this is making me depressed. I have a history of anxiety and it’s been getting the best of me. Some of the medications I’m taking make my lungs work harder to supply oxygen to me and the baby. This causes my heart rate to increase. For me, that’s never a good thing. I’m also really uncomfortable and it’s hard to see the light at the end.

The bed rest I’ve been on has given me a lot of time to think. Our situation could actually be so much worse. I’m feeling that even if this baby girl comes early, we’ll be ok. I am so grateful for my friends and family. For people I don’t know who have left comments telling me it’s going to be ok.

At the end of the day, none of this will matter. That’s what I have to remember.

Thank you.

I’m 27 weeks pregnant and “funneling.” I’ve known for a while now that this pregnancy is very different than my first. I’ve been having Braxton Hicks contractions for about a month now and I’m carrying our little girl very low. So low that I have jokingly said she’s going to fall out anytime. Little did I know, I wasn’t that far off. My contractions are real and our baby is already heading for the exit.

The doctor’s exact words were “Something major, but we’re not going to worry.” Somehow I’m still not 100% reassured. However, he’s seen so many of these cases and it’s common for women who gave birth early before. I’m grateful he’s our doctor. He’s someone I trust very much.

However, our game plan is not very fun for me. We will begin weekly Progesterone injections and oral Nifedipine every 8 hours. Doug will be watching several “how-to” videos on YouTube before he will be coming anywhere near me with that needle! Plus, I “get” to be on limited activity, AKA bed rest with weekly instead of monthly doctor visits. This should be a lot of fun with a 3 year old in tow.

Kidding aside, I’m worried and pray that the medications and rest will work. We need our little girl to stay put for as long as possible. Hopefully for a couple more months. Our goal right now is to make it to 34-36 weeks.

First time Emma has been excited to see a life-size character. (Past run-ins with Santa haven’t gone too well yet.)

So excited that she wanted to give him a big hug before we said goodbye.

She didn’t like jumping in the bouncy house, did she?

Hoping along the grass with a giant red ball – something she didn’t want to stop.

Tossing rings onto a cactus for prizes.

Emma showing off the results of her Easter egg hunting skills.

And finally, a few rounds on the carousel, where Emma shows she knows how to have a good time!

On Saturday, we drove up to Marin and spent the morning in Tiburon. We had a great brunch and a nice walk around the harbor. Emma loves looking at the water and wanted to hop on a boat and take it for a ride. We should have taken the ferry over from San Francisco, but we didn’t think of it until we were already in Tiburon. We drove around the peninsula and saw some gorgeous homes that we’ll never be able to afford. Emma still wanted to be outside when we got home late in the afternoon, so we went on a long ride with the tricycle she got for Christmas.

On Sunday we drove back up to Marin. This time, we spent most of our time in Mill Valley, where we hung out at the central plaza’s Depot bookstore and cafe. There, Emma talked us into getting her a red velvet cupcake. Imagine that! Note her excitement as she prepares to dig into this cupcake with cute little hearts sprinkled on top.

The town square also has a cute outdoor area where people watching is great fun. Emma even made a new friend: a big fluffy dog. We walked across the street to this unique toy store where Emma and Doug played for an hour with every toy they could find. I went next door to Baskin Robbins to get us some rainbow sherbet just to help us cool down a bit. Overall, we had a great weekend!

January – Nana and Papa Bowman visited from Florida. Unfortunatly, Emma got Roseola so we spent a lot of time indoors. We still managed to take Nana and Papa to the Bay Area Discovery Museum, one of Emma’s favorite places. She got to show them all her latest tricks and had a great visit.

February – Emma is officially a year and a half old! We can’t believe how fast the time has gone by. We can barely keep up with Emma anymore. She is running around like crazy and starting to use a lot more words. Cam’s mom finally sold her house and is moving to San Francisco.

March – We were suppose to head to San Diego, but Doug got the flu. Emma and momma made new friends in the neighborhood and had fun play dates each week. Emma has two new friends her age, and it’s fun to see them walking around the neighborhood.

April – Cam’s mom is now living full time in San Francisco. Emma nicknamed her “MiMi” and loves having her around. Doug also had his first accident on his scooter, causing all of us to have heart failure! Life is never dull in the Bowman household.

May – We spent Mother’s Day in Las Vegas. Had a great time with our friends Nick and Yvonne who were also there. We had a great time at Mandalay Bay where they have an amazing shark exhibit. But wouldn’t you know it, this time, Emma got the flu. We spent the later part of the trip taking turns watching over Emma and helping her recover.

June – Let the birthday parties begin! Emma had a ton of fun visiting her friends T & N for their 2nd birthdays. They are the first in the baby group to hit the 2′s! Father’s day was also fun this year with both Doug’s b-day and Father’s Day occurring on the same day! We has a fun filled weekend of celebrating.

July – July was a really busy month. We went to Seattle for a conference where Doug spoke, and then over to Spokane to see Cam’s Aunt C and Cousin K and family. It was a great trip. Emma fell in love with her cousins and can’t wait to visit them again. Cam’s niece also came to visit and spent 3 weeks with us. Emma loves having her here. She would yell every morning for “Chy-Chy” to “GET UP” and come play with Emma!

August – Happy Birthday Emma! We now have a 2 yr old. Sometimes it’s so hard to believe. Emma had a jungle safari birthday party with all her friends. It was a great time. We had lion, tiger, and monkey cupcakes going around. I think Emma actually ate two full cupcakes that day. Grandma B came from Ohio, and Emma had a blast. We also bought a new home and Emma started her first soccer class.

September – Moving day is here! Emma has now lived in 4 different bedrooms in her short 2 years! We spent a lot of time getting the “NEW HOUSE!” ready and Emma declared “No more OLD house!” Emma is also loving soccer and having a great time when we’re not rained out. This has been one of the worst summers in SF history. We spent a lot of time seeking out the sun by driving about 30 minutes south to a park. We still managed to have a great time.

October – We continued on with soccer, but switched to a weekend time so Doug could take Emma. He loves taking her. Emma is really starting to show her real spirit. Who knew we had such a huge baseball fan? Emma cheered on the SF Giants all the way to the World Series. She would yell “Go Giants Go!” It was awesome. We also held the first annual “Bowman Halloween Bash” for the neighborhood. It was a huge hit. We have gotten to know so many people, and feel so fortunate to live in this friendly neighborhood.

November – Another busy month for us. We flew to NYC for another of Doug’s conferences, and met up with Emma’s BFF Charlotte. We had such a great time. The girls were so fun to watch. It was another tearful good-bye until we get to see them again in the Spring. Cam’s sister and family came for Thanksgiving in our new house. We also had Cheyenne here too. Emma had fun playing with her 3 yr old cousin Sienna, and giving Cheyenne a hard time again. We took a trip to Cal Academy with the whole crew of us, fun times!

December – Soccer was rained out all month. We still managed to get in some fun play groups though. Christmas came too quickly but it was fun to have Grandma B from Ohio here for a visit. Between Grandma B, Nana and Papa, and Grandma Mimi, Emma was very spoiled this year. We got Emma a new tricycle and we’ve been spending every sunny moment outside. We had a Disneyland trip planned for after Christmas that turned into a nightmare. We drove to Southern California on Wednesday, but had to return two days later after we all got sick. Needless to say, that was the beginning of the end for the Bowman’s. We all ended up sick for the next two weeks, ringing in a very sad New Year.

Good bye, 2010! Here’s hoping 2011 brings lot of joy, laughter, and fun times ahead.

Luke has had his first month of chemo and will start again next week. He is proving to be a strong little boy with a lot of fight in him. You can read about and follow Luke’s journey at Caring Bridge.

Today, Brandi has four amazing kids and lives in Idaho. She’s been a stay at home mom for almost 9 years now. She’s one of “those” moms who throws the best birthday parties and bakes the most amazing cakes! I’ve suggested to Brandi that I should fly her to our house to bake Emma’s birthday cake! She has a very busy life keeping her kids happy and healthy. Haley is almost 9, Luke and Logan are 7-year-old identical twins, and Hannah just turned 5. Even when you give 110% to your family, sometimes that’s still not enough.

Luke (one of the identical twins on the far right above) was diagnosed with neuroblastoma cancer in 2007. He’s a fighter, just like his mom. He went through treatment, and he’s been cancer free for the last two years. Until last week, when Luke’s cancer returned, and is now showing up in his bone marrow. Update 12/5/2010: Brandi is now faced with either starting chemotherapy treatment to prolong Luke’s life, or enrolling him in a trial treatment somewhere else in the U.S. Not a decision any mother should ever need to face, let alone a mother of a 7 year old boy.

Added to the stress of cancer, Brandi hasn’t had the best of luck lately. Her house recently flooded, so she and her four kids are living in a single hotel room until they can move back into their home, hopefully before Christmas.

You can read about and follow Luke’s journey at Caring Bridge.

We would like to help Brandi and Luke in some way. Doug and I know she would do all she could do to help us if we were in her place. We know the holidays are around the corner, and money is tight for everyone. But it’s even tighter for Brandi, and she and her family are faced with another tremendously difficult time. We’re putting together a small fund, hoping to make the holidays a little easier for her. If you have any additional funds you could donate, please use the PayPal donate button below. We’ll add everything together (100% of donations), and send it all to Brandi after December 10th. We’re asking our friends and family to help in any way they can, because Luke’s condition weighs very heavily on our hearts.

If you’re not comfortable donating to an individual family, we ask that you’d consider donating to the American Cancer Society in hopes that their research will be able to benefit others in similar situations to little Luke.

I was really bummed because I already bought a couple pair that she hadn’t even worn yet. I had several store credits to use, so I did a little on-line shopping for new shoes for Emma. Apparently, I didn’t read the fine print. Maybe I didn’t even read the name. It became apparent when our new “Wee Squeak” shoes arrived yesterday! I’ve deemed these the “Daddy and Emma” day out shoes!