Eli Rivers Steyne

CONTRACTIONS & BROKEN CONTRACTS

This week has been one I would like to forget... however it has been life changing. I have had contractions pretty regularly for a week and finally went to the dr on Wednesday because they became pretty strong and frequent. They checked me and I am not dilating, however I did have 7 contractions while I was hooked up to the monitor. The baby was not in any stress during my contractions which is a huge praise. They gave me a shot of brethine to help relax my stomach and hopefully stop the contractions. It has not taken them away by any means, so I have been taking a pill to help keep them under control. Being only 27 weeks, our little Sweetpea needs to cook a little longer before joining us in this crazy world we live in. So please pray with us that everything will be ok and that Sweetpea can make it til sometime in October!

On Wednesday after speaking with a nurse and the Doctor on-call I realized it was in the best interest of Sweetpea and me that I drive to my obgyn's office in Columbia. It was pretty scary because I had to go by myself because Christopher was having a very important meeting at work. His Mom came to my appointment instead, which was a huge relief, because I did not want to be alone. After having a miscarriage in December my mind always thinks the worst, even though the baby has been moving up a storm. Well at the same time I was hooked up to the monitor, Christopher was being laid off from work. The same job that brought us up to Charlotte in the first place (just 6 weeks ago). It is a HUGE mess... and very interwoven with the Church we are involved in so its a very sticky situation. You can be praying that he finds another job quickly and that we can get our old insurance back, because its hard as crap to get insurance being pregnant, especially this far along! Please pray for the relationships that are involved as it has torn friendships apart.

Life has been a roller-coaster over the last 2 years... many surgeries, broken bones, living in different cities/countries, job changes, location changes, miscarriage and new baby, etc. Despite the heartache and stress... I have peace that God is still in control! We appreciate all of your prayers!

Sweet Pea

Since everyone keeps asking to see my belly and the baby I thought the easiest way is to post a slide show. I hope you enjoy it!

gettin bigger

Well this is me and my big belly! It's hard to believe
that I am only at the 1/2 way mark by looking at this
picture, but the time has really flown by. Probably due
to our extremely busy lives lately. For those of you who

don't know, we moved to Charlotte NC for Chris to work with

a construction company called Relicon. He will be one of the

supervisors, so not as manual labor as before, but lots of driving

around telling other people what to do. I am working as an

administrative assistant at a church. I have to get our ultra sound

pictures uploaded... but if you are wondering,

its only one baby in there!

Baby Kicks!

It is an amazing moment to finally feel the little

baby kicks of this little creation that is growing

withing the walls of my body. Some say its early

to feel the baby, but I know that I am not mistaken

because these are definant little kicks, punches, and

maybe a few elbows. The other night while laying in

bed I think the little one was playing soccer! Everyone

that I have talked to says that it feels like a butterfly,

but I would say it feels like popcorn or big rice

krispies! I went to the Dr. today and the little heartbeat

was 149 beats per minute. Its so reassuring to hear and

feel little Sweet Pea... it is all becoming so real!

My Baby Bump

Here is my baby bump at 13 weeks! I am officially somewhere between my regular clothes and maternity clothes because my pants will not button anymore, yet maternity clothes are still way too big! It is a bit frustrating trying to be creative on what to wear... because honestly nothing is comfortable anymore! I am trying to embrace the fact that my belly is getting bigger... I keep reminding myself that it is for a wonderful reason! Little Sweet Pea about 3-4 inches right now... the size of a good Carolina Peach (like those we will not be tasting much of this summer since we had a good freeze a couple weeks ago that killed most of the crop).

Heartbeat

Last Thursday Chris and I went to the Doctor and were able to hear our little baby's heart beating! It took a little effort in finding it because the baby was swimming all over and would not sit still long enough to find it... so we heard it is short incerments! It was very serreal! After moments like that I do not understand why some have so convinced themselves that it is a fetus instead of acknowledging that it is a living little baby! Although we have the ultra sound picture to see our little one... it was from over a month ago and so much has changed. It makes me sad that we will not get another ultra sound picture until June... I keep reminding myselft that it will be worth the wait! For those of you who are wondering... yes I have a baby bump going on! My clothes are rarely button and sometimes hardly zipped... however thank goodness for belly bands that will hold my clothes up and cover up the fact that I am not all the way put together. I will show yall a picture soon since I have now reached the end of my 1st trimester!

Plum vs. Meatball

I am now 12 weeks or 3 months however you

want to look at it! Little Sweet Pea has now grown to

be about 2 inches however the description of its size

is under debate. I work with an autistic guy named

Timbo who does not like plums so he says the baby is

the size of a meatball. I figured I would honorhim by

putting a meatball on my blog...the ironic thingis I am

Scandanavian, so I figured the Sweedish meatball

would be best.

Week 10

While strawberry picking yesterday with Christen, I remembered that little Sweet Pea is about the size of the strawberry I am holding. It is pretty amazing to me just how fast our little one is growing inside and astounding to think that God has His hand on every little growth and development that is taking place! I am blessed to know the Creator and look forward to holding the baby He created just for us! 10 weeks down 30 weeks to go!

8 weeks

Well Now that I am 8 weeks I have grown from
the size of a blueberry to raspberry! All of my
growing is making Mommy sooo tired... her
favorite thing to do is to take naps! I have not
been very nice to Mommy... she is sick almost
EVERYDAY and when she does not throw up
in the morning she feels sick ALL DAY LONG!
But hey the Dr. says that morning-sickness
means I am healthy! well my fingers and toes
and little facial features are growing so fast it is
time for me to take a little nap!

1st Ultra Sound

Some may say I just look like a blob... but Daddy and Mommy got to see and hear my heartbeat! I'm Alive and kicking... well not really kicking as my legs are just beginning to grow! Right now I am about the size of a blueberry and in the top picture you can see my head is on the left and my body is on the right (the thing above me is my yolk sac as shown in the picture below). They say that my due date is on October 31st, but Mommy is not excited about me being born on Halloween, so lets see if I listen to her and come a different day! I am already not being too nice as I make Mommy feel very NAUSEOUS ALL DAY LONG and sometimes I make her throw up... Meme told me to give Mommy a taste of her own medicine since she made Meme sick the whole 9 months! Evidently Daddy made his Mom sick the whole time too! Well I am getting hungry... so Mommy needs to go cook dinner so I can grow big and strong!

POSITIVE

I fell asleep by 9pm and when Chris came to bed he told me that he hoped I was pregnant because something was wrong with me... I shouldn't be this emotional and so tired all the time! So when I awoke at 5 am to go to the gym... I quickly took a test... and immediately it read PREGNANT! I walked into the bedroom and gently woke Chris up to tell him that I had a reason for being so grouchy and tired recently. We are both so excited to be stepping into the next chapter... parenthood!

QUESTIONS A TON OF PEOPLE HAVE ASKED SO FAR ARE...

"DO YOU WANT A BOY OR GIRL?"

MY ANSWER: A HEALTHY BABY!

"ARE YOU GOING TO FIND OUT THE SEX OF THE BABY?"

MY ANSWER: NO, WE WANT TO BE SURPRISED

"HOW DO YOU FEEL KEELY?"

MY ANSWER: TIRED AND NAUSEOUS!

~Big News~

Chris and I are proud to announce that we are going to have a baby! I am due late October or early November, but I should know my due-date March 13th when I go in for another ultra-sound! Please continue to pray that the baby is healthy and grows as it is supposed to without any complications! As of right now I am about 6 weeks pregnant, so I still have a long ways to go so I will use this site to keep friends and family updated. Please check back regularly... don't worry I'll update it better than I have previously!