Allison: Birth Story

Life's been a little sweeter since July 19th. I mean, how could it not be with a cute little face like Allison's?

We knew that we wanted to be a little more prepared for this baby's arrival given that we were literally not prepared at all for Katie's arrival two years ago, so we had a bag packed and car seat installed two weeks before we knew our C-section date. Thankfully we never needed any of it early as she passed both of her non-stress tests before her delivery. 

On the night before our C-section, we spent plenty of time together as a family of five. All the kids knew that the next day they were getting a new baby brother or sister, so they spent a little extra time giving my belly some loving. We asked them one more time what they thought baby was going to be, and all three said that it was going to be a boy. Early in the pregnancy, Brayden said he wanted it to be a girl, but did eventually switch it to a boy. Ashley was pretty dead set that it was going to be a boy because she "already had a baby sister". And Katie just says whatever Ashley says, so we weren't surprised that she said boy. 

Aside from getting up (on purpose) at 11:45 for one more snack before my no-food-after-midnight cutoff, I actually slept pretty well. I was a little bummed that we couldn't have our C-section in the morning, but Dr. Haller had a surgery that morning, so we were slated for 12:30 the afternoon of the 19th. 

We were able to get the kids dropped off at daycare and give them one more big hug before our lives all changed forever. We did some last minute picking up around the house and before we knew it it was time to head to the hospital. 

We not so patiently waited the few hours in the labor room until everyone was ready for us in OR. As I was getting my spinal, Dr. Haller and all the staff in the room were asking if we had any guesses on what baby was. I told them I would love for Brayden to have a brother, but I would be so happy if it was a girl as well. Dr. Haller said that everyone there was betting it was a boy since they had had so many boys born that week already. I laughed as I told them that Eric would say that that would mean baby was definitely going to be a girl. As soon as my spinal was done and Eric was able to come into the room, Dr. Haller asked Eric what he thought baby would be, and mentioned the part about them all thinking it was a boy due to all the recently born boys. Eric literally said, "I'm a numbers guy, and if there's been that many boys then we are definitely having a girl." 

Eric and I held hands as we patiently waited for them to get baby out. They told us that they were almost there, and they had a little trouble getting her out of my right side, which is where baby lived about my entire pregnancy. As Dr. Haller pulled baby out, she said "dad you were right, it's a girl!" I've never seen Eric smile so big and breathe such a big sigh of relief as he did. After everything that we've been through on our journey to parenthood, it was so good to see this last pregnancy have such a beautiful outcome. 

Allison Danielle Schackmann was born at 12:51 PM on July 19th. She was 7 pounds and 13 ounces (our heaviest baby yet) and 19.5 inches long (tying Katie for our longest baby). And speaking of Katie, Allison is almost a cut and paste of Katie, it was crazy how much Allison reminded us of Katie, so much so that we still are occasionally calling Allison Katie or Kate. 

But at this point, Allison was still nameless. We had had a few names for each sex that we both liked coming in to the hospital that morning, but we definitely didn't have a clear favorite. We actually didn't even give her her official name until the day after she was born. And to top it off, Allison wasn't even on our original list of names we liked. But it seemed to fit her and we both liked it, so that was a weight off of our shoulders to finally have a name for her. 

The kids came Saturday morning to meet Allison, and I loved seeing their reactions to meeting her for the first time. They were all very excited to see Eric and I, and Katie wanted to come right up on the bed with me. Brayden and Ashley gravitated towards Allison though, and she was instantly smothered in kisses by Brayden and love pats by Ashley. 

Ashley won out on getting to hold Allison first, and seeing her smile down at her warmed my heart with love.

And then it was Brayden's turn, and if I had any doubts about him being the absolute best big brother to her (which I didn't), he would have squashed them right then. You could see how in love with her he was. 

Katie was a little a lot less interested in Allison. But I won't hold it against her, it was a little overstimulating in that hospital room. She didn't seem too excited and didn't want to hold Allison by herself, pretty much clinging to me or Eric the entire time. I would like to say that when we got home on Sunday, she immediately wanted to hold her and gave her all sorts of hugs and kisses, so she came around to her baby sister pretty quickly. 

We stayed in the hospital until Sunday around lunch, and for a while we were thinking we would be there even longer since Allison refused to poop. The nurse practitioner ordered an x-ray just to make sure everything was ok, and thankfully it was. And at some point in the wee hours of Sunday morning Allison finally let one out. 

We were ready to be home, and we have been adjusting well to being a family of six. The kids are still absolutely in love with her, as are Eric and I. We can't wait to see what life has in store for us with Allison in it!

Baby #7: 37-38 Weeks

We are in the ultimate crunch time now, and baby, we are SO ready for you!

These past two weeks have gone faster than ever, and we've been working hard to get everything done before baby makes his or her arrival. We are definitely 100% more prepared for this baby than we were for Katie. 

I've had two non-stress tests, and baby passed both with flying colors. This was the test that Katie failed and ended us up in the hospital with an earlier than expected delivery, so I made sure to bring a packed bag with me both times, just in case. Luckily they weren't needed.

And while Eric and I are preparing around the house for baby's arrival, the kids are also realizing that change is coming and have been doing little things that make me so excited to see them with their new sibling. Katie is constantly laying her head on my belly, pulling up my shirt, and giving baby a kiss. It is the absolute sweetest thing.

Brayden loves to blow raspberries on my stomach and always asks if it is tickling the baby. And usually, baby does move around after he does that, so I guess that it is tickling the baby. He has been giving my belly hugs and telling baby how much he loves it. He has the sweetest heart.

And Ashley has also been giving baby a little extra love here and there, making sure to snuggle up to my stomach when we are cuddling, and giving it little love pats while she is watching TV. Sometimes I'm not even sure she knows that she's doing it. She's going to be the best helper and the best big sister.

Baby, we are all SO excited to meet you oh so soon. While I'm going to miss the rolls and kicks and punches, I'm definitely looking forward to having a little more mobility again, not having to get up 5 times during the night to pee, and finally getting to snuggle up on the little face I've been dreaming about since last fall. 

Baby #7: 33-34 Weeks

It's getting so close to baby month! These past two weeks have been good ones. We've had an ultrasound, t-ball games, and a vacation- and time doesn't look to be slowing down before baby gets here.

A few days after I turned 32 weeks, we had our final ultrasound before baby gets here. Baby was measuring about 4 pounds 11 ounces and had a heart rate of 126. I'm so in love with the 3D images we got of baby and it makes me so excited to see what he or she will look like in a few weeks. 

These past few weeks I can definitely tell I'm getting closer to the end. I'm up to use the restroom two, sometimes three times a night. I've got one single spot of acne on my chin (as of now- we will have to see if that gets worse). And my sciatic nerve has started really bugging me on the right side. I can tell that baby is running out of room in there- it is in my ribs a lot more than it has been before! 

We are in the downhill stretch with so much left to do to get everything ready for baby, but I definitely don't want to rush anything. It's hitting me that this is the last time for all the things, so I'm soaking it in as much as I can. 

Baby #7: 27-32 Weeks

 Time for another baby update!

It's been another great 5 weeks with baby #7. I've made it to the point of doctor appointments every two weeks, which means we are getting into crunch time!

These past few weeks baby continues to move like crazy in my belly, though I haven't ever been able to catch it on film. It will move move move, and I pull out my camera to record it and it totally stops. What a little stinker this one is. I will say that the moves are mostly rolls and some pushing/stretching feelings as opposed to kicks. Brady definitely felt baby move this past week. When baby kicked him his eyes lit up and he looked at me with a big smile. I tried to get baby to move for Ashley, but it didn't happen. We will keep trying!

It continues to get harder and harder for me to get up and down and bend over for extended periods of time, which I realized even more when I took on a newborn photo session this past week. I've been to the chiropractor once, and should probably get another appointment scheduled again soon to keep my lower back in check. 

Baby's heartrate has been in the upper 130s-mid 140s the past few times I've been in to the doctor. We have our 32 week scan on Friday so I'm really looking forward to seeing baby again on the ultrasound screen and hopefully getting some good face shots (though I'm trying not to be too optimistic about that one lol). 

We've been camping, I passed my glucose test, and have run the kids around to all the things. I know these last few weeks will involve even more running and even more crazy (and probably even more lower back pain ha). But I am all here for it- bring it on and bring on July!

Baby #6: 24-30 Weeks

Weeks 24-30 have been pretty uneventful, which is probably why it's been on the back of my mind to post anything pregnancy related lately. I think back to my previous pregnancies before I had the twins where I posted every week on everything- oh to have the time (and energy) to do that again! Sorry baby #6, you get what you get. Luckily that's a mom who loves you so very much. Unluckily it's also one who rarely has time to do anything else than keep your siblings alive and fed ha!

Since my last update, we had our final appointment with my high risk OB, Dr. Paul. He said that everything was looking right on track. I had gained just the right amount of weight (which at that time was like 12 pounds), baby was measuring right on track, and baby's heartbeat was a steady 148 beats per minute. 

Baby was less than cooperative in getting us a cute picture of it's fac
e. Instead, enjoy this ultrasound shot of its hands in an X over that face I'm going to go crazy over in less than 10 weeks. 

At 28 weeks I entered my third trimester, woot woot!

And at 29 weeks I took and passed my glucose test- another woot woot!

Thanks to recommendations from my high risk OB, I now go to my regular OB every week until delivery for weekly monitoring. That means I get another ultrasound on Friday, let's hope I get a better picture of this rolly poly that day! 

And when I say rolly poly, I really mean it. I've now had (almost) 3 pregnancies go to term, and this baby is the most active out of any of my pregnancies. It must know its got to be in shape to keep up with its big brother and sister!

Baby #6: 19-23 Weeks

What a month (plus) it's been having baby #6 grow healthy inside me! We got great news at our anatomy scan that everything looks perfect on baby, so another weight has been lifted off of our shoulders as we anxiously await June.

I had a bad asthma flare up right before week 20 that ended me in the ER. Thankfully baby seemed to far well through it all and I'm on the up and up after a few days down and out. You don't realize what a luxury it is to breathe easily until you are literally struggling to catch your breath, even after using your rescue inhaler more times that I probably should have.

I've been feeling baby move around a lot in there, which has me curious if they will be an active child or if they are getting all their wiggles out now and will be more chill once they are here. Baby likes to hang out really low still, and all the movement I feel is definitely on the bottom/underside of my belly. I know eventually baby will move up and I'll be complaining of it kicking and punching my ribs, but for now I'd like the kicks to happen a little higher so other people (aside from Eric who has felt baby already) can feel baby move. Baby's heartbeat was 160 at our anatomy scan, but at our last appointment this past week it is was 149. Any guesses on what baby could be, because we aren't finding out!

I have one more appointment with my high risk OB Dr. Paul in St. Louis to check on baby's growth one more time and discuss the plan for the remainder of my pregnancy. While I will miss his and his team's expertise and knowledge, I sure won't miss driving to St. Louis. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of our appointments in Effingham with Dr. Haller and her team there. 

I'm also looking forward to continuing to watch baby grow in these next few months. Grow, baby, grow!

BABY, All I Want for Christmas is....YOU!

 

Baby, all I want for Christmas is you. 

To stay healthy. 

To keep growing. 

To wait until June to make your arrival. 

All I want for Christmas is for you to stay here with us. 

To make Brayden and Ashley the big siblings that I know they will love to be. 

To bless everyone around us with your smile and laugh.

All I want for Christmas is for June to be here as soon as possible to hold you in my arms.

Baby, all I want for Christmas is calmed nerves. 

An easy, stress-free (as possible) pregnancy. 

To get through these next few weeks with your heart still beating strong.

All I want for Christmas is Baby Schackmann #6. 

BIG

Brayden and Ashley are getting big in more ways than one. That's right- we have a big brother and big sister on our hands! Baby Schackmann #5 is set to make his or her arrival at the end of October.

Since it took about six months from our first transfer trying for the twins until we actually had a successful transfer (not to mention all the months before that preparing for/having an egg retrieval), Eric and I decided this past fall that we were wanting to get back on the radar at Dr. Dayal's office for a transfer for our next baby. 

We chatted with her in October, and were all set to have our first transfer in December. That is until my numbers weren't doing what they were supposed to do and Dr. Dayal canceled our transfer a few days before we were supposed to go in. After a little initial heartbreak of not being able to do the transfer in December, we started up medicine again to have our transfer in February.

February 11th we made our way over to St. Louis. Thanks to Covid, things looked different this time around and Eric wasn't allowed to come into the building with me. Thank goodness for technology and the fact that we could Facetime during the procedure (even though he says he couldn't really see anything that was happening- hey, at least he was "there" for it). 

On the 19th we had our first blood draw (and I miiiiiiight have taken a home pregnancy test that morning before work as well), and it came back that we were pregnant! I don't think that Eric or I were expecting our first transfer to work, especially since it took three transfers to get Brayden and Ashley. 

March 8th we got to see our little bean and its beating heart for the first time, and we have had four ultrasounds since then. (And yes, there is only one this time.)

Just yesterday we confirmed that baby Schackmann has a perfectly round, complete head, and a huge weight has been lifted off our shoulders. I tell you what, pregnancy (especially pregnancy after loss) sure is NERVEWRECKING. 

I'm officially 14 weeks today, and overall I've been doing very well. I've been a little extra tired, a little nauseous throughout the day (I might eat two breakfasts and then an early supper on my way home from work...), and I might have already busted out my maternity clothes (seriously, my stomach popped out way early this time around). 

We are so excited to meet you this fall, baby!