What is a rainbow baby?

"Rainbow Babies" is the understanding that the beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. When a rainbow appears, it doesn't mean the storm never happened or that the family is not still dealing with its aftermath. What it means is that something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of color, energy and hope.

On September 28, 2011, I lost a daughter, Faith, to stillbirth at 21 weeks gestation. No cause was ever found. On July 18, 2012, I found out I was pregnant again. I am now 22w3d along with this baby boy, and I am praying he is our rainbow - our take-home baby. This blog is for him, documenting my pregnancy and his life! I will go back and publish posts for events and ultrasounds that happened up until now. We have a name picked out but have decided to keep it a surprise, so for the purpose of this blog, I will call him BB (baby boy) :)

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Ryan Joseph's Birth Story

Here is Ryan's birth story in timeline form: March 12, 2013 12am- Admitted to L&D for scheduled induction at 37w2d 1 am- Cytotec inserted to begin softening the cervix and start contractions 2:30-3am- Contractions became too strong and close together and baby was not handling them well, so the nurses came in to give me a shot of terbutaline to slow them down and oxygen to bring his heart rate back up. Everything ended up fine! 3-6am- Contractions were getting more regular, stronger, and uncomfortable. The nurse encouraged me to get my epidural before the OB came to break my water, and I happily obliged! 6:15am- 3 cm dilated, got epidural 7am- My mom arrived at the hospital and Joey woke up from his sleep on the not-so-comfortable couch bed. I was comfortable and resting (and putting on make-up :)) *At some point in here, the nurse started me on the lowest dose of Pitocin, but when the OB arrived, she told her to stop it because my contractions were regular and s

A letter to "Baby S"

I found this letter that I wrote to Ryan, aka "Baby S," the morning I found out I was pregnant. I can't believe that this: has actually become this sweet little guy: Here is the letter: July 18, 2012 My dear Baby S, What an amazing morning. Right now, this is a secret between just you and me. And your big sister Faith. You had a sister who did not live outside my tummy. She was beautiful and would have loved you so much. You are my rainbow. I had a feeling you were coming soon. Last week, the neighbors across the street took a picture of our house with a rainbow landing right in it. Your Aunt Val also dreamed last week that I got two positive pregnancy tests. I love you so much. I’m scared to death. I just want to sit in the house on our couch for the next 8 months to try to keep you safe. I can’t do that, though. Please know that I love you so very much. Please grow strong and healthy and be born healthy. You are due March 31, 2013. How are we going

35 Weeks + 1 Day

I am so excited to have reached 35 weeks. Right now the plan is to induce labor at 37 weeks, so just 2 weeks to go! When I see my OB on Thursday we will hopefully be able to schedule induction for the week of March 10. Last Wednesday we started twice weekly BPP's ( biophysical profiles ). Ryan scored perfectly, so the MFM decided we don't have to keep doing them so often. Starting this week, I think we are just doing them once weekly. I have had 2 wonderful showers in the last 2 weeks, plus another one thrown by some of Joey's coworkers at his office. We have almost all of the supplies we need, Ryan's clothes are washed, our hospital bags are packed, and the nursery is almost ready! Once all of the pictures are hung and we get his nursery letters, I will post some pictures. For now, I will leave you with a 35 week bump pic:

Praying for a Rainbow

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