Some time with Sam

Well we usually laugh at the weatherman when he says we're getting snow and we really laughed when they said 1-2 feet. He was actually right this time. We spent the day watching the beautiful snow fall all day long. When it was all said and done we measured 18 inches on the deck. It brings back memories of living in Connecticut. Eric, Sam and I spent some time playing in the snow while Maryssa stayed warm and cozy inside (we had the monitor with us of course). Here's a quick video of Sam playing the snow. I'm glad we got to spend some time with him since he's been a little neglected lately.

Home Safe and Sound

Our little Hokie is home safe and sound. Here are a couple pictures of her going home.

She's Coming Home!

It's official that little Maryssa will be coming home tomorrow morning. Eric and I are spending our last night at home with two of us by decorating the Christmas tree and getting a good night's sleep!

Maryssa is doing well in the NICU. She's up to 45ml of milk every 3 hours and is nursing well. She was on a UV blanket yesterday because of her jaundice, but they took her off this morning. We'll see if she can keep it off now :-) They did say she had a quick issue with breathing the other night. While they expect this from preemies, it's unusually that she didn't do it until she was 4 days old. They said they're looking for her to breath well for the next 5 days. If she can do that she will be in the clear to come home. If it's a minor, then they will put her on a monitor and we will watch her at home. If it gets worse, then she will stay in the NICU.

Over all she is much more alert and is crying when it's time to eat! Here's some pictures from the last couple days.

Maryssa Update

Just a quick update on Maryssa. She's now out of her isolation box and in a crib. She's maintaining her temperature and her breathing is great. She is also off her IV so the only cords hooked up to her are monitoring her heart rate and breathing. These won't come off until they let her come home.

Her jondis is doing ok. Her levels are borderline for getting a UV blanket but they are holding off to see if they go down. She's also struggling a little in the eating department, but is improving. They said if she keeps progressing she might be home this weekend!

Thanks for all the support and prayers over the last few days.

It's a GIRL!

Maryssa Anne Couch was born November 28, 2009 at 5:29am. She weighed in at 5lb 2oz and was 19 inches long. Despite being born just under 35 weeks, she is breathing on her own and her heart rate is staying steady. She had some food this afternoon, so they were able to take out the feeding tube. Here's a couple pictures of our wonderful little girl.

Munchkin is coming...

Well, here's another quick update. Eric and I were surprised this morning when my water broke on the way down to Richmond for Thanksgiving. Since there were no contractions, we drove back up to Frederick and we're now in the hospital waiting. They said if labor occurs naturally they will let it go. If not, then we will weigh out letting the baby develop and grow stronger verses the risk of infection. We'll post another update once there's more to tell.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Quick Update

Well we're still hanging in there and the baby is doing well. The OB said Munchkin was head down this morning, which is a change from two weeks ago. Now if he/she can just stay that way. We have one last ultrasound on Monday to make sure everything is looking good and then we will be in the home stretch and starting our weekly visits.

So excited to meet our little one! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Two Months Left!

Wow has time flown. We're now just under 9 weeks out from our due date. Little Munchkin has really been moving, kicking and pressing up against my belly. I'm loving all the movement and that I can feel the baby's body through my tummy. At the end of the month we will get one more look at our little one before he or she arrives! The office is filling with baby stuff while we wait for the basement to wrap up. We should have the nursery up at the beginning of December.

Here's a quick look at my tummy at 15 weeks and then at 30 weeks. What a difference!

Look What I Can Do...

Well the nesting is in full swing and instead of having to pass the job off to Eric, I actually was able to help! A little while ago (by now maybe I should say weeks ago), I heard a loud crash and found the rack in the guest bedroom closet had fallen. Since I wanted to replace the metal closet systems anyway, I thought this would be a good time. I was able to install the new system on my own, with a little help from my hubby of course. There are a few extra holes but it's up! It's nice to feel productive.

We now have lots of room to store our out of season clothes (well now all of my nonmaternity clothes) and our guest actually have some room too.

11 week count down

We visited with the high risk doctor today and Munchkin is doing well. Although I'm only 29 weeks, Munchkin is measuring at 30 weeks. I'm trying not to get my hopes up that our little one will join us before our due date. As a nice surprise, the doctor was able to do a 4d ultrasound for us. Once again Munchkin was not cooperating and the pictures were limited. First the head was pushed up against my hip bone, and both hands were in front of Munchkin's face. After a quick break, we checked again and now he/she was facing my back. A little poking and we were able to get a profile shot. We were also able to see his/her eyes both open and close, sucking his/her thumb and grabbing his/her ear. The doctors are going to give us one more look at Munchkin in 6 weeks just to make sure everything looks good and then we will have to wait until the arrival. I'm still loving the feeling of movement in my belly and can't believe that we will get to meet our little one in 11 weeks or so! Here's the best shot from the ultrasound!

Where did September go?

Well it's been awhile since I last wrote...wow how time flies. Things around here have been good. Munchkin's last appointment went well; Growth was normal, and the kidneys looked good again. There were no signs of preterm labor. In fact, everything looked so good they let us take an extra week before our next visit. No pictures of the little one this time. On Monday I will have the glucose check at the OB and then the following Monday we will see the high risk doctor.

Over the past two days, Munchkin has been going crazy. I kept reading that the movements would get stronger; wow were they right. Eric just sat for 20 minutes the other night with his hand on my belly and a huge grin and a comment of Wow when they were really strong. The joy I feel when I think that in just 3 months our little one will be here is overwhelming. I love to feel the kicks, the movements, and sometimes body parts as the come close to the surface of my belly. Last night I laid in bed reading but would stop to watch my belly move all around. What an amazing gift God has given women! Of course, I may not say that while I'm in labor but that's only (fingers crossed) a fairly short process.

In preparation for the baby, and the overwhelming nesting I'm experiencing, we (and by this I mean Eric and hired help) are doing lots of work on the house. The basement has been torn apart and is coming along smoothly. Aside from the change from paneling to drywall, we are adding recessed lighting, built in cabinets, speaker wire for surround sound and a place to store all the entertainment electronics that will hook into the TV through a single cable. The plan is to move the office down to the basement and then converting it into a nursery. Although it's not finished we have some before and some work in progress pics for you.

















We also just had the windows in the house replaced. Wow what a difference! The regular windows look pretty much the same from a distance, but the sliding glass door and the bay window look so nice. Of course the change from wood and aluminum frames to vinyl adds a lot, but we were able to get a three pane bay window instead of the previous 5 pains. The living room looks so much bigger now and we can actually open the windows. Today we hit in the 80's and the house actually stayed cool until late in the afternoon because the windows actually provide some insulation!
















Last but not least, Eric is working on remodeling our master bath. Finally the pink toilet and sink will be gone! Hopefully the next time I write we will have some finished work to show you.

Fishing and Camping

We have been one with nature lately. A few weeks ago Eric took Lexi and Luke down the the neighborhood pond to see if they could catch anything. After digging up some worms from the compost pile, they grabbed their nets and poles and headed down. Eric got Lexi's rod set up but before he could get the worm on Luke's rod, Lexi was reeling in a fish! Of course Luke got impatient and started saying "My turn, my turn." Eric had a great time spending a little time with his niece and nephew :-)

Then this past weekend, we combined a camping trip with a sad farewell to a dear friend's dad. Our good friends the Christophel's received news 6 weeks ago that his father had pancreatic cancer. Although they believed it was terminal, the doctors gave John 6-8 months to live. Unfortunately, his time was much shorter than that. John passed away last week. The beautiful funeral was held on Saturday morning in Elkton, VA. We didn't know John very well, but it touched us very deeply when he passed. Jesse always has been a wonderful friend, and through the years of getting to know Jesse we also got to know a little about John both through stories Jesse told us about growing up and through the character that John and MJ instilled in Jesse.

After attending the funeral, we headed up to Luray to camp with my parents. They camp site was a little bit of a hike, but well worth it. No one was around us and the dogs were able to run free. The boy fished and as you can see below they both caught a good one! Mom and I chatted and walked and swam with the dogs. We saw lots of birds, an adult otter and a little baby otter. The baby was so cute only 6 or 7 inches long. Also, Jada showed us her new trick...diving for tennis balls.

After camping we headed to the Christophel farm for a visit. This was our first time at the farm and it was beautiful! We spent some time chatting and looking at pictures the family took before John passed. It was difficult circumstances to visit under, but it was good to spend some time with the family.

Grow Baby Grow!

Munchkin is continuing to make great progress! We had another ultrasound on Monday, and everything is looking good. Munchkin is now 1 lb 5 oz, according to the doctors...although I've heard they are sometimes not very accurate. We were able to see the skin that formed around the spine this time, so there's no question about that. Also, the kidney that looked to large last time was normal this time! The doctor told us not to worry because there were a lot of reasons they could appear that way, and he was right.


It was neat to watch Munchkin moving around on the screen and I was actually able to feel the movements this time! I've been feeling movements for a few weeks now and it's WONDERFUL! I love knowing our little one is getting stronger and developing with the little reminders, although sometimes bigger than other times, of bumps and kicks. It took awhile for Munchkin to cooperate, but Eric was able to feel Munchkin moving too!

We will continue to visit the high risk clinic until 31 weeks or so...that means 3 more visits. Next week they test to make sure I'm not releasing any chemicals that will start labor to early. Although it's time consuming, I've really enjoyed being able to see our little one grow with all the ultrasounds!


We are also working on making some room in the house for our new little one. Step one is to tear out and then refinish the basement. Eric is thankful that our friend Dan is helping with this one :-) After the basement is finished, we will move the office downstairs and begin on the nursery. We are thankful to have some hand me down furniture from Cheryl, Eric's sister, and I've already got the bedding set. Once all the fun house projects are done we will be sure to put some pictures up.


Below are the latest pictures. One of Munchkins itty bitty foot and the others are profiles. Enjoy!

Moms and Dads to be

Our good friends, the Conrads, are also pregnant and expecting at the beginning of February.

Here's a couple of pictures we took the other night with them.

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Munchkin hits 10oz!

10oz...yeah I know doesn't sound like much, but he/she is right on schedule! We saw all four cavities of the heart pumping away today as the arteries took the blood away. It's amazing what you can see on these things. We watched as Munchkin's legs went from Indian style, to just extending one leg. Munchkin was on the move for awhile and then decided that was it and took a nap. There was a quick yawn, or maybe a yell because we kept trying to get him/her to move for better pictures with little success. Both arms remained in front of the face along with the cord, so the pictures were slim pickins up there. They said everything looks pretty normal. One of the kidneys was a little bigger than the other, but they said not to worry because the baby was laying on his/her side which can make it look bigger, or sometimes the urine can back up if everything doesn't close off right. They said if it's still looks big closer to delivery then they will look into it more, but for now they will just watch. It was wonderful to watch for about 30 minutes as the technician moved around to look at different things. Oh, no need to worry. The technician was wonderful and was able to do it all without showing us what the gender is! They did say that everything in that area looked normal, so our gender on the chart currently says normal :-)

I've also been feeling Munchkin move around for the past couple weeks and it's becoming more consistent all the time. Unfortunately, they are not hard enough for Daddy to feel yet...well I guess I should say that every time I try to get him to feel the random hard kicks and punches Munchkin stops. The other morning I woke up to a beating, and debated if I should wake Eric. I thought for a minute and whispered to see if he was awake...no response. The kicking kept coming so I woke him up and sure enough as soon as his hand was on the way to my belly, the kicking stopped. We are going to have a little trouble maker on our hands :-)

I'm loving pregnancy and looking forward to the next half. Wow has time flown. On Monday we will be half way to the arrival of our little Munchkin!


Not the best pictures, but it's still an update. I think the first one is a little scary, but you can see the yelling...the technician thought it was yell and wrote stop that on the screen. The second is just a profile picture. You can see the nose, mouth, an eye and the brain. The third is of the leg fully extended and then you can see the other leg crossed under it.

River Weekend

The Corkers once again allowed us to invade their river house for our annual trip. The weekend is always a great time, and creates many great stories. The boys played pirate dice, the girls chatted, and of course there was ladder golf and cornhole. We also celebrated Sara's birthday with streamers, balloons, and an obstacle course for a little competition :-) The girls also had a little surprise celebration for The Wiggins and us to celebrate our little ones on the way! We had a fabulous time and looking forward to it again next year...that is if the Corkers aren't tired of us :-)

16 Weeks

We went to the doctor for another ultrasound yesterday. Although, the little one was curled up in a ball and head facing the wand. This means we couldn't get a length measurement, but everything else looked good. We'll be sticking to the three week ultrasounds at the high risk facility and regular 4 week check ups at the OB.

I was telling Eric that it's kind of weird to feel like a normal person again. All the nausea and the extreme tiredness have gone away. Scary because it made me think something might be wrong, but at the same time wonderful to be able to eat and do things again. I also felt a little movement yesterday which was pretty exciting. I thought I felt it the other day and then it came back again yesterday, so the little munchkin is on the move!

July 4th & the Beach

So much has happened in July and we're only half way through the month. The 4th is always a big event around here. They day is filled with volleyball (unfortuanlty I was not part of play this year) food, great family fun, and a proposal! Eric, Kristie, Reece (my cousin from Atlanta), and Michael woke up bright an early to head down to the park for the annual 4th of July volleyball touranment. This was Reece's first time on the court...I think we finally got him hooked on the game. Eric and I have been trying to get this 6' 8" cousin to play for years, and now that he has he's ready to go again. Reece and Eric played together, while Michael and Kristie played. Dad, Mom and I all watched and cheered from the sidelines. Although the day was not full of wins, we had a great time and got to visit with lots of friends and some of our former players.

After returning home, we heaed up Marion and Bob's for a cookout. Michael stayed behind because he told Maggie he wasn't home from his cross counrty motorcycle trip in order to surprise her at the fireworks. We chowed down on lots of yummy food and cooled off in the pool. Maggie was pleasant, but not her usual perky self because she was upset Michael wasn't home from his trip...little did she know he was right down the street. Later, we headed to our usually firework viewing spot, the hospital parking deck. We lined up the cars and waited for the fireworks to begin. Once the first one boomed, Eileen (Michael and Eric's cousin who is also Maggie's best friend) took Maggie up to the top of the parking deck where Michael was waiting for her, among the other spectators their for the fireworks. It took awhile for Maggie to see Michael but once she did she was surprised and soon after engaged! Although the family didn't get to see the proposal live, we had a friend tape the whole thing for us.

Time with our cousin, volleyball and an engagement made our 4th of July a memorible one!