Earl took this picture at church. Can you tell that Sammi was starting to feel yucky. I took her to the Dr on the 19th and she has ear and sinus infection.

Suzy wearing her first church dress. We tried hose but they would have gone over her head and that was without stretching them. Haha.

Well we have been home a week. And I need sleep. I get to sleep at night for 1 1/2 hour intervals then Suzy wakes up and wants to eat again. Every 3 hours on the hour right now. But I am not complaining just stating that 5 hours of sleep straight in a row would be nice.

We went to the circus here in town the other night. The only animals that they had were their pet dogs. Which when the owner rolled the wagon out that they were riding in one of the dogs jumped out and the owner ran him over with the wagon. The rest of the circus was acrobats and magic. Suzy stayed home with Daddy.

Suzy had her first Dr. appointment. She now weighs 4 lbs 5 oz. She also has a plugged tear duct which causes her to have a matted right eye every time she sleeps.

Everyone down here says that Suzy looks like Earl. What do you think?

Our first night home. The girls love holding Suzy and helping feed her and even changing wet diapers. We are so glad that Suzy is home and we feel very blessed to have our 3 girls. Last night was VERY long waking up every hour with her. About 5am I put Suzy in her carseat and she slept for 3 hours. Iwas kicking myself for not thinking of that at the beginning of the night. She was sleeping in her bed ,but flat ,which at the hospital she was reclined and I think being flat she didn't like it.

We went to see Suzy yesterday after church. She had gained and is now 3 lbs 6 1/2 oz. So she is back to her birth weight. They were going to weigh her last night as they do every night and in fact I need to call but right now is the time that the babies are getting fed. And I don't want to disturb the nurse so I am calling later. When I got home I was horrifed at the state of my house. 3 puppies, 1 dog, a rabbit and 3 fish, not to mention a husband that did the best he could do with laundry and the house but is used to me doing it my way has caused me to wait until Earl comes home from work and then go see Suzy. We have been told by parents of other premies and the nurses that the Dr will tell us that there can be no pets inside with Suzy so I have already started getting rid of some animals outside is not gone completely. My brother has been helping me I hope that Earl doesn't get mad but there are 2 dogs in the back yard that are going to find new homes this week. The good news is that they are my dogs and I can do what I want with them so BYEBYE. Would it be weird to ask you to pray that it isn't hard on Earl not having any animals inside and that we would be able to thin out the population as it is? I would appreciate it and of course keep praying for our family. I have noticed some signs of stress in Beth and Sammi. Like emotional crying spells for Beth and Sammi has gone back to needing naps and wanting me to feed her and take her to the bathroom ect.. This has been a long stressful experience but I read something the other day about God knowing what we can handle and the fact that we have this trial means He knows we can handle it. One day at a time. Love you guys.

Susannah Kay Bickford

3lbs 6 oz, 15.75 inches long

5 1/2 weeks early.

This picture was Sat Feb 28 right beforre we came home I was showing the girls Suzy for the 3rd time. Because it is RSV season they are not alowwed to come into the NICU. The nurses are kind enough to allow me to take Suzy to the double doors and show them. The picture of the girls is on the bed in our room at the Ronald McDonald House. That house was a blessing for our little family.
Suzy is now in a crib and is taking a bottle every other feeding. We hope we can bring her home soon. It was hard to come home but I prayed and left her in Gods hands and the nurses. Soon she'll be home hibernating with all of us. Keep us in your prayers.

If you haven't heard yet then here's the news. We had our little angel last Wed 18th at 8:33 in the morning. She weighed 3lbs 6oz, she was 15.75 inches long and 5 1/2 weeks early.
We had gone for a routine appointment on Tues and Suzy wasn't moving as much and she kept having dips in heart beat. My blood pressure was up and I was spilling protien in my urine. So the Dr sent me to labor and delivery to have an overnight stay of monitoring, but around 6:00pm the on call Dr came and told me that they were sending me to CabellHuntington Hospital because it looked like I was heading for a emergency c-section and Holzer didn't have a NICU. The Dr felt that Suzy would have to have help breathing because she was so little and early. I went by ambulance and the next morning the Dr. told me at 7:15 that we were going in for the c-section. Earl wasn't even here yet so I called him and told him to get here NOW. And they waited for him. Then we had the surgery and Suzy was here. She breathed on her own from the start and keeps her temperature where it should be. She has had no problem with her blood sugar, though she spent 2 days under the frenchfry light for jaundice which has gone from 8 to 4.2. Yesterday the nurses had a premie outfit on her, purple with little butterflies. She was adorable. Her weight had dropped from 3lbs 6oz to 3 lbs now she is up to 3lbs and 3.5 oz. We just have to get her to take all of her feedings from the bottle and for her to gain weight. She takes half of her feedings from bottles right now.

Please keep us all in your prayers and I will blog more later when I can find time. Right now its time for Earl to get here and for me to go feed Suzy. Love you all.

I am getting down to being able to say "Next month Suzy comes". I am also down to every week going to the Dr for Non-stress test. I had my 3 appointments yesterday. Suzy was head down when the ultrasound started but in the middle flipped around to breach. And I have never got to see her profile she always has her face towards my back. You could see fuzzy lines on the ultrasound of her hair near her scalp. They estimated her to be 3lbs and 11 oz. and she is still a girl no question about that. On an interesting spin since I was sick I have not had to take any insulin. Even my Dr is scratching his head. It seems to have shocked my body into behaving at least for this week. I still have to check my blood sugars, now 2 hours after I eat, and if they start spiking I have to call them. I am thankful no matter the reason.

The girls are doing good. We are all wanting warm weather and spring. Sammi loves to be outside even in the middle of a blizzard. She loves the outdoors. Beth doesn't mind it but she wants me to be out there too. We are planning a little while after Suzy comes going to the Columbus Zoo for a family outing. We also want the girls to help plant their own flower pots Sammi has already told me that she wants gardening gloves.

If you haven't noticed I haven't been able to take any pictures since my camrea is broken. I am mostly upset because we won't have a camera for when Suzy is born. You know the most horrible thing is when poeple have asked what I am needing for Suzy I want to answer them "A new camera for pictures" but I behave. My mother may be in heaven but her influence is still VERY strong. Besides I can always but those disposible kind and be very thankful for any pictures that we get. There is a lady at church that is the 'church photographer' I wonder if I can convince the Dr that she needs to be in the O.R. for the birth for my own piece/peace of mind hehe!!

Have a wonderfully blessed day! Thanks for checking in on "As the Belly Grows, So goes the Mind" haha

Well our family was hit with a lovely stomach bug that left me dehydrated and off to the hospital for an overnight visit. I lost 5 lbs in 2 days. I went to the hospital because I had a horrible headache and blurry vision, but only needed to be hydrated. I'm still not feeling like running a marathon but there is no place like home. Only about 46-50 days to go.

A friend of mine told me that she is going to throw me a baby shower on March 7th. So I am trying to think about that rather than Suzy's birthday. We had a snow storm on Tues. this week and according to the news we might have another one on Mon. Even though the storm was bad for this area but once you have lived in the Adirondacks it takes a pretty bad storm to get worried. You just stock up and hibernate. Beth is chomping at the bit because she still has to do school even if the public schools have snow days she is crying NO FAIR. haha. Though with being sick for 3 days I haven't been able to do much. Beth cried when I couldn't be home last night Sammi didn't even seem to care which is how I wish Beth had been, because it is very hard to do anything about it when the Dr has put you in the hospital. Though I think I need to have a plan for when Suzy is born. Any ideas?? Other than shipping the girls to relatives haha

Earl, Sammi, and Beth had the stomach bug but I seem to get it the worst which is no surprise because of my body being busy with growing Suzy, and the little stinker had been very quiet for 3 days then when I got sick I swear she loved the noises that come with the bug because she was as active as she had ever been. In fact this is the 2nd time that I have had the stomach flu in 1 month and both times Suzy has acted like it was dancing music. When at the hospital they did the non-stress test and had a hard time getting Suzy to stay in one postion so that they could monitor her heartbeat, she kept rolling and moving. In fact one nurse said that she thought Suzy might be breach, we'll see on Wed with the ultrasound.

I had my prenatal visit with my Dr. on Wed and decided that I wasn't going to confront him with his comment about the children. I am just going to take the girls from now on and then when a comment comes up deal with it then. I don't want to switch Dr because I really only have about 51 days left till Miss Suzy comes. My blood pressure seems to want to play the numbers game this pregnancy. I usually run 110/70 but this time it was 138/ 80 and when I was at Walmart last night I checked it and it was 156/84. My blood sugars are still running rampant and I am going to the Dr every 2 weeks. Next time I have an ultrasound at 11:00, my diabetes Dr at 1:00 and my OBGYN at 2:15 with a non-stress test after the OBGYN and yes the girls are probably going to have to come. Sammi should be in rare form by the time we get to the OBGYN's appt, after spending 3 hours in the hospital. hahaha.

In my heart I realize that this is the last pregnancy for me and I really should be treasuring it, but I am SO done. I can't wait for little Suzy to be here and neither can Beth. Sammi seems to taking it in stride. We really wanted Earl to not have to take off vacation time when Suzy comes but I told him that it would make me the most comfortable if he would be the help at home for the first week. And I think that the girls would like it also. My friend Jenny has said that she would help too, but she has her own family to take care of, so I don't want to put to much pressure on her.

I got anxious the other day and started making list of what we need to get for Suzy and what we need to get done before she comes and what I will need at the hospital. When I showed Earl the list he read them and then as he walked away he was mumbling something about nesting and being drove crazy. hehe. I really do feel sorry for him the week before I go to the hospital, getting all the meals/food that we will need, making sure the the clothes are all caught up, cleaning the house ect... The boy better work some overtime to keep his sanity. I am going to let Beth take 1 or 2 weeks off from her school work when Suzy comes unless I feel ok she is looking forward to that. I teased Earl and told him that he would have to be the substitute teacher but was told strongly that Beth could take the 2 weeks off. I think the one thing that always seemed to take all my time the last couple of times was feeding the baby and I LOVE to just hold the baby and snuggle especially the first couple of weeks. I kind of like to be the only one taking care of her (diapers, washing, feeding) but I have my other girls to think of this time.

So that is the update from prego world and the rest of the clan.

I am 28 weeks along as of today. I only have 10 1/2 weeks to go, because my Dr will take the baby around March 17th due to a previous c-section and the diabetes. I now have to go to the Dr every 2 weeks for a while then every week. We will do another ultrasound in one month and start doing the non-stress tests.

Earl got to meet the Dr more today and it was not a good impression. My Dr might be very smart for a Dr but his bedside manner with the girls especially Sammi is not going well. In fact the Dr told me today that next time I can't bring them. I was very upset and am still upset tonight about it. Sammi is a total Mommy's girl and was very clingy today while the Dr and I were talking about questions that I have, (i.e. she had to go potty and I am the one who takes her so she was insistent that she needed to go, even though Earl was in the room and kept telling me she had to go) I didn't even realize that the Dr was upset until the Dr was rude to Sammi and when Earl left the room to take her to the bathroom and told me that I couldn't bring them next time because he needed to be able to talk to me so that I could understand what he was saying. My biggest problem is that I did understand and continued to talk around Sammi just tuning her out, he was the one with the problem. And I have to admit that I was upset with Earl because the main reason why we all went to the Dr.s together was so that he could help with Sammi and hear what is going on with Suzy (this was the 3rd time he has got to go). I forget that I am used to dealing with Sammi and I usually take things for Beth to help entertain her. It is usually easier on my own.

So now I am trying to figure out what to say to the Dr, because I can't just call up someone and have them watch the kids, people work ect.. Besides treat me treat my family. I am just not a happy Mommy tonight. I have to say that I am glad that this will be the last baby for us. One nurse said to bring the girls anyway and tell the Dr to stuff it. Not the best day for a hormonal mother.

Christmas In Heaven

I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below,

With tiny lights, like heaven's stars, reflecting on the snow,

The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away the tears,

For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear,

The sound of music can't compare with the Christmas choir here.

I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,

For it is beyond description, to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me, I see the pain inside your heart,

But I am noe so far away. We really aren't apart.

So be happy for me dear ones. You know I hold you dear,

And be glad I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I send you each a special gift from my heavenly home above.

I send you each a memory of my undying love.

After all, Love is a Gift more precious than pure gold.

It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do,

For I can't count the blessings of love He has for each of you,

So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away your tears.

Remember, I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

-Author Unknown

What a weekend. It actually started on Thursday with me having a 24 hour stomach virus, I won't describe what that means, I think we all know. On Friday I felt a lot better with Earl suprising me with saying we could go to the mall and other stores to do shopping that Dad had asked me to do for the girls. We hadn't been to the mall since last April. However Earl's Christmas giving spirit LEFT when we hit the second store and had 3 more to go to. However to defend his scruge attitude he had got up at 3:00am that morning and after supper was in his belly he became tired. In a couple of stores he had to have the girls all to himself while for the next 20 minutes they would ask over and over "Where's Mommy""Is she done yet". This also could contributed to the mental breakdown.
Then on Saturday was our Sunday school Christmas party. We went on the back of a wagon caroling for different people around town. Sammi fell asleep and had Earl not caught her as she fell asleep she could have rolledbackwards off the wagon. She wanted to sit by herself and the area she sat in was the only place that an adult wasn't sitting behind her. I then took her held her the rest of the way. (5 mores houses). We then went back and had a ham dinner. I thought of Sunday dinners at Gana's and Gladys's, no good homemade rolls.
On Sunday was the children's play at church. Except that morning all 4 of us woke up at 4:00am and stayed awake. It was horrible. The kids have never done this before, but after we got to church we found out that a handful of other people had done the same thing. Sammi fell asleep during the play
Beth did a great job with her play and you couldn't even tell if she was nervous or not. At one point she was putting her left fingers around her right fingers and looking at the size of the hole it made. When I asked her about it she said "I just wondered how big of a hole my different fingers would make" She did this during her solo.
Over all it was a good weekend. Last nights church service was to be each family coming to church and the head of the family would talk about Christmas and our memories of Christmas, then we would receive communion. Dad had signed up our family for 5:00 and when Beth and I got there the preacher told me that no one else was coming, not even Dad. We were going to leave but Beth had never received communion before and wanted to very badly. She asked Jesus into her heart last Christmas season, so I saw no problem with it. I thought that it would have been very special for Dad to have done it but I tried to fill in the gap. My preachers wife Debbie and our assistant Pastor Ann came in and joined us. It was special even though it wasn't exactly what I had envisioned. We got to learn a little bit more about Debbie and Ann and maybe grow a little closer as friends and I got to serve Beth her first communion. Special.
So now we are getting ready for Christmas, going to stay all night at Dad's on Christmas Eve with my brother and wife and all of us. We will also have a candle lit service at church Wed. Then spend some of Christmas day with Dad opening packages and eating. Then going back to our house to recover and let the girls play. I am letting Beth have this week off from school though the original plans was to make her keep working I have found that I need the week off just like she does.
Today we are going to a friends house to make cookies and let the kids play. The great thing about the season is that it is making March come all the sooner. Then Suzy will be here and things can be completely chaotic hahaha

Yeah!!! Our cantata at church was done yesterday and we wound up doing it last night also. The songs weren't too bad to learn but there were some songs that had notes up in the high F section. I had a 3 or 4 line solo. Our pastor put the cantata on our church's website www.rutlandnaz.org if anyone is interested. Now, next Sunday is Beth's play "Bethlehem Gulch" She is a sheep and had to sing 2 songs, one with the group of sheep and one with another girl. I think that I am more nervous than she is but we have not talked about it because I don't want to give her any ideas about FEAR. Sammi is very content not to be involved, in fact usually on Sunday nights she stays home with Earl. So last night I asked her why she didn't want to go to church with me, her reply " I don't like it", I was speechless. In fact I still don't know what to say, except maybe giving her the option of staying home will have to end. Yesterday she had to go to the bathroom during church, but as she and I approached the door she informed me that she wanted to do it herself. So I stood outside of the bathroom and waited, out she came with toilet paper and her pants down saying "I done you finish up". Needless to say the women that had been in the bathroom thought it was quite funny as I am shoving her back into a stall to "finish up" I want her to be independent but not a streaker.

We are not done with our shopping yet and the girls have failed to see Santa of get their picture taken, it might be because he is at the mall an hour away and with only one vehicle it is important for Earl to go to work. But Santa usuallly comes to our fire house, except I have a great fear I might have missed it so I am calling the Chief today to find out.

We finally got rid of 2 of the bunnies and have 2 males to go. But the great news is that they are OUTSIDE yeahhhh!!!. Now we have to get the Dad outside. You should see our rabbit hutch. We used what we had and it is too funny. Its like a redneck home for rabbits. All that's missing is the tire in the front yard and a car up on blocks. I even burned my finger. Earl had tried to put a screw in and he had trouble so I wanted to see how far it stuck out and didn't realize that the electric drill had made the screw hot and burned a smiley face into my middle finger.

And that is life in the fast lane at the Bickfords Cave

Yesterday I went to my diabetes Dr., nice young man, Dr Stout. I am now on insulin 4x's a day and checking my blood sugars as often. No problem, this is just like when I was expecting Sammi. This time I am on 2 different insulins, a fast acting one with meals and a slower one at night for bedtime.

I had trouble with my insurance trying to tell the pharmacy that I have two insurances, but I don't. Every time we go to the pharmacy with a new script/prescription this happens. I tried to fill it at Walmart but they wouldn't even try to fight the insurance company, so I took it to a local pharmacy Fruiths and they were able to figure it out. The only problem being that my insurance doesn't want to cover my strips for my glucose machine that the Dr gave me, they cover a different kind. So Fruiths was going to call and try to see if he would write me a subscrition for the new machine and the new strips. I will find out today if it will be done. If not my strips cost $93.00 to use on my new machine ayayayay!! But I don't see Dr Stout giving them any hassel about the different machine.

We are all doing OK. Earl went back to work yesterday on his line. He seems to think that he will be getting very long hours and for the first day he was right. He went to work at 7am and got done at 8pm. Our churchs cantata is Dec 14, Beth's play is the 21st,she is not nervous at all.

The girls made their list of what they wanted for Christmas and I had to tell you what Sammi is wanting. There is a show on Disney that is about a man that does repairs to things and he has 7 tools that talk. Handy Manny, and Sammi loves them. They have his tools at Walmart and the toolbox sings and you can take the toos out, that is what Sammi wants. She also wants "girl" toys but the only thing that she will say when she goes to the store or if you ask her is Handy Manny tools.

Do any of you love the electric holders that you place a small candel down in and it heats the candel up so that you can smell it but you don't have to light the candle. A store down here has them for $3. They have strawberries, apples, blueberries, fish, animals(deer,moose) all kind, I want to go back and get some for my bathroom and bedroom. The had larger ones that were beautiful with snowmen and angels on them with quilt patterns in their clothes. I'll pick you one up if you'd like just let me know.

Once again the animals in our life are causing havoc. When we moved over here to my hometown, Beth really wanted a puppy. So Earl in the interest of getting into the rabbit hunting again got her a beagle. She has had 2 litters so far that we knew the father ect.. Well when she came in heat this last time we had a 3:00am visitor ,that until yesterday, we thought had just said hi and left. A big black Lab had mated with our little Beagle. So Sat. at about 9:00 pm she went into labor. And cried and howled the WHOLE night, because the first puppy got stuck in the birth canal. So at 7:00 am Earl called the vet and rushed her to the Vet ER to have some help. Now Earl has been around animals most of his adult life at least and had even taken one of the mail in course about being a Vet, so he tried most of the night to help Copper (beagle). To no avail. She wound up having to have a c-section then got spayed because the puppies had stretched her uterus to the point of never having puppies again without killing her. They are all black with some white and brown little spots for what I have seen. Copper is a very protective mother, 3 boys and 1 girl. By the way I have never been the only one pregnant in my house. I have always had at least one or two animals that are expecting at the same time. While it doesn't seem fair that they only get 1 to 2 months pregnancy then its over for them at least we humans are not like elephants who have a pregnancy of 23 months. Yes I am complaining but my sugars have been 200-260 and it makes me feel VERY ucky. Though I must say on the positive note that Suzy moving is the most wonderful thing, even though she is laying with her head over my left hip and the rest of her towards my right hip, Beth ans Sammi were already head down by this time.

By the way did I metion that Earl was going to have 9 days off in a row :0) Down to 7 days, thankfully he is home because Momma and the pups can't be outside because of the 8 degrees and 15 degrees weather that we are having at night.

I had to go and have glucose test done yesterday and I found out the results today. For a 1 hour test my blood sugar came back 201 (this was the 6th time that I have had this test done in the last 8 years, 3x's with Beth, 2x's with Sammi, and 1x with Suzy). So I will be going to see the diabetes Dr on Dec. 1st and I went to the Dr tonight for my sore throat that I have had for 8 days. It is due to sinus drainage, but my prenatal nurse wanted to make sure that it wasn't strep. So now I have to take Benedryl and Tylenol and suck on Halls cough drops. This is the longest that I have had a sore throat in the longest while. Earl has the next 9 days off for vacation. He said it was to bad that he had to spend it in Rutland, haha.

Greetings from the 35 year old. I thought I would blog about my birthday. First Earl Beth Sam and I have been surviving a weird cold, sinus and throats that hurts (not the typical sore throat, it only hurts when we swallow or move our heads),and extremely tired no cough, no runny noses just a weird cold. Then I heard yesterday that Mono was going around down here, I have no idea what the symptoms to that could be. So I didn't feel to bad yesterday so we got school done, then did laundry and watched movies ate lunch and laid in bed. In the afternoon I really felt yucky, very tired, blurry eyed and all that jazz. I tried to take a nap but 3 people came to the door so the nap didn't happen. I still felt bad and decided to take my blood sugar at 4:00 it was 256 I about had a fit. So I started drinking water and I went out to feed the dogs. I wanted to go for a walk but it was spitting snow and the kids have the same cold as me. I found when it gets to high if I can do some exercise then it gets better, faster. In an hour it was down to 214, but I really need to be a pill and insist on the Dr. doing my blood test. I hadn't eaten since 12:00 and that was my sugar at 4:00.
Then at 6:30 I went to a spa party that my friend had. It was fun!! I would have loved to get the products but selling my children seemed a steep price. Beth went with me to play with her friend and in the end got to try some of the products. I will say that they were great products just about $100 out of my price range. Sammi stayed home with Earl and watched Dora.
Tonight Sammi and I are supposed to do somethings together, but we need to get milk and that usually involves the whole family. Because our truck is not working right now and when someone goes to town the whole family wants to go.
On the 15th our firefighters had a turkey dinner to sell to the community. I went down to the elementary school to get it to go. When I opened my car door the wind caught it and whipped it so hard the the henge's are bent and the door panel got bent and now it won't close or open all the way. Have you ever tried to squeeze a pregnant belly into a space of 10 inches. NOT easy!!
Poor Earl has to hold the door for 40 min morning and night to get to work. My brother said he would try to fix it but we don't know what year that will be.
And that is my birthday. I got money from my Dad and brother. And Earl said that he was still thinking about what to get me and if I could pick something out that would help. I just love he guy!!! This is actually except for the spa party a typical birthday, since my Mom died.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Half way through my 30 wahhhh!!!

Well we are having another little girl. And for those of you who might say "They've been wrong before", it may be true but our little ones ultrasound makes it very sure that it is a girl. We have been very worried about not having a girl name picked out for the last few days. Beth wanted us to come up with one because she wants to talk to the baby and call her by name. We have been throwing names back and forth a few of the names have been- Jean, Faith, Emma, Anna, Catherine, Grace, Sara, but each time the name just fell short of what we really wanted. So we have decided our newest little Bickford will be called

Susannah Kay Bickford

and we will nickname her Suzy or as Earl calls her Suzy Q. By the way this gives Gene and Gana a bakers dozen of grandchildren. HAHA. The Dr told me that the c-section will take place at 38 weeks so that I will not go into labour and take the chance of my uterus ripping (Because of having a c-section with Sammi). If he does it on exactly the 38th week it will be March Fri 13th. That should help me remember easily, but we don't know as yet if that will be the day or not.

I have been feeling great. No sickness, a little tired but that could be because of the girls and school and everything. I will say if one more person asks me if I am disappointed because it is not a boy I'm gonna scream. Yes we would have liked a boy but are very happy with what God has decided to give us. Besides I know about girls and I was feeling very anxious because all the little boys down here are WILD!!!!!

Have a great day, it is now time for my Sunday afternoon nap. Love ya all!!!