To My Kaci Jo

6 months old

Well young lady, you got the chicken pox 5.18.84.  You had them everywhere and I mean everywhere.  You weigh 18 1/2 pounds now.  You roll everywhere and you are never quiet.  You say dadada all the time.  You have stolen your brother and sister's heart.  They play with you every chance they got.


I always thought I had the chicken pox when I was 8 months old.  Apparently I believed a lie most of my life. 

4 months old

You weigh 16 pds now.  You are a pound more than what Kassie weighed at your age.  You are a really big girl.  You have been sick this past week with a bad head cold.  I hope you get better soon.  You roll over both ways now.  You are very active, you get all around your play pen.

3 Months Old

Well, you are three months old today.  You are really the joy of my life right now.  You weigh 14 1/2 pounds at 2 1/2 months (big baby.)  You really get around in your play pen now.  You smile all the time.  Your brother and sister are really proud of you.  Barbara Belgrade is the one who takes care of you during the day.  She just hugs you all day long.  You are so tired when you get home, you go straight to sleep.  You have a little bit of brown in your blue eyes, so I don't know what color they will end up being.  Your hair is really growing.  It is about 1/2 inch long already.

the eyes end up being green

7 Weeks Old

Well, I decided to go back to work on 1.15.  I still have a lot of weight to lose.  I can't fit into my old clothes yet.  I plan on doing a lot of exercise in the next couple of days.  I found a retired couple to babysit you when I return to work.  They are really nice.  You are sleeping from 7 to 10 hours at night now.  I started you on cereal on a regular basis last week.  You really enjoy eating it.

Well you got baptized on 12.11.83.  You were exactly one month old.  We did it after the 10am mass.  You are still sleeping 6 hrs at night, no more than that though.  I might be going back to work next Friday.  It depends on what the doctor says.  I really can't afford to be off from work any longer.  The bills are piling up.  I"m really sorry I can't spend more time at home with you.  I just love holding on to you.

(4 weeks old)

You slept really good up until about five days ago. You wake up every time you wet your pants, so I went to the next size bigger of diaper. I started giving you a little bit of cereal at night. You have been vomiting your soy bean milk almost 2 or 3x's a day now. And you only sleep 2 or 3 hours at a time compared to the 6 hours you were sleeping last week. I still haven't bought you a bed yet, and it looks like it will be a while before we can afford it. I keep hoping your play pen will come in , so you can start sleeping in that.

You have been sleeping really good. You almost never fuss. Just eat, look around and sleep.

For the past four days I have been really sick. They had to start me back on an IV again. They run out every four hours. I vomited twice. My neck was really sore for about two days. I hardly could lift my head off the pillow.

Today I woke up with a real bad headache, they started me back on IV's. I was really sick until about 3pm and I got better. Your dad and I had a chicken dinner compliments of Mercy Hospital tonight.

Well, I got to feed you three time today. You vomited twice on me. Rick and Kassie came up and saw you today. Kassie was all eyes. Ricky wanted to move out of home. (he had wanted a brother.)

So Paul and I decided to get some rest. He laid on the floor and I on the bed. I lost my bloody mucus cord around 4am. I couldn't go to sleep after that. I just waited until 6am. They said I was between 4 and 5 cm dilated. They prepped me and gave me an enema and also hooked up my IV. Around 9am they started a drug into my IV. I remember watching "Different Strokes." (It was a TV show at 9am.) The contraction came fast and hard. I hardly could control myself. I was dilated to 6 cm almost immediately. When I got to 8 1/2 cm they moved me down to the delivery room.

Had a Dr. appt this morning. I weigh in at 195 lbs and measure 45 weeks and dilated 2cm. They scheduled me for a stress test, so I went into Mercy for it. They said you were in no danger. They also said that I was in labor; I knew that I was. They wanted to keep me, but I talked them into letting me go home. Contractions continued on the way home. Grandma Nixon picked up Ricky and Kassie from daycare. I watched TV until 10 and then decided it was time to go to the hospital. We got to Mercy about 11pm and found out I was only between 2 and 3 cm.

Well, you haven't been born yet. I had a lot of pain last night. I thought for sure I would have you then. About 11:30pm everything stopped and I went to bed. I might as well have you wait ten more days to be born. I have to return to work two months after you are born and there is an Iowa game in Ames Jan. 14th that I want to go to. So please hold off until the 14th, even the 16th would be nice. I have been losing a lot of white mucus but not as much as I should be.

Well I went to the doctor today and I weighed in at 203, measured at 46 weeks, doctor said I measured big enough to have a 15 lb baby. Dr. Schill said it looked like I was going to have a girl. He said he would guess between 9 and 10 lbs. He said I would probably go at least one more week. I asked him if it was bigger than my first one would he give me a c-section. He said he didn't know. He then goes he was going to do something but he goes we will wait one more week. After I got home, I lost a small amount of blood. It kind of scared me.

Went to the doctor today. Well 2 weeks from Friday is your official due date, Nov. 11. I know I will definitely will have you before Thanksgiving. I measured at 42 weeks today. The nurse said the biggest one she has ever measured was 44 weeks. Doctor Schill thought I would have you in about an hour once I start labor. He said as soon as I feel like a football down there to come to the doctor's office and he would check me and admit me to the hospital.

Went to the doctor today. I weighed 210. It was a different machine than they usually weigh me on. I can't believe I ahve gained that much weight. I went to Dr. Schill this time. He said if the baby was born today it would be an 8 pd baby. I have to see Dr. Schill again next week because Zager will be out of town. I measure at 41 weeks today, the nurse said the same as last week. I hardly slept last night or the night before. It is hard to get comfortable.

The doctor said the baby's head is still high, he had trouble finding it at first. I had to go to Perry emergency room on 10/8 for a shot. I had a real bad cough and my lungs were filled with mucus. I'm still recovering from it, but fill 100% better.

Wow mom you went to the doctor a whole lot!

I weigh in at 193 this week. Doctor said ultra-sound was normal. He said he still can't believe there isn't twins in there. I see the other doctor next week. I hope I go at least 2 more weeks, so I get to see Dr. Sager again. I really like him. He has treated me really well the past two months. Dr. Sager said we will just have to wait and see about the baby. I have a 50/50 chance of Sager delivering the baby. I hope he does. He also said that he just couldn't believe that it was all baby. He also asked about your dad getting a vasectomy. He said he bet that when I came back six weeks after the baby was born, the he still wouldn't have had it done. I go well if I get a c-section I'll go ahead and get my tubes tied. He said you never can tell how big this baby will be.

Your name has finally been picked out if you are a boy. Adam Jacob and we will call you AJ.

Ricky and Kassie went to a class at Mercy today for kids who are going to be big brothers and sisters soon. They both really enjoyed it. I got the report from Amy in the mail. It said more or less I am 38.5 weeks.

I went for another ultra-sound today. They checked for spina bifida. A baby specialist came in and checked it out. The lady who did the ultra-sound said that you measure somewhere between 37 to 39.3 weeks along. Aunt Amy came in and the lady showed her hands, arms, legs, etc. The lady said she bet you were still a girl. Aunt Amy said you were a boy because you were so hyper. Aunt Amy told me to call her on 10.6.1983 after she get off of work and she will read the report to me.

I went to the doctor today. I weigh in at 195, same as the last two weeks. Doctor said you were growing. I started losing white stringy mucous last week. Doctor said I was a little more dilated. If you were born now you would only be a month early. Doctor said if you go full term, you would weigh about 8 to 8 1/2 pds. The doctor asked me if my other babies were early. I said right on time. He goes 'well, you might have this one early.'

Weigh in at 195, measure at 38 weeks pregnant. Doctor said I started dilating. I get another ultra-sound done this week. I can tell you are getting bigger and stronger everyday. I have lost a lot of fluid and I can really feel you now. I have had a terrible backache the past two weeks.

I am getting really bored, just sitting here waiting for you to be born. I bet I will go to November too. I would bet quite of bit of money on it. I still haven't decided on a boy's name yet. I just can't make my mind up on it. The girl's name remains the same Kaci Jo.

I lost 10pds. I'm down to 195. The doctor thought that was great. I measure at 39 weeks, down 2 weeks from last week. The doctor was happy about that too. He said my cervis was still closed. Blood test turned out really good. No problems in that area.

I have to go in tomorrow for a blood test at Mercy. I might be a diabetic. I hope not, but it is probably be better if that is what is wrong with me. the other things the doctor talked about weren't good. I weigh in at 205. The doctor says the ultra-sound shows about Oct. 20th for the due date, but he hoped I make it 2 more weeks. They measure me at 41 weeks. I asked them what full-term was, they said 40 weeks.

Talked to Amy, she read the sheet wrong. It said 35 weeks instead of 37 weeks. Which would make it around Oct. 12. I can believe that one. But I still can't see how the Sonagram was off almost a month and how come I was off also. Also the report said I had a high amount of fluid but still in the normal range.

Well I called Amy and she said that the report showed that I was 37 weeks and the position of the baby was good. I think something is wrong because on 8-13 I measured 27 weeks pregnant which would make me 31 weeks pregnant this week, not 37 weeks.

Also if I would of got pregnant in December, my due date would of been 9-22. If in Jan. the due date would be 10-16. According to the Ultrasound I would be due at the end of September. Something is wrong.

Had my ultra-sound today at noon at Mercy Hospital. A friend of mine, Teresa Miles, went with me. It took him about 30 minutes. Aunt Amy used to date that guy. When he was done I asked him what it showed. He goes 'essentially pretty normal and I'll make a report for your doctor and then he will discuss it with you.' Aunt Amy is going to look up the report tomorrow and try to find something out for me.

Well I weighed in at 198 pds. Only a 1/2 pd more than last time. The doctor is going to schedule me for an ultrasound at Mercy because it shows more than a sonagram. He asked me if there were twins in the family. I told him my husband had a set of twin sisters and that my grandmother was a twin.

You kick hours on end. Anymore people are teasing me saying I'm going to have twins. I just smile and say no. No one believes me that I have 2 1/2 months left. Even grandmother nixon asked me if I was going to have twins.

Guess what? I did gain ten pds. The dr didn't yell at me though. I was glad they said I was 27 weeks pregnant. 13 more to go which is just what I had figured out. I vomited both today and yesterday towards the evening. You have kicking up a storm the past week. At times I think you want to be born early.

I have a dr. appt next Tuesday and boy is the doctor going to throw a fit. I think I have gained about ten pounds since the last time. I weigh 200 pds now. I feel like it too. I can hardly get out of bed in the morning. I also am very tired all of the time. You have a lot of room to move around and believe me you do. I don't think there is a area in there you haven't found yet.

Well you are know five months along. I had a sonagram done. There is only one of you. I still cannot believe that, but the doctor ought to know. It was kind of a disappointment. After seeing you I kind of think you are going to be a boy. I weigh 187 1/2. So I better get on thinking about boys names. You were so active, the doctor was trying to get a picture of your heart and you kept putting your arm in front of your heart, so he couldn't see it. Ricky was really active too when I was pregnant with him that is why I figure you are a boy.

Dr. Schill wasn't too happy that I got that shot last week. Pregnant women shouldn't have got it he said. He also said now that it is done and I feel better, we will just go on from now. He said the shot affects the pituitary gland that controls hormones. I do not know what affect this has on having a baby. The Doctor's nurse measured me at 16. I don't know if she meant weeks or what. I have it figured out that I'm about 17 weeks pregnant. I also have a feeling that maybe I am pregnant with twins. I have a lot of pressure down there. Doctor hasn't said anything about it though. I weigh in at 181 pounds.

You are almost 4 months old now. I mean since you were conceived on Feb. 13th. I came down with a real bad cold last week turned into an allergic reaction. They had to give me a shot of Decadron 20cc. I hope it doesn't harm you. The doctor warned me that you may not have gotten enough oxygen when I was so sick with it. Well I go to the doctor Monday, so I will write more in here then.

Well 8 more days and I will be 30. You put quite a scare into me over the weekend. I went about 48 hours without feeling you move. But then when I finally did feel you, you kept it up for almost 4 hours. Everyone everywhere keeps asking me if I am going to have twins. The same thing happened when I was pregnant with Kassie. I get really big at the beginning of the pregnancy and then slow down. My waist measurement is already 44 inches. It was 51 inches right before I had Kassie. I think I will probably beat 51 inches this time. I finally went to the doctor last week because I was having really bad headaches. He thought it was my sinuses. So I wear a face mask one hour every night.

I went to the doctor Monday and I weighed in at 173. The nurse said I was 13 weeks along, so you are growing. Doctor said my blood pressure was fine, weight fine, size and position fine. I finally got over my nausea, but I'm still very tired. I guess that is one of the things that goes along with the third pregnancy. So beware if you are a girl and you want three kids. Ricky graduates from preschool today. Last night he got autographs from Bob Hansen and Mark Gannon, two Iowa Hawkeye basketball players. He was so excited. It was a great night to be a five year old.

Well it has been a month since I wrote in here. I have been busy packing. Next week we will be moving. I can't hardly wait. I have been nauseous every day the past month. I haven't felt good at all. A friend of mine who was due in Sept. miscarried last week. I felt so sorry for her. I smoke too much. I have to cut down. I bought a bedroom set yesterday. It cost $1200. I wonder how much they will cost when you get to the age you will need one. Your brother Ricky goes to kindergarten round-up next Tuesday. Time sure does fly before I know it you will be going too. Your sister Kassie is sitting next to me right now crying because she can't get a dress on her doll. Well I better go help her.

I bought this book to write things that I think are important, and I want to share with you. I hope to give this to you as a graduation present. Also in case something happens to me before you are grown. It will give you a little ideal of what kind of person I am and how much I care about you. Well, today I'm exactly 1 month pregnant. You were conceived on 2.13.1983.