Hi there! Remember me?

The worlds crappiest blogger. Checking in!

Things are all around pretty good, though... my dad is home from Iraq for 3 weeks, and since he won't be here when Miss Charlotte makes her grand debut - we surprised him with a 3D sonogram today. He was over the moon! It was super cool, but we didn't get quite as good of a look at her as we had hoped. She had her cord all bunched up in front of her face - and the tech was able to adjust the concavity of the sound waves, making the cord more transparent, but that resulted in it giving her nose and forehead a very flat appearance. So when she's born, it will still be a surprise what exactly she looks like because most of our views were slightly distorted.

I'll share some of them, though! Wherever you see dark spots - those are where her cord was... the tech adjusted it to make it more transparent, but there is only so much she could do. The cord looked like mardi gras beads everywhere, and our sweet little one kept swatting them out of her face. She was also grabbing her feet!!!! She's so advanced.



At our last perinatologist visit (which was Monday) she was 'breathing', and meeting all of the developmental milestones that she should. Based on her measurements, she's appx 2lbs 4oz. The doctor went to great lengths to explain where we're at risk-wise these days, and even went over the survival rate for babies born in that hospital, at that gestation (almost 100%!!!!). All of that adds up to one conclusion... it appears as though we're going to have a baby. Cuh-ray-zee!

We're working on getting ready, too. My personal goal is to have everything that requires purchase taken care of by Thanksgiving... I have no desire to go stand in line during the holidays, hugely pregnant.

So far we have the furniture mostly assembled, we're only missing the glider (a friend graciously gave us one, and is going to recover the cushions), and a pretty good diaper stash building up. I can't wait to see her little bottom in some of those super cute fluffy diapers....

Here's her crib. :o)



I actually have some interesting stories to share... but I'm too tired right now. Stay tuned. /famous last words? hope not!

So maybe posting once a month will just be *my thing*...

We've had an exciting few weeks!

We spent a week in Chicago - I attempted to go exploring on my own, I met a girlfriend at Navy Pier for a day, we had dinner with Aron & Suzanne (& Maggie, of course!), we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, we took the El, I saw my family, I made a few too many stops at the Moonstruck Chocolate Shop.... it was a lovely trip. And exhausting, as well. Aron & Suzanne were the best! Great conversation, delicious dinner, perfect weather - Jason & I are both looking forward to getting to know them better, and watching Maggie grow. Her personality is already infectious.

And on the way home - American Airlines oversold our flight, so we volunteered to take the next one and each received a $300 voucher for it. That's our flight to New York next spring! Woot!

This weekend I started having contractions... since I'm only 22 weeks, it was obviously somewhat concerning, but I just kind of blew them off as braxton hicks. Then I read somewhere that you should call your doctor if you have more than 4 an hour. Oops. So I called this morning, him and my perinatologist had me rush in for an exam and a sonogram. Good news is that my cervix is still perfectly long and closed - the bad news is that I shouldn't be having so many, so strong. They're running some tests and hopefully it's just an unsymptomatic-infection of some sort, but I'm going to be on weekly progesterone injections from now on. One of the tests they ran is the fetal fibronectin test, which normally happens at 24 weeks - fFN is the "glue" that holds the fetal sack to the uterus, and if they can detect it's presence then that means that the "glue" is beginning to disintegrate - predicting preterm labor. I really, REALLY doubt they'll find that. My instinct says that nothing major is going on... just a little something is out of whack, and we'll get it fixed. My OB said that the progesterone injections will help "soothe my crabby uterus." I really feel like I'm blessed, the care I'm getting from both of my doctors is very cautious, very compassionate and super nice to me. They rock.

Here's the latest pictures of baby Charlotte. She's a doll, isn't she? I'm so in love.

OK, off my back! :o)

I've been BEYOND swamped lately. Seriously - work is extra heavy, on top of all of the other stuff. But... the nursery is painted! Jason & Brad (my little brother, who just got out of the Air Force) did a fantastic job.


It looks better in person... the taupe is a shade I pulled out of the bedding and it matches perfectly. At least we can cross one thing off of the checklist!

I also caught wind of a co-op purchase on diapers this week, and took advantage of it. Jason & I are planning on cloth diapering, and we bought several of these (Swaddlebees) - in assorted sizes and colors... we got a FANTASTIC deal. I can't wait to get them! (Of course, I got lots of pinks/purples/yellows... not any blues).


Researching different types of CD's is kind of overwhelming (isn't everything baby-related overwhelming??) - but we're hopefully going to have a pretty good stash built up by the time Charlotte is born, and then won't have to mess with it until she's much older!

Prayer request... My sweet friend, Niki, and her husband Brian are from Jamaica - and all of their family is still there. Jamaica looks like it's going to be steamrolled by Hurricane Dean within the next 24 hours.... the forecasts are horribly frightening, and a large number of the population can not afford wood for their windows, extra food/batteries/etc. Pray for the island, as a whole. A category 5 hurricane (which Dean is predicted to be by the time it hits the island) has never hit there before... it's the same category as Katrina. The residents can't just "evacuate north" like our citizens do in a storm. :o(

We made our first purchase!

*gulp*

Bedding has been ordered. In pink. So she BETTER be a she! lol. It's still surreal... we've moved 95% of the crap that was sitting in 'her room' out, some friends are giving us a crib and that will be here in appx 3 weeks, we have a glider being given to us, and need to go to Ikea to pick up her dresser. Unfortunately, for now - the only baby stuff she has are a few small items of clothing, that were purchased for a boy-baby. :o)

Here is the bedding we ordered...


The coordinating pillows are large polka dots, in various shades of pinks and browns. I think we're going to paint the walls a relatively neutral khaki tone (pulled out of the pillows and stripes) and then add some accent paint details to the walls.

We're 90% sure we have a name picked out, also. I totally see why people keep their baby names a secret, because people ask - then are very lukewarm or opinionated in their response - and it hurts your feelings! My opinion - you shouldn't ask unless you are 100% prepared to fake enthusiasm about whatever they have picked. That being said, however, I'm really horrible at keeping a secret - so the name we're leaning towards right now is Charlotte. It makes my heart flutter a little when I say it, and the baby in my mind's eye looks VERY much like a Charlotte - so it will probably stick. But don't go ordering anything embroidered yet. It means "strong, little woman" which I adore. I come from a long line of little women that will not hesitate to use their ninja skills to defend the universe....

Prayer request: We're fighting a real battle with Jason's pain meds again - the recent prescription turned out to make it extremely difficult for him to breathe, so they changed it - and the new one seems to be even worse. Jason is quite fed up and has decided (on his own) to quit them cold turkey... I'm certain there will be some withdrawal type fallback from this, so we have an appt with his pain management dr this afternoon. I'm hoping they will at least agree to put him back on the lower level stuff he was on before. They took him off of it because they were concerned that it would damage his liver (he'd been on them for a year), but Jason seems to think that if he could go back to those - he could be in a place where he wasn't taking them daily within a month or two. I know he is really struggling with all of this - he doesn't want to be medicated, but he also still has a great deal of pain... prayers would be appreciated.

Oh, and welcome to the world Pierce Thomas!!!!

I know, I know.... a month between posts? Me = Loser.

But man - today was the best day EVER!

Apparently, whatever the sonogram tech (and us) thought we saw at 12 weeks is there no more.

We had our appt with the perinatology group this morning, and had two sonograms with two different doctors, both of whom were 100% certain that this baby is a girl! And she's perfect, too! She has 10 little fingers, 10 little toes.... her cerebrum, cerebellum, aorta, heart, kidneys, bladder, stomach, femur, etc. all looked perfect and measured perfect.

I'm so in love! Isn't she adorable???

As for me - I'm feeling great! The headaches are much better, I only get sick every now and then, and I think that maybe, possibly, potentially.... I felt her this morning. *giddy*

babyDuck has a penis.... we think!

Man, that baby was MOVIN'! How fun! The tech said not to go buy anything yet - but even I couldn't deny that SOMETHING was there... and it wasn't the cord.


And if this works the way it's supposed to - you should be able to click the video below to watch a snippet of the sonogram. Ignore the fact that I sound like an overly emotional chipmunk.... I've said before, that's kind of what I am. Thank you, everyone, for your prayers. They mean the world to us!

OK - it's not working. Here.... click me.

Yeah, Um... No excuse.

I've had time to blog. I generally turn into a worthless zombie sometime between 7:30-8:00pm, I have a couch, I have a laptop, I even could probably come up with something relatively witty and/or interesting (okay... maybe that's a stretch) - I just haven't.

First, about the skittle: Everything seems to be hunky-dory. I'm less puke-y feeling, but still significantly tired. I'll be 12 weeks tomorrow. TWELVE WHOLE, ENTIRE STINKIN' WEEKS!!! God is so good. And I really have a sense of peace about the whole thing, for which Jason & I submit prayers of thanksgiving for every night. I have a doctors appt on Wednesday, with a sonogram, and I'm just so excited I might pee a little. I'm definitely showing... I can no longer get by with the old rubber band trick. I have to either wear maternity pants, or use a bella band. I assume I 'popped' earlier than some A) because this is my 3rd back-to-back pregnancy, and B) I'm freakishly short. There is also a national law, to which I don't abide, that says I technically am supposed to be in a booster seat. Um, no thanks. 2nd to the sonogram, I'm most excited about this doctors appt because I'm hoping I'll get to discontinue on of my 319 prescriptions. I'm on a hormone supplement that he said would be for the first trimester, and it really makes me feel crappy. On top of being a PITA. Please PLEASE let me discontinue this one! The average pregnant woman has enough hormones rushing through her system - add an additional, synthetic one to the mix? Ay chihuahua.

I've learned recently that a true pregnancy craving is NOT something 'in your head.' Well, I mean - I guess it is - everything is 'in your head' one way or another, but it's not simply a notion of "hmmmm.... mexican sounds good for lunch." I've learned that there are moments - that grow and expand into days - where your thoughts gravitate to and are consumed by one particular, edible object. You wake up in the morning and the first thing you think of is *insert edible object.* You lay down for bed at night - *insert edible object*. You pass a restaurant on the way home from work "hmmmm.... does that place serve *insert edible object*". It's absolutely unlike anything I've experienced before. And I know you're dying to know what the object of my affection has been for the past two weeks, right?

Here, my friends, is my current obsession:

*cue romantic music* A chicago style hot dog. Extra peppers, please. *end music*

Do you know how hard it is to find a real, correctly assembled Chicago style hot dog in Dallas? Near impossible. But - with the help of friends - I accomplished it. For those of you that live in the area, there is a place called Wild About Harry's across the street from Chuy's - and he specializes in Hot Dogs and homemade frozen custard. It was perfect. I had one for lunch one day, dinner the next day - and am plotting when I can return again. Yum-o! Jason & I have a trip to Chicago planned for the end of August/early September, and if my obsession keeps up - I'm going to look like a sausage casing by the time we fly home. A sausage with a smile on my face. :o)

Now about the Mr. He's been on his new meds for almost two weeks and they seem to be doing a MUCH better job of controlling his pain. Praise God! It's a much heavier duty drug, but he only has to take one pill every 8 hours and it's truly time released, so it keeps him from peaking and bottoming out. There are some side effects that we're working through, but it really seems to be a blessing. Please continue to pray for healing, though. This isn't a good long term/lifetime solution and he's normally quite active.

Recent Reads, Views, Etc -

Books: Loved, loved LOVED Water for Elephants. I was actually sad when it ended, and wished I could start over and read it again, with that same 'first time' feel. It's the story of a man who, through some unfortunate circumstances, ends up as the vet in a travelling circus, in the 30's.

I also finished Little Earthquakes, by Jennifer Weiner. This is the 3rd book of hers that I've read (Good in Bed and In Her Shoes, previously). I loved Good in Bed (highly recommend it) and was kind of meh about In Her Shoes. I was surprised that In Her Shoes was made into a movie, when her others are so much better, but what do I know about making movies? Little Earthquakes follows 4 women through pregnancy/birth/new babies/marriage adjustments, etc. Weiner's writing and dialogue are always very raw and realistic, yet funny and entertaining.

Movies: We saw The Aviator the other night. I think I'm the last person to see it, but wow! What a great movie. Even if it was 27 hours long. I also saw Lady In the Water... or, I guess I should say, I saw the first 10 mins and the last 5, and slept in between. (Blame the skittle). The Mr said it was really good, though.

Music: I got the 'only new to me' Norah Jones album this week. Jazzier than her last one, but still nice. It has some growing to do on me, but I definitely dig it. I need to learn the words... I always like CD's more when I can sing all the words. (This is where you start to feel sorry for my husband).

Brain-rotting TV: Yes, Suz - I'm sorry. I do love Big Brother. I know it's wrong. *hangs head in shame* But that doesn't start until July. For now, really the only thing on is Last Comic Standing - which is shaping up to be a good season. Except for the guy in the gorilla suit. I don't like people that try too hard and well.... a gorilla suit? That's trying to hard. I'd vote him off the island.


In other news, our dear friends Matt and Rachel finally welcomed their most anticipated precious baby into the world. Dealey is a doll - and all of you that are too far away to visit quickly, he's just as fun to hold as you would expect. I'm in love, and they are quite obviously over the moon. Next up - Renee and Sheldon, then Miranda and Chris, then Patty and Jason... then.... us. I guess I need to start panicking and obsessing over Consumer Reports and car seat reviews right about now. Maybe when I'm getting one for the skittle, I can hook up that booster seat for myself.