Saturday, August 30, 2008

I told her....

to go pick out some jammies for bed. When I went into her bedroom, this is what I saw!



Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Ultrasound results

I had my third OB/GYN appointment yesterday and we discussed at length all of the options in front of me for genetics testing. I can get an amniocentesis, or CVS, or Sequential Screening. There's all kinds of fun stuff which I wish I didn't have to think about.
Anyhow, the bonus of being a "mature mom" (that's the label on my medical chart) is that I get an extra ultrasound between my 8 week and 20 week ultrasound. The ultrasound is part of a sequential screening that measures the nuchal fold (base of the neck) which is a big indicator for Down's as well as other measurements for physical abnormalities. Thought I'd share the results with you.

Okay. Not really the results. I have to wait a month till all the blood screenings are done. And since I'm only 12 1/2 weeks so it's too early for them to tell me the gender with any kind of accuracy. But here's Cady interpretation.

"It's a baby in there!"

"Get it out mommy. Open your stomach!"

"It's dancing mommy! The baby likes to dance"

"Look mommy, the baby is dancing in the tunnel!"

On the way to the appointment Cady announced the she wanted them to take a picture of the baby in her belly too. I didn't think too much of it beyond that but she had a plan and she followed through. After I got up from the table, Cady squeezed in next to me (I thought to sit) but she immediately layed down, pulled up her shirt and asked to have her baby checked. I pretended to take pictures of her belly. The ultrasound tech jumped in and started doing an ultrasound of her belly and showing her her liver and her heart and she let her hear her heart amplified. Then she took a still picture of her liver and heart for her to take home. Initially I was dreading taking Cady with me. She's notorious for pushing the limits at the Dr.'s office, but she did really well and what a great experience!

Oh...the baby is very active. Like so active I had to ask if it was "normal". The baby(Barley, according to Penny) would not stay still long enough for her to do measuements. It was really a challenge. It bounced around a lot and did little flips. Heaven help us if we have another one with as much energy as Cady.

Monday, August 4, 2008

I must be the most psycho pregnant woman on the planet!

I can't eat normal anymore. Every day is about a craving. And really, I'm not like this in "real life!" I appreciate food, but I'm flexible and I certainly don't get cravings beyond, "huh, sometime in the next few months we should have lasagna because that sounds good." When I have a craving now I have to have it right then and there and nothing else will do. Here's the problem. Aversions. I have those too! Here's the bigger problem. My aversion is to left-overs...any kind of left-over. Normally I LOVE left-overs. I think things taste better the next day after they have had a chance to meld. And now for the psycho part (we'll just pretend none of that other stuff is psycho). Let's use the example of the gingerbread I was craving. Not just normal gingerbread but cake-like gingerbread. I spent two days looking for THE perfect recipe. I found one. I made a whole 8x12 pan of gingerbread. I had a piece. Craving satisfied. Oh-oh, now we have left-overs. Another day it was tuna-salad. Same thing. Asian Noodles? "Oh Ro-ob! How would you like to finish off enough asian noodles for ten before they go bad in three days?". I asked to Rob make me cheese blintzes (I knew he had the patience to pull it off) because they sounded like something we needed. It took going to three stores to find Farmer's Cheese and several hours that morning of Rob's blood, sweat and tears to put the things together. I have to say that they were delicious but after two I realized that those two blintzes would hold me over for at least a few years. I do have to say that Rob didn't seem to mind eating the other 12! lol. So, as I sit here licking my fingers of Secret Sauce from the Big Mac I just finished...something I haven't had it years because there truly is nothing redeeming about a Big Mac...I felt inspired to share with you all the trials of being pregnant....and perhaps the bigger trial of someone who is married to the pregnant person!

Cady's Imaginary Friend

Cady's real life best friend is Emma. They are a month apart in age. Every week Cady and Emma spend time together because we do a swap with their mom and dad. One week Emma comes over for two hours and another week Cady goes over there for two hours. Well, when Emma is not around in physical form, she is around in spirit. Cady has an imaginary Emma for the times that she can't be with her friend. It first started at the store. Cady said that Emma was sitting in the grocery cart with her. Then it evolved into Emma being at home with us. Sometimes she watches cartoons with us, sometimes she is present at dinner time, she's been known to sleep with Cady at night and she is always present when we grocery shop.

There are spaces in the grocery cart that I can't place things because that is where Emma is at. Sometimes Emma needs to have dinner when we all eat together. We need to kiss Emma goodnight at bedtime and Emma will get her own blanket when we watch tv together. Last week at the store Cady started laughing. Rob and I look at each other as if to ask, "did you do something to make her laugh?" Cady informs us at that point, "Emma farted!!!!! chuckle chuckle" (in her loud voice of course because we are at the meat counter at the store). Niiiiiice.

I'm so glad that Cady is starting "school" next week. She understands that she will be going to a different school than her real friend Emma. To differentiate that in her own mind she tells me that she will be going to the orange school and Emma is going to a purple school. Okay. She is REALLY excited about going to school and can't get there quick enough. The day starts and ends with her asking about going to school. When we did tour the school, the first thing that Cady did when we walked into her new classroom was kicked off her crocs and sat herself at the table with all the other kids. When she started to steal froot loops from a future classmate (who in turn informed her 'we share in this class') I walked over to intervene. It was at that moment that Cady informed that that I could leave, "Mommy, go!" I think she is going to do just fine!