I wanted to put a small update up about our upcoming addition. When I last commented on it I was only about 13-14wks pregnant. Well, we're up to 28wks; the third trimester and coming into the home stretch. So let's back up a few weeks.....
Around 16wks I had one of the many blood tests done. It's called the AFP test and measures some protein the baby releases. It's generally used to help determine if there might be a problem. Well, mine came back slightly elevated for neural tube defects. For those who don't know I have MTHFR (it's abbreviated and I'm not spelling out the big long word) About 40% of the population is at least a carrier of some mutation of this particular gene. I unfortunately received two copies of this mutation. Because of that I don't metabolize folic acid properly and therefore I don't have any in my body. You need folic acid for many things; most of them involve the heart and blood clotting issues. But, for women we need folic acid from literally the instant that egg gets fertilized. Folic acid helps to build the brain, spinal cord and nervous system of the baby; a.k.a. neural tube formation. Without it, the baby doesn't form properly, or at all. Hence, all my problems before Bug. We're lucky we found out it was something that in general can easily be fixed.
Now I take mega doses of folic acid, B-vitamins and baby aspirin to help combat this problem. I may not be absorbing the excessive doses but the theory is the baby will. So, having an elevated AFP level for neural tube defects scared the daylights out of me. Neural tube defects aren't minor. They're major. The two most common are spina bifida and anencephaly. Treating spina bifida luckily has come a long way over the years and there are many things they can do. I honestly would have been able to deal with this one. The one that scared me was the anencephaly. Basically the brain and skull don't form properly or at all and I'll let you deduce the rest from there.
Well, we got to go and visit the perinatologist again (I saw her during my pregnancy with Bug for low amniotic fluid levels) The baby looked perfectly fine. :) They couldn't see anything wrong. What a relief. However, the peri did tell me that the only thing they can deduce from the elevated AFP levels is that the placenta isn't working properly. (This can be an indication for future issues; like growth-restriction, or pre-eclampsia, or again low fluid levels, or pre-term labor.) So, once again I'm being watched closely. We go to see the peri every 3-4wks to check on the baby's growth mostly. The next few months will really determine how the baby's growth is, and how my fluid levels are doing b/c space is starting to run out.
We've had a few other little hiccups along the road the most recent being that I'm not allowed to vacuum anymore b/c it causes me to have contractions; and my blood pressure is finally at a point where I'm supposed to discuss with our peri the next time I see her what she suggests we do. Technically I'm only "borderline" at the moment but we still have 2 months or so to go and things have plenty of time to change. I did ask how far my Dr. wanted to go with this pregnancy and she said "as far as we can get you." So who knows. I figure if we can get to 37 wks we're in good shape. (That's about the last week in August.....)
And if you're wondering think Pink because it's going to be another little girl for us. :) It's been confirmed 3 times and she hasn't been very shy about sharing that information. We're excited that Bug gets to have a little sister. She's been going to the Dr.'s appts with me and initially thought that when we listened to the baby's heartbeat it was mommy's tummy making that noise. Recently though I think she's starting to pick up on the fact that it's the new baby who she's hearing and not mommy's indigestion. Having another little girl does make things a bit easier to prepare for since we have tons of girly stuff around our house. (There's a few things here or there to get in the way of clothes to account for the offset of seasons but not much.) We're still wondering how Bug is going to adjust to having to share us (read: David) with the new baby. Just think how fun the teenage years are going to be; doors slamming, crying, emotional bursts, pouting, pms, boyfriends.....
Poor David......
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
If you don't change your attitude I'm going to sell you to the gypsies!!!!!
Yes, people I know it's been a very very very long time since I last posted on Bug's blog. I apologize. I'm trying to devise a plan on how to motivate myself to update more often. I guess part of it is I feel like we do the same thing around here from day to day and not much changes. And, I figure who wants me to repeat myself day after day. But, I have some ideas so I'll try to do better. I'm also 28 wks pregnant now and my brain just doesn't function normally in any way shape or form. I thought it was bad when I developed "mommy brain" now I have "mommy brain" and "pregnant brain" on top of that as well. I literally will walk into a room and the second I step in there forget what I was going in there for. It's really annoying. But anyway, on with the blog:
It's been busy around here and not like we have a million places to go and things to do kind of busy, just Bug is busy. For example; this morning she was "feeding" me soup. When I asked her what kind of soup she told me it was "chicken nugget soup." What all is in chicken nugget soup I have no idea and I'm not sure I want to know. She would also occasionally wipe my chin, because "you spilled some." Then she would inform me "that's much better." The girl is addicted to chicken nuggets. She is going to turn into a giant chicken nugget. If you ask her what she wants for lunch or dinner she asks for chicken nuggets about 90% of the time. (for breakfast she usually asks for pancakes and sausage....) However, just b/c she asks for something doesn't always mean she's going to eat it. Although I have to admit she's pretty good about eating her fruits and vegetables. If you let her, she'd eat an entire tub of blueberries in one sitting....but that would be one messy diaper to have to deal with, so we ration them. (the blueberries that is....)
Yes, that means she's not potty trained yet. *sigh* I have to admit we haven't really been pushing it too much. She's always done things when she is ready to do them. She'll use the potty every once in awhile, but right now, she's not really interested and frankly I don't have the energy to worry about it. Besides, with the baby coming I figure she'll regress on a few things anyway so potty training and 'the bink fairy" have kinda been put on the back burner until after the baby comes. (she's actually asked for a bottle lately around bedtime and she hasn't seen one of those for over a year now......)
She is definitely 2 and a half now. It's like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde around here. You never quite know what you're gonna get. One minute she's sweet and cute and adorable and the next minute you want to sell her to the gypsies. So, from here on out I'm just gonna try to list some of the newest things she's doing. There's alot so enjoy!
* We all know she loves the show "Little Bear." Little Bear covers so many different things and somehow they always find their way into her daily activities. Little Bear has the following things in it: "Hop Frog Pond," Little Bear paints, Father Bear reads the newspaper, Mother Bear makes soup ALL THE TIME and nearly every episode talks about or has fishing in it. So I've already told you about being fed soup this morning; occasionally she tucks something under her arm and tells me she's going "painting." She will also grab a book or magazine or piece of paper and announce that "Shhhhhhhhh I'm reading my newspaper!" And, when I do laundry she uses the empty laundry basket and a "fishing" cat toy to go fishing with. My favorite though is the pond at Inniswoods Park. Inniswoods is one of the local metro parks. It's more of a "garden-type" park and it has a pond in it that is the Frog Talk Pond. It's called this b/c they literally have tons of frogs that inhabit this pond. Naturally, b/c of all those frogs Bug calls it "Hop Frog Pond" and she asks to go there frequently. :) This also led to our attempting to raise a few tadpoles recently. I'm sorry to say they didn't make it, but we told Bug they had to "go home."
* Last time I mentioned that she watched her first movie "My Neighbor Totoro." She has since then seen a few more. She LOVES the "Aristocats" and calls it "The Kitty Movie." She particularly likes the songs in it, especially "Everybody wants to be a cat." She'll sing it if you sing it with her. Cinderella was another one and she calls it "Cinderelly" (not hard to tell the mice are her favorites.) :) After a few recent trips to the zoo and her favorite spot there, the aquarium; we tried "Finding Nemo" and she really liked "the fishies." She would probably spend all day in the aquarium at the zoo if we let her. I kind of agree, for me it's the most relaxing part of the zoo.....not to mention it's air conditioned. :)
Her latest picture up there was taken this past wed before we went to the zoo.....
It's been busy around here and not like we have a million places to go and things to do kind of busy, just Bug is busy. For example; this morning she was "feeding" me soup. When I asked her what kind of soup she told me it was "chicken nugget soup." What all is in chicken nugget soup I have no idea and I'm not sure I want to know. She would also occasionally wipe my chin, because "you spilled some." Then she would inform me "that's much better." The girl is addicted to chicken nuggets. She is going to turn into a giant chicken nugget. If you ask her what she wants for lunch or dinner she asks for chicken nuggets about 90% of the time. (for breakfast she usually asks for pancakes and sausage....) However, just b/c she asks for something doesn't always mean she's going to eat it. Although I have to admit she's pretty good about eating her fruits and vegetables. If you let her, she'd eat an entire tub of blueberries in one sitting....but that would be one messy diaper to have to deal with, so we ration them. (the blueberries that is....)
Yes, that means she's not potty trained yet. *sigh* I have to admit we haven't really been pushing it too much. She's always done things when she is ready to do them. She'll use the potty every once in awhile, but right now, she's not really interested and frankly I don't have the energy to worry about it. Besides, with the baby coming I figure she'll regress on a few things anyway so potty training and 'the bink fairy" have kinda been put on the back burner until after the baby comes. (she's actually asked for a bottle lately around bedtime and she hasn't seen one of those for over a year now......)
She is definitely 2 and a half now. It's like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde around here. You never quite know what you're gonna get. One minute she's sweet and cute and adorable and the next minute you want to sell her to the gypsies. So, from here on out I'm just gonna try to list some of the newest things she's doing. There's alot so enjoy!
* We all know she loves the show "Little Bear." Little Bear covers so many different things and somehow they always find their way into her daily activities. Little Bear has the following things in it: "Hop Frog Pond," Little Bear paints, Father Bear reads the newspaper, Mother Bear makes soup ALL THE TIME and nearly every episode talks about or has fishing in it. So I've already told you about being fed soup this morning; occasionally she tucks something under her arm and tells me she's going "painting." She will also grab a book or magazine or piece of paper and announce that "Shhhhhhhhh I'm reading my newspaper!" And, when I do laundry she uses the empty laundry basket and a "fishing" cat toy to go fishing with. My favorite though is the pond at Inniswoods Park. Inniswoods is one of the local metro parks. It's more of a "garden-type" park and it has a pond in it that is the Frog Talk Pond. It's called this b/c they literally have tons of frogs that inhabit this pond. Naturally, b/c of all those frogs Bug calls it "Hop Frog Pond" and she asks to go there frequently. :) This also led to our attempting to raise a few tadpoles recently. I'm sorry to say they didn't make it, but we told Bug they had to "go home."
* Last time I mentioned that she watched her first movie "My Neighbor Totoro." She has since then seen a few more. She LOVES the "Aristocats" and calls it "The Kitty Movie." She particularly likes the songs in it, especially "Everybody wants to be a cat." She'll sing it if you sing it with her. Cinderella was another one and she calls it "Cinderelly" (not hard to tell the mice are her favorites.) :) After a few recent trips to the zoo and her favorite spot there, the aquarium; we tried "Finding Nemo" and she really liked "the fishies." She would probably spend all day in the aquarium at the zoo if we let her. I kind of agree, for me it's the most relaxing part of the zoo.....not to mention it's air conditioned. :)
Her latest picture up there was taken this past wed before we went to the zoo.....
* Speaking of the zoo. We've been visiting there more often lately. I'm trying to get in as many visits as possible before I'm not going to be able to go anymore. (Please see this post for an explanation) She loves going to the zoo. The elephants, the aquarium, the penguins and the alligators are her favorites. If you haven't been to the Columbus zoo lately, ALOT of things have changed. On one of our most recent trips we went into the pheasant aviary in Asia Quest. It's really neat. It's actually an enclosure where the pheasants are wandering around freely as you walk through. (and oh they are so beautiful!!!!) Bug was somewhat interested in them especially since a few were literally right up close. I said something to the effect of "Those birds are bigger than our bluebirds aren't they? They're big like chickens!" Of course I didn't think she was even paying attention. How wrong I was. G'rauntie Judy went with us that day and asked Bug if she was ready to go see the tigers. She said yes and hopped back into her stroller. As we were leaving the enclosure she waved and yelled: "Good-bye chickens! Gonna go see the tigers!!!"
With that funny little snippet I'll end this post. Trust me I have alot more to put up and I plan on doing it over the course of the next few days. Once again, the picture site is having issues. I can't upload anything at the moment until we figure out what the issue is. We'll get it fixed as soon as we can. :) I also plan on doing another "Bug toy primer" since alot has changed in her toy preferences since I did that over a year ago. :)
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