Well... I had my first ultrasound and I have to say it was a big disappointment! I was so glad to see the baby but there was no time spent to show me any of the babies parts. She made a mention of the heart but didn't stop to make sure I saw it. I saw the spine but no spine shots were printed. I just felt like it was very rushed. She clearly only needed the measurement of the baby and that was all she was focused on! And that brings us to the next point! According to the size of this little peanut I am 12 weeks along and not the 9 that I thought.


The stage of my pregnancy is not that big of a deal except that I was told that I was not pregnant and then went to get my eyes checked at the beginning of September. I had my eyes dilated and they kept saying "you can't do this if you are pregnant!" and I kept insisting that I was not pregnant and so they dilated my eyes. When I found out I was pregnant I called the OB and said that I had it done when I was 2 weeks and they said it was no big deal because nothing was fully established yet and it would not be harmful. But when they said I was 12 weeks at the appointment I told them that it meant I had my eyes dilated at 5 weeks and the lady doing my scans did not make me feel any better. In fact, she said that she would talk to the doctors and they would most likely set up an in depth ultrasound at Duke to make sure the baby was fine and that she would call me that evening to let me know! Well, I am a panicer... so that is what I did... panic and sit by the phone. Well, she never called! I luckily called some heath care providers that I trust and asked them and each one put my fears to rest. (I then called the Dr's office and complained about my whole experience and feel very good about how it all worked out!)

Anyway, here is the 3 month photo since I sorta was pushed across that finish line! I cannot believe "Mr. Smartypants" will be here in just 6 months!

Spilled the beans~!

So, Austin now knows that he is going to be a big brother! We were on the way to mom and dad's house last night for dinner and we decided to tell Austin what was going on! I wish I had taped it! So cute!! We told him that mommy had a baby in her tummy and he said... "Awww Yeah!!! Is it for me??" I said... well yes it kinda is for you. He was so excited. Then he asked a lot of questions like "can I help feed him milk?" and I said "Yes, but we don't know yet if it is a boy or a girl." He quickly informed me that it was a boy because he only wanted a brother! (We will cross that bridge if we have to here in a couple of weeks!)


Lately he has really been talking about babies that he sees while we are out and we have taken that opportunity to ask him some "hypothetical" questions like... if you had a baby at home what would you name it. His answer was that he would name it Austin. I explained to him that it would be hard to have two kids with the same name in the same house. For example if he got mail in the mailbox and it said Austin on it I would not know who to give it to... to which he replied "don't worry mom, I will share!"

So after telling him about the baby Frank told him that we could not name the baby Austin or Lexy (our dog's name). He was a little disappointed but he had a name waiting in the wings! He said "How about Mr. Smartypants!!??"

He also asked a lot of questions about the hospital (he remembers when I was there a year and a half ago). I told him that the doctors take the baby out at the hospital and he asked if I "would choke when the doctors reached down my throat?" I just told him that the doctors are really good at their jobs and they would make sure I didn't choke. :-) He is 4... we are sticking with that story!

Anyway, now that he knows we are going to take him with us on Monday for our ultrasound appointment... Pray that the baby looks good and healthy!! More to come...

Must be Fall!

The cool days are starting to mingle in with the warm ones! I really need to start putting out the Halloween decorations. Of course if I do that I need to clean this house first and right now I really am not feeling all that hot! I have a cold that is just getting nastier and nastier! I thought I would luck out and skip this one as it went around my family since I did just have it in the beginning of September... but no dice! Austin asked me if we could go to the Farmer's Market today and get pumpkins to decorate and then get one to make pumpkin bread with. I was surprised that he remembered that from last year! So, after my flu shot we went out to the market to get pumpkins and a few cute Fall photo ops! The one at the top of my post is my favorite but the color isn't all that great. (Wrong setting on my camera! Opps!)

Austin picked a pumpkin to decorate and then we let him get these two little pumpkins that he immediately called his brother and sister... yeah I think Austin is ready for baby number two. (Although we still have not told him yet.) Tonight we will paint/decorate Austin's pumpkin and at some point we will make pumpkin bread! Pictures to come!


 

Thimerosal and me update!

I called the Minute Clinic's main 866 number and they were able to search their database and tell me where I could go to find a Thimerosal free shot. I wish I had thought to do this at the beginning! But... in the end I got my flu shot and it was the one I felt comfortable having! So... watch me get a strain that is not covered by the shot I got!! Flu season here I come!

Thimerosal and me

I was supposed to get the flu shot today but it contained Thimerosal so I backed out! I just don't know what to do. If it were just me I would have gotten it in a heartbeat! But since I am pregnant I am very worried about it. On one hand I want to protect myself from the flu this season and any increased risk of complications that being pregnant and having the flu would have. The problem I have is that Thimerosal is mercury and there are questions about that preservative causing the Autistic qualities that are being seen in so many kids lately. There is belief that they are actually showing signs of mercury poisoning which appears to be a lot like Autism.
Here are my questions:
1. If the CDC claims that there is no evidence that Thimerosal is unhealthy then why are they going the the expense of providing Thimerosal free vaccines. And... I must not be the only one that is feeling this way because all the Thimerosal free shots are sold out all over this area.
2. Mercury is considered dangerous to pregnant women. Many fish are off limits when you are pregnant. Now granted I do not know how much mercury is in these fish but the CDC says that even with the lower mercury fish you should eat no more than six 6-oz servings per month. So if it is the regulated why would I willingly let someone pump it into my system especially at this stage while the brain is currently developing.
3. If I am not even drinking caffeine or eating sushi why would I agree to this? 

4. When my mom was pregnant she was encouraged to drink while pregnant. This is now strongly discouraged! Doctors don't always know everything... the CDC doesn't always know everything. We learn as we go along.


In all fairness, I know nothing about medicine and I know nothing about Thimerosal. But, IF Thimerosal turns out to be linked to Autism or mercury poisoning, that is something you have to live with forever. It does not go away. I have to decide what is worse. Taking my chance that I catch the flu... but it is not even that... the chance is that once I caught the flu I MIGHT have more serious complications. Or take the shot and risk any life changing effects that it MIGHT have. Wasn't it nice when we were kids and didn't have to worry about anything!!?? Being a mom is a never ending excuse to worry... about everything!

And then there were two!

I am so excited to share that we are expecting baby number 2!! My best guess is that this new bundle of joy and sleepless nights will arrive May 21st. I say this is my guess because that is exactly what it is. I have not been to the doctor yet. I am only 8 weeks along today and I do not get to go to the doctor until the 19th. I was trying not to make the big announcement until after that appointment so that I could tell you that everything is ok and that the heart looks strong but as you can tell… I am already showing. It has been really hard to hide at work. (That is what happens when you work with mostly women.) There have been rumors for the last 4 years that I have been pregnant and so this one caught and spread like wildfire as soon as I had the littlest bit of a bump. I said that if anyone asked me I would not lie and I did not but it got to the point where everyone was talking about it so I decided to go ahead and spill the beans today. The good news is that means that you ALL have about a week and ½ to pray for us and that the doctors are able to tell us everything we want to hear at our appointment on the 19th. We have not told Austin yet. (And honestly, I just don’t know what to do now!) We were originally going to tell him once we got the all clear from the doctor but now that everyone knows I am worried that he will find out from someone else not realizing that he doesn’t know yet. Anyways, please keep baby #2 in your prayers and Austin too since this will be a big change for him. (You can pray for us if you would like… but I feel great at this point… hope that continues!) More to come!

P.S. The two fingers I am holding up are for 2 months so that I remember this one was taken at that stage. With Austin I took one every single week! It was hard to keep up with and then they were all lost in a computer malfunction... this time we are going with once a month!

A Healthy New Us!

I don't think I have talked a lot (or at all about this) but we got some scary news from Frank's doctor. Frank has really high cholesterol. He was put on medication to help lower it but for the most part we have to make a major life change to get it under control. He is doing a great job! He is thinking about what he eats, working out more, and I have even let him hijack my ipod to keep track of his calories on a really cool application that he found. At our gym there is this great guy named Russ that owns the health bar. He makes us protein smoothies each time we go to the gym and we love to sit, relax and talk to him after a work out. We decided that we need to start making smoothies at our house so that we can get that fruit and protein boost on our own more often. So Frank bought this really cool blender.  ( Yes, we have been married for 6 1/2 years and have never owned a blender!) It makes a pitcher and has a pour spout nozzle or... you can put up two separate cups and make two different smoothies at the same time! LOVE IT! It is a lot cheaper at Walmart than it is on this website! The blender website also has some cool recipies (that you could use even if you don't have this blender!) I can't wait to try them out soon!


My mom also got my grandparents a juicer for their up coming birthdays! They were not as excited about it as mom had thought they would be so she was going to take it back. But... she got a great deal on it and said she would rather just give it to us if we would use it. Now.... I am a "water snob"... yes people actually call me that. I am very sensitive to the taste of water and will not drink it if I can taste anything in it. The same goes for other drinks. I was a little worried about me being able to force myself to drink the things that I made. I even tried to get Austin pumped about it and he made his own juice this morning. It had one apple, one peach and a few carrots to get that veggie in there. It looked like pond scum! He took one sip and said "no thanks, can I have a juice box now?" I gulped down the juice as fast as I could... it did not taste too bad but was not something I would just be itching to have again! But... if I can drink it... I really need to! It is very good for me and something I really should be doing for myself. My new idea is to make the juice in the juicer that include a veggie or two and then use it in the blender to make my smoothie... maybe that will taste a little better. But, I will drink the juice from it too. It is not that hard just to hold my nose and swallow it down! I will have to post a picture later that shows what a great color the juices come out! :-P Well... we shall see how this goes! If you use a juicer... send me your favorite juices that you make so I can try them!