Little Lady @ 23 Weeks

It was so fun getting to see ______ today. (I leave a space as IF we have a name. Ha!) They got a new ultrasound machine, which definitely gave more detail and also did some 3D. That was so trippy. She only did the 3D for a minute but that was so neat. We've never had that done before and it was crazy to see all the little features. At one point it got all weird on her head, like it was a bad frequency or something, and it looked like she had this huge hole in her head, when of course their really wasn't. Carter was like, "Well, that's disturbing." And it was, but it was also hilarious. We both started laughing and then the tech started laughing. She flipped back to the normal ultrasound, but I kept laughing so then I'm seeing the baby jumping around on the screen, which made me laugh more! We were able to see all the important stuff again and her cute little profile. The nose doesn't look so big anymore. One view she did was kind of from the chin up, and you could see her lips and nose. At first I couldn't see it, and then I was like holy cow, look at those lips!! Guess she's going to be blessed with the juicy lips as well.

The actual visit with the doctor was pretty fast. Everything looked good and I asked her about the whole hot dog/deli meat thing. She wasn't that worried about it and said as long as it's being properly sealed and is in the refrigerator, it should be fine. So, now I feel a little better and might splurge on some deli meat every now and then.

On a different note, we did come up with another name combo while waiting today. I was trying to find a middle name to go with a certain first name. I totally pulled out a wild card name that I know Carter LOVES. Lol. That totally worked.

I sneezed a couple times in a row this morning. The third sneeze came with pee. Here's to hoping THAT doesn't happen again.

I'm thinking we're going to have to put some baby names out on the table for everyone to weigh in on. It's been difficult this time around. So, keep watch for a list. It's in the works.

Are you kidding me?

So, I just got a call from my care nurse through our insurance. She checks in every once in awhile to see how I'm doing and now I'm noticing that since I had high blood pressure with Savannah, that seems to be a big thing to them. I'm not particularly worried about it and I didn't get it with Cooper. I know it's very common in first pregnancies. She was asking how much water I drink and I'm like, it's not like I keep track but we do have some bottled water right now and those are 16 oz. and I drink a few of those throughout the day. She's like, "Well, you should be drinking 4 of those a day." Really? 64 oz. Yeah, I pee enough already. Lady, you will never know if I do or don't. Anyway, she asked me if I knew of anything that I shouldn't be eating. I said I knew a lot of different fish isn't good but I don't eat fish anyway so that's no big deal. She's like, "Well, I have three foods that you shouldn't eat. Soft cheeses, hot dogs and deli meat." Ok Whaaat? No worries with the cheese. But hot dogs and deli meat. Uhhhh.....I've eaten both of those through both my previous pregnancies and this one and never had a problem. She was saying something about some bacteria that they're finding in those things that can be dangerous to the baby. I'm like, Woman, you have got to be kidding me? I have a hard enough time finding things to eat, and now, you seriously limited me even MORE! She said that as long as I know that the hot dog is fully cooked and all beef and see if come off the grill, then I'd be okay. As for the deli meat, come on! She said if it was warm then it might be okay. I'm like, seriously, I just bought deli turkey for a bunch of meals. Wraps and panini sandwiches. Well, I guess I can have the warm panini. So irritating. Oh and I just bought corn dogs for the kids and thought, hey that sounds kind of good. Veto! What's a girl gotta do to get some food around here?

So, what I'm gathering from that phone call is that I need to flood my body with water, and have a choice of approximately 5 things I can eat. That sound right to you?

A Baby Sister

I will be going back for another ultrasound in 4 weeks because they were unable to get a picture of the cord and I guess they want to see that. I'm like, sweet, get to see her again and get more pictures!!

Savannah's so cute. This morning she comes up to me after eating breakfast and says, "I'm so excited to have a baby sister." Then she pauses and thinks for a second and says, "But wait, we need some diapers for her!" I explained to her that it was ok because she wouldn't be here for awhile and she was like, "Why?". She said we should name her Savannah.

I'm ready for this day to be over. Like, me in my bed at 7:30, which would be right now, and the kids sound asleep in their own beds. I really am beginning to hate Sundays. Can't people just not shop today so I can have my husband home with me? It's ridiculous at this point and I'm becoming resentful. I am so tired today. So tired. We did, however, make it to all three hours of church today. Which is probably adding to the tiredness. And, I literally have been staring at the screen for five minutes trying to write something else. My brain has turned off. Goodnight.

Hopefully.

I had a non-routine visit to the doctor yesterday. I had some very, very light bleeding on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I never know how much is too much, ya know? I am Rh-, which means I have a negative blood type, which only about 15-20% of people have. Rh- mothers have to get a special injection anytime they may have any bleeding come from the uterus. If baby's blood ever mixes with Mother's blood, there can be issues. The main reason is because it is assumed (and true in our case) that the Father is a positive blood type, and therefore they assume that the baby will have the same blood type as the father. Mother and baby having opposite blood types isn't really a big deal unless they somehow mix, leaving a pretty low chance of one or both of us becoming Rh sensitized. From what I understand, it can cause harm to the baby you are carrying if it were undetected, but it would be specifically dangerous to future babies. Weird, I know and I'm still trying to understand it after 5 years.

With Savannah, I never really asked any questions. They told me I needed to get the injection at 28 weeks and after she was born, if she had a positive blood type. I never had any bleeding with her so I only received the two shots. When I had Cooper, around 18 weeks I had some spotting, freaked out about it and made the doctor give me the shot whether I needed it or not. (It does no harm to the baby) Then I received it at 28 weeks and after I had him. I researched it more with Cooper because I wanted to know about it. Of course I freak out about it a little, but then realize I just need to always get those shots and everything should be fine. With the bleeding I had this week, I felt the same way. I called the nurse and she said I could come in and get checked out and see if it was actually coming from the uterus or just the cervix, which is common. I went in and saw one of the male doctors who was actually very nice and didn't make me feel weird at all. He said everything looked fine. He felt it best to just go ahead and get the shot because "I probably would have two or three more kids", so it's better to be safe than sorry. haha. I felt much better leaving the office. BUT, I had to wait forever to get the order written up to actually get the shot. I felt so bad, Carter and the kids were waiting for almost two hours at the hospital/doctor office. The office had to call around and figure out WHERE I could get the shot and WHO could administer it. Weird insurance stuff, but they finally figured it out. They drew my blood right in the office and ran it down to the lab right then. They said it would probably be about an hour and a half before I could come back and get the injection. Great, more waiting for those three. We went to Carls Jr. and got some food and let the kids play. We got a call about 45 minutes later that it was done. We hurried back and I ran up to get the shot. In my hip! haha. It doesn't really hurt too bad.

I feel much better now knowing that "I'm covered". I probably didn't even need the shot, but, we'd rather be cautious about it. It just sucks that it turns in to this huge production every time I have to get one. Ugh.

On a much happier and cooler note, while chatting with the doctor about some other stuff, twice he made the comment, "Well, you're skinny so...." Yeah, can I hug you right now? Made my day, that's for sure. Oh, and he found the baby's heart rate and it was really loud! We've never heard it so loud, at least this time around.

One week from today we find out the sex!! Don't cover your important parts little baby!

What's your guess?

Since we're getting close to finding out the sex of the baby, it's time to get feedback. What do YOU think it is? Please leave a comment here or email it to us. This is fun for us to see what everyone thinks!

Betty Crock of Crap

I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to want to beat your children at church. I want to. Every time. Can't we have one peaceful Sunday or even a Sunday where we stay at church the whole time? I'm really sick of getting up and getting 3 people ready all by myself, getting to church where I have to sit on crap seats in the back, and then 1 minute into it the kids start fighting and SCREAMING. I had to take them out TWO times in the first five minutes, and I wasn't nice about it. I don't want to look like that Mom. I'm really trying to make the effort, but seriously, this is too much for me. I take them outside and they're still bad and running around. BEAT THEM. I gave up and came home. Savannah resides in her room. I told her she's not going to be bad at church and then come home and have fun. Cooper doesn't totally understand, and Savannah is the one picking on him. And I just want to cry. Or already am.

16 weeks

Carter and I went to my 16 week appointment on Thursday, with my new doctor. We both were very impressed and really liked the whole practice. Thank goodness. We got thrown off a little initially when one of the nurses asked if we wanted to get our ultrasound. Huh? We're used to getting them at 20 weeks. Carter got all excited and I could tell he wanted to find out, if we could. I was just thrown off and couldn't even decide what I wanted to do. Luckily, the doctor cleared it up and said it was best to do it between 18-20 weeks, so that you could see everything clear enough. After meeting with the doctor, we sat down with her nurse to go over some things and schedule the next appointment and ultrasound, on June 2nd. So only 3 weeks to wait to find out what this little bugger is! It still makes me somewhat nervous that they won't be able to see what sex it is if the baby isn't cooperating. I can't handle that, I need to figure out this room situation.

We've been cleaning out the basement and giving away/selling stuff, including some baby things that we don't want anymore. I've been consolidating the 20+ boxes of girl clothes that we have and anything that isn't my style or we have enough of, I'm putting aside in case my brother has a girl. The bedding that Savannah had as a baby was so stinking adorable, but it's red, black and white. If we have a girl, that won't match in Savannah's room, unless we totally re-decorated, so I want to offer that to my brother as well, if it's a girl, but they might want to pick out their own stuff, so we'll see. I've started looking at bunk beds and dressers online. Carter and I have been talking about starting to finish the basement. And by "starting", I mean getting a plan together. If we don't even know what we need to do first, we'll never start. I made Carter some very fabulous sketches of how I think the basement should look while we waited in the doctors office.

I've been feeling pretty good lately. Most of the fatigue is gone and I've gotten some energy back. I don't think I've really gained anything, maybe a pound, which is awesome. My hair is growing in like crazy, which would be cool if I didn't have TONS OF ONE INCH HAIRS STICKING OUT OF MY HEAD! My boobs are huge. Seriously huge. They don't hurt as much anymore, but I can't imagine them getting any bigger after the baby is born. I might fall forward if they do.

The kids are talking about the baby more. Savannah still says she wants a boy and a girl. Carter has shown the kids that they can talk to the baby through my belly. Cooper thinks that's pretty fun and comes up and says "baby" and points to my belly. Well, first he points to my boobs and then I re-direct him. Savannah was a little concerned the other day with where the baby would sleep. I explained to her that once we found out if it was a boy or girl, then we would change her or Cooper's room to fit the baby. I told her if it was a girl, then we'd have to get her a new bed and change her room, and she was kind of excited about that.

That will have to be my update for now, the kids are hungry for breakfast.

Seriously

Ok, so after talking with the nurse on the phone two seconds ago, I've very happy so far that I switched places. It makes such a difference when people are nice and friendly.

On a totally different note, Cooper just walked up to me with his big brown eyes and said Car. Not an uncommon occurrence around here, but seriously, how can you resist those eyes? Lady killer for sure.

Doctor Change

So, I wasn't all that impressed with the new office I went to. The doctor seemed nice, for the few minutes we actually saw her. We waited forever, with no one giving us updates as to why it was taking so long, and no one even told me where to go pee or that I needed to. Anyway, they need some serious customer service skills. Then, I received some letter in the mail, outlining what my estimated insurance coverage would be and then what my portion was. They wanted to set up a payment plan for each month. Okay, my old office didn't do that so it seemed sketchy to me. Why would I pay upfront for a service that hasn't even happened yet? I called them to ask what that was about, and of course haven't received a call back. No surprise there. So, I started looking elsewhere. I called one place and they were full for October, but they were nice enough to recommend someone else in the same building. They were also on my insurance so I called them. The receptionist was so nice. Seriously. She said they would call and do a phone appointment first and get all my medical history and insurance. Okay, cool. Organized. Then I'll have an appointment on May 12th. I'll be 15-16 weeks at that point. There office is right next door to Riverton Hospital, where I will still deliver. And it will be a few minutes closer to home. I just hope they're not as busy as that other place. It was like a cattle farm in there. Anyway, back to the weird insurance thing. So, before hanging up, I asked the nice receptionist about the letter I received from this other office, about paying in advance. She said they did something similar to that as well because with the way the economy is, it's been difficult for doctors to receive payment, or for patients to pay the lump sum at the end. She gave me a phone number for the office who does there billing and said I could ask them any questions about it. So I immediately called. I spoke with another nice lady who explained that they would figure out all my costs with insurance and deductibles, and give me a monthly payment amount. I'll pay it each month and then by the time the baby is born, at least one person/office would already be paid off. So, it makes more sense to me now and maybe it will be easier than having to pay that large bill afterward, and on top of hospital bills. Now I just really hope I like this doctor and office.

Holy Sh*t

I could have puked 10 minutes ago. From what? Sh*t. And lots of it. Butt to feet. Ohhhh...just disgusting. Oh, let's clear it up that this wasn't me. Dear sweet Cooper it was. I think he must have been backed up or something. I smelled it and one minute later he's standing by me with his pants and diaper down, covered in it. Ohhhh the smell. You know how I've said that sometimes it just takes a bath to clean this kid? This was one of those mornings. But first I had to clean all that sh*t off of him, and then oh, What?, the diaper trash can is full? CARTER!! Weren't you going to take that out yesterday?! Now I have to carry this diaper and 15 wipes 10 feet away to the bathroom while I want to puke! Said bathroom is also where Cooper will bathe. And where Savannah will ask me to take out all the little braids that I put in her hair last night. Ten minutes later and I'm still smelling this sh*t. I haven't decided if I will brave the closed bathroom door to take that trash out, or just let it marinate in there for Carter. Probably the later.

Hopefully you weren't just eating. Or about to eat.

Apparently I Lost My Brain....For the 3rd Time

The kids make a lot of messes on the floor, so I have to vacuum a lot. I've noticed the last few days that the suction hasn't been that great, especially when using just the hose part. As I was vacuuming this morning, I told Carter that I kept having to vacuum over the same parts over and over and it still wasn't doing much. As I'm vacuuming, he looks down at the vacuum and says, "Where's the filter?". Huh. Their's supposed to be a filter in there? oooohhhhh....yeah. Now it's sort of coming back to me. The vacuum was really full, and since no one else was cleaning it out, I did. Well, I guess I just threw everything out and didn't grab the filter. It was THAT full. Didn't even see it. Good gosh, now I have to either go find a new filter or buy a new vacuum. Too bad I don't have the money to just get a Dyson right now.

Ground Rules

Alright peoples, so at this point you've been sent off with "announcements" or received them some other way, so hopefully this is the first place you are coming after seeing them. Just wanted to clarify a few things before anyone got any crazy ideas.

1. Do NOT post anything on Facebook until you get the all clear from me. A private message would be fine.

2. My family does not know yet, and probably won't for at least another two weeks. SO, if for some strange reason you were to see them or talk to them, do not utter a word....OR ELSE.

3. My first doctors appointment is on the 19th of this month, so once I get the all clear from a doctor and hear that little heartbeat, we will let you know.

4. I'm 11 weeks right now, and although I know it would be unlikely that something could happen, it still could, and I'm still slightly scared of it. Who wouldn't be?

5. Now I guess you can all say, "I knew it! Told you so!,etc"

6. Come on, how freaking awesome is it that two babies will likely be born within 3 weeks of one another. Crazy! And that's just in the Cherry family. Found out today that my sister in law is due Oct. 23rd. My calculations tell me I'm Oct. 27th. My parents are gonna flip over that. Anyway, babies babies babies. Awesome awesome awesome.

7. Oh yeah, scroll to the bottom to read from the beginning.

8. So, wouldn't you say it's fair that I now get to be the person who says, "Who's next? You." lol