orthopedic appointment

Today's appointment with Dr. Banta brought mixed emotions. I'm glad to have a better idea of what is causing my pain, but frustrated because there isn't a fast fix.  My diagnosis?  L3 nerve root compression, bursitis of the hip and tendonitis.  The cure?  Since I am pregnant, there is not much we can do other than physical therapy, which I start tomorrow and am scheduled to continue twice a week for four weeks.  I am optimistic that it will bring relief.  I visit Dr. Banta for a reevaluation in four weeks and will know next steps then.

Dr. Banta did suggest swimming, but I am not comfortable being in a chlorinated pool or breathing in chlorine while I am pregnant - it isn't healthy for the baby.  According to The Complete Organic Pregnancy, it's been shown to cause reproductive, endocrine and immune system disorders -- yikes!  Plus -- I'm a little hypersensitive to the stuff.

bum genious

I came home to the best and most unexpected surprise today! Robin and I plan to use cloth diapers for multiple reasons - they are better for the environment, don't have the toxins that disposable diapers do, and they are much less expensive in the long run. My sweet, special sister, Summer, knew of our plans and has been talking with her friends who used cloth diapers about brands, types, benefits, etc...

Summer called while I was still at work and was very eager for me to go home to see if there was a package waiting on our doorstep. My little sister sent us a box full of pink Bum Genius cloth diapers and inserts! Not only that, she claims there are two more shipments on the way.

Thank you, sweet Summer!

little bump

Just a little bump.  That's what Robin felt today when he put his hand on my belly!  Our little girl is really getting strong and for the first time today, reached out to her daddy's hand to let him know she was really there.  Robin said it felt like something lightly flicked a balloon.  And now, our little girl has gained the official nickname of "little bump."

pay it forward

Robin and I are truly blessed to have great and generous friends who enjoy sharing and "paying it forward" when they can. This weekend, we visited two of our closest friends, Brandon and Beth, and they gave us their very lightly used play yard, which we plan to use as a temporary bassinet, travel bed and a way to keep the baby close to us and safe (out of dogs reach) while we are doing household chores. Beth also knows that I am planning to exclusively breastfeed, so she gave me her portable Medela backpack pump, which will come in very handy.

Thank you B&B - we are so grateful to you both and can't wait for our little girl to meet her surrogate aunt and uncle!

Tickled Pink!

four month appointment

Robin and I had our four-month appointment today.  We were both uber excited for our "big" ultrasound that it was hard to wait until 10:30.  

Per Beth's advice, Robin met me at the hospital with a large glass of orange juice.  We were eager to learn if our tee tiny was a he or a she, so I wanted to get a good dose of sugars so the baby would move around and allow Dr. Rinehart, our perinatal doctor, to know for certain what our future held... sugar and spice or snails and puppy dog tails. 

The visit was great and we have it all captured on DVD for any grandparents or new aunts who want to see their newest family member in action.  We saw four chambers of the heart, a good look at the brain, a big belly that's measurements put the baby at eight ounces, four fingers and one thumb on both hands, a well-developed rib cage, the cutest lips we've ever seen and legs and arms that have become strong enough to let me know that it appreciates my good healthy doses of fruit.  The most exciting discovery is that we learned our little one is a she!   

Looking straight into the camera and showing off the cutest hand ever

Our little one's sweet profile

After our ultrasound appointment, we had an appointment with Dr. Nokleberg.  She admitted that her job was the boring one of the day because she could just listen to the baby, while Dr. Rinehart has all the fun at this stage in the pregnancy.  Today, the baby's heartbeat registered at a very healthy 154 beats per minute.   After we talked baby, we talked about me.  My left thigh pain has become close to unbearable at times, and a trip to the mall or grocery store is a challenge because any walking or standing longer that just a couple of minutes is very painful.  It is even so bad at times while I am sleeping that I have woken up in tears and needed to change sleeping positions.  Dr. Nokleberg felt the problem would only increase as my pregnancy continues, so she referred me to an orthopedic doctor who specializes in spinal and hip disorders.  My appointment is scheduled for Sept. 3 and I am eager to learn more about what is causing the pain and if there is anything we can do to relieve it.  After that appointment, I will start physical therapy sessions.

After our appointments, Robin and I stopped for a quick lunch and a cute pink t-shirt for our announcement.  What a day!  For anybody who is expecting in the future: if you plan to learn your baby's gender, I suggest taking off the day of  your big ultrasound.  It was so hard to go back to work and concentrate!

4 months -- almost!

This week is a big week at the Orange House!  We have an appointment with the perinatal associates Tuesday morning for our "big" ultrasound and then visit Dr. Nokleberg for our 18-week check up.  And on Wednesday, we reach our official four-month marker.  

daddy's behind the camera

(mommy's 4 months pregnant)

I've only gained about 6 pounds (I'll have an official number on Tuesday) but I've outgrown all of my pre-pregnancy clothes.  Robin has been a trooper and endured several trips to maternity stores - he's a great shopper!

The pregnancy is going great! Our tee-tiny has become increasingly active over the past couple of weeks.  Robin hasn't been able to feel the movement yet, but I've been feeling it twitch and roll around for about two weeks.  I am eager for the movements to become stronger so Robin can experience them, as well.  It is especially active after I eat fruit (my greatest craving).  With the amount of fruit I'm eating, I have decided this kid is going to be a fairly healthy eater, or refuse anything but fruit (and maybe buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, yogurt, salsa and hot sauce -- my main cravings and indulgences.)  Hopefully for Robin's sake, the child will gain an appreciation for meat -- he loves to grill and I know he would like to have another meat eater in the house.  Maybe the early appreciation can happen via a more distant osmosis -- it certainly isn't going to come from me!   

18 hours to the land down under...

I took a short trip to Brisbane, Australia for work last week. We went to observe some students using one of the calculators I've been working on. In all the trip was pretty good  even though I didn't really have much time to explore. We arrived at 6:30 AM on Sunday and headed to Redcliffe (a very quiet coastal suburb of Brisbane).  We had the day Sunday to explore and keep ourselves from falling asleep so we could adjust our internal clocks (Brisbane is 15 hours ahead of Dallas). 

Just as we arrived, a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets flew right in front of me. The weather was fantastic! Sunny with mid-70's for the high and low-50's for the low. People kept telling us it was too bad the weather wasn't nice for us. I'm trying to imagine how it could have been any better.

There wasn't much surf due to Moreton Island but the water was absolutely gorgeous. 

 

The local flowers were pretty cool, too.

We also spent a little time in Manly (another quiet coastal town outside of Brisbane.)  Manly has one of the largest marinas in Australia.

Sunset coincided with low-tide, which made for some cool light on the water.

There are more pictures from the trip on my Flickr site.  

fourteen week appointment

We graduated today from Dr. Nokleberg's main location to her spot in the Margot Perot building at Presbyterian of Dallas where we'll be delivering.  She's generally prompt, but she had a delivery this morning, so we waited about 45 minutes.  Robin had a meeting to prepare for, but being the good daddy he is, he stuck it out and waited with me.

She reviewed all of our blood-work and tests to-date and gave me an A+ (for both my blood type and test results.)  We didn't have an ultrasound today, but she listened to the baby's heartbeat with a doppler device and the heart rate measured at 153 beats per minute - right in the middle of the healthy range for our stage. 

Everything is moving along beautifully except for one very strange thing... which, of course, would happen to me!  If I stand or walk for any amount of time, the skin on the outside and top of my left thigh goes completely numb and eventually feels like ice water was poured over it or like it was set on fire.  Robin can pinch my thigh and I don't feel anything at the skin-level - only pressure in my muscle.  Dr. Nokleberg suggested my SI joint may be out of whack and encouraged me to get a massage.  She expects it to get worse as tee-tiny grows, so we may end up exploring physical therapy at a later date.  For now, I think massage sounds like a great remedy!

Our next appointment in August 26. We'll have a full sonogram that morning before we see Dr. Nokleberg and we'll know whether our tee tiny is a boy or a girl -- we can't wait!

Fun with Flickr!

Who doesn't love spelling out words with random letters clipped from who knows where?

If you love it too, here is a neat little web app I stumbled upon today. It's called SPELL with Flickr. You simply go to the web site, type the word or name you wan't and it will search Flickr at random, then give you images of letters that spell your word. Neat huh? 

If you want to put it in a blog or web site they give you the html code for your word at the bottom of the page!

Weeee!