I've Been Sick

... again. Ugh. But, again, it was short lived thanks to a lot of Emergen-C and extra vitamin D but just when I thought I was doing so good blogging more. Anyway, we did get to get outside a bit last weekend (wait, I guess now it was the weekend before that).


First, Gabe, Zion and I pulled the dead flowers out of our little planter and put in some new pansies and white allisium (my favorite because it smells SO wonderful). I wanted to put in petunias like last year but I couldn't find them, they must not be available yet. Then again, the kids are really excited to be planting pumpkins and sunflowers and this is the only place we have for planting. So, I guess this will be a flower and vegetable patch this year. :)

Newly "plowed" ground. My grandma's stepping stone is there for her and the pansies are there for my mom.

Then the kids moved on to "helping" Rob change the sand in the sand box. When you have a sand box and the lid is occasionally left off, or blown off by a strong wind, and you have cats, well... you change the sand often.


Gideon's job is hazard detector. He goes out in to the yard and finds the water hazards, if there is a teaspoon of water to be found he'll find it. My own personal dowser if you will. While he can't drown in most of the quantities that he finds but he can successfully make more laundry at lightning speed and wet down shoes that need to dry for days before they can be worn again (and he just doesn't have that many shoes) and fill the dog's water bucket with dirt and weeds forcing us to refill it pretty much any time he plays outside.

And then we all go in and eat like horses because there's something about being outside that builds a huge appetite and nothing ever tastes so good as food then.

Yep, Another Pregnancy Update

Just wanted to give the latest. I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday and we talked about the ultrasound results. She had spoken with the doctor about the report that morning and confirmed everything. Not only did the placenta move but the doctor no longer considers the cord a velamentous insertion but a marginal insertion which is less risky. That combined with the placenta moving and taking the cord with it we are a GO for a vaginal delivery! Yay!

I hope that no other problems will pop up and that the baby will turn but for now at least it seems as if the worries regarding placenta and cord are a non-issue.

Pregnancy Update

I had my follow up ultrasound this morning. We were all pleasantly surprised, I think the doctor especially. I kept telling God He could move the placenta out of the way and I wouldn't act surprised if it happened. Alas, I couldn't help myself. I WAS surprised. I think I still may be stuck in a state of disbelief. It was not expected that my placenta previa would change because I had such a severe case. It did. It moved. It is no longer in the way - AT ALL. AND!!! It moved in such a way that the cord, while still an issue in itself, is not in between the baby and my cervix which would have been very bad. There was always the possibility that any movement by the placenta would put the cord at risk either by rupturing the cord or moving it in between the baby and cervix but, again, I'm all clear there.

Now that the placenta previa has been taken out of the picture that only leaves the cord issue. #1 problem is that a VCI is fragile. That concern used to be huge because of where the placenta was now that is a minor concern (though still a concern). #2 problem is that VCI cause growth restriction and asymmetrical growth, so really small babies and babies who might have big heads and tiny bodies. My little one is measuring two weeks ahead. Ha! Take that VCI! I am 24 weeks and 6 days today and the baby is measuring 26 weeks and 6 days and they guess weighs about 2lb 2oz. The doctor just smiled and shook his head in disbelief. And smiled some more and said "I don't think we have to worry about your baby." More smiling. :D

Still, he wants to do another ultrasound at 30 weeks to check for growth. No reason to get too cocky, I still have a long way to go and baby has a lot of growing left. We still don't know the gender. Had to avert my eyes a little to avoid accidentally seeing. I also have to talk with my midwife about the ultrasound report. I have no idea if she is comfortable attempting a natural delivery considering the cord problem or if I'll still have to have a c-section. Oh yeah, and the baby is breech now. Stinker. S/he was extremely active during the ultrasound, the tech had a dickens of a time getting all the pictures we needed. Tee hee.

For now my many restrictions have been lifted as well. Now if only that meant I actually had the energy to do anything. But it sure did feel good to help Gideon up the stairs and lift him in his crib without any guilt!

I think that's it. Thank you all so much for your prayers and for sharing in our own little miracle! We would still love to have your prayers that the baby will still grow well, that the cord will pose no issues and the baby will flip to head down (and not flip back). Thank you, thank you, thank you, and thank God!

SUH-NY Days...

You know how the song goes. :) We have been having such nice weather here. I think I may have mentioned it at least once already. Yesterday was gorgeous. So much so that we couldn't bear to stay indoors once Rob got home from work. We piled in the van and hit a park in an adjacent town. One that just happens to be next door to an old-fashioned drive-in. Play first...

I wonder if Gabe will ever grow out of the phase where he feels he must play to the camera. I'll never get a shot of his normal smile at this rate. :)

Too bad he doesn't smile so much when he's concentrating on climbing.

Zion cannot be pushed high enough. She always asks for faster and higher.

But she doesn't mind smiling for the camera.

Hey, I actually got one! The elusive normal smile. As normal as one can be with four missing teeth (two on the top, two on the bottom with one top tooth starting to grow in).

And she's ready for take off!

Gideon loves to throw. Really, really loves to throw. I let him as long as he's not throwing AT someone. A little girl tried to tattle on him and I told her he was simply experiencing texture and velocity. Her nanny/babysitter didn't seem to appreciate my answer.

Gideon loves to swing even if at a slower rate than Zion. His smile says it all. We had a great time!

Then we piled in the van again just to drive to the other side of the park fence where the drive-in is located. Corn dogs and fries for Gabe and Zion, chicken nuggets and fries for Gideon, a chicken sandwich and, you guessed it, fries for Rob, and I got a charbroiled burger with the works, onion rings and a chocolate Coke (which, sadly, I had to explain how to make to the teen taking our order). Have I made you hungry? I don't feel bad. It was wonderful. While we sat in the van and ate we saw two antique autos visit the drive-in as well. *sigh* Yep, awesome.

Mommy Brag Moment

I can't help myself. I don't think you could either if you were in my shoes. So this is how it went down. Tonight I took Gabe to Family Reading Night at his school (Rob took Gideon and Zion to swim class as we started a new session tonight). The kids were invited to wear their PJs and bring a pillow and blanket. Gabe was thrilled - he LOVES to wear pajamas. First the Kindergarten through first or second graders met in the "pod" between their classrooms and they each got a bag with a book, egg-timer (the hourglass type, is this the right name for them when they're only a minute?) and a book mark. We got a chance to read together and then be read to, One Fish Two Fish. After that we went to the gym to have a piece of cake, it is after all Dr. Seuss' birthday. (Later, when we got home he told Rob that "even though it wasn't his favorite cherry [cake] it was still very good"). Then we went back to the "pod" and The Cat In The Hat (who looked suspiciously like a teacher in a costume) read us Green Eggs and Ham. Lastly we were told we could linger and read more or go to the library for a timed reading "game".

We lingered and read The Cat In The Hat together. I wanted to go but Gabe wanted to stay so we headed to the library. There they had some teen-aged girls at tables who had the kids read from sheets and counted the words they could read in one minute.

I told the first girl he was at a second grade level but she knew he was in Kindergarten so she had him read 1.4 (first grade, fourth month) instead. He read 84 words in one minute with one mistake. She was impressed. I thought we'd go but Gabe, being who he is, wanted to visit each table. I told the next gal to give him the fifth grade paper just to see how he would do but she asked Gabe what grade he was in and he laughed and said "I'm not in a grade! I'm in Kindergarten!" so she wouldn't do fifth grade. She did do fourth grade though and Gabe read 55 words in a minute about some type of fish that eats coral. That's right - FOURTH grade level!

Lastly, he visited the final table. I told him to just pick a paper that looked like it had an interesting story so he picked the panda story, which was 1.5 reading level. He read 96 words in a minute.

He really had no idea that what he did was unusual or special but I thought it was pretty cool.