Rollercoaster

Emotional rollercoaster that is!

We had a rough weekend. Friday we went to the perinatal clinic for our routine 20 week ultrasound where they do an anatomy scan of the baby. All was going well, the baby was cooperating, moving around a lot, they looked at her genitals and she was indeed a girl, and she grew a ton. Then the ultrasound technician went to get the Doctor and he came in and started focusing on her heart and brain and didn't say much to us. We started to get a little worried but then he said he sometimes gets in his zone and forgets to talk to his patients and it gets them worried. He asked me who my OB was and what I did, made chit chat with us. Then he dropped the bomb that no new parent, or any parent ever wants to hear...."Your baby has some birth defects that have me concerned." We were in shock, 7 weeks ago they told us we had a perfectly normal, healthy baby and Friday our baby girl had birth defects. He then showed us what he was seeing. Our daughter has 2 clubfeet and another condition called clinodactyl, which basically means her pinkies curve in instead of being straight. The fingers aren't considered a birth defect but since she has curved fingers and club feet he was concerned. If he had seen one but not the other he wouldn't have been worried but since he saw both conditions he wanted to do an amniocentisis to test for Down's Syndrome. Marc and I were in a state of shock, two weeks ago I was my OBs star patient and now we were talking birth defects.

So we did the amnio, I hide in Marc's arm and cried the whole time, mostly because it hurt. The Doctor said he's done 4,000-6,000 and this one was text book and she didn't even know he was there. Marc later said he watched it on the screen and he went in between her legs and took the fluid while he legs were wiggling around it. They showed us the fluid, which looks a lot like pee, and they told us it was clear which is what they like to see. Then we met with the Genetic Counselor who was super nice and explained everything they were looking for, the office there is so compasionate and the Doctor came in several times to see how we were doing. I kept asking how this could be happening to us since I was only 29 and our first trimester screening gave us a 0.1% chance of having a baby with Down Syndrome. So we went over what they saw on the ultrasound and basically the only thing that worried them were her feet and her pinkies, everything else was normal, her brain, her heart, and her limbs (which usually show signs of Down Syndrome). At 5:30 we finally left the clinic, my appointment was at 2:45 and I was sent home on basically bed rest for the weekend to reduce the risk of miscarriage that amnio's can cause. We went home in a state of shock. The weekend was absolutely draining for us as we tried to wrestle with the fact that we could possibly be the 1 baby in 900 (the odds they gave us in our first trimester screening). I hardly slept, Marc was a wreck, Homer was a sweet boy, I think he sensed our moods. We told our neighbors who were so supportive and both brought me a bouquet of flowers.

Then it was Monday and it was the waiting game. At 10:30 I got off of a conference call and walked Homer because I was going crazy sitting around waiting, I worked at home since I didn't want to get the news in the office. Marc had confiscated my cell phone because I was too afraid to hear the news myself. While I was walking Homer the call came, and the news was what we had hoped for. Based on the amnio she has a 99.96% chance of not having Down Syndrome, Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18. And she's definitely a girl. We're still waiting to hear about Spina Bifida but they were less concerned about that because we have seen her move her legs in the ultrasounds and her spine looks fine in the ultrasounds. So next week we get the full results but they are confident that we have a healthy baby with club feet.

So what does that mean? Treatment on clubfeet is very successful. Before she's born we will meet with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and talk to him about the ultrasound and talk about a treatment plan. She will most likely be in casts her first 6 weeks of life as they gradually work her feet back into position (fortunately clubfeet is caused by tight ligaments and tendons and not deformed bones), they will have to change her casts every week in the first 6 weeks. After that she will have her casts changed every 2 weeks until they are in the proper position. Then she will have to wear braces at night. When she starts standing and walking she won't have to wear the braces as much because her ligaments will be strong enough to stay in place. Within a few years no one will know she was born with clubfeet. Kristie Yamaguchi had club feet and several NFL players were born with it as well so her treatment looks good, especially since we hope to start it shortly after birth. My mom is happy because that means lots of dresses (which I normally wouldn't put her in) because of the casts. There is no treatment for the fingers, but it won't affect her motor skills. We also have an appointment on Friday at a pediatric cardiologist for a fetal echocardiogram since Marc had a heart murmur. They are just sending us as a precautionary measure since Marc was born with a heart murmur even though they didn't see anything wrong with her heart.

One thing Marc and both learned out of this whole ordeal is how incredibly much we love this little person! We also learned what a wonderful support system we have, we have the most supportive family and friends and we and our baby girl are so lucky.

So all iss well that ends well and our little girl is going to be just fine!

Here are Marc and Homer taking a nap, I saw them when I was coming downstairs from my nap and I couldn't resist, they looked so cute together.

Here are the two pictures they gave us of her, the top is her profile and the bottom is confirmation that she's a girl...it looks like a real tooshy now!

And at long last and after many requests, a picture of my baby bump at 21 1/2 weeks!

My Husband, My Hero

My Dell computer has been out of commission for the last few weeks due to a fatal reboot error that of course occurred while he was in Boston. We've been laying low this weekend and he finally got a chance to check out what was going on and low and behold, he got it rebooted and was able to salvage all of my files! I knew I married a computer nerd for a reason!

Marcism of the Week

So it's been a crazy week at work for both Marc and I but one good Marcism has come out of it. Here's the deal, the baby is moving around alot these days and every so often she will get in a position that seems to put more pressure on my bladder than other positions which results in me going to the bathroom every 15 minutes, yeah not fun, especially at work because our bathrooms are just nasty, but I digress. So I've kind of figured out that if I poke at her a little bit sometimes I can get her to wiggle enough that the pressure is off of my bladder, which means I pee once an hour instead of four times an hour. Marc saw me poking at her one day and asked me what I was doing, so I told him my strategy and says to me "Don't poke the baby, you're going to give her a bruise." And that my friends is our Marcism of the week.

Trip Recap

This was our last vacation before the baby comes so we were hoping to make the best of it so we booked a night at the Hyatt in Philadelphia. It got off to a bit of a rocky start when we hit more traffic than expected on the way to the airport and got to our gate as they were boarding. We got into Philly a little earlier than we thought we would on Wednesday night so we decided to start our vacation off with a nosh of nachos at the hotel bar and Marc had some drinks while I enjoyed some club soda. We used some Hyatt points and stayed at the Hyatt at Penn Landing. It was an amazing hotel and our room had a great view! After our midnight snack (on the West coast it could technically qualify as a late dinner), we hit the hay in order to rest up for some site seeing on Thursday. We ended up sleeping until 10:30, which we never do, now technically our bodies thought it was 7:30 but that is still pretty late for us since Homer usually gets us up at 6AM.

By the time we showered up it was time for lunch and therefore my feeding time. We asked around and found out the place the locals like to get cheesesteaks from was just a few blocks from our hotel so we headed out to South Street, a Haight-Ashbury-esque street. The weather was beautiful. We found Jim’s, the locals preference after being told by a couple people at the Hotel both Pat and Gino’s in South Philly were tourist traps, so we headed to Jim’s and split a cheesesteak, it was decent, though we both thought it could have used some more cheese. The steak was definitely fresh and there was lots of it. After our bellies were full we headed over to do some “culturing.”

We hit up the Liberty Bell, which is in a beautiful new complex, last time I saw it I was in like 3rd or 4th grade. After that we were ready to see the Constitution only to learn that the Constitution was closed because they were setting up for Mikhail Gorbachav to receive the Liberty Award (it was being presented by the former President Bush), we stayed and watched the dress rehearsal for bit and then headed over to Walnut Street to do one of our favorite activities, SHOPPING! Marc and I are quite found of shopping in Jersey and Pennsylvania as it means no sales tax. We were quite ambitious and walked through Philadelphia so when we got to Walnut Street it was feeding time…again. We found a pizza shop and each had a slice, it was some of the best pizza I have ever had, then we hit shopping. I got particularly excited because the woman in Gap told me that maternity was upstairs with Baby without me even asking, up until this week I was still getting “Is she pregnant or did she have too many beers and a burrito?” look. The lady at Gap seriously made my day by being able to tell that I am pregnant. We shopped around a bit and then Marc’s friend Steve picked us up and drove us to Cherry Hill.

Steve and Joanna just bought a townhouse so they brought us by it to see it, they are having some work done on it while they are on their honeymoon so they are in the process of painting but we got an idea of what it was going to look like and it is so nice. We are definitely envious of the basement space Jersey houses have that CA houses do not have. After we got the tour, Steve dropped us off at Jenn and Alex’s house before we all met up for dinner at Swanky Bubbles. Jenn and Alex are expecting a little girl about 2 ½ weeks before us so it was fun to compare notes and bellies. J As I was getting ready I realized I forgot to pack my dresses for the wedding when we left the Hyatt, I blame the pregnancy for my forgetfulness because I never forget stuff like that. So after dinner Alex was nice enough to drive us back to Philly to get my dresses. I felt like such an idiot.

Jenn & Alex:

Steve & Joanna:

Yours truly (belly hidden - I promise to have Marc take a picture this weekend of it):

Friday we rented a car and putzed around Cherry Hill, did some shopping and then headed to Wilmington, Delaware where the wedding was being held. After we checked in to the Hotel DuPont (pretty much all of Wilmington is owned by DuPont) we went in search of food, of course it was feeding time for me. We ended up having lunch at the hotel and then resting in our room before the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was at this cool place that was sort of a brewpub type place. The Matron of Honor was also pregnant with a girl (so many pregnant people and baby girls out there) and we hit it off and chatted the whole night. Then I was a sport and hung out while Marc drank with the guys for a bit. Then it was off to bed. Saturday morning we slept in and after having one of the valet guys at the hotel drive us around for an hour looking for something to do we ended up at a cool alehouse for lunch and to watch college football. Then it was off to get ready for the wedding.

The wedding was at this beautiful garden called the Gardens at Gibraltor. The setting was absolutely gorgeous, the photos from the wedding are on Marc's camera so when he sends them to me I will post them. Then we headed back to the hotel for the reception. It was a beautiful reception. We sat at a table with another couple who was expecting and the matron of honor so it was a preggo table. It was fun and we all had a good time chatting. Little baby girl decided to like music that night and at the ceremony the matron of honor sang an Opera Song and she moved around a bunch. Then at the reception she went nuts when SexyBack came on, which I know will make her Aunt Jill very happy (she's a huge JT fan). She also moved around a bunch for the Hora.

Sunday we had a late flight back so we went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast (I love that place) and then to the King of Prussia Mall to walk around a bit. On the way to the airport we missed the exit because of construction and ended up going to super long way so we pushed the time getting to the airport but we made it. And we were back late Sunday night.

I woke up first thing Monday morning and went to get Homer at the kennel (ok, PetsHotel, it's a supper posh place for a dog). I was super worried about him all week, I called everyday, because of his heart but they said he did really well. The cardiologist put him on a new medicine that seems to be helping his heart. Essentially his heart is so enlarged it's cutting off part of one of his airways and that's causing him to cough more so than the pulmonary edema. So this medicine is supposed to shrink his heart down and it seems to be working. Homer was super excited to see me, I had to give him treats the whole way home to keep him on his seat and not running all over. He seemed much more relaxed than he has in the past when I got him too which made me happy.

Halfway There!

Marc and I are on vacation in Philly and are getting ready to head to South Philly for some cheesesteaks (we'll see how the little girl likes those, she likes cheese so she's bound to like 1/2 of it) and to check out the Liberty Bell but I couldn't resist this post because today marks my halfway point in the pregnancy! The second trimester seems to have gone fast so far (much faster than the first one) which is good, we can't wait to meet this little girl! I don't know if it's because work has been insanely busy so it makes the days fly by, plus we are busy getting things prepared or if it's just that I don't feel crummy all the time. Don't get me wrong I still have yucky days, mostly because I have been killing myself at work and by Friday I am beat but for the most part I am feeling good.

My Doctor couldn't believe I was at 19 weeks last week, she said she felt like we were just in there confirming the pregnancy, which was 2 months ago! My belly seems to be growing by the minute, I'm not sure if she is really growing/gaining weight that fast or she is moving positions more often. I do seem much smaller than other pregnant moms who are at the same point in their pregnancies so that has me a little concerned but I am hoping it just means she's a small, healthy baby which means she'll be able to deliver. :) My Doctor says all is going well so I guess I just have to go with that and try not to worry! Some days I look like I have a gut and other days I actually look pregnant. I'm definitely feeling her more and more, she was moving around like crazy on the plane yesterday and I can't wait for the day she is big enough for Marc to feel too, I know he is excited to feel her move. Next Friday we go for our 2nd trimester ultrasound and anatomy scan so we get to see her again but more importantly only roughly 20 more weeks until we get to meet and hold this little girl!

More updates later on our Philly shenanigans!

The Case of the Missing Mailboxes

I was walking down our street today with Homer off of his leash, he's on this independent kick and since he was at the cardiologist today and was a good sport, I decided to humor him. So as we were walking I was paying close attention to him and kind of guiding him (I don't think he knows where we live - another story entirely), anyway, so I am directing him with his harness and all of a sudden the mailman pulls up next to me and asks me where our mailboxes are. Yes, he really asked me this, so I had to explain to him that all of the mailboxes are in the cul-de-sacs and they are little boxes and he drives off. He only stopped to ask me after Marc and I had seen him drive up and down the street a few times. I got Homer back home and Marc was in the garage playing with his car washing tools (also another story entirely) and he asked me who I was talking to. So I told him the mailman asked me where the mailboxes are. It was only then that I realized how ridiculous the whole conversation was. After all, as Marc put it, "Isn't that pretty much his sole responsibility?"

Favorite Commercial

Check out this commercial, Marc and I love it! We always see it during the Giants games and it just cracks us up. The first time we saw it, we were like "What the..." and then they got to the meat of the commercial and we can't get enough of it. I wish I could download it but so far finding it on YouTube is the best I can do, it's definitely worth the visit.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A2Ap3DyvLg


And yes Marc is going to do this with our daughter. :)

Baby Girl Update

Just a quick update on what's going on here. I had my 19 week appointment yesterday with my Doctor. I waited an hour to see her for five minutes, she even made a comment about it. But all went well so that is what is important, right? I got the "best patient of the day award" because I was her only low maintenance patient. I started the appointment off with a weigh-in, probably my least favorite part of pregnancy (other than the nausea, which is a long lost memory by now). So far I have remained in the normal weight gain range for my stage of pregnancy and I have gained five pounds total, three of which were this month, so she is really growing! Anyway, I've been getting some bloody noses and some jabbing pain in my abdomen that I talked to her about, both of which she said were completely common pregnancy issues and was not worried at all. The pains are my ligaments stretching to support my growing uterus, which as of last week was the size of a cantaloupe. Yikes! My Doctor also measured my stomach for the first time. Then we listened to Baby Girl's heartbeat which she said was perfect. It is crazy how much stronger it is getting, last month she had to move her instrument around a bit because she was still so small ( knowing how she is in ultrasounds was probably not facing forward) but this time she turned it on and there it was, nice a strong. My Doctor described it as perfect. According to the websites our baby is now about 6 inches long and weighs half a pound! So that was my five minute appointment in a nutshell, fortunately there was the cutest 21 month old little boy in the waiting room during my hour wait and he instantly became my friend, so that made the time fly. I'm glad I only had to see her for five minutes because that means all is well with the baby. I took the day off so I wasn't in a rush to get back to work.

In other exciting baby news, I started to feel the baby moving around this week. I have thought I have felt her a few other times but I was laying really still in bed and it was very quiet. This week I felt her move around while sitting at my desk working on schematics. It was pretty cool, I felt a little tap-tap-tap in my abdomen. And I've felt her a few times a day since then. It's the coolest feeling and makes it really feel like there is a baby in there. :) Anne and I were talking yesterday and we both agreed up until the point where the baby moves is the hardest because the only time you know the baby is in there before you can feel it moving around is when you go to the Doctor and either see it on the ultrasound or hear the heartbeat. I always freak out a bit before my appointments because there's no way to know that she's ok in there, but now that I can feel her moving (no matter how small the movement is), I know she is in there and moving around and that's all I need! We also set up our registries and added tons of pink! I am super excited and Marc was quite the sport with all of the pink, I offered to do a lot of green and yellow so it wasn't so "girly" but he was picking out pink himself left and right. We've also signed up for Baby 101 at the hospital (they teach you what to do with a newborn, how to swaddle, and most importantly change the diaper) and a Labor and Delivery class. We take Baby 101 the first weekend in November and then the Labor and Delivery class in early December. We also are going to take a tour of the new birthing center in the next few months and my Doctor told me to pre-register at the hospital for my delivery. It's all coming together and it's hard to believe that I am nearly halfway through the pregnancy. The first 13 weeks dragged along but now it seems to be going by quickly. I'm in my 20th week and on Thursday I will officially be halfway through the pregnancy.

Marc was in Boston this week for work so I held down the fort and got completely taken advantage of by my Homer. He had no desire to be in his crate at night and kept me up for 3 hours the second night Marc was gone and 5 hours Thursday night (he actually behaved the first night). He kept coughing (he knows how to use his cough to his advantage) and throwing a fit so at 5AM after being up since 3AM and having a 15 minute sob fest at 4:30, I gave in and let him out of his crate. He stopped coughing immediately and within 15 minutes he was sound asleep on the tile and an hour later he was curled up in bed next to me sound asleep until I woke him at 8AM. He had a checkup yesterday too (it was Doctor day) and fortunately he got himself in a tizzy so his vet could see what we go through. He was pretty concerned about the state of his heart and the fact that Homer gets worked up over small thigs or sends himself into coughing fits on purpose for attention so Homer goes to the cardiologist on Monday to have his heart evaluated and get a better treatment plan. I was also sent home with some "chill pills" since Homer sends himself into heart failure most of the time by getting anxious or worked up over stupid stuff, like what Marc and I are having for dinner. He was adorable this week though. I got some Bose noise cancelling headphones from a special offer from American Airlines and I tried them on Wednesday afternoon and Homer was super interested. I told him I was going to wear them when the baby was crying and asked him if wanted a pair and he started barking and yammering. The baby started to move around while he was barking so told him to keep talking to his baby, and asked him questions, and he kept going for a few minutes, it was soooo cute! Marc got back late last night and brought me back some Dunkin' Donuts from his trip so I got to enjoy those for breakfast this morning. I absolutely love Dunkin Donuts.

Wednesday we leave for Philly. We're spending Wednesday night in Philly, site seeing the next day. Thursday night we are staying with Jenn and Alex and then Friday morning we head to Delaware for Marc's friend Steve's wedding.

And on September 26 we go back to the perinatal clinic for my second trimester ultrasound. I'm excited to see the baby and see how big she is now, apperantly her arms and legs are now in proportion to her body, and have them confirm she is indeed a girl. I am convinced by the three girl shots of her but you just never know and I would hate to bring a little boy home from the hospital in pink and put him in a pink room. :)

Joining the Rest of Suburbia

Marc and I joined the rest of suburbia last night a purchased an SUV. Marc's job was to find the perfect SUV for our family since he has been complaining for the last 2 years that he hates the Jetta and misses his Audi. We looked at a bunch of them and none of them seemed to strike our fancy. Most of the SUVs had a third row that wouldn't comfortably seat an adult. Or it didn't have a Bose stereo system (for Marc). Or didn't have a DVD/Navigation system.

Saturday we were on our walk and we were walking past the GMC dealership down the street from our house and Marc wanted to stop by and check out a car. I must admit I was a little snobby and didn't want to check out a car there. But he dragged me across the street and we checked out the Acadia and we were super impressed. They were gorgeous! Later that day Marc went back and test drove it and started to do some financing. Long story short we ended up buying it last night. I love that it has a rear camera when you back up. Marc is very excited about it. I must admit it was really sad for me to say goodbye to the Jetta, I cried as we were leaving the parking lot and the Jetta was staying behind. Ok, so maybe I am a little bit pregnant but I loved that car and secretly hoped some day I would be able to drive it again. Marc was so excited about his car last night that he couldn't sleep, he was like a kid excited for Disneyland.

So here are some pictures of the new ride: