Winter sets in

I promise, to whoever is still reading, we're still alive, well and happy. Baby is over 6 months old and has the happiest little personality you could wish for. He's happy, easy going, smiley, hungry and sleepy.

He's sitting up almost on his own, but not quite crawling yet - normal for the bigger babies.

He's also super, super cute. I may be biased though.

Life update

Wow, it's been a long time since we posted here.

Life has continued onward. Babi will be 5 months tomorrow. On some levels it's hard to believe, but in other ways, it seems like he's been a part of our lives all along. There's the occasional stark reminders that really hit us. For example, Geek was answering some questions today and one was "Do you have kids?" and he started to automatically say no, but then said wait.. yes, we do.

In fitness news, Geek's running is going awesome! He signed up for a half marathon and a dualthalon! His training has been going really well and last weekend he ran 12 miles and still had a bit left. He will definitely be able to run that last 1.1 miles.

I'm back to dancing and have some shows coming up. I have one this coming Sunday, one in October and one in November. I need to come up with some new routines for the upcoming shows and I have some ideas floating around. I just need to start pulling them together. I've also started the couch to 5K. Today was my second day. I managed to run even after a migraine.

Lots of migraines here lately are definitely making me unhappy. They have been hitting more and more frequently. Had one that lasted two and a half days last week and had a day and a half long one this week. The doctor put me on the preventative, but so far it hasn't done a massive amount. I'll see how it goes.

Dad and baby

33406-orig

Mom and Baby!

33479-orig

Been a while

It's been a while since we posted here. We had a very healthy baby in April (YAY!!). I had to be induced though. After all the trouble to keep him in there, he decided to stay in there. I had some excess fluid so I can't really fault him for not wanting to give up the Olympic sized (for him) swimming pool.

We're starting to figure out a routine, albeit very slowly. The main one we've figured out is he eats every 3 hours or so. Other than that, it's all open ended.

I've started getting more active again. I've started going back to the gym this week and today walked about 3.5 miles with him. I wanted to go to dance class, however the walk totally wasted me. I'm going to try for class tomorrow. I'm not technically cleared for exercise, but I figure as long as I listen to my body and not push I'll be fine.

Hard to believe he's almost a month old. While the day to day seems to blur together, when you sit back and look at it, you really see how time is flying.

Good news

The doctor's office called today and said the latest round of labwork was all normal. So no thyroid issues!! This makes me very very happy. So the first one was just a fluke. I can live with a fluke like that.

No news

No news on the heart monitor, so it couldn't have been too bad, I'm guessing. :) I do need to check some test results. They are thinking there may be a thyroid issue. The first test came in a hair low. And I do mean a HAIR low. The normal range is 6.0, and I was at 5.6. We did a retest, so we'll see how those results look. If it's a bit low it could be causing the heart palpitations. However, I really only seem to get them when I'm working. So it could still be stress. This weekend went very well. I've been able to get out and about quite a bit. We went to a birthday bash on Sunday at Legal Seafood for our friend's 40th birthday and today was shopping.

I have been feeling more stress and fear of having this kid than excitement. Even if I'm the one having it, I don't really feel connected to him. I'm just the people carrier, really. So today Geek and I went out and did some baby shopping. It really was needed for both of us. We got some toys, some clothes, small pack of diapers, and the painting stuff we'll need to work on the nursery next Saturday. It really put us both in a better frame of mind and made all this seem more concrete and real, rather than just a waiting game.

Cyborg

Today was another ultrasound and the heart rate monitor hookup. He's measuring 31w 5 days and roughly 4lbs 4oz. He was also camera shy again today. You could just see him thinking "Argh! The pappirazzi again!!" and was holding a hand over his face.

Afterwards, they hooked me up to the portable EKG machine. So I have lots of pads, wires and a control box strapped to my chest. Yay for being a cyborg. I'm to record my symptoms as they show up. I then take it back tomorrow.

I go in on Tuesday to see the doctor and see what my labwork results were. Hopefully the heart monitor results will be there too, and I have the ultrasound report for her. We'll see what happens.

Frustrated

I tried going back to work this week. The plan was to go back two days a week. Well, the day went fine, but I either overdid or was overtired because that evening had another cramping episode. No bleeding so I wasn't too stressed. They also weren't that regular. But it's taken me a few days to recover. So I didn't go in on Thursday. I figured I'd rest and go in today. Wrong!! I had another bad day and ended up having "issues" all night, so I plan on working at home and taking it easy. This is really getting on my nerves though. I'd like to see the office a few times before I go off for maternity!!

We got the furniture last weekend, as well as a carseat and a stroller from a friend of ours that is the last year's model of the one we want. So basically we can get him home now. Still need a blanket and a onesie to finish the checklist for the trip home, but we can get from hospital to home and he has a place to sleep. :) So far the crib and the changing table are up. We still have work to do in the room, so we didn't really go nuts constructing stuff yet. We have a friend coming out in a few weeks to take the mirrors down, patch the holes and paint. They should also be able to tear down the bookcase that's in there and move it somewhere more useful now. We'll move the glider in there, put up the dresser, and get the curtains up and that should do it.

I had an "alien baby" moment last night which was funny. I was reclining in bed and went to sit up, tightening my ab muscles as I did so. You could see the outline of his back. That was pretty creepy but cool at the same time.

In other non-pregnancy news, things are moving along here. Geek is doing a charity spin class at the gym called Spin for Hope (for the American Cancer Society), so feel free to sponsor him. It's a three hour ride. :) I'm really proud of him for doing this. In May, I will be performing in Hips for Hope for the same cause.

It's that lovely tax season again so everyone's got their hand out. It's annoying as anything, but what can you do. Hopefully we'll get some of it back.

The puppies are good. Brutus loves the snow and has a blast playing in it. He's been getting very adventurous and wandering off down the road here lately to do his business. Mainly because he knows we can't follow him. Silly dog. He comes back right after but still... Buddy, on the other hand, can't wait for it all to melt and get warm again. He hates the snow and usually tries to look pathetic as soon as we go out by shivering and lifting his paws. Silly dogs.

Huray

Got the results of the glucose challenge. No gestational diabetes. :)

More of the same

I had a doctor visit today. I'm still off work/working from home. Now the difference is, given the cramping/spotting that occurred last week (which was very likely stress induced) if there's no improvement there, I will be taken off work completely. So I really have to learn to relax and not push so hard at working, and not get so stressed when things aren't working right.

On other news, the glucose challenge is tomorrow. This is going to be particularly nasty as I can't drink the usual icky orange syrup. I get a special mix of straight sucrose solution with saline. Yum. Hurray for corn allergies. So hopefully that will be uneventful and I'll pass first go.

Otherwise, da Babi is doing great. His heart sounds great and I'm measuring right on target. There's another ultrasound being scheduled and I go back to the doctor in two weeks.

In yet other baby news, we did the childbirth class last Saturday. It was an interesting time. We learned a lot, and honestly wasn't freaked out by a lot of the stuff. Facts given straight up tend not to bother me, whereas hearing the stories do. The tour of the facilities was totally worth it. I was surprised that the hospital doesn't staff the nursery. They encourage the baby to be in the room as much as possible. Dads don't have to abide by the visiting rules (YAY!!). The one thing that totally sucks is that kids have to be over 12 to visit. :( That part I was totally annoyed with. But the other side is if it's a normal birth and I can get out of bed, I can go to the lounge and visit with little folks. The rooms are very homey and nice, so that won't be bad. They have 5 private rooms and they fill those first then there are 3 double rooms. So here's hoping I will be in a private. :)

I've signed up for a baby CPR class, a mother/baby class and a breastfeeding class. I'm looking forward to them actually. There are people from the childbirth class signed up for them, so I'll get to see them again, which will also be nice.

And for the record, I have never seen such hellacious, bratty, out of control kids as I did at the doctor office today. OMFG, they were awful. Screaming, yelling, one was grabbing their baby sister and trying to wrestle. And the parents did NOTHING. I so appreciate our friends with well behaved kids and great parenting.

Vaccine?

I was checking my mail today when I noticed a message from one of the CD boards I'm on. Here's the message:

"Apparently Dr. Anderson in Australia (Nexpep) is starting Phase 1
clinical trials early 2009 on a vaccine for Celiac Disease. Every
indication is that this will work on 80% of Celiacs worldwide.

If this is true, in 3 to 5 years the majority of us (fingers crossed I
and my family are in the 80%) will be drinking a real beer and having
our favorite meals again!

Though GF food has gotten better, it hasn't gotten much cheaper and it
still isn't very nutritious either - high in fats, sugars and starches.

So this might be the "hope" we have been waiting for?

In any case if you haven't read about it this will be your heads up to
start reading on the vaccine...."

My first reaction is total disbelief. I've not heard of many auto-immune diseases being "cured" by a simple vaccine. Treated, yes, but not cured. So let's assume this is for treatment.

What boggled my mind was in one breath the poster was talking about drinking beer and eating favorite meals again, and in the next talking about how GF foods are high in fats, sugars and starches. What do you think fast food is?? What is beer? I'm sure those "favorite meals" weren't Healthy Choice meals.

I've found I don't miss most of the glutened stuff, and most healthy, natural foods, like meats, fruits and veggies are naturally gluten free anyway. So what exactly is missing? Oh yes, all the fats, starches and sugars of pre-packaged convenience foods.

Anything that I have found myself missing, I can usually duplicate in a pretty tasty facsimile. All these people in mourning for glutened food could too, but it takes some determination and willingness to experiment. I mean, I just made dairy-free, egg-free Yorkshire puddings, which in theory shouldn't be possible, since it's made of eggs, milk and flour. That's it. But I did it and they were really tasty. Other people have done it, so it's not like I had to re-invent the wheel. A few minutes on Google for inspiration and then went to work modifying. That's it.

So I think it's safe to say I will be taking a pass on this vaccine. Good luck to those who want it, but I think I'm ok the way I am. :)