We Made It

It’s been our busiest weekend this summer - with no A/C - and we made it. 

After over 24 hours, 333-HELP [formerly Thompson Heating & Cooling] never called me back after I asked twice if someone was going to help me. Very disappointed - they lost a customer for good. Waiting until Tuesday’s install seemed like a lifetime away. 

Friday Tim had some business to take care of so I took Nora to the Children’s Museum at Union Terminal. It was our first time! Hey, two working parents, it’s hard to get to these things. It’s a really great place for families and it was nice to just let Nora GO. I didn’t feel like I had to hover over her, she just ran from exhibit to exhibit. We only stayed for a little over an hour and she probably could have kept going, but I kept lunch + nap time in mind. 

Ja' Mon!

Getting the doggies water at the “vet.”

Tim met us and we ended up having lunch at Mellow Mushroom in Wilder, KY. Nom! 

My Mom came at 3pm to watch Nora for the night while Tim and I went with some friends to see Chris Robinson Band in Louisville. I put my Mom in our room since it had a ceiling fan… bless her heart for rocking with no A/C. 

It was strange leaving Nora that afternoon - I felt like I kept forgetting something; I think it was the little person who is always with us!

It was nice to kind of unplug and leave responsibility for less than a day. We stayed at the Seelbach Hilton which I highly recommend. Part of me missed being able to have a drink - a bunch of parents out on the town? I was craving a beer! We ate at BBC which was fun and super hippie. Enjoyed catching up with close friends.

The show was really good - a new venue that’s super small. The music was great, very hippie vibe, a handful of older Grateful Dead fans there, lots of noodle dancing : ) Being super sober is always interesting… I had one drunk girl touch my belly. Geezum. And at least 3 others almost touch and say “Awww!” One older lady stopped in front of me and say “I’ve never seen someone so skinny with their belly so far out!” Um… thanks? 

That knockoff American flag? It’s a Freak Flag. Love it.

Even though I feel pretty “able” when I’m pregnant, standing on my feet that long was rough. Not to mention Nora had been up since 5:50 that morning… Gah! At set break, we were able to sit on some couches upstairs which helped… I made it to 11:45pm. I couldn’t take much more on my feet. I was back in the hotel bed at 12am - crazy late for me! 

We got back at almost noon and cleaned up because we had a family wedding that night - ! We have so many weddings on my Mom’s side in recent years, so we try to get to at least one a year. It’s hard with schedules and living 2+ hrs from these weddings. 

We drove about 2 hours to my cousin’s wedding. It was nice to see family, especially my 88-year old Grandmother. Visit with some family and Nora of course started falling apart toward the end. She’d already been to the library and Nature Center that AM! 

Welcoming the bridal party on Grandpa’s lap. 

We left at 7:45pm, got home around 9:45pm and CRASHED. 

---------

It is Tuesday now at 5pm and I worked from home all day because the A/C tech came at 7:15am. He was wrapped up and left at 3:15pm [he’d also installed a new all-house humidifier]. I could cry I’m so thankful the house is back to cool.

The poor tech guy from Recker & Boerger was in a polo shirt and khakis - I got him 3 big glasses of ice water throughout the day. I’m going to be sure to give good customer feedback! 

7 Days without A/C during the hottest week of the year thus far. I did my best not to complain because there are far worse situations to deal with. 

No complaining about heat from the little one!

Onward!

It's Pouring

26 Weeks

“When it rains, it pours.” Truth. 

1. Tim was summoned for jury duty for the months of July - August... It’s a high possibility I could deliver early; i.e. end of August. Tim submitted a letter of dismissal about our unborn daughter’s complications and that I could deliver early. Denied. Two big middle fingers to Clermont Co. Court system. 

2. I came home Tuesday evening and looked at the thermostat. It read 77˚ when I’d set it at 72˚ that AM. Went downstairs and the one pipe [?] was frozen. Awesome. We knew the AC was 15-20 years old. Last summer we simply had a handyman recharge the freon. We felt it was silly to recharge again for another $400 this year and simply replace the system since it needs to be anyway. 

I had called a local place at 8:30am on Wed and again halfway through the day only to be told twice, “Someone will call you.” It’s currently 11:20am on Thursday and they never got back to me. I since have called Recker & Boerger who helped me immediately and within one hour I have an appointment for Tuesday [unfortunately the soonest available] for a new installation. 

3. Someone who knows me made an unintentionally insensitive comment via social media about feeling wonderful after receiving a “normal” genetic test result for their unborn baby. I’ve grown to dislike the word “normal.” I was already grumpy about the AC and seeing this statement really got me. I couldn’t help my anger and resentment bubble up. I realize a lot of people probably don’t know or realize things they say can be insensitive. I’m trying to get a thicker skin, but it’s going to take a while. 

It also made me hope I’ve never said insensitive things along the way of babies/fertility... not until knowing friends who struggled with fertility or miscarriages do we take for granted a “normal” pregnancy. I think that’s why with my second pregnancy, from the get-go I wanted to keep it off social media. I’m just more in tune with oversharing “perfect” pregnancies. Especially for women who struggle[d] or are having complications. 

So for my dear acquaintances who have been through the trenches - I hope my first time around, I wasn’t that annoying pregger. Now I’m on the other side and it’s hard. Seeing all these adorable babies on the computer is fun, but hard because my sweetie will have tubes galore... but that’s okay because she’s still our awesome daughter. 

In summary - all of theses things bundled up made for a really rotten day Wednesday. I cried when I got in my car. Then I got home to an 80+ degree home and I cried more. Tim sweetly rubbed my feet before bed and we slept decent and today is a new day! 

Hannah’s MRI & Echo [Long Post]

25 Weeks

Today was the day we’ve been anticipating - get some solid answers and have a semi-plan. So to start off I’ll top line with: it was a good day, everything suspected was confirmed and there were no surprises. So we left Children’s Hospital feeling good. 

5:30 am: Mom & Dad wake up and shower, Nora wakes up 15 minutes later due to all the bustling. We’re out of the house by 6:20am. 

7:10am: Find our way to Children’s Hospital. Embarrassingly, after attending UC for 5 years, I’d never realized Children’s location nor seen it until today. The hospital itself is like a small busy city - people moving everywhere constantly. 

Our day-long schedule - !

7:30am: Register with Radiology for my/Hannah’s MRI. We were asked various questions and I changed into gowns and got into the MRI room by 8:15am.

8:20am: I lay on my left side and the technician secures my mid-section with some foam pieces as well as my upper legs. I laid on a pillow, had a wedge for my belly and a pillow between my legs. I opted for music, so also laid on some large headphones. I was told it was going to be loud and it was; to the point I could not hear Bob Seger singing his Night Moves in my ears. 

For those of you who have not had the pleasantry, MRIs are not fun. It wasn’t so much being in the tube, but being slightly strapped down in one position for 1-hr that was hard. It’s a major exercise in mental escapism. It helped that my head was close to the opening… when the huge noises weren’t occurring, I would wiggle my feet and hands. But knowing you can’t really stretch or move position was rough. And twice I was asked to hold my breath for 20 seconds for photos. Ugh. 

Thankfully it went a little faster than I thought and was given a handful of graham crackers and apple juice - because I wasn’t allowed to eat prior! 

10:30am: Echocardiogram for Hannah - way easier since it’s essentially an ultrasound. The cardiologist came in immediately afterwards and confirmed what had been suspected: Hannah has an AV Canal Defect. The doctor said in terms of heart defects, it’s common. He talked and drew out what a “normal” vs AVCD heart looks like - she’s basically missing some connecting walls that can be taken care of through meds until somewhere between 4-6 months old when she’ll need open heart surgery [so somewhere between January - March 2015]. The cardiologist seems confident, he was great to talk to and super friendly. 

11:30am: Lunch [finally!] in the really nice cafeteria. Two observations - 1. Lots of kids stared at me presumably because of my belly. 2. Children’s Hospital employs a lot of special need people which impressed me.

12:30pm: Meet with an RN, Amy, who was incredibly nice. Met with a Genetic Counselor who asked about extended family medical history. Met with a social worker who can recommend more resources for Hannah’s [presumed] Down Syndrome. 

2:15pm: Meet with the Director of Fetal Medicine, Hannah’s Pediatric Surgeon and the Neonatal Director. These men reviewed Hannah’s MRI and Echo photos. First, her mildly large brain ventricles were brought up due to a bit of extra fluid. There is no blockage, so this will be monitored the rest of the pregnancy. If it becomes too much, she will need a shunt put in to drain the fluid to another part of her body. I really really hope this doesn’t happen because I’d prefer Hannah to NOT have a 3rd procedure. 

Second, her Duodenal Atresia was confirmed. The surgeon was very soft-spoken, but felt this was a very straightforward occurrence that they treat often. He also drew on a board what her stomach looks like and how they'll fix it. 

Third was the only surprise of the day: they saw a 1" cyst on Mommy’s ovary! Wheeee! Haha. Honestly though, they saw no concern and will pass this information to my OB. Great. 

Next, the Neonatologist went through what will happen immediately following delivery which was a huge help so we know what to expect. They all said to deliver at Good Sam based on their Level 3 NICU. 

First, I do have a higher risk of delivering early based on the T21 - average of a couple weeks possibly. They agreed I can proceed with what birth plans I want, but said I could have increased risk of a C-section simply because Hannah could have heart stress during the labor process. 

Once I deliver her, they will give us what bonding time they can, but the Neonatology team will need to assess her quick with her lungs, then heart. They will hook her up to an IV for nutrition fairly soon and give her an NG suction tube to remove the excess fluid in her stomach and duodenum. Within 1-4 hours of birth will transport her to Children’s Hospital. Tim will follow the ambulance and they will get me over when I can. That’s going to blow : (

Once Hannah is at Children’s, our team will assess her for how quickly to do the duodenal surgery. They will transfer her IV to a picc line which they can leave in for a longer time to continue to give her the nutrition she needs while waiting for surgery  as well as any meds she’ll need. 

She’ll then receive her stomach surgery which will be a small incision in her abdomen. She could need a gastronomy tube that feeds her directly below the correction so she can get her nutrition. Hopefully within 3-5 days she’ll be eating orally. They were straightforward to tell me feeding is going to be hard - it could be a few weeks until she starts to nurse from me. I think this is what I’m anxious about because feeing any baby is hard. Feeding a baby with Down Syndrome is harder due to their condition. Feeding a baby who starts life on tubes instead of Mom is going to be super hard. I’m determined to get her breast milk as long as I can, so I think pumping is going to be key. Because her heart will be working harder due to her AVCD, she’ll burn calories faster and need my milk to be enriched or supplement with formula. 

I’m anxious about the NICU experience - I anticipate being there at the very least 3 weeks… up to 6 depending on how Hannah recovers. We’re going to schedule a tour of Children’s NICU and hopefully ask more questions like how parents stay or come and go… visiting hours, etc. We still need to have care for Nora, yet see her and Oh Yeah! We have a dog too : P We’ll figure it out and know we have an awesome village of family and friends to help us. I just know I’m going to get itchy and want to bring her home to start our New Normal. 

I can’t repeat enough how thankful we are to live in one of the best cities to care for her. I actually keep forgetting she will probably have Down Syndrome because I’m so focused on her post-delivery needs. I also keep forgetting I have to go through labor - ha! I’m reading up on the Bradley Method and again, hope that I can at least deliver naturally. Of course, her health comes first! 

3:00pm: We leave Children’s feeling confident, reassured and glad that we have confirmation of what Hannah will need, we know how the game plan will go and we can continue to focus and prepare.

3:15pm: We treat ourselves to Starbucks

4pm: We pick up Nora with the best welcome ever: She hugs us at the same time and says, “Mom, Dad I love you so much.” I nearly start crying. 

Later this evening, I told Nora that Hannah had a check-up with the doctors today because she’s going to need her heart and stomach fixed. Nora said “Oh! Hannah’s broken?” 

“Well, a little, but the doctors are going to fix her.” 

“Daddy will be the Doctor?”

“Well Daddy’s going to help.”

“I’ll help Hannah, too.”

Now we wait for her to arrive!

10 Things TO SAY To Parents of A Newborn with Down Syndrome

25 Weeks

I saw this parent’s post and thought it was very helpful - for friends, family and myself even. If the tables were turned, I wouldn’t quite know what to say either! 

http://www.gillianmarchenko.com/10-things-to-say-when-a-baby-is-born-with-down-syndrome/

Rainy Sunday

25 Weeks

2 1/2 Years

Every now and then it’s nice to have a dreary day to stay indoors. Today was that day and we were very productive at home; swept and tidied the basement, lots of laundry including washing the Chicco stroller and pumpkin seat. I even pulled out a few receiving blankets to put in Hannah’s room which is slowly coming together. Hannah’s room will basically be all of Nora’s nursery pieces, with some new artwork on the walls.

*Oh yeah - Baby Girl’s name is Hannah Mae Kron. I don’t think I posted that here yet, but we are telling her name due to the fact that so many doctors and professionals will be assessing her. Not to mention it helps when people want to direct any positivity towards her : ) 

We also managed to give Ailo a bath while Nora napped and I washed the kitchen floor. 

Good Sunday home.

Nora was a Grump-A-Puss this afternoon. We think it was hunger.

Big Sister helping re-assemble the pumpkin seat.

I can’t believe this goofball ever fit in there!

Dipping Our Toes In...

25 Weeks

Saturday afternoon the 3 1/2 of us went to Sharonville Park for the DSAGC Early Matters Ice Cream Social - all parents of children with Down Syndrome; from prenatal [me] to 5 years old. It was very intimidating walking up to a park shelter knowing no one. We knew what Martha, the Early Matters Coordinator, looked like and started by introducing ourselves to her. 

After a nice conversation about how awesome all the families are and how well they are all doing, a nice woman, Julie, introduced herself and her 2-year old son, Jonah, with DS. Everyone we talked to was very open and honest about everything - a handful of mothers didn’t know their children were DS until after delivering - I imagine that emotional transition had to be harder than ours. A lot of families were very candid about how they went to dark places after their diagnosis. Everyone there truly said they are doing very well now and very happy and it really showed. 

I noticed that Nora towered over a lot of children there who were close to her age - I hadn’t  realized that children with DS are in smaller stature overall. Some of the children had just turned 2 and were just learning to walk. Which we’ve learned - the milestones happen much later than a child with typical chromosomes. 

We stayed an hour and felt good we’d made this small leap. The Buddy Walk is the next event on Sept 6th, but I’m a little nervous I could be close to delivering at that time! I know the Buddy Walk is a huge, wonderful event, so maybe we’ll be a last-minute registration depending on how I feel - ? 

After the ice cream social, we walked over to Nana & Papa’s house to visit and hit the St. Michael’s festival. Nana gave Nora some money to use and we played a lot of games that Nora won prizes at. The compact festival was overstimulation for Nora which says a lot!

We ran into the Morris/Godfreys and invited them back to Nana & Papa’s house. The girls played/argued over toys while the parents rolled their eyes in laughter. 

Finding Joy Again

24 Weeks

It hasn't even been a full month since our “devastating” news... which looking back now isn’t devastating. I’m more concerned about her healthy organs than Down Syndrome! Another person told me this week, “I’m so sorry.” I responded, “Don’t be!” I’ve found other parents and some message boards that have been reassuring. 

We’re in contact with the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati [DSAGC] who has an impressive program for all ages. Additionally, they’ve hooked us up with a 2014 birth group that has monthly meet-ups. I think this will be a great help being able to communicate with parents in our boat. 

Of course, I still want my “old” friends to make sure they keep us in their date books too : )

I had my 24 Week OB and Level 2 ultrasound yesterday - everything looked the same, which to me is totally fine. As long as we don’t get “worse.” The only change was a bit more amniotic fluid in me. 

Through the message board I’ve been using, it seems a lot of women with DS babies tend to deliver early - averaging 37/38 weeks - which would put me around early Sept! A lot of this is due to various possibilities; health problems with a lot of babies, the extra chromosome can cause the placenta to deteriorate early, or excessive amniotic fluid which pushes everything out a bit early.

I do hope we get as far along as we can - the longer she’s in there, the more time to develop. 

I’m glad my emotions have come around full circle to excitement again - you feel guilty crying and being upset at the onset of the news, but everyone tells me, it’s normal and okay to “grieve” what you thought you would have. I can honestly say I’m excited for her to arrive and looking forward to growing our love. 

24 Weeks

The technician was sweet to give us 3D photos [shhh!]

She does not have a hole on her head! Simply the image not rendering completely.

Test Results

23 Weeks

We received the Harmony test results back [my bloodwork] and confirmed what everyone thought; our daughter is high risk [99%] for Trisomy 21 / Down Syndrome. It’s a little bizarre receiving some confirmation and reality settles a little deeper. 

I don’t know how to respond when people say “I’m sorry,” - I’m not sorry. You shouldn’t be either. She will be a happy baby and the doctors will fix her heart and stomach. She’ll laugh and read books with Mommy and Daddy and play with her big sister Nora. 

So far the most help has been reading other parent’s accounts of raising a child with Down Syndrome. My favorite is titled, “Welcome to Holland:”

“I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.  It’s like this…

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy.  You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans.  The Coliseum.  The Michelangelo David.  The gondolas in Venice.  You may learn some handy phrases in Italian.  It’s all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives.  You pack your bags and off you go.  Several hours later, the plane lands.  The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”

“Holland??!!” you say.  “What do you mean Holland??  I signed up for Italy!!  I’m supposed to be in Italy.  All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”

But there’s been a change in the flight plan.  They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease.  It’s just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books.  And you must learn a whole new language.  And you will meet a whole new group of people you would have never met.

It’s just a different place.  It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy.  But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills…Holland has tulips.  Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy…and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there.  And for the rest of your life, you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go.  That’s what I had planned.”

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away…because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But…if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things…..about Holland.”

One Step At A Time

22 Weeks

Hello Friends & Family!

It’s been almost a week since our intense news about Baby Girl. Last week was heavy and I think my tears were all finally shed by last Saturday - woo! We still have days when we feel down, but that’s the beauty of a good marriage and support system - you always have someone to fall back on. 

We want to thank all the family and friends who have reached out to us to lend a hand or just words of encouragement. It really helps us to hear from you!

This week has been quiet with no appointments - except for Tim’s dental - so that’s been nice for once. We will not get the Harmony test results back until at least the end of next week. It will feel like an eternity to get confirmation of what everyone already believes is true. 

My fetal MRI and Baby’s echocardiogram has yet to be scheduled. It will probably be the week of June 9th. At this day-long meeting there will be multiple specialists there to talk to who will perform Baby Girl’s surgeries as well as my own OB whom I love. Again, we are so grateful to be in the perfect city for children’s medicine. We’ve also learned the DS community here is very strong - once we get an official diagnosis, I know we’ll immerse ourselves further and engage with a new community. 

We have started looking ahead and are excited to meet our little girl in September!

If anyone has questions for us, I’m happy to answer as best I can - we’re still learning ourselves. 

Thanks again for your support/prayers/positive mojo - 

The Krons

The Fog is Clearing...

22 Weeks

Friday we met with a genetic counselor who talked to us about our ultrasound findings and answered our questions as best she could. She was very knowledgeable with fetal biology and chromosome makeup to teach us about the different possibilities with chromosome abnormalities. She also told us about a 4th marker that we were not informed about: Baby Girl’s femur bones are slightly shorter than they should be. 

All of these four markers are pointing towards Down Syndrome. I've had so many “what ifs” this week that honestly, if I can't have a 100% healthy baby, Downs would be my next choice. All her symptoms do not point towards the other 3 possibilities; Trisomy 18, Trisomy 13 or Monosomy X. 

It was a lot to digest in less than 2 hours, we still had some tears because that “20%” chance seems ridiculous to us now. The counselor said 20% was a conservative guess. They took my blood Friday and will test the chromosomes. We’re fairly confident it will come back with 99% Trisomy 21 [Downs Syndrome]. The results will come back in 1 1/2 - 2 weeks.

Tim and I have talked a lot and we’re okay. I think the hardest part will be having her stomach and heart surgeries after birth to correct her defects. If we can get past that, we feel things will be fine. She will have a normal life, we just want to make sure she has the best quality of life she can. Tim and I feel our lives shouldn’t shift too drastically. There’s no reason we can’t have fun with friends, go out now and then and participate in what we normally do. We don’t want people feeling sorry for us and expect to keep up with friends and family as we do now. 

I still have a range of emotions, but sadness and anger are not part of it. Imagining children in special needs homes, or seeing children who can’t walk or feed themselves due to chromosome abnormalities - THAT would be heartbreaking. Possible Down Syndrome? We’ll figure it out. 

Again, this isn’t certain, but all signs are pointing towards it. I think once the test results come back, we can all focus and prepare for Baby Girl in September!

Thanks again for support and love.

The Krons

Baby Girl’s Status

21 Weeks

For those of you who have been wondering - our Monday Level 2 ultrasound did not go as well as we were hoping.

1. Her brain ventricles are measuring mildly large; measuring a 13 instead of a 10
2. Her heart valves are moving in unison instead of independently
3. Her stomach to duodenum transition looks to be partially obstructed and her stomach narrows towards the bottom instead of being fully round

Due to these three items, the doctor said our Baby Girl has a 20% chance for a chromosome abnormality. She continued to talk about next steps and such, but truthfully all I could do was just stare as my mind went blank. We left the appointment and as any mother would, I lost it. My daughter has a 20% chance of not being “normal.”

There’s a chance she could still develop well and some of these things go away. There’s a 5% chance they could get worse. I think having zero answers at this point is very hard. Everything is vague and we can’t prepare in anyway. We just have to go step by step and as we learn what is going on, educate ourselves. 

The past few days have been an emotional challenge; anger, sadness, disappointment, disbelief, etc. I’m a control freak and I like to have control of my environment and my life and I have zero control over this situation. The healthiest lifestyle, following all the rules and we’re still dealt this card. Then I see my neighbor who is 8 months pregnant smoking a cigarette and my fury boils over. Not. Fair. 

We’ve been in contact with some professionals and have a genetic blood test and genetic counseling set up for tomorrow at 3pm. This bloodwork is 99% accurate to detect any chromosome abnormalities. After we get those results, they will go to a team of doctors who will meet with us after I have a prenatal MRI/fetal echocardiogram. I will continue with Level 2 ultrasounds and Baby Girl will be monitored the duration of the pregnancy. 

Everyone tells us we can handle this, but there are moments I don’t know how. There are times when I’m calm and ready to meet her, there are times I freak out and mourn the loss of the life we know. 

And all of this is for the 20%! The way it’s being handle is as if she were 100% diagnosed. I suppose it’s better to focus on the “worst” and prepare us - which I suppose I prefer. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. 

I’m still scared but I’m grateful we live in a city with great children’s medicine, we have the best families and incredibly supportive friends. Writing here may help get out the feelings, too.

Please keep us in your thoughts - 
C

Nora will have a Little...

20 Weeks

SISTER! 

Wheeee! We are extremely excited and Tim and I both secretly were hoping for a girl - neither of us really said so either. We can now re-use all the girl clothes in the basement. Not to mention we have “experience” with a girl : )

She was moving a LOT. The technician asked if I’d had caffeine this morning - whoops! Baby Girl moved so much that the technician couldn’t get a good read on her heart, specifically a valve/artery for exiting blood (Sorry, I was really trying to listen well, it was medical words I’m not used to) . 

The second item notated was that one of her brain ventricles was measuring a little on the higher end of normal. Based on these two items, I was given an order for a Level 2 ultrasound to get a better read on her head and heart. Frankly, I’m really anxious about it. I know everyone is going to say “It’ll be just fine,” but no one is going to ease my mind until after Monday afternoon’s appointment. 

I briefly went on some baby message boards and found this isn’t uncommon and tends to work out just fine. This is still my baby though, and I’m going to worry - it’s what we do. 

All the rest of her measurements were right on track.

Positive thoughts, prayers or whatever your form of good vibes towards us are welcome : )

She already looks like Nora!

Frankly, this is creepy.

Hello arm and hand!

Runnin’ legs!

Big bumps, Lil bumps

When I went public on the blog, an acquaintance of mine revealed she was also pregnant, due a week after me (Hi, E!). We both love running, so its been fun shooting notes back and forth to see how each other is doing and how our running is going. 

I’m [probably annoyingly] fascinated at the difference in our bellies. Mine is a second baby, hers a first. I’m amazed at how different womens’ bodies act and grow with pregnancies. 

C at 20 Weeks - whoa baby!

E at 19 Weeks

This is also Flying Pig Marathon Weekend in Cincinnati - I miss the festivities and the emotions of the weekend. I feel  like I’m missing out on a lot. I thought about running the 10K, but after today’s strain, I knew I made the right call not signing up for anything “just in case.” 

I hope I’m able to participate next May - Baby #2 should be about 8 months old, so hopefully we’ll have an established routine and I’ll make my way back into training mode. I miss the exhausted feeling of accomplishment.

I have one old work friend who is around 24 weeks running the Half and another friend who is about 10 weeks running the full. Proud of all my running friends, preggo or not! See you next year at the races!

Halfsies

20 Weeks

Halfway baked, ya’ll! This pregnancy is going fast. I think. I still want a beer. I had another bout of indigestion this week. I’m convinced decaf coffee is to blame. That stuff isn’t worth squat, man. 

Nora keeps getting funnier - Friday morning Nora asked us, “Do you want to see my salsa beat?” I did a double-take. “Did you just ask if we want to see your salsa beat?” 
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay!”
Then she tapped the top of her head with her hands and Tim and I laughed incredibly hard. 

The goofball did not fall asleep last night until nearly 10pm - what the hell. Of course, she still got up at 6:12am. I left Tim to sleep in on his birthday. 

I went for a run around 11am. It was beautiful outside, I was feeling good… until mile 2.5 when I started feeling a strain in my lower abdomen. NOooooo! 20 Week belly making itself known. I walked the rest of the way home, bummed, but knowing you do not work through the pain while pregnant and running. I’m not sure whether this is the beginning of the end of running for now, or it was just a fluke day. 

Nora took a good long nap and afterwards we headed to downtown Loveland to eat a casual birthday dinner at Julien’s next to the bike path. Afterward we played on the playground a bit. Got home and gave Tim his birthday gift - a corded power drill, growler from 50 West and cupcakes from the Sweeterie in Mariemont. 

Hopefully Tim had a good day. Tomorrow brings the nephews to help Tim erase the rest of the mulch pile!

Vision Update

19 Weeks

My nurse practitioner called and said it sounds like I’m having the beginnings of migraines due to surges of hormones - ! Wow. She advised that my mid-morning snack be a protein and if that doesn’t help, to call back. 

I hope that’s the case and really hope one of these migraines never blossoms to the full thing. I rarely get headaches. I remember a period when Dad, Stephanie and Katherine would get them. I think everyone got beyond them for the most part. Scary!

Vision Side Effects?

Yesterday was the 3rd time in about 2 months that I’ve had what I’ll call double vision [?]. It’s happened twice at work while in front of my computer. It’s hard to describe, like an eye floater that “grows” in my vision, then dissipates. A bit of a a spacey/foggy feeling with it. 

It happened yesterday and manifested as a foggy/spacey feeling. I couldn’t focus, and tried to lay down for a bit which I guess kind of helped. It went away after about 2-3 hours but left a barely noticeable dull headache. 

I know some vision stuff is possible with pregnancies, but it’s kind of freaking me out. Side effect of pregnancy or the fact that I haven’t had my eyes checked since I was 28. I do tend to have lower blood pressure which some friends wonder if that’s linked. I even go too far and think about brain glitches… I know, calm down. Can’t help it! 

I left a VM with my office so hopefully they’ll get ahold of me Monday to advise me. Fingers crossed.

Takin’ Care of Business

17 Weeks

The week started rough. 

Home:
Our new hired tax folk waited until the last minute to ask questions and file us. Really not cool since we submitted back in February. They had finally sent a confirmation email at 8:30 the night before taxes were due and wanted us to fax them back. Yes, let me pull out my fax machine from my rear. I emailed the owner my disappointment and he admitted it was poor on their part. Not again. 

Work:
So on top of being completely stressed out Monday night over taxes, I knew I had to wake up at 4am for a flight to Boston with one of my bosses to meet with new clients. I made it to CVG fine, the flight was very bumpy - we rode on the cold front that came this past week. 

The meeting was fine. My boss admitted I probably didn't need to go - nice. However, I’m new and I need to make those small sacrifices. Our meeting went long and Boss had another client call, so we missed our late lunch reservation. 

In a strange coincidence, we were there on the 1-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombing. Our lunch reservation was down on Newbury St, so it was probably good we missed it with the memorial services going on. 

We at lunch around 3pm in the airport. Since I’d barely had food, I stuffed myself with a lobster wrap and fries. Very good, I ate too much. I got indigestion so the flight was not great. More turbulence. About 1 hour in I thought “I might puke.” Then my mouth started watering. Ignoring the buckle-up light, I made my way to the bathroom and seriously almost threw up. Somehow it passed as did the indigestion. Hot pregger mess. 

Thankfully I got home at 8:30pm so I was able to get a full night’s sleep.

Pregnancy:
Monday I had my 16 [really 17] week appointment - it was pretty straightforward, I heard the baby’s heartbeat again - this week it was around 130-140 range. We go back Wed, May 7th to find out the gender! Eeeeee! Once we hit that mark, I’ll probably put more focus into getting ready. 

I tried to find a maternity swimsuit at Target today. Between Nora’s swim lessons and going to the Sharonville pool with Nana, I’m going to need something I can wear with Nora that won’t pull off. You know what’s worse than swimsuit shopping? Maternity swimsuit shopping. Thankfully I’d put in an order with OldNavy.com so hopefully something in that shipment will work out.

Today [Friday] I’ve hit my limit on my regular jeans. Wah-waaahhhh. You know what? I forgot how comfortable maternity jeans are. Elastic for the win! Thank you again to Emma for the communal maternity clothes! I can’t remember how long I lasted last pregnancy - 18 weeks [tomorrow] seems like a good run for pregnancy #2. 

Nora: 
I don’t think I’ve seen Nora as high-pitched excited as Wednesday after the sitters - swim lessonssss! Tim and I sat and watched while Nora went straight to Miss Emma. They blew bubbles, went after the duckies, and jumped off the side until sadly our 15 minutes was up. 

Me:
We got a pleasant surprise last week with a day off today. My last day off was late January between jobs - I was very ready. No, I did not spend the day with Nora. I took her to the sitter so I could get. stuff. done. 
- grocery shopping
- washed and vacuumed car
- bought Tim’s b-day gift
- Target of course
- planted herbs and flowers
- cleaned house 
- online yoga

A lot for pregnant lady, but I had to take advantage of today since Easter weekend is a wash for anything else productive. Though I am looking forward to all the family time!

Happiness is 70-degree Weather

17 Weeks

I think most of us in the midwest can agree this weekend was utterly gorgeous. 70s - perfect. 

Friday was an intense day at work; tight deadline that we worked to the last minute. The client review was mediocre. My brain was done at 3:30 and I just wanted a drink. Blergh. Instead I down sweets. 

Saturday Tim ran while Nora and I played with sidewalk chalk outside. While Nora napped Tim and I rushed to get the house together for two families coming over for dinner. Great weather, great friends, great night. Nora and Ava are 3 months apart and truly enjoy each other - they actually played together instead of next to each other; ring-around-the-rosie, running and squealing and lots of pretending while the men acted as “dragons.” 

“So I told my Mom…”

With magic wands in hand

This morning I met with my doula, Anna, in Northside where she lives. Since she was my doula with Nora, our meeting was brief, yet nice. It was maybe 15 minutes and we’ll meet one more time before delivery. It wasn’t really a question this time around - I felt the benefit of having a 3rd level-headed party during labor and delivery is so valuable - the ability to tell us when to leave for the hospital pays for her costs alone. She provides physical and emotional support but cannot perform medical care like a midwife. 

When I returned, Daddy & Nora had had a trying morning of accidents in the big-girl underwear. We tried it out all morning and Nora did fairly well. If she had dry panties after “X” amount of time, we gave her some puffed corn. I don’t want to force anyone caring for Nora to do the dirty work, so we’ll see how far we can get on the weekends. 

I got in a run before Nora’s nap time [during which time Nora had another accident with Tim in the big-girl panties]. I was aiming for 6 miles, but wasn’t feeling it with the heat and backed down to 5 miles, walking up the last hill. I was good and listened to my body. 

We spent post-nap at Sharon Woods where every other family in Sharonville was as well! Thankfully it’s a large enough park, we didn’t feel smothered. 

I’d given Nora some cashews in the car on our way to Sharon Woods and she finished off a few on our way to dinner. While sitting in LaRosas, I noticed her skin seemed extra blotchy. It wasn’t that hot out and she’d had some water - we realized it looked like hives and was probably caused by the cashews which she rarely has; and had quite a few tonight. 

The hives have eased up, but now we’re obviously staying away! 

Hives mainly on left side of face. 

Boo.