Keepin' Busy!

Hello everybody! I'm still kicking, I've just been busy/tired/unmotivated to type, etc... So, here's what you missed.

I am 18 weeks now. The bebe has been compared to the size of a bell pepper, which is apparently 5 inches. I have not yet felt movement, but I can tell there's something in there because I have increased my trips to the bathroom quite a bit. I now go almost as much as my husband, who has the world's smallest bladder and drinks lots of coffee. LOL!

Last night I decided to go ahead and start sleeping on my side. I read that if you sleep on your back after a certain point you can cut off the circulation to some nerve that would not be good at all for bebe. I'm glad I started this early because it's awkward. I usually end up sleeping on my side anyway, but that's usually after spending the first part on my back getting settled. I will have to be sure to tell my massage therapist that I'm ready to switch to side lying for my massages. I can't wait for mine this Sunday! My lower back is already getting quite stiff. I already had issues with my lower back so I can tell this is going to be fun.

About a week and a half ago I went for genetic testing to make sure the baby didn't have any defects. They said they'd call within 10 days, but ONLY if the test was positive. The Down's Syndrome test evidently has a high false positive rate so once I got over the panic of having to get more blood work done, then I started to worry about that. However, it's been over 10 days and I haven't been called, so I think that's good news. I did just leave a message for the nurse to call me back with the results though, for good measure. A friend of mine made this round of blood work out to sound like I would have multiple tubes of blood removed. However, it turned out only to be one. If you've read my blogs about this and my previous pregnancy, then you know it doesn't matter how many vials they take, it's still a major production. Once again, they had to call in an expert to find my vein. They had this new nurse who used to work for a diabetes center. Evidently people with diabetes get stuck a lot and have issues with their veins as well. She wrapped that damn thing around my arm so tight I thought it was going to fall off, but she got it and then it was quickly over. I took my Mommy with me because Bill had to work. She did a good job of distracting me because she had to look away too and I thought that was funny. Then she found a picture on the wall of a baby in a knitted duck hat that she had to look at as soon as I was done. I was a little weak afterwards, but not too bad. Thanks Momma!

We got to hear the baby's heart beat again this time. Momma hadn't heard it so she was pretty excited. Again it wasn't super fast so I think we're having a girl, but you never know. It was also making this loud noise over the speaker. The midwife said it was because it was moving around in there. Evidently we have quite and active baby! First we saw it dancing on the ultrasound and now we can hear it moving around in there. It was pretty awesome to hear.

We have our next ultrasound appointment scheduled for New Year's Eve. I will be 20 weeks then and they'll probably be able to tell what it is for sure. However, they know we don't want to find out and actually think it's better that way. It's not as hard yet not knowing what we're having. I imagine it will get harder the further along we get, but we're gonna be strong.

I am not looking forward to the aching back and exhaustion and eventually the birth process, but I can't wait for our bebe to arrive! I'm a good feminist and all, but that does not mean I can't love babies and want lots of them for myself. Feminists get a bad wrap sometimes which is unfortunate, because, if we were all honest with ourselves, the majority of us are feminists. Some people just don't understand the term or don't like labels. Anyway, I know I'm going to go gaga over our bebe. It's something that I've always wanted for myself (and my husband of course). I have such a great relationship with my mother, I just hope I can have that with my bebe too.

I sometimes sit and wonder what color hair she/he will have, what color eyes, what birthmarks, what kind of personality, etc... I remember in 9th or 10th grade biology we did a project where we figured out our dominant genes and such which would tell you what color hair and eyes your baby would have. Now that I know that of my partner, I could probably figure it out. I'm sure there's some website that helps you figure that stuff out. It's funny because I had a head full of curly dark hair and really dark brown eyes when I was born, but now it's a light brown and is just wavy. My eyes are still brown, but not nearly as dark. Bill actually had blond hair when he was little which is now brown, but his beard has a reddish tint because of his Scottish ancestry. His eyes are a beautiful blue. No telling what our kids will have, but I know they'll be beautiful!

On a sad note, we got word that Bill's dad's Leukemia has come back in small amounts. It was a year ago (12/11) that he was diagnosed. He went in the hospital for shortness of breath. They told him that if he hadn't come in then, he would have been dead in 2 weeks. We're lucky to have had this year with him and we hope to have many more. He has started some sort of chemo shot and so far he seems to be doing ok. I think the shot will just prolong his life, not cure the Leukemia. I don't think he's a candidate for bone marrow transplant or stem cell treatment, unless something with this shot changes that. We're all hopeful that he'll at least be around to meet his grand baby. We're hoping for a miracle though, and that we'll have him with us for a long time. He's the sweetest and I want our children to know him and what a special person he is. We've been going home to visit him and the family just about every weekend for the last few months. I've encouraged him to write down his family's history, things that wouldn't be on birth certificates or marriage licenses. Not sure if he'll do that so I've been trying to remember everything he's told me about his family and his own life.

On the knitting front, I've been working on a ribbed stitch blanket for my friend Robyn who just had her baby boy, Ryan Mason, on 12/3. I was hoping to have it done by then, but it's only about 3/4ths of the way done. I am also working on a pair of booties for our friend Patti's new niece. Those are lavender with white buttons. The pattern is pretty easy and it doesn't take long to make. I've got to finish those by Thursday so she can take them with her when she leaves town. I've also got a scarf that I'm working on for my sister which is purple (with some pink touches). It's the boa yarn and it's not as hard to work with as I thought. It's actually quite pretty. I still have the two blankets for our baby that I'm working on. I've got time to finish those.

I'm also thinking of starting an Etsy page. That's a place where you can sell your handmade crafts. My friend Tiffany make hair accessories for little girls and sells them up there. She's done pretty well. However, she is a stay at home mom and has the time and space to get a lot made. I would only be able to work on stuff after work and on weekends. I've got a bunch of things made already and there are a few patterns I could whip out pretty quickly. I'll probably make it so that I take requests instead of taking the time to make something big like a blanket and have no one to buy it. I'm still thinking about this though. I also want to organize my photo collection on my computer as well over the break. I have so many pictures on my computer that it is slowing it down. I told the guy who sold me the computer that I take a way lot of pictures. He assured me I would have enough room. I guess he didn't believe me when I said "a way lot"!

Anyway, I'll try to update more frequently. It's fun for me, but I have to make myself get started on it sometimes. If I don't get to update until after the holidays, I hope everyone has a very safe holiday season and finds some time to relax and have some fun!