05.27.08
Doctor’s appointment today…I have always said I would be critical of wait times at doctor’s offices and give praise when it was deserved. Today was an exceptional visit. In and out in under 30 minutes. Now this could mean a couple of things – 1- we were just lucky, 2- the doctor sucks and is going out of business (hope she can hang on until September) or 3- they are efficient. I am going with the latter for peace of mind. Dr. McCusker measured her again – 25.5” perfect – once again don’t really know what that means except that is almost the official size of a girl’s basketball 28.5” (I really do know what it means – call me and test me if you dare). The baby’s heart rate was 136bpm for those keeping track at home, it has slowed down. LA said that means it’s a boy. I told her she was crazy…as the baby gets bigger the heart is going to slow down. It can’t keep beating at 144 bpm, forever. LA is 25 weeks and has her paperwork for the gestational diabetes (the sugar) test to get done in the next two to three weeks. She isn’t looking forward to it. Everyone, including the doctor, says it sucks. The doctor told her to chug it, not sip it. The doctor also gave her some pointers (cheats) for passing the test. Hope those work – well really doesn’t affect me (effect me – English teachers), I don’t have to drink the stuff. The magic number is 140 and lower. 10-15% fail the first test and 1% fail the follow-up three hour test. For the accountants and numbers people reading this, the numbers don’t work but the doctor said a total of 5% of all women get/have gestational diabetes (the sugar). So say a little prayer over the coming days and weeks that she passes that test.
We get to meet a new doctor next time...should be interesting. Hope, we like her. I guess they are not going under so they must be efficient.
Drano test is still in the works…I promise. Marty and Danielle did it for me, so I feel like we have to do it. But theirs was only half right…ha!ha!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
One Of Those Days
05.26.08
Ever had one of those days? This doesn’t have anything to do with the baby but I thought I would share. Today is Memorial Day, a holiday for most people including LA and I. I started the day off with getting the paper, fixing a large glass of milk and heating some pop-tarts in the toaster oven. LA told me she thought something was on fire but I assured her it was ok. I am a professional heating up pop-tarts. I assured her with a quick look it was just some stuff in the bottom of the toaster burning off and turned to do something else. She told me again something was on fire and when I looked in the glass door my pop-tarts were get flame kissed. I had never seen real flames inside a toaster oven before. I turned the oven off and pulled my smoked pop-tarts out – it was actually pretty cool. I took my milk, smoked pop-tarts and paper to sit on the sofa. About halfway through the second pop-tart, I went to return my milk to its place and spilled the remaining milk – 85% onto the floor. Wow, what a mess. It was a job for the quicker picker upper - Bounty. I am pretty sure it took ½ a roll to get it all up. How does the lady in the commercial only use like ½ a sheet? I figured the fire and the spilled milk were enough to make the blog just for humor sake but the day wasn’t over yet. Later in the evening LA and I decided to have some desert – turtle cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory (Sam’s Freezer Section, very good). I fixed myself a large class of tea and returned to the scene of the earlier accident. LA wanted to sit in the chair and a half with me and as I was moving some things around and I kicked my full glass of tea over onto the floor. Wow, what a mess. It was another job for the quicker picker upper. After another ½ roll of paper towels and some laughter, I got to enjoy my cheesecake. I can assure you that the floor in front of the sofa is spotless. The real funny thing is that I admit that I have been anal about the floors since we had them refinished. Maybe those two accidents are helping prepare me for the baby and the spills that are coming and to always remember not to cry over spilt milk or tea…(that is stupid, I apologize but I couldn’t resist it).
Ever had one of those days? This doesn’t have anything to do with the baby but I thought I would share. Today is Memorial Day, a holiday for most people including LA and I. I started the day off with getting the paper, fixing a large glass of milk and heating some pop-tarts in the toaster oven. LA told me she thought something was on fire but I assured her it was ok. I am a professional heating up pop-tarts. I assured her with a quick look it was just some stuff in the bottom of the toaster burning off and turned to do something else. She told me again something was on fire and when I looked in the glass door my pop-tarts were get flame kissed. I had never seen real flames inside a toaster oven before. I turned the oven off and pulled my smoked pop-tarts out – it was actually pretty cool. I took my milk, smoked pop-tarts and paper to sit on the sofa. About halfway through the second pop-tart, I went to return my milk to its place and spilled the remaining milk – 85% onto the floor. Wow, what a mess. It was a job for the quicker picker upper - Bounty. I am pretty sure it took ½ a roll to get it all up. How does the lady in the commercial only use like ½ a sheet? I figured the fire and the spilled milk were enough to make the blog just for humor sake but the day wasn’t over yet. Later in the evening LA and I decided to have some desert – turtle cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory (Sam’s Freezer Section, very good). I fixed myself a large class of tea and returned to the scene of the earlier accident. LA wanted to sit in the chair and a half with me and as I was moving some things around and I kicked my full glass of tea over onto the floor. Wow, what a mess. It was another job for the quicker picker upper. After another ½ roll of paper towels and some laughter, I got to enjoy my cheesecake. I can assure you that the floor in front of the sofa is spotless. The real funny thing is that I admit that I have been anal about the floors since we had them refinished. Maybe those two accidents are helping prepare me for the baby and the spills that are coming and to always remember not to cry over spilt milk or tea…(that is stupid, I apologize but I couldn’t resist it).
Friday, May 23, 2008
Extended Holiday Weekend
05.23.08
LA got her Memorial Day weekend started off a little early…She called me around 8:30am to come get her from school. She wasn’t feeling well and had to have a student get the nurse to come get her in the wheelchair. She had told me before she left that she needed a day off…just kidding. Her fellow teachers are great and covered her classes for her for the rest of the day – thanks Jenn and Amy (and anyone else who helped out!), She spent the rest of the day on the sofa resting and relaxing – she’s real good at that – ha!ha! (She learned it from a pro – me!),
LA got her Memorial Day weekend started off a little early…She called me around 8:30am to come get her from school. She wasn’t feeling well and had to have a student get the nurse to come get her in the wheelchair. She had told me before she left that she needed a day off…just kidding. Her fellow teachers are great and covered her classes for her for the rest of the day – thanks Jenn and Amy (and anyone else who helped out!), She spent the rest of the day on the sofa resting and relaxing – she’s real good at that – ha!ha! (She learned it from a pro – me!),
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Does Anybody Read This?
05.22.08
Family - No comments on the 3D picture...How can you not tell us how pretty that baby is?
My friend Walt put his money on it being a girl. He tells me to look at the pictures. It’s obvious. He has three kids...maybe he knows something.
Family - No comments on the 3D picture...How can you not tell us how pretty that baby is?
My friend Walt put his money on it being a girl. He tells me to look at the pictures. It’s obvious. He has three kids...maybe he knows something.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Chinese Calendar, Voodo and Drano
05.16.08
I did the Chinese calendar today and it predicts a boy…come on really, could something buried in tomb 700 years ago be accurate??? I read on-line that if the baby’s heartbeat is greater than 134 it is a girl. That prediction means were having a girl…Adrian did some hokey thing with a string and came up with a boy. Really, it’s a 50/50 shot. I checked in Vegas and that’s the best odds they would give me. The only way to settle this is with the drano test. I will be convinced with the drano test results. I mean come on that is scientific…involves chemicals and reactions…I wasn’t the smartest in science but the drano hypothesis makes sense and has to work. Whatever the drano test tells us is what kind of bedding we are buying…end of stress and end of suspense.
See how much fun it is not knowing…
I did the Chinese calendar today and it predicts a boy…come on really, could something buried in tomb 700 years ago be accurate??? I read on-line that if the baby’s heartbeat is greater than 134 it is a girl. That prediction means were having a girl…Adrian did some hokey thing with a string and came up with a boy. Really, it’s a 50/50 shot. I checked in Vegas and that’s the best odds they would give me. The only way to settle this is with the drano test. I will be convinced with the drano test results. I mean come on that is scientific…involves chemicals and reactions…I wasn’t the smartest in science but the drano hypothesis makes sense and has to work. Whatever the drano test tells us is what kind of bedding we are buying…end of stress and end of suspense.
See how much fun it is not knowing…
Ultrasound Results
05.16.08
So we went to MUSC today for our final ultrasound to check the baby’s heart. The ultrasound technician was much friendlier than grumpy lady last time. The baby weighs about 1.4lbs and the heart rate is 141 bpm (beats per minute, I’m sure you figured that out…yeah right). The Mountain Dew 30 minutes before leaving had the baby actively moving its feet. However, it was lying with its spine on top of LA’s stomach for the whole time. It was pretty cool watching the monitor and seeing the baby kick its feet and watching LA feel it at the same time. The baby didn’t like the ultrasound tech and kicked her pretty good one time. She didn’t take a lot of pictures this time and spent most of the focusing on getting the views of the heart the doctor needed since that was the only thing they couldn’t see good enough the first time. However, she did a 3D image of the baby that we got to see on the monitor which was cool. When she was finished, I asked her if she was going to give us a CD with some of the pictures and you would have thought one CD was going to close the hospital and she was going to lose her job. She asked if we got one the first time we visited and we told her yes. She then told us that it was against policy to give us an additional CD – one CD no matter how many visits. However, she told us just this time she would make us an additional CD which we were appreciative. So let me put this in perspective for you – Anybody know what an ultrasound at MUSC cost? Let’s just for fun say it was $750 (probably 5 to 10 times that). A CD is what $.25 and a case is $.25 - $.50 total – hospital markup $9.95. Do every expecting couple a favor and just include it in the cost or put it on my bill. That kind of logic can only come when you work for a government agency.
A few minutes later, I found out what skills it takes to be a doctor – quick thinker and observant. The doctor comes in to talk to us and in the room are LA and I. The first words out of his mouth and I quote “You must be Mrs. Carter.” I just about fell out of my chair. I couldn’t believe it I finally was meeting Captain Obvious in person. Who else in the room would be Mrs. Carter? Hey, guess what I’m “Mr. Carter”…ding,,ding..ding. He went on to tell us that the heart and everything else was fine and looked good on the ultrasound. He went on to tell that the development of the brain is still very impressive and his first observation still holds true – your child is going to be a “genius” (His words, not mine and fortunately he said genius not a doctor). So that concludes the ultrasounds for baby Carter. Did I mention what we are having? We decided to find out and not tell anybody just to make them mad. Hey, it’s our child. It’s a ………? You might try asking me because I can be a softy or maybe you can stop by after we purchase some bedding and figure it out. It’s only 16.5 weeks. It’s not going to kill you. If you look closely at the pictures you can figure it out.
See you in September to find out if you are right!
So we went to MUSC today for our final ultrasound to check the baby’s heart. The ultrasound technician was much friendlier than grumpy lady last time. The baby weighs about 1.4lbs and the heart rate is 141 bpm (beats per minute, I’m sure you figured that out…yeah right). The Mountain Dew 30 minutes before leaving had the baby actively moving its feet. However, it was lying with its spine on top of LA’s stomach for the whole time. It was pretty cool watching the monitor and seeing the baby kick its feet and watching LA feel it at the same time. The baby didn’t like the ultrasound tech and kicked her pretty good one time. She didn’t take a lot of pictures this time and spent most of the focusing on getting the views of the heart the doctor needed since that was the only thing they couldn’t see good enough the first time. However, she did a 3D image of the baby that we got to see on the monitor which was cool. When she was finished, I asked her if she was going to give us a CD with some of the pictures and you would have thought one CD was going to close the hospital and she was going to lose her job. She asked if we got one the first time we visited and we told her yes. She then told us that it was against policy to give us an additional CD – one CD no matter how many visits. However, she told us just this time she would make us an additional CD which we were appreciative. So let me put this in perspective for you – Anybody know what an ultrasound at MUSC cost? Let’s just for fun say it was $750 (probably 5 to 10 times that). A CD is what $.25 and a case is $.25 - $.50 total – hospital markup $9.95. Do every expecting couple a favor and just include it in the cost or put it on my bill. That kind of logic can only come when you work for a government agency.
A few minutes later, I found out what skills it takes to be a doctor – quick thinker and observant. The doctor comes in to talk to us and in the room are LA and I. The first words out of his mouth and I quote “You must be Mrs. Carter.” I just about fell out of my chair. I couldn’t believe it I finally was meeting Captain Obvious in person. Who else in the room would be Mrs. Carter? Hey, guess what I’m “Mr. Carter”…ding,,ding..ding. He went on to tell us that the heart and everything else was fine and looked good on the ultrasound. He went on to tell that the development of the brain is still very impressive and his first observation still holds true – your child is going to be a “genius” (His words, not mine and fortunately he said genius not a doctor). So that concludes the ultrasounds for baby Carter. Did I mention what we are having? We decided to find out and not tell anybody just to make them mad. Hey, it’s our child. It’s a ………? You might try asking me because I can be a softy or maybe you can stop by after we purchase some bedding and figure it out. It’s only 16.5 weeks. It’s not going to kill you. If you look closely at the pictures you can figure it out.
See you in September to find out if you are right!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Last Chance To Find Out
05.15.08
We go to MUSC tomorrow for the last ultrasound…this is our last chance to find out what we are having. I think LA wants to find out so she (we) can make some bedding decisions. We are still battling the lack of unisex baby stuff. If we found out that would remove some stress. It is tough being old fashion in the 21st century. My vote is still for not finding out and we agreed last night to continue with not finding out. I guess if we accidentally find out tomorrow that is fine but the mystery of it is a girl or boy still is fun.
Stay tuned until tomorrow (actually probably Sat) to find out what we decided…Will they find out? Will they find out and not tell anybody? Is it a boy or Is it a girl?
I am going on the record today and saying we are having a boy…maybe we will do the drano test to confirm this weekend.
We go to MUSC tomorrow for the last ultrasound…this is our last chance to find out what we are having. I think LA wants to find out so she (we) can make some bedding decisions. We are still battling the lack of unisex baby stuff. If we found out that would remove some stress. It is tough being old fashion in the 21st century. My vote is still for not finding out and we agreed last night to continue with not finding out. I guess if we accidentally find out tomorrow that is fine but the mystery of it is a girl or boy still is fun.
Stay tuned until tomorrow (actually probably Sat) to find out what we decided…Will they find out? Will they find out and not tell anybody? Is it a boy or Is it a girl?
I am going on the record today and saying we are having a boy…maybe we will do the drano test to confirm this weekend.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
What Does It Feel Like?
05.14.08
I got to feel the baby this morning for the first time as we were waking up. It was awesome to finally feel what she has been describing. It makes you pause and praise God. It did feel a little weird because you normally don’t have something poking you from the inside. Here is my attempt to describe what I felt… If I was a doctor and she wasn’t pregnant and I felt that, I would tell her she ate something that didn’t agree with her – felt like she has a bad case of gas or cramps. We all know how bad that feels when you’ve got the rumble but now you could feel it on the outside.
I got to feel the baby this morning for the first time as we were waking up. It was awesome to finally feel what she has been describing. It makes you pause and praise God. It did feel a little weird because you normally don’t have something poking you from the inside. Here is my attempt to describe what I felt… If I was a doctor and she wasn’t pregnant and I felt that, I would tell her she ate something that didn’t agree with her – felt like she has a bad case of gas or cramps. We all know how bad that feels when you’ve got the rumble but now you could feel it on the outside.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Swelling
05.13.08
LA is starting to feel the effects of standing on her feet all day – swelling in her feet. She was funny tonight complaining about not having ankles – thick ankles (every girls dream – Walt and Chris, That reminds me of many funny conversations on that topic). She must have been super tired…she went to sleep at 7:15pm and never was really awake (a few rambling questions at various times during the evening) and then to bed. By the way, never wake a sleeping pregnant lady (I have and will not do that) and never ask if they are tired…they are always tired.
LA is starting to feel the effects of standing on her feet all day – swelling in her feet. She was funny tonight complaining about not having ankles – thick ankles (every girls dream – Walt and Chris, That reminds me of many funny conversations on that topic). She must have been super tired…she went to sleep at 7:15pm and never was really awake (a few rambling questions at various times during the evening) and then to bed. By the way, never wake a sleeping pregnant lady (I have and will not do that) and never ask if they are tired…they are always tired.
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