newsflash

Could someone please tell me why I was not informed that Grey's Anatomy went back on the air last week?!!! How was I not made aware of this? There is another new episode tomorrow night and you can bet I'll be getting online to catch up on last week's episode. Um, yeah I don't remember at all what's going on at Seattle Grace after all these months.

updates

Work has been busy this week, hence the lack of postage here. I do have a few updates however.

Isaac went back to the doctor yesterday and his platelet count was at 400,000! That is on the high end of normal, so we are very glad. If you recall he was only at 7,000 a week ago. Thank you everyone once again who prayed for him!

We ended up not making it to the Obama rally Monday night. I was too tired to stay up that late and deal with all the hassle it would have involved. Plus, some friends we were going with had their baby that morning! So of course they couldn't make it, and I just wasn't motivated enough to stay up that late. Pregnant ladies need their rest!

For anyone who still cares what my pregnant belly is looking like week to week, I added a photo yesterday to Sunday's post. I didn't think I was bigger than last week, but maybe I am after all. The kid just keeps on growing--as he should. :-)

26 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber), from head to heel. The nerve pathways in his ears are developing, which means his response to sounds is growing more consistent. His lungs are developing now, too, as he continues to take small breaths of amniotic fluid — good practice for when he's born and takes that first breath of air. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days.

We haven't taken a photo yet this week. But I think I'm about the same as last week. I had my doctor's appointment last week and I have now gained 12 pounds total. I thought it was going to be more honestly. Everything is still looking good. I have to get the glucose screening test in a couple weeks. Not looking forward to drinking the nasty sugar drink. Asher is still quite the mover and as he gets bigger, so do those kicks and rolls or whatever it is he's doing in there! It's really crazy to watch my belly move up and down and all over as he moves.

*Photo added Tuesday, April 29*

obama's coming to UNC

Barack Obama is having a rally at UNC on Monday night! I have tickets for Jared and me (they are free). I know it will be crazy, but I think it would be really cool to go. Definitely an historic thing. This guy could very likely be our next President. Hopefully I'll be able to stay up late enough. The rally isn't until 9:30 pm! And we'll have to be there uber early just to get in.

maureen dowd at her best

Maureen Dowd of the New York Times is a fantastic writer. I love reading her Op-Eds. It doesn't matter if one agrees with her or not, she is always clever and creative. Her latest is really entertaining, funny, and full of her creative quips. Check it out: Wilting Over Waffles

in more good news...

Jared passed his defense!!! He's got a few revisions, but he passed! CONGRATULATIONS, babe!

Isaac update

Isaac just went to the hematologist and the diagnosis is for sure ITP. Such a relief. They aren't going to even treat him because in most cases the platelet levels will normalize on their own. He's not currently bleeding and since he's old enough to be careful, they are just going to keep on eye on things and see if he gets better on his own. The common treatment is steroids which have their own set of side effects, so they are going to try this first. He will just have to be really careful that he doesn't hit his head or get injured because he could bleed a lot. The school will have to be notified, and he probably won't be doing any fun playing or recess for awhile. But this is such a relief! We are so grateful it's not anything more serious and hopefully Isaac will be better soon. Thank you so much for your prayers! He still needs them.

prayers for Isaac

Our little Isaac man, my 6-year-old stepson, could use some extra prayers right now. Last night his mom called and said they were on their way to the hospital. Isaac has been having some strange symptoms lately, the latest of which was unexplainable bruising. He went to the doctor yesterday and was told to go to the hospital for testing because it could be a blood disorder and possibly even Leukemia. We spent a worried night waiting for news, praying and hoping for the best, and trying not to let all the negative scenarios get carried away in our minds.

Fortunately, the blood tests show that his red and white blood cells look good so it's most likely not cancer. But his platelet levels were extremely low. The average range is 150,000–400,000 and Isaac's was only 7,000. The doctor says he probably has ITP, which basically means low platelet count for an unknown reason. I guess the bruises are from blood seeping out of the veins. He will be seeing a specialist tomorrow, so hopefully we'll know more then. Poor Isaac isn't allowed to do anything active and won't be going to school this week until we know more. A bad fall could even be fatal.

Please keep Isaac in your prayers. We really hope that it is nothing more serious than ITP, which can be treated fairly easily and often goes into remission on its own. It's so hard to be far away in North Carolina when he's in Utah. It's especially hard for Jared. Again, we are so grateful it's most likely not cancer. Jared has his Master's Thesis defense today too. I don't know how he would have done it if we had had bad news.

I'll keep everyone updated as we learn more. Thank you for your prayers.

perspective

Jared got this info in an email. With all the billions (and trillions!) of dollars that get thrown around in political talk right now, I thought you might find this interesting. Pretty crazy how much a billion really is.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

By the way, I'm not voicing an opinion on whether New Orleans should or shouldn't get $250 billion, and obviously this is not how it would be used, but it is pretty crazy to see how that breaks down for the population.

25 weeks

How your baby's growing: Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. His weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but he's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. As he does, his wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and he'll start to look more and more like a newborn. His hair is probably recognizable now (in color and texture), although both may change after he's born.

I keep on getting a bit bigger everyday it seems. I'm pretty sure I've gained close to 10 pounds in the last month! I have my doctor appointment on Tuesday so we'll see what the official word is then. Other than feeling like I'm carrying more around and having some aches in my lower abdomen, I'm feeling good. My appetite has picked up again, and I eat a little ice cream almost every day! And I don't feel bad about it. If Baby Asher wants ice cream, I'll give him ice cream. :-) As you can see in the photo, Asher is a low rider. I've finally given up trying to wear my normal pants with the elastic trick. Even if they are fine when I'm standing, they dig into me like crazy when I sit down. It's skirts and maternity pants/shorts from here on out!

and they all fall down

This election season started out so fun. It felt different. More energized. People were getting excited about politics instead of just annoyed by politicians. Well, I'm sad to say that we are back to square one. At least I am. I'm not excited anymore. I'm sick of it all. The Republican race ended so anti-climatically with McCain the presumptive nominee. And the Democrats... well they've gone and made the chances of a Democratic president getting elected MUCH harder by how long this fight between Clinton and Obama has drawn out. Neither of them look so good anymore. I feel like they've divided their party almost irreparably. I'm not a Democrat, but here's hoping that the party will put itself back together again for the sake of their nominee.

I guess I'm just disappointed because I had high hopes for our next president. And now I'm left feeling more confused about who I want in that position than I did when there were 3 times as many candidates still in the race. Wouldn't it be nice to really LOVE a candidate enough to be active in the campaign and feel like you are making a difference? I don't know that that will ever happen for me. I'm too much of an Independent I guess to ever really agree with any one candidate in our polarized two-party system.

It's most likely going to come down to Obama and McCain. And while I was once quite excited by Obama, his shininess has become tarnished by this process. As for McCain... I respect him and actually would have preferred him over George W. 8 years ago, but now I don't know. He seems to be subscribing to too many of the Bush policies.

We shall see how this pans out. It's hard to believe that North Carolina's primary on May 6th will actually count for something. While that is fun, I also think this drawn out primary season has just gone on too long. I think next time around, there will be some major reconsideration of the way primaries are executed.

Here's an op-ed from the New York Times: How Obama Fell to Earth

Does anyone else feel let down after starting out with such high hopes?

congratulations, jared!

Congratulations are in order for my wonderful husband, Jared. Last night he turned in his Masters' Thesis!!! This project has been in the works for longer than he's known me, and now he's finally done!!! The poor guy has hardly slept the past couple weeks, and as I type this he's dreaming sweet in our comfy bed. I'm so proud of him. His thesis was a huge complicated project and ended up being close to 150 pages! His defense is coming up and eventually his thesis will be published as a book, so it's not out of his life forever, but the hardest part is over. Congrats, Jared!!! You did it! Sleep sweet.

so true

Good sense from CNN's Roland Martin:

Commentary: An 'average' American will never be president

Quite frankly, I dont' think any of us want an "average" guy or gal to be president. Whoever runs this country should definitely be the cream of the crop. They'll have to be to sort through the complicated mess we're in.

a fine frenzy

I don't really listen to music on the radio and only very occasionally watch Vh1, and therefore have no idea what's playing these days, so forgive me if you've all heard of A Fine Frenzy. I just discovered her and she is great. Jared has been listening to her album practitcally non-stop the past few days whilst working on his thesis.

A Fine Frenzy is actually just 22-year-old Allison Sudol. She is a self-taught pianist/singer/songwriter. Her songs have catchy melodies and great lyrics. Check out her website and watch the "Almost Lover" video, and I think you might get hooked too.

oy!

Saturday morning I did the other pregnancy workout DVD I recently purchased. Great workout, fun instructor, excellent production values. Many squats and two days later, I am one sore mama-to-be. It had been WAY too long since my legs had done that kind of work. There are muscles I apparently forgot I had. Now every time I sit down or stand up or, you know, walk, I feel like an old woman. Oh the burn! Fortunately I know it gets better and easier. So don't worry, I'll be back at it..... tomorrow. Today I'm doing yoga.

24 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby's growing steadily, gaining about a quarter of a pound since last week, when he was just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), that makes a pretty lean figure, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon put on more baby fat. Your baby's skin is thin, translucent, and wrinkled, his brain is growing rapidly, and his taste buds are developing. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" and cells that produce surfactant, a substance that helps the air sacs inflate easily.

I am definitely feeling more pregnant this week! My kid had a bit of growth spurt or something this week. My belly has finally passed my boobs in growth.

getting yoga

Jared took a break from writing, found me like this, and couldn't resist snapping a picture.
Please ignore the messiness behind me. Just trying to keep it real around here. :-)

My new workout dvds came yesterday, and I did the yoga one last night. I loved it! I feel like this was the first time doing yoga that I actually "got it". I've taken a few classes here and there and done other home workouts. I've never too had much trouble with the poses, found the stretching good and enjoyed it alright, but I never felt that in-tune with my body thing that yoga is supposed to provide. I never have felt like I got the breathing rhythm down either.

I'm not sure if it was the instructor on this dvd or just being more in-tune with my body now that I'm pregnant, but I really felt like I was getting it last night. The way she described breathing made way more sense to me, and I loved how she says to follow your own breath instead of always saying exactly when you should be breathing in and out.

I also loved that this was made for pregnancy because the instructor really focused on how certain positions will help during labor or will help relieve pregnancy strains. I feel like what I'm learning is a great resource that I will be able to use during labor. I was definitely able to relax and get inside myself, which is very important during labor. One of my favorite parts was a humming exercise. I can totally see myself humming during labor to stay focused.

I also appreciated that the students on the video were totally normal looking girls. They were quite large and pregnant and not tiny little things with just basketball bellies. It shows that you can do this stuff right up to the end.

I'd definitely recommend this workout to anyone who is pregnant. It's called Yoga for Pregnancy, Labor & Birth (the link will take you to Amazon where I got it).

wow, this is my life?

Do you ever have moments where you can't really believe your own life? Or you feel like some sort of an observer to your own life? Am I making any sense?

The other day I woke up and looked over at my still sleeping husband and was semi-shocked to find that I live and sleep with a boy. That I really am married. That all those girl-hood daydreams of falling in love and the like really did finally happen.

And then I felt the other boy in my life stirrin' around in my tummy, and I realized that I live with TWO boys! Not only did the girl-hood dream of marriage actually happen, but I'm having a baby too! Wow!

Life is pretty crazy. And wonderful.

Today I walked by a glass door and caught my reflection and was semi-shocked once again to see a visibly pregnant girl. This baby is a growin' and therefore so am I!

Life really is a miracle.

getting motivated

So exercise is important. We all know that. But I have had the darnedest time the past year or so staying motivated to exercise regularly. I just have not gotten into a routine. And I know it's especially important during pregnancy that I keep moving. I won't give you all my excuses because I know you don't want to hear them. I'll just show you my latest motivations--a couple dvd's I just got on Amazon with the gift certificate I won awhile ago from Nicki. (Thanks girl!) They both have great reviews and look to be appropriate for pregnancy, while keeping me challenged. And hopefully will keep my boredom at bay. (I get bored easily while working out.)

I do have a question for all you busy ladies out there. When do you exercise? And what is your method of choice? I'd especially love to hear from any working girls because I have found that joining the 8-5 workforce has been the biggest stumbling block for me finding time to workout. Basically, I'm lazy and don't want to wake up at 6 in the morning. But I am also way tired, exacerbated by pregnancy, in the evening. I need to suck it up and either get up earlier, or start working out right when I get home.

So how do you stay motivated?

23 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango). His skin is red and wrinkled. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare him for breathing. He can swallow, but he normally won't pass his first stool (called meconium) until after birth. Loud noises heard often in utero — such as your dog barking or the roar of a vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze your baby when he hears them outside the womb.

*added 4/9* For Nicki, here I am looking hot with no makeup left on my face.
This was taken Monday night.

hypnobabies

Since becoming pregnant I have done a LOT of reading about pregnancy related topics. One of the most important to me has been reading about childbirth and trying to decide how I want to approach it. There are a thousand different opinions out there on the best way to birth and each one IS the best for someone. But what about me? What should I do? How should I prepare? What kind of birth experience do I hope to have?

From the beginning I have been very interested in natural childbirth. My mom gave birth to 4 out of 5 kids without an epidural. I, the first, was actually her only epidural and she absolutely hated it. I think I've always had a bit of prejudice against epidurals because of the story of my birth compared to her other children's. With my sister Lauren, her second baby, my mom prepared extensively with Lamaze and had a very fast, easy delivery. They barely made it to the hospital in time.

Now lest you think I am going to list all the negatives of epidurals, I'm not. They do exist, but I'm not going to get into them other than to say that they often lead to other interventions which often lead to c-sections. I really want to avoid a c-section. But I am also realistic. Epidurals can be wonderful things. And if you've had one and love it, that's great! But there is no guarantee the epidural will work effectively and not lead to other interventions, so I'd rather prepare myself not to get one. If I end up with some ridiculously long labor and am exhausted beyond belief, I will consider getting an epidural. But I am going to make darn sure that I have prepared myself as best I can to labor and birth without one. As long as me and my little guy remain healthy, I plan on having as normal and natural a birth as possible.

So I started doing research on various methods of childbirth preparation. Lamaze and the Bradley method are both well known, but I didn't feel like they gave enough specifics about dealing with labor. I had heard of hypnobirthing and it caught my attention. I read Marie Mongan's book HypnoBirthing and was pretty convinced this was the way I wanted to go. Her method is based on the same notion as Lamaze and Bradley--that fear and tension make the pain of labor worse and in order to diminish pain and let the body do what it needs to, women need to let go of fear and RELAX! Mongan's book is excellent and gives some great history on birth in Western culture. It is meant to supplement a HypnoBirthing class and this is where I had a problem. The only instructors in my area were an hour away and the cost was about $300 for a 5 week course.

I began doing a little more research and found Hypnobabies. I corresponded with an instructor, found some websites, and decided this is the method I would use. It also has a home study course, which due to scheduling conflicts with the instructor in my area, is what I am going to do. Plus, the home study course is half the cost of a class.

I feel really good about this decision. I feel like this is going to prepare me to have a great labor and birth experience. Amazingly, many mothers who use Hypnobabies have little or no pain during labor! From the website:

"Many of our birthing mothers who use Hypnobabies experience only pressure or tightening sensations during birth. They have their babies in a state of deep relaxation, with little or no discomfort or fear using real hypno-anesthesia. Discomfort in childbirth can be the result of the Fear/Tension/Pain Cycle (Syndrome). This begins with Fear, which produces tension in the body, which creates tightness (Tension) and constriction of the uterine muscles, which results in Pain. In Hypnobabies classes, you will learn how to relax both the mind and body, eliminating fear and therefore pain, as well as create hypnotic anesthesia, remain mobile during hypnosis and use post-hypnotic suggestions for ease of birth, recovery and breastfeeding if you so choose."

Now all this doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It's going to take practice and major mental concentration, but it sounds much more doable to me than other methods. I'm actually really excited to see how it all goes. The birth stories I've read from mothers who have used Hypnobabies are really amazing. Of course, I don't know what unexpected things might come up during my pregnancy or labor, but I will be happy as long as I am doing all I can to be informed and prepared.

Here are a couple more links for more information if you are interested:
http://www.pregnancybirthandbabies.com/hypnosis_and_childbirth.htm
http://www.tranquilbirthing.com/
http://www.birthnaturally.org/hypnobirthing.htm
http://enjoybirth.wordpress.com/

pregnant "man"?

This is some crazy stuff! If you can, watch Oprah today. It is about Thomas, a man who used to be a woman and who is pregnant! Here is the link to Oprah's website where they explain it all. Thomas took hormones for years to transition into a man. He is legally a man. He is married to a woman. But he kept his reproductive organs. His wife had a hysterectomy due to endometriosis so when they decided they wanted children, he got pregnant with the help of a sperm donor! Talk about strange--seeing a person who looks very much like a man pregnant!

trying to feel baby asher

The kids have been so cute about the pregnancy. They are really excited to be getting a little brother and already talk about "Baby Asher" all the time.
We'd be sitting on the couch and Grace would say, "There are three people on the couch--You, Me, and Baby Ashuh."
Although I tried to let them know when Asher was kicking so they could feel him, Grace was the only one who actually did feel him kick. What is it about babies that as soon as someone tries to feel them kick they stop? I guess Olivia and Isaac will have to wait until June.

playing outside

I am back in North Carolina! I must say that it felt very good to walk out of the airport and feel warm, 75 degree, humid air. It was COLD in Utah! It even snowed. But the trip was really, really good. We got to spend a lot of time with family and of course had some really good quality time with the kiddos. These photos are from last Wednesday (before the snow).