Nadia's Wish List

I want to work on Nadia's wish list since her birthday will soon be only one month away. She's pretty well set in terms of clothing with the exception that she could use a few more pairs of summer pjs. I am looking for ideas in terms of toys for ages 12-18 months old (since she'll turn 18 months old on Christas Eve). The ideas I have had thus far are a Little People Animal Sounds Farm and a play kitchen. Anyone have a specific play kitchen that you would recommend? I haven't done any research on them. Any other ideas of toys she might like? Of course I realize that it doesn't take much at all to amuse a little one. We learned that in Antigua. I didn't pack too many toys (just a few very small ones), but we got creative and washed out empty yogurt containers, water bottles, and such like that while we were there. She had a lot of fun with these "toys."

I know that there is a wide variation in hCG levels in part because there is a variation as to when implantation occurs. The nurse said to me today that I should be comparing today's hCG level to my first one in 2007 (which was 187) not my 2nd one which I was comparing yesterday's to (395). However the first one last time was at 11dp6dt which was 2 days sooner. The nurse said to me that my result today was "very high" and later said it was a number more typical of multiples. However, Jo's experience shows it's possible to have a number that sounds like more than one and really only have one. I need to keep reminding myself that God is in control, and whatever number of hearts we see on the u/s is His best for us (whether that's one, two, or three). I don't want to be disappointed if we only see one or terrified if we see three. I am hoping for twins, but I will be thrilled to just have one more baby.


I can see that my days of eating chocolate are coming to a temporary end again in the very near future. I've had nausea off and on the past several days but not any heartburn except after eating chocolate. I made brownies today, but I don't think I'll be making any for quite a few more months. I am trying to decide if I am going to give up my light yogurts again or not. I did last time because of the artificial sweeteners. Anyone have any opinion on this? I don't drink diet sodas (or any soda for that matter) so usually the only time I injest artificial sweeteners are when I chew gum or eat a yogurt. Last time I took it REALLY easy during the first trimester in terms of how much walking I did, stairs I climbed, how much I lifted, etc. and then I took it easy again during the placenta previa time period. I haven't been taking it easy thus far although I let Paul mow the lawn. I am lifting a 20 lb girl many times a day as one example. Any thoughts on this???


It has been hard to come back to chilly temps. Thankfully it's supposed to get a lot warmer in the next couple of days. The temps in Antigua were GORGEOUS! The lows were about 75 degrees each day, and the highs were about 83 degrees each day. Tuesday was the only day we had significant rain. The other days it would just sprinkle for a few minutes maybe once or twice a day. In terms of wildlife, it was very surprising not to see large iguanas and such. We only saw very tiny ones. We did see many pelicans, cattle egret, sea gulls, mongoose, etc.

Let me identify the pictures in this post. The first photo shows that Nadia fell asleep on her Pop Pop's shoulders while he was walking her around the resort one afternoon.


The second photo was taken at Nelson's Dockyard.


The third is of one of the swimming pools at our resort. Nadia loved the fountains as she could stand or sit on the pedestals (the water was only a couple of inches deep on top of them).


The fourth is of Nadia walking around Pop Pop's beach chair. That girl loves to walk! The most steps we saw her take in our suite (without holding on to anything) was eight. If it's a short distance between two objects she can hold onto while standing, she typically walks the distance between them these days. She only crawls when she'd have to walk a long way without holding on to anything. She also managed to climb up onto the beach chair by herself one time. She also loves to climb!


The fifth one Paul took early one morning when he was taking Nadia for a walk on the beach at our resort.

The sixth one shows several pelicans on an island (photo taken on our boat tour on Friday).


The seventh one was also taken on our trip on Friday.

I'll be dropping Nadia off at Sarah's at 3:30 this afternoon on my way to school. I have office hours and then teach from 5:00-8:00pm. I'll get home about 8:45pm. Paul will pick Nadia up at Sarah's at 5:30 on his way home from school. She's going to Sarah's on Tuesdays, and Paul is coming home by 3:30 on Thursdays.

P.S. For singleton pregnancies, at 19 DPO (which I was yesterday), the average HCG level is 303 mIU/ml, with a typical range of 111-514 mIU/ml. So you can see that although there is no guarantee I'll have more than one baby, it does seem rather likely. :-) I also realize my number might not be doubled tomorrow as the higher the numbers go, the longer it takes for them to double.
For HCG levels <1200 mIU/ml, the expected doubling time is 48-72 hours.
For HCG levels 1200 to 6000 mIU/ml, the expected doubling time is 72-96 hours.
For HCG levels >6000 mIU/ml, the expected doubling time is >96 hours.