The pie caught up with me!

I hadn't weighed myself for 3 weeks. I should have weighed myself each weekend as I discovered today that I had gained 6 pounds in the past 23 days. Yikes! I've gained 8 pounds total, and I'll be 18 weeks in 2 days so I guess overall I've done okay. I know I wouldn't have gained as much if we hadn't stayed at the RMH for four weeks. I was getting a lot less exercise there (finally was able to walk to the park yesterday afternoon), and I was eating way too much pie, chips, and such. I feel confident I can get things back under control now that we're home. I made brownies on Saturday with Nadia, but I haven't eaten one crumb of them. I think it might be the first time ever that I made brownies and didn't lick the batter at the end. Brownie batter is SOOO yummy, but it's not worth heartburn! I looked at my medical record, and I currently weigh 10 pounds less than I did at 20w4d with Nadia (the day I found out she was a girl), and I weigh 18 pounds less than I did at 18w5d with Ian (the day I found out he was a boy). My goal is to not gain any more than one pound a week from here on out (or less if possible). My goal at the start of the pregnancy was to gain no more than 30 pounds total, and if I gained one pound a week over the next 21 weeks (my c-section is scheduled for exactly 21 weeks from today), I would achieve that goal and have gained 29 pounds over the whole pregnancy. The pies and other baked goods were very yummy, but I'm glad those temptations won't be surrounding me every day any more.

That's not the only reason I'm glad we're back home! Oh let me tell you I feel 1,000 times more relaxed today than I have felt in a month. Nadia has been spending a lot of time playing in her room. She missed her dolls, stuffed animals, castle tent, etc. I find myself smiling during the most mundane tasks such as filling the dishwasher and emptying the dryer, just because I'm at HOME. It's also nice to have wifi during the day again so I can work on grading, setting up my summer courses, etc. in between playing with the kids (and feeding Ian).

Another good thing about being home is that Ian's naps are now regularly at least 45 minutes (and often 60 minutes) long. At the feeding clinic he did have some long naps, but other days he only slept 30 minutes or less. It only took 27 months, but Ian finally has learned how to regularly take at least a 45 minute long nap in his crib!!!! The amount of screaming, batting the spoon, etc. type behaviors has also decreased today during our feeding sessions. For some reason he does better with me than with Paul. I made beef stew yesterday, and he was able to eat it (just fork mashed). So far today he's had pretzels, cookies, rice cereal, applesauce, pumpkin, beef stew, and hot dogs, and he's only had three of his five meals thus far. I actually put the Magic Bullet away and am hoping I can avoid getting it back out. I had to use a different recipe than I usually do for beef stew in order for Ian to be able to eat it, but it was nice to have him eating the same thing as the rest of us for the first time ever!

I've also been able to get a lot more accomplished the last couple of days. I've crossed a wide variety of things off my to do list such as buying two maternity bathing suits online (I hope they fit!), signing up for our health insurance (to resume on July 1), scheduling my car for an annual inspection, grading, etc. Unfortunately my to do list is still fairly long, but I'll keep plugging away at it. Life will calm down two weeks from now (after I've submitted the grades for the spring semester), and three weeks from today we'll be on vacation!

They're Moving

Beth's husband has been living in VA for the past 12 years. He comes home on the weekends. In three weeks he's starting a new job in OK (working for Amazon). The girls' school year ends in early June. They'll be moving to OK shortly after school ends. I'm really happy that the four of them will be living under the same room again! I also know it's going to be a big adjustment as the girls have never moved before. I know they're going to miss their friends, plus they have some relatives that live here in PA. We're really going to miss them also!!! Beth, Alexis, and Gabby have been great babysitters. We're going to have to find another babysitter for when Paul and I want to go out on a date, and if baby doesn't come early, I'm going to find another babysitter (maybe Sarah?) to watch the kids for the first month of classes in the fall. I think Paul and I will try to squeeze in two dates before they move. This family is incredibly generous. They buy the kids Easter gifts, Christmas gifts, etc. I need to ask Alexis for a lesson on using the curling wand before she moves. I bought one awhile back because of how cute Nadia's hair after Alexis used one, but I can't figure it out.

I had contemplated attending a community yard sale this morning, but when I woke up it sounded completely unappealing. If I knew what we were having, I might have had more motivation to venture out. I am going to attend another community's yard sales next Saturday. I would love to know what we are having before then. The OB last week suggested that I move up my MFM appointment in light of the antibody problem. I'm going to call on Monday and see if I can move my appointment to this coming Thursday (18w1d); it's currently scheduled for 20w1d. They might not have any openings this Thursday, but it doesn't hurt to ask!

My plan had been to sort through all the boxes of baby clothes after we found out what gender this baby is. Everything got really disorganized after I had sorted through things last year to decide what to sell (consignment store and yard sale) and what to keep. I also gave a fair amount away. Then it became even more disorganized after the floods in our basement. Today I tackled the project. My sore back attests to the fact I spent hours bent over sorting clothes by gender and size. I also have one gender neutral box. After we find out what we're having, I'll have Paul bring those boxes upstairs. We'll keep the other gender's clothes in case the FET results in a sticky BFP in a couple of years. Today I was hoping this baby is a girl because the little girl's clothes are SO cute! After we find out, I'll go through the boxes and take a written inventory so I'll know what I still need. I'm so grateful I was so sentimental last year and didn't part with everything. Of course in hindsight I wish I hadn't sold any of it, but I should be able to replace what I sold fairly inexpensively by shopping at yard sales and consignment shops. Plus shopping for baby clothing is a lot of fun! Even if I had saved everything, I still would have needed to buy some things because this baby is due in the fall (whereas my first two were born in June and December). As I looked at the preemie clothing, I was praying that this baby will start in 0-3 month or at least the newborn size rather than preemie size like Ian and Nadia did.

One unexpected surprise as I sorted through the boxes was that I found some maternity clothing! I was thrilled! These boxes were REALLY disorganized as before the floods the maternity clothes were in their own bin (separate from the baby clothing). I found 4 pairs of maternity pants. I am thrilled about the black velour pants as they are super comfy and fit well (petite length just like I need even though I'm 5'7"). I'll wear these around the house plus will use them as my pj pants until the weather gets a lot hotter. I'm so glad I didn't buy a replacement pair of pj pants. I had looked, but the prices had deterred me. I didn't try two of the pairs of pants on yet, but if the weather stays cool, those will come in handy (I wish I had them in Hershey!). I was excited about the jeans, but they don't fit. They were a bit too big before even though Paul's mom hemmed them for me, but they're just plain huge now (literally falling off). I only wore them in the 3rd trimester with Ian's pregnancy, and I started out at a higher weight with his pregnancy than I did this time. I'll hang on to them in case they'll fit me in September, but there's no way I can wear them right now. I also found some long sleeve maternity tops, blouses, and sweaters (I'm wearing one today), one 3/4 length sleeve blouse (that I plan to wear to church tomorrow), one black skirt, and one short sleeve shirt. The skirt was by NO means my favorite maternity skirt. I sold my favorites on eBay last year, but I'm grateful to now have three skirts as I was fearing I'd be wearing the other two skirts every other week to church for the next five months.

Feeding Ian today had some ups and downs. The biggest downer was that he really was screaming and crying much more than he did at the clinic when Paul tried to feed him things like applesauce and creamed corn. He was difficult for me at some meals as well. The most positive thing was that he really can handle bigger pieces of "crunchy" food than Kathy realized. Yesterday she was cutting his Froot Loops in half. When we first introduced them, we were cutting them in fourths (two weeks ago), and he didn't like them At All two weeks ago (kept spitting them out). Today I offered him a plate of several different choices (graham crackers, Froot Loops, etc.), and he kept picking the uncut Froot Loops. Once he put TWO in his mouth at the same time, and he had no trouble chewing and swallowing them! Another time he put four in his mouth at one time, and that was too much for him to handle. One is definitely no big deal. We don't need to cut his Froot Loops any more. Also, Kathy was cutting up his Teddy Grahams. I bought the mini size today, and he can easily eat those without them being cut. Woohoo! I'm planning on sending some of those in a bag with him to church tomorrow so he can have those when the other kids have their snack at Children's Church (they often serve things like Goldfish or Skittles, and he can't eat either of those).

At the grocery store today I bought Ian vanilla and chocolate creme cookies, animal crackers, mini Teddy Grahams, Cream of Wheat (what he had for breakfast most days at the feeding clinic), more plastic shot glasses as we only had one, barbecue chips, hot dogs, and three different kinds of tiny pasta (pastini was one of those, and that's what Kathy had been serving him). Today he ate baby rice cereal, applesauce, pumpkin, creamed corn, part of a hot dog, vanilla creme cookies, Teddy Grahams, animal crackers, and Froot Loops. I didn't use the Magic Bullet today (although we haven't reached the place where I can put it away). He drank about 30 onces of EleCare.

Unpacked!

Normally when I get home from a trip, I unpack and put away the suitcase as soon as possible. The last three weekends this wasn't the case. I waited until Sunday to unpack and repack the suitcase each time. That wasn't true today! I didn't unpack as soon as we got home, but I unpacked and the suitcase was put away before 8pm. I'll be packing again in 3 weeks, but that will be for our trip to Grand Cayman (a much happier reason to pack that to spend a week at a hospital).

Ian had on average 8 meals a day during the feeding program (6 at the feeding clinic and 2 at the RMH). His weight fluxuated up and down a little more than one pound during the four weeks. He never dropped below 27 pounds. They always had me take off his shoes (and jacket if he was wearing one), but otherwise they weren't consistent as far as what time of day they weighed him. Sometimes they weighed him right after a meal, and other times they weighed him on an empty stomach. I'm going to weigh him once a week at home to make sure he isn't losing a lot of weight on the new program in light of the fact they are only expecting me to feed him 5 times a day. My concern is that he was able to maintain his weight (he was 28lb 10oz today when weighed right after a meal) when he was eating 8 meals a day, but that would seem to indicate to me that 5 meals a day won't be enough. We shall see. They want him to drink 30 ounces a day of EleCare. This evening I had Paul feed him applesauce, creamed corn (not pureed but just as is), and vanilla creme cookies. I need to buy some food for him tomorrow such as hot dogs and cookies. I also need to get back in the groove of cooking. I haven't cooked in a month!

As I was going through the mail I discovered the OB had mailed the orders for the bloodwork. Indeed the OB only wanted the Fya antibody measured this time. It seems the nurse goofed and faxed to Hershey the orders from March 19. I was certainly confused as to why they were measuring the Kell antibody again. I hope we don't have to pay for their mistake. I say that because we got an EOB in the mail today for the bloodwork from March 12 (first trimester screening bloodwork plus the 3 hour glucose test), and the insurance is saying we owe over $1,000 for that bloodwork. I hope not! I really hope I didn't make a mistake going with this insurance through the end of June. Thus far it hasn't cost us any extra aside from my $75 deductible. Hopefully it's a mistake just like that $4K bill they sent us last summer in error. I will say this insurance adds a lot more stress than Blue Shield does. I am trying not to get worked up about it. I'll look into it more later, but if we end up paying these bills, I keep reminding myself that #1 this little one I'm carrying is worth it and #2 I'm not sorry I'm working PT this semester (that's the reason we switched insurance). I'm still praying that we won't owe thousands of dollars for medical bills (especially not more than $3K since that's what it would have cost to stay on Blue Shield).

Hot Dogs!

Yesterday Kathy served Ian a pureed hot dog so he'd be exposed to the taste of it before she gave him one to chew and swallow. Today she cut up SUPER tiny pieces of hot dog, and I dipped them in ketchup and put them in Ian's mouth (one at a time). He didn't spit any out! He grimmaced a few times when he swallowed a piece without chewing it, but otherwise the hot dogs went down easily (far more easily than a bite of banana, grape, strawberry, or carrot). Now all of those he has eaten TINY pieces. You could fit several of the pieces together into one pea. That's how small we're talking, but we'll keep increasing the size. She still gave me some pureed food to feed him so we won't be putting away the Magic Bullet quite yet, but he did eat some fork mashed beef stew this afternoon (not pureed). He can eat a much bigger size of a piece of cookie or graham cracker now. I was breaking vanilla creme cookies into 6 pieces, and he can now handle 1/6 of a cookie at a time! That may not sound like a lot, but trust me that is much, much bigger than the size he started with 3 weeks ago. Is he anywhere close to where Brayden is? Definitely not (even though Brayden is 6 months younger and has only been in the program for 4 days). Brayden can eat steak, pizza, etc. To be honest I'm not exactly sure why he's in the feeding program. Brayden is eating a wider variety of food than Nadia does (especially in the vegetable category), but Ian has made a lot of progress. I am thankful, and I'm grateful that Medical Assistance is paying for it because it cost $481 a day. Here are some other things I'm thankful for on this Thursday.

2. We are going home tomorrow night. Tonight is my last night with Nadia as my roommate. My 20 day separation from Paul is almost over. PTL!

3. I was able to teach my class from RMH thanks to modern technology and Joyce coming over to watch my kids. All my students showed up! I'm looking forward to teaching them on campus next week.

4. I'm grateful I was able to have my blood drawn here yesterday. I was in and out in less than 30 minutes, which cannot be said for the hospital I've been going to lately. Plus I did it during their naps so I went over by myself.

5. I found out last week that we have been able to join a different swimming pool. I loved the other pool, but the drive really got to me. This one is less than 1/2 the distance from our home, and it's also cheaper. Hoping the kids and I will have a lot of fun there this summer!

6. Yesterday on Facebook one of the neighbors (she's in 9th grade and babysits the kids sometimes) sent me a message saying she mowed our lawn for me! How sweet was that!!! They have a riding mower (we don't). Last weekend I mowed the lawn on Friday night, but I didn't do the part inside the fence (it needed mowing but I was tired and figured at least people couldn't see that part). I am not sure what part she mowed, but I am so touched by her kindness!!!

7. Paul's parents are planning to come down to see the kids tomorrow. This will be a big help as on Fridays I have to vacuum the room, clean the bathroom, strip the sheets, etc., and it's much easier to do that if the kids aren't in the room at the same time.

8. Neither child has had any accidents this week! Ian has switched from the kiddie potty to the "big potty" at the feeding clinic so I plan on putting away the froggy potty when we get home. The next transition (I'll wait until we get back from Grand Cayman) will be to move him from a crib to a twin size bed. My little boy is growing up!

9. I love how affectionate Ian is. Earlier this week he ran to me at the feeding clinic and said, "I need kisses." Of course I gave him lots of kisses, but it must not have been enough as then he said "I need more kisses." Priceless. I want to savor these moments as I know he won't be wanting me to smother him in kisses when he's older.

10. Although I prefer our home, this RMH is truly a lovely place to stay. Yesterday they put a bouquet of roses at each table in the kitchen (different colored roses at different tables). I wasn't able to participate in taco night due to teaching, but I'm planning on having a taco for lunch tomorrow.

17 Weeks!

As of today I am 17 weeks pregnant. Even though it's my third pregnancy (and it's supposed to be more obvious each time around), I haven't yet hit the point where people can tell when looking at me that I'm pregnant. In fact people look surprised when I tell them I'm pregnant. Of course I'm referring to strangers who don't know what I look like when I'm not pregnant. Hopefully if someone who knows me (but doesn't know I'm pregnant) saw me, it would be easier for them to notice the change and figure it out. In my pregnancy with Ian, this proved to be the half-way point, and with Nadia I reached the half-way point at 18 weeks. To celebrate turning 17 weeks, I had bloodwork done. My first titer levels were drawn on March 20, and the OB says they should be done every 4 weeks for the rest of the pregnancy. I am hoping the results will be much faster at a bigger hospital (Hershey). I was surprised to see on the orders that they wanted both titer levels drawn again. I don't get that. If Paul's blood is the same as mine in terms of the K antigen, why would it matter what my titer levels are? I'm confused. I do understand why they are checking the Duffy one again. I'm hoping it has stayed nice and low!

Yesterday I promised Nadia we'd go to Red Robin for dinner and then shop at the Disney outlet today. That was before I knew they were having scalloped potatoes and baked ham for dinner here at the RMH! Hopefully there will be leftovers I can have for lunch tomorrow. I had a coupon for a free (birthday) meal and ice cream sundae at Red Robin so our bill came to $4.23 before the tip. Nadia only ate half of her meal so she can enjoy the other half tomorrow. The waitress goofed up my order some (I wanted a tomato on my well-done burger w/o the mayo or lettuce). She served me a burger w/ mayo, w/o tomato that was definitely no where near well done. I didn't want to complain because #1 I knew I was getting my meal for free and #2 it's challenging to take a 2 and 3 year old to a sit down restaurant so I didn't want to extend our stay any by sending my burger back. I did ask for a tomato though. Unfortunately I had forgotten that I had packed some cookies in my purse for Ian. I didn't remember until near the very end, and it would have helped a lot if I had remembered earlier! He's my little cookie monster! I have to break the cookie into small pieces, but then he will chow it down. He showed no interest in the fries (which he used to lick in the past) because he knew he'd have to chew and swallow them.

The kids were in awe at the Disney store. Nadia would have bought half the store if I had allowed her to do so! She was squealing with delight over so many things in that store. I let each child pick out one toy. Ian picked out some vehicles (Mater and such) that were on sale for $5 (the set was normally priced at $20). Nadia's selection wasn't on sale, but I got it for her even though I knew I could buy it cheaper online (from the Disney website ironically). She's been a trooper the past almost 4 weeks. We also spent some time in the Motherhood Maternity outlet. I was so excited and assumed I'd come out with some purchase (such as a bathing suit or some skirts), but alas the prices were just horrible and the skirts didn't look very summery (more suitable for fall/winter).

Today Ian chewed some new foods for the first time - tiny pieces of a grape, a strawberry, and a cooked carrot. And I do mean very TINY pieces. He strongly objected to each of them. I don't think it had anything to do with the taste. I think it had everything to do with the texture (he prefers dry/crunchy such as crackers and cookies to wet/soft fruit). She pureed a hot dog for him today. He seemed to like that. Tomorrow she said she'll give him a tiny piece of hot dog to chew and swallow (not pureed). At the last meal today she had me feed him some fork mashed (not pureed) sweet potatoes. Almost everything he ate by spoon today was pureed. I feel like the first week Kathy taught him how to drink from an open cup and the second week she taught him how to chew. What we've done last week and this week I feel we could have done at home instead. She has me do most of the feedings. I keep wondering why we have to be there so someone else can watch me do something I could do at home. At least I know he's leaving the clinic a lot farther along in his feeding skills than when we arrived. He's definitely made progress. He will eat anything we serve him by spoon - almost always without crying. He can drink from a tiny cup. He likes to eat cookies and crackers and is working on learning to chew and swallow other small bits of food.

There have been three other kids here in the intensive program while we've been here (Ian was alone last week because Leah dropped out after only one week). Dylan was 3 1/2 years old, Leah was 3 months older than Ian, and Brayden is 6 months younger than Ian. All three of those kids already knew how to chew and swallow table food before they arrived at the clinic. So obviously I can't compare Ian's progress to theirs. The sad thing is that Brayden (who started this Monday) came to the clinic farther ahead than Ian will be at the end of his 4 week stay (and he's 6 months younger and had a feeding tube for many months). However I know Ian is not alone as there was a 4 year old boy (with Down's syndrome) there today (for a one day treatment) who is just now learning to chew and swallow. One thing that struck me is that our family situation is not the norm these days (married). None of the other three kids mentioned above live in a house with two married parents. Only one of them (Dylan) lived with both (unmarried) parents. Brayden's mom is 22 years old and lives with her parents. She has two kids (her youngest will be turning 2 months old next week). Her boys' father has had a total of 8 children thus far (with at least 4 different women), and the woman he's living with now doesn't have any kids yet.

At the RMH it's been interesting to see people of all different cultures living together. For example the first week I was here there was an Amish family, a family from Israel, etc. The Israeli children didn't speak English, but their parents did. They had been staying at RMH for 4 months while one of their children participated in a research drug trial (cancer). The dad fried a bag of lettuce in the frying pan for breakfast each morning. The Amish father kept the paper bracelet we're supposed to wear (which is to identify we're staying here) in his pocket. I talked to quite a few parents over the past several weeks here at RMH and many were here either because a child has cancer OR for a feeding issue (some older children are in a different feeding program at Hershey - not the one Ian has been in). When I would start to feel overwhelmed, I would try to remind myself of what it would be like if my child was facing a life threatening disease like cancer. I'll take a feeding disorder over cancer any day of the week.

Not all the stories have been sad. One that amazed me was of a girl who needed a transplant, and they couldn't find a match. The doctors said that only a bio sibling could help. The mom had two kids at that point, but the first one was from a different father. She asked if they should start ttc, and the doctor said their daughter wouldn't live another 9 months. Well it turned out she was pregnant at the time (which was a surprise as her eldest was about 20 years old), and her daughter amazed the doctors and did live long enough to receive the cord blood transplant from her baby sister. She's now a teenager. The youngest one was here to get a feeding tube. She has issues also, but at least they aren't life threatening!

Only two more days to go. The end is in sight for us! I'm teaching tomorow night so Joyce will be coming back to watch my kids while I teach. On Friday Paul's parents are planning to return. They came for several hours yesterday, which was a big help.

3.83 years old!

Two months from today Nadia will turn four years old. As has been the case in the past, she is attempting to age herself a bit prematurely and telling everyone she'll be turning five in June. Thank goodness that's not true! She's growing up fast enough as it is!

I've learned through sharing a bedroom with her the past 3+ weeks that she's not as good of a sleeper as I thought she was! A few nights she fell asleep pretty quickly, but many nights she was in bed for more than an hour before she fell asleep (unlike her brother who is asleep within a minute or two of being put in bed). She also woke up early many mornings. Last night she was awake from 11:45-1:45am. I wasn't happy about that as her coughing kept me up as well. She loves sharing a bedroom with me, but if I had to pick a child to share a bedroom with, I would definitely pick Ian. I'm glad though that I don't actually need to sleep with either of them. Paul is definitely my preferred roommate. :-) We shall see what happens to her naps when we get back home. She's only napped at the feeding clinic twice thus far.

Her thumb sucking habit has regressed a bit while we've been here. I definitely have to use the thumb guards with her again at some point during naps and bedtime, but hopefully we won't have to go back to having her wear them 24 hours a day. She also has regressed a little in that she had three (#2) accidents in her pants while we have been in Hershey. I have no doubt that will get back to normal once we're home as she hasn't been doing that for almost two years!

She is completely obsessed with the color pink and with princesses. She wants to wear ALL pink every day, which of course is not something I'm going to actually let her do. We have definitely gotten our money's worth out of the princess/prince figurines I bought for her. She plays with them for hours every day. Last night she took a bath for one hour (with those in the tub with her), and actually she didn't want to get out when I said it was time to get out! She lets Ian play with all the villians (how sweet of her, ha ha) such as Cinderella's stepsisters, the wicked queen in Snow White, Gaston, etc. She doesn't want to watch any movie unless it has a princess in it. I don't always go along with that rule. When I bought her some new books recently, she was disappointed that none of them had princesses in them. I don't mind that she likes princesses, but I will be glad when she backs off the obsession just a little bit as there are many other wonderful movies and books in this world that have nothing to do with princesses!

She's still our social butterfly. I can't tell you over the past 3+ weeks how many times a speech therapist, feeding therapist, etc. told me how amazed they were at the lengthy conversations she initiated with just about every adult and child in the feeding clinic. No one is a stranger to Nadia! She asks everyone their name and almost always gives them a compliment of some sort. Although she had her moments (ex. not wanting to share with Ian), she really was well behaved at the feeding clinic. She also did well with playing by herself at times (mainly with those princess figurines!).

She can identify all the uppercase and lowercase letters, and she's almost mastered learning at least one sound for each letter (I haven't introduced the concept yet that some letters are associated with more than one sound). Next I plan on helping her memorize a few of the Dolch sight words!

Only four more days

We've completed 16 days at the feeding clinic, which means we only have 4 more until we're done. YAHOO! Unfortunately the weather has turned COLD and rainy. This is a bummer because it means the kids can't enjoy playing on a playground and also because it means I have to go back to wearing my non-maternity pants (which HURT) because I only bought capris, shorts, and skirts. There were maternity jeans at the sale two weeks ago. In hindsight, I should have bought a pair. The weather had been really warm. Exactly seven days ago the high was 88 degrees. Paul actually drove through snow this morning on his way to PSU! March was a much warmer month than April. The good news is that Grandma and PopPop are planning to come down and spend some time with us two days this week.

The first two weeks we were in rooms 34 and 36. Both were very dark, large, and quiet. The second one was my favorite because it was set up like a suite, and it's the only one we stayed in that had a rocking chair in the room. The second two weeks we were in rooms 4 and 12. Room 12 (where we were last week) was definitely the worst. The room we are in now is darker than the last one, but not nearly as dark as the first two because it's facing the parking lot (although at least there's not a light directly outside the window). I can go to the bathroom without waking the kids in this room, which is a definite improvement. The noise from the street kept me up some last night although not as much as Nadia's coughing (which became incessant around 5:30am). All of the mattresses have been super comfy though! I'm hoping for a better night's sleep tonight. I was really wanting a nap today!

The first week I forgot to pack one thing - underwear for myself. The second week I only forgot Nadia's alphabet flashcards, so no trip to Kmart was needed that week. The third week I forgot a razor for myself, and I thought I forgot pjs for Nadia. We got both items at Kmart last Monday. I felt ridiculous when I went to unpack our suitcase on Sunday and discovered I had brought a pair of pjs for her. Oh well. She loves her new purple princess pjs that we bought last week. I was hoping to do better with packing this week, but I forgot one item again. This time it was diapers for Ian. That couldn't wait for a Monday trip to Kmart. We had just gotten up to our room, and we had to go back down and get in the car again to head to a grocery store that's close to RMH to buy a pack of overnight diapers. Usually I do a better job of packing, but I usually pack one day ahead of time as that gives me time to remember anything I might have forgotten to pack. With each of these four trips I was literally packing RIGHT before it was time to leave. Since the weather shifted so much it's not like I could just leave our clothes in the suitcase (I've done a load of laundry at the feeding clinic each of the past 3 Thursdays so almost all the clothes in our suitcase are clean when we get home). The next time I'll be packing a suitcase it will be for our trip to Grand Cayman! That will be a LOT more fun than the feeding clinic!

P.S. All three of these pictures were taken yesterday. The first two were at Reptiland, and the third was taken by Shawn (while I was packing) of Paul helping Nadia paint her car for the AWANA Grand Prix next week.

What's your name?

On April 12, I didn't write a post about Ian like I have been doing on the 12th of every month. I thought I'd focus on him tonight since I'll be doing one on Nadia in two days. For several weeks Nadia has been in this phase of asking everyone she crosses paths with "what's your name?" She also often gives these strangers (adults and children alike) a compliment of some sort such as "that's a pretty name" or "I like your shirt." No one is a stranger to Nadia. Here at the RMH and feeding clinic she's had far more opportunities than usual to ask that question. I attributed this in part to her very social, outgoing personality. Ever since she could wave as an infant, she's been communicating with strangers that we come in contact with (such as at the grocery store). Ian, on the other hand, doesn't have an extrovert type personality. I really didn't expect him to ever go through this phase of asking everybody and their brother "what's your name?". I was wrong. He has heard his sister say it so many times that he has begun to do the same! I'm going to start hearing that question in my sleep, ha ha! Ian doesn't give anyone any compliments, and he will ask the same person the question over and over and over again. Some of the kids get annoyed with him for asking so many times in a row. It's nice to see his sister's friendly nature rubbing off on him a bit!

I need to take a video of him talking ASAP. I have been super delinquent in taking videos lately. I love hearing his sweet little voice. One phrase I hear SO many times a day from him is "okay, Mommy." He'll make a request of some sort. I'll repeat it back to him (making sure I've understood him correctly), and then he says "okay, Mommy" (in other words, yes, let's do it!). If I wanted to embarass him when he's a teenager, I'd take a video of him talking about princesses. He loves them, ha ha! Ariel is his favorite. I'm sure his taste in movies will diverge from Nadia's in the future, but for now it's convenient that they're both enjoying the same movies.

After each meal is over (the timer has gone off), we are to offer him each food in case he wants more. If he doesn't, he's supposed to say "no, thank you." He now says it without prompting! He always declines the food that's being served by spoon, but sometimes he does want to eat more of the crumbs (cracker or cookies). The first week they taught him to drink from an open cup. He's doing really well with that (the cup is the size of a shot glass). The second and third week the focus was on chewing and swallowing crumbs. This week the focus will be on texture. Everything he eats by spoon is either pureed (like stage one baby food or yogurt). Kathy wants him to be eating "fork mashed food" by Friday (maybe I can put away the Magic Bullet?).

Ian is still very affectionate. When he wakes up in the morning, he has to be snuggled for awhile. I am happy to comply! At the RMH he doesn't cry when he wakes up. In fact one morning he stood up and immediately said "I love you, Mommy." What a nice way to start the day! He loves to hold hands. You can see in the first picture he's holding his cousin Shawn's hand during the show at Reptiland. At the RMH last week he never slept past 6:50am, but this weekend he slept until 7:15-7:45am at our house. He falls asleep REALLY quickly (unlike his sister), and it seems he can sleep about anywhere, but he sleeps in longer in a darker room. His naps were short at the feeding clinic last week, but he took a really long nap (70 minutes) at home this afternoon. The one downside of a long nap is that he sometimes has an accident in his crib when he sleeps longer than 45 minutes. Last night Paul accidently forgot to put a diaper on him. What a mess he had to clean up this morning! That was the first time he ever went to bed in underwear, and we won't be doing that again any time soon! He's doing pretty well with not having accidents. I'd say he's averaging about one accident a week, and it's always poop not pee. He's come a long way since we've been in Hershey with going #2 on toilets other than his froggy potty and also with using adult size toilets in general. He does use a kiddie potty at the feeding clinic, but at the RMH he uses the regular toilet.

Princesses aren't the only things that Ian enjoys. He loves vehicles of all types and animals. I've been showing him animal flash cards at the feeding clinic, and he can now identify by name some of the less common animals such as a meerkat. He really enjoyed our trip to Reptiland today. Gabby gave him a Larryboy stuffed animal yesterday, and he's been loving that! He put it in his pack n play at the RMH this evening so he could sleep with it. He also loves his grandparents very much. When we arrived at the RMH this evening he asked me if Grandma Harton (my mom) was coming. I told him that Grandma and PopPop would be visiting this week. I have more pictures I could post from today, but it's time for me to go to sleep. I'll post more tomorrow!

Entered another decade!

Yesterday was my last day in my 30's. As of today, I'm 40 years old. When I was a child, I'm sure I thought 40 sounded really old. Considering I have a two-year-old, three-year-old, and am 16 weeks pregnant, I don't feel old (even though they use that awful "elderly multigravida" term in reference to my advanced maternal age). I'm extremely grateful I am not spending the day at the feeding clinic. I am so thankful my birthday fell on a Saturday this year, as that's the only day of the week I am not spending any time in Hershey this month (at least from April 1-27 anyhow).

When I was a child and teenager, I hoped I would get married right out of college and have 3-4 kids before I turned 35. I remember wanting one of my children to be born in the year 2000 after I met someone born in 1900. I graduated from college in 1992, and I didn't go on my first date until after that so obviously getting married right out of college was impossible since I'd never been on a date at that point in my life. My first boyfriend was Paul. We started dating in 1997 when I was 25 years old. My 35th birthday was the hardest one emotionally. We had been ttc for 5 years and also had tried to adopt within the US and Ukraine, and yet our arms were still empty. Wow have things changed in the last 5 years! On my birthday last year I assumed our family was complete, but Paul changed his mind about doing ivf again, and God has graciously enabled another baby to be growing within me. We didn't have any "extra" embryos with our first two rounds of ivf, but amazingly we have one frozen embryo waiting to be transferred. I can't believe I actually might give birth to four children even though I had none (on earth) when I turned 35. I was so very happy when I was pregnant with Nadia, and since it had taken so long to have her, I really thought she would probably be our only child. I am so grateful the Lord has graciously allowed her to have at least two siblings.

Now that God has graciously blessed me with the children I had longed for since I was a child myself, I have to say it doesn't really matter to me now that I was childless at 35. I haven't forgotten the pain of infertility, but those tears have been wiped away. In life we'll always be facing challenges of some sort. From infancy through around age 22, I spent a fair amount of time at doctor's appointments, in hospitals, and having surgeries. I am very grateful that I've been very healthy over the past 18 years. Aside from OB and RE appointments, I have had very few doctor appointments over the past 18 years. Lately my biggest challenge has been trying to get Ian to eat. I have no idea what challenges I will face in the next 20 years, but I know that the Lord will give me the strength to face each one. There are so many things I'm looking forward to experiencing as a family in the future. I'm thrilled that my dream of becoming a SAHM should come true later this year.

The last three years my birthday celebration has been limited to going out to dinner with Paul. In the past I used to get together with friends and have a couple of birthday lunches. The past three birthdays that didn't happen. Even Paul (who has less of a desire for social outings than I do) has continued to have a birthday meal with his friend, Kirk, the past three years. I have to say that I had a great birthday celebration this year. My friend, Joyce, and I had lunch together at Applebee's last Friday in Hershey to celebrate our 40th birthdays. Nadia told me "happy birthday" countless times today. She and I shared a slice of pecan pie this evening, which Paul had bought as my birthday "cake". Paul and I went out to lunch at a restaurant we had never been to before. The food was delicious (and inexpensive), and the view of the river was gorgeous. I wish I had brought my camera! We also did some shopping (books for the kids at Ollie's and three maternity tops for me at Boscov's). Cheri and I had an early dinner at a restaurant where your meal is free on your birthday. I ordered veal parmigiana (which would have cost $19 if it wasn't my birthday). Then we attended a Jaci Velasquez concert from 5-7pm at a church in the town where I live. What a great day! I also got to see my mom on Thursday and Friday, which was special. She gave me a stand mixer, and Paul gave me a mini-muffin pan, Steeler t-shirt, and a silicone baking mat. Today was definitely a very special day, which was appreciated even more than usual given the unpleasantness of living in Hershey this month.

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday I broke down and was sobbing on the phone while I was talking to Paul. This took place while I was in the kitchen at RMH. The kids were in the play room. You know I'm stressed out and tired when I'm crying in public, as that's not like me! A lady walked over and handed me a box of tissues. When you're feeling overwhelmed, it's good to count one's blessings.

1. My mom came up to visit us today. She spent about 7 hours with us (almost all of that at the feeding clinic). She also drove 4.5 hours round trip, and she's planning to do it again tomorrow. That's a lot of driving over the course of two days! It was great to see her. Because she was here, I was able to participate in a meeting for 75 minutes (online) for work.

2. It was hot on Monday, nice on Tuesday, cool and rainy yesterday, and today it was really nice again. Since my mom was here, I was able to take Nadia to Cocoa Castle playground for about 30 minutes while she stayed with Ian at the feeding clinic. It was nice to get some fresh air! The kids also had fun playing on the playground here at RMH for about 30 minutes before dinner.

3. It was so nice to get a free haircut yesterday. I like this haircut better than the last few I've had.

4. There are SO many people who volunteer here at RMH. It's really amazing. For example, there's a man who comes and plays his guitar (background music) during dinner one day a week. There's a therapy dog here almost every night (last night was a Newfoundland). The people who do the check-in and check-out process are volunteers, volunteers cook the dinner each night, etc.

5. The food has been delicious. Nadia was thrilled that one night this week they were serving grilled cheese sandwiches, and tonight it was grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, mac and cheese, baked beans, etc., which was also a hit with her. I had a kiwi as part of my lunch three days in a row this week. I don't think ever in my life have I eaten 3 kiwis in one week before. Yum! I'm still scared to step on the scale beacuse I've been eating more pie than usual. I had a craving several weeks ago for lemon merengue pie, and that wish was granted today!

6. Ian is making progress. I think he's still going to have a long way to go after we leave here (in terms of being able to chew and swallow non-pureed food), but he's definitely made progress the past almost 3 weeks.

7. I'm extremely grateful we only have 6 days left of being in the clinic. I know some children are in the program for 5 weeks (or even more), but honestly I will say "no" if they ask me to extend his stay. I'm also very glad that tomorrow is Friday, which means we'll be home sweet home at this time tomorrow!

8. There are many things I do not like about the room we're in this week (such as the fact that the bathroom light comes on by sensor so it wakes Nadia up every time I have to pee during the night), but one thing I do like about the room is that we have a tub in our bathroom (which wasn't the case in the last two rooms). I have given the kids a bath 3 of the last 5 nights.

9. I finally got the bloodwork results today. When the nurse returned my call, she proceeded to tell me what type of blood Paul had (as in ABO/Rh). I said we know I need the Rhogam shot with every pregnancy. I don't have that type of antibody problem. I said I have Kell and Fya antibodies. She said she didn't know anything about that. I wish the people in this clinic would actually open up my file before they return a call about a specific issue. Thankfully a little later an OB (the one I really like) called back with the detailed information. The Kell antibodies aren't going to be a problem for the baby. Those must be from the transfusion I had in January 2010. The Fya (Duffy) antibodies might be a problem for the baby based on Paul's blood type. I asked what my titer level was on March 20 (as I had yet to receive that information), and she told me 8 (which is low). They will be checking my level every four weeks, which technically would be this week, but we're going to wait until the first week of May to have that done. I also will be followed by a MFM specialist throughout the pregnancy. If the baby seems to be experiencing moderate or severe fetal anemia (as detected by ultrasound), they will give the baby a transfusion via the umbilical cord. I'm glad we finally have answers after being in suspense since March 16. I'm praying for low titer levels throughout the pregnancy.

10. I'm thankful that I've been able to use personal days and sick family leave to cover 6 of the classes I've missed. I would not have had the energy to drive to and from work during this experience. When I get back, I just have one week of classes and then a week of final exams!

Four Months!

Today I hit the 16 week or 4 month mark of this pregnancy! I can't say I'm 100% beyond the morning sickness phase, but it's VERY manageable right now. If I feel queasy, I just eat a little something (such as crackers or fruit or chips) and then I feel fine. I can eat sweets at any time of day (as long as they don't have chocolate, cinnamon, raisins, or peanut butter in them as those give me heartburn). I have been enjoying having things like Honey Nut Cheerios and Golden Grahams for breakfast here at the RMH! Someone asked me this weekend if I was past the exhausted phase. I replied that I wasn't sure due to the feeding clinic experience. I have a feeling I'd be exhausted even if I wasn't pregnant. I can't distinguish what part of my exhaustion is from the pregnancy or from living at the doctor's office. I won't know until the first week of May when we're back at home. I also wonder how this experience down here would have been different if I wasn't pregnant. I almost burst into tears at the feeding clinic today - not over anything in particular but just because I wanted to pack our bags and go home and stay home. In the past 10.66 years we've been married, we've never been separated for so long. It's tough. Maybe I would have been just as emotional if I wasn't pregnant. Who knows. I'm determined to take a belly pic (as I haven't done so thus far this pregnancy). Probably I'll need to use the point the camera at the mirror trick since I'm here by myself. With Ian, 17 weeks was the half-way mark of the pregnancy.

I called the OB office, and they called back and said they hadn't received the lab results yet. I asked Paul to call the clinic at PSU to make sure they had the OB's fax number. They did, but they don't have the results yet. The antibodies were detected in my blood from bloodwork I had done at 10w5d, and here I am 16w and we still don't know if the baby is in danger or not. I don't ever recall being left hanging this long with any other medical situation. Hopefully PSU will get the results by the end of this week.

Tonight after I put the kids down, I'm getting a (free) haircut here at RMH! I was so excited when I saw the sign-up sheet on Sunday night. I have been wanting to get a haircut, and I thought I was going to have to wait until May due to being in Hershey this month. Hopefully I'll like the haircut. I have yet to settle on a stylist back home so it doesn't bother me that someone "new" will be cutting my hair this evening.

Today Ian ate the following foods by spoon: pureed beef stew, baby cereal, yogurt, tuna, and tomato soup with pastini. He chewed very tiny pieces of graham crackers with sesame butter, oreo cookies, animal crackers, and Frosted Flakes. The pieces of oreo cookies were definitely bigger than yesterday. Kathy is an expert at cutting things into super tiny pieces. I discovered this weekend that it's not an easy task to cut a graham or Ritz cracker into tiny pieces without smashing it to bits. The only thing he ejected from his mouth today was the pastini. He cried and objected to certain things (like the Frosted Flakes), but he definitely understands he has to swallow what is in his mouth. She also started working with him today on having him hold the cup of EleCare when he's drinking.

Oreos!

I wouldn't have guessed that Ian would love an Oreo cookie because when he was eating pudding, chocolate was definitely not his favorite flavor. I thought he might take after his Daddy and prefer vanilla to chocolate, whereas Nadia and I (when I'm not pregnant) both definitely prefer chocolate. Kathy decided to give him small pieces of a mini Oreo, and he LOVED it. He very gladly chewed and swallowed that delicacy! The foods he ate by spoon today included applesauce, baby cereal, yogurt, pureed tuna, and pureed chicken and rice. The foods he chewed and swallowed today included graham crackers, bananas, Frosted Flakes, and Oreo cookies. Graham crackers used to be his favorite, but Oreo cookies have risen to the top of the list. The pieces of all these foods are very small, but she is very gradually increasing the size of the "crumbs."

The two-year-old girl who was in the program last week didn't return this week. She was supposed to be in the program for four weeks, but she only lasted one week. Whitney (her feeding therapist) doesn't have a child to work with this week since Leah's mom didn't officially quit until today. A new boy (also 2 years old) is supposed to be starting on Monday. When we first got to the clinic I was thinking I was glad we were assigned Kathy as she has decades more experience than Whitney, but part way through the first week I was thinking my preference had changed. Kathy is a lot more laid back. I was counting, and she was doing 9-10 feeding sessions a day whereas Kathy does 6-7. I admit I get a little irritated on the days Kathy only does 6 sessions. We are supposed to be there from 8:30am-5:00pm. Now that I realize Kathy rarely does his first session prior to 9:15am, we usually show up between 8:45-9:00. What's the point of getting there 45-60 minutes early? Today his third feeding session didn't start until 12:20pm, and we had been there since 8:45am. That is frustrating. The feeding sessions are a bit longer now (20 minutes compared to 15 minutes the first week) so maybe that is why she's gone from 7 to 6 sessions a day, but for me it's frustrating to spend at least 8 hours in a doctor's office and only have the "treatment" last 2 hours of that time. The other 6 hours I am trying to entertain two little ones in a doctor's office. Although I got more sleep last night (thanks to the bedspread over the window), I still found myself wanting a nap in the middle of the day. It's just exhausting to spend that many hours in a doctor's office. I am eagerly waiting for the arrival of my mom on Thursday. I did 3 of the 6 feeding sessions at the clinic today. Kathy did the other 3. Plus I fed him two times at RMH. Sometimes I wonder why I couldn't have just done all this at home, but then I remember we tried that for more than a year without much success. Only 10 more days at the clinic. We can do this. If he's eating finger food 12 days from now, I'll be glad we went through this ordeal.

I haven't heard from the OB office regarding Paul's bloodwork that he had done last Thursday. I'm going to call them tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be able to report the results to me! I did see that our insurance company finally started paying some bills. Whew. I was very pleased to see that my first OB visit they paid entirely. That was a relief because the OB clinic wasn't sure they took my insurance. The second OB visit they didn't pay anything yet as they want more information from the OB. They probably want to know why the appointments/ultrasounds were less than 3 weeks apart (it was because of the antibodies). It's another story with what they paid the other hospital (where the RE is) for the 3 Betas and 1 ultrasound. I hope we don't end up paying the difference as it's quite sizable. Ouch!

Swallowing

Last week the focus was on chewing. She did work on swallowing some as well, but his first inclination is still to spit something out after he's chewed it. She told me today I can't give him any finger foods other than during meal times until he stops this spitting food out habit. I am going to comply, but it's going to make it trickier to keep him pacified while Nadia and I are eating dinner and breakfast. Today she gave him a variety of things by spoon, and once it was tiny bits of pasta (not pureed) that had been mixed with a little olive oil. That was the only food he objected to (and spit out) that she served him by spoon. His favorite thing to chew and swallow is definitely a graham cracker, and his second favorite is a Ritz cracker (very small pieces of each). During the last meal she put some sesame butter on the Ritz crackers. I tried one, and it tasted almost like peanut butter. He also ate little tiny bits of non-pureed bananas at one meal, and he had tiny bits of a french fry at a couple of meals. Progress! Over the course of the day he improved in terms of not spitting out or crying as much as he was at first.

Last night was a rough night for me. It turns out our last two rooms were in the newest wing of the building. Those rooms are MUCH bigger and nicer than the older ones. We have a twin size bed, queen size bed, and pack and play squeezed into the room. The floor creaks when I walk to the bathroom, but thankfully that didn't wake the kids last night, and I tried to go fewer times throughout the night than I normally due while pregnant. The biggest problem is that our room is on the side facing the parking lot. Our other two rooms were on the other side, and there is a big light for the parking lot right by our window, and the blinds in this room aren't very effective. The light kept me up most of the night. I am going to try to use a bedspread or something over the window tonight, and I think I'm so exhausted I could sleep through any amount of light anyhow. I'm planning on going to bed at 8pm along with the kids. I also discovered that ALL the electrical outlets in the room are controlled by the one light switch. If you turn the light switch off, the clock turns off for example (and my laptop wasn't recharging during the night like I thought it was).

Last weekend our printer was acting up. I printed at Paul's parents' house and Paul scanned the documents for me at PSU (something I had to sign and return to my university). This weekend I asked Paul to get us a new printer because I had more documents I needed to print, sign, scan, and email back to campus. He went to Walmart and got one. It wasn't until shortly before we were going to leave last night that I discovered he got a printer that only prints (doesn't copy or scan). So I stopped at a Walmart near Hershey and bought a printer that does also copy and scan. Today during Ian's nap I dashed back to RMH and hooked up the printer and printed, scanned, and emailed the document. Unfortunately, he took a short nap today. I've always gotten back to the feeding clinic before he woke up until today. It's tricky to juggle working and being a single mom down here in Hershey! It would be much easier if they had wi-fi access at the feeding clinic.

Giving Thanks

1. I'm grateful that Ian is learning to chew. I discovered when we got home last night that we were totally out of crackers (morning sickness lead to me consuming graham crackers and Ritz crackers, neither of which I usually eat). So I cut Fruit Loops into fourths (this might give you an idea of the size of "crumb" which he has been eating lately). He didn't mind chewing them, but getting him to swallow them (and they were very mushy after he chewed them) was another story. We had the same situation at breakfast so Paul made a quick run to the grocery store this morning for a few staples (milk, eggs) as well as graham and Ritz crackers for Ian. The routine is that he eats one (or two) bites by spoon (yogurt or a pureed food). Then he takes one crumb from my hand and puts in his mouth and chews it. If it's a graham cracker then he usually swallows it. If it's something else, he usually spits it out, and I have to keep putting in back into his mouth until he swallows it (at this point he's crying). Then after he swallows the crumb, I give him a little Elecare to drink in a small cup. Over the course of the 20 minute meal he drinks about 6 ounces of EleCare.  Now when he puts any food in his mouth, he chews it. This is a big change as for more than  a year his default has been to lick any food he put in his mouth. However he's still spitting food out. It hasn't become a habit to swallow food yet. We'll keep working!

2. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, and it's supposed to be really pretty the next two days as well (in the 80's on Monday!). I was grateful to be able to spend some time outside this afternoon because between the feeding program and the cool temps the past several days, I wasn't outside much at all.

3. I'm so thankful that Paul's parents came on Wednesday afternoon and also spent spent 5.5 hours with us on Friday. While they were there on Friday I shopped at a consignment sale, cleaned the room at RMH (guests have to vacuum, clean the bathroom, strip the sheets, etc. before checking out), and had lunch at Applebee's with Joyce. We'll both be turning 40 next week. It was great to enjoy a leisurely lunch with her. When I got back, they went to have lunch while the kids napped. Then when they got back from lunch they took Nadia to Cocoa Castle Playground. That feeding session (while they were gone) was a TOTAL disaster, but after they returned, he did much better for his final feeding session of the day.

4. I'm thankful we are able to come home on the weekends. Paul has been helping out a lot today because I attended a visitation/funeral/luncheon for four hours, and he took the kids on what is usually my bi-weekly couponing trip to CVS so I could get some schoolwork done.

5. We're half-way done with the feeding program. Last week I wasn't sure if I could stick it out, but now I am determined to see it to the end. I'm still praying he'll be eating finger foods within the next two weeks. I'm also very thankful that my mom is going to come up and stay with us on Thursday and Friday.

6. The beds at RMH are super comfortable. The mattresses are by Tempurpedic. They are incredibly comfortable, especially while pregnant. Unfortunately I had a very hard time falling asleep on our mattress last night. If Tempurpedic mattresses weren't so expensive, I'd go buy one! I'm sure I'll get adjusted to our mattress again, but it's a little difficult right now as I'm spending 5 nights of each week at RMH and only 2 nights at home.

7. The maternity clothes that I ordered last weekend arrived this week. This morning I was able to wear a new skirt to the funeral, and I changed into a new pair of capris for our walk to the park. It's always fun to wear new clothes. This is my first time wearing maternity clothes this pregnancy, and I like that when I wear maternity clothes I actually look pregnant (compared to just looking "fat" when I wear non-maternity capri pants). The maternity dress does fit (yay!), and I'm planning to wear it to church tomorrow. I'll still need to buy more maternity clothes over the next few months (I only have two tops so far and also need things like a bathing suit), but I have a lot more than I did a week ago!

8. On the way home from the funeral I drove by a yardsale, and out of the corner of my eye I spied an infant car seat. I quickly turned around and made a quick stop to check it out. They were only asking $10 so I bought it!

9. I'm so very thankful for the little one growing within me! I've been able to feel him/her move for almost 3 weeks, although it's not to the point yet where I would call them "kicks" and it's not very frequent (usually a couple of times a day). Considering we waited 6 years for Nadia, it still blows me away that I'm in the 2nd trimester for the 3rd time over the past 4 years. What a miracle!

10. I'm so grateful for modern technology that enabled me to teach from Hershey on Tuesday night and also that my friend, Joyce (with her 9 year old daughter, Kristin) were willing to watch my kids.

11. Ian's naps have been over an hour long the past three days in a row! This has NEVER happened before (somewhere other than my arms). Way to go, Ian! Also, he slept until at least 7:25am the past three mornings. Last night he actually slept for a full 12 hours! As they say, "good sleep leads to good sleep." Nadia only took one nap over the past week, and that was on the way home last night in the car.

Disney on Ice!

 

Today went faster at the clinic because there were twin four year old girls there with whom my children enjoyed playing. Playmates are the best! They hadn't really played with any kids much the previous three days. This meant they didn't watch much tv today. YAY! As for eating, Ian did great in the morning, and then he had serious tantrums all afternoon when Kathy was feeding him (just over the chewing part not the drinking of Elecare or taking a bite of pureed food by spoon). I bet he'll do well tomorrow morning because PopPop will be there!

This evening we went to see Disney on Ice. I should have waited until we got here to get the tickets. The RMH had a discount - $10 tickets. Live and learn. I'm glad I hadn't bought the rink side tickets though as those cost a FORTUNE, and our seats were just fine. As we walked in the stadium, I started welling up with happy tears. I'd chalk it up to pregnancy hormones, but I've been known to get misty eyed over other special events (like the circus and such) even when I was not pregnant. These were the sorts of things I really looked forward to experiencing as a parent.

The kids had a BLAST. Ian said "yay" about 250 times. I am not exaggerating! He was cracking up the people around us (in our row, the row in front of us, and the row behind us). They also got a big kick when he kept asking "where's the pirate?" when Peter Pan and Tinkerbell came out on the ice in the second half. The Peter Pan act was the longest one, and it was definitely Ian's favorite. Nadia's favorite was The Little Mermaid act, and her second favorite was Peter Pan. Their least favorite was Lilo and Stitch (which I admit I also know nothing about). They've not seen the Lion King, but they still enjoyed that act.

The only drawbacks to the evening were #1 that they went to bed an hour later than usual (a little after 9pm which is when I usually go to bed but it's 10:20 and I'm still up) and #2 that I had to say 'no" to Nadia regarding getting a snack or drink while we were there. I should have gotten a clue when we had to pay eight dollars to park our car. At first I said no snacks during intermission, but I was rather thirsty myself so when I saw the guy passing with icees I thought, I'll get us one to share. I quickly changed my mind and said "no thank you" when I found out they cost $15 each. Are you kidding me? $15 for flavored ice?!?!?! I think not. Call me a Scrooge, but I'm just not going to fork out that much money for ice or any other beverage for that matter! I'm very glad we went though. It was a fun experience for the three of us!

15 Weeks!

Today I hit the 15 week mark. I am very grateful that the morning sickness is no longer my constant companion. I haven't totally left that phase yet. Smelling certain foods will still make me feel like I'm going to throw up. For example someone made some popcorn in the microwave at the feeding clinic, and I thought I would die, and that smell is so strong it seemed to spread throughout the whole place so I couldn't escape it. My heartburn has been more manageable thus far than it was with either of the last pregnancies as long as I avoid the foods which set it off, which I don't do all the time. They served Papa John's pizza on Monday night for dinner, and that gives me heartburn but I ate it anyhow. I have been doing really well at avoiding chocolate. There is constantly an abundant supply of chocolate around here- candy (makes sense since we are in Hershey) as well as brownies and such. I had done a great job of resisting all of it until last night when they served peanut butter eggs for dessert. I love peanut butter eggs, and the only time of year I usually have them is Easter. I had one, and I regretted it for hours afterward. That strengthened my resolve to RUN from chocolate.

Yesterday the kids were begging to go to Grandma's house. I called Grandma yesterday, and she said that she and PopPop would come down today. They arrived at the feeding clinic at 3pm and what a difference it made with Ian's feeding sessions. He was screaming when they arrived, but when PopPop sat down beside him, he stopped crying. Nadia, Grandma, and I went back to the RMH for the last hour of Ian's time at the feeding clinic. Nadia and Grandma played while I was doing some grading and email for work. I really wish I was able to access the interent at the feeding clinic. I would have been happy to stay for dinner tonight at RMH as it was taco night, but Nadia wanted to go to Friendly's. I ordered a strawberry sundae. It has been decades since I had a strawberry sundae. Someone who is about 5 inches big has taken over my taste buds! ha ha! Tonight at Friendly's I noticed a big difference when we handed Ian some french fries. In the past he's only licked them. He was chewing them tonight! In fact he actually consumed part of the first one he chewed! I can't wait to tell Kathy this tomorrow. Maybe we can start working on some other foods besides crackers and chips. It's so nice to see him voluntarily chewing rather than licking foods, even if hardly any of it is going down his throat. It's progress!

I didn't realize what a blessing Dylan was last week until he was gone. Oh how they miss having a playmate. The hours go by much more slowly this week without him there. I'm letting the kids watch more tv than usual, but spending 8.5 hours a day in a doctor's office 5 days a week isn't exactly the norm (thank goodness!). The kids are also really missing Paul. That's why it was such a blessing that Paul's parents came down to visit today, and they're coming back on Friday so I can shop at the consignment sale without the kids and also go out to lunch with my friend, Joyce. We'll both be turning 40 next week (we're 2 days apart in age), and we used to celebrate our birthdays together (1997-2000). When we got back from Friendly's I expected we'd see one dog as all the other night's we've been here they've had one therapy dog here in the evening (from the Red Cross). Well tonight it was a dog PARTY or so it seemed. There had to have been at least 15 different therapy dogs here tonight. Wow! The kids had fun with them before it was time for a bath and bed.

One perk of pregnancy is that you can eat more food than usual without gaining weight. I was really nervous about weighing myself this past weekend because I hadn't weighed myself in a couple of weeks and I felt like I had been eating too much. I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the scale as it showed I weighed less than I did on the day of the egg retrieval and 2 pounds more than the day of the embryo transfer. So I chalked it up to having gained 2 pounds total thus far, and I was happy with that considering I've been eating pie and things I don't normally eat. One of my favorite treats has been all the fresh fruit, and at least I have no guilt with that! Almost every day I get to enjoy grapes and/or honeydew, pineapple, etc. YUM! Paul will be having the blood drawn tomorrow hopefully it won't take long to get the results.

Ritz cracker crumbs!!!

Today was a historic day. Ian actually used his jaws to chew, and then he actually (with encouragement) swallowed some little tiny crumbs of food (mostly Ritz crackers but also some Bugle chips and a couple of morsels of a pretzel). I was ELATED! I can't tell you what a thrill it was to see those jaws moving. Yesterday when she first introduced chewing she allowed him to eject all the pieces (not swallow anything), and then part way through the day she started working on getting him to swallow a little. This morning the first two meals he cried and cried over the chewing exercises, but then at the third meal he had a HUGE breakthrough and he started chewing and swallowing! He needed a lot of encouragement with the chewing (as in she kept pushing the morsels back in his mouth whenever he ejected them), and this brought on tears, but he would eventually swallow. As the day progressed he fought her less and chewed and swallowed more and didn't need as much help with pieces being put back in his mouth. I was THRILLED. I don't know if this can adequately express how pleased I was. To think yesterday she was contemplating giving up on teaching him to chew because of his underbite, and today he was chewing!!! She has been doing this a long time (just became a grandmother last month), and she told me today that she was shocked. She said she has taught many, many kids to chew, and none have learned as quickly as Ian. Later in the day he said he wanted to eat fruit snacks. Umm I don't think he's ready for that yet, lol, but the doctor said maybe in a couple of weeks. If Ian is eating fruit snacks in two weeks I will be ELATED. I am curious to see what the next baby step of progress will be that they'll work on tomorrow. I called Daddy, Grandma, and his OT to tell them the good news while we were still at the feeding clinic.

Kathy let us out at 4:30 because she knew I was teaching my class tonight. My friend, Joyce, who lives about 15-20 minutes from Hershey (we worked together from 1996-2000) came to the RMH with her daughter, Kristin (age 9), and babysat Ian and Nadia for 2 hours while I taught. Thankfully everything went smoothly. She took the kids out to the playground and also took them to the craft room where they were coloring (Ian) and painting (Nadia) when I came to get them. I am very grateful for modern technology that made it possible for me to teach from the RMH, and I'm very grateful that Joyce was willing to watch my kids. She'll be coming back to do the same thing on the 26th.

Paul received the paperwork in the mail from the OB about what bloodwork he needs to have done. He'll be checking at PSU tomorrow about getting that done this week.

Chewing and Cold Milk

This morning when I fed Ian breakfast at the RMH I gave him yogurt, cranberry sauce, and warm Elecare. It turns out that was his last time drinking warm "milk" as Kathy served it to him cold (as in from the refrigerator) the rest of the day. She told me this at his 4:30pm feeding so I served it to him cold at 6pm at RMH. I can't believe he showed NO objection to cold milk today because normally he won't drink it if it's not hot enough (i.e. someone heats it for say 25 seconds and he prefers it heated at least 30 seconds in the microwave). It's nice to know he can drink it cold. That will make life oh so much easier when we're out and about. He also has improved a lot with his drinking skills the last few days. He's drinking out of a plastic cup which is a shot glass (to give you the idea of the size). He switched to that size on Thursday after drinking from a medicine cup for three days.

The exciting thing for me though was that Kathy started working on trying to teach him to chew. I heard her talking with Dr. Williams, and she was telling him she was going to work on textures this week, but I heard him tell her to work on chewing instead. That made my day!!! He didn't eat as much food today because she was so focused on teaching him to chew, but he did have some pureed beef stew as well as yogurt. She gave him pretzels, Ritz crackers, and Bugles (the chip) to work on chewing. She also was trying to get him to swallow some of the pieces that would dissolve in his mouth (such as from the Ritz crackers). She thinks part of the reason he has chewing is #1 because of how few teeth he has and #2 because of the way his teeth/jaws are aligned. That doesn't shock me considering the issues my brother and I had. I am sure Ian will be wearing braces some day. I told her I didn't think it was impossible for him to chew, and that I wanted us to keep pressing forward with teaching him to chew. She was fine with that. I agree it might be more difficult, but I don't think he's incapable of learning to chew. My attitude toward the feeding program improved drastically once I realized they are starting to work on chewing today. I am hoping and praying that within the next 3 weeks he'll make huge strides with chewing. If he leaves this place chewing and swallowing table food, I will definitely think it was worth all the hassle.

The kids are really missing Dylan. It was harder to entertain them today as Leah (who is 3 months older than Ian) is completely non-verbal, and she didn't really want to play with Nadia or Ian.

I found out today that Mike's funeral isn't taking place until Saturday. I thought I was going to have to miss this one as well due to being in Hershey. I am glad I will be able to attend.

Today I spent some time trying to straighten out insurance bills. First, the hospital billed another company (other than the one I gave them the card for) to pay for my bloodwork. I didn't even recognize the name of the company, but it turns out it's through my employer and covers only mental health (counseling, etc.). How they got that information, I have NO idea. I told them they need to submit it to the health insurance company as what I gave them when I had my appointment. They lose my vials of blood and then bill the wrong company. Lovely. Last month our insurance said they weren't paying anything because they first wanted to see the EOB's from our other insurance. I told them we didn't have any other insurance. I mailed them a confirmation from Blue Shield, which showed our coverage ended on January 13. I called today and asked if they had received that documentation which I mailed 3 weeks ago. They said yes. I asked why are they still not paying a dime on any claim (they just turned down two more claims last week). She said she would have all of them reviewed again. I'll feel a sense of relief when I see them start paying these claims (some are from as far back as January 16). I hope I didn't make the wrong choice in going with this insurance until the end of June.