Increased Risk

An OB almost gave me a heart attack yesterday. I've never met her and didn't recognize the name so I didn't know it was an OB who had left a message for me to call back regarding my first trimester screening. With Nadia I wasn't offered the nuchal u/s, and I turned down the blood test. I wasn't planning on doing the blood test this time (just the u/s), but after the u/s the nurse said she needed to prick my finger so I thought oh well I guess I'll go ahead and do the blood test also. I've had friends who have gotten false positives and then went on to have the amnio test only to find out everything was fine but were rather upset for a few weeks in between. I called back and was eventually transferred back to the OB. She had a very somber tone of voice which already got my heart to start racing and then she said my results were that I have an increased risk of the baby having Down's syndrome. I said I didn't understand because the sonographer said the u/s results were good. Eventually by the end of the conversation I learned that my results WERE good from the test (blood and u/s). The increased risk was 100% a result of my age and not a result of the test. At the end she told me that with the test results my odds were 1:265 (or something like that...I didn't write down what she said and am bad at remembering numbers), and before the test (just bc of my age) my "odds" were 1:150. So actually the test results lowered the risk. That's how she should have started the conversation in my opinion! She totally had my heart beating out of my chest with the way she worded it and the serious tone of voice she used. I told her I definitely didn't want to do any diagnostic tests (all involve at least a small risk of miscarriage). I looked online later and 1:250 is the cut off used be geneticists to define high vs. low risk. By that info I am considered low risk since I'm above 250. The doctor kept emphasizing that I am 37 (like I don't know my age?). I wanted to say well at 36 I gave birth to a very healthy little girl. I realize there is no guarantee baby #2 will be as healthy as Nadia, but no matter what we will love this next child just as much as we love Nadia.

First Happy Meal!

I took Nadia to McD's for lunch today in between doing some shopping at Walmart and Staples. She got her first Happy Meal. The toy it came with was a Beanie Baby. She ate some of her hamburger and a few fries (I finished her fries for her), but the highlight was the itty bitty ice cream cone that also came with the meal. You can see from the one picture she's reaching out "give that to me, Mommy" and then I let her feed herself the ice cream cone. Aside from what I wiped off her face, she ate the whole thing (cone and all). I took her to the Playland, but the slides were too big for a 13 month old although she was ready to start climbing. She cried when I took her out of Playland. We'll try it again when she's bigger. I had my usual fish filet and then decided to try a mango raspberry milkshake. I won't ever order one of those again.

I have tried to take a photo of her with the big teddy bear today, but so far I haven't had any success because Nadia likes to pick the bear up and carry it around, OR she runs and lands on it like she's tackling a football player. She does the same thing to Daddy when he's lying on the floor. Paul says he's being ambushed. :-)

Our 13 month old...

1. Loves to play outside whether that means running around barefoot in the grass, swimming in her pool, climbing up the slide, or using one of the swings.


2. Enjoys putting things into containers. For many months she only enjoyed taking things out, but recently she has found delight in putting small toys into various little cups and buckets.


3. Often hands a toy she's playing with to Paul or I. Her generosity is rather temporary as she often wants the toy back very soon after she's handed it over. I know we'll be working on the concept of sharing with her sibling. :-)


4. Loves to wave "hi" although she doesn't understand that people can't see her waving through the telephone. Her face lights up when someone (a stranger or someone she knows) acknowledges her wave by waving back or saying "hi." She's a very friendly girl!


5. Enjoys clapping her hands. I recently learned I can't sing "If you're happy and you know it" as one of her bedtime songs any more. Normally while I sing to her she rests her head on my shoulder and sucks her thumb, but when I sing the words "clap your hands," she lifts her head off my shoulder and claps her hands. It's really cute, but isn't a good choice when trying to get her ready for a nap or bedtime.


6. Wants to eat whatever Mommy is eating. If Mommy is eating it, it must be good!


7. Needs to have her fingernails trimmed 1-2 times a week. Thankfully she has gotten much better about sitting still while Mommy trims her fingernails.


8. Is constantly on the go. She gets a lot of exercise every day!


9. Loves to be tickled! Her laughter is one of the sweetest sounds in all the world to me. :-)

10. Squeals with delight. Not everyone is keen on hearing her squeal as it's rather loud and high pitched, but it is a happy sound!

11. Loves to cuddle. Throughout the day she periodically comes up to her Mommy or Daddy for hugs, kisses, and snuggling. Sometimes she makes the "awwww" sound while we cuddle (just like Mommy often does).

12. Has not grasped the concept of gravity. Left to her own devices she would step off the ladder side of the large slide in the back yard, dive head first off of the couch or our bed, etc.

13. Shakes her head "no" when she's near something she knows she's not supposed to touch. Sometimes she resists the temptation, and other times she doesn't. We'll keep working on that!

Number 7

During the night last night, Nadia's seventh tooth broke through. She now has 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom. You can see the first 6 clearly in yesterday's photo. Seven might be considered at times to be the number of completion, but that certainly isn't true in terms of teeth! I think number 8 (the fourth on the bottom) will be soon to follow although to be honest I expected these two teeth to break through a couple of weeks ago.



Nadia is enjoying her lion again today. The only problem is she figured out how to stand on top of the seat. Oops! I read an article recently that said that walking early (they defined as 9-10 months old and Nadia was walking then) is not a predictor of how athletic a child will be in the future but it IS a predictor of personality. The author said that early walkers are less cautious and more adventurous. That certainly seems to fit Nadia thus far. Of course a bit of healthy fear can be a good thing. If it weren't for the fact we supervise her carefully, our little daredevil would have gotten quite a few bumps and bruises.



Nadia's biggest meal of the day is breakfast, and that's actually what is good even for adults. She eats TWO entire packets of instant oatmeal for breakfast! She also feeds herself some cereal (today it was Kix) while I feed her the oatmeal, and then sometime in between breakfast and her first nap (which starts at 8:30am) she drinks several ounces of warm milk (sometimes as many as eight). I serve her the oatmeal warm. She's getting better about eating warm food.

Back-up Babysitter

Today I learned the importance of having a back-up plan for Nadia as Sarah called me this morning to tell me her son had the stomach flu. She was keeping him in his room; so if I really needed to bring Nadia there I could have, but thankfully Debbie was available. Debbie goes to the same church, and I had her in a couple of classes. She just graduated in May with her degree in Elementary Education. I knew this option was going to cost more $$, but Debbie charged $6/hr which seemed reasonable. Paul's mom is going to come up tomorrow afternoon if Sarah's son's bug proves to be more than the 24 hour variety.

I know I've said it before, but I am really happy that Nadia is such a good eater. Today I made some macaroni and cheese using small shells, and they were the perfect size for her. I didn't need to cut them into smaller pieces. I also gave her apple slices which she also really liked. I admit I haven't been very good about giving her veggies lately, but she's been getting lots of fresh fruit!

I gave the midterm exams in my classes on Monday and Tuesday. I have nine classes to go (tomorrow and then two more weeks), and then I get three weeks off of school. I can't wait! One of those weeks will be spent in the Poconos. The Monday after that vacation (Aug 24) I get to find out if baby is a girl or a boy (at 18w5d). I can't wait! I plan to do some clearance shopping for Nadia's clothes for next summer this weekend, and if I knew what baby was I'd be buying for him/her as well. Hopefully I can still get some bargains from clearance racks or garage sales in late August of summer clothes for baby #2.

Nadia's new thrill today was that I switched her lion toy from the walking position to the sit/ride position. She loved it! She learned how to get on/off by herself. She enjoys being pushed OR going backwards using her feet. I am sure in the near future she'll learn how to go forward using her feet.

Sorry I've been so bad about taking pictures lately. I just added one to a post from this weekend that shows one of Paul's towers. He gets quite creative building towers for Nadia. :-)

Two Cribs?

First I have to say a huge WELCOME to my sister and her family who are arriving in Virginia this evening. I haven't seen them in 14 months. Thankfully they'll be around at least until May before they head back to Turkey. We had planned to go down to MD to visit them this coming weekend, but my Aunt from NY will be in MD the first weekend of August so we postponed our trip to MD by one week so that we can also see them as Aunt Janet hasn't seen Nadia since she visited her in the NICU (which means she's never held her). My sister and her family haven't met Nadia, and we haven't met their youngest (Nathan) who is exactly 5 months younger than Nadia. In less than one month we will ALL be together for the first time in 20 months. By all I mean my parents plus my siblings, their spouses, and their kids. All seventeen of us are going to spend a few days together in the Poconos (eighteen if you count the one in my womb). It's going to be very special!!! That's when we'll meet Rachel for the first time (born in May).

I have been going back and forth regarding what to do as far as sleeping arrangements when the baby arrives. I used the bassinet feature of the pack-n-play for Nadia's naps a little bit (to save myself a trip up the stairs while my incision was healing), but mostly she either slept on me or in her crib. Before she was even 2 months old we had transitioned exclusively to the crib. Her crib can be made into a toddler bed, but that's not really a help to us as it can't be used as a crib and toddler bed at the same time. So the questions are #1 when to transition Nadia to a twin size bed and #2 what to do with the baby until Nadia makes the move to a "big girl" bed. She'll most likely be 18 months old when the baby arrives. Although I know some people have transitioned a toddler to a "big" bed that early, it sounds too soon to me. I figure the most economical route would be to use our pack-n-play as the baby's "crib" for say at least 6 months, at which point we could transition Nadia to a "big" bed and move Nadia's crib to the baby's room. For whatever reason, it isn't sitting well with me. I know it's probably crazy, but I don't want to feel like I'm forcing Nadia to move into a bed quicker than I would otherwise AND I feel like the second child is getting gyped to not get a crib the first 6 months. Like a baby really cares, LOL! I know it's ridiculous that it's bothering me, but it is. Part of me is leaning towards just purchasing a second crib. You can get them for about $120 so it's not like it would cost a fortune to get a 2nd crib, but on the other hand is it really necessary? I don't like wasting money. Any input is appreciated!

2nd Trimester!

If I go full-term, I am 1/3 of the way through the pgcy. YAY! Yesterday I officially entered the 2nd trimester at 13w3d. I would love to say that my "morning" sickness has gone away, but it hasn't. Not yet anyhow. I will say that at least eating something usually helps, particularly if what I eat isn't sweet. I'm not normally one to eat crackers, but I have been the past couple of months! Sometimes I think to myself surely I'm not hungry and don't need to eat, but then I do feel MUCH better after eating something (like last night it was a 100 calorie container of yogurt). I thought the heartburn was getting worse lately, but I think it was just that I had made a dish that had cajun spices in it that wasn't sitting well with me after I ate it. I guess I had better stay away from such spices until after I give birth. The most exciting pgcy development was on Thursday morning when I felt the baby move - that butterfly type feeling. Oh it was heavenly. I was 99% sure it was the baby as I had just awakened and was lying on my side in my bed, but then I thought is it too early? I looked online and nope 13 weeks isn't too early to feel those types of movements although I certainly didn't feel them that early with Nadia. I haven't felt the baby since. I look forward to the stage when I will feel the baby kick every day!

Yesterday afternoon Nadia attended her first baby shower. The shower was for Paul's oldest niece who is due to have a baby boy in early September. They're naming him after his Daddy (Quentin) so the baby will be called Q.J. (for Quentin Jr.). I'm becoming a Great Aunt, and my youngest child will be 4 months younger than my grandnephew. Our nephew Shawn will become an uncle at the age of 13. :-) After the shower we headed over to Paul's parents house (where Paul had been during the shower) and spent a couple of hours with them before we headed home. When his parents were shopping for a gift for the baby shower, they saw a Steeler cheerleading outfit and knew I had been wanting one for Nadia. I can't wait to see her in it this fall/winter. I want to teach her out to raise her arms and do the sign for "Touchdown" so she can do that during the NY and Pittsburgh games when our teams score a touchdown!

The only unpleasant moment yesterday was when two women referred to me as Nadia's grandmother at the baby shower. What?!?!?! I felt awful, but then later it made me feel belated empathy for my mom. She was a year older than I am now when she had my brother. I was in middle school and got a kick out of it when people would make comments assuming I was his mother. I now understand why my mom did NOT like it when people assumed she was Maurice's grandmother. OUCH!

Anniversary Plans

The first couple of years we were married, we took a little mini-vacation over our anniversary. For example, the first year we went to the Williamsburg area, and the second year we went to Rehoboth Beach (Delaware). Instead of exchanging gifts, we took a little getaway. Last year we obviously didn't go anywhere with an about 6 week old baby especially as we were also gearing up to move about 5 weeks later. Next year I figure we won't go anywhere since I hope to still be nursing our youngest in August 2010. If my parents or Paul's parents are up to watching our kids for an extended period of time, we are thinking of going away for several days for our 10th anniversary in 2011. I was thinking it would be nice to getaway for a day or two this year. I was actually open to the idea a two day trip, but Paul wasn't keen on being away from Nadia that long. Not that I won't miss her A LOT, but I think a day or two with just my hubby sounds fabulous. We bantered around a wide variety of ideas from going to a dinner theatre in the Lancaster area to a riverboat dinner cruise in Williamsport or Harrisburg, etc. The "winner" was to go to NYC for a day.

I went to my first Broadway show in DC (at the Kennedy Center) in 1993. I remember because it was my second date (of my life and I was very embarassed to be that old and only have been on two dates). The last one I went to was Mary Poppins with Paul in London in 2002 (I hope to take Nadia to see that in a few years in NYC; it was excellent!). In between I've seen 3 in NYC - Miss Saigon with a friend and 1776 and Les Miserables with Paul. The last time we saw one in NYC was in 2000. Today I purchased tickets for us to see Wicked (the prequel to the Wizard of Oz) in NYC on August 9th. I can't wait! I was aiming for August 8th, but the cheapest tickets available were twice as expensive on the 8th compared to the 9th. The good part about going on a Sunday is that for years I have wanted to eat at the Tavern on the Green (ever since I noticed it one time when we were in Central Park), and they have a Sunday brunch for $30 which is *cheap* compared to what you would normally spend if you ate there (although certainly more than we usually spend on a meal!). Unfortunately the brunch isn't in the Crystal Room, but I am sure it will still be oh so very lovely! I made reservations to eat at 1:00 and bought tickets for the 3:00 show. Paul's parents have graciously agreed to watch Nadia - ALL day (as it takes over 3 hours to drive to NYC one way). We'll probably leave when she goes down for her morning nap at 8:30am; so I'll still get to spend about 2 1/2 hours with her that day, but it will be the longest I've ever been away from my little sweetheart. I am looking forward though to having that much time in one day with my hubby!

This morning I took Nadia to the toddler story hour at the library. Thankfully the woman in charge today was soooooo much better than the woman in charge the last time we went. I feel greatly encouraged that library hour will be something worth going to every week once Nadia gets a little older. At the start of the story time they have the preschoolers and toddlers together, and I have to say Nadia was again the friendliest kid in the room. As is her usual habit, she circulated around the room several times making sure she went around and waved "hi" to each person in the room. I think she's more of an extrovert than either of her parents are!

This afternoon I had my 2nd prenatal appt. Paul ended up staying home from school to work on his dissertation proposal which is due to his advisor today (he's a perfectionistic procrastinator). This meant that Nadia was able to sleep in her crib at home during my appt. I saw a different midwife this time. I was there about an hour, but my wait wasn't nearly as long as my first appt so I was encouraged about that. I am doubtful any of my OB appts will be as quick as they were at the OB I saw with Nadia, but at least I was only in the waiting room 15 minutes today before being called back. I would have been done in 45 minutes, but then I had to go to the lab to get some bloodwork done. This midwife was trying to talk me into a scheduled c-section. She actually seemed shocked that I was even considering VBAC. I still am leaning towards VBAC, but we shall see. My next appt is in 4 weeks; this one will be with an OB.

She tried to get me to schedule my next u/s at their clinic. They have a Maternal Fetal Medicine group from Harrisburg that sends a doctor up their way on Mondays, but I said that although I don't want to deliver at the hospital where I had Nadia, I did like their MFM clinic. I never had to wait, they did part of the one u/s in 4D at no extra charge, and they are very thorough (one u/s with a pediatric cardiologist for example). She said if I wanted an u/s with a pediatric cardiologist I'd have to drive to Harrisburg. No thank you! Also, I have a friend who lives very close to the other hospital, and I'm hoping she'll be able to watch Nadia while I have my u/s. So I insisted on the referral to that MFM clinic. She said I'll probably have that appt in about 3 weeks. YAY that means only 3 more weeks to wait to find out if baby is a girl or a boy! The baby's heart rate today was 160, which if you believe the heart rate wive's tale, that means this baby is a girl. We shall see... :-)

Tonight I had dinner out with friends. This was the first time I've gone out for lunch or dinner with a friend in the last 10 months. It was heavenly. I had arranged the get together in honor of a colleague's upcoming 40th birthday. The five of us spent 2 hours chatting while we ate delicious meals and desserts. Now it's time for me to get some sleep! Sweet dreams...

Clap Your Hands!

I know most babies wave "hi" and clap their hands a few months before they learn how to walk, but Nadia walked for a couple of months before she started clapping. Yesterday was the first day she was clapping (a lot!). She still gets a little confused and sometimes waves "hi" when I ask her to "clap," but she definitely also enjoys clapping. I have no idea how big her receptive vocabulary is, but it's rather large. For example, I can say to her "go play the piano" and she'll walk into the living room and (while standing) reach up and play the piano.

As is true of most children, Nadia loves climbing up the slide. She can climb up the large slide that is part of the swing set all by herself, and she can also climb the much smaller slide we got her for her birthday. We use that as a water slide. When she's in her wading pool she climbs up the slide and then I help her turn around and slide back into the pool.

Tomorrow I have an OB appt. I wasn't thinking when I accepted a 12:45 appt as that is during Nadia's afternoon nap (which is usually from 12:30-2:00). Thankfully she can take her nap at Sarah's house instead. I'll make sure not to schedule future appts during Nadia's nap time.

Couldn't Resist

Yesterday morning we went to the mall to pick up Nadia's pictures at Sears and to purchase a few other items that were on my to do list such as a 40th bday card for a friend as four of us are taking her out to dinner Friday night. Usually I have been saving running errands for the afternoon, but now that I'm leaving for work at 3:15pm four days a week, that doesn't really work. Thankfully I can keep her awake for the 15 minute trip to the mall now that she's facing forward in her carseat. She used to fall asleep, which would then mess up her naps. At the very beginning I let her walk in the mall (before I put her in a shopping cart at Sears). At one point we passed an elderly lady sitting on a bench. Nadia waved "hi" to her as we passed by. A little time passed and then I heard the lady exclaim "That baby waved hi to me!" It's so fun to watch how Nadia brings smiles to so many people.

All the other times I've purchased pictures at Sears, I've resisted buying any of the extras that the lab prints, which they show you when you go to pick up your order. Today I couldn't resist. You get 5 extra sheets (in our case it was two 10x13's, two 8x10's, one 5x7, and 4 wallets for $25. They only use some of the poses that you did purchase some prints of, but they print ones in sizes and with features you didn't buy. Well I fell in love with some of the ones they made so I splurged and paid $25 more than I was planning to spend. I justified it because I don't plan on returning until late November when we go to get our Christmas pictures done. The ironic thing is that the first two pictures I hung in the house were two of the ones I hadn't ordered. I put a sepia 10x13 in the family room. I think the sepia looks great with the color of our walls in that room, and I put an 8x10 on my dresser in our bedroom. The pictures I replaced in those two frames were from February. Even though the pictures were only taken 4 1/2 months apart, she really had changed a lot in that time span! I am quite certain I will get my money's worth of enjoyment out of these pictures, plus now we have a few more to give away to family members. Some relatives (such as some of our aunts) haven't gotten any new pics of Nadia since Christmas; I think they will enjoy receiving a new pic of our sweet little girl! :-)

Often at the mall I am tempted to buy an ice cream treat as both Dairy Queen and Friendly's are there. Yesterday I steered away from sweets since I usually don't feel well after eating sweets while pregnant, and instead Nadia and I shared a meatball sub at Subway. It was her first time eating a meatball sub, and she loved it! Moments like that almost bring me to tears (the happy kind!). I am not exactly sure why, but sharing a treat together at the mall with her is very special to me.

 I've now had a couple of people in the last week mention that I now look pregnant (people who already knew I was). One student last night commented that my belly has popped out in the last week or so. It's so funny when you think about it. Most of the time we'd feel awful if someone said our belly was popping out, but when you're pg, you love that comment, LOL!