Update on Tegan & Me

Well - after much deliberation I decided to call Tegan's pediatrician's office and see if I could have him tested for H1N1. I figured if he was positive I'd take the Tamiflu, if he was negative I wouldn't. I explained the situation (that I'm pregnant and want to avoid taking Tamiflu if I can and I'd like to have him tested) and the doc was happy to do so. The test was simple, just a nasal swab and 10 min later we knew that he DOES NOT have H1N1! YAY! What a relief that was and is!

Today the little guy is still "off". He slept most of the night, only up 2x with some grunts which often are predecessors of a bad dream/night terror (so I went in to comfort him before they escalated) and he was up right around his normal time at 7:15 (a little later than normal, but no much). His cough is still pretty yucky, but it's nice and productive (phlegmy for those of you who like specifics) and he's not running a temp. He still doesn't have his appetite back, but who would when you had yuck (a.k.a. boogers/snot/mucus/phlegm/etc) running down your throat into your tummy all night? My mom is home with him (typical Thursday daycare routine - my parents spend Thursdays and Fridays with him at our house) and reports that he's drinking plenty of juice, so he IS at least getting some healthy calories (and I buy the Bolthouse Farms juice/smoothies, so they are loaded with 100% real fruit and tons of vitamins and antioxidants).

OK - time for Casey and I to eat :)

OH, before I forget - I think I updated you all on here, but if not I was unofficially diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes for this pregnancy. I had passed my first 1 hour glucose tolerance test at 20 weeks (with a "score" of 93... not sure on the units) but at my 26 week test my "score" was 193 after just an hour which is quite high and would have generally required a follow-up 3 hour fasting glucose tolerance test. Being that I've already had GD (with Tegan's pregnancy) I had the option to just assume that I had GD and to move forward OR take the 3-hour test. To make things easiest on everyone we/I decided to just assume that I have GD and move forward with testing and restricting my carbohydrate intake. Things are going great with that and with my testing. My glucose readings are right where they should be (staying under 120) and I'm not overly hungry at all :) YAY!

OK, now it's really time to eat.
Love to all!
~j

H1N1 Hits Home: Updated

Brendan took Tegan into the peds office today. The kid slept until 9:30 this morning and when he did wake up his eyes were all crusty - again. Didn't we just deal with pink eye 2 weeks ago?! Maybe it was 3 - regardless, recently. Well, since he's been running a fever and had a cough they wanted to see him to rule out an ear infection. The ear infection was ruled out, but this was then added "he probably has a mild case of H1N1". The doc explained that right now everyone they see who is sick is exhibiting the H1N1 symptoms and he (the doc) also speculated that when Brendan was sick a few weeks ago with aches and nasty cough/sore throat he probably had H1N1 as well.

I called my midwife's office and explained the situation and they want me to start taking Tamiflu for 10 days as a preventative measure as there are such great risks to the babies/fetuses of pregnant women that it's much safer to just take the Tamiflu. In one respect I'm hesitant given our history (stillbirth) and the fact that there hasn't been an official diagnosis of Tegan or Brendan of actually having H1N1... but the last thing I want to do is follow in the footsteps of my husband and son and get sick and risk getting Casey sick and the horrible results that could have. I just keep going back and forth on what I should do, especially since I have had exposure to H1N1 at school (just not as direct as the exposure I have had at home if T or Brendan really do/did have H1N1). I ask that you pray that I am able to decide what is best for me and Casey and that whatever decision I make truly is the one that is best for us both. Thank you!
Love to all!
~j

Photo Update

Well - Casey and I are officially 27 weeks along today... my weekly update tells me that she is approx 15 in head to heel and weighs just over 2 pounds. At this point she is about 1/2 the weight of Ty when he was born and only 3 inches or so shorter. WOW! Crazy to realize how far along we really are. We could potentially be meeting this little girl in 9 weeks! I'm SO very excited.

I thought I was looking OK, but I guess the face is finally filling out like the belly. BOO! Oh well, part of pregnancy, I guess. Otherwise, though, I'm feelin' good and Casey is one busy little girl - doing her best to keep up with the activity level of her brothers (sorry Brendan, I guess girls don't necessarily make for calmer babies). HA! Most of her strong kicks and movements are during the day, so hopefully that's a good sign that she'll be a great night time sleeper! (One can hope, right?!)

Tegan is officially not feeling well. It's 7:45am and I just snapped this pic. Doesn't he look peaceful? Too bad he's usually awake by 6:45 begging to watch cartoons and play legos and choo-choos. Poor guy had a temp of 102.9 (ear thermometer) when he got home from daycare yesterday. Our daycare provider took his temp (under arm) earlier in the day and it was 100.8, so she kept him until I got off work. She said that he laid of the floor all afternoon and didn't want to play - as you know, that's NOT what my child is normally like. He nearly fell asleep on the 10 min drive home, too. Hopefully it's just a 24 hour thing and he's back to himself today. Thanks to Brendan for staying home with him today so that I didn't have to go in and make sub plans and such... such a hassle, especially if the sub doesn't do anything I leave for him/her, which usually happens unless it's one of my few reliable subs.

Gotta head to work. Love to all!
~j

Daddy Would Be So Proud

Oh boy!

BOOO!

Nope, it's not a ghost scaring you - it's me whining. I got the call today that I failed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test - MISERABLY! My blood glucose was at 193 - CRAZY high! So, I had 2 options - go in for the 3 hour fasting test OR just assume I've got it and meet with the diabetes nurse and get my testing supplies. I knew immediately what my decision was - that 3 hour test is a killer, so we're just going to assume I've got GD again and move on from there. It's just a bummer because the season of eating is just starting (Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas). Oh well - I'm just happy that my sweet Casey is still doing well :)

I should have known it was coming when I've been craving baked goods like crazy the past few weeks...

Love to all!
~j

Already Spoiled!

My sweet little girl isn't even born yet and she's got a closet full of clothes... don't worry, they are in multiple sizes - mostly newborn and 0-3 months with a few 3-6 mo. They are already so cute, I can't even begin to imagine how much cuter they'll be on my baby girl :)

(this first pic is of the comforter for her crib set, a super soft blanket and a bunny rattle... not clothes, obviously)

Casey, you are SO loved!!! OH, and don't think T got the shaft, he got some new "train conductor" pants (as we call them) from the Gap, too (on ultra clearance of course - you know me).

I'll finish with a cute story - last night we had friends over for dinner and afterward we were sitting on the couch talking (B & I, our friends Josh and his girlfriend Erika, and Tegan). Josh and Erika asked Tegan if he has a girlfriend yet and he quickly replied with "Yeah!" When asked who she is, T then replied with something along the lines of, "It's Casey, my sister. She's growing in my mommy's tummy." We all had a good laugh :)

Take care and love to all!
~j

... In the Whole Wide World

Yes, T's been using that phrase a lot lately. On Monday he announced (very excitedly in the car on the way to daycare), "Daddy is my favorite daddy in the whole wide world!" (Apparently T has several daddies of his own?). Yesterday while helping me bake muffins I was "the nicest most nice mommy in the whole wide world." And today fruit snacks are his "most favoritest food in the whole wide world." Love my boy! I'll post some pics of T from the past month or so... none really apply to any of the following stories, but thought you'd all enjoy seeing our little 'punkin! :)

I know it's been 2 weeks since I last really posted but I'm seriously at a loss for what to say... T's arm is 95% healed based on the x-rays at his follow-up appointment with the orthopedist on Wednesday - YAY! He still calls his right arm his "owie arm" and tries to get out of stuff at home (like cleaning up his toys) by using the "owie arm" as an excuse - doesn't work with me, though... now we just have to make sure he takes it "easy" on the arm for another 3 weeks while the last 5% of the healing occurs. Specifically, no bikes, parks/play-sets, high speed running, etc. Thank GOD it's fall and been really cold outside or else that'd be much harder to stick to!

Tegan is the best big brother to Casey already - it's truly SO sweet to watch him! He remembers to say hi to her daily - does so by lifting up my shirt, talking at my belly while "holding her" (my belly really) and then tells her to "have fun in Mommy's tummy!" and quickly pulls my shirt back down. Some days he just wants to sit and "hold her" (like I said, just put his arms around the sticking out part of my belly). I even caught him whispering to her one day to, "hurry up and come out soon!" Really?!
How did I get such a loving child? I mean, he does drive me nuts a lot (like today when it took nearly an hour to get him down for nap and yesterday when it was tantrum after tantrum over crazy stuff - he was SO upset that I wouldn't let him have marshmallows and chips for breakfast) but he's still my sweet little boy. At our staff development workshop on Wednesday we had to make a "Decalogue" of someone we love (basically a list of 10 things/qualities that describe them most in our mind). I chose Tegan and only made it to 3 things before I had to leave the room in tears - he just fills my heart that much that I become overwhelmed emotionally... mostly because I hurt so badly that he didn't get to carry out his excitement for being Ty's big brother beyond talking about it before Ty was born... and now the love that he already expresses for his sister is just amazing and mature beyond words! WOW!

I recently rented a fetal heart rate monitor to help calm/ease my fears whenever I am worried that Casey isn't moving enough or when I just want to listen to her body/heart working. Every day, when we get home from school/daycare, Tegan remembers that we need to "listen to Casey" and he promptly takes me to the kitchen where we keep the monitor. Maybe it's just because he loves pushing the power button for me, but regardless of his motivation, the sight of his eyes lighting up when her heartbeat begins to pulse from the speaker is indescribable.

Finally, I'd like to thank everyone that lit a candle in Ty's honor yesterday (October 15 - Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Infant Loss awareness day). The pic below is of the one our neighbor lit for Ty and posted on her facebook account :)I kept candles burning at our house all day and evening and several of you sent me notes that you had one lit for him as well. Even though it wasn't the anniversary of anything it still was a bit of an emotional day thinking about not only Ty but all the children/babies lost to these "causes" and their families... It's hard to believe that it's been nearly 9 months since I last heard my baby boy's heart beating. The healing, support and comfort that God has provided me in that time is amazing!

Take care & love to all!!!
~j

Mr. Personality

Just a quick update for now - the plan is to do a "real" update during nap-time today... I know you're itchin' for some good T stories. I'll give you one to tide you over.

The only thing that would make this story better would be to have a picture to go with it, unfortunately there wasn't a camera near Brendan when it happened... OK - to preface this you must know that Tegan is not much of a fan of any sort of nudity. Every once in a while he'll want to get naked... even not having his shirt on is not something he enjoys. Strange for a toddler, I know. Well, my sister was over last night and she and I were talking while T went between talking with us, playing on the floor and watching his new "Harold and the Purple Crayon and other stories" video. Suddenly, he stood up and announced that he wanted to take his shirt off and "be like Daddy" (which was funny because Brendan doesn't normally walk around w/o a shirt unless he's just finished a workout or it's near bedtime and he's in his "pj's"). I gladly helped Tegan take off his shirt and he was SO excited to be "naked Tegan". HA!

Now that alone is a cute story, but there's more. I invited T to go downstairs to the bike room and show Daddy/Brendan how he was dressed like him. A few minutes later Brendan came up the stairs laughing and shared that Tegan had put on one of his [Brendan's] medals from a bike race and stood up, looked at the medal and pretended to read "To George, the first space monkey" (the last line of one of his favorite books - have I mentioned he LOVES Curious George?!). So just picture a shirtless Tegan with a bike medal around his neck reciting a line from a Curious George book. It was just too cute! Like I said, the only thing that would make the story better would be a picture of T with no shirt and the medal... I may just have to recreate the situation today just to get a picture ;)

More later... love to all!
~j

My Little Brendan...

So when T woke up from his nap... OK, I should rephrase that, after I woke T up from his closing in on 3 hour nap, he was not too happy. What did the boy ask for me to turn on the TV for him to watch? Sponge Bob? Thomas? Nemo? Nope, the kid asked for football. REALLY?! So he is now sprawled out on the family room floor 1/2 watching the Wake Forest v. Notre Dame game and 1/2 playing with the array of toys he's got on the floor with him.

... like father like son :)

Love to all...
~j