An apple a day won't keep the OB away

These are appointments we can't avoid when we're pregnant. Not that they're bad, as later in the pregnancy it's awesome to hear the baby's heartbeat. But, in the beginning, when you're forced to make all these choices about testing and making sure you're as far a long as you think are just not fun. And the filling out of the paperwork, such as what I ate for the past two days (huh?). I told the information nurse that I wasn't getting the quad screen test, because, honestly, what's the point? What could happen? I could have a child with Down syndrome?? Uh, check that off the list, I've already got Sarah, and she's wonderful. I even joked to Jeff the other day about how I feel for people with "typical" kids, because they always seem to be the ones who are screaming whenever I'm on the phone with their parents. Not to say that Sarah doesn't have her fair share of temper tantrums & meltdowns. Oh yes, she's definitely a toddler. But, most of the time, she's very pleasant in her demeanor. She doesn't get flustered as much as I recall Emma doing (such as me keeping her out of the pantry, she just doggedly keeps trying to climb in there, no tears, just determination). Maybe this is part of the stereotype of people with T21 are always so happy. I don't think that's it. I think they have a different prospective on life, even at this young of age. Sarah just doesn't see the point in getting upset if it's the 5th time I've dragged her away from the cat's water dish & told/signed to her "no". She just looks at me & smiles, as if to say, whatever mom! I'm gonna go back & do it anyways!
Anyways, Jeff wants me to get the test, for his peace of mind. But, I've told him, it won't help mine. It'll worry me if it's elevated, and it really won't even if it's normal, because what if it's wrong? I just don't want to deal with the stress. It wouldn't change my mind either way. The only thing I'm concerned about is the baby's organs, the heart, brain, that sort of thing. I might end up seeing an ultrasound specialist to get a Level 2 ultrasound, but he requires that his patients have the quad screen first.
My OB is concerned that I'm measuring a little farther along than I should be for 7 weeks. I've gained about 4 pounds (by my estimate) in the past 3-4 weeks, which is odd, as I don't think I've been eating more than normal. So, he's scheduled a regular ultrasound in his office in 3 weeks. One, he wants to make sure that I'm as far along as we think (if not, I might be 4 weeks ahead, not sure) and two, he wants to make sure there's only one in there, yikes! Don't even joke!!!!! The thought we could be having twins stresses me out more than the idea of having another child with T21. When I told Jeff this, all he kept saying was, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! You're NOT having twins!" LOL I think I'm going to give the poor guy a heart attack. So, we'll see in 3 weeks how things go. I'm still having the nausea, but it's not as debilitating as it was earlier. Maybe I'm just learning to combat it a little better.

Blech

That's how I feel at the moment. Ugh, morning sickness has reared it's ugly head. I've just been feeling slightly nauseous the past week or so, but today it got a lot worse. So much for my morning cup of decaf with french vanilla creamer. I know I need to eat something in the morning to help prevent it, but I'm always afraid I'm going to pick the ONE food my tummy can't handle that day, and it won't turn out so pleasant. But, so far, the nausea has been like it was with Sarah, once I get through it in the morning, I'm ok for the rest of the day. But, we'll see how it goes.

Expecting

Jeff & I found out on Friday that we're expecting again. It's a little shocking & unexpected but we're excited none the less. According to my rudimentary calculatons, I'm due in the middle o June, near our anniversary. That's also near Emma's Kindergarden graduation, so we'll see which comes first, lol. Sarah came an hour into the day after her due date. And so far, both of my kids have been morning births, so who knows? If I miss Emma's K grad, I'll have a valid excuse.
Emma's already requesting a girl & Jeff a boy. But, I'm fairly certain the time has come & gone for putting in votes. The decision has been made & it's final. My grandparents from Santa Barbara were visiting on their cross-country trip said, "You could get both & have twins!"Don't even joke.
So now we have a little logistics to figure out: where everyone will sleep, as well as when to get Sarah out of the crib, and the dreaded "double-stroller" issue. But we still have a lot of time to worry about all that stuff. Now if only I hadn't just given away all my baby stuff...

Friends & colds

Our friends Robert & Tiana, along with their 3 boys, Ryan (5 3/4), Austin (3 1/2) and Justin (13 months) were here over the weekend for a visit. Robert is the one who's in the Navy, but who is being sent out to Afganistan to be deployed with the Army for 7 months. He's leaving the 23rd, and we wanted to see him before he left. It's always interesting whenever we get together. The kids run around and after awhile, get on each other's nerves. The babies roll/crawl (in Sarah's case)/walk (in Justin's case) and try to eat the cat food. And us adults play Spades and make outrageous bets. A fun time is had by all. But then comes the inevitable time of "the parting" and no one's ever happy about it. We live too far away from each other, minimum 12 hour drive. Needless to say, neither of us are ever too anxious to make the drive, although Robert & Tiana have done it quite a few more times than we have. But, with Robert leaving soon, we know we'll see Tiana & the boys more often. We're going down for Thanksgiving, they might be coming up for Christmas. And I know there will be a big celebration when Robert comes back from overseas.

The only bad part about this weekend was that Sarah woke up sicky on Saturday. She's got a cold, snotty and all nasty. No coughing or sneezing, so I'm hoping it won't get any worse. She's trying so hard to be positive, like my kids normally do, even when they're really sick. She still had enough energy to chase the cat & play with Justin. She just hates the bulb syringe. The "blue snot-sucker of death". She lashes her poor little head around, trying to evade the whooshing sound of snot being sucked out of her nostil like a vacuum. As much as I try to explain to her that she will be able to breath better without all the copious amounts of mucous in her nose, she doesn't quite believe me. Since this is really only her 3rd cold of her life (which is remarkable in & of itself), I can't really blame her for not realizing that it's helping her. She doesn't remember the last time we used it, lol.

On another note, Emma's team lost their 2nd game on Sunday. Boo. These 5-6 year old teams have ringers, I tell you! Each quarter there was ONE kid who just took the ball & knew exactly what to do with it. I'm not saying our kids aren't playing well themselves, but I think the kids on Emma's team are afraid of the net. They'll drive the ball right up to the goalie box, and ALL they have to do is kick it, but it seems like they chicken out. Emma does this, too. She'll run with the ball right up there, but then it seems she expects everyone to get out of her way and stop, so she can pause & kick the ball into the net without anyone trying to stop her. I think I should remind her the only way to do that is to get a penalty kick, and I don't think they implement that rule until about age 8-9. They're so cute in their little herd, ALL running around, no passing the ball to a teammate, no looking up to see where you're going, just running and kicking the ball. LOL It's too funny....frustrating, but funny.