Getting Closer

     My belly is getting bigger and so is the baby. Goodness, I feel like she’s taking up every available space in my abdominal cavity and stretches and kicks OFTEN. She does this funny thing, that looks like jumping jacks. It seems like she stretches her arms and legs out to the side and my belly flattens out sideways and then she pushes up, so then my belly goes straight out in front of me, REALLY far. She does this over and over again! It’s pretty entertaining.

     We’ve been busy since our last update. (What’s new!?) Actually, this weekend is the first weekend we haven’t had something major planned since we’ve arrived here Sept 16th. The running around has been fun, but it’s nice to have a little bit of a rest before the MAJOR craziness begins.

     Two weeks ago, our Pastor, Fr. Dan Saner passed away after battling bladder cancer. He was a WONDERFUL priest, and was present for some major moments in our lives including our wedding and Eva’s baptism. He will be greatly missed! We went to a prayer vigil and layout for him on Friday. (Earlier in the week we had 2 NST appointments and a check up) Saturday we celebrated his life at his funeral at the Cathedral with the Bishop. Saturday evening we hosted a barn dance at my parent’s house. We had a caller come out to teach us the moves, had cornbread and bean soup, hot dogs on a stick and a dance party with DJ Paul after the Caller left. It was a blast! My mom had planned it as kind of a fund raiser for our baby on the way. We received a nice little fund for our medical bills.

     Monday morning (Oct 26th) we had another NST appointment and fluid check. Tuesday Paul and I decided that we were going to take some much needed time alone and go on a date to Barnes and Noble. We got our coffee (Amy, my blood pressure is up! 98/58! Ha!) our Cheesecake Factory pumpkin cheese cake (YUM!) and sat down at our table. After a couple of mins, I noticed that the large group next to us was speaking French. Paul turned around and confirmed it. By listening to them, you could tell that there were many different levels of french speakers. I tried to convince Paul to go talk to them, but he kept saying things like, “I don’t want them to think I’m showing off”, and “what if I’m not up to par?” Ha, I just laughed at the last comment, because a guy a couple seconds later said, “C’est tres fun!” (It’s very fun)....total Fren-glish! A couple mins later, Eva wandered over towards the French speaking group. I let her go, so that Paul would be forced to go over and mingle with them! Ha! It was really cool, because it turns out that they are all a part of the French Alliance of Cincinnati, and they offer classes for adults AND kids! Some of the people were from France, and others just wanted to learn. We got their info and we’ll be in contact with them.

     Thursday Oct 29th- 35 WEEKS! Had a 9:30am ultrasound. Everything looks pretty much the same. Though, when the tech measured the lesion, it said 4.5cm or so. She assured me that the machine was really old, and that she was having a hard time really seeing the borders of it. So, it wasn’t an accurate reading. I hope she was right. She also told us that the baby is in the 57% for weight, and weighs about 6lbs. She said that the baby will probably weigh about 1½ to 2 lbs more before she is born. Ha, I was like “YEAH RIGHT”, and I still don’t believe it. I guess we’ll find out when she’s born. The only thing the tech couldn’t see was the head. I’m guessing she was looking for the cerebellum, but the baby’s head was turned down. She took me to another room, and still couldn’t see anything. Oh, our stubborn children! She did say that Dr. Habli ordered a doppler of the head (MCA) once a week until the birth, which measures the blood flow in the brain. The tech acted like it was standard procedure for all high risk cases. So, whatever! However, we found out the following Tuesday, at my check up, that Dr. Habli ordered the head doppler because they found a symptom of Anemia in the umbilical cord. So, they are going to have to monitor that. The doctor didn’t act worried, and so I’ve taken on the same stance. I think at one point you just get kind of numb to everything. It was an, “oh well, just another thing, pile it on top, because it’s out of my hands” kind of moment. I didn’t even flinch or think twice about it, when I’ m sure I would have slightly freaked out if this was something with Eva......5 months ago.