New Baby Doctor Appointment

I had a routine appointment for the 'new' baby today.  The doctor and I talked a lot about the effects of having this baby and the damage that's been left from having Ali.  The symptoms of the fistula seem to be increasing as this pregnancy progresses.  I discussed this with my colorectal doctor the other day and he said the only thing he can do while I'm pregnant is a laparoscopic colectomy put in place during my pregnancy.  But, he highly advised against it due to the risk the procedure would create to the fetus.  My ob doesn't seem to think there's a risk and she's encouraging me to have it done.  I put some thought into it, and I'm not doing it.  I'm not going through the next 7 months with a bag of poop...plain and simple.  My ob doesn't think the fistula should get any worse during the rest of the pregnancy because once the initial moving around of things during the first trimester, the baby shouldn't be resting on those muscles.  But, she also said she didn't think the fistula should get worse as it already has. 

We did get to hear the heartbeat outside my stomach...which she said really shouldn't happen this early on, so that was exciting.  It took forever to find and she only caught it for a sec, but it was there.   She's going by the ultrasound, so I'm currently 12 1/2 weeks along with a due date of 2/12/12.  Again, I'll have a c-section so it will be scheduled somewhere around 2/5/12. 

I thought the nausea was easing up a bit this week, but today has been pretty rough.  I went to yoga and the first time in down dog I went straight to the bathroom...which just makes my stomach upset for the rest of the day. 

Hopefully no new news on the baby front until the next appointment in 4 weeks!

So much to do, so little time...

Having a toddler is a lot of work!!!  Obviously, by the lack of posting I do!  A lot has happened since the last time I posted...let's see...

We're pregnant again!  Yep, surprises all around!  I think I'm 12 weeks now, the ultrasound showed a few weeks different than the calculations.  I go to the doctor this week and I'm going to ask what she's considering my due date as.  It's either 1/31 or 2/12.  I will have to have a c-section because the doctor said the fistula from having Ali is too weak to sustain labor.  She's planning on performing the c-section at 39 weeks as of now.  Which, if we go by 2/12, will be Superbowl Sunday in Indy!  So far the pregnancy hasn't been too rough.  No where near as rough as Ali, but I still have awhile.  Nausea and vomiting hit about 2 weeks ago but I'm hoping we're at the tail end of that.  Ali doesn't quite understand, "Hold on, Mommy doesn't feel good."

JM found a full-time job!  Well, technically I found him a full-time job, but he has one!  He's a freight conductor for CSX.  He spent 6 weeks in Atlanta for training and came home 2 weeks ago.  Now he does on-the-job training for 18 weeks and then will start working for real.  He absolutely loves it.  He's mentioned a few times that he can't believe he gets paid to play with trains. 

Because of JM's full-time job, I've been able to drop down to 2 days a week at work, which is great.  He watches Ali on the weekends and then my mom takes care of her on Tuesdays.  It's been a blessing for Ali, myself, and my mom to have that time with her and not have to send her to daycare.  She spends some of those mornings in childwatch at the Y while my mom puts in some hours, but I don't think she spends a whole lot of time 'in' childwatch.  Everyone's passing her around and letting her have the run of the place!  After summer camp ends they'll start back up some mommy and me type classes so Ali and I will enroll in those. 

My work is fine, same old, same old.  They're opening up a new hospital by our house so I'm toying with the idea of applying there.  So far they haven't opened any supplemental positions yet, only full and part time.  I would take a huge pay cut to switch to full or part time so I'm going to hold out for now.  After JM gets through training I may be able to cut down even more on working so I need the supplemental flexibility.

We're about to do some re-grouping with our house.  Obviously, we're going to have 4 people living in a 3 bedroom house...we have to do something!  We're getting rid of our guest room, first of all.  I think we've had people stay with us a total of 5 times since moving in, and that's in over 2 years!  Definitely not a reason to have a guest room furnished anymore.  So we're getting rid of the bed and I think most of the furniture in there.  We'll move the computer into that room and make it into an 'office' type space for the time being.  We figured the newborn will stay in our room for the first month or two anyways, so no need to change it now.  Then the office, which is the open room in the back of our house that leads to the backyard, will be changed into the playroom.  Mom, Ali and I are going to head to IKEA soon to get some storage systems and I already have the paint.  Mom and I are hoping to get that finished before Ali's birthday party. 

Which leads me to Miss Ali.  She is absolutely wonderful.  In every single way.  She's pulling herself up to her feet and even 'cruising' within the last couple of days.  She babbles all the time.  The other night I swear she said Momma.  JM was changing her on her table and I was picking up her room and she couldn't see me.  She yelled out "Momma!" and I peeked around JM.  As soon as she saw me she clapped, so I'm pretty sure she was calling me.  We're trying to decide what to do for her one year photos which a friend of ours will do for us.  So many neat ideas for the big 1!  I could go on and on about her.  She's mastered finger foods.  Just hoping she'll get a few more teeth.  There's not a whole lot more she can do with only the 2 bottom teeth.  I'm starting to wean her from nursing.  It breaks my heart and you can tell she's not happy with it, but my supply is diminishing because of the pregnancy.  Right now we're replacing one feeding with a bottle and will gradually make the switch.  I think it'll be for the best, then at least when she turns one we're not weaning her from the bottle AND me at the same time. 

I'll post some new pictures on our picasa (which you can access to the left) when I get a chance.  We haven't taken as many pictures lately...she just keeps us too busy!

I'm taking a stand and switching the blog back to public.  I've been told by many people that the blogs about the miscarriage are helpful so I want that to be readily available.  And the 'ex' friend that I hid it because of doesn't concern me anymore.  She's completely removed from JM and I's life and I have to say, it's been nicer.  Not seeing her negativity on fb is great.  The family member that was the cause, well, I'm not going to let it get to me anymore.  They've made their choices and well...you know.  I know that's not very Christian-like, but sometimes it's just more than you can handle. 

I think that's the update for now.  Nothing major going on, but life is constant, wonderful and full!

Thank you

I wanted to send out a sincere thank you to all those who have sent out your support during the loss of our uncle.  Uncle Mark was very dear to us and played a big part of our lives.  Even our friends called him "Uncle Mark".  But we appreciate all the emails, calls and help with Ali and our houses while we were in NJ. 

Banana-avocado

I started Ali on bananas this week. I know I said I was going to move on to sweet potatoes but I couldn't get to the store and we had bananas on hand.  I hadn't been able to take a picture yet because she eats it so fast!
Today I mixed a square of banana with a square of avocado. I didn't add any baby milk because 1) she had a couple of ounces first and 2) I had used the food processor on both fruits so they were very smooth and thin. She ate both squares! Such a big girl! You could tell she didn't like it as much as just the banana, but I want her to get used to different tastes.
Side note, I miss baby milk-only poop!

We're mobile! Kind of...

And we're rolling!!! Woo hoo!!!  Ali was wanting to be difficult and had yet to roll over.  I wasn't real concerned, it's not like she's going to end up being 18 and still not able to roll over, but it was annoying!  The 'average' baby rolls from belly to back around 4 months and then back to belly around 6 months. 

Leave it to Ali to do things backwards and all at once.  Nani was watching her today and she rolled from her back to her belly (so advanced!) for the first time.  And you know what for?  The remote!!!  If there was any question before, it's clear now that this is DEFINITELY JM's child :-)  Here's a pic...

Luckily for me, Ali repeated the roll when I got home from work.  But I was still annoyed that she wasn't doing the roll she should have been doing a month ago!  So, I'm doing her nightly baby massage and she's on her belly.  She sees her teething ring a little to the side, reaches for it but can't get it.  You can actually see her thinking about it, then she flips her head back, throws her body, and rolls from belly to back to grab the ring.  She reached 2 milestones today!!!  Silly girl.  Guess there just needed to be something she wanted badly enough!