Friday, October 31, 2008

Quite possibly, MOST intelligent thing I've ever done

SCHEDULE a 3-hour glucose screening for gestational diabetes for the day after Halloween!

How can I be so anal about time and dates and NOT realize this when I scheduled the appointment? So I will likely fail my appt tomorrow.

I eat very little in the form of veggies, but eat tons of fruit and I have a huge glass off Juicy Juice peach juice every morning to take my meds with.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Please help us meet our base goal!

Duck and I are walking in the Walk Now for Autism Orlando walk on November 15. We did this last year and while I will be nearly 6 months pregnant, we're doing it again.

The minimum donation for a t-shirt is $100. Duck has $25 raised so far. I originally set a high goal, but right now I just want to see my Duck get a shirt for his participation.

This is our design, from my friend Heidi:


Please? Without Autism awareness, I really feel that Duck would have fallen through the cracks as just another boy who talked late. We know that's not the case, there's so much more than just a speech delay. But not enough to qualify under PDD-NOS right now. Duck continues to make strides every single day with the help he gets in school. Again, without Autism awareness, this is something we would not have.

To donate, please visit Duck's team member page (click here).

This is such a worth cause and fully tax deductible.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Okay, I got the cold weather

now can someone please tell me how to stop feeling like a beach ball?

I'm 5 months pregnant and already outgrowing my maternity pants. NOT supposed to happen this way! I'm seriously not comfortable in anything aside from my yoga pants or pajama bottoms. So, I'll be heading to wherever you can find cheap clothing and looking for mat pants that will get me through at least the next few months.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I'll be so glad when it's cooler out

I'm really tired of these 80+ degree days. I think I got pg one month too early. I'm 22 weeks and waddling like crazy, getting overheated way too easily, and what few mat clothes I do have, I'm already outgrowing. My fave pair of pants will likely need replacing no later than Thanksgiving. They're already starting to feel a bit uncomfortable around the belly.

I broke down and got my bigger pair of mat shorts out this weekend. Pathetic because at this point with Duck? I had just started wearing mat shorts. 22 weeks! I still have 16 weeks to go! (well, 18 officially)

Can someone please hurry up Christmas so I can start a real countdown? Thanks!

I started buying food items for our annual "Friends, No Family" turkey-day dinner. I do that like my mom, buy a little at each payday, then you're not shelling out buku bucks the week of. The stuffing and green bean casserole are taken care of. I think I'm going to break down and buy a pie, though. I want our guests to come with only their appetites and leave with leftovers!

I'll have to check our menu again to see what else I can buy in advance. The turkey will likely wait til the week of so I don't have to worry about freezer space.

No sweet potatoes at our house, Duck is allergic. So, I'm hoping someone at work brings them to that celebration. Not that either of us feel we're missing out by not having them, it's just that when we've had the opportunity to eat them sans Duck......we forget how gooey sweet they are. (we went out to dinner back in May to Golden Corral when my parents had Duck and we each had some.)

I guess I could just type it out here:
turkey
mashed potatoes (from scratch)
gravy
pumpkin pie
green bean casserole
stuffing (no I don't make it because I don't like homemade)
beverages (juice, water, milk, pop--that's soda to non-Midwesterners)
salad or veggie tray
cheese and crackers

I also don't do cranberry mess, either Gross, the only time I've actually enjoyed cranberry juice were the two times I was in the L&D area at the hospital down the street. (when I had Duck and yesterday when I was monitored after the accident)

The best part about FNF Thanksgiving? I have room this year! Thanks to my wonderful ILs, we have beautiful furniture and expanding table. A little short on chairs this year, but I'm thinking that Duck and the other toddler can sit at his table, giving us the two folding chairs for the table. I don't have room to store extra dining room chairs. At least not til I get Duck AND HJ out of a high chair or find a house. I'm sure the former will happen way before the latter!

We're on to PHRASES!!

"hmmm, I know!" is Duck's favorite phrase right now.

(well, along with "waz tha soun?")

It's so great to hear him putting words together and using them appropriately.

Went grocery shopping today. Took my car, just drove carefully, making sure it didn't overheat. I wish that we could do things the cheap way just once. I mean, I would have loved to have just gone to a body shop and paid for the new bumper on the Scion outright, but we can't be down both cars. I'm taking a chance as it is driving mine. We did take a look at the owner's manual for the Saturn and it sounds more and more like it is the thermostat. Once the boys get up from naps, we'll take a peak at it.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Pictures from the accident.

Right afterward. You can see my tires are turned into my lane and I WAS certain that's the white line of the lane, but I looked at another photo and it's not.


After we moved the vehicles.


Driver's side.


Close up


After I was able to determine it was just the bumper.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Car accidents SUCK

I was on my way home tonight, sitting a red light, when I hear a huge fired truck coming from behind us. I try to get into the right lane and before I can.....the fire truck decides to jump the median and head the wrong way down the other side of the road.

So I think fine, I'll turn my wheel back toward the lane I was 90% in. All traffic was stopped. Then this freaking semi comes barreling through the right lane and HITS ME! :(" border="0"> :( Took the front bumper halfway off, and scraped the hub cap for the front right tire, but no engine damage and it didn't even jar me. I certainly took pictures for the insurance agent.

Anyway, then before we can call 911, the Orange County Fire Dept Batallion Chief comes up behind us. (he was on his way to the same accident as the fire truck) He called FHP and helped us get off the road.

The trucker denied ever hearing the fire truck. Don't know how, it was less than 3 minutes from fire truck to getting hit. I was clock-watching as usual because I was late leaving work.

Anyway, FHP finally gets there, hears both sides of the story.

I was found at fault because the trucker hit me with the back of his truck not the front, but I did not get a ticket. I'm fighting the fault with the insurance company. I did what I was supposed to do (move over for emergency vehicles) and got hit when I was STOPPED. With stopped cars in front of and behind me.

But, the trooper said that because I did the right thing, I wasn't getting a ticket. Stupid trucker comes barreling through the right lane at a red light and I'M AT FAULT?

I have no front bumper. The trooper and trucker took it the rest of the way off and put it in my back end.

Trooper said if I got pulled over on my way home for no front bumper, just to show them the crash report.

I hadn't felt the baby move the entire time we were sitting there (over an hour) and I started to get worried. I asked him if I needed to go later on, he said to take the report to the hospital.

I got home two hours after the accident and HJ hadn't moved yet. So I downed some Sunny D and he started moving again and has been pretty active the past two hours.

I don't want to drive it any more than we have to, but we are going to try and file the claim with All State and make the appt to get the Scion in for repairs.

We just can't catch a break EVER.

I'll come back later with pictures, I promise

Thursday, October 23, 2008

His name is Henry James

There are VERY few things you get to choose in your life. Your child's name is one of them. So, I say, if you don't like our choice for our child, have your own child.

We chose Henry James for many reasons. My dad's name is James T...........but one of my cousin's has a son named James and I really like it for a middle name. T? Yeah, too much of a mouthful for a toddler, especially one like Duck who has a speech impairment. Don't want to set both kids up for frustration.

My grandfather's middle name is Henry. His first name is R. Each of my parents have only one brother and they are both named R. Each of my uncles have a son named R. To me, that's definitely enough Rs in our family. So, we opted for Henry as a first name.

We will call him Henry. NOT HANK. I do NOT like the name Hank. (though I do love King of the Hill.)

I don't even mind HJ as a nickname, E doesn't like it, but I don't think it's horrible. Heck of a lot better than Hank.

In a time when people are coming up with the strangest spellings of even the most "normal" names......we chose a name that was simple, classic and easy.

And I really like the idea of Sam-n-Henry.

So the decision is final. I won't be changing my mind this time. Duck had a different name for a while in utero in the very beginning, but once we knew he was a boy, we chose his name and stuck to it. We've actually had Henry James picked out for a while.

Duck's progress

If I counted right the word list below has over 130 words. I'm sure there's a lot more that he uses in school, though.

hi
bye
hewo (hello)
Mama
Dada
Daddy
Papa
Nana
nana (for banana)
Money (Mommy)
Baby
boy
grrl (girl)
hat
cat
dog
doggie
bunny
hop
chinin (chicken)
cow
howse (horse)
house
barn
bwue (blue)
yewwow (yellow)
geen (green)
wed (red)
puhpl (purple)
bwue cwue (Blue's Clues)
mmeeeehhhhh (how he identifies a sheep)
pen-in (penguin)
eh-way (elephant)
ion (lion)
bug
sidey (spider)
hipooo (hippo)
zeza (zebra)
Jambo! (hello in Swahili thanks to Go Diego Go Safari Rescue)
Cece (this is the babysitter)
uh tun Mama (your turn Mama)
skoo (school)
bus
car
tuck (truck)
choo choo (can mean either a train or that he wants The Polar Express dvd)
tain (train)
book
ousigh (outside)
in
down
up
open
close
how you (how are you)
Dooby-Dooby (he wants me to read Dooby Dooby Moo by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin)
atsoo (achoo)
we-come (welcome)
thank you
buh-byee! (with attitude, totally different than bye)
kwa-kwin (Franklin)
bear
Pinky
Dago (Diego)
Oobi
Uma
Kako
Ampu (Grampu)
dance
jump
sake (shake)
snake
wuuurm (worm)
duck
pig
piggie (his stuff at school is labeled with a pink pig)
owie
boo-boo
flower
Zee (the bird on Noggin)
wow
pee
poop
poh-yee (ptty)
mee-mee (pacifier)
I want ......
waz that sou? (what's that sound?)
wazis? (what's this?)
bay-el (bell.......like a southern belle would say bell)
eye
nose
head
hair
ear
belly (and he knows that there's a baby in Mommy's belly)
pee-pee
feet
hands
happy
sad
Jo-Jo
geoge (George, as in Curious George)
mo (more)
all done
down
peees (peas)
sceered (scared)
So..... (like Dory in Finding Nemo "so, what's......")
bruke (broke)
Pa-lo (Pablo from Backyardigans)
sruit (fruit)
sfoot (foot)
han (hand)
fwush (flush)
Henny (Henry, figure we better start working on it now)
Pam-pa/Pom-pa (Grampa)
gwass (grass)
soos (shoes)
sock
sirt (shirt)
pizza
wa-wa (water)
cup
staw (straw)
hep (help)
yup
no (snow)
baff (bath)
dino (dinosaur)
dah-no (dolphin)
boak (boat)
bee
owl
seet (sit)
cheer (chair)
Oosy (Lucy, my MIL's dog)
ware dog go? (Where'd the dog go?)
ware go? (Where are you going?)
toos me (excuse me for burps)


  • he can/will now identify himself in a picture as "Sam" not baby
  • can eat cereal from a bowl WITH MILK! (lots of milk down the front, but i'll take it!)
  • eats from a bowl in the car without spilling.....this is big for those long trips
  • when he's done with his plate/cup he hands them to us
  • he's consistently asking for help
  • knows that words on the screen of a tv program means it's over, so he tells it bye-bye. (like bye-bye kwa-kwin when Franklin is over)
  • he can correctly identify the letters N, M, O, H and A
  • he can identify and match red, blue, yellow, green, and purple. still has difficulty even attempting to say orange, but he can match it
  • knows the potty routine of pants down, potty, pants up, flush, wash hands
  • knows to cover his mouth when he sneezes
  • We're seeing a lot of inflection in his voice these days
  • has yet to figure out what to call my mother-in-law. Grandma is too hard yet.....and he just inserted an "m" in Papa for my father-in-law. I'm sure he'll come up with something


I'm still not convinced he's hearing CLEARLY. there are certain words that he says that make me think he's hearing something muffled or because he had ear infections/untreated allergies for so long that because he always heard them muffled he thinks they are supposed to be that way.

Hency, why I hate toddler hearing tests. They only test THAT they're hearing, not WHAT they're hearing.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Fetal echo done today

I had a fetal echo done this morning. And the first thing the tech asked was whether or not we knew the gender. I asked her to make sure for us. So she played around after we got the required stuff done and the baby is ALL BOY. So, make way for Henry James. He'll make his debut sometime the week of February 16, 2009. We will have a firm date closer to Christmas.

As for the rest........
Henry's stats:

*heartbeat: 150 bpm

*weight: ~1 lb

*foot length: 3.99 cm

*measured about 1 week ahead

*No cleft lip or palate

*teeth buds already visible (tech said she'd never seen them this early)

*sucking/swallowing very well

*Risk of Down's based on 2nd integrated screen: 1 in 2,500 (versus 1 in 270 for my age)

*Risk of Trisomy-18 based on 2nd integrated screen: 1 in 10,000 (versus 1 in 100 for my age)



My stats:
*21 weeks as of 10-20-08

*BP: 112/76

*weight: 175 (a gain of 8 pounds since June 23 when I learned I was pregnant)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

My husband calls it "nesting", I call it.....

not wanting to live in a clutter pit. We have lived in three apartment in five years. With each apartment, we've gained at least one more room. This time? We gained a room, a laundry room and a pantry. I actually have a PLACE for most everything.

So, I've been doing a lot more cleaning. I mean, get-down-on-my-hands-and-knees wiping down the floors cleaning. I vacuum all the time, I wipe down things all the time, and I want to be able to see my counter-tops.

I still have boxes to "unpack" which is code for go through and throw the crap away. I mean, 90% of the remaining boxes have been in storage for the 4.5 years since we moved here. If we didn't need it then or now, we won't need it in the future. Rare exception would be things like flashcards for Sam or other art supplies we'll use over time.

Tonight I spent an hour baking cookies. I made a batch of chocolate no-bake cookies and a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies (with the last pan having chocolate chips added --- special mommy-only cookeis). Yes, that's about 10 dozen cookies in an hour. That takes talent. And table/counter space. Something I could NEVER have done in our 1-bedroom apartment.

Monday, October 6, 2008

I failed.

I failed my 1-hour glucose test. Probably overload on my system, that stuff was NASTY! I hate fruit punch flavored stuff and to have to drink that sugary syrup and keep it down for an hour?

And then I FAILED????

I guess I'm supposed to feel better about the fact that I "barely failed." How do you "barely fail" a medical test? Probably the same way I "barely passed" the same test with Duck, I guess.

So, I have to go to the lab for the three hour test. GROSS. I had one once.....at the Rippe Institute for a WW study. The only "good" thing was they put in a line so they wouldn't have to keep sticking me. I hope the lab does the same thing!

Duck had an eating day today. Ate toast and cereal for breakfast; mac-n-cheese, peas and chicken nuggets at lunch; fetuccine alfredo with E for dinner; and then some mini-M&Ms and chobby for desert. I'm going to watch it for a few days, but I think I discovered the culprit. He's been having chobby in the morning rather than juice. So, he's full for breakfast time, but will eat if it's something he likes which means he won't eat lunch.

I'm thinking it's time for a new word list from Duck........that will be a future post I think.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

It's official, my son eats like crap

We had a conference on Friday with Duck's teacher about some of our concerns and eating was definitely one of them. The teacher also expressed some concern because he's typically eating breakfast OR lunch, but not always both. Then the problem becomes if he doesn't eat lunch, he will eat at the sitter's which in turn causes him to not eat dinner.

I don't know what his problem was this weekend. He didn't have breakfast, wouldn't eat it until I took a bite of a Nutripals bar. Then he ate that. He ate lunch and dinner, though.

Today, he ate half my Coco Roos, had a cup of chobby. He had a Kit Kat for a morning snack (we don't worry about sugar so much as getting carlories into him, he really does eat healthy). then a grilled cheese for lunch with some pear juice and cheddar sour cream chips. Dinner? Nope. I even made spaghetti and gave him peas. No go. All he wound up having was some water and then his night chobby.

Oddly, I was very relieved to not be the only one noticing he eats so freaking little. We offer 3-5 things even, no such luck. Mac-n-cheese is pretty much a given, as is grilled cheese. But, those things have other implications. He's back off the Miralax, but I feel like now we're trading on issue for the other.

So, visit to the pedi? Pedi gastro?

It's not just toddler eating/non-eating day. this is consistent eating only two meals a day, with a third thrown in once in a while. when I told the teacher that the days he eats both meals at school, he won't eat at school, she thought the same thing as I did. It's not normal.

they had a fire drill on Friday. Then the alarm wouldn't turn off. Of course it was right in the middle of pre-K breakfast. She took them all outside with their breakfast. The rest of the boys ate and then played. She took Duck back inside with some cards to work with and as she was "ignoring" him, he would pick up a cheerio or two and eat. she said he ate about half a bowl before someone came in the room and it was over at that point.

He's weird like that. He either wants to be ignored during meal time or he wants everyone eating and we still haven't figured out when it's time for either.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Duck and playdough

Duck loves playdough....but it's only been recent that he actually does something other than squish it. He finally got the toys figured out and I owe it all to SCHOOL.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Wordless Wednesday, a couple days late.....

This is what Duck thinks of his toys.


And yet, people wonder why I close my bathroom doors!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

okay.....glucose test?

entirely DISGUSTING!

seriously, I hate fruit punch of any kind, but to have to drink the equivalent of bag-in-a-box cola syrup flavored like fruit punch.....that is the worst kind of punishment.

I had to talk myself out of puking at least three times in the 55 minutes I had to wait. The ONLY thing that kept me from puking was the thought that if I did, I would have to do the whole thing over again.

OMG I hope I pass so I don't have to do it again til Thanksgiving.

Waiting for the glucose test

I'm waiting to go to my 1-hour glucose test. I asked if I needed to fast and they said no, but not to have a sugary breakfast. HA!

She said "piece of toast and some coffee is fine."

I said, "So, um, I'll be fasting since all I have is Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs at my house."

I don't do coffee and we keep forgetting to buy bread, so no toast.

So, I won't eat til almost 11. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't pass out!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Well, baby boy decided to once again be his own person

The nurse practitioner tried for a good 5-7 minutes to trap that kid in a spot to hear his heartbeat and he wouldn't stay put. So, she had to go get the ultrasound machine. Oh, boy is this boy is sitting low! Duck did too, but not like this. He was just chillin' out, waving to mommy, trying to flip over.

I swear I felt him from the outside last night. I was laying on the bed, trying to just relax and feel him inside, when all of a sudden, I felt him inside and on the palm of my hand. E was already asleep, so I didn't get to share it with him.

Next appt:
October 3: 1st glucose test
October 5: 2nd integrated screen (1st was on 8.22)
October 20: fetal echocardiogram

As long as I don't have any problems with tomorrow's blood test, I won't have to have another glucose screening until 28 weeks. Otherwise, it's on to the 3-hour test. I was borderline for the 3-hour test with Duck, so hopefully, I will not be anywhere near that tomorrow.

Weight is currently at 173. Total weight gain: 6 pounds.