Nora's 2012 Christmas Letter

Momma always says she’s tired, and Daddy’s busy finishing school, so they’re making me, Nora, at 15 months, write the Christmas letter this year. I’ve never done this before, but Momma says I just tell you what we did this year (just in case you’re not in the Facebook loop, and aren’t caught up on every little thing that happens around here). 

Well, to the important stuff, the stuff about me. In January, Daddy and Grandpa Jack were trying to teach me how to crawl, and when I was 6 months in February, I could do it all by myself. I liked finding new things that Momma wasn’t always thrilled about me finding. (I think I still do that, because they keep putting things up higher & higher.) It was around that time too that they started letting me eat real food! Squash, avocados, carrots, applesauce… I love it all! (Now that I’ve got teeth, they don’t mash it up for me, and I get to feed it to myself or throw it on the floor – that’s usually followed by a “no, no” though.)

For my 8-month birthday, Momma took me swimming for the first time, and I loved it! It’s just like bath time, but the tub is way bigger, and Daddy didn’t keep trying to scrub me down. A couple weeks later, Momma and Daddy left me with Grandma & Grandpa overnight while they went to Daddy’s cousin’s wedding. It was great! Momma says that Grandma always spoils me… if that means “lets me have lots of fun and give me lots of treats,” then yes, yes she does!

On May 19th, we went to a cemetery and released balloons. It was fun to see them fly away. Momma & Daddy said we were sending notes to my big sister for her birthday. She’s the one in the pictures around the house. I like to point at the pictures and say, “bebe,” then Momma tells me, “baby Danni.” (Doesn’t she know I’m still learning to talk? “Bebe” is the best she’s getting out of me!)

In June, when I was 10 months old, Momma & Daddy were babysitting my baby cousin, Reese, and I was jealous that they were giving her all this attention, and not me. I got their attention alright though. I walked straight across the living room! I probably could have done it a while ago (I’d take a step or two, here and there), but, man am I glad I saved that trick until that day! I got their attention back real quick!

Sometime in July that I started noticing Momma’s tummy getting bigger, I thought she was just eating too much, but then she started pointing at her tummy and saying “baby.” I can’t figure out why she would eat a baby, they’re so much fun to sit on the floor next to and watch. (Sometimes I like to poke their eyes and say, “Aye!” Then Momma always grabs my hand and tells me to be gentle, I do it to myself all the time though, and it doesn’t hurt, so I don’t know what she’s so concerned about.) One day, Momma showed me her tummy and asked me to kiss the baby. I felt bad for the poor baby, so I did. I even gave him a hug. Daddy says I get to meet the baby shortly after Christmas.

Oh! Let me tell you about all the places I went! Momma & Grandma took me to Oregon again to play with my cousin, Madison. I liked checking out Great-Grandpa Joe’s wheelchair too. I just can’t get over how cool that thing is! Momma & Daddy took me to Duluth in August, after my 1st birthday. I fell off the hotel bed, and hurt my arm. But, I had a lot of fun playing with the pebbles by this really big lake. Then, they took me up to Daddy’s uncle’s cabin. Boy, was it cool walking around in the woods, watching the big guys cut up wood, and play with my cousins. We also went up to the farm to get pumpkins and visit Momma’s Godmother. I loved seeing the cows (they say, “moo,” you know), and the kitties.

In September, Momma started leaving me with Daddy in the evening sometimes. She said she was going to work, something about tutoring kids at Mathnasium. I don’t know what that means, but I don’t like it when she leaves, and I don’t get to go with her. Daddy, too, has been leaving the house a lot lately dressed up really nice. Momma always tells him, “Good luck with your interview.” I don’t know what that is either, but I like giving him kisses when he leaves.

Love,
Nora, Daddy, Momma, “Bebe” Danni, and the “bebe” that Momma ate


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Ender, the Little Bugger

Alright, so if you've read the book, you'll find the title of this post amusing. Though, I don't mean that Ender is an alien trying to take over planet Earth. Although, maybe that's how the world ends on December 21, 2012...

So, I kind of have a lot to post about. With both girls, I was so much better about staying on top of posts. Although, I will admit, I never actually finished the post about Danni's last appointment. I think I wrote a sentence or two, and afterwards, I didn't want to go back and write about it.

To start, I had an appointment last week. At this point, I don't remember a lot of the details, but I do remember that Dr. Mahan said he was breech, and we were going to schedule the c-section for December 26th. Monday, I had an ultrasound (oh, boy, was that a long appointment!), and yesterday, I had another appointment with Dr. Mahan.

Adam and Nora came with to the ultrasound, and as we were sitting in the lobby, I asked Adam if I had remembered to ask to be scheduled for Krista's room, when Jill, a new ultrasound tech with Allina, called my name. She said that she was going to start the ultrasound, and Krista would come in at the end. Well, when she first scanned, Ender was breech. She went around checking over the usual things they check at a level 2 and a growth ultrasound (though, she only needed to check the growth). She got two pictures of his foot for us while she was scanning, and found that the placenta hasn't really moved. :( She also found that his heart rate was 128 bpm.

Eventually, Krista came in, and Jill asked her a few questions about how to get good pictures of certain parts (being as he was breech, it made some things hard to see). She had problems with parts of his heart (everything is fine, she just couldn't see, if I remember correctly, the RVOT very well, but Krista found it just fine), and with his diaphram. Not that I know much about how to hold the probe to get the pictures they want, but I did know that what she was looking at was not a good picture of it. She was angled wrong, I guess. I just knew it didn't look right, since I saw Danni's diaphram so many times when they would do BPP and check for practice breathing. Krista gave her some pointers though (like looking for the bright white circle of his ribs) to make sure she was at the correct angle.

His big foot up by his head

Before we wiped the jelly off my belly, Krista pulled out the 3D probe, and told Jill she had promised to get some 3D's at this ultrasound, since she couldn't at the last one. At this point, Ender had decided to move to a transverse position facing downward. I'm not sure it made the 3D's any easier to capture though, since he had his hand in front of his face most of the time.

A little distorted since she had to crop out his arm.

Cuddled in, sleeping on his arm.

Once Krista had gotten a couple pictures for us, she told us Dr. Ledella, Dr. Ledella!, would be in to chat with us. I saw her through most of my pregnancy with Danielle - and love her, but only once with Nora, since she was out on medical leave (and I was being seen at Comprehensive for my appointments - just ultrasounds at Perinatal). I guess she had gotten tied up, and was running a little behind (Krista came in twice to let us know her status). But she eventually came in, and scanned again to see that the placenta still had about 3 cm to go, which meant it wasn't going anywhere in time for delivery, and to find that Ender, the little bugger, had now moved to a head down position. Holy buckets kids, do you ever sit still?!

I think one reason I love Dr. Ledella is that she is a woman of faith. While we were chatting, she commented about how Ender was a blessing from God. He is, and it's nice to hear a doctor say it. She talked the same way with Danielle, and how the small victories each week at her appointments were God-given.

Alright, onto yesterday, our appointment with Dr. Mahan. She found his heart rate to be about 160 bpm, and that he was in a head down position still - or probably again... I'm sure he had done several back flips between the ultrasound and the appointment the next day. We talked to her about the possibility of moving the c-section to December XX instead of the 26th, since that would be exactly 37 weeks according to the due date that they have (mine is a little off from theirs, though I tend to believe mine). So we did. I also asked her about his position again (I did at the last appointment too), and how they would have to slice me open. (With a bikini cut, you can VBAC, but if they make a "classical" cut, then you can't.) She said the only way that she would have to make a classical cut is if he is transverse and face up, since there would be nothing for her to grab to pull him out. I told her how he was doing acrobatics at the ultrasound, and she said that they might end up having to scan me before hand to make sure of his position. I'm kind of afraid that he won't be in the right position, and I won't be able to VBAC again. (Prayers for optimal positioning would be nice!)

How far along?: 34 weeks 3 days
Total weight gain/loss: About 22 pounds. I think that's the most I've gained with any of the kids, but I also started at a much lower weight this time, since I was still nursing Nora.
The Bump: Large & in charge. Though, I feel like when I wear my extra big winter jacket zipped up that people might not be able to tell.

32 weeks 4 days

32 weeks 4 days

What I’m excited about/looking forward to: The big day when we meet baby *blank.* (Yep, I think we have a name picked out other than Ender! And, nope, we're not sharing)
Maternity Clothes: I don't even feel like this should be a question anymore...
Symptoms: Just 3rd trimester uncomfortable-ness. Back pain, sleeping, rib kicks...
Belly Button in or out?: Out... I wonder how long it will take to go back in.
Food Cravings/Aversions: Still milk/ dairy. I've been making warm milk with flavored creamers lately. Once in a while hot chocolate, but mostly warm milk.
What I miss: Being able to play with Nora like I used to. I've found other ways to make her giggle & laugh, but still.
Milestones: Supposedly at this point baby is supposed to be "head down and preparing for birth." Not that Ender is, but his lanugo hair is disappearing.