one month later

I realize its been a while since I blogged. A lot has been going on here.

Chris got to his FOB (Foreign Operation Base) and has settled down into a routine.

Shaden turned ONE!

At his one year check-up he weighed in at 17 lbs and 28 inches tall. That puts him in the Zero percentile. LOL. Yeah, that's right... ZERO. Meaning if you put Shaden in a room with a hundred random one year olds, he would be the smallest. His doctor is not concerned at all. His height and weight are great proportionally. He is on track developmentally and the doctor loved Shaden's happy demeanor.

Shaden has taken a few steps on his very own. He thinks he is so cool now. :)

My new doctor says everything with baby #2 looks great. He is growing and his heart beat is strong. She says as long as everything continues to move along as well as it has been there should be no worries.

Those are the updates from our little part of the world.

Enjoy the video!

Easy Patient... Maybe Not!

Where to start... At my 20 week ultra sound we were told the baby was definitely a boy, healthy, and active. All good things. Then I got a call a few days later from one of the doctors at the hospital saying they could only see two vessels in the baby's umbilical cord. There is supposed to be three; one vein and two arteries. So they made a referral to another hospital in the area with a better ultra sound machine to double check.

On Thursday this week I had another regular doctor's appointment scheduled and then the better ultra sound after that. At the regular appointment they informed me what would happen if the baby does have only one artery and one vein. I will have to have growth scans or ultra sounds every four to six weeks and they might want to induce me at 39 weeks. Which would put the baby being born at the end of September! (It keeps getting closer and closer, even when the weeks are feeling really slow.)

The doctor also informed me that my blood platelet level was low at my last blood draw. She said I will have another blood draw and the glucose test at my next appointment and that I need to have my new doctor check the platelet count. She informed me that if the number was under 100 I would have to have my blood drawn at every appointment and that would need to be monitored. Also if it was still under 100 at the time I go into have the baby I wouldn't be able to have an epidural.

:( 1: I hate having my blood drawn. 2: I was so grateful for my epidural when I had Shaden. 3: I hate pain! 4: Chris isn't here and probably won't be able to make it for the birth, especially if I have to have the baby early.

At the better ultra sound they confirmed the two vessel cord situation. But they also said the baby seems to be growing just fine and is very active. He kept kicking and punching me while they were trying to measure. They said for me to make sure I'm eating well and getting a little exercise, but I need to be cautious not to over do it.

So, that is the update for me and baby boy #2. I will try to post an update on Shaden and Chris soon.

So we found out yesterday that we will be having another boy!  Yay!  We are excited.  It will make it so much easier to prepare for the new baby with Chris gone.  I'm sure Shaden will love having a little buddy.  

Now to figure out a name.  We want to use Jonathan as the middle name.  We are considering a few right now.  What do you think of these:

Jayce Jonathan

Merick (or spelled Marek) Jonathan

Parker Jonathan

Bryson Jonathan

Kayde Jonathan

These are just a few of the ones I like and Chris hasn't immediately gone "NO Way."  We want to stay away from the main stream so if these sound out of the ordinary that's the point.  :)

Easy Patient

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday.  We were running a little bit late because of traffic to get on post and construction around the hospital.  Thankfully my doctor was also running behind.  It seemed that her appointment before me was taking a lot longer than she thought it would.  This happened a few times with my appointments with Shaden.  It makes me wonder if I don't ask enough questions or if I'm just an easy patient.  

My family doesn't have any major illnesses and I am healthy and don't drink or smoke or do drugs, so I like to think I am an easy patient.  

Why I start wondering about this is because my appointment only lasted 10 minutes.  And that was with me asking a few questions.  

I'm not complaining at all.  I like to be the person that can help catch a doctor up to her schedule.  And my last doctor would always thank me for making her job easier.

Now for some news from the appointment.  The baby is healthy, in the right position, and has a strong heart beat.  And is due sooner than previously thought!  According to the early ultra sound the due date is now October 10, 2009.  I was a little shocked by this news.  I was thinking the doctor would tell me that the baby was due later than thought.

This is great news for one thing: Chris will be able to go to the 20 week ultra sound!  Which is now scheduled for next week.  Hopefully we will be able to find out if its a boy or a girl.  I like knowing.  Chris was really disappointed when he wasn't able to come to the first ultra sound and was also going to miss the next one, so this is wonderful!

Great Birthday!

I had a wonderful, terrific, awesome birthday!

Chris was supposed to be stuck at the range all day, but got pulled off that assignment.  YAY!  He was able to come home for lunch (which is always nice).  Then he got released early!  Another YAY!  Especially since he has been getting released late recently.  

We decided to go to Carrabbas Italian Grill for dinner, because I wanted some place with a good dessert.  I remembered going there with Chris's family and getting dessert "shots."  So we ended up going slightly earlier than we normally eat dinner and got seated right away.  Dinner was delicious!  I love their Pollo Rosa Maria with Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  Yum!  Shaden is such a good eater and loved sharing my chicken and potatoes and of course some of Chris's pasta.  Then we asked about desserts.  Sad to say they aren't doing dessert "shots" any more.  BUT... We ordered this dessert called "Sogno Di Cioccolata."  OMG!!!!  It was sooooo very good!  It is two layers of rich fudge brownie with shaved chocolate crowned with chocolate mousse, topped with a little whipped cream and chocolate sauce.  We also added a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  It was heavenly.  I know what you are thinking... sounds like a lot of chocolate, it's probably too rich.  But it wasn't overly chocolate or too rich at all.  It was nice and creamy and oh so yummy.

While we were waiting for our dessert to come, an older gentleman came up to Chris and asked him if he was a soldier.  He started talking to Chris and telling him about what he did when he was in the army.  Then he said, "I would like to pay for your dinner."  My jaw nearly hit the floor.  He proceeded to thank Chris for serving in the military and tell him what a nice family he has and then he went back to his table with his friends.  After the uber yummy dessert came our waitress told us that our ticket was paid for by another patron and thanked us for coming.

After we left the restaurant we went over to Target and Chris bought me a Wii and Mario Kart!  I love it!  Mario Kart has been one of my favorite games since I was little and we had a Super Nintendo.  We got home and proceeded to play!

I am so grateful that I was able to spend the afternoon/evening with Chris and Shaden!  It was a wonderful birthday!