Become a Bone Marrow Donor

This week, I learned that a good friend of mine from law school was recently diagnosed with Leukemia. He is a father of four young children, and was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. He now needs a bone marrow transplant to save his life.

I am encouraging as many people as possible to get tested and register to become a bone marrow donor (or make a donation to help support the testing and registry of other bone marrow donors). You can gain more information by clicking here:

https://www.giftoflife.org/Public/Online/DonorCircles.aspx

Please consider helping save a life.

On my own....

Today began 48 hours of me "on my own" as a single parent. DH is at a conference in Philly. I think this may only be the second or third time he has gone out of town since Micah was born - he has definitely done more stints as a "single parent" than I have (although I've had him more days on my own than he has). I think I'm just a *little* nervous being 34 weeks pregnant and on my own.

I really shouldn't complain. DH was here this morning when we woke up. I took care of Micah and got him ready for daycare while DH packed and got ready. He was able to drop Micah off at daycare on his way out. Today was actually quite easy - I just had 3 work meetings and an OB appointment, so I did not have to worry about Micah during the day.

Luckily, my Dad was available this evening, and he came to join me around 5:30 today. He kept me company while I went to pick Micah up. I had a horrible experience at pickup today, though. I did not recognize the woman in the room watching the kids when I arrived. I saw another father there I recognized, and I said hi to him (and his son). Micah saw me and came running over and said "hi" and called me Mommy. While I was gathering Micah's stuff together, the woman asked me if I was Micah's GRANDMOTHER. Hello - I'm clearly in my 30s, I do not have a single grey hair on my head, and I'm obviously pregnant. GRANDMOTHER? That is what you thought to ask me? I can understand that she did not recognize me, and if she had asked who I was to verify that I was authorized to pick Micah up (or even if she checked my ID), I would have been fine with that. If she had asked if I was a family member, I would have been fine with that. But GRANDMOTHER? SERIOUSLY? How obnoxious is that!! My pregnancy hormones kicked into full gear, and that woman was really lucky I didn't knock her into tomorrow. I complained about her in the front office on the way out, too. But GRANDMOTHER? Come on!!

After my rude encounter, we were able to have Micah walk to the car holding our hands. He carried Micah for a bit (I'm finding it harder to carry him these days), and helped me keep Micah occupied at home while I cooked him dinner and put away his laundry. Actually, my Dad brought Micah a brand new Elmo DVD - the two of them went downstairs and watched it together. I have to say, I'm not sure which one of them was more enthralled. Perhaps my father - Micah actually got up to play with other toys a few times, and when dinner was ready, it was my Dad who whined about needing a few more minutes to watch the end of the video. They were cute together sitting on the couch and watching the DVD - Micah sucked his thumb most of the time, but he did get up and dance a few times.

Micah ate a pretty good dinner - he had a few pieces of chicken, some rice, sweet potatoes and strawberries. He usually doesn't like to eat chicken, so I was surprised. My Dad was a huge help wrangling Micah for his bath (WOW was he dirty today!!). I did the bathing, but my Dad lifted him out of the tub and kept him occupied while I lotioned him up, dressed him in pajamas and combed his hair. Of course, Micah had to take his turn to comb my hair (and my father's, too). Once we finished bath time, Micah gave his Grampy a hug and a kiss and said night-night and goodbye, and Grampy left us for the evening. Many thanks to Grampy for helping out! It made my night much easier. I finished up our nighttime routine and put Micah to bed. Luckily, he was nice and tired and drifted easily off to sleep.

I had my 34 week OB appointment today. Twoey's heartrate was nice and steady, and all is well. I told the midwife that I've been feeling a lot of pressure and heaviness, and she suggested I increase my dosage of the anti-contraction medication. Great - that makes me restless. Other than that, nothing new to report! I can't believe I am already 34 weeks pregnant and that we'll be meeting Twoey in just a few short weeks. I have so much to do to get ready!

Tomorrow is going to be a long day - I have Micah at home and no classes or activities planned. I need to think of something for us to do, or Micah will go crazy! I may take him for story time at the mall, and there is an indoor train there, too. We may also go pick up my mom and take her to lunch. I have a feeling I will need a little relief by the end of the day...I get exhausted chasing after Micah and I am extra-exhausted because of the pregnancy. Perhaps I'll see if my Dad wants to stop by for an hour or so in the afternoon, or if I need my mom to come by for an hour or so around dinner time to give me a break.

I have some cleaning up to do (cleaning lady will be here in the morning), and I'd like to try and get to bed relatively early (although I still need to take the dog out sometime between 2 and 3 or she'll wake me up at 4 am, so perhaps I'll just take a nap, walk the dog, and then go to bed). Wish me an easy day tomorrow!

Mother's Day

This is my second Mother's Day as a mother...and the third since I discovered I was going to be a mother. I have been looking forward to this day - it is such a wonderful way to celebrate family. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to be a mom to Micah, and cannot wait until next year when I can spend Mother's Day with Twoey, too.

It was another wonderful day - I was not only able to spend it with my mother and my son, but my brother, husband, sister-in-law and nieces, too. What could be better? Rather than fight the lines at a restaurant and worry about restless and misbehaving children, we decided to get together for a brunch at my parents' house. I brought our waffle iron, eggs, bagels and I mixed up a homemade Belgian Waffle batter. My brother brought fruit and toppings for the waffles and veggies for omelets. My Dad set the table, provided the orange juice, and ran out to the store for the syrup my brother forgot. DH and my brother made eggs and waffles for everyone, and we all sat down for a wonderful brunch together.

We had a great time - the kids all played together and the food was delicious. We did spend half the day chasing the dog and trying to keep her from stealing the leftovers. There were a few meltdowns, lots of noise, and more than our share of smiles and laughter. We took a family photo for my mother (she wanted a picture with all of her grandchildren to place on her computer desktop). I love seeing Micah interact with his cousins, and I love seeing my mother with her grandchildren. It really was a great day to remember how lucky we are. We ended up staying there all day...Micah took a nap, everyone went for a walk, and we ordered pizza for dinner. All-in-all, it was a perfect Mother's Day.

We topped off our day with some family time at home - Micah cuddled up on my lap and we read a few stories. He chased the dog around the house a few times, and he gave me kisses. At bedtime, Micah climbed the stairs, waved at me, and said "night night." Perfect, right?

Getting nervous

I seem to be a delinquent blogger these days. I'm definitely getting nervous about reaching the end of my pregnancy. I'm about to hit 34 weeks, and I already am feeling a ton of pressure and contractions. I probably have about 2-4 weeks left of this pregnancy, and we do not have a name for this baby. I haven't even packed my hospital bag yet! I finally pulled out the pee pad for the bed in case my water breaks in the bed again.

I'm feeling a bit bigger this pregnancy than I did with Micah, and definitely getting physically uncomfortable. My body hurts and I am having a hard time getting comfortable these days. I am loving how much Twoey has been moving around, though! I think it is interesting...I can already tell my two babies have different personalities. Micah was quite active all the time - he never stopped kicking, punching and bouncing. My belly would dance all over the place, and he loved to cause trouble whenever they put the monitor or the doppler on my belly -he'd go right over and start kicking and punching it! Twoey is also active...but in a more mellow way. She flips and rolls and occasionally kicks and punches, but she is much more likely to be stretching, or kicking one or two times in a row and sitting quietly for a bit. I think she is going to be more reserved than Micah. She does have that touch of cute-but-evil running through her - she finds a spot (like my rib) and she'll poke it repeatedly. I almost imagine her with an impish grin as she pokes it over and over again while I'm thinking "don't do that." Micah STILL likes to do that now.

I'm getting excited to meet Twoey. I wonder what she will look like, and I wonder if she'll be born bald or with a full head of hair like Micah. I kind of hope she has a full head of hair like Micah - we could immediately put adorable little bows in her hair! I wish we could figure out the name situation, but we are really struggling. We have a list of names...but we just haven't found "THE" name yet.

On the Micah front - he is just being so cute most of the time. His Daddy took him to a free music performance on Tuesday morning at one of the local restaurants. He has been busy in daycare and he has such a great sense of humor. On Thursday, we went to meet his Grammy and Grampy for a nice lunch, and Micah got to walk and hold their hands for the first time! They also played the "one-two-three swing!" game with him while they walked, and he laughed and laughed. He is definitely starting to talk more and more. Tonight, we were outside playing on his slide/basketball hoop toy that his Grammy and Grampy gave him for his first birthday, and he said basketball! (Okay, it sounded more like bah-ball, but he was definitely saying it). He kept shooting his baskets then stopping to clap for himself every time he made a basket.

But perhaps the BEST part of my week happened tonight. I got my first first Mother's Day gift FROM Micah, MADE by Micah! I was all teary and happy - it was such a wonderful thing. They had him make it at daycare, and wrapped it up and sent it home.




.As you can see, they framed a picture that Micah painted, and they included a picture of Micah making the painting! It is currently sitting on the fireplace mantle, and I'm loving it.

For good measure, here is some video of Micah we've taken over the past two weeks. We finally have a new Flip video camera (we had given our old one to our niece for her trip abroad back in January, and it took us until now to replace it)!

Oh the times, they are a-changin'....

I know I always say this, but I'm constantly amazed by how much things change from week to week. It has been nearly 2 weeks since my last substantive post...and while not much has been going on, so much has changed. Funny how that is...I've had all these little nothings I've wanted to post, but nothing really interesting to write about, so I keep postponing the blog entries.

Overall, my last two weeks have been relatively uneventful...I've been cramming my work week into 3 full days plus afternoon nap time the other two days. I lost a lot of time while Micah was sick, and I do feel that I am quickly running out of time before Twoey arrives. We are desperately trying to wrap up the final plans for the renovation (I've been meaning to post a draft of the plans and talk about all that insanity) and file for our permits. Once again, we are already behind schedule and the budget keeps ballooning. We got a nasty bout of sticker shock at our last meeting, so we are now trying to figure out how to reduce the costs without scaling back the scope of the project.

Micah, however, is changing rapidly by the moment. His vocabulary seems to be increasing by leaps and bounds. He repeats words, says thank you, get down (to the dog), car, vroom, tree, doggy, milk and a few other things. He has been amazing us in other ways lately, too. After refusing to eat any pasta (or rice) for months and months...he started to eat spaghetti! They told us he ate 4 bowls at daycare, and we did not believe them. We took him out for dinner at a chili place, and we ordered a spaghetti chili for dinner that he scarfed down! This weekend, my nieces were in town and we served Macaroni and cheese for dinner...and Micah couldn't gobble it down fast enough! So, apparently pasta is now an option again. I also made him rice to serve with dinner last night, and he ate that, too. I'm excited because it means we have more options for meals now, and it will be easier to stop for lunch and dinner in restaurants if we can serve him pasta. Here is a picture of Micah playing with his cousins at a street fair we took them to - they were dancing and playing while a kids musical group performed:

Micah currently has a strawberry obsession. I think, if we let him, he'd eat strawberries until he exploded! We bought a huge flat of strawberries to make strawberry jam, and every time Micah saw it, he insisted on eating more strawberries. I think he ate several pounds of strawberries all on his own!

It was only a month ago that I posted about how Micah would walk to the gate and climb upstairs at bedtime when we asked him if he wanted to go upstairs and go night-night. Now, Micah's response to that question (and almost everything else) is to shake his head no. Do you want to go night-night? No. Do you want to go sit in your chair and eat dinner? No. Do you want to play outside? No. I think no is his default response to everything now. Sometimes, I admit I ask questions just because it makes me laugh when he shakes his head no!

Micah has found a new obsession...shoes and hats. He loves to put our shoes on and try to walk around the house. Sometimes, he brings his own shoes over to us (while we are sitting inside) and insists that we put his shoes on his feet, too. I can't tell you how often he walks around in pajamas and shoes, or a diaper and shoes. He also LOVES his Daddy's bike helmet, and is constantly trying to wear that, too.



On April 24, DH and I went to one of my best friend's wedding. Actually, I set her up with her husband at our wedding! The wedding was just beautiful - I only wish I felt more up to dancing. I kept trying to get out there and enjoy myself, but the contractions would get a bit strong and make me nervous. Nevertheless, the wedding was beautiful and we had an amazing time. Luckily, Micah was able to spend the night with his Grammy and Grampy while we were at the wedding. They had a great time, and Micah did really well sleeping at their house. They ate pancakes for breakfast, and we picked Micah up right around lunch time. We decided to run over to my friend's house to visit her new puppy - only 9 weeks old! He is a cav-chon (a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Bichon mix). He was so cute and sweet - only 2.5 lbs! He was bouncing all over, and Micah was IN LOVE with him. He had no fear - he loved the dog jumping in his face and kissing him, and didn't even worry about the little nipping.

Micah seems to have 2 new teeth...one on the bottom left, next to his bottom 2 teeth, and one on the top left...I think it is the bicuspid. He has at least another 4-6 teeth trying to break through. This has made for a few rough nights - teething definitely causes Micah to wake up and fuss. Friday night he was up from 1:15 until 4:00 am, but he has been better since then. Unfortunately, he woke up on Saturday morning with two spider bites - one on his cheek, and one on his arm. It looks like a spider walked across while he was sucking his thumb and bit him twice. It is kind of nasty and bubbled up, but so far, it appears infection-free. We have been wiping them down with hydrogen peroxide at night and dabbing them with neosporin. We've also given him benadryl at night to help with the itching and swelling, and it seems to be working.

We are having some issues with Micah and aggression lately. The good news is we had a playgroup here on Sunday with a whole bunch of women I met through the breastfeeding support group I attended after Micah was born, and it seems we are all struggling with the same issue. Micah has a tendency to get territorial around toys - he will scream loudly if others get too close and he thinks they will take them away, and he has even been known to push to protect his toys. We try our best to reprimand him and teach him to share, but I just don't feel like he is learning yet. He usually does not walk over and steal something from other children...normally, he'll watch and wait and grab it when they drop it or turn their backs. But, I do get embarassed when he yells at other children in class. Here is our little playgroup:

Micah has also become obsessed with climbing on the chairs and looking out the window. He can easily get himself on and off the couches and chairs in the living room, but we still worry that he likes to stand and jump on them (and does not listen when we tell him to sit). He loves to bounce on the chairs and bury himself in the pillows - I just wish he would develop safety awareness!

As the weather has gotten warmer, I've slowly been bringing out Micah's summer clothes. I purchased everything for the summer in size 12-18 months, but the clothing is pretty large on him. Actually, in terms of length, the size isn't bad, but he is just so skinny that all the bottoms fall off of him! We did recently discover that many of his shorts have tabs in the pants that allow us to cinch them in - this has been our saving grace!

Last week, I had another appointment with my midwife and the maternal fetal medicine specialist. I have to say, I'm feeling far more uncomfortable this pregnancy than I did with Micah. I just feel...stuffed all the time now, and Twoey is definitely sitting on my bladder these days. My belly was measuring perfectly - exactly 32 weeks - and her heart rate has been great. She is head down and starting to engage, so we are definitely on the right track. Twoey measured 32 weeks in size, and estimated her weight at 4 lbs 2 ounces (I found that shocking - that is 1/2 lb larger than Micah was at the same time!!). I think, however, their estimates may be off - her head has already dropped a bit, so the fluid levels were a lower around her head which can affect their measurements. They also seemed to think her head was measuring larger than the rest of her body, so it was most likely a bit inaccurate. Her arms/legs/belly were all measuring a week or two small...which seems a bit more normal to me (since I was a small baby and Micah was so small). I guess we'll see what the next growth ultrasound says! My cervix seems to be holding steady...shocking, but true. The contractions are still there, but we seem to be keeping them under control. I lost 2 lbs since my 30 week appointments, so still no weight gain of any kind. Now that I'm planning for Twoey's early arrival...I'll probably end up 42 weeks pregnant and needing to be induced. I'm definitely feeling anxious about things...I have no idea when we are moving, and whether we will be here or in the condo when she is born. Because we do not have a final room together, my need to nest is being thwarted...I have nothing to get organized! So, instead I seem to be obsessing about furniture and paint colors for the finished house.

I guess my final update is about names for Twoey...no, we do not plan on sharing her name before she is born. Not that it matters...the only name we really have so far is Twoey! We are VERY stuck on names this time. Ironically, we just came up with a name we like for a boy...and we're having a girl. We did this the last time, too. We just can't seem to find that "perfect" name that resonates with us. I have a feeling this baby may be Twoey for the rest of her life!