Where is the year going?

It's absolutely insane to me that we are already halfway through July! Now that a lot of the nausea has passed, I swear it feels like he days are passing at triple speed. 3 weeks from tomorrow Kaitlyn will start the third grade. Including this year, she only has three more before she graduates to junior high! How???

Both Kaitlyn and Samantha will be celebrating their birthdays in 4 months. I'm worried time will keep flying by, and as my belly expands, I will get even more uncomfortable. So, I've been proactive. Both girls have their invitations ready for their parties and all the decorations are ordered and on the way to our house. We're really simplifying the parties this year. They will have them on their birthday days, Samantha is having a Very Hungry Caterpillar party on Friday night and 8 days later Kaitlyn will have her Monster High sleepover. Kaitlyn is very excited for both. I'm sure Samantha is just excited for cake.

Matthew's birthday is also right around the corner. His fifth birthday is Monday, August 6 and we will be celebrating with our yearly balloon release at the cemetery on Sunday, August 5 at 11:00 am. If you'd like to join us, let us know so we can be sure we have enough balloons and such. Matthew's birthday is something Kaitlyn looks forward to every year. She thinks it's a fun for him to look down on us and be a part of his birthday party when the balloons get to Heaven. Samantha doesn't understand and it might be another year or two before she gets it.

Samantha is growing like crazy. She knows how to break our hearts. When I put her down for a nap, she cries and throws in a "mommy, help, pease!" and at bed time she does the same to Dusty after he puts her down, "Dada, help pease.". She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to scream a defeating no if it's something she doesn't want or throw a hysterical fit to get her way. When she wants to poop, she demands a fresh diaper first. She knows where the cookies and pop tarts are and that just happens to be her favorite cupboard. She is quickly on her way to the fabulous, terrible twos.

Kaitlyn is very excited for school to start. She has made it clear that she really, really wants to see her friends. Her school is having an ice cream social a couple days before that she is looking forward to. Cheerleading practice starts in less than two weeks and it looks like she is going to be a busy bee.

We've hit 17 weeks in our pregnancy. The little one is growing wonderfully. Her heartbeat is really strong and once in a while I can feel the flutter of movement. It looks like the blood clot is possibly gone. Of course, it's hard to tell because my placenta is being stubborn and instead of hanging out at the top of my uterus, hanging out at the bottom, completely covering my cervix and the front of my uterus, making it difficult to get a good look with ultrasound. It also means I get to keep taking it easy, limit my walking and minimize any lifting over 10 pounds(Samantha does not like this!), as well as trying to physically keep my feet elevated. I received my first p17 shot last week and have my next tomorrow. We have our "big" ultrasound on our anniversary this year. 3 weeks from yesterday we will celebrate 8 years of marriage! It's feels like it was just yesterday and a lifetime ago all at the same time.

Life has been good. Peaceful. Things are so much easier without constant drama and gossip. I feel fortunate we took the steps to remove it from our lives. Without having to spend so much energy on things that really don't matter we have so much more energy and time to focus on the things that do.

A Drama Queen in the making

I think that's what we're dealing with. I think this little one is determined to be the center of attention, she must know what she is up against because she is determined to keep me off my feet and in my bed for the next 6 months.

It started with a migraine on Friday. A dizzying migraine that after some caffeine and tylenol was tolerable. It included minimal vomiting, which is normal for me right now anyways, so I can't really blame it on the headache for sure.

Well, that turned into being super nauseous when I went to bed that night. I tossed and turned all night, and felt super dehydrated. But, even sipping water had me throwing up, so I had a feeling that the next day I would end up at least taking a visit to the hospital to get something to make the pain and the vomiting stop. I figured we could all keep sleeping for now though and wait until the afternoon.

Well, at about 6 in the morning, I had to go to the restroom and there was blood. A lot of it, with some clots mixed in. With the girls still asleep, we decided Dusty would stay home and I would drive to the nicer, albeit a little further, ER to get everything checked out.

An u/s showed a healthy little baby, still measuring a week ahead (the ER doctor thinks we should change the due date, but unless I ovulated the day after my menstrual cycle started, it would be off, she's just growing well), her hand still above her head while she sleeps. And while her ankles weren't crossed during this u/s, the umbilical cord was hanging out in the middle of her legs. We didn't bother trying to verify the sex, because it really doesn't matter and I was just glad to see the healthy blood flow to the umbilical cord.

My urinalysis showed an infection, blood work showed dehydration, and I needed a rhogam shot for the bleeding. I was given the option of staying over night to get an IV of fluids, or going home with antibiotics and zofran and strict orders to stay in bed and do NO lifting until at least Tuesday when I start p17. I chose going home.

The day continued with the misery of wanting to puke nonstop and my head pounding. Today is a little better, but we're only a couple hours in the making. Here's hoping it improves!

Miller Baby 2012 Ultrasound Video

The video from yesterday's ultrasound.

It's A...

Baby!

A baby with a big head (measuring 5 days ahead!), 2 arms, 2 legs, little hands and a desire to sleep with one arm above it's head and one hand under it's chin.

Yesterday, my sisters and mom threw me a party with close friends and family to celebrate my 30th birthday.  Because we weren't exactly sure when we would get back from our trip to DC, yesterday was the day!

Earlier in the day, Dusty and I went to have an elective ultrasound to determine if we would be having a baby girl or a baby boy this time around.  After the ultrasound, I called my sister who filled the birthday cupcakes with a color to compliment what the ultrasound showed.

Kaitlyn has been asking nonstop what we were having.  After dinner, she got to take the first bite and tell everyone the color inside.



The inside was pink!  We're having another little girl, another princess to sew dresses for and stick bows in her hair.

It was a little bit of a shock.  I was thinking it was likely  boy, I mean, girl pregnancies have never given me so many complications from day one!  But, obviously this little one is going to be even more stubborn than the other two.

We've already been asked if we'll try again for a boy or if we're disappointed.  The answers are no and no.  My doctor has already strongly recommended a tubal for health reasons after this pregnancy, and I've agreed. I would never bring another child in the world under the hopes they are a different sex than than what we're currently raising.  And what's to be disappointed in?  We have a son.  While it would be wonderful to have the opportunity to raise a son, there are far more important things to worry about than if your baby will be wearing blue or pink.

My only irrational fear involves Kaitlyn.  I thought if we were having a boy, it would limit her being left out.  She would have the sister bond with Samantha and the new baby would have the age bond with Samantha.  So, everyone would have a special bond.  But, I know that in non hormone world, that's a silly fear.  And completely unfounded.

So far, the names we're considering are Charlotte and Penelope.  But, neither are in stone and we are thinking about others as well. 

Dora Belle Hulsey

August 17, 1927 to June 26, 2012. 

 

On Tuesday evening, Dusty's grandmother left her Earthly body to be with God and spend eternity in Heaven above. We're incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to visit in April for her to meet Samantha and visit with Kaitlyn. And now, Matthew has another family member with him. While we would love to physically be there with everyone who is mourning the loss of an amazing person, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Wishing everyone strength, peace and comfort on their journey of grief. She will be forever missed.

Build A Bear Promo

Wanna check out what happens when you drive down to Glendale for your oldest daughter to see and meet her absolute favorite celebrity?

I know, I know

I've been a TERRIBLE blogger.  I've totally slacked on updates and seeing as how we've been across the country and back, summer vacation as started, and based on what train of thought you go by, I'm in my second trimester, there's obviously a whole lot to update on.

The problem hasn't been not having anything to say.  I mean, when have *I* not had something to say?  It has had more to do with this little one already showing who's boss by making me a prisoner to toilets and garbage cans everywhere I go.  I've had morning sickness before.  I've had what I thought was bad morning sickness before.  Nothing in the world could have ever prepared me for this though.  Misery is the only word I can think of to describe it. 

So, where to begin? 

Last night our local chapter of the March of Dimes had a kick off event for one of their big fundraisers in September.  It was an intimate event with about 30 people there who they were requesting to get sponsorships from for an event they plan on raising $200,000 at.  Many of the people there were not aware of the mission of the March of Dimes, which to me is just silly, but I know that if it hadn't of been for our experience, we would be in the same boat.  I was asked to talk about our story, and share how the March of Dimes has affected our lives. 

I won't lie and say I wasn't nervous.  I was.  For a variety of reasons.  One being that the above mentioned morning sickness is way worse at night and I was terrified of throwing up.  Another being that I was worried I would cry and watching the fourth season of Lost right now has shown me that crying only makes me puke.  Oh, and throw in there speaking in front of distinguished members of our local community about something so personal without speaking a gazillion words a minute.

But, I did it.  I didn't throw up.  I didn't cry.  And Dusty promises me that I didn't talk to fast or too soft. 

I wasn't expecting the crowd that was there.  I was doing ok with "recognizing" people that were there and the important roles in the government until Bethany Crouch walked in.  You know, from Fox 40 news.  The local news we watch every morning.  Then, I was way more nervous for some reason.  But, to say that she is incredibly sweet, genuine and kind would be an understatement.  And, she offered to help with advertising our fundraising event for Matthew's Team next year!  How awesome is that?

I am currently 13 weeks and 2 days pregnant.  We've heard the hearbeat on the doppler.  I'll share video of it soon.  Other than the morning sickness and heartburn, I'm doing good.  I haven't had any spotting or bleeding in nearly two weeks now.  I'm hoping when I go to my appointment on Monday the SCH will have reabsorbed and just be completely gone!  How great would that be?  We're considering going next Saturday to find out what we're having, but haven't decided yet if we will do it then or wait it out a little longer.

Kaitlyn is doing great!  She has officially finished the second grade.  She made the Principal's honor roll for the entire year.  Her school is one of the top performing in the state and considering that their grading requirements are incredibly high and she is advanced in every category they test, we couldn't be prouder of her achievements.  And we're fortunate that she is really a well rounded kid. 

Kaitlyn is excited to start cheer on Monday.  She has cheer camp and tryouts that week, then she gets to make the decision if she wants to pursue it or not.  She was super gung-ho and insisting that she had to be a cheerleader this year, until she started seeing all the advertisements around town for the swim team.  Now, she wants to do both.  Considering they are both huge commitments that overlap each other, she has to make a decision on which one to do. 

Samantha is doing great.  Her speech has taken off so much.  She talks all the time, no idea where her or Kaitlyn got that from, and her speech is getting much clearer.  She's learned to say the "noises" for a lot of animals.  Right now she will do the noises for cats (my favorite because she squints her eyes and crinkles her nose to do it), dogs, horses, pigs, cows, snakes, ducks, tigers and sometimes surprises us with a few others.  And sometimes she'll surprise us by answering our question of "what does a ______ say?" with utter and complete silence.  We've also been working a lot on letters and numbers.  She'll repeat the ABCs after me and recognizes a few letters on her own, like A, B, O and R.  And her favorite number is 3.  She recognizes it and points it out everywhere.  She's pretty darn bright.  She stacks blocks 5-6 high, she cuddles her baby and of course, tries to climb on absolutely everything.  And when she gets told no, she'll listen.  Of course, she'll throw herself on the ground in a tantrum of screaming and fake crying, but she'll listen.

Samantha had her pediatric GI appointment today.  It went ok.  There don't seem to be any structural abnormalities or anything suspicious in her blood work.  She has lost 3 ounces in a month (which means she's dropped from 45% to 25% in weight) instead of gaining.  And she has a lot of stool in there still.  The doctor believes it's compacted and gave us a couple of options.  We could try the magnesium citrate again.  This would be our fourth time.  It hasn't worked in any of the previous three attempts.  Like, not even a tiny bit.  All it does is create a day of tears, frustration and a couple of little runny diapers.  I'm sure it creates a tummy ache for the little one as well.  And if it doesn't work, we would go to option two.  Option 2 is to put her under general anesthesia and after she's asleep for them to go in and remove the compacted stool.  The goal is that once the compacted stool is removed, the stool softeners will be able to keep her regular and her bowels nice and clear in the future.  We opted to go for option 2.  Since the procedure won't take place at our normal hospital, we have to wait for insurance authorization to go through.  Depending on when that happens, she'll either go in a week from tomorrow or the following Friday. 

On Memorial Day, Dusty and I took our poorly packed luggage, loaded Samantha into the truck Dusty drives at work, hooked up to a 34' trailer, and after leaving Kaitlyn with my mom, took off for a drive across the country.  In about 6 days, we arrived in Washington DC.  Kaitlyn flew out with my mom and arrived the same day we did.  We spent 9 days in DC. We varied the days up between work events, site seeing and me trying not to throw up around the clock.  I did not have a good time.  Then, we let Kaitlyn go with my mom and the three of us started our journey back.  Kaitlyn and Grandma took a detour on the way home and stopped in Illinois to visit with Grandma's side of the family.  Kaitlyn had a blast visiting with her aunts and cousins, and we were able to stop for about half a day and join her.

By the 5th day of driving, we were about 15 hours away from home, 900 miles or so, and decided that we didn't want to wake up and get in that truck to drive anywhere for another day.  Considering that Samantha kicked at me when I tried to put her in the car, I think she agreed.  So, we traveled from Wyoming to Sacramento all in one day.  To me, it was worth it.  We spent the entire next day not leaving the couch unless we had to.  And, we were glad to get back in time for Father's Day!

That's a quick run down of life over here for now.  I'm sure it's going to continue to be crazy, but I'm looking forward to a little bit of resting this summer!