Cuarenta Semanas

I heard the heartbeat! 158 bpm. Still trying to figure out if that is fast or slow. :)

Everything else is GREAT! I have only gained 5 lbs (well, they are saying 6, but they weighed me before I went to the potty this time...). My blood pressure is good (100/60). I finally started showing this week. Sugars are great. I do still need to get an appointment with my endocrinologist; I will call them next week.

I asked about the Heparin and we will be changing to that around 35-36 weeks (right around Christmas). And it won't have any effect on the timing of the c-section, so it looks like little baby Koehl will be here sometime the week of January 15th - 22nd.

That's it for right now. I will write more about the weekly happenings later. Just wanted to update about the baby.

End of the First Trimester, Here We Come!

3 days is all I have left of Mr. First Trimester. I have definitely been feeling some kicks this past week. Yesterday, I must have been laying just right, because the little "thumps" were up at the top of my belly button for the first time. I was reading on BabyCenter.com and it says that the baby is "now about 3 inches long (about the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs about 1 ounce." That explanation just cracked me up. The image I got was of a little shrimp cocktail glass full of ice with little babies sitting around the edge. WRONG I know, but what can ya do?

I went to the George Strait concert Friday and have to admit I was pretty disappointed. The quality of performance was lacking from both Blake Shelton and George. I'm just hoping Taylor Swift doesn't disappoint in October.

I went to Nichole's baby shower on Saturday. It was a good time. They had blank note cards and envelopes with the numbers 1-20 and then "Graduation Day", "Wedding Day", etc. and had all the guests decorate the cards. I thought that was a great idea. The cupcakes were very tasty and afterwards, I ran to Nichole's and picked up the crib. I can't wait till time gets a little closer and we can start to decorate and set things up.

It was a rough weekend between me and Mom. She has been out of her medicine, of no fault of her's this time, so she is a little off-kilter, and I am just me. Most of the arguments are about how I raise my kids, or the snide remarks she actually makes to my kids about how I am raising them. I am not the type of person to keep my feelings to myself, so it usually ends up in harsh words and tears. All will be fine eventually though.

I signed Xavier up for soccer tonight. It was kind of impromptu, kind of planned. He had been asking to sign up for a while so today when I went to see when sign-ups were, I found out the registration closed this weekend. I talked with the Registrar and she said there were a few more spots open in his age group. I made sure he wanted to PLAY and then went over to fill out the forms and turn in the ($70) check.

I have to get him enrolled in school on Friday (well, pay for book fees that is) and get school clothes. I already picked up most of his school supplies. I just have to pick up kleenex and a zipper pouch. Dang! These kids are expensive!!!

I also bought Emma's Christmas this weekend. Toys R Us was having their Christmas in July sale and just happened to have 30% off what we were wanting to get her. I am worried about how boring Christmas will be this year. I like shopping during the Christmas season. I guess I should just be happy that I am getting it done because I will be 8 months pregnant then and probably won't feel like walking all around a million stores or fighting crowds.

Nana turns 75 Wednesday and Jim turns 30 on Thursday. The next few weeks are full of birthdays for our families. Then we get a little break between then and all the holidays - except, I just filled that hole with soccer games. :)

Friday is the appointment where we set up the appointment for the ultrasound. I am REALLY excited! It is so crazy to think in just 4 weeks, I will know if we will be welcoming a little J.C. or Kat. I am just hoping this lack of appetite and ability to sleep passes soon. I though pregnancy was for cravings and nap time!

Is it wrong I am ready for fall? I have just grown to love all the traditions our family has - football, chili, Waterman's Pumpkin Patch, the GREAT Koehl Thanksgiving dinner... I think we might add the apple orchard to the list this year, too.

87 Days

... or 12 weeks, 3 days. Almost done with the first trimester. I really can't believe it. I know the "hard" part is still to come, but the beginning has really flown!

I am surprised I am not really showing yet; I always have before with the other kids. Or maybe I just wanted to before, so I probably carried myself differently I guess. Right now, I just look more "fluffy" (that's what I'm calling it). The days where I won't be able to see my shoes are coming soon, so I will just appreciate one more weekend in non-maternity jeans.

Not much change this last week. The only additional fun is a urinary tract infection I came down with yesterday (woo hoo!). It progressively got worse all afternoon as my in-laws were over to help Jim with the patio, so after everyone left, I called the on-call doctor to ask if there was something I could take OTC or if I should go into the prompt care. He offered to call me in a prescription instead. That was nice. My regular pharmacy is only open until 5 on Sundays so I had to get the number for the CVS across from the hospital.

I waited some time and went to pick up the prescription. I double-checked that it was okay to take with my other meds, since they don't have them in their system and didn't want to risk a drug interaction, AND I checked to make sure it was okay to take while pregnant. All was okay, until I got home and read the directions and drug information.

Hold the boat... This stuff specifically says it is for a bladder infection and should only be taken if deemed very necessary while pregnant because it can cause a blood disorder in the baby. WTH! I don't have a bladder infection (or so I thought) and I am already taking a blood thinner that I am not sure how it will affect the baby's blood, so I don't really think it is wise to take this medication. Maybe the doctor misunderstood my symptoms. I know I shouldn't be so untrusting, but MD does not stand for "Mighty and Devine". Accidents happen. Misunderstandings are the reason for malpractice insurance. I decided to overload on H2O and a little bit of tylenol until the morning when I can talk to my doctor.

I called him today and everything is fine (now I feel stupid because UTIs and bladder infections are kinda the same thing - and because I didn't take the drug last night, I could be one dose closer to a little relief) URGH!

I did have a bit of a craving yesterday. While waiting for the prescription to be filled, I wanted something chewy and sweet. Not crunchy, not melty. Not chocolate or fruity. Just sweet and chewy. So I found a little package of mini Cow Tales. They hit the spot! (Yummy!) :)

Xavier went to scout camp last week and LOVED it! I am so proud of him. He did the zip line and monkey bridge and a bunch of other stuff (I) would have never tried. They had great weather and most of his den was there too, so it was a good experience and I am sure he and Jim will go next year too.

Emma and I went to see Hannah Montana: The Movie Friday night. It was so cute. Yes, hokey, but sweet. Emma sang throughout the entire movie and she was on Cloud 9 because Hannah AND Taylor Swift were in the same movie. What more could a 3 year old girl ask for (oh, yah, we had popcorn and malted milkballs for dinner). :) Everybody needs a junk day like that every once in a while.

All in all, it was a good week - and thanks to family, we are much closer to having the patio finished.

In their shoes...

Today I "heard" (read really) a comment about disagreeing with someone's treatment of their kids. And it brought to mind a lesson I learned a while ago: don't ever assume you know what someone is going through.

I learned this lesson the day after Ian died. We had just gone to to the funeral home to discuss the arrangements and write the obituary for our 8 month old son. We stopped by the Best Buy to get a CD of The Music Man for his memorial DVD. When we got to the check out, I am sure I looked ragged and weathered - from 24 hours of tears, terror and heart ache. And I am sure the girl at the counter thought she was being helpful when she said "Cheer up! It can't be that bad!" because who really buys a Carol Channing musical CD because their kid just died, right? I didn't have the heart to tell her "Oh, you don't know how bad it can be."

That got me thinking today, when the comment was made about how disgusting it was that a mother cussed at her 3 year old and "drug" her down the stairs by her arm, who are you (we/me) to judge? Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think child abuse is acceptable in any circumstance! However, shouldn't we think of that mother and what she may be going through? Maybe she just lost her job, or got evicted from her home, had the power shut off, just got terrible news about a family member, or has just been doing this job, by herself, for the last 3 years. Maybe she has spent the last 20 minutes patiently coaxing that (possibly) strong-willed child down the hall and is late for an appointment with CPS where they are threatening to take the child away.

These aren't extreme circumstances. These are things that happen in real life, to real people, just trying to get by. And because some stranger sees the 10 seconds of your life where you just can't be Carol Brady anymore, suddenly, you are a terrible person, an abusive parent. Maybe, instead of "shame! shame"ing the mother, we could ask her if she needs some help.

I believe in being an advocate for children in a crisis situation, but sometimes, don't you think we need to be an advocate for parents that are trying to assert some authority over their kids? Sometimes, it does take a "Damn it!" to get the message across. And sometimes, it takes a firm grip and leading someone down/up a stair case to get where we need to go.

There was a situation with my three year old a few months ago where she became terrified of everything in public and refused to leave my side. She was being very clingy and wouldn't even go to the restroom out in public if someone else was in there. She is also very dramatic ("very" being the understatement of the decade!) so there was always some type of loud emotional breakdown. After many episodes of dealing with this and trying to encourage her, at dinner one night, my older son had offered to take her to the restroom at the Wendy's. He was even going to take her to the girls bathroom. But as they approached the door, another customer came out of the men's facility. She stopped dead in her tracks, started crying hysterically (yes, she does even pass out and hyperventilate sometimes) and refused to go to the potty (even though she was starting to turn jaundice from having to go so badly). And I couldn't get her to stop crying either. So I said, "if you don't stop crying, I am going to send you home with a stranger."

Now, let's be reasonable - do you really think I would send my child home with a stranger? And with her acting like that, do you think anyone would really take her anyway? (just kidding).

But the wife of the gentleman who scared her, decided to tell me that it was inappropriate for me to threaten my children like that and I should be ashamed of myself. Now, this woman was not at the movies earlier where my daughter decided to wander off as I stood in line for popcorn and then freaked out because she couldn't find me, even though I hadn't even moved one step and I could actually still reach out and touch her. Nor had she been there any of the rest of the times where my daughter almost pulled my pants down because she was clinging so tightly to me - out of fear of nothing. It took everything I had not to tell the woman, if she wasn't careful, she was going to be the "stranger" I sent my daughter home with.

Defend kids when they need it. There are kids who are treated worse than anyone deserves to be treated. But have some compassion for struggling parents, trying to make it work, who may just be having a bad day. Remember, you don't know how they feel, until you walk a mile in their shoes.

This week was quiet

I'm a little over 11 weeks now and after the fun of last week's appointment, I am happy to say this was a quiet week. Like with most pregnancies at 11 weeks, most of the "symptoms" have died down (ok, not my huge boobs or over-emotionalness, but everything else).

It was a fun week. A friend had her baby (Yay, Chrystal and Baby Ben) and my sister-in-law announced that she is expecting, too. She is about 6 weeks behind me, but God help her! She is 40, her oldest just graduated high school and still has 5 at home!!! But she is a great mother and this is really happy news for her family (and the rest of us). :) It was going to be lonely being the only one in the family and my friends who is pregnant, so I am glad to share it with her.

Also, we had a little medical scare with Emma. She fought stomache cramps and vomitting most of the week and so I took her to the doctor Friday afternoon. We ended up checking her sugar at the appointment because apparently, flu symptoms are a sign of diabetes in small kids. It was a little more elevated that it should have been, and since she has family history, I checked her fasting sugar Saturday morning. It was 95, perfect, so the scare was short-lived (thank GOD!). I check both of the kids' fasting numbers every 6-8 months, just to make sure we are on where we need to be, but it would break my heart if the results were ever leaning towards diabetes. I wouldn't wish this disease on my worst enemy.

I just got some sad news that the pet of one of my other sisters-in-law is showing signs of aging and may be getting very sick. That breaks my heart! I remember how devastating it was when we had to put Charlie down; there will never be another dog like Charlie - or Malcolm (or Ariel either). Pets are so much love when they are with us, but they all seem to live us too soon!

I'm on my way to 12 weeks. I hope after I get to 13 weeks, I can finally really relax and enjoy parts of my life I have been missing out on lately. I know - lucky 13? I have always been a little off, as anyone who knows me can tell you. After all, I got married on October 13th at the Gatlin Gun Club! :)

Oh, in other swell news, my friend, Nichole, offered us a baby bed and mattress! That was really kind of her and a real answer to prayers. We don't have anything other than a pack 'n' play and an umbrella stroller, so we are going to have to replace everything. We did start a registry. Not that I am going to share where with anyone, but it was a way for me to show Jim things I like.

Xavier started scout camp this week and already got to shoot BB guns and go canoeing. Emma has learned to love "writing" (aka tracing letters in her preschool book). Jim just seems tired all the time (but I love him SO much! I couldn't do this without him!). And the patio is set to get worked on this weekend.

Let's just see how the rest of the week goes...

To a well-trained eye...

.... there is a little alien in these pictures.



I am 10 weeks 3 days today. I went to my doctor appointment this morning. All looks good, but as expected, he tried to use the doppler to find the heart beat and wasn't able to. Yes, I was going to ask him not to, but I thought "maybe if I can hear something, it will make me feel better." Instead, he couldn't hear anything, decided to send us to ultrasound and I spent some time crying in the waiting room, as I prepared myself for having a DNC tomorrow and getting my tubes tied. God LOVE my husband - who, instead of telling me I was overreacting, just put his arm around me and let me cry on his shoulder. He was there last time when that little lifeless fetus appeared on the screen and I had to confirm there was no heartbeat. So he knows, I am not just freaking out for no reason.

But today, our little mars man (or woman) had a strong heartbeat (170 BPM) and is developing right on track. I tried to figure out if the heartbeat was a little quick to see if I could get an early guess on what we are having, but the sonographer said they are all about 160-180 at this point (just my luck, right in the middle).

We go back for our next appointment on July 31st. Nothing big will happen at this one, but we will schedule the "normal" ultrasound. That is the one where you can possibly find out what you are having. And that should be around the 28th of August. I just can't believe how quickly it is going.

And it is not going to slow down anytime soon. We have something big happening every month from now until January. Xavier has scout camp next week and then school camp the last two weeks of July (and Jim's birthday). My birthday is the beginning of August, Xavier starts school and scouts start back. And I have a concert to go to. September we are going to see the circus and popcorn sales start. October is the Taylor Swift concert and then Halloween. Thanksgiving is next, then Christmas and in about 3 weeks after that, Emma's birthday and the baby. Holy Moley! It is going to be a fun ride! (right?)

And I am ready for the fireworks to be over... got it neighbors?