Lunch with Daddy

We had a fun lunch with Danny today.  There's a chance he might have a mission tonight that will keep him at work until 8 or 9, so just in case that happens, we thought we'd get together so the girls could at least see him once today!  I'd complain about the hours, but Danny is very well compensated for his time when he works overtime, so I'm keeping my complaints to myself!

We ate lunch at the Golf Course, and it was quite yummy!  I think my favorite part was eating outside while the jets took off.  We saw a few F-16s, and when I went to pick Danny up at his office, I got to see the tail-end of an F-22 while it was in the canopy, and I saw another F-22 taxi to the run-way right in front of me!  I'm also fairly certain that I saw another Raptor take off right as I was passing the runway on my way off base.  Seriously, my husband has the coolest job!

And my girls have the coolest Dad ever!

Week 20

Week 20!  The half way mark!  Though, that is kind of misleading.  Since I've decided on a vaginal birth with this baby, that means I'm going intervention free (since any intervention will increase my chance of another cesarean).  Without planning on being induced by a certain date, or scheduling surgery, I have no guarantees that by the 40 week mark I'll have my little boy here!  Quite the contrary, actually.  I went 5 days overdue with Claire, and my family has a track record of going at least a week (if not two) overdue!  So, while I'm celebrating the half-way milestone, I'm in no way diluted enough to think it actually means I'm half way done! :)

It's been another good week, with nary a nauseous stomach or head-splitting headache!  Things are starting to get a little more "pregnant".  What I mean is, I'm dealing more with the back aches and sciatica that some with this growing baby.  My growing belly is bumping into everything, and there is hardly enough room on my lap for Sophie anymore...something she is quite unhappy about.  I managed to get my yoga practice in once last week and even took a 45 minute walk...once.  :)  I'm getting there...  My weight did jump up a bit in the last few weeks, which I was getting discouraged about until I read that by week 20, a healthy pregnant woman should have gained about 10 pounds, and can anticipate gaining about a pound a week from here on out.  I checked my records, and by week 20 I was just over 9 pounds gained!  I'm still doing better than my last two pregnancies.  

It seems as though Johnny is about 10 1/2 ounces, and he's about 6 1/2 inches from head to rump and about 10 inches from head to heel (about the length of a banana).  Those stats are compliments of my weekly emails from babycenter.com.  ;)  I've been feeling Johnny kick and swim around almost constantly, day and night, during the past week.  I have to admit, I really do enjoy that feeling!  At least while he's the size of a banana.  Not so fun when we get to the watermelon stage...

Life around the Call house is business as usual.  The weather is still beautiful, albeit a bit windy.  Danny's been working long days to get the credit hours needed for our trip to Utah for Easter and Robbie's wedding.  We leave a week from tomorrow!  We're all excited, though I'm feeling a little trepidation about the actual drive.  But I always do, and it's always easier than I thought it was going to be.  I'm excited to meet with the OB in Utah while we're there, and hopefully we'll hear back from the insurance people about whether or not we can switch insurances early.  I'm anxious to make a final decision about delivery.

My best friend lost her younger brother at age 22 to suicide this week.  That has been a hard thing for me to digest, and it throws into light how much I miss Rachel.  And how surreal the whole thing still is.  But at the times when I can't seem to stop crying, I always remember how incredibly blessed I am.  My family is sealed for time and all eternity.  I have a Savior who suffered and died so that all the pain and suffering and hurt in this world would be okay.  I trusted that before I came to this earth, and I trust in Him still.  Life is a beautiful thing!  I can't wait to see eternity!

Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun

I guess you're never too young to start! Danny and I are a little nervous...if they're acting like little California girls at this age, what are we in for at 16? I know this: they're gonna be the cutest girls at the youth dances! :)

Week 19

Here we are, only 1 week away from the half way mark!  This has been a very productive week.  Danny and I met with the midwives in Yuciapa on Monday afternoon, and it was a wonderful experience!  We definitely feel good about a home birth.  The only piece of the puzzle that remains is the appointment we have on April 5th with a Dr. Housel at the Circle of Life Women's Clinic in Utah.  As long as we get the insurance changed, birthing in Utah is still an option.  I have sort of a long list of stipulations, however, that would have to be met before I'd do a VBAC in the hospital.  If we can have the type of birth experience we want, both Danny and I think we would rather do the first VBAC in the hospital just in case.  But, we should be able to make a decision within the next 3-4 weeks.  What a relief it will be to know how we're going to plan on delivering this little boy of ours!

I've been feeling REALLY good this week!  Johnny moves all the time now, and we think Danny even felt him kick the other night!  According to babycenter.com, he's about 8 1/2 ounces and 6 inches from head to bottom (about the size of a large heirloom tomato, apparently).  I'm definitely feeling bigger, as my belly gets in the way now!  I'm feeling so much more excited about this pregnancy, and realizing that it really won't be too much longer before I'll be holding my son in my arms.  Hopefully after a very successful VBAC!

Week 18

Here we are at Week 18.  At least, that's what I'm going with.  This week was a rather emotional week for me.  It started out with an absolutely awful visit with my current OB.  I went in for my next check up, expecting the always joyful pelvic, pap-smear, and breast exam that I was told I would have at this appointment.  After waiting for over an hour in the waiting room...again...I was taken back to the nurse's station.  As the nurse was taking my blood pressure, she commented to herself that I was at 22 weeks.  I laughed, and told her unless they knew some kind of voodoo medicine, I was only 17 weeks.  She got all confused, and I had to give her my entire history AGAIN!  Never mind that this same nurse and I spent over a half hour doing that during my last awful visit.  Then she said she would have to track down the results of my pap-smear from my last visit, since the results weren't with my chart.  I told her that would be hard, considering I hadn't had an exam during my last visit, but was expecting one that day.  She said according to the chart, I had my exams the last time I was there.  At this point, I thought I had lost all confidence in this staff's competence.  I didn't know I could fall further...

I finally made it to the exam room, and lucky me I was instructed to dress in a couple different sheet-like dresses for my exams.  The doctor made her way in (the same OB I saw last time), and says hello while looking at my chart.  She says, "Well, 22 weeks!  You're over half way there!"  I sighed and told her I was only 17 weeks, which prompted her to ask, again, for all my history.  I asked to make sure they had the right chart, and apparently they did.  She said that she needed to refer to my ultrasound for my due date, and to verify how far along I was.  I told her that she had ordered an ultrasound that I had two weeks prior, and that the ultrasound verified I was 17 weeks and 1 day, with a due date of August 11.  She shook her head and said, "Oh no, we always refer to the earliest ultrasound for the due date.  According to that ultrasound that I did, you're at 16 weeks today, with a due date of August 19, and that will never change."  So I asked her why in the world she had ordered the second ultrasound if it wasn't to pin down a more precise due date.  Her reply? "I'm not sure why we ordered that ultrasound."  ARE YOU SERIOUS?!  I don't care what she says.  According to my calendar, and how this pregnancy has gone, it makes more sense to me that I'm at 18 weeks, so until someone with a bit more competence tells me otherwise, I'm sticking to that schedule!  How dare she try to take that week away from me! :)

So, she finished my exams while I was fighting back tears of frustration, and then says that she'll finish up her notes outside and I can go ahead and get dressed.  I had some questions I had wanted to ask, so I asked her if she was going to be coming back after I was dressed, or not.  She looked at me kind of blankly and said, "Oh, yeah, what are your questions?"  Seriously, this doctor was going to leave me naked on this table, and not ask me even ONCE how I was feeling, if I had had any concerns, NOTHING!  This is the second appointment in a row that she hasn't asked me one single question about my health.  

To make an already long story just a mite shorter, my questions had to do with whether or not she'd support a VBAC with a midwife, in which she very condescendingly communicated (with as many 4 syllable words as she could muster), that she could not.  After insulting my intelligence a few more times, she was gone.  After a fiasco at the scheduling desk over my next appointment, I finally made it to the car.  Danny was so mad, and I was fighting back tears.  After getting home and spending the rest of the evening with me in tears, we decided that was the last visit with that doctor that I was EVER going to have.

The good thing is that the experience did light a stronger fire in me to make a VBAC happen.  I wouldn't let that woman close to me with a scalpel anyway! :)  I made some phone calls this week, and I talked to a women's clinic in Ogden that is very supportive of VBACs, and I'll be making an appointment today to visit them while we're in Utah for the wedding in April.  Danny is working on seeing if we can switch insurances, so as to have the baby covered if we decide to deliver in Utah, and we meet with the midwives (Karen and Ali) on Monday.  One way or another, we're going to make this happen.  And it won't be in a hospital here in the AV.

Otherwise, this has been a better week sick-wise.  I only threw up after a panic attack on Friday (my first one since Rachel died.), and I really haven't struggled with nausea or headaches.  But I've been OH SO TIRED!  And I don't suppose that will change for a very very long time.  :)  We moved the desk out of Johnny's room on Saturday, and are working towards getting that room ready for a nursery/guest room.  I can't seem to find a cross stitch pattern that speaks to me, which I'm getting a little antsy about.  I need to start working on something for my little guy.  Well, until next week's update, which I sure hope isn't so long...or if it is, I sure hope it's more positive!