A few pictures!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of months. It's hard to believe how quickly time flies by!

Brett wearing Amy on his back. The three of us and Chandra went to Lake of the Ozarks to visit Missouri Children's Burn Camp for their 15th year of camp. It was fun being able to show Brett just a few things around camp. Here we were by the high ropes courses, and Brett was watching someone.

Channie posing for a picture:

Amy's one year photo with Barry. Hard to believe that when she was born, the bear was bigger than she was!

One day when Brett was off we took a little trip to the Science Center. Amy LOVED it, and was fascinated by the dinosaurs. I'd wondered if she would be scared since they have models of a T-Rex and a...something else...that move and make noise. But she just stared and stared, and didn't want to leave. In the next few pictures, she's crawling on a slab that has an imprint of a dinosaur track on it.

Amy had recently discovered the fun ability to lay on her belly and push herself backwards. Hence this picture.

The three of us went to a Cardinals' game recently with our friends Brian and Jenn Johnson (who are expecting their own little girl any time now). It was fun, the Cardinals won, and Amy behaved herself! Brian was nice enough to snap a few pictures of us.

And yes, it does look like my child is throwing a gang sign. We ARE in St. Louis, after all. (Just kidding.)

 Amy is a very curious child. VERY. We always worry when suddenly realize it's been a bit quiet for a few minutes. I was out one evening and Brett was home with Amy when he realized that he hadn't heard her in a couple minutes. She'd gotten into our bedroom, in the dark, climbed onto the bed via a pregnancy pillow on the floor, and found the Kleenex box. (This was NOT her first playtime with Kleenex, either.) Brett found her sitting in the middle of the bed in the dark, with Kleenex all around her. By the time he grabbed the camera, came back, and flipped on the light, this is what he found:

I made buttermilk chocolate chip pancakes a few days ago for dinner. (Yum.) Amy definitely appreciates them. Of course, she's only met one food she didn't care for (jalapeno bratwurst), but she LOVES these. And does a very good job eating them.

I mean, really. Who could resist this face? Not me. How does that line go? Oh, yes. Resistance is futile.

We've had lots of fun lately, and I just love my little girl! It's so fun to watch her learning and growing. She is definitely a walker now, and spends most of her playtime trying to climb everything in sight (and succeeding frequently). She is so smart, and learns so quickly! She doesn't talk a lot just yet, but she's getting a lot better at using signs, which is helping with both of our frustration. I'm not worried about it. She definitely takes after her mother, and does things when SHE is good and ready. (E.g., she weaned herself from bottle to sippy cup in less than 3 days.) So, she'll talk when she decides to. Why am I not surprised that my child is headstrong? :)

It was bound to come out some time anyway....

I really try not to complain too much about being pregnant, at least not publicly. Brett gets an earful as often as I feel like it (poor guy). But I just feel awful, and it's taking over my life anyway. So.

I had completely awful morning sickness for several weeks my first trimester. Like, couldn't keep food down, throwing up several times a day morning sickness. It was horrible. I managed to eat potatoes a couple times a day (if I was lucky) and sometimes even managed to keep them down. I'm so grateful that phase of this pregnancy is over. It was way worse this time around than it was with Amy.

Once I hit my second trimester, I felt like I'd been run over by a semi with an oversized load--several times over. They say usually you get MORE energy during your second trimester. Wow, so not true this time around. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm chasing around a very energetic child (who has now learned to walk AND climb). On top of THAT, I've had a lot of trouble sleeping lately. Last night I was so tired, I went to bed around 10. Didn't fall asleep until almost midnight. And then woke up around 3:30 AM and couldn't fall back asleep. I finally gave up a little before 7 and just got up for the day. I feel like death.

I've also been having some issues with contractions. There's some debate as to whether they're Braxton-Hicks or the real deal. Regardless, Brett and I spent a lovely few hours in Labor&Delivery this past Saturday. I'd been walking around a lot during the day, and noticed that night on our way home from the Blues Festival downtown that my contractions were awfully close together. Started timing them around 9pm, and they were 5 minutes apart like clockwork. About 45 minutes later, they were becoming closer together. I finally spoke with the on-call doctor around 10:30pm, at which point they were every 2-3 minutes. He told us to hightail it to the hospital, so we did. Despite being monitored for a couple hours, their machine wasn't picking up my contractions. (The RN later said that as early as I am--just shy of 25 weeks at the time--the monitor doesn't always pick them up since my belly isn't as big and hard as it will be later in pregnancy.) Did an ultrasound, and Baby David was doing just fine. He was still moving around a ton, so I wasn't really terribly worried about him. I wasn't dilated or effaced at all, so they sent me home.

Had my regular OB appointment scheduled for Tuesday anyway, so it was the perfect time for a follow-up. Apparently I have an irritable uterus. It's not an awful thing, but it can (and often does) lead to real pre-term labor, which IS dangerous. So I'm just supposed to be taking it easy and not doing much walking around. Other than that, I can continue my normal activity. Prayers would be very much appreciated at this point--I'm concerned that despite my best efforts, this will get worse.

I also did my test on Tuesday for gestational diabetes. I hate that test. I mean, if I need to have a bunch of sugar in my system all at once, why can't I just eat a candy bar or two? :D WAY better than having to drink that awful stuff they give you. At least the lab keeps it refrigerated, I'm told it's even worse when it's warm. So, I had to drink the equivalent of overly-sugary, flat orange soda. I HATE orange soda. In fact, I really hate any sort of 'fruit' soda. I think it tastes awful. So imagine my even greater distaste for the nasty stuff they make you drink. Yuck. The lab tech gave me the bottle and told me I needed to drink it within 5-10 minutes. I laughed and told her I was going to finish it as quickly as I could so I didn't have to taste it for long. I seriously stood there and just chugged it. She was funny and told me, "Dang, Momma! Slow down!" I laughed and said if it wasn't going to affect the test, I would finish it as fast as possible. She said it didn't, so I drank the rest of it. Seriously, it probably took me about 45 seconds, and that was because I paused for conversation.

I'm just glad that's over. Gross.

Hopefully this didn't come across as TOO whiney. If it did, well...I don't complain all THAT often. Hopefully I can take a Benadryl tonight and actually get some REAL sleep. That sounds so good right now.

Facebook and Breast Cancer Awareness

I don't usually use my blog as a soapbox, but I have just got to say something.

Those of you who have Facebook and check it regularly may have noticed (and possibly participated) in a little game that is going around right now. You may have seen several people post status updates like "I'm 10 weeks and craving gummy bears!" followed by several comments of people surprised at a previously unannounced pregnancy.

The catch? These people aren't pregnant. A message gets sent around with instructions not to tell "the guys" to keep them guessing. You use your birth month as a certain number of weeks and what you're "craving" depends on your birthday.

And, of course, this is all for breast cancer awareness, don't you know?

Perhaps this is tacky of me, but the best internet expression I can come up with on this occasion is: WTF?

I have hated these stupid games from the beginning (and honestly, I hate pretty much any and all copy/paste status updates). What on EARTH does a FAKE pregnancy have to do with breast cancer awareness? Should I be grateful that at least this time around, the status update isn't full of sexual innuendo, like previous ones have been? (One update was: [your shoe size] inches, [how long it takes you to get ready in the morning]. Another was "I like it [where you leave your purse]". You get the picture.) I pretty much ignored them with a sigh and a hefty eye roll.

But this one has me fuming.

Although we've been blessed with a child and another on the way, I struggled with "unexplained infertility" for 2 years before getting pregnant. A comparably short period of time when considering the long and difficult journey many couples face. I have friends who struggle with miscarriages, friends who struggle to conceive, and family that has endured unimaginable losses.

I remember when I got pregnant with Amy being nervous to tell my best friend because she had recently miscarried. I was afraid that my announcement would rub it in her face. I put it off for as long as I could because I didn't want to hurt her. I was concerned for her feelings, because I love her.

This game with status updates takes no feelings into consideration. It ignores the thousands of women who struggle with infertility and who feel a sting every time a pregnancy is announced. It expects women to remain silent or to offer difficult congratulations while they ache to have their own child, while they wonder "Why her and not me?" It disregards the number of women who, because OF cancer and related treatments, may now be facing infertility.

Breast cancer awareness is important. It is a worthy cause. It does not deserve to have such a despicable game attached to its name.

Raise awareness by actually TALKING about breast cancer. Raise awareness by joining in campaigns that make sense and actually spread information. Raise awareness by donating your time or money to the Komen Foundation. Raise awareness by helping to care for those who suffer from cancer. Raise awareness by actually DOING something, rather than copying and pasting a cryptic, hurtful, nonsensical status update on Facebook.

This woman wrote a fantastic post on the subject, and I encourage everyone to read it: http://cgwardphotography.blogspot.com/2011/08/regarding-facebook-breast-cancer.html

Edited to add: Here's a copy of the actual message going around (the US version; the UK version has different candy):

Ok pretty ladies, it's that time of year again, in support of breast cancer awareness!! Remember last year so many people took part that it made national news and, the constant updating of status reminded everyone why we're doing this and helped raise awareness!! Do NOT tell any males what the status' mean, keep them guessing!! And please copy and paste (in a message )this to all your female friends to see if we can make a bigger fuss this year than last year!!! I did my part... now YOUR turn!

The idea is to choose the month you were born and the day you were born. Pass this on to the girls only and lets see how far it reaches around. The last one about the bra went round allovr the world. So you'll write... I'm (your birth month) weeks and I'm craving (your birth date)!!! as your status.

• Example: Feb 14th= I'm 2 weeks and craving Choclolate mints!!
  
  January-1week
  Febuary-2weeks
  March-3weeks
  April-4weeks
  May-6weeks
  June-8weeks
  July-10weeks
  August-12weeks
  September-13weeks
  October-14weeks
  November-16weeks
  December-18weeks 
  
  
  Days of the month: 1-Skittles 2-Starburst 3-Kit-Kat 4-M&M's 5-Galaxy 6-Crunchie 7-Dairy Milk 8-Lollipop 9-Peanut Butter Cups 10-Meat Balls 11-Twizzlers 12-Bubble Gum 13-Hershey's Kisses 14-Chocolate Mints 15-Twix 16-Resse's Fastbreak 17-Fudge 18-Cherry Jello 19-Milkyway 20-Pickels 21-Creme Eggs 22-Skittles 23-Gummy Bears 24-Gummy Worms 25-Strawberry Pop Tarts 26-Starburst 27-Mini Eggs 28-Kit-Kat Chunkie 29-Double Chocolate Chip Chrunchy Cookies 30-Smarties 31-Chocolate Cake.