Third Trimester Update

As of Tuesday, I'm in my third trimester, and I was actually really looking forward to my appointment this morning, even though I had to do my glucose tolerance test. I just love hearing her little heartbeat! I've been feeling awesome compared to my pregnancy with Elliot. Emotionally, all I felt was ambivalence about having a baby - which is totally normal considering it was our first kid. Physically, I felt terrible, but since it was my first experience with pregnancy, I didn't really know what a "normal" pregnancy was like. This time, however, I'm so excited and really looking forward to going full term (at least longer than 34 weeks!).

It was a quick appointment, but everything went great. My blood pressure is holding steady at 120/80, which is actually lower than my first few appointments last fall. Still no protein either, which means the pre-ecclampsia is staying far, far away. I needed a score of 140 or less to pass the glucose test, and I was at 102. Yippee! I borderline failed the first test with Elliot and had to do the 3-hour test, which I did pass, but I'm so happy to be nowhere near failing this time. 

Bring on the Oreos!

And her name is...

Well, I'm over halfway through this pregnancy (23 weeks done, 17 to go!), and I'm still feeling really great. My OB is really happy with my blood pressure and weight gain, and have no immediate plans to get my bloodwork done unless things start to change. I'm not swelling at all so far - by this time with Elliot I had to stop wearing my rings, and just felt exhausted all the time. Even though I'm not working this time around, I am chasing after a toddler, which is pretty much the same thing.

The biggest news is sort of old news: it's a girl! And unlike with Elliot, we're not waffling between two names, so unless we meet her and it is clearly not her name, baby girl's name will be Ginger Marilyn Haendiges. Jim was the one who suggested Ginger. He was browsing the baby name book, and just like with Elliot, he said it out loud, and I thought for a second, and said, "Yeah, that's it." It's so funny how sometimes we ladies 'decide' on our kids' names as early as high school sometimes, and then someone comes along with a fresh new perspective, and it's so much better! It would be really hard to change her name now, because Elliot is SET on it, which is really cute. I've always wanted to use Marilyn for a middle name, after my grandma Norma (her middle name was Marilyn), because she was so dear to me. I miss her every day, and I want her memory to be a part of my daughter's life.

Another important milestone in our family is Elliot's 3rd birthday! He turned three on Saturday, and we had a super-fun gathering to celebrate. He's so much fun right now (and trying), and I love seeing the world through his eyes. He's accomplished a lot in the last three years, and I love that he's so excited to be a big brother and to teach his sister everything he knows.

Of course I have been remembering the events leading up to his birth, which have the potential to make me incredibly anxious and paranoid about this pregnancy, but I still feel peaceful and hopeful that I can make it further than 34 weeks, if not full term. It helps knowing how many people are praying for me and this sweet little girl.

Busy Busy Busy

Well, we've been in our house for just over a month now, and we are loving it! Especially now that it's all decorated for Christmas. We get to have Christmas at our house for the first time ever, and I couldn't be more excited. What a blessing it's been to finally own our own home.

In other news, we're expecting our second child sometime in May. I say 'sometime' because after Elliot's drama, due dates mean nothing to me, except a goal that may be out of reach. I'll just say that I'll be happy with any birth date that comes after 34 weeks.

A lot of time, prayer, and consideration has gone into this decision to have another child. Earlier this year I was so stressed about trying again that I ended up getting shingles. When that happened, I decided enough was enough and finally opened up to my small group at church and found a lot of great advice and empathy. So Jim and I did a lot of talking and praying and we feel like we just need to trust that God will take care of me and baby.

We found a great OB who knows all about HELLP syndrome and has seen patients have successful subsequent pregnancies. She makes us feel at ease with the situation, but I know she's taking it very seriously because she took my records from my pregnancy with Elliot to a high-risk OB on her own to consult. She's even willing to let me try a VBAC, which I really appreciate. The only catch is that I have to go into labor and progress on my own. No pitocin. So if anything goes less than perfect or HELLP starts to rear its ugly stupid head, I'll have a second c-section. Supposedly I only have a 10% chance of developing HELLP again, and I'll taken any statistics that work in my favor. So far my bp has been nice and low and my bloodwork has been great, which is not surprising since HELLP is a third trimester thing, but hopefully it'll stay that way.

My next appointment is Monday, and I can't wait to hear that little heartbeat again!

A Haendiges Holiday

Jim and I aren't really Valentine's Day people. We'd much rather celebrate significant days to our relationship than something manufactured. Two years ago, we almost started celebrating Valentine's Day, because that was the day we were supposed to take Elliot home from the NICU in Spokane and finally start our little family life in Pullman. Well, that didn't happen. He had an apnea episode in the middle of the night and our homecoming was postponed. We finally were able to take the little guy home after 21 days in the NICU - on February 19th. So we decided to make it an official family holiday: Haendiges Homecoming Day!

So tomorrow marks the 2nd Annual Haendiges Homecoming Day, and we'll be celebrating by doing whatever Elliot wants to do, I guess. Which will probably mean a 7am wake-up call to watch a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and oatmeal eating, followed by pancakes and a likely trip to the park. After nap and PBJs, I'm thinking a bike ride will be in order. Then...who knows?

The day we took Elliot home from the hospital is almost as important to us as the day he was born. It's hard to feel like a parent or even like a real family when you have a newborn in the hospital for three weeks. I am hoping this tradition of celebrating his homecoming will stick and we can appreciate what it means to be a family.

Washer/Dryer/Cloth Diapers - Random

Well, we've been in Utah for about three months now, and besides my bigger kitchen, I really think what I love the most about our townhouse is my washer & dryer. I can do laundry whenever I want! I don't have to haul Elliot with me to and from the laundry room! And no quarters required! The no quarters thing is nice since we decided to cloth-diaper the kiddo. Running out of diapers with no quarters to be found was never fun when we were in our laundry-less apartment since a load of diapers cost $5 a week. But now I can wash the diapers as much as I want. Hooray! This really just confirms the decision to use cloth diapers. It's so nice to not have to put diapers on my shopping list. Maybe now I'll start using our washable wipes too...

Speaking of cloth diapers, I have always lamented that the bumGenius diapers came in only a few colors - green, blue, yellow, and white - for boys. Well, I guess I could have put him in the pink/purple ones, but no. Why not red? Or orange? Or black? Or (gasp!) a pattern? Well, they do now! They had an artist design some really fun patterned diapers, and I cannot wait to get my hands on one or more when they're released.

It's a birthday!

Elliot completed his first trip around the sun this week! And I've been reminiscing like crazy because of it. The weather, tv shows, smells - everything - they all remind me of the NICU at Deaconess Medical Center and the Ronald McDonald House. And of the wonderful people/places we found in Spokane that helped make an awful experience not so bad in hindsight:

The Spokane Ronald McDonald House - Our home away from home. I am so thankful for these guys. The house allowed us to be two blocks away from the NICU, and allowed me to walk (slowly) to Elliot's care times when Jim had to be in Pullman doing his grad student stuff. The rooms had everything we needed, and everything was provided for us except food. All I ever really did there was watch Cash Cab and One of the best things was Wednesdays when crates of chocolate milk were delivered. It sounds simple, but it was these little things that helped make the days better. I definitely plan on supporting the Ronald McDonald House Charities for the rest of my life. They do amazing things.

Our room at the House

Deaconess Medical Center - I was in for a week, and Elliot was in the NICU for 22 long days. We had amazing doctors and nurses taking care of us, as well as the financial people and social workers making sure we got all the help we needed, since we only budgeted for a 2-night stay at the Pullman Hospital. ha! We go back to DMC every few months so they can get a new picture to put up, and the nurses just love seeing their little patients so big and happy and healthy. I really truly appreciate everything that my three (three!!) high-risk OBs did for me - respecting my birthplan and letting me try to deliver naturally, keeping me informed of my lab results, chatting with me about Top Chef, etc.

Deaconess Medical Center

The Rocket Bakery - This is where Jim and I would spend a few minutes unwinding from the stress of it all. It's quiet, relaxing, and has amazing food and coffee. Jim spent more time here than I did, as he was working on his PhD exams (yikes!). Getting away from RMH and the NICU helped us remember that there was a world outside our little crisis and helped keep our sanity intact. Thanks, Rocket!

mmm...Rocket

The last year has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Elliot started out as a little lump at 4 lbs, 3 oz, and now at one, is just about 21. He's an amazing little guy!

Getting acquainted with Papa

So happy!

Sleep, Where Have You Gone?

So we're a little over 8 months into this adventure of parenthood. I really don't think I've had a full night of sleep since last December. That's almost a year, people. And I consider a full night to be at least 7 hours (Jim would probably say 10). I think that Elliot is just a big tease. He started sleeping about six hours at night back in May, but then we went on a vacation, so that was over. Then he started alternately teething and growth spurting, so every once in a while, he'll sleep about six hours for two, maybe three, days in a row. But then it's like, "Ha, suckers! I'm going to wake up every two hours for the next week!" Plus, now that he has 5 chompers, I can't side-lie nurse at night anymore because he bites in his sleep... so he's been spending the last couple of nights only in his crib, which has not been a popular decision. The first night was okay, but last night he woke up at 4 and refused to go back to sleep in his crib and has been only cat-napping all day. So, no nap for Mama today. I guess this kid doesn't like change? Maybe if I put an article of my clothing in the crib with him he'll think I'm close by. It's worth a shot, I guess.

Other than the continued lack of continuous sleep, life with Little E has been great. He's such a social little guy and seems to expect people to stop and ooh and ah over him. He's a pro roller and is getting the hang of sitting up in his cloth diapers (he does a lot better in disposables). He's working on crawling - I know that he's frustrated that he's not more mobile because he hollers at and stretches towards his far-0ff toys. Every now and then he'll get a knee under him and propel forward, so I'm kind of wondering if he'll just pass the whole 'scooting' stage and go straight to crawling.

I'm working part time, which is still really great. I'm getting into a nice groove with my job and it's nice having a boss and co-workers that have confidence in my abilities. And it helps knowing that the work I'm doing is helping to bring in million-dollar grants and improve the stone-fruit industry. And, I'm getting published (finally!), so I'll be sure to put up a link when the article comes out.

For Jim, he's hard at work on his dissertation and job applications. There's not much to tell yet about the jobs, but there are jobs, so I have no doubt that he'll find one that's a perfect fit for him at the perfect place for us. It may not be our first choice in locations, but I'm highly adaptable, so I'll go wherever. Well, maybe not wherever. There are a few places that I'll only go to kicking and screaming, but for the most part, I'm open. Hopefully he'll be hearing back about interviews in mid-November and then interviewing in December. I'm actually really excited to find out where we might be going so that I can look for jobs also.