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Maternity & Parenting Center

Getting nervous

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I seem to be a delinquent blogger these days. I’m definitely getting nervous about reaching the end of my pregnancy. I’m about to hit 34 weeks, and I already am feeling a ton of pressure and contractions. I probably have about 2-4 weeks left of this pregnancy, and we do not have a name for this baby. I haven’t even packed my hospital bag yet! I finally pulled out the pee pad for the bed in case my water breaks in the bed again.

I’m feeling a bit bigger this pregnancy than I did with Micah, and definitely getting physically uncomfortable. My body hurts and I am having a hard time getting comfortable these days. I am loving how much Twoey has been moving around, though! I think it is interesting…I can already tell my two babies have different personalities. Micah was quite active all the time – he never stopped kicking, punching and bouncing. My belly would dance all over the place, and he loved to cause trouble whenever they put the monitor or the doppler on my belly -he’d go right over and start kicking and punching it! Twoey is also active…but in a more mellow way. She flips and rolls and occasionally kicks and punches, but she is much more likely to be stretching, or kicking one or two times in a row and sitting quietly for a bit. I think she is going to be more reserved than Micah. She does have that touch of cute-but-evil running through her – she finds a spot (like my rib) and she’ll poke it repeatedly. I almost imagine her with an impish grin as she pokes it over and over again while I’m thinking “don’t do that.” Micah STILL likes to do that now.

I’m getting excited to meet Twoey. I wonder what she will look like, and I wonder if she’ll be born bald or with a full head of hair like Micah. I kind of hope she has a full head of hair like Micah – we could immediately put adorable little bows in her hair! I wish we could figure out the name situation, but we are really struggling. We have a list of names…but we just haven’t found “THE” name yet.

On the Micah front – he is just being so cute most of the time. His Daddy took him to a free musical performance of Oh Susannah on Tuesday morning at the Lebanese Taverna. He has been busy in daycare and he has such a great sense of humor. On Thursday, we went to meet his Grammy and Grampy for a nice lunch, and Micah got to walk and hold their hands for the first time! They also played the “one-two-three swing!” game with him while they walked, and he laughed and laughed. He is definitely starting to talk more and more. Tonight, we were outside playing on his slide/basketball hoop toy that his Grammy and Grampy gave him for his first birthday, and he said basketball! (Okay, it sounded more like bah-ball, but he was definitely saying it). He kept shooting his baskets then stopping to clap for himself every time he made a basket.

But perhaps the BEST part of my week happened tonight. I got my first first Mother’s Day gift FROM Micah, MADE by Micah! I was all teary and happy – it was such a wonderful thing. They had him make it at daycare, and wrapped it up and sent it home.




.As you can see, they framed a picture that Micah painted, and they included a picture of Micah making the painting! It is currently sitting on the fireplace mantle, and I’m loving it.

For good measure, here is some video of Micah we’ve taken over the past two weeks. We finally have a new Flip video camera (we had given our old one to our niece for her trip abroad back in January, and it took us until now to replace it)!

The times they are a-changin’….

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I know I always say this, but I’m constantly amazed by how much things change from week to week. It has been nearly 2 weeks since my last substantive post…and while not much has been going on, so much has changed. Funny how that is…I’ve had all these little nothings I’ve wanted to post, but nothing really interesting to write about, so I keep postponing the blog entries.

Overall, my last two weeks have been relatively uneventful…I’ve been cramming my work week into 3 full days plus afternoon nap time the other two days. I lost a lot of time while Micah was sick, and I do feel that I am quickly running out of time before Twoey arrives. We are desperately trying to wrap up the final plans for the renovation (I’ve been meaning to post a draft of the plans and talk about all that insanity) and file for our permits. Once again, we are already behind schedule and the budget keeps ballooning. We got a nasty bout of sticker shock at our last meeting, so we are now trying to figure out how to reduce the costs without scaling back the scope of the project.

Micah, however, is changing rapidly by the moment. His vocabulary seems to be increasing by leaps and bounds. He repeats words, says thank you, get down (to the dog), car, vroom, tree, doggy, milk and a few other things. He has been amazing us in other ways lately, too. After refusing to eat any pasta (or rice) for months and months…he started to eat spaghetti! They told us he ate 4 bowls at daycare, and we did not believe them. We took him out for dinner at a chili place, and we ordered a spaghetti chili for dinner that he scarfed down! This weekend, my nieces Paige and Peyton were in town and we served Macaroni and cheese for dinner…and Micah couldn’t gobble it down fast enough! So, apparently pasta is now an option again. I also made him rice to serve with dinner last night, and he ate that, too. I’m excited because it means we have more options for meals now, and it will be easier to stop for lunch and dinner in restaurants if we can serve him pasta. Here is a picture of Micah playing with Paige and Peyton at Bethesda’s Celebrate Mama event we took them to – they were dancing and playing while the Kidville Little Maestros performed:

Micah currently has a strawberry obsession. I think, if we let him, he’d eat strawberries until he exploded! We bought a huge flat of strawberries to make strawberry jam, and every time Micah saw it, he insisted on eating more strawberries. I think he ate several pounds of strawberries all on his own!

It was only a month ago that I posted about how Micah would walk to the gate and climb upstairs at bedtime when we asked him if he wanted to go upstairs and go night-night. Now, Micah’s response to that question (and almost everything else) is to shake his head no. Do you want to go night-night? No. Do you want to go sit in your chair and eat dinner? No. Do you want to play outside? No. I think no is his default response to everything now. Sometimes, I admit I ask questions just because it makes me laugh when he shakes his head no!

Micah has found a new obsession…shoes and hats. He loves to put our shoes on and try to walk around the house. Sometimes, he brings his own shoes over to us (while we are sitting inside) and insists that we put his shoes on his feet, too. I can’t tell you how often he walks around in pajamas and shoes, or a diaper and shoes. He also LOVES his Daddy’s bike helmet, and is constantly trying to wear that, too.




On April 24, Elliot and I went to our friends Laurie and Jeff’s wedding. Actually, I set them up at our wedding! The wedding was just beautiful – I only wish I felt more up to dancing. I kept trying to get out there and enjoy myself, but the contractions would get a bit strong and make me nervous. Nevertheless, the wedding was beautiful and we had an amazing time. Luckily, Micah was able to spend the night with his Grammy and Grampy while we were at the wedding. They had tons of fun together, and Micah did really well sleeping at their house. They ate pancakes for breakfast, and we picked Micah up right around lunch time. We decided to run over to Heather’s house to visit her new puppy – only 9 weeks old! He is a cav-chon (a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Bichon mix). He was so cute and sweet – only 2.5 lbs! He was bouncing all over, and Micah was IN LOVE with him. He had no fear – he loved the dog jumping in his face and kissing him, and didn’t even worry about the little nipping.

Micah seems to have 2 new teeth…one on the bottom left, next to his bottom 2 teeth, and one on the top left…I think it is the bicuspid. He has at least another 4-6 teeth trying to break through. This has made for a few rough nights – teething definitely causes Micah to wake up and fuss. Friday night he was up from 1:15 until 4:00 am, but he has been better since then. Unfortunately, he woke up on Saturday morning with two spider bites – one on his cheek, and one on his arm. It looks like a spider walked across while he was sucking his thumb and bit him twice. It is kind of nasty and bubbled up, but so far, it appears infection-free. We have been wiping them down with hydrogen peroxide at night and dabbing them with neosporin. We’ve also given him benadryl at night to help with the itching and swelling, and it seems to be working.

We are having some issues with Micah and aggression lately. The good news is we had a playgroup here on Sunday with a whole bunch of women I met through the breastfeeding support group I attended after Micah was born, and it seems we are all struggling with the same issue. Micah has a tendency to get territorial around toys – he will scream loudly if others get too close and he thinks they will take them away, and he has even been known to push to protect his toys. We try our best to reprimand him and teach him to share, but I just don’t feel like he is learning yet. He usually does not walk over and steal something from other children…normally, he’ll watch and wait and grab it when they drop it or turn their backs. But, I do get embarassed when he yells at other children in class. Here is our little playgroup:

Micah has also become obsessed with climbing on the chairs and looking out the window. He can easily get himself on and off the couches and chairs in the living room, but we still worry that he likes to stand and jump on them (and does not listen when we tell him to sit). He loves to bounce on the chairs and bury himself in the pillows – I just wish he would develop safety awareness!

As the weather has gotten warmer, I’ve slowly been bringing out Micah’s summer clothes. I purchased everything for the summer in size 12-18 months, but the clothing is pretty large on him. Actually, in terms of length, the size isn’t bad, but he is just so skinny that all the bottoms fall off of him! We did recently discover that many of his shorts have tabs in the pants that allow us to cinch them in – this has been our saving grace!

Last week, I had another appointment with my midwife and the maternal fetal medicine specialist. I have to say, I’m feeling far more uncomfortable this pregnancy than I did with Micah. I just feel…stuffed all the time now, and Twoey is definitely sitting on my bladder these days. My belly was measuring perfectly – exactly 32 weeks – and her heart rate has been great. She is head down and starting to engage, so we are definitely on the right track. Twoey measured 32 weeks in size, and estimated her weight at 4 lbs 2 ounces (I found that shocking – that is 1/2 lb larger than Micah was at the same time!!). I think, however, their estimates may be off – her head has already dropped a bit, so the fluid levels were a lower around her head which can affect their measurements. They also seemed to think her head was measuring larger than the rest of her body, so it was most likely a bit inaccurate. Her arms/legs/belly were all measuring a week or two small…which seems a bit more normal to me (since I was a small baby and Micah was so small). I guess we’ll see what the next growth ultrasound says! My cervix seems to be holding steady…shocking, but true. The contractions are still there, but we seem to be keeping them under control. I lost 2 lbs since my 30 week appointments, so still no weight gain of any kind. Now that I’m planning for Twoey’s early arrival…I’ll probably end up 42 weeks pregnant and needing to be induced. I’m definitely feeling anxious about things…I have no idea when we are moving, and whether we will be here or in the condo when she is born. Because we do not have a final room together, my need to nest is being thwarted…I have nothing to get organized! So, instead I seem to be obsessing about furniture and paint colors for the finished house.

I guess my final update is about names for Twoey…no, we do not plan on sharing her name before she is born. Not that it matters…the only name we really have so far is Twoey! We are VERY stuck on names this time. Ironically, we just came up with a name we like for a boy…and we’re having a girl. We did this the last time, too. We just can’t seem to find that “perfect” name that resonates with us. I have a feeling this baby may be Twoey for the rest of her life!

Micah’s Schedule

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As we are preparing for the birth of Twoey, I decided to write out Micah’s schedule (and a food list, and a list of activities) for my parents to use as a guide for caring for Micah while I’m in labor (and at the hospital after her birth). Our current plan is that (depending on the time of day), my father will come to the house and care for Micah while my mom meets Elliot and me at the hospital. After Twoey has arrived, my Dad can bring Micah over to meet her. My parents will likely sleep at our house for the 2 nights we are at the hospital with the baby.

I think other parents always enjoy seeing others’ schedules, so here is our basic schedule. The ranges given are approximate – Micah usually wakes up anywhere from 8 – 8:30, but it can always be earlier or later at times.

8:00 am – 9:30 am Wake Up & Milk & Breakfast

  • Change diaper, bring bring downstairs to play, give sippy cup of milk (mix in 1.0 ml polyvisol vitamins), prepare & serve breakfast, get Micah dressed AFTER breakfast.

9:30 am

  • Sunday: Playtime/activities
  • Monday: Take to daycare
  • Tuesday: Playtime/activities (usually Kidville class, or free activity)
  • Wednesday: Take to daycare
  • Thursday: Take to Kidville class from 10:30 – 12:00
  • Friday: Take to daycare
  • Saturday: Playtime/activities

12:30 pm Lunch & Milk (Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday)

1:00 pm Nap time (Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday)

  • Can be flexible with this…no earlier than 12 or 12:30 because he will be grumpy in the evening, and no later than 2. He usually naps 2 ½ – 3 hrs.

4:00 pm Milk & Snack (Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday)

4:00 pm – 6:00 pm* Playtime/activities (Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday)

*5:30 pm – 6:00 pm pick up Micah from daycare

(Monday/Wednesday/Friday)

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm Dinner & Milk

7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Playtime

8:00 pm – 8:30 pm Bath & Bedtime

  • Bath on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (and usually once over weekend).
  • Bedtime routine: Brush his teeth, take him to the bedroom, read him a book, put on his music, turn off the lights (leave fan on), rock and sing with him a bit, place him in the crib, close bedroom door and leave.

Twoey’s 30 week ultrasound

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At long last…an update on my 30 week ultrasound (along with pictures from both the 28 and the 30 week ultrasound). We had our appointment last week on Thursday. My cervix seems to be holding steady right around 2.9-3.0 cms (good news), but I’m having way too many contractions. We finally were able to talk to my regular doctor, and he gave me medication to help control the contractions now that I am no longer taking the P17 shots to prevent pre-term labor. Everything else looks great – at 28 weeks, Twoey weighed 2 lbs 9 ozs (Micah weighed 2 lbs 10 ozs at the same point in the pregnancy), and she was measuring about 3 days behind (totally normal – probably just means she’ll be small like Micah was). I was able to tell the doctor about my frustration with his staff and the other doctor, so I felt better about that. I guess I just have to believe that things are going to turn out okay this time and try not to worry about these contractions too much.

Here are the pictures from Twoey’s 28 week check. She was laying sideways across my belly with her legs twisted all over the place, so these shots were not so clear. She had a hand by her face, and in one of the 2D shots, she has a foot right in front of her face!









And here she is at 30 weeks – head down, much better shots. She made sure to suck her thumb and stick her tongue out at us!




He’s got the beat….

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Micah woke up this morning feeling great – he has been fever free for over 24 hours, and he barely has any sign of the rash remaining. I’m glad that he did not get a particularly bad case of coxsackie virus, but I think all these post-viral rashes are awful! I’m sure we have many more to come in the future. We double checked with the pediatrician, and Micah was cleared to return to daycare, so off he went! Naturally, the daycare manager asked us for a note from the doctor confirming that he was cleared to return 24 hours after his fever disappeared, so we had to scramble a bit to get them to fax over a note.

I’ve been on a picture binge lately…I just can’t stop taking pictures of Micah! Everyday, he is doing more and more amazing things, and I constantly feel compelled to document it. For example, a few days ago we were driving in the car. Micah was a bit cranky (this was a day or two before we realized he was sick), so I put on some music and started clapping to the beat and singing. All of the sudden, I heard a giggle from the back seat and a clapping sound! I glanced in the mirror and realized that Micah was clapping on beat with me! Yes, I said it – on beat! I stopped clapping, and Micah continued on clapping…right on beat! My son has rhythm, which is more than I can say for his Daddy (or mine, for that matter). He repeated the process again watching some music on tv – he is even able to find the beat on his own and maintain it. I’m so proud of him!

Micah has been playing with toy cars a lot lately. His Aunt Jodi and Uncle Steven gave him a toy garage for his birthday, and he seems to really love the cars. He will “drive” them all over the place, and he now says “vroom vroom” as he pushes the cars around.

Micah has also crossed into the land of “big boy” eating – at breakfast the other day, he insisted on taking the WHOLE banana to eat, peel and all. I couldn’t resist snapping a photo:

He also likes to sit at the dining room table in a grownup seat now – either to eat a snack, sit with his cousin Melissa who came for a short visit this weekend, or just to sit and act like a grownup. Melissa came by on Thursday night to drop off her car and head downtown for a conference, but she came back up Friday night to join us for dinner and hang out for a while. I drove her back downtown to her hotel, and then she came back up Sunday morning to pick up her car and grab a bagel for breakfast. Micah was SOOO excited to see Melissa, and he wanted to sit at the table and eat breakfast with her:

Micah and Nugget have an interesting relationship now – she loves to watch him eating through the glass table, she tries to steal his food when he holds it below table height, and she will even try to climb up and join him at the table.






Hand, Foot and Mouth

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My little man is SICK. Everything seemed fairly normal this week – Micah had been a bit cranky, but I presumed it was due to the teething. A few times on Wednesday I thought he felt a touch warm, but I figured it was just from the teething, and I did not even check his temperature. He was SOOO cranky on Wednesday night, so I was in a huge hurry to bathe him and put him to bed.

On Thursday, Micah woke up a bit early. He was very cranky again, and hardly ate any breakfast at all. I decided to give him Tylenol – it helps with the teething pain, and often gives him his appetite back. We took my car over to a free car seat inspection/installation event, and Micah had a great time! He wandered around, and I made the mistake of putting him in the driver’s seat – he LOVED it! Unfortunately, we could not convince them to install the car seat in the driver’s seat, so Micah was quite unhappy when we made him return to the rear seat.


After the car seat installation, we took Micah for a visit with his Grammy at work (while Elliot and I went for another ultrasound of Twoey). I was afraid he would be miserable the entire time. I’ll separately post the update about Twoey and our ultrasound appointment, but it turned out Micah actually behaved himself! When we went back to pick him up, I thought he felt a bit warm. We were running late, so we ended up missing our class and going home instead. While Elliot headed downtown to a meeting, I put Micah down for a nap.

Much to my surprise, Micah took a LONG nap. Elliot made it home before Micah woke up from his nap. I knew he was tired, but he slept for nearly 4 hours! When he finally woke up, he was burning up. I took his temperature, and it was 104.3. I immediately gave him some Tylenol. I called the pediatrician, and they said that I did not need to rush him to the emergency room unless he was listless, and I should work on getting his fever down and bring him in to the office in the morning. About 45 minutes later, I checked Micah’s temeprature again…and it was up to 104.8. I was concerned, so I called the after-hours emergency number to reach the pediatrician. While we waited for her to call back. Elliot informed me that we had gotten an email from Micah’s daycare informing us that there was a case of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease reported in his classroom. Immediately, I was fairly certain Micah had caught the virus.

When the doctor called back, we mentioned the outbreak at his daycare and we discussed the fever. She suggested I try to give Micah Motrin, too, and place him in a lukewarm bath if his temperature did not start to drop within an hour or two. She said we should go to the hospital if the fever continued to climb and we could not get it to drop within an hour or two, or if Micah became listless and lethargic. At that point, my mom showed up (to babysit for our normal date night), and we stripped Micah down to his diaper. I checked his temperature one more time, and it was 105.1.

About 45 minutes later…we had gotten Micah’s temperature back down to 103.8. Who would have thought that a temperature of 103.8 would be a relief? Over the next hour, Micah’s crankiness started to dissipate. He started to drink some milk, he ate some graham crackers and some cheese, and he started to run around and play with his toys. He seemed to be in good spirits…so I decided to head out for a few hours and leave Micah with my mom. Instead of our weekly date night, Elliot decided to take a class that interested him, so I made plans to meet my friend Heather. We just went for dinner at a tapas place in Rockville. The weather was beautiful, but unfortunately, those Tea Party people were holding a rally on the square where we were eating. I was really annoyed to have my peaceful dinner being disturbed by that stuff. I believe they have the right to demonstrate…but I also believe I have the right not to listen!

I was definitely laughing when the Tea Party-ers decided to play their “anthem”… Independence Day by the Dixie Chicks. Yes, the Dixie Chicks. I’m guessing that the Dixie Chicks would not be thrilled about this political group co-opting their name or their song, and I think it is ironic that these are likely the same people who blasted the Dixie Chicks for being anti-war (and called them un-American). Ahh…the irony. By the way, can someone please explain to me how people can be pro-war and anti-government and taxation at the same time? Unless I’m mistaken, the war efforts are one of the biggest government expenditures (and a HUGE component of our current federal government). Sorry…got off on a tangent there.

Anyway, I came home after a few hours – apparently, Micah and my mother had a fun night together, and he went to bed easily. He did sleep until 6:00 am on Friday morning, but he woke periodically crying on and off overnight.

Friday morning, Micah still had a fever of 104. We made an appointment and took him to the pediatrician. Naturally, when we got there, his fever was only 98.4! Apparently, all the meds were helping. Micah looked fine upon examination, and we mentioned the case of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (also known as the Coxsackie virus) at his daycare. Micah’s throat was red (and he had a negative strep test), so the doctor presumed that this was likely a Coxsackie viral infection. He warned us Micah’s fever would stay high for another day or two, and that he might develop sores in his mouth and a rash on his hands, feet, and possibly his tush.

We kept him medicated and comfortable all day. We also learned that 4 other children in his daycare class (out of 6) were out sick with this virus. Ah well…I guess in the scheme of things, this really has been fairly minor. Elliot took Micah on a long walk in the afternoon, we watched Sesame Street, and we had a nice afternoon.

Around 7:00, our niece Melissa came over for dinner – she was in town for a conference, and Micah got to spend some quality time with his cousin. We bathed him and put him to bed by 8:30, and the three of us stayed up talking until about 1:00 am. I then drove Melissa back downtown to the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

This morning, Micah woke up with some blisters on his tongue and a slight rash on his feet, tush and hands. Definitely Coxsackie! I have to say, that sounds so much better to me than Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, doesn’t it? I checked with the pediatrician again by telephone…I do not need to keep him isolated while he has the rash – just until 24 hours after his fever breaks. His fever has been below 100 today, so we will hopefully be able to return him to class on Monday.

In the meantime, Micah has been having some fun around the house. Apparently, he pulled this box off of the counter so he could play with it:
In the past few days, Micah has learned to shake his head “no.” Another sign of the terrible twos, I suppose. He says “no” when he doesn’t want food, or if he doesn’t want to go upstairs for a nap, or really for anything else. It is kind of cute, but I have a feeling I’m going to grow to hate that.

For giggles, here is a picture of Micah in “his” chair:


Here are a few other pictures from last week.

Natural History Museum on Tuesday:







Hanging out with Daddy (after stealing his glasses):

Thursday night with Grammy:


Friday Spring Fling:



16 months

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I can’t believe it…Micah is 16 months old today!! He is talking up a storm (although not all of it is intelligible), and he is just so active. Currently, his favorite word is “uh-oh.” I chuckle as I hear him toddling around the house saying “uh-oh” over and over again. He is getting pretty good about saying “hi” and “bye-bye” and waving. He says “baby” all the time now, too. He definitely is starting to repeat words, and he is finally in the pointing stage.

It looks like Micah is trying to cut another 4 teeth, and the poor guy has been miserable with sore gums and a runny nose (I think he also has allergies). I love how he comes over to give me kisses all the time, and he has been quite vocal about what he wants and doesn’t want. He is just so loving all the time – he loves to cuddle and kiss, and he loves to be tickled and chased. He hates having his nose wiped, too. He has become a HUGE thumb sucker – all day long, and he will even suck two thumbs at once if he can! I wish he wouldn’t suck his thumb as often, but what can I do?

He loves having me read him books, and he is just so curious all the time. He likes to point at things in books, and he is starting to identify animals. He is starting to use a spoon to feed himself, but generally requires a bath after any attempts.

Micah loves bath time – he continually places his face in the water and blows bubbles. He has fun splashing in the water and playing with his toys and dumping water over his face and hands. I am hoping to enroll him in a swim class this Spring – I hope he’ll love the pool and swimming.

Micah still adores Elmo – I’m constantly amazed how Elmo can end any temper tantrum. We are definitely entering the terrible twos – temper tantrums and frustration outbursts are getting more and more common. Micah gets very stubborn, and he does not like it when I tell him no or make him stop doing something he is enjoying.

Recently, Micah has taken possession of the rocking reclining chair in the living room. He firmly believes this is “his” chair. We are not allowed to put anything on it anymore (he throws any objects he sees on it right on the floor). He likes to climb up on the chair and sit (by himself) and rock. He also likes to try standing while Mommy yells at him to sit down. He will also yell and throw a tantrum if someone else sits in “his” chair. Micah does not know this yet, but we plan to move that chair to his bedroom after the remodel (since we will be moving the glider into Twoey’s room).

This week, Micah figured out how to open the front screen door – we will be keeping that locked from now on! He is starting to get out of his stroller more and walk when we are out in public. I have not yet taught him to listen or stay close, so this is not a fun development for me.

Micah weighs about 20 lbs right now. He is still wearing size 12 months clothing (the 12-18 month sizes are still a bit large on him). I’d guess he is around 34 inches tall – he won’t be measured again until June. He is mostly still wearing a size 3 diaper, but once we run out of this box, we’ll just put him in the size 4 diapers. I believe he is hitting all of his milestones on target. It is hard to imagine that it has already been 16 months. I’m excited each day to see him grow and learn. Happy 16 months, my little man!

Just a Summary

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On Thursday, we had another busy day. I woke up with my tush still burning and itching from the progesterone shot I had gotten on Monday. This week has been the worst – I have been so uncomfortable, itchy, and in pain from the shot all week, and I kept thinking it would just go away if I waited another day or two. Upon inspection, I realized that I was having an allergic reaction to the shot. As I thought about it, I realized that this was my first shot from the new set of vials (originally, the pharmacy sent 4 vials, and last week they sent my next 4 vials). These new vials are a different color (yellow, and the prior vials were clear). I was concerned that perhaps they used a different oil and that was causing my allergic reaction. So, I decided to call the pharmacy and ask about the shot. Apparently, there is a new manufacturer of the shot, so the formulation is different but the oil used is the same. I was directed to call my nurse and speak with her.

I then called the nursing company who administers the shots each week. They informed me they are getting reports of many reactions – almost 50% of the people who are receiving them. I was told that in most cases, the reactions are limited to the welts and itching, but can progressively get worse with continued shots (although some people only react the first time). I tend to be extremely allergy-sensitive, so I immediately decide that I’m not willing to risk escalating allergic reactions. I asked if they could obtain the P17 from the prior manufacturer and was told they could not. My only choices are: 1) to continue with the shots and deal with the allergic reaction ; or 2) stop the shots.

I tried to call my maternal fetal medicine specialist, but the gatekeepers at his office made it impossible for me to speak to anyone. I called the midwife, and she agreed that it was reasonable (but unfortunate) to stop the shots now. We also discussed my contractions and my concern about them increasing (or continuing to go on untreated). I now have a prescription for terbutaline, and directions about how she suggests I take the medication. I guess we will see where things are on Thursday.

After my crazy morning, I took Micah to a “Mommy and Me” event at Congressional (where his Kidville class is scheduled). We got a balloon, signed up for some free things, ate a quick lunch – it was a fun morning. We then went to our class at 12:30, and Grampy surprised Micah with a visit in class. Micah was SOOO excited to see him – he started to scream and yell and ran over to him.

We did have one meltdown in class. Micah was nestled securely in his teacher Paige’s lap (he LOVES her) and I saw another child in the class try to go running by. I grabbed that child and plopped him on my lap during the music circle time, and then Micah spotted me sitting there with another child in my lap. He went ballistic! He started to yell and came running over ready to push/hit/smack/move the other child out of the way and off my lap. All I can say is “uh-oh” – Micah is in for a rude awakening if he thinks he can keep me all to himself all the time. I’ve never seen him be so possessive of me, but it is definitely starting to show.

Thursday night was our weekly “date night.” Once again, Elliot used the time for practical purposes, and ran to the baby stores. We returned a few items, bought a few items, and looked at baby furniture for Twoey. We think we might have picked out her bedroom set! There is a new line of furniture coming out through this store later this month. It is American-made, green (as in environmentally friendly), and very reasonably priced. We are just waiting for the floor samples to come in to make sure we like the way it looks in person, and we are all set! If not, then we may just buy the same exact set we got for Micah in a different color.

On Friday morning, I took Nugget to her follow-up appointment at the animal hospital. I had a long discussion with the doctor before we signed out last week, and she said this was just an xray and a blood draw, so I did not need to schedule an appointment. She placed a tech service order to allow me to drop by any time. Needless to say…I got there and they insisted I needed an appointment. The doctor I dealt with was nowhere to be seen. I had to deal with a condescending “case manager” who was solely interested in telling me they were right and the confusion was clearly my fault (can we say customer service was not their strong point?). I was so angry at the whole situation. Ultimately, the emergency doctor saw us and ordered the xray and bloodwork. The good news…Nugget looked good on examination, her lungs were clear, and her kidneys seem to be doing okay (her creatinine level was normal, but her BUN was *slightly* elevated). We do not need to go back again for another 3-4 months for a follow-up with the cardiologist.

On Friday late afternoon, we went to a Spring Fling Luau event at Kidville, which included a musical performance, open gym time, some art projects, and pizza. Micah was climbing on the slides, and he loved the musical performance, and he even spent some time putting stickers on the art project. He ate a few pieces of pizza and then we headed home for the night.

Saturday, Daddy and Micah went to services in the morning. The weather was beautiful, so in the afternoon, we set up the gym set that my parents’ bought him for his birthday outside. Micah spent a while playing basketball, climbing on the slide and running around outside. We then had Jen and Dave come over to meet us for dinner. We just ran out for Chinese food, and then spent a few hours relaxing and catching up. Unfortunately, we could not find a babysitter for the evening, but it was still a wonderful night.

Sunday, we decided to meet some friends at Butler’s Orchard for a bunny festival! Micah had SOOO much fun – he got to pet sheep, a bunny, baby chicks (well, he nearly smashed those), and play with some toys in hay. Then he sat on a wooden choo-choo train, rode John Deere tractor tricycles, played in a wooden house, watched some children on pony rides, took a hayride, went on the moonbounce…it was a day full of activity!! We got some amazing photos of Micah:













After all the activities, Micah was exhausted, so we took him home for his nap. We fed Micah dinner, and I decorated some cupcakes. After dinner, I headed out to an Indian restaurants with the cupcakes to help celebrate a friend’s birthday. It was a nice evening.

Yesterday was back to the grind – I had a meeting downtown today, so it was a busy day. The traffic was also awful because of the Nuclear Summit. Today, Micah’s daycare had a trip to a the Natural History Museum, so I decided to take Micah and join them instead of going to his Kidville class in the morning. He had a lot of fun – there were all kinds of animals to see and a butterfly exhibit! Unfortunately, the trip started late and Micah started to get grumpy partway through the trip. I had to leave a bit early to get back in time for my OB appointment, so they agreed to keep Micah to finish up the activities (and Elliot met them back at the daycare when they returned). I took a few pictures, but I’ll have to upload them another day.

My OB appointment was this afternoon – 30 weeks!! I can’t believe how fast this pregnancy is flying. We discussed my contractions, and the midwife was concerned about the number of contractions I”m having. She recommends that I start taking the terbutaline on a regular basis now, and she did a fetal fibronectin test (it can predict pre-term labor) just to be safe. Other than that, I’m measuring 29 weeks now, baby’s heartrate sounded great, and my sugars have all been normal. I picked up the booklet on the diet – I have to say, I could never eat that much food! They recommend something like 2400 calories a day, 12 ozs of protein, 10-15 veggies a day, 3 fruits….perhaps it would be easier if I wasn’t vegetarian, but the only way I can consume that many calories a day is if it includes a nice big vat of chocolate ice cream…and brownies…and I don’t think that is what they have in mind.

One last note…Micah (and his Daddy and I) wanted to wish his Poppy Ira a VERY happy birthday today!! We’re thinking of you, and can’t wait to see you.

Attack of the Kissy-Monster

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We are under attack…from the Kissy-Monster. Micah is now a Kissy-Monster, and no one (and no thing) is safe from his attacks. What is a Kissy-Monster, you ask?

Well, a Kissy-Monster is an almost 3 foot tall adorable (and floppy-haired) beast who chases after and kisses everything. Micah kisses Elmo (over and over and over again for long periods of time). He chases Nugget around and crawls under the dining room table after her making kissing sounds and trying to kiss her over and over and over again (but that darn dog just won’t sit still for the kissing fest). He comes walking towards Mommy (or Daddy…or Grammy…or Grampy…or anyone else he likes) making kissing noises (often accompanied by a great big fish-like pucker). He digs in shopping bags to pull out stuffed animals and blankets and attacks with his kisses. This morning, the Kissy-Monster targeted his brand new “lovey” that we picked up last night at the store. The lovey was thoroughly kissed and loved for about 10 minutes this morning. Of course, the minute I pulled out the video camera…the kissing fest ended.

By the way, you may have noticed a new feature on this blog – it is called “Cbox,” and it appears on the right-hand side of the blog. For those of you interested in commenting (but not wanting to go through the rigmarole of the Blogger commenting process), all you need to do now is enter your name, type in your comment and hit submit! Your comment will immediately post. You do not need to enter your email or a website. The comment will appear in the Cbox, and I’ll be able to read those comments. If you prefer, you can also post “anonymously” by hitting the word comments under the post, typing in your comment and choosing the “anonymous” option. Don’t forget to put your name at the end of your comment so I know who is commenting!