2011

January~ We celebrated our 2nd anniversary by taking a quickie trip to Virginia. Cupcakes, swimming, and a tour of some old guy's house ;)

February~ We got some snow. Wow.

March~ My mom came for a visit and I *may* have turned 30. Or maybe that's this year.

April~ We registered the Monkey for Kindergarten! Oh, and the basement floods. Good times.

May~ My dad came for a visit and the Monkey turned 5. F-I-V-E.

June~ Family trip to the Outer Banks with no air conditioning in the car. 90 degree weather. Not fun. Also, graduate to third year of Residency!!!

July~ Find out, much to both our surprise, we are expecting a third little tyke. Bebe turned 1. My family came out for a visit. Another trip to the beach to take Monkey and Nephew swimming and a trip to the Crayola Factory while the air conditioning at the house gets fixed.

August~ PGY3's brothers both come to town. First time they are all together on the East Coast in more than 10 years. Lots of family awkwardness. First appointment with OB. One little bean. One perfect flicker of a heartbeat. Start telling close family. Kids and I go back to the Tundra for a couple weeks. Lots of family time, friends, and puking. PGY3 goes to Las Vegas for a conference. He sucks. First day of Kindergarten. Wow.

September~ Wrapping up the weirdest summer weather ever is the month that rounds out the list. In 6 weeks we had a tornado, a hurricane, massive flooding, and an earthquake. But we met our incredible neighbors who are, like, the best EVAH!

October~ Am sent by OB to MFM to evaluate the bean for an antibody issue that may or may not cause really big bad things to happen. Got an ultrasound. And a blizzard two days before Halloween. Because you can never have to much strange weather. I guess.

November~ Had another ultrasound with MFM for development. Newest bean is a GIRL!!!! Also, I cook Thanksgiving dinner and my littlest sister comes out for a quick trip. I go Black Friday shopping for the first time. Crazy. Never again.

December~ Lots of time off with PM, Bebe and PGY3. Kids had a mad haul this Christmas. MIL weirder by the minute. Got to go on a *gasp* date with the hubs and managed to stay awake until after midnight to ring in the New Year... Speaking of which I hope yours is filled with happiness, blessings, and all things wonderful!

Because time flies...

To give you an example of just how spongy my brain has gotten, I was getting dressed the other morning trying to figure out why my belly is already so big? Because I'm not due until the middle of March and that is forever away. Shouldn't it be barely anything more than a slight bump? I mean, really, it's not like I'm 6 months pregnant. Oh. Wait. Yeah I am. {facepalm}

Mommy brain, making intelligent women feel stupid for thousands of years.

Well that's a horse of a different color.

Pirate Monkey is wrong. We are expecting another pink bundle!!!!! Fortunately, I was discharged from Maternal Fetal Medicine today with no need to go back unless my bloodwork gets markedly worse!! Many reasons to celebrate! And, also, more girls in the house than boys!!!!! Woot!!!!

What's in a name?

And more to the point, how does one go on picking names? I'm completely stumped! Right now we refer to the poor little bean as Cletus the Fetus. I can not in good conscience continue that after the kid gets here. Even if it is a boy. Just plain wrong. But seriously, names? Big Brother wants to name the kid Jayden. He's not even entertaining the idea that it could be a girl. He was right last time. But I hate the name... Benjamin? Noah? Jonah? Boogers. This is gonna be rough.

Because knowledge is power.

I'm going to write down what I've learned so far about the trouble we are facing this pregnancy. Somewhere during my pregnancy or delivery of our daughter I was exposed to her blood. Apparently, unlike most of the population, I don't carry the "c" protein on my red blood cells. In normal life this means nothing. My understanding is they don't test for it even when doing a transfusion (which I've never had). So after being exposed my body started to develop antibodies to this protein that it doesn't recognize so if it's exposed again it can attack accordingly, think virus. The problem is that if the baby carries the "c" protein, my body will attack the baby. These antibodies can cross the placenta, will attack the baby's red blood cells and make it anemic. This is where it gets scary and we need some prayers. If it attacks the baby, intervention may be required. Things like blood tests on the baby in utero, fetal transfusion, and early delivery with NICU time were all mentioned. Worst, there's not a single thing anyone can do to prevent it. There's no shot, no pill, no treatment to stop it from occurring. All we can do is watch. So, if you're reading this and feel so inclined, please pray. Pray that the baby isn't a carrier, that if it is a carrier my levels don't increase, that if they do increase the baby stays healthy. What ever you want really. Hugs.

Oh hey...

That's right, I can write on this thing too! We've made it to 16 weeks with an appointment tomorrow. PGY3 gets to go with me so I won't have to pay so much attention to Bebe, that's a plus. I'll have to get bloodwork, so that's a downer. I don't mind needles, I just prefer when they're pointed at someone else ;). We may be getting a minivan. I could cry except PM and Bebe are really starting to go at each other. He "tickles" her, she bites him. Good times. I should probably wait until my head clears up a bit before I try to actually write anymore... First cold of the season!!! Woot!!! (I faked the happy for that last bit.) (You're welcome.)

So, um.

Today at my monthly Dr appt I was informed that I have Anti Little C antigens. This could be a potentially high risk development. If worst comes to worst, Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn. Transfusion for the baby at birth. And there is nothing to do for it but wait and monitor my blood. I'm more than a little scared today. I wish the only thing I had to worry about was some flooding (like all of our neighbors). (They all have at least 18 inches of water to deal with. We have 2 puddles. God bless the sump pump.) :P