Welcome Genevieve Elizabeth Rau!

Here she is!

Genevieve Elizabeth (aka Ginny)
Born November 27th at 3:46pm

7 lbs 12 oz, 20"

Here's the whole story:

We made it through Thanksgiving and I got to see Harry Potter in the theater and was feeling pretty good.  At our last appointment I hadn't made much progress, only 1+ centimeters dilated and just starting to efface so we were pretty convinced we were going to make it to December.  I finished one of my classes and only had one more to go, but again was sure I had at least a week left.  Boy were we wrong! 

That Morning

Around 4:40am on Saturday, November 27th, I woke up with a contraction that actually hurt a little.  Most of the "warm up" contractions I'd been having were uncomfortable but none of them really hurt.  This one hurt enough to wake me up, but I went back to sleep pretty quick.  Ten minutes later another one woke me up again.  But I still didn't think much of it and went back to sleep.  Ten minutes after that I felt a bunch of fluid leak out and immediately jumped out of bed, exclaiming "whoa!"  This woke Henry up and he asked me what was wrong.  As I continued to drip I said "I think my water broke!" and scurried off to the bathroom.  Henry followed me in and we both tried to figure out if my water was actually breaking.  It wasn't a gush, and I hadn't had another contraction yet so we decided that I should put a pad on and we'd go watch some TV in bed (neither of us were going back to sleep).  I dripped more on the way to the bedroom and now it was pretty clear what was going on.  But since I still wasn't really contracting we decided to give it two hours, until 7am, before calling the doctor.  They had told us to wait until the contractions were 1 minute long, 5 minutes apart, for 1 hour.  When I did start contracting they only lasted about 30 seconds so we figured we had some time.  But once they started they started coming pretty close together.  And they hurt!  We did some laundry, ate a nice big breakfast, took a shower and watched TV.  We didn't time the contractions because they were so short.  But by 7am I was really ready to call the doctor.  Unfortunately because it was the weekend we weren't able to have our regular doc, but the answering service paged the on-call doctor.  Forty minutes later we hadn't heard back so I called again.  A few minutes later a nurse called me back as the on-call doc was in a delivery.  I told the nurse that I was 39 weeks pregnant and that I thought my water had broken and I was having contractions.  She asked me how close together they were, and I said we hadn't timed but we figured on average they were three minutes apart, but that they were only lasting about 30 seconds.  She said it was time for us to head to Labor and Delivery.

Off to the Hospital
We took some time to finish the laundry and pack the reminder of our hospital bag, then we grabbed the car seat and headed out.  Contractions kept coming fast and furious during the car ride to the hospital.  By the time we got close to the hospital I could no longer talk through the contractions.  I started to believe I was officially in labor.  We left the car in the loading area, which we were allowed to do while I was getting checked out.  I thought I could probably walk from the parking garage, but we decided not to take the chance.  We went to Obstetrical Triage where they check you out to make sure you're actually in labor before admitting you.  We didn't have to wait too long, but I kept having contractions and found the only way I could really deal with them was to stand up and lean on Henry.  Once in the triage room they checked to see if my water had in fact broken by doing a swab.  Nothing came back on the swab so they decided to do a slide, which would take longer but be more definitive.  At this point I thought we might actually be sent home even though I was sure my water had broken.  The nurse checked to see how dilated I was while waiting for the slide.  That's when they told us I was 6 centimeters dilated.  SIX!!!  We were expecting maybe 3 or 4 but I was almost half way there at this point, only about four hours after labor started.  We weren't going anywhere except up to Labor and Delivery.  Henry went to park the car and I sat in triage trying to breathe through the contractions that were steadily getting more and more painful.

Labor not quite Delivery
Right after Henry got back, the wheelchair arrived to take me upstairs but I asked if I could walk.  Everyone was shocked I wanted to walk at 6 centimeters, but it seriously felt better to stand than to sit.  They told me I was on my way to being the new poster child for natural childbirth.  I really thought I could do this.  As we got to our room we met our nurse, Amy, and I got all hooked up to the monitors and IVs.  The doctor came by to check me and I was still only 6 centimeters.  She said she'd be back in two hours and we were left to labor on.  However, the contractions were fast becoming unbearable.  Henry got me some ice chips because I was breathing so hard through my mouth and drying it out.  After about an hour I couldn't even chew one chip between contractions, they were so close and hard.  There was no position that was comfortable, we tried sitting, lying down, the birthing ball, nothing worked except me standing and hanging on Henry.  At one point the contractions hurt so bad I might have lightly bitten Henry, but I promise it was totally by accident.  Henry maintains there was nothing "light" about it and believes it may have actually been on purpose.  He was awesome throughout the whole experience, helping me breathe, giving me support, holding me during the contractions, encouraging me; there is no way I would have made it without him.  By the time the anesthesiologist came (I wasn't getting an epidural but they come talk to everyone anyway) I was literally screaming.  The anesthesiologist got a bit annoyed waiting to say three words between my contractions and eventually just talked over my screams.  Amy thought I might be ready to start pushing so she called the doctor before the two hours were up.  The doc came and checked me and I was still only 6!  Because the nurse in triage thought my water hadn't broken our doc decided to try and break my water but when she did it was just a lot of blood and membranes.  It was determined that my water had broken but it broke high up and when the baby moved down she stopped the flow with her head.  But at this point she wasn't moving down anymore and I wasn't progressing possibly because her position was "sunny-side up" meaning she was face up instead of face down.  My cervix was actually getting thicker on one side instead of thinning because the baby's head kept bumping it and not moving past.  I was in agony, having basically been in transition for four hours at this point.  Our doctor asked us if we would agree to get an epidural because she needed to manipulated the baby's position.  Since I still had four centimeters to go and I couldn't really handle the contractions much longer, I agreed.

Relief - for a while
The anesthesiologist came back to administer the epidural and Henry had to leave the room.  I had to stay very still while they put the needle and catheter in my spine but I had three contractions while they were placing it and it was excruciating to try and keep still, especially without Henry.  They finally got it placed and after a bit I started to feel a little relief, but mostly on the left side.  I still had some back labor on the right and could definitely still feel when the contractions came, which was great for me since I wanted to feel the urge to push.  But taking the edge off the pain at this point was huge.  They put a contraction monitor in and I labored for a while, mostly on my hands and knees, with the epidural, but at one point the baby's heart rate plummeted and Amy told me to get on my hands and knees while twenty people stormed the room.  It's true what they say, modesty goes completely out the window.  There I was on all fours with my butt in the air open to the world with twenty or so persons unknown in the room.  But I was so worried about the baby I could have cared less.  The heart rate eventually went up and everyone left.  The doctor came back soon and checked again, but alas no progress.  At this point she told me that with the bleeding I had already had, and the tumors which put me at a high risk for hemorrhage, it was time for a c-section.  They couldn't give me pitocin because my contractions were too close together and they were pretty hard so there was nothing they could do to help me progress.  I argued but the doctor was adamant that they had already let me go twice as long in transition as they normally do before going to surgery.  I argued some more but this was it, the only option.  Even waiting another hour was too risky in the doctor's eyes because of the risk of hemorrhage, riskier than the surgery.  I asked for a half hour, just to wrap my head around the fact that we were actually going to have the dreaded c-section.

Coming to terms with the C-section 
I cried for about ten minutes while Henry tried to comfort me and tell me it was okay.  In some ways I felt like a failure but it was probably mostly hormones making me so upset.  After about ten minutes I sucked it up and even started pressing the epidural button to give myself more medicine, something I hadn't wanted to do because I wanted it to wear off for pushing.  But at this point I figured, they're going to block my whole lower half, so what did it matter at that point?  Amy came back too and I lay on my right side to get more of the epidural to the right half, then had to move to the left side because the baby's heart rate dipped again.  I lay on my left, chatting with Henry and Amy and still trying not to be scared of the upcoming c-section.  While we waited for the doctor to come back and get me into surgery, I started to feel more and more pressure.  Stuff was happening down there, but we had no way of knowing what.  Amy said she was encouraged that the baby might be on the move because she had to move one of the monitors down.  I just tried to relax.  When the doctor came back, a little over an hour later (she got "held up") she checked me again and said she was going to try and manipulate the baby's head a little.  Henry and I looked at each other anxiously while we waited to find out what was going on.  When the doctor stopped, she looked up at me and said "Ok, let's push."  We were like "what?!?!"  I had gone to ten centimeters in just that hour and the doctor was able to rotate the baby enough to get her to move down, and once she did we were all systems go!

Delivery
There was all kinds of activity then.  Henry took up his place holding my left leg while the nurse held my right and once a contraction came I started pushing.  I could still kind of feel them, but I had upped my epidural so I wasn't feeling much more than pressure.  Pushing did hurt because when I had to curl up to push my tumors got shoved into my ribcage and that hurt a lot but I was so close to the end and we weren't going to surgery so I wasn't thinking about much else besides getting the baby out!  I pushed on my back and then on my side which felt so much better than on my back, but once we got towards the end I had to go on my back again so the doctor could get the baby out.  At one point I said to Henry, "It feels like there's something between my legs" and he said, "Yeah, it's a baby's head!"  He was so great again, encouraging me and telling me what was going on, since I declined the mirror.  After about a half hour of pushing, she was out!

Welcome Baby Ginny!
They put her on my chest right away and I tried to hold on this tiny, slippery, squirmy thing while they clamped the cord and Henry cut it.  Henry and I both cried a bit when she came out and it was so nice to be able to hold her for a bit.  Eventually (Henry says about 20 minutes) they had to take her away to weigh her and clean her up more, but they gave her right back to me and we tried breastfeeding.  There was so much activity but I didn't notice most of it.  I had a tear so they spent some time stitching me up and I remember shaking pretty bad, probably from tired muscles.  But other than that, most of the focus was on this tiny beautiful little girl in my arms.  Henry finally got to hold her for a while and then my mom and sister arrived from the airport, then we were moved down to post-partum recovery.

Post-Partum
We stayed in the hospital until Monday, getting the hang of feeding and getting to know our baby, then both Ginny and I were given a clean bill of health and discharged.  Recovery was not fun, but it got better with each day.

Next post I will talk more about Ginny's first couple weeks of life, but she's starting to wake up now which means it's feeding time!

We got to have a professional photographer in the hospital so I will leave you for now with some pictures of our beautiful girl when she was two days old.

38 Weeks

Today is November 15th and we are 15 days from d-day!  It's been a while.  I know.  I'm sorry.  But it's also been ridiculously busy.  The good news is that as of last week we are officially full term!!  Baby Ginny could arrive at any moment and be considered a full term baby.  We're hoping she stays in there just a little longer though, to give me time to finish up school and of course to go see the new Harry Potter movie (I really want to see it!).  We got through October, where I had front loaded a lot of school work just in case I happened to go into labor early, then my mom was in town for the first week of November, then I had work and school catch up, so now I'm doing blog catch up!  My mom was like a one-woman baby shower so we got a lot done while she was here.  We had waited to buy most of our stuff until she got here so she could go with us.  All the stuff we got, combined with the cloth diapers (yes we are cloth diapering and no we're not crazy) and clothes we are getting from Henry's parents, and some awesome hand-me-downs from my sister and some co-workers, I think we're pretty much set!  It's hard being so far away from family during this whole process, but we've never once felt like we were on our own and that's totally due to both our amazing families. 
Since it's been so long, I'll just dive right in to the good stuff.

• What's the Baby Doing?: 33-36 weeks: Baby is continuing to gain weight at a rapid rate, about a half a pound per week.  Eyes are developed enough to detect light, lanugo has disappeared, vernix becomes thicker, crowding in the uterus means less movement from baby.  37-38 weeks: Baby is full term!  Weight gain has slowed, brain and nervous system are working better every day,
• Weight Gain: I think in total I'm right in the good range of weight gain for a "normal" person.  That said, I'm definitely not giving a number, suffice it to say that I've never ever weighed this much in my entire life and it definitely feels that way.

• Showing?:  Random people are much more comfortable giving comments the last couple weeks.  It doesn't hurt that I look like I'm going to pop at any moment, however it does get annoying when every stranger on the street, UPS delivery person, randos in the ladies room, people in the checkout line, etc. wants to ask you about the contents of your uterus.  Just because you're pregnant doesn't automatically mean you should have no privacy, people!
• Symptoms: Of what?  Of pregnancy, I'm as big as a house and super uncomfortable.  I can't wear my wedding ring any more because my hands, feet and legs are swollen beyond the point of recognition.  I couldn't even get slippers on the other night!  My face is swollen too, so much so that my OB was worried about my blood pressure, but thankfully it's just fine.  It's all just so magical.  Of labor, we are definitely getting ready!!  At my last appointment I was already dilated (yay!) and the doctor could actually feel Ginny's head.  I've started having some non-painful contractions and there's a host of other, sort of icky body things going on that tell us there's probably not a lot of time left!  We finished packing the last of our hospital bag last night.
• Sleep:  No sleep.  Hips hurt too much to stay on one side for long, I'm not allowed to sleep on my back, I still have some heartburn when lying down, and I have to get up at least three times a night to pee.  I tried sleeping in a chair the other night but that was a no-go.  Last night I used pillows to prop myself up but I was having regular contractions and somehow sitting up made them worse.  Tonight we're going to try me sleeping on Henry's shoulder because I passed out that way for about an hour on Sunday afternoon.  By the amount of drool I left on Henry's shirt it looks like I was out pretty good!
• Movement: She's definitely slowing down, for the last few weeks it's been much more stretching and swiping than kicks and punches.  Her movement has gotten noticeably slower in the last couple days, in fact I did kick counts after lunch because it was worrying me.  She's still in there for sure, just in position and getting ready!
• Best Moment of the Week(s):  Getting our baby list taken care of was a huge one!  Also we got to see her again on her last growth ultrasound last week.  All you can really see anymore is a bunch of circles that is her head, abdomen, etc. but it's always fun just the same.  The next time we see her she'll be here!  Also being told we're progressing a little towards labor was fantastic.  Really help you see that there is in fact a light at the end of the tunnel.
• What I Miss:  Sleeping comfortably is a huge one right now, I'm just really really tired. 
• What I'm Looking Forward To:  Getting some semblance of my own body back. As much as I've loved being pregnant, and I have, I'm more than ready for it to be o-v-e-r!  I know that I'll be a baby feeding machine for a good while, but not having twenty-plus pounds hanging off the front of my body will be wonderful.
• Milestones:  Full term!  Dilated!  Next stop, baby!!
• Henry's Quote of the Week: In response to me worrying about my tumors hurting during labor (they hurt with the practice contractions): "Isn't that like saying I hope I don't get shit on my shit?"  I did ask him for another quote but we're both pretty brain dead from me not sleeping at night.  His offering (actually insisting) that I try sleeping on him, when he will definitely not be comfortable that way, earns him one of his many, many gold husband/father stars.  He also gets them for being my chauffeur for the last few weeks, even sitting outside my class in Evanston for 2.5 hours every Tuesday reading pregnancy books while I'm in class. 

Given that we are so close to the end now, and with the holiday and my last two weeks of school, etc., this will likely be my last pregnancy post.  Keep checking back though because I will post, with lots of pictures, when Ginny decides to make her grand entrance into the world!

30-32 Weeks

Well, I'm not getting much better at keeping this thing updated!  I blame school work because I now have a schedule incompatible with this update (for the record I will not be able to update on Tuesdays or Wednesdays anymore because I have class until 9:30pm both nights) and also a ridiculous amount of busy work for my teaching seminar class.  I'm having to stay on top of it by making an actual homework schedule, something that I'm not sure I've ever done in my entire academic life.  It's all compounded by the fact that I deliberately front loaded all the work I could for this quarter just in case Ginny does end up making an early appearance...

We had our 30 week appointment (every two weeks now) and the awesome news is that judging by an external exam and the location of Ginny's heartbeat with the doppler, it looks like she actually flipped!!  Yay!!  Hopefully this will be confirmed by ultrasound next Tuesday at our 32 week appointment and put the kibosh on the whole scheduled c-section talk.  Fingers crossed!  That's about the most exciting news from the appointment, they're actually pretty boring at this stage.  Another growth ultrasound scheduled for next week though!

Went for a little shopping excursion this weekend, picked up our car seat and stroller travel system.  I wanted to get it so we could install it in the next few weeks (you're supposed to have the seat in the car and ready to go by 35 weeks) but of course Henry can't resist a project when it's staring him in the face so it was installed the next morning.  Here are some pictures of our new beautiful stroller and the most excellent job Henry did of installing the car seat!

We also bought a few cute little outfits for this winter that were just too adorable to resist.  Strangely they are almost all pink after we swore up and down to severely limit the pink explosion.  Oh well, next few outfits will have to be yellow or green or something.  Not posting pictures of the outfits, we'll show them to you all when there's actually a baby in them :-)

• What's the Baby Doing?: Baby is continuing to steadily gain weight, about a half a pound per week until about the 37th week.  The baby is practicing breathing causing lots of bouts of hiccups.  Baby's lungs are now more developed, but not yet fully mature.  Lanugo, the soft layer of hair covering the baby, is starting to fall off and will lose most of it before birth.  The baby has grown to the point of being pretty crowded and movements will feel less and less over the coming weeks.  Almost all babies born at this age will survive and have a normal life.
• Weight Gain: Doing good, right on track.  Doctor is happy and I'm trying not to think about it.

• Showing?: Belly gets in the way of everything.  Everything! 

• Symptoms?: Had heartburn pretty bad a couple times, but tums seem to do the trick.  I'm definitely more tired than before, actually even took a nap today!  I also definitely have my hungry hippo days where I can't seem to stop eating.  I've got an amazing sweet tooth right now, but trying to keep from eating totally non-nutritious things.  I've decided cocoa-puffs are perfectly healthy when eaten with milk (calcium!).
• Sleep: Sleep is not any better than before.  In fact I am now up at least twice per night to use the restroom.  We bought a little wedge thing that's actually supposed to be a newborn support for a boppy, but I'm currently using it as a belly support at night.  The worst part is my hips are killing me!  I was getting leg cramps at night too, but I seem to have that under control.  Now if only I could figure out how to make my hips better, life would be almost comfortable.
• Movement: She's still pretty active, no matter what the books say.  But it's a lot more pushing and moving than kicks and punches.  It's like she's stretching or something, it move my belly around something crazy.  Definitely alien-like.  Between that and the hiccups, it seems like she'll never stop moving.
• Best Moment of the Week(s): Finding out she's head down!  Yay again!  The big question was whether or not she could flip out of the breech position so hopefully if she's still head down on the ultrasound that won't be an issue any longer.  We knew she could do it all along!
• What I Miss: Sleeping through the night.  Doesn't seem like that will change any time soon though.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: Ultrasound on Tuesday!  Always wonderful to see Ginny again and I can't wait for the confirmation about her position. 
• Milestones: It's really comforting to know that if Ginny was born right now she would most likely be just fine.  Of course we want her to stay in there and keep cooking, but if worst came to worst, it's good to know we've reached that point.
• Henry's Quote of the Week: When putting together a stroller in record time, which all the reviews had said was notoriously difficult to assemble, Henry scoffed "Bah, I've been putting in cotter pins since I was two!"
• Henry also gets a special husband/father gold star for today (nothing out of the ordinary really) because I was really tired and hot after a long walk so when we came home he made up the bed for me, turned the fan on, put a glass of ice water by the bed and forced me to take a nap after giving me a back rub.  How lucky am I?! 

So I'll try to post next weekend again, as it's a bit easier for me than during the week right now.  Hopefully I'll manage to stay on the ball.  Or I'll just wait until enough people start bugging me about it again! :-)

28-29 Weeks

Two things that happened this past week: 1) we traveled to Vail, Colorado so I could be the matron (old pregnant lady) of honor in my best friend Joselyne's wedding, and 2) we had our 28 week appointment.
When all was said and done I think we handled out last trip before Ginny comes very well.  I did get altitude sickness down in Vail, which is about 8,000 ft above sea level, and I was starting to think I might not make it all the way up to the top of the mountain for the wedding, which was about 10,000 feet.  But Henry, being ever resourceful, found a mountain climbing store that carried little canisters of oxygen, like an inhaler, and after about eight shots I felt ridiculously better.  Between that and the cup of delicious pumpkin spice Starbucks every morning (hey the mountain guy said caffeine helps the sickness and I'm allowed 2 cups a day) I made it though the wedding with no problems.  Poor Joselyne kept worrying about me which made me feel awful, the last thing I wanted to do was cause the bride more stress!  But her wedding was absolutely beautiful and she looked gorgeous and so very happy.  I really couldn't be more excited for her.  Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Perry!!  Now we'll see if they make it through their survival backpacking honeymoon through the Colorado mountains. :-)

Today we also had our 28 week appointment.  Traveling and the automatic headaches that come with making doctors appointments means we're a little behind schedule but no biggie.  We had another ultrasound (I'll post a picture later but she's so big now it's hard to really see much) to measure her growth and keep an eye on my fibroids.  She's in the 75%, weighing in at 3.4 pounds!  Obviously the fibroids have had no impact on her growth!  Unfortunately right now she's in the breech position, so we're back in for another ultrasound in 4 weeks (doctor's appointments every 2 weeks from here until 35 weeks).  The next ultrasound will check her growth again, the fibroids and her position.  Everyone think TURN!  We need her to get head down otherwise we're scheduling a C-section.  It's just too dangerous for the doctor to try and turn her with an external version because of the tumors, so again, everyone think TURN!!  Other than that, nothing more exciting to report!

• What's the Baby Doing?: Baby's eyes are open!  She should be sleeping on a regular schedule now, probably 20-30 minutes at a time.  The brain is also continuing to develop and expand rapidly, and the baby is continuing to accumulate layers of fat under her skin.  Weight and size are continuing to increase.
• Weight Gain: I'm going to call this week a special snowflake because of the wedding.  Yeah, we'll stick with that.

• Showing:  No question about it, she's a big baby!

• plus I like to eat cookies!  mmmm, yummy cookies...

• Symptoms: Well, I had some decreased movement over the weekend so now I have to count kicks for an hour after I eat.  So far so good, she's still in there moving around.  We're hoping that the decreased movement is because she flipped into breech sometime while we were traveling in Colorado, which means hopefully she'll flip back again.  Of course it could have been the decreased oxygen levels too, or just travelling, who knows.  But I've been experiencing insane pressure low down in my belly, like she's pushing her butt down.  Oh yeah, she's frank breech which means she's got her legs up near her head, like in a jack-knife position.  It does not feel good for mom.
• Sleep: Been pretty good.  The first night in Vail was terrible, but I did well after that.  Then last night was awful too with the insane pressure.  Seriously, everyone think TURN!
• Movement:  Guess I already covered that above.  Hopefully it will pick up again, but with the tumors and her monster size, she's quickly running out of room.
• Best Moment of the Week: Standing next to my best friend since I was three years old as she married the man she loves.  Then coming home. :-)
• What I Miss:  This week it was deli meat.  I'm not supposed to eat it because of listeria bacteria, but Jos had this amazing spread of cheese and cured meat while we were getting ready and I really really wanted to eat it!  Oh and the seared tuna appetisers at the reception too.  I swear, my first meal after delivery is going to be take-out from Kamehachi.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: This weekend we have another baby class and a tour of the hospital we'll be delivering at.  It just one more step closer to d-day!
• Milestone:  Ginny opening her eyes it the biggest one this week, if we could look inside we could see what color they are.  Which would be hazel since both Henry and I have hazel eyes and it's recessive.  So I guess it wouldn't be that exciting.
• Henry's Quote of the Week: "You're PREGNANT!  Get it through your head."  This was Henry's mantra this weekend as I tried to do things I shouldn't like walk up hills or carry heavy suitcases or wear high heels to walk around or whatever other high jinks I wanted to get up to when I was already huffing from low oxygen.  We practiced coached breathing while walking around the trails of Vail, it actually works pretty well!

Here's couple parting pictures from this weekend, one of me and Joselyne at lunch in the village and one of me and Henry at the wedding (even though it was supposed to be cold, we still got some sun!)

27 Weeks

Hello Third Trimester!!  We're getting there, slowly but surely.  This week was a good one.  I finished my workshop class and now have only one more teaching class to go.  Henry is working on some writing for his new job, but generally we're both having pretty easy days right now.  I've finally been able to get going on a baby blanket for Ginny (I'm actually making one for myself!) and Henry is putting together a scrapbook of all the ultrasounds and pictures we have so far.  We've had to go in for so many ultrasounds over the course of this pregnancy it's like having a flipbook of a developing baby.  Socially we had a very busy week which is highly unusually for hermits such as us.  Dinner with my friend Kristen on Thursday (who is sadly moving two hours away to Wisconsin), my summer office outing to Arlington Race Track and a BBQ at a co-worker's house on Friday, sailing on Lake Michigan on my boss' beautiful and huge sailboat Saturday afternoon, then a really silly movie with Kristen on Saturday night.  Friday and Saturday were probably the busiest days I've had since May and I was thankfully able to keep going through it all.  Today however I'm falling asleep!  I can't seem to do anything without my eyelids dropping on me.  Don't worry I'm not driving home.  In fact, Henry is picking me up a little early so we can go to the seamstress to get my maid (actually matron) of honor dress fitted for my best friend Joselyne's wedding which is in two weeks.  Hopefully I will still fit into it, or she can make me fit into it, and I won't look like a giant clover-green beluga whale.

• What's the Baby Doing?: Although the baby's lungs, liver and immune system aren't fully mature yet, if birth were to occur this week the chances of survival are at least 85 percent!  The baby will start recognizing Mom and Dad's voices this week. although it's hard to hear clearly through all the vernix and amniotic fluid.  She is entering her most active period, from 27 to 32 weeks.
• Weight Gain: Two pounds.  Fingers crossed about that dress!

• Showing?: My belly looks a little higher than last week.  Oh and my belly button is pretty much non-existent at this point.  We're still rubbing me down twice a day with oil and cream, hoping to keep those stretch marks away!

• Symptoms: Still hungry like a hippo.  I'm starting to get a stronger sweet tooth than I had before (if that's possible), thank goodness for oatmeal bars and greek yogurt!  No real weird cravings as of yet.  The onion thing went away a while ago, although I still have my afternoon mocktail of V8 juice, hot sauce and cocktail onions.  My back has been okay this week too.  It has been really hurting me for over a month now, but usually Henry's back rubs and/or some yoga that my sister taught me helps out a lot.  I have to wear this super attractive maternity belt (under my clothes of course) to help me support my belly now if I'm going to be walking any sort of distance.  It feels soooo good, but it's hard to believe I have to result to elastic to help me hold up my own body.
• Sleep: Some days good, some days bad, but I feel like I'm getting enough sleep.  I think.
• Movement: Ginny's an active one!  Currently kicking me right in the bladder, thanks kid.  Lots of movement this week and Henry has been able to catch it a bunch too which is always amazing.  She seems to like to hang out on my right side all the time but only a couple days ago I started feeling some kicks on the left side.  Maybe she's finally starting to take up some space in there!
• Best Moment of the Week: Hmm, this is non-baby related but sailing on Lake Michigan was pretty awesome.  It was probably the most beautiful day we've had this summer, not too hot with a wonderful breeze.  It was just so relaxing and nice, I was a little sad when we pulled back into the harbor.  Also, I got to have a dipped cone from Dairy Queen on Sunday, which I have been talking about wanting to get ever since my sister Tracy, her husband Shayne, Henry and I went on an unsuccessful hunt for one back in April.  April!  Four months later I finally got one. :-)
• What I Miss: I miss being able to sleep on my back.  I'm really comfortable on my back usually.  But now I can't stand lying on my back for more than a few minutes.  If I accidentally roll onto my back in the middle of the night it eventually wakes me up.  Technically I'm not supposed to be lying on my back anyway because apparently the weight of my belly puts pressure on the major artery that carries blood to my brain and to the baby.  So good thing it's so uncomfortable right now or I would have a hard time remembering not to sleep that way.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: Labor Day weekend!  That's a four day weekend for me.  Granted I still have to teach class on Friday, but it's only a couple hours out of my day.  Yay for a mini stay-cation!
• Milestones: Ginny recognizing our voices is pretty wonderful.  And I may be getting my first stretch mark.  Or it's a shadow.  I hope shadow.
• Henry's Quote of the Week: Henry's giving it to me this week.  He started the P90X workout this week, which for those who don't know is a super high intensity workout regime that you do for 90 days, I think 90 mins a day, which should have him finishing right before our due date.  Tonight I walked in and stood there rubbing my belly, after a few minutes of me watching him huff and sweat I said, "That looks hard."  Then I left to seek out a bowl of cereal.

Check out our new poll!  As we now know the sex of the baby, I thought perhaps a little timing poll might be fun as we officially enter the last trimester.  So what do you think?  Will Ginny come before, on, or after her due date? (November 30th for those who have forgotten)

26 Weeks

I'm a little late on the post this week, but I'll chalk it up to being busy (it's the best excuse).  I officially went back to work full time last week and it sucks!  I know boo hoo, right?  But I got seriously spoiled working part-time, getting to come home for lunch, hang with Henry and the cats, procrastinate on my writing... not that it's gotten much better at work because of the stupid IT people and their big-brother hawk eyes (they now do not want us using mobile media devices on our computers so I've been too scared to use my USB drive that is my life because I worry that they'll catch on somehow and remotely erase it), but even so I do tend to get more homework done there in general.  I've got one more week of taking class and two more weeks of teaching class then a short summer break before it's back to school again.  Henry is working remotely, doing some research and writing assignments.  It might be quiet for him for a bit as his boss is now in Austria for over two weeks, making me super jealous with all the wonderful Viennese deserts and beautiful music I'm sure she's enjoying.  The cats are excited, however, to have his undivided cuddling attention for a bit.

• What's the Baby Doing?: The hair on baby's head is longer and more plentiful and more fat is accumulating under the skin with each passing day.  The footprints and fingerprints are now formed.  All the components that make up the eyes have developed and the baby will open her eyes in about two weeks.
• Weight Gain: Yay!  A normal week; 1 pound.
• Showing?:  Definitely filling out those maternity clothes.  No picture this week (sorry!!), check back in a couple days for week 27 and I'll definitely have a picture.
• Symptoms: Hello Braxton Hicks.  Had them on Monday night really bad, but Henry took me for a walk around the block and they went away.  Ginny has been doing the Macarena in my belly for a while now; she doesn't ever seem to stop moving!  It's great though, especially when you can see the little kicks move my stomach around.  I've also hit the stage where I want to eat everything in sight.  It's like a constant feeding frenzy and I have to make sure to have a snack at least every two hours.  My new favorite thing?  Cereal before bed.  Don't know why but there is something magical about a big bowl of cereal around 9:00pm.
• For a while I thought the pre-bedtime cereal gorge was helping keep me asleep because I've had a couple pretty awesome nights this week.  But alas, I do still wake-up pretty often.  Now it's not just once to use the bathroom, but also because I'm not comfortable in one position the entire night anymore.
• Movement: ♫ Dale a tu cuerpo alegría Macarena, Heeeeeey Macarena! ♪ Fun Fact: Did you know that song is actually a rumba? 
• Best Moment of the Week: I found out I passed my glucose tolerance test with flying colors.  No gestational diabetes for me.  Let's go get some cake!
• What I Miss: Hearing about a food (any food) and not wanting to immediately eat it.  Now I really want cake.  And cereal.  Henry has already been talked into take-out pasta on Monday night and is making me french toast this weekend.  I think he's still so happy I'm eating I could probably talk him into just about anything when it comes to food without getting the side-eye.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: Next week we enter... the third trimester.  The end is in sight!
• Milestones: I guess the Braxton Hicks, my body is starting to get ready for giving birth which means that at some point it will actually happen.  I have yet to decide if this is a good thing or not.
• Henry's Quote of the Week: My favorite: "You too could be right all the time, you just have to really think things through before you say them." Henry's favorite: "This line is ridiculously long for 8 o'clock at night, when I get to the front I'm going to sh*t on the counter!" (waiting in line for a ridiculously long time to pick up my prescription at Walgreens)
• I'm giving you an extra quote of the week from my friend Joselyne because it was extra funny.
• "I was so bored I couldn't even be confused."  I feel that way too Jos, a lot.

Until next week!  Or really, a couple more days.

21 - 25 Weeks

Well, Henry predicted it.  When I started this he said, "You know once school gets going you're going to stop updating your blog."  And unfortunately he was right.  I just got very bogged down in school and work, plus a bit of traveling, and well, unfortunately the updates kinda fell to the wayside.  I sincerely apologize to you guys who are actually reading this and especially to the ones who thought something had gone horribly wrong with me.  Here's the rundown of what was going on in our lives for the past 4 weeks:
21 Weeks - Not much happened this week so I really have absolutely no excuse for not posting. :-(
22 Weeks - Henry left on Monday morning, heading to San Diego to take the California Bar exam.  My mom picked him up an was gracious enough to feed him a few lunches and dinners while he was down there.  On Wednesday I went to the doctor's again to get more pictures of the baby's spine.  Everything looked great, Ginny was constantly moving and annoying ultrasound techs, but I love watching her.  I actually go to see and feel her punch me at one point which was amazing.  The only thing that was iffy was that they determined that she is measuring big and they want me to go in for another (yes another!!) ultrasound at 28 weeks to chart her growth.  I think that they just have her due date wrong.  She was always measuring "big" on the ultrasounds even when she looked like a sea monkey so neither Henry nor I are worried.
23 Weeks - Henry met me in Seattle after the bar was over and we drove to Tri-Cities to visit with Henry's family for a couple days.  This was our last big trip out to see family so it was nice to spend some time.  Marsha (Henry's mom) and Alma (Henry's grandma) got to feel Ginny kick which was really special.  We had a great time and it was very relaxing for me.  We also got to see Tracy, Shayne and Alexandra on our way to and from Tri-Cities, which was wonderful as always, as well as some of our college friends.  Henry's friend Nick and his wife, and my friend Jenn and her husband are also expecting so we had some fun trading pregnancy stories!
24 Weeks - Back in Chicago and no breathers before getting back in the game.  I went straight from the airport to class, then had to teach a make up class the next day and teach a regularly scheduled class the day after that.  Still going to work part time, but that's all ending soon as I will be back full time starting at 26 weeks.  Henry got a bit of a break as he didn't start working remotely for the Law Offices of Sandra Morris until this week.  He spent most of his time cleaning the house after the cats had it to themselves for the week we were gone.  Not he's super happy to be doing some real legal work!  We also bought our first piece of baby equipment this week, a pack and play with a bassinet which will be Ginny's bed until we move to San Diego and get her some real furniture.

25 Weeks - Had our appointment yesterday, we have one more four week appointment, then we start going in every two weeks until the home stretch after 35 weeks, at which point we go in every week.  Starting to inch up on the third trimester, only two more weeks to go!  Last weekend my nephew Billy came to visit us in Chicago.  It was his first plane ride and he did it all by himself!  We had a great time visiting the Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum and running around Chicago.  I am proud to say I held up pretty well, even outlasting the nine-year-old one day.  Henry had really been looking forward to seeing the exhibits himself, especially the one at the Museum of Science and Industry about storms.  They stood in a simulated tornado and made tsunamis and generally ran amok.  Lots and lots of fun!

• What's the Baby Doing?: The big news is that Ginny's lungs went through a major development these past few weeks and now she has a better than 50-50 chance of surviving outside if she had to be born today.  Every week the odds get better which is very exciting.  Her hands are now fully developed and she is exploring her surroundings now.  At this point, average babies are 15 inches long and weigh 1.5 pounds.
• Weight Gain: Sorry it's been too many weeks to come up with an actual number.  But I asked the doctor how I was doing and she said I was absolutely fine.  The nice part is that she told me to measure my weight gain from what I was when I got pregnancy, not from what I was after I lost the weight in the first trimester, so by that I really haven't gained that much.

• Showing?: Holy belly explosion Batman! 

• Symptoms: Feeling pretty good these past couple weeks so not many symptoms.  My lower back has been really starting to hurt, but thankfully Henry is very free with the back rubs :-)  I'm also getting a lot of stretching and pulling sensations around the belly but that's really not a shocker.
• Sleep:  On and off.  I find that when I eat a little something before bed I sleep a little better.  Strange that I get the most hungry around 9:00pm.
• Movement: Ginny is an active little one!  It feels like she's constantly moving and kicking.  Of course when we were visiting Henry's family she would stop whenever someone put their hand on my belly.  On days when I do a lot of walking, like when we were at the museums, she's pretty quiet but she wakes up as soon as I sit down.  Just one more sign that she's going be just like Henry and unable to sit quietly for more than ten minutes.
• Best Moment of the Week: I'm going to claim memory issues on this one and just say all the moving.
• What I Miss: Strangely deli meat has been a big one the last couple weeks because whenever I try to go grab a quick sandwich I realize I can't eat any of them because they all have stupid deli meat!  And now all I can think about is salami.
• What I'm Looking Forward To:  The third trimester feels so close now, which means that the end is in sight.  It will be very nice to meet the little thing who's main occupation right now seems to be kicking and punching me.
• Milestones:  As of 24 weeks Ginny is now able to survive outside of me which is major major milestone!  If she really really had to be born tomorrow there's a good chance she would be just fine which makes so much of my anxiety disappear.  However, I do think she should stay in there and cook a while longer!  :-)

New category starting!!  It's Henry's quote of the week, taken completely out of context and added here for your reading pleasure.  Henry would like it if you scooped up his wisdom like glimmering pearls of, well, wisdom.

• Henry's Quote of the Week: "It's okay, I didn't marry you for your math skills."

I promise to be more on track from here on out.  If not, feel free to harass me until I get my butt in gear!

 

24 Week Appointment

Time for the glucose screening for gestational diabetes!  Yuck.  Basically I had to drink a bottle of super-concentrated orange-flavored straight sugar, and then sit for an hour before having my blood drawn.  While waiting my hour we had our appointment.  As our doctor is part of a group, we're trying to see every doctor in the group at least once because if I go into labor outside of regular business hours we get whichever doctor is on call.  Hopefully I'll deliver sometime between 9 and 5 so that I can have my own doctor, but since that's not really something I can control, its best we see everyone so we don't have a stranger showing up in our delivery room.  So far we like most of them, but they all have very different personalities.  This one was not very excited for question and answer time, which was too bad for her since I actually had a bunch of questions, including the all-important "can I have a glass of wine at Joselyne's wedding?"  In case anyone was wondering, the answer was yes.  As far as the glucose test goes, I'll get my results later this week.  Fingers crossed I can still eat sugar and carbs!

20 week doctor's appointment

Well, we are officially having a baby girl!  Her name will be Genevieve Elizabeth Rau and we are already in love!  Our 20 week doctor's appointment went great, they took about a million pictures of her then we were given a bunch of papers on pediatricians, baby classes, and what to bring to the hospital.  Lot of information for only being half-way through the pregnancy.  Even with the hour long diagnostic ultrasound, they called us later to say they didn't get enough pictures of her spine so I have to go back in two weeks while Henry will be in San Diego taking the Bar exam.

Here's a picture of Ginny!

                                    

And now that we know, we just couldn't resist!

         

So although we want to try to keep the pink to a minimum, we're both very excited about all the cute little clothes that will be in our future.

20 Weeks

Okay so I've been very very bad about the blog this past week (or two) and I sincerely apologize.  In my defense... not a lot happened in week 19 so I think we can skip all that and settle into week 20.  Because a lot happened this week!
In personal news, Henry is still studying for the California Bar and I'm still taking classes.  I begin teaching my first class, Reading and Writing Historical Fiction, on Friday which is both nerve-racking and exciting.  I picked up my course packets yesterday and got a very satisfied feeling remembering how much I hated course packets as an undergrad.  It's good to be able to inflict them upon others now!  Plus mine says "Professor's Copy" on it, which is admittedly awesome.

And a big Congratulations!! to Lynne and Tom who got married last weekend in Seattle.  Lynne was, of course, an absolutely gorgeous bride.  I totally cried, and probably would have even without all the crazy hormones, and we're both so happy for them!  It also meant I got to go to Seattle.  Henry was sad he couldn't come too, but he's getting so close to the Bar it's really best for him to buckle down and having me out of the house for a bit probably helped with that.  I got to spend some time with my wonderful sister Tracy, her awesome husband Shayne, and their adorable daughter Alexandra.  I had such a relaxing and great time just hanging out with them, playing with Alexandra, and reminding myself that all this pregnancy stuff is totally worth it.  Plus I got to raid my sister's maternity clothes!  Does it get any better?  Oh wait, it did!  I also got to see my friend Nina and her son Holden, as they were miraculously in town at the same time.  Holden and Alexandra played together for a while, both doing a truly excellent job of sharing.  It was really too cute.

But of course I had to pay the price and this Monday we had a little issue.  It looks like I caught a stomach bug at some point over the weekend, the complications of which landed us in the hospital again.  We were released the same day and I've been okay since.  But as some of you out there know, dehydration causes contractions, and with the tumor I get extra pain really easily, so after a fun day-long trip to Labor and Delivery, I am now back to taking it easy and trying to drink lots of water.

• What's the Baby Doing?: Baby's skin is thickening and developing more layers, hair and nails are continuing to grow.  The baby is now 6 inches long and weighs about 9 ounces!
• Weight Gain: Four pounds in two weeks.  Ummmm, uh oh?  I partly blame Seattle and the excellent food my sister fed me (hello Cedars!), but it evened out in a not-good way as I lost some of it with the bug.

• Showing: Hopefully the pounds I kept were all belly.  I do feel a lot larger (in the belly) than before.  And heavy!  Everything feels heavier and firmer.  Yes, everything.

• Symptoms: I can't really call the events of Monday symptoms since they weren't normal.  Other than Monday when I couldn't keep anything down, and Tuesday when I didn't want to eat at all, I've actually been pretty hungry.  My new favorite food?  Yogurt covered cranberries.  Although I do still partake in the rampant onion eating.
• Sleep: Sleeping is starting to get uncomfortable.  I'm not supposed to lie on my back for long periods of time anymore, but I'm not the biggest fan of being on my side right now.  My belly is in the way!  It's in a weird in-between stage where putting a pillow under me isn't really that comfortable, but not having anything under me isn't great either.  Must go on hunt for tiny flat pillow.
• Movement:  YAY!!!!  The baby started kicking, like real big kicks, on Sunday!  It was amazing and hasn't really stopped since.  Of course as soon as Henry put his hand on my belly the kicks would stop, but I just think it's because he has a very calming influence ;-)  He finally felt them himself on Monday night and now the favorite bedtime ritual is to lie there with hands on my stomach and wait for the baby to start moving.  When I was in bed all day Tuesday and the kicks just kept coming, but as soon as I went back to work and school on Wednesday, the baby settled down a bit and I only felt a couple throughout the day.  I guess when I'm moving and active it actually rocks the baby to sleep.
• Best Moment of the Week: The kicking!! We can kind of feel the baby roll around too which is neat, but for me I love the kicks.  It feels like a little hello from inside.  Honestly, and this sounds weird, but it makes me feel even more connected to the baby.  Runner up moment of the week was Alexandra saying "Aunt Tori you look beautiful" while 'helping' me get ready for Lynne's wedding.  I just about died.  Second runner up was watching Alexandra and Holden play together.  They were just so cute!
• What I Miss:  Hmmm, I didn't really have a missing moment this week.  Although, Henry has been biking on the weekends and my poor bike looks so sad and unused on it's rack.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: Telling everyone the sex of the baby!
• Milestones: Again, the kicking.  It's a pretty big one.  Oh and I'm 20 weeks which means I'm half-way through!  Woo-hoo, only 20 more weeks to go!

18 Weeks

So I'm back at school again, and of course on my first day there were major thunderstorms in Chicago.  So bad that the tornado sirens started going off right as I was about to walk out the door.  Then the hail started, giant balls of ice pounding our window.  Well, well maybe giant-pea sized balls of ice.  But still scary.  Henry ended up having to drive me to Evanston which was a good thing because the lightening was striking so close to the car I'm sure had I been driving I would have flipped out and then spun out.  This weekend Henry went to the Family Law Institute here in Chicago.  He learned a lot and it was definitely time well spent.  But now it's back to studying full time and trying to keep the cats from turning him into a permanent pillow.

• What's the Baby Doing?:  This week the bones are beginning to harden (ossification).  The bones in the legs and inner ear are the first to ossify.  Now that the bones in the ear are developed enough to function, and the nerve endings from the brain to the ear are connected, the baby can now hear!  S/he may even be startled by loud noises.  The baby can now also swallow and is swallowing a fair amount of amniotic fluid every day.
• Total Weight Gain:  Big week!  I gained 1.5 pounds this week, which means I've made up for the slow gain in the previous weeks.  I'm supposed to gain 1 pound per week from now until the end of the pregnancy so I am now back on track.

• Showing?:  Wow, it's hard for me to tell the difference from one day to the next, but by the pictures it looks like it's getting bigger.  Right??

• Symptoms:  Lots of pulling low down on my sides this week, and pressure on my lower stomach area.  I'm assuming round ligament pain.  Also the cats are mysteriously passing over Henry to come cuddle with me.  It really started to freak me out because usually they won't even stay in the room with me unless Henry is there too.  The one exception was when I was stuck in bed with the tumor.  But even then, they weren't super cuddly, just wanting to be near by.  But today both cats have climbed up and slept on my lap.  Gosh, maybe I'm dying...
• Sleep:  Slept through the night twice this week!  Which was great because the other nights, right after I get back to bed from nightly wake-up, Dante decides it would be a good time to curl up next to me and purr like a motorboat.  Try getting back to sleep with a 20 lb (yes 20) cat purring in your face.
• Movement: Still not a lot of movement this week.  Felt a little this evening, but nothing like we felt a couple weeks ago.
• Best Moment of the Week:  Another Key Lime pie best moment!  When I heard that Henry's group at the Family Law Institute were going to Joe's Stone Crab for dinner I was insanely jealous because not only do they have delicious crab but they have the best (barring Henry's homemade) Key Lime pie in the universe.  So when I go to pick up Henry after his dinner, he had a huge bag with him.  He had ordered a bunch of crab claws and a whole Key Lime pie to go just for me!  Best husband ever!!!
• What I Miss: Not missing much this week.  I have felt a desire for diet coke this week and did break down and have one.  The caffeine is not such a big deal, but I'd rather not be drinking all the fake sweeteners right now.
• What I'm Looking Forward To:  Well, it would be nice if it was November already.
• Milestones:  The baby can hear!  Time to break out the Mozart!

Okay, no big parting remarks today, Deadliest Catch is on and I've got a baby blanket to finish...

17 Weeks

Congratulations to my brother Brett and his lovely wife Courtney on the birth of their baby girl!  Savannah Grace was born on June 20th, the day after Brett's birthday.  I'm so excited for them and can't wait to meet my new little niece!  Now I just have to hurry up and finish the baby blanket I'm making for them, but unfortunately I've got a ways to go. 
Well here we are going in to month five.  Things are going pretty well this week, I was able to go for a short walk down to the lakefront one day.  So much for my dreams of walking around the lakefront while Henry rode his bike on the weekends.  I guess that dream went the same way as the pregnancy exercise videos I was going to do in the mornings before work... oh well!

• What's the Baby Doing?: Hair is continuing to appear on the baby's scalp and eyebrows.  The baby is also continuing to have bouts of hiccups which I might even be able to start feeling soon.  Fat is also starting to develop under the baby's skin!
• Weight Gain: This was a very odd week.  For most of the week it looked like I had lost the half-pound I gained last week which started getting me a bit nervous and prompted Henry to agree to get me a box of cookies on Monday and to even let me have half of them before they mysteriously disappeared.  For those who know Henry (aka the cookie monster) sharing half a box is a pretty big deal ;-)  But then today when I weighed myself it looked like I gain a whole pound.  I have therefore resolved not to weigh myself during the week and just do it once on Tuesdays from now on.  It's just too confusing. 

• Showing?: Yep, and the bump is starting to move up a little.  You can now feel the hard part well above my belly button!

• Symptoms: Still on my onion kick.  I had to buy two jars of cocktail onions because I ate almost a whole jar last week.  Henry grilled some sweet onions this weekend, yum yum!  Other than that, the nausea seems to be doing a lot better, although it's still difficult to eat in the mornings.
• Sleep:  Still the same.  Waking up once a night, but starting to get used to it.
• Movement: Sadly I can't remember feeling any movement this week.  :-(  Hopefully as I get farther along the moving will get more pronounced.
• Best Moment of the Week: Hearing the heartbeat on the Doppler at our Friday appointment.  Always amazing!  And a relief to know that everything is still doing okay in there. 
• What I miss:  There seemed to be a lot of conversation about alcohol this week!  Joselyne and I were talking about all the great wine she's going to have at her wedding, I was looking at the cool new movie theater downtown that has VIP seating with food service and a bar, and my office starting talking about doing a summer happy hour outing.  I haven't really missed alcohol that much, but somehow during the summer it seems to be everywhere.  Henry was so sweet and made us virgin pina coladas with organic coconut and pineapple juice and we sat out on our balcony in the sun for a while this weekend.  It was totally just as good.
• What I'm Looking Forward To: There is so much cool stuff going on with the baby this month, so I have to say I'm really excited for that.  This is a really big growth and development month, by the end the baby will weigh over a half a pound and we'll get to find out the sex!
• Milestones: Well this week marks the end of the fourth month.  Five more to go!

To end here's a picture of Isis "helping" Henry study for the bar:

16 Week Doctor's Appointment

Well nothing major to report.  We heard the heartbeat on the Doppler, which was wonderful, nice and strong!  It sounds so fast, but of course it's supposed to.  Then they took more blood (I'm surprised I still have some in my body, it seems like they have more of it now than I do) for the second trimester tests.  But that was really it.  All that was said about the tumor was that hopefully it won't happen again.  Yeah, tell me about it!

Next appointment is at 20 weeks for the second trimester diagnostic ultrasound, which means we'll find out the sex of the baby!!  If anyone wants to put down bets now, see our new Guess the Sex poll!