Strange site

After Ryan and I went to church this morning we decided to go to a local Greek restaurant for some brunch and conversation. I love times when we get to go out for omelets and coffee and spend time in deep conversation about anything from global warning to haircuts, etc. This morning we had a lot to discuss, especially about church, work and where we'll be living come June. After roughly a half hour of deep conversation I looked over to see one of the strangest sites. The woman in the booth next to us had gotten a glass of orange juice and was putting a packet of SUGAR into it! Now, I had (not 5 minutes earlier) just finished diluting my glass of OJ with roughly a third glass of water, and this woman was ADDING SUGAR! So, I decided that it would make a good blog story, but then the story got even more interesting. The lady looks accross the table at her husband and tells him that she had just gotten some tests done that week at the doctor's office and that he thought that she "may have type II diabetes". Jeepers, do you think so?!! It was a rare occassion where I wanted to go over to the woman and delicately give her a crash course on diabetes and carb control. Alas I couldn't, but my goodness I sat in shock for the rest of Ryan and my breakfast.

Christmas is almost over

Ryan and I had a good time this year heading out to Michigan early, and then getting to spend some time with family, and friends. Saturday night was wonderful, and we made it to the Kearney family Christmas Chili party that my best friend from home's family throws every year. This year I was "welcomed" to the party by someone I'd never met before, which was a bit odd since I've been going for the past oh, 13 years oh so. :) Anyway, Ryan and I had a good time and ate lots of chili and too much chocolate.
Christmas Eve with the Johnson side of the family came a day early this year, and it went really well. I enjoyed the space this year, and being able to interact with people and have some breathing room was nice. It was also nice to know that in case of an emergency, 75 people woulnd't be consumed by the flames while 25 or so would be able to make it to safety. It was a nice time with the family and Melodie made out with some great gifts! The ride home was a bit of an adventure however, and we ended up in a ditch on the side of the highway. Luckily my Dad and husband were able to push us out, and we made it home safely.
Missy, Ryan and I went to National Treasure Book of Secrets on Monday, and we had a great time. The movie was entertaining, and we even saw a couple of our LaBarge cousins while there. Christmas Eve night we had a taco bar with the Roberts' Family, Missy, Ryan and myself. We had a good time and found out that Malorie's impersonation of both a hitchhiker and coloring is to shake and dance as much as possible during the game of Guesstures.
Christmas Day went well also. The whole family came over to my parent's house and we had brunch and presents. The food was wonderful, and watching the nieces and nephews open gifts was great. It was nice to be able to hang out for a bit before we headed back to Milwaukee, and apparently we left at just the right time. Ryan and I made it home in 3 hours and 35 minutes! I think that's a new record! We were pumped by the time we made, quickly unloaded the car, added "fluff friends" to our facebook accounts and went to bed. It was nice to be able to have some relaxing time before the week started up again.
Saturday will be the last of the Christmas celebrations for us, and I'm looking forward to it. Ryan and I decided to wait until after Christmas to start cleaning, and getting ready for Melodie's arrival, and with all of the new stuff that she got, it's time to start getting a' gettin'.

On the road again...

Anytime now I should be getting a call from Ryan to come and pick him up so that we can start our drive to Michigan for the long weekend. I'm looking forward to it, and it should be a good time with a lot of family and friends (thanks to the Kearney's Annual Chili Party!). However, I think that right now Ryan and I are both looking forward to a bit of sleeping in tomorrow. Neither of us slept well last night, and he's been waking up at 5am every morning this week and working late to boot. Hopefully we'll get a bit of rest in before the craziness starts tomorrow night. I doubt that I'll be posting until we're home again, so Merry Christmas to all!
Marni and Chris, I wish that you were able to make it out to Grandma's for Christmas "Eve" this year. We'll miss you, but I'm sure that you'll enjoy some mountain snow and relaxing times in Colorado without us. :)

Christmas Time

It's been a fun Christmas season so far for Ryan and I. Last week Ryan gave me an early Christmas present when he took me to his old high school's production of Inspecting Carol. We had a great time at the play and then went to Candy Cane Lane to check out some of the crazy houses decked to the hilt with lights and other stuff in the yards. We had a really good time. Last night we went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert at the Bradley Center, and it was incredible! I couldn't believe how amazing the musicians and light technicians were to be able to coordinate that show, and it was an incredible experience. Melodie was able to enjoy the concert too, I don't think that she stopped moving the entire time!!
Today was also a great time. My old roommate came into town with her husband and their little guy. It's the first time that I got to meet Cohen, and he is absolutely adorable! He's such a good baby, and four of us had a great time being able to catch up. I was bummed that Ryan was still at work and had to miss seeing them. Hopefully we'll be able to get down to St. Louis to visit this summer and perhaps catch another Cardinal game with them. I thouht that I post a couple of pics of the fam, and one with Cohen crying, just for Dom. :) I can't wait for Melodie to come, but it's been great to get a fill of good kids the last couple of weeks.

My husband is my hero!

Yesterday I offered to watch my nephew for a few hours to give my brother-in-law and sister-in-law a well deserved break. Gabe is in the Army and is finishing up his accounting degree, while Anna is a stay-at-home mom who also works part-time at a friend's flower shop. Both of them are busy and don't get much "date time". Anyway, the dropped Ari off, and he was out like a light. That was great for me since I was already tired, about an hour later the fun began and we built a race track, a ramp and a roller coaster for a matchbox car and another random rollable toy. After a good hour or so the fun ended and the REAL experiment began. Ari laid a load, and it was time to get him changed. Usually I can change a diaper without a problem, but since I've been pregnant smells are all the more pungent and I spent the entire time changing Ari's pant by gagging and trying not to throw up! Poor kid. Anyway, Ryan came home shortly thereafter and I told him that should we have another number 2 to change that it would be all him seeing as how I didn't think that I could get through it a second time without unfortunate results. Ryan agreed, and about two hours later he followed through on his promise. My HERO! He didn't complain and took care of the dipaer without a problem! He's going to be such a good dad. I can't wait to see him with Melodie.

In trouble

I've been home from work since this Friday, and after the past few days off of work and being home I've found that I'm in trouble. I LOVE being a stay at home wife! It's nice to not be stressed from work and then come home and try to be full of energy to spend with my husband. It's great to make lunches and dinners for Ryan and to have him satisfied with simple things like that. It's nice to clean up the apartment (of course, in pieces because I can't do too much before I start cramping) and make a nice home. It's nice to get enough sleep, and be able to be refreshed when I talk with Ryan on the phone during the day and when he get's home. I just love it. I also like my job, and I'm thankful for it, but I'm looking forward to being a mom, and also trying to figure out if I'll be able to work for Abbott from home, or whether I should see if I can get a weekend-night hospital job. It'll be interesting to see what happens, but for now I'm thankful for my short-term medical leave.

Half way there!

Yesterday I hit the 20 week mark! Woohoo, we're half way there! While Ryan and I can't wait to meet Melodie, we are excited that she's got another 20 weeks of growing and developing to do. We're very thankful that she's healthy and that couple scares that we've had this past month are all going to be okay.

I'll be home for Christmas...

...or should I say, for the weeks leading up to Christmas? Ryan and I were both very relieved this past Wednesday to hear why I've been bleeding and cramping on and off over the past couple of weeks. (No more bleeding since Tuesday) Apparently I had a clot form in the placenta which broke off and attached to a part of the uterus wall. That clot had been bleeding, and the reason for the cramping was that my uterus was trying to heal itself. Apparently, the uterus usually get's only 1% of the cardiac output from the heart. So, if the heart is pumping 100cc's of blood a minute, then the uterus get's 1cc of that blood. During pregnancy however, the uterus get's 20% of that bloodflow, AND the cardiac output goes up 60%! So instead of receiving 1 cc of blood, the uterus get's 32 cc's of blood! That's a huge increase, especially since the same vessels are carrying the blood. The perinatologist explained it as if an old country road went to the amount of traffic on an LA highway. That's a huge adaptation to take, and it's no wonder why occassionally a blood vessel will rupture and clot. Apparently 99% of the time, there's no reason or cause for it, just the increase in flow. Anyway, as long as the placenta continues to nourish the baby, and provide adequate blood flow/nutrition, everything should be fine, but it takes about four weeks to heal from. The perinatoligst also said that if you were to rupture a blood vessel on your arm, it would be no big deal to bandage that arm up for a bit and allow it to heal. However, there's no way that you can bandage up the uterus, and the only thing that can be done to heal it is to rest it. In other words, when I've been cramping, that's when my body has been been telling me that I've been doing too much and need to chill. So I took Wednesday off and went to work yesterday under the directions that if I could work great, and that if I started cramping, then I was probably going to have to take medical leave for the next four weeks to allow the clotted area to heal. Getting to work yesterday was a breeze, and I actually was looking forward to being productive and having some social interaction for a change! However, about an hour into the work day the cramping returned and only worsened as I continued to work. I ended up leaving at lunch, and laid down for most of the rest of the day, and am feeling better but not 100% yet today. I'm relieved to know that in spite of it, Melodie is okay, but am a bit shocked that sitting at a desk job was too much for me. Anyway, today I get to figure out the wonders of short term medical leave, and what that will mean for Ryan and I over the next few weeks. It's definately worth it, to know that Melodie will be okay then, and that things will heal up, but I think I might need to figure out some hobbies that I can do from laying on the couch. Anybody have any good ideas? Or book suggestions? I'm up for about anything but our non-cable tv channels which seem to have nothing on at all during the day!

RELIEF!!

Melodie and I had an ultrasound today and everything checked out okay. What a relief! The perinatologist explained why I had been bleeding and cramping which made sense. I just need to take it easy for the next four weeks and heal up and everything should be fine. Melodie looked "great" today and has her next photo op scheduled for the beginning of January. She'll be so excited.

Photo op

After another couple of interesting days of being pregnant, Melodie is preparing for her fourth photo op. Marni joked on the last picture post that this was going to be the most photographed in-utero baby ever. Apparently Marni, Melodie didn't want to disappoint. :) Last night she threw a dance party at like 10:30 and Ryan commented, "of course, she knows that she's going to get her picture taken soon, so she's just practicing her poses!"
Everything checked out okay last night at the doctor's office, and my OB doesn't seem to be too concerned about this past weekend's cramping, etc. While that's reassuring, I'm looking forward to having the perinatologist take a look tomorrow and be able to give us a clue as to what has been going on, and to reassure us a little more.