ratatat

57 and 68 and 10

July 31, 2008

I am in a peppier mood. 57 days to newborn care...still overwhelming. But getting to delivery sounds good. I am feeling slower. Wider. Stiff.

A belated happy birthday to my dad.

And we're on the eve of our 10th anniversary. 10 years ago tonight, I was excited and anxious and ready. What a wonderful day and a grand 10 years.

Normal

July 29, 2008

I went to the OB today. These two week appointments are just so frequent. My OB did call yesterday, but it was only to reschedule my appointment. No calls about my glucose test or my ultrasound. I took this to be a good sign. And it is. The ultrasound showed that the placenta moved...just enough to move us back to normal risk. And a scheduled c-section.The numbers sound breathtakingly small to me--the placenta was 1.5-2 cm from cervix at the 18 week u/s. And it is now 4 cm. Obstetric surgery is far more precise than I gave them credit for.

The risk of placenta accreta (if the placenta had attached to the uterus) has led to much reading on my part. And I have to say moving back to normal risk and a normal schedule c-section is not nearly as reassuring as it was when I was, well, more ignorant. Multiple c-sections have risks. A study put the risk of hysterectomy during a third c-section at 0.9%. An British report showed that a third or more cesarean delivery had a 1 in 220 chance of peripartum hysterectomy.

I find it a bit ironic that I had a great deal of angst over my second pregnancy...should I try the VBAC? Can I get through labor? What about drugs? Schedule the c-section? And this pregnancy, I have been much more calm/pragmatic. We're having a c-section. Even if I go into labor, the plan is still a c-section. And it is interesting that the inherent risk of c-section was probably a bigger risk than my VBAC issues. (uterine rupture was hovering under 1% and that had me very worried. Hysterectomy wasn't even on my radar).

I have another appointment in 2 weeks. The kids are coming along, to hear the heartbeat. We set the scheduled c-section date, which may even end up being the birthday. September 26th, here we come!

Why?
(And will all posts have to be in the form of a question?)

July 25, 2008

This week was enriching, fulfilling, overstuffed, overflowing. I am cranky--maybe not quite as cranky as some women at the end of pregnancy. But I am only 29 weeks. Give me 8 more and who knows. The rant flows (feel free to skip the next 3 paragraphs and skip to the pictures):

Why is the third week of July so overstuffed with activities in Cedarburg? My appeal to the people who plan things for children in this town--please try to coordinate. I would appreciate it. Miranda went to Camp Invention this week. I love the concept of Camp Invention -- science and fun! It is only offered in Cedarburg one week each summer. But to do Camp Invention, we can't even consider try the bible camp offered by our parish. (I do have some squirmy feelings about VBS being a very Protestant idea, but why would the Catholic parish offer their once a summer camp the same week as the once a summer science camp? I'm not enough of a conspiracy buff to attribute to an anti-science stance by Catholics, as much as I do adore PZ Myers.) AND the Milwaukee Wave offers a once a summer soccer camp in Cedarburg--guess when? The third week of July. Why? Why? I may be an academic at heart (witness my choice to push Camp Invention and not offer Miranda the choice of camps), but all three of these camps are local and would let her see school classmates. They'd all be fun. Why can't we do all three?

No, I'm not done, yet, that's not bad enough. One day in the whole summer, the International Cycling Classic, which has a sweet racing series in Illinois and Wisconsin in July, comes to Cedarburg. And this year (as for the past three years) the Classic came to Cedarburg during the third week of July. And Miranda's camp is at her school. The same location of the DAY races for the Cedarburg Cycling Classic. This summer, as a ginormously pregnant woman, I can whine about the fact that they won't let you park at the school during 20% of the camp program. But even if that weren't annoying...she can't watch the bike race. The police department put on a bike rodeo. For 2-5th graders. So several dozen 2-5th graders are inside the building, unable to do the bike obstacle course, learn about bike safety or watch the bike race. WHY? It seems like supremely bad scheduling to have the race at the school where there are children inside doing an only-one-week-summer-camp.

As part of the Classic festivities, there was a kids' bike race, immediately preceding the adult pro race. This was listed on a sign on the door of the school and on the local festivals website. But nothing explained how to register for the race. Rob mentioned having the kids ride in the race. So I called the number on the website, and the pleasant woman kept reading the rodeo information to me. Finally she transferred me to the Festivals office, where they did did know the details (you have to pre-register, you can do it at the bike rodeo, or potentially on the street before the race starts--I didn't see a registration table when I dropped Rob, the kids and bike off at 4:30, but who knows?) It would not have been hard to put the information on the website or even provide it to the woman at the Chamber whose phone number was listed on the website.

OK, I'm done. But bitter.

The race field, understandably to me, was quite small.

starting line

The course was mercifully short:

high noon
I love this photo (credit to Rob). It makes me think of a shoot-out in the Old West, with bikes, and helmets.


Our little racing hams.

ride
Ride on!

champions
The Victorious Champions!

The kids watched 55 laps of pro racing before bugging out to the park.

And today was the last day of Camp Invention. Miranda made a robot, one that is a boy on one side and a girl on the other.

robot

The robot is more of a prototype. But she enjoyed the process and the week.

mcd

Seriously?

July 21, 2008

Last week was doctor appointment week. I had an ultrasound. See:

july

The unborn one is still a girl. Still looks healthy. The heartbeat was strong. She yawned and shook her tiny little fist. The placenta news was a little vague--I don't think the ultrasound tech quite understood what we were looking for. She ruled our placenta previa (placenta covering the cervix, generally a very bad thing). But the general position was still low and in front. I guess I'll have to wait and see more.

Last week was 28 weeks. Today is 29 weeks, 2 days. Miranda and Henry were born at 38 weeks, 0 days. And with a c-section, I won't go longer than 39 weeks...so that puts us at 10 weeks away. 10? Like 70 days? And potentially 61 days? Whoa nelly! I guess that lamaze breathing will come in handy now. I need to:

Silly

July 15, 2008

Miranda recently bought a starter set of Tinker Toys. Henry refused to get a set as well, but has probably played with them more than she has. The other day, I found these on the camera:

Henry

Miranda

Silly papa!

Bonus silliness:

Henry talked my mom into buying Trix cereal. And then she convinced him that if he didn't finish his whole bowl, the rabbit would show up and steal it.

Wouldn't you leave just a few bites to see if the rabbit would really show up?

Less silly

At my OB appointment today, the unborn one kicked / punched the doppler 4 times. The doppler was odd--it made weird electronic noises. The nurse practitioner (filling in for my OB in surgery) felt she had to explain that the obvious mechanical noises (as opposed to the heart beat and the whooshing sounds) were not the baby. I did my glucose challenge this morning and so the baby has been high on sugar all day. Jump, bump, lump. Two days until the ultrasound. And 2 weeks until my next appointment. That's so soon.

Not quite silly

Miranda got her hair cut. We had the bangs first cut in in late spring. Since then, she has had 3-4 haircuts, each one left her bangs just a little too long. We were doing side swept bangs and I liked the shape, but they were over her eyes in days. Alas, I think this cut is too short. She looks very different. Blunt, layered bangs--not side swept at all. I will have to digest layered bangs and see if that is problem. Or if short bangs are just odd, in which case in 2 weeks, she'll be happier. At least they will grow.

Groundhogs Mad Dash

July 14, 2008

The creature is back! Last summer, the house was a haven for rabbits, a lullaby of frogs, and toads appeared in unexpected places. And my attempts to explore the wilderness on the last 30 feet of the property were blocked by the creature. He was furry, he was much larger than a rabbit, and he seemed afraid of me. We decided he was a groundhog/woodchuck.

And he's back. And I have photos.

groundhog

woodchuck

We have wondered if he is a muskrat. His tail is a little long for a groundhog. But we don't exactly live in a swamp. We saw 2 of them today. On the pro-groundhog view, there are definitely holes in the yard that animals burrow in.

On Saturday, Miranda ran the Pewaukee kids triathlon (this year only a duathlon). Rob ran the adult tri on Sunday. Miranda came in 18th for her age and gender. Rob came in 18th.

marking
Just like the grown-ups, Miranda had to be marked with a permanent marker.

start
Before the start, Papa loosened her up.

run
Run! I saw her run, but i missed her bike ride. Then I caught her again on the second run.

medal
And the kids each got a medal! You have to finish a marathon as a grown-up to get as much cheering as a kid gets for a triathlon. I can't wait until we can see Henry do one too. And I can even think it will be fun to have all three kids do one. (And despite saying that, I don't want to do one) I imagine going to an event in which we cheer for all of the kids of Rob's athletically inclined friends.

Picture post

July 11, 2008

I haven't been this good at taking photos as a narrative on vacation since I used film. And had more time and money. But without further ado, our trip to the Dells.

July 10th?

July 10, 2008

Happy Birthday A! The skies teared up to celebrate your day :)

The month of July is slipping by. We went to Wisconsin Dells for the 4th of July. It was not nearly as busy as I anticipated it might be going over the major summer holiday.

Henry learned how to pump on the swing. We weren't practicing, other than saying up... down... up... down frequently. And it just clicked. He was OMG excited. I hate tween TV because Henry really does say Oh My God. And I do refuse to take the blame for that tic.

swing

Three snarky observations from the end of Henry's sports class:

1. Your kid does not need a sun bucket hat in gym class. He keeps taking it off and then he can't catch or throw the ball.

2. The color of the day is?
Blue
And what does blue stand for?
Honesty. So tell the truth today
<pause>
And everyday.

In what theology / philosophy / culture / organization does blue = honesty? It was so not obvious to me when she asked them what blue stood for. Maybe Democrats? The Virgin Mary? Baby boys? And why do 4 year olds need to be indoctrinated in this idea.

3. Mom to another mom (first mom has 1 kid, second mom has a 4yo and ~6mo twins): So were the twins planned? Or were they a surprise?

Can twins really be planned? Even in IVF or Clomid or other fertility treatments, there is no requesting twins. The twins were boy girl, so I suppose she couldn't ask if they were identical. But how about their age? Names? Even their sleeping habits seems less offensive.

And Henry's comment on the basketball unit:

"It was really hard. Especially the part when I had to dribble with my toenails."