many mundane moments

Saturday, March 03, 2007

our baby girl

Calla Faith was born and died March 2, 2007.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

good, bad, good-bye

The consensus wins. We definitely saw girl parts today.

Unfortunately, we also saw some major birth defects (over and over and over again as different doctors took their turns). Without too much detail, I'll just say that the fetal prognosis is extremely poor and our hearts are breaking.

On that incredibly low note, I think this is the end of blogging for me. I can't imagine not having shared that I am pregnant, but I never expected to have to share this news with so many people. I can't stand the thought of everything I say being read through the filter of knowing that our baby is probably not going to survive to term. That's beside that fact that I'm not entirely sure on getting out of bed for the next month, let alone writing anything.

I won't delete this right away because I still need to figure out a way to archive the posts I want to keep. Writing posts has been good for me and certainly the closest I've ever come to keeping a journal. Who knows, maybe I'll set up a family website in a year or so and keep all of you riveted with whether Howie is pooping on the potty yet.

Sorry to have kept you in suspense. We had some family members who were traveling today and we needed to talk to them before I could post here.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

lock in your votes

Determining the sex of a baby before it's born is hardly an exact science. We're getting our best shot at knowing whether we'll be expanding our blue collection or starting over with pinks and purples on Tuesday morning. That is, our best shot without major invasive means involving long needles. That being said, there's no shortage of people who think they've got it all worked out. Here's some information I've gathered that may help you along in your guess.

According to this collection of old wives' tales and others similar to it, there's at least a 60% chance this babe is a girl. Although, those results could be skewed as I've never liked the crust of bread and always preferred salty foods.

Dr. Shettles and all of his baby making expertise would argue that it is most certainly a boy. We'll just leave it at that, given the information involved in that prediction.

Local psychic, Margaret Ruth told me long before Howie was even conceived that I'd be having a boy, then a girl. She happened to be at the opening of a salon where the girl who cut my hair at the time was working. She was disturbingly correct on a few other things she told me, so if she gets this one right, that free reading was quite a bargain. Disclaimer: I do not in any way endorse this method because ummm, it was creepy.

There are a couple (thousand) Chinese gender prediction calendars floating around the internet. The one that was correct with Howie says boy again. The one that was wrong with Howie says girl.

And of course, the most arbitrary of all guesses,
Madame Zaritska's reading. There's nothing like a random generator found on the internet to predict not only your child's gender, but the weather the day you give birth.

What she senses for you
The day you deliver, outside will be rainy. Your baby will arrive in the morning.

After a labor lasting approximately 3 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 6 pounds, 5 ounces, and will be 18 inches long. This child will have green eyes and dark hair.

A few possibly more pertinent details:
I think girl. I've thought there would be a girl next from right after Howie was born (maybe I'm being influenced by the psychic). Of course, I'm absolutely fine either way. I'd like a girl, but I think it would be great to have two boys in a row.

Matt says boy. No reason, he just thinks of it as a boy.

As far as this pregnancy goes, it pretty well mirrors the one with Howie, right up to practical strangers touching my belly to tell me just how high I'm carrying.

So, what do you say? boy? girl? or We waited too long to schedule the ultrasound and it's going to be too cramped in there to get a good shot?

Thursday, January 04, 2007

This weight gain has been brought to you by...

Adam's No-Stir Peanut Butter and Hellman's Canola Mayonnaise (aka, Howie's favorite side dishes). In the category of the only celebrated weight gain in this house, we got half of the 3lb goal. We were told at Howie's 18 month appointment that three pounds by December would get him back on the growth charts. I laughed then and didn't expect much when we went in today.

He had gained 1.5 lbs (1 lb, 10.5 oz, to be exact). That was a pleasant surprise, but it's still off the bottom of the weight chart. He did grow 2.5 inches, but that was just enough to keep him in the 40th percentile. Other good news was that chewable vitamins seem to agree with him more than liquid iron. He doesn't have near the poop issues he had on the liquid form, but the real benefit is that he had a normal hematocrit for the first time in his life.

Also, my kid is amazing- three sticks and zero tears. Like his last appointment, he just watched as he was pricked and the blood sample was taken. Also similar to last time, they didn't get it on the first try. He also had one vaccination to get today. He did flinch a little when he saw the needle go into his leg, but I think it was watching it that freaked him out. I don't know if should be amazed by him, or a little sad that he's so used to being poked that he doesn't react anymore.

Anyway, hurray for a kid who likes to lick globs of fatty substances off the edge of his plate. If only he could eat butter.

Monday, January 01, 2007

marketing saturation

I caught a glimpse of the logo on the front of the hymnal as I pulled it out on Sunday.

What did my brain see?

Yeah, the budw*iser select logo. Not exactly fitting imagery for the song we were about to sing.

for those unfamiliar- the first picture is supposed to be the organ pipes from Temple Square-

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Fire hazard

aftermath of a $10 Christmas tree

Yes, our pseudo partial tree skirt was a fleece blanket that zips into a sleeping bag. Why do you ask?

Monday, December 25, 2006

Christmas 2006

We had a great Christmas with our little family. It was nice to not have to rush or travel. It wasn't fancy or lavish, but neither are we. The whole weekend was a simple reminder of just how much I like us and how blessed I am. Howie was so excited last night. He kept saying "Christmas tomorrow!" and it took 2 hours to put him to bed.

Today was a fun day with Howie. It took quite a while to open gifts because we had to completely unpackage and play with every toy he received before he went on (and if you've unpackaged toys lately, you probably have some idea of the time involved). It was nice to not be in the gimme, gimme stage and rush through it. We even took a break for breakfast. He's been busy with his new treasures all day and I even got two(!) naps in.

Merry Christmas!