Baby Bailey Update

Baby Bailey is doing really well. I had an appointment for an ultrasound at 29 weeks, and he was already approximately 3 lbs 3 ounces. Well that pretty much rules out any chance of having Trisomy 18! He's a big boy! They were pretty sure his brain cysts were gone, but he wasn't cooperating very well and she was having a hard time seeing that area "just right." But she said from what she saw, she didn't think they were there anymore. If he doesn't have Trisomy 18, then it doesn't matter if they are there or not, because they don't mean anything. So that is good news! I met with a new doctor, Dr. Clark, and I really like her. We don't get to pick who delivers (it's whoever happens to be working that day), but so far, I've liked all of the doctors that I've seen. There are only 5, and I only have one more to see. I now start going to my appointments every 2 weeks. So my next appointment is on Tuesday, September 1st, then again on my birthday, the 15th. Can't wait!

Natalie has her tubes put in on September 2nd, so next week is going to be a busy week for us. Hopefully everything will go well. Only one parent gets to go back into surgery with her. There are no IV's, thank goodness, but they do use a mask to put them under. I'm pretty sure she'll hate that and fight it like mad. Yesterday at lunch, Natalie said, "I don't like to go to the doctor." Yeah baby, we know.

Trip to Seattle

Todd and I recently took a trip to Seattle! We had never been out there, and Todd had to go out there for a work training, I decided to join him for a visit to a new city/state and to see our friends Kern and Dorothy. K&D are Todd's friends from his school days in Wilmington, and now live out there in scenic Bellevue, WA. We arrived on separate flights on a Friday, and I returned home on Tuesday. Todd came back 2 days later on Thursday. My mom was awesome enough to come up and watch Natalie for that time. The day before we left, Natalie started sneezing a lot (which only means one thing: cold---ear infection!). God must have been with us, because although she had a runny nose for most of the time, she never did get an ear infection (this might be the first time ever). We had a great time in Seattle. We went out to 88 Keys for some dueling piano fun Friday evening. Saturday, we went to the Rock and Roll Museum, the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (did you know there was such a place?), and to the Space Needle. While the views were great, we couldn't see Mount Rainier due to cloud cover. Then we went to an awesome Italian restaurant called Pasta Freska. There are no menus, and they just keep bringing you more and more food. I would label this place, "Italitan tapas." Each dish comes in fairly small portions and no one seems to get the same thing. Sometimes Dorothy and I got the same thing, while Todd and Kern got something different. They also brought a Montepulciano wine that Kern and Todd drank (and I also had a sip of- it was YUM!). I enjoyed a strawberry lemonade!

Sunday we headed out to Safeco Field for the Mariners/Yankees game. It was a beautiful sunny day, with temperatures in the 70s. It was fun to see the Yankees get beat by the Mariners. :-) Afterward, we went back to Dorothy and Kern's to grill out some yummy steaks and a delicious potato dish. Oh and let's not forget game night and ice cream (if you haven't ever tried Ben and Jerry's cinnamon bun or marzipan ice cream, you are really missing out. Might be my new faves!).

Monday, we went to Pike Place Market and then for a drive out in the Cascades to Snoqualmie Falls and through Snoqualmie Pass. They always have to use tire chains through Snoqualmie Pass (well, at least according to The Weather Channel!) and I'm a weather geek, so I wanted to drive through there. They don't use chains on the tires in Massachusetts because it rips up the asphault. Pike Place Market was really fun. We got to see them toss fish, and were there as they cut the cake for Pike Place Market's 102nd birthday! We also ate lots of yummy food as we strolled around. It was another nice day- sun and maybe a few degrees warmer than the day before.

Tuesday I had to come home, but it was so good to see my baby girl! I really missed her and I swear she got even smarter when I was gone. I feel like I've missed her a lot this summer, between work trips to North Carolina, fun trips to Seattle, and her spending time with her grandparents down in Plymouth while her daycare was closed. But it's good to be home with her now!

Pictures from Plymouth

Here are a few pictures from our trip down to Plymouth. The first is the entire Bailey clan - Todd and his two sisters and brother, wives, husbands and all of the kids. Standing, L to R: Madison, Kathleen, Gordie, Helen, Gordon, Colleen, Todd, Natalie, Steve, Megan, Jeanne, and Hannah. Front row, L to R: Seth, Lauren, Carole, Warren, and Ryan. The other picture was just too cute not to post. My lovely daughter Natalie and her cousin (and my Godson!) Seth at the East Bay Grille for Warren and Carole's surprise 50th wedding anniversary dinner. Good times were had by all, and probably some serious heartburn too!

Off Color Jokes

Unbeknownst to Natalie, she made two off color funnies yesterday. For dinner, she had strawberries, Yo Baby yogurt, cold grilled chicken (she loved it cold) and made an attempt at jambalaya with sausage but it was too spicy for her, so Todd cut up some string cheese for her. Natalie could see him doing this, and said, "Daddy cut the cheese!"

Then later, when she was in the bathtub, I decided to get some last minute cleaning of her bedroom in. My mom is coming for a visit so I wanted to make sure things were straightened up. I wanted to swiffer Natalie's room, but have to do it when she's in the bathtub because she LOVES to swiffer and always wants to help. So nice of her, but I just didn't have time for that last evening. So as I was cleaning underneath her dresser and armoire, I was banging around with the swiffer stick, and Natalie was asking daddy about the noise. She tends to still confuse her 5 W's sometimes, and last night was no exception. She said to Daddy, "Who's Mommy banging?" Cleverly, Daddy responded, "Hopefully only Daddy!" HA HA HA!

27 Weeks, and other news

Here is a picture of me at 27 weeks. Not much else to say about that, except I'm getting BIG. He's gonna be a big boy.

Natalie had her ENT appointment this morning. It got postponed from yesterday because the doctor got called into emergency surgery. So we went to the doctor and Natalie kept saying, "We go to Mommy's doctor!" because the last time we went to a doctor, it was mine. So we had to explain to her that this was Natalie's doctor! She was fine until we had to go back and meet with the audiologist. She had a hearing test that involved sitting in a room on daddy's lap and hearing whistle type noises and watching some battery powered bears clap and make noise. (Kind of reminded me of Chuck E Cheese's!). She cried a little bit during that but basically sat quietly on daddy's lap with her hands over her ears. (It's like she knew we were there for her ears...). She didn't really want to participate, so all he could tell us was that he was sure she could hear, although he couldn't be 100% sure she could hear out of both ears because she "wasn't playing his game." ha ha. She is way too smart for her age and far too aware of everything going on around her for that.

Then the poor audiologist had to blow a little air into her ears with a special machine to see if there was fluid in her middle ear. He said her right ear was great, but the left ear was not as clear. Natalie of course, screamed and cried the whole time, and even threw up a bit again. Thankfully it wasn't much, and we came prepared with wipes, tissues, and a change of clothes!

Next was the visit with the actual doctor, who was very nice and recommended that she have tubes put in. (Well duh, we knew that!). He had to take a quick glance in her ears, and of course, that set her off again. Unbelievable. I've never known a kid to have THAT much doctor anxiety. Especially when none of what they did was painful to her. She just really hates being poked and prodded, especially by strangers, and most especially by male strangers!

So anyway, given what you just read... September 2nd should be a real adventure. That is when she is getting her tubes. It's on a Wednesday, and we definitely could use the prayers for patience and calmness! (For all 3 of us!). The surgery itself only takes a few minutes, but they have to put her under a light anesthetic so she doesn't squirm (and you KNOW she would!). It's getting the anesthetic in her that worries me... it's going to be seriously traumatic for all of us, but will be SO much better in the long run once she stops getting these ear infections!

Sorry, I've been away...

Sorry, I've been away for 2 weeks in the month of July on business in North Carolina. I actually really enjoy the work I do down there, but missed my girl and my guy terribly. I go down for the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program scoping meetings. They have them every year, and we visit different counties (this year, 16 in all) to assess whether their recently-produced FEMA flood maps are performing accurately, and to see if they have any new needs for the maps. It's fun to meet with the communities, and the people I work with from the State of NC are just awesome. I bought a pair of maternity jeans when I was down there that were about 5 inches too long and one of the guys even hemmed them for me! (He does a lot of costume production, so he knows his way around a sewing machine). It was awesome!!! I also got to enjoy a nice pedicure one evening, dinner out with my friend Lisa a few times, and dinner with Emma and Kriss (see the post from May about their wedding in Florida). They live in Wilmington, and I got to spend a night down there and have dinner with them. Very enjoyable! I haven't laughed that hard in a while!

But now I'm back and not going away on business for the rest of the year (to which Todd says, "THANK GOODNESS!"). Natalie got another ear infection the first week I was gone (July 12-17). Poor Todd. And of course, poor Natalie. We have an appointment on August 5th to meet with the ENT for her tube consultation. We can't WAIT. Then I came home for a week, but Natalie's daycare was closed for vacation, so I spent Monday at home with her and went to my 24 week appointment (even though I was really almost 25 weeks). Todd was home with her on Tuesday and my in-laws came Tuesday afternoon to spend the night and take Natalie back to Plymouth with them on Wednesday. I missed her like crazy, but I got a lot of things done. Todd and I went to dinner at British Beer Company and then to see the Johnny Depp movie Public Enemies. AND we managed to get home by 9:30, which was great. I also got the house cleaned, Natalie's clothes sorted and organized (you have to do this every once in a while because they grow out of them so quickly), and about 5 loads of laundry done. On the 24th, Todd and I went to the Red Sox-Orioles game. The Sox won (thankfully) 3-1, and Brad Penny got the win. I wore a t-shirt that said "Future Sox Fan" around my belly. I was like a rock star, people were constantly telling me how cute it was. Aunt Betty got it for me, so I have to thank her for that. It was a big hit!

Then we went to Maine the following morning for Gordie's 50th birthday party. (For those who don't know, he is my brother-in-law... Todd's sister Helen's husband). They have a lake house up there that is awesome, and Gordie has done most (if not all) of the work on the house himself over the last 10 years. It's so cool. Natalie had a good time running around the place and playing on the porch-like swings. (They had 2!) We spent the night in a local motel (in Sanford, ME) where Katharine Hepburn used to stay! On our way back to Boston Sunday morning, we stopped at Bunker Hill to waste some time before Todd was going to drop me off at Logan to head back to North Carolina. They did a revolutionary war rifle demonstration that was really cool. We want to go back when we have a little more time.

Since I came back from North Carolina, we went to Natalie's 2nd cousin Joshua's 2nd birthday party this past Saturday. It was SO much fun and Natalie could not stop talking about going to "Joshua's house." She painted little wooden cars, did an egg hunt, ate cake and ice cream and played with balloons. On Sunday, we went to Mandy and OB's house in Haverhill for their open house. Their new house is so awesome, and even has a little chalkboard wall in the living room that Natalie really liked. Her friend Annabelle was there too, so they had so much fun together again.

Up next: Atlanta this weekend for my friend Stacie's baby shower, time spent with the Maryland Bailey's (as they are coming up here for their annual summer visit), and we're off to Seattle in a couple of weeks! FUN!!!

4th of July weekend

FINALLY we saw some sunshine over 4th of July weekend after a very nasty June. The NWS called it the "second gloomiest June on record." (Meaning we got very little sunshine). We had 14 days of the month with measurable rainfall (record was 16 days). Most days were cloudy, foggy, misty, breezy, and in the 60s. It was miserable.

But summer made it's appearance in time for the holiday weekend. First, on Friday, Todd, Natalie and I went to the Elm Bank Reservation. It has lots of pretty gardens and places for Natalie to run around. We found a killer hill that will be great for sledding in the winter. We saw a bunny rabbit, several dogs (on leashes of course), and a bunch of neat statues and things all around the gardens. Natalie started coming down with a cold, so we wanted to get her outdoors so she could "work it off" (ha ha). We also went to Panera for lunch. This is one of her favorite things to do. She loves their grilled cheese and yogurt.

On the 4th of July, we walked downtown to the Kiwanis pancake breakfast for some good eats. I think Natalie ate about 3 whole pancakes... I lost count somewhere after 2. Then we walked toward the town square to get a seat in the grass for the Natick 4th of July parade. Natalie really liked it. We thought the 15 firetrucks (and all of the wailing that went along with them) would bother her. But as soon as they were gone, she looked up at us and said, "More?" She liked all of the music that was played, and anything that had balloons on it. She is also like me... a people watcher. She loved seeing all of the kids and dogs that would walk by. She is just enthralled with dogs of any kind. She gets all giddy when they are around. She crouches down real low, pets them very softly, and then jumps up and laughs (and usually says something like, "Puppy Dog!").

After the parade and a nap, we joined our neighbor Bill and his friends and family at his 4th of July BBQ. A good time was had by all. There were a couple of small kids/babies there, so Natalie had some playmates. Then we finally met our neighbors across the way who have a 22 month old son named Spencer. They are all really nice, and we're so happy to have good neighbors!

We enjoyed a fairly quiet Sunday, going to church, and then the Bakery on the Common in Natick for a YUMMY breakfast. I'm definitely going back there for some pasteries. They looked excellent in the display case! Then we went to the park. Natalie discovered the teeter-totter (Todd wants to call it the see-saw). She LOVED the teeter totter and cried when we had to leave. I think it might have overtaken the swings as "Natalie's favorite playground activity."

The other picture up there was Natalie saying, "CHEESE" (yes, she makes this face when we tell her to say that) after we had taken her pony tails! She had the craziest hair... it was so funny.

Colleen at 22 weeks

Here ya go folks! 22 weeks along with Butterbean! I think I'm more pointy this time with him. I was more rounded with Natalie.

Natalie's 2 year stats

I'm a bit late with these, but better late than never right? Natalie had a very traumatic experience at the doctor's for her 2 year appointment. I'm not sure if they do this everywhere, but up in Massachusetts, they draw blood yearly to check lead levels in the blood. Last year in Virginia, they pricked her finger, which was bad enough. This year, in Massachusetts, they got the blood from the elbow crook of the arm, just like they would an adult! Good luck trying to find the vein on a chubby, squirmy toddler! She was not pleased. In fact, she threw up because she was so mad. If only she had hit the nurse, then we would have been satisfied, ha ha. Unfortunately, she just threw up all over herself. Daddy was spared, at least. She also got her last shot for a while (Hep-A).

She weighed 27 lbs 14 ounces (67th percentile), was 34 inches tall (55th percentile) and had a head circumference of just over 20 inches (which was still 99th percentile, but hadn't really grown much since her 18 month appointment so it looks like the rest of her body is trying to catch up with her big noggin!).

Forgot to post this...

Sorry folks, I forgot to post this picture! This was me at 19 weeks (now I'm 21 weeks, so I'll take another pic in two more weeks). My belly is considerably bigger this time around at this point in time. I think at 19 weeks I look like I did with Natalie at about 26 weeks. Pretty crazy!