Echogenic Foci

We had another ultrasound yesterday at the doctors office. When we had our 20 week appointment, they saw 2 small spots on Boston's heart. They are called Echogenic Foci, which are small spots of calcium in the heart.

When we first found out, the doctor told us this sometimes could be an indicator of Downs Syndrome, but also that lots of babies have these foci with absolutely no problems. He said having them increases the risk of Downs Syndrome by less than 1% and it was nothing we should worry about. He also said most of the time they go away on their own and nothing more is ever an issue with them. We scheduled a second ultrasound to check the progress, which is the one we had yesterday.

It looks like now there may be a third spot in the heart, or one they missed the first time. Our doctor is sending us to a Perinatologist to get a more focused ultrasound and see if they can tell anything more.

The good news: There are no other abnormalities found and other than the foci, it looks like Boston is a perfectly healthy little boy. (There are usually more abnormalities in Downs Syndrome babies that are more obvious on an ultrasound) Because I am only 22, the chances of Downs are significantly lower, even with the presence of these foci. Our doctor says he still is not too concerned about it, but would just feel more comfortable with the second opinion of a specialist.

The blah news: Having three foci is slightly more concerning than just one. Also, if the foci were only in the left ventricle of the heart, it would be even less concerning, but one of Bostons is in the right ventricle as well. Again, not necessarily significant, but its just another concern.

Anyone out there ever have an ultrasound with echogenic foci? Or know of anyone that has? Either way, we have our appointment with the specialist next Wednesday so we should hopefully know more then. We are trying to stay positive and have faith that everything is going to be just fine. Deep down, we both really feel like it will be, but there is always that concern. We would appreciate any prayers or happy thoughts sent our way!

The nursery continued...

It took me forever to pick out a crib I liked. Before we were set on colors, I changed my mind from white to black to cherry to dark brown...Jason was about ready to kill me. I finally found a crib I decided I loved and off we went with decorating ideas.

We had to special order the crib from Babies R Us beacuse they didn't have any in-store. We also got a killer deal on it, so I was super excited.

Ha. Or so I thought.

To make a realllllly long (several hours at Babies R Us, days of waiting, and one long drive to Ogden) story short, the warehouse had sent the wrong crib to the store, and then discontinued the crib we had bought. It took a bunch of phone calls and a few days of patience, but the awesome Babies R Us manager ended up finding us the crib we were supposed to have in Ogden. We didn't want to wait longer for it to be shipped to us, so we drove there to pick it up and got a gift card for our troubles. (Hello, free crib mattress and changing pad!)



It took about 20 minutes to get it all set up, and it was totally worth the wait!!



Jason and I spent last weekend in St. George with his parents. His mom is awesome when it comes to all things sewing. I am very proud to say we got all the bedding sewn in 2 days without a single tear or swear word! (one or the other -or both- happens within 5 minutes of me trying to sew on my own. every time.)

His mom was a HUGE help, and the bedding turned out exactly how I pictured it. I wish I had taken photos of us sewing all weekend, but I didn't. So here is the finished product...





I wanted everything about the bedding and nursery to be very modern. I didn't like any of the babyish pastel stuff I kept finding. (even though my mom's argument was, "but he IS a baby!!" every time I brought this up...)




I still am working on the other 2 walls of the room, so I'll post photos as soon as those are finished. I'm so happy with how its shaping up so far!

30 Weeks

You know how sometimes your face just looks super chubby in photos and you really hope its not that fat in real life and its just an unfortunate angle?


Thats kinda how I feel about posting this photo today. BUT, in the grand scheme of keeping up with the blog and documenting what is left of this pregnancy, here is Boston and me at 30 weeks:

(note: the flash is obviously not doing me any favors. My shirt is not, in fact, see-through today)

Things are still just going swimmingly. Other than a few minor inconveniences like leg cramps, swelling and feeling overall clumsy and bumbling, there isn't much I can complain about pregnancy. I was never sick, which rocked. Now if I can just get through the next 10 weeks of this kid flopping around inside of me like an acrobatic fish!

We are thisclose to being done with the nursery as well. Painting was a lot of time and effort, but I looove how it turned out. We decided to go with black, green and white, and use mostly polka dots and stripes. I had a great image in my head of how it was all going to look, but as I started painting and buying fabric, I started to get worried it was all going to be pattern overload! Luckily now that is is almost finished, I don't think it is and it is better than I pictured!

The paint. It was supposed to be a tad darker (not quite so lime, but it still turned out well. (Although you should have seen the look on Jason's face when we opened the lid. He thought I was insane.)


The primer was a nasty, super bright yellowish color. I wish this photo did it justice.





We (I) decided to stripe one wall. It was hard work, and lots of layers of paint! We were debating striping another wall, but after doing this much, we decided it was good enough and kept the other wall solid.





And because it is impossible for me to use paint in any way without making a huge mess of everything...


Poor miss Mollie was banished outside the room after sticking her face in the primer within 2 seconds of it being opened. She watched at us like this for 2 days straight.


p.s. We did learn a killer tip about paint stripes from here. You have to make sure to run something stiff and straight (we used the plastic piece you smooth spackle with) across the tape a few times to get a good seal, and we found 2 coats of glaze worked best. We ended up with razor straight stripes!

Sigh. Ok, so I know it's been three months. (over 3. wow.) You would think being pregnant I would could actually think of interesting things to blog about. (I read that once on someone else's blog, and I was all, yes you could! When I'm pregnant I'm going to document the whole thing, right here on Mr. blog! ha.) So far, I have taken one--count it--one photo of my belly, and have blogged a total of 3 times about this pregnancy.

Truth be told, I get really intimidated by blogging sometimes. I read other's blogs every day, and I get bummed if people don't update, but everytime I go to update I get all paranoid about being funny or entertaining or interesting. Then I don't do it. And here we are, 30 weeks pregnant, with lots of exciting things that have happeneded to us and nothing to document it.

So here is yet another resolution for me to blog more. I really want to be able to look back and remember so much that has happened. I see people making blog books, going back to previous pregnancies, remembering old vacations, etc. through their blog, and I want to be one of those people!

Things on my List to Blog:

--Mollie (our sweet little puppy)
--Pregnancy updates (the one photo I have so far. Plus hopefully more to come)
--Jason not being an illgal immigrant anymore (a work in progress. And okay, he's not really illegal. But we are trying to get his citizenship)
--Anything else I deem interesting or blog-worthy. (or even if its not interesting. Because remember? I am going to blog more, regardless of interestingness. I am going to be one of those people.)

Baby Update!!

Wow, a whole month and a half since I updated? You would think something like being pregnant would give me stuff to blog about. I guess my problem is not necessarily log of things to blog, but lack of motivation. Hrm.

Anyway, things are going great here, baby and all. I never got sick really, which was huge for me. I am completely worthless when I feel nauseated, so it really was a miracle. I have been really tired, but feeling better the last little bit. I think.

Due to the fact that my 20th week is the week of Christmas (and knowing how my doctors appointment scheduling usually goes)(and how crazy the holidays are) I had severe doubts about whether I would be able to get my ultrasound done before Christmas. Jas and I decided we simply couldn't wait any longer, much less into a whole new year, so we headed to an early ultrasound yesterday.

I'm happy to report things look great so far! This kid is definitely a kicker. It would pull its legs clear up to its chest and push them out as hard and fast as those little frog legs would go. I have a feeling thats not going to be so cute in a few months when it's is doing that straight into my ribcage.

Oh, and also we found out the sex. :)


In a poll closer to call than Prop 8, 51% of you guessed boy. And...




You win! We have a healthy, kicking baby boy growing in there. He was super proud to show off his boyness too. Every time we would move down there, he would arch his back like that and put himself on display. (another thing that probably won't be so cute much later on...)




He kept his little hand up by his head and mouth the entire time. He also kept his feet mostly stretched out with ankles crossed. Apparently I have a very comfortable, lounge-able uterus. Go fig.




Also, made obvious by the ultrasound, his name will be Boston. Boston _?_ Robison. (Middle name TBD.) We're kinda diggin it!!

YUM

We spent a lovely Conference Sunday with Anne and her sister. We sat, we watched, we slept, and we ate. Boy, did we eat. I wish I had taken pictures, but you know how one of the 7 deadly sins is gluttony? Yeeaahhhh.

One of the things we ate were these. Holy mother of breakfast food, these were divine. They are so warm and gooey and amazing and delicious and they will definitely make you sick if you eat more than one. But what a wonderful one it is.

Things are going well on the fetus front, no updates or changes to report. Still biding our time till we can find out what we are having and get the fun going.

I really need to start packing. We leave on Wednesday for Wisconsin, and dang if I have done anything to get ready. Most of my camera gear is ready to go, but with my brain lately, it will be a miracle if I can get myself there with a camera in hand. Please pray I don't forget any of the essentials.
We will be flying in to Chicago and driving up to Wisconsin. Anyone know of any attractions between Chicago, IL and Appleton, WI we cant miss? I'm thinking "Worlds Largest Cheese Wheel" or something. Make it worth my while.

I guess I should include a few more details about the whole baby thing.

Due: May 10, 2009
Which just so happens to be our third anniversary. And mothers day. I was excited at first, but now I'm hoping he/she comes early, cuz I really don't want to share those 2 days. No good for anyone. Sorry, kid, your birthday is canceled this year. Momma and daddy are going to the BAHAMAS! (also, to bring out the fat kid in me, there is a really amazing mothers day brunch that I look forward to every year, and a hospital stay would really mess up that plan)

I am 9 weeks along according to my ultrasound, and things look good so far. I have had very little nausea, but have been very sleepy. I'll take it. We got to see and hear the heartbeat on Monday, so cool!

For now we are just sitting back and waiting for the exciting stuff to happen. It still doesn't seem quite real, just because not much has changed in my day to day life. (other than more naps than usual!) We are anxiously awaiting to find out if it will be a boy or girl (sidebar poll, anyone?) so we can move forward with the planning details. I'm really loving this for a girl...NOT, however, loving the price. If it turns out to be a girl, I'm tossing the idea around of making my own version of this. Can't decide yet if I am completely crazy or not. Jason's grandma has made lots of them, she says it is easy and she will help me. (still though....I can sew a straight-ish seam, and thats kinda the end of my sewing abilities.) We'll see.

Also, calling all pregnant people and have-been pregnant people: when can I start blaming things on "pregnancy brain"? I am not far along at all but I swear I am so spacey lately. I can't remember where I put things 30 seconds later, I forget everything, I lose my train of thought, lock my keys in my car...you name it.

All in all, its been a very fun and exciting experience so far, and we are looking forward to the rest of it!