Waitin' on Caleb: Week 9

What happened to week 8, you ask? Apparently, Peanut is too good for week 8. The ultrasound technician bumped us up a couple of days, and between that and my late blogging, I'm afraid you'll have to satisfy your week 8 needs somewhere else.


Peanut is about the size of a grape now--about an inch long--and while most pregnancy books describe her as looking more "human-like" now, we'll let you be the judge. It's a good thing full size humans don't look like this.

We're continuing to monitor the blod clots in my uterus (which is why we've had so many ultrasounds) and are happy to report that they remain small, and are, according to the doctor, not something we should be too concerned about. We ask you to continue to pray that they would completely go away so that we could take the doctor's advice.

Her heart was beating like crazy today -- 174 beats a minute -- and at this stage of development her heart has finished dividing into four chambers. Her eyelids will remain fused shut for some time, and her tiny nose, nostrils and earlobes are getting more distinct. She's passed from the embryonic to the fetal stage and should begin some rapid weight gain soon.

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to suffer from and whine about morning sickness (a misnomer, by the way--it actually lasts from sun up to sun down). I'm twice as tired growing our little Peanut as I was when I was growing Abby, probably due in part to the fact that I'm chasing Abby around now. Since the energy exerted by my body in this stage of pregnancy is the equivalent of running a marathon every day (which I was not trained for), I'd like to point out that I am actually running that marathon with a ten-month-old on my hip. Let's see Uncle Matt try that one.

We praise God this week for good reports on Peanut's development. What a miracle this is, and what a blessing to be entrusted with another one of His little ones to care for!

Too much, too soon

I often hear mothers of boys lament the lack of adorable little boy clothes and the frillylessness of their infant wardrobe. And it's true, as the mother of a little girl, that Abby's wardrobe options, even at the tender age of 10 months, are significantly greater than those of the little boys she knows.

But today, to those mothers of boys--and to my mother-in-law, who raised three of the best ones I know--I say congratulations. For it is you, oh mother of males, who will never have to deal with pants that say "hottie" on her little toddler rear end, you who will not fight the string bikini battle with a 6 year old, and you who will not have to tell a preteen why she cannot wear a mini skirt to middle school.

And as if there weren't enough forces out there trying to market early sexuality to my young girl in an effort to make a lifelong Victoria's Secret shopper out of her, we now add "her first high heels" to the list of inappropriate shopping choices for young girls. The company behind them calls them "heelarious" and sizes them to fit 0-6 month old babies. The babies, I'll point out, are too young to appreciate the humor. This is all about moms and older women who think it's funny to dress little girls like little women.

"But," you say, "it's just a shoe...it's a joke!" No, it's not, I'll reply. It's just one small part of a greater marketing campaign that tells girls that what most matters is their outward appearance, and that in order for that appearance to be appealing, it must be sexier, older, more mature, and more worldly. This is part of the same campaign that prompts Teen Magazine (with a target audience of girls ages 10-15) to publish articles like last year's "What Guys Really Want" and "How to Have Super Soft Kissable Lips." (I'll ask you dads out there...which of you really wants your little girl to know how to have what 15-year-old guys really want?)

Long before there was Abby, I spoke with a young mom who explained to me why her 2-year-old little girl would continue to dress in age appropriate clothes, and not clothes modeled after outfits you'll find in the juniors department of Target. She pointed out that it's easy to not allow your toddler to wear a miniskirt, but it would be much more difficult to suddenly tell her when she turns 12 or 13 that a miniskirt is inappropriate now, when it was okay earlier. If it's going to be inappropriate when she's older, Joy asked me, then why should it be okay now?

She's right. No, you will not catch my daughter in a pair of baby high heels, a baby string bikini, or size 2T jogging shorts with "hottie" emblazoned on the rear. Because modesty may be the farthest thing from the mind of a one-year-old, but one of these days it will be of utmost importance. Because she is not an object, but a person, and one of great value. Because she was made in the image of a loving Father, one who would not want His daughter to go out of the house looking like that. And I cannot teach her that if I dress her to please the world.

Mommy math

10 minutes of baby wrangling to get her into her swim diaper
+
5 minutes of coaxing her into keeping the hat on
+
4 minutes of standing up while I slather her with sunscreen
+
5 minutes of "walking" around while it dries
+
20 minutes of non stop splashing
---------------------------------------------------
= 2 hours of naptime (for both of us)

Brave? Crazy? You decide...

As if things weren't crazy enough around here, we're going to be adding another little fish to our little family in January. Little Peanut is due January 31!

To answer your questions: our babies will be seventeen months apart, and yes, we know that won't be easy.

Things I have to look forward to over the next few months:

• pregnancy forgetfulness (I don't remember this from my previous pregnancy, but Justin swears it happened)
• elastic waistbands
  
• disappearing toes
• great hair
• oh...and a baby

So far all reports show Peanut developing according to schedule. My ultrasound showed two small blood clots in my uterus next to the baby that need to heal, so please be praying for quick and total healing of these areas!

Waitin' on Caleb: Week 7

(It's okay--it's looks like a blob to me too.
The longer blob on the bottom in the dark area is the baby.
The smaller blob on top is the yolk sac.)

There's lots happening in my belly this week! Paddle-like hands and feet are sprouting at the ends of Peanut's developing arms and legs, and Peanut has almost doubled in size since last week to be about a half an inch long now (about the size of a blueberry). Her eyes already have some color to them at this point, and the tip of her nose is beginning to protrude from her tiny little face. And already wrapped up in that tiny package are her appendix, pancreas, and beating heart. In fact, in our most recent ultrasound, we were able to easily make out the heart because of its rapid beating--158 beats a minute!

This pregnancy is already proving very different from the first, in more ways than one. I'm guessing they call it morning sickness because you notice it when you wake up, but my version is something akin to all-day-long sickness that just sort of hangs around making me feel queasy all the time.

We're also continuing to monitor the blod clots in my uterus (called subchorionic hemorrhages). It's a frustrating condition that doctors seem to know little about, other than that it happens in one percent of all pregnancies and is something that may or may not go away on its own. What we do know is that they are small areas of bleeding on the gestational sac (the "chorion") that are slightly larger this week than they were a week and a half ago. Our doctor tells us they are not a major concern at this point, just something that needs to be monitored. (Not worrying about a blood clot that is the size of my baby is easier said than done.) Meanwhile, I'm being commanded to continue to take it easy and rest.

Aside from that, Peanut seems to be developing well according to the most recent ultrasound and is still on track for a January 31 due date. Please continue to pray that the subchorionic hemorrhages would heal completely and Peanut would have a safe place to continue developing.

Got Milk?

We thought we should share our dessert

Abby said, "Just one bite wouldn't hurt!"

So we gave her a bite

She said, "This is just right!"

It had such a great taste

She let none go to waste

Except what she smeared on her shirt

Life in the fast lane

Today's mommy lesson: don't turn your head for even a second. (I know, I know...should have learned this one a long time ago.)

Seriously. Not even one second. Abby was playing contentedly with her blocks, which seemed like the perfect time to escape for a potty break. I saw her crawl past the door, but knew I had time to get to her before she got into any real trouble. And then that awful silence set in. You parents know the kind. It's the silence that alerts you to the fact that something not entirely okay is going on.

This is Abby's not-entirely-okay something for today:

A word of caution for the grandparents:
Do not think too hard about how I was able to get a picture of this precarious situation, or how long she was here before I found her. You'll just drive yourself crazy.

Snack Time

My original thought was that Abby's delicate tummy and toothless mouth would have a difficult time with raisins, so my sacrificial mom method of feeding was to bite off one end of the raisin, squish the soft middle out of the raisin skin and feed them to her that way. It was a time consuming process, and not one for which our daughter had the patience. So she took matters into her own hands, literally, and proceeded to feed herself whole fistfuls of whole raisins, followed by enormous swigs of water from her sippy cup with the straw.

Glad she set me straight on that one.

Energy Zapping 101

Last night we took Abby out to dinner, walked around for a while, and dunked her in the fountain while her friend Annabelle tossed pennies in. That was all the fun she could handle, and as soon as we got home, she crashed, and then topped it off by sleeping in this morning. When we went to check on her before we went to bed last night, this is how we found her. Ahhh...what a life.

Waitin' on Caleb: Week 6

We're happy to announce that Baby Fisher #2 is on the way! Little Peanut's official due date at this point is January 31, 2009.

In keeping with tradition, we will alternate the choice of pronouns we use to refer to our baby until we have some concrete evidence that we should stick to either "he" or "she" exclusively, sometime around week 20.

This week in my belly, Peanut's nose, mouth and ears are beginning to take shape and he'll start to have little arm and leg buds protruding from his bean-like body. As you can see from the ultrasound, "bean-like" is the most appropriate descriptor for our little baby. Peanut is the little bean --about a half an inch long now--that you see at the bottom of the ring inside the dark spot at the center of the picture.

Meanwhile, we found out that there are two small blood clots on Peanut's gestational sac that need to heal. My part in this is to take it easy, rest, and not lift anything heavy (like Abby). Your part in this is to pray for quick healing and that Peanut would continue to develop normally and have a healthy environment in which to grow.

Having been through this once before makes this no less of a wonder to me and Justin. We were still blown away to see that little bean moving around in the ultrasound, still amazed at the miracle of life, and still thrilled that God would bless us with another one of his children to care for. Thanks for helping us countdown to Peanut's arrival!

Lactose tolerant

Mom got a hankerin' for some ice cream this week, so with a half an hour to spare before Abby's bedtime, we raced out to satisfy the craving. What we found was an old-fashioned ice cream shoppe (the extra "pe" at the end makes that old-fashioned stuff all the more authentic), complete with malts and sugar cones. I opted for my standard mint chocolate chip, but Abby seemed to prefer her dad's vanilla, perhaps because he was more willing to share than I was. I love my daughter, but I'm fiercely territorial where ice cream is concerned.

Four years ago...

...I married my best friend.

And today, he's still my best friend. It doesn't get much better than that.

Thanks for four amazing years sweetheart!

World's greatest layover

Somewhere between Atlanta and Orlando, Captain Olin had to make a pit stop, and it happened to be in our neck of the woods.

So after picking up my dad at the airport late Monday night, we hit the ground running Tuesday, touring our little downtown area, swinging at the park, and enjoying lunch at our favorite little Italian restaurant before he had to fly away.

While the rest of the crew was stuck in a hotel, Abby's Papa was having a blast with his adorable granddaughter. All in all, I think he would probably rate this his best layover in all his years of flying.

Sunday Best

In case you were wondering, this is how cute Abby looked when we got her dressed for church this morning. It's hard not to have fun in the nursery when you're this adorable.

*Special thanks to Abby's friend Mary Grace for passing down this great little outfit!