Not a DC Post. . .

more important things have come up.

Eric has been having hip pain for the past several months and we just assumed it was from when he twisted his leg the wrong way while playing basketball. Since the pain hasn't let up, my aunt got Eric and appointment with her boss, an orthopedic doctor. He ordered an x-ray and an MRI and it was discovered that Eric has a very large tumor on the head of his femur where it meets his pelvic bone. Based simply on what can be seen from the MRI, the doctors think it is a giant cell tumor. The good news is that would mean that the tumor is benign, the bad news is that it is fast growing and would require surgery as soon as possible.

Eric will hopefully have a CT scan sometime this week to see if this tumor has spread to any other part of his body. He'll also be meeting with a tumor specialist to discuss biopsy options. For now he is hobbling around on crutches because he has been told to keep weight off of that leg and he's obviously not being allowed to participate in softball this season. Please keep him in your prayers. It feels like we're getting hit by several things all at once and it's kind of overwhelming.

Pregnancy Woes and WHOAS!

Our laptop hasn't worked properly since we returned from DC and since our DC pictures are loaded on it, I haven't been able to do a DC post. Instead I'll give you a pregnancy post about the unpleasantries AND surprises so far.

First the Woes:

• Thankfully I've had a pretty easy pregnancy so far, but recently I've started having some rough nights. I toss and turn trying to get comfortable, my lower back aches, and I get leg cramps. I'm sure these nighttime symptoms will persist and worsen throughout the rest of the pregnancy, so Eric bought me a pregnancy body pillow. It's obviously not going to alleviate leg cramps, but hopefully it'll allow me to sleep a little easier.
  
• My feet are swollen! It's not so bad that I can't wear my shoes, but puffy feet aren't pretty feet. My left foot is swollen more than my right one, so I mentioned that at my appointment yesterday. Here's what my doctor told me, consider it your science lesson of the day--Every woman's uterus tilts to either the left or the right to make room for the colon. Mine is apparently tilted to the left and is hindering the return flow of fluid from my left leg, hence the puffier foot.
  
• At our appointment yesterday the doctor told us that the ultrasound from a couple of weeks ago looked good, but he did notice that the baby had a choroid plexus cyst. This particular cyst is a soft marker for Edwards Syndrome. I don't know exactly what Edwards Syndrome is and I'd rather not know, so please don't comment about what you know or googled about it. Dr. F said it is not uncommon to see this cyst in ultrasounds and since our baby has no other markers for Edwards Syndrome, he is not concerned and we shouldn't be either. The cyst itself is not harmful in anyway and typically goes away within a few weeks. I did find a chart that shows that 1 out of 426 babies with a choroid plexus cyst will be born with Edwards Syndrome. That means there's only a 0.23% chance that our baby will be affected. That statistic along with Dr. F's reassurances that everything else appears to be normal, is pretty comforting to me.

Now the WHOAS:

• Eric finally felt our baby girl move this past Sunday. I think the experience for him was a little anticlimactic. He was like, "That's it?" I reminded him that the baby is less than a foot long and weighs less than a pound. She's not going to be able to pack that much of a punch just yet.
  
• When I stepped on the scale yesterday, it showed that I've gained 11 pounds. Oh my goodness! I've never seen this particular number and although I am on target with my weight gain, it's still a little unnerving.
  
• At the appointment yesterday we got to hear our little girl's heart beating away at 158 bpm. We could also hear some other noises that Dr. F said was the sound of her moving around. At one point there was a particularly loud WHACK and our doctor said that even he had felt that kick.
  
• My belly is getting bigger and bigger everyday and it's the strangest thing to see. Because of the fact that I'm petite, my doctor warned me that in the next month some people might start making comments like, "You're only 6 months pregnant? You look ready to deliver!" Here's a picture from a week ago in DC. I think my belly's even bigger now.

Next up, a DC post.

Baby T is a. . .

GIRL! We (by 'we' I especially mean Eric) are so very excited! I think the baby is happy we finally know too, because as I'm typing she is moving around like crazy. :)

Yesterday afternoon I drank the required 24 oz of water before my appointment. Oh my gosh! Why doesn't anyone ever tell you how incredibly uncomfortable you'll be during the oh-so-wonderful ultrasound? When the tech started the ultrasound, she said she could see my bladder was very full. No kidding! While she spent the first 20 or so minutes taking pictures and measurements all I could do was either watch her or watch Eric who was watching the screen. Finally she turned the screen towards me and told us what we were seeing. She said the baby wasn't moving much because there wasn't a lot of room. After I went to the restroom, our baby girl became more active. At that point we still didn't know the gender. While the tech was working to get a clear gender shot, I thought I saw 'boy parts' and whispered 'boy' to Eric and he nodded. Obviously we didn't know what to look for because just after that the tech said, "It's a girl!" Eric's reaction was priceless. Here's a profile picture of our baby girl from today's ultrasound:


As soon as the appointment was over I headed home and started baking pink cupcakes so we could share the news with our family. It drove our parents crazy to have to wait the extra time to find out the gender, but I think it was worth it.

Other than telling family and a few close friends, we waited until today to reveal the gender. Eric had told his students that they would be able to tell if the baby is a boy or a girl based on the color of shirt he was going to wear today. He said that when students spotted him first thing this morning they were yelling down the hall to tell their friends that he was wearing pink. My co-workers were excited as well to find out the baby is a girl. One of them even had a bouquet and balloons delivered to both Eric and me this morning. Here's some of the goodies our baby girl has already received:

This evening Emily stopped by with her sweet baby girl to drop off a very practical gift--little pink hangers and some baby detergent. I think she also came to see my baby bump since I haven't posted a photo recently. Here's a picture of me from last week at 17 weeks:

I can't end this post without showing you a picture of Lucy. She has made herself quite comfortable in our guest bedroom, even to the point of pulling back the quilt. She's in for a surprise when we replace "her" bed with a crib.

Class Vote

Last Thursday my homeroom created a pie chart (or baby chart, according to them) to show what they think Baby T is going to be. I figured the vote would be split about 50-50 based on what they had been saying, but it turned out to be quite different.


Who will be right--the majority of the 4th graders or the majority of the blog voters? We'll find out tomorrow!

"Popped"

I think my belly officially "popped" today.

When I woke up this morning it felt bigger. . .

when I got dressed it looked bigger. . .

and when I got to school teachers commented on how I was starting to look like "a little momma."

I don't understand how something like this happens overnight, but I think I actually look pregnant now, not just chubby like I've been eating too much. I'm excited. :)

We Got In!

Eric and I are going to DC for spring break. In order to go on a tour of the White House you have to contact your senator to make a special request. Because they only let in so many people each day and it's a popular tour, senators request a 4-6 months notice. Well me, being the procrastinator that I am, waited until 3 weeks before our trip to make the request. I just got an email today saying that a spot is reserved for us! Yay! I just scored a point for procrastinators everywhere. :)

Just a Dream

I had a dream the other night that we found out the baby is a girl. Guess we'll have to wait and see what this active little one is!