9.9.11 ~ Babies, Babies, Everywhere

Sorry, everyone, for the long pause in blogging. I promise it was all for good reason. I’m going to try and do this update without rambling on and on about details. So, bullet points? Yea, sure, why not.

-We kicked August (and Liam’s school’s summer break) off with a week with a babysitter so that I could keep working on my dissertation.

-Then, Liam and I evacuated to Baltimore for two weeks. The plan was for Liam to spend time with family while I worked.

-Liam had a blast with all of his grandparents and cousins. And I got a lot of work done.

-And – this is BIG – Hannah and Toros had their baby on August 8th!! After, like, 60 hours of labor or something, little Kaya was finally here! And what a cutie he is. Lots of black, beautiful hair and the sweetest little mouth I’ve ever seen. Now that we’re back in NY, I dream about the day I can stare at his sweet little face again.

- Not long after Kaya’s arrival – in a not-so-fun turn of events – Jason, my mom, and I got to spend a night in the ER due to pregnancy related bleeding. Tests in the ER showed nothing was wrong (baby, placenta, and cervix all looked good). We were baffled, but quite relieved. The ER doctor recommended I follow up with doctors in NY.

-I followed up with our midwives who did a bunch of tests that also showed all was well.

-But they sent me for another sonogram where I learned that I had a full placenta previa and that it had likely caused the bleeding.

-I went to a doctor for a second opinion.

-I had another sonogram where I learned that I did NOT have a previa at all and that the bleeding was caused by a clot.

-It’s all been very confusing. Apparently, I have a mobile placenta. But no more bleeding and no more testing since then. So, we’ll see what we find out at our 20 week anatomy scan, which is coming up soon.

-We also found out that we’re having a GIRL! I wanted a girl. I know, I shouldn’t say that. So let me rephrase: I really want a healthy baby that also happens to be a girl! So I am very, very happy.

-On August 25^th, Jason’s and my wedding anniversary, I felt the first real, legitimate moving from the baby. I thought I had been feeling it for a while before that. But on this day it was fo’ real. Even Liam could feel it from the outside.

-After the placenta dust had settled, I returned to work on my dissertation. With a lot of help from Jason (because Liam’s school was still closed), I got it all written just in the nick of time...in the midst of an earthquake and a hurricane.

-350 pages have been turned in to my committee for them to review before my final defense on the 27th.

- The day after I turned my dissertation in, on August 7^th, Jonas and Brittany had their little boy, beautiful Heiko. I am very happy for them and very depressed for myself that I can’t go meet him in person RIGHT NOW. I’m hoping that once I get my dissertation deposited, I can reward myself with a little “meet Heiko” journey to Denver.

-Liam now has six (!) cousins!

-This week was Liam’s (very rainy) first week of school. Not only did we accidently leave the stroller at my parents’ house in Baltimore, but also I really shouldn’t be carrying it up and down the subway stairs in my “condition”. So, Liam has been riding the subway with me like a big boy...walking and sitting in his own seat. And I bought him a backpack so that he can also carry his own lunch like a big boy. The backpack brings him to a whole new level of cuteness, I must say.