So Christmas came and went, it was by far the weirdest Christmas I've ever had and it doesn't even feel like Christmas is already over. I knew Matt had to work this Christmas all year long so I tried to prepared myself and scheduled me to work, but it still didn't feel like Christmas. But that's all in the past and now I get to look forward to next year....I can't believe this was our last holiday as a family of two! It warms my heart to know next year we'll have a little one to share the day with....and oh my gosh can't imagine the amount of gifts this little one will have under the tree. It's no understatement to say that this will be one SPOILED little baby!

Speaking of the baby, we had our first ultrasound on December 9....here's some if his/her first pictures:

I know, not much to see but still so amazing to see and hear that flickering heartbeat on the monitor. I didn't cry, which surprised me, but of course my entourage did. Yup, it was me, Matt, my mom (aka Gammy), Jessica, and Courtney (along with the nurse practitioner and nurse) in this tiny little dark room. But it was great and I wouldn't have had it any other way!

My pregnancy has been absolutely amazing, no morning sickness/nausea/vomiting. I was so tired the first few weeks, but I attribute some of that to my body adjusting to not being on my Adderall. I'd say the most difficult part of this journey thus far has been dealing with my eczema, since I can't use the prescribed steroids to treat it. The worst body site imaginable has been the toughest for me to deal with -my nipples/breasts (...yes sorry for those whom I just offended, but if so you might not want to follow my blog b/c I don't hold much back!) And the nurse practitioner's suggestion to help it...lay out in your backyard topless. You kidding me? I know we're in Texas and all but that's just not feasible lady! I'm just hoping I can get this under control before D-Day because I plan on nursing and don't want this to stand in the way!

The "big" sonogram where we will find out the sex (so I can start buying all these amazingly adorable outfits I keep finding) is February 16...... I keep checking my "Days Until..." app, which says 50 days till "Boy or Girl?" I had a dream that it's a boy, no not the first dream which was about the twin boys and a triplet sister! Matt of course wants a boy and wants nothing to do with talking about it being a little girl. But I know if it is she will have him wrapped around her little finger just like we did with my daddy! So he's naming a little boy and I am naming a little girl...that's what we've worked out thus far!

Gammy (my mom) gave us a video camera for Christmas and will get to try it out on our ski trip to Red River we've had planned all year, or should I say Matt's ski trip and my watch trip! We're going Matt's youngest brother and his gf, his parents, and their friends. The NP suggested I not ski at all and one of the OBGYN's I talked to at work said if I am going to do any skiing, to stay on the bunny hills and to just take it easy. I haven't made up my mind what I'll do, keeping in mind we do ski every year. In fact we ski so often we own our own skis/boots/poles. While I'm no Picabo Street, I am a fairly good skier and might fall only once during a 3 day ski, partly b/c I don't allow myself to get that fast or out of control. But I go for my next appointment the day before we leave (Jan 6), so I'm going to check with my doctor and see what she says. I'll have no problems with sipping hot cocoa and shopping if she nixes the skiing!

Ok, well my fingers hurt and I'm sure your eyes do too! Until next time...thanks for reading!

~Steph

ExCiTiNg NeWs.......

So I've been reminded yet again (ok so maybe I'm not getting any better about updating this thing without reminders) that I need to share a little bit of news with the world......WE'RE EXPECTING!

Our little one is due Thursday July 22, 2010 - I know the day b/c I had to look at the calendar to see Matt's shift schedule, and of course the baby is due on "C" shift (Matt's shift)! We're so very excited I just want to ffwd to the day I first feel a kick, to the day we find out what it is, to the big day, and on and on. But I know I will look back and think how fast it went by so I am trying to remind myself to just enjoy the moment!

So you probably know, if you've been following the blog, that we started trying in August. Even though I said I wasn't going to use the daily ovulation strips and pee on the pregnancy test like the day before I was due to start, I did all those things ;) But when the ovulation strips ran out and the 2 pack pregnancy tests came up negative, I decided I wasn't going to be so crazy about the whole thing and "just let it happen." Ok, so I didn't give up all control....I charted my last few periods on the pregnancy wheel I permanetly borrowed from the hosptial! So on the few days before I knew I was supposed to start, I noticed a few weird things that were and weren't happening. On the day before I was due to start, something just told me I was pregnant so I drove my happy butt down to the Walgreens and purchased a 3 pack. Matt was at Cabellas with some friends and had no clue what was going! As soon as my urine hit the stick, I thought I noticed both lines starting to turn pink. Determined not to sit there and stare at it, I loaded some dishes and went outside with Oliver. But when I walked back into the bathroom I spotted both pink lines from the door and just started crying.

I was so freakin excited all I wanted to do was call Matt but I also knew I wanted to tell him in a special way. But I did have to tell somebody so I texted the picture to my middle sister, Jessica. So since Matt was at Cabellas getting some last minute stuff for his upcoming hunting trip to Kansas, I stopped by Academy and purchased a newborn camo onsie and wrapped it in a camo bag. Then I went to class where I had the hardest time concentrating and keeping my big mouth shut....but I did manage to not spill the beans. I got home and Matt was playing the new Modern Warfare and was totally distracted. So I made him put the controller down and handed him the bag and told him I picked him up something that he probably couldn't use on this hunting trip but definitely could next year. He opened it up and pulled it out upside down, holding it by the snaps. Looked at me and said "so are you pregnant?" I responded yes and he said "for real?" When he realized I was serious he said "yeah my love" and gave me a kiss.

Wow, that's a lot to write...sorry to be so wordy but there it is! Our first ultrasound is December 9th and I warned the nurse that I will be there with my entourage, b/c I know my mom and sisters, and of course Matt will be in attendance.

So now I will be posting more often because I actually have what I've always considered "worthy information" to blog about!

~Steph

Hi! I'm trying to get into the habit of keeping up to date with this blog thing, b/c I'm hoping that soon I can really have something interesting to blog about, oh like a baby. But for now we're still trying, or "practicing" as Matt refers to it...nice dear, nice!

Nothing really new going on. Matt graduated as salutatorian from paramedic school in August (missed valedictorian by .0001 of a difference!), so we've actually been able to see each other and spend quality time together since we're not both is school and both working. I'm still working at Scott & White as a Nurse Tech on the oncology floor, but since I want to work in peds after graduation, I'm def looking forward to our pedi rotation this semester. Adult med-surg is just not my thing!

Jessica is still living with us, but will soon be evicted and forced to be a big girl as she is graduating in December. We finally appeased our homeowner's association- planted a freakin tree (one of the 4 species allowed), and did some rock work around the new flower beds...flowers coming soon! But perhaps the most exciting about the house is our new neighbors:

Yes, the snakes have decided to move- closer to mi casa is what they had in mind. This one is at the stop sign just by my house...we are the first house on the street so it's not far! This is the 4th snake we've seen in a week.....one of which I killed myself. Although it was only like 2-3 inches long, big snakes were once little baby snakes is what I told Matt since he didn't want to kill it b/c it "was just a baby." And my neighbor said her 4 yr old daughter found one last month coiled up in the bottom of her pink princess toy box...IN HER ROOM. So I'm pretty much freaking out, I won't let Oliver use his doggie door b/c I'm afraid one might want to decide to use it as a snakie door...and then we have HUGE problem. I posed the idea of an outside cat to help the problem, but that went over like a turd in a punch bowl,,,,any ideas?

Well that's about all I got for now,,,hopefully the next blog I can post will be something about a big announcement. But until then we'll keep doing what we do!

~Steph

Little Update

So, I was reminded this weekend that I have fallen way behind on this blog thing, ok more like I totally suck since I posted only 1 blog 6 months ago. But I'm here and that's the most important thing (Amos!). Oh my, where do I begin?

We finally bought a house after what was supposed to be only 6 months renting turned into a year. We bought a foreclosure (of course!) in a great little gated neighborhood in Belton (ok actually just on the edge of Temple & Belton, but Belton schools so I just claim Belton). I can't see us ever buying a house where we are paying market value without the prospect of making some serious cash, it's just addicting!

Well I went for a follow-up mammogram today, all is good and I've decided to just leave the tumors alone. There hasn't been any change in cell type (ie benign to malignant), size, or shape....so my next mammo is scheduled for after my 40th birthday, WOOHOO! The whole lupus thing is still an unknown, but I haven't been back to the Rheumy and for now don't plan on it....unless I experience a significant change in my health.

So the month has arrived in which we had set to "start trying," and I received several text messages from my mom and sisters on the 1st asking me if I was pregnant yet.....the answer is NO! But August is the month we said we we're going to start trying. The Dr. said that since I've been off the pill for 2 years, if I'm not pregnant within 6 months, we should go see a specialist, so we'll see!

Well I guess that about sums it up, I'm going to try and keep up with this thing.....hopefully soon I will have a good reason to start blogging ;0)

~Steph

My first blog....

Well here I am....joining the blog world. I feel like I don't have much to blog about since most of the blogs I read are full of babies, but then again I can usually fill any silence so it shouldn't come too hard for me! Speaking of babies, I have finally convinced Matt that there will never be a "perfect time" to begin our family.....sinceI don't see an end to my student career any time soon. So we will start "trying" around August/September and hopefully it will happen quickly so we can add the little addition right after I graduate from nursing school in May and (hopefully) begin the Pedi ICU internship in September.

And another reason I am starting this blog right now is to keep everybody informed about my current health "concerns." Lately, it seems like my life has been inundated with doctors appointments and trips to the lab to have bloodwork done. So here's a run down of everything:

I went to the dermatologist back in Nov. for an array of minor things (my vitiligo, eczema, etc) and asked her why my chest is covered with tiny red spots caused by broken capillaries. Once we ruled out hormones being the cause (not currently pregnant and have been off birth control for a year and a half), she ordered some labs. So at my f/u appt. in Dec., the results showed my ANA was abnormal, "which usually means Lupus." Lupus? Not me...I wasn't even sure I really knew what it was, but knew it must be wrong. So she ordered another, more detailed, set of labs and Matt and I headed over to the lab. She referred me to a specialist, a Rheumatologist. Rheumatologist? First thing that popped into my mind was Rheumatologist=Rheumatoid Arthritis=older people=disfigured joints=NOT ME! Lupus is an autoimmune, chronic inflammatory disease that can attack any and every body system. Long story short....I went to the rheumy this week and he's not convinced it is or isn't Lupus. I do present with several of the criteria/symptoms required to make the diagnosis, but not all. So I went and had more blood drawn and am currently waiting to hear back. But this has been put on the back-burner for now.....

I found a lump in my left breast a couple of weeks ago that didn't feel like the lump I found 8 yrs ago, which turned out to just be a fibroadenoma after an ultrasound was done (which ended up going away on it's own). So my mom of course insisted I go and have it checked, and the next day I was back at the dr's office (but not the dermatologist!). She had difficulty "approximating the edges," so she ordered me to go have an ultrasound. But Scott & White won't do the u/s without a mammogram, so yesterday I had the pleasure of having my first mammogram! The 10 days btwn the dr appt. and yesterday...I can honestly say I really didn't give much thought to it being anything more than last time, just going thru the motions to verify there was nothing to worry about.
Initially I was told the radiologist would come in to talk to me after the mammo and u/s, so when the u/s tech told me that the nurse was coming in, my mom and I looked at each other with a sense of relief.....must mean nothing serious or else they'd send in the doc! But when she walked in with a scheduling book in her hands and a bunch of pamphlets, we again looked at each other and I'm pretty sure all the blood rushed from our faces. "The radiologist can't rule out something more serious at this point" (they never say the "c" word until it's 100% fo shizzle!) "AND found another mass in my right breast." Really...as if I don't have enough on my plate and didn't experience enough worry with the accident last year? We're only allowed to miss 24 hours this semester, and if I am absent more than that, I am kicked out of the program, yikes! So now I get to go have double biopsies on Feb 2 and go meet with the surgeon on Feb 10!

Above all I obviously praying that the biopsies come back normal, but also hoping the needles used for the biopsies don't puncture the implants...b/c both masses are "very very close to the implants." Of course I am trying to stay positive and not worry, but it's especially hard for me not to let what I see everyday working on the oncology floor (breast cancer, mastectomies, chemo, radiation) consume my thoughts and start to feel scared. But I will make lemonade out of these lemons I've been given and hope I can post good news next blog!

Well what a freakin long first blog...but I have been known to be a little on the long-winded side!