Baby's Cells

Your Baby's Cells Stay In You For Life

During pregnancy, cells sneak across the placenta. The fetus's cells enter the mother and the mother's cells enter the baby --and stay there for life. In mothers, fetal cells often take residence in her lungs, spinal cord, skin, thyroid gland, liver, intestine, cervix, gallbladder, spleen, lymph nodes, and blood vessels. The baby's cells may also live a lifetime in Mom's heart and brain. 

-Sheryl Feldman

Here's a picture of our pretty little girl!

We tried to get a 3D/4D picture of her this morning, but her little arms and legs wouldn't leave her face long enough to get a picture.

I was amazed at watching hers eye open and close, open and close, open and close...

and her mouth kept opening and closing - she was either busy sucking and tasting or telling us a story...

and she kept sticking her little tongue out at us.

Her bladder was full and her heart rate was 132 beats per minute.

She's measuring in at around 2.5 pounds.

Mmmmmm - I can't wait to meet her!

Looooove

I just loooove cruising the country on these cool summer nights with the windows rolled down...the stars, the smells, and sleeping babies. It's all beautiful :) 

Firsts

Last night the kids got to experience decorating their own pizzas for the first time -

-and they LOVED it!!

Makayla did an awesome job loading her pizza up with cheese, pepperoni, canadian bacon, pepperoni, canadian bacon, and a little more pepperoni while Mason did an awesome job eating all of his toppings.  He couldn't get past a half cheese pizza because he was too busy filling his mouth!

Some other "firsts" for the kids this summer...

First time at swimming lessons for Mason -

-and he LOVED it!!

Mason can't get enough of the water and has no fear.  He loves to jump, splish, splash, swim, kick, go under water...he loves it all and it is always a huge fight to get him out of the pool.

Makayla is the complete opposite of Mason when it comes to the water.  She loves it just as much, but is a little bit more reserved and prefers safety over anything else.  She loves to have her floaties with her but gets a little more brave with each trip to the pool.

First time at the dentist office for Makayla -

-and she LOVED it!!

Her teeth got tickled with Cookies 'n Cream toothpaste and she got a goody bag full of prizes (because with every prize Makayla got, she had to get another for her brother Mason - so her goody bag was double the size as it should be). 

I let her go back to the dentist chair without me - all by herself - and let her get started like a big girl.  Once she was all settled in the chair and after they counted her teeth (20 teeth - 10 on top, 10 on bottom), Mason and I headed back. 

Based upon Makayla's run of luck this summer (ER visit and OR visit) and all the gum she chews, I was just praying for a good visit -

-and her visit was beyond good!  She loved it!

She kept saying "I didn't even cry!" and as I kept telling her how good she did and how brave she was, she kept saying "Dad is just going to freak out!". 

I love her!

...and even mommy experienced something for the first time this summer -

It was a first for me, the other night, when I waved to our cat in the drive-way.  

I was on the way to the sitters to pick up the kids at the end of the day and Chief was laying out in our drive-way.  I said "hey" and waved to him as I drove on by.

It was one of those moments where I sunk down in my seat with embarrassment.  As if Chief could hear, see, or understand me!  Who waves to their cat in passing?!  Obviously an exhausted pregnant woman does.  It was the first time I've ever done something like that and I hope it's the last! (it would be totally different if I wasn't in my car where Chief couldn't even see or hear me)...

Having a summer FULL of "firsts" - pizza decorating, Mason's swimming lessons, and Makayla's trip to the dentist (...even mommy's wave to Chief) are just a few of our experiences to always remember.

Bathroom Lock

All I want is a lock on the bathroom door.

Tonight, Kevin was at the shop working on some signs, the kids were laying quietly on the couch watching Diego (almost asleep I thought), and I took it as a perfect time to go upstairs and take a bath.  A hot, bubble bath - quiet, peaceful, alone.

I sneaked upstairs (because Heaven knows that if I told the kids where I was going and what I was going to do, then they would have been WIDE AWAKE trailing behind me) - turned the water on, poured in the bubbles, and filled the tub.  

I turned the water off and laid back to r-e-l-a-x... *ahhhhhh

2 seconds later (maybe 3) Makayla bounces into the bathroom.  She kneeled beside the tub and whispered "I'm just going to watch you relax"...I kept my eyes closed and told her to be very quiet.

Not a minute later, she declared she had to poop.  

I guess my hot, relaxing, peaceful, bubble bath is OVER.

As she was sitting on the potty, she told me that my belly is getting big.  Then she asked me why I had big veins on my boobs (sorry - I'm pregnant and she's an honest 3 year old).  I told her "...because of the baby".  She then nodded like she knew exactly what I was talking about and went on to talk about the milk in my boobs for the baby and began giving a tutorial on pumping breast milk.  It was sort of impressive.

And, of course, in the middle of her tutorial, up comes Mason into the bathroom.  As Makayla is going on about the milk, Mason is repeating "hot.  hot.  hot." and blowing on the water.  He's invaded my bath time enough to know that my water is *hot*.   

Finally, Makayla is done using the potty, and I have to get out of the tub.

A five minute bath for mommy.

Just a normal night at our house.  Just a normal visit from the kids in the bathroom.

All I want is a lock on the bathroom door.

Chalazion Surgery

I currently have three blog entries started, but today I am going to post about Makayla's surgery.  Hopefully, soon, I'll finish up the other entries and get them posted!  TIME - where does it go?! 

For weeks, now, I've been anticipating - with much anxiety - Makayla's surgery, the removal of a chalazion (cyst on her eyelid).  

- how scared is she going to be

- how much pain is she going to be in

- what is going to be going through her little mind

- can't I trade her spots

 - what if...

- ...the unknown

Makayla's procedure was fairly minor in comparison to many, but for any parent that has had to endure their child being put under anesthesia - no matter the procedure - can agree that the thought of your child being put under is scary.  Period.

Our day started out at 4:30am (Up before the birds!  Wow!)

and we had to be at the hospital by 6am.

We were registered and Makayla was dressed in little yellow "scrubs" with a princess hat by 6:15.

(She is so cute that I can't stand it!)

I worked really really hard all morning to...

 keep smiling, 

ask Makayla questions (because it keeps her busy and makes her feel smart to answer questions)

keep her informed step by step of what we were doing and what was going to happen (she gets really into the whole hospital/doctor scene),

make her laugh.

After Makayla was dressed, the anesthesiologist came in and went into detail of what was going to happen throughout the morning as to what was going to be used to keep Makayla calm and asleep.

The first step was going to be the "happy juice" - Versed.  They gave it to her about 30 minutes before she went into surgery, and let me tell you that the "happy juice" is real!  That little tiny syringe of Versed made Makayla veeeeeery happy, very loopy, and very calm.

I felt like I was taking care of a 3 year old drunk.

- She was seeing birds or butterflies (she couldn't tell what they were) and she kept trying to reach out and grab them.

- She kept repeating "Jesus" over and over again - very loudly and with a pattern.  JESUS, JESUS, JESUS.

- She was very limp, heavy, and giggly.

They say laughter is the best medicine - she had us laughing so hard that tears were rolling down our cheeks. Watching her and listening to her, I know is what got us through our morning!

The "happy juice" made her so calm and relaxed that she didn't care one bit that she was leaving us and that they were taking her off to surgery.  So off she went in her wagon, with a smile on her face, giving us a little princess wave! - 7:15am.

*The power of Versed is so strong that it erases your memory.  Makayla has no memory before surgery, during the surgery, or right after surgery.  Amazing! 

The procedure itself took about 15 minutes!  Quick and simple!
Makayla was in recovery for about an hour before we could go back to see her.  As we walked through the recovery doors, she was sitting in the lap of one of the nurses at the desk with a smile on her face.

Isn't Makayla so brave?  She's such a strong little girl!

We sat watching cartoons, drinking a Sierra Mist (Makayla's highlight of her morning), and eating cherry popsicles.

We were discharged and on the road by 9:30am, went out for donuts with sprinkles, and ended our adventure at Toys R Us for a toy.  She deserved it!

Today (the day after her surgery) her eye looks beautiful and you wouldn't have even known that she had surgery!  It's amazing how resilient kids are, as they definitely handle things so much better than adults do!

It's times like this that make you feel so blessed to have the love and support by friends and family in your life.

...and now that the stress and anxiety of this surgery is behind us and relief has come, I think it would be awfully nice if they had "happy juice" for moms!  This surgery was WAY harder on me than it was for Makayla!

As for Makayla - she says she wasn't scared at all!  She keeps saying over and over again that she "didn't even cry!" and she got to have soda!

...definitely an experience for all of us!