Saturday, October 25, 2008

I felt it!

Well, it's official. The kicking has begun! It was very, very early this morning I felt the first kick. At first I thought maybe I was imagining it as I was half asleep on my way back from the bathroom, but when I placed my hand on the spot I felt it, that little peanut got me again! Of course when Marei put his hand there it stopped. But there will be many more to come, not to mention much harder kicks as time goes on as well. I just had to share my excitement of feeling that first kick. It sure is a feeling of relief for a mommy to finally feel those. It helps reinforce that everything is still ok in there.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Baby Update

I turn 18 weeks pregnant today! This is such great news considering the history we've had and I didn't expect to make it past 10 weeks when I first found out about this baby. I had a doc visit yesterday. So far the baby is measuring right where it should be and the heartbeat sounded great, so says the doctor. To me as long as I hear it beating it sounds pretty good! She scheduled me for an ultrasound in 3 weeks, on Nov.4 at 10am. I am so excited. The first ultrasound pic was mainly to help determine an accurate due date and it was such a tiny peanut then. This next ultrasound will really let us see the baby in a more 'human' form. Vanessa still insists she would rather have a baby pig than a boy or a girl. Olivia wants a brother. Marei says it doesn't matter to him, but I think deep down he's rooting for a boy. All I want is for this next ultrasound to show that everything on the inside looks as good as they say it does on the outside.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Dental stress

When I was around 6 or 7 I had a traumatizing dental visit. I remember a lot of pain and being scared and wanting my mom immediately. After I left there I was so afraid of dentists I would panic, cry, and plead with my mom to not make me go again. I was almost 16 before I finally found the courage to go again, and this was because my younger sisters had started seeing a pediatric dentist in our town, the only pediatric dentist, and I realized that if they were ok with it that maybe I should give it a try again. Dr. Goebel was great, however he stopped seeing patients at the age of 16. I was only able to get a small handful of visits with him before I reached his age limit.

If I had continued to go to a dentist throughout my childhood, I wouldn't have the awful teeth that I do now. It's awful to meet new people and think of how you can be polite but at the same time try to hide your teeth when talking or smiling. My two front teeth stick out much farther than the rest, and there is just no way to hide it. I hate taking pictures, I hate to smile around new people. When I introduce myself to someone I can actually see their eyes drift down to my teeth as I talk. It's humiliating. I often wondered why my parents didn't put their foot down and drag me by the hair into a dentists office when I was younger.

But now I am a parent and I realize exactly why. Olivia has been afraid of dentists since her first visit, and nothing traumatizing happened as I was in the same room with her the whole time. She is now 8 years old and still starts crying the moment the tell her to open wide. They don't even have to touch her and she starts freaking out, which only makes matters worse because it drags the time we are there out even longer. I have tried everything from promising a new toy afterwards to firmly telling her that no matter how much she cried she was going regardless and would stay there until they were done doing whatever it is they needed to. Her last visit was just a simple cleaning and before we went in I was truthful with her about my own feelings. I told her what it was like to get teased in school, to never want to have a picture taken, and if I had to how I would practice smiling different ways in front of a mirror to try to find a smile that showed as little of my teeth as possible but still looked ok. I told her that I refuse to let my children grow up with teeth like my own. As much as I don't like to see her cry, I would never forgive myself if I didn't force her to go now so she won't regret it later. She did great and had no cavitites which was a biggie for her. They did say that she will more than likely be needing braces within the next 6-12 months. It was the best news I had heard, cuz to me it meant that she was going to have her teeth well taken care of.

Vanessa had a cleaning that day as well. She has always been the lucky one. Never a cavity, perfect looking teeth. Well, this time they did find two tiny spots that needed to be fixed in the way back. I had a feeling that would happen as she doesn't brush back there the way she should and although I try to help her out she has a gag reflux that is just awful (gets that from her dad). They also said that she has a crossbite that would require an expander in about a year or so. I don't have too much info on this yet, but from what I've found online it sure doesn't look fun. Today she had an appointment to get the cavities filled. I was so nervous. I talked to her so much beforehand, explaining that this wasn't going to be the same as a cleaning, but how they had to get the sugarbugs out before it made her teeth hurt. When it came time for the numbing, I was a mess. All I could picture was Olivia crying in my mind, and here was Vanessa, only 3 years old, and as her mom I just wanted to protect her, make sure she wasn't scared. I wanted to yank her out of that chair and just run out the door with her. But inside I knew we had to get it over with. I was blown away. She didn't flinch once through the entire procedure. She mentioned that it hurt a little when they were numbing her, but that was all she said. She only cried once, and it was after we had left and were in the car. The puffy, tingling cheek and tongue was bothering her and I think she was confused about it. She started crying and said that it hurt, but she fell asleep in the car and by the time we got home she was fine. I am so relieved that it went smoothly for her. I was way more stressed out about the whole visit than she ever was!

Now that I am a mom, I can see why my own mom didn't force me into any dentists offices after my bad visit. She didn't want to see me in pain. She wanted to protect me, just like I felt for a brief moment in that office today with Vanessa. In a strange sense, I am glad that I have the teeth that I do. It has forced me to make sure that my girls are always brushing their teeth morning and night, and that they are keeping up with their dentist appointments, regardless of how much they might hate it. I AM protecting them, not from the dentist, but from the way society can treat a person based on their looks alone, thanks to my teeth. Don't get me wrong, if our dental insurance covered braces, I would get them put on immediately. I would love to get them at the same time as Olivia so we could go through it together. But money is tight. We have a house that we are working on, a baby on the way, some major dental stuff coming soon for the girls. I have learned to deal with my teeth for this long, I guess I'll just continue to deal with them till one day I can just yank them all out and get dentures. Then they'll be nice and straight like I've always wanted!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Lasagna

I have never been a big fan of lasagna. I love pasta, but I think there is so much cheese in lasagna that I really didn't care for it too much. Yesteday afternoon I was watching a show on tv and they were eating lasagna and apparently baby thought it looked good. Before I knew it I was looking up the recipe for lasagna because I just had to have some. Marei thought I was nuts of course because I've never liked the stuff. But then I reminded him that I also don't like mayo, but when I was pregnant with Vanessa I was eating it plain by the spoonful, and hiding while I did it because I was so embarrassed. Well, I made lasagna for the first time today and it was a huge hit. I don't think I've seen Vanessa eat that fast before, lol! Marei is always telling me how good of a cook I have become in the last year and a half. I never really knew how to cook and I didn't enjoy doing it at all. But I've came a long way. I actually love to hunt down new recipes to try out and surprise the family with something new. I must say I was pretty amazed with how well the lasagna turned out. It didn't seem like it would be difficult to make, but I'm not a cheese person and there is a whole lot of cheese in the recipe I used. Anyways, the baby loved it, I had two helpings and feeling very full now!

Friday, October 3, 2008

Not Happy

We have a cat that has been a great cat for 3 years now. We have had him from the day he was born and never had a problem. He is Olivia's pride and joy. A few days ago I noticed a small wet spot on our couch, and upon further inspection discovered it was cat pee. I cleaned it as well as I could and was just happy it was a small spot. Then late this afternoon, I sat in a wet spot, a much larger wet spot. After scrubbing the couch cushion, which is probably ruined now anyways, I removed it from the couch so no one would sit on it while it was drying. I discovered an extremely large wet spot along the side of the armrest and on the area under the cushions. I could immediately smell the urine very strongly and I won't go into detail with how upset I was, or still am. We bought new furniture to go in our new house, something we were very proud of being able to do. Now it is soaked in cat urine and the whole living room smells. He has never done this before, has always used the litter box with no problems. He isn't fixed, but he NEVER goes outside. Actually, he is afraid to. And from what I've read online, even if we get him fixed it doesn't guarantee that it will solve the problem. He isn't ever around other cats, so there shouldn't be any reason for him to mark his territory. I will be taking him in to the vet to be checked for a UTI, as I did find some info online that suggested that could be the problem. If it isn't then I'm really lost on what to do. No one has a miracle suggestion for removing the odor. Most people have had to get rid of the furniture or carpet that contains the odor. We cannot afford to replace brand new furniture right now! I don't know what to do. Ugh. I can't help but wonder why we even wanted pets in the first place. Our dog never stops barking and now our cat is peeing on our furniture. Calgon, Take Me Away!