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Thursday, 15 October 2009

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

October 15 has been designated as Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day (visit www.october15th.com for more information). The idea is to light a candle from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. (in your time zone) to create a continuous "wave of light" in memory of babies that we ourselves or others have lost. I plan on lighting 6 candles tonight: one for my precious Francis, one for my sister-in-law's daughter Maria Elizabeth, and one for each of my 3 siblings Dana, Philip and Hannah. The 6th candle is for all other babies in my and my husband's families and those lost by friends. I have been keeping a memory box for Francis with ultrasound photos, sympathy cards, and other mementos, so I typed up a sheet for tonight that I'll add to the box. Thank you for helping me remember these and other precious babies today!
October 15, 2009
Pregnancy & Infant Loss Remembrance Day

In Loving Memory of our Precious Babies
We lost you before we met you, but we love you just the same.

Francis Lindner

Maria Elizabeth Carlson

Dana Rohlik

Philip Rohlik

Hannah Rohlik

And all babies from the Rohlik, Boerboom, Lindner, Powers, and friends' families that wait for us in heaven. When God calls us home, we’ll all be together again.

A candle was lit for each of you from seven o’clock to eight o’clock p.m. as we joined in prayer and remembrance with others around the world, who have also lost precious children, to form a continuous wave of light in your honor.

Wednesday, 30 September 2009

It's a BOY!!!

We had our 20-week ultrasound this morning at 7:30. It was so good to see our precious little BOY and to see how much he's grown since the last ultrasound at 9 weeks. I can't get over how amazing these ultrasounds are! Our little guy was upside-down with his head "way low." The ultrasound tech had to ask me to scoot my pants even lower to get a good look at his head. We were able to see our son's brain, kidneys, spleen, heart (even the separate chambers!) and spine, not to mention his "boy parts." We also took a peak at his bladder, which was full to begin with, then empty, then full again before the end of the scan. The ultrasound tech showed us his hands and feet and the bones in his arms and legs. He had his legs all stretched out and crossed at the ankles; it was so cute! While she was showing us his cute little face, we caught him yawning! The ultrasound tech said he measured about 13 ounces and 21-weeks, which would push our due date up to February 11, but she didn't change our due date, so it still remains February 18. She also measured the baby's heartbeat (141 bpm) and blood flow in a few arteries and the umbilical cord. As far as I could tell, everything looked great and the baby is healthy. But, of course, ultrasound techs are not allowed to tell you one way or the other. My doctor will go over the results with me at my next appointment on Monday.
It seemed like the ultrasound tech was done with the scan, so I had to ask her if she could tell us the sex of the baby. She replied, "I can look." Yes, please! I'm so glad I asked! I was almost certain we were having a girl, and as I mentioned in my previous post, my niece and nephew thought the baby was a girl, my sister-in-law and mom were also feeling more like the baby was a girl. My dear husband was the only one thinking boy and he was right! We are both so happy and excited to be having a healthy little boy! I can't wait to start shopping/registering for cute little boy things...

Sunday, 27 September 2009

The Kicks Keep Comin'!

Our little Miracle Baby's kicks are getting stronger by the day. My husband and I were able to feel those precious kicks from the outside for the first time on Friday (9/25/09). I stayed home from work on Friday because I wasn't feeling well (runny/stuffy nose, headache, etc.) so I was very inactive for the majority of the day and the baby seems to be most active when I'm still. I felt the kicks/punches/wiggles much stronger than I had in past days, so I gently rested my hand on my belly to see if I could feel the movement from the outside. I was pleasantly surprised to feel those strong little jolts against my hand! Later, when my husband came home I placed his hand on my belly so he could feel, too. It was a special moment to share that with him and wonderful for him to be able to experience what I've been feeling on the inside for the past two weeks.
In other news, my husband got a new job. He starts tomorrow! Praise God! We've been praying for something to come along. The timing is perfect as his benefits (namely, health insurance) will kick in in 90 days, meaning we'll be covered beginning in January, which lines up perfectly if I end up leaving my full-time job when the baby comes.
20-week ultrasound is on Wednesday! I'll update afterwards.
**Edit: I might as well chronicle the not-so-good along with the good... I had quite a scare yesterday afternoon: I fell down the stairs. I've walked up and down the stairs at our house thousands of times without falling, so who knows why I fell yesterday, but I did. My feet just slipped out from under me and I fell right on my butt. I shudder to think what could have happened if I had fallen forward...but, thankfully there was no serious damage done. I'm sore today, in the obvious area, and my arm also hurts. I must have strained a muscle trying to catch myself. Oh well, as my 3-year-old niece told me, "You'll live." And so I will.
Speaking of my niece, I was talking to her on the phone a couple weeks ago and she said the cutest thing, "Did you get your baby yet?" We babysat her this weekend and she kept talking about the baby saying things like, "Your baby's not ready to be born yet" and "When your baby's born and she can't eat yet, only a bottle, and I come to visit, I'll watch you feed her." She also keeps mentioning that the baby can use her potty chair because she doesn't need it anymore. She and my 2-year-old nephew are both convinced the baby is a girl. I have a hunch they might be right, but my husband is holding out for a boy. Neither of us really care one way or the other, but it's fun to speculate.

Friday, 18 September 2009

Baby Update - 18 Weeks

This post is more for me than anything: I haven't had much of a chance (or desire) to journal lately, but I don't want to forget the timing of a very important pregnancy milestone that I've been anxiously awaiting since week 16.
On Sunday evening, September 13, I felt the first few little kicks! My parents came to visit for the weekend, so I didn't get to catch up on my sleep over the weekend like I usually do. So, after they left on Sunday afternoon, I went straight to bed to rest. I turned out the lights, curled up with my mountain of pillows and blankets, and was dozing off and on while watching The Lake House. My hand was gently resting on my pregnant belly, when I felt a new sensation. It felt something like a muscle twitch in my lower, right abdomen and it happened several times. It didn't take me long to realize it was my precious baby I was feeling! I've felt those precious movements several times each day since. It is a great comfort to know that our precious Miracle Baby is alive and kicking within my womb. As I sit and type this, those little kicks (or punches!) are coming like crazy!
I've still been nauseous off and on, but since about week 16 or so, it hasn't been a daily occurrence. I now throw up about once per week rather than twice (or more) per day. However, I've also started getting headaches off and on and the dreaded heartburn almost daily. Sleep has become difficult, as I can no longer lay on my back (the weight of the uterus can pinch off a major vein, blocking blood flow to the baby), my hips and lower back get sore from laying on my side all night. My legs have also started cramping during the night - painful enough to wake me up. And, of course, I usually can't make it through the night without getting up to pee.
People at work have started commenting about how much I'm showing and how it's cute that I'm "looking pregnant." My husband has been taking weekly pictures to document the growth of my baby bump. I have long since grown out of my regular pants and even my t-shirts that I wear to bed are getting tight around the middle! I absolutely love being pregnant and looking pregnant. We have a wedding to go to this weekend, so I had fun buying a cute maternity dress to wear. Even though some of the symptoms aren't so pleasant, I am loving every minute of this pregnancy.
The next big event is our 20-week ultrasound on Wednesday, September 30. Hopefully we'll get to find out whether we need to shop for pink or blue. But, most importantly, we get to check on the development of the baby and make sure all of his/her organs are developing properly. We don't care if we have a boy or a girl, we just want a healthy baby. We haven't had an ultrasound since 9 weeks and I'm so excited to see our precious Miracle again!

Friday, 11 September 2009

Time to Hit the Reset Button on Health Care Reform
The following is a message I received from Minnesota Majority.
Last night, President Obama tried to reset the debate on health care reform in an address to a joint session of Congress. His objective was merely to change the tone of the debate, not to change the legislation that the American people have rejected. In his address, the president delivered a lot of nice-sounding sound bites that are entirely detached from the reality of the plan that's being pushed through Congress.

The president's elegant but empty rhetoric doesn't change the fact that the 1000-page health care 'reform' bill (HR3200) is simply bad public policy. This legislation will (amongst other things):
- Ration care (pages 29, 85, 800).
- Drive people to the 'government option' (pages 72, 84-85, 265, 341, more).
- Dramatically increase costs and taxes (CBO estimates over $1 trillion in additional costs).
- Impose restrictions on how doctors practice medicine (pages 253,280, 289, 335-339, more).
- Provide government direct access to your personal bank account (page 59).
- Pressure elderly and seriously ill to forego life-extending care (pages 425-430).
- Establish a government database that includes your private, personal medical history (page 503).
- Enable the government to come into homes and usurp parental rights (Page 838).
- Work to systematically "increase birth intervals between pregnancies," opening the very real possibility of forced, tax-payer funded abortions (page 768).
Minnesota Congressman John Kline got it right when he recently said that it's time to press the reset button on health care reform. "It's not too late to start over," said Kline. "It's not to late to do better."

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