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Results from this weekend's test

On Thursday I went to see my doctor because I had some mild cramping. He did an ultrasound and saw "the beginning of someone" and said that he didn't see anything that should cause cramping. As a precautionary measure, he also checked my hCG level (this is the pregnancy hormone - the same thing that makes the pee stick change colors). My hCG level was 13,000 at 3pm. Ideally it should double within 48 hours. I had a second test done on Saturday at 10am and it was only 19,000. My doctor called to tell me today. I was originally supposed to have another ultrasound tomorrow but the doctor would like to wait until next week. He says that the levels are rising, which is good, but they aren't where he wants them to be. Please say a prayer for our little Pistachio. We should know more next week.

Pistachio's Second Ultrasound

I went to the doctor today and had another ultrasound. The gestational sack is about 10 times the size it was last Wednesday and there is definitely a little Pistachio in it. :)

The picture isn't too great. It was bigger on the screen, but when he took the picture I think he zoomed out a bit. According to the notes on the side (most of which are cut off) the curser is pointing at the head.

Week 5

I am now 5 weeks and 2 days into my pregnancy. It seems like it should be further along because I found out so early. When I was pregnant with Cadence, I found out in my 5th week. With this baby, I found out at 3 weeks and 3 days.

Because I am the type of person that over-analyzes everything I have been worried that I haven't had any morning sickness yet. In my mind, morning sickness is a good thing to have because it means that everything is as it should be. Therefore, not having morning sickness is a bad thing. This is not a fair analysis because 1) morning sickness can start anytime from week 5 to week 7 and 2) although I had a bit of of a queezy feeling with Cadence and Gabriel, I never got full-blown morning sickness.

I think I got my wish this morning. Just as with Cadence and Gabriel, I have had a queezy feeling all day. Not too bad, but definitely there.

Pistachio's First Prenatal Appointment

We went to our first prenatal appointment with my new doctor. I figured that it would be like the first appointment that I had with Cadence and Gabriel. They take a bunch of blood, ask a ton of questions, make you pee in a cup and then they send you on your way.

When we got there, they made me pee in the cup and I put it in the "mystery door." Then they took my blood pressure (120/70ish... which is a tad high for me) and my weight (undisclosed number that of course had to be wrong). Then they took us into an "office." I use that term very loosely as the room was probably 4' x 8'... maybe. The nurse asked tons of questions about our family histories and about my pregnancies with Cadence and Gabriel. After that the doctor came in to talk to us. After we talked for a minute, he said that I was going to have "full physical" and then an ultrasound. The emotions "Ugh" and "Yay!" entered my mind at exactly the same time.

The "physical" was not too bad. Chris was in the room and the doctor had asked him where he worked. When Chris told him that he worked at Toyota they struck up a conversation about the doctor's daughter's new Prius and the hype over the recalls.

Onto the ultrasound. Since, by my calculation, I am 4 weeks and 5 days into my pregnancy this means that the baby is really only 2 weeks and 5 days old. I was very surprised that the doctor would do an ultrasound that early... but he did. I was not surprised that he couldn't find a whole lot. In fact I was surprised that he found anything at all. But he was able to locate this little jellybean looking bubble. This, he says, is our Pistachio. (A side note: I have a history of naming my unborn children after snack nuts. Cadence was "Peanut" and Gabriel was "Cashew." We toyed with the idea of calling this one "Chick Pea" but my sister Dianne was quick to point out that a chick pea is a pea and not a nut and therefore an unacceptable name to fit the predetermined pattern.)



We have another appointment on 3/30/10 for a follow-up ultrasound. God willing, by then I will be 6 weeks and 4 days pregnant and Pistachio should be 4 weeks and 4 days old. He should look more like a shrimp than a bubble at that point.

The Tooth is Coming Out

I called our family dentist this morning and was told by the receptionist that they would not look at Gabe and that I needed to find a pediatric dentist. I told her that I was very disappointed that I could not at least get a consult from the dentist that I have trusted for the last eighteen years. She put me on hold for a minute and told me to bring him in.

We saw the dentist who told us that the tooth was probably going to need to come out. He said that he would recommend a pediatric dentist do it since they have better ways of knocking Gabriel out and making him feel more comfortable. So we left our dentist and called Upstate Pediatric Dentistry. We had an hour or two to kill before the appointment so I let Gabriel play outside while I worked in the yard. Then I got a text message from one of the girls in my office asking what they should do about paychecks. Crap. Today was payday and the checks were locked in my cabinet. Gabriel and I hopped in the van and made a trip downtown before his appointment.

We arrived at the appointment about 5 minutes late. I thought I was super-early, but forgot to set the clock in my van. Ugh. The assistant looked at his tooth and said that she wanted to get an x-ray. She told me that they were going to sit him in my lap so I could hold him still. I agreed and we walked towards the x-ray closet. At that point she says, "Oh, you couldn't by any chance be pregnant, could you?" How could I forget that!?! So the assistant gets to sit in the chair with Gabriel. He was having no part of that. They nixed the x-ray and brought him back to the exam room.

The dentist came in and we were able to lay Gabriel down between our laps so the dentist could get a good look at the tooth. He was able to wiggle the outside portion significantly and said that they would definitely need to extract it. He instructed the assistant to clear a spot for Gabriel in the morning so it could be done as soon as possible.

So tomorrow we are going to the dentist again. They are going to give him some funny Kool-aid to help sedate him and make it so he will not remember the experience. He'll probably also get a few puffs of laughing gas. I get to sit in the room with him the whole time - which is really nice. He has to stay out of daycare again tomorrow but should be good to go back on Wednesday. Picture Day is Thursday - of course.

I wonder if Gabriel will be anything like David After the Dentist . I felt so bad for that kid... although it was pretty funny.

The Second Fall of Gabe

In an entry from last year I talked about Gabriel's fall on the sidewalk as we were leaving daycare. He refused to listen when I told him that he could fall and he refused to agree to hold my hand in the future. Well, hopefully he learned his lesson today.

We had originally planned to go on a day trip and see some waterfalls after church but decided against it since we got up late. Instead we visited with the Blocker family for a while and then headed to Home Depot to pick up some trees and veggies for our back yard. Cadence and Gabriel were playing around and we told them to calm down. Gabriel did not listen and tripped on the sidewalk. At this point, I'll just quote my entry from last year because it was pretty much the same feeling: "down the poor kid went. He fell flat on his stomach, and then the worst thing that a parent can watch happen happened.... his head bounced off the pavement. I have seen both of my kids do this and no matter how many times they do it, my heart still stops for a minute. I ran to him, picked him up and did the first thing any parent does.... I counted teeth. All there." But unfortunately this time there was a bit of blood and there was a cracked front tooth. I rushed the kids in the truck, uncertain of where we were going. It is Sunday so no dentist is open. The ER wouldn't do anything for him. I called my mom. Unfortunately for her, she has first hand experience in childhood teeth injuries. Gabriel stopped crying after about five minutes so we took him home. He complained about it a few times right before bed but for the most part he was himself. I am working from home in the morning so I can call the dentist as soon as they open and make Gabriel and appointment.

Here's the damage:

Plans

This morning I am having Christy and her mom over to stuff plastic eggs for the Easter Egg hunt for all of the kids. This afternoon I promised Cadence that I would let her go swimming at the YMCA, paint her nails and then take her t get a haircut. She tried to do her own haircut a few weeks ago and I haven't had it fixed yet. Really it wasn't too bad, but her new found bangs were a tad short and I thought it best to allow them to grow out a bit before I had some poor lady at the haircut place try to make sense of it.

The poor kid just rolled out of bed when I took this picture...


Roxy is also in need of a haircut today. I am having a difficult time finding her under the mountain of fur


Tomorrow I think that we are going to pack a snack and head to Kings Creek Falls in the afternoon. We absolutely LOVE the blog A Day's Drive from Greenville and found this waterfall on that blog. We'll probably also hit up Stumphouse Tunnel and Issaqueena Falls on the way home.

Our family is growing by two feet!!!

The Hall~Smith family is excited to announce that we will be growing by two feet!!! After a few months of trying, I found out that I was pregnant on Monday afternoon. The digital test originally said "Not Pregnant" but I took two regular tests and they both had two lines. I took another digital test a day later and ta-da!!!
I told Chris on Monday night. He's still beaming!!!




Baby Hall is due on November 19th - just in time for the holidays. The timing is perfect. I wanted to find out I was pregnant and deliver in the same year due to our not-so-awesome insurance. Also I will only be 22 weeks or so at my sister's wedding in July. A mid-November baby will also make my maternity leave fall over the holiday season, which is exciting for me. :)

We have an appointment with a new ob-gyn next Wednesday (St. Patrick's Day). I am glad that we are trying a different doctor with this baby. I used the same practice with both of my first kids and they had so many doctors that I don't think anyone really knew who I was. They were nice and very professional but I felt like I was traveling down a conveyor belt in the baby factory. I am hoping to find a more personal experience with this doctor. My best friend used him and she seemed to like him a lot and he is the only doctor in his practice (which is a definite plus). *fingers crossed*

The Disappearance and Reappearance of Roxy

Christy, Jon, Emily, Mitchell, Michael, Emily, Ryan and Mya came over for dinner tonight. We had a blast watching the kids play and hanging out. The house was very busy all evening, so busy that we did not notice that we were missing a four-legged child. At the end of the night we said good-bye to our friends and Chris went downstairs to feed the dogs. Roxy was no where to be found. We searched under the furniture, in the closets and cabinets and in every corner of the house.... no Roxy. We called Michael and Emily and then Jon and Christy to see if Roxy could have escaped while they were coming or going. No one had seen her all night. Just before everyone had come over I let the dogs out into the yard. I went back outside to see if she was hiding in the yard... no Roxy. What I did find was a new hole that Blue had dug in the yard under the fence... a Roxy-sized hole.

I immediately went outside and called her... no Roxy. I asked the neighbors and a man walking his dogs on my street but no one had seen her. I grabbed my keys and jumped in the van. I made it about half way around Highgate Circle and saw a lady walking a dog that looked just like Lassie. I asked if she had seen Roxy. Not only had she seen her but Roxy was in her garage! :) Her daughter had found Roxy that evening around 6pm which means that Roxy had been missing almost all night!!! They had gone door to door but lived on the other side of the neighborhood and hadn't made it to our house. I was so glad that Roxy was safe! I went over to their house and they opened the door from the living room to the garage and out pounced Roxy!! That little stinker!!!

She's home now... safe and sound. Guess I need to find a big rock to put in that darn hole. Thanks Blue.... :-/
Search & Win

So I've decided to give Swagbucks a try. Google has my heart, but I'm all for checking out something new. :)