My daughter Hannah has such a big heart.  Ever since I taught her how to crochet, she’s been making things for everyone she knows, and only just recently made a lap blanket for herself when we’re watching TV.  Because she loves to give more than she actually loves to receive, she decided to use her own money to buy her own yarn to make hats for cancer patients.

Her idea came out of the blue, it wasn’t my idea or anyone else’s.  She asked me to find her a hat pattern online and away she went.  She reads Highlights and Discovery Kids and National Geographic for kids; she might have gotten the idea to donate from other similar stories of stellar kids giving back to their communities.  Whatever it was, she asked me when she’d made about 3-5 hats if she could donate them.  I told her it wasn’t enough to make a good enough donation, and that I’d help her donate them when she’d made about 25.

She gave me a round-eyed look, knowing full well how long it would take to crochet 25 hats, but away she went, undaunted.  When she’d made the hats, I suggested giving a small index card with each hat with her name and age on them, so the people would know who made it for them.  Instead, we found some blank cards that said “For You” on the outside with a lovely floral pattern on the front and she wanted those instead.

Inside these cards, she wrote, “Made especially for you by Hannah, age 9″ along with a few different Bible verses, her favorites, of course.

I called two places, OHSU, which is the premiere cancer institute in the state of Oregon.  After a couple days, they didn’t call back (I’d left a message on a machine) so I decided to call my local hospital, Tuality Community Hospital.  It took them another day to get back to me (because I’d left another message – does every hospital leave their donation line to a machine?) and we were contacted by the Tuality Cancer Center, which is across the street from the hospital.

The lady there, whose name was “Hanna” as well (no ‘h’ at the end), but actually went by her middle name of Jean, was so very nice and scheduled an appointment for the following Friday for us to come in and spend some time.  Hannah, my daughter, was a little disappointed she’d have to wait another week to donate, but was happy someone wanted them and responded back.

While we waited the next week, OHSU actually did get back to me.  The donations lady had been on vacation, and no one had sent her my message until the day she called.  She apologized for not getting back to me, but said they’d definitely be interested if my daughter made more hats, but that she understood we’d decided to go with another hospital.

So today was donation day and Hannah was so excited.  They invited us back to their office where they had a plate of cookies they’d ordered especially for her, cookies in a heart shape.  Of course, I’m sure it wasn’t too hard, since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.    But the lady told me the doctor who treats the patients at the center has an account at the local bakery and orders donuts every Friday, so he just added on an order of heart-shaped cookies.  Too cool!

Hannah's Cookies

After Hannah was presented with cookies, she got to meet all the other doctors and nurses on staff.  One of them even had a tube of confetti he popped and we all cheered for her.

They opened her bag of hats and took some out for the table with the cookies and took a picture of Hannah, of which they had her and me sign a photo release form so they could photograph her.  I snapped some pics with my iPhone.

Posing for the Center

Hanna Jean told us in the six years the cancer center has been in business, this is the first time someone has called and asked to donate something they’ve made.  She said Hannah should feel special, not only because she’s the first, but because when you do nice things for people, you make the world a better place.  I really should have taken a picture of the lady, but I didn’t think of it until just now.  Ah well.

They wrapped up the cookies for us in a nice pretty gift bag with a bow and everything for her to take home.  They said they’ll be handing out the adult hats at the center, and their doctor will take her smaller hats to the children, who apparently are treated at a different facility.  One thing’s for sure, all work stopped when we came in and Hannah was the talk of the town.  Even the patients in the waiting room were smiling and talking amongst themselves about what we were there to do.  The entire time, Hannah was beaming, just so darn happy to do something nice for someone else.  She’s already talking about making more hats.  Perhaps next time, we’ll give them to OHSU.

Today is one of those days you feel like you’ve succeeded as a parent. 

“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.” ~~Proverbs 20:11

~~Becka

DH and I got our insurance cards recently, so the health insurance snafu was deftly avoided by the skin of it’s teeth. LOL We’re still set to be induced this Saturday and all is well. I asked the doc if she’d be open to inducing me early before the end of the year and she basically said no. Since my blood sugars have been good, there’s no reason to get the baby out, as every day in the womb is beneficial to the development of the lungs.

She told me birth at 38 weeks and birth at 39 weeks is the difference between 97% and 99% with regards to survival rates. Both percentages are very high, but with the addition of just one week, there’s one heck of a chance of having a happy, healthy baby. A little disappointing, since both my good friends Karen and Val have HAD their children, and thus get themselves a nifty little tax break. SIGH

No such luck for me having baby by midnight tonight. My doctor, although she said she wouldn’t induce, said she’s not against “helping things along” for natural labor. She stripped my membranes on Monday, and told me it gives you a 50/50 chance for your cervix to thin on it’s own due to the release of prostaglandins, and thus speed along a natural labor. If anything happens, it happens within the first 24 to 48 hours.

Nothing’s happening. Like I told a friend of mine, guess I’m like Fort Knox until we can break through the walls with Pitocin.

I’ve only ever been induced with Pitocin once in all my four previous births. From administration of the drug to babe in arms was 3 hours. Of course, I was a week overdue and my water had already broken two hours before, so my body was ready for labor then. Not so sure about now. Yes, for those of you who can do math, my second child had only a 5 hour labor, that is, if you count the 2 hours of nothing between my water breaking and the Pitocin drip. Otherwise, it was 3 hours.

I’m going in at 8am. If I have another 3 hour labor (wouldn’t that be wonderful??) I’ll have baby Sophie before lunchtime. But, if it’s like I suspect, I’ll probably labor into the afternoon and/or evening before having her. I just don’t think my body is ready this time to slam into labor. But who knows? I’ve been feeling “pre-labor” for weeks (popping/spreading hips, false labor, Braxton-Hicks). Perhaps I just need that Pitocin push one more time.

~~Becka

I’ve had some pretty good contractions this morning. They did indeed taper off (darn it all), but they were strong with lots of pressure. I’m still having a few off and on, but they’re not painful as much as it’s downward pressure. Probably just some intense Braxton Hicks.

Aside from that, I have another doctor’s appointment tomorrow for my non-stress test and I’m going to ask her if she can induce me early.

I know, I know, January 3rd isn’t that far off (next Saturday!) but seriously, DH just got a new job, and we don’t have our health insurance cards or even our member numbers yet (which the hospital will need to bill them) so I’m kind of in between a rock and a hard place. We paid for Cobra this month to keep our current insurance, but that’s up on the 31st. We’d like to avoid paying hundreds of dollars to Cobra again just for a few days in early January. DH thought he’d get his new health insurance information by now, but he hasn’t, which means… what exactly?

Well, according to his new job, we ARE covered. We have health insurance right now through them. But they haven’t given us cards or numbers as I stated above, and I really don’t want to deal with the CF *THAT* would mean with a two-day hospital stay and trying to get new insurance sorted with no information to give them. Aside from the fact of new deductibles and/or co-pays and/or premiums we’ve already paid through the old Cobra insurance.

If I can convince my doc to induce me before the end of December, I could avoid all this.

Now, I know it’s cutting it down to the wire. We thought we’d have his health cards by now, which is why we waited. But now that it’s after Christmas and fast approaching New Year’s and we don’t have them, it’s a mad scramble to figure out what to do.

So I’m going to talk to my doctor about it. Maybe it won’t be a big deal. Perhaps they’ll be able to verify our new coverage with just DH’s name and SS#. Or, perhaps the doc will be amicable to inducing early. Maybe by some miracle, we’ll get our new cards sometime this week (crosses fingers). I tried to get a hold of my doctor earlier than NOW, believe me I did. But she was on vacation, and due to the snow, the doc’s office was totally shut down, so there was no one else to talk to.

I hate crap that’s down to the wire like this, but what can you do? BIG DRAMATIC SIGH

Anyhow, that’s my update. Next time I blog, I may or may not have a new daughter and an interesting story to tell.

~~Becka

I’m getting excited about Christmas, finally! We’ve got all our gift shopping done, everything is wrapped, now we’re just waiting for DH’s mom to get here. She was scheduled to fly in on Sunday, but due to the horrible record-breaking snow we’ve gotten lately, our airport has pretty much been shut down. So her flight was canceled. She was told there was another available flight out of Palm Springs, so they got their tickets transferred, drove the hour out there, only to find THAT flight had been canceled as well. So, they decided to drive, because they were NOT missing Christmas with the grandkids.

We’ve gotten about a foot and a half of snow so far, with more promised to come on Christmas Eve. Aside from the headache of poor Grandma trying her hardest to get to fricken’ Portland, the snow hasn’t been too bad for us to deal with. Thankfully, we live a few blocks from our grocery store, so if we do have to go out, it’s not that far. Chains are required everywhere around here, and if you don’t have all-wheel drive or studded snow tires, you’ll get ticketed if you don’t have chains.

You see, this is the heaviest snowfall we’ve gotten in 40 years, so Portland, OR is NOT as prepared as other places around the country might be. We have to truck in our snowplows, borrowing them from here or there. In fact, our local Target’s parking lot was plowed by two backhoes because they had nothing else!

Another friend of ours had been stranded in Sacramento after going to a funeral, and as luck or Divine Providence would have it, my DH’s mom just so happened to be going through Sacramento on her impromptu drive up. She was able to swing through and pick her up and they’re going to be here later today. Thankfully, due to the CF that is their vacation traveling, DH’s mom was able to get a few more days off of work so she doesn’t have to turn right back around and go home after getting here. Hopefully, they’ll still be in town for Sophie’s birth!

We shall see…

~~Becka

Despite all the pain I’ve been having recently, I’m finally feeling a little better. The sharp pains in my pelvis come and go, which is a good thing, since the other weekend I was in Deep Hurting. My doctor said it could be the position of the baby, with either a shoulder or an arm dropping down and pressing on things, since sometimes sitting for a few minutes will “fix” the problem.

Rolling over in bed is nigh impossible, comparable to a three-point turn, and is a maneuver that wakes me up every time. Therefore, I spend most of the night on my right side, which means that whole side gets numb by the time I wake up to use the bathroom. When I go back to bed, I try to lay on my left side, but DH says I snore when I lay on that side (LOL) and lying on my back is both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. So I can’t lie on my back for longer than a few minutes, which means it’s back to my numb side for the rest of the evening. Needless to say, I’m pretty tired by morning.

I’ve been going in twice a week for my non-stress test, and so far, the baby has been moving just like she should, with a perfect heart rate. In fact, this next week, I only had one appointment on Monday and the doctor asked me to make another appt. for Christmas Eve at the hospital since no one would be at the office. *SIGH* So I go in to the actual birth center where I will be giving birth to have my second non-stress test of the week. Might have to do the same thing on New Year’s Eve as well, assuming baby Sophie decides to stay cooking in there.

I think she will. All my babies have gone to term. Only one of them was 11 days early. We shall see, I suppose.

My good friend Karen, who is also just as far along as I am with her second child, is actually in the hospital right now due to labor complications. She’d been scheduled to have a c-section on Jan. 4th, but the baby has had different ideas, flipping around to be breech on top of making Karen go in and out of false labor. She’s 3 cm dialated, and I guess her amniotic sac is bulging a bit, so they’ve moved up her c-section date to this Sunday. So she’ll have her baby in two days.

My other good friend Val is also pregnant, with a c-section scheduled for her on Dec. 30th. Even though we all got pregnant at or around the same time, I’m going to be the last of the bunch, trailing both of them with an induction on Jan. 3rd. Nope, not jealous at all. Lalalalalala, I can’t hear you!

My baby is right on schedule with her growth, weighing in at about 6 lbs. By the time she’s born, she should be just over 7 lbs., as babies gain 1/2 a pound a week in their final weeks. Even though I’m the last to have my baby out of our circle of friends (assuming I don’t go into labor before-hand), Jan. 3rd is only 15 days away. JUST over 2 weeks.

It’s seriously not long now!

~~Becka

If you’ve heard the phrase above, the title to this post, but don’t know where it comes from, here is the classic scene from Spinal Tap that will familiarize you with this particular piece of pop culture.

You see, I’ve posted this funny vid because I’ve been complaining lately. Complaining about my pain level ever since Sophie dropped. Sure, I’ve had to waddle around, but it’s just been within the past couple of days that my pain level has gone “up to 11″.

Usually in my OB visits, they ask me if I’m having any pain and I’ve been telling them my pelvic pain is about an 8 at it’s worst, which is usually at night. When I get up to go to the bathroom or roll over in bed it’s the worst. But during the day, it’s more annoying than anything, probably a 4 or 5.

Well, Thursday, I went in to the doctor for my twice-weekly baby monitor check-up (where they hook me up to the monitor that records baby’s heartbeat for about 20 minutes) and my regular doc wasn’t in, she was at a conference in Las Vegas. Okay, my appointment was with another doctor, but SHE was out due to one of her own patients who’d gone into labor that day. So I was seen by yet another doctor, who seemed to be swamped with everyone else’s patients that day. Instead of 20 min. on the monitor, I think I spent closer to 40. But, I understood, so I didn’t complain.

She goes to help me up, and I don’t get up some weird way, I’m not flailing about, she holds on to me, but still, I feel this sharp-ass pain in my belly, like almost bringing me to tears. But, the baby seems fine, she’s still rolling around in there, all seems well. Maybe I’d just squished something.

Ever since then, my pelvic pain has been almost unbearable. Sitting down, I’m completely fine. But the moment I stand up, my entire right side screams at me. My right hip feels like it’s threatening to dislocate whenever I walk. Just lifting my legs is excruciating, whether it’s climbing a staircase or getting into a car. Moving my leg from the gas to the brake is also painful. Hence, the 11 rating of which I spoke.

Of course I hobble around all day today, even going to our local Freddy’s because I desperately needed some things at the store. By the time I get home, I’m in serious pain. By this time, it’s about a quarter to 5pm on Friday evening, but I still decide to call the doc just in case she might be there. Nope, everyone’s gone home except for the poor lady stuck answering the phones. She suggests scheduling an appointment with the doc on Monday and if my pain gets worse, to go to the Urgent Care or the ER.

Well, I already HAVE an appointment on Monday at 10:15am due to my monitor tests, but my doc always told me to call if I had concerns… Guess that doesn’t include almost 5pm on Friday evenings. Dammit.

So, it seems as if I have to wait out the weekend and take things easy until I can go in and see the doc on Monday. Monday is also the date of my final ultrasound. Perhaps they can figure out if the baby has an arm or a shoulder wedged into my pelvis along with her GIANT FREAKIN’ NOGGIN!!! lol

DH doesn’t believe me when I say she’s enormous in there. “You say that with every one,” he poo-poos. I dunno. I think I’ve got an elephant growing in there. Iii-yii-yii.

~~Becka

Today was the first of my twice-weekly doctor visits to be hooked up to the baby monitor. They’re measuring the fetal heartbeat to make sure it has ups and downs, basically, whether the baby is active or lethargic in there.

The doc told me in 20 minutes time, they like to see about 2 or more ups and downs in baby’s heart rate, but at least 2. Sophie had about 25 spikes! The doctor said that was a very active baby. She scheduled my induction date on January 3rd at 8am, just in case I don’t go into labor on my own. She did say if I went into labor right now, she wouldn’t stop it. Baby is growing just fine, and in fact, the doctor busted out the sonogram machine and confirmed the baby had dropped with her head down (hence all my painful pelvic…pain. lol). While she was looking around on the sonogram, she could see Sophie “practicing” her breathing, with her little chest puffing in and out. So cute!

Since the baby has dropped, she did mention I could go into labor at any time, but it’s no guarantee that I will go into labor on my own. Some women can “drop” a few weeks before they give birth while others don’t “drop” until they’re in labor. I’m seriously hoping it’s sooner rather than later. Despite having an early baby, I kind of want the whole hullabaloo over with before Christmas.

Ah well. She’ll come when she’s ready. If not in December, at least by the beginning of January. Assuming I don’t spontaneously go into labor, Sophie should be here in 26 to 27 days! Little less than 4 weeks. Woohoo! There IS a light at the end of this LOOOOONG tunnel.

~~Becka

My good friends Joleine and Michelle threw me and my other good friend Val a baby shower this past Saturday.  A good time was had by all, and both Val and I received some awesome fat loots.

Well, here I am, 35 weeks pregnant. If I don’t go into labor on my own this month, my OB is going to induce me by January 3rd. My due date isn’t until Jan. 10th, but due to my diabetes, the longer the fetus is inside me, the higher the risk of fetal demise. She mentioned the fact I take medication to control my blood sugar has something to do with it. Anyhow, the point is, I’m not going to be allowed to get to my due date, much less go beyond it.

However, that still doesn’t comfort me.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m older now (It’s been almost 6 years since my last pregnancy) or because I’ve simply “forgotten” what it was like. But holy moly, this is getting old.

DH says I complain during every pregnancy, and he’s right. But I don’t remember being quite this miserable. Sure, I had my fair share of aches and pains. In fact, my son’s pregnancy was, perhaps, one of my hardest, considering he was Sunny Side Up. (If you don’t know what that means, Google the term for babies.)

Also, my pregnancy with my second daughter was hard as well, considering I’d gotten pregnant a mere 5 months after I’d given birth to baby #1. I don’t think my body had fully “recovered” from the first.

But now, with this baby, I have mad ligament pain. Getting up from lying down or even sitting is a major chore, and even then, I can only “limp-waddle” to get to where I need to go. I can feel my lower back and hips “popping” when I walk sometimes, no doubt my pelvis getting ready for business. It’s almost impossible to lie on my back, even though it is simultaneously THE most comfortable AND the most uncomfortable position I can lie in. For my body, it takes away the stress of a hunched-over back and evens out my hips. But for the baby, it’s like placing a watermelon on my belly. She literally sits on some nerve in there, making the left half of my face and scalp numb. Weird, eh? Not to mention the pressure she exerts on my colon. Not fun times, my friend.

I’m currently measuring 36 cm from pelvis to the top of my uterus, and I’m going in for my final ultrasound on December 15th. It will measure the baby’s size to make sure I don’t have Baby Kong in there. The doc seems to think she’ll be normal weight seen as how my sugars have been doing good (aside from the occasional lapse when I eat rice or tortillas lol).

But Ho-lee-crap, she feels like a 15 pounder. I know in reality, she’s probably 5 *maybe* 6-ish pounds right now, but wow, it feels like she’s the size of Simone! (my petite 7 year old).

Braxton Hicks are getting stronger now, and in fact, it’s just pissing me off when they stop. LOL I’ll have one, then look at the clock hopefully wondering if labor is actually beginning! But alas, no such luck. I really don’t want to give birth to a preemie, but at this point, I’m ready to trade those sleepless nights for these aches and pains. It’s seriously so draining, that I’m constantly exhausted.

DH says, “Oh, you say this every time.” Perhaps I do. But I don’t think the man appreciates just how uncomfortable it is to carry this bowling ball in my gutsky day after day…

~~Becka

DH and I decided to go out to the Dollar Tree tonight to buy new ornaments for our Christmas tree.  Yes, we’re on a budget since DH lost his job, so we can’t (or shouldn’t) buy the uber-expensive nice Christmas ornaments.  Believe it or not, Dollar Tree had some decent stuff.  In fact, I’ll probably go back when it’s time to fill up on stocking stuffers.