We had sad news this month as well. Doug's mom and dad had to put down one of their dogs. Carra got extremely ill and the doctor didn't know what else to do for her. They could have tried one more option, but Carra's quality of life would have been poor. If any of you have made it over to the Rush home, I'm sure you have met Carra. She was the white Scottie dog who was often on the sidelines watching her sisters play with the ball in the backyard and at times she was timid but always loving. Carra was usually always the first one to meet me at the door so she and I suppose myself, could get some TLC. She will definitely be missed.
We do have some good news to follow the sad. Doug and I heard the babys heartbeat for the first time on May 4th 2009. So amazing!! When I turned to look at Dougs face and saw the huge smile he was wearing on his face I started laughing!
This past weekend was pretty low key. Dougs parents had an oyster roast on Saturday which was fun. I know I know...oyster roast in the spring?! They decided to make this one smaller so that they had a chance to spend time with all of their guests, which was nice. I did have a scare on this day. I was at work and I kept getting sharp shooting pains in my lower abdomen. One was so bad I doubled over in pain and started crying. My boss and co-workers decided it was best for me to leave, so Doug came and picked me up. I called the doctor and they told me that if I wasn't spotting or vomiting I could either go to the ER for a checkup or wait until Monday to come into the office. We decided to wait it out until Monday. So on mother's day I spent the day on the couch with my feet up trying to relax and wait for Monday to come.
Monday finally came and it was great!! I know Monday's usually stink, but mine was great!! I called the office and they said they could see me at 1015. I took my friend Heather just in case I got bad news (Doug had to work and I know I shouldn't think like that..buuuut). I sat for less than 10 minutes before they called me back. Donna, one of the midwives, examined me first and then listened to see if we could hear the heartbeat. And we did!! Oh Glorious sound!!! She said that the pain I was experiencing was due in part to the baby growing, but also to the fact that I had been on my feet so much over the weekend and working, so I over exerted myself. She told me I need to take it easy and gave me a list of restrictions. Then came the good part. She knew of my cyst that my old doctor thought she felt, so she decided to check on it a week early to see how it was growing or shrinking. She took Heather and I into the ultrasound room and we waited and watched. The ultrasound tech was probably one of the sweetest women I have ever met. She checked the cyst first and indeed I do have one on the left side, but it's only 1cm across and it's shrinking. So after that she showed me the baby. Oh dear lord I nearly fell off the table!! It actually looked like a real baby instead of a little bean!! I could see its head and nose and hands and feet and belly and cheeks!!! My baby is beautiful!! She took many pictures of him or her and some in 4D. In one of the pictures the baby has both fists balled up on its head almost to say "stop pushing on me lady!!". She called the baby little monkey. The baby kept rolling over when she was trying to take pictures and measure it. The baby is 2 inches from top of head to butt. She let me watch the baby for a few minutes to see what it was doing in there. That child can move!!! I laughed and cried as I watched it move all around and kick its little feet all over the place!! It was so cool!! Since Doug couldn't go to the doctor, I drove the pictures out to him. I think it made his day to see his little butter bean looking like a big kid instead of a blip on the screen. In one picture Doug said the baby looked like a safety monitor because the umbilical cord is up over its tummy. He's such a goober! I spent the rest of the day looking at that beautiful face and fantasizing over what it would look like in 4 weeks when we go back for our next visit. I think this is all for now! Enjoy the pictures!!
Love, ~The Johnson's~
