This morning I was having a sneezing-fit (very typical lately) and when I was finished, Anna said, "mom need tissue" and brought one to me! I just thought it was so thoughtful of her to bring me one since I usually blow my nose after a sneezing-fit. What a little sweetheart.
November 2006 Archives
It's a Girl! There is a foot sticking out toward the right of the picture.
Head on the right
Fingers
Toes
Head on the left, knee on the right.
It took the technician a little while to determine Baby's gender because legs were crossed, cords were in the way, etc. But after a bit of persistance, the tech said she got a great shot that shows Baby is a GIRL!
Now we can really get serious about choosing a name.
We're going in tomorrow for the ultrasound!
All photos by Craig.
Anna & I made her first potty joke a week or two ago. She was playing with the lego-box changing pad and said the moose had a poopy diaper so I said "moose poop?" and she thought it was hilarious. So, lately when I am taking pictures I'll say "moose poop" to try to get her attention and a smile out of her. When she heard the shutter click behind her, she turned around and yelled "moose poop" un-prompted.
Anna couldn't wait for the turkey to finish cooking so she got started on everything else while we continued to wait. Luckily, the turkey finished and Tanya & Macy arrived at about the same time so we didn't have to wait much longer. Anna enjoyed the turkey, sweet potatoes (plain, as she's always had them), the mashed potatoes, and the bread. She wasn't too into the stuffing or cranberries and she liked the whipped cream (fresh!) more than the pumpkin pie (I tend to disagree with her there). Overall, we had a nice Thanksgiving and we got to catch up with Tanya a bit before the big move.
I decided to get my act together and really scour the message boards for OB recommendations in Doha and finally emailed our friend for her recommendation (Ilona had a baby in Doha in March). I came up with two names and one was the same doctor Ilona used and liked. So, I'm starting with Dr. Rizvi and considering Dr. Maha as a back-up. The hospital Dr. Rizvi is at is also supposed to have some good pediatricians so that is a double bonus. The hospital is private so Craig will be able to be in the delivery room with me (my number one concern). I feel like having this plan is a major load of stress off of my back.
I also stocked up on my favorite nursing pads (should have a one-year supply) and got a few things for Baby at Super Target this weekend that I don't want to do without in Qatar.
I feel pretty good for the most part, but I carried Anna home from the park Sunday and my sciatic nerve was really hurting that night when I was trying to sleep. It feels better than Sunday night & Monday but it is still bothering me; hopefully it will feel better in the next couple of days, but I guess that means I can't really carry Anna much (not that I have been, but I'll be more conscientious about it!).
Your Pregnancy Week by Week says Baby is 4.3 to 4.6 inches (108 to 116 mm) long and is about 2.8 ounces (80 g) this week.
Sometimes Anna doesn't take a nap. She lies in her crib and talks happily for a few hours on these days though. Here a few things Anna has been saying today:
"Where are you?" "I'm right here." (We were pretending to ask Nana that when we were looking for her at the airport last week.)
"Yeeeeeeeeehawwwwwwww." (This is from the video of Anna riding the carousel earlier this year—we watch this all of the time and every time we ride the carousel now I say "yeee-haww!" like the true Texan I've become.)
"Tissue box downstairs."
"Get some more decongestant at the store."
"Just like Anna."
"Do video chat with daddy downstairs."
"Read that with mom." (Note that I have been "mom" for a few months now--it was shortened from "mama"; occasionally this past week she has said "mommy.")
"Ned! Ned! Ned!" [giggle, giggle, giggle] (She's talking about the line in Hop on Pop that reads "Red, Ned, Ted, & Ed in bed.")
"Let's go home."
"Fun at holiday market... nooooo"
"Andes candy chocolate mint."
Watching Anna on the Sit n' Spin from our room and then playing on our bed started making me feel nostalgic about her age, our house, and this time in our lives.
I traced Anna's hands to make the "leaves" for this Thanksgiving wreath. She helped draw the veins on a few of the leaves.
Getting ready for the real Macy the Dog by playing with the pretend Macy the Dog—Anna thought Macy was thirsty and needed some toys in her lap.
The stroller must be packed beyond capacity before it's really fun to drive around.
As I expected it would be.
The photo I paid for. Photo by Santa Plus.
Riding "Rosie" the Cat on the carousel at the mall. Photo by Anita.
Anna & Nana.
Although it goes against my principles, we hit the mall first thing this morning to see Santa before Thanksgiving. It really bothers me that the stores can't wait until after Thanksgiving to put up the Christmas decorations, but it would bother me more to wait in a really long line to see Santa when I know Anna won't enjoy seeing him anyway. We were third in line so the wait wasn't long, but Anna really did not want to sit on his lap as you can tell! She enjoyed the flashing reindeer nose he gave her though. Later on, while we were still at the mall, I asked her if she wanted to sit on Santa's lap again, she said "all done." There's always next year (and won't that be fun to try and get two kids wrangled on Santa's lap).
Of course no trip to the mall is complete without a ride on the carousel. I really need to find out if there is a carousel in Doha and if so, where it is. Anna chose to ride the cat and the nice older lady who was running the carousel today told us the cat's name is Rosie. We were the only ones on the ride this morning!
After that, I stopped at Motherhood Maternity to use the gift card from my Playgroup friends (thanks again, guys!) to get a few 3/4-length sleeve shirts for wearing in Qatar and Anna & Anita went to the Germ Tree for a bit.
We ate lunch and then drove Anita to the airport. We won't see her again until April/May when she comes to visit in Doha. I know Anna & Anita will be best friends by the end of her stay that month!
We're now officially confused on what to do with Gertie and are re-considering bringing her with. She had a recurrance of her "issues" this weekend that I really can't find an "excuse" for. I'm just not sure what to do anymore at this point—I'm starting to think I can't take her with me as her life is only going to get more stressful over the next several months (moving, new baby, possibly moving again) rather than relaxed and calm (as it has been here for a while). Putting her in a shelter doesn't seem like a fair option to her, either, since that will also be high-stress and then the probability of finding the "right" new owner is slim. I'm going to put a call into the vet and see if they can talk me down from the ledge.
Anna liked wearing her Broncos shirt today almost as much as she likes wearing her Texans jersey.
Anna's obession with "going pee on the toilet" (although she never has gone) continues. I might try to put the potty seat in the air-shipment so we can maybe get something more "official" started in January after we're settled a bit into Doha.
Tonight she actually sat on the toilet for the longest amount of time yet and when I asked if she needed to poop, she reallly tried and she let out a total of 4 toots in the process. What helped in getting her to actually sit was getting some step-stools to put her feet on while she sits on the toilet. I really think once she has a potty her own size she will do well. I guess time will tell.
I'm thinking about buying more pull-ups than diapers at this point because they are much easier to take on and off for the (what feels like) one million times (usually in a row) we do the "pee/poop on toilet again!" process.
Once we really get started (after she actually goes on the toilet!), I will switch to actual training pants and ditch the pull-ups (since she rarely has wet diaper in the morning and is waking up dry from her naps more regularly now, too.
Yes, this whole post was really more for me than for you as I'm sure it was way more information that anyone who reads this blog (who are you, anyway?) wants to know. I'll try to take some pictures on my "regular" camera this week just to get some new pictures on here finally!
Anna loved doing video chat with Craig tonight. She asked him to make his elephant noise about 100 times. They made each other laugh, she gave him a kiss on the screen, it was overall very cute and you could tell that she really misses him. She's been saying "daddy business trip" all week so she is thinking about him a lot.
I had a few more evenings of morning sickness last week with a really bad night on Saturday but really not much since then, thank goodness! Crossing my fingers that I am past that stage for good now.
I had my 16 week appointment this morning and nothing terribly eventful happened. I'm measuring right at 16 weeks and Baby's heartbeat was 146. Anita came with so she got to hear Baby's heartbeat. I had the rest of the blood work done for the Integrated Screen and set up my appointment for the gender ultrasound. I'm going at 8 AM on November 29 and I'm super excited to find out! We haven't scheduled our shipment yet, but it should be after the ultrasound so I'll know whether to send all of Anna's pink clothes or put those in storage to go through when we move back.
I found a good blog with information on delivering a baby in Doha and it looks like if we go to a private hospital, Craig can be in the delivery room with me. The site listed all of the hospitals in Doha so now I'm going back to scour the message boards to see if any of the highly recommended doctors are at the private hospitals. I hope we can get set up with a doctor that we like on the first try so it's not a long & drawn-out search. I plan to go for my 20-week appointment shortly after we arrive (around December 15).
According to Your Pregnancy Week by Week, Baby is 4.1 to 4.5 inches (93 to 103mm) in length by the end of this week, weighs about 1.75 ounces (50 g), and is close to the size of a softball.
Anna has warmed up to Nana pretty quickly this time. Anita is out for a few days to see Anna one more time before we go and to keep us company while Craig is out of town.
We got our visas yesterday and Craig made our flight reservations this afternoon. It looks like Gertie will get to fly in the cabin with us, too—lucky cat!
I am getting our ads prepared to sell the cars and now that we have a flight reservation things should start moving right along (shipping dates, housing, etc.)
I'm taking Gertie in to the vet tomorrow to get some bloodwork done then I'm going to start working with a kennel in Doha to get her paperwork straightened out for the move (really annoying stuff: she needs a health certificate not more than 10 days old but Qatar needs 4-5 days to do their side of the paperwork after I get the health certificate. Basically not much to do in advance but I'll get done what I can now so it will be one less thing to think about.).
I'm relieved that we finally have a date. I'm stressed out about all that needs to happen between now and then. I'm nervous (in general) about the major life change. I'm excited to live overseas again.
The moms group that I am in met up at one of our local fire stations for a tour today. Anna just loved it. We took a tour of the station first (Anna stared longingly out the window at the fire trucks because she didn't care about where the firefighters eat, sleep, and watch TV: she wanted to see the trucks!).
Then we walked into the garage and one of the firefighters put on all of his gear. He went around and shook each child's hand (there were maybe 10 kids?) so that (hopefully) the kids won't be scared of a firefighter if one needs to enter their home. Anna shook his hand, but reluctantly. She listened & watched intently as he put all of his gear on and took it off again. When he was done, they passed out Jr. Fire Chief firefighter hats to all of the kids and Anna pretty much wore hers the whole rest of the tour (and the rest of the day at home!).
Next we went out to the fire truck where the kids took turns behind the wheel. Anna let the firefighter lift her in & out of the truck more willingly than I would have expected. Then the kids took turns using the hose on the firetruck. At the end of the tour, there was an actual call so we got to see the firefighters take off in the truck with lights & sirens going.
I'll admit that I thought the tour was pretty cool myself as I don't believe I've ever been on one before. Anna really had a great time though and we've been reviewing the pictures and video I took all day (and I'm sure we will be for a while!).
Anna decided the lid to the Lego box was a changing pad for the pig the other day and then today she dumped out the Legos and made the box into a crib/cradle for the pig. She put the pig inside, picked it up and started swaying. So I started singing "Rock-a-bye-baby" and we played this game for a long time. She wanted to take turns "changing" her diaper on the changing pad and sitting in the box. She requests this game by saying "play rock-a-bye-baby."
Of course, she was not always gentle with the pig, but we've got time to work on that.
Getting great pictures of Anna was remarkably easy for me today (although she still had some fun with faces)! I think I got "the one" but I'm waiting for approval from Craig before it is set in stone. If it doesn't make it, I'll post it here; if it does make it, you'll see it in your mailbox (assuming I have your current address!) at Christmas-time!
Trying to get some more portraits in of Anna for our Christmas card this year. We got some okay ones, but nothing that screamed "the one" for me. We'll keep trying—Anna just wasn't into it today. Maybe it was because it was 80 degrees outside and she was wearing a wool sweater? Surely that couldn't be the reason!
I just loved how her hair looked today (must have been the humidity because the sides aren't usually so light, fluffy, and curly) so I was really hoping for a great shot with her hair down. Next time will likely be pig-tails.
Grandma & Grandpa were here again and of course I didn't take pictures again. I guess even I am in denial about moving these days!
This entry added on 4 January 2007.
Still feeling not-nauseous over here! Just a few evenings of mild nausea but nothing compared to the past few weeks. Now my back is starting to hurt a bit and my sciatica is starting to act up, too. I am not carrying Anna up & down the stairs much because she wants to walk so that is probably helping me a bit in the sciatic-nerve department. I am still tired and taking naps a lot of days but I seem to be sleeping a bit better at night this past week, so that is really good news! I'm getting even more anxious to find out if Baby is a boy or a girl but I'll practice being patient (now I know where Anna's impatience comes from!).
According to Your Pregnancy Week by Week, Baby is 3.2 to 4.1 inches (80 to 93mm) in length by the end of this week and weighs almost 1 ounce (25 g).
I took Anna out to vote with me today. Since we're in Texas and I'm not Republican, I like to give the little guy the vote. In the past I've voted straight Green Party but they were absent this time so we went straight Libertarian. 458 others in my county did the same (compare with 30,250 who voted straight Republican!). I guess you've got to start somewhere.
We hosted playgroup at our house today—presumably the last time we do so. Anna did a really good job. She still sat on my lap a lot, but she was definitely better about it this time than last. She had no problems (as far as I could tell) with the other kids playing with her toys.
Amelia & Bryan were playing with her Little People Zoo at one point, and she announced "someone playing with zoo!" Not in an annoyed or possessive way, but she wanted to let me know. I thought it was funny because she knows who Amelia & Bryan are but she chose to say "someone."
Poor Caroline couldn't make it because she was sick, but after everyone left, Anna said, "Caroline likes stroller" because when we hosted in August, Caroline was really into the stroller (so much so that we had to put it away because she got mad when other kids played with it!). I just find it amusing the things that kids hold onto in their memories and the (seemingly) random stuff that they say throughout the day.
Anyway, I really hope we can find a group as good as this one when we move to Qatar. Anna talks about Caroline & Bryan a lot so I know it's important to get out there and make some new friends when we arrive (both for her and for me!).
My parents came down Friday & Saturday so I took the opportunity to get a haircut and get some new maternity pants (all of the ones that fit so well last time around are just too snug). My mom made a duvet cover for Anna's comforter (for when she moves to her toddler bed) and she hemmed all of my new pants. I am planning to bring my sewing machine to Qatar with me and maybe, just maybe, I'll figure that thing out (it's threading it that makes me break out in hives) so Anna won't be as domestically challenged as I am.
I didn't take a single picture of Anna with her grandparents, I guess because I had two photo sessions this weekend and I was all photographed-out. These were my last two sessions though so suddenly I feel a lot less stressed out than I did last week (I have decided to not book any more since we are supposed to get our visas any day now). All I have left is a bit of editing and ordering to do.
This entry was added on 4 January 2007.
Dare I write it out? I have felt like a normal person the past three days! Still incredibly tired/worn out but not nauseous! Yay! Every once in a while I think I feel a little tapping from the inside but it's nothing consistent enough for me to feel confident that I can feel Baby yet. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll get to start feeling that regularly.
According to Your Pregnancy Week by Week, Baby is 2.6 to 3.1 inches (65 to 78 mm) in length and weighs between .5 and .7 ounces (13 to 20 grams). Baby is about the size of a peach. My weight stayed steady from last week so I don't think I'll be losing more now, especially now that I'm feeling better.
