Yay, a Crib!!

Happy to report that we finally set up our crib!  It  basically took us all day to rearrange the room, then put the crib together.

When we actually came to putting the crib together, it was pretty funny.  This crib was from my aunt and uncle, and it didn't come with a manual.  We'd figure that there's only 7 pieces and 6 screws...how hard could it be?  Um....30 min hard!  It took about 30 minutes of fiddling around before we finally figured out how it went together, and once we got everything set, we knew that we did it correctly.  It makes sense how everything is put together when you're done, lol.

Anyhoo, so it feels realy good knowing that if I go into labor, little TNT will have a place to sleep when he comes home.  We pretty much have everything else ready to go....tons of diapers, some cute clothes, and milk gland twitching to get started, hahahahahah.

Well....here's to hoping that the baby comes this week!

Till next time!!!

Pediatrician Found!

Happy to report that we have found a pediatrician!  We looked through the list the hospital gave us for doctors that had privileges at the hospital, and checked out a few.  We found one that has a friendly staff and we felt comfortable with.  So yay, one thing taken care of.

On another note, I had an ultrasound the other day (nothing to take home though...), and the doctor told me the baby has a big head.  While this is great news for the baby...(my hope means big head = big brains!), I'm not so excited for the part where I have to PUSH that big head out of me.  I blame the hubby and his big head.  My mom blames all the Omega-3s I ate (not excessively, but in general). 

We still haven't decided on the circumcision issue, but I'm enjoying the feedback I'm getting, lol.  We still have time to decide, so I'm not too worried.  The doctor said the baby could come as early as next week....gotta get everything ready this weekend!

Till next time!

To Circumcise or Not...That IS the Q!

So we made a decision on Cord Blood Banking.  We have officially decided to NOT bank the cord blood.  After weighing all the benefits and costs, we just feel like we can live without it.

Moving onto the next decision:  Should we Circumcise our poor kid?  Obviously there are many health benefits, but it IS traumatic and it's also not covered by insurance.  The trend now-a-days is that less and less people actually circumcise their sons.  The medical community doesn't feel like the benefit outweighs the cost enough for insurances to cover it.  So...it becomes a harder decision.  If insurance covered it, we'd probably go with it just because it was covered.  But now, we wonder if it's REALLY necessary....

I guess as I hunt for a pediatrician, I'll ask them their thoughts on whether to circumcise or not....

Till next time!

He's Not Moving, OMG!

Well, I had a doctor's appointment today....and since I woke up around 7am this morning (I'm sure it's a shock to all of you who know me, lol), the baby hasn't really been moving that much.  I mean...he was kicking like crazy last night.....and suddenly this morning he was barely kicking.

I ate a little, and had some juice...but he still didn't really get up to 10 kicks an hour.  I told my doctor this, and she checked the heartbeat.  She said it sounded fine.....but that if the baby doesn't start to move more, I should go to the hospital to get the baby monitored.

I came home, ate some lunch, and drank a cold drink (advice from the brother-in-law, hehe), and the baby started moving more.  Maybe he just feels sluggish today....I know I do!  I haven't had any caffeine in a few days....no soda, no tea (no coffee since the beginning)....maybe that's why?

Well, I'll be keeping a closer eye on the fetal kick counts....just a little worried about going to the hospital so early.  We're totally not ready!!!

Well, Baby Scare #2 seems to be over.....hopefully there aren't any more!!!  It seriously freaks everyone out, lol.

Anyhoo...till next time!

Cord Blood Banking...?

So, as if having a baby isn't worth a million decisions, the world is throwing out another one: to cord bank or to not cord bank.  Unfortunately, it's a once in a birth chance to save your baby's cord blood (aka stem cells, I think...), and you don't get a second chance (until you have the next one, lol).  So for people like us, this is really a once in a lifetime thing...(yes, we're having just one! =P)

What exactly is cord blood banking?  You basically choose a company, they send you some stuff to take to the hospital with you, someone (I'm going to guess a doctor?) will collect your baby's umbilical cord (along with the blood/stem cells inside) and put it in whatever the company sent you, and you call the company and they have a private courier pick it up and deliver to their "bank" to store for you for how ever long you paid for it to be stored.  Then, someday, you might want to use this blood to cure your child, yourself, your spouse, your parents, your other children.....of some type of disease/cancer.  Any company that provides this service will be able to tell you what diseases/cancers these cells can help with (over 70 diseases/cancers are on the list!).

Now, we're super interested (okay, maybe it's just me...), primarily because cancer runs in my family.  You never know whether these cells could save someone's life.  BUT...it's not cheap!  You can easily spend thousands of dollars, and you need to pick the right company.  GAAAAHHHHH!!!!

My pricing research so far (in order of preference at the moment) *Includes storage for 18-21 years:
ViaCord:  $4,225 (Plus a $450 discount if booked by Nov 15, 2010)
FamilyCord:  $3725 (Plus a $300 discount right now)
Cord  Blood Registry (CBR):  $3,920 (Plus a $250 discount coupon)
CryoCell:  $3,495
AlphaCord:  $3,545
LifeBank USA:  $3,995
NeoCells: $3,110

The reason my top 3 are my top three is because they're the biggest in the industry.  The main fear is that if a bank goes bankrupt, what happens to your cells?  You'd figure with these bigger companies, you don't have to worry AS much about them going bankrupt.

*Sigh* I'm not quite sure what the other differences are between the companies.  I mean, they all pretty much do the same thing...but I worry about quality of service, especially the storage.  Does paying more really mean better service?  I totally procrastinated looking into this.  What happened was I was interested....I found out how much it cost, figured I couldn't afford it, and then kinda forgot about it for months.  But, I received one of those brochures in the mail, and it re-sparked my interest.  I brought it up to my mom, telling her about the benefits...considering how much cancer runs in the family and all, and she asked me to do more research on companies and pricing.  So here we are. =)  I basically have....5 days to make a decision.  Terrible, isn't it?

Well, when I (I would've said we, but who am I kidding...you know I'll be the one) make the decision, I'll make sure to keep y'all updated.

Till next time!

Ultrasound Pics

Here are the ultrasound pics, as promised (okay, I know I didn't really promise them, but whatever, lol).

This ultrasound was my very first.  Little TNT was about the size of a peanut (kinda looks like one too, if you ask me...hehehe).  At this point, the estimated delivery date was Nov 12, 2010.  I think he was about....5-6 weeks big around this time.

This next ultrasound was taken a few weeks later.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what I'm looking at.  Is it a head?  Is it the whole body?

This ultrasound was taken at the same time as the previous one.  The date says May 5, 2010.  At this point, the little panda was 9.8 cm.  Isn't that adorable?

This was taken at the same time as the last two.  This is a closeup of him, you can see the head on the right.

This last ultrasound was taken at around 17 weeks, and is the official "It's a boy" ultrasound. =)

The little arrow is pointing at his man-parts, so we're pretty sure that he is a he.  Although, recently, Tommy had a "nightmare" that I gave birth to a girl instead.  Could you imagine?  It would be the second time that happened in his family, PLUS we have like ALL boy stuff.  Not that having a girl is bad or anything.  They're cuter to dress up >.< LOL. Or at least they usually put up w/ dressing cute better...

So basically, that was the last ultrasound pic I received.....I've had ultrasounds since then, but none that I got to keep a momento of.  Definitely not like how you see on TV, lol.  

Anyhoo, so that's all I have for today.  I'm not sure what I should post up next....maybe baby shower pics?  I guess we'll see. =)

Till next time!

The Start of a New Blog...

Hi Everyone!  I decided to create a new blog, dedicated just to our little panda!  I'll eventually post up his original ultrasound pictures soon...I think.  I figured a blog that people can check on their own would be more kind than blasting everyone with emails and spam on FB. =)  Anyhoo...I can't wait till this whole pregnancy thing is over!  Just 6 more weeks (theoretically...)!!  Why didn't I start a blog earlier?  Who wants a blog of me complaining about every single thing that's wrong with being pregnant? =P LOL

BTW, happy birthday Daddy (aka, future grandpa, lol)!

Till next time!