hcg

My hcg levels are at 23!!!

I go back next Monday.

Funny Norah

Three times today Norah has made comments that have made me laugh and fear that I am not treasuring my time with her enough.

1) Today was puppets at church. I asked Norah what they talked about.

Norah: (to) Shh, be quiet

2) This afternoon Finley and I were carrying our tree out to the curb (yep, it's mid-January).

Norah: My help, too. Manatee go bye, bye.

She ran to help Finley carry the base.

Norah: Thank you Daddy, help me (as if she were doing the heavy lifting)

3)Then this evening, Finley and Norah went to visit Fin's dad and step-mom. They entertained Norah while Finley studied. I scrapbooked and looked at kitchen design books. Before they left, Pap gave Norah a pear to take home, told her to carry it with both hands and be careful.

Norah: (coming to me carefully cradling the pear) Pear careful, Thank you Pap, Thank you LuLu, Pretty pear, Green

We discussed the pear at length.

Me: Norah it's time to go to bed. Let's put the pear in special place on the counter.

Norah: No. (adamant) Pear upstairs.

Finley and I look at each other.

Me: Okay, the pear can come upstairs.

She carefully carries the pear upstairs with two hands. The pear reads books with us, passes between us via Norah and receives much conversation. Then it's time to pray.

Norah: Thank you pear. Thank you Mommy. Thank you Mommy hold pear. Thank you Daddy hold pear. Thank you Vicki-Grampa. Thank you Mama-PePaw. . . Pear Turn.

So I said a prayer that would make any pear proud. Thankfully she agreed that the pear should not sleep in her bed. So, it is sitting on her chair-side table. Slightly gouged. Waiting for tomorrow.

Merediths

Thank you Georgia, Kurt and Carter for coming over and sharing some soup!  We sure miss you guys.  Norah will be telling us about baby Carter for weeks.  I can hear it now, "Baby Carter play Norah.  Baby Carter eat mouth.  Baby Carter take nap."  

Update

I got my blood levels back yesterday; my hcg dropped to 131.  It was the doctor's best case senerio.  We are very happy!!  I go back next Monday.

Hydatiform Mole, Happy Birthday Finley

Today is Finley's birthday.  He got presents in bed and a breakfast to order.  We took Norah to LuLu and Cap's so we could have a date.  

And then we got a call from the doctor, on Saturday, not a good sign.  He told us that he got the results back from the tissue we miscarried on Monday, and it was a Molar Pregnancy.  The odds are 1 / 1000.  I've since learned that a Molar Pregnancy is when a sperm fertilizes an empty egg (resulting in 1 set of chromosomes) or two sperm fertilize an egg (resulting in 3 sets of chromosomes); neither senerio leads to baby.  But the placenta grows, and there is a 20% chance of cancer developing.  This cancer is almost always easily treated with chemo.  But I'll have to be monitored weekly for months.  The earliest we can try for another baby is 6 months to a year.  The waiting is what I am most disappointed about.  We wanted our children to be closer together in age.

I am impressed that our doctor called on a Saturday.  He is talking about bringing in a specialist and was planning on doing research before he sees us again on Monday (he is a fertility specialist and said he doesn't see a lot of Molar Pregnancies).

I am praying about being open to God's plan for us.  I am encouraged that the miscarriage was somewhat random.  This is our 3rd one in a little over a year (actually 2 true miscarriages and 1 chemical pregnancy), and we were getting scared that something was wrong.  We were planning to move forward on genetic testing.  But it seems likes bad luck (this is hard for me to find words for because I don't really believe in luck).

Drive In

My days have been sad since our last miscarriage on Monday, that makes 2 official miscarriages and one "chemical pregnancy".   I don't have much more to say about that now.  But joy is peppered in thanks to Finley and Norah.   Here, Norah got her baby and pushed her car in front of the TV to watch "Ah Ha".

The Grinch

I have mixed feelings about Christmas lights disappearing.  Norah loves them.  Loves them!  Every time we get in the car she asks to go look at lights.  "Ooh, so pretty!"  Then she discovered an inflatable Grinch at Izzy's.  And every time we got in the car she asked to see "ights" and then "minch . . . minch, look minch, minch . . ."  We have sat outside 2 homes with car windows open and danced in the parking lot of a closed restaurant on Christmas night - all to be near the Grinch.  I am happy to say that the last inflatable Minch has been deflated tonight!  

Goodbye, until next year, dear Cheermonger.