Digital scrapbooking contd

Here are more pages!

Digital scrapbooking

Here's my first digital scrapbook page. It's from my first trip to the ocean last summer in Virginia. More pages to come.

~Shawn

The "Sold" sign is gone

Well, yesterday my parents got a phone call from their realtor. The buyer's finances fell through and they were no longer approved for buying the house. WHAT!? It was nice to find out 5 days before closing. It seems pretty irresponsible of the loan company to not have all of that set in stone before they even pre-qualify someone. Everyone involved is pretty ticked off - the buyers for this house, my parents, and the elderly woman whose house my parents were going to buy. So, the house is back on the market for a month and if it doesn't sell, I am pretty sure my parents will give up on ever selling a house for the rest of their lives! Last summer, the house was on the market for 6 months and only 4 people looked at it and this time, this happens just before closing. Hopefully, a financial stable family will buy the house in the next month and my parents will still be able to get into the beautiful home they want. We'll see!
~Shawn

Ultrasound update

So, the ultrasound tech either didn't know or didn't tell me that the placenta is low. The dr's nurse called me today and said that the placenta was a little low, but not blocking my cervix - thank goodness for that part. So, I will have another ultrasound in 4-6 weeks to make sure that it is not any lower and hopefully my uterus will have stretched further upward so we don't have to worry about any complications. In the meantime, I am supposed to be on "pelvic rest" which means no heavy lifting, no internal gyn exams (yay!!), and (TMI alert) no fun time with the hubby. So, it's a good thing we are moving this weekend as I have an iron-clad excuse to not lift any boxes. That's going to drive me nuts, so I might just leave the house and take Joseph to the zoo or something. If anyone else has dealt with this whole low placenta thing, send me an e-mail! I read 2 articles on-line that were enough to scare the heck out of anyone -too many uses of the phrases "heavy bleeding", "blood transfusions", and "c-section"!
~Shawn

It's a . . . BOY!!

Hey everyone, I promised I would post today, so here it is. I had my 20 week ultrasound this morning and found out we are expecting another boy. This baby moves a lot less than Joseph did in the womb and I am hoping that carries over after birth! He was actually sleeping or something during the ultrasound and I had to laugh to get him to uncross his legs so we could see his "business". Everything looked great and all the measurements were right on target, so we are thankful for that.
We are open to suggestions for boy names! We already have the middle name picked out - Everett for my dad - but are having some trouble thinking of a first name that we feel good about. Feel free to send suggestions our way!
~Shawn

Midwives and OB's

So, I am switching from my OB Dr to a midwife. The funny thing is, I am doing it at the exact point in this pregnancy that I made the same switch with my first pregnancy. It might sound strange, but it has everything to do with IV's. I don't want one during labor, or ever, if I can help it. My dr said I had to not only have one throughout labor, but also after labor, I would have a pitocin drip to help my uterus contract. WHAT!?!? Ouch!! Anyway, I know all the reasoning behind it, but with Joseph's birth, I never had an IV and never was in danger of dehydration. Also, I only received a pitocin shot right after delivery, and my uterus contracted on it's own. It just seemed like some unnecessary precautions. Give me an IV if I get dehydrated, otherwise I am going to have to go pee every 15 minutes during labor while trying to manage the pain of the contractions. The whole point is that I know what kind of environment I need to be comfortable with labor and birth - which is different for every woman - but the dr didn't want to compromise on his standard procedures, which are in place for all the "what if's." I just want a small amount of control over the birth process of my next child. I know if things get to a point where it's safer for someone else to be in control, they can step in, but at least give me a chance to do what women have been doing without IV's and pitocin and stirrups for a VERY long time. I'm not quite ready to try it on my own at home, but having a midwife to support the labor process, rather than dictate it with chemical means, will be a welcome environment for me to welcome my next child into the world.
OK, I'm done ranting! I hope everyone is enjoying SPRING! It snowed here on Saturday, but it's 72 today! Gotta love Nebraska!
~Shawn

We are moving!

Hey everyone - So much for the bad news about the housing market - my parents sold their house in 8 days and bought another one just a week after that. So, we will be moving from our current basement dwelling into the basement of their new house. The new house has a bigger basement, but it isn't finished, so we will be fixing things up for a little while. I am definitely not complaining though - I am actually looking forward to it. Besides, it's not like we pay rent or anything. Plus, once the bathroom is finished, I won't have to go upstairs to use the bathroom in the middle of the night (pregnancy is wonderful!) Anyway, I will post some pictures of the new house once we move in at the end of this month. Happy packing! Mom and Dad have done a lot of packing already this week and I did 2 boxes today.
I will find out if we are having a boy or a girl on April 21st - so I will post again that day or shortly after!
~Shawn