Crisis averted

Last week was the "crucial" week for this pregnancy. If we made it through last week, we would have made it past Sam's last day in my belly--and he was our longest gestation since Charlotte. So when I started spotting on Wednesday, I was terrified. I convinced myself it was nothing; afterall, bleeding in pregnancy isn't wildly uncommon. So Thursday morning brought more spotting and again, I tried to discount it as nothing. But when I woke up on Friday morning with brighter, redder spotting, I'd had enough. I left a message for the nurses at my RE's office and they called me back before they even opened with an appointment time for an ultrasound. I really like that office.

So we headed to the office at 2pm (thank goodness we had an extra long playgroup--10am-1:30pm!!). I was very nervous and really prepared for bad news.

But I was pleasantly surprised to see a beautiful 184 bpm heartbeat and a wiggly "gummy bear" in there. Baby was measuring perfectly and dancing around. It has little arms and legs, two little eyes, and a strong, beautiful heartbeat.

Here's the latest photo of Baby Murphy:

Grow, Bean, Grow!!

We had another ultrasound this morning and I was a little tense because we had the girls with us. I was worried that if something was wrong, they'd be there to see me distraught.

Fortunately, all is well and Baby is growing well. Again Baby is right on target for growth and the heart rate has increased to 175 beats/minute!! YAY!! The girls LOVED hearing the heartbeat and I loved seeing their faces when they heard it.

Our next ultrasound is August 5.

Here's our latest photo. Baby is almost upside down with the head toward the lower right and bottom toward the top left. If you look closely, you can see a little arm hanging down, too. YAY!!

Open wide!

In January, I took the girls to the dentist. Sarah had been several times already so she was an "old pro" but it was Charlotte's first visit. After all was said and done, I was concerned that it would be her last. She was TERRIFIED and screamed the entire time.

So I wasn't super optimistic about this week's visit. I scheduled Charlotte and me together, and Sarah separately next week. When we arrived at the office, the hygenist had it all set up for me to go first, but I asked if Char could go first. As soon as Charlotte realized it was her turn, she started to panic. To get her into the chair, I offered to allow her to sit on my lap. She was okay with that and as the cleaning got started, I could feel her body tensing. But she eventually started to lighten up and seemed to be enjoying it. I was whispering into her ear that I was proud of her and she tried to smile. (If you've ever tried to smile with an instrument in your mouth, you know how hard it is!)

After she was finished and she hesitantly allow the dentist to look at her teeth, she received a toy from the prize box (a rubber frog like Sarah picked in January), a new Princess Jasmine toothbrush, and a pair of yellow star sunglasses.

I think each visit will get easier now that she's overcome the first full exam. That is, until we start working on fixing her "thumbsucker overbite". :)

The sweetest sound

Because we've had 5 miscarriages since November 2006, we never count on a positive pregnancy test to mean much of anything until we see or hear a heartbeat. We haven't had that pleasure since Charlotte was in utero, so considering I've been pregnant 5 times since then, it's definitely not a given that we'll carry to term.

But today changed all of that. After finding out a couple of weeks ago that we were again expecting, I've been on pins and needles (twice daily heparin shots, that is) waiting to see if this one is going to "stick".

We had an ultrasound appointment this afternoon and I was nervous, excited, and scared to death. But it didn't take long for me to see that beautiful image---a beating heart. And it was really pumping--not just a flicker--it was a REALLY, TRULY, LIVING HEARTBEAT!! I immediately covered my face and sobbed. I was crying so hard that that doctor couldn't focus the probe on the heartbeat to hear it. When I realized what he was doing, I gathered myself (as best I could) and waited. Low and behold, there was the sweet, beautiful sound. Thumpa, thumpa, thumpa, thumpa-----I could have listened for hours.

So while we're only 6w5d, it may as well be delivery day for me. We are thrilled and elated that God has blessed us with a living baby and we pray that he/she continues to grow and develop and stay in there as long as possible. Hopefully in February, we'll be posting pics of a brand new Murphy.

In the meantime, here's a shot from today's ultrasound. Not the greatest photo in the world but it's Baby Murphy's first photo. :)

Why do they call it a "disease"?

Charlotte was diagnosed yesterday with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. She had a high-ish fever all weekend, was extra cranky, and had started complaining that her tongue was hurting. Worried that maybe her ear tubes had come out and she had an ear infection, I took her to the pediatrician. The doc said that she didn't have strep throat (Char was a CHAMP with the throat culture!) but she did have bumps on the back of her throat. After close examination, we saw a bump on her right palm and a couple of little ones on the soles of her feet, too.

After the diagnosis, I asked all of the regular questions: Is she contagious? Should I be worried about other children? What can I do to help her feel better? But I didn't ask why it's called a disease when it's really just a virus. There's nothing I can do to make it go faster or feel better. We just have to let it run it's course.

So why is it called a "disease" when it's really just a virus? They don't call the flu a disease because it's a virus. So why isn't this called Hand, Foot, & Mouth Virus?

I'm sure that the folks at the CDC that name these things aren't parents because they'd certainly give appropriate names to these things.