The Guinea Pig

In 3 more days I will be 24 weeks pregnant and I still have my feeding tube. No other pregnant woman in recorded history has had a feeding tube this long so nobody quite knows what to expect as my baby grows (all of my doctors have different theories). Everyone has been waiting for week 24 because it is when my baby supposedly reaches the level of my tube in my abdomen. So, will Cambrie spontaneously combust in 3 days,? will my feeding tube become very uncomfortable from a baby pushing/kicking against it? Will it kink off and become un-usable? Will it rip through tissue as my stomach is pushed upward by baby? Or will everything be fine? Stay tuned for the outcome of my guinea pig pregnancy.

18 months pictures

I'll have you know that between these sweet faces in pictures there were 18 month tantrums going on. I was literally dripping with sweat by the time we were done from trying to keep her in the room (which had no door) because she would dash for it between shots (she wanted to climb on the chairs in the waiting room). But, I must admit we got some good ones, so all of my chasing and jumping up and down to get her to smile was worth it.

Don't come knocking on my door if your husbands get you milk for Mother's Day

THE TAPE OF LOVE

I've had this song in my head for 2 days now. Thanks Brett. What a song.

I'd like to apologize to the people who live near me and have to see me frequently as I'm going to be wearing alot of the same clothes in the next four months.

The picture on the right is the picture of my maternity clothes (pants not included). You'll notice that half of them are long sleeved too so I won't be able to wear them when it get's hot. Sorry people, maternity clothes are just EXPENSIVE and for the amount of time I'm going to be wearing them it's just not worth it. I went shopping last week and bought 1 shirt and 2 skirts and it cost me $100! ouch! Too bad I can't wear maternity dresses with my feeding tube because I have 4 of them : (

The picture on the left is a nice comparison between Steve's clothes (left) and mine (right). Isn't my husband a clothes horse?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

I believe that nobody is completely "normal". We all have some sort of psychiatric disorder of some sort to a small degree. I'm here to admit that I have obsessive compulsive disorder. You see, there is a little bubble-window on the playground of our local park that has been bugging me forever-- little kids (my Kiera included) touch it and put there mouths on it and slobber all over it. It's just got to be totally germ-infested (say nothing of the dirt on it). I keep thinking "one of these days I'm going to clean that little window". Well, I finally did it. I took windex and gave it a good wipe down. Obsessive-compulsive? I think so, but I'll sleep better at night knowing that it has that many less germs on it (at least for a while).

Snow baby.......or not

Kiera and I have been visiting my family in Utah this past week in order to give a little space to Steve while he studies for mid-terms. On May 1st we woke up to snow in the morning (what is wrong with this state? snow in may???!!) I took Kiera out to see what my little California girl thought of snow. She touched it and then got really mad that her fingers were cold. After that she wanted nothing to do with it. The video is cute-- she did NOT want her feet in the snow! Good thing we live in California!

3-D Ultrasound

Isn't 3D ultrasound cool?

I'm not sure exactly which finger our sweet innocent daughter is holding up in that first picture. She must be telling us that she's #1.

Before and after pictures -- weight gain from my feeding tube (*and a little recreational eating)

Yes, 25 lbs does make a big difference on a person (especially in my face!)This week I went to see my OBGYN. I never thought that I'd be told by my doctor at the age of 26 that I'm overweight. That's exactly what she said. Infact, she's putting me on a diet. I'm suppose to eat a piece of fruit for breakfast and lunch and some veggies for dinner. (keeping in mind that I'm still being fed by my feeding tube). Sound like fun? Well, I'm not sure how compliant I'll be with my diet, but I'll give it a try.

To: Cambrie For: Steve

As some of you know it’s Cambrie’s birthday today, which reminds me of several presents I’ve bought her these past two years. For Christmas two years ago I bought Cambrie a GPS for her car because she’d get lost driving to patients’ homes. A few months later she got pregnant and couldn’t use it. Last year I got her an MP3 player so she could listen to music while training for her marathons. As you all know, she’s stopped running (at least on the streets and more so to the puke-bowl) due to her pregnancy this year.

So far the major presents I’ve given her, I’m the one that uses them. I figure today I should forego what I was going to give her since she’ll somehow find a way not to use it. So I’m thinking of either getting her (me) a new indoor basketball or BYU football season tickets. What do you think?

Yesterday I pulled a tomato out of the fridge to chop it up. Kiera saw it at immediately utilized one of the 6 words that she knows: "Ball!" She wanted to hold it (wow...a new red ball..thanks mom!) but then I took it away and proceeded to start chopping. She was distraught that I was ruining the red ball so I tried to get her to eat it. I'm not 100% sure, but I think she liked it. Tomatoes are tasty Kiera, don't let your daddy tell you otherwise!

KIERA IS GOING TO HAVE A LITTLE SISTER!!!!!
That's right. We're having a girl. We had our ultrasound today; it was a 3D ultrasound which was pretty cool. The image on the screen was really clear but the one's they printed out were poor quality. I guess I'll have to spend the $10 to buy the CD with the images on it and then I can post some pictures.
Wow another girl-- Kiera has 14 male cousins and only 1 female cousin so I guess it's a good thing she'll have a sister. And I won't have to buy any baby clothes or anything so there's another positive.

Our Nauvoo Trip

We just returned from our trip to Nauvoo Illinois for Steve's younger brother's wedding. Visiting church history sights was a lot different this time with a 1 year old along. The above pictures are of the stairs at Carthage Jail. Kiera climbed up and down those stairs about 20 times (those were the stairs that the mob ran up to). Whenever we tried to get Kiera to rejoin the tour she through a tantrum so needless to say, we stayed on the stairs.


Kiera's favorite part of our trip was the swimming part. Swimming with daddy and cousins brought several squeals of delight. Oh, she also discovered her love for Ketchup on the trip. She loved dipping the fries in it and sucking the ketchup off. And when the fries were gone, she'd just dip her fingers in.

Traveling with Kiera was a big worry, but she actually did pretty well as long as she had her blankie, her DVD player, and a few exciting toys such as a baby food jar with a screw-on lid and a spoon that fit nicely in a little box. It was a fun trip, but as always, it's good to be home again (especially since us Californians are not used to snow and cold temperatures!).

Given the following three options, which would YOU choose?
1. Being nauseated. I could take out my feeding tube right now and I would be nauseated constantly.
2. Being overweight. If I continue having my feeding tube AND eating, I'll soon be very overweight (I've now gained 25 lbs in about a month).
3. Not eating anything. I could choose not to eat and just let my tube feed me. Not very fun psychologically.

FOR SALE ON BLACK MARKET:

THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES. Supplies for IV's, wound care. Also about 20 different medications in many different forms: pills, IV,......and others. Some medications are thousands of dollars and never worked a bit for me.