So I said in my last post that I would update about Number Two's "condition" as soon as we had news. Well, we FINALLY got our news today.

Not only did the doctor not bother to come in and see us while we were there like we were told he would, he ALSO didn't even bother to call my OB and let her know the results. I've never actually met him, but I'm already so not impressed with this guy, and I have go back to see him here in a couple of weeks.

So anyway...according to my OB, Number Two has "a touch" of hydrocephalus (don't ask me what exactly she means by "a touch", I mean he/she either has it or not, right?). The precise terminology she used was "an increased lateral ventricle". What, exactly, does all of this mean? Beats me. I have yet to really have it broken down into plain and simple layman's terms. I mean, we already know a bit about this because we looked into it a little when the OB first told us there was possibly something wrong, but to me it's a bunch of medical mumbo-jumbo that just scares the crap out of me.

I'm going back up to Dayton on April 12, and I'll finally get to talk to the doctor himself for a consultation. We'll discuss the condition, and the severity of it in Number Two's case, as well as treatment options, and even whether or not I'll be able to deliver at the local hospital where Carter was born--according to my OB, depending on the severity, they may want to perform the corrective surgery immediately, and our local hospital isn't equipped for that. I'll likely also be getting regular ultrasounds to monitor the situation. With any luck, it will go away on its own before Number Two is born.

Chris will have to work that day, since he's on overtime for a while, and now it's mandatory overtime for his department. So he most likely won't be able to come to the appointment with me, which scares me even more. He really is my rock in times like this, he's so good at calming me down and easing my fears.

For now it's just more of the waiting game.

I didn't intend for this blog to be only or even mainly about Number Two, but for now that's just about all that's really going on in our lives. I'm really hoping for a "first word" post soon though.

I'm finally at my own computer now, so I can make a new post!

We did have our ultrasound last Friday, and I do have pictures to post, but not in this post, mainly because my computer doesn't have a CD drive for the disc the images are on, and I haven't gotten around to emailing them from Chris's computer yet.

On Tuesday, just as I was about to leave for work, I got a phone call from my midwife. I knew something wasn't right straight off the bat, because I've seen her for all of this pregnancy as well as Carter's, and in all this time, not once has she ever called me personally. She told me that they had the results from our ultrasound, and that from that ultrasound, there appears to be fluid on the baby's brain. She also said that the facility that did this ultrasound doesn't have the best equipment and also doesn't perform OB ultrasounds very often, so not a lot of experience either. She said there have been many instances where it looks like there's something "wrong" on the ultrasound done there, and they'll refer the mama to a specialist, only to have it turn out to thankfully be nothing, just an error. Hopefully that will be the case for us... We're going up to Dayton tomorrow to see a specialist for a level two ultrasound, and he'll see what's going on and discuss the results with us immediately, so we won't have to wait around worrying too much.

Now, Chris and I have been looking into this (mostly Chris...I freak out every time I try!). As far as we can tell, even if there IS fluid on baby's brain, it shouldn't be too big of a deal. It's not life-threatening. A lot of the time when babies have fluid on their brain, it "cures" itself before birth, and if not, there is a simple surgical procedure which can be done to "fix" it. Essentially, no big deal. We'll deal with whatever happens and do the very best we can for our babies.

So...no ultrasound pictures this post. Potential fluid on brain. Another ultrasound tomorrow to check. More to come later.

Intro

I've never been any good at these, so here goes nothing:
My name is Kristin. This is me:

I have a boyfriend named Chris. He looks like this:

Yeah...he doesn't take "serious" pictures. Like at all. Ever.

Anyway! This is our 16-month-old son, Carter:

Aaand this is the most recent ultrasound picture of our new addition (due late July/early August, this was taken at around 13 weeks):

We're getting our next ultrasound this Friday, though, so look for new ultrasound pictures soon!

Speaking of this next ultrasound, I'm almost 19 weeks pregnant, so this one will be our anatomy scan. Chris will be finding out, but I'm not...yet! We're planning a gender reveal party for April, and I, along with our closest friends and family, will be finding out if it's a boy or a girl then.

I guess I should tell a little more about us. Chris and I have been together for two years now (and yes, if you're counting, we did get started really soon). He works a full-time factory job making conveyor systems, and I work at Subway making sandwiches part-time. The rest of the time, I stay home with Carter and make an attempt at being a housewife. Carter will be one and a half in two months. He walks, runs, walks backwards, and in circles. He understands a lot of what we say to him, but he has yet to say his first "real" word (he babbles and says "dadadadada" a lot, but never seems to actually mean "dada"). Number Two has just recently started moving so that I can feel him/her with some small amount of frequency. And that's pretty much what we all do!

As far as parenting "methods" go, ours is closest to attachment/natural parenting. We breastfeed (I'm proud to say that at 16 months, Carter and I are still nursing); cloth diaper; bedshare; and I was practicing babywearing, but had to give it up with Carter because I have a few problems with my back. I'm hoping to see a chiropractor soon and invest in a "better" baby carrier that will be easier on my back than what we were using previously. I also would like to practice baby-led weaning with Number Two (this basically just means skipping rice cereals and purees and letting him/her eat small pieces of "table food" when he/she seems to be ready for it). I'm incredibly excited to start breastfeeding and babywearing all over again, and thrilled to see Carter become a big brother.

I think that more or less wraps up this introduction. Hopefully I'll actually keep up with this blog (and remember the password for it, lol), so stay tuned! :)