Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we hit up a pumpkin patch! And no, we didn't go to the Roloff Farm (Little People Big World) like we did last year. That was lots of fun, yes, but the thought of driving all the way (and past) Portland and being around TONS of people on a farm that was extremely commercialized and overpriced made me want to crawl back into bed and go to sleep. LOL

Instead we drove an hour to Toppennish (close to Yakima) and went to a smaller place that had a huge corn maze, animals, a kiddo sized hay maze and slide play area, and an area to pick out your pumpkins. My only disappointment was there wasn't any real "pumpkin patch"....it was just an area where they trucked in the pumpkins and set them about for you to choose. Booo. But you know, the kids had a great time and there's always next year to go to a different place. I found one close to Portland that not only has a pumpkin patch, but apple picking and hay rides and apple cider and donuts. Just like the place I went to as a kid growing up in NY. We'll do that one next year when I'm not so exhausted I feel like keeling over.

We packed our own cooler lunch so we didn't have to spend money on food and set aside a set amount of money to spend on pumpkins. This was a grand idea. The first thing we did was go in the corn maze. Molly had a BLAST! She played leader the whole way. Anthony had a good time until about 20 minutes in when he started to cry. We asked him why he was crying and he said because we were lost and he was scared! Poor sweet boy, lol. We went a little further then wound up turning around and going out the way we came, hahaha. Lame we couldn't find our way out, but we had a great time watching the kids run through the corn deciding which way to go. I was EXHAUSTED anyway......so I had no problem with turning back and heading out. :) 

 Next we headed over to see the little animals they had there and then the kiddy hay maze. Now that was more the kids' style. Oh gosh, it was soooo funny watching them run through it! All I could see was Anthony's head bobbing up and down and for Molly, I could only hear her little giggling. Sam and I went through it with the kids once before I had to sit back and watch. Anthony ran through it a good 3 times while Sam and Molly played monster. Too funny.

 

After the hay maze, the kids found the huge hay stack that had slides. Their eyes got all wide with excitement and they spent a good 20 minutes just climbing up the hay and going down the slides. Lastly, we picked out pumpkins and hit the road.

Hooray for fall! 

With love,

Mama Hauck

Get Me Off This Roller Coaster!

Yesterday's ultrasound showed our little one's beating heart and a measurement of 7 weeks 3 days. So today I'm 7 weeks 4 days, making my estimated due date May 20th. :) The ultrasound showed I still have a fair amount of blood and blood clots in my uterus, but my actual bleeding has slowed to hardly anything as of today and I'm taking that as a good sign. I wonder if it will stay that way? How the hell does a subchorionic hemorrhage heal? I left the ultrasound feeling confident and positive.

That is until the doctor called me with the "official results" of the ultrasound today. It is no lie that I am NOT a fan of this doctor. She is monotone and pessimistic and talking to her always makes me want to cry. I am anxious to rid myself of her care, but for now I need her to get me into any ultrasounds that are deemed necessary. Anyhow, she said the baby's heart rate was low....though she didn't tell me what the rate was. I don't know if it's because she didn't want to or she didn't know because she wasn't told the actual rate, she was just told that is was low. I asked what normal was and she said 130-140 for where I'm at gestational wise. I've done much reading in the past and have read that the heart rate can vary widely and that detecting a heart rate matters more in these early weeks than the actual number. But, I'm just me....I'm no expert, so all I know is what I read, what I'm told, and what I choose to take away from it all. Every doctor will have their own opinion on what is "normal." 

Cue panic. My heart palpitated sending panic waves throughout my body. Did I mention I was in the shower when she called? I had to turn off the shower and stand there and freeze just so I could hear what she was saying. Truly an uncomfortable moment.

She also told me what the ultrasound tech had told me.....I was measuring at 7 weeks 3 days. I said that sounded right to me but I couldn't be certain since no one had told me exactly what I measured from last week....I was just told that I measured "not quite 7 weeks." She told me there were two radiation techs who read my results this time. The first told her the baby hadn't shown much growth since the last ultrasound. 

Cue more panic. I thought I was going to throw up and at this point my heart was in my throat, my stomach tight, and my chest seemed like a vice around my lungs seemingly making it harder to breathe.

But then she continues to say the second radiation tech went back to check the first radiation tech's work. He measured last weeks ultrasound, then went and measured yesterdays ultrasound and said I was spot on for growth since I did indeed measure 6 weeks 3 days last wednesday. 

OMG. Grrrrrrr, I hate how someone can do sloppy work and come up with the wrong interpretation of results and then needlessly make you worry. And why even tell me the story of the first stupid radiation tech if they were wrong?

I got off the phone with her last words reverberating in my mind, "So the pregnancy is viable now, but we'll just have to wait and see."

What a stark, cold lady. 

I ran to the computer and e-mailed my midwife about everything that had just taken place....bitching about the mean doctor and crying about my worry. She wrote back a sweet e-mail that reminds me why I choose her to be my midwife and reaffirming my belief that I have made the right decision. She must have read my e-mail and called the doc to get the info herself. She told me that the baby's measurements were indeed on track. She also told me the heartbeat is low, but that means almost nothing at this stage of gestation because they can vary wildly at this age (between 100 and 180), and it is already about 30 beats-per-minute faster than it was last week. 

Cue huge sigh of relief.

I choose to be OPTIMISTIC and not PESSIMISTIC! I want to receive optimism and not pessimism. Please and thank you. 

I have another ultrasound in 2 weeks to check on the status of the baby's heart beat and check for bleeding and clots. I pray my bleeding stops. After that, I'm hoping I can say goodbye to the doctor in town and let my midwife take over full care of my pregnancy. 

Keep your prayers coming. They are much appreciated. If nothing else think happy thoughts for my sanity. I didn't plan on riding this crazy pregnancy roller coaster (though in real life I do love roller coasters). I was hoping for the easy lazy river type of ride.

With love,

Mama Hauck

I Love October

I'M SO GLAD IT'S OCTOBER!!!!!

My favorite time of year! WHOOP! Just knowing it's October lifts my spirits. I love the crispness in the air....pumpkins, changing leaves, Halloween decorations, candy, etc. etc.

September wasn't very kind to me, so I'm holding out hope October will make up for it. And even though I just got over having a 24 hour stomach bug, I'm optimistic the rest of the month will be grand. But back to the stomach bug....blargh!! It was awful. Barfing from being pregnant AND having a stomach bug? Not so great. Anthony bawled when I told him yesterday morning that there was no way I was well enough to take him to preschool. I simply couldn't pull myself together. Poor little guy was so sad to miss a day. I was sad I couldn't move off the couch and wound up vomiting all day. Ugh. I had to have Sam come home early because I simply couldn't care for the kids. Now Sam is sick. He called me just a bit ago saying he's got the bug, but can't get off work to come home. *sigh* I'm crossing my fingers the kids don't get sick. I'm not prepared to deal with kiddos who have the poops and the barfs when I, myself, am a pregnant mess. 

Good news! Sammy got a lot of work done on the barn this past weekend. He completed the electrical work so we now have power! We've got two lights in Nik's stall, one in the tack room, one out behind the barn, and a motion light in front of the barn. I've also got a radio set up in the tack room which is pretty sweet. Sam also finished up the water system. We have a water pump behind the barn that hooks up to tubing that goes up over the barn and back down into his water trough in the front of the barn. This'll make is so it's a breeze to fill up Nik's water and the angle of all the tubing makes it so no water will get stuck in the hose or tube and create any freezing problems. Pretty dang smart, huh? I'm glad I married a handy man. We also purchased a hay rack, a larger water trough, and a water heater that we'll put in the trough come winter time so we don't have to deal with ice forming in Nik's water. Finishing touches were put on the tack room and all the tools and everything were cleaned up. Everything looks clean and pretty. :) I can't wait to take a few pictures to show ya'll! Nik seems very happy in his new home. 

While Sam and the kids worked outside on the barn the whole weekend, I mustered up the energy to decorate the house for Halloween....my favorite time of year!!! Our neighbors gave us their corn stalks so we put them up outside around some trees in the front yard. The kids had a swell time helping and they look great! I'm excited to hit up a pumpkin patch to get all our pumpkins and gourds hopefully sometime soon. I look forward to doing that all year! No Halloween party this year like I had last year. :( I'm far too exhausted to even think about it. (If you want to read all about my Halloween party last year, click this link: Halloween Party 2010 ) We might still try and have a few people over for pumpkin carving and candy.....we'll see. Anthony's all excited because I just ordered him a police costume for Halloween. Molly's going to be a kitty cat with ears, a tail, and whiskers. :) Hopefully I'll have some Halloween photos to post up soon. I've slacked in the photo department recently.

A big thank you to all those who have kept me in your thoughts and given me words of encouragement. I have another ultrasound tomorrow. Hopefully it shows some good news.....I would love for my uterine blood clots to be all gone and for my pregnant life to get back to normal. Sam will be coming with me to this ultrasound, so that makes me happy. I'm still trying to take it as easy as I can and not over exert myself. I'll let ya'll know the results of the ultrasound. I'm looking forward to seeing the baby's heartbeat again. :)

With love,

Mama Hauck