Mullet Toss and Crawfish

After Spring Break, we kidnapped my sister Heidi and brought her back home with us for a week.

While she was here, the law school hosted a mullet toss and since it seemed like a rather unique opportunity, we decided to go.

For any Yanks who don't know what a mullet toss is, let me explain: since the coasts of Alabama and Florida lie adjacent to one another it has become a tradition for Alabamans to gather the incredibly common mullet, and, while standing on the Alabama side, toss the dead fish across the border into Florida. (c'mon, can you think of anything better to do with the fish?!)

Since their is no Floridan shore near here, the next best thing is to simply have a contest to see how far you can toss the slimy dead fish.

We arrived just in time for Joshua to enter the competition. After groping around in a large pail of rather smelly water, he grasped a nice fat mullet firmly in his hand and prepared for the toss.

But as he released the fish into the air, it slipped from his grip and flew past a row of shrieking girls and smacked into the pole of the canopy, splitting the poor fish in two. One half landed squarely in senior law student's cup of beer and the other splattered into his lap. As you can imagine, he wasn't too happy.

Ummm, yeah. Let me just say that this ended Joshua's brief career in mullet tossing.

We then decided to try something more safe...like refreshments. The menu? Crawdads.

I claimed the pregnancy excuse, but Joshua and Heidi dug right in. Even Rosalind enjoyed the tasty little critters.

Lest any friends who had contemplated coming to visit begin to think better of it, let me assure you that most of our time was not nearly so exciting and consisted mainly of playing outside with Rosalind, long walks, scrapbooking, talking, time with friends, movies and just hanging out. :)

Meet William...

.... maybe!

Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear and Joshua and I headed out for a check up, blood work and ultrasound, little realizing what lay ahead.

Just in case any of you are wondering, the ultrasound was not to determine the gender. Last time, we had a 4-d ultrasound and were told "It's definitely a boy." Three months later, a lovely little daughter arrived to a home full of blue clothes, baby boy toys and William for a name. We finally uncovered one outfit that wasn't completely blue or covered with "sweet baby boy"--a rather boyish yellow sleeper with a green giraffe on front. We learned from our mistake! ;) The purpose of this ultrasound was solely to make sure that the baby was doing well (and so we can see the baby, of course!). It's too early to tell anyway.

From the day that we found out we were expecting again, my desire was to use the amazing midwife that delivered Rosalind, only this time in a birth clinic with a well-qualified OB present and immediate hospital back-up available. Even though we had unexpected complications with Rosalind, the likelihood of a re-occurrence is low and with a well-laid back up plan in place, this option seemed safe and the doctor and midwife graciously agreed.

So we headed up to the clinic for a check-up. After preliminary prenatal work, we were ready for the ultrasound. The moment the wand touched my stomach, a beautifully clear image appeared on the screen. I was taken back by how darling and well-formed the baby already appeared. Even the tiny fingers were clearly visible.

I was just getting ready to inform the doctor that even if he could tell, we really didn't want a guess as to the gender, but as he tried to determine an exact due date, he got a shot that convinced all of us (even me!) that it’s a boy…even though it’s supposedly too early to tell.

[Though I will refer to the baby as "he" until I found out differently, I'm not setting too much faith in it--but at least we have plenty of pink and blue this time. ;)]

"William's" profile

A few minutes later, the doctor stood back and said, "I have good news and bad news. Good news is you have a healthy son. Bad news, your placenta is exactly where it should not be. If you needed further confirmation that God wanted you here in law school and not in rural China right now, I think this is it. Rather than sitting high, your placenta is partially covering the cervix and, more importantly, directly across from your bladder. With your previous placenta accreta, this is very serious and could even lead to a percreta. I will refer you to a specialist who will be able to give you more information, but know that you may be as high risk as they come and expect a hysterectomy and you might not even make it…oh, and you will be having this baby in a high risk hospital in a big city. ” (paraphrased, of course, but how I took it)

Even in the midst of the tears that followed, we were so grateful to know that "William" was healthy. Our biggest concern before the ultrasound was that due to the embolization I had performed after Rosalind, he might not being receiving enough blood flow and nutrients, but still this new development was hard to submit to and it was a while before I finally regained my composure.

The doctor referred us to a Maternal Fetal Specialist for a follow-up appointment the next morning.

The consultation both confirmed and alleviated our fears: at this time the placenta has not grown into the wall of the uterus, but most accretas do not occur until further into the pregnancy. Therefore I will need to be under the care of a MFS with ultrasounds and perhaps an MRI in pregnancy to monitor possible complications. After explaining my history and expressing our desire to preserve the uterus if possible by having another embolization he said that he would recommend a vaginal birth with a radiologist ready to perform surgery unless the situation has become very serious. A C-section would heighten the risk of a hysterectomy.

Another factor that we had not considered was the possibility of blood contamination. Because I received so much blood last time, I will need to have thorough tests run to eliminate any possible problems that may arise from donor’s blood.

He concluded by telling us again that this is a pregnancy for high risk doctors in a high risk hospital.

...so this is where things stand at this point. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for "William" and for me. Though things have certainly not turned out the way we'd hoped or planned, we know that God is in control are grateful to know so early on so we can take proper precautions.

A few more pics...

Philip, Kristian, Erik and Joshua engaged in a competitive computer game match... with Lydia cheering them on. :)

"Aunt Kathryn" and Rosalind happily reading side by side.

My awesome sistesr-in-law Becka, Crystal and Jenny, Grams and Joshua's Mom scrapbooking in the coolest scrapbooking room ever.

Reading with Uncle Jonny and cousin Mea.

Pretzel Time!

Yesterday Joshua reminded me that it has been nearly three weeks since I've posted and that "that's no way to run a blog!" He's right...

Omitting all excuses for why I haven't posted, let me simply say that the last few weeks haven't gone exactly as planned (not that they ever do!)

Knowing how excited I was to get up to Missouri, spend time with family and friends, and have our baby check-up and ultrasound, Joshua agreed to head up as soon as class was over on Thursday and get in early Friday morning.

We arrived around 3:00 am, but Rosalind was so thrilled to be out of the car and see Nonny and Poppy that she didn't calm down for over an hour. After a bit of rest she was up and ready to play... and make pretzels. All told, I think we made them four different times. They're yummy. ;)

Making pretzels at Joshua's family's with Hannah, Mac and Daniel (who didn't want his picture taken).

Having a wee bit too much fun...

Mac, hard at work :)

Over at my family's home, we made some more. :)

The girls: Rose, Heidi, Kathryn, Lydia, me and Bekka

A day at the zoo

It's funny how having a child changes everything. I used to think zoos incredibly boring places but ever since Rosalind started to notice animals, I've been dying to take her to the zoo. Even the sound of birds chirping in the morning is enough to excite her!

So when my friend Candace asked if we wanted to go to the zoo, I was quite thrilled. Even if my face and arms are feeling the effects now, yesterday was the perfect day to go to the zoo. Sunny and warm with a cool breeze.

Rosalind in the wagon with "'Phia and Ellie"

It often took Rosalind a few seconds to find the animal, but as soon as she did would laugh, clap her hands and say "yay".

Rosalind and Ellie.

Irons and marriage

My mother is a garage sale queen. As our wedding Joshua and I were so blessed to find furniture and kitchen appliances and pots and pans.... But there was one thing I knew I didn't want to get used: an iron. Growing up we had gone through so many used ones that I just wanted a good new one that would last.

Joshua and I were talking about things we needed for the house and I was just going to tell him that we had to get a new iron, when he said, "Darling, there's one thing that we simply must get used."

"Really, what?"

"An iron."

"Oh! uh, why?"

"We've gone through so many new irons and they just keep on breaking. I figure if we buy 20 irons at a garage sale for a dollar each, at least one of them would work for more than a year!"

"Oh." I really couldn't refute that argument, so we started hunting for an iron. Not only did we find a used one, we found one that was made right after they invented electrical outlets. ;) And for another two and a half years it has worked wonderfully.

Then, a couple weeks ago, I noticed that the more I ironed, the longer it was taking the wrinkles to leave the shirt. I felt the iron. Cold. "It bit the dust at last!" I thought.

But no, it wasn't the iron, just the electrical outlet. The iron lives on...

Welcome March!

We headed up to Missouri for Christmas break hoping for at least one good snowfall while we there, but there wasn't even a dusting of snow. Just before heading back south, my sweet little brother-in-law pulled out a bag from the freezer--with a chunk of snow in it.

"So Rosalind knows what snow looks like," he said. ;)

Little did we expect to actually see any once we got back home...especially not in March.

Rosalind didn't quite now what to think. At first she was terrified and refused to touch it. But after a while she started helping us make a snowman...

Not exactly the purest snowman ever, but hey, it's a snowman. :)

She definitely overcame her fear in the end!

Pickles...

Before writing it off as simply a pregnant craving, let me explain that the first time I tried this was before getting married with my family at friend's house. Of the twenty or so people gathered 'round, not one was pregnant and everyone liked it. So there! It is perfectly normal to crave pickles on pizza, right?!

Growing up...

"Where phome?" --the most frequently heard question around here. This little chick loves talking on the phone (or staring entranced if anyone is actually on the other end). Now it's dolly's turn to talk.

She loves wearing scarves!

"I'm a big girl, don't you think?" Definitely ready to be a big sis. :)

Excuses, excuses

I began the year with high hopes. In addition to a myriad of other accomplishments, I was going to post something at least once a day. Right.

Shortly after getting back from Missouri for Christmas, I found myself completely lacking in energy. Five minutes in front of the computer screen was nearly enough to put me to sleep and the moment Rosalind laid down all I could think of was my pillow. Hmmmm.... a cold maybe? or maybe...?

After many months of disappointment and growing worry that maybe the complications after Rosalind was born would make it difficult to have another child, I really didn't want another negative test. Maybe it will wear off.

But no, several more days passed in which it was all I could do make dinner, keep clothes clean and prevent Rosalind from decorating the living room with shampoo. Time for another trip to Dollar General. [If it weren't for their dollar pregnancy tests, I would have spent a mini fortune by now ;)]

And this time we were not disappointed. So there's my excuse for not posting of late... I've been dreaming about little fingers, soft silky cheeks and God's goodness to me instead.