Baby Update

This week we had some very positive follow-up appointments for my arthritis and the baby's heart.  Ever since I've been on the higher dose of Prednisone, the swelling and pain have gone down significantly and I have been so grateful.  On Wednesday, Geoff and I saw the Rheumatologist and immediately after went for the baby's echo-cardiogram check-up.  All four heart chambers looked fantastic, the heart rate was wonderful, and the baby is even a little ahead of schedule in size.  I won't mind if the little guy decides to slow down a bit to get back on track instead of ahead on the growth chart...

But we got another little peek at Baby Woodhouse in this last ultrasound which got us more and more excited for our bundle of joy.

On the left of the photo is a close-up of the baby's face.

Even though everything is looking tip-top for this little one, the doctors will still be monitoring the heart every two weeks to make sure all is well and wonderful.  Geoff and I are so grateful for modern technology that enables us to know what the best steps are for this baby and pray all will continue to go so smoothly.

What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar?

Geoff decided to extend Mother's Day into Mother's Day Week and brought home a few surprises.  On Tuesday he pulled out a package of some delicious Klondike Bars and we decided to enjoy the warmer weather and eat our treats out on the porch after dinner.  Innocent enough activity, right?  Everything was going great until I stepped out on the porch and closed the door.  In most normal homes, this would be a very normal occurrence, and people would continue to enjoy a normal evening with the perks of a Klondike Bar.  But the problem is, Geoff and I don't live in a home with a normal door.

For whatever reason, the previous owners thought it would be a good idea to install a door knob that has a locking mechanism for the outside latch.  If you turn the inside knob to the left, the outside latch locks in place and it is impossible to open the door from the outside, regardless if you have the key and the only way to fix the problem is from the inside by turning the door knob to the right.  So you all know what happens now, right?

The door was opened to the left, locking the outside latch and I didn't even think to check if the latch was locked before I shut that door good and tight.  The minute I heard the door latch, I immediately panicked because I realized I didn't first check the latch before closed.  Sure enough, Geoff and I were locked out.  Had we opened any windows to air out our house?  Of course not.  So all windows were sealed shut.

Our garage door does not have any type of key pad to code our way in, so that wasn't even an option.  After yanking on the door a few times, popping out some screens, and removing window well covers to inspect all accessible windows, we decided to call a lock smith.  Our options didn't seem too promising.  So I then did what any respectable girl would do...call Dad.  When I had first moved into this place, Dad had unlatched this locking mechanism, but unfortunately things had slipped back into place since---but I thought maybe Dad would remember SOME type of trick we could use.  (I mean, come on, doesn't everyone remember every little detail about every little thing you look at--even if it was years ago?)  Dad tried to be as helpful as he could be over 1,000 miles away, but we had done such a thorough job locking ourselves out, that even his ideas and tips didn't work.  Next step, call our neighbor, Kettie, to borrow some tools.  Kettie provided us with a hammer, butter knife, and screwdriver.  We took apart part of the door frame in hopes to get straight access to the door jamb, no luck.  We shimmied that knife around as much as possible, bent it around with no success.  Finally after an hour and a half of trying everything we could think of, we decided we had two last options.  Call another locksmith or break a window.  I called a locksmith to find out what he charged for a trip out and explained our little predicament.  He thought he could get us in and it would cost us $40.  Sold.  I was willing to fork over $40 to avoid replacing a window and getting back into our home.

Right after I hung up, Geoff decided to turn into MacGyver.

There was one little screw at the bottom of the outside latch... 

Geoff took it out the screw and in his 'rage' swung the knob to the left which popped the locking mechanism out and our door swung open!
 

(Picture is a reenactment.  Not actual night or event.)

I stood there in absolute disbelief as Geoff quickly called the locksmith back to cancel our request.  We were in our house!  Oh, it never felt so good to be inside--especially since it was done with no damage and no fee!

And what of the Klondike Bars?  No, we didn't let them melt or go to waste.  Right after I realized what I had done.  Geoff shrugged his shoulders and said, "Let's enjoy our ice cream first, and then figure out how to get back in."  Needless to say, I had a hard time 'enjoying' the treat at the time, but I'm glad Geoff is so great about keeping his cool---even when his wife puts him in a not-so-great-predicament.  Thanks for saving the day, Geoff!

Spring Break...the calm before the storm

As pathetic as it is, I am just now blogging about the last week of March...and will include some adventures that followed.  Yes, teachers are spoiled when it comes to 'breaks'.  We have Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer Breaks and boy, do I enjoy them.  This Spring I was excited to get on top of things such as oil changes, hair cuts, cleaning, organizing, and of course spending time with Geoff.  We were fortunate to have our ultrasound that week and Geoff treated me to a wonderful lunch before our appointment which would allow us to see how our little baby was doing. 

Well, Geoff had planned more than lunch.  For months (okay, almost a year) I had a gift card to a spa sitting on the desk and I just never took the time to make an appointment.  Without my knowledge, Geoff had made an appointment for a full-body massage that was to take place just before our ultrasound!  I was so overwhelmed with his thoughtfulness.  I never had a massage, so I was a little nervous but by the end I felt weightless, it was a wonderful experience.

Geoff and I then got a glimpse into what our little baby was up to.

It was amazing watching this little thing move around and see it's spine, heart, kidneys (so far it looks like there are only two kidneys!), fingers, and adorable profile.  We let the technician know we did not want to find out the gender...we still don't know, but she sure does.  I guess it was pretty obvious, but not to my untrained eyes!  It was a wonderful appointment to see that our little bundle of joy is developing quite wonderfully.

I was glad the weather was beautiful during break because I took advantage of the sunshine and took as many walks as possible.  I tried to run, but decided having a baby bounce on your bladder wasn't the most enjoyable experience.  I'm grateful I got those walks in because things changed pretty quickly in just a few days.

To make a long story short it all started on Thursday of Spring Break where I got a pretty severe Urinary Tract Infection that took me to the ER to be treated.  Shortly thereafter Geoff and I caught a stomach bug---his lasted one awful night but mine decided to stick around a little over a week.  I was finally feeling better when I showed Geoff that the effects of pregnancy were starting to truly manifest themselves in me.  My left foot and my middle finger on my left hand started to swell!  It looked pretty comical, but I wasn't enjoying the pain that accompanied.  I had a regular check-up for our baby where I brought the swelling to the attention of the nurse practitioner.  She immediately stated it was not pregnancy related and I was fortunate to get an appointment that morning to see the Primary Care Physician.  He thought my left foot was broken but the X-rays showed all my bones were perfectly sound.  I left his office with no answers.  The swelling and pain increased and finally after blood tests and my doctor consulting with other professionals, the diagnosis was Reactive Inflammatory Arthritis.  It's an arthritis that is brought on by infections/viruses.  The treatment plan was to be on a very low dose of steroids, but it helped very little and swelling began in my right foot as well.  Just this last week Geoff took me to see a Rheumatologist who confirmed I was diagnosed correctly, but I needed to be placed on a more intense dosage of steroids.  It's only been two days and already I see and feel progress.

Yes, I was a nerd and took pictures of the swelling.  This is right when the swelling started, you can barely notice anything wrong, right?

Here are my feet about two weeks later.  Geoff and I were making plans to set up a 'freak show booth' to earn money. Ha ha!

I'm grateful the swelling stayed in just one finger.  It looks awful, but I could at least still use my hand for many things.

Meanwhile, more monitoring has to be done on the baby.  Because of some antibody levels in my blood and the medication I am on, some risks (but so far it looks like all risks are LOW) exist for our little one.  We are grateful for modern technology and medicine and hope through the monitoring processes we will continue to receive good news that our little one is okay.  We are thankful to have the opportunity to have a family and pray we take the necessary steps to do this as healthily as possible.

Geoff, of course, has been a constant support.  Because of the difficulty I've had in walking, he has prepared dinners, cleaned the house, done laundry, gone grocery shopping--you know, in all the spare time he doesn't have.  The poor guy had no idea what he was getting himself into when he married me, but he has been a tremendous trooper the entire time.