February

I apologize that I haven't been updating as frequently as I would like, but we just moved across town. Between cleaning, painting, and moving as well as working 38 hours a week and taking Noah to his speech appointments, I feel like I couldn't keep up. The new house is a four bedroom, one bath two story house. I don't know how we could have done it with my mom's help. She was the driving force behind all that painting. I'm hoping we can finish all the unpacking this weekend, and to finish decorating.
Noah and Matt are doing ok, considering they deal with a crazy pregnant woman everyday. Matt is finishing up his timber sale sights, and Noah has been catching on in speech, but has been getting a croupy type cough. He's rather excited by the bunkbeds that Nana and Papa got him though!
My weekend of moving went fairly horrible and I was not thrilled when, after working for seven hours, and moving for another seven, we decided to go to bed, and come to find the cat took a big crap on Matt's pillow. This was followed by a screamed expletive,followed by my bursting into tears. Upon hearing my shouted choice word, Matt came running up the stairs.
"What's wrong?" asked Matt
All I could do was point to the bed, sobbing. I had never wanted, no, needed, sleep more at that moment.
Matt just hugged me for awhile before telling me this
"At least it was on my side of the bed".
This wonderfull husband of mine cleaned up the poop, put the comforter in the wash and made up the bed with new bedding. I owe my husband BIG.

It seems as if the pets want to send me into pre-term labor, or at the very least, have a small heart attack.

• Grover decided to chew my crocs into a million little peices. I had the left sole and the middle part of the right one left. Also decided to tip over a full garbage can, and escape into the kitchen.
• Sam(my brother's yellow lab) broke out of Zach's room while we were on a date and peed all over Noah's trucks, and took a massive crap in his room. He then took a crap in the basement, in a fifeteen minute interval of being let outside.
• Cleveland decided that gravity does not pertain to him, and manages to claw my furniture to peices as he defies the laws of gravity. Also refer to story above about worst moving weekend.

Im glad to have the next three days off of work, but I know it will be filled with my house being used as a toilet, despite how many attempts we have of going outside, and of random objects being used as chew toys. We don't need to worry about the cat using our bed as a bathroom, since no pets are allowed upstairs.

I had my monthly checkup today. The glucose test was gross as usual, but I passed it, along with my hemoglobin levels being stable. I'm measuring at 27 weeks, even though I'm 26 weeks. I can hardly beleive that we will be welcoming the baby in 14 weeks. We have the rnursery almost all set up, and we are looking forward to having the shower. I'm in a constant state of hunger, and then a constant state of indigestion. I don't know wether it's an effect of Coreg or the pregnancy, but I'm also sleeply all the time. My back is hurting, and peeing all the time is starting to be a constant theme. I am not one of those women who enjoy pregnancy...time to get supper started now, Im hoping to remember to post the ultrasound pictures on the 15th after our perinatologist appointment.

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Catching Up

I have been so busy since the last post, I feel that I have so much to tell, and not enough time to do it in.
Our appointment with the perinatologist went pretty well, and it was really intresting hearing what the genetic counsler had to say. Everything is going very well so far, and they aren't concerned about the Coreg. Baby Wap looked really well on the ultrasound, and we are most definetly having a boy. Cardiology went really well too. My echo came back looking as good as possible. We will have ultraounds and echocardiograms every 6 weeks, and will do a transfer of care to Abott Northwester Hospital from Grand Itasca at 36 weeks. I will be glad when we don't need to drive down to the cities once a month.
We are also moving to a diffrent house across town. My mom, grandma, and my little brother came up this past weekend to help us paint the new house. It really needed a bit of sprucing up. Matt and I also spent about four hours cleaning the kitchen up. The landlord has redone the bathroom as well. We have our nursery decorations and crib set already, and I'm excited to get the nursery set up.
Noah has been a very busy boy, and will now be going to speech three to four times a week. We canceled the cable, and I think that has helped his speech tremendously. Seeing Pam and Jeff will be a big boost, and he loves to chatter away. He needs to pronounce the half end of words and letter sounds like "k" and "g". He seems very excited about the new baby coming. He talks to my belly and talks about when I poop out the baby. He is recognizing most of his alphabet and plays well with the cat. His new thing is" Can I help you?" which is more like " Im going to help you right now, wether you appreciate my efforts or not" Also he loves to ask about your emotions, like " mom happy?" or "mad at me" which is him being mad at himself, usually when he has an accident.
Matt has been happy about actually getting out of the office for work. He has been going to one of his timber sales lately and has helped a few co-workers a few times with their timber sales. He is very excited for baby, and is loves to look at the baby gear. He has the car seat picked out, as well as test driving a stroller made to hold a baby and can allow Noah to stand or sit in the back.
Well Noah is wanting a cuddle for night-night, so it's time to get off the computer.

Baby Wap!

Kira was right, it's a boy!

Baby Wap is measuring big, 15 oz. @ 20 weeks. He's moving alot, and making himself known with somersaults and kicks. Noah is warming up to baby already, giving my tummy kisses, and talking to his little brother. He even tries to play Transformers with him!

Thanksgiving Weekend.

This past weekend was so very fun, but incredibly exhausting. We went to my parents house for Thanksgiving, and we got there around two in the afternoon. ( Since my wonderfull boss let me go early!) We saw all my aunts and uncles, and cousins. Noah had a great time playing with his (second) cousin Abraham, and playing with his uncle Ethan. We ate lots, and when we couldn't think we could eat anymore, we ate some pie. Friday we decided to go shopping. Even though it was black Friday, Matt wanted to go to get Guitar Hero. They didn't have it at the original store that we saw the sale ad in, but at Toys R Us. We finished Noah's Christmas shopping that day, and managed to get home by one in the afternoon. After a lunch of leftovers with relatives, we relaxed ( or, if your Matt, played Guitar Hero for two hours), then we got ready for the Santa Parade!

I looked forward to this the most, because Noah knows who Santa is now, or as he calls him, "Ho-Ho!" Noah had alot of fun at the parade, even though the sirens scared him. He got lots of candy, and was so excited to see Santa! He called over the heads of the other children( since he was on my shoulders) "Ho- Ho!, Hi Ho-Ho!" waving like a little nut. After the parade, we got to meet Santa at the legion. Noah got a little snack of a hotdog, chips, and some punch, as well as getting a little gift from the big man himself for sitting on his lap.

We stayed and relaxed until Monday, where Matt and I went down to the cities for my appointment. Noah stayed with Nana and Papa. We got to the cities and checked into our hotel. After Matt researched what there is to do in downtown Minneapolis, we decided to walk to Nicollette Mall and go into Macy's. We explored their Christmas room, where we bought some ornaments for our tree this year, and then we went to the 8th floor. This years story was A Day in the Life of an Elf. It was a blast, and I wished so much that Noah could have came with. They had a room to meet Santa and Mrs.Claus's bakery, and saw the toy store. Then it was off to get some supper! We ate, then called it a night.
The next day(Tuesday) was my cardiology appointent. We found out that we will be delivering at Abott NW, that I have an echocardiogram every 6 weeks, and put onto a new medication, Coreg. I'm glad that I'm being taken care of so well at this hospital. Baby Wap has been moving up a storm, and Matt has got to feel baby move a few times. We will here about the perinatologist we will see today, and then we will know about what my cardiologist and OB think we should do as far as delivery and such. My cardiologist is a great guy, saying we aren't treating just one patient, but two. He said that instead of just waiting to get a shock from the ICD that we are going to be proactive as possible to prevent any sort of myapathy or right ventricle heart failure. Also by delivering down there, if anything should go wrong, the heart institute is upstairs, and the children's hospital is down the block.

Overall a fun and exciting weekend, with a little insight to things down the road!

Hullabulo!

I had a prenatal appointment today. I have to say, it could have gone better. I found out that I may have to deliver in Abott Northwestern Hospital( in Minneapolis), because of my heart condition, and my connection there with the Minneapolis Heart Institute. My family doctor is over seeing my pregnancy currently, due to the fact that she has other patients with ARVD. ( In a town the size of Grand Rapids, this is remarkable, since ARVD occurs 1:10,000 in the United States.) I get to see a Dr. Feldman, the lead Heart Failure specialist. My regular cardiologist, Dr. Katsiyiannis, who is into the electrophysiology/Heart Rhythm Management, trained under him, so with these two I should be in a good postion for the best possible care. I still worry, though, since pregnancy isn't a very common thing for people in my position. Never the less, I'm excited about baby Wap, and everything else seemed to be going fine. Measuring a little big, and with a fast heartrate and the bouts of morning sickness, Dr. Romanik told me to tell Matt" It's a girl". Hahaha! I love old wives tales! Noah had his H1N1 vaccination today, and we had the public health nurse come to our house, which was good. Now we are just sitting here, watching old cartoons. Nothing else has really happened though, just Matt's car breaking down last week. I'm hoping things start to slow down, after the trip to Minneapolis. It's going to be a long Holiday season I'm afraid...

Baby Wap- 11 weeks.

Baby Wap- My mom swears it's a boy, but I think she only says this because she wants us to name it "Willy", as in "Willy Wappler".*shudders*

Catching Up!

It's been awhile since my last post. So many things have been happening, and I haven't had time or really the inclination up until now to post anything, despite how much there is to tell. Our wedding was a blast, despite my embarassment over a certain relative's inibriated state, even before the wedding started! We don't have pictures yet of the wedding, but we would really like to thank everyone that came to celebrate with us!

First things on the agenda is Matt and I are expecting a baby Wap on May 10th 2010. We are pretty excited by this, even though I don't think Noah is. Everytime we ask Noah is he wants a baby brother or sister, he tells us "Baby Brown Dog". We plan on delivering at St.Cloud hospital, despite it being over a two hour drive for us. Reasons for this are medical as well as personal.( My mother works on the L & D floor as a R.N. at St.Cloud hospital!)

Second on the list is Matt and I are trying to buy a house. No such luck though yet...

and Third of all is that we adopted a six month old cat from the Humane Society. He is a brown tabby, and has little ear tufts.We discovered he drinks coffee and likes salsa con queso. He looks really wild, but is really sweet, and Noah and the kitty have bonded very well. ( So well in fact, that they chase each other around the house playing bad guys, and the cat has taken to sleeping under Noah's bed.)

Otherwise Halloween went alright, I was fighting of a severe chest cold/ sinus infection, and had a headache for three days. I don't think Noah felt very well either, as that he was,for once, cuddly and wanted to lay down with me while I tried to rest out the cold. Matt has a cough, but is otherwise ok, if not compltely stressed out over house hunting, and having his car break down. ( They think it might be the fuel pump, but Matt and I talked that it didn't sound or feel like it was going out. We are crossing our fingers that it is just the filter.)

I will post some ultrasound pictures of the baby on here, as well as our cat. ( Who is named Jax).

Otherwise, I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I work Thanksgiving day from 6a-2:30p, and Christmas eve 8a-2:30p, but I don't work the following weekends, so I feel rather blessed that my check will still be good, and that I still get to spend time with family. Thanksgiving this year is at my parents, and Christmas will be spent at Matt's parent's house. I just love the Holiday season, spending time with family, and seeing the joy on Noah's face as he opens up his gifts from everyone, and his reaction Christmas day to Santa's present.

Which reminds me...Noah is almost potty trained! We are going about it slowly, but surely, and so far, Noah really gets it. He's so funny when he can't pee, he gets worried and tells us "All out of pee!" It seems he has more successes and far less accidents. We aren't putting alot of pressure on him, but letting him take it slowly( since the American Academy of Pediactrics subscribes to the idea of potty training over the course of six months time.)
Work continues to go well, I now work 36 hours a week, which is awesome, and really helps out with the bills. I'm excited to use some money for baby and Christmas shopping, even though, so far, we have no idea of what we will be getting Noah.

I think that is about it for the going ons in the Wappler household.