one more post about etsy and the girls

they're getting slippers for Christmas.
I ordered from BugsandDaisies this time. A custom-ish order and they're awesome. I love them. They're perfect for my elephant and my buggy babies.

:side note: do you see how little those bug shoes are?! It's hard to believe that Belle's feet were ever that little and that Norah's will be.

etsy purchases

I've been spending a lot of time on Etsy lately.

I ordered a hospital hat for Jordan, and loved it. Unfortunately, that seller has been taking a lot of time away so I had to find a new one if I wanted a hat for Norah.

This time, I took a chance and ordered from Addie Kakes Kreations. Jordan got a t-shirt and Norah got her hospital hat. Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the transaction. Andrea was very quick to reply to my questions and did a great job keeping me up to date on the status of my order.

Belle's shirt:


Norah's hat:

catch up time again

Jordan went to the ophthalmologist on Monday. Her right eye has been drifting ever since she scratched her cornea, so I wanted a professional to tell me that she was fine. The poor girl has had more visits to that office than most kids would in the first 10 years of their life! She's fine. It's normal-ish. It could be caused by the scratch to her cornea delaying a bit of eye development, but at this point, her vision is where it should be and there doesn't appear to be any lasting damage from the scratch or muscle damage. She goes back in January for a follow up.

I had an OB appointment today.
I'm up 5lbs from the last one... with shoes and a full bladder. Whatever. My shoes and full bladder do not equal 5 lbs so I know I'm up something and that means I'm doing alright. Norah's heart rate was in the 130's and she's measuring 1-2weeks ahead (by fundal height), but that's still within normal range.

Everything looks great and it really will be a normal pregnancy from here on out ::knock wood::

Norah got a present on Friday

and I got a good 20 minutes of crying in before I could write a thank you note.

I'm beyond blessed to have the support of a group of amazingly strong, supportive, honest and loving women. One of which took the time out of her day to send along a little gift.

The babylegs are adorable, but her simple note touched my heart and brought me to tears. She wrote, "I believe in miracles, and I believe in baby Norah" and just thinking about it, I'm in tears again. I can never thank her enough for that. For the prayers, for being a friend and for believing in my daughter - especially when it's been so hard for me to believe that she'll actually be here this year.
I'm sure she'll have a laugh at my thank you card that must say thank you eleventybillion times b/c I just can't articulate how much her thoughtfulness means to me.
The babylegs and the note are put away for now, but my fall baby will wear them proudly and that note will always serve as a reminder for us of what the journey to having baby Norah was about and the support we received during it.

Thank you, Cate. Thank you so very much. (you can count these are thank yous eleventybillion-one & eleventybillion-two).

echo update

I was a little busy tearing up my house for new carpeting yesterday to update when we got home.

Dr. Carpenter is "delighted" at Norah's development. I think that's his favorite word - he said it at least 6 times during my scan. He also said that based on what he saw in May, he never expected to see a healthy, developing baby in July. I think that really hit home for Nick and helped him to understand why I was so hesitant to be overly hopeful.
The only thing that could be seen was a teeny-tiny pocket of fluid near her heart. IF I were any other patient and they weren't looking for problems, they'd think nothing of it and probably wouldn't even make a note of it.
And so, based on everything they've seen at the last u/s in June and the one yesterday...
I'm not longer considered high-risk by the MFM!

Norah's hb was 128 and she's estimated to weigh about 1lb3oz. Apparently, I grow 'em big. We did get to see her on the 3d u/s a couple times and the first time (no there isn't a picture) she looked just like Jordan. JUST LIKE HER. The other times we saw her (when we did get pictures) she had her arms crossed over her face. Silly baby thinks she's allowed to be shy... she has so much to learn!

and the fear returns =/

WTF mate.

Tomorrow I have another fetal echo. I *know* at the last one, Dr. Carpenter said everything looked great but wanted to be absolutely sure when her heart was bigger and easier to see. I was fine until yesterday when I confirmed the appointment. I'm nervous. I know what a difference a few weeks can make.

It seems so silly to be worried about a heart defect at this point. Less than 3 months ago, I was worried about Norah making it at all. Her biggest hurdle has been jumped and now this little one feels just as high. I have no reason to think she has a heart defect. I have every reason to think Dr. Carpenter was 100% right when he said he didn't see anything 5 weeks ago and that this is just a routine follow up.

Sometimes, being a mother is not fun. This worrying shit is for the birds! Only a lifetime of it left though - that's a plus =)

the biggest lesson we learned when buying this house

Was that Belle would absorb everything that was going on. Give her a screwdriver, and she'll find a screw to use it with; a tape measure and she "measures" the walls, table, pretty much everything she can get to; and give her a budget & she'll make sure every dime is accounted for.



She also played with the drill bit and screws for a little while, until she realized she couldn't screw them into the desk. Then it was onto the change. She stacked and sorted and kept showing me each coin. It was to cute not to take a picture of.