Baby On Board

We've made it to 12 weeks with no problems. Imagine that! I'm really starting to show already which is a good sign, but this in-between stage can get annoying. I just look fat, not pregnant. :P The due date is November 10th, although I will deliver a week earlier than that via C-section. No Brian, I can't hold this one in until the 25th. We'll have lots of ultrasound pictures to share in the coming months--at least 8 or so. My goal is to have Natalie sleeping through the night, or at least sleeping in her own bed through the night by the time this baby gets here. I have 6 months to accomplish that!

Team Natter B!

It's hard to believe that this is what Natalie once endured! I memorized everything about that adorable little face. I remember thinking at one point that I needed to burn it into my brain in case anything happened to her. It's a horrible thing to think, but it's reality when your baby is in the NICU! So here is the requested info about our March of Dimes March for Babies walk in Minot. If you can join us for the walk, we'd love to have you here. Let me know so I can get a team shirt for you! And, if you can, please help us reach our goal of $3000 as a team. You can visit the link below and donate with credit card or check. It's really easy and also secure. And like I said on Natalie's CaringBridge site, no donation is too small. Anything you can contribute is very much appreciated! Thanks from the three of us!
http://www.marchforbabies.org/personal_page.asp?w=201021835&u=teamnatterb

Awww...Ain't He Cute?

He just needs the little hat to complete the picture. This picture on the left was taken as we met the newest member of the Lori Olson family--Abby the cat (below).

Natalie loves cats, and they seem to love her; but since Perry is allergic to cats, it's nice that Grandma and Grandpa Olson have cats at their place! Abby reminds me of my cat when I was a child, Butterscotch.

Natalie's working hard to learn how to eat from a spoon! For the past few days she's done really well with minimal gagging!

In other exciting news, we have been named the ambassador family in Minot for this year's March of Dimes March for Babies walk, which is April 4th. I'll have details later on how you can help us raise money...we're hoping to raise $3000 this year as a team. I know we can do it! The gender poll ended in a tie...6 for boy and 6 for girl (2 Dolphins). I had a feeling that would happen!

Wowee!

I didn't realize all of the wonderful things you can put on this Web site! I hope you'll take part in the 'name that gender' poll. Truth be told, I voted boy AND girl, but I think God will spite Scott and give him a girl because He knows it will be a lot more difficult to drag a girl out to some tree grove to spot for deer. Scott's going to be the guest of honor at tea parties instead! Also, I've added Pac-Man to the Web site. Enjoy!

Overworked Mom :)

I realize I haven't posted in over a month. You may be thinking to yourself, "Melissa is unemployed, she must have all the time in the world to do anything she wants!" To that I say---HA! Not in this household! Natalie always keeps me on my toes...and she thinks it's hilarious!

"My Kind of Town...Chicago Is"

Hello all...sorry it has taken me so long to get an update on our Chicago trip, but for some reason, I couldn't sign in to my Web site from our computer in the hotel. Anyway, here's the story about our trip to the Windy City. On Saturday, we got out on the early morning (or middle of the night) flight, since we were scared the storm would cause our 11am flight to be cancelled. We had a short layover in Minneapolis and arrived at our hotel just after noon.

We had a great day on Saturday, walking around, shopping and eating DEEP DISH PIZZA....YUM!! We ate at a place called Pizza Due, which is in the basement of this Victorian-style house in the middle of downtown Chicago. It was so good...we stumbled across it after trying to get in to some of the more popular pizza places tourists often visit.

That night, after some shopping, we went to a place north of Downtown called "Twin Anchors." We both agree that was the highlight of our trip! It was this little dive of a place that is known for its ribs...it's also known for its frequent visits from Frank Sinatra! It was such a cool place, and although we had second thoughts about staying once we walked inside, we're so glad we stayed, because we met some really nice people and had great food! Below is a picture of "Twin Anchors."

On Sunday, it was back to more shopping, stopping by the Christkindlmarket, which was very busy, and Macy's. It was fun wandering around, sipping hot chocolate and enjoying our time sans a crying child! We then had lunch a the Italian Village...another nice restaurant.

Monday morning rolled around, and we headed out, bright and early, to the hospital. At this point, I was pretty scared. I got all of my pre-op stuff done, but wasn't settled down until Dr. Haney showed up. He is SO incredibly nice and encouraging. I definitely felt safe about the procedure. Less than 30 minutes later, I was in the OR, and the rest of the day was pretty much a blur. Luckily, I was able to have general anesthesia rather than a spinal...and the pain control was just the same. Dr. Haney talked to Perry after the procedure and told him everything went just as planned, and it was a textbook procedure. Yay! On Tuesday morning, Dr. Haney stopped by early in the morning to say "hi" and tell me the details of the procedure. I'm still in pain today from it, but I have drugs. The more I walk, the better I'll feel. The only thing I can't do it lift Natalie. I can hold her on my lap, but I'm not supposed to lift anything over 15 pounds for another week. We'll see if that happens! :) We got back on Wednesday afternoon and were so happy to see our little pumpkin. Today, I'm up in Sherwood, where mom & dad can help me out. I hope by Christmas there's no more pain!!

Nervous!

Well, it's only a couple of days until we fly out to Chicago...and the nerves are starting to set in for me. I think it's the fear of the unknown that has me so worried. I trust Dr. Haney, but I've never met him in person, never been to this hospital, never had an incision, etc... I've chosen to have a spinal versus general anesthesia, only because the pain medication can be administered more quickly with the spinal...so I'm nervous about what I'll hear during the surgery. I think I'll just have to bring my iPod. It's supposed to last about an hour and a half total, so that's not too bad. By the way, updates on my surgery and how we're doing will be posted on this Web site (not Natalie's) if you're curious! I'm trying to finish up my classes a week early (finals are supposed to be next week) so I'm really busy this week packing, studying, cleaning, and all that good stuff. I don't know what condition I'll be in when I get home, so I really want to get most Christmas stuff done now. This should be interesting!

Here is something I'm really excited to see in Chicago this weekend. It's called the Christkindlmarket...and it's a German celebration in downtown Chicago with German products like Hummel ornaments and cuckoo clocks. They also have all kinds of German food (yum!).

I suppose I should get back to homework. Pray that the weather is good enough that we can get out of here on Saturday morning!