The last week & a half have been quite interesting here in the Heygood household. For a few hours last week, my blood pressure dropped & I felt like I was going to pass out. Then as soon as that resolved, I got some sharp abdominal pains that I hadn’t had before. Consulting my favorite personal physician (Erick), I was advised to go to Labor & Delivery to make sure everything was OK. Fortunately, Erick was getting off work at that time so he could take care of Joshua while I was examined (which was especially good since one of the nurses was a stickler for following the “no kids allowed” policy). After being there for over three hours, the OBs decided that I needed to be admitted for observation overnight. That was not expected at all! That was the first night that Joshua & I had spent apart since he was a few days old & in the hospital. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep because I was worried about my little guy (well, all three of them, for that matter!). The next morning, I was cleared to go & hopefully I won’t have to go back to Labor & Delivery until it’s time for Tiny to make his appearance!
My dad came back up last week (at this point, poor Dad has probably spent more time up here in the last five months than he has away from here!), & we took Joshua to the Tacoma Children’s Museum to celebrate my birthday. The highlight of the day for Josh was that we parked near the Tacoma Dome & took the light rail to the museum. It was only a few miles, but he was very excited to ride the train. He waved at the drivers coming & going, & was pleased when they waved back each time. He had a great time at the museum, although I think he was a bit noisy for my dad’s taste (Joshua still hasn’t quite caught on to that whole “indoor voices” concept yet & he loved hearing the loud pounding of the toy hammer on the metal & hard plastic objects they had for the kiddos to bang with the tools). For dinner, Erick was even able to get off work in time to join us—yeah!
Joshua had his semi-annual cardiology visit last week & got a clean bill of health. Right up to the point when it was his turn at the clinic, he was actually looking forward to seeing Dr. Puntel, his cardiologist. He was even excited in the morning, but when the nurse called his name to go back for vital checks, things changed—no longer was it a good thing to be at the hospital. He measured in at 38 pounds & 42” (as he slouched, like his daddy does). Although he wasn’t excited anymore, Joshua behaved really well. He pointed to his heart so Dr. Puntel would know where to listen, & Joshua asked him the question he’d been waiting to ask: “do you wear Thomas the Train underwear like me?” For those wondering, no, Dr. Puntel does not. Although a little disappointed, Joshua then proudly showed him that he had on Thomas big boy underwear. Gotta love him!
It’s hard to believe it’s almost 2010! We had a great Christmas & I look forward to all the great things to happen next year. We went to a couple of holiday parties for Erick’s work (Mom was able to babysit Joshua for one of them while we went so we could actually have some adult conversation for a change!). With as much as Erick’s at the hospital all the time, it’s nice to get to meet some of the people he works with. Everyone always has such nice things to say about him & how hard he’s working—go Erick! 
It’s been nice that Erick has been able to spend a few days at home with us, even though he’s had a lot of work stuff to do. He took his big licensing exam last Tuesday & Wednesday, so it’s a big relief to have that done with—now we just have to wait & wait for the results, which is always nerve-wracking.
Today was our fetal echocardiogram & we were sooo relieved to find out that there does not appear to be anything structurally wrong with Tiny’s heart!!! Dr. Puntel (Joshua’s awesome cardiologist & one of Erick’s attendings) agreed to perform the echo, which is usually just done by the ultrasound techs & radiologists, with cardiology reviewing the findings if anything abnormal is detected. We were very appreciative that he took time from his busy schedule to do this for us & it went a long ways to help me relax & know that everything possible has been looked at. This does not mean that there is 100% nothing wrong, of course, but it means that anything major should have been present & they spent quite some time looking around. It was nice to see the bloodflow cross as it left his heart, since that’s exactly what Joshua’s did heart not do because of his transposition (it seemed so easy to detect that it makes me wonder how it was so completely missed with Josh!). So that means that this little guy won’t have a heart condition to slow him down at all—I’m in for big trouble if Joshua’s hyperactivity is any indication of how active his little brother might be! As far as the pregnancy goes, there has been no lifting of my activity restrictions, but at least no new ones added. The doctors are still confident that things will improve in the next month or so, which I hope is correct. I go back next month for another scan so we’ll see…
We had a nice Thanksgiving with family for the first time in many years. Erick even had a four day weekend! The three of us went to my aunt & uncle’s home where we had an almost-complete family reunion. With my small family, it was still a small affair—only 11 people (not including Tiny)—but there was only one person missing from the Royer side. It was especially nice to visit with my oldest cousin Kurt since I hadn’t seen him since I was a kid & therefore Erick hadn’t gotten to meet him yet & I had never met his teenage daughter, Kelsey, either. Joshua enjoyed having everyone’s attention, as usual. He spent a good portion of the evening playing with my aunt’s & uncle’s wooden toy train, Russian nesting dolls, & a big stuffed teddy bear puppet. His Thanksgiving meal was his usual peanut butter sandwich, thanks to his picky eating habits (but saving room for ice cream, of course!). Aunt Janet even made a tofurkey for me!
We had our big anatomy ultrasound this morning. The ultrasound tech did an extensive scan & from all she & the doctor could tell, the baby is completely healthy—yeah!!! And it’s a boy. This active little guy already loves to show off his boy parts, just like his big brother does now. From what checking she did of Tiny’s heart, it seems to be great, although I will have a fetal echo in another month to take a better look. The results of my integrated screen also came back negative for any genetic defects, so that was also quite a relief. While it’s not definitive, it sure made us feel a lot better about things. The complications haven’t gone away at all yet, but the OB team is still thinking that it should soon, & I hope they’re right. Because of everything that’s gone on, I’m now going to be followed by the complicated OB team & maternal-fetal medicine docs.
If you ask Joshua about his Halloween costume, he won’t just tell you he was Mickey Mouse—he’ll say that he was “the cutest Mickey Mouse ever.” And he was! Rather than buying a pre-made costume, my mom helped me come up with the perfect Mickey outfit for our little guy. The biggest challenge was trying to find Mickey’s big, yellow shoes. Mom solved that by finding a pair of Crocs on eBay (we quickly realized they’re not easy to come by in the fall/winter months!). Erick, my dad, & I took Joshua trick-or-treating on Halloween morning at the mall, complete with a costume parade with Geoffrey, the Toy-R-Us Giraffe. After naptime, Erick, Joshua/Mickey, & my dad went down to Ft. Lewis for a Harvest Festival. I’m still feeling sick from this pregnancy & have very little energy to do much so I’m glad Josh didn’t miss out because I wasn’t up to going. The guys had a great time & Joshua came home with plenty of treats. After dinner, Mickey & his daddy went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood while my daddy & I handed out candy to the other kiddos around here.
If all goes as planned, Joshua is going to finally be a big brother in April!!! Yes, I am 11 weeks pregnant. Yeah! When Joshua & I were down in Oregon, I felt really sick but I just attributed that to a stomach bug that’s been going around. Apparently that wasn’t quite it. When I went to the doc to get checked out after we got home, he did an ultrasound that not only revealed a baby but it was a baby who already had a strong heartbeat! Without going into too many details, it is considered a fairly high-risk pregnancy & it’s had more than it’s share of complications & scares already, but the OBs have said that, although we still need to be cautiously optimistic, they don’t see any immediate worries. I need to take it easy & rest a lot, which unfortunately means that Joshua & I won’t be able to make our California trip tomorrow like planned. The docs didn’t specifically forbid the trip but they did give me a long list of things I can’t do & I don’t see how that would be possible traveling with my active little 3-year-old on my own, especially since the goal was to get together with friends & family members all over Southern California. I’m sure you’ll all understand but I still feel bad. If things improve, hopefully Joshua & I can make it down in a few months.
Joshua & I went to Oregon for a long weekend with the excuse of going to the Oregon State Fair. I used to go to the fair every year for as long as I can remember but haven’t been at ‘home’ at the end of summer since before starting my senior year of high school. It’s hard to believe it’s been 17 years—literally half a lifetime for me! I was looking forward to taking Joshua there (as well as having their famous elephant ears & scones that I’ve craved for years!). We entered the fairgrounds near where the rides are so that’s where we started out. Fortunately, yesterday was ‘kid day,’ so rides were only $1.50 each, compared to the usual $4.00 & up! We ended up getting more than 10 tickets & they were gone so quickly. The 2 of us went on the ferris wheel & a mini roller coaster together & Joshua went on a bunch of cute little rides all by himself. He rode a motorcycle, flew an airplane, drove a delivery truck & racecar, & went on a carousel (of course!).
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