4/21/06

I go in for my amniocentesis today. Unfortunately, it takes two weeks to get the results back. They can also do a test which is not conclusive but gives a pretty good idea of whether the baby has Down's Syndrome or not. That one takes 2-4 days. We felt it was improtant to do the amniocentesis, even though there is a slight risk of miscarriage. If we know we can be prepared. So far, the results from the two screening tests are mixed, so we don't have a clear picture of what's going on. As things stand now, we have a 1:42 or 1:56 chance of our baby (Shane, it's definitely a boy) having Down's. THose are pretty high odds for someone with my age and history.

My biggest problem is having a REALLY LONG needle stuck into my abdomen near the baby. Did I mention he's an exhibitionist? A lot like his brother. Why me?

Shane is starting to make his presence known. Not a lot, but every once in a while I am almost positive he's moving. I'm 18 weeks now, so it's the right time to start feeling him kick. I just hope he lays off my nerves.

Yesterday was a bit rough for me. A co-worker who was 7 weeks along lost her baby. It reminded me of my last miscarriage. She was having an ultrasound and they couldn't find the heartbeat, even though they could last week. She's devastated. I know the feeling. There's nothing I or anyone can say to help.

Derek i splanning to have surgery on his knee at the end of May. They are going to repair his ACL, so he will be out for a few weeks. Well, not really out, but on crutches. That won't be much fun for any of us.

Mason has some kind of bacterial skin infection. Don't know where he picked it up, but he should be over it by the time he starts daycare next week. He seemed to like the daycare people, so I expect he will be happy.

Alexis started soccer this week. The games are on Sundays so that's not too bad. We haven't hear about the softball yet, but I expect it starts in June or so. She says she likes soccer so far, even though it was a LOT of running.

Mercedes will start t-ball in June. We chose not to put her in soccer since she acted up so much last year. We are hoping she does better with t-ball. We are also taking her out of gymnastics since she doesn't seem to care one way or another. She has asked to go to swimming lessons so we will start back into those after t-ball.

And that's the quick and dirty on our lives.