Week 14 - Mango Madness...

When I started this blog, I made no promises as to the frequency of the updates, and this is a good thing as I've been the ultimate slacker. The main reason? We have a poor quality digital camera - not that it's mattered as Jen has been reluctant to let me take photos of her belly (as you can see that's changed, please see disclaimer below), and finding a scanner to make jpeg files out of the ultrasound pics has become my equivalent to the quest for the Holy Grail. Now, I understand a high-quality scanner can be had for under $100 at any electronics store, and our friendly neighborhood Kinko's has 3 pimple-ridden teens ready to handle this chore for me, these expenditures are not in the budget of time nor money for this guy. I believe a resolution is near for both of obstacles however as my dear friend Mrs. Linda Herubin has agreed to do her best to scan the pics for me. AND, Jen and I have agreed to give each other 1/2 a digital camera for Christmas. ...for those of you that are short on the wit: the 2 halves will belong to the same camera.

This weeks update: Last night we had a scare: Family Stratton was enjoying a laid back Sunday of football, Spiderman, time-outs and mango when we discovered that one of the above actually makes Jen's face swell up until her lip resembles that of Naomi Watts' in the Ring II. You know, when she was about 4 years older than when she made the Ring and the weight of her massive lower lip had started to pull the rest of her face down with it, and her cheeks looked like she had half a bag of Big League Chew between them and her lower jaw. Along with this, Jen's color changed to a hemmorhoid-red. ...I've never seen a hemmorhoid, but it's funnier than what she really looked like which was the crayon in Ryan's color box named "Brilliant Red". (After some deep reflection and investigatory follow-up as to the possible cause from list above, I've decided to discontinue serving mango to Jen ).

But, what secured our trip to the ER (#2 for you math pundits) were the cramps she was experiencing with the reaction. After pounding a cup of pills that we were assured were safe for Jr., Jen received an "informal" ultrasound. Baby looked fine, and we even saw him/her move. The heartbeat was strong and we felt relieved. We were alarmed however at the baby's position. Jr.'s head was in line with the cervix as though about to be delivered. We were told by the attending and later the ultrasound tech that "they move around and can be in any position at any time, especially at this age". This did little to reassure us as Jen had spoken with a girlfriend the day before who'd experienced similar symptoms and circumstances during her first pregnancy (lots of cramping, baby was in line with the cervical opening). She & her husband inquired several times as to the reason and consequences of this and were assurred all was well. One morning, around 4am, she woke bleeding. The Doctor on call reassured her and told her to come in when she woke for the day. They went to the ER anyhow and she was immediately airlifted to the Twin Cities (they live in Mankato). She delivered their son, Jack, after 20 weeks of pregnancy. He died 3 hours later. I cannot imagine the heartache that couple felt, being with their first-born for three hours the whole time knowing it was to be their last... It seems impossibly unfair and my heart goes out to anyone who's experienced such a horrible loss.

We spoke with Jen's friend on the phone while we waited in our treatment room. We took the names and numbers of the specialists she's working with to ensure they don't go through that again and we plan to use them to get more information and a 2nd opinion. I failed to mention that the entire reason this is such a concern with Jen is the LEEP procedure she underwent in July. This procedure can weaken the cervix and it is recommended that a woman waits at least 3 months before attempting to get pregnant after having one. ...We waited 2 weeks.

Back to the ER: the attending performed a pelvic exam and the Ultrasound tech was paged to come in and perform a "formal" ultrasound (the difference? a more well-trained tech and a fancier machine). To anyone else this is probably as exciting as a brown paper bag. To us, it was surreally awesome. The baby was wiggling, arms moving, legs stretching. We have some good pics and I WILL POST ALL THE ULTRASOUNDS THIS WEEK! I'm not a patient man and I feel like a kid at Christmas waiting for this kid to come... In 3 weeks we find out the Jr.'s sex at which point I will call him/her by our chosen names: Ignatius or Rapunzel.

**DISCLAIMER - It is only fair to my wife that I explain to those of you who haven't seen the "before" belly, Jen is rediculously in shape. She is one of those people we all despise because with a loose exercise regimen and a casual attitude toward food, she maintains a well-defined 6-pack with a don't-poke-you'll-hurt-your-finger hardness. This pic is definitely Jen "showing".