Getting Ready for Tyler

Recently I have started to really feel the need to start getting things ready for Tyler's arrival. I will be 26 weeks along tomorrow and am started to feel very pregnant so I want to get things done while I still feel able to. We are going to turn the playroom into Tyler's room which means the boys' bedroom will also be their playroom.

This weekend we moved the toys into the boys' bedroom. Now we need to figure out exactly how we plan to organize the toys because right now their room is chaos and filled with lots of stuff. We are going to hang the TV on the wall and get rid of the dresser it is sitting. Then we are going to get some storage bins that fit under their bed to help hide some of the clutter. We are also looking into various storage units for their room. So far they are very excited about having the toys in their room and just fine with Tyler taking over the other room.

We also started to get some baby stuff that we need for Tyler. Babies R Us is having a big trade-in event so we took advantage of that. We traded in an old car seat, exersaucer (used by Piper, the boys, and Maddie), and stroller (no need for a double anymore). That gave us 25% off three new items. We got a new travel system (actually my mom bought this for us as a gift), exersaucer, and high chair. The boys were very helpful in picking out the things we got, they enjoyed trying out the various strollers. We also started to look into dressers for Tyler's room and found one at Ikea we like. It is the perfect height to also be used as a changing table which we never had with the boys.

Dresser (not sure what color we would do yet)

High Chair

It turns into toddler seat, booster seat and a regular chair

Travel System

Exersaucer

It is a play mat, exersaucer, and standing toy

As you can see, we really like the products that have multiple purposes and grow with the baby. It helps save some room and money! Once Tyler is a little bigger we plan to get another Radian car seat (like the boys use) because they fit well 3-across in our car. The newer version of the car seat actually works for rear-facing, forward-facing, and a booster seat. We plan to keep Tyler rear-facing as long as possible (the boys were over 3 when they turned forward) and this seat would allow for that.

We are also talking about what color to paint the room. The only room in the house we have painted since moving in is the boys' bedroom. So we figure if we don't paint it now then it probably won't ever get done. At the moment we are pretty sure it will end up being green because the boys think that is the right color. We want them to be involved as much as possible.

Immunologist Appointment

This morning we had Ryder's Immunology appointment. He gets blood work done every 6 months and then we have an appointment to go over everything. His blood work looks really good which is always nice to hear. His overall IgG is up to 952 which is much higher than he started at and is now in the normal range. They also look at specific antibodies within the system and he is showing protective levels in 10 of the 14 they look at which is great since he was none to begin with. We will keep his weekly infusion dose the same for now.

We talked about the infections Ryder has been having which tend to be sinus, strep or pneumonia. He has been on antibiotics 8 times in the last year which they consider too much still. After doing an exam the Immunologist agrees with Ryder's pediatrician that his tonsils are probably the culprit. He has HUGE tonsils which always look red. The Immunologist said they could be harboring infection in them which could also be the cause for his chronically swollen lymph node behind his ear. So we have an appointment with an ENT on February 16. The Immunologist works closely with this ENT so they know how to handle CVID patients. It looks like we will probably be planning a surgery date for Ryder after the ENT appointment to get his tonsils (possibly adenoids too) out.

A quick update on myself and the baby. I had an OB appointment last week. Everything looked good with myself (urinalysis and blood pressure). I have gained about 9.5 pounds so far and will be 25 weeks along tomorrow. The baby's heart rate was in the 130s and seems to be measuring about a week ahead. I talked to the OB about my concern of having another hernia and she confirmed that I definitely do have one. Last pregnancy I had one on the left of my belly button and one under my belly button which were both surgically fixed when the boys were about 11 months old. This time the hernia is to the right of my belly button. This means I will be needing surgery once again at some point after I have this baby. Not looking forward to it. We will probably put it off as long as possible because Ben will use his time off for the delivery of the baby and my c-section recovery. So he won't have more time off until 2013. The recovery from the hernia surgery will not allow me to pick up the baby or the boys for 2 weeks so I will need help.

Fetal Echo Appointment & Name

Things have been pretty crazy since we got home on January 3. We have not even completely unloaded the car from our trip yet! I had a fetal echo ultrasound done on January 5. This test was scheduled because mothers with Diabetes have a higher risk of having a baby with heart defects. The test showed the baby's heart looks good with no obvious problems. They went ahead and did a growth scan as well. So as of January 5 (I was 22 weeks) the baby weighed 1lb 2oz and everything looked good. My cervix was also still looking really good. I see the OB next week for a regular appointment and then I have another growth scan on January 31. I will have growth scans every 4 weeks until I deliver.

I announced the name we had chosen on Facebook while in Florida, but in case you missed it I wanted to add that here too. The boys are now using his name all the time so we decided it was time to let everyone know....

Tyler Luke Croissant

Pictures from Florida

I just wanted to post a few links real quick. I have been posting pictures from our trip to FL on my Facebook page. Here are the links to those photo albums for people to see who don't have Facebook. We leave FL tomorrow and will get home on Tuesday.

Christmas in FL

Zoo in FL