Saturday, March 27, 2010

The Celebrity

My husband is right in the middle of changing jobs, sort of. He has been working as a technician (mechanic) for Saturn of Henderson for the past 4 years and they are closing. As I'm sure you've heard, Saturn is no longer. The dealership is owned by Findlay and because he is SO good at what he does, they are transferring him to Findlay Chevy on 215 and Rainbow. There were 12 technicians at Saturn and they are only taking 3 over to Chevy.

This is a good thing for several reasons. One, he won't have to drive to Henderson everyday! Woo hoo for saving on gas! Chevy is WAY close to our house! Two, he has been wanting to work there since they opened. It is like his dream of dreams job. Since Saturn is closing and there are still many Saturns on the road, the 3 that are being transferred will still be "Saturn" technicians. Shane is hoping that after a while, he will be able to work on Chevys too. (Both are the GM brand and he is certified to work on any GM but he's not sure how the "Chevy" technicians will feel about them taking over.)

He is hoping when he moves there; his first day is Thursday, April 1st; that he will be as busy as he was at Saturn (he is paid on a straight commission basis). For example: if he does a transmission job and Saturn pays him 20 hours to do it and he gets it done in 2 hours, he still gets paid for the 20 hours, times his hourly wage. So he has the ability to make a great deal more than he actually works. I think his highest paycheck to date was something past the 300 hour range (over a 2 week period, working only 90 hours.) He has so much motivation and loves his job so much I really can't see there being an issue.

I tell him all the time how lucky he is to love what he does for a living. There are very few people in this world who have that same feeling. I am so proud of him and everything that he has done for himself and our little (expanding) family. And every day I tell myself how lucky I am to have such a motivated, loving, caring, husband.

Here is the picture from the article. His eyes are closed, of course! They are supposed to be pointing to the "future" at Chevy but to me, it just looks silly!

Here is the link to the full article. My celebrity. <3

http://www.lvrj.com/drive/saturn-dealership-closes--workers-move-to-chevy-89253452.html

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Alien Baby!

For the past two weeks or so, I have begun to feel Ally move around in my ever-expanding belly. At first, I wasn't sure if it was her moving or just.... gas. (Eek!) By now, I can differentiate between the two. Yesterday and today, I have felt her so much! She is ACTIVE! I thought babies were supposed to sleep alot??? Not that I mind! Every time is happens, I get a big smile on my face. All of this movement got me thinking...

ALIEN!


Holy cow! There is something inside of me that is...... living?!?! Women have babies every single day; every minute of every single day. But you (me) never really think about how amazing and crazy it is until it's happening to you (me).

I feel so incredibly lucky to be able to experience this. For a long time, I didn't think it was going to happen for us. And now that it has, I'm trying to enjoy every second of it, whether it be a good experience or bad. So far, my pregnancy has been pretty mellow. No morning sickness, no cravings (yet) or aversions (yet) to food and only mild tiredness. I sure hope it stays this easy! (I'm not counting on it.)

Anyway, I'm so in LOVE with my alien baby!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

It's a.........................



We're having a GIRL!!!!!!!! At 13 weeks, we had a scan done to determine the chances of down syndrome (results came out fantastically) and the ultrasound technician asked if we wanted to know the sex. I was shocked because I was only 13 weeks pregnant and I thought it was impossible to tell that early. Sure enough, she said she was 80% sure BK was a girl and at our 16 week ultrasound, my doctor confirmed it! Shopping is going to be SOOO much fun! I can't WAIT to get started!

Here's the first thing purchased for Ally by my friend Shannan:








Aww! I'm getting so excited!

One Word...Doppler.

Because of my history of miscarriages, I am understandably nervous about this pregnancy. Though now out of the really scary part and well into my second trimester, I am still a bit apprehensive. One of my friends recommended me to buy a doppler (a device where you can hear the baby's heartbeat) to use at home. She said it would ease my mind a bit about how the baby is doing. I searched online and found one that had a speaker so both Shane and I could listen to it.
This is the one I got. When it came in the mail, I couldn't WAIT to try it out! The directions say exactly this: Add a generous amount of lubricant to the end of the wand and point the wand at the baby's chest. Hmmm... how in the heck do I know where the baby's chest is?? So I decided to just start searching all around. When I found a heartbeat, I was so excited however it wasn't nearly as fast as I thought it should be. During my last ultrasound, BK's heartbeat was 155 and this heartbeat wouldn't go past 105. I started to get concerned so I posted a question on a pregnancy forum I spend a lot of time on. Someone mentioned it was probably my heartbeat I found and not BK's. Well... that's a relief! I tried again and still could only find my heartbeat. So I got frustrated and gave up for a few days.

A friend I met on the pregnancy forum just got a doppler as well and she said I should try to look lower (near my pelvic bone) and what do you know?? There is was! Clear as day! There was no mistaking it was BK's heartbeat so I sat there for 15 minutes just listening to it. It made me feel so much better!

I thought I would go crazy with this thing using it night and day (as did everyone else that knew I purchased it) but it hasn't been too bad! I've only been using it about once a week or so. It's just so nice to be reassured in between doctor appointments!

Best $60 I ever spent!

Baby Koehler Actually Looks Like a Baby! (sort of)


Ta Da!!!! This ultrasound picture was taken at 10 weeks. Everything looks perfect! BK (Baby Koehler) is measuring right on schedule and the heartbeat is perfect! This is REALLY happening!?!?!

Is BK a boy or a girl??? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!!!

I Have To Do What?!?!


During my first real OB appointment, I was told I needed to look into a prescription called Lovenox. Lovenox is an injectable blood thinner and it is to prevent blood clots from forming in the uterus (do to the previously mentioned m*th*rf*ck*r disease). It is to be taken every single day throughout the entire pregnancy and for 6 weeks after the baby is born. The reason the doctor told me to "look into them" is because they are NOT cheap. By not cheap, I mean $42 a syringe! Let's see.... $42 times 30 days in a month, times 10 months?!?! OUCH! My doctor also mentioned that many insurances do not cover this prescription.. GREAT...

Thanks GOODNESS my insurance does cover this!! I pay $25 (copay) for a 30 day supply. Can't get much better than that! Now.... how am I going to inject myself every single day???

If you know me at all, you know I'm a baby when it comes to things like this. I mean, a few years ago, I couldn't even swallow a pill and now I'm having to give myself injections once a day into my belly?!?! The first night I attempted, I failed miserably... I sat in my bed with the syringe in my hand for 30 minutes. I couldn't do it! I just couldn't! So I called Shane in and told him that he didn't have a choice and he was going to have to do this because I couldn't do it to myself. It took him a few minutes to get prepared but eventually he did it. It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...

Taking these injections is sort of an aggressive route to my "disease". There are no guarantees because there was no proof that a blood clot is what actually caused my previous miscarriages. I didn't want to take any chances. I wanted to do whatever I could to sustain this pregnancy. And on top of the fact that it was inexpensive, in my mind, there wasn't a choice.

So, I still refuse to give myself the injections. I don't think I'll ever be able to do it but luckily, I have a wonderful husband who is willing to do it for me. (I secretly think he enjoys it sometimes.) Besides the fact that sometimes the injections leave nasty bruises on my belly, it's definitely something I can handle.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Introducing Baby Koehler!

I had my first ultrasound on December 31st. My friend Shannan works at my OB's office and she was able to get me in to see the ultrasound technician pretty quickly after taking my home pregnancy tests. This wasn't a formal appointment, I just wanted to verify the pregnancy. I was 5 weeks pregnant. We were able to see the little heart beating on the ultrasound but it was too early to hear it. Can you believe that little bubble of a thing had a heartbeat?? An amazing sight! Introducing Baby Koehler!