Baby Chronicles: Kicking it... The scare

I'd like to preface this blog by saying that Jacey is OK. Everything checked out normal but we did have quite a scare today. On the way into work this morning, I got to thinking about how I hadn't felt Jacey move since early yesterday afternoon... VERY unusual for him since I've been feeling him just about all day every day. The doctor says that fewer than 4 kicks per hour is a cause for concern. Since I'd say that Jacey generally gives me AT LEAST a couple dozen counts an hour, it really scared me when his pattern changed.

Last night after dinner, he didn't respond to the food. Then, I ate some toffee... still no response. Before bed, I decided to try ice cream but nothing doing. This morning, I woke up and ate breakfast... nothing... drank a 20 oz Dr. Pepper thinking FOR SURE the caffeine and sugar would bring him out of hiding. Nope. Of course, by this point, I was hysterical. I called the doctor and Russ and I went in to get things checked out. About 20 minutes before the appointment, I did feel some very small flutter movements but nothing like his signature roll and kick.

They hooked us up to the fetal monitor and his heartbeat showed normal activity. Thank goodness! She said that his heartbeat levels indicated that he was sleeping. So, they gave me juice and a snickity snack to wake Jacey up. He woke and the kick count started getting a little better. Ironically, he kept kicking in the EXACT spot where the fetal monitor was eavesdropping on him. I think the little turkey was affronted by our spying! Anyway, the doctor indicated that everything is OK and that we shouldn't be further concerned. She actually said, "He's just giving you the day off!" haha What a kind little boss he is. ;-p

So, for now, I remain exhausted from the drama and relieved that everything checked out. But, now I feel horrible for all the times I complained or sarcastically remarked about his little kicks. I'm going to try very hard not to take them for granted so as not to tempt another scare like this one.

Baby Chronicles: Trophy Case

Russ and I spent hours in Lowe's yesterday picking out paint and chair rails and all the supplies we need to do the nursery (aka trophy case). I think Russ is very excited about this manly aspect of the baby preparations as he took great care taping everything off and preparing the room so that we could paint. The trophy case is going to be a taupe color throughout with taupe/chocolate stripes at the bottom, beneathe a white chair rail. We've never hung a chair rail so this could be very interesting. Thank goodness for the internet!

Baby Chronicles: Give Him the Belt!

I've had this darn maternity belt now for a couple of weeks and I'm not sure which is worse, the acheyness and fatigue I feel at the end of a day when I don't wear it or the soreness I feel from all his kicking when I do wear it! He is carrying so low and my uterus has gotten so heavy that, without the belt, I'm exhausted from simply walking to and from the car and to and from the bathroom during the day. Without the belt, I've got a serious case of swayback and hip pain. However... with the belt, I've got a serious case of ANGRY baby.

Jacey HATES the belt! The minute he realizes that I've got it on, he commences the kicking. It starts out as gentle, almost probing kicking about 2 inches below my belly button. Then, once he realizes that, yes, the belt is indeed on, he begins the full on temper tantrum. Pushing and poking on me. It's almost as if he's trying to press out and stretch it. I'm not sure but it seems to limit his space or offend him in some way. It's actually hysterical when you think about it... not so hysterical at the end of the day though when he's been slamming into me all day, leaving me sore from his kicks!

I'm wearing it today because my hips and back are sore from yesterday. I've had it on now for about 3 hours and he's finally settled down and gone to sleep. But, not for long... my pizza lunch is calling me. Food is always sure to wake my little sleeping beast. Hopefully, he'll play for only a little bit before settling back down. Fat chance. But, a girl can hope, can't she?

Cook Clan vs. ALS: Update

Well, it has been some time since I've written a report for you all about dad's condition. We were happy to ring in 2007 together in the Austin area. Mom and dad are finally getting settled into the new house. Dad has been watching LOTS of TV on his new 50 inch television, including the Chicago Bears. He is totally stoked about the upcoming Super Bowl.

Dad has limited mobility now and spends most of his time in his electric wheelchair. He got a new one in late November to replace the one we had borrowed from the MDA. The new wheelchair is quite snazzy and can recline as well as elevate. With it, he can get his body in just about any position he wants. This is great because it enables him to change positions throughout the day.

His neck is very weak these days and he can no longer lift his head from his chest without some assistance. His solution is just to tilt the wheelchair back til his head and neck are in a comfortable position. Dad is still able to walk and does go to and from his chair to the bathroom and bedroom. He likes to walk short distances like this and the doctor encourages him to maintain whatever mobility he can.

His arms continue to be weak and are mostly useless most days. However, some days, he can lift his hand to his head to scratch it (or flip the bird.. hehe). He has quite a bit of shoulder pain, probably due to the fact that he must sleep on his side (due to a choking sensation). Because he sleeps on his shoulder and isn't able to change positions much during sleep, his shoulders stay pretty sore. We went to the ALS clinic earlier this month and found out that frozen shoulder continues to be a concern and that if he develops it, he would be in quite a bit more pain. But, the physical therapist recommended some stretching exercises I can do on him each day. We call it his PT (pain and torture) and even though he doesn't look forward to the pain of raising his arm, we get a kick out of the jokes.

Our major setback of 2006 was in his breathing. His vital breathing capacity in September was in the 60s. When he went to the ALS clinic in December, it had dropped to the 30s, a major concern to everyone. With ALS, forced vital capacity is used as an indicator of survival and disease progression. The major contributor to a longer life-span for ALS patients is the bipap (breathing) machine. Because he is losing muscles that help him breathe, he uses the bipap as sort of an external diaphragm, forcing air into his lungs.

In the fall, he had some trouble with the bipap and was reluctant to use it. Because he wasn't using it regularly, he lost some ground. Unfortunately, this isn't ground that can really be gained back and the decline was pretty severe. The doctor indicated that if he continued to decline at that level, he'd have a matter of months to live. That's the bad news. The good news is that if he can maintain what he's got, he will increase his longevity. Of course, he came back pretty depressed from that appointment and was as hard on himself as the doctor was. He has been back on the bipap en force and is using it for long stretches of time now, even though it remains uncomfortable for him.

Dad can happily still eat but now almost exclusively eats ONLY the things that he loves... lots of ice cream cakes! It is just too much work for his jaw and neck muscles to invest a lot in anything difficult to chew. Still, I am amazed to see him put away multiple Jack in the Box tacos or chicken wings... some of his favorite eats. He and mom watch his weight very closely since he cannot gain too much (because of the peg tube installation) and cannot loose too much. Mom gives him a meal replacement shake feeding at least once a day in his feeding tube, sometimes more and he's been maintaining quite nicely.

All in all, dad is in good spirits and enjoys getting out and about. We've had some cold weather and have tried to stay out of it as much as possible. We're definitely looking forward to some warmer temps and the Spring activities that come with it. We often think of you all and are benefiting from your thoughts and prayers. We hope that you are well and that we will see you again soon.

Baby Chronicles: Baby duds

Last night, I finally got a chance to hang up all the clothes Jeanette and Joyce bought for Jacey and presented to us in a HUGE wicker basket last week. I didn't count but I think there were AT LEAST 5 dozen outfits in there... it took me a good hour to get all the tiny pieces on hangers and hung in the closet. Of course, this task MIGHT have taken so long because I had to oooh and aaaaah once again over each tiny little soft piece and imagine how stinking cute he's going to be wearing it.

Anyway, the closet is almost full of clothes between all the stuff mom and Nan have bought, plus the stuff I've bought and the stuff Jeanette and Joyce brought last week. I've now got all the clothes separated according to size and it looks like Russ will have to install another bar in the bottom part of the closet to hold any new finds. :) At least Jacey won't have to go nekkid!

Austin Ice Storm 2007

Well, the Johnson's haven't been in Texas in almost 2 years so you'd think we could have offered them hospitable weather for their visit last week. They came down to scope out various things for the upcoming move. Of course, we got what the news media happily called Ice Storm 2007 and the whole damn town shut down, ruining all of our planned activities.

For 3-4 days last week, the news told of the dire conditions on the road. Everyone seemed to be terrified of the cold! Stores shut down. People stocked up on groceries (yes, seriously, the grocery shelves were bare of some things). We drove all 4 days without problems. In fact, I only found 2 patches of icey street anywhere. However, there weren't many places to drive to since everything was closed. Good grief!

Still, we had a great visit with the fam and it worked out that we got to spend a lot more time together than we would have had the weather been nice. Don't give up on us, Johnson's! Austin rarely gets this kind of weather madness!

Baby Chronicles: Hamster Balling

Jacey has become a very busy boy lately. I think he has finally gotten big enough that I can feel most of his movements. Yesterday, I pretty much felt him moving around all day. Of course, when I eat, his movement is far more pronounced, and even more so if I've eaten something sweet. It feels to me like I have a big Hamster ball in my belly and an even bigger hamster running around in circles in there. Russ and I call it Hamster Balling when Jacey does this.

I've determined that I really need to make a concentrated effort not to have sweets though because, even though it's funny to see the baby so active, it's sort of scary to have him going nuts like that. Luckily, all the sweet stuff sorta makes me nauseous. The downside is that I have to really plan ahead to have snacks that are not sugary.

Another result of the baby getting bigger is not being able to breathe. My belly has gotten big enough that it's pressing into my stomach. So, when I eat and my stomach gets full, it then presses into my lungs. I'm finding times during the day when any activity at all makes me pant. Will the fun never end? ;-p

J&J Strike Again: Bedazzled

We were all sitting in the living room the other night when Joseph comes in and says, "Mia, I think we need to get a Bedazzler for our girl dogs." He proceeds to give us a 20 minute Joseph style commercial on the bedazzler, pointing out that, "it has stones and we can make pretty collars for Dixie and Pidgeon and Rebel and Roxie." He explained in detail what it is and how it works. We couldn't stop laughing at how cute he was and when he thought he might not be getting through with his pitch, he said, "Tika, you know, it can even make sparkly shirts for you. It can do collars and shirts and all kinds of stuff but not for boys." Needless to say, we've actually considered getting him a Bedazzler... I mean, who can resist his logic and pitch!?!