Thankful Thursday - Movement & Happy Hour

Know what time it is? It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. as I mentioned, I no longer have the "linkytools" but I invite you to share your thankful blog in the comments section. Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I am SO thankful that peanut has started moving a ton. I was pretty sure I was feeling him/her move for the last couple of weeks. But this weekend the movements were unmistakably peanut!! It is the most wonderful and amazing feeling in the whole world. I find myself having a hard time focusing on anything else because I am just trying to will peanut to move all day long. I am also very thankful that Ronnie is able to feel it too!

I'm thankful for Sriracha sauce. I've been wanting spicy things non stop lately. I could eat something with a kick at every meal! And Sriracha sauce is an easy additive to any meal to add some fire to my food. I must say, I occasionally end up with a little heartburn as a result, but it's oh so worth it!

I'm thankful for a bike-riding hubby. Ronnie's been willing to ride INCREDIBLY slow next to me on a bike while I run most days. I know it can be frustrated to be crawling along, so slowly that balancing becoming a feat, but he is always so willing to keep me company on my runs. What's funny is that we both bring our ipods and wear our headphones, so we don't even really talk, but there's just something about having his company.

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for friendly neighbors. Whenever we head out of town our neighbor Rob is the first one to offer up a helping hand or a watchful eye. I need not worry about the trash getting out or the recycling being put curbside. It's always nice to have neighbors that you can consider friends.

I'm thankful for movement. It may be a teeny tiny movement, but it's one of the coolest things that I've ever felt. It's pretty much been confirmed by me that Peanut is for sure moving in there. S/he has kicked or rolled on my hand about 7 times know and I can pretty much tell you when and where each one of them happened. It's so mind blowing to me that a little human is in there and has the ability to make "contact" with his mommy and daddy already. Awesome!

I'm thankful for happy hour. I'm not a big drinker, in fact, I average about 1 drink per month, but I do love half off appetizers. It's pretty much a sure bet that if Mandi and I go out to eat (which is a rare occasion), it will always be to a place that has happy hour. It actually makes me uncomfortable to eat at an establishment later on in the evening if I know that I could have gotten it 50% off just hours earlier. I know, I'm weird (and cheap).

So, what are you thankful for today?

Question from Reader: More Severe Genes?

I love getting questions from readers and this one came at a perfect time in light of some new research that just came out. It sounds, given my answer, that I disagree with the research, but in fact I don't. Genes do play a role in how CF manifests itself in our lives, it does not however play the only role. She also asked about IVF and the role, if any, that PGD played in our decision.

Can I ask ? Is there certain Cf genes that are more sever than others or does it make any difference ? How old were u when ur parents told u that u had Cf I don't know when I should approach that with eoin he is 6. Also congrats on your 13 wk scan all looks great did u guys do ivf with pgd ?

My Response:

You know they do classify genes into one of five classes. The classes are often just a representation of how well our cell is functioning. For instance, class 1 has little to no cell function where class 5 has very close to normal cell function. My mutation DDF508 (the most common mutation in the CF community) is considered a class 2. It's important to remember that despite our “class” of gene we have a lot of control in how CF is presented in our lives. I've met people with my mutation that were very sick early on and I've met people with my mutation that are in their 60s. So to make a long story short, it's not about what gene mutation we have, it's about what we do to take care of ourselves.

I don't know how old I was when my mom first discussed CF with me, but I know I was very young. She presented it like this: some people have brown hair, some people wear glasses, some people are in wheelchairs, some people can jump high, and some people have cystic fibrosis. She made it very clear that I was a normal kid who happened to have CF and I was treated as such.

We did IVF but not PGD. Mandi had the CF screen for all 1600 mutations before we did IVF. Mandi is not a carrier of the CF mutation, so we went ahead with starting a family. If she did in fact carry the CF gene, we would have created our family through other means like adoption/fostering.

So good to hear that your boys are doing well! Just keep them faithful with their treatments and as active as possible and chances are they will have a very normal life.

**If you ever have a particular question you'd like to shoot my way, please feel free to email me at ronnie@cysticlife.org or find me on CysticLife!

My Belly's Shrinking?

We are 18 weeks today! So little peanut is about the length of a bell pepper. We haven’t posted belly shots in a while, so here they are. For some reason my belly actually looks like it’s shrinking in some of the photos, but I’ll just blame the photographer (cough, cough, RONNIE). I swear, it’s getting bigger and my jeans are finally getting pretty uncomfortable…but the rubber band trick is still working – except for the fact I have a major muffin top all the way around because they’re just simply too tight. The muffin top could also have something to do with the 9 pounds I've gained to date (no idea where my weight gain is supposed to be at this point, I'm just trying to hit my goal of keeping it to 10lbs at 20 weeks...we'll see). I think it’s getting to be time for some maternity pants, but I’m cheap, so I’m putting it off!

14 weeks

15 weeks

16 weeks

17 weeks

What do you think? Is it looking bigger to you? When do you think I’ll officially “pop”?

It's ALIVE...

A little update from Baby Land, just one day shy of 18 weeks. I finally have felt peanut MOVE! I've been pretty sure that I've felt little peanut move every once in a while for the last couple of weeks. But the last two days I'm even more sure that it's peanut. It is wayyyy too low to be my stomach growling and feels nothing like gas, so that leaves one option: baby! Any ladies out there that have been pregnant before or currently pregnant and want to tell me if I'm right? Here's what it feels like (my best description): put your hand on your cheek. Now quickly run your tongue along the inside of your cheek. It feels like what you feel on your hand (did that description make any sense?). Well regardless, that's what I've been feeling and I absolutely LOVE it. I don't get to feel it very often. It's generally only after I eat (normally lunch or dinner), when I'm relaxing/sitting on the couch, half laying, half sitting, face-up. And they come in waves of 2 or 3, but they always quit too soon.

The coolest part is that not only have I been feeling peanut, but Saturday and yesterday Ronnie felt it!! Since I know they come in 2 or 3, when we were on the couch hanging out after lunch (both days) and I felt the first little movement, I had Ronnie put his hand on my belly. After a few minutes of holding really still and being very patient, Ronnie got to feel one little movement each day. As soon as the little "pop" happens, we both look at each other and say, "Woah." Ronnie usually follows his "Woah" with a "I felt that" and mine is followed with a "see that's gotta be peanut.....right??"

Another cool development is the ability to FEEL exactly where my uterus is. It's a bit of a crazy feeling, but if I lay flat on my back, I can see and feel a big "ball" in my lower abdomen, from my pelvic bone to about a half-inch to an inch below my belly button. It's a trip! In the mornings it's always the most exaggerated (probably because I'm not as bloated and haven't eaten in 10 hours), so I often lay in bed for several minutes just running my hands over the "melon" that used my be my flat belly. It is my absolute favorite. I like to picture little peanut in there, and love the thought that my hand it just inches from where he/she is camped out!

If you can't tell, I'm starting to become really fascinated with this little being inside me and the changes that peanut is causing in my body (and the FUN changes, not just the acne and bloating which I've known all too well for the last 18 weeks!). I cannot wait for all the fun to come. It is finally becoming REAL and I can't imagine what it must be like to feel baby many times a day in full force!

That's about it from our neck of the woods. Who's doing something fun for Memorial Day??

**By the by, that is NOT a legit picture of my belly. If and when we can make out peanut's toes we'll probably be too fascinated and shocked to remember to grab a camera!!