Colds and Apps

Colds
Well I had a great time at FAM, but I brought back a nasty cold.  As did Brittany.  Our travel companion Leeann somehow escaped getting the cold.  Very jealous over that.  Being pregnant means I am very limited in what I can take.  Sudafed is ok now that I am in my second trimester.  But no nyquil.  And really that's what I need, a really good nights sleep. Hot compresses to the face are awesome. And netti pot has been suggested numerous times, but honestly they freak me out.  I wish I could get over the fact that pouring water in my nose would probably not drown me. :-)  I have tried to go to work everyday, until today.  Sometimes it takes a little to figure out I just need to stay home and rest, and hopefully get better faster.

Apps
I thought weddings were big business.  I now think babies may be even more of a big business! Nuts what's out there.  Including iPhone apps for everything. I now have two apps to track the baby's growth: Sprout Light and Baby Bump.

• Sprout Light is a free version of a paid app, it shows a drawing of a developing baby, you can name your baby in it, set our due date, it has an organizer that includes to do lists and a Dr visit planner among some other things.  It also includes some tools like a kick counter (for later), a weight tracker, and a contraction timer.

• Baby Bump Free is also a free version of a paid app.  It includes a mom's journal you can take notes in, forums and groups of others you can chat with, you can add photos of yourself at various weeks to compare to the images they provide.  This one is a little more customizable and community friendly than Sprout.  Sprout is more a planning tool. Like them both.

• I also have a baby names app, which I have been underwhelmed with from American Baby. Still need to find a good baby name app I like. 
• Medala breast pumps has an app to track breastfeeding called iBreastfeed.  Don't need that one yet, but it came highly recommended! 

One app I wish was out there is a Target Baby registry app.  Being able to track your registry from my phone wold be awesome! Maybe I need to write to them to suggest that! :-)

FAM and DNA

Today was a great week.  Attended the Florida Association of Museums conference in Tampa.  It is always great to see my fellow colleagues and friends.  It also gives me great ideas to take back to the museum.  I get reinvigorated about what I do. All in all, it is not only a treat, but a great learning experience.  This year I presented a session called "Fundraising is Everyone's Business." And I moderated the Membership forum.  It was fun, and they got a lot of good responses.

We also got the call about our first genetic screening.  I went from the chances of the baby having Downs from 1 in 183 (based on my age), to 1 in 3000. And the Trisomy 18 is now 1 in 5000.  Very happy. Still have some more screenings to go.  But it's all looking good so far!!

Big news!

I haven't blogging much lately, because I have been journaling instead.  I started a pregnancy journal, so I can write down all my thoughts, feelings, and physical changes so I can look back on it years from now.
And I need a pregnancy journal because I am preggers!! Yay!!

After 2 years and thousands of dollars, we finally are expecting a little Lando/a due April 2.  And we did it naturally.  It was a no stress month, and everything worked.

Today was a big day.  First we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time.  Then we went for some genetic screenings that included another ultrasound. Score! An extra picture for us!! Yay!

Let's watch the progression of all of ultrasounds:
August 8, 2011- little sesame seed.

August 22, 2011- bigger nondescript blob

Sept 19, 2011- It actually looks like a baby!!

So exciting to see things like it's head, nose, arms and hands.  Pretty cool!! The tech said s/he was asleep, so it wasn't moving around.  She poked at it a little bit and then it started squirming.  It was wild. It must have been mad, because it preceded to moon us. 

This is an exciting time, and I will be updating as often as I can. 

Love,

Leslie