update

you may or may not have noticed that i have been away the past week. in some ways it's been a long week and i just have not felt up to writing or reading much. maybe it would have been an outlet though since i had no one to talk to about this past week, but like i said, i just didn't feel like i had any energy to think to write! i'm not sure it's totally back actually. i thought i would start a post, but now i feel as if i have nothing to say. so, i will just share about my two precious kiddos...

gage's hand is healing so nice! he's had the wrap off for a few days now and the blisters are pretty much gone. they did not pop like we were told. in some ways i hope this is fine, i'd think it would be since we had to watch carefully for infection once they popped, but they just seem to be dissolving back into his skin. he's totally in love with thomas the tank engine, well, more like gordon and emily from thomas. it's kind of fun having him into something now and getting all excited everytime thomas is on or he sees something thomas in the store!

i had my 31 week dr. appts yesterday. that went well. dr. said baby seems very happy! i had a 2.2 lb gain. so now i've gained 18 pounds this pregnancy. i am still a little behind average, which is 21-25, which i like, but i'm not too far behind. my dr. told me to start eating at dairy queen, i don't like dq, but still wouldn't you think he'd want me to eat healthy and gain weight not junk?! lol baby's heart rate was about 141-142. my son never got that low, so, i think the high heartrate being a girl and a low one meaning it's a boy is not so true. and i have carried both kids low, so carrying high or low meaning a girl or boy doesn't seem to be true either! but i guess they are fun to see!

i measured in at 34 cm, so still a little big, but not 8 cm big like two weeks ago! maybe this means that i'm not producing so much amniotic fluid and it won't be something we'll have to worry about at my next ultrasound! i'm not sure what changed his mind, maybe that i'm not measuring so big, but he(dr) now thinks that baby will be about 8 pounds instead of 9 pounds!
i took some more pictures of my belly last night, so, i will go load them on here and sign off with that!

prayer with a gift raiser

First of all, I'd like to ask for prayer for my little boy. He burned his hand this weekend on the church's pellet stove. I think all the time that it should have some type of fence around it and well, now I feel even stronger about that, but accidents happen, I'm not mad, but I think it's better to be safe than wish we would have been b/c although Gage's hand is not severe, it could have been much much worse. So, we are thankful that it is not worse, and would just like prayer for healing and comfort for Gage. We took him to the ER where they did some things and wrapped his hand and now we have to go in to his pediatrician to have her check it out and rewrap it later today. The picture is of Gage sleeping in the ER with the first wrap on his hand with a gel that numbed his hand. They gave him some good medicine which knocked him right out. It was kinda nice since he would have just been upset and this way he slept through the wrappings! I'm praying that it looks good today and any infections stay far away. The dr. said it would heal up nice as long as he didn't get an infection. He is doing so good with the bandage on. He definately wants it off, but I can't believe how well he's doing with it on.

So, I've been meaning to get a post up about a give away thing my friend, Amanda, over at www.aproudmommyof4.blogspot.com is doing...so, here it finally is! She found this nurse who goes over to Haiti and helps the children. Amanda donated some cloth diapers to her to take over when she leaves next. After that Amanda felt this little tug on her heart from God to try and bless this nurse with more donations! So, she is looking for anyone else who wants to join in by blessing this lady with these donations. Here are some things she is in need of: cloth diapers(I'd think regular ones would be fine as well, but check with Amanda on her site to make sure), vitamins for infants and/or children, peanut butter, and formula were some things on the small list the nurse gave to Amanda. Amanda also thought about shipping costs and thought you could email her personally about gift cards for Amanda to go do the shopping so you wouldn't have to pay to ship the items. Please pray about this and if you feel led head over to proudmommyof4 and make your donation!
Amanda has asked for her 'followers' to post about this on her blog to get the word out, so please feel free to post about this on your blog to help get the word out as well!
And there is more...Amanda thought she'd make this fun by having a little 'prize' involved! Here is what you need to do to get your name in for the prize:
1.)Let Amanda know that you wrote up a post about this(1 entry)
2.)Donate to the cause(2 entries)
So, here is what you could just possibly win...

It is a devotional book for couples!
Here is what amazon.com had to say about it:
Ladies are tired of trying to engage their man in something he is reluctant to do... like devotional time. Guys are feeling like the term "devotional" is code for "boring". Plus, husbands and wives have different views on what intimacy is all about.

For those who are wondering if they're living more with their "roommate" than their "soulmate," then this devotional can help them meet on common ground and discover each other in new ways. Men won't even need an alarm clock to wake them when "devotional time" is finished!

Filled with insights from a real couple on real issues, Songs in the Key of Solomon will get spouses laughing, thinking, sharing, touching, and praying possibly all during the same reading. Each offering in this devotional is designed to spark connections around issues that matter, so couples deepen their emotional, spiritual, and physical unity and ignite new levels of intimacy. (One devotional even involves a bathtub and some candles!)

Here is an invitation to discover the music in marriage maybe for the first time... or maybe once again.

Now doesn't that just intrigue you to run out and go get it?! Well, before you do see if you can win it for free first! Free is always better!
Amanda has been doing this devotional with her husband and got Nathan and I one just a few weeks ago. The first week we just read the intro and then decided that one day a week we would do the devotional together. Well, my husband is always willing to do anything with me, but I have to admit that sometimes I feel like it's me 'wanting' to and him just being the sweetie he is and doing it with me. Well, after reading just the intro, this is what I came home to the night that we were to do our first devotional...

...so, I think this time around my husband is pretty excited to be doing this devotional together and not just me! Maybe it has something to do with the title, "In the Word...in the Mood!"

Did YOU know?

Somewhere…someplace… today…
A family is waiting to hear…
Is something wrong with their baby?
The answers aren’t quite clear…
This family has entered an unwanted world…
And they just don’t know what to expect…



Somewhere…someplace… today
They first heard the words: heart defect.
And how they hoped this was not true…
And thought… this cannot be…
I too… know just how this feels…
For one day…this was me.


Somewhere…someplace…today…
A man and a woman embrace…
Their baby is in surgery…
They long to see her face…
They haven’t got to hold her yet…
Without…a cord or line…
They pace the room awaiting news…
And hope she’ll be just fine.
Prayers fill this busy waiting room…
And mom and dad are scared…
Somewhere…someplace..today…
The tiniest hearts are repaired.


Somewhere…someplace…today…
A child’s growing fast…
Smiling,laughing,thriving…
His mom thinks…can this last?
It’s almost easy…to forget…
That anything is wrong…
Somewhere…someplace..today…
Her child seems so strong.


Somewhere…someplace… today…
A little boy fights…just to live
A father holds his tiny hand…
His love…all he can give…
The doctor’s are all baffled…
They fear that he might die…
Somewhere…someplace…today…
A family says goodbye…


Somewhere…someplace…each year..
More than 40,000 families will see…
What it means…when something’s wrong…
They’ll face a Congenital Heart Defect.
Today…for just a moment…
Stop…remember…reflect…
Make time to tell someone you know…
“I’ve been changed by a heart defect”.

I found that poem last year and shared it on Gage's caringbridge site because it all too well touched my heart and gives a glimpse of what us heart parents go through.
Now, I know that you all know it's Valentine's day, but did you also know that it's National Congenital Hearts Awareness Day?!?! Sadly, you probably did not and I would not know myself if it wouldn't have hit me personally. That is really the point of this day, most people don't know about CHDs and we need to get the word out more to raise the awareness that more research needs to be done to prevent heart defects as well as better research for the surgeons during surgery. My prayer is one day Gage will only have to have one more surgery to fix his heart where the valve they put in will grow with him as he grows and not contiueing every few years to replace the valve that doesn't grow with him. Here are some facts about Congenital Heart Defects, still two years later, some of these facts shock me:

~It is estimated that 40,000 babies with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) are born in the United States each year. More than 1 million American children and adults with Congenital Heart Defects and Childhood Onset Heart Disease are alive today

~CHD is the most frequently occurring birth defect, and is the leading cause of birth-defect related deaths.(crazy how it's the leading cause, but we know so little about it!)

~According to the March of Dimes, congenital heart defects are the #1 birth defect.(yet there is not a screening done after babies are born) ~In the US alone, over 25,000 babies are born each year with a congenital heart defect. That translates to 1 out of every 115 to 150 births. (To put those numbers into perspective, only 1 in every 800 to 1,000 babies is born with Downs Syndrome.)

~Although some babies will be diagnosed at birth, sometimes the diagnosis is not made until days, weeks, months, or even years after. In some cases, CHDs are not detected until adolescence or adulthood.

~Some CHDs may not require treatment other than periodic visits to a Pediatric Cardiologist. Others can be treated with medications or repaired with surgery and/or procedures. Complex defects may require several surgeries and are never really "cured".

~Many cases of sudden cardiac death in young athletes are caused by undiagnosed CHDs and Childhood Onset Heart Disease.

Those are just some facts I pulled off a site, there are more, but then this could get extremely longer than it already is! If you would like to pray about a donation, here are some sites you could look into(www.kidswithheart.org, www.chw.org, www.americanheart.org, www.tchin.org), and if a donation is not something you could do at this time, please just pray for the research, the children and families who deal with this every day!

Happy Hearts Day!!!

US Survery

Okay, I started the Husband Meme last week and still have yet to finish it, so, I don't know why I'm starting this one, other than maybe b/c it's shorter. I thought this one too was fun, so enjoy learning a little bit about my husband and I!

Rules: If you have been married less than 1 year -double the ammount of months you have been married and write that many random things about you and your Spouse - if you have been married for more than 1 year write 24 random things about you and your mate. Tag 10 people to fill this out!

1. We've dating since May 6th 2000-prom

2. We got married August 6th 2005

3. I made my friend Amanda go to youth group with me to 'check him out!'

4. She forced me into asking him to prom since he was home-schooled he wasn't going to ask me! (I guess now I have to thank her for that, huh!?!)

5. We took Swing dance lessons together, and loved it! We used to practice all the way up and down the street I lived on! Ha! Now that'd be embarassing if our neighbors saw us do that, well, I might still find it romantic, but the neighbors would think we were nuts!

6. We were married 9 months when we found out we were expecting Gage

7. We love to spend time together doing things either together or seperately(like he watches a movie and i sit next to him scrapbooking-we're just together)

8. I especially love going on walks b/c that is when Nathan pours out his heart and starts talking!

9. God has been so good to us since we have been together, with many blessings and has carried us through the tough times with Gage

10. I praise God that the tough times have only made Nathan and I stronger as a couple, it's sad to think tradgedies in families often times result in divorce.

11. We are expecting our second miracle, a baby girl, in april

12. We are a PDA type of couple, but not overboard, which I love b/c it makes me feel loved and special.

13. We both enjoyed the book/video of the 5 love languages, and do ask each other every so often how their 'love tank' is doing

14. We both love going to Washington and camping

15. Nathan asked me to marry him on the sand dunes of the Pacific Ocean

16. B/c he knew I would want to scrapbook our actual engagement he had my aunt hiding in the tall grass taking pictures!

17. We go back to that spot every time we are in Oregon and talk about how we got engaged

18. We both love taco bell right now...he must be having sympathy pregnancy cravings!

19. We both do the house work together(he often times is a sweetheart and does more though!)

20. Our first babies, were two cats, brothers, Oliver and Winston

21. We both want to go to Hawaii or some other tropical island someday

22. We are both romantic people

23. We love to snuggle up

24. We both love the Lord and pray our children will walk with the Lord as well

If you want to join in and share about you and your husband copy my post and let me know that you did the survery on your site so I can learn some more about you!

my doctors appt

random facts about my doctors appt today...

-i had my 30 week talk with the nurse about the signs and what to do if labor were to start before 36 weeks.

-my blood pressure was good like usual


-i gained almost 7 lbs in 3 weeks! so now i am not behind in my weight gain, but right where i should be. truthfully, i kinda like being behind. lol

-my doctor does not seem concerned at all with my perinatologist appt. from last week, so that is good!

-he does agree with the perinatologist though that i should have another scan on the baby in about 4 weeks, to check baby's growth this time and not her heart. so i get to have another ultrasound and see baby again! i'm excited about this!

-he said my dull pain and numbness on the right side of my stomach is normal, that the baby is pushing in that spot and that can happen when baby hits a nerve and your stomach is streching all at the same time.

-i measured in at 38 cm!!! i am almost 29 weeks so that means i am now measuring 7.5 weeks big!!!!! my doc said considering baby is on the big side and i have a little higher amout of fluid is what is causing me to measure big since i really haven't gained too much weight. but still almost 8 weeks big!?!? i mean if that told you when you were having a baby that would mean about now!!! good thing that's not what it means, huh.

-he did not feel the need to recheck my gluclose test right now. yay!

-he said this with a straight face so i have no clue if he was serious or kidding, but he said, and i pretty much quote, " don't worry...if it's a ten pound baby we offer the option of a c-section." hello! 10 lbs and a c-section...those were not in my plans in having another baby. lol actually it freaks me out and makes me even more scared. i wish he would have laughed when i did so i felt he was kidding.


-he did say that he would be around for babies delivery since his family (wife and son) is coming home from austria for easter so he will be going to austria six weeks before easter and then six weeks after easter. isn't that whole thing just weird if you think about it? i know! but thankfully, he should be around when i need him!

-another crazy thing is that i am now seeing him every two weeks and in just a little over a month, i start going to the doctor weekly...talk about making the pregnancy seem like it's flying by!

-and the last thing, i just noticed that i am down to 79 days!

alright, i think that sums up my doctors appt today!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. And here is what I most certainly have not done this week...
i did not totally enjoy my ultrasound of baby girl and wish i could lay there and watch her move around for even longer...a little over an hour was just not enough!

i did not notice that baby girl has my dad's nose and hope that it isn't as big as all the other ppl in my family with the 'bogan nose' is b/c they are all boys and she's a girl and shouldn't have a huge nose...but i'll love her anyway!

then knowing my son has the 'bogan nose' i did not hope that his would stay normal looking and not take up a chunk of his face when he gets older...that's just so vain...who cares...it's just a nose, right?!

i did not praise god again that everything looked good on her ultrasound!

i did not look up what a big baby and amniotic fluid being high could mean. yeah, i did and i had to stop b/c it just started to make me worry, but...

i did not just give it to god and ask for his peace about the whole thing and thankfully, i haven't worried about it since!

i did not praise god again when my son's cardiologist appt went well and his cardiologist was beyond pleased with his surgery!

i did not have a good time on thursday with my mommy/play date this week with my best friend, amandaroo and her family!

i did not get a call from our tax account on what we would be getting back this year and start making a list of all the things we should do with that money! i don't even have it yet, so i can't spend it!

and speaking of money i don't have yet, i was not happy to buy 3 plane tickets to visit my dad after the baby is born for under a $1000...when last year it was just that amount for only two tickets! good thing my visa bill isn't due for a few weeks, my refund should be here in a week! praise the lord for working that out like that.

i did not make last minute plans to take my family to blue harbor water resort this past weekend! i am a planner and need more time to get ready than a few hours!

i did not wish i could go down the slide at the water park since i loved it last year, guess that will just have to wait until next year's trip!

i did not love the fact that i was clearly pregnant in 'my' swimsuit instead of just chubby!

i did not go to kohls on the way home and spend way too much money on clothes for baby girl and gage! i'm not a big shopper when it comes to clothes and since i already did a big splurge last month, i would not think of doing it again the next month!

i did not feel bad when i found out my neighbor was getting a baby girl when she really really wanted a boy...and i most certainly was not thrilled to hear today that she had her baby BOY on friday!

i did not then think, what if my ultrasound is wrong and we are getting another boy when i have spent so much money on this little girl already! i think with the extra ultrasounds i have had and all the doctors saying it's a girl, that they are right though!

i guess that's all...nothing too major this week i guess! i am off to get ready for my doctors appt. this afternoon and to hear what my doctor has to say about the report from the parinatologist from last week!

fun survey!

Here you go mommies- a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born! I normally don't do these, but I thought this one might be kind of fun! If you want to join in, just copy and paste it!


1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes, we talked about starting a family and then for Easter I got a willow tree figurine with a note saying nathan wanted to celebrate soon that we were expecting...by mother's day...we were!

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes for about 9 months

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? We were both very excited!!!

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 25

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? My brother...I was too nervous to look and he was visiting and bought the test while Nathan was at work and i peed on the stick and ran out of the bathroom and my brother looked with a big smile and said it's positive!

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Nathan

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes we did...i'm too much of a planner not to!

9. DUE DATE? January 24th, 2007

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Did i ever! I lost 20 lbs and had to take zofran

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? fruit and chocolate milk

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Dr. Strasburger(cardiologist) was always negative before Gage was born-i need positivity to make me feel like things will be okay

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? a boy!

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? at first i wanted a girl, actually, i just thought i'd only have girls, but now, no way would i ever trade him!

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN? 10!...well, 30 really, but you only have to count from your prepregnancy weight! so, yes, i gained a lot rather quickly at the end.

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? yes

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? i knew...infact i did some of the planning b/c i'm sort of picky on invites and such b/c i wanted to make sure i liked them for the scrapbook! lol

18.DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? being very sic, an infection that caused me to end up in the ER, and then gage having a heart defect

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? froedert hosp/children's hosp. of milwaukee, wi

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? exactly two hours and 20 minutes from when they broke my water to gage being born! (thank you lord!)

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Nathan and my mom came with us

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Nathan, my mom, the nurse, the doctor, and about 20 other specialists!

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? natural! (ptl)

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? i asked for nubain, but i was already too far to take it, which made me cry, so she got me some and in my head it worked, but about 10 minutes after he was born...it kicked in, i could hardly stay awake.

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 6lbs 14oz

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? January 16th, 2007

27. WHAT DID YOU NAME YOUR CHILD? Gage Loran Mittelstaedt

28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? just turned 2

ultrasound pictures!

nathan and i got to watch baby girl move for a little over an hour today! it was a lot of fun. she was very active and not very photogenic again, but we did get a few better pictures than what we got last time! i don't know what i thought she'd look like, but she looked a little different than whatever it is i thought! but then gage looked different too and we had it all decided who he looked like and then when he was born he actually looked more like my husband than my brother...so, who knows how she will actually look when she is born! at first i didn't think she looked at all like gage, but then the more i looked at the pictures toinght, the more i can see gage's eyes and nose combination he has now more than his ultrasound pictures. everything looked good, but she did measure big and my fluid is in normal range, but on the high side, so they are going to be doing another ultrasound in a month to recheck everything and if it's still high they might recheck me for diabetes, which i just had my test at my last doctors appt. and it came back just fine, but those two things can be signs of it i guess. i'm not too worried though. so i am 27 weeks and 5 days and baby measured in at 28 weeks and 6 days. so, we just might get to see her another time. maybe even more as the parinatalogist said she would recommend every 3-4 weeks. i guess it will depend on what my dr. thinks and i will see him next monday. i love that both the ultrasound tech and the dr. both scrapbook b/c they have given me 10 pictures both times! love that, but not sure if i'll get them squeezed into two page layouts or need more! probably more! so, here are a few pictures from today's appointment...

profile picture


face shot


4D face shot and hand


another 4D face shot with her hand up by her sweet little face


here's me getting the ultrasound done...ppl tell me i'm big, but until this picture, i never realized just how huge i really am!!!


me pointing to baby on the screen...


...and the proud daddy pointing to his little girl!

not me monday

well, it's monday again and although i'll get my post in later in the day, i thought i'd try mckmama's(www.mycharmingkids.net) not me monday...so, here goes!

i did not think how proud i was of my son for being so good at moms group this past week and at the library's story time! we haven't been out much since september so i have been a little nervous how he will act in public, but praise the lord he was so good and god helped me to be the mommy i needed to be!

i did not have a fun time with my friend sherry at scrapbooking! and i didn't talk too much with her so i got a lot done...actually, the first hour we just talked, but i still ended up getting 8 birthday cards made! and i certianly did not talk about personal bath tub stories with her! that would embarasse me way too much!

i did not also have a fun time with my friend and her family on friday! and i did not enjoy the mexican food so much that i ended up eating 3 burritos! nope, not me. i am way too stuffed with just baby the way it is to try and get 3 burritos down!

i did not enjoy a lazy saturday with my husband and son! that is just something that never seems to happen! and i really did not enjoy the foot rub i got while watching tv!

i have given birth once already, so, while filling out my personal birth plan, i did not start getting all nervous about the labor and delivery. and i did not feel a little sigh of relief, telling myself that maybe it was from god, when my husband called at lunch today to tell me the guy he works with has 3 kids and the first one was a little over 2 hours(gage was 2hrs and 20 minutes) and the next two were under an hour! i don't know if this is a 'sign', but i do believe in them. i was beyond scared to death about giving brith to my son and i had this dream where all was well and it wasn't that bad and since that day i felt so much more at peace about it and look, god so blessed me during gage's delivery!

i was not excited to find a thomas the train dvd at wal*mart with 14 short episodes on it for only $7.50 since it's only on once a day that i know of and my son wants to watch 'choo choos' several times a day now!

i did not find my friends story about her daughter noticing her sons 'difference' when changing his diaper and say, 'Gage has that!" (must be a boy thing!) LOL but really i've never even noticed her paying any attention when i'm changing gage's diaper...guess she has a wandering eye that i don't see! =)(they have always had a thing for each other!)

and i did not cry at church when we sang a song about healing. okay, so i don't know exactly why i always cry when we sing those types of songs. i always am thinking in my head partly b/c of gage not being totally healed the way i wanted but at the same time in praise of how well gage has done and all the healing that god has done in gage. i can never get through a song about god healing, i start crying every time.

and i am not excited to see baby girl in a little over an hour! okay, i am!! it might be the last time until she arrives that i get to see her! so, if i have time tonight, i will probably post some pictures!

okay, that is all, like i said my appt is in a little over an hour so i need to get my shoes on and get out the door!