Third Time's the Charm :)

Well, we had our THIRD ultrasound today! :) The second one, about 2 weeks ago, went well but they couldn't get a "good look" at the aorta, the spine, and the cord. (I see Little Rakow is being uncooperative at an early age! :)) So, off to the doctor this morning for a follow-up, and I'm pleased to say that Little R was much more cooperative! :) The aorta, spine, and cord were all "looking good" (as the doctor put it), and as it stands, things with the baby look normal and healthy! :) Here are some stats: Today, the heartbeat was 147 bpm (it was 150 two weeks ago). Two weeks ago, Little Rakow weighed in at 14 ounces, and today it weighed 1 pound. Contrary to the wishes of some, we did not look for certain anatomy during either ultrasound - a surprise will be in store! (Although I think I saw a "little something" between the legs, but I'm not a certified sonographer...maybe it was the cord?) Perhaps Ryan's chants of "third leg...third leg..." for the last 2 weeks may be paying off?! We'll have to see... Oh, and I'm 23 weeks and 3 days along... :) I'm feeling completely normal - no complaints at all! I'm still not really interested in food or eating, but I eat so that we don't have a "malnourished Ethiopian child" (Ryan's words). :) I'm still not wearing maternity clothes...all of my regular clothes fit just fine, so I'm sticking with them for now. As I've said, in this area, it pays to be on the fatter side! :) I think I've lost around 8-10 pounds so far... I do have bouts of heartburn, but 2 Tums or a glass of milk seems to do the trick for curing that small malady. I'm feeling lots of movement now...it feels like I have a roller coaster in my stomach at times. The baby seems most active during the evening and late-night hours... :) I guess he/she is getting me conditioned for those late nights and lack of sleep?
Here are some pictures... :)

Home Wet Home

We had been out of town for about a week last week...a trip to PA for the night and then onward to NY (Albany) for Brittany's graduation...and then back to PA for a few days... It was a good trip! :) We arrived home on Wednesday night around 8:30 to find that we had a leak in our finished part of the basement... I thought there was an animal in the basement but soon realized that the rustling sound was the water hitting a plastic bag I had sitting in a box...

When I poked a hole in the ceiling to help the mystery water drain, about 2 gallons poured out of our ceiling in about 3 minutes... I got smart and turned the water off to the house until we could figure out where this small flood originated. Needless to say, we called for help from Dwayne, our dear friend, and at 10:00 PM, our plumber arrived and had the hole in our cold water pipe to the upstairs sink repaired in about 15 minutes. We have no idea how long the leak had been going on, but we now have a 4 ft. x 2 ft. hole in our ceiling and carpet/padding that's in the process of drying... We are really blessed - we know it could have been MUCH worse... :)

And to think I was anticipating a nice, quiet night in my own bed... :) I got there, eventually - around 1:30 AM :)