Update on Genetic Counselor Visit

     Back in December Charles and I met with a genetic counselor to go over all of Charles' medical history. We discussed his hemophilia, heart condition and the fact that he was born with no spleen. My doctor wanted us to meet with the counselor, Nancy, so that we could figure out the likelihood of Furrby inheriting Charles' medical issues. We also had numerous ultrasounds (at least two per visit!) so they could look at our precious babe. Well, Nancy's goal was to attain Charles' medical records from Riley's children's hospital so that she could get all of the information she needed. Things tend to get fuzzy and lost in translation after 14 years since the last visit!

     Well, Nancy called me yesterday and let me know that after more than a month and a half she finally got his records! She said the whole stack was probably three inches thick! She explained some stuff to me that really clarified some things for us. 

1. Charles has a mild case of Type A Hemophilia. This means that it is x-linked and passed to him from his mom. Our son has NO chances of inheriting this from Charles! If we have a daughter then she could be a carrier of it so we would get her tested at some point but that is obviously not a concern for us now! The best news is we don't have to get his cord blood tested and he can be circumcised with no concerns.

2. Charles' heart condition was explained to me as a transposition of his veins meaning the blood wasn't flowing in the right directions, therefore not getting to where it was needed. While this is all true, I found out there is more! (My man is so complicated!) His heart was rotated and not in the right place in his chest...and it is in these cases of heart rotation that doctors find the patient missing their spleens. That is the case with Charles. This news is good to know for our clarification but there is about a 30% chance of Furrby inheriting this or a condition like it. Nothing diagnostically will change for now in Furrby. The doctor doesn't believe that Furrby's heart is rotated or out of place and from what he could tell the blood was flowing properly so they beileve he is fine and has a spleen. We will have the pediatrician thoroughly examine him and decide where to go from there!

     This is all good news and I'm so glad to be understanding my husbands conditions better! Nancy is going to send us his records to keep and to give to his new doctors here. I'm really excited to read through the records...she said the doctors had a bunch of notes on him and even refer to him as Chucky (like his family does) in the notes! How cute is that? Nancy also told use that every time we are pregnant we should come in to see a pediatric cardiologist just to check on the baby's heart...again, not something we need to worry about right now but probably sometime in the future!

Refrigerator Oatmeal

   I found a post of refrigerator oatmeal on Pinterest a while a go and thought it looked good and recently decided to finally try it. The first time I made it I tried four different flavors and they were all delicious! I didn't have an exact recipe since I couldn't find one on the websites I looked on so I kind of made one up using the ingredients I knew were in it. This time I actually took time to figure out some measurements so I could share it with you all here! I picked my favorite of all four of the flavors I tried and made four batches of them this time around. 

What you will need: Milk of some kind (cow, soy, almond....your choice!)

                               Rolled oats (Not steel cut or instant)

                               Yogurt (most recipes call for Greek but I used regular vanilla flavor)

                               Chia seeds

                               Tupperware containers or canning jars

                               Flavoring (mandarin oranges and honey are my choices today)

In each container I added: 1 cup of rolled oats.

1/2 cup of yogurt

1/2 cup of milk

1 Tbs of chia seeds (you can find them at "nicer" grocery stores or whole foods places. You can even order them online.)

1 of the individual cups of mandarin oranges and about half of the juice and honey to taste.

Mix it all together.

I made four containers worth tonight!

Simply place containers in the fridge and they will be ready in the morning! Most flavors stay good for up to a week (banana recipes don't last as long).

The best thing about this recipe is that the possibilities are endless! You can make sooo many flavor combos and never get bored. Some others I have tried and loved are chocolate banana (one banana and cocoa powder), apple cinnamon (individual cup of applesauce and cinnamon), and apricot (apricot preserves). They were all delicious and very filling.

Now this recipe was made to be your own! If you are using Greek yogurt you may need more milk than when using regular yogurt. When you try this and see how it sets you can decide if you want it a little runnier or more firm you can make adjustments. I will tell you that the chia seeds absorb the liquid and grow about 10-12 times their size. They remind me of tapioca texture but...that being said, I HATE tapioca and love chia seeds! They are really good for you and have a lot of antioxidants and such in them as well as fiber!

Good luck and I hope you enjoy! If you find a flavor combo you love please share!

Pediatric Cardiologist

     Today I has an appointment with the pediatric cardiologist in Indy. My appointment wasn't until 2 but they got me in at 1:20 so I was pretty excited. I had my first ultrasound of the day by a technician who said all is well with Furrby's measurements. According to their calculations he weighs 1 lb and 15 oz which is right on target! Yay for not having a huge baby yet! When she was through she covered me with a towel and left me all goopy for the pediatric cardiologist. (That gel gets cold after 20 minutes...even with a towel on it!)
     Dr. Kumar came in and went over briefly what conditions Charles has to make sure the files were correct. He asked about his heart health now, which thankfully is fine, and inquired about Charles' lack of spleen. He then did my second ultrasound of the day (we are up to 8 total in case you were wondering) and examined me for about 20 minutes. He said from what he can see everything is fine! There is no use for further testing before Furrby is born and he has cleared me for "normal delivery" meaning that Furrby is healthy enough to endure labor and delivery. All of Furrby's ventricles are visible and developed and his arteries and blood flow seem to be going in all the right directions which is what Charles' biggest issue was when he was little. After Furrby is born, the pediatrician will evaluate him and if he finds anything concerning (murmur, blue from circulation issues, etc.) they will then do more scans on him. Hopefully that isn't necessary and for now I feel very good about his health!
     The biggest problem of the day is Furrby himself! He is very stubborn and the techs and doctors can never get the view they need! He refuses to roll over and was curled up in a ball making looking at his heart very complicated! They had me in all kinds of positions, had me go to the bathroom, and were jiggling my belly like a bowl full of jelly! All of these ultrasounds are rough on this mamas bladder! I am relieved that he is doing well and that we don't have any extra doctors appointments or specialists to see as of now. I can't believe I'm already 25 weeks! Third trimester is just around the corner!

Health Club

     My mom and some of her family (sisters and some nieces, primarily) had a health club in the past where they would meet a few times a month and talk about all kinds of health related topics. They would set health goals for themselves, try new recipes, and even go out to eat together to learn healthier ways to eat out. It always seemed fun but I don't live close so I can't physically attend like I'd like to. This January they have started the health club up again and their first "official" meeting is the 20th of this month but they have already given out "homework"! When my friend told me that she had gotten some blood work done and found out her cholesterol was a little high, I suggested that she and I join my family's health club remotely! We agreed to work together on getting healthier and being more active. She already works out pretty regularly at a gym but I'm not really able to do all that right now. The most I can commit to right now is walking so yesterday she and I met at the mall and walked for 45 minutes. Man was I tired! Not only was I sweating and panting, but I've noticed when I walk any distance out of the norm (a mile or more consistently) my hips will start to ache! I know this  is a common occurrence for pregnant women so I'm sticking to a mile/mile and a half at a time. Today was nice enough that I took Keena to campus to walk with another friend for probably 30-40 minutes. I feel pretty good about it and it actually helps me get my adrenalin going and get other things done! We will attend these meetings via speaker phone and try to follow what my family does and maintain some reasonable goals.
   
GOALS: The idea was to come up with two or three goals that are attainable, measurable and realistic. Obviously, weight loss isn't a goal for me until after Furrby arrives! There are things that I need to get better at and things that will probably even help when it comes time to have Furrby as well.

1. I want to stop getting breakfast out on any work days...only time acceptable is if Charles and I would got out on a weekend to a sit down type restaurant where some healthy choices are at least available.

2. I will walk at least three times a week for no less than thirty minutes at a time. Since thirty minutes seems to be pretty comfortable this is the goal I am setting as I know further along in the pregnancy it will only become more difficult.

3. I will eat at least three servings of vegetables no less than five days a week. Since stopping weight watchers this is more difficult than you think! It just takes more planning and thought since the really easy stuff isn't healthy and it's harder to keep fresh fruits and veggies on hand for on the go type situations.

    I believe we will be writing down these goals and working on them for the first three months. When three months is over we are going to go over them and see how we did and reevaluate our goals. I'm excited about the health club because it's not just the accountability and support that is great...it's with family! So when I say my goals my mom and sisters can know them and ask specifically how I'm doing with one of them or if I need help reaching another. Being healthy is really difficult when you get busy and lazy! Having lots of support is the only way I can succeed so hopefully having the help of my family remotely and my friend locally will be just what I need!

     Now....any advice to get the rest of the household on board?!?! :)

Snowpocalypse 2014

     Sunday it started snowing like crazy and it continued throughout the night. Unfortunately, the snow isn't our biggest problem! The temps are supposed to break record lows and are currently in the negative teens with a windchill in the high negative thirties! Normally Keena LOVES snow and this morning (when it was only negative nine) she was still loving it. This afternoon, however, changed things for Miss Louise. Charles went to let her out and she got about two steps then came right back in! I had to coax her to go pee and she immediately came back in. The problem is that she didn't go number two and I knew she had to. We once again coaxed her out and the poor thing was limping when she came back in! I'm so mad at myself for not putting socks on her feet or something to help with the extreme temps. We hurried and dried them off with a towel an put some Christmas socks on her to warm her up. I sat on the floor with her for a while and wrapped her in a towel. Then Charles gave her a string cheese as a special treat. I really do feel bad and before she goes out again I plan on protecting her feet. I'm a terrible mom!!

My poor baby!!!!

Grandad and GC's House

This is the picture I didn't know how to upload before. Miss Louise had a good time!!! 

Boyles/Wolf christmas

    The Friday morning after Christmas Charles and I loaded up again and headed to Evansville. There was soooo much planned for this weekend it's crazy to think about! In the afternoon I met up with my friend, Anna, for a few hours while I finished up some errands. In the evening, we went to my Aunt Julie's house for the first annual Christmas game night. We had dinner and played lots of fun games! Charles even got to play some dice with my dad and uncles and my sisters, mom and myself enjoyed games like strategories, taboo, and all kinds of things. Many laughs were had by all.
     The next day we got up and got ready for Lilah's second birthday party. It was a pj party so right up our alley. We had so much fun and Lilah loved all of her many gifts. Charles even got to make a necklace out of apple jacks! (I think he is the only one who completed the necklace. Most of the kids just ate the cereal!) After the party Charles and I tried to nap....ok he napped and I couldn't fall asleep so I was a little mad. Haha. I hadn't gotten much sleep so I was kind of cranky....but just with Charles so that's ok, right?! When the kids got done napping they came over and we started our family Christmas! We opened presents, at snacks, had delicious food and watched movies. It was a great time but very overwhelming at times...especially when we come from our quiet (for now) house and get thrown into a tiny house with three crazy kiddos!
     Charles and I got many many gifts and had so much fun. The best part was that Furrby got several gifts! He got four books, teething rings, a Santa placemat for cookies and milk, a special toy just from Gavin, s very cute onesie from grandpa that says, " my mom knows Santa" (if you haven't met my dad he looks just like Santa clause so this was adorable) and I am sure Furrby got more but cannot think of them now. I will post pictures soon but I am struggling with uploading them from the iPad so it will have to wait for another day!

Furr Family Christmas

     Charles and I got a really early start to Christmas this year and headed to his parents house at 2:00 am!! We got there around three and ended up staying up for a few hours talking to his parents. We had gotten two hams for Christmas from work so his mom started cooking one of them. I was so excited for Christmas because that meant family visits and I got five days off from work! Now, I love my job but it is nice to get several days off in a row! I was a little nervous this visit because we had Keena with us this time and she had never been to Charles' parents house. I wanted to make sure she was well behaved and that she would be "welcomed" back some day.
     Overall, Keena did very very well! She was a great guest and other than a few excited family members that let her out when she wasn't supposed to be, we had no issues. We had a wonderful time stuffing our faces, opening presents and catching up with family we hadn't seen in a bit. I hope the next time we all get together it is before Furrby gets here!
     Keena enjoyed relaxing in the living room when things calmed down a bit.