Bumming around the homestead

Playing in mom's leaf piles and potty training Liam.

Day at the Beach

Aiden, Liam, mom, dad, and cousin Breanna enjoyed a balmy 75 degree afternoon at Moss Landing Beach 2 weeks ago. We flew Breanna's kite, discovered shells, and buried Aiden in the sand (highlight for daddy and Liam who then enjoyed tickling Aiden's feet mercilessly). Liam loved the feel of the sand and ate a good portion of the beach picking fallen chips out of the sand!

The molar cells are moving out!

We are very excited that my placental cell levels (measured by quantitative hcg) have gone from 151,000 down to 1300 over this last month! My doctor is very hopeful that I will get to zero soon and then we wait 6 months while testing the levels to make sure it stays at zero and then we can try for bambino number 3! No chemo! That was the scariest thought about this whole process for me. I know it's not over yet but this is great news! We are still praying and I know it has been helping!

Christmas Cheer and New Year Tears

Hi all! Had a very fun Christmas up in Susanville visiting Caleb's parents, brothers and families, my grandparents, and friends. We ate a lot and played dominoes, Blokus, and checkers most of the time, and went sledding on Willard Hill! Aiden LOVED the snow and he schooled us all on sledding as he sailed gracefully over the many bumps and slowed to a controlled stop at the bottom of the hill, while the rest of us (adults) crashed and teetered and wiped out at the bottom of the hill. We all had fun though! Caleb hit the suicide jump pretty hard and knocked the breath out of his lungs which wasn't so fun, but he had no lasting damage from that (other than stiffness the next day). Both kids loved playing with cousins, Joslyn, Kayla, and Kortney. I think Aiden was getting bored of combing the My Little Pony tails and manes and watching Tinkerbell after a few days, but he had fun visiting with everyone nevertheless. We all had a great time and were really thankful for the opportunity to travel up to Susanville and visit with family. The snow was beautiful! We were also excited because we took that opportunity to tell family up in Susanville that we were expecting a baby in August '09 (actually Aiden prematurely spilled the beans to them, but anyway...). Unfortunately, that excitement was short-lived because I started bleeding on January 3rd and didn't stop until the 5th when I went to the OB. I was scheduled for surgery to have a D and C that day. By the time I had the D and C Caleb and I had grasped the idea that this baby was not going to make it and we had cried a lot by then. It was a very sad weekend for all of us, but having gone through it before helped us accept it more quickly. However, the really shocking news came when my OB called the day after my D and C to tell me my pregnancy had been a molar pregnancy. This is a complication of pregnancy that causes overgrowth of the placenta and no viable baby (it is actually quite complicated but I really do not want to go into details here). The result is a sort of benign placental tumor that must be removed as it can become malignant and it requires very close followup for about a year afterward (weekly blood tests, ultrasound exams every couple of weeks, and no trying for a baby for a while-6 months to a year or so). I go in for my first ultrasound tomorrow and find out about the blood tests over the last few weeks. My doctor has been very vague to me on the details of this, but I hope to get more answers tomorrow. From what I read, this is a very treatable condition. My doc did mention that they may need to treat me with chemotherapy to treat this which freaks me out, but from what I read online these cells are very receptive to the chemo and the treatments are usually pretty light. I will hopefully know more tomorrow. I am saying my prayers that these placental cells disappear quickly and we can be back on track for another baby in 2010 maybe (if it is the Lord's will)?! We never know what is in store for us in life, right!?