July 22, 2011

Yay!

We now have the most expensive keys we've ever owned in our possession! 


I'm headed over this afternoon to clean (they didn't leave it in the greatest condition) and measure. This weekend we're shampooing the carpets and picking out paint, appliances (new fridge and washer and dryer!), towel rods, shower curtain rod for the kid's bathroom, wall mounted baby gate for the top of the stairs (Santi's favorite thing to do now is climb the stairs - we'll have to teach him quickly how to slide down safely, as he already fell down one step to the landing on his nose (only one step, no crying, just shock from him!)

July 18, 2011

Weekly Update - Week 11

Before I get into week 12, better get this week's update out of the way!



How Far Along: 11 weeks


What "They" Say About Our Baby's Development: Your baby is now almost fully formed. Its hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under its gums, and some of its bones are beginning to harden. It's already busy kicking and stretching, and its tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as its body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that its diaphragm is forming.

Weekly Food Comparison: A fig.


The Good: Having some more energy in the mornings, but that usually goes downhill in the afternoons. On most weekends, I will nap, since Tito is around to watch Santi.

The Bad: Headaches and nausea. This past weekend I could barely get out of bed on Saturday.


The Weird: Nada this week.


Currently Craving/Avoiding:
Avoiding: Strawberries are making me feel more nauseous, so I stay away from eating them.Craving: Pizza, carbs, sweets, ice cream


The Weekly Belly Bump: About the same. Finally a photo!



Weekly Update - Week 10

This is a little late! Going to do two updates right in a row!


How Far Along: 10 weeks

What "They" Say About Our Baby's Development: "Though it's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of its development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in its body rapidly grow and mature. It's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy. If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin. In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. Its hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over its heart, and its feet may be long enough to meet in front of its body. The outline of its spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from its spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with its developing brain and sits very high on its head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, it's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

Weekly Food Comparison: A kumquat.
The Good: Feeling better in the morning. But only in the mornings!
The Bad: The nausea...it's so bad, on weekends I have a really hard time getting out of bed. I also can smell like a super hero, and it's usually all the bad things that I can smell!

The Weird: Crying at the drop of a hat. Or at commercials. Or at things I've seen before. Yesterday I cried over the last 15 minutes of the Sex and the City movie.


Currently Craving/Avoiding:


Avoiding: Not much.
Craving: Sweets, sweets and more sweets!

The Weekly Belly Bump: It's at the stage where in the morning it's small and in the evening it looks like I'm 5 months along.

July 14, 2011

The power of the Internet and Facebook

The Internet is full of a lot of stuff. A lot of things that aren't useful. And some things that are. And because of those few useful things, sometimes things can happen that are truly amazing. Like a 4 year old boys life being saved by having Kawasaki Disease diagnosed via Facebook...


http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/facebook-helps-diagnose-kawasaki-disease-saving-4-year-old-boy-8217s-life/2200

Facebook helps diagnose Kawasaki disease, saving 4-year-old boy’s life

By Emil Protalinski | July 14, 2011, 12:35pm PDT

On Mother’s Day morning, Deborah Copaken Kogan’s 4-year-old son Leo woke up with a rash. Since a recent note from Leo’s day care reported a case of strep in his classroom, Deborah felt his forehead, noted it was hot, and took him for a strep test. That’s how a long saga involving Facebook unfolded, as told in full on Slate.

While waiting for the test, she snapped a photo of her son on the examination table and posted it to Facebook with the following caption: “Nothing says Happy Mother’s Day quite like a Sunday morning at the pediatrician’s.” The test came back negative, but the doctor decided to treat Leo for strep while waiting for his throat culture results. Back on Facebook, many friends commented on the photo asking what was wrong. Deborah wrote “Strep, no biggie.” She then filled the prescription at the nearest pharmacy and fed Leo his first dose.

The next morning, Leo was worse. The family doctor concluded it was scarlet fever (a fancy name for strep with a rash), also pending the results of the throat culture. Deborah posted another photo on Facebook with the following less cheeky caption: “Baby getting sicker. Eyes swollen shut. Fever rising. Penicillin not working. Might be scarlet fever. Or roseola. Or…???? Sigh.”

Within three hours, 20 concerned comments had appeared underneath the photo. The next morning, Leo’s face was swollen beyond recognition. Deborah took a dozen photos of Leo from various angles to send to the family doctor via MMS, and posted the least frightening ones on Facebook. “Swelling worse,” she wrote, “especially eyes and chin. Fever still crazy high. Poor baby.”

Ten minutes later, Deborah received a call from her Facebook friend Stephanie, a film actress and former neighbor. “I hope you’ll excuse me for butting in but you have to get to the hospital,” she said. “Now. The longer you wait, the worse the damage.” Her son Max had had the exact same symptoms, and was hospitalized for Kawasaki disease. Deborah looked it up online and found it was a rare and sometimes fatal auto-immune disorder that attacks the coronary arteries surrounding the heart. Many of Leo’s symptoms seemed to match the descriptions, though there were also similar ones to the flu and scarlet fever.

Then Leo’s strep test came back negative. The most recent Facebook photo had garnered 36 comments, with various diagnoses and words of support, and Deborah’s inbox had multiple private messages. One was from her friend Beth, a pediatrician, and it echoed Stephanie’s fears. Deborah’s cousin Emily, a pediatric cardiologist who often has to deal with the fallout from untreated Kawasaki, also called after seeing the photo, urging her to go to the hospital. “The damage begins as early as five days after the onset of symptoms,” she said.

Three Facebook friends were enough for Deborah to take Leo to the hospital. From the hallway in triage, she finally called her family doctor and filled him in. “You know what? I was actually just thinking it could be Kawasaki disease,” he said. “Makes total sense. Bravo, Facebook.”

Over the next three weeks, Leo was treated, released, retreated, and rereleased for Kawasaki disease and then the Kawasaki-triggered liver disease. After helping diagnose Leo, Facebook then played the role of keeping family and friends in the loop about his condition. Deborah explained the social network helped her “to feel connected—profoundly connected—to the human race while living, breathing, eating and sleeping in the isolating, fluorescent-lit bubble of a children’s hospital ward, where any potential humans I might have ‘friended’ on our floor were too distraught over the fates of their own children to make any room in their hearts for strangers.”

Two months later, Leo’s liver is slowly recovering. While his enlarged heart is doing well, he will have to endure echocardiograms every year for the rest of his life.