Awards dinner & dr visit update

Well, I have a bunch to update you on today so I'll do my best to keep it short and sweet.

The March of Dimes Mother of the Year Award was held Saturday night in downtown Indy. I was one of the 10 nominees. Me, Craig, my parents, my Aunt Bonny, Uncle Lynn, Craigs mom and Craigs Aunt Marge all went down for the occasion. It was a nice evening. I didn't win, and thats okay, it was an honor to even be there. I met many other wonderful moms in the process. You can read the snippets on each mom at the link below:
http://www.marchofdimes.com/indiana/45925_60003.asp

We made the most of the evening with dinner and dancing. Then Sunday Craig and I headed for home after stopping by the state fair. It was a nice time. Nice to have that one on one time with my hubby!! We got home around 5pm and we were both beat!!

Monday, went to see the doctor in Chicago for my 22week visit and ultrasound. First of all, NO!! we did NOT find out the gender!!! We still do not want to know. Our normal u/s girl wasn't there yesterday so we had to go to another tech. Which was okay, but we were in that room for 90minutes. We got to see so much detail, it was amazing. We could see all 4 chambers of the heart, eye, ears, nose, mouth, arms, lets, bladder, kidneys, just EVERYTHING!! Sooo amazing!!! See the pic below.. its the babys face!!!

HELLO BABY VT!!


We did have a slight scare. When they were scanning the feet, they noticed the right foot looked a little abnormal. So the u/s girl called in another tech to check it out and then finally a doctor to look at it. The left foot looked great. They check both feet for different views for some reason and the right foot didn't lay flat. So they wrote down that there is a chance the baby has a MILD Clubbed Foot. What does that mean? It means that the babys right foot is pointed inward a little bit. Nothing severe, but there was enough of a bend to make them want to check it out again in 4 weeks.....well, I told them I couldn't wait 4 weeks so we're going back in 2. There is a chance that the babys foot is fine and it was just the way he/she was laying in the womb to look that way. So the u/s on Sept 7 will tell us more. There is NOTHING I can do to change it if there is a clubbed foot. However, if this is the case, its an easy fix. 1 out of every 1,000 babies are born with a clubbed foot and half of those are both with double clubbed feet. In most cases, this can be fixed with a brace on the ankle. In severe cases, it will require surgery when the baby is 9 to 12 months old. So for now, we just have to wait and see what the next u/s says on 9/7. I was told "not to worry" but um HELLO! Of course Im going to worry because its my baby, but atleast its not something SEVERELY wrong and this CAN BE FIXED!!

So we'lll go back on 9/7 for an ultrasound, dr visit and my sugar test (Gross!!)

The baby as of yesterday was 22weeks 2days but measuring 24weeks!! So we're ahead of schedule! YAY!! The heartbeat was at 127 and its weighing 1lb 5oz. So we're doing awesome!! Im only up 6lbs pre-pregnancy weight so for being 22 weeks, thats AWESOME!!
OH!! AND NO STRETCH MARKS!!!!! YIPPIE!!!!

Babys left foot print!


My HOT date!


Look at that belly!!


From the photo shoot....

Sounds of Pertussis Campaign

hey all!!

the sounds of pertussis campaign is holding a contest that you could win!!

Sound Off About Pertussis is a song contest that challenges people to write and perform a creative and educational song about pertussis that incorporates the words "pertussis" and/or "whooping cough" into the lyrics. The goal is to help raise awareness about pertussis in a fun and creative way.

Individuals are invited to enter for an opportunity to win national exposure and a trip to the Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR race weekend in November to perform the winning song on the Performance Racing Network "Up to Speed" stage. The winner will also receive VIP access for the race and an opportunity to meet Jeff Gordon.

To learn how to enter the contest, view official rules and find useful resources about pertussis and the adult Tdap vaccination, visit www.SoundsofPertussis.com/songcontest.

Pictures

So I had forgotten that not all the pictures of Callie have been posted... so Im posting the ones of me and my Miracle Baby. This post is all about Momma Kate & Callie. So enjoy the pictures. Sorry its taken me so long to post these. As you can imagine, its a little hard for me to do this.

Callie Grace ~ Momma misses you sooooooooo much. I can't believe youve been gone for over 6 months. Its not fair. You completed Mommas world and now that you're gone, part of my world is gone too. I'll never get that piece of my life back. I know youre watching over Momma from above and I hope you know that I love you more than life itself and that everything I do day in and day out is for you!! Because of you, Momma is having another baby, and I thank you for this gift. You can bet that this baby will know all about you! YOURE GONNA BE A BIG SISTER!!! Be good for Busi & Bear up there in heaven and save Momma a seat on the swing. I LOVE YOU MONKEY!

XOXOXO

Momma

Just an update

Well, the past week nothing has really been happening too exciting. Yep, for once, our life is slowing down abit. Which is good, because for awhile there we were running NON STOP and MommaKate was getting tired!! :-)

Last weekend Craig and I went shopping for outfits for the March of Dimes Mother of the Year dinner banquet. First off, let me remind you that Craig doesn't like to dress up!! He's my jeans & tshirt kind of guy!! So I was really dreading going shopping for a suit!!

Much to my surprise, it went WELL!! We started at JC Penney because they were having a big sale and we found a suit for $135. SCORE! I was thrilled with the price and then when he tried it on, I was thrilled with the look! Its all black and has like black pinstripes. Made by Izod so it should hold up pretty good. We got him a grey/silver colored dress shirt and a tie that has pink & purple in it. Of course we had to go with something with pink for Callie Grace! He's going to look awesome.

I wasn't thrilled about looking for a dress for me though either. I had ordered the one for the photo shoot from Target that was maternity but it became snug in the past week or so. The top is a bit tight (damnit for my boobs growing!) So I had to shop for a new dress. And this wasnt going to be an easy task. Mind you the dress code for the dinner is "cocktail attire" and they dont exactly make "cocktail" dresses for 6month pregnant women!!

JC Penney had a huge sale on dresses so I started there. I tried on a few dresses and felt like a blimp. Then I found this one that had an empire waist and looked cute. So I tried it.... even though it wasn't maternity. I just opted to try a size bigger than I normally wear when Im not pregnant. IT FIT!! It looked sooo cute. The empire waist sits just above my belly and you can't really tell it's NOT maternity. And for $35 I was THRILLED!! And of course, its black.

I even bought a cute pair of heels to wear with it. Everyone knows Im not a heel girl but I splurged and bought a cute pair!!

We might not win the award, but atleast we'll look awesome!!!

We were given 8 tickets to the event from the March of Dimes... so at our table it will be Me, Craig, Mom, Dad, Craigs mom, Craigs Aunt Marge and my Aunt Bonny & Uncle Lynn. Im so honored that they all wanted to join us on this night. We're all staying the night in Indy as well. We're gonna make a full night of it! I can't wait.

Im excited to see how the evening unfolds and see which mom is crowned MOY. I know it wont be me, but its still an AMAAZING honor to even be nominiated. I still wish I knew who nominated me. One of lifes great mysteries I guess.

Not too much is really happening with us these days. The dinner is next weekend *August 21* so we're just lying low until then. Kinda feels good not to have to run here and there for a change.

I am going to a Compassionate Friends meeting tonight. I haven't been since May and I feel like I NEED to go. Ive had a lot of sleepless nights lately so maybe going to the support group will bring some comfort over me. We shall see.

I hope everyone is enjoying the HOT summer!! Im ready for Cole to go back to school... just over a week!

I'll update you after the dinner.....oh and after my next doctor appt. and ultrasound on the 23!!! (and NO, we're not finding out the sex!!!)

Have a good day!

XOXOX
MommaKate

Missing

Its 4pm on Monday afternoon and I can't help but think about by baby girl. She should be here. I should be at home being a mom instead of working 8 hour days. No one will EVER understand the pain I have and how much I miss my Monkey.

I feel like people expect me to just move on with my life. Um, thats not so easy. Sure its easy for them to say and expect, but walk a day in my life, just see how hard it can be.

I feel like Ive been so strong lately with speaking out and raising awareness but the truth is, I am still in a million pieces on the inside. I wish they would have taken me instead of Callie. Why did she not get the chance to live her life?? 5 weeks? C'mon, thats nothing! She never got to experience ANYTHING!

Some days I feel like I failed at being her mom, like I didn't save her from this illness. I know there is nothing that I could have done different but I still have that awful feeling. I wish I didn't have these feelings... but I feel like I have demons haunting me. Maybe its because I can't accept the fact that shes really gone. I know I wont see her again until the afterlife, but I still dont accept the fact that shes gone. If that makes any sense.

I just wish things would have happened differently. Why did they have to take our Miracle Baby?? Why not a baby who was severely sick? I never want anyone to lose a child but reality is, there ARE babies out there who dont stand a chance, and yet medicine keeps them alive. Yet my child was HEALTHY and they took her from us. I just dont understand.

For those of you with kids, please cherish every moment. You never know when your last day with them will be.

To Callie Grace.... I miss you so much. Momma loves you so much!! I think about you every single day. Not a day goes by when we dont think or talk about you. I love you more than anything else in this world!!

I love you Monkey!