Letter Hunt

Good Thursday morning!

My favorite day is finally here. And it's going to be a good one, too. I can just feel it in my bones.

We're going to get right to it today. We have a lot to talk about, and a lot of material to cover, so there's no time to dilly dally.

Roxie's Birth Day Story - Part Four

As the weeks slowly went by (as they so often do in the last trimester of pregnancy), my numbers went up. It took a long time, but three weeks before Roxie was due, I had reached the "borderline number." It wasn't my goal number, but the doctor was much more confident of a safe delivery at this point of the pregnancy.

However, as I stated before, we were about to hit Incident #4 of this pregnancy. I was now going to the doctor weekly. A sure sign you are going to have the baby sooner than later. I was huge. And I don't mean huge from eating powdered doughnuts and Sneaky Pete's hotdogs thrice daily (see Austin's Birth Day Story). I mean huge as in Kate Gosselin! However, we knew because of multiple ultrasounds, there was only one little baby in there. Hmmm.

"You're measuring over 44 weeks," the doctor told me.

"I thought when you measured 40 weeks, it was pretty much time for the baby," I said.

"That is correct. Let's do another ultrasound and try to figure out what's going on," he said.

Now, I'm okay with ultrasounds. Except for a little cold jelly on the belly, it isn't painful, and because it is basically taking pictures of the baby, it's right up my alley.

"The baby is a normal size for 37 weeks. However, there is a very large amount of fluid," he told me. Fluid. That didn't sound bad. I could set a two-piece place setting of china and a pot roast on top of my belly and still have room for the dessert tray, but as long as it was just fluid causing my enormity, I could deal with that.

"What causes extra fluid? Am I drinking too much?" I asked.

"No. There is a 50-50 chance that the baby's esophagus is not attached to the stomach. That means instead of the fluid going completely through the baby, it is backing up." He let that sink in a little.

"That doesn't sound good," I finally said. "How do we get the esophagus to attach to the stomach?"

He then went on to explain that after Roxie was born, she would be whisked away to NICU for testing. They would have to give her a dye and X-ray her to make sure it went through her entire digestive tract. It would show if the esophagus wasn't attached.

I thought about that information for a little while. "What if it isn't attached?"

"We transport her to Children's and she'll have surgery that day to correct the problem. It's a pretty basic surgery," he reassured me.

"Can I go with her?" I asked.

"No. We won't transport you, because unless you go into labor before we schedule this birth, you'll have to stay put and recover from your C-Section."

Okay. This man was getting on my last nerve. He was nothing but a big fat bad news bearer from beginning to end.

"That's not acceptable. If one of my kids is having surgery, I will need to be there," I said stubbornly.

"You're not understanding," he said just as stubbornly. "This will have to be taken care of quickly. As soon as we see a blockage, she'll be transported immediately."

After asking a few more questions, I waddled out to the waiting room where Mike was waiting to drive me home. Everything had happened so fast in the doctor's office, I hadn't even had time to call him back. We talked about this latest development on the drive home.

"Okay. Here's the deal. I want you to stay with Roxie from the minute she's born until we know what's going on. I want you to ride in the ambulance with her, and be outside the operating room waiting for her, and I don't want you to leave her side until you know she's okay. Mom will go with you, too. And Daddy will stay with me until we hear something."

"I'm not going to like leaving you after you have surgery, but that's what we'll have to do," he agreed.

With a plan in place, we prepared ourselves for the birth of our third (and final) child. We were to wait two weeks for the scheduled C-Section. (The ultrasound indicated she was a little small, and if she was to have surgery, they wanted her to be a little heavier.) Needless to say, it was going to be a long two weeks.

You'll be glad to know, Roxie will be born tomorrow as far as this story is concerned (which is actually her real 13th birthday). How's that for good timing?

You've gone this long, you might as well come back tomorrow and finish the story. You know you want to!

Weekend Family Fun

As always, most of these were taken from http://blog.al.com/bargain-mom. Check her website throughout the week... Not only for things to do, but for great bargains, freebies, etc.

Southern Women's Show - The Southern Women's Show is scheduled for today through Sunday. You'll want to know about these great offers the Show has scheduled.

To celebrate the Show's 25th birthday they are planning deals for each day of the show...

The first 100 guests on each day will get a reusable tote.

On Thursday, it is Chick-Fil-A Day. The first 500 guests will receive a stuffed cow, plus there will be opportunities to win great Chick-Fil-A prizes including party trays and calendars.

On Friday, watch the Firefighter Fashion Show on the Best Buy stage at 7:00 p.m.

On Saturday, you receive free admission if you were born in 1984. Bring your driver's license to prove your birth date and get free admission on Saturday.

On Sunday, Panera Bread is offering the first 150 guests to the Show that day breakfast bites.

Pumpkin Patches - Let's get ready to pick pumpkins. Most of the state's pumpkin patches will open this weekend and close on Halloween. From mazes, inflatables and wagon rides to selecting the perfect pumpkin, let the season begin.

Here's a round up of some of the patches in the Birmingham area opening soon:

The Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden (Blount County) opens September 26 through October 31. They are open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to dark; and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. until dark.

Old Baker Farm Pumpkin Patch in Harpersville (Shelby County) opens September 26 through October 31. Admission includes all activities except for food and vendor purchases.

They are open Monday through Friday 3:00 p.m. to dark; Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to dark; and Sunday 1:00 p.m. to dark.

Sloss Furnaces Fall Festival is October 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $5. Advance ticket purchase is strongly advised. You can get them by phone or in person at Sloss Museum Store.

There will be carnival games, hay rides, peanut boil, a pumpkin patch and decorating.

Call (205) 324-1911 for more information.

If you're feeling adventurous, try a different pumpkin patch. Burnette Farms in Thorsby, Alabama looks inviting. I've never been, but I looked at their website (www.BurnetteFarms.com). If you end up giving them a try, let me know what you think!

There's a lot more coming up for next week, too. I'll have a farm a week for you to research and maybe visit during the month of October. The farms will make a great day trip for the family.

Letter Hunt

This idea was also on the aforementioned website. However, I thought it would make a great date for a parent and child. Read how (and why) the Letter Hunt began...

The family and I took off in our family truck one recent Sunday, and gave the older kids an assignment. They were told to spot the letters in our last name.

We drove around downtown on a Sunday afternoon. From the north side to the south side it was empty and perfect for slowing down and stopping.

We were looking for cool Ds, Es, Ms, As and Ns. It could be a shape on a building, a letter in a sign. If it was cool, we took the picture.

Why were we doing this?

We've created a snapshot wall with gallery style lighting at home. It's painted dark gray. I got a cool vintage frame at the thrift store. I refinished it and created my own matte and placed all six 5 x 7 pictures in the frame.

I also spent less than $15 on the whole project (not counting the gas we used driving around town).

The point is, we'll continue to look for cool letters on vacations, etc. If we see something worth snapping and framing we can easily replace our name on the wall.

The kids loved the mini-scavenger hunt.

VARIATION - We LIKE urban and vintage themes. You may like rural and natural themes. You can mix the two. It's perfectly acceptable. Document where you found your letters.

We like color. You may like black and white or sepia.

You can do this for a gift too. New baby, couple getting married, house-warming gift.

Doesn't that sound like fun? She's not only smart about saving money... she loves planning unique things to do as a family. I love her! I think Roxie and I are going to try this in November on a gray day downtown. Great idea!

Have a dry Thursday. It's going to be a good day because there will be NO storms that knock out our power and make it impossible to see the entirety of Survivor! I DECLARE IT! And that means tomorrow I'll have a TV Review. Also, I am pleased to announce Amazing Race starts this Sunday, so next week, I'll have not one, but two TV Reviews. Yes. Things are finally cranking back up. We'll finish up the week with a book, a look at Weekend Happenings and the final chapter in Roxie's Birth Day Story. I bet you thought she'd never get here... I certainly didn't!

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda