October 26

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of us finding out I was pregnant. For those of you who don't know the story, here it is:

Around mid-October 2007 I was cleaning out under the sink in the bathroom and I found an old pregnancy test from when we were first trying to get pregnant, before we even started our unsuccessful fertility treatments. The test was at least three years old and had an expiration date of November 2007. Well, if it had been November or December I probably would have just tossed it. But, since it was October and the test hadn't expired yet, I decided to use it at the end of the month, right before I was due to start my period (or so I thought, I wasn't really keeping track of all that anymore). Why, you ask, would I do such a thing? I really don't have an answer, I'm just weird and didn't want to throw away a perfectly good unused test. So Saturday the 27th, I woke up around 8 and decided to take the test. Bill had been out really late the night before, he had been at his monthly poker game, and although I remember telling him I was going to take the test, he didn't remember. I don't remember this next part, but Bill says I said, "Bill, this thing says I'm pregnant." He had no idea what I was talking about, but it woke him up! We spent the day laughing about how it was either a false reading because the test was bad (it was about to expire!) or I had some weird disease/disorder, because I couldn't possibly be pregnant- I was 40 and couldn't get pregnant! But, just to be sure, we bought another two pack, and both of them came back positive as well. We were both in a state of shock and panic and the possibility of being pregnant, and I called the doctor first thing Monday morning, went in Monday afternoon,and didn't even have to have a blood test to confirm the pregnancy, the urine test was positive. I still can't believe that one year later, we have such a happy, healthy and sweet little boy!

John has his six month check up/immunizations on November 17. He may get his flu shot then as well, although we don't know if he'll be able to since his adjusted age will only be 4 1/2 months then. We also found out that John is not eligible for Synagis, which is a medication to protect against RSV. RSV is respiratory syncytial virus and is the #1 cause of hospitalization in babies under a year. It is especially dangerous to preemies born under 35 weeks and other high risk infants, and a severe case can lead to pneumonia and bronchitis. Most children get RSV before their second birthday, and in most it just appears as a moderate to severe cold. Even though John was born at 34 weeks, he is not eligible for preventative treatment because: a) he didn't have any respiratory problems as a preemie and was breathing on his own almost right away; b) he isn't exposed to school age children or other infants/toddlers on a regular basis; c) some other reason I can't remember because of my swiss cheese memory. So, we'll just have to be careful and not let sick people around him this winter.

Anyway, John was around kids earlier this week- we took him Addison's fundraising night at Stevie B's pizza. He loved the attention! Wednesday I stayed home because I had a blocked milk duct (very uncomfortable, bordering on painful at times) and the best treatment is frequent nursing, warm compresses, and rest, none of which I can do at school. Bill's parents came for the afternoon on Saturday.

Today's pictures: John wearing his Daddy's Little Monster outfit, a gift from Auntie RoRo last year; John sitting up in his 3-stage Super Seat that I mentioned in last week's blog; The happy Leith family; John with his Grammy and Poppy