Pregnancy Update

Apologies for not being consistent with updating the blog lately!

I went to the doctor yesterday for a routine visit. I'm nearly 18 weeks into the pregnancy, so we're starting to be asked to make decisions about how we're going to finance the birth, what types of birth we want, etc. Honestly, I expected these questions to come later! My doctor's office doesn't waste any time apparently! I spent a few minutes with the OB Coordinator to sign paperwork and discuss what insurance does and does not cover. Thankfully, my insurance covers more than I anticipated, and our out of pocket expense will not be nearly as large as we had anticipated. Oh, its still a large expense ... but I guess it could be a lot worse!

The baby's heart rate was at 155 bpm, which the doctor said was great. She had trouble finding the heartbeat at first (little panic there) but it was because the baby was moving around so much. I'm glad to know that there is movement in there, because I haven't felt anything as of yet. I'll look back at this in a few more months and wince as I'm being kicked in the ribs.

Unfortunately, my blood pressure was elevated yesterday. They had me lay on my side for a while and it did go down, but I go back in two weeks for another check. I feel pretty certain that my blood pressure was up due to the stress of this time of year. Thanks to these lovely pregnancy hormones, I'm a little more emotional about things that I normally would be. And next Wednesday the 26th marks two years since Mom's passing. This year is feeling a lot more difficult to swallow than last year, maybe because it forces me to reflect on my relationship with Mom and how much I hope that my children look up to me like my brothers and I did to her.

The appointment ended with the scheduling of the all-important ultrasound. The big one. On December 17th, if the baby cooperates, the gender will be revealed. Before all my loyal readers get their hopes up, I will say that we will not be told the gender right then and there. Wade would prefer to not find out at all. I, on the other hand, am a planner. I MUST know. We have agreed to delay the revelation a few more days and will have the gender put in an envelope which we will open at Christmas. Some of you will have to wait just a little longer.

So what's your vote? Do you think its a boy or a girl? We've added a vote counter on the right hand side here. Vote as many times as you like!

After Christmas, I will update the blog with the ultrasound pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you!

Watch HGTV's "Designed to Sell" on Wednesday, November 12th!

Mark it on your calendars, set your DVR and plan to camp out on the couch ...

The Gilbert house will FINALLY be featured

on HGTV's "Designed to Sell" on

Wednesday, November 12th @ 8:00pm EST!

The episode will focus on my brother Grant, and his wife, Brooke, as they renovate our childhood home. After 30+ years of abuse from the three Gilbert kids, it needed a boost! I can assure everyone that the results are absolutely phenomenal (Dad couldn't believe it). Mom would be so proud of what they've done to help us get the old house in Stone Mountain ready for the market! We are so thankful for the help of the "Designed to Sell" team and HGTV!

I hope that you all will tune in (or DVR) the episode next Wednesday. Please feel free to spread the word to anyone you feel may be interested!

If any of this information changes, we will be sure to let you know.

Check HGTV's programming schedule for more information.

Thanks everyone!

And growing ...

Here's our latest ultrasound at about 10 weeks - - -

The doctor said that the baby's heartrate and everything looks great. Our due date has not changed, so the countdown to April 27, 2009 is on!

I'd like to take this opportunity to say that my doctor's office, Preferred Women's Healthcare, has been outstanding so far. I have a few friends who also use this practice, and I am so happy that I made the switch!

Something else to write about!

It occurred to me this morning that my last two posts (and heck, maybe more?) were about Hudson. For nearly two years she has been our only child of sorts. Granted, she has fur, horrible breath and ears that just can't seem to stay in place. But she has been such a source of entertainment in the house since the night she arrived.

Hudson is in for a RUDE awakening come late April of 2009.

Wade and I recently found out that we're having a baby!

We're having another ultrasound on Thursday of this week along with our first "long" OB appointment where they will poke and prod and ask lots of questions about our family medical history. We've already seen the baby's heart beating and thankfully I am not dealing with a great deal of morning sickness as of yet. I realize that I jinxed myself. But so far, its just bouts of exhaustion and mild nausea.

So obviously this signals a new chapter in the lives of the Garretts. We're definitely embarking on one heck of an adventure now - full of hormonal rage and inexplicable headaches. And that's just Wade trying to put together furniture and get through all these books I've brought home! Just kidding. Those things are 100% my domain.

Here's a snapshot of our baby bean ------- MORE TO COME!

Take your dog to work day!

This past Friday, my co-worker and I decided that since we had quite a few people out of the office, it would be a great day to bring our dogs to work. Thankfully, I work for a very small company that is flexible and family-oriented.

So instead of going in the boring crate in the garage all day, Hudson got to come to work!

She and Rix, my co-worker's dog, ran circles around the warehouse and the stock yard. They would greet anyone who came out of the doors from the first and second floors and into the warehouse space. I was impressed that both dogs got along so well with each other and everyone in the office.

As a result of the long work day, Hudson was caught sleeping on the job a few times.

I am so thankful to work for a great company. And so relieved to have a well-behaved dog. I don't think that she has fully recovered from her busy day at work. As you have read in previous blogs, she has great "problem solving skills" ... but will need to work on paying more attention!

The Suspect Had Brown Fur

Those of you that have kept up with us for the past few years know that we initially had a lot of trouble with our dog, Hudson. She was a rescue of sorts – bounced from place to place before finally ending up with us. We quickly discovered that she had all sorts of “emotional” problems stemming from separation anxiety. Within a week of her arrival, she had decided to remove all the carpet from the base of the stairs in our bonus room. This was an obvious desperate ploy to dig out of the room. Too bad for her we live on a slab. She also learned how to open doors with her paw!

A few weeks after we adopted Hudson, we decided that she would simply have to be crate trained. Wade and I quickly realized that a dog with separation anxiety does not agree with being crate trained. We endured many nights of her howling and barking. Her crate had been in our sunroom and one day we came home from work and she greeted us at the door. Her supposed steel crate lay mangled in the sunroom, the plastic base completely destroyed. We were desperate because not only would she escape her confines, but she would mark her territory while we were gone. Wade and I took her to Petsmart to return the crate that they had told us was strong enough for our neurotic dog. They politely told us that our dog had “issues”. Our vet recommended using Children’s Benadryl to calm her down during the day. Unfortunately, Hudson reacted to the Benadryl as if it were speed. It made her crazy and her escapes from the crate happened even more quickly.

After several weeks of using zip ties to keep the old crate held together (and her consistently daring escapes), we decided to get a stronger airline crate and that she would just have to stay out in the garage. We were wise to her tricks by this point. As much as we loved Hudson, we were determined to keep her in that crate while we were at work or out running errands. We used a tie-down strap from Wade’s truck to reinforce the door to the crate and hoped for the best.

For the most part, the reinforced crate has worked. She has only made it out a few times, usually when we have a friend check on her if we’re out of town and they don’t know how tight we keep the straps. Most people underestimate her strength and determination, like we did! We gave her the nickname of “Houdini”.

It has been a while since Hudson managed to get out of her crate …

On Sunday, Wade and I went to run errands. We put Hudson in her crate, secured everything and went out our way. When we returned home less than three hours later, we opened the garage door. Wade said “Wow – she moved the crate! Look at that!” I walked around to the front of the crate, which was still secured – door shut and locked, strap tight. Except Hudson was not in the crate! Wade and I start spinning around looking for the dog. We thought maybe she ran out of the garage when the door opened and we just did not see her. But by now, she would have been all over us. Wade turned around and noticed that the door leading to the house was barely cracked. I went and opened the door, and Hudson was sitting in the foyer with her tail wagging, as if to say “What took you guys so long?”

How on earth did this happen? The crate looked as though nothing had changed. All we can figure is that the strap wasn’t in just the right place and she hit the door with enough force to bow out the bottom and squeeze (and I do mean squeeze) out. But how did she get into the house? The door was shut! Wade saw that there were some obvious claw marks on the door frame. Hudson clearly managed to open the door with her paw again. Thankfully, she went into the house and did not destroy anything or mark her territory.

I suppose this is what we get for having a dog that is apparently smarter than us. But we do think that this was one of her more humorous successful escapes simply because we were so stunned that she made it into the house. And at least she had the sense to close the door behind her.

Coming Soon –
Pictures of a miraculous nature!

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Over the weekend, Wade and I realized that for the past two weeks we’ve been more invested in watching the Olympics than in all previous competitions (hence the silent blog). Not even when the Summer Games were in Atlanta did we watch this much coverage. I think a large part of it is due to the obsessively continuous coverage aired by NBC on their conglomerate of 2,394 channels. We were of course enthralled with the swimming and gymnastics competitions. I tried my best to keep up with the women’s soccer games. We became fans of the men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams. We’ve even watched mountain biking, BMX biking and whitewater kayaking. Doubles ping pong? Insane. I won’t even go into the mess that was race walking – I can only tell you how hard I laughed.

The one area that could never attract our attention was track and field. My disdain for running goes back to my soccer days, where running was used not only for conditioning, but punishment when a drill did not go as planned. I have never been able to really run since. So now I find myself in a position where I do not understand the sheer joy these athletes display when they are dubbed “the fastest man in the world”. I also realize that they probably feel the same way when they see soccer players celebrate goals. They just don’t get it. And neither do I.

Now we find ourselves without Olympic coverage for the first full day in some 19 days. The new seasons of our favorite shows do not start for another month or more. It is as though we’ve forgotten how we spent our evenings before the Olympics.

So Wade and I return tonight to our normal marriage. Without promotional consideration from Speedo, Nike, Oakley, Coca-Cola and Visa, the only card accepted at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing.