Thumb Update

I got a comment on one of my posts the other day about my thumb nail because someone else is going through the same thing I had to deal with. I couldn't find a way to reply back to that person, so hopefully they will read this post and it will help to answer some of your questions.

I had the lovely stripe going down my thumb nail which totally freaked me out when I found out that it could possibly be melanoma, and that the Melanonychia only occurs in 1% of fair skinned individuals, and I am about as white as paste. The doctors didn't seem too concerned about it, but I did. Every time I looked at that little stripe, all I could think of was cancer. So I decided to have it biopsied.

I was put under MAC anesthesia, my whole thumb nail was removed, they had to cut an incision down to the matrix of my nail (in the area right behind where the nail inserts into your skin), and they also cut into my nail bed all along the entire stripe to remove it. Then my nail bed was stitched up, along with the area behind the nail insertion into my skin with dissolvable stitches. They then applied a xeroform dressing to my nail, tucking it up inside my thumb a bit to ensure that my skin didn't scar down to my nail bed, and to allow the new nail to grow through.

I'm not going to lie, it was very painful when the numbness wore off. For one thing you don't have a nail, your swollen which makes it painful, and someone had just cut come of your extremely tender nail bed and stitched it back up. Painful to change the dressings, especially when they stuck to my thumb from all of the drainage, pretty much painful to do anything at all. But given time, it does feel better.

My biopsy came back negative, and I was so happy. I was even more happy to have done the surgery because I don't have to worry about that little stripe running down my thumb anymore.

I've done a lot of research on Melanonychia and I know there's some characteristics that make it have a higher chance for malignancy than others; like color, thickness of the stripe, etc. If you haven't looked up some information on it yet, I would recommend it.

My thumb nail is almost fully grown back now, and life is good. To see pictures of what it looks like before and post surgery click here: Thumbs up!

It's a... BOY!

Yes, it's true! We are having a sweet little baby boy in April! I couldn't be more excited! We had our ultrasound yesterday afternoon, and it was so amazing and fun to see our little one moving around on the screen, and boy was he moving! The lady doing my ultrasound even said that we'll be running around after this one because he was having a party. Yep, he was all over the place. It couldn't be due to the fact that I was worried that he would be shy and be modest, so I loaded myself up with sugar (like a million fruit snacks and almost a full Milky Way) before the ultrasound. Poor thing must have been on a sugar high.

All in all, it was one of the greatest afternoons of my life. I think I had permanent happiness plastered on my face as I watched the screen that showed that my son was healthy and growing the way he was supposed to. He sure is going to be a cutie!

I am so excited to be having a boy. I really didn't care one way or the other what the gender was going to be; I was happy with either. I think that if you have to deal with any amount of infertility, you're just happy to be having a healthy baby. I know I am.

I Dream of Baby

Okay... I think I'm having some anxiety issues about my little one growing up too fast. These feelings of anxiety tend to make themselves known while I am sleeping... in my dreams.

Dream #1: My baby is three days old, and she has already began to walk by herself, and she can sing her ABC's. I was so very upset because I just wanted a little baby that depended on me, and stayed young for some period of time. I did not want a baby that was so intelligent that she would make and break world records. Wouldn't it be kind of freaky if your newborn could do all of that?

Dream#2: I have my baby. I am in the hospital. I look around at everyone elses children to find that their babies could fit in the palms of their hand (that was normal size in my dream). When I give birth, my baby weighed a whole 9 pounds! Now this number may not seem very big, but in my dream where a palm sized child was expected by all the mothers, I ended up with an enormous infant.

Dream #3: My baby has a huge head. Enough said. I know that this could be real since I too have an usually huge head. I guess it was just taking after its momma.

Dream #4: Another talking dream. My baby points and gives me instructions as to what it wants. "I want dat over der." What happened to the cooing and cute baby sounds? Nope my child is definitely too mature for such childlike behavior.

So, according to my dreams, I'm going to have a giant baby with a huge head that can walk and talk and recite the alphabet. Every mothers dream right?

Update!

I know, I know, I am a slacker. We are still alive and well in the Ferrero household, I guess I just haven't been in the blogging mood lately. I'm sure a lot of you understand, right?

Anyways... here's a list of what's been going on in our not extremely exciting lives as of lately.

1. I'm working... Adam's working... I come home and do nothing... and instead of spending his evenings at home, Adam goes to school. Thrilling eh?

2. I realized that I'm going to be an enormous pregnant lady. Last night, I was trying to find something to wear, and nothing looks good on me anymore. I feel like my stomach is growing one way and my hind end is growing another. I'm starting to look big, and I'm only 15 weeks along! I guess I can blame it on the fact that I have like no torso, and the baby has nowhere to go but out.

3. I had a doctors appointment on Tuesday afternoon, and everything is going great. As my doctor was trying to locate the baby to find a heartbeat, she informed me that our baby is a wiggler! Does that mean anything? Is our child training to be a swimmer like it's dad, or inherit my burden of restless legs syndrome which has made itself known to me during this pregnancy?

4. The big ultrasound is in 27 days! But who's counting? And yes... we are finding out the gender.

5. I went to the dentist today, and have no cavities! Woo-Hoo! The only problem is that I can't stand the fluoride coating they paint on my teeth, so when I got home I ate a fun sized Twix bar to try to get it off. We'll see how many cavities I have next time.

6. I love sugar! Candy, pasteries, you name it, I want it! Is it weird that at the same time I want to eat veggatables with lots and lots of fattning dip?

7. We're trying to get ready for our Christmas on a budget. Therefore, most of our gifts are going to be hand made. It's time consuming, but the money we save will be worth it. My fingers have been poked many times with all of the needle point I've been doing, so I can literally say that my blood, sweat, and tears have gone into our Christmas gifts. Okay... okay... no sweat and tears have gone into our gifts. It would be really sad if sewing things caused me to work up a sweat, but I wouldn't be surprised with how out of shape I am.

8. I am now eating everything under the sun. I went so long without an appetite, so now that I'm hungry, I eat a ton.

Life is good!

Fish?

So my OB informs me that I need to be taking a prenatal vitamin with DHA. I have done awesome taking my prenatals, but didn't know I needed this other supplement called DHA. Now I don't do well with taking pills, especially big ones. I hate it when I can feel them sliding down my throat. Can I just complain about these supplements for a moment? They are HUGE! The worst thing though is the ingredients. I shouldn't have looked at the ingredients at all. Sardines? Anchovies? Sick! Those are always the things I avoided like the plague. Pizza with anchovies? No thank you... not in a million years! So now I have to take a pill with those such things in them? To be honest, I'm having a difficult time taking them. Even thinking about those horse pills makes me sick. I know I just need to be tough because it's what's best for my baby.

My mom told me that it's just the oils from the fish, but that makes it even worse for me. When I think of oils, all I can think about is greasy, oily hair... or an oily face covered in acne. It's oil, greasy secretions from some creatures skin. Now put that in a capsule and swallow it. Ew! I know, I'm thinking too much about this.

Last of all, the supplements look like jelly beans without the brightly colored, sugary coating of goodness. Maybe if they dipped them in a bright red, green, or yellow coating, it would be easier for me to stomach taking them. But for now, I'm trying to give myself a pep talk to go gag one down right at this moment. Wish me luck!

Life!

Tuesday September 29, 2009 will always be remembered as one of the best days of my life. Tuesday was the day we had the opportunity to see our first baby for the very first time. There was a mix of excitement and nervousness as the ultrasound machine was wheeled into the room where two very anxious parents were patiently awaiting the moment they would get to see the life they created.

As the doctor placed the sound head on my belly, all I could feel was fear. Fear that all I would be able to see on the screen was a big, dark, empty space with nothing inside of it. I watched that screen intensely so as to not miss the moment that I would see my baby. I will never forget the moment that tiny little body appeared on the screen. All of my worries and cares melted away, and all I could direct my focus on was that beautiful little person. Tears filled my eyes, and started streaming down my face. Life, that life right there, was growing inside of me.

Then the doctor pointed out the heartbeat, a strong heart beat. Nothing was more miraculous to behold. The sound of that heartbeat was music to my ears. That was my babies heartbeat!


I could have spent all day on that table, looking at that screen, listening to the heartbeat, the true evidence that my baby is alive, strong, and well. I look at the pictures they gave me often, and my heart melts every time I do. I can see arms, legs, and a face! These are the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen. They're not clear, and it's hard to see what everything is, but I know it's my baby. I was able to see it, I was able to hear that it's growth is right on track, I was able to hear it's heart, I am able to know that this child is going to bless our lives and bring us so much more happiness than we could ever expect.

Basking in the delight of clothes!

Oh how I love used clothing, or should I say how I love free clothing. I don't care if they are used or new, I delight in the fact that I don't have to pay for them! Our ward had a Relief Society enrichment night last Friday, and I had so much fun! One of the genius ideas they had was for people to bring their unwanted clothes for everyone else to rummage through and claim as their own. Love it! I ended up getting a maternity shirt, a maternity dress, and another cute sweater, all for the price of nothing!

Well when I got home, I piled my findings onto the couch, and our cat started to go crazy over my new dress. Who knew he had a such a great sense of style. He started digging his head as far as he could into the dress, and basking in the new material that I will someday be wearing when my tummy gets big enough. It was like he found his own brand of catnip.

Nothing would snap him out of his moment. It was the strangest and funniest thing we had ever seen him do. So now I would like to share with you what we got on video. The best part is at the end when he pulls the dress over his face. Then again, it might just be funny to me and Adam, but oh well. You don't have to watch if you don't want to. And please ignore my annoying laughter and comments in the background.