Hi Danica, Yes I’m blogging about you…
I was wondering if you would be able to send me that link to those Maraschino Cherry Chocolate cookies you had blogged about last year. I made them once, but forgot to write down the recipe, and since you closed your blog I can’t look back on it. ~ Oh I miss your blog… You are such a beautiful writer.
Thanks a million in advance

We drove to Vancouver and spent the night at a friends house.  Once arriving Orlund was upset he hadn’t thought about taking half of Wednesday off so we could spend some actual time visiting! Oh well. We had a wonderful visit and a good sleep. The girls stayed here at the house with Orlund’s mom watching them ~ she unfortunately didn’t get a good sleep! (teething Olivia). I guess right after we pulled out of view, while I was tearing up, Joy turned to Grandma and said “everybody happy! Joy happy, Grandma happy..” she then stretched Olivia’s face into a ‘smile’ “Baby Olivia happy too”. lol.

Thursday morning Orlund and I headed in for our appointment. We stopped for a breakfast at White spot. Yummy. Weird without kids, quiet. Then jumped into the van and headed to the hospital. We arrived an hour early! Yup. Gotta beat that Vancouver traffic! (better early than late, and since we are used to traveling with kids~ if they had of been with us we would have JUST made it.lol). We looked through their gift shop after checking in, there was a REALLY cute baby blanket, unfortunately the price wasn’t so cute. No purchase from us.

Finally we got to go in and have the ultrasound. Orlund got to come in right away, and we got to watch the entire ultrasound on a big screen TV. The technician pointed out what all it was we were looking at (I pretty much new). Got to see the two parts of the brain and all the fun little parts you don’t notice on a regular ultrasound. Then came the question “do you know what you are having?” “Nope”"Do you want to know??”…lets just say there was a lot of discussion going on. We found out!! We are having a………………….lol. yes I’m going to make you wait a bit longer! I’ll post a pic later revealing the gender. After she was done getting all the measurements etc she had to go clear it all with a Doctor and make sure she had gotten all the shots she needed. After a wait that seemed to take forever (5minutes) she returned and said we were done. “Baby does have a 2 vessel umbilical cord, but otherwise is completely healthy”. “What about the cyst on the Placenta?” I asked, I hadn’t even seen her look at the placenta. “the placenta? let me see” she looks back through our paper work. Apparently my Dr misinformed me, Baby had some cysts on the spongy thing in the brain (it’s between the two halves and makes spinal/brain fluid). However the cysts were GONE

Then we had an hour and half wait until our ‘Genetic counseling’. We went to the cafeteria and paid way to much for some, not overly exciting food. But it filled us up. It was close to the time we were to head upstairs (figured we’d just go early). Upstairs we went. Apparently they make you wait an hour so that they have time to get the results. So we figured we would be waiting about 1/2 hour. Well that time came and went. Orlund and I read all the information they had on the walls (about genetics etc). Interesting, but not that interesting. I finally decided I was to tired to just sit there, so I took a snooze. I had just gotten into a good deep sleep when the counselors came in. She asked me if I was okay… lol.. what else is a pregnant woman who for once doesn’t have kids with her supposed to do while waiting an hour and a half? NAP.

We went into the room with the two counselors (one was in training). Boy do they ever beat around the bush! Sure if there was a major complication it would have been perfect. However as we found out, Baby is good. First we talked about the umbilical cord (as the two things are NOT related at all). Orlund asked the question on both our minds “so what could happen to our baby? what does it mean?” Apparently the only thing that could happen is we could have a small baby….although by the measurements on the ultrasound we have a big baby ~ so they aren’t worried.

Then we came to the cysts. Apparently these cysts are common (same as the cord), and it is common for them to come and go, so we will get another ultrasound around 32weeks to see if they are back. The only reason they are even looking at them again (or looked at them again) is because there were two ‘markers’ even if unrelated. We asked the same question about what the cysts could mean. Apparently they can be an indication of a very serious genetic disease. One that they didn’t tell us exactly what it is. However usually if a baby has this disease then they will have other issues, ie~ missing limbs, brain issues, heart issues etc. And our baby only has the cysts. They also said that we could have an Amnio (forget how to spell the full name) if we wished to know 100%, and we could have it performed RIGHT THEN! I luckily know a bit about Amnio’s. There is a 1 in 200 chance of miscarriage, and we would need to spend another night in Vancouver. I said no. I have Faith that God has taken care of this and so there is nothing to worry about. Orlund wanted me to make the decision as he was worried I’d worry and wonder about it the rest of our pregnancy ~ I wont. I said NO, so he told the ladies “we wouldn’t do anything about it anyway, so unless there is a VERY good reason, such as the doctors need to know for delivery or shortly after, then there is no point putting our baby at risk”. The Lady that was training the other said that was a good way to put it, if you wouldn’t do anything anyway why bother.

So with that we were done. On our way out of town we swung by Ikea and hit up the kids section to see if we could find a ‘treat’ for the girls. Unfortunately that stop brought us right into rush hour traffic. THAT is the reason I wouldn’t want to live in Vancouver! It took us well over an hour to go a very short distance! We stopped by Orlund’s Aunt’s house to pick up two bed frames for the girls. THANK YOU! And then headed home with a very full van.

We arrived late at night, Thanked Orlund’s mom and dad and headed to bed.
So glad to be home, but even more so THANKFUL to Jesus for our healthy baby #3.

Thank you for your prayers and I’ll be sure to upload that picture soon

So, today I anxiously awaited the phone call from ‘Patti’ my Dr’s receptionist. It was 10am, she’d said to call if I hadn’t heard anything by 10/11am. I decided to be patient so took the kids for a walk. It was the ‘first’ real walk I’ve taken in a long time (lazy me!), wow! Talk about baby ‘pressure’ and braxton hicks contractions!

Anyway, we returned from our walk, and Patti hadn’t called. So I called her. She received the Fax while we were on the phone and printed it off. She asked me “are you ready to hear when it is? because it’s soon” “oh yeah” “Thursday Oct 20th”.. Yeah, as in 2 days from now!! So that means we need to drive to Vancouver TOMORROW night! YIKES! Patti had told me before it would be soon, I figured that meant NEXT week soon, not THIS week soon!! So as you can imagine I have Orlund scrambling lol. He’s talking to his mom to see if she can babysit the girls (They don’t sleep through the night so it can be hard, and we don’t want to over tire her), and while on his lunch break he’s driving down to the Dr’s office to pick up the package of information we’ll need. Oh and of course telling his boss that he needs Thursday off!

This is happening quickly! Oh and now we will also need to figure out where to stay for the night.
I’ll keep you updated. God Bless! And thank you for the continued prayers.

I’ve been ‘patiently’ waiting to hear from the Dr’s office if they knew where we would be going for our next Ultrasound (Vancouver or Kelowna). I gave them a week. Today I called, the receptionist said she would look into it and get back to me. By lunch I figured perhaps she knew the answer but hadn’t had a chance to call me. So I called her again. I found out some interesting information I hadn’t thought about… First we are going to go to Vancouver for the ultrasound. She knew that. I guess she called them, and they are usually quick at responding so I should know by the end of the day (thank goodness that’s 4pm!). However the things I learned ~ Apparently this is an ALL day affair! We also don’t get to pick which day it’ll be, Vancouver picks that. The appointment is usually from around 9am to 2pm. First we will meet with some Doctors, then have the detailed ultrasound (hope we get to watch, or at least see some), then we meet with the doctors again (with some counselors) and go over the results right then and there!! Which is nice because we’ll have answers quickly and not have to wait to come home and find out. She will call me sometime today and let me know what day it is that we will need to go. Also they will have a package of information for us to pick up at the office. Makes it sound scary, but I have faith in our God. Heck my little believer Joy prayed for baby to be okay, how can it not be? (I’ll blog about that next).

Here's our baby #3

However…. This means that we will have to leave our girls somewhere over night!! First time EVER! (Joy stayed at our house with my mom when Olivia was born but that’s the ONLY time). Sure we have family in Vancouver, that I’m sure I could ask to watch them for the day, however, Orlund’s Aunt has some beds for the girls that we need to bring home (and in order to fit them into the van we need all the seats out). Orlund had been planning a trip with his mom to go down and get the beds, however now since we will be going we can just pick them up. The receptionist told me that usually people go down the night before due to how early these appointments are (and you wouldn’t want to miss it!). So that is probably what we will be doing. I think this will be hard on me! Leaving my baby girls… I know they will be fine, it’s probably harder on me than anyone else. Guess we just wait for the phone call with the times and then see who is available for babysitting the cutest girls around

See ~ such cuties!

Thank you for your prayers. I believe our baby is fine and everything else will be too (although continued prayers are always appreciated). The Doctor started off by saying that the VERY good news is baby is perfect. If something is wrong usually their head will be bigger/smaller than it’s supposed to be. Our baby is perfectly ‘balanced’ and measuring correctly for our dates.

The reason they called me in is because two small things showed up during the Ultrasound. He said if either one had happened on it’s own they probably wouldn’t even have concern. However due to there being two things it just makes them a little more concerned. The two things were 1) On the Ultrasound it showed only 2 blood vessels in the Umbilical cord ~ usually there is 3. and 2) There looked to be a small cyst on the Placenta. So we will be sent to Vancouver or Kelowna for a more ‘detailed’ ultrasound, and I have to get some blood work done.

Over all I’m happy how things are going And the Doctor prescribed something for my heartburn.

Yeah, I’m bad at not finishing my blogging about our trip. however something has come up, and while I’m not willing to share it on such a public place as Facebook I am willing to share it with my readers. Most of you, I believe are Christians and pray, please pray.
Friday we went in and had our 19week Ultrasound. Baby was dancing the entire 45minutes it took for the technician to get all the measurements she needed (both the girls did this as well). Afterwards baby had fallen asleep so we only got to view him/her for 8minutes as we saw all we were going to see. It was exciting and we video taped it as a nice keep sake.
This weekend was Thanksgiving ~ Happy Thanksgiving everyone~ Talk about heart burn! I’ve been ‘sleeping’ on the couch in agony for the past 3 nights.
Tuesday (today)~ I was exhausted and the kids decided to be feisty and Joy ended up with a swollen lip. Olivia doesn’t seem to be feeling well as she’s crying and throwing fits all morning. Olivia has also learned how to say “NO”. Yup she’s at that stage… fun.. Anyway, to the point of my blog. This morning I got a call from our Doctors office, they wanted to call and book an appointment with me to go over the Ultrasound. *gasp*. With both the girls we didn’t have to go over anything! So of course like any pregnant woman I broke down crying and sobbing (and of course praying) there must be something wrong. I got the idea to call the office again and ask if this was going to be an appointment that my husband would need to come to or not.. The receptionist had to ask the Doctor. She told me that they saw something on the Ultrasound that will require more tests to be done (or more lab work?). So this is an informative appointment (no hubby needed). We will be discussing what they saw (or thought they saw), what tests we will need to do etc etc. SO please PRAY for my baby, uterus, placenta all that baby stuff. That everything is normal and natural. I don’t mind doing more tests, and I’m praying and believing that those tests will prove my baby is completely healthy and another miracle of God.
Thank you for your prayers. I’ll keep you updated.

Our next stop was in Brandon.

On our 7hour trip there we stopped in Regina at a McDonald’s to let the girls play for around an hour. They loved it, and it was a nice break for us too.
In Brandon I have an Uncle Richard (whom we stayed with), Cousin Dan (wife Becky, and their two kids) and Orlund has his Baba, as well as an Uncle Nathaniel (wife Thaisa and cousin Danessa). So we had many family members to visit with. The day we arrived at Uncle Richard’s house we were introduced to his Girlfriend Nancy, she was very nice to meet. I haven’t seen my Uncle Richard since our last trip out that way (actually we haven’t seen anyone from Brandon since then) and it was nice to see him. He and my Dad were very close growing up and they look quite similar. We were off to bed at a ‘reasonable’ time that night.
The next day we spent the morning visiting with Richard (he was on holidays) and making plans with the rest of the families. Shortly after dinner we headed out to see Baba. She was over the moon with excitement in getting to meet our girls. They took to her as well. Lots of hugs and loves, and of course in tradition to her Ukrainian nationality she stuffed us with even more food! After our visit with her Joy had many heart felt (tired) tears and kept crying out for Baba. She fell asleep on our way to Orlund’s Aunt and Uncles house and continued with a little snooze while we were there. Olivia didn’t mind soaking up all the attention! It was a wonderful visit. Then after returning to Uncle Richards and getting the girls down we continued our tradition of staying up much to late. (of course really it may have been midnight there but that’s only 10pm our time! lol).
The second day there Orlund went to spend some time alone with his Baba while I stayed at Richards with the girls. Nancy and one of her daughter’s (Jenna) came for brunch. It was nice to visit with Nancy again and to meet her daughter. After brunch we just hung around (played in a playground) and then headed over to Orlund’s Aunt and Uncle’s house for visiting, dinner and well more visiting. We enjoyed a bit of a cooler day (finally) and in the evening even enjoyed a fire in their back yard (in a portable fire pit). It was wonderful and we didn’t want to head home but the girls needed to go to bed.

The next day we headed to Winnipeg. (but don’t worry Brandon isn’t done yet…we come back .)

(sorry I haven’t been blogging!) Back to our trip~

We drove to Saskatoon and the girls did fabulous again! This was only a 7hour trip and that seemed like just long/short enough that we didn’t kill one another Funny enough but I wrote out all the directions off Google. Orlund never looked at the map. To be completely honest the only time I felt stress on this wonderful trip was giving him the directions. If he sees a map at least once, he’s okay to boss around….if he doesn’t see that map, lets just say it makes it interesting. We arrived at my Auntie Pat and Uncle Rob’s house in time to enjoy a wonderful dinner, my cousin Stacey was there and cousin Chris, wife Ivy and baby girl Summer (11months) came over for a wonderful visit. It was my first time meeting both Ivy and Summer. Love them both. Auntie Pat is my mom’s little sister. Pat is very similar to both my mom and myself. I found myself watching her, enjoying her company and making me realize just how much she is like my mom. Made me miss mom even more, but at the same time made me feel like she was there with us too.
The next day we mostly hung around at the house, thought we’d go to the zoo. Unfortunately by the time we got there it would close in 2hours. We figured we would go in anyway as our Zoo passes should get us in there too. They said it didn’t. So instead we took the girls to a pet store (they had to see some animals). Did a little shopping and had ice cream. Headed back to the house to enjoy all the family for dinner again. Every night we stayed up much to late visiting with Pat and Rob. We get a long fabulously with them, and the girls went to bed easily.
The following day we decided to go to the zoo earlier in the day. First however we went out for lunch with Chris on his break. It was nice to get to visit with him (we had been close when he and I lived in Thailand). Then we headed over to the zoo. Again they said we had to pay, so we did. It was super hot, but a nice zoo none the less. We had a wonderful time, unfortunately the train wasn’t working (luckily it’s out of sight so Joy didn’t notice! phew!). After that we headed back to the house where I took a nap with Olivia. I had forgotten to take my night diclectin the night before so was feeling a bit queezy.  Again the whole family was there for another delicious dinner. We all just hung around visiting after and enjoyed watching the kids play. And of course once everyone had gone home and the girls were in bed we stayed up past all reasonable bedtimes visiting.
The next morning we loaded up and headed to Brandon.
Thank you Auntie Pat and Uncle Rob for letting us stay with you, we had a fabulous time

ps~ Joy’s eye slowly returned to normal during our Saskatoon visit.
pss~ Once we returned home I sent an email to our Zoo informing them that we were unable to get into the Saskatoon zoo. turns out we should have been able to and our Zoo is willing to reimburse us of the admission! And they are informing their staff at the Saskatoon Zoo to be better aware.