Smart Mama Awards: Best of...

Best household helper: Bissell Steam Mop

I blogged before about this being the year of floor care- I love, I adore my bissell steam mop it makes me clean my floors more. it blesses my life- is so easy to use, total 2 thumbs up for moms with messy kids!!

Best Indulgence: ESCADA Perfumes

My new perfumes. I also blogged before about perfume shopping- I am so convinced escada makes the best perfumes in the world- these are my three favorites- whenever i wearing them I just want to keep smelling myself-So if you see me walking around sniffing you'll know what i am doing-- they are that good!

Best KIDS thing: Renzulli Learning

Well this is hard to explain- if you want to learn more you can read about it here. If you are in education you know Joe Renzulli is one of the leaders in gifted education- and this is designed with the enrichment model in mind ofr all students- to encourage project based, interest driven learning. Bascially it does a number of things- creates a customized learning profile for your child then presents them with 100s nay 1000s of learning activites etc that fit their interests. Like the other day we were doing something with cuneiform (and I went on searched it an in 10 seconds had my sons name translated into sumerian cuneiform and a ton of stuff on ancient mesopotamia) It will link you to any good thing for kids there is on the web. I highly recommend it for any family-If you are looking to keep yopur kids engaged in worthwhile activites this summer- This is what you want- I can hang this prize over my boys and require and number of tasks from them- Even SS#2 shouts with glee "renzoooi!" as an educator i don't push alot of this but this is a good thing!

Best Healthy Snack:Weight Watchers Lemon Cream Pie Yogurt

Even my kids try to steal these from me-- so yum!

from my kitchen to yours: cream cheese sheet cake

Today I thought I'd share one of my recent cravings. ShawnTooley's Cream Cheese Sheetcake. I made it valentine's week for a "sweet swap" but it didn't satisfy my craving so I had to make another pan this week (yes that would be a jelly roll pan). Think cross between soft white cake and cheesecake with a texas sheet cake style cooked chocolate frosting. They are fast easy and makes alot! I had great plans of dropping a few postpartum pounds before a party this weekend so I would actually have more than 3 pants options but alas- the cake squares have thwarted my plan.

This is a recipe from our good friends the Tooley's- as the story goes Shawn was making these and misread the cream cheese directions and put in 16 oz instead of 6 oz as the recipe called for. The mistake proved providential and alas the improved recipe was born! After talking to our friend Jennifer (seen here at one of our late night frosting makings) the other week, about more recipes, I was missing their family, so I made these in honor of them. In our family, recipes often bear the name of the person who introduced us to them for example Kearsley Casserole (once brought to us by my friend loranna's mom) or Lauren's (college roommate) Penne Arribiata, Aunt Dawn's Special Chicken, Shelah's Best Birthday Cake, Jennifer's Festive Salad. It is one more way to remember the people I love and how they have touched my life.

So without further ado...
Shawn Tooley's Cream Cheese Sheetcake

1 c.+ 2 Tbsp. butter or marg.
2 pkgs (8oz) cream cheese (i used the neufatchel and it works fine)
2 1/4 c. sugar
6 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
2 1/4 c cake flour (if you don't have this you can do the flour cornstarch substitution)

Frosting
1 c. sugar
1/3 c evaporated milk
1/2 c butter or marg.
1/2 c. semi sweet choc. chips

In a bowl, cream butter cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mix well after each. Pour into greased jelly roll pan (15x10). bake at 325 for 30-35 min. For frosting combine milk and sugar, bring to a boil over med heat. then turn heat down, cover and cook for 3 min (do not stir). Then stir in butter and choc chips until melte and smooth. Cool slightly, pour over cooled cake. 24-30 servings.

kids and itunes

Seriously bless the man or woman who created itunes- and freed you from having to buy the whole CD- because lets face it rarely do you want the whole CD- i love to pay by the song, especially for kids music. My boys are big fans of itunes- They have their own playlists for various activities (like "running time" when they literally run for 15-20 straight around the family room couch) This is good thing though, ss#1 ran over a mile on the track at the Y this weekend! Here are few of my boys favorite songs: (Artwork courtesy of SS#1- it totally rocks acrylic and gold leaf on canvasboard he did yesterday!)

Tantrum by Spin Doctors from the ever great dog train CD- this is worth the whole CD as is its predecessor Philadelphia Chickens

Hampster Dance - by Hampton the Hamster, yes this against my better judgment- high on the annoying factor by harmless silly kids fun.

We are the Champions by Crazy Frog- this is catchy and often brightens my dinner preparation hour.

You've Got to be Clean by Guster- anything that promotes cleanness gets 2 thumbs up in my book- my boys favorite line "each days a fight 'gainst the forces of dirt, dirt, dirt!"

Mahna Mahna by Cake (you may recognize this from an old muppets movie) we chose the remake by Cake my boys adore it

La La La Lemon by BNL this also doubles to give smart son 2 good practice making the tricky L sound

Istanbul (not Constantinople) by They might be Giants (see this has special meaning because I used to live in Turkey andmy boys love it when I make Turkish food)

Kung Fu Fighting by Carl Douglas this totally lets me show off my super kicking skills- nothing says cool mom like being able to kick 6 feet in the air. Ss #2 likes to sing this to SS#3 when he cries-" everybody was kung fu fighting... those kids were fast as lighting... in fact it was a little bit frightening" such an endearing lullaby don't you think?

Main Title (Theme from Star Wars) by John Williams- nothing promotes light saber fighting more than this song. truly a classic.

Rainbow Connection by Ryan Shupe- closest thing to kermit and a little jazzed up

If All of the Raindrops by Laura Doherty- a favorite song form my childhood

Pots and Pans by the Bacon Brothers- this is a catchy tune

Thrift Shop by Dan Zanes- Afterall who doesn't love a good thrift shop find

A you're Adorable by John Lithgow because it is a fun song to sing to your kids at night

me A to Z

Here is me from A to Z from my MOF Blackeyedsue's blog

A- Attached or Single? eternally attached

B- Best Friend? DH, and shelah

C- Cake or Pie? Do I really have to chose? I have always loved the deep thoughts by jack handy that says "if you have a choice between regular heaven and pie heaven, you should chose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if not mmmm." But then again, I am also a cake girl so a definite toss up.

D- Day of Choice? Friday after 5 pm anyone who votes otherwise is crazy-- there is something so liberating about the official start of the weekend

E- Essential Item? Being creative- I have to be creative in one form or another, nothing gets me in a slump faster than no creative outlets or being to tired ot busy to be creative.

F- Favorite Color?favorite dramatic color- Red. Favorite relaxing color- blue- I could go on about color all day but then again I am a painter.

G- Gummy Bears or Worms? bears

H- Hometown? I don't feel like I have one I never lived anywhere long enough to have a numerical majority (I have lived here 6.5 yrs- longer than i have ever lived anywhere else but in February I don't want to admit New England is my home)

I- Favorite Indulgence? cremebruleekeylimepielavacakescookiedoughwrightsdairyeclairs

friendly'speanutbuttercupsundaesneedicontinue

J- January or July? July give me a beach and sprite with fresh lime in it!

K- Kids? 3 boys just enough to fill the house with running, flying balls and way to much energy and mess.

L- Life isn't complete without? good people- i love my friends - i love to be inspired by other peoples gifts and talents- they inspire me to grow, do more, & be better.

M- Marriage date? Going to the blue point (Duck, NC) for dinner, walking to the beach at night.

N- Number of brothers and sisters? ) zero brothers and one sister who doesn't blog so no link!

O-ranges or Apples? Apples cause they make better desserts...

P- Phobias and Fears? Ice cream trucks- seriously they freak me out. Its that eery music they play it totally traumatized me as a child and not big on snakes either (the cursed things that live in my backyard and my son brings in the house)

Q- Quote?Mother Teresa—“We must not drift away from humble works, because these are the works nobody will do. It is never too small. We are so small we look at things in a small way. But God almighty sees everything great. Therefore if you just go and sit and listen,- go visit somebody, or bring somebody a flower- small things, wash clothes for somebody, or clean the house, very humble work .that is where you and I must be. For there are many people who can do big things. But there are very few who will do the small things.”

R- Reason to smile? My baby. He gives delicious smiles when you rub his belly.

S- Season of choice? late spring/early summer (in New England that is) when you can finally break out the sandals. I love basking in the excitement of spring fever, going to a neighboring town and walkign to dairy queen and playing around outside. Playing football in the house isn't the same.

Tag? If you are reading this and you blog consider it an invitation join in the fun

U-unknown fact about me? There are probably few things I haven't revealed on my blog over the past few years that are even a bit interesting. If you want to know little know things about me you can read them here 50 things about me.

V- Vegetable? probably broccoli

W- Worst Habit? not finishing something I start- I know life would be easier if i finished one thing before starting the next- Sorry its that creative artist in me that likes doing 20 things at once and hates wrapping up the end of project- this can be seen in the lack of editing in my blog posts.

Y- Your favorite food?I really dig thanksgiving dinner foods- turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, hoemmade rolls, pie (wow pie is cropping up all over the place)- then again i love a good petite filet mignon.

Z- Zoo animal?my favorite the ever unheralded marmoset.

for the love of statcounter

so I was over on my friend Courtney's blog and she was talking about her love of statcounter and bloglines and the interesting things you learn from statcounter. people who stumble upon your site through the random of internet searches:

did you know that my blog is:

the 1st entry if you do a google search for smart mama. I guess that gives me true claim on the title (i think it is kind of funny that someone started a blog entitled one smart mama- a clear knock off of my title-- this after I corresponded with her regarding recurrent pregnancy loss resources, she also runs an infertility blog) imitation is the sincerest for of flattery right! So don't be fooled I am stil the original!!

the 11th entry if you do a google search for college boyfriend- all because I posted about the college boyfriend breadsticks once.

I was once featured in a blog designed to keep Indian readers current on the all things India (Because I revealed my secret desire to be in a bollywood film)

sometimes you internet searches lead you into things you weren't anticipating...

I've had people want to buy my art because they were searching for outer space birthday party ideas wound up at my discussion of ss#3's 6th birthday party and then abandon child's birthday party planning to pick out art on my gallery site

or those searches lead you somewhere in hopes of answers, but fail to give them

like today when some when searching for "how to make a child's stretchy headband" -I had to laugh although i am sometiems crafty- I have 3 sons hence no stretchy headband directions on my blog-- the poor person wound up on this entry where smart son 1 posed great questions as to why people in more primitive times are always shown wearing headbands.

few things make me happier

than that little box in the corner when you do turbo tax that tells you what your refund will be! (Smart daddy-o totally deprived me of this pleasure by doing the bulk of the taxes while i waited in the line with the worlds slowest checker at WalMart today). bring on the check!!

don't ask me in february...

As the title says... don't ask me in February if I want to leave New England because the answer will always be a resounding YES! It is dark, it is bleak, it is frigid, and usually involves some bone chilling combination of rain, ice, and/or snow. Don't get me wrong I like snow, I like to cozy up under a blanket and drink hot chocolate, but after Christmas it looses it's charm. Winter in New England is like a bad houseguest that way overstays its welcome. I also find it interesting that schools in New England have 2 spring breaks one in Febraury and one in April (neither of those times are even remotely warm!) so your options are 1 spend a fortune trying to get out of town with every other seasonal affective disorder crazed family or enjoy a week of crazy cooped up kids- usually the later prevails. (to make matters worse smart daddy-o and I spent feb break in puerto rico last year, which left us feeling quite disenchanted with our home state. Now as feb break rolls around I'd give anything for warm sunshine!

The other day as I pushed my cart loaded with groceries and my boys out of the warm grocery store into the 7 degree weather I thought about what a better mood I'd be in right then if I was in California, Florida, Arizona- (okay basically anywhere) and I could saunter out of hte store- take my time unloading the bags and strapping in my kids. Instead I lift the rear latch throw the bags in as quickly as possible and harangue my kids- "faster, faster!! strap in!! its freezing!!!"

I know it is a case of the grass is always greener- when we lived in California the lack of true seasons made me a bit crazy- although wearing cute sandals all year long did not. This is probably why I have been painting and eating like a fiend- trying escape the february doldrums!

But truth be told-- the grass IS always greener (basically anywhere on the planet) than in New England in February.

(Yes that is my back yard the other week!)

yep more paintings...

okay more paintings... my creative binge continues kind of by default. Smart daddy-o has been hogging the computer every night which is necessary for the other items on my to do list. Which has left me this as my alternative activity from the hours of 8:30-11 pm after my boys are asleep. So here is the second in the aspen grove series it is big 30x40. I am thinking I want to do a dbl panel (so 60x40") for my dining room. the third still 1/2 done in the tree series also big 30x40"

layered garden study- trying out different patterns for tree series 16x20"

small studies from my office geometry series this time different color palette - these two are both are 16x20"

blogging 2 days straight so far yay for me!! Studio night is this week which means friends coming over to my house to paint and chat- yes we consider it our modern day quilting bee. We'll see what the next projects will be.

I miss blogging

Last night my IRL friend. Laura sent me an email asking me if I blogged. I admitted yes I was part of that underground network of blogging moms but, that my blog had been long neglected-- oh these last 12 months. I made me take a moment and go back through my blog archives and it made me realize how much I miss being a very faithful blogger. I have missed recording those things that occur in my life. I miss sharing my random thoughts of the day. The writing is therapeutic and I miss the commenting conversation that ensues. I love sharing my voice the essayist Wendell Berry talks about how our lives have to be used up by something- and I like to have mine used up by motherhood and I love sharing that decision with the world. Anyway now that I am through my sick pregnancy and newborn crisis- I am vowing to return to my full bloggerness- which means posting and keeping up on others blogs. And now that I have completed my 14 days of valentines challenge- I may have to do a 14 days of blogging challenge to get back in the habit. I need to clean up links and I'd love to so some reformatting- after all this template is back from the old days when the only way to customize was editing the HTML directly- before the "beta version" of blogger- (you old timers will remember those days oh so many years back). I popped over to my best friend Shelah's blog and she too was talking about how you start blogging and it evolves and changes due to your obligations/audience and suddenly you want to get it back to the thing you wanted it to be. So what I am shooting for some of my ranting on social, educational issues, some fun observations, adventures in mom, some shameless posting of my lastest creative creations, discussion of MOM POWER! and well no mommy blog is complete with out your kids crazy antics. So life thanks for the inspiration, Laura & Shelah- smartmama is getting back in the game!

more new art

My painting binge continues 3 are inspired by Utah, land of my college years. The first, aspen grove. The next two are abstractions of photos I took of the gardens at Temple Square in Salt Lake City this summer and the last one is 2nd in the tree series i am working on - it's not done yet but coming along- I love the colors. I can't wait for my big shipment of giant canvases to arrive-- there are more paintings waiting to be made-- alas so many ideas, so little time.

good news

Well at his 6 week follow-up our sweetest boy got the all clear. No mroe clot, normal flow in the portallveins and only a little minor edema in the liver! We're so happy to get to stop the lovenox and have the projection be that this will have not long term impact for him! We appreciate all the prayers- they worked a great miracle!

He is still so darling- but as you can see does not like to be naked

poor mans snowboard- snow day antics

well smart son 1 as we all know does not lack for creativity-- and over the weekend he was watching lindsey jacobellis snowboarding- so when we happened to have a snow day this is what he created from a cardboard box-- an indoor snowboard- he started using it to do tricks around the house-- ahh to have such cheap parents...smart son 2 - still brimming with Christmas spirit decided to bring offerings to our newborn babe- no gold frankincense or myrrh- not a problem-- a spaghetti squash will totally do in a pinch!

He also likes to do crayola window fx markers-- and for all you moms wanting to develop prewriting skills in your kids- I draw a roadway and he makes the marker cars follow the path- a great way to help you kids start learning the shapes and motions necessary for letter formation-(and you thought it was just fun drawing time son- fooled you didn't I)

and the entry would be complete without a shameless showoff of smart baby #3

creative binge

I think because I now have a new baby and my time feels scarce and punctuated by stopping to feed him every 2 hours-- I now have that sudden burst of creativity I have begging for the last 9 months (I can't paint when i am pregnant- all cretaivity energy is drained from me!). These are my recent endeavors. This is my new favorite i have been doing the last 2 nights -- I feel a new series coming on (I love it when i get into a new series) very klimtesque- very fun color and organic sort of themes- I can't wait to do more...all these were to help me get warmed up- get the creative juices flowing and get my brain ready to get inspired for my "new series" --a chain garden series cut paper piece 11x14a new rubber block print i cut- printed in blacka new 24x36 garden piecesome giant apple and pear studies 16x20
Of course I attempted to start the new year and my post partum time with a healthy eating resolution- a wagon i quickly fell off- but not before i enacted my food fantasies in paint so of course

and I got my boys in on the creative action- here they are doing styrofoam block prints- yes i am the only mom on the planet- who while staying int he NICu with my baby kept her styrofoam meal trays becasue "hey i could bring those home and let my boys use them for block printing. They had a blast- S.S. #1 did a great storm and jellyfish set of prints as well as darth vader and luke skywalker and ss#2- did an abstract piece and can still be heard saying-- "let me ink the brayer!" ahh what i teach my 2 yr old!

the year of floor care

As I was walking through wal-mart a few weeks before Christmas I overheard a woman say to her husband, "Don't you dare get me a vacuum for Christmas".
Reminding him that such a practical gift was in her mind reprehensible. While I on the other hand will enumerate the top 3 items on my christmas list
1. a new vacuum- our has served us relatively well for 8 yrs of marriage and is slated for retirement.
2. a new steam mop- with about 1000 sq feet of dark hardwood floors this sounds like heaven-
3. a small stick vac for use on the hardwood floors.

do you see the clean house PLEASE! trend. I know I am so pragmatic when it comes to gifts. Smart daddy-o did convince me to get some new perfume- for his enjoyment-- and i must say Escada makes fabulous perfumes-- I smelled about 60 different perfumes with no winners and then i smelled 3 of theirs and couldn't pick a favorite they were so good!-- if you like something that is defintely different from the norm may i recommend magnetism, sunset heat and moon sparkle all by escada-- sorry blogs have not developed scratch and sniff capabilities or i'd offer you a smell.

pictures of my kids

after all the job of a good mother is to shamelessly show off her children- so here are so my cute pics of my 3 sons. smart son 3 at 2 weeks old. smart son 2- braving the elements-- if you live in new england you know fashion is not high on the winter priority list- its all about keeping warm. He calls his hat "a snow helmet"smart son #1 (sporting winter hood hair) building 9 foot towers in the studio roomsmart son #1 crawling his way to the bus across the yard-- because the snow is totally iced over and if you walk you slide- even all shovelled areas were covered with sheets of ice-- don't you wish you lived in new england too- but as you can see- life goes on as usual despite the snow, ice and -3 windchill.my dad with my boys a few weeks ago

just when we thought we were done

I spent one day- so completely happy- so glad to have my baby born this incredible weight off me. By all accounts he was perfect. I decided to go down with him for his ultrasound. It took 2 hrs. and at the end the radiologist said she didn't really know what to make of the findings and she was headed off to call my pedi and one of the neonatalogists. I returned to the room with him unsure of what to think - and within na 1/2 an hour a neonatlogist was knocking on our door. Basically he explained the finding was portal vein thrombosis. The left portal vein was completely occluded. It was a again a quite rare and unusual finding and treating was again a difficult call. Best case scenario was the clot will clear, worst case scenarios- lobular atrophy, portal venous hypertension, and potential need for liver transplant. Well as you can imagine this was the last thing I wanted to hear after all I had been through. He said he was going to go contact a peds hematologist and a peds GI and come back later in the day and we would try to come up with a plan. We immediately called one of our friends for a blessing for each of us and especially for our new baby. About 2 hrs later the neonatalogist returned with the peds GI and hematologists- basically they told us that the literature doesn't show that anticoagulation therapy generally makes a difference but given my history of thrombophilia and some consulatation with some experts who have researched this a lot at Toronto sick children's hospital they felt treating with lovenox was probably better than wait and see (the other option) So within the hour he was taken to the NICU- where they began full assessments- following his platelets to be sure his levels were acceptable given how clots can shred through them. They wanted to do a repeat abdominal u/s the next day and a head ultrasound to be sure things were clear before starting lovenox. I was still inpatient and would go up to the nicu to feed him every 2 hrs through the night and the next day. Then on discharge I got a boarding room in the back of the NICU where I stayed for the next 8 days- leaving the hospital 1 x for 1.5 hrs to go home and basically pack up for my stay and bring some family pictures and a name tag for his crib. I would try to be up and showered each day and by his bedside for morning rounds. Where I would stay all day. We began the lovenox (2x a day injections). We did daily labs and serial ultrasounds, and he was spending some time under the bili lights for jaundice. At his ultrasound the following monday the radiologist reported there was now "some flow" in the left portal vein -- which was very exciting-- everyone had prepared us that we should not expect to see any improvement after 3 days ( i had read the studies and knew time to resolution generally ranged from months to years) and really all they were hoping for was that the clot hadn't become worse and was appearing stable. I was so excited to hear the news-- knowing any flow is better than no flow. They again slated a repeat for later in the week-- again the radiologist said you can't really see much in a 3 days interval and so we were pleased to hear the official word in his report was-- at least the same if not better flow. WE know there is still a ways to go until normal but we are happy to have seen any progress especially so early in the game. We finally reached the right therapeutic (antifactor xa) level with his lovenox dosing and so they felt he could come home and be followed outpatient. So smart daddy-o and I were trained in the mixing of his meds- quite a process given lovenox is not dosed for someone weighing 7 lbs). So we don't know what the final outcome and prognosis will be-- these next few weeks and months will be critical as we see what happens to the clot. They do feel the left portal vein issue is related to the umbilical vein varix and the big question that remains for everyone is whether the clot is related to the heritable thrombophilia that I have? does he have it? Trouble is it can't be tested for in a baby. So from here out in the immediate future it will be weeks of us giving him 2x daily injections, testing his antifactor xa levels, repeat ultrasounds and follow up with the GI and hem. and of course the emotional roller coaster continues- not knowing what the outcome or long term results will be but we are taking it day by day. I think when you have worked in medicine you have seen too much (esp as I worked with liver and transplant patients at UCSF) you sometime wish you were one of those parents who didn't really understand all the things the doctors said or you read in the articles. But we just have to keeping praying for the best and we know many prayers have been answered so far and we are grateful for so mnay of you who have been praying for him. As you can see he is the sweetest most darling baby! Here he is at 10 days old! we're excited to finally have him home! we'll trry to keep you updated.

smart son 3 is here

my darling baby boy was born 11.28.07 at 37w1d weighing in at 7lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long with tons of dark hair.

the saga continues

I know I kind of left you hanging- when we did the lung maturity amnio at 35 wks- his level was 16 (45 is considered mature) so of course no one wanted to induce. we scheduled another amnio for the following week- this time the result was 22 (again no where close to maturity) at this point though I was ready to jump off a cliff- we were in a hard spot trying to balance the risks of the umbilical vein varix (and it's risk of thrombosis or intrauterine death) and the risk of respiratory distress (which for as late in the game as i was) was far preferable. SO the day before thanksgiving i went to meet with Dr. Weisberger one of the neonatalogists (basically to inform me of the risks if we chose to pursue induction w/out lung maturity). We ended up having a really good discussion about my history, this unusual cord anomaly, and the risks for the baby. At the end of our discussion he suggested we do an xray and abdominal ultrasound after birth to ensure everything was okay. I decided 37 weeks was my limit and although statistically his risks for RDS was still just over 10%- that is generally treatable and the risk on the other side was unacceptable in my book. So I went in and told my perinatalogist I was done- I felt we had pushed things far enough and I would accept responsibility for the outcome- She was in agreement and so was the neonatalogist. I just wanted to have him because I knew i couldn't handle another loss. So we scheduled induction for Tuesday the 27th--the day I turned 37 weeks- unfortunately I was the least dilated and effaced of any of my pregnancies- so my induction would require a little more assistance this time so after 4 rounds of cytotek, numerous rounds of doctors, and residents and 21 hours my little boy was finally born! I was so happy to finally have him here safely-- after so many weeks of such incredible stress I was glad to be done.

halloween fun

I am happy to report that Luke Skywalker and Frog (of Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad Books) are out gathering candy as we speak! Smart baby wanted his pumpkin to look like Grover and Smart son designed his with multiple sets of triangle eyes. Unfortunately it has been a busy week and the carving was slated for down to the wire slot of after school today- I refused to wield a sharp knife due to my highly anti coagulated state- and did not want to risk any life threatening injuries- so I had to craft this years mediocre jack-o-lanterns with a dull pumpkin carver (yes these are what we let children use in preschool to cut up bits of fruit) I also think i have carpal tunnel from the excessive repetitive sawing motion!

on the baby front

Well I haven't posted in a while because things have been a little crazy. While i was in for 31 wk ultrasound (Which they do because of my thrombophilia- to ensure the placental perfusion is good and baby is growing well) they found a really really rare cord issue- An intra-abdominal vein varix- basically after the umbilical vein enters the baby- it is dilated within the abdominal cavity of the baby. I noticed the U/s tech kept looking at something but i couldn't figure out what is was. Well the perinatalogist came in and explained it and said she thought i needed to have weekly NSTs and we needed to move up my next ultrasound. Well I went home and started reading-- Unfortunately reading up on it only made things scarier. The first thing I learned was one it was really rare- There are less than 100 cases documented. Each study maybe only included 7-9 patients.Then of those cases documented outcomes varied widely. Some showed really good outcomes 7 out of 7 healthy babies- other showed stillbirth and fetal loss rates of 25-44%. the problem that frequently occurs is thrombosis of the vessel- not what you want to hear when you are already high risk for thrombosis (I'm on lovenox 2x a day and aspirin)That was definitely not what I wanted to hear. Especially after all I have been through ( 8 m/cs) I called the perinatalogist back the next morning, got kicked over to high risk for my managment and we came up with a new plan- 2x a week Bpps,Nsts, doppler studies, we did steriods to speed lung development, and we are due an amnio to check lung maturity on the 12th and assuming we're good- baby will be induced then at 35 weeks- So I have to keep this baby hanging in for 11 more days and then we won't take any risks.We are hoping with our careful monitoring we could catch a "problem" before it happens but again there is enough to know who things play out when they go bad. So we are hoping we don't have to deal with that- needless to say I live hour to hour and day to day and appt to appt- poking and prodding this little boy to ensure he is always moving and dopplering him a few times a day. But there is nothing like need to be ready for the baby- so i am trying to not stress myself out- but also expedite things and get in gear. So keep your fingers crossed!