Ultrasound Results

As I mentioned about a week ago, the second ultrasound was scheduled for this morning. The first ultrasound was pretty cool, largely because it was proof to me that there really was a baby inside of me and I wasn't making it up. We heard the heartbeat and could see a few structures and an arm moving--other than that there wasn't much to it. This ultrasound was much more interesting. The person doing the ultrasound (I think she was a resident) was able to check lots of things--and that's the real point of the ultrasound, right? She got a great view of the heart. She zoomed in and there were four chambers, all working well. The heartbeat was normal and the blood was flowing properly. You could barely see the kidneys--that's a good thing. She checked a lot of different parts of the brain (I don't really remember what it all was except the cerebellum), and all of that looked good. The ribs and spine looked good and the neural tube seemed to have formed and closed properly, which is a relief after everything I learned about spina bifida in Bio. 100. I am so glad that our baby seems to be growing properly and that everything is normal and functioning. She zoomed in on the baby's face so that we could get a good view of that, which was really cool. The baby had one arm up by the face and the other hand pressed right across the face and didn't seem to want to give us a good view, but it was still really neat to see what we could. She also pointed out where you could see some hair growing and said that the baby will probably have a lot of hair by the time it is born. It's certainly amazing that they can "see" all that without cutting me open.

(Yes, I am egging you on. Now I'll proceed to the part you're probably the most interested in.)

The baby's legs were squished close together, and the baby was pretty comfortable that way, so I was wondering if they were going to be able to find out the gender. It would be kind of fun to wait to find out until the birth, but I really wanted to find out beforehand so that we could prepare better. The resident had her doctor come in to check and make sure she had done everything all right, and the doctor finally was able to tell. She asked what we thought, but neither of us wanted to tell our guess. I had kind of been thinking it would be a girl, but I wasn't really sure. I'm not sure what Ryan thought. Ryan said that his family was thinking it would be a boy, and my family seemed to think we would have a girl. The doctor said, "Well, one of your families guessed wrong . . . and it's yours, Mrs. Tanner. You're having a boy!"

So we are going to have a cub scout (I know they're not born cub scouts, but they do grow up . . .). We are both excited (of course). I can't wait to meet him and find out what he's like. I must admit I'm kind of scared. I've been spending time with cub scouts since last September, and I've seen what they're like sometimes. I don't understand them very well. But I love our little boy, and I know that if we make our home gospel centered, spend quality time with him, and teach him to be obedient, good, and kind, we will be able to raise him in the right way, even though sometimes it will be hard. I know how to change diapers and dress babies and such, but I certainly have a lot more to learn about. I have been thinking that it is so amazing and humbling that Heavenly Father would trust me with the care one of His children, and the only way to fulfill that trust is to rely on Him to help me make the right decisions and develop the right qualities. Honestly, I don't see how it will work if I don't rely on the Lord.

I'm going to add our one ultrasound photo to the sidebar. It shows his arm and head. I guess I'd better change the name Yolanda too. We've been joking about the name Yolanda, but now that we know we're having a boy it doesn't seem right to keep that there.

Cute Breakfast

We had some little friends for breakfast this morning:



They did not all look like that:


It was a shame to eat them.

Follow-up

The ultrasound is scheduled for next Wednesday!

Butter Dust, among other things . . .

Here are some answers to questions I am frequently asked (I don't mind answering, but I figured I would save the people who read my blog the trouble of asking): No, we still do not know if we are having a girl or a boy. No, we do not want to be surprised--it's kind of hard to look for clothes and things when we don't know the gender yet. Yes, we could have known almost two months ago. Yes, I guess we are being pretty patient. What's the rush? We have till July! (I don't think July is going to seem close until June.) I am seeing my new doctor (my old doctor was great--just too far away) for the first time tomorrow, and I will ask about scheduling an ultrasound then. I figured it would be easier just to wait until after I had switched doctors to deal with scheduling an ultrasound. I have never met this doctor or heard anything about her, but the receptionist was very nice, which is a quality that seems to be scarce in doctor's offices, so I figured that was a business I would like to support. There are several other doctors at that office as well as some great nurse midwives, so if this doctor is horrible I have lots of options without having to transfer again.

Yes, Ryan and I have talked a little bit about names, which we may or may not tell you before the baby is born. If we think of a weird one that we like, we may ask our cub scouts what they think, just in case it's a name worth making fun of--if there's something to make fun of in a name, they will probably find it. One thing is certain, we are not going to use Renae for a girl's name like I have planned since sixth grade. It never once occurred to me that the person I married would have an objection to that name--after all, it was my favorite. But Ryan says that all of the girls he knew who were named Renae were really weird, and it's the one name he just can't deal with. And the more I think about it, it's really not that big of a deal to me. I guess I'm not as attached to the name as I thought.

Now to the title of this post. We bought some whole egg powder and some margarine powder (it didn't take long to change the name to butter dust) from Walton Feed. Several people have told me that they work just as well as the real thing for baking, and they are super cheap! After a week of using them, these are the results: The biscuits, bread, and muffins all tasted exactly the same. The peanut butter cookies were a little different, but not bad (that recipe tends to be a little fickle anyway). I didn't know if the margarine powder would work well for the white sauce on our macaroni or the no-bake cookies, so I didn't try it. Now I am feeling impatient for the powdered milk to come, and also for our next appointment at the cannery. I love doing food storage!

Bennit Farm

Yesterday we went to see the Bennitt Farm. Click here to find out all about it. It was a very interesting place to learn about, and it's only about half an hour away. I really enjoy visiting historical places like this one. It's fun to think about the people who really lived there and the events that were happening back then. I kind of like the smell of those really old buildings. There's nothing else like it. If you come to visit us, that is probably one of the places we will offer to take you to see.

What should I write about that somebody would care to read? . . .

Here are some random things and excerpts from posts that I probably will delete before publishing:

I made pie by myself for the first time. I'm a little embarrassed about the result, but I think it will be better next time. I was starting a new container of salt, and I forgot to add the salt because I kept thinking about opening it and never got around to it. So the crust was a little bland, although not too bad with the filling (minty chocolate pudding--pretty good!). The crust was also just slightly too small to fit over the sides of the pan, so I couldn't do fluted edges. I did my best to break the edges off straight along the inside of the pan. I should have figured it would shrink a little bit while it baked. It had a nice flaky texture, though. The pie looked okay once I filled it up with pudding, and it did taste good. I'm not going to quit making pie just because this one wasn't great, especially since the main problems were very fixable. It really wasn't that hard to make it, either--I'm not sure why people are so scared of making pie.


This is my food storage wish list:

1. lots of wheat
   
2. electric wheat grinder
3. lots of mason jars and lids
   
4. pressure cooker, or at least some huge pots
   
5. thingy to squish up tomatoes for soup and apples for applesauce
   
6. big garden
7. lots of fruit trees
   
8. big storage room
9. extra freezer
10. Lots of big storage buckets (for all my wheat and flour and beans and rice and sugar and . . .)

I guess most of these are goals for the very distant future. I'm looking forward to it, though. My mom's wonderful canned food spoiled me a little bit, so the store-bought canned food just isn't as nice to me. For the time being, I really like to look at all of the food in our pantry.

Questions that I occasionally wonder about:

1. If I forgot to put salt in my pie crust, will it taste bad? (Answer: No, but never forget again because it will taste better with salt.)
2. Why do they sell canned fruit that includes peeled grapes? It seems like it would be too hard to peel them to be worth the effort, especially since grapes are so much nicer with a nice firm peel left on them.
3. Why do they make piano keyboards with keys that light up when you press them? I know I pressed the key--I did it on purpose, and I could tell because I heard a note.
4. How can there be an 11-inch baby inside of me when I haven't grown very much? Where did all the other stuff go to make room? And what is it like to be alive but not getting your oxygen by breathing air? And am I going to have a cub scout or someone to put in pretty dresses and cute hair clips?
5. What would happen if I didn't soak the beans before I cook them?

Inclement Weather

North Carolinians are funny. Yesterday it snowed a little bit--in Idaho, nobody would have even wondered if school would be closed with that little snow, but here they closed the schools and some other places. This morning, I woke up early to go volunteer at Rashkis Elementary School, and the classrooms were empty--school was still closed. Later, I called UNC hospitals to ask about some bills they sent me, and this was the message I heard: "Due to inclement weather, our office will be closed until 10:00 a.m." The thing is, the roads are almost completely clear and dry. That's inclement weather. About a month or so, we got four inches, and that was an emergency. I guess when you don't get very much snow and people don't know how to drive in it, you have to be a little more careful. For some pictures of the snow yesterday, go here: http://quantumleap42.blogspot.com/ Now most of the snow is gone.

On another note, I think I'm going to stop eating cereal and eat oatmeal for breakfast instead. I can get about three times as much oatmeal for the same price I would pay for a box of cereal, and oatmeal is more nutritious and makes me feel full longer than a bowl of cereal. Plus, I like oatmeal.

Here's a picture of my tummy today--I took it myself facing the mirror because I was too embarrassed to ask someone to do it, and then I cropped out the camera. I am at about five months, but unless you know I'm pregnant (or if you're me and have noticed your pants getting tighter since December), you still can't really tell.