We have answers...good news and bad news

So we met with the infertility doc today and he told us that Nick has a genetic mutation to his 13th and 14th chromosomes. It is called a Robertsonian Translocation. If you click on the link in the previous sentence it will give you a breakdown of what it means but it basically boils down to a 1 in 3 chance of us having a genetically healthy baby, like our little Isabella. So our options are to keep playing "russian roulette" as our doctor termed it and hoping for a good outcome or we can proceed with in-vitro fertilization and we can implant healthy embryos. The good news is that if we found some embryos to have the genetic mutation, we know the mutation is lethal and so we don't have to worry about killing genetically viable embryos. In all likelihood we would be lucky to get one or two that are genetically good so we probably wouldn't have to deal with excess embryos. Anyway, we are meeting with a genetic counselor on Thursday to get the breakdown of all the odds and such and then I think I will probably call on Friday to schedule our first IVF consult. After 4 miscarriages we are tired of playing russian roulette. So hopefully if all goes well we will be pregnant by December or January. We still have a chance this month of hitting the jackpot and getting pregnant AND having the baby get the good set of chromosomes. Say some prayers for us!

Some days you just have to veg

Today was a tough day for both me and Isabella. It all started with an earlier than usual morning when Isabella woke up at 6:30ish, this makes her crankier in general. We were off to the gym around 9 but before that I was checking Facebook and email and I happened upon a Facebook friend who had her first baby around the same time as I had Isabella. When the babies were just a couple months old we both said how much wanted a second baby as soon as we could. I saw that she had her second baby in the last week or so. It made me really sad. I felt like my heart sank in to my feet. I realize that her life has no bearing on mine and vice versa, but I guess I felt as though it gave me a window in to what my life could have been if our first pregnancy after Isabella had been successful. I have been thinking a lot about that baby recently anyway, since I would have been due at the end of this month. It just made me sad. I go to the doctor on Tuesday to see what the results of our blood work are. I just have a feeling they aren't going to find anything. They say that they find something only 50% of the time otherwise it is just unexplained. I really want them to find something. If they find something it is usually easy to correct, but Nick and I both just feel like they aren't going to find anything. We will see though.

Anyway...so I actually did go to the gym despite that revelation taking the wind out of my workout sails. Isabella did pretty good but I forgot her pacifier and she needed it towards the end so I managed to get through the whole workout, just not the stretching at the end. We came home and Isabella just seemed cranky, tired and out of sorts. I turned on Little Einsteins (her favorite and only show) and she vegged out on our bed while I got ready for the day.

A couple hours later of muddling through and it was nap time. She went down after a couple minutes of crying in her crib. After about 35-40 minutes she woke up screaming. I went in and gave her her pacifier and she laid back down for about 2 minutes before crying again. She was super drooly and snotty which was making it difficult for her to sleep comfortably. I discovered that she has another tooth coming through on the top right further back. This may be the reason for her foul mood. I tried to get her back to sleep and then let her cry for a little while before giving up on the nap and bringing her in to my bedroom to sit in bed and watch Little Einsteins again. It is the only thing that will stop her screaming when she is really upset. Then we went downstairs to play and again she just fussed and cried. I sat her on the couch and told her I would turn on Little Einsteins. She immediately stopped crying and starting doing little laughs.
So we are currently watching our 4th or 5th installment of Little Einsteins for the day. Yippee! I guess some days you just need to veg out and watch your favorite show... or these days my baby's favorite show will do.

So Thirsty!

So I just had to post this video for those of you who haven't seen it. It is so funny. This is the first time that she tried to drink from the water in the bathtub. It was taken a few weeks ago, but it still makes me laugh.

Our trip to Virginia...Gianna turns 1!

Well it has been a while since I updated everyone so we are going to do two in one day! I know...hold on to your freakin hats!

Enjoying a quiet moment together watching "Super Why?"

Isabella and I flew to Virginia on Tuesday and spent the week with Katie and Gianna. We had a great time until Friday when Isabella and I both had our turn with the stomach flu that made its rounds while we were there. Wednesday morning Gianna woke up and had thrown up in her crib and we didn't think too much of it except maybe she had a little upset stomach because she seemed otherwise normal, except for having a little less interest in food and milk. Thursday night Katie starting feeling sick and threw up and I figured at that point that it was only a matter of time before we got sick. The next morning Isabella threw up and then I started feeling sick shortly thereafter and was throwing up later that day. It was a crazy virus that wiped out the adults and the kids didn't seem too affected. Other than all that craziness, which Nick eventually got and so did Katie's dad, we had a great time.

Playing in Gianna's house

With Uncle Doug, Aunt Katie, and Gianna (post nap)

On Wednesday we went to the National Zoo and enjoyed watching the elephants get a bath and the girls especially enjoyed the small mammal house.

Isabella watching the Meerkats

Isabella and I got to go with Katie and Gianna to Kindermusik on Thursday morning and we had a great time. Isabella starts her own Kindermusik class tomorrow. We are really looking forward to that. But mostly our trip was just about spending time together and hanging out which we were able to do. Doug was on business one night so we had a girls night and watched CW girly TV and had a glass of wine and chocolate cake. It was great! We really miss them and I am always sad to have to say goodbye. Katie has become such a great friend and I love letting the girls get together. I am sure it will only be more fun as the girls get older and appreciate each other's company more. Nick joined us on Friday night (where he contracted the evil illness and later became sick on the plane flight home on Sunday).

We celebrated Gianna's birthday on Saturday at Katie's parents house. It was a great time and we were so happy to be there to see Gianna eat her first piece of cake and blow out her first candle. I can't even believe it has been a year since she was born. In some ways it feels like just the other day and in other ways it seems so long ago. I look forward to sharing many more birthdays and events in the future.

The party begins

Isabella was enjoying Gianna's baby stroller

Blowing out the candles on the cake

Look at Gianna's wide eyes...so cute!

Gianna playing with her new toy

Gianna opening presents with mommy

We also got to spend time with Nonna and Pop-pop (Nick's parents) and Aunt Jenn, which was great fun. Isabella really loves both her sets of grandparents. She is so lucky to have 4 great people. It is fun to watch her relationship develop with each grandparent differently. We had a great time and we can't wait to see everyone again when we meet in NC for Thanksgiving.

Road Trip

Two weekends ago we took a little road trip up to Chattanooga, TN for the day. We had a great time together. We weren't too ambitious and just decided to have a lovely day exploring a new city. We visited Ruby Falls, rode The Incline, and walked around the open air market.

It was an easy drive, a little under 2 hours, up to Chattanooga. When we arrived we pulled in to the parking lot at Ruby Falls and Nick realized that we had forgotten to bring a stroller or an Ergo and so we were on our own carrying Isabella during the day. Our relaxing day turned in to quite a workout.

Nick and Isabella played in the gift shop while we waited to head down the elevator which would take us underground to the caverns that led us to the underground waterfall named Ruby Falls. Isabella fell asleep about 15 minutes into our 1.5 hour walk to and from the waterfall. I carried her for the first 35 to 40 minutes and Nick took her for the rest.

Here is the last time Isabella was seen awake.


Thus began the arm workout of a lifetime for both Nick and I.
Here is the waterfall. They had lights on it that made it look really pretty.
Here we are on the way out of the cavern after a long walk to the falls, mostly due to the sleeping 25 pound toddler we carried. :)

Next we went to the Incline which is a the world's steepest passenger railway (at 72.7% grade) which takes you up and down Lookout Mountain. It was built in 1895 and is an amazing mechanical engineering feat. The car is even built at an angle to make for a more comfortable ride.
View from the top of the mountain looking down.

Then we boarded the train and went back up to the top.

It was a great day as a family. It was a beautiful day weather-wise and we had fun exploring together. We plan to head up there again and explore more that the city has to offer.

We are just so thankful that Nick is able to have his weekends to spend with us. After spending 5 years in the Navy and not be able to spend evenings and weekends together we try to remember to never take this time for granted. We know that there are plenty of families out there who don't have this time together as a family and we are grateful for it. You can see the excitement in Isabella's eyes when her daddy gets home every night and I wouldn't trade that for all the money in the world.

"Going to Carolina" and got "Georgia on my mind"

Well I am back from North Carolina after visiting my family and my new nephew David. It was nice to see my brother and his wife Cristina and of course I loved visiting with my dad and mom. My dad was laid up after falling from a tree a few weeks ago and severely injuring himself. It was kind of nice that he was in this shape because I think we spent more time together than we have in a long time. Since he was hurt, he wasn't able to get up and run off to do a million different things. It slowed him down and Isabella and I were both able to enjoy his company! I do wish he wasn't in pain but the upside was we really got to spend time with him. Isabella absolutely loved climbing up in grandpa's chair with him.

We ended up leaving NC on Wednesday after Isabella and I both woke up feeling under the weather. I hope it was something new and not just a matter of Isabella and I giving the same thing back and forth to each other. We tried to get out of Cristina's house and away from baby David as soon as possible. Unfortunately we also decided not to stop by Cindy's to see her and Cade. We definitely didn't want to get anyone sick. We will have to stop by the next time we head home to the coast. We were definitely ready to get home though after 6 days away. I missed having Nick around and I think Isabella definitely missed her daddy. I can say for sure that I never want to be a single mom. It is a tough job! Even though Nick gets home only about an hour before Isabella goes to bed, it sure makes a difference to get relieved at the end of the day. So we are back in Georgia and happy to be home.

A few pictures: Isabella checking out the baby; Chris with his son; She was more interested in his toys than him

A Reintjes is born!

On August 31st at 9:41pm my little nephew David entered the world at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital. He was born on the same base that I was 29 years ago. He was 8lbs 9.5 oz. He is super cute...if I do say so myself, as a proud aunt.


He is the son of my brother Christopher and my sister-in-law Cristina. He was born the day after Christopher's birthday and on the birthday of his Uncle Mike (my sister Kate's husband). We have a lot of summer birthdays in our family! It has been 9 years since a boy was born in our family so it is fun to have all the boy stuff again. I think we have all enjoyed helping Cristina prepare for his arrival and buying all the blue stuff instead of the pink. I am hoping to go visit soon but I developed a sore throat yesterday and now there is some hurricane possibly heading towards the east coast so I am going to wait and see how those 2 things develop. I certainly don't want to get a newborn sick and I don't want to drive in to a hurricane zone.

With his proud grandma (my mom).