Depends

I have a terrible cold.  Since I am also 18 weeks pregnant, I cannot not really take anything aside from Tylenol, which is a marginal cold remedy at best.

My doctor told me I can take Robitussin, but I just feel like that stuff is straight up poison, pregnant or not.  Nothing should taste that awful.  On Monday night I coughed, a gut retching from your toes, cough for 3 hours. 

I blow my nose and I swear the snot is coming from the deep recesses of my brain.  I can feel it draining from behind my eyes and ears.  Somehow I swear my pants fit better after I release the phlegm- there's just that much.

Because of these reasons, I do choke down a bit of the Tussin, every night so I can pass out through a majority of the evening. 

Another attractive side effect of this cold is I am coughing my face off throughout the day and since I am pregnant, that means I pee my pants a little with every hack. Bliss.

I have taken to wearing appropriate protection that only a maxi pad can provide, but eventually I am going to run out.  Then what?  Pull Ups for Parker and Depends for Mommy.  Classy.

So now, Josh and Parker have both caught the cold.  Parker is taking it like a champ.  Although, he did just have a tantrum because I made him throw away his snotty tissue instead of placing it on the kitchen table. 

Josh will of course be suffering the effects of this cold well into 2015.

On Thursday, despite our unhealthy condition, Josh and I headed to the specialist for our healthy baby  check appointment.  We had a few funky test results, that coupled with all the issues P had when he was born, my doc sent us to a specialist and a Genetic Counselor in a neighboring town, just to be safe.

The baby is measuring exactly on track with where it should be at this point in the pregnancy.  The baby's diaphragm appears to be completely in tact- yea!  The doctor even called my baby beautiful- naturally.

The tech asked us if we wanted to know the gender.

"YES!"

"Congrats, it's a girl!"

Josh was so excited.  He said, "IT'S A GIRL!? Really? Wow! I never thought I'd have a girl!  It's a girl!!"
I asked the tech to show me how she knew this was a baby girl, she showed me and moved onto the next thing she needed to lcheck and measure.  I said, "Wait, can you double check that it's a girl?  I have sisters who have shopping trips planned and I'd hate to disappoint." 

She double checked and yep- still a girl.

Then the doctor came in and again confirmed that it's a girl!

He told me I had "Venus Lakes" in my uterus, which are nothing more than swirly parts.  Sometimes they can hinder the baby's growth, but mine are super small, so he is not concerned.  I have another appointment with him in a month to just double check the double checking.

A few weeks ago I read an article that said when most pregnant women are asked if they have a preference, boy or girl, most answer, "Oh, it does not matter as long as it's healthy!" However, in reality, they have a gender preference in mind. 

Parker had such a tough beginning.  I went into that whole thing naively thinking that since I was healthy the baby would be a-ok and the delivery would easy breezy (well as much as labor can be).  This time around, I found it hard to let my guard down and get to attached to anything about this baby.  I was excited to be pregnant.  I wanted this to happen, but I was feeling a little apprehensive.  I did not want that rug pulled out from under me again.  Not caring about gender at all, I just wanted my new baby to be healthy. 

She is healthy.  I'm in love all over again.  I can tell Parker he will have a little sister, not just the abstract idea of a new baby.

At this point for names we are leaning toward Peyton Angel Phillips.  Angel is a family name and my daughter will be the 5th generation.

Cheers to our happy healthy Phillips Family of Four.