Yes, I am a delinquent blogger

It has been over a month since I last posted. That is just pathetic! The last few months have been challenging on so many fronts.

We spent most of July away- which brought many challenges, including traveling to the west cast with the twins (and without Jeff). Exhausting.

Then in August the proverbial S&*@ hit the fan with my 11 year old stepdaughter, who has type I diabetes. She and her brother spend summers with us- and having 4 children under my care would be overwhelming enough, but as my husband says, "she has enough emotional and medical needs to occupy a full-time staff." I so want to make this situation comfortable and enjoyable for everyone, and often feel that I just fall short, plain and simple.

After my stepkids departed, it was a race to complete my proposal draft- all the little details that are so easy to put off to the end... tables, appendices, references... and then edits etc- and finding time to make it happen while keeping I and J safe and entertained became a delicate balancing act! I am happy to say it is done, and I will be in TX on 9/25 for my proposal hearing. Taking steps forward on that front feels SO good!

And then, perhaps most importantly- I am still pregnant. Just shy of 13 weeks- nearly out of the first trimester. We have our nuchal translucency u/s on Thursday, and I am hopeful it will go smoothly- and then I will feel safe in announcing it to the world. I have done pretty well this time- the nausea is more manageable, and though I am exhausted, I have learned to nap with the twins. :) It's a great luxury- I don't know how I would possibly manage if I were working full-time. All of my u/s up until now have been reassuring- the baby has been growing at a perfectly consistent rate. I currently have placenta previa, but am hopeful this will resolve as my uterus grows and stretches. And then there is the status of the TAC stitch- which is still unclear. So, I take it one u/s at a time... each one bringing me a little closer to the goal...

I realize that this entry is pretty factual and there's not a whole lot of emotion there. I think, as much as I hate to admit it, that I have set this 13 wk u/s as the first real "goal" of this pregnancy- telling myself that if I can just make it that far, my chances of delivering a healthy baby will increase exponentially. And to some extent, this is true, statistically speaking. But the real challenges for me lie ahead. So now I wait to see if I can achieve this next milestone. I'm not sure what comes after that... time will tell.