Auburn Gal Always

Extreme Makeover: Pregnancy Edition

No, I'm not getting a makeover.

I WISH! If Carmindy from What Not to Wear has an afternoon or weekend free to teach me how to apply eye-liner and hide my premature wrinkles - I'll make myself available!

I think Peanut has decided that he doesn't have quite enough room in my belly like it is. So, instead of moving out - which will happen soon, but not immediately - he's making the best of his current accomodations.

This morning I decided that he's moving furniture around and might be knocking out a wall.

I admire his initiative. But enough already!

We've got the cutest little bassinet assembled for him - Stinkerbell and I struggled through the instructions one night this week.

I have a baby shower scheduled for Monday night - my birthday.

I have selected the infant car seat I want - recent crash test results.

We got our cord blood banking kit yesterday. Not everyone thinks this is a good idea - for various reasons. I think most people choose not to do it for reasons other than their opinion of its future value (ie: cost, planning ahead, whatever). We banked Stinkerbell's cord blood as a result of losing The Mighty Hunters' mother to leukemia while I was pregnant. Because of her age and the rapid deterioration of her health, she was not a candidate for donating her own stem cells for transplant and none of her siblings were a match.

We decided that we would make sure that Stinkerbell (and possibly one of us) would have access to her own stem cells through her cord blood without having to go through the intense preparation steps required to donate one's own stem cells.

We are doing the same for Peanut. The annual storage fee (fixed at the time of child's birth) of $50 for Stinkerbell and $100 for Peanut will simply be an annual expense that we are glad to pay. The upfront fees have increased significantly since Stinkerbell's birth. But we feel they are worth the dip into our savings to afford. Our cord blood bank provides 12 month, interest free financing (with approved credit, of course) - or even longer finance terms to make the monthly payments more affordable.

Cryo-cell

Comparison of the many cord blood banks in the US

For those who aren't interested in paying for the collection and storage of their cord blood, it can be donated to transplant banks for transplant registry and donation toward those needing stem cell transplants and searching for an anonymous match/donor.

Info on donation of stem cells.

Info/listing of donation/transplant banks.

I'm off my soap box now. Thank you for your time.

The Mighty Hunter and Stinkerbell are taking me to dinner with some good friends for my birthday. Stinkerbell wants to make sure we sing Happy Birthday to her too.

For my birthday, I'm asking for extra sleep, a really good massage, shoes, a cuter than cute diaper bag that will double as my purse, a sleek new wallet to fit into that diaper bag/purse, relief of the constant guilt I inflict upon myself, good sound sleep, and (my favorite) a personal assistant (to do my laundry and put it away, wash my dishes and put them away, dust and vacuum, pay my bills, buy my groceries). That's all.

I'd settle for a really good nap without it ruining my night's sleep.