thru the tulips

I have an announcement to make. Not that it will be as big a surprise to you my cyber-friends as it was to my in-laws on Monday night, but I am now 26 weeks pregnant.
My husband and I have been playing a game. We thought it would be funny not to tell anyone unless they flat out asked us "Are you pregnant?" I guess we're cruel. We thought it would be fun to watch people squirm. Let's face it - you've either got to be really brave or really rude to ask a woman if she's pregnant. So, that's what we've been doing. Slowly a few people have caught on, but my in-laws have not known. Nearly 7 months into this thing, I'm showing, we've been dropping hints like crazy and they hadn't caught on. So we finally gave in and told them.

Of course I can confide to this group that beneath the surface there have been a lot of other reasons to keep things on the down low. The intense fear I have for one thing. I just haven't wanted to have to hash over things and answer questions over and over again about all the possible problems we might have. People are well-meaning. I just haven't wanted to deal with all that. Including all those people who think we're crazy to be having another child anyway.

It's been an emotional roller-coaster for me. Sometimes scared and worried. Sometimes just excited for our new little girl to come. We've had a few scares along the way, but everything has been fine and is fine now. But I'm also at the point where things have happened in my past pregnancies, (preterm labor resulting in losing a baby, other issues causing pre-term emergency c-section, miscarriage, etc.) which makes me a little nervous. I can't help but be a little paranoid and overly cautious.
Today was 'walk your kid to school day' and I drove anyway. I feel a little guilty about that. But it is painful for me to walk, and I'm too scared to 'push' anything.....I'm sure many of you, if not all of you can relate.

I wanted to ask you all about something that was brought up to us a few months ago. Someone mentioned the umbilical cord blood and told us that there have been cases where cord blood has 'cured' cerebral palsy. Have any of you heard anything, or do you know anything about using cord blood? I've done a lot of research about it on the internet. There actually are stories about CP 'going away' after treatment. But pretty much everything I've found on the subject has been produced by the blood banking companies -- none of it negative. It just seems too good to be true -or as easy as they make it sound. There's got to be more to it. We've got an appointment with a neurologist at Primary Children's in a couple weeks to find out about it. I'm trying to build a good detailed list of questions to ask. I have no idea yet if it's something I want to try or not. But I really want to learn more about it. From what I can tell, it has no risk, for the new baby. If it could help MK even just improve the slightest bit, I feel like maybe I should give it a try. On the other hand, it seems so new. Is it safe? What are the risks anyway? What is the procedure? ya know? Do any of you know anything, or do you have any good questions for me to add to my list?

Thanks for listening. I'll appreciate any input you can give.