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We have gone from 250k votes to over one million in two days.  While this could indeed be possible, the shift of the votes so hard in any direction has one question, as I did, the intent of the votes.

They are going even faster now, and believe me when I say, it is easy to see what is fraud and what is not.

If you think by having a computer auto-vote for us, that it is going to discount the votes of the hundreds of thousands of legitimate votes from real people who actually care in helping us make a decision: You are wrong.  Rest assured, whatever your opinion on this topic, and whatever you have voted one way or another, your vote is being heard.

Please do not feel like you have to join in an attempt to use a computer program to sway it whichever way you think it should go.  In the end, the hard data will tell all.

Until then, simply vote as you feel, and we will continue to keep you in the loop.  As we have said, your votes will not go unheard here.  We just will no longer be able to depend on the numbers until the close of the poll.  The truth will always prevail, and we will make all the data from the voting public.

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You have undoubtedly noticed a large shift in the votes from yesterday to today.  They went from 81/19 in favor of Giving Birth to what they are at the time of this posting : 42/58 in favor of Abortion.  This change has happened in approximately a 30 hour period.

The traffic to our site, comments to us, email messages, and media requests have been extensive.  And while the number of visitors matches the number of votes not everyone who visits votes and the sway in the result this far has us concerned that perhaps some out there are not taking this as seriously as we have been.

Fraud in votes has been a prominent issue as of late, even locally here in Minnesota.  While some see this as a game, we most certainly do not.   When the vote closes, we will be reviewing the data, and making it all public.  When the vote closes, you will know all that we do… as we discover it together.  Until then, it looks like we might have something we see typically with voting:  An unknown result until the end.

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Baby "Wiggles" waves at the camera

I went in for my weekly check up and the baby’s heartbeat was at 160 bpm and “Wiggles” continues to develop as expected.  The baby was turning around a lot and waving arms (and hands) at us.  The baby continues to work its way through the produce department in regards to size and this week is comparable to an onion (not my favorite vegetable).  According to TheBump the baby’s skeleton is hardening and accumulating fat around it.  Baby “Wiggles” is also developing unique fingerprints this week.

Baby "Wiggles" gives us a "thumbs up"

I also received the news that the sub-chorionic hemorhage is almost completely gone.  It was so small in fact, it was hard to get a measurement on it.  By next week it could be gone completely.  I was given permission by my doctor to return to work after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  Thanks to everyone who is voting and posting comments, we really appreciate your interest in our poll.  Please stay tuned for more updates on how things are going for us and the baby.




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There has been a lot of attention about this today, and I would like to spend a moment to address some of what I’m reading.

First of all, your comments are appreciated.  Though there are indeed many hateful.  For every ten comments that are negative or spiteful there is one that is positive enough to blow them out of the water.  We have even had multiple people (accounting for approximately 6% of those who have sent us a message) who have offered to adopt if the vote result is Abort.

We have had multiple interviews today.  The entire experience has been rather dizzying, and we are both surprised and impressed at how many have taken interest.  Most of the interviewers have been very nice and professional, which is something I had not expected.  Two radio talking heads we talked to were pretty clear in their attempts to steer the conversation, which we expected.  I have been honestly surprised by how all of the local, national, and international media we have talked to so far has been shockingly “professional”.  One thing is cretin; I am very much looking forward to my return home from my trip to hold Alisha and have a nice long talk about what we have experienced thus far.

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Thanks for sticking through the rough moments we had since 11:45am.  Between a thwarted attempt to take over the site, database overload, and a bazillion comments, everything seems to be back to normal now.

It’s been a busy day.  More to follow.

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We have gotten quite the response since the votes tilted to the “abort” side; many of these messages have been in the form of private emails.  I would like to take an opportunity to respond to them in this public setting, while keeping the names of the individuals that sent me the emails private.

People at a site called 4chan (specifically the /B/ boards) have been posting images of nude women to encourage others to vote.  According to Wikipedia, there is a great deal of controversy involving 4chan ranging internet Denial of Service attacks, Cyber Bullying, and actual threats of violence.  One 4chan user even posted videos of himself abusing his cat Dusty in order to get attention.

The most vocal email we received also described the 4chan community:

4chan, specifically the /b/ board, has a limit to the number of threads that can be accessed at any given time.  These threads typically move very quickly, and so unless you’re relatively fast, you won’t see the same thread that someone has linked to you.

That being said, treating members of 4chan as normal humans is a terrible mistake.  Child porn, aborted fetuses, butchered genitalia, rape, dead babies, porn, and a plethora of other inappropriate content can be found regularly on 4chan.  They don’t care if they hurt others.  It’s fun for them.

Members of 4chan typically operate as a single, destructive “super-entity” whose only goal is to do stuff for the “lulz.”  “Lulz” are things considered to be funny at another person’s expense.

I feel very strongly that you should only use the results of the poll from a date before members of 4chan polluted the polls.  Telling 4chan members that what they’re doing is “wrong,” or encouraging them to “do the right thing” will not work.  You cannot convince these people to act with any sense of morals, logic, reason, or conscientiousness.  If anything, it will only give them more reason to mess up the life of someone else (namely you).

By allowing the polls to be shifted from members of 4chan, you are effectively having the votes of everyone that cares go unheard.  I urge you to not make that mistake.

I understand the frustration some of you hold with our decision to not limit votes from 4chan or remove the vote completely.

I see 4chan as encouraging people to vote in the poll.  How they do it is beyond my control and should not influence decisions about what we are doing here.  We support people encouraging others to voice their opinions on an issue as large as keeping a baby or not.  The whole point of what we are doing is to allow you as an individual to make a difference. Many here have voiced their concern, but as you can see by the face-book links in the upper-right of each posting, few have acted upon them.  The members of 4chan are not the only ones who can get others to sway the result.  And as much as many do not approve of what they are doing, I have pondered this a great deal.  We don’t see a difference between this and what politicians or supporters do in regards to campaigning.




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According to The Bump.combaby “Wiggles” is now approximately the size of an avocado with an average crown to rump measurement of 4.6 inches.  This week bones are forming in baby’s ears so that they can start to pick up noises outside the womb.  The hair, eyebrows, and lashes are filling in and taste buds are forming.

Baby "Wiggles" 16 week ultrasound image

At my 16 week OB check they did another ultrasound and baby’s development is still on target.  Lots of fetal movement and the hematoma was smaller once again.  Baby “Wiggles” heartbeat was at 164 bpm and I got to hear it on the dop tone as well.  The nurse even informed me how the staticky crunch noises that I hear are the baby’s movements.

16 week 3D ultrasound of our little alien

I’m getting a little bored with working at home.  I miss seeing my co-workers and with my husband traveling so much I’m tired of being by myself all of the time.  It does have its perks though.  I don’t have to pack a lunch or deal with my morning commute and the urgent care and clinic are close by if I need them. 

I also went into Walgreens with my mother and got my flu shot.  It was $29.99, but my insurance covered the full cost.  For those of you looking at getting a flu shot this season, not all insurance companies are covering the cost of the shot if it’s done at a pharmacy but may cover it if done at a clinic.  Go figure.  The CDC now recommends that anyone over 6 mos. old get the shot. 

I’d never had one before and watched my mom when she went first.  Bad idea, the length of the needle really freaked me out and then I was all nervous when it was my turn.  It turned out to be almost painless despite the needle-length and I didn’t have any type of reaction or muscle soreness the next day.

Do you have opinions or knowledge of the effectiveness of flu vaccines?  Feel free to post them here.




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15 week 3D image

At Alisha’s 15 week ultrasound appointment she was told that the hematoma had gotten smaller and that the baby’s development was right on target for her due date of 4/28/11.

15 week ultrasound image of baby "Wiggles"

She’s still on modified bedrest and working from home until she reaches the viability point in her pregnancy; around 19 or 20 weeks.




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View of Baby "Wiggles" head and belly

Well I made it to the 2nd trimester.  During my pregnancy that ended in miscarriage back in January of this year, they determined that based on the measurements that the baby’s heartbeat stopped around 13.5 weeks even though I hadn’t miscarried yet at my 16 week appointment.  So this pregnancy has officially made it further than the longest lasting one.

Close up view of baby's head and tummy

I rented a fetal heart doppler from storkradio.com, so I can listen to the baby’s heartbeat on a daily basis.  That way I won’t be surprised if I get to my weekly ultrasound appointment and they can’t find a heartbeat.  At the 14 week appointment Baby “Wiggles'” heartbeat was 166 bpm and I’m able to count just around 160 bpm myself at home on a daily basis.

3D Image of Baby "Wiggles"

These 3D images always look kind of weird to me.  Although in the non-3D images above the baby still looks weird because you’re seeing the top of the head as Baby “Wiggles'” chin is tucked down to the neck, so you’re seeing the two halves of the brain instead of a profile from the side.  Everything is looking good baby-wise although my hematoma hasn’t decreased in size at all.  I am still working from home and watching the birds come to the window feeder.




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It has come to my understanding that some are posting links to this site on an Internet forum called 4chan. 
I was tipped off to this by an email by “Jay Jay”

Recently a site called 4chan (google it) has had a post in their /b/ section asking the members there to vote for weather the baby should be aborted given birth to. The poster bribed the people who saw the thread with nude pictures and other suck things.This defeats the purpose of free voting.

As well as  a commentator Zachery:
You may or may not know of this site called 4Chan.It was on this site i found out about this poll( sites full of random things)Anyway, The site is full of people who have a  deeply disturbed sense of humor (me to a little), and all the users are voting to abort just for a cheap laugh, so if your serious about doing what the poll decides, then you’ll just be entertaining a bunch of psychotic individuals. I beg you not to get an abortion just because of this poll.
 
I did Google It, and it would appear that the associated posting and all comments with it have been pulled or is unavailable (If I am wrong, I would love for someone to provide a working link).
First, I just want to say that I am not a fan of silencing voices, weather or not I agree with what they are saying.
 
Now, my first instinct is to remove the poll completely, as in a few days we have seen the total number of votes jump from 547 (Give Birth: 428, Abortion: 119) to 1390 (Give Birth: 625, Abortion: 765).  Clearly it has swayed pretty far in what looks like one day’s worth of activity. 
The more I thought about it however, the more I felt the vote needed to stay up.  The whole point here is to let people have a real way to voice your opinion on the topic of abortion and have it actually make a difference in the real world.  By voting on whether to continue or abort an actual pregnancy, you are doing so much more then simply telling an elected representative your feelings.  You are actually changing something in the real world.

What we’ve said our About This Site page still rings true:  We would like to keep you informed on our pregnancy as if it was your own; posting our thoughts and feelings as we struggle to make this decision.  We would like you to see what we see and feel what we feel.  We invite you take this journey with us as we contemplate our own options and encourage you to utilize this site to vote and voice your opinion in a way that will have a real consequence… in a way that truly matters.  Here, your vote will not go unheard.

We will not take down this vote because some do not take it seriously.  We all know this to be true with our current election system as it sits, and accept it.  I will however, not allow duplicate votes.  Poll Daddy, thankfully weeds a good portion of duplicates out and includes reports I can run to help me decipher any duplicate votes that made it through based on IP address, cookies, and timestamps.

For the first time in history, your vote on the topic of abortion will not go unheard.  We meant that. 




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