A boy or a girl??? Yes, we found out!

We're having a GIRL!!!! Yes, at first we weren't going to find out, but when it came down to the last minute we decided that we would pretend that we weren't finding out the sex and that we could surprise our families at Christmas with the sex of the baby!

So, we found out on December 13th. Deep down I always thought we would have a little girl, but Will had convinced me otherwise. I think we were both shocked to find out the opposite. We had our boy name picked out, but we're still totally stumped on a girls name.

For the Christmas reveal I bought 3 pounds of pink Jelly Bellys and filled small pink mesh bags for each member of our family which they were instructed not to open until after our mom's opened up a larger present. (I've got about a pound of Jelly Belly's left - eek we'll be eating them forever!) For the larger present - I tried out my "crafting" skills and made/decorated from scratch a baby frame for my mom and Cynthia. Each theme was pink/purple, girly butterflies, flowers, pink bottles, etc... It was funny to see each of them open the frame and not notice that it read "It's a Girl" in pink letters across the top of the frame. It took each of them a few long seconds to figure it out. :)

Since I wasn't home for Christmas this year, my brother took the photos of my mom and dad opening the frame. Here's the sequence of photos of my mom...

	Opening the present.
	Oh how cute. Shirley made us a baby frame.
	No, wait! It's says she's having a girl! Oh....tears!
	Oh, Danny! Can you believe it??
	Mom calling me.

I thought those pictures were priceless. I hope baby girl finds them cute too.

Now we get to decorate our nursery. I can't wait to go shopping to see what's out there. Does anyone have any suggestions on nursery themes?

The Half Way Point

I'm almost 21 weeks pregnant. So as far as the timeline goes, I've reached the official 1/2 way mark. 20 weeks is 1/2 way because technically speaking, women are pregnant for 40 weeks....yes, that's actually closer to 10 months!

Will and I had an ultrasound last week only to discover that our little one seems very shy or dramatic. The baby was facing down and no matter how much the technician prodded and poked at my belly, the baby would not turn over completely so we didn't actually get to see the face. Instead, we got to see that the baby is sleeping with the arms held up to the face and hands covering the forehead as if exhaspirated. Here's what we did get a good glimpse at so far:

• An adorable foot (photo coming soon)
• 4 chambers of the heart beating (which were beautiful!!!)
• The tops of the ears sticking out
• A hand with the thumb stuck up in the sucking position

We're proud, doting parents for sure. We didn't get an accurate measurement of length since the baby was curled up in a ball. However, our baby weighed 10 ounces at the ultrasound last week and if my appetite is any indication, then we're going to have quite a big baby. Latey, I've been very hungry. Not to mention a bit emotional. I can basically cry just watching a commercial on TV. :)

Bending over - who knew it would be so hard?

Ok, this belly of mine is now preventing me from really being able to bend at the waist. And, I never realized how often I actually naturally bend at the waist. Here's just a few examples of my daily struggles....

1. In order to tie my tennis shoes, which I wear almost exclusively, I am forced to hike my entire leg up onto a dresser or the top of the bathtub! It's kind of funny.
2. How about trying to blow my hair dry with my head thrown over my body? That's now an exercise in itself. By the time my hair is dry I'm winded.
3. Getting a pot out of the bottom drawer of the oven/stove proves challenging.
4. When I feed the cats and put their food on the floor, I now do a fancy ballet move and kick back one of my legs so far that it and my body are parallel to the floor!
5. And forget about when I drop something. I either need to get down on my knees to pick it up or I have to call for Will to help me.

I'm not complaining. It's all definitely worth it, but I miss my waist!

Update on What's Happening to Baby

Keeping with the food measuring system: Baby is the size of a small banana or a zucchini - or about 8 inches long and weighs about 8 1/2 ounces.

The arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. Hair on the scalp is sprouting. The baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch.

Go baby go!!!

18 weeks picture

Well, as you can see, I'm definitely getting bigger. Here's my photo at 18 weeks. I'm starting to get lots of "advice" from women who can tell that I'm pregnant. It's a nice gesture, but I'm sure I'll be tired of receiving soon enough.

As of today, I am officially 19 weeks so the blog is falling a little behind. Chalk it up to the Holiday Party that Will and I hosted last Saturday night. We definitely had a great time, but I'm still trying to recover on my sleep. Our last guests stayed until 2:30 AM. I could barely keep my eyes open at the end of the night.

The weeks seem to be going faster now. I read recently that the baby is just now able to hear loud sounds outside of my body. In fact, the baby can get startled by a very loud sound at this point. So far the baby has been lulled by the sounds of my blood pumping and my organs working, but the ears are formed enough now to actually hear my voice, dad's voice and music... Yes, we'll be playing some formative Mozart for our child very soon. :)

I felt something

WOW!!! On the Saturday after Thanksgiving when I woke up, I felt a strange tingle - it was almost like butterflies fluttering around on my mid-left side.. Right away I wondered if it was the baby, but wasn't sure. Then it went away. On Sunday I felt it again when Will and I were walking through Target. Every few days last week I could feel that same feeling. Mostly on my left side and then it moved. I felt it right in the middle....so I KNOW it was the baby. The feeling was so slight I almost missed it. In the OB world, this feeling is called quickening.

I haven't felt it in a few days, but I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow - my 5 month appointment. Will and I will get to hear the heartbeat again. It's hard to believe that I'm already 5 months pregnant. In 2 weeks we'll be 1/2 way there.

2nd Trimester

Well, it's official. I'm in the second trimester! Here's my 14 weeks picture with Mrs. Nikki Paus. As you can see, I'm getting bigger. My stomach is supposed to "pop-out" soon, but if you ask me - it already has. I've moved up to size 6 clothes now and probably by the end of the month I'll be wearing maternity clothes. The baby is between 3 and 4 inches long and weighs about an ounce or slightly more.

I'm happy to say that I no longer need to take a nap in the middle of the day, but can't keep my eyes open past 11PM lately.

We'll probably start creating our nursery soon. I think we're going to combine the spare bedroom and the office for the time being and keep the "frog" as our workout room and extra tv room. In a month we have the option of finding out the sex of the baby so we know what color to paint and what items to buy. Will and I are still up in the air about finding out the sex. So far, I've wanted it to be a surprise and when we have #2 - we can find out the sex.

About names: we're starting to narrow down the list at this point for both boys and girls. We welcome any pointers for name selection. Alexander is a long last name and it's hard to pair with a first name that doesn't end in an "a" or an "l".

I'm still running 3-4 miles a few times a week at a fairly slow pace. I'm amazed at how much more taxing jogging has been lately with the extra weight and with the redistribution of my blood. From what I've read, my circulation system is working on overdrive pumping blood to my extremities and to the baby. That's part of the reason that I'm winded my earlier in a jog than I wa 4 months ago.

Heard the heartbeat again. :)

I had my 4 month appointment today and learned that I gained 8 pounds in the first trimester. According to what I've read anything less than 10 lbs is normal.

I met with a new doctor today. She is one of the 4 doctors who could be on call the day I go into labor. I really liked her and felt much more comfortable with her rather than with Dr. Waterbury. She took the time to explain what I should and shouldn't be doing regarding excercise. She didn't really tell me anything that I didn't already know, but it was reassuring to hear it from her.

Then she put some cold blue gel on my belly and used the doppler to listen for the heartbeat again. Will was at the appointment this week so he also got to hear it. It was faint at first, but then the doc moved the doppler a bit and it started roaring at us. :) 160 beats per minute. (that's really good). I think Will had a tiny tear in his eye. It was really cute.

We signed up for "birthing classes" today. The class will be on Monday evenings for 6 weeks in Feb and March. But that seems really far off at this point.

Right now, we're out of the woods now and can begin spreading the good news. I'm thrilled to share the news with my friends and can't wait to hear some of their reactions.

Look for another picture next week.

Next doctor's appointment - Dec 1st.

Ultrasound - the week of Dec 12th. We're still not sure if we want to find out or not!

Baby's first graduation

It may seem a little odd to call it graduation, but the baby has graduated from being called an embryo to a fetus this week. :)

Baby Alexander is 1 and 1/2 inches long right now but the head makes up half of that length. It sounds like the head will be "as big as the body" for quite some time.

Will and I have a baby name book now and another is being shipped to us as I write this. I found a book called 50,001 Baby Names on ebay and can't wait to get my hands on it - how can we possibly be stumped with 50,000 names to ponder? So, now the fun part begins....

10 weeks

I'm 10 weeks pregant now. If you think about it - we're a quarter of the way done because the typical pregnany is 40 weeks long. So far so good!

Here's me at 10 weeks. My stomach is definitely starting to get bigger. Scroll down a bit and you will see me at 6 weeks.

Super Doppler

I heard a heartbeat this week at my 3 month (9 weeks) checkup. It was awesome. Dr. Waterbury warned me that it may be too early to find the heartbeat or that it may be too faint for the doppler to register, but it wasn't. I definitely heard a fast beating heartbeat. :) It was such a cool sound and it's still beating twice as fast as my own heartbeat! When I heard it, I think that's when I realized that there IS definitely a tiny person growing inside of me.

The next appointment will be in 4 weeks at the beginning of the second trimester. I'll only have a tummy check at that appointment. Nothing to see, nothing to hear.... bummer.

Look for another profile picture next week..... I'm getting a tad bigger.

The size of a grape

I'm officially in the beginning of my 3rd month this week so the baby is 2 months old... Here's what it looks like right now and how the development is progressing.

The baby is more than half an inch long crown to rump and has distinct, slightly webbed fingers. The arms and legs may be long enough to meet in front of the body.

The eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. Earlobes have formed, and by week's end, the inner workings of the ears will be complete. The upper lip is fully formed, too, and the mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. All major joints — shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles — are working, enabling limbs to move. As for the heart, it has divided into four chambers now, and the valves have started to develop. External sex organs are there, but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks.....so make your guesses now!

Not looking pregnant, just looking fat

An interesting thing is happening to my body... I'm getting fat. I definitely do not look pregnant and should not at this point, but my lower abdomen/stomach is distended/bloated. I've been reading about it on a lot of message boards and found that it's actually not very unusual. Apparently this happens to women who are on the small side to begin with, but I'm only 8 weeks pregnant and already my jeans and most of my pants will not button.

It's a good thing that I'm no longer working because I have no idea what I would wear every day if I had to go to work and look "normal". Instead, I get to wear cotton workout shorts daily (and let me tell you how attractive I feel).

The reason: My uterus is between the size of a tennis ball and a softball right now and the baby is 5/8 of an inch long already (or the size of a kidney bean). Next week starts month #3 and the last month of the first trimester.

So, a few other "fun" things are starting to happen too.

1. I'm happy to report that I'm less moody (maybe Will has a different opinion).
   
2. I need to take a 1/2 hour nap between 3 and 5 almost every day
   
3. I also have to eat a snack between 3 and 5 every day because I do feel slightly queasy, but I hear it could be a lot worse.
   
4. Frequently I wake up to remember some incredibly bizarre dreams. Last night I was dreaming that a very large black spider was crawling up the wall in our bedroom. I was spraying it will Windex and 409, but it wouldn't even slow down. It was so large it turned out to be a small cat which looked a lot like Nikki Paus with a strange looking brown cotton ball tail. We caught it by throwing a towel over it and carrying it down into the kitchen to let it go outside, but by that point it had turned into a tater tot smothered in ketchup. WEIRD, huh?
   

That's all for now.

A single heartbeat

This morning we got to see the baby's heart beating (yes, there was only one heartbeat, but it was beating like crazy!). 122 beats per minute. The technician told us anything over 100 bpm is good right now.

The baby measures 4 millimeters or about the size of a grain of rice. That measurement confirms that I am in the 6th week and that our due date is May 9th.



















We got 2 ultrasound pictures from the technician, but you can't really see anything so I'm only sharing "the better one". The dark black spot in the middle is the palcenta. The heartbeat appeared to the left of the black spot. There acutally is a white arrow pointing to it, but it's impossible to see due to the exposure.

The next ultrasound will be at 20 weeks and that's when we'll be able to really see something. We'll need to decide by then if we want to know the sex of the baby. At this point, Will does and I would rather be surprised.

Now I will start visiting the doctor once a month for regular checkups. Other than starting to have pregnancy symptoms (which I haven't yet) there shouldn't be anything too exciting to report on for a while.

6 weeks today

Well, I'm six weeks pregnant today and so far I've managed to steer clear of morning sickness and extreme fatique. However, the mood swing fairy has definitely sprinkled me with a bit of her dust. Will has been extremely patient with me. :)

All in all, being pregnant is a piece of cake so far. Here's the "benchmark" profile photo that Will took this morning. We'll have to see how much of the empty blue space I will fill in the next few weeks and months.

Bahamas (1st anniverary) 

1st doctor visit

Will and I had our first visit with the OB yesterday. The OB, Dr. Waterbury, gave us a very clean bill of health (thanks to our outstanding family genes). We are not a high risk pregnancy and I have clearance to continue working out on a regular basis. (yea!!)

Dr. Waterbury is one of 4 OBs that could deliver the baby. We will meet with all four thoughout the course of the pregnancy and the doctor on call the weekend I'm ready to deliver will be the lucky one. :)

We're scheduled to go back next Friday for the first ultrasound appointment where we will be able to see the baby's heartbeat. It's amazing to me how fast this "little ball of cells" is growing and maturing into a tiny baby. This week he/she is the size of a raisin. Crazy!

I will be visiting the OB once every 4 weeks for now. In a few months I will start visiting the OB every other week.

So, for now, we just wait and wait and wait. I can't wait until we can tell the rest of the family. I doubt I'll be able to wait until week 12.... We'll see!

Photo from Corey's wedding

The journey begins...

Tomorrow we will meet with our obstetrician at 1:30. Hopefully we'll have a connection with him and feel comfortable with his personality and birthing style. If not, we'll keep searching.

So far, I'm obsessing about being pregnant (in a good way). I'm reading everything I can get my hands on and have at least 6 websites bookmarked to check 'daily'. It's so fun!

Our doctor should be able to confirm that our due date is 05/09/06. More to follow tomorrow.