5 Month Appointment

So today was the best ultrasound yet. Our normal OB referred us to another OB for this appointment. We weren't really sure why, or what to expect, but we are so glad she sent us. The doctor today spent a little more time going over every detail. He measured arms, legs, head, belly, everything really. He checked the brain size and kidneys. He showed us the blood going in and out of the heart. He checked the mouth to be sure that there was not risk of cleft. He even counted all of the fingers and toes. It gets even cooler though, not only was the appointment more detailed, but they did a lot of the pictures in 3D, and we were able to get a video. They gave us a small clip of the 3D (see link on the right) as well as a VHS of the entire scan.

The baby is healthy and strong and on schedule for May 17th delivery. The best part of all, in the video it looks like the baby is laughing. It is such an awesome thing to see. I did not expect it at all, and have found myself opening it up and showing everyone every chance I had all day. The doctor also said the baby looks like it has my nose. I think it looks like it has Tim's mouth and chin. I can't wait to see it in May. I am getting so excited.

Here are a few of the 3D stills we got today...

Half way there

Based on the May 17th due date, we are officially 50% there. It just seems so far away still. I can't wait to meet him or her. Tim and I have been working on names. We have some we like, but not definite names as of yet.

Christmas was nice. Tim and I stayed in LA this year and just hung out. I was a little home sick, but other than that it was a really nice holiday. Tim and I opened our gifts on Christmas Eve (we didn't want to wait anymore). Then on Christmas we slept in, played with our new stuff, saw a movie and then had a nice dinner at home. We enjoyed the long weekend, and are looking forward to another next weekend.

We have an appointment Thursday morning for our next ultrasound. There has been a lot of changes, and a lot of growth since our last appointment. I am really excited to see how much bigger the baby is. A few weeks ago I read that it should be about 9 inches long. Since my little one seems to be a fast grower and a little bit ahead of schedule I would not be surprised if it was already closer to 10 (that's really big, almost a foot!). This next appointment is supposed to be a lot more detailed too. I can't wait to see the baby again, I love seeing him/her. I guess I can understand why weirdo Tom Cruise would want to own his own machine, even though I still think he's a weirdo. Let's just hope he has a trained medical professional doing the procedure and that he is not doing it himself.

Well, enough for today. I will post more Thursday after the appointment. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

The Belly

So here is what my belly looked like a few years ago...

It was so nice and flat. And I am pretty sure I had lost a few pounds in the past year. By the way, for those of you curious, this is a photo of 'Surfing in Malibu' :)

And now, this is my belly...

Notice our wonderful 'Charlie Brown' Christmas tree in the background :)

And one close up for thos of you who may think I am sticking it out above. Here ya go...

So we will be at 19 weeks on Tuesday (12/20). So these pictures are just short of 5 months. I still have half way to go.

Baby Pictures

Our first ultrasound was 9/27/05

Our second ultrasound we did not get to take any pictures with us. But on our third, 10/30 we did.

Our last ultrasound was on 11/27.

The baby is really active and moves around a lot. We can feel it now, and it's such an amazing feeling. We have our next appointment the week after Christmas. We'll post updated pics when we get them.

Where did my waist go?

So I am about 18.5 weeks along, and can not believe how much my body has already changed. It’s crazy how fast it happens. It seems like one day (recently) I woke up and all of a sudden the only clothes I could wear were my fat clothes. Everybody has at least one pair of fat jeans, so you have to know what I am talking about :) Then a few more weeks went by and overnight the fat jeans don't even fit anymore.

Tim and I have had 4 ultrasounds. The first one showed a due date of 5/21 based on the size of the fetus. Then a few weeks later we went to the ER (long story) and ended up having another. This one showed a date of 5/19. My doctor was GYN only, not OB and referred me to a couple of OBs. When I went in to the OB for the first time they showed a date of 5/17. The second time the monitor showed a date of 5/12. I started to freak out a little. She told me that they won't adjust the date anymore, that they are sticking with 5/17. She also confirmed my worry that the monitor reflected a LARGE baby. We have our next appointment with the OB on 12/27, then an in depth ultrasound with a specialist (our OB refers all patients, nothing to worry about) on 12/29. I have been telling Tim and family that I am convinced its not just a large baby, but that it must be 2 babies. Tim is still thinking one. Either way, I will be happy. And either way, I can't wait to see what the next ultrasound shows.

I have to dress for work. No jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, etc. So a few weeks ago I went through my closet and found a couple of skirts I could still wear and a few pairs of pants, but not nearly enough. I went out and bought a couple more pants, but figured I had some time before I needed to buy a lot. Wow was I ever wrong. A big baby or multiple babies grow REALLY fast! The skirts still fit, but it's been so cold lately I don't want to wear them. All of the other pants (except the couple maternity pants I bought) are way too tight. It's miserable too. Tight pants when you are pregnant actually may you feel queasy. It's really just awful. Luckily it's Christmas next weekend, hopefully I will get some pants. Either way, I am sure I will be doing a lot of shopping in the next couple of weeks.

My sisters and sister-in-law have been asking to see pictures of the belly. I think this weekend I will take some and post before and after shots. The only belly picture I can find from before is a while back. I think I had lost weight since it was taken. Even still, compared to my belly now, it looks so tiny.

Telling Work

Shortly before we found out, there was a very interesting rumor going around my office. Apparently the company was considering opening a second office in Austin. This was interesting before, but after the baby this sounded ideal. Tim and I are both very close to our families and want very much for our children to grow up knowing all of their aunts and uncles and grandparents, etc. When we saw an opportunity to make this happen we decided to pursue it very seriously.

The rumor was that most likely Austin, TX, but as a backup Chicago, IL was also a possibility. How perfect. My family is in Austin Tim's is in Chicago. Either way, this sounded like a great idea to us. There was just one problem. My company had not committed to either location, or to a timeline. Tim and I decided it was better to go ahead and speak with our managers sooner rather than later. We wanted to let them know that we are interesting in the relocation (to either city) and to let them know why it is very important to us. Not only that, but since I will be taking some time off, I figured a heads up would be nice. Luckily Tim's company has offices everywhere, and his manager was very open to the transfer idea.

When I talked with my manager, we talked about a couple of options. First is to wait for the second office and then go if it is Austin or Chicago. Second would be to go to a small satellite office (already open) in Chicago in the VERY near future. Being that the second office could be anywhere from 6 months to 24 months down the road, the satellite office seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, that request was denied :( I have been approved to move to the second office once it opens though, so that's good. Now we just have to wait and see where and when the move will happen. The sooner the better, but we really have no idea yet.

Tim and I are already planning on buying as soon as we move. We have started saving now, and are planning trips to both cities (before I get too big) to check out neighborhoods and builders and all that good stuff. We figured the first year we will be traveling some to see family, and that a lot of our families will probably make it to LA as well, so it won't be too bad to wait.

I really like Santa Monica. Living here has been really good for me (and Tim) personally, professionally, physically, in so many ways. As much as I like it here though, I have to admit that I am very excited about being back home (mine or Tim's).

Now we just wait.....

Keeping a Secret

I had always heard that until your enter your second trimester that it is bad luck to tell people that you are expecting. In addition, we found out we were pregnant in September and our wedding was not until October 23rd. We really wanted our wedding to be about the wedding, and we wanted the baby to have it's own moment. So we decided that we would wait until after the wedding to tell our family and friends. Talk about difficult. I talk to my sisters all the time, and tell them everything. Not to be able to tell them something as exciting and wonderful as this was so hard for me. I was so excited that I wanted to tell everyone, family, friends, strangers on the street, I wanted to shout it out to crowds. I wanted the whole world to know, but I could not tell anyone.

Our wedding was fast approaching and Tim and I started discussing how and when we would tell everyone. We decided we would try and get a moment with our mom's the morning after the wedding before we left for the honeymoon, then casually tell everyone else as afterward. Things didn't exactly go as planned though. I have always been quick to join in when friends are doing shots. At the wedding a lot of people kept trying to get me to do shots with them, and toward the end of the night I had run out of excuses. We ended up telling the wedding guests that stuck around. Tim mom stuck around, but did not hear the news. Before she left we pulled her aside and told her. She was so happy for us. The next morning as soon as we were up we told my mom. She too was very happy. What a relief, the secret is out and now I can talk about it.

I was so happy to have it out there. I have so many things I wanted to tell people, and so many questions for all of my friends and family that have already done this.

Getting the News

As many of you know, Tim and I wanted to start a family right away after we got married. We calculated the earliest date we could start trying without showing at the wedding. We really expected it to take longer than it did, but fortunately we got pregnant after just 1 month of trying.

I was feeling kind of weird, not bad, just weird, and was late so on my way home from work I stopped by the drug store and picked up a test. I actually picked up a pack of 3 so I could be sure it was not a false reading. I came home and took one right away. It VERY quickly said 'PREGNANT' I was so excited and happy, but at the same time I didn't want to get to excited just in case it was a false reading. I came out and showed Tim the stick. He was very happy too. We decided to be safe that I would wait and take a second test the following morning. As soon as I woke up the next day I ran straight in to take the test. 'PREGNANT' again, YAY!!!! I ran back to bed to share my excitement with Tim.

Because of a previous ectopic we were still not completely in the clear. Before we celebrated too much we needed to see my doctor. Before my doctor would see me they took a blood test to be sure they had a positive reading as well. I stopped by on my way to work and gave them some blood. Later that afternoon they confirmed that I was pregnant. They could not see me right away though; we had to wait a few days. It was pure agony. I wanted to celebrate and tell the entire world, but until an ultrasound confirmed the pregnancy was healthy I had to sit on pins and needles. It nearly killed me to have to wait.

What a wonderful day. When we finally went in for the first ultrasound Tim and I were a little nervous, and VERY anxious. Tim sat by side as we watched the monitor. Neither of us had a clue what we were looking at. As the doctor walked us thru what she was seeing and told us that everything looked great, we both felt relieved and elated. It was such a great moment.

When we had the ectopic a couple of years back I lost my left tube. During the ultrasound we were told that the egg was actually dropped out of the left ovary. I was shocked, and a bit confused. The doctors said it is pretty rare, but that the right tube can pass eggs from the left when the left tube is missing. I still think that is kind of cool, and amazing. Regardless of which side the egg dropped, Tim and I are going to have a baby. And, everything looks healthy :)