2 Month Doctor Visit

Zan Man had a doctor appointment today. He weighs 15 pounds 8 ounces and is 24 inches long! He got 3 shots: DTap, Hib, and IPV. He was a champ though.

Another birthday celebration

We celebrated my 29th birthday with the Murphy's tonight. Zander got a little bit scared during the singing & blowing the candles out.

Here's some pictures:



Again, thanks to everyone that gave me money for my birthday. I got enough to buy my breast pump. It's going to an excellent cause!

For my 29th Birthday...

Zander and I celebrated with a movie! We went to see an 11:20 showing of Alfie at Harkins Metro. Zander was great! I wore him in the sling when we got there, we got popcorn and a soda (a nice lady helped me carry my soda!). As soon as the movie started I nursed Zander and he fell asleep on me. I was able to eat my popcorn and drink my soda during the movie. Zander woke up once and I nursed him again and he slept some more. He never made a sound during the movie. So happy birthday to me!

Then we walked around the mall. When I wear Zander in the sling people stop to talk to us way more than if he were in the stroller. He enjoys being up at my level and looking around, too.

We had birthday dinner at Doug's parents house so Zander got to visit with Noni & Pappy, Maw & Paw, and Auntie Dani and Cousin Madi. It was fun, Zander was totally hamming it up for everyone. Here's a picture:


Zander asked his daddy to get me a nice card and asked him to write about how much he loved me. It was sweet, I cried.

It was a great birthday! Everyone gave me money as a gift, which I really appreciate! I will be using the money so I can buy a breast pump for when I go back to work. This way I can pump mama's milk for Zander while I'm working. So, thanks to everyone!

Smiles & Giggles Every Day

Zander is just hamming it up! He smiles so much now. He smiles during diaper changes when I sing silly songs to him. He smiles when Doug and him have 'Daddy Time'.

He laughes a lot now. It is the cutest thing ever! And we 'talk' a lot too, it's mostly just "ah" and "eh" back and forth but he seems to be enjoying the conversation!

We had a busy weekend. On Saturday we went with Mimi & Papa to a arts & crafts festival in Litchfield Park. Zander slept in his stroller (with Mimi pushing) almost the entire time, he loves to be on the move! Then we went to the Roadhouse for dinner with Mimi & Papa to see Marty & Colby. Zander slept on Mimi pretty much the entire time. He loves his Mimi!

Today we had a nice breakfast, drove up to the Desert Hills area to pick something up and then went to the Anthem Outlet malls. Zander spent the beginning of shopping in the stroller. They have a nice "Mother's Lounge" at the outlet mall so we nursed in there on a comfy couch. And then I put Zander in the sling for a bit, then Daddy held him for a bit, then it was back to mama. He loves being held of course! By the end of shopping he was asleep in the stroller. It was a nice day!

Nursing Baby Fun!

Yesterday Zander and I went to nursing mama's group. I really like going and Zander enjoyed it this time as well. We were all sitting at a long table because the birth center was being used and Zander and most the other babies were sitting on the table. He really took notice to the other babies and was listening to their noises. There's another little boy born the same week as Zander and theres a 2.5 month old little boy. The other babies are a little bit older. It's nice to be around other nursing mama's and babies though, I'm going to miss it even though I've only gone twice. I'm going to try to make the December meeting though, if I do it will be my last one cause it's during work hours.

I plan on joining Le Leche League soon. I've been meaning to go but keep missing the meetings. It's great to be around other nursing moms and I'm hoping there will be some working moms at the evening meetings.

Milestone: last night he laughed!!

Zander had been a little fussy all day yesterday. So after Doug came home from work he was holding him and talking to him and Zander started smiling and then Doug tickled his thigh and Zander laughed! It was a real happy boy laugh!! He had a big smile and just stared at Doug and laughed! Neat huh?

Mama & baby milestone...

Zander has been nursing for 6 weeks! I'm so happy to be giving my baby boy the best!

Milestone: Rolling over already?

One day last weekend I had Zander on his blanket on the floor for tummy time and he used his back legs and kicked himself over to his side then his back. I thought it was just a fluke.

Well, yesterday I put him on the blanket on his tummy and walked to the kitchen to wash my hands when I came back he was off the blanket and on his back. Then today during tummy time he did the same thing, I put him on his tummy and he eventually got himself on his back.

Zander seems to enjoy tummy time. If I put my hand underneath his chest for support he will rock his bottom back and forth on his knees. He kicks himself all over the blanket, he just doesn't have as much arm and upper body strength/control as his lower body yet. I know they aren't supposed to crawl for months. I don't think Zander is even close to actually crawling. He's just not your avarage 6 week old.

Webiste updates...

I just uploaded Zander's 1 Month Portraits and Week 6 Pictures.

Enjoy!

Zander's first mini-vacation

We had Doug's 10-Year High School Reunion last night. The reunion was in Scottsdale and since Zander's too little to leave (he only nurses right now, we haven't introduced bottles of breastmilk yet) we got a room at the resort where the reunion was and my parents came to stay with us.

So, we packed up extra diapers and blankies for Zander and headed over to Scottsdale. Doug and I went to the reunion and after we finished dinner my mom called to say Zander was awake. I went and nursed him and then brought him back to the party to show him off. He was a hit, everyone thought he was the cutest baby! He was the only baby there, of course.

Zander is 1 month old today!

Wow, I can't believe Zander is 1 month old already! Time flies...

We're having so much fun with Zander. He's growing so well and each day he grows a little bit more. He's starting to smile a little bit. Zander is beginning to take notice of everything going on around him more. He has great control of his head, or as we call it 'his big noggin'. He loves to kick his legs and climb up us when we're holding him. He's not too fond of bath time but loves to kick around when I dry him off on a towel on the counter.

We're having a wonderful time with our little boy.

Tonight we had Zander's pictures taken at Sears, they are really cute. I'll get them scanned & posted soon (can't right now someone's sleeping on me).

Daddy's Birthday & other stuff...

Wednesday was Doug's birthday! Zander & I met him at the original Garcia's for lunch! Zander slept through most of lunch and woke up towards the end.

After lunch I headed down to The Training Academy for a quick visit. We got to visit with Anita, Grant, Nanette and a few other people, it was fun. It was also weird after not being there for 3 weeks! :-)

That night for Doug's birthday we went over to Noni & Pappy's for dinner. Mimi & Poppa, Maw and Dani & Madi were all there too.

Thursday I went to the Nursing Women's Support group at Bethany. It was very nice to meet other nursing moms and babies!

Zander's Third Week

Week 3
Zander and I had a busy day on Wednesday. We started off with a visit to the doctor at 8:40 a.m. We weren’t planning to go back so soon but I need a referral to get his second PKU test done at the lab. I was glad we went because I wanted her opinion on his jaundice (he was a little jaundiced, but that’s perfectly normal in newborns, especially breastfeed babies). She said he looked much better, his color was looking great! She weighed him and he was 10 pounds 12 ounces! He gained a pound & a half in a week! He’s a big, healthy, beautiful, boy!

Then Auntie Melissa came over and went to Sears with us to get Zander’s 2 week pictures done. He slept the entire way to the mall and while we were waiting. So, we had to wake him up and hope he wouldn’t be too fussy or want to eat right away. He was great, he didn’t get upset during the pictures. Thye turned out really cute!

Later that afternoon I had to take Zander to the lab for his PKU test and I was really dreading it! He was just sleeping in his baby seat and I took him back. The lab technician was really nice and she got him out of his seat and he woke up a little. He was laying on the table just looking at me when she poked his foot and he let out a scream I’ve never heard before! Poor baby! It was so hard to see him cry like that, he actually had tears in his eyes. She had to shake his foot to get the blood out for the test and when she was done she picked him up and he stopped crying.

That night we went to Noni & Pappy’s for dinner. Doug’s grandparents Maw & Paw came over as well as friends of the family: Pam, Maria and Micki. Dani & Madison also came over later. Everyone got to hold Zander and he slept most of the time we were there.

We went to the Murphy’s Sunday night for Auntie Melissa’s birthday.

Zander's Second Week

Daddy went back to work on Wednesday so it was just mama & baby all day. We did what we normally do, nurse & sleep. :-) Wednesday night we went over to Doug’s parent’s house for dinner and Dani, Mikey & Madison were there as well. We compared Zander’s feet & hands to Madi’s, they are pretty darn close! Zander has huge hands and feet!

Thursday Doug took the day off from work because I wanted to visit the Lactation Nurse. First we went and visited Mamaw (Doug’s grandmother, so Zander’s great-grandmother) at her work: Dunkin Donuts. Zander slept for a while in his car seat but then woke up. People were commenting what a cute kid! Then we went to the Lactation Nurse because I was paranoid about getting nursing right. After waiting for a few minutes and having a big ol’ messy diaper & clothing change we got to see her and Zander was pretty hungry! He latched right on and ate great, so she said we were doing good. It was a great relief to see her though and know we were doing all right. She also gave us tips for the future and we can call her any time we need to.

Doug and I decided to go mattress shopping because we suddenly realized our mattress was wrecking our backs. Instead of lugging around the baby seat or trying to get the stroller in and out for such quick trips we tried the baby sling for the first time. It worked great, we could get Zander in and out of his car seat and in and out of the sling and he would just sleep. I think he liked being so close to me. So we went to two mattress stores and then to Target, Zander slept the whole time!

Saturday night we went to my parents for dinner, so Zander got to see Mimi & Poppa again. He slept and ate most the time.

Sunday we gave Zander some tummy time since his cord stump had fell off on Friday. He is so strong! He can lift his head up and move from left to right. He also kicks his back legs around like he wants to crawl.

After Zander & Daddy took a long nap we headed to Baby’s R Us to get a few things, Zander slept in his sling while we were there. Doug and I were hungry and trying to figure out what to eat. We both thought Red Robin sounded good but we hadn’t dined out with Zander yet, plus he was so new! We decided to give it a shot and took him in his baby seat. We asked to sit on the patio because it was a nice night and there was only one party out there. I have just started getting used to nursing in front of people and hadn’t done it yet, so I figured that was a good place to start if I needed to. Zander slept in his seat the whole time and Doug & I got to eat dinner out for the first time since before he was born (Ok, it wasn’t even 2 weeks but it felt like a while!)

Then we stopped by Doug’s parents house and Noni & Pappy bought Zander some really cute outfits including a Diamondbacks outfit, an outfit with tools on it, and Halloween outfit with little Frankenstein slippers! Too cute!

On Monday Zander decided to nurse most of the day. I want my baby to be big and healthy so that’s just fine by me. They call them “growth spurts” when the baby decides to nurse all day long for a day or two. Generally, babies get them around 2-3 weeks. Zander has these little smiles while he’s dozing off nursing, it’s so cute!

Babymoon: Zander’s first week

Zander was born Wednesday on Wednesday 9/15. (See the Birthstory)

Zander was greeted by most of his extended family just a few hours after birth:
· His Mimi & Poppa (Grandma & Grandpa Murphy)
· Aunt Melissa & Cousin Mickenzie
· Uncle Mike & Aunt Lindsey
· Uncle Marty & Aunt Colby
· Noni & Pappy (Grandma & Grandpa Morrison)
· Aunt Dani, Uncle Mikey & Cousin Madison
· Maw & Paw (Morrison Great Grandparents)

We stayed in the hospital until Friday 9/17. Daddy was with us most of the stay except when he went home to rest, shower and play with the dog, Vinnie. Daddy spent the night with us though, sleeping on the uncomfortable bench in the hospital room. He brought movies from home for us to watch on the second night, which was nice. Auntie Melissa spent a lot of time with us in the hospital, too. She helped me get positioned for nursing, get in and out of bed because I was pretty sore, and got me ice and water. It was great having her there.

When we brought Zander home on Friday he was greeted by the family dog, Vinnie. First, Doug came in to say hi to Vinnie, then Doug came out and I went in. Vinnie must have missed me a lot, he was going nuts. Then Doug brought in Zander. Vinnie was fired up most of that day, crying and barking a lot. He didn’t seem to be jealous of the baby but he’s never seen a person that small before.

My parents and Melissa and Mickenzie came over and my mom & dad made dinner for us. Vinnie would get very anxious when others would hold Zander. My mom held him for a while on the couch and Vinnie stayed right by her side. He’s protective of Zander. He’d much rather Zander be held by Mama or Daddy.

Saturday night Doug’s parents came over to visit with Zander, Vinnie got a little bit better. Sunday night we went to my parents for dinner and Zander got to visit with the Murphy family again.

Doug was off work Monday & Tuesday so we just spent our days getting to know our little boy, babymoon is what they call it. He is just so beautiful and precious. Zander seems to be wired just like his parents and would rather sleep during the day and stay up at night. Zander just does what he needs to do: eats, sleeps, poops & pees. This makes me very happy because I know he’s eating well. I also discovered we can nurse laying down in bed, and that’s a very nice thing because I was exhausted those first few days!

Tuesday Doug & I took Zander to see the doctor for his 1 week check up. She said he was a perfect 10! He got weighed and had put on 2 ounces since checking out of the hospital, so he was up to 9 pounds 6 ounces! He’s been eating great!

Birth Story

I typed up the Birth Story of Zander. You can read it HERE

Welcome to the world Zander!

I've been meaning to give an update here but ya know how it is when you have a new baby. Time just flies...

As you probably know, Zander arived Wednesday 9/15 (right on his due date!) at 1:18 pm. He weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces and was 21.5 inches long! There's a bunch of pictures on the website already, go check them out. We think he's pretty darn cute.

Zander is doing WONDERFUL. He's a beautiful, perfect, healthy little boy! We're enjoying every moment with him.

I've wrote up the birth story and I have a ton of pictures to post to the website. I'm working on getting the website reorganized so it will be easier to navigate. I'm also trying to organize all the pictures I've been taking.

So, hopefully more on the website soon!
~Michelle, Doug, and Zander

Still hangin in there! But I think we might be getting close...

Here is a picture Doug took of me Friday night:

39 weeks & 2 days pregnant!

Almost there!

Wow, just 5 days until my due date, I can't believe it! I thought maybe baby boy would arrive a little early but I guess not. Doug says he likes where he's at, who can blame him?

I'm doing pretty good - just feeling uncomfortable and huge. And I've developed a lovely little rash on my tummy that is supposed to go away after having the baby. I'm still working, but just half days since my feet swell up pretty nicely if I sit in my chair at work too long.

Doug did a great job painting the baby's room and getting everything ready. There's pictures of the room on the baby website: Click here to see. When we get the bedding and the rest of the things in the room we'll update the photos.

So I just wanted to update this journal since it's been about a month since the last update. Hopefully my next update will be all about baby boy's arrival! I can't wait to meet him! :-)

Lot's of Baby Happenings!

The Baby Shower was last Saturday at my friend Becky's house. It was really great, my mom cooked awesome food. Becky got a yummy cake, too.

It was so nice to see everyone that came. We recieved some really wonderful gifts that will help when the baby comes. Thanks so much to everyone that came!

Also last weekend we got the baby's room set up! Doug painted the room blue. We picked up the crib that Doug's parents bought us on Friday. Doug picked up the dresser they bought us on Saturday. Doug & his dad put the crib and dresser together on Saturday. It was so sweet, I came home Saturday after the shower and everything was set up!

My sister Melissa came over and painted a mural from the book Go, Dog. Go! on the wall over the baby's crib. It looks amazing! She's a great artist.

We worked really hard last week so we'd have some things ready before the baby shower. This week we've been taking it easy but I'm sure my nesting bug will kick back in. I want to get everything ready for our baby boy's arival!

33 Week Ultrasound

We had another ultrasound at the perinatalogists office, just to check baby's sizing. He looks healthy & beautiful, just a little big. ;-)

We got some pics. We got a profile, which is cool. The face one isn't as clear as last week though.

It's interesting how baby's situate themselves. He's still head down, so that's good. He's got one foot up high by my right rib and one down low in front of his head. Then he's got one arm right by his face, he likes to cover up with it during the ultrasounds. The other arm is down(or up) by his bottom. We got confirmation that he is a boy!

We got to videotape again, so this is the 3rd ultrasound we've videotaped. It's really cute to see his little face and little feet.

Doug started painting the baby's room last night! I'm so excited!

A pregnant me picture!

33weeks. Barefoot & pregnant. I feel huge.

32 Week Ultrasound

It was hard to get a good view of him cause he's down low, but Doug says he has my nose, lol.

31 weeks & counting

Doug went to San Deigo over the weekend and he bought this for the baby:

I love it. It's the first thing he's bought for the baby. :-)


 
 
I'm missing some things, let me know if you find them. I can't seem to find my hip bones, or feel my ribs, and just today I lost my ankles.  Oh what fun!  haha

30 weeks today!

10 (or so) more weeks left! I can't believe it. Time is flying by. Baby Boy has been very active.

Busy Baby

Baby boy has been really active today! All day at work he was kicking and moving. I spent the majority of my night at home feeling him kick, watching my belly 'jump' and feeling him move across my tummy. It's amazing.

OH BOY!!

We had an ultrasound today and found out that baby is a BOY! Boy were we surprised!

This ultrasound was amazing! We got to video tape it and we got lots of pictures! The best part was seeing baby open his mouth and yawn four times. He's got chubby cheeks and hair on his little head already. Everything looked good and baby's pretty big for his gestational age already.

Here's some pictures:

We saw the midwife today and all is well. When we were getting ready to leave she said "See you in two weeks" and I was like "Omigosh! Already?" I can't believe how quick it's going by.

Doug and I will register soon and we have to start work on the baby's room.

Baby Website & More!

I made a baby website tonight:

www.stem31.com/baby

I also set up a fun pregnancy pool where people can guess all sorts of stuff, so go play!

Click the link and enter Baby_Morrison in the game name field.
Baby_Morrison
(that's the word Baby then the underscore button(shift & the -key)then the word Morrison)
I couldn't have made it any more confusing, lol.

Doug got to feel the baby kick for the first time!

I should mention I've been feeling the baby move ALOT now. Sometimes baby kicks my bladder which is not so fun, hehe. I do love to feel the baby move!

So I'm sitting here at the computer now and the baby always kicks while I'm sitting. So I ran into the bedroom cause Doug's watching a movie in there. I layed flat on the bed and pushed my hand down on the belly, I felt the baby kick from the outside for the first time. So I put Doug's hand there and the baby kicked! Doug freaked out!!! It was the funniest thing.

Hypnobirthing classes completed!

We have completed our five weeks of Hypnobirthing classes to prepare us for childbirth! The classes were so informative and inspiring. Going into the classes I really didn't know much about childbirth and now I've learned so much. I'm know Doug has too. To be organized and ready to go I put all of our important handouts in a binder so Doug has everything he needs to read and remember right at hand! :-)

My mom attended all of the classes so she and Doug can be my labor companions. I've learned good forms of breathing, not that wierd panting breathing you see people on TV & movies do. We've learned what relaxes me which is nice.

I've been using a cd we got with the class called "Rainbow Relaxation" I love that thing! It really does the trick! There's also a track on the cd called "Birthing Affirmations" which is nice. Now I have about 16 or so weeks to practice.

We were sad last night when we left the class, me & my mom will miss seing Debbie (our Hypnobirthing educator). It was extra nice because we were the only people in the class so we really got one on one attention. I'll also miss seeing my mom every week for dinner & class.

Thanks so much to my mom for helping us with these classes, we really appreciate it!

Well, It's a BABY!!

We don't know 100% what the sex of the baby is.

The tech did all the measurements first: the baby has an estimated weight of 1 pound already! Baby's measuring a little bit a head of schedule by about a week and half.

So the tech was doing a scan from the top of the head and we all three thought we saw something between the legs. So the tech said "Well, it may be a boy." Then he did more measurements and tried to get a good view of the crotch. When he changed and had a view from the bottom, we could see the buttcheeks & the legs sticking out there was nothing there. He said what we saw earlier was probably the cord - since it comes from the middle also. He said he's 75-80% positive it's a girl. His reasons being, and I could see this well, in between the legs it was dark. When it's dark on a ultrasound that means theres fluid. When it's light on an ultrasound that means it's tissue or bone. In between the legs I could see what looked like a triangle with rounded corners that was dark in color. So it looked like it could be a girl. But he couldnt get the baby to switch positions for a better view. I moved on each side even.

Baby was active, I could see her/him sitting with legs crossed from the side, too cute! Doug said it looked like frog legs. And from the top I could see the little arms moving all over, I swear the kid was throwing punches! The tech was like "Quit moving kid!" I did have a Jamba Juice before I went so I think that had something to do with the baby's activity. He asked if I could feel the baby but I really can't feel it when I'm laying down, especially flat. I really feel the baby best when I'm sitting after I've ate. Just like now, I can totally feel it.

So here's a picture of our 311 alien head baby (the head reminds me of the alien heads on the Blue album). This is the only pic we got, so that kinda sucks. I would have liked a profile or a pic of arms or legs.

Other than not being able to get a good view of the privates everything else looked good: saw 4 limbs, brain, heart, spine, neck, stomach, etc. While we would have liked to know in advance what we're having we're now prepared to be surprised. We will be happy with whatever the lil'bean is! We can't wait to meet her or him.

Doug's mom did take us to put a crib on lay-away. We love the crib! It's a beautiful pine color. It converts to toddler bed and then headboard and footboard on a full bed.

Then we went to Baby Depot and put the dresser we wanted on lay-away, the pine one. I love it. We're very happy with the furniture. THANK YOU DAN & PAM!!

Last week....

Monday 4/5 was our 7 year anniversary! To celebrate Doug and I went to Tucson to see a band I love, Thrice. So baby got to attend another concert in utero. This one was louder than the last one and since the baby is a few weeks farther along I'm sure he or she was rocking out. So if the baby comes out liking punk & metal we'll know why :-)

While in Tucson we were shopping and I finally got to pick up a book I've been wanting to get! It's called "Oh Baby, The Places You'll Go!" It's an adaptation of Dr. Suess's "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" and it's meant to be read to your unborn child. I've started reading it at night to my belly.

Speaking of my belly I'm feeling movement a little more, but it's still sporadic. It's such a wonderful feeling!

On Tuesday my mom and I attended a Hypnobirthing seminar and we will be using Hypnobirthing as our childbirth preparation class. It's basically a self-hypnosis and relaxation technique to deal with the pain. At least, that's what I've gotten so far from what I've learned. Doug and I will start classes next week! My mom will also be learning so she can be a back-up coach for Doug.

My mom can't walk into Baby's R Us (which was where the hypnobirthing seminar was) without buying presents. She bought the baby 2 sets of cds which include nursery rhymes, lullabies and classical music. She also bought baby the Goodnight, Moon book that comes with a night light that matches the book. Goodnight, Moon was one of my nephew Mickenzie's favorite books when he was little. And I've been playing the classical music cd for my belly to counteract the punk rock! There is no doubt our child will love all sorts of music since Doug & I love it so much.

Speaking of nightlights, you can't have too many and baby already has two! My friend/co-worker Anita bought me the cutest nightlight! It's got The Pokey Little Puppy on it! The Pokey Little Puppy was my favorite children's book. It's so cute, I just love it.

On Friday we had a 17-week check up at Dr. Brekke's. Doug went along this time, I really wanted him to hear the heartbeat. Baby was squirming a little bit at first but Dr. Brekke found it and it was 140bpm.

We're changing our OB care to a midwife at Bethany Women's Center. I really want to use the new birth center that is scheduled to be open at Phoenix Baptist Hospital in the next few months (we hope it's open by September!). I asked for the midwife that Dani used with her pregnancy and delivery, I hope we get her. We have our first appointment there on May 3rd.

Oh, and most importantly: Our 20 week ultrasound is scheduled for Friday April 30th at 2:15 pm!! We can't wait to find out if our baby will be a girl or a boy! Stay tuned right here for an update...

The Baby @ 16 weeks

I get these emails that say "Your 16th week of Pregnancy" (or whatever week it is) and I love them. It's very interesting to know the baby's size and development that week.

Here's this weeks:
Your baby's about the size of an avocado now, but in the next three weeks he'll go through a tremendous growth spurt — doubling his weight and adding inches to his length. In the meantime, he'll be playing with his umbilical cord and practicing breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid through his lungs. You're going through a bit of a growth spurt yourself. Your uterus has expanded so much that the ligaments in your abdomen are stretching to make room for it. If you feel any twinges of pain now, that's why.

How your baby's growing: At 4 1/2 inches long (head to bottom) and 3 1/2 ounces of weight, your baby is about the size of a small fist this week. Some of her more advanced body systems are working now too, including the circulatory system and urinary tract. She's even begun inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid so her lungs will be strong enough at birth to breathe.

How your life is changing:You'll soon be in for one of the most exciting moments of pregnancy — feeling the baby move. Some women notice quickening, as it's called, between 16 and 20 weeks. (Although, if this is your first baby, you may not feel anything for another few weeks or so.) You may feel these first womb wiggles as a rumbling in your stomach. Once you realize it's really the baby doing backflips, note it and tell your healthcare provider at your next visit.

I'm starting to pop out a bit. I wore maternity clothes to the hospital (to see Dani) yesterday and today. They are just more comfy than all my normal clothes that are way too tight now!

I felt little twitches towards the end of my 14th week. I'm pretty sure that was baby twitches. I haven't felt much more since then, although every once in a while I think I feel something but it happens so fast I don't know what it is. Can't wait to start feeling more!

Baby's first music experience.....in utero!

Last night I attended a 311 concert @ Celebrity Theatre with my Dad, my brother Marty, his girlfriend Colby and his friend Merc. 311 is my favorite band!

I've read that baby's can hear around 14 weeks. Do you think the baby was rocking out in the womb??

Today I'm 14 weeks pregnant! Officially out of the 1st Trimester and into the 2nd! So happy! I'm definitely feeling less tired, and that is a wonderful thing! I'm enjoying this pregnancy and looking forward to the end of April when we'll find out the sex of the baby!

An awesome card!

My Aunt Janice in Seatle (my dad's sister) sent us the best Congratulations card! It made me cry.

click for bigger size

Thanks Janice!

Heard the Heartbeat....

Today I had a 12 week OB check up. The nurse found the heartbeat easily. She didn't count it but said it was in the "150's-160's".
Yay!

Wanna see our kid?

I had an ultrasound today! The last one at my RE's office and it was soooo great! My mom went with me this time, well, my mom & my dad. I wasn't planning on my dad going but they had to go to my brother's house in Tempe so he was there and he came back when they called my name and I'm like "uhhh, nooooo! sorry" I felt bad but having my dad in the room during an internal ultrasound would be embarrassing!

So the nurse got started and we could see the baby squirming all around! We could see arms and legs moving up and down and all over. It was so awesome! I never imagined we'd see it move this much this early. Baby measured good and heartbeat was 169bpm. I wish I knew what it was so I could call it "him" or "her" instead of "it". My mom's like "Can't we cover you up and bring dad in?" So I'm like "Fine" I had a sheet covering everything up and the lights were dim. My dad came in and saw his first ultrasound, they didn't have ultrasounds when my parents had me and my 3 sibs. The nurse thought my mom was my sister, lol.

I feel bad Doug missed this one, this was the best one so far. Since my RE's office is all the way in Chandler it would be time he'd have to take off of work. I called him right after though and told him "It was moving! You could see it's little arms & legs!"

You can make out the head, body, arms and legs. In the ultrasound we could see the eye sockets, freaky huh?

Upon seeing the picture Doug said the kid has a big head like me. :-)

Our families know now!

We told Doug's family on Sunday. We were having dinner for Doug's dad's Birthday and Doug's grandma's birthday. Everyone was very happy!

I told my sister Melissa and her son Mickey the other day, they were excited!

1st OB Appointment

We had our first OB appointment today. Everything is going good and we had quick ultrasound. When I say quick it was quick - she didn't measure anything or get the heartbeat. But we could see the heart beating, much more visable than last time. Last time it was a tiny little blink but this time it took up more of the baby.

I had my first "Morning Sickness" this morning, but I still haven't thrown up. Before heading out to the doctor I got a small glass of milk to take my prenatal and metformin real quick. I gagged right away and spent some time over the toilet. Morning sickness - yay!

Here's our babe:

the babe is the white bean shape in the black thing, which is the sac.

Telling People

Let's see who have I told........well, I told my Mom & Dad the Sunday I took the second pregnancy test. I told my coworker/friend/carpool buddy Mary the Monday after I tested. My Mom told Marty & Colby the Wednesday after I tested. I told Anita my coworker/friend the day after my first ultrasound.

The Friday after my ultrasound I went over to Becky & Josh's house to play Trivial Pursuit. Josh's sis-in-law Christy asked if we were still "trying" to which I replied "Actually, I am pregnant!" Becky & Josh were in the other room so I'm like "By the way I'm pregnant." hehe. So that was Becky & Josh and Josh's family.

Yesterday me & my brother Michael were driving in my car and we were talking about birth control and stuff. Michael asked if we were still trying and why wasn't it working? I couldn't stop laughing so finally I say "I wasn't going to tell you until later, but I'm pregnant!" he then preceded to hit me on the arm. No, he was very happy for us. He was asking why we are waiting to tell everyone, which I'm not sure why. It's soooo hard to keep a secret. It's especially hard when someone asks about you, like "How are you doing?" Or "Anything exciting going on?", which is what Doug's mom asked us the other night. At work I've actually had a few firefighters ask things like "No babies yet?" lol. Anyways, I wanted to do something special to tell everyone, something other than picking up the phone and calling them. But now most of my family knows. I may still do something special for them anyway, and there is still, of course, Doug's family!!

I still need to tell my sister Melissa and her son Mickey, and then we need to tell Doug's family. I think Doug feels a little bit wierd about telling everyone and I said to him "We've been married for almost 7 YEARS!" hehe. We were going to wait until we were 12 weeks along, but I don't know if I can keep this secret anymore! :-)

Oh, and Becky sent me the best email on Thursday! It said Happy 7 weeks and she said she'd like to throw a baby shower for me! Awwww, that made me feel so good! So Becky will throw the shower at her house and my mom will make her YUMMY food! It's still a few months away but let me tell you I'm looking foward to it!

Also, this week we've aquired some things: Anita said she'd give me her bassinet! Thank you Anita! And my mom told her hairdresser/friend Stacy that I was pregnant and Stacy gave my mom the crib she used for her kids! Yay, we need a crib for my house and my parents, so that was wonderful!

Our Baby's First Picture!

For those not ultrasound savvy I pointed out the baby :

The baby is the little white thing in the black thing. The black thing is the sac, soon to be placenta. The baby measure 4mm today, right on schedule for 6 weeks! There's a + on the top and the bottom to mark the top and bottom of the baby.

The blurry thing next to the image is the heartbeats! Right on target: 118 beats per minute! Go baby!

* * *
This is Doug's fortune he got last week when he went for Chinese food, the first one is the front and the second one is the back:

Our baby is due in SEPTEMBER. The day Doug
got this fortune he couldn't wait to show it to me.
* * *

I've been really emotional and worried since Friday.
I was worried about something going on with my body and was crying on and off for the past few days. I was so scared. I was still crying on the way to the doctor's office. So we got there and waited for a bit. This was Doug's first time ever going to the doctor with me. So the nurse called me back and asked me if I needed to pee, which I did, my second time since I got there.

The nurse came in that was doing the ultrasound and she was SOOOOO nice! She asked how far along I was, I said 6 weeks. She told me we may not be able to see a heartbeat this early, so don't be concerned. As soon as she started the ultrasound she said "There's your bladder, it's full!" lol. And then she's like"There's your baby!" Yay! I cannot tell you how relieved I was! I'm surprised I didn't cry since I was so emotional right before we got there. I was just scared and nervous, I was seriously shaking! She measured and everything was right on target for 6 weeks. She said "This blinking is your baby's heartbeat, Your baby's waving hi!" and she was looking at Doug. I couldn't take my eyes of the screen so I couldn't even look over at him to see what his reaction was. Then she measured the heartbeat: 118 beats per minute, right on target. It was just amazing. She checked around the baby and there was no blood, she checked my cervix and there was no blood so everything looks healthy.

The nurse said my insurance company approved one more ultrasound from them before I go to my OB and of course it's not necessary but I wasn't going to refuse, ultrasounds are good! I scheduled my next one at the RE's on 2/16. I have my first OB appointment on 2/5! I cannot explain how relieved and happy and excited I am right now! She also confirmed my due date was right: 9/15/04!

A recap of the last few days:

Sunday January 11th



I took another test and the line got darker!

I called my Mom and told her, she told my Dad. They were both thrilled! I'm so thankful to have such supportive parents!

Monday January 12th

I left messages at my Reproductive Endocrinologist's Office and my Gynecology/Obstetrics office. A nurse from my my RE's office called back and I heard "Congratulations" for the first time! She told me I could get a "Beta" blood test to check the HCG levels in my system, then on Wednesday I would get another to check the number again. The number should double every two days. So I went and got my blood drawn.

Tuesday January 13th

My RE's office called back with the results for my beta: 2216 @ 19DPO! I'm told that's a good number for 19DPO. My OB's office doesn't want to see me until I'm 8 weeks which is February 5th. I'm somewhat disappointed, I'm concerned because I have PCOS, which has a higher risk of miscarriage. I'm lucky I have been treated for it for the past 7 months with a medication called Metformin. Metformin actually decreases the chance of miscarriage in PCOS women, so that's a good thing!

Wednesday January 14th

I'm 5 weeks pregnant(LMP) and 3 weeks gestation today!

My Mom can't keep secrets and she told me she told my brother Marty and his girlfriend Colby, they were excited! I told her not to tell anyone else though. :-)

I went for another blood draw.
I bought myself a pregnancy book today, "What to Expect When Your Expecting".

Thursday January 15th (today)
I was nervously waiting for the results of my blood test. I got to go home early and was at home taking a nap when the nurse called. My beta was: 4928 @ 21DPO! So, it doubled! To my surprise, she also said they'd like to see me for an OB/Ultrasound when I'm 6 weeks along and asked what the date of my LMP was. I told her 12/10 and she said they'd like to see me on January 21st or 22nd. I took the 21st, which is next Wednesday, and I will be exactly 6 weeks! I know it will be too early to see anything, but I the ultrasound could let us know how things are going so far. My RE's office takes such good care of me! :-)

So far my only symptoms have been severe heartburn, I had to quit taking my heartburnmedication, and I'm going to the potty a lot. ;-) My sense of smell has been heightened and I don't like to eat all that much right now. I'm just waiting for the morning sickness to kick in.

THERE'S A LINE!

There's a line!
This morning I woke up and knew something was different, I felt pregnant. Actually, I really started feeling it strongly on Friday. I went to Target and bought a pregnancy test. It turned positive in about a minute. I went back a few minutes later and it had darkened up a little bit. I'm still in disbelief. I was worried about some of the things going on with my body: cramping and spotting. But then I read online that cramping and spotting is normal the first few weeks of pregnancy.

I met Doug for lunch today and was excited to tell him the news. Before he got out of the truck I told him to sit down because I had to tell him something. He said "What?" I leaned over and whispered "I'm pregnant!" He said "How do you know?" I told him I took a test today. I had complaining earlier in the week that my period was coming so he wasn't expecting this. So he said "Cool!" I told him if all goes well we'll be welcoming our baby in September!

I'm going to take another test in the morning -- just to be sure! And I'll be calling the doctor first thing Monday morning!

Other Symptoms
Some other symptoms that were telling me something was different were increased heartburn and tiredness. I've always had heartburn, but it just got worse this week. I've also been really tired. I was really cranky on Monday at work. I had to stay late because my carpool buddy (Mary) had to stay late. I got crabby because I just wanted to lay down. Also, on Tuesday I came home from work and Doug and I were watching TV, I fell asleep on the couch! I am the lightest sleeper and I can't sleep with the TV on or any noise. I fell asleep in the living room while watching the TV, I was snoring! That is totally odd for me. I did it tonight too! I was watching SNL and Doug left for band practice, I was cold so I cuddled up with a blanket on the couch. Next thing I know it was 45 minutes later.

I'm really emotional today too! I haven't cried yet, I keep getting close. It's like a choked up feeling, but I haven't cried. I almost did when I told Doug, I had tears in my eyes and was shaking with excitement and nerves!