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!