New car needs baby seat

Went car shopping over the weekend and traded in our old car for a newer model.  It should be a great car for our growing family.

Now, all we'll need to officially make it a "family car" is a baby car seat.

Surprise! (and belly picture)

So, I was reading the message boards on the "What to Expect" website from others who are also due in May 2009. It seems that pregnant women get VERY FEISTY when it comes to ultrasounds. 

Despite our frustrations with our first ultrasound, the one with no paper in the printer and lack of a fetal heartbeat attempt, we remained polite. From the sounds of it, if you are pushy - you can almost assure that you will get what you want. (And if you show enough emotion, they will often offer to retry the ultrasound the following week.)

From my vantage point, I would prefer to be nice to those people because I am new to this whole pregnancy-thing and I think I would like to have them helping me to be as comfortable as possible, instead of seeking revenge on the hormonally-raged woman who turned into a P.I.T.A. (pain in the ____) at every appointment.

ANYWAYS... onto the ultrasound surprise idea that I thought was rather cute....

There was someone who said they were taking an envelope with them to their ultrasound so that the technician could write the sex of the baby down and place it into the sealed envelope. They plan to open the envelope in front of their family at Christmas so that they can all learn the sex together. (Of course, the baby has to cooperate for this idea to work.)

From the sounds of it - if you eat a huge piece of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (or drink a large Coke) one hour before the appointment, the baby will be QUITE active and more likely to cooperate and less likely to be curled up sleeping. Although, it can be frustrating for the poor ultrasound technician to get appropriate measurements if the baby is too active. 

We'll see if the baby will cooperate at our appointment on December 11th.  At that time, we will be 15w/6d, which MAY still be too soon to tell.

Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens....

Today, baby is 13w/5d and THIS is what belly (and baby inside) looks like.

NOTE: This is NOT our actual baby... it is a photograph of what one would look like at 14 weeks.

When asked earlier this week if I had started to show yet, Mike replied "Well, it is hard to tell. It kind of looks like she eats too many cookies." In my defense, I almost NEVER eat cookies so, I'm afraid that THIS is what my baby belly looks like!

Baby ticker removed.... crazy, I tell you!

The baby ticker from the What to Expect website has been removed so, the blog no longer announces that we are 13 w/4 d pregnant. 

It seems that specific ticker has been doing some CRAZY things.... it kept gaining days. It had us almost to the end of the 13th week and today is only Tuesday. We wont be at 14 weeks until Friday!

So, I made an executive decision to get rid of the wacky widget. Now, you just see the Guard baby floating around. I will try to do a better job when I post on the blog to indicate where we are on the timeline since the visual part has been removed.

As far as the books go, I am not yet supposed to feel the baby yet. However, there have been a few times where I thought I felt a little something different, which I would honestly say did NOT feel like gas. Last night, for example, right after I had gone to bed, I had been laying in a position that was half side/half stomach and thought I felt a little something flutter.

Maybe....

I can't wait until it is strong enough for Mike to feel it when he puts his hands on my belly. That will be so cool for both of us to enjoy together.

According to the baby book, within the next few weeks, the baby can hear the sound of my voice. So, I am thinking that this will be one smart baby... it will know how to count to 30 and backwards since I feel like I am doing that more and more at school these days.

No school for the rest of the week. So, TODAY was Friday for me. We have off until Tuesday so, that is 6 full days to enjoy! Thankfully, of those 6 days, Mike will be with me for Thursday, Saturday and Monday [EDIT: Sunday off, not Monday] so THAT will be nice to spend some relaxing time off together.

Have to go tend to some naughty kitties right now... some people's kids, right?

EDITED: Found a new ticker gadget to track the progress of the pregnancy so, we'll try this new one for a while and hope that this one keeps better time.

Baby Name Game (Daddy vs. Grandpa)

Grandpa Lowell and Daddy Mike are having a great time emailing each other regarding the BABY NAME game. It seems that they are FULL of suggestions.

BACKLASH GUARD would have something to do with a fisherman's move if pro-fishing is in the baby's future.

POINT GUARD would be a good choice if we think the baby would grow up to like basketball. 

RIGHT GUARD had been suggested, but is owned by a deodorant/soap company.

LEFT GUARD had a nice ring to it, if the baby would like football.

COAST GUARD was one that would be memorable and has potential to make you especially proud (and probably somewhat nervous) as a parent. (From the sounds of it, this baby is getting pretty good at swimming.)

We are pretty darned sure that COLOR GUARD won't be applicable in the name pool; although, I suppose that if the baby was a fan of the band, but not good enough to be a cheerleader - it may still work.

The GUARD DOG (Bishop) is ironically pretty friendly so, perhaps names like these just don't work out as they are intended. So, maybe we're best to stick to the A-B-C list of baby names instead.

Getting closer to a baby name...

For the record, we are getting closer to picking out a baby name.

I made a list of names I like. (Mike has added a few.) Then, we went through the entire list and rated them by A, B and C for both boys and girls. 

For some reason, it seems that we have WAY MORE boys names picked out.

After we narrowed down the list to just A's and B's, I mentioned that we will need a middle name as well. (Mike was thinking we only had to agree on a first name so, he was trying to convince me that our baby does not NEED a middle name, but I really think it does.)

The A-list for boys has been narrowed down to 10 and B's are narrowed down to 13. (Truth be told, he still likes the name LINCOLN, but I keep reminding him that we can't steal that name from our expecting friend since that's what they plan to name their baby boy around Christmas.)

The A-list for girls has been narrowed down to 5 and the B-list to 4.

We have 3 uni-sex names that are on both lists.

As for that list.... sorry, think you'll have to wait a while. 

(Afterall, you know how Mike is with those "secret projects"....)

Want to know the names that did not make the grade?

Maxwell, Zachary, Jordan, Joshua, Joseph, Abraham, Adrian, Presley, Weston, Vincent, Emma, Abigail, Chloe, Zoe, Charlotte, Sierra, Hannah, Willow, Felicia and Emily

Executive decision: new doctor/appt scheduled

Upon further review, we have decided that we would like to look for a new doctor. 

It seems that everyone has an opinion on the medical profession and I had been hearing more and more that there are better doctors outside of this city. Yesterday, I had heard some things about my current doctor from the school nurse, who used to work at the clinic and witnessed first-hand the care in this town.

The school nurse, who recently had her third child, HIGHLY recommends using a midwife. She provided me with a list of midwives, doctors and a reputable OB/GYN in this town. She informed me that my current doctor is NOT qualified to call herself an OB/GYN, but strictly is family practice. (When we looked online on the Aetna insurance website, it confirmed that she truly is classified as Family Practice, despite the false advertising that we had received.)

The school guidance counselor, who is pregnant right now, HIGHLY recommends her OB/GYN in the next town over - about 14 miles away. She said that she had hopes of using a midwife for her first pregnancy, but ended up upgrading to a doctor and then again, to the OB/GYN. She wishes that she would have gone straight to the OB/GYN and asks herself "what was I thinking?".

So, one thing that we CAN agree upon is the fact that our doctor (while she seems to be a very nice person) does not feel like a "good fit" for us. When we see her, we feel as if we are there so that she can practice medicine and we did not get the feeling that she was at all there to see us. 

Having read a good portion of the "What to Expect when Expecting" book, I was confused how people can switch around to find just the right doctor. I feel a little bad running out on her, but in the same respect, this is our first child and however routine it may be for her, we want this to feel special for us. 

I did not want to be a pain-in-the-butt who jumps from doctor-to-doctor. I explained to Mike that if I go to the Mexican restaurant and order "the combination platter", I don't want to be the pain-in-the-butt who tries to substitute everything in that combination platter to make my own combination; I like to be the non-picky person who can order off the menu as-is. He corrected me by saying "Yes, but if the food is not good at that Mexican restaurant, you don't have to go back there to eat."  (Like my indecision when picking off the menu in a restaurant, I still remain rather indecisive in this matter. Let it be known that I had a difficult time deciding between a midwife and an OB/GYN.... but Mike reminds me that "at least you easily decided that we should find a new doctor".) I guess I should be proud of those "baby steps".

When I called this afternoon to see if the nearby OB/GYN is taking new patients, the nurse was SO NICE! I explained that we had an initial confirmed pregnancy at 4wk/4d and that we had our first appointment, after waiting the suggested 5 weeks (9wk/5d) in order to hear the heartbeat and then we were not given that opportunity at all.

She asked "So you have not yet heard your baby's heartbeat?"

"Nope. Just an ultrasound with a machine that was reportedly out of paper and not refillable."

"Well, that just isn't right. You need to hear the heartbeat of your baby!" she said.

She suggested that in the coming weeks, we gather medical records and lab results. The new doctor's office was going to send out a new patient info packet. Then, she suggested that if possible, we should try to come in ASAP during the 15-18 week window because that is when the 'quad screen' is completed. 

For an initial appointment, there are specific slots allotted; however, none of these worked with both of our work schedules and Mike wants to attend the appointments very much as well. They were SO accommodating to sneak us in on a day/time when they don't normally do it, but told us that they would work around it to make it work for us. (We might have been able to pull a string to get in on the morning of Monday, December 1st because there is no school that day, but Mike can't be late for the weekly Monday meeting so, we played it safe and went for a later date.)

After talking with them on the telephone, I felt a sense of relief and am looking forward to our first appointment with our new OB/GYN on Thursday, December 11 - which will be here before we know it! (Guess the baby news will be a slightly late birthday present for Grandpa Guard 12/9 and Grandma Olson 12/10!) We're hoping to record the heartbeat, at least, so we have something EXCITING to post on our BabyBlog.

13 weeks felt pretty good. Hard to imagine that we are 1/3 of the way done already.

Time sure flies when you're having fun.... check back on the "fun factor" in the 8th month, right?

Baby needs a bedtime snack and some sleep. (Sore back, for some reason, caused a rather restless night for me last night so, I am looking forward to a good night of sleep tonight.)

Time to go count some sheep...   Zzzzz  Zzzzzz Zzzzzzz!

...that's when Daddy says "Oh no!"

Last night Mike was doing a little pregnancy homework online. I think he was having a good time. That is, until he read the words "entering into the second trimester, expect an increase in energy and libido" – to which he replied "Oh no!"

Poor guy... you feel really, REALLY sorry for him, don't you?

He happened to find a website that had 3D models of what your baby looks like each step of the way. When he found that 3D one, he was really wishing he had the special 3D glasses to get the full effect.

We also looked at baby names online last night. We were looking into our family trees to see if there is something that sticks out for us. So far, we managed to cross a few names off of the potential list and added a few more on. 

Tomorrow is 13 full weeks! Thankfully, we've gots of time to figure it all out yet...

Counting down the last of the first trimester

We are now counting down the last few days of the first trimester. Amazing how quickly it went by. On Friday 11/21, we will officially be 13 full weeks - with Saturday 11/22 entering into the second trimester.

Pregnancy-wise, I have been feeling pretty darned good for the past two weeks. Then, on this past Thursday, I had to break out the snacks in the afternoon because I was getting sick to my stomach. (Thought I had already declared myself done with morning sickness a few weeks prior.) Turned out, I had to snack quite frequently over the weekend.

Friday morning, I woke early because I was STARVING! Got up to eat the rest of my leftover veggie calzone and take my vitamin. However, a short while later, I was feeling rather sick to my stomach and was not finding "just the right quick snack". Ended up having to run to the bathroom to hurl... MULTIPLE TIMES 'til the old tank was empty again.

So, that plan to take my vitamin early in the day and cure my hunger kind of back-fired on me... afterwards, I was left hungry once again and had to re-take my vitamin. (By then, mom was awake and she made me something to eat. I have SUCH a great mom!)

While visiting my hometown, went shopping at Kohl's and took advantage of a great 50% off sale on bras. Needed to upgrade my size quite badly for quite a while now. (I'd like to report that my new bra is SO COMFORTABLE and Mike really likes how large they are growing.)

It has been a long day of traveling so I prefer not to sit any longer. Instead, I think it is time for bed. May as well get off of my back side and enjoy sleeping on my stomach. Afterall, time is running out...

Almost 12 weeks

Just wanted to report that we are just a few short days away from reaching 12 full weeks.

At 12 weeks, baby will be about 2.5" long and the size of a large plum.

GET THIS.... within the past 3 weeks, baby has more than doubled in size!

Poor baby must be moving and shaking with all of my excess coughing these past few days. (My friend who is a physician's assistant has scolded me for not calling the doctor yet for my cold, but I figure that colds last a week. Perhaps, I will think about calling within the next day or two if I am not feeling better.) Daddy reports that the bed is "lonely" with me sleeping on the couch or in the recliner (for relief).

Truth be told, I miss him, too!

• • • • • 

Looking forward to celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday and being with family and friends. (Hope my cough wont keep everyone in the house awake.)

So much for getting weekend work done

So much for getting weekend work done. 

Those cold symptoms got the best of me over the weekend. What started out as sneezing on Friday turned to feeling rather crappy on Saturday. In fact, I never made it out of the house on Saturday. Who knew that on Sunday, I would feel SO MUCH WORSE!

Sunday morning consisted of a morning cat-nap for about 30 minutes. Then, around the lunch hour, I took hubby lunch and ventured to the grocery store. After putting the groceries away, I was wiped out so, I curled up with my red, Polartec blanket in the recliner and woke up 2.5 hours later with not one, but TWO cats in my lap. (We were SO WARM and SNUGGLY!)

Broke down Friday night and used my inhaler for the first time. Being pregnant and all, I didn't want to use it unless I had to, but my old hometown pharmacist told me that it is fine, especially if I use it sparingly. So, I broke down and used that on Friday night... HOLY COW, I felt like a million bucks after that! My pesky cough was gone for QUITE a while after that. It was nice.

Today, I went to work. I had planned to give these germs back to the kids with hopes that they will keep them to themselves for the rest of the season. (I had hoped to be healthy enough for a flu shot within the next week or two.)

I guess that I am fortunate to spend 2.25 hour each day on the playground. That gives me that much more exposure to clean, fresh air. (If only the cold air didn't make me cough so much!)

Forgot my inhaler at school tonight so I ran back to get it just before they locked up for the night. Quick thinking on my part! Think I will go have some orange juice now.... and LOTS more fluids.

As far as my laundry pile and dish duties, it is a good thing I have such a wonderfully understanding husband throughout this week's sickness vs pregnancy melt-down.

Now, about that orange juice...

Wacky widget while waiting for movement

For the last few days, I have noticed that I have a wacky widget on my blog. 

It appears that the countdown widget from the "What to Expect" website has a mathematical flaw in it all of a sudden. I even went back and entered our due date (May 29, 2009) and tried to get a new one, but for some reason, the clock is rushing.... that particular widget has changed by a day. So, the black widget with the baby floating around IS the correct one. (I might just remove that wacky widget if it does not correct itself over time.)

Today, we are 11 weeks and 1 day pregnant. We forgot to pose for our belly shot this morning before Mike went to work. (Guess we'll have to do that one tomorrow morning before he leaves for work.)

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving weekend, we'll be in the 2nd trimester already. (We've got so much to be thankful for... mostly for having each other.) By the end of November, the baby will be able to clench its fist, wiggle its fingers and toes, as well as suck its thumb. It will be moving almost constantly (according to my book), which is sad that I still will not feel any of that for nearly another month. Between Christmas and New Year's, I should be feeling movement, which should be very, VERY cool. 

Today's agenda includes: getting rid of my headache and sinus pressure, putting away yesterday's clean laundry, as well as a trip to the grocery store and a special dinner delivery to Mike later this afternoon. I also think that it 'tis the season to dig out my space heater from the garage so that it is toasty in my office so I can work on my online scrapbooking class homework and maybe making some cards.

Week 11: Thumb's Up – Size Matters

Wondering how BIG the little "sweet pea" is getting this week? Inquiring what's going on inside this "belly'O mine"?

By Friday, when we officially hit 11 weeks, the baby will be about 2" long - roughly the size of a thumb - and will weigh 1/3 oz.

In recent weeks, the baby's hands have transformed from little webbed paddles to hands and feet with individual fingers and toes. On those individual little fingers and toes, nailbeds form this week and by the end of next week, nails will start to grow!

As the baby's diaphragm is forming, hiccups will become more and more common inside the womb. With so much growth and development, baby should be quite active - participating in stretches, somersaults and forward rolls. Other activities include swallowing and kicking. Sadly, BabyMama shouldn't be able to feel ANY of that yet.... not for at least 5 more weeks when baby will be considerably bigger.

Utterly fascinating, this truly is a MIRACLE OF LIFE.

ADVICE - in a pocket for a lifetime

Happened upon a "Blog of Note" that encourages you to WRITE FOR ONE MINUTE of each day. They provide a topic to provoke thought. Today's topic had to do with the election, but I am SO SICK of hearing all of that political jargon that I decided to read some of the past topics instead.

Here's one that I really liked (and will have a purpose to really do.... at the end of May 2009, that is.)

ADVICE: You have a child and are writing down one piece of advice that will be in his/her pocket for a lifetime. What does it say?

Hmmmm........

(MS) Keeping an eye on it

During the night on Saturday-into-Sunday, I woke up rather alarmed because I had lost sensation in my left leg. I had noticed it once or twice before (within the past week or so), but blew it off - thinking that I must have just been laying on it funny. However, this time, I was pretty darned sure that I had not been laying on it. Granted, my MS has been going so well that I had started to take for granted how lucky I was so, this was a great surprise and somewhat of a disappointment for me.

At this point, I notice it only when I am sleeping (or should I specify - laying down) so, I am not sure if it is the MS acting up - or if I somewhere have a pinched nerve that affects sensation only in my left thigh. (If I had to guess, I would venture that it IS related to the MS though.)

I can feel pressure of touch, but not sensation. Then, during the day, once I am up and moving again, it seems to go away for the most part. My strength and coordination remain good so, that is optimistic.

I have tried calling UW-Madison twice to talk to my neurology nurse, but have now been told that she is out on vacation this week. (Perhaps it would have been nice to tell me that the first time I called.) So, since it is not debilitating (just slightly scary that it has resurfaced in my life) I will try not worry too much. Perhaps, just the stress of pregnancy and my battle with another  cold sore was just enough blast to the immune system to freak things out for a little while.

So, now - we will just keep an eye on it and I'll try to continue to be a great home for this baby.

Swimming is over

I had joined an early morning water aerobics class in September and really enjoyed it. So, in October, I paid for another month. 

It is November now so, lessons are over.

Last night, Mike asked if I was going swimming anymore. I told him that I am done now because we are trying to save on excess spending.

He told me that it is good exercise for me and that they are running a great deal for me:

Buy One (BabyMama) get one FREE (fetus)

Gotta love him....

I'm thinking I will go back to my pilates DVD's instead. That is, if I can keep the cats out of the way long enough.

[Edited: After another disappointing weekend "belly-shot", the pilates would be good. It seems that we are still trying to perfect the "belly-shot" photos to show growth. However, I'm thinking that it is just making me look overly fat right now. We checked out some that were posted on the internet documenting growth and it appears that everyone really POPS out big at 18 weeks. Think we need a new system. One that we had observed had the BabyMama standing against a wall so you could really see the growth rate. Still working on it....]

Growing at leaps and bounds

Here's what www.Parenting.com shows the "baby" to look like at 10 weeks. (Starting to get pretty cute, isn't it?)

[EDITED: Mike read the Baby Blog and said "I don't know that I would call THAT cute yet...." so, in an attempt to clarify, we'll say that it is getting cute-ER. Hey, I think it is cute because at least it no longer looks like a seahorse!]

It is hard to believe that "baby" is now the size and shape of a cocktail shrimp when just a month ago, it was about the size of a sweat pea. THAT, in and of itself, is INCREDIBLE!

I was just reading that within the next week or two, "baby" will DOUBLE in size.

This truly is a MIRACLE of life.

Also, growing at leaps and bounds.... "the girls". 

Mike and I have already discussed that bra shopping is on the agenda for the weekend as "the girls" are testing the theory of "cups over-floweth" to the extreme these days. (He's liking that feature a lot.... afterall, boys will be boys!)

Now that we are 10 full weeks, we are also due to take another belly shot to monitor progress. Thankfully, the wide angle lens will not be needed for this shot....