IT'S A...........................BABY!!

We stayed strong today and although we could have had the big reveal, we did not find out the sex of the baby. We are looking forward to being just as surprised as everyone else. We did however, get an up close look at all the baby's organs - lungs, heart, kidneys, bladder, brain, arms and legs - and everything looks great. The baby is developing according to schedule and we are both doing well. It is always incredibly exciting (and a relief) to see that heart beating. It's a constant reminder of how lucky we are. I cannot wait to meet this little baby!!

18 weeks...(a look from the inside)












18 weeks (the view from the outside)

Orville Redenbacher is that you???

I just felt the baby move for the first time!! I was so excited and confused that I almost missed it. My doctor had asked me at my last appointment if I felt any movement yet, but I hadn't. He told me that it happens for most between 16-20 weeks and that many women describe it as feeling like there are butterflies in their stomach or like popcorn popping. Well, this definitely felt like popcorn popping to me. At first, I thought I had sat on my cell phone and it was vibrating. Then after I grabbed my phone from under my leg, I realized that wasn't it at all and then I remembered - POPCORN! I put my hand on my stomach, but it's just not something that you can feel from the outside just yet. Either way I was very excited for this new milestone and now I am just sitting here waiting and hoping that it happens again soon!!

Slow and steady

Pictures from today at 15 weeks and 5 days

Morning Glory

This morning I had another doctor's appointment and I don't know about you, but it seems like FOREVER since my last one. I get very excited/nervous in between appointments and once I go I am on cloud 9!! Today, we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time, which was one of the coolest things I have ever heard. For those of you that don't know, it's like a whooshing (if that is a word) thumping and it goes much faster than I ever would have expected. Unfortunately, this time I don't have any pictures to post of the baby, but I can promise from the story below, that this is definitely our child.

For those of you that don't know, my immediate family lovingly (a.k.a. sarcastically) refers to me as "morning glory" due to my ability to be a complete grouch when I wake up. Well, for all the years I yelled at my mother when she tried to wake me up for school (and the one time I "supposedly" made a gesture at her, as if I was going to choke her, if she didn't get away from me when she was trying to wake me up from the couch one night), I may get my payback in the years to come...
So the doctor asked if we wanted to take a quick look at the baby, so out came that freezing cold gel and across my belly it went. This time the baby was laying on it's side with it's back facing us. It was actually cool to see the baby's spine and rib cage - who knew you could see the skeleton! Anyway, the doctor tried to poke and prod the baby to flip around so we could see his/her face, but all my child did was back kick it's little leg at the doctor as if to say "hey, I don't know what you are all up to out there, but I am trying to sleep here! Leave me alone!" Maybe it was too early or maybe (and more likely) I have a little me on my hands, but either way I couldn't stop smiling and I am soooooo excited to meet him/her!!

I promise I will post a new "belly" picture this weekend, as I am being harassed by everyone.

**Quick edit to the above story. I just got home from work and as Mark and I were talking about the events of the morning, apparently I missed a key baby snub this morning. Mark said that as the doctor started to get the picture to come up the baby was actually facing us and he saw the baby's face (I missed this part because I was lying flat and there was a glare on the screen till the doc tilted it for me). Well, Mark said the baby did a quick turn around the second we started poking around and gave us his/her ass to look at instead. Now, I am CONVINCED that the baby is Mark's (not that there was ever any doubt)!

Belly pics

Well, after much nagging from my family (a.k.a. Mom) - here are the latest pictures of my belly and it's new development. Since I have officially "popped", I thought I would share. Of course by doing this I will forever have a dreaded paper trail of what my belly used to look like. Now my poor child can be tortured with "before mommy had you, this is what I used to look like" stories. Not to mention, the intention was to share how my belly was growing, but now that I sit and look closely at these pictures I realize that my ass has grown as well (Oh YEAH! Just what I always wanted- bigger hips and ass than I had before). I will continue to keep you updated on our progress, although I may look for more flattering pants to take pictures in (and no more zooming in).

The first picture was taken on January 8, 2009 - the week of my last doctor's appointment. The second picture I took this morning, so all of this happened in just 11 days!

First outfit

Over the holidays, I finally broke down and bought the baby his/her first outfit. We have a "tradition" at our house (well, it's really more like a superstition) - Mark and I wear the same outfit every week when we watch the Patriots games. Upholding this tradition, I thought it only appropriate that our child have their own outfit too. IT IS SOOOO ADORABLE!!!

Not a grain of rice anymore...

On Tuesday I went for my 2nd doctor's appointment and all went well. The doctor says everything is going great and all my blood test came back perfect. We got our second ultrasound picture and I was absolutely amazed at the difference between the first and the second! I just kept saying "Holy Cow!" over and over when I saw it (I am trying my hardest to cut back on the cursing - which is extremely hard for me to do, for those who know me well). Dr. Newman finally told me he needed me to stop bouncing up and down so much so he could get a good picture (and boy did he ever). I now see why I have been sooooo tired! That baby grew A LOT in just 4 weeks!

Ultasound at 6 weeks and 4 days (December 8, 2008):

(that tiny little thing at the top of the "black hole" is our little peanut!)

Ultrasound at 11 weeks (January 6, 2009):

(It's starting to look like a REAL BABY NOW!!!)