Halfway There!

We are so excited about today. Today, we are 140 days along with 140 days to go! We would write more, but our A/C is broken and we're still in the 90s. We're going to see what we can do to get it fixed soon. I hope tonight so that we can sleep.

Chocolate Belly

Last night, I got a giant-sized drumstick ice cream. It was melting faster than I could eat it. I decided to eat it over the sink so that I wouldn't spill any on my shirt. Yummy ice cream. My hands got pretty messy so I went to the bathroom to wash them. What did I see on my shirt? A gargantuan lump and smear of dark chocolate where my pregnant belly protrudes the most. Oh, welcome to pregnancy. =)

September 14 (part 2)

Matt and I went directly to work after our ultrasound, so we couldn't scan and post the images until we got home. He's making dinner right now so that I can post to the blog.

We wanted to wait to announce the gender until we called our parents. My mom's birthday is today, so she was the first we told.

Here is Daddy, so happy that we have a healthy baby!

And Mommy, pleased that her baby is growing!

Our baby at 19 weeks, facing upward.

It was difficult for the technician to get a clear picture of our baby's face, because of all the wiggling. Once our baby got moving, there was no staying still. =)

We are so happy to announce that we have a baby son on the way!

September 14

Today's ultrasound went very well. Our baby is healthy and beautiful. The technician was able to confirm that the spine, both lungs, bladder, head, mouth, nose, kidneys and limbs are all healthy. The amazing, amazing thing that she could verify was that the blood flow through the umbilical cord and from the placenta is good.

The heart looked great and they were able to see each chamber, but we will have to go back in 9 weeks to verify that the blood flow through the heart is indeed fine. Everything looks healthy, but since they couldn't get a definite picture of the flow, we'll be going back. Don't worry. The only reason they couldn't get a good image was because our little one had her/his spine facing the ultrasound.

Daddy and Mommy were super amazed and proud that our baby is measuring at 11oz. Almost a pound! Wowie!

I'll be posting the ultrasound images this evening, along with the gender verdict. We are just thrilled that our baby is healthy and active.

Nearing the Halfway Point

150 days to go! What have Daddy and Mommy done to get ready? Not a whole lot, but the nursery was painted weeks ago and it is ready for baby furniture. I'm not sure where to start with the shopping. We do have coupons for diapers and since we just read that we will need ~600 diapers for the first 6 weeks, that is probably a good place to start.

Heartburn: How Could I Forget?

Today, it's extra bad. I didn't even finish my sandwich at lunch. Who am I kidding? It all started when I drank cranberry juice this morning. I've been drinking cranberry juice or some combination 5 days a week to keep my kidneys and urinary tract healthy. I only wish I'd remembered to pack TUMS in my laptop bag this morning. Ugh.

Baby Names

It's time for us to start coming up with those baby names. Matt and I have decided on a girl's name, but if we find out next week that our little one is a boy, we've got some name-crunching to do! We are trying to make a list of boys' names, but it's so hard to find a name that A) isn't ridiculously common or B) doesn't sound either pretentious or hippie.

This week, I'm feeling growing pains just below my baby bump. I keep neglecting to go out and buy a body pillow to help me sleep more comfortably at night. The growing weight of my belly may be what finally drives me to Target.

The pregnancy symptoms that I still have are:

• needing the bathroom every 15 minutes (1-4 times during the night)
• hiccuping all the time
• crying when I see something happy on tv
• craving sugary foods
• sensitivity to odors

Our baby's new book is The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners. It is really wonderful to go back to books from my own childhood. I remember so many of them. One of my favorite times of the year was book sale at school. Teachers would send us home with a flimsy two-page catalog of books that would be sold in the library. I would spend hours trying to decide what books to buy. I felt the same excitement when Matt and I looked through the small collection of kids classics at Walmart. It's amazing how all those feelings come back.

As I write this blog entry, Matt is picking up the slack with dinner. I better finish up and help him with dinner. Below is Baby and Mom at 18 weeks and 1 day.