Monthly Questions 2 (a week late)

First up, the monthly check-in questions (by SN)

Foods that are making me queasy:

Water, Twizzlers (just being in the same room with them), Cheezits :(

Foods that I am craving:

Orange juice, bacon, KFC, chicken nuggets, Taco Bell

Strangest snack:
            The inside of a pickle
How I am feeling physically:  

Tired, raw (throat from having a cold, muscles, skin, everything)

How I am feeling emotionally:
            Tired, up and down, loved and taken care of
Sensory over-load:
            Smells, I’m extra aware of clothes (especially pants)
What we're excited about:

Our next doctor visit, getting started on thinking and planning for Flash, moving to a different house (even though that’s probably still about 5 or 6 months away)

What we're nervous about:

School, telling the students, leaving my students, finding a sub, moving, money, having too much stuff, delivery (no wait, that’s terrified….)

If I could be granted 3 wishes:

1. No more coughing.

2. The all-in-one, automatic people cleaner like the Jetsons had.

3. A crap fairy who will come get rid of everything we don’t need and organize what we do need.

Now the others

The secret’s out - order you shared the news:
            SN’s mom, sister #2, grandma
            LB’s dad, step-mom, step-sister
            LB’s sister #1
            LB’s grandma
            SN’s sister #2
            LB’s mom, her boyfriend, sister #2 and brother in-law, and other grandma
     * See the videos on Flash's YouTube channel
Questions I asked at 1st doctor’s appointment:

Not very many because he answers our questions before we ask them. We did ask about the rash SN had (which turned out to be a rough case of chiggers).

1st ultrasound - what I saw, how I felt:
            A little flutter!!!! Relieved, overwhelmed, holy crap


Predictions people made about gender:

LB – girl

SN – undecided, leaning towards girl

SN’s mom – undecided, family history would say girl

SN’s sister #2 – wants a boy but thinks it’s a girl

SN's sister #1 – boy

LB's sister #2 – boy

LB’s dad – boy

LB’s step-sister – girl

More updates to come…..

Rona

By LB

Last night I had my first dream about Flash. Well, three dreams really. In the first one I had our newborn daughter at my grandparents' old house. My Grandpa, who died in 2009, was there and I was showing her to him and telling him that we needed to decide on a name for her. Suddenly my newborn spoke a single word - Rona - which was to be her name.

In the second dream I was nursing (even though it wasn't my baby....) our baby while sitting in an office chair. Suddenly it squirted out from under my arm behind me and fell onto the floor.

In the third one I forgot the baby at home and when I realized what I had done and went back home I couldn't find her.

After that dream I woke up SN and told her about my dreams half in tears. The last two were bad but the first was really neat and it makes me think even more than I already did that we're going to have a girl.

Is it normal for the non-pregnant partner to have crazy pregnancy dreams or was it just the Taco Bell?

Flash Has a Flutter

By SN

 

Today was the day. We have been anxiously awaitng today since we made the appointment, I think. Today was the first OB appointment. Since we had just been there in March for our regular appointment, the main show for today was the first ultrasound. Honestly, I was hoping for two things - only one little Flash (although I would be fine if there were more, just might take me a while) and to see that little flicker that means heart beat. I knew we probably wouldn't be able to hear it as Flash is way to small, but I just wanted to see a little flicker that meant we were doing ok in there.

And, even though my birthday isn't for a few months, I got my wishes. Little Flash (notice it is singular) is in there and his or her little heart is just a thumping. Thank you, Lord!

Icing on the cake? Dr. MB sent us home with not only an ultrasound picture (or two or three) but short video clips of that beautiful little flicker going to town.

So I assume it is at this moment that I become "that" lady - the lady who has to show you the newest pictures of her "cutest" little one. Bear with me, I hope to have it out of my system at some point in 20 to 30 years. :)

The lump at the top is the yolk sac and all the black around is
fluid. He decided to circle the baby in this one so
everyone would know what they are looking at.



CRL is Crown to Rump Length and by that measurement,
we are at 7 weeks and 2 days today.

The little flutter




Another picture of the baby (on the right) and a different shot
(on the left) that the doctor used to calculate the heart beat.
Notice the heart beat is 148 Beats Per Minute.

What now? Well, we have another appointment in 4 weeks and that would should send us home with a much less alien and more baby looking picture. Other than that, the next three days are going to be CRAZY with me starting school and us - between now and Saturday - telling our whole family. If you happen to hear a strange sound coming from the KC area on Saturday, it's probably just going to be LB's mom being a little bit excited. We are going to try to video the moments we tell them, so we'll update next week with that.

Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

By LB

I have to say, probably not for the last time, that I am amazed and awed by all that is going on inside of my wife from moment to moment. We read something earlier today that said that Flash is forming 100 new brain cells per minute right now. No wonder SN is exhausted! She and God are building a brand new being - heart, body, brain, soul - from scratch! So many things I have heard in the last few weeks, from scripture passages to songs to hymns at church, have revealed new meanings and contexts that they have never had before.

The last week has seemed to have flown by and here we are, starting week 8 - almost done with month 2! This is going to be a big week. SN goes back to school Monday (the kids start on Thursday). Our first ultrasound appointment is on Wednesday. Thursday we are going to have a birthday dinner for SN's mom where we will share the good news with most of her family. Then Friday night we will travel to my dad's house. Then Saturday we are having a multi-birthday celebration with my mom's family. Then it's back home on Sunday for Pride Fest.

I love being excited for Monday!

Blog fail

By SN

I can't believe it has been a week since we updated this. Whoops!

After my little freak-out with the morning sickness last week, I tried to just have a calm, quiet week. We saw my mom and sister and niece on Wednesday, which was only a little tense due to my mom's pregnancy radar. She didn't say anything, but that doesn't really mean anything.

Friday was our one-year anniversary so we took a little day trip to St. Louis. We spent most of the day at the City Museum. I was reminded again of how amazing LB is and why I couldn't imagine doing this pregnancy thing with anyone else. When we got to there, we realized that parking in downtown St. Louis is not quite as easy as it is in downtown Columbia. Thank God for my dear, sweet, patient wife for putting up with my parking rage, mood swings, and mini-meltdown. After we got in and I settled down, we had a great time and it was nice to just hang out together.

Monday was LB's birthday so we went out to eat and kind of just chilled most of the rest of the weekend. That was a good thing because I'm pretty sure I wore myself out and needed to rest.

This week has been about getting back into school mode - boo, hiss - and trying to rest while I can. As for the morning sickness, it was gone for a few days but has come back with a vengeance. I had been able to manage it pretty well by snacking on some crackers or something when I started to feel queasy. Starting last Thursday, it's been more of a constant, underlying nausea no matter if I am eating, not eating, needing to eat, or just ate. So that has not been fun. Sunday, we got some of the sea sickness bands that work on the pressure point on your arm and I have worn them the past few mornings on the way to work and they seem to help. Of course, I look like I have been hanging out with Richard Simmons, so I can't wear them around other people. I've been wearing them in the morning and that seems to get me through to the middle of the afternoon and then I have been putting them back on when I get home (mostly while I have been napping.)

We are t-minus 7 days until our appointment and half the time it feels like the days are just dragging by and the other half I need them to slow down. Ha! I sort of guess that is another part of parenthood that this nine months are preparing us for.