It's a Date

My BFF will be flying in for our shower, so I needed to get a date picked so she can start looking for tickets from Austin. Looks like August 15th will be the baby shower. So excited!

Going to Register

Before moving to Texas, Ang and Rod gave us bags of clothes and a bunch of other great baby stuff. Chris and I went through it this morning. We've also received some stuff from Chris' boss, Jeff, and a few yard sales that Chris had found along the way. Some of it we are donating (mostly the yard sale stuff) today on our way to Target.

We are heading there to register. I think we'll register there, and at Babys R Us. It's hard, since we don't know the sex of the baby yet. I will say based on the wives tales I've read, I may actually be leaning more towards it being a girl, but I still have no real guess one way or the other.

I know that this is something Chris has really been looking forward to. The other day, he came home with a Phoenix Suns jersey for a little one, and the winter parka thing he spotted at Babys R Us a few weeks back. The shopping has begun, and somehow, I don't think I can stop it.

My next OB appointment is April 10th. I am feeling good, and dare I say it, I think getting some of my energy back, which would be a welcome change. I still have 5 weeks of holding down the office by myself, which some days seems like a very monumental task!

Right On Track

My 2nd OB appointment was this afternoon. I asked the doctor a few questions, and it seemed we had more of a connection this time, which was nice. Last time she seemed a little distracted. We talked about my weight, and about my needing to be better about eating. There are days I look at the clock and realize it's 11:30 and I've had nothing more than 2 cups of coffee, which is completely unacceptable.

She warned me that I might be a little early for her to find the heartbeat with her little Doppler machine, so I wasn't too freaked out when she couldn't. The good news is I got another ultra sound. The bad news is Chris wasn't with me. I had a different tech this time - I guess she's the lady I'll generally see when I have ultra sounds. Very nice, and funny. Anyway, she measured the baby and I am right on track at 13 weeks 1 day. We saw the spinal cord and the rib cage, and even both sides of the brain - it was very cool, and finally made me feel like there is a person in there and not just a blob. The baby wouldn't roll over and show it's face, but we did see it suck it's thumb or finger, which was cool as hell to watch. The heartbeat was 150, which she said is perfect.

I go back in 4 weeks. My parents will be here the end of April or beginning of May to see my sister when she has her baby, and if I can steal them away for a nano second, I'd love it if they came to my May OB appointment with me. But, that's a ways down the road and I won't worry about it for now.

So, for those of you wondering, we are still set with a September 17th due date.

Ordered The Crib

Chris and I went shopping yesterday for the nursery furniture. I'd been looking on line at Craigslist for something decent that was used, but just wasn't having much luck. We really wanted to get a convertible crib, that our child can grow into. Target seemed to have a decent selection, but so many of the cribs had bad reviews. And Babys-R-Us costs so dang much money. Ang told me about a place here in Denver so we checked it out. Their cribs are made of real wood, so they are super sturdy and nice looking, and will hopefully last until our child is old enough to pick something new out - we are hoping 12 or so years from now. We went to 3 or 4 different places yesterday, and this is the set we liked the most, that didn't break the bank. I didn't want to just drain our savings account, so we ordered the crib today, and in a month we'll order the dresser, and in another month we'll order an end table. They have to be built, so it's 8 - 10 weeks when you place the order for the piece to arrive. We ordered in Carmel, vs the Cherry that it's shown in. It seemed funny to be ordering baby furniture, when the nursery is still the spare bed room, but in 10 weeks when it comes in I'll be half way through this pregnancy. And, we'll know the sex of the baby too!!

Twelve Weeks Today

It's hard to believe we are twelve weeks into this pregnancy already. Where does the time go?!? It seems it was just yesterday that we took that first, and second, pregnancy tests. I am still feeling really good, all things considered. I really have no morning sickness to speak of and haven't gained any weight. In fact, I think I am down a few pounds. I am on a chat board for pregnant ladies, and got to "graduate" to the 2nd trimester board, which was fun.

My book says this about week 12:
By now, your baby weighs a full half-ounce and is about the size of a large plum. Most of his or her systems are in place, though there's still plenty of maturing to do. For one thing, his or her fetal digestive system is beginning to practice contraction movements so he or she can eat someday, and his or her bone marrow is busy making white blood cells — weapons against germs once he or she is out of your safe haven. The pituitary gland (at the base of the brain) has started producing the hormones that'll enable him or her to make babies of his or her own in a couple of decades or so. If all these changes sound dizzying, that may just be you dealing with yet another problematic pregnancy symptom: Lots of women experience occasional dizziness and/or feel faint due to progesterone, which causes increased blood flow to your baby by relaxing your own blood vessels. More blood flow to baby means less blood flow to your body and brain and that, along with typically lower blood sugar levels during pregnancy, can set your world a-spinning. Do your part to keep your equilibrium by eating regularly, getting adequate rest, and standing up slowly.

My next OB appointment is Friday. I think they will listen to the baby's heart beat and answer a few questions and I'll be out of there. I can't imagine it being 3 hours again like last time.

For those of you who are wondering, I have my own mother's intuition that we are having a boy. I think that's mostly because Chris and I both really really want a girl. I am pretty set that we'll only have one, but if it is a boy, that will just be reason to try again for a girl. I have a few friends who could form their own softball team from taking that exact same gamble though!

Anyway, that's really the only update from this end of things. We are out of the "danger zone" and I will now let Chris start buying baby clothes and other items. I think I need to take his Target card away!! He's deliriously happy and could easily send us to the poor farm!

Get Out of Jail Free Card

While there is a laundry list of things Chris and I would like to do to our house before the baby comes, there are two things that we HAVE to do. We have to replace a section of the fence that we share with our neighbors to the back, because it is going to fall over. And we have to add a heater vent to the nursery. We had a friend out last night who is a contractor to give us quotes for the covered patio we'd like to add, the fence we must fix, and the heater vent we must add. He was so shocked, as are we, that there is no vent in that room. So, we talked about the patio and we talked about the fence and then we went up stairs to look at the nursery. I pulled the bed away from the window, and there, on the floor, was a heater vent. I blamed it on being pregnant. Chris blamed it on me being a woman. Either way, I felt like a complete moron!! Apparently 3 years ago when we moved in and put the bed in front of the window, we must have closed the vent since it's the spare room, and the door is almost always open. Regardless, we can cross that off our list of must does. I swear, if I could have had a cocktail at that moment, I surely would have!