Cutie Patootie!

One of the things I am most excited about when it comes to having kids is dressing them up! I used to think it would be sooooo hard to get cute stuff for little boys—girls are easy! Wow- I checked out Children’s Place today and I was WRONG! The boy stuff they have is so cute and preppy. I am blown away by the cuteness.

The girls’ stuff is adorable too, but it’s easy for me to get excited when I see little tutus and frills.

They have very few gender neutral choices, but this one is pretty darn cute:

A Place for Posterity

Ms. Desiree and Mr. Sheldon are building a new patio and got concrete poured today. Crazy "Auntie" Amanda traced Jake, Ben and Rivers' hand prints and made a little spot for the Gooblet. This poor kid is probably already embarrassed by it's family with a crazy nickname like "Gooblet." It's cute and it's catchy for a time like now when we don't know if our little one is a boy or a girl!

Yes, that's a peanut my SIL found. We joked that the last sonogram looked like a peanut. :)

7 Weeks

7 weeks along the Gooblet is looking like a little peanut. It has grown three times what it was last week (which is still pretty small) and everything is going well.

Breaking the news

After hearing our little one's heartbeat on Thursday, Justin and I decided we couldn't possibly wait to tell our family! We rounded everyone up and invited them to the house for hamburgers and hot dogs. My sisters couldn't be there (they're both away at school) which was a little sad, but we were able to tell each of them on the phone. Suzi said, "I knew it!" when we wanted her to come to the house for a cookout. Sami just sat there and said, "Shut up! No way! I'm so happy!" when we told her she was going to be an aunt.

Probably the best reactions were when we told our parents. We let our nephews take them the ultrasound pictures with the heart rhythym strip. Mama thought Ben was handing her an ultrasound picture of when he was little or the joke one we had for right after we got married. Then she and Mrs. Desiree both cried when they finally realized what was going on. My Sheldon just said he was glad it didn't happen 7 or 8 years ago and my poor daddy took a few minutes to understand what really happened. It turned out great and everyone is so excited!

HOOORRAAYYY!!!

I posted Monday about my visit to the doctor and how everything went. The office called me last night and said that my other blood work came back in and that my progesterone is low, so they have me on a prescription for the rest of my first trimester. They also said they wanted me in for an ultrasound...NOW. No answer why or anything. Needless to say last night was not very restful for me, even though I "slept" from 8:00 to 7:00 a.m.

I went in for my appointment this morning and the ultrasound tech reminded me that they wouldn't be able to hear a heartbeat but they just wanted to be sure the sac was growing at the right rate and the lack of progesterone didn't give me any problems. She was doing her thing, looking around and said that the sac is growing just fine and we could even see the baby! I was on cloud nine. She looked down quickly and looked a little puzzled. She twisted a knob and I started to hear a heartbeat. I jokingly asked her how she was able to tell that was my heartbeat and not the baby's and she laughed a bit and told me it WAS the baby's! She was just as surprised as I was!

I just wept uncontrollably as she congratulated me. I composed myself, thanked her and checked out of the office. In the parking lot, I called Justin and broke the good news. It was the first time he was genuinely excited! I could hear the relief in his voice as I bawled my eyes out talking to him in the parking lot. I am so relieved. I know anything can happen, but a little bit of unexpected good news is great!

Waiting

Friday I went to the doctor's office to get a few things checked on. The ultrasound tech was able to see baby's little hideout, but we won't go back for another two weeks to see/hear a heartbeat. I am only about 6 weeks so I was there a little earlier than they usually bring patients in. Things are exciting! The nurses drew some blood and asked that I go to the hospital on Sunday (48 hours later) for a follow-up visit to check my HCG levels. I have my fingers crossed that everything is going smoothly and that my levels doubled by Sunday.

Did you know that if you have to have blood drawn at the hospital, you have to be admitted as an outpatient? I had to register at the ER desk, which kinda freaked me out. I really didn't think it would be in our best interest to go to the ER to get some generic labs drawn. The intake nurse assured me that that was not the case. They do regular admittance on the weekend. WHEW! That eased my mind!

*Also, I was not driving when I snapped these pics--we were stopped in the parking lot before we left :)

Cautiously Optimistic

Cautiously optimistic... that's what I'm feeling right now. Last weekend, my friends Lori and Jeremy got married and I was CRAZY BUSY! We were totally exhausted and thank goodness Monday was Labor Day or I wouldn't have had a chance to wind down. On Monday morning, I realized it had been a while since, ahem, I had my visitor. I ran to the store, picked up a Clear Blue Easy, and waited.

The packaging said to wait two minutes for results. I was so nervous, I started counting the seconds out loud. I heard Justin walk through the front door and crash on the couch (he was up at 5:00 a.m. for a bird hunt). Shaking, I looked up and saw a big fat plus sign that definitely meant positive! Given the circumstances of what I went through in May, I find myself being a little reserved about this one. I stumbled into the living room and Justin sleepily asked me who I was talking to (because I had been counting out loud). I just held out the wand and broke down into tears.

Still sleepy, I don't think Justin fully realized what was going on and asked me what that meant. I told him it meant that I was pregnant. His eyes welled up for just a second and he hugged me and we shared a great moment in our lives.

Last time, I couldn't hold back the news from my middle sister and it was almost as devestating telling her that I wasn't pregnant any more as it was hearing the news from the doctor. This time, Justin and I are going to wait until we get official verification from my doctor. The good news is that when I went to see her in July she scheduled me for a follow up visit on September 21, so I only have to wait a week and a half to see her. She told me last time that if she was a betting woman that she would bet I was pregnant by the end of the year. I'm gonna get her to pick out some lottery numbers for me when I visit too!

P.S. I looked back at that previous post and I was being a royal brat. It just so happens that it looks like right around that time is when we conceived. I'm thinking we're going to have a little May baby--what a great birthday present!