More gifts

Today I came home from school with a beautiful gift waiting for me from Nathaniel and Hj...
I guess Hj told daddy that she/he is loving our nightly story time with daddy, but wanted a little story time with momma, too, because they got me "God's Dream," by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. We saw it a couple of weeks ago at a cute little baby boutique downtown, and fell in love with the story and the beautiful pictures.

So, after daddy's story time, I started the tradition of reading to our little baby as well. I just love this family time!

In addition to this great book, Nathaniel, baby and I received a gift from my dad of Easter chocolates from Quality Candy. It instantly brought back memories of childhood, when he would take Rob and me to get these delightful, rich, vanilla cream eggs every Easter. Looks like the tradition continues!

Many firsts....

Today is a day to put on the baby calendar...I actually felt GOOD! The entire day. Even though I was in the OR before the birds were up. No running out of the OR to vomit. No dry heaving. Well, I did have one gag incident, but it was after seeing something super gross, and as my friend Kacie says, that was my baseline pre-pregnancy.

After clinical, the hubbs and I went on a beautiful walk, and I made it even further than last time. It sounds trivial, but considering I have had ZERO exercise for the past two months, this is a huge feat. And, after all of that, I still had energy to cook dinner. This was the first time since morning sickness hit that I cooked. Ahhhh. Finally, at 14 2/7 weeks, this may finally be the glorious second trimester feeling I heard about but started to doubt its existence. 
And, just when I thought the day could not get any better, I was treated to a fantastic pregnancy foot rub from Nathaniel.

I almost had to pinch myself, because this was a day that I could only dream of days ago.

8 P.M. Date with Daddy

The day that we found out we were preggers, excited Daddy-to-be started reading the book "The Expectant Father." He was completely enthralled in learning on what to expect as a new dad, what was going on with the development of HJ, so much that he had to stop himself a couple weeks later, because he had already read up to the 5th month of a baby's gestation!

One of the things he learned was that around 13 weeks, the baby's ears develop and the baby can start hearing sounds and voices. He eagerly got a bedtime book, and patiently waited for week 13 to come.

Now that we are in our 13th week, both HJ and I have loved our 8 PM ritual of laying in bed while daddy reads a different story each night. I snuggle up in the snoogle, and Nathaniel lies next to us, reading away. It is the highlight of our day!

It is fun to think that in 6 short months, he won't have to read to my belly any more, but rather little HJ will be in our arms!

Our "guts"

Since we found out that we were expecting, Liz and I both had a gut feeling that HJ was a girl.  This has changed since our ultrasound pics.  Liz has flip-flopped and now has a feeling that HJ is a boy.  My strong girl leanings have waned, but I'm not as strongly in the boy camp as Liz.  Almost all of my students think HJ is a boy, for whatever that's worth.  To sum it up, Liz "feels" that we're having a boy; I "feel" that we're having a baby...yeah, I'm pretty sure of that. :) Whatever the case, we'll definitely be more certain on May 7th. 

http://paintermommy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/whyatt-ugly-baby-cartoon.jpg

Snoogle

In an effort to better support Liz while she sleeps we picked up a "Snoogle."  Yeah, if you're like me you're wondering what exactly a "Snoogle" is.  Well, let me fill you in.  First, Liz loves it and claims that it feels like she is back in the womb...I say pregnancy hormones are special:)  Second, we have a queen bed and suddenly it is like someone parked an RV on it.  The Snoogle is big.  Third, I just love the instruction page that comes with it.  Enjoy.

12 wk utlrasound and early belly pictures.

We had our 12 week ultrasound on Friday and came away with some great Glamor Shots of HJ.  The 12 week ultrasound is too early to tell the sex of the baby, but was used as an early detection for Down Syndrome by looking at the bridge of the nose and the fluid sack at the base of the skull.  Everything looked good and HJ was very, very active in Liz's belly.  It was comical because her/his nervous system is not fully developed so the movements were rather spastic, much like his/her mother :)  Enjoy the pics. 

Since we're officially in the 2nd Trimester we thought a belly picture would be appropriate, plus it's our blog so just deal.  Liz also gained 2 lbs. and is continually feeling better.  We also found out that the baby is measuring as though we're 3 days ahead of what they originally thought.  They haven't "officially" changed the due date from September 26, 2010, but it may be closer to September 23, 2010.  Remember that this is only a prediction and if baby is anything like daddy it will make its appearance when she/he is damn well ready :) 

Our next appointment with the midwives is scheduled for April 26th and our 20 wk ultrasound to determine the sex of HJ is on May 7th. 

Prenatal Yoga

Ever since Nathaniel gave me a gift package to a yoga studio in Minneapolis, I have been hooked on the little escape from reality that comes with each class. Even before I was preggers, I saw that they had prenatal yoga, and would dream how great it would feel to be pregnant and take the classes. However, when I was dreaming about prenatal yoga, I never envisioned that the for the first three months, I would be doing stretches over toilets, rather than on my yoga mat.

So, imagine my excitement when Thursday, after a long nap, I woke up feeling like I had enough energy, and my stomach was settled enough, to go to my first prenatal yoga class. It was so fun. We went over two breathing techniques to use during labor, and then had a hatha style class (this is more of a slow, stretching style of yoga). It felt so good to elongate the body. I did have to run to the bathroom once, but to me, that is a success!

I can't wait to see how different yoga feels as my belly gets bigger and bigger!

Turning the corner...?

I am afraid to say it, because I don't want to jinx myself. But, I think the worst of the morning sickness has shown its face.
Last week I was supposed to have another appointment with the midwives, but since I was keeping more food down, and I had much more energy, I decided to cancel it.Since then, I have had two puke-free days, and one day without any anti-nausea medicine. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely not completely over. The last couple of evenings have included some QT with the toilet. And, I have realized that lack of sleep definitely is a trigger for morning sickness- this A.M. I had to run out of the OR to vomit in the scrub sink two times. However, I am slowly feeling more and more like myself, and as the hubbs says, the twinkle in my eye is finally coming back.

Visit from Mindy and Danny

Mindy, Liz's cousin, and her husband Danny visited us this weekend from Des Moines, Iowa. We're able to overlook the fact that they are Hawkeyes.   Mindy and Danny are due about a month before us, so we had a fun afternoon talking "babies."  Here's a picture of the two soon-to-be moms.  Liz at 11 weeks and Mindy at 17 weeks. 

.6

Liz went in for her appointment on Thursday and took another IV for fluids/vitamins.  Also, after losing 2 lbs. each of the last two weeks, she gained .6 lbs...a step in the right direction :)  Liz's "puke-and-rally" skills are amazing.  We'll be in the middle of a conversation or a walk, she'll puke, and she'll just continue as if nothing happened.  She really makes me proud, that one.  Overall, she seems to be feeling better.  I base this on two things: 1) She's gone from just being miserable to being miserable and complaining about it.  2) Her increase in deep, heavy sighs.  Both of these take energy, an energy that she previously did not have.

I picked-up a book to read to lil' HJ as he/she is in Liz's belly, "Buddha at Bedtime"  by Dharmachari Nagaraja.  It's a collection of 20 "tales of love and wisdom for you to read with your child to enchant, enlighten, and inspire."  I saw it in a local bookstore about 6 months ago and made a mental note of the great stories and graphics.  I'll leave you with one of the morals that follows each story.  "We can all benefit from listening to the wisdom that others have gained from experience and are kind enough to teach us.  A wise person knows that there is a time to play and a time to learn."