Friday, August 29, 2008

Working for a Living

While I've been at home dealing with pest problems, reading 200+ pages of homework and dreaming of nursery decor ...





Jeremy's been away from home, covering this ...



And catching glimpses of people like this ...



And now, he's chasing down Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf region. At least our little 16-week-old "avocado" will have a well-traveled daddy who can tell him/her lots of stories about all his work journeys. And we have the pictures to prove it!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Q and A

We've been getting alot of questions lately, so below are answers to the most frequently asked questions that we've heard so far. If I've missed any that you're just dying to know, well, just ask!

Do you know what you're having?
Yeah, a baby!! But as for the sex, that we don't know and don't want to know until Baby M makes his/her grande appearance. However, many people are already placing their bets, and most people think we're having a girl. In fact, the Chinese Gender Predictor Chart has confirmed that it's a girl. And we all know what that means ... we're probably having a boy.

How do you think the dogs will handle having a new baby in the house?
Oh gosh, sometimes I'm afraid to even think about the answer to this question. Because the reality of it is, it makes me sad! I know it will definitely be a transition for the little ones. Manny and Olivia are used to having our complete and undivided attention, and we all know that's going to change come February. We've already done research on how to best acclimate pets to a new baby, and some of the suggestions include: playing audio of babies crying so that the dogs can get used to the sound; walking around the house with a babydoll so that the dogs get used to seeing me with a foreign object; and letting them smell the lotions, shampoos and powders that we plan on using on the baby.
Does anyone have a greatest hits compilation of baby noises and cries that they can loan us???

How are you feeling?
Much better, thanks for asking. The first trimester was tough and made me feel like a zombie most days. I developed a real love/hate relationship with food (especially the smell of food), but now I feel like I'm back on track and finally eating a more balanced diet.

Have you had any cravings?
Not really. In the first trimester, though, I would see something on tv and just get fixated on it (like the Arby's Beefy Cheesy Melts, which I haven't had in years, but are apparently two for $4 at your local Arby's. But when it comes down to it, if one was sitting in front of me, I probably wouldn't eat it anyways. Although their curly fries sound really good about now ...).

Have you thought of any names yet?
Yes, but our hope is to keep the name(s) private until Baby M is here so that people's opinions don't ruin our like or dislike for certain names. But it's tough keeping it private when you have nosey family members poking around for top secret info (ahemm.... Mom!). Let me reassure you, however, that we won't be following in the footsteps of Gwen Stefani, who just named her new baby Zuma Nesta Rock Rossdale.

Are you showing yet?
Not noticeably. My pants are tight, and by the end of the day I look much more pregnant than I do in the morning. Here's a morning shot for ya. The little lemon is nearing the size of an apple this week!













Friday, August 15, 2008

In Good Company

For the past couple of years, I've been creating this romantic, fanciful idea that when I eventually got pregnant, I would find out that one of my best friends and/or sisters was also growing a little pea in her pod (I know, the sister thing is a little far fetched, just based on our age differences. But maybe down the road??). And that together, we would share the ups and downs of pregnancy over cartons of ice cream, bags of potato chips and mounds and mounds of cake. We would sit and talk about our future children, complain about how uncomfortable we are and how fat we're getting, take childbirthing classes together and just plain old be there for one another. And then our children would grow up to become best friends, and the cycle would continue.




















Although my fantasyland scenario hasn't quite come to fruition, there are in fact pregnant people all around me! I have recently learned of many friends who are also expecting, and at work alone, there are five pregnant women within the law school (one of whom is due only days before me). A few weeks ago, we also found out that our friends Brian and Ginger are expecting their second baby in March, which is also when one of my high school friends is expecting her second child. There are others that I've learned of, and it's just a nice feeling to know that there is indeed a small community of hormonal, pregnant people that I could turn to for a bit of understanding and reassurance.

And if all else fails, I always have my celebrity friends to turn to. Hollywood is just FILLED with baby bumps. If you're curious, just check out this link: http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/famecrawler/archive/2008/08/14/celebrity-bumps-summer-edition.aspx.

























Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Share and share alike

So we're hoping this blog becomes a way of keeping all our family and friends updated about the excitement that comes with our newfound roles of "Parents-to-Be." I'd like to think of this blog in terms of the illustration below (which just cracks me up!).













I WILL be commenting on all the warm, fuzzy, "oh, how cute!" moments of our journey toward becoming parents; and I promise that I WON'T share all the behind-the-scenes, nitty-gritty details that pregnancy has to offer. Which means, frankly, you'll be missing out .... on a lot! Cause so far, this has been the craziest ride I've ever been on, and we've got a LONG way to go!

In all honesty, though, things have been going well. We got to hear the heartbeat at 12 weeks, and Baby M was clocking in around 147-150 bpm. For those of you who didn't get to see the 8 week ultrasound, here is our first pic of Baby M. We will have another ultrasound done in about 8 weeks. So more pics to come!



















And for visualization purposes, Baby M was about the size of a raspberry in the above ultrasound picture, and now he/she is the size of a peach. Not a gigantic, hormone-injected peach, but a peach that's smaller than a lemon (that's next week!), yet bigger than a plum.

Hopefully I haven't already broken my promise to not share too much info :) In any case, remember to check back often for updates! Belly pics to come .... when I have something to show. Right now, it just looks like I ate a dozen donuts, which I could totally go for. Oh how I love Dunkin Donuts Munchkins ....