It's a Boy!

Ryan Christian Price arrived Tuesday, December 16 at 9:19 pm. He weighed 8lbs 2 oz and was 22 inches. He has my dimples and my chin and David's lips. Ryan has a bit of blond hair and currently has big blue eyes. He is just adorable.

Here are a few pictures for those who haven't had a chance to see him.

The Wait Is Almost Over

A quick update for all.

Doctor's appointment was pretty much the same as this past Monday. Baby is still moving down, I'm still thinning out, and yes, I'm still not dilating. At least the doctor isn't going to make me go two whole weeks overdue.

Here's the plan: if I don't go into labor on my own by Monday, then I go back to the doctor's office Monday at 4pm. He'll do another Non-Stress Test to make sure that baby is still doing well. Then I'll be sent down to labor & delivery that afternoon to get checked in. They'll also start Cervidil to encourage my cervix to dilate. Tuesday morning they'll start the Pitocin to begin contractions. Basically they'll be inducing me Tuesday if I don't have the baby on my own by then. Not really thrilled about being induced but baby has to come out sometime. Plus we will all finally get to know if it's a boy or a girl.

Waiting Patiently

That's the name of the game these days.

I have lost count of how many doctor appointments I've been to since the last post. I can tell you that instead of going once a week, I now make an appearance at the doctor's office twice a week. I think I may bring a sleeping bag and just stay at the hospital in between appointments, you know save gas and mileage on the car (new car actually, but we'll get back to that).

Since I was technically overdue today, the doc decided to go ahead and do a non-stress test, which is usually done when you are one or two weeks overdue. Since I had nothing better to do (I mean I have already wrapped every Christmas present I've bought), I willing allowed them to strap monitors to my big belly. One monitor measures my heartbeat; the other is for the baby's heartbeat. While hooked up for 20 minutes or so, I have to push a Jeopardy-type clicker every time I feel the baby move. The purpose of the test is to make sure the baby's heart beats faster when he/she moves and goes down when he/she is chillin'. Baby wasn't stressed at all, but mom sure got a little stressed off and on. All in all, the baby passed the NST and is just enjoying the heck out of being in the tropical paradise of my womb. I mean it is quite cold outside, even I don't want to be out there.

In other words, the baby is still moving down, I'm still thinning out, but my cervix just doesn't understand that it has to start opening if all of this is going to work properly. I'm going to stop expecting a dilation number when I visit the doc again, which will be on Thursday. So all of you people who picked a date later than Dec 7, well you're still in the running to win. (Although if you picked something before the 12th, I don't think it's looking good for you either). Either way David and I have decided to just be patient. Although it's much like knowing what you are getting for Christmas but then actually having to wait for Christmas to arrive. If that makes any sense.

As for the new car....well we quickly understood why so many parents drive mini-vans or SUVs. It's all about the space. When David got the car seat bases in both cars, we quickly discovered that Molly, my wonderful little Nissan Sentra, was just not going to be practical. Problem was that when you actually put the infant carrier into the car seat base, the passenger seat had to be moved way up. Basically if you wanted to be a passenger in Molly, you would have been eating the dashboard. So after David enjoyed his Consumer Reports research and we test drove a few cars, Toyota of Gastonia met David's offer (which he purposely set low b/c he really just wanted to leave) and we bought a 2008 Highlander. Bought that the day after Thanksgiving. And since we weren't really planning on buying a car that day, I had to say a quick goodbye to Molly. Don't worry I didn't cry, but it was kind of sad. I loved my little Nissan. But I'm quickly enjoying the Highlander as well (and yes she has a name already, come on, of course my car would have a name before my child).

I changed the blog's background to cheer me up a bit (besides the dots were starting to get to me). Now if only today is Chicken Tortilla soup day at McAlister's and the Panthers beat Tampa Bay tonight, I'll be very, very happy.

UPDATE: After the Panthers win and my Chicken Tortilla soup I was very, very happy indeed!

Zip, Zero, Zilch, Nada, Nothing

That all equals the big goose egg of 0. That's how far I'm dilated. I've been to the doctor twice in the last two weeks and still nothing. Well I did find out the baby is still head down and just hanging around. Probably taking after me since he/she is in a nice, warm, comfortable place and just knows the weather is getting colder and colder each day. The kid wants to stay snuggly warm for as long as possible. I'm just hoping that he/she also takes after me in the "I don't like to be late" category. I wanted to get through Thanksgiving weekend, which will most likely happen considering nothing is going on in the way of contractions, Braxton Hicks, or dilation. And technically it's not even December yet. I'm really not in a huge hurry because I just started my maternity leave and would like a few days at home to finish up the little things before the kid decides to arrive. That said, I'm still hoping for a single-digit birth date instead of anything past December 10. For those of you who are guessing past December 10, shame on you. Which reminds me, I'm closing the guessing game on expectnet.com this Saturday since David's guess was November 30 and we don't want to give him the chance to change it, do we?

Yesterday was my last day at school. Surprisingly I wasn't teary-eyed over this. The kids were great, especially my fifth grade math students. They gave the baby a number counting book and a baby music cd. I also got a nice surprise when I went to lunch. It seems there were some sneaky people who managed to get most of the fifth grade students to sign a "Fifth Grade Loves You, Mrs. Price" banner. They had that laying out on one of the tables.





I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. Be sure to give lots of hugs, kisses, and love out during the holiday.

Showers, SuperDad, and PUPPS

Okay so I'm not to good on updating this blog weekly. At least you get lots of pictures with today's post.


We'll start with showers, as in the two baby showers I had recently. Heather and Renee threw us a baby shower on October 18, which family and close friends attended. To the left is a sample of the goodies they whipped up. I think I had about six or so of the mini-cupcakes. Blue and pink were the colors of choice since we don't know if we're having a boy or girl. We had a great time playing games, eating lots of food, and checking out all the baby gifts (where there was lots of Awwwww's going on). David couldn't believe all the stuff we ended up with that day. I will say that I was exhausted by the time the last guest left. I thoroughly appreciated Heather and Renee cleaning up and doing the dishes because my lazy bum was on the couch after that event.





On October 29 I had a baby shower at school thrown by Valerie, Dianne, Jaime, and the Literacy Ladies (and I honestly don't know who else was involved). More yummy food, games, and presents. Jaime and Emily constructed the diaper cake pictured here. I was impressed by their talents. We got a lot of gift cards at this shower which helped us purchase some of the bigger ticket items on our registry such as the stroller system. I managed to upload a slideshow of pictures from both showers. It's at the bottom of the webpage.


Speaking of strollers, SuperDad here put together the stroller, the pack-n-play, and installed both car seats this past Saturday. I must say the stroller was probably the easiest of the bunch. David had that together in no time. Now the pack-n-play was a different story. I saw the directions myself, and they were horrible. Poor David got most of it together in the living room, then went to move it to our bedroom before attaching the final two pieces only to find that it didn't fit through the door. He had to fold that sucker up, fit it through the bedroom door and then fix it again. I helped with the remaining items. But boy was that one a pain. Here are pics of the completed stroller and pack-n-play.











I am starting to believe that little boys are made out of "puppy dog tails." Why you ask? Apparently I have PUPPS. No that's not a typo; I'm not talking about the cute little dogs. I'm talking about Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy (go ahead google PUPPS, be sure to check out the pictures as well). Okay this itchy rash was not mentioned in any of the pregnancy books I read. I noticed I was itchy under my belly button last week and after using a mirror to see under my belly (cause you know I can't even see my feet) I saw these little red bumps. Thought "great, I have a rash." Luckily (well not so sure about that) I had a doctor's appt the next day with the other doc in the practice. That doc said, Oh you have PUPPS (excuse me?), it's a pregnancy rash that some women get and it will probably spread all over your belly (what!?!), and it doesn't go away until after you have the baby (aw man!). But the good news is that it seldom occurs in additional pregnancies (um, yay?!) So I got a prescription for some steroid cream; the tube is the size of a travel toothpaste and I've almost used up the whole tube in one week. Thank goodness for refills. I discovered today, a week later, that 1 - the steriod cream was helping the oldest part of the rash be less "bumpy" and 2 - the rash is now beginning to spread to my arms and upper legs. Yep, found little red bumps on my arms today. The itchiness comes and goes; I am allowed to take Benadryl which has been a blessing to some degree. I now get more sleep at night because of the Benadryl. So there is a bright spot. And why mention that boys are made of puppy dog tails. Simply because there are two theories about what causes PUPPS. First theory, the one that sounds totally medical, has something to do with the rapid abdominal wall distension damaging the surrounding tissue and causing inflammation. The second theory is that male fetal DNA acts as a skin irritant; this being based on the fact that 70% of women who get this rash have boy babies. So all you people who think it's girl, well your odds just got worse. Then again the only other person at my school who has heard of PUPPS, had it herself with her first pregnancy, and she has two girls. Guess she was in that 30%.

That post should hold everyone for about a week or two. I have another appointment tomorrow, so we'll see if the doc will give me more refills for the cream (seeing as how I only have 2 refills left and if I'm using a tube a week, well I'm gonna need more). Roughly four more weeks until this baby decides to come along. Good thing David and I finally finished our childbirth classes. Guess they'll let us have a baby after all.

The baby has to turn how? and then turn how?

That was my first thought after seeing the model of how a baby has to turn in utero to prepare for birth and then turn again during the actual labor and delivery. As you can tell, David and I have been attending our childbirth classes. In the previous post I said I was worried about David. Wrong about that one. Not only did he give the best father's answer to "What do you expect to learn from this class?" but he also knew the answers to some of the questions. I think I'm the one getting more and more nervous, but then again, I am the one pushing this kid out. Which brings us back to the baby turning. At the second class this past Monday, the instructor had a baby doll inside what is best described as a toddler's turtleneck shirt sewn closed in all openings except the neck. Then the instructor proceeds to "push" the baby out through the small opening. Okay I got that part already. (And for those already confused, the "sewn-up turtleneck" represents the uterus). The turning comes in to play when the instructor showed us how the baby fits through the pelvis bones. Um, that's not much space and there's a lot of turning involved. Thank heavens babies already know how to do this. Don't worry I've already had a talk with the kid about moving into place as quickly as possible. We'll see how well he/she listens.

I went to the doctor's this past Thursday. Gained a few more pounds, means the baby is growing, and everything else was normal. Baby is head down now, which figures because there's been alot of rolling around the belly lately. I'm surprised my blood pressure was still normal considering I did nothing but stress all week. But I took Friday off because I felt a cold coming on and needed some rest (getting up at 5am is no fun when you wake up every hour between 10pm and 4am). My next appointment is the day before Halloween with one of the other doctors in the practice, just in case my own doc cannot make it to the delivery. I go every two weeks now. It's getting closer to the kid's birth day!

Our visit with the pediatrician went well. The clinic has extended and weekend hours, which is very nice. Our pediatrician is the best friend of one of our other friends here in Gastonia so that helps. We've heard he relates to kids really well. We'll be meeting with him again soon enough.

Later this afternoon is my first baby shower thrown by Heather and Renee. The family is here and more will show up later today. I'll post pictures in about a week or so. I'm moving kind of slow on these updates. I'll work on that.

I passed!

I know there were some of you who must have doubted that I would pass the sugar test. I mean we all know how much I like my junk food, mainly in the form of Little Debbie snacks, candy bars, anything with chocolate, etc. This would be true in most cases; however, I haven't really craved the sweet stuff aside from the chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Which is why I was kind of worried a week before the test when I had 3 candy bars in that week. I had not eaten a candy bar in roughly three months, and here I was chomping away one a day it seemed. Of course I had to start a Monday morning off without food and having to drink a 10-ounce "fruit punch" glucose drink. I then drove to the doctor's office, where on the way the baby decided that was some kicking juice I had. Kid was all over the place in my belly. I had to sacrifice a finger tip for those wonderful finger pricks and the nurse said I would have my results by the time the doctor came in to see me. As you know I passed the sugar test and my iron level is also doing well (no iron supplements for me!) Blood pressure is still good; gained a pound (how it was only a pound I don't know because I just keep getting bigger). Baby's heartbeat was at 147, once again giving the nurse trouble as she tried to find the heartbeat. Basically the doctor summed up my visit with "boring, normal." I certainly don't mind being boring or normal in this case.

We were to meet a peditrician later that same day but unfortunately the doc was sick. We've rescheduled for October 10. I'll fill you in then.

I also went to a children's consignment sale at a church with my friend Elaine. Now if you read my comments from the last post you may have seen that Elaine said to "bring a laundry basket." I thought that sounded a bit strange. However, I have seen the light and next time I will indeed bring a laundry basket; the two tote bags I brought barely held everything. Besides everyone else had some kind of large laundry basket. After 1 1/2 hours I was worn out but had lots of neutral newborn clothes for a fraction of the cost. Below is a picture of my success. Elaine tells me there's another sale in the spring. Guess who's going to be in line with a laundry basket.




And now for the news that will make most of you say "I can't believe that."

Next Monday David and I begin our 5-week childbirth class.

It's a scary thought. I don't know who I'm more worried about, David or our instructor. I'm looking forward to it, but at the same time, it's freaking me out a bit. I'll let you know how that first class goes. It's going to be interesting.

Can we put a flat screen tv in here?

The nursery is slowly coming together. We've got baby furniture now, and our new glider and ottoman arrived last week. Thanks to his/her grandparents, the kid is going to love his/her new room. Okay, okay, not like the kid is actually going to care about what's in the room, but his/her mom and dad do. David's parents bought us the crib (pictures in previous post) and my parents gave us the glider set. Shh, don't tell David, but I had to buy a crib sheet because I couldn't stand to look at just the mattress anymore. I'll be sneaking it onto the mattress this weekend and we'll see how long it takes before he notices. It's just more for my freaky need of completion than anything else. I know I'll end up washing the sheet again before the baby arrives. I'm not really that crazy, am I?



The glider is super comfy. I think David has sat in it more than I have. In fact, he is the one to suggest that we put a flat screen tv on the wall so that he can sit, glide, and watch tv comfortably. Now you know I love me some television, but even I know better than to put a tv in the nursery. Something tells me when the kid is all grown, that glider will somehow make its way into David's office.



In other news, I trying to capture the baby moving on video tape. If you've never seen a baby moving while inside the body, it is rather freaky and cool at the same time. Only our child is stubborn (I'm not pointing any fingers because it probably has something to do with my side of the family). Earlier this even, the kid was rolling around, having a grand ole time in the belly. (As he/she is doing right now). However, the minute I try to video tape it, forget it, all movement stops. No poking I do can entice the child to move some more. But take the camera away, and presto, the kicker is back. Stubborn already, this does not look good for us.

What does look good for us is the fact that our little one seemed to enjoy his/her first home game at Clemson. The baby was very active when the players ran down the hill (could have been that loud cannon going off). By the time we left the game later that afternoon, the baby was once again doing a celebration dance in the belly. If it were possible, I think David would go ahead and fill out the child's application for Clemson University. Only we don't really have a name to put on the application so I don't see that happening. Besides he/she has 18 years to decide that maybe Wingate University is a better school!

Where did my ankles go and when do I get them back?

I knew the swollen ankles were coming. It was just a matter of time. But seriously I was in a bit of shock the first time I saw them that swollen. Didn't have a problem after walking up 28 rows in the upper deck for two different Panthers football games. Nope, it only took the second day of school, which was really the first day I was on my feet for more than an hour. When I got home later that day, I no longer had the ankle bones sticking out like usual. Had to prop those babies up the rest of the night. Guess my body was use to the summer months laying on the couch most days instead of being up all the time. It's gotten better. Currently the skinny ankle bones are back, but some days are worse than others. I had the best pedicure this past Friday, which helped my poor feet.

I had a regular doctor's appointment on Thursday. Mom's good, baby's good, doctor's happy. Couldn't ask for more than that. I've gained 10 more pounds in five weeks. Baby's heartbeat was 146 bpm, but he/she was giving the nurse a hard time. It took her awhile to find the heartbeat because the baby was moving around so much. She'd locate it and then he/she would move away. It was basically a quick game of hide and seek. My next appointment is in two weeks; that's due to the Gestational Diabetes (GD) testing. Oh what fun. Thankfully I don't have to wait around the hospital for an hour like some friends have had to do. Doc already gave me the "fruit punch" flavored glucose drink with instructions to drink it an hour before my appointment (no breakfast allowed). I hear you get a wonderful sugar high that will have you bouncing off the walls.

For more exciting news, our baby furniture arrived today. Of course, you know I had to go ahead and put the children's books on the bookcase. After seeing the books there, I realized I'll have to go get more books. That shelf is just not full enough. Good thing I'm a teacher and get great discounts. I'll post a few pictures below.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

That was uttered more than once by both of us as we tried to register at Babies R Us. I think we spent an hour in just the bottles, baths, and bibs section (and it's a pretty small section). Talk about overwhelming. We were semi-prepared because we already had a list of items we wanted to register for thanks to the Babies R Us website where you can create a wish list as you check out all the many different things babies need. I think I lost my cool somewhere around the diaper bags (still in the bottles, baths, and bibs section mind you). Two and a half hours later we called it quits. We decided to register for a few items online because we were both too tired to go on. It was also really the only time I regretted not finding out the gender of the baby. You kind of get tired of having to choose yellow, green, and white items. I need some pink or blue. I think after the kid is born, that's all I'm buying, pink or blue.

Sasquatch

Not in reference to the recent hoax, but to our child's foot. Although hopefully our child won't come out hairy, so perhaps Big Foot is a better term. At our recent ultrasound, we got great close-ups of the feet and hands since the little one was playing with his/her toes. The doc got a good picture of the right foot on screen, to which I said "dear heavens that's a big foot." Doc measured it to be 2 inches, which doesn't seem like a lot, but even he said our kid has big feet and will grown into them. Hope so. Not only does our kid now have big feet (thanks to both his/her parents) but we found out a little secret. Turns out the baby's second toe is longer than the first (that one's all David, my beautiful toes have a nice decline going from big to small). We also got a little glimpse of the face, but then the kid decided we were invading his/her privacy once again and threw up its arms at the paparazzi. Poor kid doesn't know what he/she is in for once he/she is born because I love taking pictures.

The echogenic focus ("bright spot") is still slightly visible but the doc said it's as "common as dirt." Now if he had only said that to begin with I don't think we would have worried. Doc said the baby appeared normal on all accounts. (Well there is the big feet). The baby's heartbeat was 171 bpm, probably cause he/she was pretty active during the ultrasound. The little one now weighs 1 pound 12 ounces, so he/she has gained almost a pound in three weeks.

We're hopefully going to register at Babies R Us tomorrow. I'll let you know if we survive.

Oh, I also added a 24 weeks picture and the ultrasound pictures below.

24 week ultrasound

Profile

Playing with his/her toes

(toes & fingers at top; head to the right)

Big foot

For the last time

I painted my toe nails for the last time. Not that they will never be painted again, but for the next few months someone else is going to have to do that job. It was way too difficult to paint toe nails today. And yes I can still see my toes while standing. Let's just say I messed up twice before finally managing to get a nice looking set of toes. I'll be getting pedicures from here on out (unless someone else wants to volunteer!)

Last week was busy. I was at a math conference in Raleigh from Sunday to Tuesday. Wednesday we had the second ultrasound with a specialist and Thursday was my regular prenatal appointment with my doctor.

The nice thing about seeing a maternity and fetal specialist is the ultra clear sonogram machines they have. We could see all the organs and bones much better and got plenty of pictures (half of which are shown in the post below). Although all this new high-tech sonograms just make people worry when you can see things more clearly. Turns out we were sent to the specialist because of a "bright spot" on the baby's heart. Sure enough, could see it clear as day on the new machines. The medical term is echogenic focus. In English, it's a deposit of calcium in the heart. (You can google it later if you feel so inclined). In most cases it goes away before the baby is born or by age 5. It's not uncommon and is seen more now than in the past simply because technology is better. The one concern is that it can be a soft marker for Down's Syndrome. However, both the specialist doctor and my own doctor are not worried because all my blood tests have been normal and there are no other signs. Basically the kid wanted some attention and felt the need to cause us worry (which I though occured after the kid was born, not before). Long story short, the baby is fine, mom is fine, dad - well he likes to worry anyhow.

I met with my doctor the next day so I was able to get all the info and felt satisfied that if he wasn't worried, neither was I. Heard the baby's heartbeat again, 150 bpm. And I am finally gaining weight. Technically I've put on 12 pounds, but given that I lost 5 pounds during the first trimester, I'm only up 7 pounds from my beginning weight. And bless all of you who think I'm just now in the 130 range. You are sadly mistaken.

I have another ultrasound with the specialist (more for peace of mind than anything else) in the next week or so (still waiting for the receptionist to call with the appointment time). I don't see my regular doctor until September 4th, which seems like forever, but time will fly because school is starting soon.

Take a look at the pictures below. David still thinks it's a boy; I'm starting to lean that way but I'm only say that I'm 60% convinced. Mainly because I'm still hoping for a girl. The baby weighed 15 ounces last week, so I'm sure SHE's up to a pound now.

21 week ultrasound

The pictures in the top row are the profile and right arm. Second row is the right hand (shaking his/her finger at the tech for bothering him/her so much).

The pictures in the third row are of the right hand and a foot. The last pictures is of the right leg.

We did get pictures of the left side, but they weren't as good as the right side pictures.

It's a

BABY!! (Sorry couldn't resist teasing, especially since everyone around us asks if it's a boy or girl). This picture was taken at almost 20 weeks. For those who can't make out the picture, it's a profile of the baby and he/she is about to suck his/her thumb (you can see the three fingertips and then the thumb near the mouth). We got to keep four pictures in all, but this was the clearest. One pic is labeled "face" which is good because it's the one picture where the baby looks more alien than human. We told the technician we didn't want to know the gender, but of course we asked afterwards if she knew what it was. She said she usually doesn't search it out if the parents don't want to know but that she did happen to notice. So of course David still thinks it's a boy. We also got to see some organs - the kidneys (okay we "saw" them but don't ask me to ever point them out again, the stomach, and the heart. She was taking pics for the doctor and measuring everything. We're going back for another ultrasound next week because the tech didn't get a good enough picture of the heart and my doc is quite thorough (which is a good thing). So he's sending us to a different office for better equipment. Hopefully I'll have clearer pictures next week. Heartbeat was still consistant, 157 bpm, which is just one over the last two heart rates.

The other good news is that I finally feel the baby moving around. Everyone says it's like fish swimming in your belly or butterflies. Not our kid. I was getting this pushing feeling up by my belly button, so I wasn't really quite sure that it was the baby I was feeling. Luckily I had the ultrasound appt the next day and asked the tech about it. Turns out it was the baby's foot pushing on me. Apparently the kid already takes after me and likes to stretch out. I figured he/she would be curled in a ball but after seeing the ultrasound, he/she is just stretching out making himself/herself comfortable. Too bad he/she is going to get a little cramped the bigger he/she gets.

Nursery has been painted. Now we just need to make it look more like a nursery and not an empty room. Still working on that project, but hey, at least I got it painted (left picture is the "before", right is the "after.")

17 weeks

We're back from our summer vacation. Had a very relaxing time down at the beach. Got a little sun, a little sand, and plenty of pictures.

I had another doctor's appointment today. Finally put on a little weight, so everyone was happy. By little, I mean 1 1/2 pounds, but you've got to start somewhere. The baby's heartbeat was 156 bpm, same as last time. I added a link to the left for those who'd like to listen to it. I used my digital camera to record, so please ignore the picture (and my ever stretching belly button) and just listen to the clip. You'll hear a few heartbeats in the beginning, but you'll have to wait until the last 20 seconds to really hear how fast the baby's heart is beating. The nurse said I had an active little one which is why she had trouble locating the heartbeat at first.

I also added a link to guess the gender. You'll have to register in order to make a guess. You get to guess the gender, actual birth date and time, weight, and length. Good luck!

My next appointment is at the end of the month, July 31. However, I do get to have an ultrasound in two weeks, July 18th. Normally, this is the time most couples find out the gender, but as most of you know, we're in it for the surprise. I'll be sure to post the new picture.

14 weeks

It's the official First Day of Summer Vacation! I would say I'm doing absolutely nothing except lay on the couch and watch tv, but I have done laundry, some ironing, and a bit of other work. So I'm not a complete lazy bum. That's tomorrow's agenda! I figure I've got to get in my "do nothing" days now because before I know it July and August are here and I'm back to thinking about school.

I was going to post last week after my doctor's appointment but the last week of school is quite crazy (hey, you try getting 100 fifth graders to walk down aisles, sit properly, and cross a stage without acting like buffoons; I think planning my wedding was easier than planning fifth grade promotion). Doc gave me and Lima Bean another A (I'm thinking he doesn't give out A+ so I'm okay with an A). Figure by the time s/he is born, we'll have a 4.0 (gotta have smart kids remember, Clemson is expensive and well I only have $6.84 in the piggy bank). Back to the doctor's visit - cool thing was that I got to hear the heartbeat. I know that a baby's heartbeat is much faster than an adult's but it was crazy fast. 156 bpm which the nurse said was great. She said she could also hear the baby moving around but of course I can't feel it yet. That should happen in a few more weeks. Still a few pounds under my original weight but now that I've got my appetite back I'm sure to gain weight by my next appointment (July 1).

We are almost down to single digit days before hitting the beach (see below for the actual count). I just cannot wait to hit the beach and lay around and do nothing (I'm sort of good at that). But I also know we'll have loads of fun and lots of laughing fits. I'll be sure to post a few pics when we get back.

Saving for College

David's sister Karen and her family gave us this Clemson piggy bank for Lima Bean. Not that Lima Bean can actually contribute money yet, but we're adding our change in there. The total as of today: 90 cents. Now if I can only get three more zeroes to go after the 90, maybe then we'll have enough to send Lima Bean to college. (All I have to say is that this kid better be getting lots of scholarships!) As for attending Clemson, well we'll see about that. I need to find some Wingate baby gear because I can't have her/him only knowing the colors orange and purple. Need to throw some blue and gold in the mix. Although I do know the first word our child will be able to spell is C-L-E-M-S-O-N.

10 weeks

In case you haven't noticed, I'm not very good at updating this thing each week. I really meant to update last Thursday after my doctor's appointment, but well, I was just plain tired.

Doc appt went well. He gave me an 'A.' Although you know me, I'm wondering why I didn't get an A+. Guess I didn't study enough. Lima Bean is still growing. That's all I can tell you. I won't have another ultrasound until 18 weeks so that's around the beginning of July. Seems far away but it should be right after we get back from the beach. (Which is 1 month, 1 week, and 1 day away as Heather informed me today).

I'm starting to feel a bit better. The nausea was an everyday occurence during weeks 6 through 8. Now it's an every other day event. And it no longer lasts all day. Which is nice because I miss being able to eat whenever I want to. I'm still dealing with the exhaustion. Today's a good day. A good day is any day that I come home and don't immediately lay down on the couch.

Lima Bean's first gift

First of all I should explain "Lima Bean." David and I hadn't really come up with a name for the baby, although I say "she" and he says "he" just so we don't say "it." Heather dubbed the little one "Lima Bean" when I showed her the ultrasound because that's what the blob looked like to her. So Lima Bean it is.

Back to Lima Bean's first gift. That was also done by Heather. Mom got peppermint candy (helps with the nausea), Dad got peanut m&ms (his fave), and Lima Bean got the cutest gift of all, the frog onesies in the picture. Okay, you've got to admit, they are just too cute!!!

So Lima Bean thanks her Auntie Heather for the name and the gifts. And for any free babysitting in the near future!

Pink or Blue?

You would think that a candy jar that is usually filled with orange and purple m&ms would be suspicious when suddenly filled with pink and blue m&ms. You would think that the women in David's office who usually ask about us having kids would notice the pink and blue m&ms. Yeah, you would think that.

Instead, the most common reply some people said when taking m&ms from the jar was, "Glad to see you finally got the colors right with Carolina Blue." One guy even asked, "what's up with the pink though." Um, hello?

Needless to say, David had to really stress the pink and blue combo in order for everyone to figure out that we were expecting. I took the easy way out, I just wrote "pregnant" on a sheet of paper and quietly showed it to a few teachers at school. Of course by the next day most of the people at school had heard, but I expected that. The gossip train is the fastest moving form of transporation at school.

Meet Baby Price

There she/he is. I marked the little one with the white dots for those who don't know what they're looking at. The upper right white dot is near the head (crown) and the lower left is the tail (rump). S/he measured 6mm. Not even a whole centimeter yet, so David wants to know why she's making me so tired and nauseous. I also got to see the heartbeat. I describe it as looking at a turn signal of the car in front of you, only not red or yellow. It was more a flashing white. The tech gave me a due date of December 7, so I was close. I'm still going with Dec 8 because I like even numbers. My next appointment with the doctor is next Thursday so we'll see what he says about the little one.

David and I are not finding out the gender beforehand. But I am taking bets (all money goes to me of course).

Okay, everybody wave hi! Visit us often.

The Secret's Out

Well, the secret's out to a few people. So I'm just waving hi! Enjoy reading. Feel free to leave comments or not. I promise not to correct any errors with my red pen. Love you all!

BFP!

For those not in the know, BFP means Big Fat Positive! I actually tested on March 31 but waited until April Fool's Day to tell David. Don't worry he knew I was telling the truth right away; in fact, he's the one who actually fooled me on a whole different matter. This one already feels different than the last. I previously got a positive on a few (okay five or so) tests back in December 07 but that one just didn't stick. But this time around all is good so far. Plus, that's a pretty fat line I've got going there.

I went to my first prenatal appointment yesterday. Kind of lucked out on that one since I had already scheduled my annual exam for April 7. Once I got the positive HPT, the nurse said go ahead and come in on that date. I've already had my betas checked and they are looking good as well. At 16 dpo, my level was 958 and at 18 dpo, it was 2680. The key to the numbers is that they at least double in a 48 - 72 hour window. Compared to my measly number of 14 at 17dpo last time, these numbers are way better.

The chemical pregnancy in December was sort of a blessing in disguise because instead of waiting until I'm 8 - 10 weeks pregnant, I got to see the doctor right away. Which is good b/c I would have only stressed myself out having to wait so long. I also get to have my first ultrasound next Wednesday. That truly excites me. Don't worry I'll be posting that picture up as soon as I can get my hands on it.

As for symptoms, just mild ones right now. I mentioned earlier how this pregnancy already feels different than the last. I've had some nausea, been extremely thirsty (I swear I drink a gallon of water a day), and tired off and on. I just know the nausea and the tiredness is going to increase in the next coming weeks.

Tis all for now. I'm lazy at this blog, so I probably won't update again until next Wednesday.

P.S. Happy 36th Anniversary Mom & Dad! Only 4 more years to the other big 4-0!

What I did on my Spring Break

Spring Break is coming to a close as school starts again on March 31. It has been a wonderful relaxing week. Since I'm into "To Do" lists right now, I actually created a list of things to do during spring break. Here's my list and whether anything was actually accomplished.

1. Clean house - checked that one off on Monday. Had to clean the downstairs rooms b/c the carpet cleaner was coming on Tuesday. I love when a house smells clean. Six days later, well it's not immaculate but it's not messy either.

2. Grocery Store/Dry Cleaners - also accomplished on Monday. Nothing exciting at either place so we'll just move on.

3. Print pictures for Joanne's scrapbook - completed on Tuesday I think. Valerie and I are creating a scrapbook for Joanne who is retiring this year. Each of her students wrote something about Mrs. Biggers and I took individual pictures. I'll have to post a few pictures once we start working on it.

4. Car wash - not only did I get my car washed, but I also took David's car for a wash as well. They are sparkling now.

5. Make doctor's appointment - this was half-completed. I went by the clinic and asked if they were taking new patients. Of course they ask me what David's insurance is and I of course have no clue. We've got the paperwork, so all I have left to do is call back and make that appointment.

6. Read, Relax - doing this one quite well, finished one book, The Monsters of Templeton. Weird, but I liked the mystery involved. Currently half-way though Killer Heat by Linda Fairsten. Love her books. I hope to have it finished before I go back to school.

7. Pedicure - YAY! I got this one done on Thursday. Cute pink toes. I'd include a pic, but I don't like the way my feet look, so no can do. Sorry.

I successfully completed most of the items on the list; I'm quite pleased. This has been one of the better spring breaks because I didn't travel anywhere. I just got to chill at home.

Now it's back to school and lots of school work. At least I feel refreshed now.

Beach Trip!

We're going to Ocean Isle Beach at the end of June. I cannot wait! We haven't been back in a number of years. Many things have changed since the last time we went back in 2002 for a family reunion. This time the beach group includes mom and dad, me and David, James and Tiffany, and Heather, the other daughter according to mom and dad.

We are staying at a house right on the beach. It will be so nice to just walk down the stairs of the deck and onto the hot sand (well hot sand won't be nice, but it sure beats hot asphalt!). Heather and I have to start our lists: list of what to pack, list of activities, list of what books to read, I could go on and on. Oh and a list of what food to buy for the meals.

I love the beach, the sand, just relaxing and reading, playing games, and chilling with the family. It will be so peaceful.

Tacky Day

Today was Tacky Day at school. All the students know that this is my favorite school day, aside from the first day and last day of school. Each year we have a spirit week to help launch our school fundraiser. This year the week consisted of Hat Day, Funny Feet Day, Pajamas Day, Team Day, and the all important Tacky Day.

Normally, I'm one of the tackiest at school that day. This year I apparently disappointed many people. It's the tutu. I didn't wear it this year. I was clueless as to how popular the tutu had become in recent years. I usually wear the tutu every other year; you don't want to overdo a great thing. I wasn't prepared for the utter disappointment many teachers and kids had today because I did not wear the tutu. It was pretty sad. I felt bad about it actually.

So I'm posting a picture of last year's Tacky Day outfit. This year I failed miserably (as a small excuse I had spent the previous three days in a workshop and didn't have much time to devote to planning the outfit). I'm sorry I let so many people down. I promise not to let it happen again.

Happy Valentine's Day

I should first say Happy Birthday David! Yesterday was his 40th birthday. Not exactly the cheeriest because his mother was in the hospital for a short stay, but I tried to make it a happy one. He got a surprise at Choir that night - cupcakes (!) and a "Lordy, Lordy, David's 40." I was glad to hear that he had a great time that night.

I also made a cake for him. Short stack yellow cake with vanilla icing and raspberry spread in the middle. Yum!

February 13th also happens to be our engagement anniversary. David surprised me with 2 red roses, since it's our second year. He's just a sweetheart.

Today of course is Valentine's Day! We'll be celebrating at home with a quiet dinner. It's just been too hectic to plan anything else. David had tulips delivered after I got home from work. I love tulips!! That's the pic of them. I told you he was a sweetheart.

In The Beginning

I decided to start a blog today. Not really sure why. I guess to keep family and friends updated on our lives here in NC. I figure hopefully when we start a family it will be easier for relatives to see pictures of our kids and read about what's going on. As for now, we're just doing the normal things of life - working, eating, and sleeping. Occasionally we hit the movie theater and of course, watch tv.

That's all for now. Nothing exciting to report. Other than David is turning 40 on February 13th. Maybe that will be the next post topic.