Ultrasound Pictures

Today we had our first ultrasound where the doctor could see the baby which is officially called a fetus now. We had our first ultrasound at 5 weeks and 6 days, but the baby was too small so we had to reschedule for today.

When we went in the tech put the scanner on my stomach and we could immediately see the baby and the heartbeat. It was amazing! The heart was beating so quickly and our baby was moving like crazy even though I can't feel it yet. We saw arms and legs every once in a while when it was moving. Kai was fascinated as he watched and knew what everything was. He would ask the tech, "Is that the spine/heart/head/legs/etc.?" Every time he was right, which was impressive since I couldn't make much of it until they started pointing things out to me.

Our due date has been moved up one day to March 4, 2009. So today, I'm 9 weeks along--due for another belly picture:-)

Below are the ultrasound pictures we brought home. You'll have to look carefully to see the parts. The baby is laying on its side facing away from the camera, so you'll see it's backside--starting with the head, down the spine/torso, and down to the bottom. Imagine it laying on it's left side away from the camera and you may make sense of it. If not, it's fine--I don't always make sense of other people's ultrasounds either. I think it was much easier when it was in motion.

P.S. The heartbeat was 171 beats per minute. The doctor said at 9 weeks all babies have high heart rates and they start to slow down after 10 weeks, so it's not necessarily a determination of the gender--but we're really excited to find out!

The Culprit???

So...I may have found the culprit for my "morning sickness". Our wonderful little baby you ask? That was my line of thinking as well, but I may have another possibility. For the last few days I have decided to take my prenatal vitamin in the evening instead of in the morning. I have been amazed at how great I feel during the day and then how terrible I feel at night after I take it. So, I will continue to test my theory and if it proves true, I'll ask my doctor for a different brand. Hopefully this is the cure--I'll keep you updated!

Kai the dentist

I saw Kai for a dental appointment on the 9th of July. He was the best dentist I've ever been to! I had a great time sitting in the chair while he worked tirelessly to provide me with the best dental care:-) I was preoccupied watching all the organized chaos going on around me. The best description I can think of would be a very large, active beehive. The clinic is very busy with all the students quickly going from one place to the next trying to meet the needs of their patients. It was so fun to be a part of. Since we knew I was pregnant, I only received a limited evaluation (free of x-rays and perio probing) to limit any risk to our baby.

Dr. Kai Steele :-)

Kai inputting all of my information into the computer while he works on me.

Belly Pictures

Here's the belly progress.... I will continue to add more pictures to this post every week, so if you want to keep seeing the progress, click on this post (Belly Pictures) to see the progression. It will not post as a new blog post since I will just continue to add pictures to this entry. Hope you enjoy! Thanks Jessica for the idea:-)

40 weeks

38 Weeks

36 weeks

34 weeks

32 1/2 weeks

32 1/2 weeks

30 weeks

27 weeks (Definitely something there!)

24 weeks

21 weeks

19 weeks

17 1/2 weeks

16 1/2 weeks

15 weeks

14 weeks

12 weeks, 2 days

11 weeks, 1 day

10 weeks, 1 day

9 weeks, 1 day

8 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

Here are some things I have found more tasty during pregnancy than before:

Pickles are super delicious! Never thought I'd like the stereotypical pregnancy food!

Chicken noodle soup is nice and bland while salty.

Also bland, while salty.

Again bland, while salty--do you see a trend here? Not sure why salty things are appealing???

Fruit smoothies are also super delicious!

Water, which has always been my favorite drink, I find I'm drinking even more of--may have to do with the salty foods I'm eating more of lately....

Here are some things that DO NOT look/smell good at any time of the day:

Chocolate: Once a friend--we've parted ways recently since I can't even look at it without feeling sick.

Anything fried smells and looks awful.

I could add more pictures, but it's making me sick:-( So I'll just leave it at this: if it's highly flavorful, I'm probably avoiding it at this point in time.

7 Weeks

Today we are 7 weeks pregnant. Our baby is a little bigger than the top of a pencil eraser. If we could see inside and look at our baby we would be able see the color in the irises of the eyes! It's brain is getting more and more complex, so I'm trying to keep good nutrients coming it's way even when I'd rather not eat due to morning sickness that's chosen to befriend me the last week or so. I would post a picture of what our baby looks like now, but you might not think it's too cute, so I'll wait until around 12 or 13 weeks to post a picture. For now, just imagine a really small, adorable baby:-)

A letter to God

Dear God,

I just have a few questions…

Why does there have to be morning sickness?
And why is it called morning sickness when it really lasts all day?
Do you know a secret cure to take it away?
Will I ever want to be pregnant again?
I’ve tried ginger, ginger ale, crackers, eating small meals frequently, and just plain avoiding smells as much as possible.
Is there any place on earth devoid of smell?
Will I ever be able to sit next to Kai as he eats foods that he has so innocently laced with nausea triggers?
Will this go away before I start teaching in a month?

And one more thing God…could you please help me take care of this baby inside of me? I really have no idea what I'm doing:-)

Things will be changing....

It's been a while since I’ve posted, but some big events have happened recently warranting a post and probably several subsequent posts to keep everyone updated.

Kai's boards on Thursday were over! We had dinner plans with some friends to celebrate being done and enjoy "normal" life again. I was a little tired but passed it off as a busy week after taking an intensive class at La Sierra. I also was going to the bathroom every hour, but dismissed it to too much lemonade. After staying out late and then coming home to some much needed sleep, I woke up wide awake at 5:00 a.m.--no alarm necessary with one thought on my mind--pregnancy test! Yes, I was late, but that wasn't necessarily atypical. I just had a feeling that things were different and there was only one way to find out. As I made my way to the bathroom, I kept telling myself that things probably were normal and the test would be negative, but there was the small chance....

Let me insert a well known fact for those who know me well, and possibly a surprise for those who don't. Pregnancy tests and I have long been friends. When we were married almost 8 years ago, my mom gave me a pack of roughly 100 pregnancy tests (she must've known my slight OCD tendency) and she said they were “just in case I needed reassurance”. Since we've been married students most of our lives so far, kids are something we've always wanted, but knew we had to wait for. I used the last of those 100 tests sometime last year and have had to supplement with dollar store ones in the meantime.

Back to the story...I dipped the stick into the cup and watched...control line...waiting...and...slowly a second line started to appear. Thanks to my mom who was a labor and delivery nurse for a period, I also knew that a false negative was possible, but a false positive was not. I was going to be a mom, Kai a dad, us: Parents. I let it sink in long enough to realize that this was actually great news and I HAD to share it 5 am or not. I quietly walked to the bedroom at sat on the bed wide awake next to Kai. He rustled and then his eyes barely opened to realize me sitting, not lying in bed. "Hey, what's up?" He managed to say still mostly asleep. "I'm pregnant!" I said. His eyes snapped open, all of the sudden he was awake. I led him to the bathroom and pointed out the second line...it was official. No more sleeping...things were definitely going to change.

So was this planned? Well, we were actually going to start trying in July. We had that date planned since 2004 after deciding that Kai was going to dental school. So this was really only a month early. How? Well, in June Kai thought that there was no need to prevent anymore since we’d start trying in a month anyway. Besides, we had been married for almost 8 years and never had a surprise. We both wondered if we would have a hard time conceiving since we really didn’t know anyone married that long without an accident. So we just decided to stop preventing, but not start “trying” either. So now, I realize that at times my slight OCD on certain things is a good quality that has allowed us to pursue our dreams saving kids for a time when we’re a little more prepared for them.

We’re very excited, looking forward to all the changes that will inevitably take place in the coming months and years. We’re thankful to God for creating a life inside of me. We pray that our baby will be healthy and strong and that we’ll adjust well to all the changes.