Baby’s First Blog

After a long morning at the doctor’s office, an unexpected glucose test and a painfully full bladder, we made our way to the ultrasound room for the 19 week ultrasound.

Pretty quickly the tech was able to tell us with the utmost confidence that we will be expecting to welcome into the world, a baby girl! We were thrilled. The ultrasound lasted about 45 minutes and we got to take home what seemed like a whole roll of ultrasound photos. And of course, we weren’t complaining!

Aside from finding out the sex, we were able to see all ten fingers, all ten toes, fully developed organs and lots of forming bones. The tech said our little one is growing great and we are on schedule for a due date of August 5th.

Today baby is 15 weeks old and this week marks my 16th week of pregnancy. While baby is growing like crazy on the inside, baby has yet to make a bump on the outside. Not to worry, the bump should be forth coming very shortly and we’ll post pictures to prove it!

The most prominent change I’ve noticed is a change in how I sleep. While the belly is not protruding yet, sleeping has become an obstacle and I’m noticing that belly sleeping is no longer an option. I do sometimes end up on my belly during the night, but I wake up and feel like a Weeble!

Next doctor’s visit is on Friday and hopefully, I’ll have new sonogram pictures to post of baby. I’m also hoping the doctor will humor me and let me listen in on the heartbeat. At our last appointment, the machines weren’t working properly, so while we were able to see the heart beating, we didn’t get to hear it. Of course, we’ll keep the updates, info and pictures coming!

Photo courtesy of www.babycenter.com.

We’re heading into week 14 of the pregnancy and I am officially 13 weeks today. And yes, I do say we for a reason. While I may be the vessel for this child, daddy could be likened to a ships crew! He’s doing a wonderful job caring for me and ensuring at all times that baby and I are safe and well cared for.

In one more week I’ll be officially out of the first trimester and into the second, Feb. 3rd for anyone like me counting down the days No massive physical changes noticeable…to anyone but me. So no baby belly yet, but in the next month or so I’ll start showing. And as I’ve already promised people, I’ll make a belly post then!

Big dates coming up are the appointment in Feb. which will test for any sort of chromosomal abnormalities and then the big, big appointment is on March 10th. You can circle that date in red on your calendars folks because that’s the big day. During our March appointment, daddy and I will find out if we’ll be having a boy or a girl.

We’ll keep everyone updated and post more pictures very soon!

I’m officially in week 9 of my pregnancy. It’s still early, so I’m not showing, but tell that to my favorite pair of jeans! Even though most of the books I’ve read have said I don’t need maternity clothes until much later in the pregnancy, I’m already tempted to start wearing those pants.

Probably the biggest concept I still haven’t wrapped my head around is that there’s actually a little baby inside me. But all the baby gifts we received for Christmas are defiantly helping to let the reality set in a little more. Memaw and Pepaw Wind got baby all sorts of gear and in both pink and blue to cover all the bases and Grandma and Grandpa Smith got us baby’s crib mattress.

Now that the holidays are over, Mr. Dub and I will be kicking things into gear and getting the baby’s room ready, minus the baby room decor (that will come later!) Our next doctor’s appointment is Jan. 12th and should be exciting…we should be able to hear the baby’s heart beat

Though many people are skeptical about love at first sight, I’d ask them to view the first picture taken of their baby and then ask them their thoughts on the topic again. It’s hard not to fall in love instantly with something so precious and that is so totally half of who you are and half of the person you love most in this world.

If you haven’t put two and two together, our little family will be growing in the next year with an anticipated arrival date of August 5th. We found out not too long ago we were expecting and we can hardly contain our joy. As early as we are in the pregnancy, we wanted those who are close to us to share in our joy and experience this amazing portion of our lives with us.

August was hot and full of events! My sister celebrated a birthday (24th to be exact), our friends Nicole and Josh were married in Phoenix, Arizona and Mr. Dub and I went to Cocoa Beach with The Ring’s!

Then, September started out with a bang! I was given tickets to the Rays v. Boston Red Sox game on Sept. 2ndme, Mr. Dub, Mike and Shannon all went to the game and had a great time. While I had said it was the first major league baseball game I’d seen in person, my mom quickly corrected me and said I went to a Texas Rangers game when I was knee high to a grasshopper. So, officially, it was my second major league baseball game, but the first one I can remember

Now, Mr. Dub and I are enjoying the Labor Day weekend and gearing up for the end of the month and October. At the end of the month we’ll be traveling to Miami (Coral Springs, actually) to visit JDub’s BFF for his 30th birthday. And darn the luck if there isn’t a Coach Factory Outlet and an Ann Taylor Loft Outlet in the VERY near vicinity! Some how, I’ll manage.

From then on it’ll be crazy preparing for Jerica and Sergio’s wedding which will be at the end of October in Cancun. Darn the luck again! No Coach or Ann Taylor, but I’ll settle for the bungalow and white sandy beaches.

As always time is flying by! I just celebrated a birthday…I won’t say which one and everyone knows it’s impolite to ask a lady her age so we’ll just say I’m a year older now Our house is coming together with the purging of some items via garage sales and Craigslist and with the addition of items Jay and I find at antique stores, garage sales and of course, Craigslist.

Lots of birthdays and events coming up over the next few months so we’ll be hitting the road and in some cases the air to be there with friends and family to help celebrate those special moments. Things should slow down right before the holidays start and then…we’ll talk about the b word and of course keep everyone updated. Love always from Mr. and Mrs. Dub.

It’s such a four letter word and I’ve hated it all my life! However, about five weeks ago I decided it was time for a change and I started a new diet. Jason and I both wanted to move forward in life and work towards starting a family but at my current weight I had been advised by several doctors that if I were to get pregnant it would be a high risk pregnancy.

With that in mind about five weeks ago I started a medically supervised weight loss program. There’s really not that much to it. I eat approximately 1200 calories a day, go to the gym (doing cardio and strength training - with a very HOT personal trainer named Jason by the way ) at least two or three days a week and take an appetite suppressant.

It may seem extreme, but right now it’s working for me which is all I care about. For once in my life I’m dieting and not starving to death. I can even eat Godiva chocolate truffles and enjoy dirty vodka martinis, in moderation of course! I will admit though I miss having potatoes and gravy and green beans for Sunday lunch at my parents house. We still have lunch with them, but I bring my veggies and my scale to make sure I keep on track.

While I’ve only just started the program, in a little under a month I was able to lose 12 pounds. If I continue at that rate I’ll be down to my goal (and not to mention dream) weight in approximately four more months. And at that point, you better believe I will be shopping and getting a new Coach purse!

Yes…I know it’s almost a year later, but I finally got my, I mean our, photo selections together and sent them over to the photographer for our wedding album. I got the proofs back a few days ago and gave the ok to have it printed.

I posted the pictures on our Picasa photo site so you can take a look for yourself!

As luck would have it, the album should be ready in about four weeks. The perfect 1st anniversary present don’t you think?

It’s so hard to believe that it’s already the middle of February this year. Everything with us is going well. I started off the new year at a new job working in HR (or pretty much whatever else they want me to do :)) for a construction company in Pasco County, Jason continues to do wonderful and forward-looking things at Signature and Sonny had perfected the art of still doing nothing.

Projects around the house include lately, Jason working on the roof of our porch addition and also working on re-finishing furniture that we either bought or received from my dad and a Singer sewing machine that has been in Jason’s side of the family for many years.

Now that Jason has a personal tool shopper (Jason says thank you John) he’s able to tackle some of these projects now as my dad helps him find the tools he may not necessarily need, but honestly, what guy doesn’t want more tools in his garage. He may need it once…one day…

We finally have the front bedroom set up as our guest room so nudge, nudge, hint, hint to everyone we have a paradise set up for all of you ready and waiting!