To clear up any confusion . . .

Just so you know . . . I do not put shirts with curse words on my 9-year-old daughter, even if I do have "sex parties". Katelyn's shirt says "Itsa Bitsa". When Garrett announced Katelyn's gender at her party, he was 2 1/2, and he came out and said, spontaneously, "It's a itsa bitsa girla!" So there, that clears up the confusion for those of you with dirty minds. (Since about five of you asked me about it yesterday.) Ha Ha. Oh, by the way, David was able to feel the baby kick last night for the first time. She was apparently doing somersaults in my belly when we went to bed last night!

Lisa

Think pink!

Well, we finally got the news we have been waiting for, and it appears that our little "it" is a little "she"! I was quite surprised when the doctor told us, because most people, including most of my co-workers, David, Garrett, and 48% of you who took our poll, thought it was a boy. I am thrilled and have been intently searching through pages and pages of girly crib bedding for the last week and a half, until my head is about to explode. Katelyn, of course, is very excited to be getting her girl. Garrett was a little bummed at first, (actually kind of mad), but he appears to completely over it. David was just happy that the baby appears to be healthy. Everything on the ultrasound looked good, and our genetic screening came back with a very low likelihood of any abnormalities. We revealed the gender to our families at the "sex party" over Thanksgiving break in Edmond. (This is kind of a tradition in my family and is not as exciting as it might sound . . . not that it wasn't exciting.) As you can see, the kids made t-shirts before we left for Oklahoma, and they revealed it was a girl by taking off their jackets. The party was fun, and we were so happy that so many of our family were able to be there. We had a good visit in Edmond and Tulsa, and we are finally back home and happy to be sleeping in our own beds, but we'll back soon. Christmas comes too quickly this year. On that note, I'd better go get some things done. We don't even have our tree up yet . . . so much to do, so little time. If I don't write again before Christmas, we wish you all a very peaceful Christmas and a joyful New Year.

Love,
Lisa

It's a . . . baby!

No, we haven't found out the gender yet. That happens next week, but we did get an unexpected glimpse at our little bundle. In case you can't tell, the baby is face-down in the picture, with the spine on the top. I went for my monthly OB appointment on Wednesday, and I took the kids so that they could hear the heartbeat. Since the kids can't go in for our ultrasound, (because the perinatologist is "distracted" by children), my OB took pity on us and squeezed us into the ultrasound room. The kids got to see the baby moving around and kicking (a lot). We got a really good view of the spine and heart beating, plus we got to see its legs and feet (kicking of course) and a glimpse of the profile. Garrett was hoping to see some boy parts, but no such luck. We'll have to wait until next week for that. Garrett did say that it looks like a boy to him, a future soccer star, he thinks.

I think Garett may be right, about the soccer star part, at least, because I started feeling the baby kick last Sunday, and I can feel it a little stronger everyday. With that, it's starting to feel more real. However, it might not really "kick in" until he/she is inflicting pain on my major organs. The ultrasound next week should help too. It is a "Level 2" and will be more in-depth, so we should get a good look at the baby, not to mention being able to stop calling it an "it".

Okay, that's all for now. I'll post more soon!

Love,
Lisa

180 days left!

Let's see if this thing works. It is supposed to tell you how many weeks and days I am at and how many days we have left 'til the big day. We'll see if it changes on its own, or I'll have to update it every once in a while.

Anyway, I heard the heartbeat last week. It was really loud and strong . . . so I guess there really is a baby in there! I am anxiously awaiting the first signs of life, a kick, a flutter, something. It could happen any day now. I'll let you know. I wore my first maternity top today. Woo hoo! Yes, I seem to have grown overnight, or at least the baby has, or my uterus or something. Thank God for low-rise jeans, though. They fit nicely under the little "bump", as they so fashionably call it in Hollywood. We'll see how long I can get away with those. That's all for now.

Love,
Lisa

Too tired to blog!

Well, that's what it comes down to . . . I've been too tired to blog. I don't remember being this tired when I was pregnant before, but, then again, I am 10 years older. A woman I know who is a brain development specialist told me that , in your first trimester, your body exerts daily as much energy as it takes to climb a mountain. So, I feel very justified in taking my extra naps and having "pregnancy brain", which I'm not sure David actually believes is a real condition. I am 12 weeks now, almost through my first trimester, and it is getting better. I'm only exhausted about every other day, and, thankfully, I haven't been nauseous much, just hungry, very hungry, with a wide variety of cravings and food aversions. David has been kind enough to indulge me by running out and getting chocolate malts and whatever else I am craving at various times. He has been pretty good about not indulging with me, and I am proud of him for that. I've also had quite a few headaches, an upper respiratory infection, and lots of allergy attacks. Because I've had all these allergy symptoms, I am fully expecting my nose to get really wide like it did with Garrett. I'm expecting it, but hoping it doesn't. It wasn't the best look for me.

As you can see, I am sharing my wonderful ultrasound photo from the little ultrasound I had about 3 weeks ago. In case you can't tell, the blur in the middle is the baby. Can't you see its little nubs dancing around. Actually, it was dancing around quite a bit, and we could see its little nubs, even if you can't, and we could see the heartbeat, which was really what we were going for. It was a relief to finally see the baby and to see its little heart beating. And, since I can't stand calling it an "it", I cannot wait until I have my Level 2 ultrasound, which is already scheduled for November 19th. We are anxiously awaiting that day and wish we could fast-forward, so that we can start calling it a "he" or "she" and start picking out paint and bedding and preparing for his or her arrival.

By the way, David is still somewhat in denial, and I guess I am too. Once I start showing, other than the pooch I have, which is probably more food than baby, then maybe it will become more real and not so surreal.

Much love to you all,
Lisa

Wow! What a surprise!

Well, I'm sure the word is spreading fast. We had some unexpected news yesterday. It seems that I am pregnant! Yes, that's right. It's still hard for me to verbalize, but, after three home pregnancy tests, one of which clearly said the word "Pregnant" in its digital read-out, I am convinced. I was in denial for several hours, not believing the very faint pink lines on the first two tests, but, after talking to the triage nurse about getting a confirmation test and having her tell me in a very calming voice that the test I take at home is the same test they would give me at the office, and having her go on to tell me all the things I cannot do or ingest, and having her transfer me to the scheduling operator to schedule my first OB appointment (really?), and after running back to Wal-Mart to pick up the more expensive digital test, along with a rotisserie chicken and an anniversary card, and actually seeing the black-and-white results of that test, I guess I am out of the denial stage and into the dazed and confused stage. It's okay, though, because David is right there with me. I don't think anyone could be more dazed and confused than he is right now.

I told him on the eve of our 15th anniversary. The night before, we had discovered what turned out to be a hot water leak in our slab, and that day, the same day I discovered my great news, the plumber came out and gave us some more great news - $1780! Let me just say, it has been a rough summer financially, with gut-wrenching electric bills and now this. Surprisingly, David was handling the news of the plumber's bill fairly well, so, when he got home from work, I thought, what better time than now to let him know. Why not just load some more onto the pile. I couldn't actually say the words, so I showed him the test. He had to squint at first to read it, and then he didn't quite understand it, but then he did, and that's when his face turned white and he went into shock. I'm not going to go into too much more detail here, but, after giving him a short refresher course about how these things actually happen and having a dialogue about how we have no idea how this is all going to work out, he came on board. We know that this is not a surprise to God, and that He had it planned out all along, and that He will take care of us. (Of course, we're still both scared to death!)

We told the kids last night. We had an anniversary dinner at home, and David was so sweet to bring me pink roses and chocolates. At the end of dinner, he had another surprise, he pulled out some sparkling grape juice and four champagne glasses, and the kids got so excited, because they love that stuff. Anyway, he toasted to our anniversary, and then he asked me if I had something else to toast. Of course, Garrett said that we should toast to the fact that he pooped earlier. Which opened up a great segue, since I couldn't seem to actually bring myself to say the words, and we started asking him if he liked poop, if he would like to smell it all day and wipe it, and if he liked to change diapers. That's when he figured out what we were trying to say, and David said, "Cause Mom told me she was pregnant." Garrett said, "Really? Uh Uh. Really?" Garrett said he felt sick. He couldn't believe it. I told him to join the club. Garrett immediately started vying to move into the third bedroom (with the plasma) and let the baby have his room. Katelyn was just giddy and didn't say much, until Garrett said he hoped it was a boy, so she chimed in and said she hoped it was a girl. She couldn't stop laughing. They are both very excited. Garrett said it was "surreal", and I couldn't agree more. He chose the perfect word for the perfect time. He truly is my son. Love to you all. Please keep us in your prayers. By the way, the due date is April 21, 2009!