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Sunday, September 27, 2009

When I heard

This is Josh: I’ve been thinking about the time I heard I’d be a dad. I got home before Stef because it was a day when she worked until 9 pm. I came in just a few minutes earlier after working late. I was in the kitchen getting some food together when she came in and I gave her a hug. We talked about our days for a few minutes and then headed to the bedroom to change out of our work clothes.

Once I was in the bedroom, Charlie came in with something around his neck. Stef often puts things on our animals (socks, hats, t-shirts, cell phones, pretty much anything to liven up those animals’ lives for a second) so that was no shock. But then I looked down and saw it say “I Love Daddy”. And then I saw it was a baby’s bib. And then I looked up, Stef was holding a pregnancy test in her hand, and she said “I’m pregnant!”

I was so happy. It turns out getting pregnant isn’t as easy as those junior high health classes would have you think. So I had had some time to think about how I wanted to have a kid, and to hear Stef say it was just magical. I think I expressed my happiness with a combination of “oh my god” and “are you serious?” as I sat down on the bed. I probably should’ve quoted Shakespeare or something to catch the life-affirming moment, but that’s not my style.

Afterwards, Stef admitted that she almost had the bib on Charlie when we were in the kitchen, but I turned around too quick and she had to cheese it. It’s really cool how she told me the news. It was really creative. And she incorporated Charlie into the action. I’m thinking Charlie better enjoy his attention now, because once that baby comes he’s going to get demoted to the backburner with those cats. - Josh

Friday, September 25, 2009

Heartbeat and feelin' better!

Hi Everyone I’m not sure who is still reading this because I have been a horrible blogger. I am starting to feel better, and it is FAN-freakin’-tastic. I haven’t thrown up in a week. I am queasy before meals and at night. But nothing I can’t handle. In fact, right now, I am hungry! Which is weird.

Well besides the ins and outs of stef’s stomach, I’m happy to report that we confirmed a heartbeat (again!) at the doctor’s on Wednesday. She said that I am actually three days ahead of what I think I am. While she moved the fetal heart doppler across my belly, I asked what the baby was doing right now, and she said “He’s just hanging out”. That mental image just cracked me up. The nurse kept losing the heartbeat because I couldn’t stop giggling. The heartbeat was 140 bpm, and the nurse told me that I was having a boy because anything 140 or lower according to the old wive’s tale is a boy! Now I am can’t get that out of my head. It’s funny because when I saw the ultrasound at 8 weeks, it just screamed boy to me. Mother’s intuition maybe? :) The other day I could feel the top of my uterus pushing out past my pelvic bone. It is all becoming real. I am going to let myself stop worrying and just enjoy. Finally!

We’ve come a long way from a poppy seed! Hello baby plum.


Friday, September 11, 2009

9 weeks belly pic

Here I am at 9 weeks. It is all bloat and bowel. The uterus pushes everything up and out. So that is no baby poking me out! More like my dinner that night. Still, it is funny to have such a round tummy.
Scroll down to the right for our baseline pictures of 4 weeks.


Vacation pictures

Our tandem bike ride in Vancouver's Stanley Park!


I have to put in a picture of the lunch I had that was so delicious! It was like a miracle that my nausea let me enjoy this. I felt like it was the best meal of my life!




Some big bridge in Vancouver. What was the name of it? La chupacabra or something?




Me and Josh on our bike tour of Portland.



The fab view from the Seattle Space Needle. We stayed for like 10 minutes, and were like, okay, let's get the hell out of here!



I had to lay on the street to take this picture. Josh and the Seattle Space Needle


Josh at the very first Starbucks in Seattle's Public Market (where they throw that fish around)

Monday, September 7, 2009

Our vacation to the pacific northwest

Well, we booked the flights before I found out I was pregnant. We took a gamble on priceline to save 50-75 percent on our hotels before I found out that I would get morning sickness (from which point I will just call it the pukes). A little less than 2 weeks before the big trip I started to get the icks which later turned into the pukes. What a horrible time for a vacay right? Wrong! I found being at work was just plain awful. I couldn’t lay down when I wanted to, I couldn’t puke where I wanted too. And reading on the computer is a huge trigger for me (I’ll pay for this entry, I’m sure). I found that going at my own pace made things a bit easier. And good god was I ready for a vacation!


The bad: I was sick on the vacation. But I would say only 2 to 3 hours of the day were pretty bad. I didn’t have as much energy but that just meant I had to walk slow. It felt sometimes that I was made of lead (also some meat). I also had a touch of the rage at times. By rage I mean pregnancy hormones, but you know, toMAYtoe, toMAHtoe. I love you josh!!

The good: I had a great time! It turns out that the whole exercise thing is no bullshit. I would get really nauseous right before lunch. Josh would say maybe we should sit down, but I said, no, lets walk (abet slowly). And after an hour walk, exploring the city, I feel better and I enjoyed pretty much every lunch and all afternoon excursions. That means we had a blast riding our tandem bike in Vancouver (details to come! Well, maybe). Mornings we started late so I could peel my stomach off the bed, and the evenings we took it easy too. A great balance of activities and relaxation.

The awesome: Halfway through the vacation, I was feeling a lot better. I didn’t throw up, and I only felt queasy at times. And get this: I enjoyed all three of my meals on Thursday!!

The paranoid: Well there is nothing worse than having puke time in toiletville, but there is no way to feel sick and simultaneously worry about the baby. All your brain can think is “I don’t want to throw up, please no, not again, NO!” And that pretty much blocks it all out. Well with my boobs feeling less sore and not feeling very nauseaus today, I was really scared that I wasn’t pregnant anymore. But silly me because just when you think its over.. BAM! At 9pm tonight we begin again. I can’t say that all I did was to shout: “Jeebus take the wheel!” while withering on the sofa, because a tiny part of my brain (the sadistic part) was whispering, “yay”. Because nothing says happy baby like a sad tummy. 9 weeks today, and hopefully in a couple of weeks I will feel better with no paranoia either.


So tomorrow I will walk for an hour and see if the exercise was really the key!
More on the vacation laters! And pictures too