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

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.

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)

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

28 and Pregnant

This is Josh: I’ve learned something from MTV. Time and again, I recently watched as 16 year olds were getting pregnant and their lives were falling apart. The guy wants to go out with friends, the girl has to drop out of high school. There were some bright points in there, and certainly it can work for those who find themselves or their partners young and pregnant. But the general feeling that I get is relief that I was never even close to being in that situation.

The next feeling that I get is the urge to grow up. Sure, I’ve always wanted kids. But isn’t it a lot of work? And responsibility? I have the same feelings that you see in countless movies, where a guy has to suddenly grow up and be responsible because he has no other choice.

But then I think, jeez, I don’t even have to grow up, because I already did. Somewhere between spring break in Cancun and parties til dawn… and bedtime at 11:30 and listening to NPR on the way to work – I grew up. So it’s not even a problem anymore. Before I watched “16 and Pregnant”, I always thought about Seinfeld, and Sex and the City (only saw two shows of that, but I caught onto the premise), and how I’m “only 28”. But watching 16 year olds on TV, my overriding thought is “Man, I’m 12 years older than these kids”.

So, let’s dive into the unknown. Let’s try a new high, one with bright eyes and soft cheeks and googoogaagaas. I’ve seen friends have kids and it looks like fun. Witnessing a little speck grow into a baby and then a little human, I can’t imagine the wondrous feelings that come with that. And I can always take comfort in the fact that there’s still well over a decade before that beautiful baby turns into a nasty teenager. - Josh

BARF!!!!

Well it turns out that the night before last someone replaced the baby with 10 shots of vodka, because it was that morning of freshman year all over again. I literally struggle not to vomit all over the keyboard as I type.

Common misconceptions about morning sickness.
It is all day long people. I only felt slightly queasy between 12-2pm and 5-6pm yesterday. The rest of the day was pure hell. And you would know to the minute too when some relief comes your way.
It comes out both ends. I literally had to flip a coin yesterday of which end was going to get the toilet first.
It makes you regress. I want to get on the floor, pound my fists and kick my legs and scream because I am so frustrated with this feeling. It is enough to feel like this for a couple days, but all I see are the horrible weeks ahead spread out before me.
I don’t want to eat anything healthy. The only thing I can stomach is salty french fries. Saltines taste like ashtrays and the idea of vegetables... oh god!
Writing about morning sickness makes it worse. My sister told me I have to keep my mind off of it… oooooookay?!
You always speak too soon. I told josh today that I was feeling better today, but at 12:00pm everything came crashing down.
You still have to go to work and make zee monies. It is barbaric I say!
You don’t always get the luxury of puking at home. I just feel like I am in some nightmare box when I have to go into the stalls at work.

Sweet Pea

Growing like crazy, baby is starting to sprout eyes, ears, nose, cheeks and chin. Those little hands and feet- still webbed like paddles- might wiggle by week's end, the heart is beating (almost twice as fast as yours!), and blood is starting to circulate.

tiny tiny little rhythm

According to the book your pregnancy day by day (yes I also have a week by week, but I need super specifics people!) baby bot's heart started beating sometime today. I feel like it is valentine's day!

I hope little bot likes it in there. I bet it was an exciting day having a little thumping rhythm to keep him or her company in the warm darkness.

Just like yesteday, I came home from work exhausted. I wonder if bot knows that his mommy works hard for the money?

5 weeks

Your embryo (looking kind of like a tadpole) is starting to form major organs (heart, kidney, liver, stomach) and systems (nervous, circulatory, digestive). Baby's presence in your uterus triggers production of hCG (the hormone detected by pregnancy tests)... which triggers production of other hormones like estrogen and progesterone... which trigger all those great symptoms you've probably been noticing!