Our 20 week appointment was today!

What a day! I was looking forward to 3:20 ALL DAY LONG!! Of course, I got out of work later than I had hoped for. Then I drove all the way south to Diehl Rd before realizing the office I was scheduled at today was back north where I started… When I finally got to my appointment, we had to put off the ultrasound until after I saw the Nurse Practitioner. My bladder was full and my mind was racing. Christian was in the midst of an asthma attack with nothing but the brand new inhaler he just received from his physician at his previous appointment. Unfortunately, it was his first time using this medication, and it did not work!! So while the nurse was listening for the heart tones, Christian was wheezing and I was focused on him and worried he wasn’t going to make it through to the ultrasound.
Again, we heard all about how active our baby is! We couldn’t hear a steady heart rate because just when we got to hear a few beats, Baby moved. Then she’d have to move the Doppler around to relocate Baby’s heart. Finally, Baby sat still long enough to listen and we measured the heart rate around 155.
Next we moved over to the ultrasound room where Tom did our first abdominal ultrasound! Really, I could try to explain how I felt seeing this beautiful baby… but I won’t bother. No words could do the job. I loved seeing Baby move its arms all around- amazing! We told Tom right away that we didn’t want to find out Baby’s sex today, so he made sure we turned our heads when he was checking the legs. Baby’s legs were positioned like a frog, so the view would have been ideal. He took about 20 pictures from all different views; we had six printed for us to take home. Baby's size is equal to that of a baby due about a week earlier than our due date. Today is 19 weeks and 5 days and Baby is measuring at 20 weeks and 3 days. One might think our due date is off, but we know exactly the moment this baby began its journey so it's calucated quite accurately!
The first picture is the profile… seeing this little nose just warms my heart! Next is another side view of Baby; if you look closely you’ll be able to see that itty bitty spine. The third picture shows Baby’s face. He adjusted the contrast to show the eye sockets clearly. The nose and lips are visible too. We got to see some pictures of the ears, heart, chest, and belly too, but we didn’t get to bring those home. The last picture is of the front of Baby again. This time we are looking upward from the belly. So the belly is the big circle toward the right. To the upper left is the head (only half of the face is showing) and that straight line in front of Baby’s face is a little arm and hand waving at us again!

We are so happy to see that Baby is doing well. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we work our way through the rest of the second trimester. Time is starting to fly by! I love every movement I feel, and each time it brings me happiness. I find myself smiling even when I'm alone at each little bounce I feel in my belly.

First movements and kicks!

What a week!! No more champagne bubbles, I am really feeling Baby T. move! I'll start to feel an area of my abdomen harden, and then sure enough, if I put my hand there I can feel movement... I didn't expect to be able to feel anything from the outside, but what a pleasant surprise. Christian was able to feel baby move too; we look forward to more of these exciting times! On Saturday night, I was sitting in a chair with my hand on my belly and I said, "Oh my God! Oh my God!!" My mom was looking at me wondering what my problem was. I told her I felt real kicks. Amazingly, even after I stood, she was able to feel three strong kicks too. It was really incredible.

Thoughts from Daddy...

Hi there everyone! I thought it would be about that time to make my cameo appearance on this wonderful blog that Joelle has been maintaining. At this point in our journey, I am so incredibly happy that nothing I say on this blog will come even remotely close to how I truly feel inside.

It is indeed, a very special time for Joelle and me. We are so grateful to have family and friends who have been there for us. The cards, e-mails, text messages, hugs, kisses, prayers, support, advice, and well wishes have meant the world to us. Every single day, we talk about how lucky we are to be surrounded by such loving, caring, and thoughtful people.

The In Vitro process, in itself, is pretty amazing. Of course, there are times that I have said, ‘why are we going through this?’ or ‘why can’t we just have a baby already?’ But just like anything else in our lives, Everything Happens for a Reason. I know this is the path that God had intended for us to travel and so we continue to focus on the experience and the journey. I know deep down inside that we will have a beautiful baby soon and that is all that matters.

Joelle has been unbelievable. From the difficult ordeal that we went through during round one of the process to all of the preparations, medication regimes, and sacrifices she has made has really gave me a whole new perspective on things. It took a while for us to get back on our feet from round one. Again, the whole idea of In Vitro is so overwhelming in itself, that it was hard to be given more bad news. But because she had so much faith and was able to say, ‘Let’s do it again,’ was when I was able to gain so much from all this experience.

We are only 18 weeks pregnant, but life changes for us every day! I understand that we still have a long, long way to go, but we have also come a very long way too. Thank you again to all of you! I can not tell you enough how appreciative I am every time people ask me how things are going. Nobody is oblivious to life’s trials and tribulations. I have learned that each and every one of us have difficult times to go through. But it is the people around us, the attitude we take, and of course God, that will ultimately guide us through it all.

Joelle has the cutest bump on her belly and I can’t stop touching it! It is awesome. We have also tried to implement some new ground rules for Pacey and Riley to adhere to with the baby coming in February. Take good care everyone and hope to hear from you soon!
-Christian

Baby and I are feeling great... I feel completely back to normal with the exception of feeling like I have a small watermelon tucked in my belly. Sometimes it gets so tight, I find it hard to breathe. That's usually after I'm done eating though. I'm feeling a lot more movement lately. It still feels like champagne bubbles but it's more frequent now. I'm still full of energy but I can't remember the last time I slept through the night. Surprisingly, I make it through the day without feeling exhausted. I'm getting excited to start considering what we will register for. Every now and then I read through "Baby Bargains", a book from Elissa, but I try not to read too much because I don't want to get too ahead of ourselves. I'm excited- I'm hearing that 20 weeks is a good time to make it out to the stores and play with the car seats and strollers, and see what feels right. All this before that third trimester comes and I'm tired all over again. I can't believe we're 5 months pregnant! Wow!! It is music to my ears; still hard to believe. Sometimes I look in the mirror as I'm walking by and it brings a smile to my face, literally, when I see this belly! I got to see a lot of family this weekend at Julia's wedding, and feel so blessed when I think of all the support and prayers we have. Thank you all so much. We love you.

(I'd like to mention that the pants I have on in these pictures are the first gift I ever got from Christian... they are from the first time we dated in 2001! They're so comfy, I've worn holes through the seams in the legs. Awww... so special.)

Thank you Daddy.

Daddy's home!!! Yeah!! Christian just got home from visiting his sister Chelsea in Virginia. (Congratulations on becoming an RN, and on receiving an "excellence in leadership" award, Chelsea!) I caught a bug while he was gone- the cleaning bug!!! I was really full of energy today, and have been all about organizing this week. Earlier in the week, I attacked my office at work, and today I attacked our lower level of the house. So nice and clean!

So Christian bought Baby T. a new outfit while he was in Virginia. He also got some white onesies. (Is that really a word? Carter's calls them wiggle-in-bodysuits.) Anyway, it's all very cute. He even got baby his/her first bath towel with a little froggie hood. The cutest thing about it all is that Daddy picked it out! OK, I should say that we did splurge and buy Baby T. its first Cubs cap too when we were at the Cubs game last week. I know, I know... don't buy any more clothes. But, we really haven't done much before now, so it's ok. Oh, and there's the little outfit I bought for my friends baby but I had to get him something else cause I didn't see him till he was 3 months old. So, I kept the newborn outfit for us... you wouldn't really expect me to RETURN it, would you?!

OK... this special section of "Glamour Shots" is for all you Baby T. supporters who are so kind to say to me, "Oh, Joelle, you don't even look pregnant yet!". Well I certainly know better than that, but I'm taking this opportunity to share with you what Christian discovered when he took our old camera out to Virginia. When I picked him up, he said, "Oh, wait till you see the pictures I found from when you were really early in the pregnancy." So here it is folks... and no, I have no shame. If you didn't know me well before now, you're certainly getting to know me now. A la na-tur-al... (I'm not passing up an opportunity to take my weekly picture just because I have no makeup on and am in my PJs... and I'm certainly not going to get all dressed up for a two second photo op). So, what do you think, any difference?!