Four months old already!

Hello there blog readers! Sorry for the long absence, but what can I say? Babies keep you busy. The days are a blur of getting Maggie to and from the sitter, playing with her at home, trying to throw something together for dinner, giving her a bath some nights, getting her to bed, and trying to cram a few things into the hour or so of "us" time in the evenings. Not that we are complaining, because Steve and I are having a blast with Maggie Jo. She's really starting to show off her personality, and she's just such a fun-loving curious little gal. We are loving every minute. (Well almost every minute - she's back to waking up 1-3 times a night, so we could do without a few of those sleepless 2 am minutes!)

It's crazy to think that it's been a month since my last post. Time really is flying, and she is changing so fast. There have been quite a few milestones this month. Maggie found her toes about a month ago, lurching at them every time she saw them outside of our socks. The bathtub was a very interesting place for a few weeks. Everything goes in her mouth these days. Maggie likes her toys and books for this purpose, but Dad's thumb is her favorite thing on which to gnaw. Maggie's started to turn pages on our books and stare very intently at the pictures. She's also discovered that she can pull Dad's glasses off his face in no time flat and get quite a reaction from him. She loves being zerberted all of the sudden. Excellent neck control at this point, and she's arching her back something fierce during tummy time and when she wants out of the Bumbo seat. She's not quite sitting up on her own but really likes to play that way with some assistance.

But our big news is as of this weekend -- Houston, we have a roller! Now Maggie's first flirtation with rolling-over started October 17th with tummy-to-back. She's done that 4-5 times so far but nothing reliable. The past few weeks we've been watching her get more frustrated that she could almost-but-not-quite get the momentum to roll off her back. The sitter said she rolled back-to-tummy two Mondays ago (Dec 8th), but no one had seen it since. Then Saturday morning, I noticed she was throwing herself out of the sitting position and into a new three step process for the rolling. Step 1: Throw the legs up in the air. Step 2: Roll onto left side Step 3: Lean the right shoulder and leg over...just a little further...and finally she made it over! The funny thing was that she repeated the performance for Dad when he came inside from de-icing the drive...and she hasn't stopped doing it since. It's all she wants to do now, and she'll whine until she can get onto the floor and do it again. She's probably done it about 25 times this weekend, so we'll have to get some video soon!

I meant to post on Maggie's four-month birthday last Monday, but we were a little busy with a sickie girl. She'd developed a cough over the weekend, and the doctor heard some of it in her lungs. This week has been all about administering the nebulizer treatments and trying to get her cough and congestion to disappear. Luckily, she seems to be doing much better at this point. We go back in tomorrow for a re-check and her shots if she's doing well enough. As for her four-month stats -- weight of 15 lbs 9 oz, height of 26 1/2 inches, and head circumference of 16 3/4 inches. She's clocking in around the 75th percentile on all measures, although height and weight may have been a bit closer to the 90th percentile.

It's been a big month for the little gal. Maggie had her first overnight road trips this month at Thanksgiving, spending a night at Grandma and Grandpa Easter's before Thanksgiving with her cousins from Iowa. She also spent a night at the Jacoby grandparents two evenings later, heading to Mom's friend Audrey's birthday party and spending some quality time with Grandpa J so her parents could go out for a couple hours. Two mornings later on November 30th, we had Maggie baptized at our church in Normal. We were blessed to have both sets of grandparents, my sister and her husband, and my Uncle Lew and Aunt Margaret from Ohio braving the first snowstorm of the year (7 inches!) to attend the ceremony. Maggie was basically the model baby, hamming it up for the congregation and hardly crying during the service. Then December 5th, Maggie had her first visit with Santa Claus at State Farm. The next weekend she helped her dad celebrate his 33rd birthday. Lots of fun pictures, and I will try to post a few soon!

We are excited that Christmas is almost here, and we cannot wait to experience the holiday through Maggie's eyes. Just watching her open her first present at our friends' Christmas party last weekend was a hoot. As the holidays approach, we take time to appreciate all the blessings in our lives. Obviously this amazing little girl is our primary blessing this year, but we truly value our family and friends and appreciate your support this year as we've embarked on our new lives as parents. At the same time, we take a minute to remember those we and our family and friends have lost this year and know their presence will be sorely missed. Thank you for being in our lives. Good wishes to you and yours, and we look forward to seeing and hearing from you in the year to come.

Twelve weeks and counting!

I can't believe it has almost been a month since my last post. Time is really flying by since I have returned to work, but I'm happy to report that we are all doing well. We are starting to get into a routine here, although the time change last week threw us for a bit of a loop.

Maggie is growing like a weed and starting to show off more of her personality. She's generally a pretty happy baby, although she's not very complacent. She's not satisfied by any one thing for too long, which her dad says she probably got from me. She's also starting to babble at everything that interests her. She has several of Dad's traits too -- she's always smiling and really likes her food and sleep! She takes her bottles from everyone and is still packing on the pounds, clocking in at 13 lbs and 5 ounces last week. Possibly due to her size, she's been sleeping through the night (8-9 hours) since she was about 7 1/2 weeks old...which Mom and Dad really appreciate and have come to take for granted!

She's definitely not a newborn anymore, which makes me kind of sad in a way. I sort of miss the newborn reflexes and her balled up little hands....although I don't miss her screaming for a couple hours every night! She's starting to really enjoy a few of her toys -- the little jittery lion Infantino toy on her carrier, her Leapfrog counting caterpillar, and the Baby Einstein musical caterpillar with moving lights. We think her favorite book is tiny The Wheels on the Bus board one they gave us at the hospital, but that could be because we can sing it to her in the car. She's started beating on her toys, her board books, and her swing's toy tray, and she's started really grasping her toys and burp rags this week.

We had a few big adventures this past month -- an open house with the Jacoby family friends in Decatur, a visit from our friends the Halls from Michigan, a trip to Champaign for Illini tailgating, and a trek up to Galesburg for daddy's 10 year reunion at Knox. She's a pretty good traveler and behaved fairly well on all the trips. It's a lot more complicated to travel with a baby, but she's making us think we can handle it. Steve and I are doing well and really appreciate all the time we have with her. I've started taking off Fridays to use up some of my FMLA leave and spend extra time with her. Last week, Maggie and I were able to go to bible study at church with friends. (Today we both woke up with colds and runny noses, so we hid out from the cold and tried to get better).

Have to run for now to try to get our snuffly little one down for the night, but I promise to try to update more frequently. I'll attach a few updated pictures here if I can. Hope all is well.

Two months today

Just a quick post here to mark Maggie's "birthday". It's still hard to believe she is two months old already. She's changing so fast though! We had her well baby check-up with the pediatrician yesterday. She clocked in at 22 3/4 inches long (70%ish) and 12 lbs 12 oz (95%ish).

I am back to work this week half-days, and everything seems to be going well so far. Maggie seems to really like her sitter. She's all smiles when we drop her off, she's had no issues with bottles, and she loves watching the other kids. Here's a picture of us all dressed and ready to head out this morning on her 2-month birthday. (Yes, Maggie is in a cute Halloween onesie that daddy couldn't resist.) Enjoy!

Eight weeks

It still feels like yesterday, but Maggie Jo was introduced into this world eight weeks ago today! She will be two months old on Wednesday. Time really has flown by -- especially my maternity leave, as I am headed back to work half-days next week. We'll do that for a couple weeks, and then I will take the remainder of my FMLA time by taking Fridays off until she is at least six months old.

It's been interesting being home for so long. It gives me a whole new appreciation for what stay at home moms do, especially those with infants. I'm amazed by how I look up after a few feedings and coaxing Maggie into a few naps, and the day is almost over! Some days I have been lucky to be able to eat lunch and shower. We have started to get into a routine the past couple weeks that includes trips out and walks around the neighborhood - just in time for me to head back to work! She still fights naps like a beast, but once she's out...she's dead to the world. (Like right now, hence this entry!)

Maggie is really starting to change on us. We'll find out for certain next week, but my scientific 'step on the bathroom scale with and without the baby' method clocks her in at just over 13 pounds, and she seems to be much longer. She's out of most of her 0-3 month clothes, even if the 3-6 month outfits are still big. She smiles a lot now, at us, at the toys on her playmat, at our ceiling fan, at perfect strangers if she's in a good mood. Her neck control has gotten even better. Her newest tricks are to bat the hanging toys from her bouncy seat and playmats. Not great hand-eye coordination yet, but we are getting there! She's also starting to babble a bit more. Nursing has gotten quite a bit easier, and Maggie also takes bottles like a champ. Just like her dad -- doesn't care where the food comes from as long as she's eating!

As a family, we are finally getting into the groove of things. Steve is incredibly good with her, and he gives me time out to shop or visit with friends pretty regularly. We tried our first road trip last weekend, heading to Springfield for supplies at Babies R Us and lunch at Smokey Bones. Then we headed up to Morton to visit with the Jacoby grandparents and Aunt Meghan and Uncle Marcus before going home. Parts of the day were challenging (comically large blowout in the nursing room), but she did very well. At one point she wailed in her stroller, so Steve put her on his shoulder and carried her around Babies R Us. She was fascinated by the racks of everything up overhead, and I officially missed taking one of the cutest pictures of her yet :( Oh well.

More big travels ahead: this weekend we are headed to Decatur to introduce Maggie to the Jacoby family's friends and next weekend we are going to try tailgating with the Jacoby side and our friends the Halls before the Illinois-Indiana football game. I'd better run for now, but I will try to include a new slideshow below. Hope all is well!

One month old!

Well time continues to pass here at our house. I'm just finding it a bit harder to update the blog since we have Maggie here to take up our time lately! We are still a bit sleep deprived, but the little family has finally settled into a routine...at least for three more weeks until I go back to work for half-days. I'll be back full-time around the first of November, but time is just flying, as I am sure it will continue to do for the rest of our lives!

Maggie Jo is still a pretty darn good baby. We have trouble getting her down at night, but then she sleeps for 3-4 1/2 hour stretches. She's growing fast, and it seems like she's starting to do new things every day. Since the day she came home from the hospital, she's had a remarkably strong neck. She's now developed pretty good control over her head, and she can do little push-ups off our chest with her arms. She's smiling quite a bit now, sometimes in response to us, and she seems dangerously close to rolling over onto her tummy already. (She's done it twice already but that was to the side off dad's chest).

She's also growing like a weed. Her four week check-up was last Friday, and she clocked in at 10 lbs 9 oz and 22 inches long. I was a bit concerned that her weight gain had slowed down, and we adjusted our feeding routine at the pediatrician's advice. Well, we had an appointment with the lactation consultant today, and she weighed in at 11 lbs 3 oz just six days later. Granted it was a different scale, but it appears we have little to worry about in the growth department.

We have had our challenges too. Nursing has been time-consuming and sometimes painful, but we are getting it figured out. Maggie's been battling a bit of baby acne/rash, and she also had her first little cold this week -- just a runny nose and no fever but traumatic for Mom and Dad nonetheless. We've also had to realize that nothing is the "magic bullet" when it comes to soothing a newborn and develop more patience. (Although I will say The Happiest Baby on the Block method is the closest thing we have to a magic bullet, and it has bought us a great deal of peace in the evenings. Great gift for expectant parents if you are ever stumped, and a BIG thanks to Karen for loaning us this DVD when she did.)

But overall, Maggie Jo is a huge joy, and we are blessed! Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes and support. We are just now getting to the point we can think about birth announcements, thank-yous and life outside these four walls. Here's a slide-show with pictures from her 3rd and 4th weeks for those who are interested!

Two weeks and ten pounds!

Just a quick update here while Maggie is sleeping. I want to thank everyone for all their e-mails and notes and apologize that I haven't been able to reply to many yet. We are still getting adjusted to parenthood and tending to the little one's needs before our own, which has zapped most of our time so far. Things are going pretty well at Casa Easter, and we finally seem to be settling into a bit of a rhythm. Steve went back to work today, so this was my first day with Maggie on my own.

Maggie Jo had her two week doctor's check up today, and everything checked out fabulously. Steve and I had been a bit worried about nursing and wondering if she might have colic/reflux due to spit up and screeching issues. After they weighed her though, it became apparent she's getting plenty of food. At her four day appointment, she'd weighed 8 lbs 13 oz, one ounce above her hospital discharge weight. Ten days later, she's surpassed her birth weight and then some, putting on basically 2 ounces a day, well above the 1 ounce the doctors want babies to gain each day. She's also grown another 3/4 inch in those ten days, putting her at 21 3/4 inches long. She's 90-95% on height and weight. She is also a pretty good sleeper, giving us about one four hour stretch of sleep each night. We're still working on a routine and getting adequate sleep with all the feedings, but I feel pretty fortunate so far.

So basically, she seems to be changing at lightning speed. Steve thought I was being a bit silly wanting to take tons of pictures and video of her this week, but I think we are starting to realize that our time with her as a newborn is fleeting. I'm trying to memorize all the cute little expressions and movements as much as I can. Of course there are still a few things that are challenging (projectile spit-up on our new couch and diaper blowouts come to mind), but she is a wonderful baby so far and we feel truly blessed.

My sister helped me take a few profile pictures when she was down last weekend, and here's one of my favorites. Enjoy!

Home with Maggie Jo

Only have a few minutes here while the little one is sleeping, but I wanted to let you all know that we came home Sunday afternoon and are doing well. First night was a little challenging, but nothing compared to some of the Bringing Home Baby episodes I have watched lately!

The last few days have been somewhat of a blur in an incredibly exciting and joyful way. I'll save a post about our labor experience for another day, but let's just say that it was so surprising and quick, all the planning was thrown out the window. And she came safely and quickly and in one piece -- so it seems all the anxieties the past couple months have worked out for the best. Although next time, we will not be sending Steve to pick up a few things because we have plenty of time! We had about four hours from my water really breaking to delivery. He got back for the fun part though.

After about nine of hours of debate once she arrived, her name is Margaret Josephine. Many of you know Josephine was my grandmother's name and is my middle name. Margaret is actually my great-grandmother's name, and we really liked the nickname Maggie. So Maggie Jo it is! Sophie Gretchen was the runner-up. We also considered Josephine, Madeline, and Paige for first names.

I'm off to give "sleep while the baby sleeps" a try, but here's a Picasa slideshow with a few pictures. Enjoy!

Baby E finally arrives

Erin was in labor for less than 5 hours in the middle of the night on Friday, August 15, 2008. The baby was born at 3:37am at 9 pounds 4 ounces. As you might guess, all of us are tired after this momentus night

Good news, bad news

Well, we headed into meet the other doctor in the practice Tuesday. She was very nice and somewhat encouraging. Her feel-around exam prediction was the baby was somewhere in the 8 lb range, likely less than 9 lbs, which really put us much more at ease. She also didn't seem to think the size of the shoulders was a big deal -- basically my pelvic structure is plenty big to handle it, a backhanded but welcome comment at that point. :) We finally had a little more progress towards labor too - still at 2 cm but over 80% effaced and -1 station. My BP was up slightly to around 130/70, borderline but okay. Overall, I left feeling pretty optimistic - even though we found out it may be yet another doctor delivering the baby if she comes over the weekend. At this point, there's not much we can do about that though.

Cut to today. I felt really tired all morning and came home right after putting in my four hours at work. My swelling seems a little worse but nothing dramatic. Laid down on the couch most of the afternoon, but I got up around 3:30 with a weird string of light woven through my left field of vision, kind of like a migraine aura. I'd had a short one over the weekend, but this one didn't go away for about a half hour. Called the nurse and they had me come in to check blood pressure. It's up to 140/80, but it did come down well after they put me on my left side. They sent me to the hospital to run a pre-eclampsia lab again, although the in-office tests looked good.

So they sent me home with instructions to lay on my left side as much as possible and to head to L&D tonight if I get another visual disturbance. I think I am done with work given this, so it's just a matter of seeing if we need to induce for medical reasons here Thursday/Friday or can wait until Monday night. I know some people think it's rather silly not to induce at this point, but I wanted a shot at a more natural labor. But if it's in our best interests medically, we'll do what the doctors recommend.

Either way, I think Monday evening/Tuesday morning has to be the end of the road in light of the blood pressure issue. At this point, I think we just need this little girl to arrive! And keeping myself out of pre-eclampsia complications would be nice as well. So prayers and positive thoughts are still appreciated until we're out the woods and she's safely here. I'll have Steve post an update if anything major happens. Otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow or Friday.

Ten months today

We're still here! This baby officially has about four hours until she's past her due date. Uneventful weekend with a few painful contractions but nothing regular. I went back to work and prenatal yoga today, both of which were interesting adventures in explaining why I was still there. But that's okay! I'm feeling pretty good and would be fine with waiting if we weren't still pretty concerned about her size.

We have our appointment with the other doctor in the practice tomorrow and are going to ask her a few questions about size, opinions on inducing sooner/later, that sort of thing. At this point, I figure I'm just going to quit making accommodations just in case the baby comes....and then she'll show up at the least convenient time. Next Monday night or Tuesday morning if not sooner -- although I'm not counting on anything anymore!

Delayed - Indefinitely

Well, we got a phone call at 12:15 AM letting us know that L&D was full up. We called back at 4:30 to double-check our new 5 am time, and they still didn't have a room. We are headed in now to start the preliminary stuff, but it may be a while as we are waiting on a room to free up this morning from delivery or an observation going home.

I'm a little sad the birthdate and time with my doctor are looking less likely, but that's not what is really important at this point. After hardly sleeping the past couple nights, we're eager to get the show on the road! Will update when we can.

Updated 9:15 am -- Well so much for that idea. No 08.08.08 unless she comes the old-fashioned way and soon. As soon as we got to the hospital, they basically said they'd had a bunch more people come in whose waters had broken. We waited a couple hours and did some outpatient monitoring. Everything looked good - BP, heartrate. I am having contractions every 6-8 minutes, but they seem to be Braxton-Hicks still because they last too long and aren't "productive" according to the nurses.

They didn't have a room still though, said they were somewhat short on staff, and said it was really late in the day to start an induction. My doctor was headed out within a few hours and probably wouldn't have been around, although she did say that they could double up on the meds to make it go faster. Ouch! Given all that and the fact that I already hadn't eaten in over 12 hours and slept about 10 hours out of the past two days, we decided it'd be better to reschedule.

So we are back to hoping she makes an appearance on her own for a while. Maybe that's what nature intended. If I'm going without my usual doctor, then I might get to go on my own and use the original birth plan. We're set to see the other doctor in the practice Tuesday. If nothing else happens before then, we have an appointment to induce at a week past my due date on August 18th/19th. I guess this just demonstrates my point about not being able to control everything!

Heading in tonight

Despite my best attempts to give nature a nudge in the right direction, we are still here! My acupressure session was incredibly relaxing and made the baby kick like a mad one, but there's still no sign of true labor, although my intermittent contractions seem to have picked up a bit. Here's to hoping that makes the whole process easier tomorrow mornining.


We are headed into BroMenn around 1 am tonight. Bags are almost totally packed, and most of the essential baby gear is set up for the house awaiting our return. So hopefully there will be word sometime tomorrow, although it may take a while to get the information out on the web. (Internet access is pretty sorry at the hospital, including WiFi). There is a web nursery you can check for pictures, although I wouldn't be surprised if it's not up until Monday.

Hopefully the next entry out here will be an update on Baby Easter's safe arrival. Stay tuned!

Reflections on the pregnancy

Steve and I went out to grab lunch today, and we were talking about how incredibly fast it all seems to have gone. One day we were talking about trying to start a family, and now all of the sudden…that day is almost here. We’re thrilled and terrified at the same time. Life is going to change in a big way tomorrow. I’m not sure we’re totally ready for it yet, but we’re perhaps as close as we ever will be. We're anxious about the delivery but incredibly excited to meet our child.

In some ways, I’m a little sad that I won’t be pregnant anymore. Aside from my swelling and blood pressure anxieties, I’ve been a fairly lucky, happy pregnant woman. Watching your diet is a little irritating, but otherwise I don’t have many complaints. Keep in mind, I was blessed not to have morning sickness and I don't think my hormones raged out of control. (We'll ask Steve on that one). Regardless though, I think once you get to the point that you can feel the baby moving about, pregnancy is pretty cool. It’s fascinating to think how that little one’s developing and what’s going on inside you, and every movement is like a little inside joke between you and the baby.

I’ve had a few friends ask me for my thoughts or tips on being pregnant – what to expect and what not. Here are some notes on my experience in no particular order:

• Like most other life events, it sneaks up you. It seems so far away at first, like it’s never really going to happen. At 8 weeks, it was nearly impossible to imagine Week 20, Week 34. But looking back, it seems to have gone by in a flash.
• Every person’s pregnancy is going to be a little different. The same goes for your reactions to being pregnant. You can’t really change your personality, so it’s almost worthless to even try. For example, I over research and analyze things, so I did that with every little symptom and decision. But preparing for the worst and being pleasantly surprised when better things happen is how I do things. Perhaps I worried too much but along with prayers to the big guy upstairs, it’s my way of trying to deal with the uncertainty and feel some sense of control.
• At the same time, you have to realize certain things are beyond your control. Try not to get too attached to any idea of how labor or delivery is going to go. I did a lot of research and came up with a pretty specific birth plan, and I’ve struggled with letting it go these past couple weeks as circumstances have changed. When we thought I was going into labor a month ago, things were going to be done much differently than tomorrow. But ultimately, getting the baby here safely and both of us being healthy is what matters.
• Your body isn’t really your own at some point. You really can’t push it too much and you may not be able to do everything you used to. That can be incredibly frustrating in some ways. I worked out at the gym until my 7th month, but I had to give it up in the end.
• Your sleep isn’t really your own either and that starts months before the baby arrives. Hormones made me a night owl during the second trimester. By the third, I was sleeping through most of the kicks, but they were keeping Steve awake some nights.
• Don’t count on getting much done in the third trimester. Give yourself plenty of extra time to get things ordered and set up if it's important to you to be totally ready. Things will go wrong. The crib may get damaged in shipping. Complications may pop up – from bedrest to exhaustion to just not being able to walk easily – and you may not be able to handle as much as you’d like.
• And if things do go wrong and things aren’t 100% ready, don’t worry about it too much. All the baby really needs is a place to sleep, loving parents, and nourishment, right?
• At some point, you will cede certain aspects of your personal style to the pregnancy. Comfort reigns supreme when your body is already uncomfortable. I never thought I would wear Croc flip-flops to presentations with directors, but at some point…it’s either that or hiding at home under a rock. And surprisingly, they seem to understand when your ankles look like they are about to explode.
• Your support system means a lot, whether it’s your spouse or family or friends. Even if you have all the confidence in the world in things going well, it’s still an uncertain time. I have an amazing spouse who has done everything he can to make this time easier on me and that has helped a lot. But neither one of us would have enjoyed doing this alone. Your phone calls and notes and support have meant the world to us, and I hope everyone realizes how grateful we are for your presence in our lives.

Uneventful weekend

Not much new to report -- just we're still here and waiting on baby! I had my last prenatal yoga class tonight. Tomorrow is my last day in the office. I'm working my way through all the old wives' tales about how to get labor started, so lots of spicy food and walking. No bumpy roads quite yet. Tomorrow I'm getting an acupressure massage, which should feel nice and relaxing even if it doesn't get things going. Steve or I will stop in when there's something new to pass along.

One week or less!

It's somewhat hard to grasp mentally, but a week from today Baby Easter will have made her entrance into the world...one way or the other! Life will never be the same again. We had a fairly uneventful check-up yesterday. I'm now a "true" 2 and still the same degree of effaced. My doctor seemed somewhat surprised that the baby isn't here by now, given where we were three weeks ago. Blood pressure is holding at a normal level, although slightly high for me. Swelling's still bad. Baby's heart rate and all else look good.

But we did have one interesting development -- my doctor's vacation starts next Saturday, August 9th...not the 16th like we had thought. Given that and all the size concerns, we decided to schedule an induction for Thursday night at 39w 5d. I think my doctor understands it's not my preferred route, since I've been looking to minimize the drugs, so we gave her as much time as possible to come on her own first. She said that they wouldn't induce unless medically necessary until Monday and didn't think four more days would make much of a difference either way. If Baby E doesn't appear by then, she will have the 08.08.08 birthdate. I was kind of shocked they still had had spots available, but we will take it. Kind of cool!

It's nice to have an end date to plan for, although I'm still rooting for her to appear before then. I just wanted to try tub labor and avoid an epidural as long as possible, but I think she's calling the shots on those two items at this point. We've got a nice quiet weekend planned here, although I am sort of sad to miss the potentially-last Decatur Celebration ever and the Plain White Tees concert there on Sunday! But I think that would really be tempting fate. In the meantime, just squaring things away at work and trying to get a few things done around the house. My feet swell up if they are down for more than about a half-hour though, so I'm kind of limited if I want to walk much :) My last day in the office will be Tuesday, if not before.

My mom and dad were up last Sunday, brought us lunch and hung out most of the afternoon. I'll post a picture here that will suffice for 38 weeks. You can definitely see that the baby has a) dropped and b) got to be pretty close to fully cooked! But we are hanging in there. Steve and I appreciate all the phone calls and well-wishes and will keep you posted.

PS - I also posted a new poll on her arrival date. Check it out!

Still hanging out...

For anyone who is keeping tabs, we are still waiting for Baby E to arrive. I know this sounds pretty impatient, considering we are still about twelve days short of the due date. I think we just really got our hopes up three weeks ago from all the indications being that she would be here by now, but she's decided to take her sweet time apparently! My blood pressure is holding steady, so there hasn't been much concern. I'm still hoping she arrives on her own without being induced, but we will probably discuss the pros and cons at our appointment Thursday, given our size concerns.

No real contractions or pain this week, although I'm getting increasingly uncomfortable. I've been lucky that sleep just became hard to come by this week. We've been getting lots of little things squared away here though, so I think we've made good use of our time. The house will never be totally ready, but we've done tons of wash and what we can to get ready. We also did a few big things that we've been putting off -- like buying a suitable daddy-mobile for Steve this week. So we do have one new baby tonight but this one sleeps in the garage.

Hope to post another update later this week!

No change :(

That's the official report today. Same degree of readiness as last week and no baby yet. I did put back on about a pound of what I lost last week. That was kind of a relief after the stomach flu bout, although we are thinking some of that is water weight. My feet are a swollen mess, particularly bad these past couple days. My blood pressure is hanging in there at acceptable though, so they are not too concerned.

My doctor did have some pity on me and offer to schedule an induction next week...but I really don't want to go there yet. I am really not a fan of what I've heard about pitocin, and I wanted to try some tub labor (which you can't do with induction drugs). So we're just going to hang in there and see if anything happens naturally.

I did find out though that my doctor is headed out on vacation on Friday the 15th, about four days after my due date. So the chances of this baby arriving much past August 11th are slim to none! Baby E will be here and my feet should be back to normal by then!

Stinky little baby

Every time Erin's belly is against me whether she is next to me or my hand is on her stomach, the little stinker decides to kick me. Does she need room? Am I invading her personal space already (and she's not even a teen)?

It would be nice if this little one would cooperate once in a while instead of none of the time. We bought a new camcorder to chronicle the baby's life and apparently her every discernible movement in Erin's belly (this has yielded few results if any to my knowledge). The weekend we were going to have the baby has just about passed so I think Jean Smallwood may no longer be clairvoyant. Apparently, she predicted a plane crash years ago and so Erin's father thought maybe she would be correct again. I really don't think he did but he wanted to let us know so that if she turned out to be correct, we would know she is an oracle of knowledge.

The one thing I am really not looking forward to (besides having to run off little boys) is changing 8-10 diapers a day. That seems crazy! I am thinking that we will have the baby go in the yard and Chewy can go inside when he is here. Just a thought.

I'm feeling pretty close to prepared as all I can think we need is a new car for me which we were going to buy by the end of June. That still could happen... or not. I'm looking forward to some time away from work and, in my mind, I'm painting the basement and staining the fence. I'm guessing those may not happen (either of these).

Today, Tomorrow or August

None of these would surprise me for an arrival date at this point! We had another good check-up on Thursday. Other than my swollen feet being worse, everything else checked out well. (Seriously, I am down to two pairs of shoes -- Croc flip-flops and a pair of velcro-expanding Merrill moccasins that I bought a month ago and are pushing too small. I spent most of my time at home laying on my side with my feet on top of four pillows, zoning out and dozing off to TLC and HGTV). But if that's the worst thing I have to deal with in this last month, I'll be okay with it.

The doctor said I'm a bit more dilated and 60-70% effaced, so things are progressing nicely. But that really doesn't mean anything...you can be stuck at this stage for weeks. This weekend I started feeling crummy and getting a lot of the textbook prelabor symptoms but not really any contractions. I also lost about 3 lbs between my weekly check ups, which I guess can be a sign. She did say that since I'm doing better we wouldn't even talk induction until Week 39, but again she thinks labor will start on its own before then. I wouldn't be shocked if it's this week -- or maybe I've just gotten lucky and avoided the typical last month misery until now.

So despite the full moon on Friday, there's no baby yet! Today is 37 weeks exactly so full term. Every day I do a couple more loads of laundry and re-organize the hospital bag a bit. We did try to enjoy the weekend a bit here. Went out to see Mamma Mia and to dinner with friends on Friday night. Then yesterday, my friend Audrey came up from Decatur with her husband and little girl, which was a fun distraction. Today we did some last minute shopping and tried to organize things a bit better.

We'll keep you posted as there's anything to report. Steve has been sent instructions on how to sign into Blogger and post, so hopefully he'll be filling in for me with announcements here soon!

Good news on Thursday

Just a quick update for those following along. We had almost all good news at our check-up this week, which was wonderful after a couple weeks of me worrying and imagining the worst. My blood pressure was looking good again, and my fluid levels went down from borderline high to normal. They are keeping me on half-days as a precaution but were pleased.

The only somewhat disconcerting news -- she clocked in at eight pounds. Exactly eight -- at 35 weeks and 4 days! Of the 20-22 I've gained, 8 is baby! As long as she's healthy, we can live with that. Thankfully the non-stress test went quickly and very well this time.

If nothing happens in 3 weeks, they may talk about inducing to keep her under 10 lbs. The good news though is that I'm already a bit dilated and was even having mild contractions in the office. The doctor thinks it's likely labor will start on its own before then. If not though, we might induce in early August. I'm not wild about Pitocin, but I think we'd do what doctor thinks best for a safe delivery.

That was enough to get me to pack the hospital bag! At this point, we are fairly ready. I had my last baby shower with some co-workers and sorority alums today, which was a lot of fun. We bought a camcorder last night. We have somewhere for the baby to lay her pretty little head, even if the crib and dresser are still AWOL. There are still some things to do, but we'll be ready enough if she decides to make her appearance before August!

36 weeks:

Week 35

Thought I'd drop in with a quick note just to let you all know it was a nice, uneventful week. We found out all my labs were normal at my Monday morning appointment, and my blood pressure was acceptable again. They have me working half-days and curbing most exercise as a precaution. Baby and I had a "non-stress" test on Monday that was really pretty stressful. It took her over an hour and a big dose of Smarties to get moving and perform the required heart rate elevations. Then she just went nuts and gave them five instances in fifteen minutes. We go in Thursday for the 36 week check-up, another non-stress test, and an ultrasound to check on her size again.

In other news, I am still feeling pretty good physically all things considered. Except, I will admit I feel about twenty years older when I get out of bed every morning. After a couple hours of toddling around though, my legs loosen up and it's not bad. Still sleeping pretty well. My feet are still swollen, but I did find some blessed relief sitting and floating in cold water at the pool this weekend. Even if I never use the maternity swimsuit again, I may have gotten my money's worth!

Steve and I spent part of the Fourth in Peoria with his family. The rest of the weekend was spent shopping and painting. We made a lot of progress on the "things to do before the baby arrives" list this week. Our big exciting news is that the nursery is painted now -- two shades of yellow that match the bedding we chose, BananaFish Crayon. Still no crib yet but it should appear shortly. Hope you all had a nice holiday weekend, and we'll be back with updates as time permits.

Tough couple weeks

Sorry for the long silence on the blog, but it's been a rough couple weeks here. As some of you know, my extended family experienced a tragedy last week with Nick Boehm's passing. The Boehms are like family to the Jacobys, and my heart is still aching for their loss as well as my own. Nick was perhaps my oldest friend, the brother I never had, and I am still struggling to accept the fact that he's gone and to understand why. At some point, I'd like to really write about this and truly do his memory justice, but I don't think this is the time or the place. Let's just say that my thoughts and prayers are with the Boehm family and will be for the forseeable future...and I'm thinking that Baby E will have Uncle Nick as her guardian angel here in the weeks to come.

In baby news, we are still doing pretty well. I'm feeling pretty good except for my feet swelling up on a regular basis. At my check-up Thursday though, my systolic blood pressure was up about 17 points from my last visit. Between the two of those, they sent me for toxemia/pre-eclampsia labs as a precaution and put me on "bedrest" for two days. I go back tomorrow for a non-stress test. I've monitored my blood pressure this weekend though, and I think it's back to normal. It may have just been stress-induced. Hopefully we will have good lab results back, and they will be putting me on half-days at work instead of total bedrest. Prayers will be appreciated from here on out though, if you've got them!

Luckily we are past 34 weeks now, so we are almost out of any preemie danger zone. If it comes back as pre-eclampsia though, I could be induced and Baby E could be here in 3-4 weeks! So we are starting to panic a bit and finish some of the tasks that have been put off. Nursery painting will happen next weekend, and last minute big purchases are being organized. Some things can't be helped though, like when our crib will arrive. The 10-12 week window ends tomorrow, and it's not in the country yet! Steve and I also just started our childbirth education classes (i.e. Lamaze) Wednesday night, and we have two sessions left that we'd like to finish. But I figure as long as she has somewhere to sleep and gets here safely, that's what is truly important.

I did have a joy this week with another shower, put together by my college roommates Dana and Wendy. We had a wonderful lunch at Medici's here in Normal Saturday. I had several friends come in from out of town, including my friend Julie, who extended her visit from Atlanta to attend, and my other college roommate Ann, who came down all the way from Michigan. I also got to meet my friends' two new babies, Will and Mikey. My sister Meghan made some beautiful invitations, and the bakery made a gorgeously-iced cake to match them. It was a fun, lovely and low-key afternoon that was just what I needed after the past few weeks. I will post pictures when I can, as well as a 34-weeks picture. Take care!

Five and a half pounds already!

Well, we had our thirty-two week check-up on Thursday, and that's the headline. As suspected, Baby E is a big girl! There was a bit of discrepancy between the sonographer and doctor, but the estimated weight was 5 lbs 8 oz or 5 lbs 11 oz with eight a half weeks to go. Well over 95th percentile for this point. Steve and I were both a little flabbergasted, but it's not entirely unexpected. The Jacoby girls were both 9 lbs 5 oz at birth, Steve was 8 lbs 11 oz, and his brother was over 9 lbs. Apparently, it just runs in the family.

According to the technician, they estimate a half-pound a week from here on out...a projected birthweight of 9 1/2 - 10 lbs. My OB seemed a bit more optimistic that she might have just gone through a growth spurt, and it may be closer to nine. At this point, a late July birthdate is starting to sound good though :) Steve kind of freaked out a bit when he saw a projected due date of July 23rd on the machine, but apparently that is just an typical estimate based on an average baby's size and means little.

So anyways, no major concern on their part yet, but we will have another ultrasound at 36 weeks to check everything again. Otherwise, everything continues to look good. We got to see that the baby has a full head of hair, and more confirmation that Baby E is still a girl. We did see hands and figure out that she's still head down with her hips up against the center of my belly. No very interesting pictures this time though, as the baby's size makes it tough to get them.

I'm still feeling pretty well. With the weather heating up, the big concern has been swelling again. My feet are swollen most days now. I haven't worked out in like two weeks because I can't fit them in my tennis shoes! Luckily though, my blood pressure is still average, so they aren't talking about any restrictions yet.

We spent last weekend up in Peoria with the Easter side of the family. We had a lovely shower that I'll post about once I have pictures ready, and we got to spend some time with our adorable nieces. This weekend's looking nice and quiet, and we are finally making some progress on the nursery and its closet organizer. I'll post again soon, but I just wanted to provide and update and let you all know that we appreciate your prayers and good wishes!

Updated: With pictures of Dad, Chewy and I on Fathers' Day (June 15th) as well as the daddy-to-be

Thirty weeks!

It's been a quiet couple weeks here from me. Last weekend, Steve and I headed to Ohio with my family for my Great-Aunt Betty's memorial service. She passed away at the end of February after a two year battle with lymphoma. The weekend was exhausting, but it was really nice to see all my Ohio and Texas family members again. The nicest part was that we all got to celebrate her life together, which I think was what she would have wanted. She was really excited to find out our little one was on the way and was hoping Baby E would be a girl. So hopefully she will get her wish and watch over her safe arrival.

Pretty quiet week or so since the trip. Our thirty week check-up was on Thursday. Nothing too new and significant to report. My blood pressure was up slightly but still in normal range, and the doctor thought my feet weren't too terribly swollen. Once again, our suspicions were confirmed on one end...this is probably a big baby. At two days shy of 30 weeks, my belly was measuring a bit over 33 weeks (33 cm). My doctor isn't concerned, as it's been consistent throughout the pregnancy and nothing was strange on my ultrasounds. But the long and short of it is that I look over 8 months pregnant already. Lots of funny comments from strangers already about me being due any day now...and I try to just chuckle and say I still have two months left. Luckily I'm still feeling pretty good in terms of back pain and sleeping...just a little tired. But Baby E could arrive in late July and I don't think I'd complain! We have another ultrasound in two weeks, so hopefully we'll get some idea of just how big she is soon.

I'll post two pictures below from 29 and 30 weeks respectively. The first is with my cousin Carey, who is due 4 days after me. The second is with my friend Gauri, who is due 10 days before me, at her shower this weekend. Cute pictures but I am starting to think I should not wear shirts that tie at the waist :)

Baby E's First Shower!

So baby and I had a bit of a surprise Friday night. Girls' night out with my Ruth Circle friends at church turned into Baby Easter's first shower! It was our last meeting for United Methodist Women this year, but I was still pretty surprised. After we trekked upstairs to the table, I looked up to find a bunch of balloons, a gorgeous little cake, and all sorts of useful and fun gear for Baby E.

An evening out with the Ruth Circle women is always a great time, and last Friday evening was no exception. I'm blessed to have such a wonderful, fun, supportive group of women in my life, and I'm really looking forward to tapping into their wisdom and experience as Steve and I tackle this new adventure. Thanks so much Ruths for putting together such a special evening for Baby Girl Easter!

Pictures follow - complements of my friend Michelle. And yes, the pacifier reads "I love Daddy". I'm a dork and couldn't resist. :)

28 Weeks

Happy to report that everything went well at our check-up last Thursday. My blood pressure was actually good (110/64) and everything else seemed to go according to plan. Baby E is really measuring big though! I guess the average fundal height is about a centimeter each week -- and she measured 31 cm. So it seems she is a bit ahead of schedule...which is fine with me if it means a slightly early arrival and not an eleven pound little girl. It's actually fine either way as long as she's healthy.

After that, I was a bit worried about my gestational diabetes chances, since that can cause big babies. Thankfully though, it came back normal. I was a bit anemic, so they have me on iron supplements now. So far so good though. We go back in two weeks, and we will have another ultrasound in four at 32 weeks. Then we'll really get to see how big this little stinker is!

Small Scare

It's been a couple weeks, so I thought I'd drop in another update. Last week was a little frazzling as we had a small pre-eclampsia scare. I went out to lunch last Wednesday with two MBA/State Farm friends, Megan and Lindsey, to Olive Garden for the soup-salad-breadsticks combo. Tasty and fun lunch but about two hours later, my normal sized feet had swollen up like balloons. Not normal pregnant lady swollen. We're talking so puffy that it hurt to take steps at my ankles and they were busting out of my shoes...very suddenly.

Steve was a little bit freaked out and protective. Keeping my feet up helped a little but the doctor had me come in Thursday. Thankfully my blood pressure and protein tests were normal, and the swelling went down late Thursday. They think it could have been a bad reaction to lunch, if there was MSG or preservatives that could trigger it. I was just put on alert to watch what I eat and call them if anything changes. They mentioned half-days or bedrest if the problem persisted, but happily there's been nothing new to report. My feet are back to normal, and my blood pressure has stayed low.

Anyways, that's our update. Good thoughts and prayers always appreciated, especially as I really don't want to do bedrest this early. Tomorrow is my 28 week check-up and the litany of labs (glucose screening, blood tests, etc.), so maybe I'll have an update again soon!

Recovering from San Francisco

Apologize that it's been a while since our last post. We've had a busy couple weeks, heading out to San Francisco for five days for a work conference...and then spending the past week recuperating from all the craziness! I attended the Web 2.0 Expo for work, and I was extremely fortunate that Steve was able to tag along and keep me company. I will admit that the whole production was a lot for a six-months pregnant woman, mostly the long days on my feet and lots of walking. Not to mention the time difference! I wouldn't say I was jet-lagged persay, but the conference went from about 10 am- 8 pm on the internal clocks of the Central time zone dwellers. We still packed in a bit of sightseeing in the morning/evening hours and had a few great meals. We stayed near the Moscone Center about three blocks from Union Square, so we were within walking distance of a lot.

I'll attach a couple pictures here below. Steve and I were a bit goofy and kept trying to take pictures of me in front of San Francisco landmarks, so we can show the baby someday where she's been...even if she's not aware of it! For San Francisco, we have Ghiardelli Square, the crooked stretch of Lombard Street, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, and a shot in front of the Golden Gate Bridge from afar, and atop Harry Denton's Starlight Room (where we got to visit with Lindsey Boehm Friday night). Seriously, this child is already quite the world traveler -- Vegas, North Carolina, California, and a few assorted trips to Indiana and Ohio to round it out. I have a feeling our travel plans will be much less ambitious in a few months though.

Otherwise, the pregnancy seems to be progressing well. We start biweekly appointments in about ten days with the glucose screening test. The baby's kicking regularly and forcefully; I can even see it just sitting on the couch occasionally. My belly is noticeable bigger, but I'm still not gaining much weight thankfully. Although there was one perfect stranger in San Francisco who expressed surprise that I was due in August and not "tomorrow." Not the nicest thing to say to an increasingly hormonal pregnant lady, but I held it together. Enjoy the pictures!

baby girl easter

Well if the new look on the blog hasn't given it away already...it's a girl! As of about noon Thursday, the technician told us she was 100% certain that it was girl parts, and no one has come back to tell her she's wrong in twenty years. We'd had a hint at gender four weeks ago, but it was still pretty exciting to get it confirmed. As soon as we knew, it seemed so much easier to start imagining this little person and who she is going to be.

Also, the baby was awake, and we finally got all the measurements we needed. Everything looked good -- brain, spine, heart. She said that the baby has really long legs for someone her age. I'm not sure if that's a good thing for me or not! I am still measuring about a week earlier than my due date, but they probably won't officially change it at this point. I'll be doing my glucose test in four weeks, but she said they probably won't do another ultrasound until 34 weeks or so in late June.

So now it's off to start picking paint colors and bedding and all those fun things. I think we're both pretty excited to finally know. We went out to lunch after the appointment, and Steve was pretty funny. Every so often a look of sheer panic would cross his face. I'd ask him what was wrong, and it was always something different...usually relating to the thought of having a teenage girl. We'd better start shopping for modest clothes now! There won't be any older brothers, so I'm going to have to chase all the boys away! What if she wants to play club sports, and we have to travel all the time? Plenty of time to worry about that later, but we're excited to finally know which questions to ask!

On a related note, Baby Girl Easter did NOT like our little wake-up call Friday morning. I woke up first at 4:37ish thinking that Steve's leg was twitching. I woke him up, and then we realized the whole bed was shaking back and forth horizontally. I think it lasted for 20-30 seconds. Then after that, non-stop baby kicking started and lasted for about 25 minutes. I think the aftershocks scared her a bit too, because she was really active all day. Maybe babies are like dogs and are more sensitive to these things than we are? Who knows!

Waiting for Thursday

It's been a few weeks, so I figured it was time for an update. Nothing new to report really -- much more of the same. We've had a busy few weeks it seems. We spent most of last weekend in Peoria, as I was co-hosting a shower for my friend Dana, whose little guy is due in a few weeks. This weekend, Steve and I journeyed up to Schaumburg to find me a few work maternity clothes I could stand (love Ann Taylor Loft maternity), work on the registries at a bigger Babies R Us and Target, and exchange our under-warranty digital camera at Sharper Image. Success on all counts. We missed our friend Krems who was out of town for work, but we did get to have a nice lunch with his wife Jess.

Now, it's just back to Normal and counting the days until the ultrasound Thursday...at which hopefully baby's sex and brain measurements will be revealed. I think we've decided that if nothing definitive shows up Thursday, we are just going to go gender-neutral on the bedding and let ourselves be a bit surprised. We could change our minds though.

It's kind of interesting to see how other people act when you're pregnant. At first all the questions are "When are you due?" and "Are you going to find out the gender?". Then once it becomes obvious you are really pregnant (which it has for me the past few weeks), the question changes to "How are you feeling?". It's kind of like asking someone "How are you?" when you pass in the hall. Do you want the real answer? Or the stereotypically positive answer that generally follows in polite conversation. ("Good" follows that question 100% of the time on The Hills, even if those kids are supposedly having the worst day in the world and it may be grammatically incorrect. Yes, it's one of my guilty pleasures. Hopefully that doesn't disqualify me from being mom material).

But to answer the question honestly, I am doing pretty well. My only problems have really been mild hip pain and difficulty going back to sleep after waking up at night. I'm starting to grown out of some of the early petite maternity clothes and look like I've swallowed a cantaloupe. (23 weeks in this picture). But it's all part of the deal, right? Kicking has been a bit erratic. It's nothing one day, and then the next day I swear we've got a future soccer player. But we are enjoying it all and feeling very blessed that things have been going well so far.

Belly pics

We've had a few requests for belly pictures. Unfortunately, I don't really have any since about 12 weeks. Our digital camera has some sort of charging error, and we are in the process of getting it replaced or fixed. All the shots I do have lately are hiding on a throwaway. I really didn't start showing much until 16-17 weeks though.

However, Steve and I did travel to Charlotte with the Jacoby clan for my cousin Drew's wedding two weeks ago, and my dad was kind enough to take a couple shots I'll offer up here though. 19 weeks in these pictures, not exactly profile shots. I will say the growth seems to have increased exponentially since that time. The other pregnant lady in these shots is my cousin -- we're due four days apart.

A kicking!

All the books say between 16-20 weeks for first fetal movement, so I've been a bit impatient for about a month now. I'm starting to think this child is toying with me. I woke up early on Sunday morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Suddenly, I start feeling all these little muscle twitches in the front of my abdomen, just like something little is poking me in certain spots, and I realized that it was the baby.

So about 6am on Easter morning at approximately 20 weeks, this little Easter decided to make its presence known. Since then, it's been a pretty regular occurrence. I'm getting periods of high activity about every three hours, which is quite reassuring. In other news, a new niece arrived to Steve's brother and his wife about 9:30 am. My sister and her husband also celebrated their first wedding anniversary today. Congrats Meghan and Marcus! It's been a busy eventful week here for our family, I must say.

And we have...

...a seemingly healthy but frustratingly shy baby! The ultrasound on Thursday morning was really cool, but it was a bust in the gender-prediction department. Team Easter is now 0 for 3 in showing off at the 20 week scans! We have a guess from the technician based on a fleeting one-second glimpse that it may be a girl. But apparently the umbilical cord can mimic that and she was far from certain...so everything's gender-neutral for at least four more weeks.

We went in at 8:30, fully hydrated and ready to find out. The sonographer fished around and saw quite a few things -- functioning stomach and kidneys, arms, legs, spinal column, two chambers of the heart. But the baby was asleep, not moving much, and had its umbilical cord tucked firmly between its legs, which didn't change for both mini ultrasound sessions.

Steve and I have talked about this, and the coolest part for both of us was after about 5-10 minutes. The baby started waking up, moving the little body and arms a bit, and then tilted its head back, opened its mouth and let out two big yawns. It was just amazing to see it in that kind of detail and realize it really is a little person in there. We also got to see the baby drinking and see its tongue move.

She gave us a few minutes while she did the paperwork, and Steve was talking to my belly and trying to coax the baby into moving. At one point, he demanded the baby uncross its legs, and then followed up with the comment "If you're a girl, that's the only time you'll hear that from me!" After the tech came back, the baby was just not cooperating on necessary measurements, so they said we could come back after the appointment. So I drank a Cherry Coke in the waiting room in an attempt to help things along. This was only the second caffeinated beverage this little one has had, but alas...didn't work like I'd hoped.

We did go back in for about 15 minutes and got to see all four chambers of the heart and a few other organs. Then the technician had me do all sorts of acrobatics on the table...but to little avail. The baby squirmed around quite a bit, and tech thought she saw the telltale three lines at the very end but firmly stated it was only a guess. They also couldn't get several measurements that they wanted, so we are scheduled for another ultrasound in four weeks. Maybe we'll really find out then.

I wasn't certain how I'd react if I found out it was girl. Some of you know, I've been kind of terrified at the idea of having a daughter. I'm just more comfortable with boys. I can't stand pink, don't do well with girlie stuff, and don't relish the thought of being at war with a teenage girl for years. But when she told us her guess was a girl, it was like all the worries melted away and I was really excited. So now we know that either way will be wonderful.

Know this is a long-winded post, so I will sign off for now. Will try to post our new picture from Thursday when time allows later!

blue or pink?

Well folks, tomorrow is the big day! The day that we may get the answer to the second most frequently asked question when people find out you are pregnant. Right after "When are you due?", it seems like the next question asked is "Are you going to find out?"

I don't think there's ever been much question with the two of us. I read spoilers for TV shows on the Internet; I'm not much of a person for little secrets and surprises, let alone big ones. I have been about 80% certain I want to know since the very beginning, and Steve would have found out the moment we learned Baby E was on the way if he could. Now whether this baby cooperates is another matter...so far this next generation of Easters is 0 for 2 when it comes to showing off the goods at the 20 week ultrasound. Shyness may run in the family :)

I'm not sure we really have a gut feeling one way or the other. My initial feeling was it's a girl. Then we saw the little dancing blob on the screen for the first time...and I felt like maybe it's a boy. But since then...no real inkling. Two old wives' tales (hearbeat and pencil test) point to girl. Chinese birth calendar predictor points to boy. We have tons of hand me down boy clothing and oodles of girls names already. I don't have a strong preference, although I am a bit scared that it'll be a girl and my fear of pink and all things super-girlie will be carried on through another generation. I think Steve would like a boy to have the first grandson in the family, but he'd spoil a girl rotten too. Whichever God has blessed us with will be happily celebrated and appreciated!

Aside from the obvious excuse that I don't want everything to be green and yellow, there's something about knowing who this little person is that's terribly exciting to me. Whether we find out boy or girl tomorrow, we're that much closer to knowing and imagining who this child is going to be. And that's pretty exciting regardless!

august and everything after

We have been playing it safe for a couple months now, but Steve and I are finally ready to spread the good news. We are expecting! Baby Easter #1 is due on August 11, 2008, and we couldn’t be much more excited.

Things were a little rocky early on, but everything looks good at this point. Eighteen weeks along this weekend, and I’m just starting to have a bump. I’m feeling pretty good -- blessed with no morning sickness and keeping the weight gain under control so far.

To answer everyone’s next question -- yes, we are hoping to find out the gender. Assuming he or she isn’t shy, we should know Thursday, March 20^th. I’m having a hard time containing myself, so I already have an outfit for each – just in case. As for names, we have clear front runners for both boy and girl first names, but we won’t make up our minds for a while yet.

Check back here for updates. We'll be trying to post the latest and greatest news out here and to keep you all posted as major developments unfold!