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!