Isabella's future ex-boyfriend

So today Ultrasound Lady said I'm just barely 14 weeks. So that would move my due date to January 28, 2010. I'm writing in pink today in defiance. Andrew was NOT cooperative at the ultrasound today. He turned his back to us the entrie time and refused to roll over - he even tucked his legs underneath himself and crossed his ankles. Takes after me already....eesh. Lady did manage to catch one glimpse of his nub from the side and one from underneath his pelvis and said they both look like he's a boy. So firetrucks and toy police badges instead of ballet slippers and headbands for us. Hopefully at the 20 wk ultrasound we'll get a 100% gender instead of a 90%

When Ultrasound Lady had him in the live 3d view, we got to see him raise his arms up and try to hide his face. It was adorable! I could not believe what we were watching on the screen was actually happening in my belly. It's insane how a person can flail around inside you but you not be able to feel it. 2 more weeks and I might be able to start feeling those little butterflys fluttering around in there.

Jayme brought something up the other day - she said if I have a boy then the Soller-Gibson-Palmer friendship could continue on another generation. Scott - you might need to get on it. We're missing the O'Neal link in that chain. Isabella Mears - looks like I'm having your future ex-boyfriend!

Here are the little Alien's pictures from today.

This is the shot from under the pelvis

Here you can see that it's angled straight out



Chillin' on his side

Tot's camera shy - he's hiding his face AND his parts!

This was when we got to watch him move his arms and nuzzle into his hands

I like this one bc it looks like he's wearing socks. Guess it's too early to tell if he'll have his dad's crazy monkey flexi feet.

AW CRAP! I forgot to save the 3d color scan onto the thumb drive! Well I'll just have to redo that one tomorrow.

Calvin?

Anyone else see the resemblance?


Oh what have I gotten myself into?........................




Here's the belly this morning. I figure I'll take the pictures in the same outfit as long as possible so we can actually see the difference each time. The last one was at what we thought was 14 weeks but it was most likely 12. This one is 16 weeks according to my midwife but closer to 14 according to Ultrasound Lady. I have another ultrasound on Thursday and my 16 week check up on Friday (which will probably have to be redone 2 weeks later) so between those two appts, we should have a better idea of what week I'm on then.

Hey look at that - I have a face. I think I'm growing this kid in my thighs.

********Edit! Turns out I'm 13 weeks in those pictures!

It's a .........

Or so we think. sigh...here's the explanation. Lady starts the ultrasound and his little spine pops up on the screen. It was so cool! You could see his outline and his spine and head so clear. Lady tried to point out the legs to us but neither Sam nor I could see what the heck she was pointing out. Of course Tot had his legs folded up under him blocking the view so Lady tried another spot. This time she looked from under the butt and said "Oh it looks like you're having a girl!" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am pretty sure I inhaled all of the oxygen in the room then started crying because I just couldn't believe God actually gave me what I wanted!!!!! I felt calm for the first time all day. It was such a relief. We went on to listen to the heartbeat (158) and checked out Tot's little arm and profile. Then Lady scrolled around some more and said "Umm I'm going to look at this from a different angle because now I think you're having a boy". I'm sorry, what? Did she REALLY just tell me I was having a girl then take it back?????? I knew this pregnancy had been too easy. I knew there had to be a catch. And that catch comes in the form of a penis. Or what should become a penis in a few more weeks.

Turns out I'm not as far along as we thought. Lady said I'm measuring closer to 13 weeks than 15 so Tot's not as developed as one usually is before this scan. At this point, there is no penis or vagina, there's only a "bud". The bud looks identical in boys and girls at this stage, the difference being the angle of the dangle, so to speak. With a boy it angles up, with a girl it angles anywhere from 35 degrees and down. Guess where Tot's is? Yup, just barely above 35. So Lady says she's 90% sure it's a boy and she's never been wrong before but she scheduled me a return visit on Thursday to confirm the sex. So there's a teeny tiny 10% chance that the bud just hasn't fallen into position yet for a girl. I'm not holding my breath but what I wouldn't give for Lady to be wrong for the very first time.

*******************EDITED TO ADD THIS**************
Everything I'm reading online has been saying the 30 degree line is the difference, not 35 like Ultrasound Lady said. So I found a 30 degree angle and laid it on top of Tot's image at the base of the spine (where the angle is measured from). Look where the bud is angled ----- DIRECTLY at 30 degrees!!!!! BLARG! No help at all! Oh - you can click on the image and it will enlarge so you can get a better view.

****************end of edit*************************

I blame Russell for this. You just know he asked God to give us a boy since we decided if we had one, to name it after him.

Here are the other three pictures she printed. His tiny arm and profile - you can totally see his brain!

Andrew's alien face!

So it's almost certainly a boy but just incase (Mom, Mammaw, Debbie, Sherry, etc....heehee) don't go buying any boy themed stuff til after the next ultrasound in a week.

Hannah or Andrew?

Well in a few hours we'll know if Tot's got a dangle or a caslopis......and I'm terrified. I actually cried this morning when Mr. left for work bc if it's a boy, all my pink ruffled dreams will be crushed. These are the last few hours I get to imagine her in her Sunday dresses and patent mary janes. Every time I see a cute little girl on a commercial or in church I just get this twinge of "I can't wait to see MR's face when our little one says that/does that/looks at him like that". It HAS to be a girl. It just has to! It's me and Mr - we totally match with a girl, not a boy. Mr's already helped raise a boy (Daniel) and so have I (Xavier..ok technically I've been "Mom" to about 10 20-something soldiers, too) so now it's our turn for a girl. Seriously ~ throughout both of our whole lives - all signs point to GIRL.
Guess we'll find out in a few hours. T minus 4 hours, 49 minutes and counting.

wishful thinking

be a girl be a girl be a girl be a girl be a girl beagirlbeagirlbeagirlbeagirlbeagirlbeagirl!

Almost Roadkill

Ok so this is a little late, but here's what happened to me on Thursday (July 09).

I was minding my own, walking through the commissary parking lot (for you civilians out there, the commissary is the Base's grocery store) when all of the sudden something rammed into my left arm and ribs. A bagger came running over and asked if I was ok - I was so confused....of course I'm ok....why wouldn't I be? Then I came to my senses and realized that I was leaning against a car. I thought, "Oh my gosh do NOT tell me I just walked into a parked car!!!!!!!" but then I noticed brake lights. SO, genius that I am, I deduced that -- HOLY CRAP!!! That car just hit me!!!!!!! My next thought was "Must.Get.Out.Of.Way." so I wondered over to the sidewalk and watched the lady who just smacked into me finish backing out with no other casualties and pull to the far end of the parking lot, opposite from me. Coming further to my senses, I grabbed my phone and called Sam. It went something like this:

K: Hey Babe - you are NEVER going to guess what just happened to me!

S: What?

K: I just got hit by a car.

S: Are you ok? Where's the car?

K: No, Bay, the CAR didn't get hit, I got hit - ME!! I was in the parking lot and some jack*** ran into me!

**K can hear the dinging of a car door opening through the phone**

S: Are you ok? Where are you?

K: At the commissary

S: Where's the car that hit you?

K: Still sitting at the opposite end of the parking lot. I think she's scared - she just hit a person.

S: Did you get her name?

K: No, she never got out of the car. Actually she didn't so much as roll down the window to see if I was ok!

S: What?!! Did you get her license plate?

**K squints like Mr Magoo knowing full well she can't read a license plate that far away**

K: No, I was too shocked to do anything but get out of the way. She's pulling out of the parking lot now - she's headed down that road that leads from here to the PX.

S: I'm going to try to find her. That's a felony hit & run charge.

K: It is? Are you sure? I'm not even hurt! I don't want her put in jail, I just need her to realize she just ran into a pregnant lady who happens to married to a Federal Agent --- OOOO!!! Go get her and scare the shadoobs out of her!!!!!!!!!!

S: I'm trying.

He never found her, didn't expect to since he was a few minutes behind her. We both agreed that I am a terrible witness. So if any of you are ever victims of a crime, I hope I am not with you as I am completely usesess in those instances. Anyway, Mr had the MPs put a BOLO out on the description of her car and they actually offered to pull over every single 4 door rounded dark green vehicle they can find on post. Nice, huh? I told them not to worry about it. They'll never find the right car.

So that was my fun day! I'm fine, I promise!!!!!

For those of you wondering what I look like with a Tater Tot in my belly, here ya go. This is me this morning - 14 weeks preggers (that's 3.5 months for the mathematically challenged).

********EDIT! Turns out this picture is week 11.5

STEP AWAY FROM THE MASHED BANANAS!

Well here's an interesting dream I had the night before last. Jayme, pay attention:
We already had the baby (it was a boy, but I've had equal dreams of Tot being a boy and a girl) and Kyle and Jayme were here visiting. Tot wasn't keeping formula down and I was tired of cleaning up baby puke, so Jayme offered to watch him while I cleaned myself up. I get out of the shower and pass by the nursery only to see Jayme, baby spoon in hand, feeding my child it's first jar of baby food!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knock the jar and spoon out of Jayme's hands and yell ...no, SCREECH, at her for taking a "first" away from me and Sam and threatened to punch her in the face if she didn't step away from me (sorry, Jayme!!!!!). Needless to say, she and Kyle packed their things and left.

So moral of the dream - don't take away any of Tot's "firsts" from me or Sam or I just might claw your eyes out.

Love you, Jayme!

Glooooooooooooooria G-L-O-R-I-A Glooooooooria!

from www.urbandictionary.com

FOOD BABY (fooooooood bay-bee)

When a person, typically a thin one, indulges in a large amount of food which makes their stomach stick out from the fullness as if they're pregnant.
In the movie "Juno"-

Juno: I'm pregnant.

Leah: What? Honest to blog?

Juno: Yeah. Yeah, it's Bleekers.

Leah: It's probably just a food baby. Did you have a big lunch?

Juno: No, this is not a food baby all right?

No, no, this is definitely not a food baby. Tot has officially appeared. I woke up at some point last night when it felt like someone had grabbed a hold of one of my stomach muscles just below my belly button and JeRkEd it with all their might. I promptly fell back asleep though, thanks to the ever present levels of benadryl in my veins that someone seems to be spiking me with every afternoon.

This morning I passed by the mirror and immediately turned around and looked again. All I could think was "that....was....not....there...yesterday..." So looks like a flat belly is a thing of the past for Katherine. It's small, it's still squishy, it disappears if I inhale - but it's there. Tater Tot has decided I should look, not pregnant, but as though I seem to have forgotten to go to the gym this year or just ate an entire Christmas ham. I have warned my poor sweet husband that this signals the beginning of the weight gain but since I've made it 3 months and have only added about 1 pound onto my frame, he is in denial. That, or he's just trying really hard to try and make me feel better by telling me I'm wrong when I tell him to ignore the urge in a few months to start calling me Gloria, the Madagascar Hippo.

And on a totally unrelated note - what the crap happened to Olive Garden's breadsticks?????!!!!!!?????

Where is the drippybutterygarlicy goodness that should adorn the top of the loaves? Why are they now so devoid of topping that they don't leave so much as a spot on the white napkins that cover them? BOOOOOOO! SHAME ON YOU, OLIVE GARDEN!!! Those breadsticks used to be reason enough to patron your restaurant! Now they are nothing but a crappy side dish you can use to sop up your leftover marina. You need a way to cut some overhead costs? Here's an idea: Get rid of those disgusting Andes mints you shower your guests with at the end of the meal and leave those breadsticks alone!!!!!!!!!


today: 12 weeks, 5 days (yup, that means only 2 more days left in the 1st trimester)

What's up, Doc?

So here's what we've done with doctors so far -

I went in on June 10 for my 1 hour informational class. Yep, that's right, the Army assumes you are unfit to carry your fetus until you've sat through their super informative 1 hour "class". You can't even make a real doctor's appointment until you've had your class. So off I went like a good little wifey. It wasn't terrible, I got a really nice nurse who you can tell loves her job. She weighed me - unfortunately it was in front of another lady who was much further along than I am and she did not appreciate hearing my weight read out loud by Nurse Happy Pants. I did, though. HAHAHAH! I weighed less than I thought. She forgot to take my blood pressure and sat me in a room with just her and a teeny computer desk. There were pictures of fetal devlopment all over the place. Yes, I'm going to make you look at them.



EEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew.

It was surreal. I kept thinking, "WHAT in the world am I doing here?" I've only been to these things as support. Anyway we talked about my risk factors (zero, thank you very much!), having a midwife instead of an OBGYN, what to expect at my next visit, what I can keep doing vs what I need to stop, the fact that fetus has already swam in a sea of vodka (well, it was Memorial weekend and I took a test beforehand, but it lied to me!!!!), etc. Then she entered some dates into her computer and came up with date of conception - April 21. Well knowing that April 21 was Sam's graduation and we couldn't have conceived on that day I asked if it could have been the night before. She said "absolutely" and I almost fell out of my chair laughing. Nurse Happy Pants was confused so I explained to her that April 20th was the first time Sam and I were even in the same state since I went off BC. Soooooooooooooooooooooo VERY FUNNY, GOD! Apparently He saw his chance and commanded Tater Tot to hurry up before I changed my mind and went back on the pill. Histerical, right? After we finished she scheduled my 10 week heartbeat appt and sent me down to the lab to see if I had The Hiv or any other CrazyNasty that could hurt the tot (I don't).Nurse Large Needles promptly blew out my vein. Yay. The bruise just went away yesterday.




So 1st appt we learned I was 9 weeks, 1 day and my starting weight was 114.04

My goal is to keep it under 150 lbs but we'll see. I know people who gained 25 and people who gained 100. I have no idea what'll happen to me but I'm inclined to believe I'll balloon up like a beached whale.


~Doc Appt #2~

So at our 10 week appointment we got to hear the heartbeat. It was really brief and Midwife only found it twice, but we heard it. Sam said it sounded like hummingbird wings. I had to fight back tears (2 of which got away - the houdinis!) but Sam just sat there with a huge grin on his face. I was really surprised that I got all mooshy - I've only cried once so far and that was when Sam realized I was pregnant. Those tears weren't even for me - they were for him. It's the biggest thing in the world to tell your husband that his life will never be the same (especially when he REALLY wants a child and you know how happy the news is about to make him) so I leaked like a faucet.

After Midwife cleaned the goo off my belly we talked about setting up the ultrasound. It's supposed to be done between weeks 18 and 22. She said we get 1 shot (ONE!) to find out the sex of Tater Tot. If Tot's facing the wrong way and hiding his/her goodies from us then too bad, so sad, we'll find out in the delivery room. Ummm.............come again????!!!!!!!!???????!!!!!! You want me to put my trust in one 10 minute session with a soldier who couldn't care less if we get to find out what we're having or not and an outdated grainy black and white Xerox machine that'll spit out a "picture" of my Tater Tot that may as well be a Rorshach blot????? Bull bananas! Yeah I said bull bananas - I'm bringing a kid into this world, it's time to clean up the language (and you guys thought I was strict on profanity in my house before). So ffw to 2 weeks ago on our drive to church Sunday morning. I was looking out the window and saw a strorefront that said 4D Peek Ultrasounds. Well I googled it (http://www.4dpeek.com/ if you're interested), called the front desk, and viola! We find out at week 15 in 3d color! July 23! Yes, I've heard the skepticism about learning the sex that early. Yes I know that when some of you were pregnant it was impossible to know that early. It's not 1972 anymore - I say if the technology is there, why not use it? I asked the scheduler if we should wait til I was 16 or 17 weeks along and she assured me that they have over a 90% accuracy rate at 15 weeks but if for some reason they can't be sure, they'll reschedule me the next week for free. SIGN ME UP.

So at 10 weeks I weighed 104.2, bp 64, and we heard the heartbeat.

Next up:

July 23 - ultrasound


July 31 - 16 week appt

Sometime late August - army ultrasound


OK, so I think that brings us up to speed. I am now 12 weeks and a day. 6 more days to go and I'll be in the 2nd trimester. Everyone told me not to count on my morning sickness going away by the end of the 1st trimester but YOU WERE WROOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG! (if you didn't sing that last part in a schoolyard voice, go back and try again). Nausea only lasted 2 weeks! Now I'm not naive, I know it could come back with a vengence in the 3rd trimester but for now it's gone, gone, gone! Morning sickness and fatigue are the only symptoms I've had so far. No headaches, no worsening allergies, no ..... bathroom....issues, no mood swings (really! I can't believe it myself! - if anything, I'm more chill than usual), no uncontrollable crying bouts, no disorganization.... Yes, I know it may slap me in the face yet but 1st trimester was a breeze! Oh wait, I do have to pee about 72 times a day/night and I've had some wierd food cravings and aversions. So far I have found that meat is not my friend nor is ranch dressing. Both of those turn my stomach. I've only eaten 2 odd combinations so far: 1. a big ole spooful of butter in my pot roast 2. cream of mushroom soup with white rice.............scooped out of the bowl with Fritos like it was dip. I thought it was delicious.