JULY SO FAR:
Despite some painful acid relflex that is now under control, ugh!, July has been a wonderful month. I am taking advantage of feeling good and not being too big yet. Tucker, our only child/dog, has benefited daily from this summer-o-fun, too! We have gone camping in Wyoming and to our sister-in-law's lake house in Texas, dog in tow, during the last few weeks. I have felt good and am loving the summer times spent with Steve (who has been the perfect husband to a pregnant wife!) and Tuck...school starts when? :(
THE ULTRASOUND:
We had our "big" ultrasound last night. It was such a relief to see the baby and know that he or she is developing along according to plan. He or she...that's right, we aren't finding out the gender! Anyone who knows me can't quite believe this and I apologize...yet again....to those I persisted to find out their baby's sex over the years :)!
MATERNITY CLOTHES:
I am just starting to creep into some maternity clothes. The boobs and belly are growing :), so the 'early stage' maternity things are feeling comfortable, even if not a perfect fit. I am expecting that one of these days I will pop and grow like a weed, so I am trying to enjoy the fact I haven't had to change much of my clothing as of yet. Thanks to Caroline, Leigh, Aunt Donna, my mom, and Mandy for providing me with my maternity wardrobe!

Thanks for checking in!

SUMMER IS HERE:I have never felt more thankful to be a teacher! While I always take full advantage of my breaks, this one is longer than usual (3 weeks added due to AC installation) and thank the heavens for that :). I can lay on the couch in the afternoon for a cat nap (I swear it's as if I have have narcolepsy lately!), make a good snack and sit outside when I feel nausaous, or whatever I please!
MY LAST APPT.:I heard the heartbeat again...always a relief...and had blood drawn for the several tests they do. All came back negative and baby's hearbeat is where it should be, which is much faster than mine at 160/minute! Next apt. is a bit past the "halfway mark". I will be 22 weeks and we can find out the gender then, if desired. I still can't decide if we will or not...time to think about it, I guess!
CHANGES:We had a great vacation in California and I wasn't sick the entire time. It had been two weeks since I last got sick or felt sick...until today! My 18th week on the dot and I threw up this morning. Oh well..don't have to go to work, I remind myself. Really feel SO much better...just more sleepy but that could also be due to my strange sleeping patterns as of late. Have been feeling the baby for the last week...hard rolls replaced the "fluttering" feelings from a few weeks ago. Bizarre, but fun!
Happy Summer to you all...we'll keep you posted!

MY WEEKEND:

I was in Arizona with my great friends Kate Unger, Noel Dahlby, and Julia Crusius over this Mother's Day weekend. (Happy Mother's Day to Mama Noel... mother to my godson, the fabulous Bjorn, by the way). What a perfect weekend we had at the Ungers resort, The Hermosa Inn! I vow to keep such weekends a part of my life, post-baby, though we'll see if those are famous last words or not! :)

MY HUSBAND AND ME:

Some friends say that their husbands gave them Mother's Day presents when they were pregnant. In no way did I expect Steve to do this. Not because he isn't thoughtful and good about these things, but we still forget that we aren't going to Mexico anymore in six months! It just isn't totally real to us. I am thinking next Mother's Day it will more than be reality as our lives will be completely (though in a great way) changed.
THE MOMS:

For an early Mom's Day gift, we went to The Broadmoor with our moms (shout out to Carol and Brenda) for an awesome brunch. We hadn't told them we were expecting, and gave them "Read to Me Grandma" books to break the news. They (some might say "over") reacted by crying and loudly exclaiming their joy. It was great. My sly dad, though I will never know how, whispered to me before they opened the books that he pretty much knew what was coming. I tried to play it off, but he insisted he knew what was up. I swear I gave no clues that would give this away, but it must be father's intuition. Pretty savvy!
Hope your weekend was a great one, too!Love, Me

So I finally am (slowly, but surely) leaking the word that we are having a baby! After the first pregnancy ending in miscarriage, we decided to wait a few more appointments this time. So here go the last few months in a nut shell:
FINDING OUT:
When in Lawrence for a KU game (go Jayhawks!), I felt a bit funny, but thought it could have been the medication I was on. Light headed at a hair apt. the following weekend, I decided to take a test. Positive! It was the first month we tried, post-miscarriage, and it worked which was a surprise in itself! I told Steve by putting some baby booties by his pillow at bedtime. I had to tell my sisters, too...of course!...but we kept it (fairly) quiet other than that.
SICKNESS:
I have been sick, that's for sure, but nothing I can't "bite the bullet" and handle! Throwing up in the morning and occasionally at very random other times, but I hope that is coming to an end...we'll see. The worst seems to be behind me (and it got pretty bad), so I am crossing my fingers at this point!
DUE DATE/BABY QUESTIONS:
Things are just now starting to seem "real"...though not completely! We are due the day before Thanksgiving, November 21st. People ask if we are going to find out the sex, any chosen names, if I will work or not, etc. All the questions I usually ask but, now that it is my turn, I have no idea what the answers are! I think, in part, this is because I have felt too under the weather to think things through yet. Oh well...I have six more months to figure these things out, I guess.
Stay tuned! Much Love, C and S