Contract Renewal

Good news! Michael's state contract has been renewed till February 2010! Woo hoo! We are very happy and excited that he will continue to work on a project he likes so much with people he likes.
On a yucky note, my queasiness has yet to go away. Although it is getting less frequent, there are times when the severity of the nausea continues for hours, and other times when I feel fine. As of this morning, I have lost weight again and am hoping there will be some relief soon. Even though I am over 16 weeks pregnant, and in my second trimester, this "morning" sickness continues to haunt me.

My theatre friends took me out to dinner on Saturday for an early 30th birthday party. I got quite a haul: make-up, hair ties, candles, a sparkly key chain, decorative perfume bottles, sparkly picture frames, gift cards, a change purse, chocolates...a very fun night for me. Aside from having to use the bathroom 3 times during dinner and not being able to eat that much because of indigestion (another uncomfortable symptom of pregnancy), it was a fun night. It is always nice to sit around and talk and enjoy friends' company. One of the other girls celebrates her birthday the day after mine, so we had gifts and presents and cake for her too! A big celebration!

I felt pretty good Sunday afternoon, so Michael and I decided to do a little baby book shopping at Barnes and Noble (using one of the gift cards my friend Meagan gave me for my birthday). Then afterward, I ate fruit and veggies and rice with Michael in the Mall food court before we went to see Transformers 2. The movie was very good, but there was a couple sitting behind us that talked thru the entire movie! **Begin rant** That is sooooo rude. At full voice, the man would either comment back to the screen whenever a character would say a line, OR repeat what the character was saying back to the character. Why?? Then he would talk to his companion about the movie- not in a whisper, at regular speaking voice!!! The couple who was sitting in the same row down from us finally got up to move and managed to find two seats away from this chatty couple (the theater was pretty full, since it was opening weekend for this very popular movie), and that didn't even stop these people from talking. Now I realize that: laughing, awwing, getting up to go to the bathroom, sighing, whispering to your companion when you missed what the actor said, and breathing in loudly in surprise at scary parts are normal reactions while watching a movie- but talking is rude. It takes away from the experience the other movie theater patrons have, and makes them regret paying $5-$10 per ticket for the movie because they didn't get a chance to enjoy it. **End rant**

Happy Father's Day!

Michael will be a father soon! He is so excited! I was unlucky enough not to feel well on Father's Day (woke up sick at 4am that morning), so I decided to make the most of the nausea-filled morning and cleaned the kitchen (something Michael has been doing since I started feeling "morning" sickness). I had already laid his presents out for him (I wrapped them in Superman wrapping paper). When he awoke, he opened his gifts: Star Trek cereal, a new dust buster (our old one broke), and a CardDominoes board game he has been wanting for a while. He was so psyched. I finally started to get tired again around 9am and took a nap. While I was asleep, Michael was pleasantly surprised by phone calls from family members wishing him a "Happy Father's Day!" I woke up around 2pm and felt a little better (took anti-nausea meds too), and Michael wanted to go see the Jack Black comedy movie Year One as a treat to himself. The movie was very silly, but had a few funny parts. Afterward, we settled in for a quiet evening at home.

The day before Father's Day, I felt pretty good in the morning, so Michael and I decided to do a little window shopping at Babies-R-Us. It was fun to look at all the possibilities out there- and there are many. We decided on options for furniture (depending on the gender of the baby). Michael really liked a particular baby monitor that would let us broadcast the baby's picture over the internet. He loved it b/c he can see the baby sleeping at nap time, even if he is a work, and our relatives can sneak a peek at the sleeping baby whenever possible. We are very excited about registering, and hope to do so soon (we are counting down the seconds until we find out the baby's gender!!).

While we were out, we decided on eating at Famous Dave's BBQ, as an early celebration of Father's Day. After our lunch, we ran over to the mall in order to purchase more bras (yes, my pregnancy breasts are a-growin'). Another painful reality of pregnancy.

The Monday after Father's Day, I chipped a tooth on a gingersnap (they help a little with the nausea), and called the dentist, who was able to get me in on Tuesday. I had read that most women have extreme dental concerns during pregnancy, and even talked to my friends about it. Turns out my teeth are fine and the tiny chip in my tooth is annoying b/c it is a little sharp, but not serious. *whew* Crisis averted. Next pregnancy issue, please...

First Screening Test Results

We received the test results for the First Screen Test today: the baby appears to be free of fetal abnormalities! Yay! The blood test came back, and he/she has a very low risk of developing chromosomal problems (i.e. the Maternal Fetal Medical Specialist our OBGYN sent us to thinks there is a very small chance (within normal perameters) of our baby having Down's Syndrome and other abnormalities, based on the in-depth ultrasound and the blood test that checks for such things).

I am feeling a little better: I am nauseated about 60% of the time now, which is still a lot, but not all the time like I was for the past 2+ months. I feel weird flutters and tugs in my tummy and some pangs of discomfort in my back here and there. Not completely sure what that's all about. Haven't noticed any headaches lately, which is nice. We hope to get out and do some baby shopping, maternity shopping, and registering soon. I am 14 weeks and 2 days today.

Michael's Mom e-mailed us and said she bought a Tigger/Pooh baby swing and a Tigger walker, which she will bring down with her when she and the family come to visit the baby.

We have dinner plans with our friends Brett and Casie this Friday, and I have no idea what to get Michael for Father's Day, which is coming up this Sunday! Any suggestions?

We are looking forward to our next OBGYN visit on July 1, b/c we are pretty certain she should be able to tell us the gender of the baby by then, and we are so curious! With our theme of Tigger and Pooh in the nursery, which is pretty gender neutral, and our nursery being purple, it is obvious we really don't want to pigeon-hole the baby with a gender role when the baby is born, but we just REALLY wanna know the gender, b/c it is so exciting to guess. All the "old wives' tales" and the "Chinese Calender Gender Predictors" say girl, and all my relatives are betting it's a girl, as well as all my friends who have voiced an opinion, but I am so clueless! I have no idea- no "mother's intuition" to tell me one way or the other, and that is so weird. Michael is still sticking with the feeling that it is a boy, b/c of his dream he had a few months ago, but I have no idea! *sigh* Well, we'll find out soon enough. Until then, we just get to keep guessing...

First Screening Test

June 8, 2009: we went in for our "First Screening Test" today. Through ultrasound and my blood, this test measures for genetic abnormalities (Down's Syndrome, etc). They took blood from my finger too, and the results should be back in about a week. The ultrasound was very cool- we got to see the baby move around a lot! He/she does NOT like being poked. Hehehehe. So far, the baby looks good. Michael posted more pictures yesterday. Go to PHOTOS (upper left-hand corner of the screen where Home; Photos; Blog; Site tabs are). Once in the Photos section, you can click on either Family Photos, Baby Bump, or Prenatal Photos. Enjoy and tell us what you think! We still need to get a pic of Michael up there too...

Dr appts and birthdays

We had our scheduled Dr appt June 5 (the same day as my brother Adam's birthday). We were able to listen to the baby's heartbeat with the Doppler on my stomach for the first time (very cool), and I had to do many blood tests- we'll get the results some time next week. Our OBGYN recommended a First Screening Test for Monday, June 8, to determine if the baby has Down's Syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities (keep our baby in your thoughts). The test will include another in depth blood test and a detailed ultrasound 2- and in some rare cases, it is possible to see the baby's gender with this test.

The next day, June 6, our family went out to celebrate Adam's 27th birthday at Joe's Crab Shack! It was a lot of fun, and Adam was made to do a cheer (with pom poms!) to his own birthday song while all the patrons of Joe's Crab Shack sang to him. Hehehe. Michael will be posting the pictures of Adam's dance on the Family Photos section of the website soon.

I am 13 weeks pregnant right now, and will have a baby bump pic up on the website after our ultrasound on Monday. Stay tuned...