Another ticker

12 weeks

Finally I have something exciting to post! The past 5 weeks have been pretty uneventful other than being sick. Just when I thought I was starting to ditch the morning (all day) sickness, I get an awful head cold. There's nothing worse than feeling sick from having a growing baby inside of me AND having a stuffy head and not being able to breathe.

Anyway, on Wednesday Craig and I went for the Nuchal Translucency testing for the baby. They tested for Down's syndrome, Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18. It was so much fun for Craig to be able to see our little baby for the first time. I don't think he expected to be able to see a little baby moving around in there with 10 fingers and 10 toes. S/he was trying to suck his thumb a couple of times then gave us a couple of waves then snuggled up and fell asleep. I so wish I could get the ultrasound pictures scanned on to the computer but I lack a scanner :( The nuchal fold on the back of the neck and the nasal bone measured right on track which gave us a pretty good idea that the baby is completely healthy. It was such a fun day. I love looking at the sonogram pictures, it's so different than the blob I saw on the screen at 7 weeks.

So, I've started to be a stay at home wife and I love it!! Because I've been so sick, my doctor suggested that I take time off from work and I was OK with that!! She signed a 3 month leave for me and I am sure I will take full advantage of that. I've met up with a couple of friends that I haven't seen in a while, spent some time with my nephews and most importantly, I've gotten the rest that I've been needing, especially with this darn head cold.

Craig has been working a lot of hours, which is nice since I'm not working anymore. He's such a hard worker and I love him for that. He starts work so early in the moning so he is home by 2 0r 3, which is so nice. He has taken such good care of me and never complains about me being too needy. He's already started to talk to my belly and try and persuade the babe to love him the most. He is going to be such an awesome Daddy.

We love you all and hope everyone is doing well.

C'mon...THIS is cute!

How cute is this? Baby Jaxson with his Uncle Shooter.

Seeing the heartbeat

This was by far the best part of my week! I had such a crappy week at work and there was no better way to end it than to see our little turd measuring right on track with a heart beat of 146 beats per minute. I was so nervous today and I could hardly sleep last night knowing that today was the day. It was such a bittersweet moment. It brought back a lot of memories of having the first ultrasound and not being able to detect a heartbeat. I was dreading going to the appointment in fear that it would happen again but thankfully everything turned out perfect. Gosh, I'm super happy today.

here's a little info I found online. We'll see if it's true or not!

Fetal heart rates were recorded with a doppler fetoscope for 1 min. The theory is that if the fetal heart rate is 140 beats/min or greater, the fetus is female, and if the fetal heart rate is 139 beats/min or lower, the fetus is male.

According to this myth, we would be having a girl...yay! I totally want a girl but Craig is positive that it's a boy. I'm always right (just ask him) so I bet we'll have a girl. After all, the Chinese Calendar says so, too!! (ok, so I'm really bored at work and have time to look up pointless stuff like this)

7 week appointment...

So the 7 week appointment was pretty uneventful. I just have to go have my blood drawn next week and I'm also scheduled for a level 1 ultrasound next week! I'm nervous/excited/hopeful. Here's what the little turd looks like...

Blogging

There's a first time for everything, right? I've decided to keep a blog of this pregnancy to keep our family and friends updated on Myself, Craig and Baby Shaver.

I'm so excited to be pregnant. As of today, I am 5 weeks 5 days pregnant. I have felt pretty good so far. I just have to remind myself to eat something small every couple of hours to keep my belly from hurting. In the coming weeks I am sure that I'll be wishing I was back to feeling this good. The hardest part for me so far has been remembering to eat breakfast. Since I work so early in the morning, I usually just get up, get ready and head off to work and don't eat much until lunch. That doesn't work too well for me anymore!

My due date is February 20, 2008 which is also my 22nd birthday. With our first anniversary on February 24th, my birthday, the baby's birthday, and Valentine's Day... I am sure Craig is just so excited for February to get here!

We have told both of our families and our closest friends and we are so thankful for the support they have shown us. We can't wait to contribute to the grandkid pool!