16 Weeks

As of yesterday, I am 16 weeks pregnant.  Here is a belly bump photo to appease you out-of-towners. 

It took two tries to get it right.  I was sucking in on the first one (typical in my photos, yes, but not appropriate when I'm trying to show how the stomach is growing).

I've also requested that Evan let me know when he's taking the picture so that I don't look like I hate the world.

Anyway, we had our 16 week check-up today.  Evan couldn't make it as he's in class all week so I asked Cheryl to babysit Oakes for a bit while I went in.  Last time Oakes came, Evan and I played the game of guard the bio-waste trashcan and guard the door as those were the only two things Oakes was interested in.  I figured my appointment would be a lot smoother if I didn't have a 21 month old sitting on my lap during the exam.  Anyway, here are the stats...

Blood Pressure: 102/70
Weight: down a pound again (total weight gain = -6 pounds)
Heartrate: 168bpm

Gender ultrasound is scheduled for Monday, July 25th (Evan's birthday!!!) at 2:30pm -- yippee!

Older Stats...

Tuesday, May 31st -- 12 weeks pregnant
Blood Pressure: 104/62
Weight: down 5 pounds (duh, I can't stand the smell of food!)
Heartrate: 168 bpm
* No big news today.  Baby's heartrate is at a more reasonable level (183 was at the high end at the ultrasound) and I'm feeling fine minus not liking the smell of food or the thought of hot food.  As of 11 weeks though, the food nausea seemed to have worn off quite a bit so maybe I'll gain some of this weight back.

Monday, May 16th -- 10 weeks pregnant
Heartrate: 183 beats per minute (bpm)
No others stats to report today as it was for an ultrasound.
* The bloodwork from last time was very pregnant, so this was our ultrasound to date the baby.  With the thought of high HCG numbers, Evan and I were scared to death of the thought of twins.  Luckily, there was just one baby at the ultrasound :)  They also found a cyst on my left ovary, but I had one with Oakes too and that went away so no worries here.

Friday, May 6th -- 8.5 weeks pregnant
Blood Pressure: 108/64
Weight: Let's just say that I'm starting a few pounds heavier than I started with Oakes.
* Had a Pap Smear today (fun!) which all turned out fine.  However, Dr. Cuellar said he didn't think my uterus was measuring 8.5 weeks and since we were a bit unsure of our conception date, we drew some bloodwork and if that was high enough, we will come back for an ultrasound in about a week and a half.

The Backstory

Today marks our 16th week of pregnancy, so I figured it's high time I started a blog for this little booger.  Let me start from the top.

Evan and I knew we were ready to expand the family, we were just a bit concerned about timing.  With me looking at transferring schools, I figured it wouldn't be the best way to introduce myself in an interview: "Hi, I'm Wendy, and this huge belly is my baby for which you'll need to also be interviewing for my interim."  However, with the new school's opening date in limbo we figured we needed to make this baby work for our family and not be concerned with how it would affect our work.

So... we half-heartedly gave it an effort in February, "trying" for a girl (yes, there are ways... google it).  When that didn't work out, we decided to take a month off in March as I absolutely knew that I didn't want a December-baby with the holidays, etc.  Of course, we all know the saying "the best laid plans...."

So in early April, Evan, Oakes, and I were enjoying a warm afternoon in the front yard playing with Oakes' basketball hoop.  I was two days late on my period but not too concerned as that seemed to be the norm lately.  However, I decided to run inside and take a pregnancy test "just in case" - and yes, it turned out to be very positive.  I mean VERY positive.  In the sense that the directions tell you to wait a few minutes for a positive to appear and I was barely able to get the stick on the sink before the words "PREGNANT" popped on the screen.  So this was unexpected for Mrs. Planner, but thrilling nontheless.

We didn't waste time sharing the news.  We told my parents at their house at the beginning of Spring Break (and were able to tell Nana just before she passed away) and told Evan's parents at their cabin over Spring Break.  All parties were excited, though I think my parents were a little shell shocked with Joe's baby due in June, Tina's due in October, and mine due in December (be careful what you wish for, right Mimi and Popi?). However, we kept it quite among our own friends and co-workers since I was still hoping for that job transfer.

My the time June rolled around and no interviews had been conducted for the new school, I figured I was just going to have to introduce myself in the manner I had dreaded if the time ever came for an interview.  Oh well, right?  We had to get on with our lives so we spilled the beans to our friends and colleagues.  I guess we were about 12 or 13 weeks along at that point.