Thursday, July 29, 2010
We are family
Since I (Jeff), for some reason, have access to post to this site, I thought I would do just that. Here is an artist's rendition of our family photo in one year. It combines not only computer models to age Brandi and me one year, but it also uses sophisticated algorithms to determine what our child will look like. Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Start spreading the news.....
My mom and sister arrived in town on July 22nd. It was their first visit to Chicago. And it just happened to be timed perfectly to share the exciting news. I considered a variety of ways to do it. From over the top: greeting them at the airport with a sign that said "Welcome to Chicago, Grandma!" to very simple: just blurting out "I'm pregnant!" In the end, I went for something in the middle. I found some cute grandma and aunt t-shirts to wrap up and give them as a thanks-for-coming-to-Chicago gift.
My mom opened hers, looked at it, and chuckled a bit. She knew we had been trying, so I figured she thought "oh, it finally happened" and just had a subdued reaction. Then she peeked over at my sister's shirt. Meanwhile Jamie was looking at her own and then trying to see my mom's and saying something like "What? Really?" I don't remember the exact details until my mom finally got it, gasped, stared at me while I smiled and nodded and finally said "Yep, I'm pregnant!" My mom leapt from the couch to come over and hug me. Oh, and to ask a dozen questions and start talking to my stomach at the same time. Jamie was having none of the talking to the stomach business, which was just fine with me.
My dad was supposed to have a work trip in the area at the beginning of July and I was going to tell him then. And then make him keep a secret until Mom and Jamie came up. But his trip got rescheduled to August when we'll be in Canada. So we took a picture of the shirts and texted it to him and to my brother. My dad's response was classic! "Holy sh--!" That was immediately followed by "Where's my shirt?" Fortunately I had anticipated this issue and had gotten him one as well.
And then I had to draw the line somewhere since they weren't cheap. So Jeff and I don't have parents-to-be shirts. My brother and future sister-in-law don't get a shirt either. And Jeff's parents will be third time grandparents so hopefully they can live without shirts as well.
My mom opened hers, looked at it, and chuckled a bit. She knew we had been trying, so I figured she thought "oh, it finally happened" and just had a subdued reaction. Then she peeked over at my sister's shirt. Meanwhile Jamie was looking at her own and then trying to see my mom's and saying something like "What? Really?" I don't remember the exact details until my mom finally got it, gasped, stared at me while I smiled and nodded and finally said "Yep, I'm pregnant!" My mom leapt from the couch to come over and hug me. Oh, and to ask a dozen questions and start talking to my stomach at the same time. Jamie was having none of the talking to the stomach business, which was just fine with me.
My dad was supposed to have a work trip in the area at the beginning of July and I was going to tell him then. And then make him keep a secret until Mom and Jamie came up. But his trip got rescheduled to August when we'll be in Canada. So we took a picture of the shirts and texted it to him and to my brother. My dad's response was classic! "Holy sh--!" That was immediately followed by "Where's my shirt?" Fortunately I had anticipated this issue and had gotten him one as well.
And then I had to draw the line somewhere since they weren't cheap. So Jeff and I don't have parents-to-be shirts. My brother and future sister-in-law don't get a shirt either. And Jeff's parents will be third time grandparents so hopefully they can live without shirts as well.
First Appointment....
We had our first appointment on July 22nd with the midwife group I've chosen. I saw the same midwife I saw for the first time back in March. I went in then just to make sure everything was okay physically since it was taking a while to get pregnant. I liked her then and this most recent appointment went well too. Eventually I'll probably see all 4 of the midwives in the practice just to get familiar with all of them. You never know who will be on call when the baby decides to arrive! There are also OB's at the same office, so in the event that one is needed I'm covered there too.
Jeff accompanied me to the appointment. Poor guy had just finished a 30 hour shift and squeezed in a 3 hour nap before the appointment. And there wasn't much that happened to get excited about. The midwife tried to find the heartbeat with the doppler, but it was still too early. Otherwise it was just a lot of going over information and a quick physical exam. Everything looks good thus far. We opted to do the early screening tests, which means I will get an ultrasound at 12 weeks. At that point we should be able to rule out my mom's hope that it's twins. :)
Jeff accompanied me to the appointment. Poor guy had just finished a 30 hour shift and squeezed in a 3 hour nap before the appointment. And there wasn't much that happened to get excited about. The midwife tried to find the heartbeat with the doppler, but it was still too early. Otherwise it was just a lot of going over information and a quick physical exam. Everything looks good thus far. We opted to do the early screening tests, which means I will get an ultrasound at 12 weeks. At that point we should be able to rule out my mom's hope that it's twins. :)
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
9 weeks!
We have ourselves a little grape! The little bean is about an inch, or just about the size of a grape. More fun than the kidney bean last week, but I do miss the blueberry imagery of the week before. :)
I had a post for last week. But I didn't like it because it was just too whiny. Part of it was the benefits and downsides of Jeff working so much on a trauma rotation this month. (The trauma and ER departments are separate and have very different work schedules). But most of it was about pregnancy making me neurotic and worrying about every little physical symptom, or lack there of. Fortunately, reaching 8 weeks and now 9 weeks has helped the neuroticism decrease quite a bit. I feel like I'm moving out of the woods as far as ectopic and miscarriage concerns go.
And the decrease in fear of something going wrong has made more room for happiness and excitement! Lots of great things happening in the next few weeks, both pregnancy related and not. It's time to cram in fun and adventure before school starts again!
I had a post for last week. But I didn't like it because it was just too whiny. Part of it was the benefits and downsides of Jeff working so much on a trauma rotation this month. (The trauma and ER departments are separate and have very different work schedules). But most of it was about pregnancy making me neurotic and worrying about every little physical symptom, or lack there of. Fortunately, reaching 8 weeks and now 9 weeks has helped the neuroticism decrease quite a bit. I feel like I'm moving out of the woods as far as ectopic and miscarriage concerns go.
And the decrease in fear of something going wrong has made more room for happiness and excitement! Lots of great things happening in the next few weeks, both pregnancy related and not. It's time to cram in fun and adventure before school starts again!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
7 weeks!
So as of today, I'm 7 weeks pregnant. Which means we've known for about 3 weeks. It seems so much longer. We found out June 16th, the day I flew home from Atlanta (Jeff and I went down for his brother's wedding but he returned a few days before me). Guess that sip of Jack and Coke I stole from Jeff's drink at the wedding will be the last alcohol I'll have for a long time. Wish it had been something better!
Only a very few people know how long we've been hoping for this. We tried to conceive for a year. It's a very difficult thing to go through, the roller coaster ride of hope and disappointment. So we feel very blessed that it finally happened for us, just before we were set to dip a toe into the world of infertility. Each week is another step toward a healthy, successful pregnancy. We hope and pray that everything continues to go well.
Morning sickness started at about 5.5 weeks. It seems it has been much longer than a week and a half that I've been dealing with it. Fortunately it's been mild to moderate so far. Nausea and food aversions abound though. Meat and vegetables are an issue. Any time I'm able to consume a vegetable is a celebration for me. Carbs and junk food sound good though! A little tiredness so far, but not too bad. Gives me a good excuse for naps. Thank goodness for summers off.
Lots of milestones to look forward to. Our first appointment is July 22nd. Which is the same day my mom and sister arrive for a visit. Hopefully we'll have confirmation of a healthy developing bean so we can surprise them with the good news that day. They'll have to keep it quiet for a while since Jeff's family will find out when they visit in August. And just after that is when people will actually be reading these posts.
Only a very few people know how long we've been hoping for this. We tried to conceive for a year. It's a very difficult thing to go through, the roller coaster ride of hope and disappointment. So we feel very blessed that it finally happened for us, just before we were set to dip a toe into the world of infertility. Each week is another step toward a healthy, successful pregnancy. We hope and pray that everything continues to go well.
Morning sickness started at about 5.5 weeks. It seems it has been much longer than a week and a half that I've been dealing with it. Fortunately it's been mild to moderate so far. Nausea and food aversions abound though. Meat and vegetables are an issue. Any time I'm able to consume a vegetable is a celebration for me. Carbs and junk food sound good though! A little tiredness so far, but not too bad. Gives me a good excuse for naps. Thank goodness for summers off.
Lots of milestones to look forward to. Our first appointment is July 22nd. Which is the same day my mom and sister arrive for a visit. Hopefully we'll have confirmation of a healthy developing bean so we can surprise them with the good news that day. They'll have to keep it quiet for a while since Jeff's family will find out when they visit in August. And just after that is when people will actually be reading these posts.
Welcome!
Welcome to our blog. We'll use it to document our journey in growing (and raising) a little Schulze. We know there are a friends and family far and near who will be interested in the journey. This is for you!
Welcome and enjoy!
Welcome and enjoy!
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