How many more like yesterday?

Though I have officially passed the half way point in the pregnancy, I can't help but wonder how many more days I will have like yesterday. It was the absolute worst day of the whole experience so far. It started out with me waking up early - way too early - and unable to fall back to sleep. I got up and got a start on the day and was able to get a few hours of work in before morning sickness hit. I had a great week up until the night before and thought I had been moving beyond that whole horrid phase. I guess that I was wrong.

I had to go into the office to drop off some documents so I pulled it together and went off with Don. Shortly after arriving I knew that the rest of the morning was shot. Even sitting in front of the computer was making me sick. So after quickly checking in with a few people I started home. It didn't get any better through the rest of the day. I seemed to be getting all the symptoms of pregnancy at once. I had a headache, sore back, sore feet, heartburn, was tired, sick [a few too many times], constipated [I know, I know - TMI - but it hurts!] and frustrated. What happened to the old me? When would I see her again?

The only bright spot in the whole day was the TLC I got from Don. When I was lying in bed, trying to remind myself that it would all be worth it in the end he came in and gave me a massage, a back rub [despite a sore wrist] and support. I'm such a sucker for that kind of thing and felt better just because he was there.

Next week will be the 23rd week. That means I have about another 17 weeks of pregnancy to enjoy. On the plus side, the baby is moving around a lot these days and though it can make it hard to sleep at night, it's really kind of neat. I'm learning all kinds of things about our boy already - he loves Belgian chocolate [very, very active after Don brought me some home], will likely be very active at night if his acrobatics are any indication, and will be a torment to the cat. When she tries to lie on my tummy he gets mad and starts kicking. The poor cat gets pushed off again and again. I also get a pretty quick response if I pat the left side of my tummy - sort of a kick that says "Hi mom! Wanna play?"

I know that I've said it before but I'll say it again. I have a whole new appreciation for moms! I haven't even gone through the labor experience and I'm regretting everyday in my life that I haven't remembered and appreciated all that moms go through just to bring us into the world.

That being said, it's my mom's birthday this weekend. Happy birthday mom! I love you, you were [and still are] always right and thank you for everything. You will always be the standard against which I judge myself and I hope that one day I can give my son all the love, understanding, patients and strength that you selflessly continue to give to all of us.

what's in a name

Ok, we have been kicking around some names lately. I must say that all my suggestions for names have been REJECTED! Desiree is listening to Nirvana and has her room plastered with posters, all I suggested was that we consider the name Kurt and a middle name of KO (as in knock-out)...ok sound it out...Kurt Ko Bain...Desiree didn't think that was funny. Then I suggested the name Jesus...shot down...Jesus Bain...sounds good...nope.

I did mention these suggestions to a lawyer friend of ours, to which she stated that she would represent our son and would act in his best interest in terms of the issue of names. As such, when I suggest a name I must preface it with the statement "The one-to-be-named..."

My last suggestion was more traditional, He-Stands-With-A-Fist BUT Angie says that is sounds too much "Dances-With-Wolves" like.

So if you have any suggestions....

Our moms were right!

The day has finally arrived. We are now 99.9% certain about the sex of the baby. It's exciting to finally know and we are happy, but we would have been happy regardless of the news. All that I keep thinking though is that our moms were right.

My poor husband had to wait all day for the news. I had a late appointment - made all the more delayed by a delivery that my doctor was busy with earlier in the day. After waiting almost 1 hour to get in to see her [with the baby performing aerobics in my belly the whole time] I knew Don would be anxious to hear the news. I was going to slip out to call him before I went in but I kept thinking that I couldn't leave because I would surely be the next person called in by the nurse. Little did I know I had a text message waiting for me from an anxious dad-to-be. While it was cruel to keep him in the dark, I think I finally got my revenge for all of those times I've gone by his office after work only to wait around while he took one more call, sent one more email or just had to tweak their website before he could call it a day. To be fair, I did call him as soon as I got out.

First off, everyone will be happy to know that we are all healthy and happy. My doctor said that the ultrasound looked good and everything seems normal. The triple marker test results came back too [to assess the possibility of Downs Syndrome] and the results were negative. I was so excited I forgot to ask if I could record the heartbeat. Next time. Then the doctor said that the report had indicated the sex of the baby and did I want to know. She asked me to guess and I told her we were both sure of what it was going to be. We even had names picked out but only for one sex.

When she told me we were wrong I did a mental groan. Don't get me wrong, I was happy. But again, I thought the moms were right and we were wrong. You know, I'm really looking forward to getting the mom-sense [kinda like spidey-sense I guess]. I think they must give it to you after you make it through the delivery. Someday soon I too will be able to say "I-told-you-so" and "a-mother-just-knows."

Now, we have a bit of a dilemma. Anyone know a good name for a BOY?

I'm on the blog...

My dear wife Angie has invited me to be with her on her blog. She appears to be hesitant on the idea of having at least one line of a hockey team in the family (we would need another 3 little ones)...simply put, she is hinting...well more like telling...me that there is no %&(#)@_% way she is going through another pregnancy anytime soon.

The First Pictures

As you can see my in-house technician was successful. It wasn't easy - we had to install photoshop, hold a more powerful light source up to our scanner and skillfully crop them to make sure the reflection of the light bulb didn't make it look like our kid is going to be, well, just a little strange.

Do you see my point though about how hard it is to interpret these things? I'm starting to think our kid has 7 toes. The hardest one is the picture with the head and torso facing out - the head is on the bottom right hand side and the body is a little curled up. Apparently the baby was a little camera shy because the technician said it was pretty hard to get some of the shots. I wish we thought to ask for one of the heart - but it would only look like a blob.

The next time I'm hooked up to the device that allows my doctor to check the baby's heartbeat I'll ask if I can record it. Now that is cool.

Can you see the beautiful face?

The foot - How many toes do you see?

Baby with head facing and body in profile

And still we wait

The ultrasound was quite an adventure. You are supposed to arrive for your appointment with a full bladder. I received instructions to drink 4 cups of water 1.5 hours before my appointment. It wasn't as easy as I thought. Just when I had managed to down all but a few sips, morning sickness kicked in. I'll spare you the details but needless to say, I had to start drinking more water again.

Don and I had decided that we want to know the baby's gender. Apparently, you need to go out to Delta in order to be able to find this out as most places in the Lower Mainland will not share this information. I had told my doctor early on that we wanted to know and she ensured that our form was stamped to ensure that the technician included this information in her report if it could be determined. I hoped she would tell us but apparently we have to wait to hear it from my doctor.

Try as we might, neither Don or I could tell for certain just what gender the baby is. We actually could make out a lot of detail. We saw the face, the feet, the hands and even got to see the heart beating. We payed $5 to get a copy of a few pictures and the only one that is somewhat helpful in that regard actually isn't - it looks to us like the baby's feet are blocking the critical view. We talked about it afterwards and are both convinced that we are having a girl. It will be a few weeks before we know for sure. Guess I should put off any shopping for cute little dresses until we get confirmation.

My in-house technician is trying to scan copies of the pictures but it doesn't look easy. If he's successful, I'll post them soon.

The beginning

Hi and welcome to my blog.

This blog is intended as a quick and easy means of keeping friends and family up to date on new and exciting developments in the life of my family. I have been notoriously bad at sharing news lately so I thought this method may beat the old standard of the form letter email.

As you know, Don and I are expecting a baby. I'm in my second trimester and the baby is due at the end of March. Tomorrow we go for the first ultrasound. It seems like we have been waiting for this day forever but I can't help but think that I will be disappointed. Can anyone really even see anything resembling a baby on those monitors?

I am, however, looking forward to putting a stop to Don's comments regarding twins, triplets, etc. The very thought scares me so I'll be more than happy to have actual proof that there is in fact only one baby on the way.

Look for more news in the coming days.