Heartbeat!

Heartbeat! u make me feel so weak! Who sang that song? We heard the baby's heartbeat today. It was just like in Alias when Sydney Bristow was pregnant. Actually it sounded like at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark when they lock the ark in a crate. Woouwww...woouuwwww...wouuuwww. However it sounded it was music to my ears. It was beating so fast. Like a hummingbird at least that's what I remember from those national geographic documentaries :)

About Boy Names...

...I'm not as open as Ramon is to suggestion about names. I know we'll come up with it in due time. No hurry here =) For now I'm just working on getting my hubby to spell Symone's name with a Y instead of an I... =)

Boy or girl

Is it a boy or a girl? According to Yvette's woman intuition and our friend Dan's prophetic image the baby is a little person of the xx chromosome. The ultrasound technician said they saw the makings of what could be a boy (Yvette and I think it was just the umbilical cord. We already have a name Simone picked out but what if it is a boy? I don't know what do you think boy or girl and if it is a boy what should we name him? What about Killer? Now that's gangster LOL

Initial Signs of Movement

I am hyper aware at this point of the baby's potential movement in me. I've read that it happens between now and 20 weeks where you really begin to know which feelings relate to the baby's actual movement and what is just gas or hunger pains. The flutters and shutters are often happening in my tummy, but I am still waiting on that confirmation of when I actually understand how the baby's movements are unique to everything else in there. Exciting times!

Thursday's Appointment

Our upcoming appointment is happening on Thursday of this week, 2/28/08. We look forward to this one, for the further confirmation of how things are developing for the baby, and also because it could possibly be one of our last appointments with our friends Sandra and Sean. They are due in March, and are now going in to the dr.'s office every week! So exciting to have had them in this process with us, with their support, prayer, love, and just genuine excitement over the blessings of being pregnant. Please pray for these sweet friends as they enter this next stage of preparing for birth & bringing home baby!

Although the baby's sex organs are developed at this stage, we are not sure if we will find out the sex at this coming appointment or at the next. I am thinking it will happen closer to our next appointment, which should be around the 20 week mark. But of course, our dr. may suprise us by giving us info at this appointment coming up if she can tell what's going on in there. Either way, it should be only a few more weeks before knowing if we'll need to change Symone's name or not! =)

Second Trimester Benefits

So today I'm at 16 weeks! Quickly closing in on 4 months, I feel really good in this particular stage. No longer tired, no longer sick, & finally starting to look like there's a little human grow inside my tummy. Since they call this the honey moon stage of pregnancy, I can understand why it feels like the happy part with so many nice perks. Just gotta keep enjoying it as long as this second trimester lasts!

Pregnant Rocker =)

Playing guitar today at church was fun - I started to realize that my "baby bubble" now slightly pushes out the guitar when I wear it with the shoulder strap =) Just a funny little tidbit you don't think about until it becomes an issue. Kyle suggested a "maternity guitar" set up that I can just walk up to and play without attaching it to my body. Make ya feel like a true "pregnant rockstar" =)

Ready to be a dad

Yesterday my cousin asked me whether I was ready to be a dad. I had to be honest I told him no. Who is ready to sacrifice and give selflessly? It's one of those questions that doesn't really get done justice. It's like asking what would you do if...your wife was being attacked.....you were trapped on a deserted island....you had to choose between saving a baby or an old lady. So no I am not ready but I don't think anybody ever is.

On the other hand I am preparing myself for decreased sleep, more broken things, and a whole range of smells and sounds that I cannot control. So you may not ever be ready but it is always good to prepare.

baby detector

The one thing that i saw a lot of in Ethiopia (besides donkeys) were babies. I think I just had my radar on for babies. It was like I was a baby detector. It made me really miss home so i could be with Yvette and Symone. This was the first trip to Africa where I sensed an immediate longing for home. I guess that's what family does for you.They bring you home

Welcome home, Daddy!

Ramon was delighted to see the growth in my baby bubble since he's been gone. I was happy that he could tell there was a difference! Welcome home, sweetie!! We missed u so much!!!!

Content Little Ones

Baby seems content. All appears well in my tummy =) No more sickness, less & less fatigue. Overall peace. Baby has begun making an appearance as well in pushing her way out into plain view. She makes a cute little tummy bubble!

Elye is also living in the land of contentment. She's been sunning, eating fairly well, and enjoying all of the attention of having lots of people over lately.

I have probably been the least content of us all! I'm missing my sweetie very deeply, and am grateful that this trip is one of the shorter that we have taken in the past.

We are all missing daddy - me, Symone, & Ellye (our turtle) =) He returns tomorrow, but is probably flying now or will be very soon. Pray for daddy's safety & travel back home!

Happy 2nd Trimester =)

Starts tomorrow! =) Yay!

Next Appointment...

...is Thursday 2/28 @ 3pm. At that point I should be somewhere around 4 months or 16-17 weeks along. I don't know what we're doing at that one. I'm can't keep up with all the medical terms & baby jargon. Some kind of check up, I suppose.

At the last appointment we also discovered that the baby is measuring 5 days further along that I thought I was. So I am actually 12 weeks tomorrow instead of next Thursday, which moves my due date up to 8/9/08 instead of 8/15/08. That's actually a good thing cause I was having second thoughts about sharing my birthday with the little one =) I think it'd be good to have our own days for celebrating each others lives =)

All that Jumpin!

...Maybe that's why I'm still a bit sick =) Such an active little one! I also LOVED having our friends, Sean & Sandra there at the office with us during our appointment. It was so nice to be able to share the immediate joy with such supportive & selfless people. We love u guys and we're glad to share a doctor with you!

I also have to remember to give our wonderful dr. a thank u card for all that she has done. Time & time again, she comes through for us and saves us from extra and unnecessary emotional stress, often without even realizing she's doing it.

For example, yesterday our dr. gave us a quick 2 minute check-up with an abdominal ultrasound to check out the baby's heartbeat before the 1st trimester ultrasound where we saw all the jumping. What makes this so amazing to me is that our biggest concern for yesterday was that we wouldn't be able to hear from the doctor on the same day of our 1st trimester ultrasound screening.

So, in essence, instead of having to wait with that awful, agonizing feeling for days before hearing any news, we instead got 2 ultrasound pictures to immediately confirm the health & vitality of our baby, as well as 2 immediate verbal confirmations from both healthcare providers that everything looks great. We are so thankful! It's a good way to send Ramon off to Ethiopia, knowing that baby & I are doing great. =)