A Stint & Two Showers

Amniotic Fluid Level: 19-22.5

We had our Library Baby Shower Friday afternoon. Our cake spelled out Baby Daniel in building blocks and lots of our coworkers attended and generously spoiled us with great gifts!

Friday night, the whole crew came in town to visit for the weekend - Mom got in Friday afternoon in time for the Library shower; Justin's mom got in about 6:30 p.m. and my Dad, stepmom and brothers got in around 7:30 p.m. It was a real joy having everyone here - not to mention good practice for D Day - and we all had a great time.

Saturday, while all the girls were shopping the boys managed to pick up two pieces of the nursery furniture - the crib and the bottom of the hutch. That evening, we had our Lubbock Baby Shower where our cake was a mountain lake scene with elk and evergreens and we played a really cute game where we had to think of adult animal names based on animal baby names (i.e., a baby joey is an adult kangaroo). My Dad won but I came in a real close second (thanks to all he taught me)!

By Sunday morning, Justin, Dad and my little brothers had Baby Daniel's crib assembled - it was really sweet having all of them build it together. Justin also built a little "outhouse" to go in the nursery so that we can hide all of our network cabling and switch.

We visited First Baptist Child Development Center this week - we liked the security and the space in the classrooms but we're not too certain about the curriculum.

At our second childbirth education class, we watched another explicit video on coping with labor pain - which I cried through again - and learned two new breathing and relaxation techniques. I again asked for the epidural sign-up list.

Cabin Fever

Fundus Height: 32 cm
Amniotic Fluid Level: 25

Justin bought the wood for the nursery cabin and kept himself busy all day Saturday building it from scratch. Come Sunday, he was putting the finishing touches on the structure - lamp posts included! - and installed a new overhead light to match the room's theme. Check out Baby Daniel's Nursery Cabin - we're in the hungting lodge now!

Earlier this week we attended our first night of childbirth education class. We watched a very explicit video on natural childbirth and I cried through the entire thing because it looked so traumatizing. I obviously won't be able to handle the au naturel approach to meeting our son. I asked for the epidural sign-up list as soon as class was over. We also learned our first breathing and relaxation techniques which was fabulous for getting my mind off that horrific video.

This week, Justin was finally able to feel Baby D's hiccups - he was amazed at how clearly he could feel 'em. I told him try concentrating on something or sleeping while those are going off inside you!

We're still going back and forth on the name. We even flipped a coin - Paxton won - but Justin said I cheated somehow. Looks like we'll be waiting 'til we actually meet the little tyke to decide on his name for sure.

Pregnancy Sympathy Gone Too Far

Amniotic Fluid Level: 22-23

It's not uncommon for husbands to feel the same kinds of aches and pains that their wives feel during pregnancy. Some husbands feel nauseated, some get back aches and some even put on weight.

Not my husband. He skips all the relatively easy-to-relieve symptoms and jumps right in to labor.

Tuesday night at 8, Justin began having severe lower back pain. He paced all through the house, panting, beating his head on the wall and on the verge of crying for two hours before I was able to talk him in to going to the ER. The area he complained of pain, and how the pain kept coming and going, made me think he had a kidney stone.

By 10 p.m., we were at University Medical Center's ER. They got him right in for a CAT Scan and confirmed that yes, indeed, he had kidney stones. Two to be exact and he'd already passed them both through his kidney and had them on their way to his bladder. For the last two hours or so, he'd been experiencing the equivalent of labor pains without an epidural!

Unfortunately, we weren't registered to the ER until about an hour later and once we were moved to an ER room, he had to wait another 15 minutes or so, pacing and banging his head on their walls in severe pain, until they finally gave him some morphine around midnight.

There I sat and he slept for the next three-and-a-half hours until a room opened and he was admitted to the hospital. At 4:45 a.m., we were calling it a night and I curled up next to him in his hospital bed.

The next day, they flushed him with fluids trying to get the stones to move down into his bladder but determined with an X-ray that they were lodged in the narrow part of his ureter. It's no wonder - one of the stones was 6mm which is the cut-off size that people can pass on their own. Justin's Mom, Jene, got to the hospital by 1:30 p.m. and by 5 p.m., he was going in to surgery so that they could laser the stones by taking a scope up through his bladder and into his ureter. He was back to his room by 8 p.m. and we were home by 10 p.m.

We slept 'til 3 p.m. the next day. I had a nonstress test but Grandma Jene went with me so that Justin wouldn't feel like he had to. She and I got to see Baby Daniel open his eyes and hiccup and she even got to hear his heartbeat!

Friday, Justin wanted to make the push to Meridian so that we could attend my youngest brother's graduation (congrats, Roo!) and so that we wouldn't have to cancel our second baby shower. I gave him 'til Abilene to get his pain under control or we were going to turn around. I drove all but an hour of the way and couldn't believe we made it, but we did.

Our "metroplex family and friends" shower was a huge success and a real treat. We were able to see and visit with friends we hadn't seen in a very long time and we got lots of stuff from our registries and even some handmade special touches! My grandmother, Great Mema, surprised me with a glider and ottoman for the nursery!

So, after all the drama and pain, Justin actually began feeling better as the weekend went on. I, however, began to suffer from swelling feet. I HATE how fat my feet look and especially how jiggly gross they feel when I walk. I keep telling myself I'm fortunate - I could've had to experience swollen ankles and feet as early as the second trimester.

Put a Name to a Face!

Fundus Height: 31 cm

Wow this week was super busy and incredibly eventful - our first shower, our fourth anniversary, our first picture of Baby Daniel's fully formed sweet face, our first nonstress test (scary!), a party and a completed Lucy Guest Room!

Our very first baby shower was in Doak Conference Center on the Texas Tech Campus with our colleagues and friends from the Division of Student Affairs. The hostesses (Amanda Moreno, Amy Richarte, Janis Haney and Tiffany Enderson) did such a lovely job on getting it all together. We had the cutest cupcake cake and the most creative receiving blanket and teddy bear decorations!

Our appointment with Dr. Owen went well - everything is still right on track. However, our ultrasound appointment with Dr. Atkinson was a different story. Everything was going along smoothly: cervix wasn't dilated and looked good - check; placenta was healthy and its placement was good - check; Baby D's heartrate was good and his weight was on track (he was just 3 oz. shy of 4 lbs.; they're guestimating he'll weigh 7 lbs. at birth) - check.

We were squealing with delight and amazement at being able to see his adorable face - he looks to have full, chubby cheeks; a cute, little, round nose; and pouty little lips. We were also laughing in astonishment at his little boy ways...already! Justin wanted a second confirmation that Baby Daniel is indeed a little boy so the tech said, "I'll prove it to you."

She angled to get a shot of his parts and busted out laughing saying, "Oh
yes, you've got a typical little boy here." We had a crystal clear shot of his scrotum but couldn't see his other business because, well, the little tyke had his fingers wrapped around it.

Wow, little boys. Ladies, we have clear-cut evidence that little boys are touching their business from the womb to the tomb. Justin Daniel, you're going to have to talk to your son!

There we were, smiling, laughing and beaming with excitement and pride when the tech said something didn't quite measure up. Well, actually, it measured up too much. Turns out, my amniotic fluid level was a smidgen too high. While it's normal for the fluid to peak around this time in pregnancy,

they went ahead and moved me directly from the ultrasound room into a nonstress test room to gauge Baby Daniel's heartrate with his movement and to see if I was having contractions.

When the fluid level gets too high, the uterus thinks it's time (because it can only hold so much) and can go in to pre-term labor. Even though Baby D would be fine if he came now, we'd like him to be able to hang out a little longer.

The nonstress testing involves a couple belts that hold monitors to my belly - one to monitor the baby's heartrate and one to monitor contractions - and about 20 minutes of just sitting there.

During this first test, Baby Daniel's movement and heartrate looked great, but sure enough, during the last 30 seconds I had a small contraction.

I felt it when it happened - just like the Braxton contractions I'd been feeling for a few weeks now - nothing major and no pain. However, to stay on top of the fluid levels and the frequency of contractions, Drs. Atkinson and Owen decided to schedule me for a weekly ultrasound and nonstress test.

I have to admit that it was pretty scary the way they moved me right into the testing but I understand they're taking preventative measures.

It's much better to stay on top of the fluid levels and the contractions in order to take preventative measures to keep my body relaxed and not thinking about labor before we get down the road of full contractions where there's no turning back.

I feel fine and Baby D seems to be doing fine so we'll just keep trucking along. Hey - I'm not going to complain about getting to see him weekly in our ultrasounds!

Somehow, around all the excitement, Justin finished the Lucy Room painting by getting the Pink Flutter glaze on, doing the dragging technique for the pinstriped look and painting the shelf and trim in Acoustic White. Voila! Time to decorate! :)

With all we had going on during the week, we didn't have time to formally celebrate our fourth anniversary. We both were totally fine with this since we had so many other things to do - there was plenty of excitement as it was.

Mom got in Friday afternoon for our long Memorial Day weekend visit! We spent the entire day Saturday setting up the Lucy collection on the new shelf. Trust me - this was a feat for the two most symmetrical people in the world - we went way outside our boxes but got every piece of the collection up!

We had to take a timeout from decorating Sunday morning for my Pretty in PJs and Mary Kay Party that I held over brunch. After the girls left, we finished with the Lucy Room decorations by hanging the signs on the wall.

It's truly a breathtaking room - Justin nearly outdid himself on the shelf and the painting and Mom and I made the collection look better than it ever has before!

After seeing everything in place, I've decided not to do the irridescent hearts and polka dots on the wall. The room is absolutely perfect right now and I think adding this element will be overkill.

30 Weeks & Countin' Kicks

To round off an already nice, round 30 weeks, Justin checked off the floating Lucy Room shelf - construction completed with the installation of the moulding and sanding down! - and also managed to get all three coats of Pink Ribbon on the walls.

His goal is to have the room painted, the desk and bed moved in and the computer set up by next weekend so that Mom and I can work on decorating while she's here for the long Memorial Day weekend.

While he was busy constructing and painting, I tried to steer clear of the paint fumes by keeping myself busy buying the Lucy Room's new nightstand and bedding. :)

I found a modern, white nightstand to go with my new desk and I'm doing a simple, solid red bedspread and dust ruffle for the daybed
with pink, cheetah sheets.

Won't our guy friends just love staying in the new Lucy guest room!

We made an impromptu trip to Target where I found curtains for the Lucy Room (a white polka dot sheer to go behind another sheer that fades from white to pink) and Justin even stumbled across a lamp, pillow and night light that will go perfect with the hunting lodge theme for Baby Daniel's nursery!

A couple weeks ago, I had to begin counting Baby D's kicks or movements - a standard log that all pregnant women keep from the 28 week on. Twice a day, I have to count at least 10 kicks or movements within an hour's time.

I can tell when I'm on the move too much because he's slower to reach 10, but so far, on average, he reaches his goal within 15 minutes.

If he doesn't have at least 10 movements within a couple hours, that's when we call the baby doctor.

As he grows bigger, his movement will naturally slow down because he won't have as much room to stretch, kick and punch. I have to admit, I don't look forward to the worry that those days will bring as he's pretty active now and seems to always have been as far as I can remember being able to feel him.

Day Cares, Registries & Mother's Day!

Height of Fundus: 29 cm

This week, Justin managed to complete the core construction and installation of the Lucy Room's floating shelf. All that's left is the moulding but even now it's exactly what I envisioned and is going to be just perfect for the Lucy collection. He is so incredibly handy and talented when it comes to construction and remodeling projects like these - he simply ceases to amaze me.

We had an appointment with Dr. Owen and everything is right on track. We also

toured the Child Development and Research Center (CDRC) on the Texas Tech Campus - man what I'd give to have Baby Daniel there when it's time for me to go back to work.

It is truly the ultimate in daycare. Alas, we're on the year-long-average-wait waiting list and are keeping our fingers crossed that something comes open sooner than later. In the meantime, we'll check out some of Lubbock's other daycare facilities.

We added a "fun" registry to our list - My Cup of Tea. This is a local store that actually

provided the inspiration for the hunting lodge theme we're doing in Baby D's nursery.

This registry was lots of fun, not near as stressful as the other registries, because it has more cutesy, decorative items than the functional items on our Target and Babies 'R' Us registries. ;)

All the registering must've spurred Justin's shopping bug because

he came home with his first purchase for his baby son - a Nalgene bottle with a sippy lid!

Now Baby D will have a bottle like his dad - it's super cute!

Mother's Day rolled around and I was so very surprised, and touched, to receive a Mother's Day card from Just. I didn't think it was appropriate to celebrate Mother's Day just yet but his card and the thoughtful texts, e-mails and calls from our family and friends really stirred the mommy-to-be in me.

A Lesson from the Baby Boy & Contractions Called Braxton

This week has been another week of "firsts" for me and Baby Daniel. Just when I thought we'd overcome the nausea and vomiting, Baby D taught me a lesson I won't soon forget.

It all began with lunch at one of my and Justin's favorite local spots - Sazon. I had my regular - chicken fajita nachos with all the fixins' including black beans and rice...yummy! We sat down to eat and

I noticed that my regular was more spicy than usual, but, not being able to abandon my favorite meal from this place, I kept eating and chugging the Sprite.

As soon as I made it back to my office, Baby D let me know just how much he did not appreciate that spicy food. I lost every bit of it and got incredibly hot...so hot, I couldn't cool down.

By the time I got Justin out of his meeting with some frantic text messaging,

I was so weak I didn't know if I'd make it out of the building.

Thankfully, I did, but Baby Daniel seemed super pissed.

He was pushing out, hard, on my belly with anything and everything he had.

When we got home, I vomited a couple more times but finally cooled off underneath the hi-speed spinning ceiling fan. I managed to eat some dry toast and then slept like a log for three hours.

When I woke up, I realized that was the first of many lessons learned I would experience with our baby boy.

The other development of the week was my first sensation of contractions. Now don't panic - according to my pregnancy book these

contractions, called Braxton Hicks Contractions, are perfectly normal at this point in the pregnancy and it's simply my body's way of practicing for labor.

I felt 'em a couple times during the week, mainly at night as we were watching TV, and all they feel like is a tightening sensation in my stomach. No pain like cramps or gas cause, but definitely a balling up feeling. From here out, I just have to pay attention that they're not persistent or intense and continue business as usual.

Saturday we drove out to Lake Alan Henry with our friends, the Haneys, and had a trucknic (can you believe that there are no picnic tables out there?). It was nice driving around in nature and being by the water again. I couldn't help but get excited about all the lake activities I experienced as a kid that we'll get to share with Baby D. :)

Sunday Justin made lots of headway on the Lucy Room shelf while I swapped out my winter and summer wardrobes. Maybe after he finishes with his Lucy and nursery construction projects he'll add on to our closet for me!

Making Room for...Lucy?

Tuesday of this week, Justin began cutting and installing the first shelf for the "new" Lucy Room. He's building a floating shelf from scratch that will line the upper perimeter of the room's three walls...like a crown. :)

We went back and forth on the type of shelf we were going to install - floating or bracket - and whether or not we were going to buy shelves or if Justin was going to build them himself.

Of course, I think the appeal of buying new toys - uh, I mean tools - had a lot to do with his decision.

No matter though - I'm so thrilled that Justin is willing to put such time, hard work, skill and craftmanship into my very own custom-made shelves for the Lucy Room.

We also decided on the Lucy paint colors and faux technique.

The colors are, naturally, Pink Flutter and Pink Ribbon. We're going to do a technique called dragging to give a pinstriped looked on all the walls and then we're going to use translucent, irridescent glaze to paint hearts and polka dots scattered here and there and every which direction.

Mom came in this weekend and we did a little belated birthday shopping. We purchased my new desk for the Lucy Room and also ordered the nursery furniture! My new desk and chair are super neat and I'm so excited about getting everything in both rooms set up and decorated.

What's in a Name?

Tuesday of this week was Great Grandmother Patsy's...well, we'll just call it her day. She stopped celebrating her - shhhh! - birthday a couple years ago. When I called Great Mema, she had a new name suggestion - Paxton. We really liked the sound of the name and the ability to do an easy nickname - Pax.

Paxton has a certain sophistication while Pax has a certain coolness to it.

When I looked it up in a baby name book I found that Paxton means peaceful town and Pax means peaceful.

Thursday of this week we had our appointment with Dr. Owen. Our first official baby belly measurement (medical term is fundus height) came to 27 cm which is right on track according to our current week of pregnancy - 26 weeks. (A little bit of pregnancy trivia - the fundus height is two centimeters on either side of your week in pregnancy.) Later that night as we were laying in bed watching TV,

I felt Baby Daniel hiccupping! At first, I told Justin that Baby D was moving, trying to get comfy, but then I realized that the "movement" was much to faint for his typical pushes, kicks and punches.

It was actually something further inside, a slight thumping nestled within the cushioned walls. That's when it hit me - Baby D had the hiccups! It was a strange sensation and a little funny.

Over the weekend, Justin finished the touchups on the trim in the nursery. Now, we're ready for Grandmother Jene to come paint the tree and we'll be ready to set up and decorate.

With only one more week in the second trimester, I'm growing more and more anxious about entering the third. I've so enjoyed the second trimester - the practically nonexistent morning sickness, the increased energy, the manageable baby belly growth...but I'm afraid this is all going by the wayside. Baby Daniel will double his weight over the next few months and it's only going to get hotter.

25 Weeks & We're Hopping Along!

This week began with the celebration of Justin's 36 birthday at Outback. During dinner,

Justin proposed that we decide on Baby D's name and said he leans toward Drake. I suggested that we wait to see what he looks like at our next ultrasound

since his face will be fully formed, complete with eyebrows and eyelashes, and his eyes may even be open.

Friday evening after work, we picked out paint samples for the Lucy Room and nursery. We've

decided on Moose Mousse for the nursery with acoustic white accent and trim. It's a rich khaki color that'll go great with the hunting lodge theme and earth tone linens!

I couldn't believe how appropriate the nursery paint name was and I definitely saw that as a sign that the color was right. :)

Saturday, we celebrated Easter early with the Mitchells and then spent the rest of the afternoon at Target creating another baby registry.

Come Easter Sunday, we were

hopping right along as Justin got all of the Moose Mousse painting finished

in the nursery!

Baby Daniel's First Flight (in Utero)

This week, Justin and I flew to Houston for the Texas Libraries Association Conference. I thought the flight might cause more of a reaction from Baby Daniel, but he was on his regular movement schedule - nothing out of the ordinary. It was a hassle, however, not being able to lift my own luggage - thank goodness Justin was able to go for work, too!

The first night in Houston, we went to the Ragin' Cajun for dinner. As much as I love crawfish, crab and shrimp I agreed this venue would be OK to eat at because I figured they'd have chicken gumbo or something that I could eat (can't eat a lot of seafood when you're pregnant - especially caught fresh in local waters). Boy was I wrong and boy was it torture.

While Justin turned into a ragin' cajun chowing down on his oysters and crawfish bucket, I suffered through a poor excuse for a Cob salad.

It was not a great dining experience...for me & Baby Daniel at least.

For the first time to date, Justin felt Baby D movin'!

It was early in the morning, just as Baby Daniel was waking up, and waking me up, stretching and kicking me into gear to get up and get breakfast. Justin couldn't believe he could actually feel him.

Then later, after breakfast when Baby D was movin' around excited about all the food he was getting and the white chocolate mocha latte,

I pulled my shirt taut across my belly and we could SEE him moving! It was crazy -

we watched him move for a good while. :)

I gave a presentation during the conference and while it went smoothly and seemed to be very well received, I was surprised that Baby Daniel didn't react to my nervousness as much as I thought he might. But no, he accepted the butterflies just like his Mom and allowed them to keep us on our toes!

On one of our last nights in Houston we treated ourselves to a swanky jazz club called Sambuca's for dinner.

Sheeshamonga this an awesome dining experience! Justin had the best, thickest sirloin "of his life" and I had a dee-lish pistachio chicken pesto linguine dish. We watched and listened to a live, sultry jazz singer

for entertainment and topped the dining experience off with coffee and doughnuts dipped in white and dark chocolate. We really enjoyed it!

Happy birthday, Mommy to be!

For my birthday, Justin surprised me with a bouquet of flowers delivered to work and a group of our friends got together with us and Mom for dinner at Ruby Tequila's to celebrate. We all had a great visit and Mom even got to feel Baby Daniel movin' around after we ate.

Today we created our registry at Babies 'R' Us! Thank goodness for mothers because Mom really helped me out during the process by first telling me what I was looking at, at least in a couple instances, and then helping me compare and contrast to other similar products. It was a full day but I feel like we accomplished a lot.

Professional Garage Salers

This week was pretty low key which was a good thing considering the weekend it built up to - the infamous garage sale weekend.

The garage sale was a huge success! Justin began receiving calls inquiring about exactly what we had Wednesday morning and one lady even stopped by that evening to see if she could get a sneak peek and buy from us early!

By 6:50 a.m. on the first day, Friday, we'd made $150

and were slammed with people all morning long. I'm talking

professional garage salers who get up at the crack of dawn to get their "garage saling" in before work.

It was crazy seeing how many of them knew each other, saying hi like they were long-lost buddies and swapping stories of good buys they found and where to shop next. By close of business at noon on the second day, Saturday,

we'd surpassed our goal and made $760!

We made one trip to Goodwill with the rest of our "treasures" and were done!

The only thing out of the ordinary that can be added to the regular weekly items of "belly spottings" and Baby Daniel movement is the attempt of prenatal yoga and two new maternity t-shirts that I'd been waiting to come in from cafepress.com.

The yoga was a lot harder than I ever imagined, but one of those "hurt me bad in a good way" kind of feelings

so I'm going to work this in to a regular work-out routine to accompany my walks. My two maternity t-shirts read,

"I Grow People - What's your super power?" and "Downloading...baby.boy"

- I love them!

I think Baby Daniel's getting stronger. His movement is slowly but surely going from soft cushioned bounces to pointed flops and kicks - even so much that if he hits just right, it tickles now and doesn't feel as foreign as before.

Looking forward to next weekend - my birthday dinner Friday night and Mom's March visit! :)

Boy Oh Boy!

You guessed it - it's a boy!

Lemme just tell you how much the kid is already like his dad. Last night, I gave Baby Daniel one last

pep talk on how important his cooperation was going to be today so that we could see if he was a little boy or girl. Wouldn't you know it, the first thing Baby D shows us is his butt! Definitely his father's sense of humor.

Be sure to watch the slideshow below because in the end, Baby Daniel gave us some awesome pictures! He moved the entire time but we have some adorably priceless pictures of his feet, hands, arms, belly and legs and even his face!

Baby D is 12 ounces to date and oh yeah, speaking of date, turns out I've been a week behind this entire time. As of today, I'm actually 20 weeks and three days - not nineteen like I thought. See what I mean, another week - gone.

As far as my prediction - all I have to say is I was heavily suaded by all our family and friends who were absolutely convinced I would have a girl. I had no inkling or feeling to go off of and for that reason I shouldn't have even given a prediction - I knew better.

The ultimate truth is, when we decided that we were going to try to start our family I really wanted a boy - and lookee here...Justin is so wonderful about giving me the things I want. :)

Only One Week 'til We Find Out!

I've been counting down for a while now, but we're finally down to one week before we know if Baby D is a little boy or girl!

I've been prepping Baby D about the importance of the big day but if my
child is anything like me, we'll have no problems getting cooperation for the picture.

I'm a little nervous, just because we're going to be able to actually "see" the baby again, but I'm mostly excited. Here it is - my prediction is a little girl.

Last night, we attended Alpha Phi Omega's 70th Anniversary Banquet at the Lubbock Country Club.

I felt a little like I was on the red carpet debuting the baby bump. :)

It was a little surreal sitting through the speeches and thinking that one day, Baby Daniel will make the decision to attend college and

I wondered if the kiddo will follow in Mommy and Daddy's shoes by attending Texas Tech and joining APO.

It seems so very far away but I have to admit, would be pretty cool.

Baby Daniel is moving around regularly - at least on and off once a day for a good 20 to 30 minutes. I can't wait 'til the little tyke gets strong enough to kick and move so that Justin can feel it.

Yesterday, Justin and I made some really good headway organizing, setting up and tagging the garage sale stuff. I can't wait for that to be over and done with - garage sales really put me in a bad mood.

James, Grandma Jene's husband, stopped in last Sunday and picked up a load of furniture. The only thing left in the Lucy Room is the daybed and a chest of my baby clothes so once we get the garage cleared out, Justin will be able to get started with the building of my custom shelves for that room. We'll be painting the room at the end of this month - well, at least my mom and Justin will. ;)

18 Weeks - Baby Daniel's Movin' & Regular Baby Bump Sightings

It's official. No more flutters and wondering if that was a baby movement or...well, something else moving.

Today, I definitely felt Baby Daniel move!

There I was, just working away the afternoon when Baby D decided to get to work, too. Who knows, flutters I felt before might've been baby movement, but we've moved way beyond flutters now. No doubt Baby Daniel is on the move.

It feels...weird and a little intense.

You know that weird, intense, kind of burning you can feel on your insides when you push your finger in your bellybutton? Imagine that, multiplied a few times and without the burning, coming from inside layers of padding lining your abdomen.

Every time I feel movement, I can't help but wonder: Are you uncomfortable, Baby D? Are you just bored? Or is it too quiet and you want to feel some movement or hear something going on? It's so curious but, as of now, I love the little, "Hey Mom - I'm in here! What are you doing?" reminders.

Grandma Cindy's 1st PG Visit

My mom came in for her first of many pregnancy visits this weekend and boy did we get a lot done and had such a fabulous visit!

We kicked the visit off Friday afternoon with a visit to the hospital where Baby Daniel will be born - Covenant Lakeside. A patient educator took us on a tour of the pre- and postpartum wings where

we were able to see an LDR (labor, delivery and recovery) room - which even in the calm silence of the empty room and all the equipment off and patiently waiting for its next victim, it still felt like a fresh hell to me - and a very pleasant postpartum room where the new family all stays together for a couple days.

We also saw the nursery which was hoppin' with 14 newborns! Nurses and doctors were hurrying through the hallways and in, out and all around the nursery. We even saw a newborn receiving his very first scrub down.

No, not a bath - a scrub down. Apparently, it's hard to get all the bodily fluids off which I never would've imagined. The poor little guy was
screaming and the nurse was really workin' him to get him all cleaned up.

It was kind of traumatic actually - I teared up hearing him scream but my mom assured me that he was fine and that the nurse wasn't hurting him. In fact, it's good for babies to cry like that because it helps to clear out the fluid from their lungs that they've been breathing over the past nine months. Nonetheless, the panicky feeling that settled in while listening to that baby scream was not a fun feeling.

Alas, nothing like shopping to calm the anxieties of parenthood so the next day we were off to visit the multitude of baby boutiques around town. After a full nine-hour day of shopping, we were home by 9 p.m. loaded with lots of ideas for the nursery decorations and furniture and even a few new maternity blouses and dresses for me and a couple new outfits for Baby Daniel!

The only traumatizing part of this day was discovering maternity pants. Sure the legs look fine and normal but when you lift the flap that covers and hangs off the belly the pair of pants looks like something that should be floating in the Macy's parade!

I just couldn't go there yet, so we skipped that part of the maternity section.

Negative Can Be Such a Positive!

I received a call from Nurse Rhonda today with the Quad Four Screening results.

The test came back negative which is positively fabulous

and a great relief! This not only means

Baby Daniel's risk for Downs Syndrome and Trisomy-18 is nonexistent but also that Baby D has no neural tube defects!

In this particular instance - yaaayyy for negative test results! :)

16 Weeks & Hearts are a Flutterin'

This week began with a great visit to see Dr. Owen.

Baby D's heartbeat was loud and strong - the doc said it was perfect in the 160 bpm range.

However, Baby Daniel's heart wasn't the only one pumpin' fast - Justin and I made a couple big decisions. After a reassuring discussion with Dr. Owen on result percentages, benefits and insurance coverage,

we first decided to go ahead with the Quad screening which tests for the baby's risk levels of Down syndrome, trisomy 18 and open neural tube defects.

Then, after discussion about options, benefits and potential risks we also decided to schedule our induction date - 7/23. We can cancel at any time should I change my mind but I have to say, once I heard it was a guaranteed way to ensure Dr. Owen delivers Baby D I was pretty much sold.

The middle of the week was kinda rough - I got a headache like I've never felt before. Not quite as torturous as a migraine but it ran a very close second.

I felt like I was turning in to some character off Mad Max growing a metal-spiked mohawk out of my skull.

The pain initiated at the base of my skull, radiated up across the top of my cranium and pinged the sinuses behind my eyeballs at the rate of a steady, thunderous beat. The pain became so much that I was puking...again. A couple days of that and it eventually subsided.

One of my coworkers said she "[could] see [my] tummy!" So, I've included a couple shots so you can see what you think. In certain clothes, the baby bump is pretty clear but for the most part, only Justin and I know there's a difference.

Our last Valentine's as a "we" was very "lovely" - we had a four-course meal at La Diosa. Justin had lobster and I had a filet for our main course. The red velvet cake dessert seemed extra delectable!

Even though I couldn't toast with champagne, drink wine with our meal and I
had to fight falling asleep after the main course,

the candle-lit dinner and romantic, live, Sinatra- and Bouble-ess music was all just fabulous! Thanks for the special evening, Daddy D, and here's to next year's Valentine's as an "us."

Baby D Preparation - Portion of Phase I COMPLETE

Yaayyy! Today, I finished organizing the office supplies in the Lucy Room closet and it's PERFECT!

The shelves Justin installed are simultaneously super sturdy and super easy to move and adjust to any height - they're awesome, I couldn't ask for more! Here's a look at the finished product.

Full Frontal

Top

The Scrappin' Side

Top Handmade Ribbon Box

The Office Side

Top

Drama @ the Neighborhood CVS

After running out of my awesomely sized and coated-for-ease-of-swallowing prenatal vitamin samples I had to have a prescription called in. Anxious to see how much these puppies were going to cost, we whipped through the drive through on the way home after work.

NOTE: There are two things that make me anxious when doing them with my ever-so-price-sensitive husband - one is hearing the total for groceries and the other is hearing the cost of prescription meds. With a sigh of relief and a great $10 deal later,

we were pulling around the building when I made Justin come to an
abrupt stop. The gargantuan, hideous, black, monstrosity I was holding between my fingers which dwarfed my hand and made my throat begin to swell at the mere sight of it was not my prenatal vitamin.

Between gags, I told Justin to park...I was going in. As I hurried back to the pharmacy,

my pulse raced as all the horror stories from recent new mothers
of humongous prenatal pills came shrieking back to me complete with the screeching sound effects to stress their advice of requesting chewable pills.

I was trying to remain calm, assuring myself that it was a simple generic substitution but

between the thought of attempting to swallow that gruesomely black horse pill of death and Justin fretting and asking me how much exactly
I was prepared to spend on the name-brand pill

I could feel my throat going dry.

I took a deep breath as I approached the counter and calmly asked if I could find out the cost of the name-brand version of the pills I just picked up. Of course, they couldn't give me the cost with insurance - they couldn't even tell me whether or not my insurance would cover the name brand.

I held my breath as they looked up the information and glanced over my shoulder to see Justin who wisely decided to stand back by the magazines.

"Cash price is $37, ma'am."

Yes - there is a prenatal angel!

"I'll take it," I almost yelled, like I'd won a prescription bingo or something, "and please do whatever it is you need to do with these frightening looking things."

Needless to say, the pharmacist looked at me very strangely but I did manage to get my account flagged to ask my preference for generic or name brand on prenatal vitamins. :)

Sinusitis Strikes AGAIN :(

OH MY LORD! Monday evening, a runny and stuffy nose hit me outta nowhere and

by 6:30 a.m. Tuesday I was back to worshipping the porcelain God every hour throwing up more mucous and bile until about 3 p.m.

I had terrible back and thigh aches and could only keep Sprite down. Needless to say I stayed home from work but campus ended up closing two hours early because of an ice storm that hit Lubbock.

The next morning, campus opened two hours late so I made it in to work at 10 a.m.

I barely survived the day on over-the-counter sinus meds

and had take a nighttime dose to ensure I'd get some sleep.

I began feeling a little better by Thursday but still had to take OTC sinus meds. A congested, hacking cough and stuffy nose kept me up at night.

However, by Saturday I felt good enough to begin organizing the new and improved Lucy closet.

Justin got shelves installed for me and I was able to organize and arrange all my scrapbook stuff -

I'm so pleased with the way it turned out! Check back for a picture of the final product next week when I get the other half of the closet done - the office stuff.

Preparations for Baby D Begin!

This weekend, Justin and I wrote out the game plan for Baby Daniel's preparation and, as usual,

the cleaning out and organizing plans grew into a remodeling of some sort.

Sure, we knew we were going to be building decorations and painting a nursery, but before that begins

we're going to be remodeling the Lucy Room - painting, laying tile and building and installing shelves.

I'm super excited about the plan - not only do I get to keep my Lucy Room but I also get to maintain an office and our guests will have a bed to sleep in while they're visiting.

Plus, Justin is building me custom shelves to display all of my Lucy collection items. :)

So, this weekend we put a nick in the plan by clearing out four closets and compiling garage sale and storage boxes! I LOVE this mode of decluttering and organization. The garage sale is slated for 3.20-21.09 and our neighbors, and good friends, the Mitchells will be joining us.

The First Trimester - We Made It!

Meeting the Baby Doctor

This week, we met Dr. Owen - officially - at our first appointment with her (1/13/09). I felt miserable because the tenacious sinusitis was back in full swing. I'd already missed two-and-a-half days of work because the infection wasn't responding in the slightest to my over-the-counter medicine, my throat was sore and

I'd spent from 9:30 p.m. Monday night 'til 9:30 Tuesday morning puking. Dinner came first and then every hour after that, on the hour, nothing but thick, slimy, mucous and bile every color you can imagine - bright yellow, forrest green and black.

I couldn't provide a urine sample because I didn't have any fluid - only half a can of Sprite had stayed put by the time of our appointment. Thankfully, she prescribed me an antibiotic treatment and was quick with the pap smear.

I also saw my asthma doctor this week which provided even more relief.

I've been worried that all the congestion in my chest and the subsequent asthma was preventing Baby Daniel from receiving the appropriate level of oxygen.

I was able to breathe deep and relax when all tests proved my lungs sounded great!

I slowly recovered and was back to work by Thursday. The

highlight of the week was hearing Baby Daniel's heartbeat - sounding good and strong. Justin said, "It sounds like a windstorm in there."

First Nurse Consultation

We met Dr. Owen's RN today - Nurse Rhonda - and got the low down on the schedule of our visits with Dr. Owen and what we can expect from each visit and for testing from here on out. We also got confirmation on my

due date - 7.25.08!

Save the date!

Three Christmases and Sinusitis

While the holidays were grand, they were miserable all at the same time. As every year, Justin and I made

the Texas trek - from Lubbock to Rockwall, down to Meridian and back up to Amarillo -

which always affords the long-awaited visits with family members we haven't seen since the previous Christmas and won't see again 'til next Christmas. Even though we have to make long hauls, it's my most treasured time of the year.

However, the misery set in Christmas Eve and didn't dissipate 'til New Year's Eve. I managed to contract a cold from my mother that she brought back from her recent dive trip. As with any cold I catch, my sinuses quickly became highly agitated and congestion made itself at home in my chest. For three days,

I suffered through my brain threatening to explode through the top of my cranium, throbbing teeth, eyes ready to pop out of their sockets like corks, an aching back, blowing my nose through two boxes of Kleenex, a sore throat and a clogged cough

because I forgot my phone charger at our first stop which meant I had no phone - where all my numbers are stored, including the OB-GYN's number - for two weeks. My mom was able to look up the OB-GYN's number for me once she got back home so by Sunday I had confirmation that, since I was 10 weeks along, I could take any over-the-counter allergy, sinus and cold medicine.

Sinus pressure and the symptoms of sinusitis were terribly painful without the normal decongestants and Ibuprofen I'm accustomed to. How am I going to survive labor?! Epidural. STAT.

Thankfully, the pressure had subsided to a manageable state by the time we had to drive to Amarillo and though I was still blowing my nose constantly, I began to feel better by New Year's Eve. I wasn't able to ring in the New Year - we were in bed by 11 p.m.