Fatherland - It's not just a street in East Nashville (pt. 1)

Hello blog readers. We won't have any big updates for about 3 more weeks, so I figured this would be a good time for me to do my first post. First of all, thanks to everyone for making this so much fun, it was a blast telling all of you the good news and we got all the support and excitement we could have hoped for and more.

We're 16 weeks along today. The baby is the size of an avocado and Shay's baby-bump will really start to grow over the next few weeks. Speaking of the baby bump, it looks great on Shay and it has already taken the full-time job as opposed to the dinner shift it was working a couple of weeks ago. Other than that, she's doing great and we can't wait to find out what we're having in a few weeks!

So, you want to know what its like being the father of a baby that is 16 weeks along? So far, only subtle changes. As we all know, Shay is doing the hard work. I've been doing my best to read up, give back rubs when needed, be ready if she'd rather have black-eyed-peas or spicy pickles in lieu of the Thai food we ordered (don't even make her think about chicken, she gets a rare look of complete disgust on her face), etc. It's been really fun so far, but I'm ready for the next phase. The one where we start redecorating the guest room to be a nursery and I have to assemble cribs and go to birth-coach classes and things like that. We're getting close so stay tuned.

A couple of funny moments since finding out we were pregnant:

1. Going to Target for storage bins and passing the baby aisle with a sudden, shocking realization that in all probability we will soon have a bouncy frog chair (or something similar) in our home.
2. Trying to listen to the heartbeat on the doppler while Peanut jukes, jives and punches back and thinking that I should get a head start on cardio so I can chase this kid around.
3. Kylee's 2nd birthday party last week, where we witnessed 4 children, all less than 3 years old, representing every style of childhood from sweetly bashful to shameless air guitar theatrics. We had to sit and wonder where Peanut will fall into that spectrum. My money is on air guitar.

Feel free to put in your vote now on whether you think it will be a boy or a girl. Leslie, who has correctly guessed the gender of every baby in our family until now, says boy. She also says that she's got a feeling that she could be wrong about this one, so I don't know what to make of that. At any rate, why pass up a perfectly good opportunity to say "I told you it was a ____!" I'm waffling on this one a bit. When I think about the facts, I say boy, but I've had a few dreams that it was a girl so I'll be bold and say girl (maybe, haha).

Until next time, coolest dad-to-be signing off.

-Steven

14 week check up

We're 14 weeks pregnant today! To "celebrate" we went to the doctor for a check-up. Our midwife, Linda, is very pleased with our progress. Peanut's heart rate was 150, which is perfect. I don't think we'll ever get tired of hearing that heartbeat- or the way Peanut likes to kick the Doppler! Linda said everything was great and my recent blood work all looked perfect. We can't ask for much better than that!


Each week we receive an email telling us about the baby's progress. The baby's size has been referred to as a poppy seed, sesame seed, chick pea... eventually we moved to fruit and became a kumquat, a lime.... then out of nowhere it said Peanut was the size of a medium shrimp! GROSS! I'm happy to have Shrimp Week over with because now we are supposedly the proud parents of a lemon-sized baby who can suck it's thumb and make facial expressions. 


This morning we made our BIG appointment. On July 23rd we go for our 19 week ultrasound and learn Peanut's gender. Steven and I can't wait to find out if we are having a son or a daughter! Now we just have to be patient for 5 more weeks.....

Hawaii Pictures

Around New Years this year Steven and I made a decision. If we weren't pregnant by March we would take a trip in May. We weren't pregnant by March so we booked an 8 night getaway to Hawaii. Little did we know, what was supposed to be a 3rd honeymoon became a "Baby-moon!" We ended up getting pregnant in March so we headed to Hawaii with me being 8 weeks pregnant.


Our first ultrasound was scheduled for the week before we left so we decided to hire local photographer Richard Wainscoat to come to Lanikai beach and take some picture of us and our ultrasound. They turned out beautiful and we are so happy to have this wonderful keepsake! Here are a few of our favorites:

First blog post

So here we are- our first blog post! 2010 has already turned out to be an exciting year for Steven and me. The most exciting news is that we became pregnant with our first child in March!  This blog is meant for friends and family to keep up with us and our growing family. And since so much has happened in the past few months, let's do a recap to catch up!

Monday, April 12^th: SURPRISE!

Steven and I had just returned home after a trip to DC to visit Andy, Rebekah and Abigail. After work we had to do a live web chat with Christian artist David Phelps so we got home pretty late. Convinced I was not pregnant (even though I was 3 days late) I took a pregnancy test without much anticipation. Imagine my surprise (and double take) when I walked in the bathroom and saw a positive test! It was the first time I had ever seen a positive test in person (I had seen plenty of negatives) and I was shocked! I took the test to Steven and his jaw dropped. Holy cow, we’re having a baby!

Wednesday, April 28^th: 7 week ultrasound!

Steven and I went to Vanderbilt’s Center for Women’s Imaging first thing that morning and got to see the baby’s little heart just beating away! It was too soon to actually hear the heart but we could see it going strong. What an awesome way to start the day!

Wednesday, May 12^th: Baby: meet Doppler

This was the day we had our first pre-natal appointment with our midwife, Linda. Linda is a spunky, loving, supportive nurse-midwife who clearly loves what she does for a living. Linda pulled out the Doppler, which is used to hear the baby’s heartbeat in utero. After searching for a few minutes we finally heard what sounded like a car whizzing past on the interstate. Linda said “the baby just moved!” She tried for several minutes but could never pick up the heartbeat because the baby was swimming around so much! She said “oh my, this is a very active baby! You’re going to have your hands full.” I had mental images of The Flash running around my insides. Later Steven told me he imagined our baby doing ninja stances. So no heartbeat this time, but at least we know our kid is in there, having lots of fun!

Friday, May 28th: Finally!
We tried again for the heartbeat at the doctor's office and got a slam dunk this time! I was 11 weeks along and could hear that precious little "bump-bump-bump-bump" loud and clear. The baby was continuing it's vendetta against the doppler because it clearly kicked back as the doppler pushed in. 


Saturday, June 5th: The Big Reveal
This was the day we got to tell our parents. My mom was in town (I just happened to invite her that weekend... sneaky sneaky) and Steven's parents came over for dinner. Unfortunately  I couldn't tell my dad in person which was a bummer, but I called him that day and told him the news. While in Hawaii in May we asked a local photographer to meet us at the beach for pictures. This is the photo was gave our parents and grandparents when we shared the big news:

On Lanikai Beach in O'ahu; 8 weeks pregnant

So that's how they found out. They were all very surprised and VERY excited!
So that brings up to now.  Our next doctor's appointment is Wednesday and we learn the baby's gender at the end of July/early August! We're so excited!