And The Gender Of The Baby Is...

A GIRL!!! We are having a little girl and we could not be more happy. Truth be known, we would have been happy either way, but we are thrilled to announce that our family will increase with the addition of (TBA...Did you think we would drop the name now?).

(This is written by Eric)
The month of July has been an interesting mixture of busyness, loneliness, and transitioning. As many of you know, Rachel and I have been in the process of moving back to Kansas City. Completing work and life in California has added the busyness. The loneliness stems from Rachel having to move to KC before me. Kramer, the lively miniature dachshund that he is, has done an admirable job keeping me company.

I flew out to be with Rachel this past week and to attend our appointment at St. Joseph Medical Center at I-435 and State Line Road. The quality and professionalism that we experienced at this office was incredible. We feel very blessed to have found this office and this extraordinary group of doctors.

The ultrasound was the highlight of this visit (which I guess goes without saying). The doctor looked at many aspects of the baby narrating as she went along. We saw all ten fingers and ten toes. We were able to see the four ventricles of the heart (simply amazing). The spine, stomach, and different features on the baby's face were also visible. She concluded by saying, "So, did I hear that you wanted to know the sex of the baby?"
"Absolutely," we responded!
She continued, "Well, you are going to stop referring to her as a 'he'. This is a girl." Habit mixed with (false) intuition did have us calling our baby "he" up to this point. We quickly called our parents and texted our brothers and sisters to share the wonderful new. Without a doubt, this little princess will be loved.

Our June 14th Appointment

This was a pretty routine appointment. It was extremely quick. This appointment would have seemed like a mere formality if it hadn't been for one simple thing...we heard the baby's heartbeat for the very first time! The appointment was fast, but very thrilling nonetheless.

FYI: having talked with several doctors on the issue, there is no scientific facts linking the rate of the heartbeat with gender identification. Actually, cultures that have stated facts pointing to this as proof differ from one another. If it were true, the studies should validate each other.

First Side View!

Well, folks, here's the first side view of yours truly. I'm at 14 weeks this week, so we'll see how quickly the weight comes after this. I know there's not much there, but it was a good time to start. The view looks a little bigger from above (i.e. me looking down at my stomach) but it's nice to know that's the only view which gives it that appearance. Unfortunately, I'm already in maternity pants. My regular pants are pretty tight around the waist and looser around the hips (where I normally gain weight) so it didn't take long to grow out of those. Instead of buying a size or two larger in pants and only get to wear them for a month or two, I just went ahead and bought 9 month maternity clothes. They're pretty comfy! I've also already got the itching and dry skin on my stomach where things are stretching, so if anyone has any good remedies for the dry skin, please let me know. Again, thanks to all of you for your prayers and support!

Love to all!
Rachel

Our First Baby Gifts!

I (Rachel) had my last day with Perris Head Start on Friday, May 18. The girls from the office staff took me to lunch and gave me a HUGE bag of baby gifts (and unknowingly inspired my nursery colors and theme). There are a lot of clothes and blankets done in green and yellow, since we're not sure the sex of the baby yet (however, I prefer these colors to pink or blue anyway). There are also two lullaby CD's, a cow that sings when you pull the string, and a FABULOUS diaper bag (that's in the back of the picture; it's two bags in one with a changing mat, wipes container, and several handy pockets). It's all too cute, and I was so excited I had to share with everyone. Thank you Linda, Jill, Evelyn & Alicia! You're the best!

Our May 17th Appointment

Today was our monthly appointment with the doctor. Most exciting visit to date! We saw the baby clearly this month (much better than the "snail-shape" from our prior visit). There was a very identifiable head, body, arms, and legs. We even could see an eye (which, of course, had to be pointed out to us). We wish we had a video to attach, because this kid was active today. He/she was hopping, jumping, and moving in every direction. Looks like this child will be a runner like Mom and Dad.

Today's pictures are not as good as the actual sonogram we saw. The doctor said the baby was too active to get a good full body picture. So here you can clearly make out the head and his/her hands and feet are pressed up there too. Again, a very exciting day. This new reality is setting in more and more every day.

The Name Game

Since we announced the pregnancy, people continue to ask two primary questions:

1) Are you going to find out the gender before the birth?
2) What are you going to name the baby?

As to the first question, absolutely! Anyone who knows us knows that we are both 'planners' to the highest level. People who know us very well do not even ask the question; they know it would be impossible for us NOT to know.

And now to question #2: being the planners that we are, we do have a name (first and middle) picked out for each a girl and a boy. We have decided to keep this info to ourselves. Some friends of our used this approach with their children's births. Their logic was simple: people will critique names before the birth, but not after. We have followed their approach (Thanks Dave and Jennifer Fletcher!).

What we were unprepared for was the amount of disturbance this would cause...in OTHER people. Statements like, "We have a right to know," and "You have to at least give us the first letter," keep getting thrown at us. We had no idea that these 'rules' existed, but alas, there they are. Please forgive us since we will not abide by them.

For those of you with patience like Hammy (Steve Carell) from Over The Hedge, some suggestions:
1) Switch to decaf
2) Take a second to calm yourself and breath
3) Be patient; December will be here before you know it!

Just An Update

I appreciate everyone checking out this blog. I just wanted to give an update as to how everything was going. I've been dealing with morning sickness for the last month. (although whoever gave it that name doesn't know much about it, because it happens all day) It's been mostly nausea, with a little throwing up. Sorry if that's TMI for some of you. I've gained about 3-4 pounds, and have been craving mostly junk food. (and for those of you that know me well, it's been terrible to eat all the junk and sodium-filled food) The doctor said if I could keep it down, I should eat it. (within reason) I'm hoping I'll be able to go back to my regular eating habits in the next few weeks. I take a nap just about every day, and I'm very thankful my schedule allows me to do this.

Our next doctor's appointment is May 17, so we'll be able to give you more info then.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll start adding pictures of me from the side (aaa!) so we can all see the progression.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers! We love you all!

Rachel