Thanks Uncle Evan!

Our borther-in-law Evan is a great deal finder. He just found a deal on a really nice jogger stroller..... I am going to love being a mom.

:)

Changes

Well, at 11 weeks, I am actually beginning to feel changes in my body. Though not visible to the rest of the world, my pants are getting tight. I went out and bought a bella band last weekend to try and keep using my regular clothes for a while longer.

My tastes have changed too. Ice cream and sweets (for the most part) sound disgusting to me. This is very odd because I used to crave sweets all of the time. Now what I want to eat is a bunch of cheesy, bready things (also big salads and lots of fruit). I want pizza and pretzels and bagels with cream cheese. Actually cream cheese is what I want most of all. I eat it with bagels, wheat toast, saltine crackers.

Work has been tough. We are on an 11 hour day schedule right now and I have been working on Church W-2's and 1099's and year-end statements. I kind of work, eat and sleep right now. It will get better though since I just finished the Church work tonight. Poor Nathan. He is getting neglected. it will be nice when I get to stay home.

Work is preventing me from blogging

Audits, W-2's, Financial Reports, oh my!


I will give an update of fun things soon!

First Sonogram

Here is our sonogram from Tuesday. At almost 10 weeks, the heart is beating and the little arms and legs are wiggling all around. This really was a great day. And also great to know that there isn ONLY ONE baby in there. The nurse checked up, down and all around- no one was hiding. :)

The Whittier Crisis Pregnancy Center is raising money for an ultrasound machine. I can see why now. Before the ultrasound, being pregnant has been very exciting, but day to day just feels like an extended flu. But here we got to see a bit of the miracle that is going on inside. The statistics on women having abortions after seeing their baby on an ultrasound are much less than those who have not. It is harder to be detached about killing something after you have seen its heart beating and moving around inside of you

And the Winner is.........

South Coast Midwifery!

After weighing the options, Nathan and I have decided that the best option for us is to go with a Midwife and have the baby at the South Coast Midwifery birthing center.

I have been to two visits with the OB/GYN. The doctor is pretty good from what I can tell and made me feel comfortable. This seemed like a good option....

Then we visited the Midwifery center. The center is beautiful. It looks like a well kept home and all of the birthing supplies are kept in armoires or closets. The staff was exceptionally helpful, cheerful, and knew a lot about the practice. Most of all though, I appreciated the philosophy of birth that Lorri Walker, the midwife shared with us. On top of everything, my insurance looks like the best possible kind for the Midwifery. Insurance companies usually do not cover midwives like they cover hospital births, so you have to use out-of-network benefits.

In other news, we also had an ultrasound today. There is ONE healthly little baby wiggling away inside of me. It was very fun to see it move around and to see the heart beat. Nathan took a video of it, so i will try to upload it soon.

Some fun with Politics

I have to admit that when election season hits, I become somewhat of a radio-news-junkie (we have no TV, so can't be a TV news junkie). I work too much to have a "real" problem, but I am drawn to the airwaves on my way home.

Anyways, as most everyone had heard, this is an interesting year. There are a lot of important issues floating about and neither the Democratic or Republican race has been decided. There are plenty of candidates to go around. Well, I came across this link:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/page?id=3623346

in my effort to get to know the candidates. It is very fun. ABC news put together a series of questions about where you personally stand on the bigger issues and then matches you with a candidate that most fits what you believe. They actually give you your top three choices and see how each one matches up to your own stances. I was not surprised at all about my top candidate, but No. 2 and 3, I was. That will be helpful I think if my top choice does not get the nomination.

So, try it out. Who do you like based on the issues? (Disclaimer, I had to pick the option closest to my own stance in a few cases and wished for more robust options, but it is still pretty good.)

The first BIG visit

Well, today was the first big doctor's appointment. I am exploring a few options for labor and delivery, which include:
1. The standard OB/GYN and hospital birth
2. A Midwife and Birthing Center
3. Hospital Birth with the aide of a doula.

To begin with, I am going to see both the doctor and midwife. Today I saw Dr. Moore. She did the whole top to bottom first visit and I learned a few things. First they confirmed that I have a good family health history for having babies and I am in very good health (which seems to be a miracle considering that I am too busy to get a lot of exercise and I have been strssed at work). Then we discussed all sorts of things and set up two more appointments for blood work and an ultrasound. The bloodwork is to test for some diseases and the ultrasound is to test for twins!

I also learned something very strange. Due to my all-day-morning-sickness, I have to eat something very often to make sure that my stomach doesn't get empty. Thus, I have been eating a lot lately and I was sure that I was putting on a few pounds a week. Also, I end up retaining a lot of water by the end of the day and so I look about 3-4months pregnant when I go to bed, and I look completley normal in the morning. At the doctors, I found out that I actually lost a tiny bit of weight in the past three weeks. That was a big surprise, but it was nice to know that any fears of gaining too much weight were just a bunch of smoke for now.

So that is all for now. I will write a little bit more about the OB/GYN v. Midwife decision later, after I have had the appointment with the midwife.

Pray for Kenya

Right now I am working on a financial statement audit for World Vision International (WVI), the largest Christian relief agency in the world. Usually between work and everything else going on, and due to the fact that we don't have an antenna at home, I am out of the loop when it comes to world news. Here at WVI though, they are very globally minded. When I was thinking of asking for some piece of information from their Kenya office, it struck me that they might not be able to work right now. The political unrest has caused massive violence especially in Nairobi, where their office is. While I go in each day to WVI's US Headquarter's without fear of anything, many of the Kenyan employees risk their lives. Sometimes it is hard to understand what is going on in distant places when we are so used to comfort here.

People are losing their homes, and do not have insurance or FEMA (like we would in a crisis) to help them rebuild. Right now, I am especially thinking of the mothers with their children. If anyone desires to make a donation to help them, I know that OCMC is helping in the region as well as World Vision.

Help Needed from the Experienced!

I have a few questions for those who have dealt with this before:

1. Have you found anything helpful for morning sickness? I have tried crackers and soda, eating smaller meals more often, etc...

2. Any good pregnancy websites? I had a great website to look to when I was getting married, but I am lost here. I just need a place that I can search to know if certain things are ok or not ok ( like any kind of medicine), see how the baby is developing, tips on sucessful pregnancies, etc...

3. Has anyone had to tell work that they are quitting? How did it go? Any pointers?

4. The essential books to read?

The view from seven weeks!

Some family and friends already know. For those of you who have been wondering what my hints have been about, here is your answer! The little two pink lines tell it all. Yes, Nathan and I will be expecting a baby (babies) in Mid-August.

Here are some shots of me at seven weeks. Nothing obviously showing yet, but I feel different!

I talked to my mom who said that we have a history of nice healthy pregnancies and babies. ( A blessing) That labor for her was about 13 hours (pretty average) and she was able to have all of us naturally ( Another blessing!) She also mentioned that she had (noon, and night) sickness, which I have been experiencing for the last few weeks. Ugh! (A blessing ?)

Anyways, we are very excited and will continue to update regularly!

Hint #2- Sleep is a beautiful thing!

Lately I have been nearly falling asleep at my desk at about 2pm and have struggled with the sleepiness for most of the afternoon. There is a certain affect from lunch that plays a role, but I have never felt this tired before. Maybe the Spanish have it right. They have a tradition of taking a Siesta from about 2-4pm every day. Mmmm..... naps!

Hmmm... Hamburger (Hint #1)

Today at noon, I began thinking about how I wanted a hamburger. For those who ever eat with me, this may come as a shock! I am usually the girl who always orders a salad.