11/27/12
I FELT MY BABY MOVE!!!! Holy crap that is the coolest thing ever!!! In an interest to avoid posting 2 separate entries within minutes of each other, the original post is below. After writing and sharing the following post with Laura about her feeling the baby move...she's like, "Want to feel it?!?" So she put my hand on her stomach and told me to push down firmly...and I felt it!!!!!!!!! That is the coolest thing ever!!! I tried again, and then she was giggling and her stomach was heaving, but after a few more tries and a few minutes later...I felt it again!!! It was so awesome! The first feeling was big/significant with the following tries being a bit more faint and more subtle. I know I wasn't feeling it's heart beat, but it was just slow, slight movements! I'm wondering now...was it an arm, leg, chest movement, head twitching?!?! Regardless...I'm so pumped...and I'm suddenly making a habit of saying, "it's the coolest thing ever!" at each of these milestones!!!
The following is the original post I wrote about 30 minutes ago before I felt the baby move...
THE BABY IS MOVING!!!!
Laura told me tonight that she's "feeling something moving inside there!" This is super exciting for us!!! I was thinking as I finished my post last night that they were getting pretty lame there with not too much excitement happening, and that I may be boring my large audience/followers away from my Daddy Diary...sarcasm...
...but now, we have movement! At this stage, the doctor said it may just feel like butterflies inside or normal stomach feelings but that those feelings are actually the baby. So, no kicks at this point, but we're feeling the little critter digging around in there!!!
This is a fun milestone for me!!! We're only half way there, yet there's been a good handful of feelings/moments along the way that let me know I'm going to be a dad soon! I recall our first ultrasound and could see the tinest flicker of movement from the heart beating, to the first time we heard it's heart beat. Wow...I never understood it until I experienced it for myself...there's nothing better, and words can't describe it!!! Even though we don't know if it's a boy or girl, it's so cool taking these small steps on the path towards birth that let us know the baby is growing and developing...and it's amazing!!!
Laura's bump is getting bigger...she's not huge by any means, but you no longer need to squint or cock your head to wonder if she's showing or not!!! I think she's absolutely gorgeous with her "glow" and everyone from my parents to some friends we met with this past week have all commented that she's looking great!!! She's not happy with her weight gain, which I guess is natural for a woman, but the doctor has tried to reassure and I've tried to reiterate that she is doing great and that putting on some pounds at this stage of life is perfectly normal!!!
Another moment that reminded of us of how special it is to be preparing for a baby came from our 12 year old neighbor tonight. I help her with her homework on occassion, and she sometimes brings treats over for us to eat while we work or just for Laura and me. These treats range from Halloween candy that she didn't like, to cookies, to my favorite...beer!!! Tonight, she brought a candy cane and a beer. "The beer is for him and the candy cane is for you, Laura, because I know it's not easy being pregnant!" We were laughing at this hillarious observation from her, while she tried to explain and reaffirm her viewpoint, "Well, I know I wouldn't want to be puking all the time!!!" Ohhh the innocense of kids! Our neighbor is a very outgoing and charming little girl, with a quick wit and fun personality...I have a feeling if we have a girl, her personality will be a scary blend of Laura and myself. Regardless, the child will have no choice but to have a sense of humor and some tough skin for all the joking and jabbing that goes on in this house. I heard from a co-worker a long time ago that, "it's just life...don't take it too seriously!" Though there is a time and place for seriousness, I find myself living by this phrase often, especially in my line of work. I could write up a million office referrals and yell at kids for saying crazy things and doing weird things each day...but I get a kick out of their randomness and their awkwardness that comes with middle schoolers...so I just laugh and shake my head!!!
Well, until the next milestone of our pregnancy, I'll leave you with a quote I've lived by and have loved since early in my childhood that I feel wraps up the special moment today of knowing my baby is moving around and Laura can feel it..."Yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery and today's a gift...that's why we call it the present!"
Thanks for reading my Daddy Diary and we appreciate your thoughts/wishes/prayers you send our way!
Monday, November 26, 2012
Busy Holiday Weekend...a preview of things to come!
11/26/12
Good evening family and friends! What a weekend...and we didn't even have a kid to care for!!! I can only imagine how it will be next year!!!
Before I get into the weekend itself, I have to fill you in on the night before our weekend when we went to the doctor for our ultrasound follow-up. Everything went well, and we're continued to be very fortunate that both mom and baby are doing well as we are essentially past the halfway point of the pregnancy!!! It was reiterated to us that if we really want to know the gender of our baby, she could look for a reason to order an ultrasound for us, otherwise we will not need another one if things continue to go well for us like it has gone so far. Laura has come to peace with not knowing the sex of the baby, though I am slowly coming around to it. She doesn't want to waste medical/insurance money on something that's not needed and have the system pay for it...especially because of all the BS she saw at her previous job. Though I would still like to know for planning/shopping purposes...I'm excited to have the excitement and surprise of a lifetime!!!
As for the weekend itself...we could both use a vacation after our vacation! It was very relaxing, we ate a ton of food and got a lot done!!! We spent Wed-Sat with my parents at their lake home on Lake Superior. Thanksgiving Day was beautiful! It was in the high 50s and we spent the afternoon sitting around a bonfire hanging out and enjoying the unusually warm November...by the time we finished dinner and looked outside, it had turned into a blizzard!! We had 3 inches of snow over night, and the temps dropped 40 degrees!!!
Friday was Black Friday...and boy did we shop...we came home with a car!!! We had been looking for vehicles for the past few months and decided we'd probably be getting a Chevy Equinox due to it's size and gas mileage that will work for us as a growing family. Laura was flipping through the car adds in the paper Thursday and saw an Equinox at the Two Harbors dealership, so my mom told us to check it out on Friday. Well, after 5 hours of sitting in the car dealership (thanks for dog sitting mom and dad!) we drove the new vehicle home! We traded in Laura's car (even though we didn't have it with us, so I will be returning this weekend to drop it off and pick up the new one!) for a bigger vehicle that better fits our needs!
After our time at the dealership, the 4 of us packed into the new SUV and drove into Duluth for the night to have dinner at my favorite place...Fitger's Brewhouse...and catch a UMD Bulldogs hockey game! It was a blast eating some food we have once in a while, and it was great reliving our memories of fun times at the hockey game. The dogs beat St. Cloud State and it was cool to catch the game at the new Amsoil Arena...Laura didn't like it too much because it reminded her of the DECC, but I liked it for that same reason!!!
On our way home Saturday, we had lunch in Duluth with some friends and their cute, 5 month old boy. It was fun catching up with friends we don't see too often and it was enlightening and informative to hear from new parents about the joys and challenges we'll soon be experiencing when we welcome our little bundle to the world next spring. And it's for this reason that I was able to do some thinking...we had a great weekend!!! It was totally relaxing and peaceful...and it's definitely going to be different next year!!! By this time next year, we'll be "experts" at the parenthood thing, yet right now we have no idea what we're in for!!! This year, we were entertained by Lexi and her shennanigans, but next year we'll be entertained by changing diapers and watching the little guy/girl roll around on the floor!
So, until next time...we appreciate your kind thoughts/prayers you send us. And...I greatly appreciate you reading my Daddy Diary!
Good evening family and friends! What a weekend...and we didn't even have a kid to care for!!! I can only imagine how it will be next year!!!
Before I get into the weekend itself, I have to fill you in on the night before our weekend when we went to the doctor for our ultrasound follow-up. Everything went well, and we're continued to be very fortunate that both mom and baby are doing well as we are essentially past the halfway point of the pregnancy!!! It was reiterated to us that if we really want to know the gender of our baby, she could look for a reason to order an ultrasound for us, otherwise we will not need another one if things continue to go well for us like it has gone so far. Laura has come to peace with not knowing the sex of the baby, though I am slowly coming around to it. She doesn't want to waste medical/insurance money on something that's not needed and have the system pay for it...especially because of all the BS she saw at her previous job. Though I would still like to know for planning/shopping purposes...I'm excited to have the excitement and surprise of a lifetime!!!
As for the weekend itself...we could both use a vacation after our vacation! It was very relaxing, we ate a ton of food and got a lot done!!! We spent Wed-Sat with my parents at their lake home on Lake Superior. Thanksgiving Day was beautiful! It was in the high 50s and we spent the afternoon sitting around a bonfire hanging out and enjoying the unusually warm November...by the time we finished dinner and looked outside, it had turned into a blizzard!! We had 3 inches of snow over night, and the temps dropped 40 degrees!!!
Friday was Black Friday...and boy did we shop...we came home with a car!!! We had been looking for vehicles for the past few months and decided we'd probably be getting a Chevy Equinox due to it's size and gas mileage that will work for us as a growing family. Laura was flipping through the car adds in the paper Thursday and saw an Equinox at the Two Harbors dealership, so my mom told us to check it out on Friday. Well, after 5 hours of sitting in the car dealership (thanks for dog sitting mom and dad!) we drove the new vehicle home! We traded in Laura's car (even though we didn't have it with us, so I will be returning this weekend to drop it off and pick up the new one!) for a bigger vehicle that better fits our needs!
After our time at the dealership, the 4 of us packed into the new SUV and drove into Duluth for the night to have dinner at my favorite place...Fitger's Brewhouse...and catch a UMD Bulldogs hockey game! It was a blast eating some food we have once in a while, and it was great reliving our memories of fun times at the hockey game. The dogs beat St. Cloud State and it was cool to catch the game at the new Amsoil Arena...Laura didn't like it too much because it reminded her of the DECC, but I liked it for that same reason!!!
On our way home Saturday, we had lunch in Duluth with some friends and their cute, 5 month old boy. It was fun catching up with friends we don't see too often and it was enlightening and informative to hear from new parents about the joys and challenges we'll soon be experiencing when we welcome our little bundle to the world next spring. And it's for this reason that I was able to do some thinking...we had a great weekend!!! It was totally relaxing and peaceful...and it's definitely going to be different next year!!! By this time next year, we'll be "experts" at the parenthood thing, yet right now we have no idea what we're in for!!! This year, we were entertained by Lexi and her shennanigans, but next year we'll be entertained by changing diapers and watching the little guy/girl roll around on the floor!
So, until next time...we appreciate your kind thoughts/prayers you send us. And...I greatly appreciate you reading my Daddy Diary!
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
It's a .....!!!
11/20/12
I must admit...these past 2 weeks have been crazy, and I'm just now getting to this blog posting for our ultrasound from 11/8 to see if we are having a boy or a girl...
We left the appointment that night knowing that the child Laura has been carrying is definitely ours...it was too darn stubborn to cooperate and never moved for us to see if it was a boy or girl!!! We were definitely upset that we weren't able to find out, but the mood was lightened knowing that he/she is definitely our child and is stubborn just like mom and dad!!! We tried everything to see what it was too!!! Laura was moving and shifting, we tried different angles with the camera/wand thing and Laura even did some jumping jacks in the exam room in an effort to get the little guy/girl to move, but it didn't!!!
I had anticipated this noteworthy event in our pregnancy would've been much more thrilling and, had it been thrilling, I would've posted this gender reveal much sooner than I'm doing now.
We are happy to say that our baby is doing great! All images/pictures/examinations of the baby showed it is developing normally and everything looks great on the ultrasound! So, despite our disappointment and not knowing what it is, we are comforted knowing that he/she is doing great!
So, tonight, we'll be meeting our doctor for the first time since our ultrasound. I'm not sure of what this check up is for, but I'm assuming it will be focused on the follow-up of our ultrasound. With any luck, our doctor will order another ultrasound for us in an effort to identify our baby as a boy or girl.
Until I have some more exciting news...thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary, and we appreciate your continued best wishes/prayers.
I must admit...these past 2 weeks have been crazy, and I'm just now getting to this blog posting for our ultrasound from 11/8 to see if we are having a boy or a girl...
We left the appointment that night knowing that the child Laura has been carrying is definitely ours...it was too darn stubborn to cooperate and never moved for us to see if it was a boy or girl!!! We were definitely upset that we weren't able to find out, but the mood was lightened knowing that he/she is definitely our child and is stubborn just like mom and dad!!! We tried everything to see what it was too!!! Laura was moving and shifting, we tried different angles with the camera/wand thing and Laura even did some jumping jacks in the exam room in an effort to get the little guy/girl to move, but it didn't!!!
I had anticipated this noteworthy event in our pregnancy would've been much more thrilling and, had it been thrilling, I would've posted this gender reveal much sooner than I'm doing now.
We are happy to say that our baby is doing great! All images/pictures/examinations of the baby showed it is developing normally and everything looks great on the ultrasound! So, despite our disappointment and not knowing what it is, we are comforted knowing that he/she is doing great!
So, tonight, we'll be meeting our doctor for the first time since our ultrasound. I'm not sure of what this check up is for, but I'm assuming it will be focused on the follow-up of our ultrasound. With any luck, our doctor will order another ultrasound for us in an effort to identify our baby as a boy or girl.
Until I have some more exciting news...thanks again for reading my Daddy Diary, and we appreciate your continued best wishes/prayers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)