Pep talks...

I gave the little stinker a pep talk this morning on the way to school. We have a doctor's appt. today at 3:45 and I want to make sure baby is on his/her best behavior for the doctor. Last time, the little one scared mommy and doctor when we couldn't find the heartbeat. Maybe he/she just wanted us to see him/her. We ARE visual people and all... ;)

Of course, since I was in the mood for pep talks, I also had to remind my veins to be cooperative today---one more vial of blood to be drawn...(see previous post on last month's fiasco!)

For those of you interested, baby is about the size of a large sweet potato (5.5inches long)---appropriate for the timing! Weighs about 7 oz.
More info to come, I'm sure, after the appointment.

Oh, and HAPPY ENDING OF HURRICANE SEASON!!! (even though there is still one in the Atlantic)...

Turkey, Stuffing and Apple Pie!

We have had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! We were off of work Wed., Thurs., and Fri. so we had plenty of R&R as well as a yummy turkey dinner with the fixins'!

This thanksgiving we were so thankful...to be with friends to celebrate, for the health of family and friends, to have each other and a little one on the way, for the food on the table and for all that God has blessed us with in our lives.

Dinner: Throw in a bunch of people who have never cooked a Thanksgiving dinner in their lives together and what do you get? A surprising mix of great food! We had two different turkeys--one traditionally cooked in a bag in the oven and one rotisseried on the VERY cool Ronco Showtime 4000! That one was spiked with buffalo wing sauce and was DELICIOUS! I made an apple pie and a banana creme pie (which Adam claims is as good as his mom's--good thing---they were from her recipes!) The stuffing had apples in it, which was new to us but scrumptious. We laughed about the cranberries, because someone brought them, yet not a single one of us likes them (10 people). In short, the food was plentiful, everyone pitched in by bringing something, and we had a great time. Afterwards, we played board games and then went for round two of food!

On Saturday, we had a garage sale with another couple in the neighborhood. It initally seemed like a weird idea, being Thanksgiving weekend and all, but they're moving to Phoenix next weekend so it had to get done today. Well, evidently people are in the mood for spending and savage shopping because we started at 8:00 am and were pretty much wiped out by 11:45. We took one small load to goodwill and came home to a wonderfully clean and EMPTY garage!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We missed you, but we'll have a great time during the X-mas season visiting!

It's Friday! (and payday) Does it Get Any Better??

Well, pretty much all the students in 6th grade know, and the word is spreading amongst 7th and 8th graders. It's been a fun week---the kids' reactions are PRICELESS! Most of them think we are CRAZY for having kids. I find that very amusing! Everyone of them has an idea for a name. To solve what was bound to be an hour long discussion, I said I'd put a suggestion box in my room. They liked that idea. Every boy wants us to have a boy, every girl wants us to have a girl. You gotta love 11 and 12 year olds!

Cravings so far (I can't recall if I put this down already and I'm too lazy right now to go back and check):
1. SALT, SALT, SALT!
2. Pickles (again, SALT!)
3. Russian Hamburgers (with SALT...ok, this may just be because we just made 34 of them)
4. Root beer
5. Milk (Lots of it!)

Adam's cravings:
1. Anything FOOD
2. Milk (Lots of it!)

Our worries:
1. Having a healthy baby
2. Providing for our baby

Our joys:
1. Discovering new things (like the wall of pacifiers at Babies R Us)
2. Feeling the baby (ok, that's my joy right now, but Adam still thinks it is VERY cool)
3. Each doctor's appt. (little heartbeat, measurements, ultrasounds...)
4. Changing/adapting together
5. Sharing our views and dreams
6. Laughing about all the nicknames our baby is bound to have (and that's BEFORE Uncle Jimmy...)

What we're feeling right now:
1. Excited/Giddy
2. Anxious/Nervous
3. Worried
4. So "In Love" with each other and baby
5. Happy/Content/Joyous
Basically, everything all at once! :)

It's a wonderful life! We're enjoying the roller coaster! Have a great weekend!

16.5 Weeks...

Here's the little bubble of a tummy. It still isn't visible with clothes on, but definitely noticable with a swimsuit or tighter outfit.

Also, Adam let the cat out of the bag at school with his classes, so today and tomorrow we are telling the students. They are really excited--ask a lot of questions... my students are most worried about who's going to take over in May. I tried to assure them that it wouldn't be for long and that I would prepare good stuff for them to do. We'll worry about that in the spring!

Have a wonderful day!

Reasons to find out the baby's sex:
Pick only one name
Buy sex specific clothes
Decorate the nursery
Bonding with a specific baby
We hate green and yellow, P-E-W!
To annoy relatives
Why not?

Reasons to wait:
Like the surprise
Help make the last few weeks of pregnancy bearable, not knowing
To annoy relatives

We've gone back and forth on this issue. I think Adam really wants to know, and if you know Adam he is such a worry wart. It would be one less thing for him to stress over. I don't know...maybe we'll change our minds...maybe we'll find out and not tell anyone who lives "up north".

Thoughts, questions, ideas...

Misinterpretations Abound!

For the record, I am definitely NOT wishing this pregnancy time away---we're having a lot of fun with it so far!

But, the 94 days left are SCHOOL days...I have no idea how many days until baby comes...you'd have to add in weekends, holidays, spring break, etc. and that is far too much math.

Love you all--love your blogs too! Don't forget to start entering your predictions into the baby pool (link to the left). We're probably going to find out the sex around Christmas...

So...

How's the weather??? (Ok, it's cheap, but I can only get away with it once a year!)

Only 95 more work days until Baby R. comes--that is, if (s)he doesn't decide to come early!

Thanksgiving shopping...

If you are the After-Thanksgiving Sale type, check out www.blackfridayads.com for some unlisted/early sales. I bought boots at JCP last year--all leather, chocolate brown...they were only $29.99 instead of $100.00---found out about it on this site!

Oh, our volleyball team creamed Bellalago yesterday--15-3, 15-4, and 15-9(2nd string players).

Only 8 school days until December!

Flutterbys...

Ah, what a great feeling! 5:56 Sat. morning I DEFINITELY felt the little one...I love that I can feel the little bambino/a once in awhile! What a cool experience. Right now, it is so slight and only once in awhile that I'm paying close enough attention to feel it...but still...wow!

Adam says that he can't wait until he can feel it too, but he'll have to wait a little while for that one!

My grandma and grandpa Gorr came to visit this weekend, as did my mom. In fact, they are here until Tues. morning. We're having a good time. We took them to EPCOTs Food and Wine Festival on Friday and we went shopping on Sat. (to Babies R' Us!!) and saw Cirque Du Soleil which never ceases to amaze me. Today we went to Downtown Disney. They had an Art Festival going on---fabulous sidewalk artists (they actually created art using pastels on the concrete!). Not sure what tomorrow holds, except our students have their 1st volleyball game of the season so we'll have to be there for that!

Hope you are all doing well!

Can It Be? Is It Possible?

I may be mistaken, but I think I felt the baby move today. Of course, I may just be nervous because my grandparents are coming to scrutinize our home today....nope, I really think the butterflies are the baby. Gosh...I hope so...

Happy Veteran's Day tomorrow!

Crazy Lady @ the Doctor's Office

I don't think I've mentioned this before...but it is something I find so bizarre and have NEVER heard from a preggo lady before...

There's a girl sitting next to me at the office--she's about the same age as I am. We got to chatting a little and she tells me her baby boy is due in December. I ask her if this is her first and she replies, "First and Only!" "Oh, you and your husband are only planning on one?" she says, "No, we wanted a big family, but I CANNOT STAND how this baby moves and kicks inside of me. I am so irritated with him and cannot wait until December."

Yikes! I guess some people have VERY different opinions. I happen to think that feeling your baby move would be reassuring and kind of neat. Of course, while you are trying to sleep might not be fun or if baby wants to stand on your ribs or bladder, it might be uncomfortable/painful, but I haven't heard someone who downright hates it as much as she does.

15 weeks...and counting...

Wow! It has been awhile since I have posted...

Baby, Adam and I are doing fine--time seems to be passing too quickly right now. We picked out furniture for baby's room but haven't ordered it yet. We really like it because it doesn't scream, "BABY!" but can be used long after the crib gets packed away! Yikes! That seems like such a long time away!

I've been thinking about a baby's album already and collecting information and pictures to put in it. People say that once a baby is born, they rule the household---well, it seems like baby is ruling our household already! :)

The babe is about 4 inches long now and weighs about 2.5 oz. I didn't realize it, but at this stage, the baby can sense light---if we shine a flashlight at my tummy, the baby most likely would move away from the light. The baby can suck his/her thumb now and has full movements of extremities---I'll have to be paying attention to see if I can start feeling movements soon (16-18 weeks at earliest---for most, 20 weeks)

For me---symptoms are still minor...haven't gained since the last Dr's appt.
My nose is a little stuffed up most of the time--something that has to do with expanded blood vessels...

That's about it for baby news. We are still thinking of names, but have narrowed the boys names down to 3 and the girls...well...um...still working on that. Again, any suggestions are welcome!

A Peach!

Funny how they compare baby's size to pieces of fruit! Anyways, right now baby weighs about 18 grams and is 7.2cm long. Which is about double what he/she was at 7 weeks! Growing fast!

The blood work went ok today. I think I was a little dehydrated yesterday. It still took them several tries to find a vein and the blood stopped running twice while they were drawing it. Oops. I guess my body isn't very cooperative with the doctors today. :)

Crazy Days at the OB

Today's doctor's appointment was such a fiasco. Here's the scoop-- I got there at 3:45, had a 4:00 appointment. Well, 4:30 rolls around (which is unusual because we've never really had to wait longer than about 5 minutes.) The nurse comes out and tells the jam-packed waiting room that both doctors were called to delivery. She said that one of them would be back in about 15 minutes. Well, that happens, so I waited some more. At 4:50, they call me back for the routine stuff. (Officially, I've gained 3 lbs.---13.5 weeks---not too bad!) The nurse does her thing and then Dr. Marcantel comes in to measure and listen to the heartbeat. It is so cool how your body works! I never knew that you could use a measuring tape to figure out how many weeks along you are and if the baby is growing according to schedule. Well, he couldn't find the heartbeat.

At all.
Even after several minutes.
So, he put the equipment away and said, "Let's go look." And off I was to the SECOND ultrasound. We go into the next room where he pulls up the monitor. Sure enough, the little stinker was in there, presumably fast asleep, and in just the position at the back so that the heartbeat wasn't projected. (The baby is twice the size as it was at 9 weeks! Wow!) After a nice strong heartbeat was detected (152 bpm), we all felt better and it was time to go get blood drawn...lots of it...

On to the next fiasco...

The nurse comes in to take a gazillion vials (ok, 5) of blood. She does the standard procedure: feels for the vein, wraps the thingy around the arm, I make a fist, she pokes me with a needle...NO VEIN... So, she takes it out and tries again... NO VEIN... ok, how about the other arm... NO VEIN... she goes out and gets another nurse... STILL, NO VEIN... they go out and get the doctor... YEP, YOU GUESSED IT... NO VEIN. They decided that I need to come back in the morning and they would possibly have better luck. Otherwise, they will send me to the big lab to have bigger needles do the job--yuck.

I finally left the office today at 5:55.
Anyways, it really wasn't too bad---actually, it was all kind of funny (except for the no heartbeat thing). At least my friend Keeley happened to have an appointment today at the same time so we got to hang out in the waiting room together and catch up.

Off to the doctor again tomorrow morning (hey, at least I get to sleep in a little!! :)

Disaster...averted...

Well, Wilma graced us with her presence at 3:00am and found it in her heart to leave Florida at 1:00 this afternoon. That was a pretty fast moving hurricane. She landed south of Naples, FL as a Category 3 and moved NE to the Palm Beach area.

Our house sat right on the edge of hurricane force winds and tropical storm force. What that means...well, generally we had sustained winds 50-60 mph and around 6 inches of horizontally blowing rain. Wind gusts often got higher--near 100 mph. Scary stuff.

Needless to say, although we received very little sleep due to the battering rain/wind on our windows, our poor house withstood the storm and we don't have to spend the rest of the day cleaning up damage. We could only wish the rest of FL was that lucky.

Interestingly enough, after Wilma took off to sea, the skies turned crystal clear blue and cool 58 degree temps. are gracing us with a brisk, BLUSTERY, fall day!

Baby has decided that (s)he doesn't care for hurricanes too much, so keep your ears out for teaching jobs if you are in the MN area...we think we've had enough!

Update on Wilma

The memories of Hurricane Charley are too fresh on our minds...this one has a similar path... this time, they predict it will go south of us, but they said it would go north of us last year--they were VERY wrong!

Wilma so far:

1)Tied record for most storms in a season. They are out of names and have to go to Alpha, Beta, etc. after this.

2) Tied for number of hurricanes in a season.

3)Wilma has the lowest barometric pressure on record right now (882 mbs). Basically, the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm. (Katrina was 944 mb., I believe) If the number drops, it is getting stronger--if it raises, the storm is getting weaker.

4) When Charley hit, it was a strong 3/weak 4 and by the time it hit us it was a strong 2. Charley did $38,000 worth of damage to our home. I cannot imagine what this would do if it doesn't weaken and STAY AWAY FROM US.

Needless to say, we are going through many sleepless nights again to see if this storm will directly impact us. We know we will get wind and rain, we just pray we will not get a direct hit causing more damage. Paths can change hour to hour, so we have to keep an eye out. We may spend Friday boarding up again--the scene is all too familiar after last year.

No Sympathy Weight For This Guy!

Adam plays softball with our teacher friends every Wednesday night!

Not a Great Picture...But Here It Is Anyways...

Here's me at 12.5 weeks. The shadows make it all look a little funny and I still look half asleep, but then, it is only 5:30 in the morning.

Maybe I'll have to take a different picture this week--not sure if I want this one in the albums!

Wilma! (Not Fred and Wilma, either!)

Be on the lookout and pray for us---just when we thought the season was almost over, here comes #21--Hurricane Wilma. Most likely, this one is headed for FL...destination...unknown. Keep yourself posted on www.noaa.com Go to the sidebar where it says NOAA Storm Tracker---Wilma, click on it, then click on 5 day tracking map. We live near the "L" in FL.

Mmmm...pickles...and other salty foods

SO, I think I have my first real cravings...SALT! Delicious. I can understand why the classic "pregnancy and pickles" thing is popular. But, alas, my cravings are not limited to pickles...salty french fries are good too! I'm not into the sweets though---leave the ice cream at the store!

We're doing better on boys names than girls names. Drop us an opinion (if you have one!)...

Darren Seth
Gavin James
Kyle Grant
Derrick
Erik

Kira Ann
Hannah Faith
Alanna Grace
Kari (car-i) Ann
Brianne

I know people are interested in more pictures, but really, I don't look any different yet. I can feel where baby is, but it is not really that visible yet. Maybe a 12 week picture this week if I can squeeze it in between soccer playoffs and volleyball practice!