Ten Weeks & Second Ultrasound.

We had a great day yesterday - Dad and I both got to see you on the ultrasound again. You've grown so much! You were being a little camera shy though, staying as far to the back as you could, so we didn't get any great pictures - oh well! You are now 3.5 cm long (about the size of a marshmallow!) and your heart is still going at a strong 174 bpm. And the best part was that we could see your arms and legs very clearly and we could see you squirming around in there - you are definitely living up to your nickname!

It was just so awesome to see you moving and you are now looking like a baby - not just a little peanut anymore :) You also had a little bit of a growth spurt, instead of measuring the 10w1d we thought you would have been, you were actually 10w3d - so we got to skip a couple days! Good job baby!

It has been a nice week, just the usual working and hanging out with Dad & Leo. Tonight is Eliza's First Birthday party - we are both excited to celebrate with her! Then tomorrow, we will drive to Kim's house to celebrate New Year's Eve with everyone - Mike, Amanda, and Uncle Scott and Uncle Brian. We also get to spill the beans to you (finally!) to Kim, Mike, and Amanda! And I'm excited to tell your Grandpa E. that he can tell all of his friends about you on NYE too - he has been so giddy and excited to tell everyone! It should be a very good weekend!

Without further ado, here are our pictures from 10 weeks ... looking pretty much the same!

How far along? 10 weeks
Maternity clothes? Nope
Stretch marks? Just the ones I already had
Sleep: Still great - I slept for about 10 hours last night!
Best moment this week? Telling your Aunt and Uncle about you and seeing you again yesterday.
Miss anything? I miss being honest with everyone - hiding you has not been the most fun.
Movement? No way
Food cravings? Banana bread :)
Anything making you queasy or sick? Still feeling good most of the time.
Have you started to show yet? Still looking the same as last week, but at least the bloating has mostly gone away. My lower stomach is definitely feeling harder - and it's not my ab muscles!
Mood? Very happy :)
What are you looking forward to this week? Telling Kim, Amanda, and Mike about you and celebrating New Year's Eve.

Talk to you soon baby!

All my love, Mom

Merry Christmas Baby.

Your first Christmas came and went and it was wonderful. We spent a lot of time with each other and our family which was wonderful. We also shared the news of your impending arrival with your Uncle Nick & Aunt Jenni - they were ecstatic! I'm so glad we got to tell them in person, they had wonderful, happy reactions! Besides them, I think we successfully kept you a secret from everyone else we saw - which was tough because I was exhausted and because I had to stay away from the beer & wine :) We tricked everyone by buying a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling white grape juice that looked just like white wine - perfect cover!

Anyway, here are some pictures: the first is our annual Christmas Eve pre-Church family photo... except we couldn't get brother Leo to actually look in the general direction of the camera - oh well!

We had a great Christmas Eve, I always love listening to your Dad's very talented family play music and sing - I hope you inherit that natural ability, or at least have the patience to learn from your aunts, uncles, and cousins! On Christmas morning, Dad & I woke up early to open gifts before we drove to Grandma & Grandpa E.'s house. Here is Leo 'opening' his gift - a new bone!

Next was your Dad's turn - he was pretty excited!

 Then my turn ...

Dad got me a food processor, hopefully one day I can make you some yummy, healthy baby food in it!

Finally, Dad and I opened the gifts that we had gotten for you! Your very first Christmas presents :) Here is your Dad with the onesie I bought for you... we hope you like baseball!

Your Dad bought a 'piggy' bank for you that counts the coins as you drop them in so we can start saving some money for you ... you know for your first car, or college, or your wedding, or a down payment on your first house!! I can't imagine those days right now, but I know they will be here some day. He also bought you some Detroit Tigers socks and some pacifiers that the kids he worked with really liked. Not a bad haul for you still being the size of a cherry tomato and all... can't wait until next year when you'll actually be in my arms instead of my belly!

Well, Merry Christmas Baby! All my love, Mom

Nine Weeks.

It's been more than a week since I posted the 8 week update, but at my last doctor's appointment, we discovered that you aren't quite as old as we thought you were. But now, you are 9 weeks - and you are now officially a fetus, no longer an embryo! According to my books, you are about the size of an olive (almost 1 inch long!) and your arms and legs are moving like crazy! 

We've had a pretty quiet couple of weeks, just getting ready for Christmas and enjoying our long walks in the evenings with Leo. These next few weeks will be busy though - Aunt Jenni & Uncle Nick will be here tomorrow and we're having dinner at our house with them and Grandpa & Grandma P. Then on Saturday (Christmas Eve and Eliza's birthday!) we will go over to their house to open presents in the morning, then go to church at night and have the Ryan family Christmas after that - so much fun! On Sunday - Christmas! - Dad and I will get up early and open our presents from each other, then we'll all head to Grandma & Grandpa E.'s house. We'll have Christmas dinner there and open presents with everyone - including Uncle Scott and cousins Kim, Mike, and Amanda! We have to drive back home on Monday so Mom and Dad can go to work on Tuesday, but it should be a very fun weekend!

How far along? 9 weeks
Maternity clothes? Nope
Stretch marks? Just the ones I already had
Sleep: Still sleeping a ton, but I just can stay awake!
Best moment this week? Seeing your picture and heartbeat on the ultrasound!
Miss anything? I've gotten past missing alcohol, but I do kind of miss running, I'm waiting to get a heart rate monitor before I run again so I don't go overboard
Movement? No way
Food cravings? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope, feeling pretty good
Have you started to show yet? I have got a tiny little bulge going on between my pelvic bones (below the little pooch that has always been there!), but I think only your Dad and I can see that
Gender? Still no clue.
Mood? Happy and excited!
What are you looking forward to this week? Telling your Aunt Jenni and Uncle Nick about you tomorrow!! I think they will be really excited!

Merry Christmas baby! See you soon!

All my love, Mom

Surprise! First Pictures.

After a tiny bit of a scare a few days ago, the doctor wanted me to come in just to check on you and make sure everything looks good. So although I was a little scared and sad that your Dad couldn't be there with me, I was excited to get to see you earlier than I thought! So into the doctor's office I went, and the doctor brought me into the ultrasound room. As soon as she put the wand onto my belly - there you were!! A tiny little bean, happy and warm, and then right away she pointed out your beating heart! It was quite amazing.

The doctor said everything looked perfect - your heart was beating strong at 176 bpm, and you measured 1.36 cm long. Based on how big you were, the doctor estimated that you were about 7w5d old (not the 8w4d I thought you were). So finding out I wasn't quite as far along as I had thought was a little disheartening, but now I'm caught back up! Dad thinks you might have a growth spurt and catch back up... I hope so too. We go back next week to have another ultrasound and we'll see then how big you are - and Dad gets to see you for the first time!

Anyway - here you are! You're on the left, with your head towards the bottom and your umbilical cord attached to the yolk sac, which will become the placenta soon.

And here's your close-up! This picture shows your heartbeat at the bottom, and though you can't see it in the photo, your tiny heart was going a mile a minute in the area between the dotted lines. I'm so proud of you!

So there you are! It seems a bit more real now, and it was just such a great feeling knowing you really are in there and your heart is beating happy & healthy! See you again soon baby!

All my love, Mom

Eight Weeks.

Wow, eight weeks already! It's already been an entire month since we found out about you, which seems like a very long time! This week you moved up to the size of a raspberry and your heart is beating stronger than ever. Your arms and legs are moving like crazy now (even though I can't feel a thing) and your eyelids are starting to appear. Since I had my first appointment a few days ago, it really has started to feel more real and also like everything is moving pretty fast. In just 3 weeks we'll get to see your picture and your heartbeat, and then the secret will be out after that! In a way, I'm not looking forward to telling everybody because I kind of like having you as just our's for now - but it will make my life a lot easier once everyone's knows!


I've felt pretty good this week, yesterday was the only day I didn't feel great, but I think I may be one of the lucky ones as far as true morning sickness goes. I've been walking a lot with Dad and Leo, I would like to run, but I need to keep my blood pressure down which is tough for me and now that it has snowed, I'm really scared to slip and fall - so walking it is! I'm also starting to notice the tiniest of baby bumps - and I don't think it's the bloating anymore! - my lower belly just seems a little bit more round than before : ) You probably can't tell at all in these pictures, but here we are at 8 weeks!

How far along? 8 weeks
Maternity clothes? Not yet
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep: Never better.
Best moment this week? My doctor's appointment on Wednesday, and winning an award at work.
Miss anything? I wish I could have had a glass of wine at my company Christmas party yesterday.
Movement? No way
Food cravings? Honey Nut Cheerios
Anything making you queasy or sick? Just strong smells: garbage, bathrooms, etc.
Have you started to show yet? Nope, still hiding it I think!
Gender? Still no clue.
Mood? Peaceful and happy.
What are you looking forward to this week? Dad and I are doing our Christmas shopping today, which means I'll get to wrap presents - my favorite!


I hope you are warm and healthy and happy - see you in a few weeks baby Squirms!


All my love, Mom

First Doctor Appointment.

This morning was my first doctor appointment - and your's too! I actually just talked to a nurse, so I guess it can't be considered a true "doctor" appointment, but oh well! It was exciting to talk to someone about it and get some of my questions answered.

We started out by going over our family medical histories, and luckily we don't have too many genetic conditions to worry about - just keeping our hearts healthy is the main concern at this point. We then talked about some of the childbirth classes and books and other information sources that are available ... I'm not sure if we'll take a childbirth class, I want to talk to my friend Becky to see if she found it useful or not. Then the nurse answered a bunch of my questions - about medicines and foods (yay for lunchmeat and diet coke!) and running. She then went over the schedule for my appointments - I'll have my first ultrasound in three weeks (cannot wait!!), then I'll be seen every four weeks with another ultrasound at 21 weeks, until I'm 30 weeks and then I'll go in every two weeks. Finally she gave me some paperwork and had me go over to do some lab work.

Now, I've had some major issues in the past getting my blood drawn so I was a bit nervous. I went to the lab and the nurse was wonderful - she kept me very relaxed and was very quick and about as pain-free as you can get. So I'm very thankful for that! They also took a urine sample and I'll find out the results of my tests when I go in at the end of the month.

All in all, it went very well and it's starting to feel more real now and I just have to try to be patient until December 29 when we get to see your beautiful picture for the first time :) I'm very excited!!
And today is your last day as a blueberry... tomorrow you move up to raspberry status! You're growing very quickly and we can't wait to meet you baby!

All my love, Mom

Seven Weeks.

Yesterday we hit the seven week mark - and you are now the size of a blueberry! You've come a long way since you were just the size of a poppyseed a few weeks ago. Your heart is beating now and your tiny arms and legs are even moving - which is just crazy for me to imagine! It's been a pretty normal week, we've gone on some nice long walks at night - it's been fun to see all of the Christmas lights on houses in the neighborhood. And yesterday I raked up what will hopefully be the last of the leaves in the yard. On Tuesday night I got in bed at 7 pm and I slept from 8:00 pm until 6 the next morning! And I could have slept longer! Like I told your Dad - it's hard work being an incubator :) All in all, I'm feeling pretty darn good and it's getting easier to not to want tell people about you all the time.

Now for the pictures, this is after I raked and went for a walk with Dad and Leo yesterday:

How far along? 7 weeks
Maternity clothes? Not yet
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep: Wish I could sleep all day!
Best moment this week? Walking at night and enjoying the fall weather and finding out that Amanda and Mike will be home for Christmas & NYE so we can tell them about you then - they will be so excited!!
Miss anything? Same as previous weeks, wine & beer.
Movement? No way
Food cravings? Sandwiches! Subway, Panera, Jimmy Johns, home-made, YUM!
Anything making you queasy or sick? Just strong smells: garbage, bathrooms, etc.
Have you started to show yet? Nope, still hiding it I think!
Gender? Still no clue.
Mood? More relaxed and happy this week, getting excited to meet you.
What are you looking forward to this week? I'm excited to have my first doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning even though it's just blood tests and stuff, I think it will feel more real after that!

All my love, Mom

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I might be a little early on this one, but I'm extra excited for Christmas this year! I think it's because I know that just a few days after Christmas we will get to see your picture on an ultrasound for the first time! I cannot wait!

Anyways, your Dad said I had to wait until after Thanksgiving to get a Christmas tree ... so I patiently did just that... and then on Saturday I promptly dragged him to Kingma's to get our tree! We picked out a beautiful one and decorated it yesterday.

We also decided to get new stockings this year... and we made sure to get one for you too!! I'm excited to fill it with some cute goodies for you!

I know it's still a month away, but sometimes, I just can't help myself! Either way, the house looks lovely with all the lights, and the tree smells wonderful! You'll see :)

All my love, Mom

Secret's Out & 6 Weeks.

Well, you're no longer our best kept secret! Over the long Thanksgiving weekend we told your Grandparents, Great-Grandpa, and Uncles Scott and Brian about you!! Everyone was very surprised and excited :)  We made sure everyone knows that they have to stay quiet about you now - Grandpa E. was not thrilled about keeping a secret, he already has a list of people he wants to tell!! Soon enough, the world will know!

And in other news - you're six weeks already! This week's picture looks pretty much the same as last week's... I'm sure it won't be that way for too much longer!

How far along? 6 weeks 2 days
Maternity clothes? Not yet
Stretch marks? Nope!
Sleep: Never been better - I just wish it was socially acceptable to sleep from about 8 pm to 7 am!
Best moment this week? Telling your Grandparents about you - they are so excited!
Miss anything? Still miss enjoying a drink with friends.
Movement? No way
Food cravings? Still loving the bread and carbs and you can add chocolate milkshakes to that list.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Sometimes just thinking about certain foods makes me a little queasy, but nothing specific.
Have you started to show yet? Nope, still hiding it I think!
Gender? Still no clue.
Mood? Getting more and more excited with each day, but still anxious to see you for ourselves.
What are you looking forward to this week? I'm glad to spend some time with Eliza tonight, and then I'm looking forward to seeing Les Miserables on Saturday with your Dad.

All in all, it's been a great week! Here's to many more baby!

All my love, Mom

Won't Be Long Now.

Hey Baby! Happy (almost!) Thanksgiving! I'm finishing up my workday here with you and then we'll head to your Grandma and Grandpa E.'s to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow. Your Dad will still be working a little later, but I'm planning on going home and going for a run with Leo, then doing some housework and packing the car up so we can hit the road as soon as he gets home.

The house where I grew up is a long way from home now - almost a 4 hour drive, so hopefully we won't get there too late. The reason I'm anxious to get there is that we'll be spilling the beans about you to my family! We are only going to tell Grandma, Grandpa, Great-Grandpa, Uncle Scott and Uncle Brian about you and hopefully they can keep our secret until Christmas time! I'm a little nervous because you are still so tiny, but I just can't hold it in anymore!

Then, when we get back home we will tell Grandma and Grandpa P. about you on Saturday! Since Aunt Jenni and Uncle Nick won't be home until Christmas, we are going to wait until then to tell them about you :)

So it won't be long now until a few more people will be loving and waiting for you!!

All my love, Mom

Baby's First Home Improvement Project.

 We had quite a busy weekend with you - and we tackled a pretty big project too! We drove to cousin Kim's house on Friday night to help her gut the basement of her house - what a job! It was pretty hard work, but Dad and I helped her take down most of the walls in the basement and moved all the garbage to the dumpster outside. Luckily your Uncle Scott came and helped too, otherwise we never would have finished!

It was so hard to not tell Kim or Scott about you and I had to pretend to drink beer so they wouldn't suspect anything - and I think it worked! Phew!

Kim and I have had lots of adventures together and she is going to be so excited to find out that you'll be joining us in July! Even though Kim is my cousin, she feels more like a sister and definitely a friend - you're gonna love her!

Here is a picture of Kim and Mom last August - we walked 60 miles in 3 days to raise money for breast cancer research - what a great experience!

And the next picture is of your Aunt Jenni, Kim, and Mom's other cousins Jessica and Stephanie at our last girls' night out at Mojo's Piano Bar, we had lots of fun :)

Anyways, I'm a little off topic now, but I wanted to tell you about your weekend - I hope you aren't too tired, we worked pretty hard!

All my love, Mom

5 Weeks.

Yesterday marked 5 Weeks pregnant with you - even though you've only been really there for about three weeks... they do the counting weird. So I'll take 5 weeks!  I told your Dad the other day that we need a nickname for you - and we came up with Squirms :) I can just picture you in there, squirming around, getting comfortable, and growing like crazy!

Dad took our picture again yesterday - you still aren't quite big enough yet to give yourself away, but you certainly have made my belly a little bigger anyways :)

I want to keep track of how everything is changing week-by-week, so I found these questions on another mommy-to-be's blog.

How far along? 5 weeks

Maternity clothes? No maternity clothes, but I did buy some looser shirts to try to hide my belly at work, I've been pretty bloated the last week (yuck, right!?!).

Stretch marks? None yet!

Sleep: I can't get enough! You have made me feel very tired lately. Dad said he read in the baby book that I'm using more energy laying in bed than he is running! But you need lots of energy from me to grow big and strong, so I'm happy to share!

Best moment this week: Going for a run for the first time since I found out about you - I was very nervous at first, but it felt great and I hope you enjoyed it too.

Miss Anything? I do miss drinking a glass of wine with dinner or sharing a new kind of beer with Dad.

Movement: Nothing yet!

Food cravings: BREAD! Any type of bread - sliced, buns, biscuits, rolls - you name it, I would eat it. And I still have been craving KFC and ribs a little bit - I'm beginning to wonder if you might be a southern baby :)Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing specific, but little bouts of nausea have been hitting me here and there - luckily ginger ale has seemed to help calm my stomach down.

Have you started to show yet: Not showing baby yet, but my bloated belly is sticking out!

Gender: We have no idea, but both Dad and I made our guesses that you're a little girl - we'll see in about 35 weeks!

Labor Signs: Thankfully - no!

Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On if I could - I just found out I'm allergic to the nickel in my wedding ring, so we had to order a new ring which I'm waiting to get
Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy, but still a little nervous until we can see you for ourselves on the ultrasound.

Looking forward to: Telling your grandparents about you next week on Thanksgiving! And I'm also anxiously waiting for our first appointment - December 7th.

Happy 5 Weeks Baby Squirms!

All my love, Mom

Special People.

Baby, you've already got a lot of special people in your life - and they don't even know about you yet! We are blessed to have a wonderful family and equally wonderful friends. I know you're just dying to meet everyone so here we go!

Here is your Grandma & Grandpa Empkie, at Mom & Dad's rehearsal dinner before our wedding - they were very happy that day!

And now meet your Grandma & Grandpa Patterson - on the day your Dad graduated from college with his doctorate degree, we are all so proud of him!

And there are loads of special people in this next picture! Your Uncle Scott, Uncle Brian, Uncle Nick, and Aunt Jenni are all here - they will be thrilled to hear you are on your way! And they aren't the only ones - cousins Kim and Mike and Amanda, and lots of Mom & Dad's friends - Jessica and Emily and Brandon, Mike, Ryan, Tim, and Brian - will all be excited to meet you too.

And here is your Great-Grandpa Empkie (Mommy's Grandpa) with Uncle Ozzie and Aunt Linda and Cousins Kim, Mike, and Amanda. Great-Grandpa will be very excited to hear of your impending arrival, we can't wait to tell him!

And there are so many other people who will be a part of your life, but there isn't enough time in the world to tell you all about them - you'll just have to take my word for it until you can meet them yourself!

All my love, Mom

Our Little Secret.

As much as we want to brag about you to everyone we see, Dad and I are waiting until the right time to tell everybody about you. For now we kind of like having you as our little secret. But, we just couldn't resist telling two people we know won't spill the beans! Your big brother Leo (the doggy!) and Eliza (Mom and Dad's god-daughter) now know about you too!

Leo already loves you - he is very protective of Mommy and he will do the same for you once you are here. Leo loves to play with his dumb-bell toy and chew his rawhides. He also likes to cuddle on the couch and have his belly rubbed. But his favorite is when we go running together - he will go and wait by his leash while I put my running shoes on - and then out the door we go and we both come back home feeling better! So meet your brother Leo:

And Eliza will also be a very good friend to you as you grow up. She is already almost 1 year old and her birthday is the day before Christmas, so she was a very special baby when she arrived! Mom and Dad love her very much and we know Eliza's parents will love you just as much :) Eliza likes to listen to music and dance, and look in the mirror, and most of all read her books! We can't wait until you can meet each other - for now here is a picture of your Dad and Eliza watching tv together.

So even though you are still our secret, we are glad that Leo & Eliza know about you too, and hopefully they won't start talking now :)

All my love, Mom

Dearest Baby.

Hi! It's me, your mom :) We found out about you just one week ago, so it's still a little strange to think about myself as a mother, but I know you're in there and I love you already. That's the first thing I want you to know today and for every day of your life - I love you! You are a blessing and my life is already better because of you - that will never change, I promise.

Your Dad and I have been hoping you would join us for a couple months now, and then last week we got to see our dreams come true. On Tuesday night, I called your Dad on his way home from work and said I wanted KFC for dinner - especially the biscuits and mashed potatoes. Looking back this was a little strange - I haven't had KFC in a LONG time, but I was really craving it that night. Fast forward - Dad gets home with the food and I nearly cried because I thought they forgot the mashed potatoes (you'll soon find that out - Mommy loves her potatoes!). They hadn't actually forgotten them, but still - it was a bit weird to be so upset about food. So, on Wednesday morning I decided to take a pregnancy test (this will probably be super embarassing for you someday - sorry!) and lo and behold - two beautiful pink lines!

Dad was still sleeping, so I thought I would be clever and set up the camera to get his reaction on video. Well your Dad woke up as I was fumbling with the camera and looked at me strangely, then asked "Are you pregnant?". And I just nodded and we both started laughing and crying and hugging! It was quite wonderful! Going to work that day was very difficult - I had this great secret (YOU!) that I couldn't tell anyone about. When I got home that day, your Dad took the first pictures of you and I together. I was four weeks pregnant with you by then, but you were still very tiny - only the size of a poppy seed!

From that day on, I knew my life was changed forever and I have never been so proud or so happy to be your mom. I hope you grow happy and healthy in my tummy for the next nine months - we can't wait to meet you in July!!

All my love, Mom