21 Weeks and over the hump

Yes, today marks 21 weeks. Over half way to the 40 weeks until the buzzer says "ding" and we get to meet Miss Ellis. The "bump" is getting bigger by the day. The doctor says that everything is right on target, including my weight which I was very happy to hear. Putting on 13 pounds in the last 5 months is a little unsettling, but it was good to hear that the doctor said that's perfectly normal and right on pace for my height and pre-pregnancy weight.
Miss Ellis is kicking like crazy now. I can literally see my belly moving up and down as she is does her round-off back handsprings every day. I tried to video it yesterday, but again, she got camera shy. Enjoy the belly pics!

It's a ............... GIRL!

Some of you probably have already heard the news, but on Monday, December 22ND, we found out that we are going to have a little girl! Daddy (Jason) is thrilled, he was really hoping for a baby to be "daddy's girl." I'm so excited too!

We made our way to the doctor's that morning around 8:30am, with my mom, Sue, following behind in her car. She came along, not only to get the news with us, but also to accompany to the only place one can go after hearing such news....Babies R Us! We waited for about 30 minutes before being called back to the ultrasound room. The nurse, who was a total pro at the ultrasound machine, applied the quintessential sonogram "goop" to my belly and began her hunt for Baby Ellis. Within seconds we could see hands, legs, feet, a cute little head and face. Many of us have seen ultrasound pictures like the ones posted here, but it's so neat to see the baby actually moving around "live" on the screen. Yet another wonderful confirmation of the life that is miraculously being knit together inside my belly. Finally...the moment of truth. The nurse maneuvered the magical ultrasound wand to show the "underside" of Baby Ellis. In the picture below, you will see a tiny white arrow pointing to Miss Ellis, showing that it is, indeed, a girl! It was so neat to see the nurse locate her little heart, kidneys, bladder, and so on. Of course, I had no idea what I was looking at, but boy was it cute! Another thing we discovered during the ultrasound is that Miss Ellis is VERY active! She would hardly sit still to let us get a snapshot of her. I'm not sure if she's going to be an athlete or if she's just camera shy. Either way, she was a movin'. The best part of the whole visit was hearing both the ultrasound nurse and Dr. Weise tell us that everything look perfect! She's approximately 13 1/2 ounces in weight and all of her "parts" look just as they should. Praise the Lord!

After the appointment, Daddy headed back to Warsaw for work and my mom and I headed off to Babies R Us. Who knew there were so many cute things for little girls??? It was so much fun and I must say that Miss Ellis will have quite an impressive wardrobe for an infant. :)

As far as names, we haven't officially decided yet, but we have a few in mind. We would like to use my middle name, Jane, which is also my mother's middle name. We like Norah, Reagan and Hannah, but again, we are open to suggestions.

3D Ultrasound

My friend Sheena sent me a link to this really neat website that has 3D photos of the baby in the womb. This is what our baby looks like right now, 18 weeks.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.ehd.org%2Fprenatal-images.php%3Fthum_id%3D436%26cell%3D6%23content"
Enjoy!

Ladies and Gentlemen...we have movement!

Yes, that's right! On Thursday, December 4th, I officially, without a doubt felt Baby Ellis move for the first time!
I was working at Dad's (Craig's) office, filling in for his secretary. The day had kind of slowed down so I was reading some news articles on the internet, when Baby Ellis decided it was time to make his/herself known. It was not just a little tap or "gas bubble" feeling as they say, no this was a statement! With one huge sweeping motion of a limb (foot or fist, I don't know), Baby Ellis pushed from the left side of my stomach, all the way to right! It about took my breath away. What kind of statement this young fetus was trying to make, I don't know. One friend thought he/she was swooping his/her arm from one side to the other as if to say "Ta-Da! I'm here!" Jason thinks it was merely the youngster practicing his/her Agassi backhand or Crosby slapshot. No matter what the child is trying to tell us, one thing is for sure...he/she IS there! And that's a very comforting and exciting feeling!

I had heard that I would feel the baby much sooner than anyone else would be able to, so I didn't have my hopes up that Jason would be able to feel any thing just yet. However, last night, while we were laying in bed, Baby Ellis was on the move, so I grab Jay's hand and he was able to feel a few tiny kicks! Yet another wonderful feeling! I feel like it made things even more real to Jay...well, that and the fact that my waistline is expanding by the second!

Hope you enjoy the 18 week photos! T-minus 2 weeks until we know the sex of the baby!

15 1/2 Weeks!

We had a great visit with the nurse practitioner on Monday. We got to hear the heartbeat again, 150 beats per minute...right on target! She also said that I was "carrying low and out front" which some old wives tales say could mean a boy, but I will leave the speculation up to you all! Speaking of which, we scheduled our next appointment for December 22nd to find out the sex of the baby! We are very excited about that! Not that it matters, but it will be fun to know and exciting to start picking out things for the nursery.
As I'm sure you can see, the belly no longer looks like I over-indulged at dinner, yes there is something there. Still a little hard to notice in regular clothes (which are getting smaller by the minute I might add!). I'm getting creative with rubber bands through button holes on my jeans and this nifty little thing they have called a Bella Band. Maternity clothes are just around the corner!

Comparison Photo

I guess one would need a previous photo to compare the 12 week photo to, huh? Here is a photo take at 6 weeks, notice a difference?

Bye bye morning sickness...hello belly!

I have been looking forward to this day for a LONG time! Finally done with the first trimester! I still feel a little bit of the queasies now and then, but overall I'm feeling so much better and have much more energy. I've also started to develop what some women so fondly call, "the pooch." Yes, that little "bump" on the front of my tummy that has everyone thinking, "is Sarah pregnant or has she just been hitting the potato chips a little too hard lately?" Luckily, I know that it's not the latter...although potato chips have been sounding might good these days. :)
We had a checkup last week with our OBGYN and she listened to the heartbeat through a portable ultrasound device that looked more like a microphone than a anything. She pressed it onto the lovely "pooch" and soon we heard the wonderful and comforting "swoosh swoosh" of Baby Ellis' tiny heart! The doctor said that the heartbeat was good and strong and everything looked "perfect." We were thrilled.
Now we play the waiting game...only a short 8 WEEKS until we know if Baby Ellis will be "daddy's little girl" or "mommy's little guy." Luckily we will know just in time for Christmas...what a Christmas present! Although neither of us cares if it's a boy or girl, I have a sneaking suspicion that Jason is secretly hoping for a little girl. I guess we'll know soon enough!
*The picture posted is the "12 week belly photo."

9 weeks and counting!

Hello again!
I know it's been a while since we've added anything, but we wanted to make sure everything was okay with Baby Ellis. Well, everything is well thus far! We had a great report from the doctor at 7 1/2 weeks where we also had an ultrasound. It was an amazing experience. I never knew that you would be able to hear and SEE the heart beating at 7 1/2 weeks! It was an incredible feeling seeing our baby's little heart working and hearing that reassuring sound.
We also got some more wonderful news today that my dear friend Rachel (Krober) Wayman is also pregnant! We are only 2 weeks apart so it will be so nice to have a friend to be pregnant with. We are so thrilled for them!
Thank you all again for continue prayers for us and Baby Ellis! We're taking suggestions for names! :)

Prayers for Baby Ellis

Yesterday was a little scary. Without going into any detail, there was reason for alarm with the pregnancy and the doctor wanted to see us right away. We headed over to Ft. Wayne and met the folks at the Women's Health Advantage center, what a wonderful place! Each person we talked to there was very caring and sympathetic. Seemed like a very nurturing environment. I'm so glad we chose to go there.
We had a nice long discussion with the nurse practitioner, and then it was off to do some blood work. They wanted to measure the pregnancy hormones to make sure everything was okay. I will find out the results from that blood test this morning and then go back for more on Wednesday. The doctor says this could be nothing but they want to be sure.
Jason and I ask want to ask all of you to pray for us, that we will stay calm and worry-free during this time and that we will have good news on Wednesday. Thank you so much for all of your love and support.

Telling the Grandparents

So how do you tell your parents that you're going to have a baby?

Well, we decided to tell my parents over dinner, but I didn't necessarily want to just come out and say it. We thought it would be neat to give them a gift that would indicate that they were going to be grandparents. I wanted to do a Christmas ornament that said "Grandma & Grandpa" or something like that, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything like that at Hallmark. So we decided to go with some pacifiers neatly wrapped in a gift bag.

We sat down at the table and handed my parents the gift bag saying, "We got you a little something today." As soon as my mom pulled out the pacifiers, my dad about fell out of his chair. They were both speechless! We all got a little teary and exchanged hugs all around.

After dinner, we went to my parents house to make some other important calls. We debated on whether or not to tell Jason's parents, as we are going to see them in 2 weeks and thought about telling them in person. But we just could not wait! Jason's parents were thrilled as well! We also called Bonbon & Grumps, Lez and Jim, Aunt Jana, and Alex (Uncle Alex, that is!). All were excited for the happy news!

Pregnant!

That's right! We're having a baby!

Yesterday (7-29-2008) was the day I found out! When I first got the official word, I had many mixed emotions. 2 days ago, we learned that Jason had won his first company trip with Edward Jones and it is scheduled for the first week of February 2009. I had been charting my waking temperature for 2 months and my temperature was supposed to shift downward this morning but instead it shifted upward. I decided, "what the heck," I'll take a pregnancy test just to be sure I'm not, because being pregnant could affect this trip. As soon as I looked at the test, I could see a faint line emerging, but it stayed faint. So I wasn't sure how to read that. I called my best friend, Sheena, and she said the same thing happened to her when she was pregnant! With that, it was off the doctor's! I had to know TODAY to be able to tell Jason that we may have to reschedule our trip. After waiting about 10 minutes, they called me back to the lab and Dr. Park greeted me with a smile and his pen pointed to the test results on a paper..."Positive." He said "Congratulations," and I wasn't sure what to think! I was excited, but what would Jason think. I was so nervous to tell him, but I called Sheena, asked for her to pray and headed to his office.

The minute I walked in to his office, I burst into tears (I probably scared him). I said I was sorry but that I just came from the doctor's and that I was pregnant. He responded in the most perfect way possible. Teary eyed, he said "why would I be mad? Wow! That's wonderful!" It was a perfect moment. Thankfully, we should still be able to go on our trip and be back with plenty of time for the baby to arrive. "IT" is due April 7, 2009 and we couldn't be more excited!