Even though we said we wouldn’t get anything for the baby until after the New Year (and our families have had great self-control!), we ended up with just a few things. The baby got a little Harley t-shirt in his/her stocking. Then our god-daughter, Aly, got the baby a whole bag full of bath essentials, including a police officer floating duck. Aly will turn 1 year old tomorrow, so it’s kind of hard to get upset at her for wanting to get our baby a Christmas present. 🙂

The most tech-fun present is a new Flip video camera. Oddly enough, Jim and I both got one for each other “for the baby”! It is a tiny camera (about the size of our digital camera) that takes upto 30 minutes of video. Then it plugs straight into a computer with a USB connection, and the editing/sharing/uploading software is all built in. The best part of this is that family and friends near and far will be able to see video clips of baby’s first day, first smile, and more without a lot of work. Since all three of our grandmothers use the internet (not to mention the baby’s grandmothers!), this will be wonderful.

Twice this week I’ve put on pants that are too tight in the waist now. Mostly it’s things that sit right below my belly button and were snug to begin with… So I stopped by My Second Closet, a consignment store right by my house that I’ve heard sells maternity clothes. I was just curious if they’d have anything good. It turns out they have one rack of maternity tops and one rack of pants/skirts, and a lot of it is size XL, but the prices are really good. I looked through the racks and tried a few things on. I ended up getting a pair of Old Navy cords and another pair of Old Navy jeans, plus a pretty blue V-necked sweater, all in my size. The whole shopping trip cost me about $15, so Jim was happy. 🙂 I’m excited to wear all of it because they fit now and will stretch to fit for awhile. I’m hoping to borrow a lot of maternity clothes, but it was fun to get a few things today.

Tonight we took the first of many pregnancy pictures. Look, I have a little bump! My waist has grown two inches (28 now) and I weigh 125 pounds.

I realized that what I thought last week was morning sickness was actually just being too tired. This week I’ve been sure to get eight hours of sleep and have felt great every morning. I’m still making sure to eat breakfast first. I also bumped up my number on our Sleep Number bed, and now I only wake up to go to the bathroom once a night. Ah, the glory of the Sleep Number bed.

I had a short check-up this week. My labs last time were great (good news, I’m HIV negative… duh) and all the results were normal.

Our next ultrasound is scheduled for December 28th. It is for the neural translucency test to check for abnormalities that may indicate a disability. It is pretty standard procedure. It’s at Overlake in Bellevue, so Jim and I are going to go maternity clothes shopping afterwards at Bell-Square. I think I might get a Bella Band or two, since I might need them soon!

We will get to hear the heartbeat outloud at our next appointment on January 10th.

Yep, that’s right, I think my body has officially decided to be pregnant. Last night I woke up every three hours to go to the bathroom, and couldn’t go back to sleep for awhile the second time because I felt gross. Every morning I eat a few Cheerios in bed and then shuffle downstairs to make breakfast, which smells disgusting (even though it’s yummy food). I gag my way through part of the meal until my stomach remembers how hungry it is and lets me eat in peace. Then I feel fine for at least three hours… when I get hungry again, and the whole thing starts over.

Today my friends Sarah and Kim brought me some yummy Pad Thai for lunch on our way to Seattle. It tasted sooo good in my mouth… but my stomach didn’t like it. So I couldn’t even eat half of the meal. Bummer! This all sounds pretty dramatic. Okay, so it’s probably not nearly as bad as some other women get, and it’s not so bad. I’ve only had to eat breakfast with my head on the table twice. 🙂

I’ve gained 3 pounds since before I got pregnant, but all of it is in my waist because that’s an inch bigger already.

Finally, we have a due date! Today we had a second ultrasound. It was more in-depth; the technician looked at my gall bladder, kidneys, and all sorts of other things. She also measured the baby. It is almost 1 cm long. We were able to see the heartbeat again and measure it, too. The baby’s heart rate was around 120 bpm today. Based on the size of the baby and the gestational sac, the radiologist placed me at 6 weeks, 6 days – which means we were only one day off! The measurements are accurate +/- 3 days, so that’s pretty good.

This means our official estimated due date is July 19, 2008. Mark your calendars!

It worked out just perfectly that Jim’s parents, my parents, and my brother and his family were all together for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. We were pretty excited to share the news with all of them! (We were only missing Jim’s sister, who was in eastern Washington with her boyfriend’s family.)

After we were finished eating but still at the table, Jim sternly called Madi and Ali, my nieces, to come see him (he was around the corner and no one could see where he was). Jim was actually giving them each a rose that was hidden in the bathroom with a poem attached. Each girl walked out and gave one rose to each mother.

My mom knew what it meant as soon as she saw the rose! Jim’s mom was so surprised that it took her a moment. They read the card and both got very teary. They hugged each other and said “Congratulations, Grandma!”

Everyone got up and started hugging and saying congratulations. We shared the story of how we found out I was pregnant and talked about the due date in late July. It was so much fun! Later in the evening, we talked to Jim’s sister on the phone and told her the news, too.

We are asking everyone to wait to tell anyone else until after New Year’s 2008, because then the first trimester will be over. Jim’s mom said it will be the hardest secret she’s ever had to keep. 🙂

On Monday I visited my friend Emrie at Mill Creek for work. At the end of my appointment with her, she mentioned that she’d like to get her book back if I was done with it because someone else wanted to borrow it. What book? Taking Charge of Your Fertility, an amazing book about natural birth control and getting pregnant. She said, “Do you still need it? How is it going?” And I answered, “Well, I’m pregnant.”

She was so excited! We walked out to the parking lot and I told her the whole story. Emrie said it was the best news she’d heard in an long time. She is a great friend!

At Thanksgiving Eve service at church Wednesday night, I told Pastor Mark. He came up to say hello and he keeps in touch with us and our prayer requests. I asked him to keep our baby in mind when he prays for us. He said, “What a blessing!”… and we agree!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY when we will tell Jim’s parents, my parents, and my brother’s family in person since we’ll all be together for Thanksgiving. I bought roses at Safeway and we are planning the moment that we’ll share the news. I’m expected several happy tears from both sides!

It’s starting to sink in… especially since my pregnancy journal that my friend Sarah bought me reads that the baby’s heart started beating this week. Wow!

Nurse Nancy called today to let me know that my hCg levels are “appropriate” for how far along I am. That is good news. I looked on the American Pregnancy Association website, and I’m actually at the high end of the week 4 range. (Yes, I’m a total data nerd.)

We get to go in and get our first ultrasound on November 29th!

This morning, Nurse Nancy called and confirmed that my blood test results from last week were positive for pregnancy. My hCg levels were a little low, but she wasn’t surprised since I was so newly pregnant when I took the first test. She asked if I would come in and get another lab done to make sure the numbers went up, so I did. I’ll find out the results tomorrow.

Today I bought Mama Bee belly butter by Burt’s Bees. My belly is already oddly firm (or at least the muscles under there are), so the sooner, the better.