Friday, May 29, 2009

Show-off

It seems we have a bit of a show-off on our hands. We had our 16 week appointment today, and got to have an unexpected ultrasound. The doctor was only going to do a Doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat, but we had such a "mover and shaker" (doctor's words), that she had to go get the ultrasound. Amazingly enough I was not nervous. She kept telling us the sounds we were hearing were movement, and I was confident things we fine. David told me later that he was nervous. It is comforting to know that I'm not the only one who worries about this baby.
So out came the ultrasound, and there was our beautiful baby. It was a shame we didn't have the camcorder. We were going to bring it anyway to record the heartbeat, but forgot. We were really kicking ourselves after the show we received. It was no wonder the doctor had a hard time locating the heartbeat. Our baby looked like s/he was doing somersaults and cartwheels. It made for an awesome viewing. We saw the limbs in action and the spinal cord. We even saw the heart. This picture was a lot different than the one we saw at 8 weeks. At one point the baby kicked me. It was cool to see since I can't really feel the movement yet. I think we got to watch our baby Bunge move around for about 5 minutes. I had to hold onto David to keep the tears from coming out too heavily. Here we thought we were going in for a routine check-up, and we got to see our little baby again. It's hard to wait so long to see your baby, especially when you don't have a definitive way of making sure every thing's okay. This was a nice blessing for us today.
I asked about the heartbeat today. Everyone asked us last time what it was, and neither of us could recall (still not sure the doctor actually told us). We got so excited about hearing it, that it was kind of a blur. The doctor said the heart rate was 150 bpm. The doctor couldn't get a good view between the legs to give us a definitive answer, but with all the movement she feels like we're having a boy. I think I saw fireworks go off in David's eyes. I love seeing him so happy. I know he will be happy either way, but I think having a boy would mean a lot to him.
Our wonderful doctor scheduled our next ultrasound at 18 weeks (2 weeks from today) at WakeMed. They have a 3D/4D ultrasound lab, so we will get the whole shebang. We were going to go to Cary for one in 2 weeks, but now we can hold off on that until the baby is older and filled out. We will be able to tell you all for sure if we're having a boy or girl on June 12. So that happened...

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Landscaping

After working on the inside of the house for over a year, David and I have finally been able to get outside in the yard and do some work. Over the past couple of months we have been spending some of our weekends weeding, digging up, planting and ground-covering. We're not quiet finished yet, but here's some of what we've done so far:
Front yard. Its actually got some grass now.

We've laid some pine straw down in the front.
David dug up some sickly azalea bushes and we planted another gardenia bush. We are getting ready to put some rock in front of the house.

We also put pine straw in the back and put in some new plants. On the right, all of our hostas came back, and we planted two hydrangea plants.


On the left, we've planted some more hostas, ostrich ferns, amethyst astibles, Virginia bluebells and cyclamen. They're just starting to come up, so it will be a bit before there's a lot to look at.

Monday, May 4, 2009

"That's one doodle that can't be un-did, home skillet..."

I've been waiting for a very long time, 8 weeks to be exact, to tell everyone what they now already know from reading the title of this entry probably - David and I are having a baby!!! Needless to say, we are both overjoyed and slightly anxious. We talked about this moment in our lives for awhile, and we knew we were both ready for this challenge and next step in our lives together. I had finally reached the point where I didn't just think I wanted a baby and then have that thought leave my mind as soon as an infant cried in Church. I was never worried about David. I've always known he would be a great father. It makes me smile when I see dads carrying their babies in their front carriers, and I think of David doing the same thing.
Anyway, we had our second appointment this past Monday, May 4. It just so happened to be my dad's birthday. Our first appointment was the day after my mom's birthday, on April 6th. I don't think I have ever been so happy and nervous at the same time. That first appointment I really needed to go smoothly, and it did. It took no time at all for us to see our Baby Bunge. S/he looked exactly like the pictures we had been seeing in the books. We were both worried one or the other would see the baby and one of us wouldn't. We didn't even need the doctor to point the baby out to us. Then, to see the heartbeat - that was amazing. I almost wanted to tell the baby to calm down, even though I knew that rapid beat was normal. It was so awesome.
This past visit, we got to hear our baby's heartbeat. The doctor told us beforehand that it's completely normal to not hear the heartbeat at 12 weeks and not to worry if she couldn't get it. I wanted to say, "Easy for you to say. I need to hear a heartbeat." Well, after the doctor informed us we had a stubborn baby because she had trouble getting her to stay still to locate the heartbeat, we heard it - this rapid buh-bum-buh-bum-buh-bum.... The heartbeat was healthy and perfect for a baby at this stage. We couldn't have asked for better news. Our next appointment is May 29, and we will keep everyone posted. That will be 16 weeks for us.
It's so nice to share our news with everyone finally. We look forward to sharing this journey with you. So, that happened...