Lucky Number 13!

Today I had my 13 week appointment with my wonderful OB, Dr. Brown. It was originally scheduled to be at 12+ weeks, but my due date was changed after my 8 week ultrasound. As of today, I am offically 13 weeks.

Rob met me at the doctor's office in hopes we'd get to hear the heartbeat today.

We first met with the doctor to discuss any questions, plan for the pregnancy, etc.

Then came the exciting part. She whipped out the dopplar, probed for a few seconds and then we hear it...

The whoosh, whoosh, whoosh of the little heartbeat. Rob asked "How do we know it's the baby's and not Jen's?" Well, honey, the baby's heartbeat is about twice the speed of mine. But...still a good question for someone who has no experience in this sort of thing!

Today the heratbeat was in the 160's. There are a lot of old wives tales out there about the rate of the heartbeat and the gender. And to those tales, my doctor says they are all wrong! So, we are still in the dark as to the gender, and if I have it my way, it will stay that way until D-Day. Yup, Delivery Day! Rob is with me in this plan for now. But since he's a guy who has to find out what his presents are before Christmas, he may need a little encouragement the closer we get.

But for now...

Today is Lucky Number 13!

Fun Night Out

Friday was my good friend, Chantel's Birthday. In honor of that day, we had all planned on going out on Saturday to Buca's for a birthday celebration.

Then...I get an email on Wednesday saying that Chantel's husband, Ryan, had hired a limo and was going to pick all of us up on the way to the restaurant. Yay! Best of all, it was going to be a surprise for Chantel!

Knowing that the Birthday Girl was going to be caught off-guard without a camera, I brought mine with for some fun limo pics. I even got an "Oh, my gosh, she has the camera" as they pulled up to the front of our house that night. (Yes, Chantel, I heard it!) It was a fun night with the husbands along as well. The only thing missing was our friend, Charlotte and her husband, Tom. All-in-all, it was a great night with lots of food, friends and fun!



Chantel and Ryan


Chantel and Ryan, Jan and Tim, Teresa and Greg, and Jen and Rob

Money coming out of her ears!

Nope...not me. I wish!

My sisters Jo and Kate called me yesterday to meet up with them at the Pizza Ranch yesterday for lunch. (Sorry Dee!) The reason? It had "been a while since we talked." That's the thing I love about my sisters. We had just had lunch together on Sunday. 5 days is "a while."

For those of you who don't know the Ranch...it rocks! Every time I go there without Rob, he gets upset. I know they only have them in small towns, but if you've never been, you really should try to head to one at least once. It's buffet is the reason we go. However at 12 weeks pregnant, my routine of heading back to the buffet line for multiple plates has now dwindled down to 1 salad and 1 plate of pizza. Hopefully I can continue that after baby is out!

The Ranch in Norwood has this old, ancient, coin-operated horse. My niece Ava loves it! She has to eat her lunch first, but then she's allowed to ride on it if one of the adults has a quarter. She's mastered the art of inserting the coin, then hopping on the horse with no help. In fact, she gets a little upset if anyone tries to help her.

Well after the 2 quarters that her mom "found" in her ear, she kept coming back to the table for more money. Auntie Jen forked over 2 quarters. She came back for more. This time I told her that she better start shaking out her ears to see if she had any more money in there. After a little shaking...SURPRISE! Out fell a quarter (courtesy of Auntie Katherine) onto the floor! It was magic! After that ride, she came back, shook out her ears again, and out came another quarter!

On the down side, I think we may have messed her up. When she was finished with her final ride on the horse, she came back and we told her we had no more money. Without any prompting from us, she started shaking her little head again in the hopes of more money falling out! We had to "look" in her ears and tell her that the money in her ears was all gone and we'd have to wait until next time to ride the horse again.

And not-so-smart Auntie Jen forgot the camera to capture this! Maybe next time. In the mean time, the money bank in Ava's ears will continue to grow and produce yet another quarter for our next trip to the Ranch. A camera better be there for that one!

What Up?

Not much...

This past weekend was spent lounging around the house. Rob hung out with friends on Friday night and his lovely (but nauseated) wife got to spend the evening hangin out with one of my best friends, Teresa! It was a nice way to spend the night...watching girly movies in comfy clothes with no one to impress but ourselves!

Teresa is about ready to pop...literally. She's pregnant and due at the end of this month! I'm so excited for her and her husband, Greg. They are going to be great parents. With a little luck, I'll be able to be there for the blessed event! Can't wait to meet this little peanut!

I was lucky enough to get out of work early today. Now, I am not one to take this extra time for granted. I got home, ate a little supper (yes, at 4:30 and no, I'm not 80!) and took Harley for a walk all in prep for a nice, early bedtime since I'm back to work in the am.

See ya next time!

Energy? What energy?

I have nothing to complain about.

I'm super happy to be expecting and Thank God that everything seems to be heading in the right direction.

I've never been extremely energetic, but I could get the job done, whatever that job may be.

Lately my couch and recliner are my best friends. Thank God for a comfy pillow.

I know that someday the energy will return. But for now, I think I'll just lie down.

Our Diamond Ring is now a Gummy Bear...

I have never been really good at keeping secrets. I'm even worse at keeping secrets when it's something fun and exciting to share.

Especially when I didn't know when or if I'd be able to share this secret.

After the removal of 8 fibroids from my uterus last November, I was told all was clear with going forward to having kids. I was so excited, but didn't want to get my hopes up. February came and we had the official "go-ahead" from my doctor. A few months went by and I started getting skeptical about the possibility of having a baby. Then one night before I went to bed, I decided to take a test. I had seen "not" so many times, I couldn't believe that it finally just said "Pregnant." Rob didn't believe me either. He had to come up to look at it and make sure it wasn't defective. So I took another test the next morning. Still "Pregnant."

I spoke with one of my doctors in the next 2 weeks. He told me that because of my surgeries, there was a possibility of it not growing in the right place AKA my uterus and he recommended going into the office for an early ultrasound. At 6 weeks, I didn't expect to see anything exciting. Little did I know I would see the heartbeat for the first time! At that appointment, the ultrasound tech told me we had a little diamond ring. The yolk sac is the circle, and the baby is the diamond. No offense, honey, but it was the prettiest diamond ring I ever saw!


At 8 weeks, Rob and I went into the clinic for our first "official" OB visit. We had another ultrasound. Our little diamond ring had grown into a "Gummy Bear". One of the doctors even said it looked like it was waving at us. I don't think it's possible for an arm bud to wave, but being the ecstatic new pregnant lady, I latched onto that little comment. I loved it!


We told our family shortly after the "diamond ring" ultrasound, but were waiting to tell our co-workers and extended family until 10-12 weeks.

I can't keep my mouth shut.

It started with me telling one of my co-workers/friends who is due the same week as me.

Then I got caught eating saltines at work and taking a morning break when I usually don't. One of my co-workers told me I looked green.

And some of my friends must have some weird 6th sense. A little ESP. They just flat out told me I must be pregnant.

Ever heard of the snow-ball effect? Yup. That's me. Once I tell a few people I can't stop!

So I ok'd it with Rob and here we are.

It's on facebook.

It's on the blog.

Nine weeks down. Only 30 more weeks to go!

July Birthdays

Today we headed out to my mom and dad's for a day of celebrating birthdays. My Mom's was the 20th and my sister, Jo's, is on the 28th.

With all the new members our family has accumulated over the last 5 years, it's become necessary to combine celebrations. Not that we don't love to celebrate, but it can get hard to do so much celebrating, especially during the summer.

We had good intentions of having lunch and going outside to play some lawn games. Well after lunch everyone was so full, the lawn games were put on hold and we all sat down to watch a movie instead. It was still a good time and we were able to hang out and chat.

Today was also wonderful because I got to see and hold all of the babies. Yup, there are 3 of them. Wyatt (7 months) and Jayde and Brooklyn (4 months)...plus 2-year-old Ava. They are growing up so fast. I like to try to see them at least every 2 weeks, and usually think I do a pretty good job...until I see them. They change so much in just 2 weeks! Seeing as how the majority of my "followers" are moms, I'm basically preaching to the choir, I know. But it still amazes me!

And wouldn't ya know...I didn't pull out my camera once. The last picture I have of all of them was shortly after Jayde and Brooklyn were born. (No they're not twins. They were born 3 days apart to 2 different sisters.) The babies have officially grown out of their cute matching outfits and Ava isn't quite as willing to take pictures lately. But it's still cute, so I'm still posting it.




You gotta love familes. I know I sure love mine!