Somersaults

dr. mccracken's office called to say they wanted to do an actual prenatal exam before i am seen in the low-risk clinic (LRC) next week. so i went, only to find out they wanted to do a pelvic exam (which i think i'll be getting at the LRC and so i declined) and prenatal blood work, which i did at the beginning of the month. so it became just another routine visit. dr. mccracken brought out the doppler again to try to hear the baby's heartbeat. well, we'd catch the beat for about 5 beats or so, then the baby would move. then we'd spend another minute looking for it, only to finally find it again and then the baby would move away again. so the doctor figured little baby konnert is doing some crazy somersaults in there. so in total, we heard maybe 10 beats.

of course my mom's response to me telling her this story was "what kind of a person can't sit still for 2 minutes? it sounds like the baby's gonna be just like you....

thanks mom.

i can't wait to be able to feel these somersaults and kicks!

next week is the LRC appointment and then the ultrasound a week later!!!!! woot woot!

all strollered out

Above: Graco Quattro Tour Milano
Below: Eddie Bauer Montecito

we spent the weekend at babies r us, sears, the bay... trying to find a stoller. apparently i'm to get on this because it may take time for the stroller to come in if we have to order it.

it would be really helpful if we had a mom (not my mom, i mean a mom who went through this in the recent past) help us out and let us know what to look for exactly. i must say, for folks who have never had to deal with strollers before, these things are darn complicated! jesse spent a great deal of time trying to take off a carseat off a chicco, but with no success. we couldn't figure out how to collapse a graco, so a 15-year-old clerk showed us how. we've heard a lot about these "quinny"s, but found the front wheels don't swivel and so it was frustrating to maneuver.

so far, we have two in mind. one is a graco quattro something milano from babies r us and the other is an eddie bauer something or other from the bay. they're both easy to collapse (once you figure out how to do it!), are decent looking (i'm not into crazy patterns for the most part), and are easy to maneuver. of course, they are travel systems so they come with a carseat. the thing we like about the eddie bauer one is that the material is nice and soft, not like windbreaker material (although that might mean it'll be harder to clean up if something were to spill). however, the eddie bauer one has no shoulder harness from what i could see and the umbrella part doesn't go too far down forward.

the price range for the two are similar, i think about $50 difference. it seems like every time we go shopping for baby stuff, we are completely overwhelmed by how clueless we are. i hope this is how all first time parents feel.... not just us...

Happy Birthday, Son!

My little baby is 1 year old today! We couldn't have asked for a better dog than Reggie.

Happy Birthday!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

thinking ahead

we were in edmonton for my aunt's 60th bday celebrations. my cousin susie has already told me she is getting us a stroller, so to scope one out relatively soon and let her know.

um. no idea. i'm so not even that far ahead. the only think i can think about is my ultrasound in a month. i do know that i would like a jogging troller - don't know yet what brands are good or what brands are even out there... gotta do some research.

also, susie said she is going to throw me a baby shower in october - after the baby is born would be to hectic with... well, i don't know.. christmas and all... and it'd be nice if it was before the snow started (eep, already thinking about snow!?).

my family is so excited for this baby and they're way ahead of us in planning, that's for sure. jesse and i need to catch up.

It's a BOY!

CONGRATULTATIONS Andy and Karla, who welcomed their baby boy, Eli Andrew Hope, on June 9, 2009. He is absolutely beautiful and we are so very happy for you guys!!!! I pray for a speedy recovery for Karla and a lifetime of good health for baby Eli~

first present for baby

the sunfire has a lot of kilometers. the volvo... well, the volvo has seen better days. mom's got the envoy, so we were in the market for a new car. the sunfire and volvo are both on the market - we were trying to trade in the sunfire, but they offered less than $500 for it! so, no. we'll try to sell it ourselves. the most important thing is to get rid of the volvo and clear the space in the garage... hopefully the volvo will be gone within the next 2 weeks or so.

mom's church friend has a son who is the finance manager at the sherwood park toyota. we were initially thinking of buying a mazda 3 sport, but neither jesse nor i have bought a car before and so we were nervous about being dooped by a car salesman. so we looked into the matrix, took it for a test drive, and rather liked it.

we went in wanting a 1.8-L engine FWD automatic with the touring package, but left with a 2.5-L engine XR model automatic. the touring package was everything we wanted, but they didn't have any on the lot and the discount the guy could get us would be less if they had to order one in. the XR is nice, but there are two things i don't like - grey interior and no fog lights. still, we got white, which is what we wanted. but we got a free tint and remote starter, plus a huge huge discount on the extended warranty/different exterior and interior protection packages.

so here you go baby, here is your first present. plenty of room for you, grandma, and reggie in the back.

high river, here i come

so i got sick and tired of waiting for a call back from my mystery prenatal doctor. i think it's absurd that i haven't heard from them when the referral went out when i was 4 weeks - 9 weeks ago! so i got the number to the high river low-risk maternity clinic and decided to go there.

after my doctor's appointment, i went to get some bloodwork done and the lady who took my blood told me that she would go to high river in a heartbeat. apparently there you're not just a "number" and they take "good" care of you. well, i certainly hope so. of course, if any complications arise (which i hope they don't), they'll be quick to send me to the bigger hospitals in calgary.

so because i had only seen my doctor today, i don't get to be seen at the low-risk clinic until July 7 - after we come back from our holiday. and later that week, the ultrasound! woo hoo!

things are slowly coming together.

music to my ears

i went to Dr. McCracken this morning for my 4-weekly checkup. i figured it would be like the usual appointments - how i'm feeling, am i taking a multivitamin, check the blood pressure, etc.

but then he surprised me by bringing in the Doppler to listen to the heart beat. when we went for our 7-week ultrasound, we got to see the heart beating, but didn't get to hear it.

Dr. McCracken showed me where the top of my uterus is, then the Doppler picked up the beat. woosh-woosh-woosh-woosh. he figured it was about 150 bpm, which is normal. then he moved the Doppler to see if he could get a better listen, but then lost the beat and couldn't find it again... so it was brief, but wonderful.

i only wish jesse could have been there to hear it too...

oh... the bloat

i compared myself to some of my friends' pregnancy pictures. some days i barely have anything; some days i look as they did at 5-6 months. it's so uncomfortable. is this going to pass anytime soon?

this was my conversation with jesse at superstore the other day. it was the first time i was out in public this year without a hoodie/sweater on. just a shirt.

G: do i look totally fat?

J: hmmm. yep.

G: really? like i don't even look pregnant? i just look fat?

J: aren't they the same thing?

a very busy month ahead

this week, i'm working in-office. it's nice to be surrounded by people again and not just a dog always bugging me to throw his ball down the hallway. the drive sucks, but sometimes i think it's definitely worth it to come in.

this weekend is a busy one - we're going to Edmonton for my cousin Anderson's 1st birthday party. we're also hoping to buy a car while we're there. my mom's church friend's son is a manager at a toyota dealership. we're hoping she can guilt-trip him to giving us a good deal hassle-free. we'll see how that goes though.

next weekend is another busy one - we're going to Edmonton AGAIN for my aunt's 60th birthday.

june 15 is reggie's 1st birthday - i was hoping to throw a little party for our favorite child to date.

june 27 marks the start of our 1-week vacation. we're hoping for some relaxing times...

First visit to Thyme Maternity

my pants don't fit. for the first time in my life i can say that with some excitement behind it... haha

they are getting way too tight. i have to wear my jeans unbuttoned and unzipped part way to be comfortable.

this week, i have to go into the office to work for 4 days. at home, all i wear are sweat pants or jesse's pajama pants, so no problem, but i don't have anything i can wear to work that will fit. so yesterday, jesse and i went to a maternity store for the very first time. it was very awkward at first. almost immediately the store clerks were scanning my belly. i tried on some jean capris and some shorts - which, by the way, were so stinking comfortable, i want to wear them when i'm not pregnant! pants were the greatest need, so i didn't look too much at tops, and i ended up just buying the jean capris.

it's starting to feel more real - like there is really something growing in there....