It's a Boy!

AHH! We're having a boy! :-) Curtis and I have been smiling, laughing, and kissing all morning. We're so happy that our baby is healthy, and we're excited to have a little guy around the house. The sonogram appointment seemed to fly by. The Dr. said he's 100% sure, and it's definitely guaranteed that it's a boy. He even zoomed in on our baby's little boy parts and showed us. We won't be posting that picture on the blog. He also gave us a picture of the baby's "face" but Curtis and I have come up with several interpretations of which dark spots could be eyes, a nose and a mouth... We also got a fuzzy picture of a foot, and we got to watch our baby's heart muscle pump while we listened to his heartbeat. I thought that was awesome. We did take a video tape (We don't have a VCR anyways) but the recording machine was broken, so we don't have to worry about converting that. We'll get the sonogram pictures up here later.

For now, here's a picture of me, my belly, and the Christmas tree. I don't think I really look this big, it's some sort of optical illusion with the sun. But maybe I do. Anyways, Baby and I will just be getting bigger from here.

I'm also posting a picture of me and Tommy napping on the floor after we played in the backyard yesterday. Tommy likes to nap on the dining room floor by the sunny window. I had to wear the bandanna because the sun was in my eyes.

December

As I sometimes say, "Sheesh."
I've been avoiding my blog, on purpose.
In my office I've learned that if you have something difficult to email, keep it short.

I found out last week that one of my best friends had a miscarriage. I'm so sad about it everyday, and it's going to be a sad piece of my life for a long time.

This same week, I've felt my baby move everyday. I'm so thankful. Curtis has felt it once, and we laughed. That's a memory I'll keep.

Our midpregnancy sonogram is Monday, December 29th. We'll definitely be posting some news and pictures.

Can you feel the baby moving?

Can I feel the baby moving? Probably. Am I sure? No.

I guess I'm waiting to feel a definite punch or kick, but that's not likely for a while. It seems to me that some women tend to be more aware of their bodies than others. I'm sure there are women that can tell when they ovulate, when exactly they became pregnant, and when their two-ounce baby started moving around. That's not me. I'm lucky if I notice that I haven't been to bathroom all morning. I think, "Oh, maybe I should go to the bathroom."

According to some books and websites, I might be feeling a fluttering sensation in my tummy area. A "popcorn popping sensation" or "gentle brushing" is what I'm looking (feeling?) for. Hmmm. If I hold my breath and try to be very still so I can determine any non-Lauren movement, I just feel and hear my heartbeat. It gets louder and stronger the longer I wait, so I go back to emailing, Wheel of Fortune, sleeping, or whatever else I was doing.

I'll keep you posted.

Early Pregnancy Comments

I'm still waiting for someone to see me, know from my belly that I'm pregnant, and make a comment. It hasn't happened yet. Here's three recent pregnancy conversations I have had.

Today in my office one of my favorite study abroad students came to visit me. Jeremy is from Abilene, has known me several years, and even plays frisbee with my husband and friends. He came in my office, I stood up, walked around my desk to give him a hug, then I remained standing so he could see my belly and (hopefully) comment. We talked about Thanksgiving, his classes, his family, my family, but no pregnancy comments. We finished catching up with each other (I'm still standing), and Jeremy looked around my office and noticed the lists of nominated baby names my student workers keep on my office door.
He looked puzzled, looked at me, and said, "What's this?"
"Jeremy, I'm pregnant!"
My student worker, Tina, witnessed all of this and started yelling, "Didn't you notice her baby bump?! What, did you think she has just gained a bunch of weight?!"
Then I introduced Tina and Jeremy, Jeremy added a name to each list, and left.

I hesitate to put this one up here, because I don't remember it exactly. (hahaha, blame it on the pregnancy) Over the Thanksgiving break we met Curtis's family for dinner one night. I wore a small t-shirt so my tummy would be more visible. I knew that Curtis's family was excited about seeing the baby bump I've advertised on this blog. Eilene saw me, gave me a hug, and said something like, "Well, you're not that big." It's true, I'm not.

Before the Thanksgiving break I was working with the Admissions office helping introduce visiting high school students to ACU. While the high school students were eating lunch I went over to say hi to a group of four admissions student workers that I know (they'd studied abroad). One of the students, Dani, has been excited about my pregnancy ever since she found out a few weeks ago. When I walked up to their table Dani said, "Hey Lauren! Hey, I think you're gaining some weight!"
"Yeah, about five pounds." I looked at my tummy, she looked at my tummy. We were smiling.
"Well, at least your tummy isn't all flabby like some people."
"Oh, I think there's some flabby spots." I started poking the top part of my tummy to show her that it wasn't hard.
We realized that the other two students hadn't said anything in a while, and when we looked at them, they had awkward, embarrassed looks on their faces! Finally Dani said, "Don't y'all know that she's prego?! Oh my goodness!"
They thought that I had just put on some unwanted pounds and Dani and I were just chatting about it for fun!!

So far, my dad has been my favorite. We went to visit my parents over the break. When I got out of the car he said, "Hi Sweetheart, you look great!" and he gave me a hug. Then no more talk about my tummy for four days.
Thanks Dad.