Week 21 Update

By Marnie:

I'm starting to get desperate as to what to write about. I've been updating this blog weekly so feel a commitment to keep that up, yet don't have much of anything to update on each week. I still feel great (with the exception of the nasty heat wave that's hit LA. It was 113 today - hottest day ever on record here!!) and in general, don't really feel all that pregnant on a day to day basis. The bathrooms at my office are closed for the next week and a half so I have certainly noticed my increased need to visit said closed bathroom. Not nice to do to a pregnant woman!

The exciting news is that we settled on a rocker (a glider actually) and ordered it on Saturday. The picture here is almost identical to what we ordered. We looked through the fabrics at the store and I think what we settled on is very close to this picture. In 8-10 weeks, we'll have a swivel glider/recliner. Mike is pretty excited about the recliner part.



Fortunately, that's all the news, or lack of news here. Have a great week and maybe Mike can come up with something fun and creative to write about next week. I'm not making any promises, I just think that my boring updates aren't going to keep readers coming back for more!! =)

20 Weeks - Halfway there (technically)

By Marnie:
We're now at 20 weeks which is technically the halfway point. Because we found out we were pregnant at around 4 weeks, I don't consider this halfway yet and also, something tells me the next 20 weeks are a whole different ball game!

The most exciting news this week is that we had our 20 week ultrasound today. I had no idea going in to this appointment that they could check so many things by looking at that somewhat grainy image of our baby. First off, she's definitely a girl. We felt pretty confident at 80%, but the ultrasound technician confirmed the findings from our last appointment. Second, everything else with Baby Ov looked perfect. We could see that she has 10 fingers, 10 toes, 4 chambers of her heart, her brain looks normal (actually, more than normal - she's going to be a genius!!) and all other organs looked great. At the very end, she gave us a little thumbs up sign which was pretty darn cute. Here's a profile of her face with her giving a little wave. I guess this is her official "hello!" to readers of her blog!


There's not a lot else to share this week. We're currently looking for a rocker we like which has proven more difficult than we thought. I nearly caved in and bought one we saw this past weekend at a rocking chair store in LA but thankfully Mike was the voice of reason. When we got home later and looked the chair up online, we found it was incredibly overpriced. Whew! I must always remember to shop for big items with Mike. The search for the perfect rocker continues.

I'm still feeling great and thankful for it. I haven't had to go maternity clothes shopping yet which I'm also quite happy about. It seems the only "typical" symptom I'm having is my need to get our house and the baby's room in order. The second I found out I was pregnant, I printed a calendar and scheduled out house projects for each weekend between then and when I'm due. Mike has been one very busy guy for the past few months! He's probably ready for this baby much more than me just so he can get a break from the constant work. =)

Week 19 - What fruit or veggie this week?!

By Marnie:

The only fruit or veggie size comparison I was able to find this week referenced a large heirloom tomato. That seems smaller to me than the deli pickle I referenced last week so I'm not sure what to believe. I peeked ahead to next week and read that the baby will be about the size of a small cantaloupe. Now that's sizeable!

I'm still feeling great - in fact I think I may be one of the most boring pregnant women ever. I'll take boring over eventful, though and hope that the remaining 5 months are just as boring. I feel good and in fact mostly don't feel at all pregnant, I don't have cravings (unless you count the vanilla ice cream with oreo cookies I ask Mike to make me each night), and I'm not even showing much at all. In fact, I have a few pictures for those that have asked.

12 weeks (7 weeks ago - I wasn't showing much at all)

And at 18 weeks - this was taken the middle of last week after a dinner out with a friend. Some of that pooch is "I ate too much at dinner" belly.

The most exciting event of the last week is that I felt Baby Ov move for the first time! At first I wasn't quite sure that's what it was, but every day for the last week, I've felt her so I'm pretty darn sure it's the real deal and not just gas. =) It's so nice to get daily confirmations that she's there and presumably doing well.

In other news, we've continued our day care search. It seems so crazy to not even be visibly pregnant yet seriously searching for day care options. We both reached out to our company's employer assistance program to help us find infant care in the area. Between the two, they came up with 10 options. There are only 2-3 that would be feasible for us to actually drive to on a daily basis so hopefully we like one of them.

Our baby room purchases continued this week as well. Another local baby store was having a furniture closeout sale so we met there over lunch on Friday and found a dresser we both really liked and that will go well with the crib we already ordered. It feels good to have these things coming together. Now the only piece of furniture we have left to find for the baby's room is a rocking chair.

Lastly, I'd like to address Mike's comment regarding the Super Bowl. When he realized the due date was the Super Bowl, he made the request that I hold off going into labor until after the game. I don't know one pregnant woman who's ever hoped to go PAST her due date so sadly, his wish to not miss the big game is not the highest on my priority list!!

How many months? 5??

by Mike

I've realized a few things this week.

1) The due date is the same date as Superbowl XLV. I shared this (what I consider) pertinent information with Marnie and apparently such considerations should rank lower in my ladder of priorities. I'm just saying we might have a kickass halftime show. I also don't know what type of pre-game snacks* to serve when "pending labor" is part of the evening.

2) I've never bought myself a nice piece of furniture. That sunk in as I checked out the price tags of dressers & cribs in the baby stores over the weekend. We bought our gal a mini-fortress that gets a thumbs up from all the right experts and should arrive, as Marnie mentioned, in 12-14 weeks. Apparently they still have to plant the trees they're going to chop down to build it.

3) For some reason I checked the average cost of Harvard today. $56,000/year. The only response I considered fitting was to take a nap.

4) I have a great wife who is doing well with the pregnancy. I'm very thankful for that.

5) That great wife is watching the "Bachelor Pad" on ABC right now. I added "keeping my daughter off season 26" as a tier to my definition of fatherly success.

6) We're only 5 months out. I assume Christmas will fly by as it always tends to do and then it's just a countdown once the calendar rolls to 2011. Overall I feel okay except that I've not yet learned to change a diaper**.

*Pringles. Tasty, not too much residue on the fingers and ready to pop the lid back on & go should the time arrive.

**I know it's not the same thing, but my dog poops five times a day. Every day. That has to count for something***.

***I'm fully aware this counts for nothing.

Week 18 - A Pickle?!

By Marnie:

We've arrived at Week 18 - and it's also 5 months until the due date. One of the online blogs I read said that the baby is about as long as a deli style pickle. This also happens to be one of my favorite foods! The last food size comparison we had was an avocado and ever since then, Mike has taken to calling the baby "Baby Guacamole." It sort of stuck. We call her that a lot now.

I'm still feeling great and on most days don't feel at all pregnant. I had a few emotional days last week with bursts of tears for no apparent reason, but that's been the worst of it. I also still pretty much look like myself and most of my own clothes are still fitting. Mike and I can definitely tell that I'm getting a bit of a belly, but I don't think anyone else can. I'm feeling very fortunate that I've had very minimal pregnancy symptoms or issues and sure hope it stays this way!

We toured the day care on the NBC studio lot last week. It's the place we've pretty much counted on taking Baby Ov because we've heard great things about it. It's right where Mike works and not that bad for me to get to either. As soon as we got there, one of my "emotional" times hit. I started crying and just couldn't stop. It was a very nice place and it wasn't that I had any reservations about taking our baby there, I think it was just a lot to take in. Most impressive was the menu - if our kid ever gets in there (they have quite the wait list), she'll eat much better than we do! They have their own chef and the kids dine on things like Asian Glazed Salmon, Risotto, Tilapia, and lots of other really yummy things that make me want to spend MY days there rather than go to work where I eat my leftovers in my office day after day.

If all goes according to plan, I will be going back to work in late May/early June so we told the day care that we were hoping to get Baby Ov in starting June 1. The woman giving us the tour didn't hold back in any way and flatly stated "that's never gonna happen." The very earliest we could get in is September 1 which gives us 3 months to figure out and even then, September 1 isn't a guarantee. We sent in our paperwork and deposit that same day so hopefully that puts us fairly high up on the pre-list. Once Baby Ov actually arrives, we have to call in and get moved to the real wait list. I told Mike that his first call after she arrives is to the NBC day care. Sorry, friends and family, they may be the first to know!! =)

In other news, we ordered a crib yesterday! Now we wait 10-14 weeks for it to come in. We really didn't plan to get one yet, but after we ordered it and found out how long they take to come in, we're sure glad we did. We actually went to a local baby store to look at another crib that we thought we were 100% set on, but as we walked around the store, we found another one that we both really liked, although didn't realize that the other one liked until we were on our way home. By the time we got home, we had decided we definitely wanted that crib and since the store was having a sale that ended yesterday, we called and ordered it via phone. It was a pretty exciting day! Here is a picture:


I hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend!

80% chance of...

By Marnie:

A GIRL! Our plan to wait until dinner in Vegas with our friends to find out if we were having a boy or girl went by the wayside when our curiosity got the best of us and we opened our sealed envelope a night earlier. I've felt it was a girl all along and I think after saying it for months, Mike was pretty convinced, too. So the news wasn't as surprising as it had been if it said a boy, but we were still thrilled to have some confirmation that we're having a baby girl!

When my doctor did the ultrasound and said she could figure out the baby's gender, she also said she was 80% sure. We're having another ultrasound next month which will hopefully confirm the doctor's findings. It will also be with their nice, newer machine so we should get some good pics of Baby Girl Ov!

Our life for the past month has been a little busy and it's now slowing down so we're excited to start looking into what we need and want for the baby. Now that we know she's a girl, it will be a lot easier to pick out all the odds and ends that babies need! Since we knew that we wanted to find out if she was a boy or girl, we have been holding off on buying anything, although I couldn't resist and already bought a few little things. I've tried as much as possible to buy gender neutral items, but I'm not gonna lie - I did indulge in a few very girlie things since I was so convinced she was a girl! I'm relieved to know we won't be dressing a little boy in pink bows and dresses.

Week 16 Update - Boy or Girl?!

By Marnie:

We're now at 16 weeks - time has certainly flown by! Baby Ov is now the size of an avocado (at least that’s what the baby websites say). That still seems kind of small, yet huge when compared to the size he or she was when we first found out I was pregnant. I’m feeling really good – so good that I really don’t feel pregnant at all. I’m just starting to notice that I have a bit of a belly, but not much of one at all.

It’s been a busy last few weeks. Mike and I went to Iowa for two weekends ago and then I stayed for the week and went to Minnesota for work. Our weekend in Iowa was great until I got sick from the flu or food poisoning, I’m not sure which. I spent one very miserable day not getting out of bed and feeling pretty awful, but thankfully it lasted just a day and by Monday morning I was feeling almost 100%.

My week in Minnesota was great – I got to see a lot of friends and co-workers who didn’t know I was pregnant so it was fun to share the news with so many people. I also got to see two friends who recently had babies. I loved seeing and holding them yet hearing the stories of sleepless nights made me a bit nervous for what’s to come!

I had my 16 week doctor’s appointment today. The doctor decided to do a quick ultrasound to make sure everything was still going well after I was sick. The doctor and ultrasound tech used an older portable machine since I didn’t have an ultrasound scheduled so it wasn’t like our first ultrasound where there was a big screen to watch it on. When they first started looking, both of them were really quiet and had strange faces so I was really worried that something was wrong. I couldn’t see the screen yet so I finally asked them if everything was ok. They said that absolutely everything was great and the baby has a good heartbeat. I think they were just trying to figure out if it was a boy or girl. They finally turned the screen my way and it was amazing to see Baby Ov! He or she definitely looked much more like a baby rather than a blob now.

The most exciting news is that they were able to tell the sex of the baby (they said they’re 80% sure at this point)!! I knew there was a possibility we could find out at this appointment and because Mike wasn’t there, I asked them to put the ultrasound pictures that show the gender in a sealed envelope. We’re meeting Mike’s best friend from growing up, Jason and his wife, Tonya in Las Vegas this Wednesday. We decided that if we could find out if Baby Ov was a boy or girl, we would wait to open the envelope with Jason and Tonya while we are in Vegas. I’m DYING to find out though so I’m definitely regretting our decision to wait. AGH! I can make it two days, right?! We'll see...

Overall, things are going great. Pregnancy agrees with me so far and I have no complaints. I don’t have any weird cravings (although I DO like my ice cream every night which is probably more of an indulgence than a craving!), I’ve felt great, and up until the last few weeks, I haven’t even gained any weight. I’m hoping that this easy going pregnancy continues over the remaining weeks and months!