My "Boys"

Lest you think this blog has turned exclusively baby and my other "children" have been forgotten, here's a cute picture of our boys taken just this morning.

(Tater on the left, Winston on the right)

The Day After...

Well, Dad asked in the comments how this is all feeling now that we are 24 hours out from our ultrasound. I would say that it is just beginning to sink in that I am going to have a son (the word still seems a little odd having been raised with only a sister). I am now catching myself before I add the "or she" to "he or she" since now we know...

Reid and I worked on baby names, narrowing our list tonight. We'll let you know when we make a decision! :)

And I am amazed at how quickly I have gone from thinking that maybe I am feeling the baby move to being certain of the movement. I am now feeling two distinct types of baby. The first is what I would call the "baby constant." This is when, I'm assuming, he is stretching those long legs out like he was in the photo below and I have a sensation along one side or the other that last anywhere from a second to five or six. The second is the "baby sporatic." These are all of the other tiny little movements that are there and then gone almost before I notice them...

And I am definitely feeling a little bit bigger each day! I'll have Reid take a picture tomorrow and I'll do an updated belly post (anybody know how to permanently embed a post along the side so that I could update it periodically and there would always be a link there? Let me know if you know, would ya?).

In other news, I have a lot of grading to do this weekend. I put it off this week but don't think I can any longer. Blick! Grading is by far the worst part of teaching... Also, I travel back to Indy in just two weeks time! Hooray!

Sandy and Oz (Reid's surrogate aunt and uncle) have been so generous with baby gifts already (your thank you card and more is coming!) and today we received a humongous box with our crib, changing table and dresser in it! The box is so big that we can't actually carry it in from the garage... so, we'll be assembling some furniture in the next few days to get the box out of the garage (aka Reid's workshop)... and because I'm impatient now that I have it! It seems a little early to be doing so, but then it will be done, right? :-) Thank you Sandy and Oz!!

Alright, this post has rambled on for long enough. If you followed it, congratulations! It's time for bed...

Hello World! says the newest Neilsen

We had our 20 week ultrasound this morning! And though the tech could not officially tell us that everything is fine (the doctor has to look at the measurements and interpret the pictures for that) she seemed to think that off the record everything is exactly as it should be. What a relief! And yes, we did find out the gender... so, I'll turn it over to the baby for introductions...


The littlest Mr. Neilsen wanted to say hello... but he was too busy sucking on his thumb! I might be a little biased but I think his profile is down right adorable.

The ornery little guy had his legs straight out (rather than folded in) almost the entire time... news flash to him, he's going to keep getting bigger and the room is going to feel like it's getting much smaller! At some point, those knees are going to have to bend! (the feet are to the right, knees in the middle)

And this picture is proof positive... there is a little boy in there! Won't he love that I posted this picture when he's twelve? :)

Oh look! He is waving hello after all! We're halfway there (20 out of the 40 weeks)... so it won't be too long until we get to see those little fingers in person!

Movement...

Well, I am now 19 weeks pregnant and according to BabyCenter he or she is roughly the size of an heirloom tomato (or 6" head to rump) and weighs about 8 1/2 oz (slowly approaching the poud mark... slowly).

I am definitely feeling rounder than I was last week though I'm not sure a picture would back that up. It's a little bit harder to bend forward at the waist and my abdomen feels firmer. The big development of the week though is that I "think" I am starting to feel movement. There is definitely something happening in very brief spurts that is not the unpleasant or sharp stabbing of ligament pain (which I have had for the last couple of weeks at odd intervals) and I suppose it could possibly feel like the fluttering that the nurse and the books have described. Most of the time by the time I register that it is happening and turn my attention to it, it is gone. I'm assuming that over the next few weeks if these sensations are indeed the baby they will become more and more pronounced and thus easier for me to identify as him/her and not me! Apparently movement has been on my mind because in the middle of the night I woke up from a dream where I was certain I felt the baby move and it really did take me a moment to distinguish dream from reality.

And one week from yesterday I'll (hopefully) be able to quit referring to the baby as him/her (it is getting old much too quickly) and will be able to use the one appropriate pronoun.

Weekend Update

Today Reid and I went to a joint birthday party for a one year old and a three year old of some of my colleagues. We took the dogs along and they had a good time getting lots of pets from the children and eating all of the dropped fruit from the fruit basket!

Tomorrow I will be attending the first Adams State theatre auditions of the season. I'm the senior thesis advisor for the student shows that are auditioning tomorrow. I am excited for them and excited to see our freshman audition! I know I haven't really mentioned school here lately (my how times change hunh?) but we are three weeks into our fall schedule and school is going well. I love our students and love my job. This semester has definitely been a little easier than the last two years in that I'm teaching all classes that I've taught before (except one special topics improv class). That means a lot less stressful final moments when I'm trying to figure out what should and shouldn't be included in a lesson plan. Of course I tweak and revise classes every semester, but that is not nearly the work of creating a new course from scratch... which is good because I do have to admit that I'm a little distracted lately! Baby is definitely taking a fair share of my attention (and he or she is not here yet!). I am also gearing up for Alice in Wonderland which I am directing and costume designing at the end of the semester. I know that it will be a crazy rat race to the end... so I'm enjoying the down time now... and building puppets that will be in the show! I built the head of the first one on Friday. As we get them completed I will definitely take pictures to share.

And this weekend I am also working on my retention folder (blick) which has to be turned in Tuesday. It is never a fun job to reflect on the past year, what went well and what didn't. I feel with the retention folders you have to walk the tight rope of "I'm such a great teacher you really can't afford not to have me" and "I'm humble and still have a lot to learn." To say that I will be glad when it is turned in and done is an understatement! And I'm going to try really hard in January to write mine for next year then... so I won't have to write it next fall!

18 weeks...

And all is well (says the town crier).

I had my 18 week check up this morning. My blood pressure is still behaving itself (hooray! The biggest worry of the pregnancy so far). So, at this point I will continue to be the "salt nazi" and the dogs will continue to enjoy their at least one, usually two, walk(s) each day.

Otherwise, my weight gain is fine. I've been okayed for the plane ride back to Indy the second weekend of October. And the baby's heartbeat is thumping away! Two weeks (from today!) we find out the gender of the baby (hopefully... if the baby is cooperating).

PS...

I just added a poll over on the right side... boy or girl?? Our anatomy ultrasound is schedule for September 24. We will hopefully find out then! So... the poll is opening until the morning of 9/24.

Baby update

I haven't been very good about writing down my pregnancy experiences. I guess the reality of it being every day has set in and a little bit (just a little bit) of the novelty has worn off. I think I was also a little worried about writing too much or getting too excited early on... but as we are nearing the halfway point (only a month to go) the reality and excitement of what is happening is starting to set in.


I am now in my 16th week of pregnancy. The baby is approximately the size of an avocado (4 1/2 inches head to rump and weighs about 3 1/2 oz). However, by the time I get to 20 weeks... he or she will double in size! Which most likely means that the stage I'm in right now with my clothes (where I need to wear maternity pants 'cause all of my pants aren't comfortable but the maternity shirts seem premature) will be over soon and hopefully my "little bump" will be apparent to all.


All of my students know... because quite frankly the only thing more gossipy than theatre students is theatre faculty! Just kidding... they have all been really great. What a fabulous place for me to work.


My early pregnancy symptoms have all dissappeared. No more nauseau. I'm still more tired than pre-pregnancy but definitely not as tired as I was for most of the summer (thank goodness!). I am hungry all of the time! But after a recent scare with my blood pressure being too high (which luckily the most recent time tested back in the levels it should be) I have been eating very healthily, and watching my sodium intake like a hawk. The dogs also like mommy's BP being high because it means at least one if not two walks a day for them!


I have gained somewhere between 7 and 10 lbs (since I'm not exactly sure what I weighed pre-pregnancy) which is right in line with what I should have gained by now (according to the "authorities" on such matters). Hopefully, I'll be able to stay comfortably within that range.


I borrowed a home doppler from my sister while I was in LA and I have to admit it has been wonderful! Reid might classify me as a doppler abuser... I listen to the "whish-whish" of his/her heartbeat every other to every third day or so. It is so reassuring and quite frankly I'm in love with the noise. I'm sure that in another few weeks when I start to feel the baby moving I'll need less and less auditory assurance. But for now it has been really nice.


And finally... in case anyone is wondering whether or not the "baby pouch" has grown... let these pictures put you at ease. Oh yes, it has.

This was the day that we found out... 6/06/09. We thought I was five weeks along, but was probably more like three... so the little bit of belly there is just that, good old fashioned Jenna belly fat!

This was after I had gotten back from Indy by a few weeks... around the end of June and week six or seven. I thought there was such a difference! Then we forgot/didn't get around to taking pictures for a long time...

But this was last night... 8/31/09 at 16 1/2 weeks. Yep, there is a baby bump there...
Exciting, hunh?