Tuesday, June 30, 2009

What To Expect: Week 9

June 30, 2009

This week, the baby is no longer an embryo and is now a fetus. Apparently this means that it is not as susceptible to damages from environmental exposures. Anything that makes me have less to worry about sounds good to me! The baby is about an inch long now, roughly the size of a green olive. At this point, it's possible to hear the heartbeat, so we'll have that to look forward to at my next appointment on the 20th!
It's becoming more and more difficult to keep the baby news a secret. I went to a dinner function for work on Sunday, and had to lamely bow out of drinking with the excuse that I had had a terrible migraine during the day and didn't want it to come back. I think they bought it.... Only three more weeks until the end of my first trimester, and one more month until the end of my self-imposed secret-keeping deadline (I wanted to wait until the semester is over - less stress that way!)


This week I actually felt a little bit less tired - Yay! I haven't been completely exhausted as soon as I wake up, and I can actually do about 30 minutes of housework at a time before I start feeling tired. Perfect timing since I only have 3 weeks until my big Studio IV project is due and I will need all the energy I can muster to get it finished!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Boy or Girl?

Of course it's waaaay too early to tell if we're having a boy or girl, but it's already a topic of great speculation. From the beginning, I've felt like we're going to have a boy and Aaron is convinced 100% we're having a girl. I think mine is more wishful thinking - I'm one of four girls, my mom is one of five girls, and Aaron is the last of the Kautz line, so it would be nice to get some male blood flowing around here. Plus, my friend, Heather, has the most perfect baby boy ever and I'm hoping I get a kid just like him. I don't know why Aaron is convinced we're having a girl, but I know that would make my mom happy - for YEARS she has sighed every time we pass the baby section in stores and said, "I just don't know what I'll do if you have boys. What will they wear?"

We are definitely going to find out the sex of the baby the minute that we can, but that moment is about ten weeks away. In the meantime, click here for some fun gender predictors until we find out for sure. One involves Drano, which I'm dying to test out. Another involves the age of the mother at conception and the year - both odd or even equals a girl, a mix of odd and even equals a boy. I've done a rundown on the last few people I know that have had babies (that I also know their age) and so far it's looking like this one rings pretty true. If so, it's looking like a boy for us! I win!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

It's a peanut!

June 22, 2009

This morning was my first official OBGYN appointment. Due to a last minute appointment change, Aaron wasn't able to come with me, which we were both pretty bummed about. Fortunately, it was too early to hear the heartbeat, so he didn't really miss anything besides a lot of questions. And every girl's favorite, the pap smear. I joked with the doctor that if a simple pap freaks me out, then I am in for a serious shock when labor time rolls around! Gonna have to work on that pain tolerance thing.

Everything looks good, I haven't gained any weight yet (excellent!), and I'll go back in 4 weeks for my next appointment.

For those of you not familiar with the ultrasound picture experience, what you're looking for is the light colored little blob inside the big dark colored blob. If the last "d" in "dad" is 12:oo, then the baby is at about 5:00 inside that dark bubble thing. Beautiful, isn't it? Our friends Kelly and Conner called their baby "the peanut" when they were first expecting, but I think we have more of a tadpole. Poor kid - things will get better for you!

Monday, June 22, 2009

What to Expect: Week 8


June 22, 2009

So this week, the wee one is the size of a raspberry. The baby is looking less like an alien and more like a human. Key on the list - webbed toes and fingers are starting to separate, unless it's carrying the Wimberley gene, then toes two and three won't split all the way. Or maybe they will - this could be the generation that outgrows my dad's webbed toes! (For those of you not familiar with this particular Wimberley family trait, it's really not as scary-looking as you think. Calm down!)
And apparently my amniotic fluid is increasing 2 tablespoons per week from now on - Yay for retaining fluids!

As for the state of the mommy, one word: TIRED. I took a nap at 10:30 ... yesterday MORNING! Now, I've always loved to sleep, and I require a good nine hours a night to function. But a mid morning nap? Even I find that immensely pathetic. My brain function has also slowed to a crawl, which would be fine if I didn't have, I don't know, a Studio project to finish and a thesis to write. Oh, well! I'm still extremely happy that I haven't experienced the vomiting, although I've had some slight nausea, and I'm weird about what I'll eat. Prime example: It's Aaron's turn to cook tonight, so I suggested turkey burgers to him earlier this afternoon. By the time I had gotten home, though, turkey burgers were definitely not on the menu.

Friday, June 19, 2009

My first "Mommy" presents!

My super-sweet school buddies (Elena, Jessie, and Lani) brought me the cutest mommy-to-be gift basket yesterday. First of all, I'd like to say that you girls are terrible liars and I hope you never try to throw someone a surprise party! They tried to lure me to our shared office under the guise that they didn't have their keys, one of them had left her laptop charger in there, and another was worried her dog had had an accident on some of my things. There had been some winking and secrecy earlier in the day, so by the time they got to the dog peeing story, I was onto them. But in all fairness, I wasn't sure what they were up to exactly, so it was still surprising to see a big ol' basket of goodies waiting for me!

Included in the mix were two different vitamins that I was super excited about. I know it seems weird to be excited about vitamins, but my nutritionist friend had just told me that I needed to be on probiotics (for digestion and immune health) and fish oils (crucial for brain development), and I was literally going to buy them that night. How these girls knew to get me those two things, I have no idea - they're obviously psychic geniuses!

There was also a snuggly fleece blanket, 9 (NINE!) different nail polishes, and a delicious-smelling honey candle, but my favorite had to be the Burt's Bees products!




Mama Bee Belly Butter. This actually makes me excited about the prospect of having a big, fat belly to rub it on!








Mama Bee Leg and Foot Creme. A relaxing foot creme with peppermint and rosemary. Yums! I showed that one to Aaron first because he'll be using it a lot later - on my glorious foot rubs, of course.
Girls, I can't thank you enough for buying me such a sweet gift. I hope I don't make you regret it over the next 7 1/2 months. I love you!!!

Monday, June 15, 2009

What to Expect: Week 7


June 15, 2009

We're entering Week 7, and this week is all about brains. Apparently 100 new brain cells are created every minute - talk about brain power! Plus, the baby's third and final set of kidneys is in place. That part of the week 7 blurb kind of freaked me out - What happened to the other two pairs? Very strange things going on....

I am really, really lucky that so far I've had it pretty easy with the pregnancy symptoms. I've had some overly-emotional episodes (that Aaron has dealt with swimmingly, by the way), some sleepiness, and a lot of difficulty focusing, especially on things like school work and cleaning the house. But in all fairness, I experience these pretty commonly without a baby-on-board, so who's to say the little blueberry is to blame? I'm hoping the lack of focus thing can be remedied - I've been ignorning my thesis work for weeks now, and am about to be in serious trouble if I don't buckle down. But it's so hard, and I feel like I have such a good excuse! Still, it's shameful.

The pregnancy sympton I'm most happy not to have is NOT morning sickness, although that's a very close second. According to WTE, by this point in the pregnancy some mothers' breasts have gone up a full cup size. Considering I was giving Dolly Parton a run for her money (or at least Pam Anderson) before pregnancy, I am soooooooooo thankful I haven't had any growth thanks to baby. And I will make a solemn promise right now: If I don't grow more than a cup size throughout this whole ordeal (breastfeeding included) I will NEVER give my child a guilt trip about the duration of my labor or the 9 month lack of alcohol. Pinkey Swear!!!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Sweet Pea

Found the cutest week-by-week size chart on thebump.com. (If you aren't pregnancy obsessed like me, you can check out their sister sites theknot.com and thenest.com. I've been addicted to theknot.com for years now!) This chart shows the size of your baby with a visual comparison. Right now, our little guy/gal is the size of a sweet pea. Next week, it's a little blueberry! I scrolled down the page, and quickly returned to the top when I saw a watermelon at the bottom of the list. YIKES!!! Not ready for that yet. I'll start adding these visuals to my weekly updates.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Secret? We don't keep no stinkin' secret!

Here's a little word of advice to all you newly pregnant people out there: TRUST NO ONE. If you want to keep your pregnancy a secret from the public at large, then you should keep the news to yourself. "But we want to tell our family." You're a fool! You may as well email everyone on your contacts list, because if you don't one of your relatives will. Even if you tell them explicitly: "Please don't tell anyone. We're only telling family," they will hear, "She said I'm going to be a grandparent, and to feel free shout it from the rooftops!" All the pregnancy books talk about the emotional roller coaster a newly pregnant woman experiences, so-called "pregnancy insanity." In my experience (though it is only of a few short weeks) pregnant women may have the insanity, but it is contagious, and it will affect the ones closest to you, especially the ones you least expect. I think this syndrome is specifically strong in those expecting their first grandchild. They get the crazies the worst. Believe me - if you want to keep baby news a secret, keep it to yourself.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Things I will buy my baby

There are so many cute baby things out there, and we can't wait to start buying them up for our wee one. One of the first purchases we'll have to make are actually something that Aaron found online months ago. BabyLegs are precious little leg warmers that kids of all ages can wear. They were created by a stay at home mom who was trying to keep her daughter's legs warm while combatting diaper rash. Among their benefits are leg protection (especially for crawling babies), easier diaper changes, and protection from the sun. Their product line is really diverse, with designs for more traditional babies as well as trendy designs for the funkier trendster babies. There are also organic offerings in their product line. On top of all this, the company is involved in philanthropic efforts throughout the world, including donations to an orphanage in Uganda.

Like fat little baby legs aren't cute enough, these leg warmers add style while accentuating the ever adorable baby leg fat. I figure this is the one time in your life where leg fat is cute, so you may as well flaunt it! When your child gets older, the BabyLegs can be used as cute knee-high leg warmers to wear during sports or ballet or as funky additions to your child's favorite short sleeve shirt. Check out the website for all the options.


Here's some of our favorite BabyLegs products. Try not to say, "Aaaaaaaaawwwwww!"


Monday, June 8, 2009

What To Expect: Week 6


Day 10: June 8, 2009


More imformation from the folks at WTE: A lot of things are beginning to take shape for the littlest Kautz this week. The beginnings of jaws, cheeks, chin, ears, eyes, kidneys, liver and lungs are all seen this week. The crown (head) to rump measurement is around a quarter of an inch - still tiny! Even though it's small, the baby has a heart that is beating around 80 times per minute. According to this picture, the baby looks like a tiny little alien. Don't worry, kid - you'll get a lot cuter!




Sunday, June 7, 2009

shhhh..... Secret

TOP SECRET
Just a little reminder: please don't share our exciting news with people who we haven't personally told we're expecting. We're trying to only share with closest friends and family until after our first doctor's visit at least. Don't want to tempt fate. Consider yourselves VIP that you're viewing the blog so early! We'll let you know when the sharing ban has been lifted.

Thank you!!!!

Breaking the News: Part 3 and 4

This weekend was scheduled to be full of mom visiting and news breaking. My mom lives over near Pensacola, and as luck would have it, Aaron's mom was coming down from North Carolina to visit her parents, who live fairly close to my mom. It was a pretty rare opportunity to see both moms and Aaron's other grandparents all in one weekend, and with such awesome news.

We told my mom within thirty minutes of arriving at her house Friday night, and she wasn't exactly shocked that we were expecting because she knew we'd been trying. (She's been really sick, so we wanted to tell her in advance in case of the worst.) As is typical of my go-go-go, Type A mom, she was worried about two things: #1: Being healthy enough to hold the baby. #2: What cute name the baby will call her. She feels like she is too young to be called "grandma," and I kind of agree. Who knows what she'll come up with? But we already have a special name for my mom's boyfriend - our favorite boatsman, the Captain of Yieldspread and Elvira will be called "Cappy." Pretty cute, huh?

My mom has a big family that she talks to ALL the time, but we made her swear to secrecy until we can tell my grandparents in person. But of course she couldn't stay totally mum - she called her best friend of over 30 years, "Aunt" Carla, to tell her the news. We'll have to see my grandparents soon before she cracks completely. I think we have a two week window before she blabs.

Unfortunately, our plans for telling Aaron's mom didn't come through. She got stuck in North Carolina for longer than expected, so we're not seeing her this trip. We did go visit Aaron's grandparents and share the news with them. It's great-grandbaby #7 for them, so this is kind of old news, but they were excited that Aaron's mom is finally going to be a grandma. We'll have to come up with another plan for breaking the news to Aaron's mom since it won't be in person.

It's getting harder and harder to keep the secret now that we're telling more and more people. I'm worried I'm going to slip up and say something in front of someone I shouldn't. It's just really hard to keep something so exciting a secret!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Breaking the News: Part 2

Day 6: June 4, 2009

So, Aaron and I don't exactly have a conventional family. Between us, there are 2 moms and 2 dads, all divorced, 2 stepmoms, a step-boyfriend and a step-girlfriend. Last night, it was time to break the news to my my dad and stepmom, who is currently pregnant with my third little sister, Sarah Lynn, due mid July. And also to my little sister, Samantha, who is 3 1/2. See, I told you we're not a conventional family

My stepmom, Marisol, has been dying for Melissa, my 25 year old sister, and I to have kids, so I knew she would be excited, but my dad is a different story. I'm definitely a Daddy's girl, and my dad and Aaron are still kind of feeling each other out. Not that they don't like each other, it's just taken awhile for my dad to see that even though Aaron is very different from him, they have a lot in common. It's taken many hours of dirty jokes and talking about fishing and football, but they're definitely making progress.

I had to start planting the idea of meeting for dinner early in the week, because it's pretty hard to get my dad to make plans. Not that he isn't a planning kind of person by nature. He used to be very punctual and organized, but then he married a Mexican and it all went downhill! We always joke that he's on Mexican time. Trust me, this is an actual phenomenon - we once when to a wedding for a Mexican couple, and the bride and groom were so late that we all had to leave and go home for a few hours so they could hold the funeral that was scheduled for after the wedding, then come back and have the wedding about 5 hours late. So my dad has been on Mexican time since he met his little mamacita. Add a 3 1/2 year old daughter to the mix, and they are never on time for anything and they never plan things more than a day in advance.

So, as I said, I had to plant the idea of dinner in his head fairly early this week without making him suspicious. I even got Melissa to call him and mention that she'd like for all of us to get together. Today around lunchtime, I called to check in again about the dinner idea, and fortunately I was able to convince him and my stepmom with minimal pleading that they should come have dinner with all of us that evening.

For some reason, Aaron and I were both really nervous about telling my dad. Aaron was worried (half in jest, but half with real fear) that my dad was going to punch him. I think I was nervous because I really wanted him to be happy, and wasn't sure if that would be the case.

So after we had chatted awhile, and we had finally placed our orders, I said to my dad, "You know what's really funny? Your youngest child and your oldest grandchild are only going to be seven months apart." It took him a second, and then he grinned and said, "Really?!" Marisol knew what I was saying (even though she doesn't speak English, she understands it fairly well) and immediately started telling my dad something in a really excited, frantic pace. Apparently, she said she "just knew" that one of us was pregnant. They had both been thinking it for a month and they were actually really surprised when they saw me drinking at Melissa's wedding three weeks before (it was before my fertile week, so I was free and clear. My last glass - or five - of champagne for awhile.)

Samantha was even excited, and she understands the baby thing since she's currently experiencing it herself. I think she even sort of understood that she's going to be a "tia," and she kept telling me she was a big girl, not a baby. It was really cute, but in the end she was more interested in playing with the toy monkey I had brought her.

We joked awhile that Marisol is going to be the youngest grandmother ever (she'll only be 26 when our baby is born, which is actually three years younger than me) and that people will definitely be confused when they see all of us in public. My dad put in a request for a boy immediately. Poor guy has enough women in his life.

When we all left to go home, Aaron went to shake my dad's hand, the standard parting gesture, and my dad went in for the hug. No punch in the face! The night was a success.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

What to expect: Week 5

According to my doctor's visit yesterday, I am beginning my 5th week of pregnancy. Even though we only conceived two weeks ago, the beginning of your pregnancy is calculated from your last menstrual period (LMP.) It's all very confusing. But the plus side is, I'm sure it's the easiest five weeks of having a baby!

I've been devouring the so-called pregnancy bible, What to Expect When You're Expecting, since Aaron and I decided to do this baby thing. (Like I said, I'm a big planner.) The book gives over 600 pages of great, detailed (sometimes a little scary) information that covers everything from conception to labor to bringing home baby.

Here's what the book has to say: Last week (which was technically week four), our baby was no longer a blastocyst and moved up to full-fledged embryo status. It was the size of a poppy seed, and had three layers that will develop into specialized parts of its body.

This week, our baby looks like a tadpole and is the size of on orange seed. The heart is starting to form, and it will start beating. A little orange seed baby. It's totally amazing!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Doctor's Visit #1

Day 3. June 1, 2009.

Called my doctor's office first thing this morning, and they were actually able to get me in for an appointment today - shocking! I'm not sure if my general physician will do all of the tests required for the first prenatal visit, or if I'll have to get set up with an OBGYN for that. But I've been keeping track of my cycles with an iPhone app (Yay, technology!), so I'm pretty confident in saying they'll tell me:

  • my due date is February 5
  • we conceived on May 15
  • I'm 4 weeks and 3 days pregnant.
Let's see if I'm right........



I was dead on! The doctor was impressed with my due date calculation, so I showed her my iPhone app and we talked about it for awhile. I'm in the process of getting a referral to an OBGYN, and my first official prenatal visit will be in about a month. I can't wait!

Breaking the News: Part 1

Day One and Day Two 5.30 - 5.31.2009

I guess most people would wait at least until after a doctor's appointment to start spreading the pregnancy news, but that was not the case with us. We were headed down to Ormond Beach for Aaron's cousin's wedding the morning of "the test." A four hour road trip with the in-laws would have been the perfect time to break the news and talk baby, but by a twist of fate, for the first trip in 6 years, Fran wasn't riding with us! She was already in Titusville with her sister, Marta. What are the chances?

There was no way we could tell Randy without Fran there, so we knew we'd have to wait until after the car ride. We also decided to go ahead and tell Aaron's grandparents that weekend, because we rarely see them and the opportunity to tell them in person wouldn't happen again until Thanksgiving (clearly too late to share!) So we decided to tell the parents and the grandparents this weekend, but not say anything until Sunday morning, so we wouldn't take away from the wedding festivities.

But, alas, impatience reared its ugly head again, and during cocktail hour (during which I had quickly gotten tired of staring at everyone else sipping their favorite alcoholic beverage. It's gonna be a loooong nine months!) Aaron and I decided we couldn't wait any longer -we had to tell Fran and Randy! We somehow managed to get them away from the grandparents and break the news. The look on Fran's face was priceless! And I thought Randy's face was going to split in two from the grin. I wish I could have taken a picture, but we couldn't revel for too long, because we were called for family photos and had to keep it quiet.

The next morning, we followed the plan and told the grandparents the big news. They were excited (of course) and immediately offered to come up and help when the baby is born, which was sweet. Totally unnecessary considering the amount of people that will be completely freaking out over this kid, but sweet nonetheless.

Next up, we're telling my dad, my mom and Aaron's mom all within the next week. Should be a fun few days! Besides the immediate family, we're keeping things secret for a little bit longer. Or at least that's the plan...