Soccer future?

Thursday, December 31, 2009

The kicks have begun. Jen felt the first the other night and two more late last night. And if the sonogram was any indication, Jen will need to be prepared for much -- MUCH -- more!

Drum roll, please

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

It's a girl!

We're still relatively early in the pregnancy, but we were blessed to find out at 16 weeks and 3 days that we are having a girl!

Monday's sonogram was special for a few more reasons, too.

* Jennifer's mom was able to come into the sonogram room to get a behind-the-belly look at the baby.

* Baby was SO active. She kept bringing her hands to her face, sucking her thumb, and even appeared to be blowing kisses. She was busy kicking mommy's insides, too. At one point, she pushed her foot against mommy in order to balance her arm and keep her hand to her face. (So smart and talented already!)

We'll be sure to get some sonogram photos scanned in real soon!

Sonograms, etc.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

We're so lucky to have such great prenatal care. Already baby has had four sonograms -- 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 9 weeks and 10.

Baby is growing exponentially, from 2 mm at the first sono to 40.3 at the last one on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Seeing that beautiful little heart pumping away with such vigor is a sight unmatched by any other.

And while exciting, the experience thus far has been nothing short of terrifying. Our fears, we're afraid, won't subside until we can hold baby in our arms, him or her staring back at us. With each passing day we get closer to that reality. We'll just have to be patient in the meantime.

Jennifer has been such a trooper with Brent giving her Lovenox shots each and every night in her side. It's going to be a long road in that regard, too.

We've slowly started telling folks the news and will tell the entire world with our Facebook status updates in a few days. The early response has been so overwhelming. Baby is so loved by so many people already, smothered in prayers and good thoughts.

TV star

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Tonight I moderated a candidates' forum on local TV. It was baby's first time on TV and nobody even knew! Baby's a natural. I'm not.

Today we're 6 weeks, 3 days pregnant.

I've been feeling pretty good. I've had quite a bit of "morning" sickness lasting all day and night. Mostly night. No food aversions yet, although my sense of smell is more intense. No specific food cravings either, except, over the weekend we took a trip to the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot, where I did have a craving for a steak. But not just any steak. I wanted a steak from Morton's. Baby has expensive taste already. Luckily, the craving passed and I splurged on maternity clothes instead.

Speaking of splurging, Brent surprised me with a baby present and it arrived this week. He bought me the StorkSak diaper bag that I had been eyeing. It's beautiful. And I'll always remember this happy time whenever I see it. Even when its dirty beyond recognition (the bag is white leather).

Our first sonogram is Friday. We're so excited. And, so far all three of our HCG numbers have been excellent.

5 weeks, 1 days: 3XX
5 weeks, 3 days: 7XX
6 weeks, 1 day: 7,088

Finding out

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

After hoping and praying and wishing, we're pregnant!

We found out Oct. 3. I got up at around 6:30 a.m. to take the test. It was positive and we were ecstatic. We spent the day in a happy haze and couldn't wait to share the news with somebody. So, we called our closest friends Angie Boob and Michael, Jackie and Xander Whitley. Jackie screamed in excitement. A reaction that thrilled us, but not Michael, who had a migraine, or Xander, who was a bit frightened.

On Oct. 5, we went in to take the official blood test and took another home test. That home test was positive, too, but we had to wait a day to find out the results of the blood test. On Tuesday, we found out that was positive too. Yippee!

But we didn't wait for the blood test to tell our families the news.

We called my parents. My dad was in Seattle and my mom was home in Kansas. So we conferenced them together to tell them the news. My mom was so happy. She said that's all she's been praying for since last November.

Next, we called Brent's parents and conferenced them together, his mom on Long Island and dad two hours north in Florida. To say they were thrilled would be an understatement. Our last call was to Brent's brother and our sister-in-law Heather.

It felt so good to spread our excitement and joy. We wish we could tell everyone, but we're going to hold off until the first ultrasound on Oct. 16. Before then, though, Jen still has two more blood tests to take.

Can't we just fast-forward to the delivery?

God has a plan

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future..” – Jeremiah 29:11

Lilly Rose

Friday, January 23, 2009

Find her blog at lillyroseconklin.blogspot.com