Baby Homburg at almost 14 weeks

Last appointment, Baby Homburg was a show off. This week, he apparently was feeling a little shy, or stubborn depending on how you look at it. The u/s tech needed a very specific view of the baby to get the measurement she was after. Guess who didn't want to cooperate.

I had to do lots of shifting and moving around and I'm pretty sure I may have bruises for how hard she had to poke to get baby's attention, but we finally got what we were after. And as a reward for our patience, we got sent hom with some pretty cool pictures!

We won't get to see Monkey again until sometime in February so these shots will have to las us a while.

Here he is deep in thought with fist to chin.


3d profile shot with fist visible.

Alien baby!!! We got to see the baby already has both hemispheres of the brain!


Another 3d image, this time a full body shot. The Monkey currently has a very bony butt!

Another cool profile.

Alien baby chilling in the womb.

S/he was doing all sorts of aerobics in there, complete with backflips and jumping jacks. The heart rate this time around was 173, which is faster than we've ever heard before. The old wive's tales say this means girl. I say the jury is still out.

Our Baby is a Show Off

A few observations from today's appointment:

• Apparently I send people into labor. I came to this conclusion while sitting in an exam room waiting for Dr K. this morning. After the nurse checked my bp and weight, she informed me that I would hopefully see Dr K. soon. Hopefully, because he had just been called upstairs to deliver a baby. Add this to the time Karl and I had to wait almost an hour in an exam room while Dr K. performed an emergency Csection, and the time we were called in for a weekend procedure only to find out we had to wait on the on call dr who was off delivering a baby, and you get my conclusion. I send people into labor. Now I just wonder what will send me into labor in 27 or so weeks.
• I apparently have monkeys on the brain. When Dr K finally did arrive, I took one look at his tie and said, "You're wearing a Curious George tie!" Um, no. His tie had skiers on it. In my defense, the tie was yellow, the skiers were brown, and they were wearing red ski jackets. Skiers...monkeys....whatever.
• And finally, the title of this entry. Monkey is a show off. At the end of the appointment Dr K had me hop up on the table to listen to Monkey's heartbeat. He warned me, of course, that it's possible we might not hear it, or that it might take a while to find it, since Monkey is still so little. But Monkey proved the doctor wrong. As soon as the doppler was on my belly you could hear his little heart beating away. We were at 160 beats a minute this week, up a bit from 154 the first time.

Next week Monkey will get a chance to show off once again, this time at our ultrasound appointment. Can't wait!

Tough Choice...

As I sit here waiting for the Gators to take the field against Alabama for the SEC title and a ticket to the BCS championship, I'm very tempted to do a little shopping for the Monkey. We all know he has no choice. He will be a Gator fan, he will watch SEC football, and when he grows up, he'll make his home in Gainesville for at least 4 years..maybe more if he decides he wants to be a doctor. :)

12 down, 28 to go

This week we reached the big 12 week milestone! I think I was kind of hoping I'd wake up on the morning of week 12 suddenly feeling awesome, with no morning sickness, no heartburn, and no "so tired I can barely keep my eyes open exhaustion"

No such luck. At least not yet, anyway. But I'm holding out hope!

It seems Monkey enjoyed thanksgiving in utero, judging by the fact that he let me keep both dinner and pie afterwards down. Monkey once again affirmed my guess that he's a boy by making me terribly sick during Black Friday. Boys are genetically predisposed to hate shopping!

But male or female, Monkey still came home with a little present to put under the tree.

Our next doctors appointment is next Wednesday, with another ultrasound the week after.

I'll post new pictures when we get them!

Surprise! And Welcome!

If you're here, that means you now know our big secret. The secret we've been struggling to keep for the last several weeks.

We're having a baby!!!!

Just ONE baby, for those who are keeping track :) After a couple of years of fertility treatments, we weren't sure at first if we were going to be handed two for the price of one, but an ultrasound on 11/6 confirmed there's just one little monkey hanging out in there.

So you probably want details, right? Let's start with due date. We're thinking mid June. Somewhere between 6/18 and 6/20. Although 6/21 is Father's day so I suppose I'd be okay hanging in there until then.

When did we find out? Well I got my first positive test on the morning of 10/9/08. Except I told Karl the test was broken and that wasn't really a second line. Thankfully he made me test again a couple of times, and by the third positive test I was sure enough to call my doctor. We confirmed with a blood test on Friday, and another blood test on Sunday to make sure my hormones were doing the right thing. It is also possible I took several more home tests because it really didn't seem real.

We had our first doctors appointment on 11/6...which just happens to be my father's birthday. Karl and I decided we wanted to wait to tell everyone, but man was it hard not to spill it all on the phone to my dad. On Dad's birthday, we heard the little monkey's heartbeat for the first time...154 beats per minute! The ultrasound tech, Jaci, (who has become my favorite over the past couple of years) pointed out that Monkey was standing on his head and had little arm buds and a tail that would later become legs. She also send us home with some pictures, which included the one we sent out with the customized M&Ms to announce to our families.

Things we know about Monkey so far: He likes chips and salsa and tyson chicken nuggets. He doesn't like that his mom sometimes forgets to eat breakfast. He gets revenge by making me very very sick. He's also not big on the smell of Walker's dog food.

By now you're probably wondering why I keep calling the baby Monkey, and he. Well, the HE part is a force of habit. Obviously we have no idea what we're having. And we don't plan to find out. Well, I don't THINK we plan to find out. Karl has other ideas :) The HE comes in part because Karl calls the baby Stan (like Flat Stanley). The monkey part is all me. When I was little my stepdad called me Monkey. Now I'm having a monkey of my own. If you ask me, Monkey is a very cool nickname...and he did start off with a tail!

So I think that catches everyone up on the big stuff. Our next appointment is next month. As it turns out, we'll be having an ultrasound while my Mom is visiting over Christmas. How cool is that? And by then the monkey will look more like a baby..and less like a monkey. As soon as we have more pictures we'll be sure to share here.

It's been so hard to keep this secret from everyone. We're so glad you'll be able to join us for the rest of this crazy ride. Check back often before baby updates!

Happy Thanksgiving!