Wow!!!!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT! I think we're gonna have a baby sometime in December!! :)

Today I'm 13w4d and we had another ultrasound! The baby is absolutely perfect! S/he was bouncing around in my uterus, so it was hard for the doctor to get a good picture, but she managed. L was waving arms and legs around like crazy! It was so cool to watch! The doctor didn't give us the heartrate and I was so excited that I forgot to ask, but she said it was "very strong" so that's good enough for me!

Rather than posting the ultrasound pictures directly on here, I decided to just upload them to a website so you can opt to take a peek. Click here if you want to see my cute little baby. If not, just keep reading.

We think this is a girl (and have all along) because we don't see any boy parts in the picture, but the next appointment is July 19th and we'll have another ultrasound that day if my insurance will cover a gender determination ultrasound in the doctor's office. If not, we'll have to schedule an appointment at the hospital, but it shouldn't be too difficult to get in. So, either way (assuming baby cooperates) we SHOULD know the gender within the next 4-5 weeks.

I got my doppler today too! I took it over to my mom's house so we could listen to the heartbeat and then I listened to it again when I got home. I didn't get one of the fancy digital heartrate display dopplers and it's beating so fast that it's hard to count the beats AND keep track of the time. I'll get it down one of these days. All I know is that it's there, the baby's still alive, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Wow... this is finally starting to sink in. I'm going to be a mommy! Exciting, but terrifying at the same time....

What are the odds?????

We went to my dad's yesterday to give him his Father's Day gifts, one of which was a t-shirt and hat set that read "#1 Grandpa" to see how long it would take him to figure it out. He didn't get it, but my stepmom did! She was really excited and then told me that my stepsister is pregnant too!! She's due just 9 days before me, so that's actually kind of neat! Heather and I were really close when we were growing up as I'm just 6 months older than her, but unfortunately, we both moved away and grew apart. I still love her dearly. :)

She's not having this baby under the best of circumstances because the father is a total prick and apparently wants nothing to do with it, but my sis is keeping the baby and that's that. She's scared of being a single mom, but she has lots of support from family and friends, so I'm sure she'll be fine. She's 14 weeks along and the baby was doing great at her last ultrasound, so hopefully we'll have two new additions to the family in December.

My dad is flying her out from Georgia in September, so I'll get to see her then! I'm sure that'll be fun as we should both be showing quite a bit by that point. Might be cute to have some pictures done while she's here. It's not often you have sisters due that close together.

Unfortunately, my other stepsister is not faring too well in the trying to conceive department as she lost an ovary due to an ectopic a few years ago. She has two beautiful daughters from previous marriages, but has been unable to get pregnant this time around. I feel so bad for her because I know how it feels to be hopeful every month only to find out it was all for naught. :(

Anyway... Father's Day turned out to be great! We had a good time with my dad yesterday and I have really got to start making more of an effort to see him more often.

I rented a doppler today, so it should be here on Tuesday. I'm only planning to keep it until I can feel the baby move, since I shouldn't need it after that. I'll post again with news on Wednesday after the ultrasound!

Finally updating....

I have been HORRIBLE about not updating this thing, so this is going to be a pretty long post. I got back from vacation over two weeks ago and baby still seems to be doing fine, or at least he/she was when I went to the doctor on June 1 and heard the little heartbeat thumping away at 170bpm on the doppler. My next appointment is next Wednesday, 6 days from now, and I wish I had gone ahead and ordered the damned doppler!!! Oh, well.... I can hold out for 6 more days, I guess.

Until then, I just keep looking at this 8w4d ultrasound picture!! Granted, it doesn't look like much more than a blob, but I know what it is!!!



Vacation was fabulous... other than the fact that it rained all the time and I appear to have barometer nipples. When it was windy and rainy, they THROBBED and turned purple.... it sucked.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the trip!!

My mom and I found this picture incredibly amusing, even moreso because it was placed on a street lined with nothing but hotels:


Westminster Abbey!


Just me standing outside Westminster Abbey. I was joking with my mom about how my pagan ass would catch on fire or something ;p


Speaking of Mom... this is her on the little ferry boat when we took a tour around Loch Lomond.


Stonehenge was a purely spiritual experience for me... too bad its perfection was somewhat marred by the RAIN WIND AND COLD on the Salisbury Plain.


These war protestors were camped right across the street from the Houses of Parliament. Men after my own heart!!!


Me sitting outside Buckingham Palace...


These gates were simply stunning. It's hard to do them justice with a mere photograph, but I tried! They led to gardens outside Buckingham Palace.


This is me in St. James's Park. This was one of the most beautiful things I saw in London.


Another picture of St. James's Park. I would have been very content curled up with a good book, assuming it stopped raining for more than half an hour.


This mounted bobby in St. James's Park was more than happy to let us take his picture! :)


The National Gallery as seen from Trafalgar Square. We spent HOURS in this place and only saw a fraction of the works it houses.


The Roman Baths in Bath, England are incredibly well-preserved for their age.


Me....


Blue skies (for once) over Bath Abbey!! The architecture of this building was incredible!!!


This rainbow appeared as we were on the bus heading back to Edinburgh from the Scottish Highlands. It was so vivid and lasted for a really long time!! Most of the pictures of Scotland were taken on a disposable camera due to technical difficulties with my digital - I'll post them later.


This is me in Winchester, England with barometer boobs kicking in high gear. I was in so much pain that day!


Anyway, that's my update for now. Hopefully, I'll get off my lazy ass (or sit on my lazy ass) and post updates more frequently. I'll definitely post on Wednesday when I get home, hopefully with a better picture of little Baby L. MAYBE we'll get lucky and if this one is a boy, we'll see some telltale hangy down bits. :)