Today's the Day!

There have already been so many exciting moments during this pregnancy but this is one we're especially siked about: finding out whether our little one is a girl or boy!  We'll be 16 weeks tomorrow which is surprisingly far enough along to check the gender.  We had the option of waiting until 20 weeks to know through our insurance but we simply can't wait that long.  Our appointment at First View Ultrasound is at 7 tonight, their website is www.firstviewultrasound.com.  We were advised not to do the 3D ultrasound at this point because the baby doesn't have enough fat yet to make it cute.  I'm pretty sure we're going to be falling in love even further no matter what we see on the screen.  A friend recommended that I drink a little juice on the way over to ensure that the baby is awake and active so that determining the gender won't be an issue due to positioning.  

We purchased 2 dozen cupcakes (2 flavors) through Bliss Cupcakes.  One flavor is filled with pink frosting and one has blue inside.  We plan to deliver the cupcakes to our families after our appointment to spread the good news, stay posted for pictures of the cupcakes!

I keep asking everyone what he/she thinks about the gender.  I even posted it on Facebook to try to get a sense.  It seems that the majority of friends think the baby is a boy.  Jesse continues to change his mind on a daily basis, today he thinks it's a boy.  I'm really not sure what I think.  Something is telling me the baby is a boy.  I'm not sure if it's because my mother always said that someday I would have boys and Annie would have girls but I think it's a possibility.  All I know is that whatever the baby is, he/she will be loved more than any baby has ever been loved.  

Sick and Pregnant...

The kiddos at school really got me this time!  I woke up Thursday morning with a scratchy throat, nothing huge.  I hoped it would go away by Friday as I had class Friday evening and Saturday all day.  I was also supposed to chaperone my kids at prom Saturday.

I think I officially experienced my most embarrassing moment last weekend in class.  The professor asked each of us in class to share our thoughts on an assignment he had us working on independently.  The combination of feeling so poorly (sore throat, cough, cold), literally not being able to speak, and raging pregnancy hormones made the tears start flowing.  It was so embarrassing!  I had to take a break and remove myself from the class to calm down.  Luckily, my professor let me leave at noon.  It was a pretty miserable hour drive home but I made it.

Prom was definitely out of the question.  I heard the kids had tons of fun.  I'm so bummed I had to miss it.  I ended up taking 3 days off of work, really unusual for me and tough on students and coworkers.  I've been back for 2 days now and am starting to get into my groove again.  Graduation is tomorrow!  As this is a pregnancy related blog I figure I had better mention that I officially have nothing to wear to the ceremony.  It's a good thing I get to hide under a big black gown!

Below are a few pics from kids at prom as well as the U2 concert they attended as special guests :o)

The kids with a student assistant who was crowned prom queen.

They got to meet Tim Tebow at the concert!

Party animals!

The News!

We let the big news out on Facebook!  After much consideration of how to do it some friends at work helped us create a plan.  We went to googletranslate.com and translated "I'm pregnant" for my status and "My wife is pregnant" for Jesse in many different languages.  We updated the status every minute on the minute until someone finally looked it up.  Below is how many tries it took:

我懷孕了!

أنا حامل!

אני בהריון!

Ես հղի եմ:

Я беременна!

나 임신 했어!

मैं गर्भवती हूँ!

Unë jam shtatzënë!

Mwen ansent!

Jsem těhotná!

Ich bin schwanger!

Ég er ólétt!

Mimi nina mimba!

Olen raskaana!

We're so glad to not have to hide it from anyone now!  We're just so excited and thankful to be able to share this experience with so many loved ones.  

Baby Jones is going global!

Last weekend Jesse and I went to the mountains with my parents.  It was so relaxing and such a treat to get away for the night.  We are especially thankful to Annie for watching the dogs for a night!  At the condo we got to sit around and make calls to relatives and close family friends to let them know about our good news.  We did it in order of age which ended up spanning in ages from the 90's to the 20's.  It was so much fun to hear the reactions.  On Wednesday we are so excited to announce the news on the almighty Facebook.  We're still not exactly sure how to make the announcement but I'm sure it will be fun any way we decide.
I was so excited to hear a great friend at work say "Stef, you popped over the weekend!" this morning.  I have been waiting patiently for the time when I wouldn't look quite so tubby but decidedly pregnant.  I think the time is fast approaching, our baby is now the size of a peach!  Jesse is faithfully taking side profile shots every Thursday to document my expanding waistline.  I'm sure I'll be glad to see them someday but I'm finding the weekly routine makes me rather self conscious.  Oh well, I'm certainly very excited to be seeing some physical changes!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is officially my first mother's day and I'm so excited about it!  The past few mother's days have been jaded with a mixture of hope and disappointment with our fertility issues.  I can't help but think about what truly constitutes a mother.  Is it the physical presence of a child you care for after birth?  Do you become a mother at conception?  Is it possible to be a mother before pregnancy?  This I know for sure: I've felt like a mother without a child for a very long time.  The only difference this year is that I have a baby inside me.  I also can't help but think of my friends and others who would like to conceive.  This day can be so difficult if you've not seen a simple line on a stick.  My love and understanding goes out to all these couples.  Don't lose patience and hope...

Plans for mother's day you ask?  I woke up to my dear husband holding a card and a gift bag.  I really wasn't anticipating anything and just the mention of me as a "mom" would have been present enough.  The card was so wonderful, Jesse is a great husband!  I wasn't expecting the tears but my hormones are still going nuts.  He generously gave me a massage gift card and a "Boppy" pillow that will help me stay comfy when I'm sleeping.  I must admit that it is so comfortable that I am using it right now, I highly recommend these gems, pregnant or not!  We enjoyed brunch with Jesse's mom at Doug's, they have incredible breakfast burritos!  My parents have been out of town for the last week in Washington, D.C.  Their flight gets in later tonight and they'll join us for a breakfast dinner at our house as soon as they can.  Annie suggested a breakfast dinner as we always used to make breakfast in bed for Mom when we were young.  The baby and I are looking forward to homemade waffles, fruit salad, scrambled eggs, and cheesecake!

To all the moms I know, baby or not, happy mother's day.  To my own mom: thank you for everything you've done for me throughout the years.  You're an incredible inspiration to me and I only hope to be able to offer my baby half the childhood you created for me.  I love you very much!

My wonderful new pillow!

My beautiful Mom

We Made It!

We've officially made it to 12 weeks!  Only a few short weeks ago I wasn't sure that we would make it this far.  I'm getting pretty confident that we're going to see this journey to the end!  We haven't had a doctor's appointment since 8 weeks and we won't be having one for about another 4 weeks.  I can totally see why "neurotic" moms-to-be buy dopplers to maintain a little sanity between appointments.  We'll be going in for a gender scan in about 4-5 weeks.  Below is a template which I stole from another pregnant friend's blog as it really captures where we are!  Enjoy the update!

• How Far Along: 12 weeks, 2 days
• Size of baby: size of a plum!
• Maternity Clothes: loving my maternity pants, they're so much more comfortable!
• Gender: We'll know in about a month!
• Movement: Nothing yet but I'm not expecting any for another 4-6 weeks
• Sleep: I am always so tired!  I seem to get a pretty restful sleep lately.
• What I miss: Diet Coke, I miss it so badly!  It used to be my "cheat food", I don't really like soda otherwise.
• Cravings: Nothing too specific this week 
• Symptoms:Exhaustion, mild night nausea, hunger, super smell ability
• Milestone: Reaching 12 weeks!  Now our risk of miscarrying is down to 3%
• Best Moment this week: Getting to tell my work friends that we're expecting.  I didn't have enough baggy shirts to keep hiding it!
• What I'm looking forward to: My belly growing more and telling everyone else on May 18th

Below is an ultrasound video of a baby who is now at the same age as ours!

My New Superpower

I officially have a new superpower: super scent.  I'm not a fan of this talent, it's killing me!  Since approximately 5 weeks I have had to plug my nose if I want to open the fridge.  Not that that's any big deal but it really hinders my desire to cook.  I hate packing our lunches for the next work day... it's getting to be a problem.  Last weekend I asked my darling husband if he would clean out the fridge and wipe everything down hoping it would help.  He spent almost 2 hours cleaning, organizing, and pitching expired condiments or any other suspect which could be stimulating my gag reflex.  He made the executive decision that everything in the fridge must be sealed in a container or ziploc.  When pondering how to wrap the Costco take and bake pizza we settled on a drawstring kitchen trashbag, resourceful.  Unfortunately, all the work was to no avail.  Alas, I'm still plugging my nose to go in the fridge.  I suppose this is just one of those fun little quirks of pregnancy!