Dr. Appointment #3

We had our third appointment with Dr. McGrew yesterday (3/30) and I am happy to report that Baby Beyer is doing well. We were able to hear the baby’s heart beat using the Doppler (we found it right away it was very loud fast)! With the Doppler they can’t give you an exact count of beats per minute, but Dr. McGrew said it was between 140-150. The baby’s heart rate has been pretty high each time they have measured it so I am not surprised that it was around 150. My blood pressure and other vitals were good (although I must admit yesterday morning at the office was rough and I joked with the nurse that my blood pressure was going to be higher than normal- it was,  but still within a normal range). Dr. McGew said I COULD start feeling the baby kick as early as 16 weeks (I will be 15 tomorrow), but more than likely it won’t be until around week 18-20…we will keep you posted on any new developments with that! I am gaining weight and getting bigger, but luckily (at least so far) it has been slow and steady. For those of you that saw me on Sunday at Erin’s shower you know I have a little bump. Soon it will be time to go shopping for some new clothes.

Our next doctor’s appointment is April 22^nd and our final ultrasound is Monday, May 2^nd. At that point I will be 19 weeks and 3 days; as of today (we could change our minds again) we are not going to find out the gender of the baby. We have decided that we want it to be a surprise! We will let you know all if we change our minds back!

Where Has The Time Gone?

This weekend was very exciting for me! I got to meet Miss Embry Louise Canfield. At only 7 weeks Embry made the long journey up from Columbus with Renee and Chase for another very special occassion Erin's baby shower. Saturday night Erin, Renee, and I were haning out all taking turns holding Embry and at one point Erin said wow I can't believe we have known each other for 10 years...where has the time gone?

At Edinboro I was known as the "mom" of the group, trying to keep the girls out of trouble, making sure everyone got home (hopefully in one piece) and occassionally holding people's hair back (I dont think I need to finish the sentence). I was always trying to look out for them and keep them safe. Now that I have the opportunity to be mom and since several of my Boro girls will  be mom's first I know they will have my back just like I did theirs.

To all of the little miracles that have found their way into the world this year and for those who are still to come...cheers to the next generation. As Chase said Saturday evening "Ah babies having babies." I guess at some point during the past10 years we all decided it was time to grow up. May our children be as blessed as we have been with the friendships we have made.

Sunday Morning Dad Scribbles Volume 4

After a week hiatus I am back for another edition on Sunday Morning Dad Scribbles. 

First things first... Here are the new 12 week ultrasound pictures.

My favorite one is the top right with Baby Beyer lying on his/her side.  Middle left is cool with the hands in the air and feet/legs stretched out.

It was a great visit to the doctor.  We even saw Baby Beyer move a little bit.  Pretty amazing.  We didn't have to go into the stirrup room so that was good. 

The heart was fluttering in the ultrasound at 175 beats per minute; "which apparently means we are having a girl."  Again, I'm just looking forward to being a dad, boy or girl.  Plus I really like one of the girl names we have picked out.  Speaking of, don't ask us.  They are in the vault.  Marissa doesn't want the names to get overplayed like Tubbthumping by Chumbawumba or All-Star by Smashmouth.  Understandably so. 
Throughout the week we have told a number of people, including extended family, friends, and work.  Everyone's excitement is contagious that's for sure.  Thanks for the support everyone.  We are fortunate to have such great people in our lives.  It certainly feels good when people say we are going to be great parents.  It makes me a little anxious and definitely is nice to hear.  Thanks to our great parents for molding us into hopefully the same. 

Marissa is starting to get a little baby bump and I think it's kind of cute :)  Looking forward to the baby balloon.  I am so intrigued by this whole process and quite honestly gitty about it.  By the end of this week Scrappy Doo, I mean Baby Beyer, is going to be the size of our clenched fist.  On Tuesday he/she was recorded around 7 centimeters.  He's gonna be a soccer player, yes he is, yes he is.  I said that in the ultrasound room and I heard crickets.  Marissa and the Ultrasound Lady, Mary Beth, thought i was nuts.  You all know it's a line from the movie Billy Madison, right?!

Have a good week everyone.

Turning a Corner

I am happy to announce that I believe my nausea has subsided. Last Monday (at which time I was 11 weeks and 3 days) I felt great all day, I woke up and didn't feel and other than my exhausted lull at 3:00 PM I felt "normal" all day. This was a slight cause for concern Monday evening as I was afraid on Tuesday that I would wake up and feel like a truck hit me. To my delight I woke up Tuesday and didn't feel sick. I was even able to eat dinner at The Winking Lizard on Saturday (it was the first time I had set food in there in over 3 weeks) without getting sick. I am hoping other than some incident nausea or intdigestion that my "morning sickness" (aka all day sickness) has subsided.

We have our next doctor's appointment & ultrasound on Tuesday. If all goes well we will tell our employers of the good news early next week (unless my belly decides to pop). Hopefully we will be able to post pictures of my belly soon (at the moment we are having technical difficulties). More good news to come soon!

A Package from Grammy Karen

On Friday we arrived home from work to find a package from Joe's mom. Inside there were ornaments with Joe's picture as a young child, a Baby's First Year Calendar, a onzi and several holiday bibs. There were two bibs for each holiday one that read My First ____ (insert holiday) and then another matching holiday bib. My favorite holiday bib was the one with the baby turkey...it is so precious. However, there was one non-holiday bib that read "I am Banana's Over Mommy"...it had a baby monkey on it and just made me smile. I know that Baby Beyer will love each bib and most importantly because he/she will be Joe's son/daughter they will surley need several bibs for the various holidays! Thanks Grammy Karen.

Sunday Morning Dad Scribbles Volume 3

Hello world.  How've you been?

We have some new blog followers.  A big hello to Baby Beyer world to a few people we were able to tell in person yesterday and to more that we will tell today.  I wouldn't say we are milking the fact that we have great news to share with people, but as my sister may tell you, I was always a "show off".  Come to think of it, Marissa has been known to call me a "show off" as of late too as you may have read in the first edition of the Scribbles.  BTW Marissa conquered her "symptom" on Wednesday before her doctor's appointment.  Ask her about it!  If something like that traumatized me maybe I should stay outside the delivery room!

Anyway... :)   As we shared during the week Marissa and her mom were able to see Baby Beyer at 10 weeks and Marissa's check up went very well.  This gave us some confidence to share the news with some family members this weekend.  It was fun to see people's reaction and be able to "show off" our excitement and love for Baby Beyer.  Not to mention a great reason to share time with family. 

So we told my little brother Patrick and sister's Katie and Liz (via Skype).  I like to get to the point so I just poked my face into the skype screen and said, "Marissa has been busy lately and very tired.  She has been building a baby in her tummy."  I know a little odd way to do it, but hey, that's me.  I was reading her What to Expect when Expecting book and that's what they told me (be considerate of her being tired because she is building a baby) so it's what came out!  It's true.  Patrick will be a 15 year old uncle and I think he is looking forward to it.  We were also showered with 2 bibs from my parents, "I love my daddy" and "I am the star of mommy's blog".  Fantastic stuff. 

My dad's parents stopped by to share some pictures of their recent trips to Arizona and DC and the lightbulb went off!  "Grandma, we have a picture to share with you too."  We showed them 2.92 cm Baby Beyer as seen below.  They are excited to be great grandparents.

We headed home as Marissa was getting tired, told ya - she's building a baby.  I asked if we could stop at my Papa's house to share the news.  Another great segway... Papa wanted to make sure we saw the picture albums of Grammy's wonderful life which he keeps out on the dining room table to always "show off" his best friend.  Again, "Papa, we have a picture to show you too."  He didn't know what it was at first but when we told him he displayed a great smile like he always does.  He is a great man. 

We then headed over to my Aunt Jo and Uncle Mark's house because my cousins were all home for spring break and we wanted to take advantage of that.  We had ideas to tell them by asking Aunt Jo if she could have an afgan knitted by September 23.  Instead, Katie, who always is on us about having a baby asked the question, "When are you guys having a baby."  Marissa and I aren't good liars so we just said, "well we are having a baby."  There was much rejoicing!  Aunt Jo shared us a story of hope and that is what we all need these days.  "That everything is going to be alright"

Now for some humor.  Papa called us while we were over there and he mustered up some comedy... "Joe, I wanted to tell you that I know you are going to have a boy.  I saw something sticking up in the picture!"  He was very proud to have thought of that one.  It was hilarious and something I will never forget.

Today will be a great day of sharing the news with Marissa's family at Uncle Buddy's birthday party.  We are getting to be pretty good "show offs"

Until next week my friends...

Thank God for Friends

Thank God for friends who look out for me, for us, for the baby. Thank you for my wonderful friend Erin who said to me today "did you check with your insurance to see how many ultrasounds they cover?" Thank God for Renee who previously said to Erin "did you check with your insurance company to see how many ultrasounds they cover?" To them I owe many thanks for today I  learned that my insurance (and it is really good insurance) only covers 1 ultrasound unless it is medically necessary as deemed by the doctor. Thank you to Cindy in Dr. McGrew's office for calling Anthem to see what they deem to be "a medical necessity." And for Cindy for sending a letter to Anthem explaining why the ultrasounds at week 12.5 and week 20 will be medically necessary so that the insurance will cover it for our little miracle. For all those things that somehow see to work out in the end...and to those individuals that assisted us and will again tomorrow we are forever grateful.

Dr. Appointment #2

I went to the doctor this morning thinking it would be a routine second appointment. From what the baby books said the doctor would weigh me, take my blood pressure, and I would have to pee in a cup. Well I did do all of that, but to my excitement the doctor said he was going to try to hear the baby's heartbeat. Before he started he told me not to worry if we didn't hear the heart beat since I am only 10.5 weeks. He used a little contraption that looked like a walkie-talkie with a little wand on it. He moved the contraption around my belly, but all we could hear was my heart beat. After he was done he said well, we have technology why don't we just go hook you up to the ultrasound machine so we can hear the heartbeat and see the baby "dance." I was instantly so excited and sad at the same time since Joe had not come with me since we didn't think anything exciting would go on. We went to see the ultra sound tech Mary Beth and we saw the baby and its heart beat. It had a strong beat of 156/minute. We also saw the makings of the baby's head, arms, and feet. Below are some more ultrasound photos so you can see yourself. My mom was so excited as she looked at the screen!

Our next appointment is on Tuesday, March 15th. We will have another ultra sound and they will do some genetic testing to rule out certain conditions. For now Baby Beyer is growing and healthy...a HUGE 2.92 cm long!