Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Official Due Date September 7, 2011

Monday, February 14, 2011. Valentine's Day. What is the best gift I could get? How about pictures of my Little Angel and an official due date!

8:30am Jamal and I go in for my second ultrasound, ordered by my midwife, to get to the bottom of my mystery due date, and find out how big our precious one is. I had been so anxious up to this point, me thinking I was 9 weeks, the midwife thinking I was 10 weeks, then saying based on our previous appointment that I'm more likely 7-8 weeks. Much to my surprise, and in the best way, we were both wrong. Baby Poe measured in at 10 weeks 5 days! Even further along then we both thought! Not only was my anxiety relieved, but even more relief came in the fact that I'm now only 2 weeks away from my second trimester!!! This sure made breathing a little easier.

Seeing baby last week was amazing, but yesterday surpassed it all! Being on a full size ultrasound machine, we could see all of baby. Head, body, arms, and legs. Baby was moving around, and "waving" at us, we could even see the fingers for a split second. I was so overwhelmed. I started to cry when the ultrasound tech left the room. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. My tears then of course provoked Jamal's tears, and we were both two blubbering messes for a moment. It was a really special moment for us.

Here's the new photos we got:

Here's the little "wave" :)


Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Baby Poe is on the way...

Ok, it's official. We've shared with the world (i.e. Facebook), that we're pregnant. I'm writing this blog, inspired by a friend who did the same, to share our joy with our loved ones near and far.

For us it began on January 3rd, 2011. Being 5-7 days late I decided I couldn't wait another day (against Jamal's wishes) to take a test, and confirm what we'd been hoping and trying for for the last 9 months. I woke up early before Jamal and snuck into the bathroom. The test was positive instantaneously, and I snuck back into the bedroom to show Jamal. We were both elated.


We slowly started telling a few select people, mostly only those who had been side-by-side with us through all the trying. Mostly our immediate family. Jamal had hoped to wait longer and do more of a "big reveal", but I was too excited and ruined some of his plans. Sorry, babe.

A couple weeks went by and I went in to meet with a nurse, get all the "need-to-know" baby info, go over my family history, and so on and so forth. After that, the excitement and anticipation of the first REAL pregnancy appointment grew daily, and the 3 weeks we had to wait inched and flew by all at the same time.

Today was FINALLY that day. First the doctor tried to listen for a heartbeat, but couldn't find it. She said not to worry, as my uterus could be tilted back, or the baby could just be in the back and hard to hear. She did however want to do an ultrasound, just to confirm everything was good. Then, she couldn't see anything with the regular ultrasound and I started to get a little anxious. After this she did an "inside" ultrasound, and we finally saw our little peanut.


It was the most amazing thing to see. The head is on the left, the little body on the right. What you can't see in the picture is the little heart in the middle beating furiously. Then, the most amazing thing happened. Right on cue, our little peanut wiggled it's little bottom, and I was done for. Knowing your pregnant is an amazing feeling in and of itself, but actually seeing your little being is a feeling I can't describe. It was this total rush of instantaneous, completely unconditional love like I've never felt. I've spent the whole day with a smile plastered to my face. My heart is so full!!! This is a journey I've been praying and waiting for for almost a year now, and after experiencing the first of many indescribable moments to come, I am beyond elated.

As of right now, my due date is TBA. Both the doctor and I are most likely wrong in how far along I actually am, me thinking 9 weeks, her originally thinking 10 weeks, based on my last menstrual cycle. She said that from the ultrasound she would guess between 7-8 weeks, so not as far along as I'd hoped, but I will have another ultrasound next week to take measurements and confirm. She also said that my uterus is in fact tilted back, so I'm anxious to see how that affects everything, if it does at all.

I'm so happy to finally share this news with those of you who didn't already know! This is a moment we have been anxiously waiting for, and so far, it has surpassed any and all expectations I may have had.