Third Prenatal Visit

Today was our third visit to the doctors. It was funny we spent more time in the car and waiting area than in the actual appointment.

Kelly has put on 10 lbs since the started of this all, which is a good steady gain.

Her blood pressure was excellent again and that is always nice.

We opted not to do a quad screen because they can be wrong, but mostly because either way we will love what we have and take care of it all the same. Why make the rest of the pregnancy miserable by worrying. our nurse actually said : 'You opted out, that's what I did too." She is always so great!

The doctor assured Kelly that is would probably be sometime in the next 2 weeks when she would first feel the baby move.

He ended it by letting us hear the heartbeat again which was a healthy and strong 151 beats per minute.

I hate being wrong more than anything but lately I have been feeling girl vibes, I can't explain why and I will be thrilled with either as long as it is healthy!

Sorry no good pictures for today.

Next blog will be the baby's first movements or our ultrasound and GENDER ANNOUNCEMENT! Very exciting!!

-Sean (are you a red gummi bear or a blue one?)

18 weeks done..onto 19

So I feel liked I am a blogaholic, a blog yesterday, one today, and definitely one tomorrow! Then maybe you will get a break!

We are still very excited today about Lance and Jenny's news.

Week 18 brought more growing belly, more backaches, and of course hunger and tiredness for poor Kelly who had to return to work after a little winter vacation time.

Not much to report this week, Kelly's bell is definitely getting bigger and just about to the point where total strangers would know she is pregnant. She has started to waddle a little like a duck and I love it!

I am still listening and talking to the baby. I hear little noises like popcorn popping but they may just be sounds of digestion. We still haven't felt the first kick. I sort of wish people would stop asking Kelly about it, as she is starting to worry about it. We know it is normal to not feel it until up to 22 weeks or more, but still ....

We PROMISE we will blog about it when it happens!

Tomorrow we go in for our next regular monthly visit, this will be our 3rd and we are 18 weeks and 1 day pregnant tomorrow.

I will blog about tomorrows visit when we get home.

Until then here is this evenings pre-dinner mommy belly.

18 weeks done, almost half way!!!

Soon...Jumbo sized gummi bear,

-Daddy (with ear to mama's belly)

The OTHER Rae on the way

so you may recall from a previous post I mentioned that my older brother Lance and his Wife Jenny were expecting as well.

Kelly and I must admit we were so jealous that they got to have their gender ultrasound today. We are even more thrilled to share that they are expecting a boy!!!!.

We have to wait until the 3rd week of January to find out what we are having. They also moved up Jenny's due date so these cousins may not be as close as we once thought.

Also i realized today that if Kelly and I have a girl we will be the first in the immediate family who did not have a son first. My dad had 4 boys, my oldest brother a boy then a girl and now Lance and Jenny expecting a boy. Will we break the mold? only 20 days til we know.

Well I will post Kelly's 18 week belly picture tomorrow, but for now here is a photo of my nephew in the wombLogan Alexander Rae , already so handsome. He should be tall with dark hair and blue eyes, will need to beat the ladies off with a stick!!

Sean

-Jealous little brother today!

Merry Christmas!!

Today is Christmas Eve and we just said goodbye to Kelly's Mom, Sister and her mother's husband Randy. It was wonderful to see them all even if for a short visit. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful group of in-laws. I was thinking how incredibly lucky this child is going to be to have two sets of extremely loving families, that is fairly rare now a days.

Every night I am putting my ear to Kelly's belly trying to hear or feel something. Sometimes I think I feel something but I am a newbie so not sure. She did say she felt something very strange this morning that woke her up, so I am hoping he/she starts doing some bicycle soccer kicks soon.

The belly is really starting to show and Kelly is glowing, she really is the most beautiful pregnant woman!

I can't help but think of our new baby every time I look at her little growing belly.

We were just discussing how next christmas we will have a 6 mont old! how exciting, babies first xmas.

Kelly received some wonderful high end maternity clothes from her mom and of course two little onesies, one green and one pink because we still don't know!

Here is the picture of week 17 completed ( she is 17 weeks and 1 day today) onto week 18. We should be feeling it move any time now.

Kelly said the growing belly is making it very real for her now!

We wish all our family friends and readers the most Merry christmas. May God bless you in the new year and bring joy to you this season.

We have our next regular basic check up on new years eve so I will blog again then, if it starts kicking I will blog sooner.

Getting closer little gummi bear!

-Dad in waiting.

The Most Beautiful Sound

We got to spend thanksgiving at home with our Families in Eastern Washington. It was nice and relaxing and wonderful to be congratulated by all of our family and friends. Some people already wanted to touch Kelly's belly but there wasn't much there at only 13 weeks.

We quickly learned that "Do you like any names yet" is a trick question because whatever you say some relative is going to wrinkle their nose or say, I used to know a dirty old whore named that. We decided from here on out we will keep the names to ourselves.

Kelly finally started experiencing some morning sickness and gagging when brushing her teeth. Her breasts were becoming very full but very tender. I think this is one of mother natures cruel tests for fathers to be. Look but do not touch!

On December 1st we headed back for our 2nd appointment and we were at 15 weeks pregnant. They weighed Kelly again and she had gained 5 lbs, they told her another 5 by January 13th would be ideal. She mumbled that with her cravings 15 would be more likely.

They took us back to the same room, felt Kelly's abdomen and took her vitals. Remarking at her amazingly good blood pressure. The nurse then applied the Doppler to her abdomen. I use these every day at work so it was easy for me to hear the heartbeat right away. I smiled and started recording video on my cell phone. The baby's HR was 156 beats per minute, very healthy, and according to old wives tales, that would make it a girl!

We were both so excited to hear the sweet sound of the heart beating and it once again became very real to us. Kelly was barely starting to show at this point. We left once again thrilled and sent the video to all our family. If I can figure out how to get the video off my cell phone I will load it here. Until then here is a photo of Kelly at 16 weeks, she just started to not be able to wear her regular pants and my mom bought her some maternity jeans. I can't wait to take the week 17 photo as she has really started to show recently!

Our next regular check up in Dec 31st, and our major ultrasound to check fetal development and find out the gender at 21 weeks will be January 19th. I will also post a link to Kelly's blog. Her version will give everyone the mothers point of view and is most definitely more eloquently written! We cannot believe we are getting so close to the half way point. SOON little gummi bear!!

The First Appointment...Hello gummi bear

As soon as we found out we were expecting we went through all the emotions and trying to decide will we wait to tell family or not. To add to all of this my older Brother Lance and his wife found out they were expecting 2 weeks before Kelly took the test. So we also did not want to steal anybody's thunder.

We found a doctor in Monroe and their clinic is literally a parking lot away from the hopsital where Kelly will deliver.

Kelly called and set up our first appointment for october 30. At this point we were 9 weeks pregnant.

I think we were both excited and nervous we left work early and drove together to monroe, chatting like little school children and both about to wet our pants. We arrived and found the suite which was very nice and modern and plopped a seat in the waiting room and trudged through all the insurance information. I could not stop smiling and staring at my beautiful wife thinking. " God, how lucky will my children be to have her as a mother?"

The nurse called us back and I about lept off the couch. They first weighed Kelly. For my own safety I won't put the weight on here but she definitely was not showing at all. The nurse then took us back to a room congratulated us and told us our expected due date was June 1-3, 2009.

The nurse then explained that she would take Kelly's vitals and then have her disrobe and put a gown on and prepare for the vaginal ultrasound.

We were both shocked all the books we had read and internet sites told us at 9 weeks they MIGHT listen for a heartbeat, but that was it.

The doctor came in not long after and checked Kelly's abdomen and then started the ultrasound. He gave us a quick scare when he looked up from the screen and said " now you both listed that twins run in the family" we sat silent...he giggled. "well you only have ONE baby" PHEW!

He then turned the screen towards us and there it was. A picture I will never forget. A tiny gummi bear with two flipper arms and legs. The legs kicked a little and I could see the heart racing away. I felt so warm and all sounds faded away. The little blob was my future child, and I already loved it so much. The doctor left to let Kelly get dressed again. They didn't print a picture but told us we could use our cell phones to capture it. so there we were like two tourists, huddled around the ultrasound machine with our cell phone cameras out. After we took many shots with different lighting techniques I looked over and realized Kelly was still stark naked!! We left with our pictures of "gummi bear" and a welcome package. I think we sent the cell phone pictures to just about everyone we knew.

The Day The Future Changed

This blog will be a recorded journey to fatherhood. A 5-6 month Journey as we are already at 17 weeks. To see how we got to this point you should know about the past.

I first Met Kelly my Junior year of High School, she was the new, very tall, very beautiful girl from Texas. We became aquaintances but not much else. It was not until our Senior year when we shared a few classes that we got to know eachother better. In January of 2003 we officially became a 'couple'.

After graduating from Richland High School we both went on to attend Washington State Univeristy. The christmas of our junior year I propsed and in the summer of 2006 we were wed. We then graduated in 2007 and moved to Western WA to start our careers.

I have wanted kids for as long as I can remember, but we both agreed that we should wait until we had been married 4-5 years, were older, and more financially stable.

I often teased Kelly by saying "Can I have a baby for my birthday?" She would just give the 'don't say another word' look and we'd both laugh.

On a lazy evening in late September 2008. We were laying on the futon just joking around when I realized Kelly had suddenly started craving eggs every morning, which was unusual for her and had become a little more moody. (she truly is the easiest woman to get along with) So that was very odd. I jokingly said "You are probably pregnant" Again I got the evil eye! A few days passed and Kelly purchased some HPT's at the store, just to be sure. I remember sitting at the computer as she took them into the bathroom, she emerged a few minutes later and just stared at me I could hear my heart beating in my ears, and blood rushing around. I thought "ok she is messing with you" , then I looked up and saw tears welling up in her eyes as she choked out " It says I am pregnant." Kelly started to cry and I held her in my arms, as she gently sobbed. I was terrified!! I was not expecting this to be the reaction, she finally spoke and said they were happy tears and she was excited, but also terrified at the same time. I did my best to reassure her that everything would be fine and that together we would raise and love this child the best we knew how. My mind started reeling as well. Life doesn't change at your childs birth, but as soon as you know they are coming. Every dream or plan I had had for Kelly and myself would now be greatly altered, I was in awe of that as I laid awake that evening.

The kicker here is that my birthday is September 9th. Our estimated date of conception is Sept. 7th-9th. The best birthday gift ever. =)