The birth story

Well, she decided she didn't want to come on her own even though I tried everything "natural" to get her to come... We even went to the mall the day after Christmas! My blood sugar got really low but little Cranberry did not want to come. So, we left Nate with Nonna and headed to the hospital at 7am on the 27th.

They put us in our room right away, so I was in bed and watching Today by about 7:10. They had to ask me a bunch of questions and fill out all of  the "paperwork" (which is now mostly electronic). The Dr came in and measured me (I was around 3-4cm) and broke my water around 9, then they started the pitocin. The contractions started kicking in around 9:30. Unfortunately since I was on pitocin I had to be monitored, so I couldn't get in the tub or walk around... I had to stay in or right next to my bed unless I needed the bathroom. I tried everything I could but when they came and checked me at about 12:30 and I had only progressed 1cm, I caved and got an epidural. I was really hoping to be strong enough not to need it, but I couldn't really bear the thought of another 10-12 hours of labor stuck in bed. I'm really glad that I did though. :) I was able to sleep a little bit and started progressing much quicker at that point. I don't know if it would have happened anyway, or if my being able to relax helped to speed things along, but in another 2 hours I had progressed and was ready to push! Unlike with Nate I didn't feel like I HAD to push NOW, so the hour or so I had to wait for the Dr (he wanted me to labor a little longer to make sure she was nice and low) was much better. And, I guess she was ready to come out at that point because it only took 3 pushes and we were done!

Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice and her body once, but it was so long (unusually so) that there was plenty of slack. So, it wasn't cutting off any of her needed supplies or nutrients and never registered any sort of stress during labor. Thank God for that! They did their initial quick tests and got her cleaned up just enough to give her to me for some Koala time. We were very happy to welcome our new little girl to our family!

She's going to come out giving The Fisher Look!

Cranberry is a stubborn little girl. She does not want to get out of her comfy little womb. We had our 40 week (read, due date) appointment yesterday. Luckily everything is still looking good, so we don't need to worry about trying to get her out of there faster for any reason. My blood pressure was a little higher than it has been, but I think that's to be expected at this point in the pregnancy, and the Dr didn't say anything about it. Her heartrate was in the 150s. I had progressed a little from last week and am 2-3 cm dilated. He said my cervix is "favorable" and her head is in position. I guess he stripped my membranes to try to speed things along, which they did with Nate too and I went into labor that very night. Unfortunately she is not being as easy going as her big brother and has decided not to come yet.

They don't like to let us go over 42 weeks, so, right now we are scheduled for an induction on Tuesday if she doesn't come on her own sooner. At this point, unless she comes today, I'd almost she rather hang out until then. That way we aren't in the hospital for Christmas and she doesn't come on a day she will have to share. (Dec 22-Grandpa Jack, Dec 23-Cousin Kat, Dec 24-Christmas Eve, Dec 25-Christmas, Dec 26-Daddy)

So, right now we are playing the waiting game and I'm making plans by adding "if we're not in the hospital" when I say we're going somewhere. But my mom comes on the 24th, so at least I have that to look forward to - the first time I've been able to spend a holiday with anyone from my side of the family in six years! Peter thinks my body is subconsciously waiting for that to happen.

So, hopefully this is not a sign of things to come. Some ladies at work were asking if anyone in my family was really stubborn. I can definitely think of a few...

Nursery

So, now that we have Nate's room all set up, we were able to get to work on Cranberry's room. We (or Peter) were able to get the crib taken apart in no time of course, but then had to wait a little bit longer to get it put back together. This was another thing that has been a long process of things. First, in May, we took out one of the desks when we had a neighborhood yard sale. Unfortunately it didn't sell until a couple weeks ago after posting it on craigslist - but at least it's out of the garage. Then we got rid of the bed, moved out the other desk... So we were fairy empty for the painting, etc. Oh, that was a really fun experience - the painting! We had no problem picking out the colors we wanted... that trip to Lowe's went surprisingly well. But then we had to actually do it! And let me tell you that trying to put up straight lines of tape with a laser level is not as easy as it seems like it should be. But, we (again, mostly Peter) got it done and it looks awesome!

So, that room has sat pretty much empty minus a cubby (see Nate's room), lots of clothes and painted walls for a few months. You'd think this would be a great time to start going through all those boxes in the closet that were going to have to be moved eventually right... Well, I guess not because that didn't get done until about last week... and in fact we still have remnants of them around the house. But, since some of it is Christmas stuff I can't get too upset about it. Anyway, we got the cubby moved into Nate's room, the changing table/dresser moved into Cranberry's room and the crib put back together. Peter hung the butterfly mobile I made and the fan and we are now good to go! People keep asking me if I'm ready now that the room is and the answer is a resounding no! She really could come anytime, but I still feel like I'd like at least another week. We have everything we need (food - built in, diapers - couple packs of newborns to get us through until we know that we need diapers, car seat - up in the attic waiting for Peter to bring them down), so when she comes we are set.

All of her clothes wouldn't fit in the dresser, so the left side is all pjs. All the boxes on the right (plus more you can't see) are the clothes we have sorted and waiting for her to grow out of the newborn and 0-3 month sizes. The tub underneath is all the stuff we have leftover from Nate, but probably don't need quite yet.

Cranberry got an early Christmas present from Nonna too! This awesome fan. Funny story about that - I had seen it in Lowe's a few months ago when we went to look, then when we went to CA in October, what fan do we find in the guest room/grandkids room? The exact fan we want for Cranberry' room. She sent it early and said it was OK to go ahead and set it up so we didn't have to wait until Christmas (and she's likely already here). Thanks Nonna!

Our bedding did not come with a mobile like Nate's did, so I was trying to come up with cute/cheap ideas for  one that would match the theme. I found something very similar to this on etsy, but decided I could make it myself for about half the price. I think it turned out pretty well! This will be Cranberry's view.

It's a Guessing Game!

We are exactly one month away from Cranberry's due date! That means it is time to look into your crystal ball and tell me everything you know about her. This is a pretty serious pool (I stole from our friends Collin and Clare) that accepts guesses for everything from time and date of birth, hair and eye color and you can even put your guesses in for her name! Everything is judged a little differently for the point system, but they explain that on the main page below the survey. Again, this is just for bragging rights (I won Collin and Clare's pool!) but maybe we'll throw in an extra special picture of Cranberry or something. There's a permanent link in the bar to the right or you can find it here: http://bebepool.com/sjmorris31

Just in case you find it helpful here are some stats about Nate:
Estimated Due Date: March 7, 2009
Actual Birth Date: March 4, 2009 (39 weeks, 4 days)
Time of Birth: 1:04pm (Eastern)
Length: 20.5"
Weight: 7 lbs, 5 oz
Hair color: Blonde
Eye color: Blue

Also, our guidelines for picking a name are:
Can't be in the top 20 for the last couple of years (Nathaniel was 76 in 2009)
Has to be something we can make a nickname out of (Nathaniel ---> Nate)
Both given and nickname have to sound good with Morris alone and as her full name (???????? Diane Morris)

Good luck!

Cranberry update - 35 weeks!

Well, another week, another doctor's appointment. We are now officially on the weekly appointment schedule. This is also when they tend to get a little more exciting. And I really mean A LITTLE. Because really, unless there are issues (knock on wood) they still take maybe 10 minutes instead of 5. Unless your doctor is running an hour behind like ours was today! That was very frustrating. And it didn't help that I'm stuck in an exam room with very little air flow when I already run warmer than the average person. Peter's sitting there in his leather jacket and long sleeve shirt and is perfectly comfortable, and I'm sitting there half undressed and burning up! Come on people, you know you've got pregnant ladies in here... Anyway... vent over. :)

So today they did all the regular checks - Cranberry's heart and size are healthy and right on track, as are my weight and blood pressure. Then we did a test for Group B Strep and he offered to check my cervix for signs of progression, but I declined. I think Peter was kind of upset about this but I told him it wouldn't matter because even if I was dilated I could be at that point for another 4 weeks and we still might not have a baby, so what's the point! But I did tell him if he was getting nervous he could start doing some of the things that need to be done around the house that he keeps putting off! :)

The other frustrating thing is that for some reason they never want to schedule our appointments until the one before it, so now leading into a bunch of appointments only one week apart we start to feel a time crunch. We asked if we could make an appointment for 2 weeks from now and they only had one time slot available on both Thursday and Friday - and nothing at all on our normal Wednesday appointment day. I don't know why they couldn't just schedule us now for everything leading up to week 40. Oh well...

But I'm very happy that we are both doing so well and we will see what next week brings!

In other news I would just like to mention again how much I love my job! I decided now would be a good time to sit down with my bosses and discuss everything that needs to be done leading up to my leave, during my leave and after I come back. They said they are happy to have me as long as I am comfortable staying (which right now is until I give birth) but that if I start getting less comfortable and need to work less than full time they would be fine with that too.

I also talked to my female boss about pumping when I get back (the male boss stepped out of the room at this point, not feeling quite so comfortable with the subject matter). She is a major proponent of it and did with both of her kids for more than a year! So she is very willing to work with me to do what I need to do to make it work. Of course it's kind of the law now, BUT I think she'd be willing to anyway. She's giving up her conference room since it's pretty much the only available space that can be completely closed off. Of course, if it's needed there are other places I can use in a pinch (or I can just drive the 4 minutes home) but this will be the best bet. And she's letting me work a more flexible schedule so that I can get those in without having to work too much earlier or later to get in a full eight hour day. Hey, I still need to be a mom! This is all sounding better than the dirty bathroom stall I had to pump in while standing up (and sometimes trying to eat) at BN... And will hopefully result in Cranberry and I being able to keep up with breastfeeding for longer than I was able to with Nate. I'm so happy they are so willing to work with me for what's best for both me and my baby!

Feeling the love

For the second time in two weeks the wonderful people at work have shown how much they love me by throwing a baby shower for Cranberry! I knew this one was coming though, since they wanted to make sure that Peter and Nate would be able to attend and have all of my pregnancy cravings on hand. They did an absolutely fabulous job putting it together! Since they are forced get to hear the day by day stories of getting everything set up in the nursery, etc. they knew exactly the right colors and theme to make it fit.

Purple, pink, green and butterflies!

I even wore a "Cranberry" dress

As things usually do, we started off with a great food spread - everyone brought something and it was ALL delicious.

Nate and Peter digging in

Then we headed back to open our gifts and have some yummy cake.

Nate helping to open the stroller 

I like this one because you can see Nate (very excitedly) playing with his new Hot Wheels!

Everything we received was great. We got a bunch of cute little outfits, much needed toiletries, diapers and wipes, books, toys, stuff for the nursery, and a bunch of them pitched in and got us the stroller we had registered for! A few of the ladies (who must have some experience) even got a few things for Nate so he wouldn't feel left out.

Nate trying out his new ride!

Of course now Nate probably thinks that all I do at work is eat and party. Finance, shminance! But I really feel very lucky to have coworkers like these! 

Cranberry update

So, as of yesterday I am 33 weeks along! Seven more weeks to go! Everything is still going very smoothly. I'm measuring exactly as I should and her heartrate has ranged from 145-155. I started swelling on our trip to CA (thanks to 6+ hour flights!), but it hasn't been too bad since I got back. But Tuesday night my left ankle looked like a marshmallow, and it didn't get much better yesterday. The doctor said it was pretty normal at this stage and that since my blood pressure, tests and weight were all within the healthy range he wasn't too worried. So, that's very good. I have definitely started to waddle though!  :)

I'd also like to add a fun aside about this particular doctor (I see a different one at every appointment so I know them all by the time labor & delivery come along). He loves to wear fun prints on his pants and socks. Last time he wore some red and white striped socks and this time he was wearing pheasant print pants and socks with dogs on them... I guess he was going for a hunting theme! We'll see what he wears next time.

Cranberry has definitely been moving around a lot lately. She even had her first case of the hiccups yesterday afternoon, and then again last night. Really, hiccups are not one of the cooler things about pregnancy. I know a lot of pregnant women think they're really cool, and to some extent I guess they are, until they start waking you up at 5am! Like I don't have enough things keeping me up at night.

OB appointments are very anti-climactic

So, there's really nothing new going on. I am currently at 23 weeks and everyone says that I definitely look pregnant now. This is good news as I'd rather look pregnant than fat (or JUST fat)!

I had my 22 week check up last week, and I guess everything seemed to be going along normally. Usually I get numbers for the baby's heart rate and how my belly is measuring, but they didn't give me anything this time. Well, the only thing I got was my blood pressure which was around 175/65 or something like that, which she said was very good and pretty close to where it always is, so that wasn't anything too exciting. The only news I got was the knowledge that the pain I've been having (I'll spare you the details) is totally normal, there's nothing I can do about it, and it's just going to get worse! I'm really looking forward to the next 4 months after hearing that, let me tell you! It's very sad because I always get excited leading up to an appointment, but nothing ever happens so I'm not sure why. I mean, unless it's an ultrasound, or closer to the end when some "progress" might be going on, but even then... what are you going to do about it until December? But I guess I should be thankful that nothing more exciting is going on, because if there was, it probably wouldn't be a good thing.

I found out at my benefits fair last week that my bone density is on the low side. It's barely low, but low nonetheless, especially for someone my age.  I figure Cranberry must like to suck me dry of my calcium like Nate did with my iron, so I have been trying very hard since then to get in at least 4 servings per day. It's really not that hard, especially when one can be a bowl of ice cream! Speaking of which, this girl definitely seems to like her ice cream because every time I have it she moves and grooves for awhile afterward. Peter even got to feel her doing her ice cream dance last night!

Nate left for an 8 day trip with his Grandpa Jack and Nana Dianne on Friday. I tried not to think about it too much before he left, and even on the drive to the airport, but as soon as they started wheeling his stroller away I started to break down! I don't know if it was pregnancy hormones or just a concerned mom (or both), but, yeah, I was the crazy pregnant lady crying at the airport. Oh well. They started the trip in Minnesota where Peter's sister Patty and her family live. Nate had a great time there because he got to play with his cousin Georgia - she will be 4 next month. From there they drove to Wisconsin where Dianne's sister lives, and should currently be in or around Illinois where Peter's sister Beth lives. He will get to see some cousins there too, but they're pretty much my age. I've gotten to talk to him every night and he seems to be missing us, but not TOO much. That's exactly how I want it! :)

Nate, Georgia and Henry

*Update - Just got a call from Jack, Dianne and Nate and he's doing fine. He didn't want to talk to me so he could play the piano!

With Nate gone, Peter and I are taking advantage of the "free" time by painting the nursery! We got the majority of the painting done, but were having some issues with our stencil and are currently at an impasse as to how the pattern should continue at certain corners. We really should have planned better. I will post some "in progress" pictures, then post some when it's done a little later.

Step one - "Vanilla" about halfway down

Step 2 - Purple about halfway up

Step 3 - Polka dots!

We also took a day off on Sunday to celebrate our 4th anniversary a few days late. We went to brunch in Flat Rock, a little mountain town in NC and it was delicious! We then went to a pick your own orchard and got a peck of apples. MMMMM... I love apple season! We had planned on driving to see some waterfalls, but decided it was a little too far (a total of a 3 hour drive there and back) so we came home, and went to see a movie. We have to keep our anniversary tradition alive! the rest of the week we've just been hanging out at home and getting as much done as we can without a little guy to worry about running off or feeding. As nice as the free time has been I really miss the little monkey and can't wait for him to be home on Sunday!

It's A...

GIRL!!!!

I was right! I told Peter that it is going to be a source of pride that I have known what both of my children were before the ultrasound.

So, we had our ultrasound today... The first thing she did was to ask if we wanted to find out the gender and then go looking for it. It's a good thing she did it right away too because she had her legs crossed tight toward the end. Actually when she was first looking, Peter and I both saw something we thought might be BOY, but it turned out to be the umbilical cord or something because once she got her little wand in the right position it showed girl!

Of course she went through the rest of the important stuff too to make sure everything was functioning properly. The first thing she looked at was her kidneys to make sure she doesn't have any problems like Nate. The kidneys were empty, but the bladder had fluid, so they appear to be perfect! She went through everything else too like the heart, brain, spine... and they are all perfect as well. No markers for down syndrome, spots on the heart or any other defects. She said, unlike with Nate, that we wouldn't need a follow-up appointment to this ultrasound since everything looks just as it should. This was the best thing I could have heard - girl or boy!

Looking at the shots it seems to us like her legs are long and feet are big... just like Nate and Peter. She also seems to have a nice pointy chin just like Nate had, which definitely comes from Peter as well. I was really hoping this one would like like me, but I'm not so sure it will happen. :( I made sure to drink OJ before I went so she would be active and boy did that work! She was dancing in there... All the measurements indicate she's growing right on time with an actual due date of 12/20, which I think I've said before is what I think it is, but they just use the same formula for everyone.

When I got back to work I made the ladies wait a little while (which they really didn't like) before I told them with a fun reveal. Last night I baked a pink cake and a friend baked a blue one, and we cut into the appropriate cake to tell everyone what Cranberry was. They had taken a poll yesterday that was pretty evenly split, but when they saw the pink cake they all let out a great cheer! 

Of course now we're starting to think about how we are going to decorate her nursery and what we're going to name her... Now the fun begins!

Congratulations to the 11 of you who voted in the poll and were correct! I'm glad you all trusted my instincts. :)

18 week Drs appointment

So, we had our 18 week check-up and it was as boring as the first few months usually are. Of course, our doctor was almost an hour late, which was kinda annoying because that means I had to use extra sick time, but also broke up my 10 hour day a little more. But he still answered our questions and listened for Cranberry's heartbeat. It was coming in at a healthy 145-150bpm. This still points to girl, but a lot less than the 160s from the previous appointment. But, we don't have too much longer to wait to find out as we were able to schedule our ultrasound for this Tuesday! Since I'm still only feeling movement every once in awhile it will be nice to see little Cranberry again and, of course, start planning for the nursery! Check back Tuesday for more big news... assuming Cranberry plays along. :)

Almost time to find out!

So, I am 17 weeks pregnant today! As I explained in my last post, I really have no idea when we will be finding out little Cranberry's gender. My next appointment is next Wednesday, July 20, so I figure why not start a poll? On the off chance that I actually get the ultrasound that day there will be a week for people to put in their votes. You can ask questions of me if you like, and I will answer them to the best of my ability. I will tell you this: my instinct says girl. Why do I think Cranberry will be a girl? A few reasons:

1. I have been incredibly clumsy. If you recall, with Nate I caught a piece of chicken (in my mouth) at Hibachi and got a hole in one at mini-golf all in the same night! This never happened pre-Nate and made me sure he was a boy. Now, I'm not normally the most athletic person in the world, but since being pregnant this time around I have been an absolute klutz. I've spilled pitchers of tea, bowls full of dog food, not even gotten over 100 at bowling, stepped on dog tails, the list goes on.
2. Chinese Gender Chart - With Nate it said boy, with Cranberry it's saying girl.
3. Baking Soda Test - I didn't do it with Nate, but according to legend, it's saying girl.
4. Heartbeat test - Now, this one I don't put too much stock in because based on Nate's heartbeat, he should be a girl... but at the last appointment Cranberry's heart rate was in the high 160's, and anything over 140 supposedly points to girl. 
5. Just a gut feeling. I know that gut feelings totally don't mean anything because many a pregnant lady has had her heart set on Jack and ended up with a Jill. But you have to go with something...

Of course I could be totally wrong. And based on the way that this pregnancy has been going (pretty much exactly like it was with Nate's, no morning sickness, extreme fatigue even into 2nd trimester ) it could mean boy! Either way, we will be happy!

So get your vote on!

The happs

So, nothing really major exciting has been going on here, but I'll give you the run down...

First, we had our 14 week check-up a couple weeks ago (I'm 16 weeks tomorrow!). All they did was check my size, listen for Cranberry's heartbeat (they found it this time -it was in the high 160s) and answer any questions I had. I didn't really have any, and always feel like I'm being a bad pregnant lady for not having more questions, but I do my research... Plus I've done this before, and so far haven't really had anything new pop up. We were hoping that we would be able to schedule our ultrasound with our next appointment, at 18 weeks, but for some reason they did not do that. I'm still wondering if that was a mistake because we got it with our 18 week appt with Nate, and even the OB Consultant seemed to think it should have been scheduled for that day. So, I'm not exactly sure when it will happen. Some people think I should call and try to "ask" if my ultrasound is going to be on that day. We will see, but I doubt I will do that. But it's good to know that everything is progressing as expected as far as we can tell.

Nate is definitely in the throws of Toddlerhood. He's still mostly good, but definitely has his moments. Lately he has not been wanting to go to sleep and always wants to sleep in Mommy's bed. We have not ever really let him sleep with us except for a few minutes when he wakes up before we want to in the morning, so I'm not exactly sure what brought this on, with one exception. A few weeks ago a tree fell down in Peter's parent's yard. Actually it was from a neighbor's yard into Jack and Dianne's yard. It fell right on top of a mound of mulch where Nate had been playing just 5 minutes before. Luckily, Nate was not there and was out walking the dogs with Jack. I'm not exactly sure (I've gotten a couple of different impressions), but I don't think he saw the tree fall, just heard it, then saw the aftermath. Since then he has been talking about and been afraid of anything tall, and any kind of tree falling. The start of the bad sleeping seems to have coincided with this tree falling down. I keep trying to reassure him that no trees or poles or ... whatever is falling down, but he will have nothing of it. Hopefully he will get over it soon.

This past weekend (4th of July) our friends Jacque, Drew and their dog Charlie (who we just went to see in Florida) came to stay with us. We weren't really all that exciting what with two pregnant ladies, a toddler and 3 dogs to worry about, but we had a nice visit and a very relaxing weekend. It's always nice to get to hang out with friends (hint, hint), since I don't really have any here.

Of course, today I had to get back to the daily grind of 10 hour work days. Luckily this week we only have 3 of them... And now I'm going to check on Nate for the 3rd time (plus Peter's two) in the hour since we put him to bed.

Preggers together!

Well, I had my first "official" appointment last week. Nothing really too exciting happened there. Peter couldn't go because he had to work. (On a side note, he recently transferred to the store that I used to work at so now when we go to storytime we can see all my old friends and Daddy too!) They did the normal check-up stuff and tried to hear the heartbeat. She couldn't get anything so she did an ultrasound. Unfortunately it was a crappy, wheel-to-the-room ultrasound machine so I'm not sure I saw what I was supposed to be seeing (a heartbeat). My Dr. kept trying to point it out to me and I think I may have seen it, but couldn't be totally sure. She offered me a GOOD ultrasound, but I didn't really want to pay for it and trust that she saw what she needed to see, so... Hopefully next visit we will be able to hear it. Otherwise she said everything seemed perfect!

That night and the previous couple of nights I was having some trouble with my ears. As a lot of you know I sleep in ear plugs, and they hurt so bad I wasn't able to put them in, and could barely sleep on Wednesday night! Since we were going to be heading to Florida on Thursday afternoon, I went to do the Dr to check out what was going on and it turns out my left ear was totally clogged with wax! GROSS! So they had to flush it out. That's a fun experience if you've never had it done, let me tell you! Anyway, he said he wasn't sure if it was infected or just hurt from being clogged, so he gave me a RX, but suggested I leave it for a couple days to see if the pain cleared up now that my ear was no longer full of wax. Luckily it did because those types of medication are not good for little Cranberry.

Off to Florida we went- and by we, I mean ALL of us: me (and Cranberry of course), Peter, Nate, Copper AND Casey! Surprisingly I think the dogs were the best travelers of all of us. Copper laid on the seat, Casey laid on the floor and they were pretty content the whole way. The same could not be said for our little man... but we survived - both ways! The trip was great. We went to visit my friend Jacque (who is about 21 weeks pregnant), her husband Drew and their dog Charlie. I kept thinking of the dogs as "The Three C's". We went to the beach (but couldn't go in the water, dang jellyfish!) the zoo (Nate and I both got to feed a giraffe), a AAA baseball game (bark in the park) and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios! Jacque and I could not ride anything except for the Caro-Seuss-el, but Nate got to ride a few things with Peter including The Flight of the Hippogriff! The height limit was 36" and he made it by this much! I was kind of scared for him, but he loved it so much he wanted to go back on. My baby's growing up! :(

Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer

The Flight of the Hippogriff

Nate and his "star"

Pooped out on the way home

While we were there Jacque had her 20 week ultrasound and they were able to confirm that they are having a little boy! I was also able to take Jacque around the baby department at Target and give her some of the wisdom from my lengthy parenting experience like the things they tell you you need and really don't, or the things they don't mention but really come in handy. I'm not sure how much I really helped, but it was fun. And hopefully we will get to see them all again over 4th of July weekend!

On a side note, about 5 minutes after I sent out the original blog post with news of our pregnancy I got a call from a good friend from high school saying that she is also pregnant (with a little Gummy Bear) and due 12/22/11!!! And from friends on Facebook I know of at least 3 other girls from high school who are also pregnant at this time. There must have been something in the water at Ridgeview for 2011 babies! I wish us all a happy and healthy 9 months!

Cranberry?

I know a lot of people were expecting it any day now, and the time has come – Peter and I are expecting baby #2! We are both very excited and very nervous at the same time. I keep thinking, are we crazy?! But we really want a sibling for Nate and would prefer it to be in semi-close proximity age wise. If we waited until the time was exactly right he’d probably be 15! Nate doesn’t really know what’s going on, but we plan on getting him a couple of “Big Brother” books a little closer to the arrival, and he loves the shirt I got him to share the news with everyone!

We had our first appointment on Friday, which included an ultrasound. Friday the 13th sounds like a great day to find out if your baby is healthy right? But, the baby looks great-measuring at the proper date and a good strong heart rate (179, which according the old wives' tales means GIRL). Our official due date is 12/21/11! (Like we needed any more holiday babies in our family what with Peter being 12/26, his dad being 12/22 and Nate's cousin Kat on 12/23!) My clever brother dubbed it Cranberry and we decided to stick with that for the baby's nickname. It fits the time of year and is about the same size as a Blueberry!


Peter couldn't contain his excitement and told everyone at Barnes and Noble almost as soon as we found out. I'm sure they are super excited to be losing a manager at the busiest time of year! I told my bosses on Monday, hoping to let them get used to the news before our crazy season really kicks into high gear come June. They seemed genuinely excited for us, which was great - I was really nervous! I think part of it is that when I told my two bosses that I needed to talk to them they automatically thought I was going to quit! So leaving for 6 weeks during some of the slowest months of the year is awesome! 


Here are some parting ultrasound photos of Cranberry to keep you coming back for more...