Well...we had our appointment and ultrasound yesterday...and it was a crazy day! 
Our appointment was scheduled for 10.45 so Josh and I just worked from home in the morning.  We excitedly got ready to go...and headed for the doctor's office.  We sat in the waiting room for quite some time b/c they were running behind...almost 30 minutes!...and talked about middle names to go with the girl's name that we both really liked.  Josh sat there looking all handsome in his suit and "Daddy's Little Girl" pink tie that he wore in honor of the day.  Finally, we were called in!  Jan, our technician, was awesome.  She asked if we had a feeling about what we were having and we both immediately said "a girl" without thinking. The first thing I wanted to know was that the heartbeat was strong...and it was...big  exhale.  Then we got down to the details about the health of the rest of the baby...and Pam proceeded to take about 45 pictures of our little one.  We saw the 4 chambers of the beating heart, the different parts of the brain, each of the vertebrae in the spine and the spinal cord.  Amazing!  We counted fingers and toes and kidneys.  We saw the stomach and the bladder and the facial features and everything looked great...our baby was healthy and we were ecstatic.  That was our primary concern and what we really wanted to confirm during that doctor's visit.  And then I saw it...and said, "Oh my god, that's a BOY!!"...and Jan laughed b/c she had known all along.  Our little guy was definitely showing off for the camera...no doubt about it.  Josh and I were completely stunned and laughed at the news b/c we were both absolutely convinced we were having a girl for some reason.  No preference at all...just both had a gut feeling...that turned out to be flat out WRONG!  We had only really talked girls names and girls nursery ideas...so we're back to the drawing board on both things.  Having grown up in an all-girl family, I'm a little nervous about the unknowns that a boy will bring but am so thrilled at the idea of meeting him and learning about this different world.  We're going to have a son!  WOW!

Oh...and you can see a larger view of the picture by looking at it via the Photo Album link to the left.

I'm constantly worried about this little bundle growing inside of me.  We have our 20 week appointment next week...the BIG ultrasound where we should be able to tell the sex and validate that everything is going well...I am really looking forward to that.  I swear some days my belly is bigger than others...is that possible?!

Josh and I are going away this weekend to the Shawnee National Forrest in Southern Illinois...a belated birthday gift for him.  Hopefully we will have wonderful weather and will get to do some hiking...although I'm so out of shape, i'm sure I'll be wheezing the entire time!

Almost all morning sickness/headaches/nausea have disappeared and I am thankful!  I have started to feel some odd…ummm…not pains, really…but sensations like something is going on.  I don’t know if they are simply growing pains or what…but I’ve read that that is common during this time.  I still cannot imagine what it’s going to feel like the first time I feel the baby move!!  How weird will that be?!?  I’ve started taking prenatal yoga classes…once a week…and I’m one of the least pregnant people in the class…a lot of the other moms are about to pop!

So, my girlfriend Melissa told me about this site...a good place to record what's going on with us...and keep all of our friends and family that we don't see so regularly up on us and our baby's development.  I started writing a couple of weeks ago and taking pictures...but entered them on the site on the same day (today).  So, you'll see that they're all posted on the same day so far.  A couple of other things to note on this site...I think their "weeks pregnant" calculation is different from my doctor's...so my post title every week will be per the doc...not per this site.  Oh...and I think they calculate my age (not sure if you can see that) by only looking at my birth year...I AM NOT YET 37!!!  :)  Oh and there are some pictures if you click on the Photo Album.  Anyway...enjoy...

Had an appointment with the doctor on Thursday, the 27^th…all is good…heartbeat is steady at 140 (smack dab in the middle of any old wives tales about predicting the sex based on heart rate…so no guesses from the nurse!)…growth is as expected.  YAY…and Whew!  I’m starting to notice my belly growing…some days it’s more noticeable than others…but when it’s your belly, even the slightest change is noticeable to you.  Next appointment is in 4 weeks…the big appointment…where we will get to see the ultrasound and possibly find out the sex.