The final countdown!

Well, we had another prenatal appt. today - I am officially 2cm dilated and almost completely effaced. The baby is down about as far as s/he can go without falling out! :) Our midwife said that basically, it could be any day now. Of course, that also means that it could be next week or the week after too! We are very excited to meet our little one and can't wait to find out whether the Meatloaf is a boy or girl!!

Just for fun - if you want to take a guess at the sex and due date - send us a message! Sorry, there won't be a prize - just the satisfaction of knowing you got it right! :)

I'm putting some pics up as well. I am one day shy of being 37 weeks in the one pic. The other pics are of the nursery!! Thanks again to Debbie and Danny (Lindsay's mom and step-dad) for the dresser and the amazingly comfortable glider/recliner!!

Progress!

We managed to get a lot done since the last post so I thought I would send out a quick update. Last Thursday we made the belly cast and it turned out really nicely. We can't wait to paint it, but its supposed to dry for a week before you add any decoration. We're not sure where we'll hang it yet, but I'm sure we'll post a pic when the finished product is up.

This past weekend was very busy! On Wednesday we found out that our glider and dresser had finally arrived so we decided to rent a cargo van to pick them up on Saturday. I drove Cindy to her baby sign language class and went around the corner to the rental company to pick up the keys to the van. After Cindy taught her class and attended her prenatal yoga class, she brought the van home. Then we loaded our car seats into both cars and drove over to the closest fire station to have them installed. After we finished with that task, we got back in the van and drove over to Nursery Time to pick up our furniture. Our wonderful friend Becky, baby furniture mover extraordinaire, came over to help us get the items into our nursery.

If that wasn't enough excitement for one weekend, on Sunday my good friends Kathi and Meredith came from Bloomfield and Louisville to visit and bring baby gifts. It was great catching up with them! The rest of the day was spent washing, folding, and putting away baby clothes in our long-awaited dresser. Laundry has never been so fun! :)

We had another great appointment with our amazing midwife this week. No progress on the dilation, but Cindy is now 80% effaced and the baby has dropped a bit more to the -1 station. It could be any time now...

Maternity Pics!

I know we haven't updated in a while, but this post should make up for it! Last year at the St. Joe Baby Fair we won a free Maternity Photo Session with Carlisle Photography. We went for our shoot on Derby Day and, after what seemed like an interminable wait, Michelle has posted the proofs on her site. We would like to share them with you all. You can look at our proof gallery by going to http://carlislephotography.smugmug.com/Proofs Click on the Downey Maternity icon. Our password is porkchop. There are 62 pictures for you to peruse. Doesn't that make up for the lack of posting? :)

In other news, we got a great report at our last appointment with our midwife. The stubborn placenta has finally moved up and completely out of the way! It is no longer even considered low-lying. That was such a relief to hear! Even though we would have been able to proceed with a vaginal birth before, it is nice to know that the possible risks from a low-lying placenta don't even have to be considered now. Melissa also checked Cindy at the appt and she is 1cm dilated and 50% effaced - all of which is right on target.

Today marks week 36 of the pregnancy. The baby could come at any time now, and we are a little anxious about preparing the house and ourselves. Unfortunately, we are still waiting on our dresser and glider to come in. We also still have yet to pack a bag for the hospital, make a belly cast to remember how beautiful Cindy looks, settle on a boy's name, finish painting the basement, visit our friend Stephanie who just had a beautiful baby boy, visit Nicole who might be the person caring for our baby once Cindy has to return to work.... Needless to say, there's still a lot to do! However, we'll be happy and excited whenever Meatloaf decides to make his/her grand debut!

Just 7 +/- weeks left!!

Well, it's hard to believe that we have less than 2 months left before the baby gets here!! We are so excited and I'm a little nervous that I'm not going to have everything done at work before the baby decides to come.

We had another prenatal appt. yesterday to check the placenta. Apparently, I have a very stubborn placenta that does not want to move. We will check it again in 2 or 3 weeks to see if it has moved up any. My midwife had one of the docs in the practice take a look at it too and she also feels comfortable going ahead with a vaginal birth!! I am very relieved that if things stay the same, I won't have to have a c-section. I had such a wonderful experience last time that I would really like to repeat that again with this baby!

While doing the ultrasound, the tech almost slipped up and told us the sex of the baby!! She was so relieved that she caught herself in time! So, for all of you that want to know... sorry - it's still a mystery!! She estimated the baby is weighing in at around 5lbs now so, if s/he continues to put on a 1/2lb. each week like they say... s/he should be around 8lbs.

We are also trying to decide where we want to deliver. Our midwife delivers at 2 hospitals in Lexington - one of which I delivered at last time. The staff was great and I feel very comfortable going there again. But another hospital here has implemented a lot of changes to how they handle deliveries and the days following. They never take the baby away from you and do all of the cleaning, testing, etc. in your room so you always have the baby with you. They also have double beds in some of the rooms so, that's a plus too!! :) The hospital is a little farther from our house which makes Lindsay a little nervous since I plan to labor at home as long as possible like I did last time. For those of you that don't know - I was fully dilated by the time I got to the hospital last time. :)

Here are some pics of the belly, the baby (notice the fat cheeks!!), and our VERY cool new stroller and car seat (thanks Dad!!)!! Hope everyone out there is have a great day!!

Ultrasound pics

Ok, here are the pics from the ultrasound - remember if you click on the image, it will get a little bigger.
The first 2 are of the baby's face - with a little fist down by his/her chin. The pics still aren't very clear, but considering how much this baby moves - they are pretty good! The last pic is the one that shows the baby already has some hair! The fine little white lines you see are the hair!

Update

Well, we had our prenatal appt. today. Everything is looking good - I had a brief crying spell when I heard the heartbeat. :) It's a sound that just never gets old to me - I could listen to our baby's heartbeat all day long!!

We did get another ultrasound to check the placenta. It has moved, but only slightly. But it's 1.5 cm away from the cervix and that is enough for a vaginal delivery so, we are VERY happy!! We will get another ultrasound in 4 more weeks to see if it has moved further. We got a cute picture of the baby's face and got to see a big foot near my ribs (the Meatloaf is head down already!!). We also got to see that the baby already has some hair!! Personally, I am very excited about that!! The tech estimated that Meatloaf weighs around 3.1lbs.

Well, I guess that is all for now - I will post the ultrasound pics tomorrow, hopefully! Thanks for all of the positive thoughts and prayers about the placenta! It worked!! :)

The room!!

We are excited to finally start getting the baby's room ready!! Linds did an AMAZING job on the basement so, we moved the family room furniture (the light stuff anyway!) back into that room and moved the guest room furniture downstairs to the small room.

Amazingly, Linds and I agreed on a crib!! It wasn't one of the ones we were originally looking at, but we both loved it and it was on sale!! A huge THANK YOU to Jeff and Chrissie (Linds' dad and step-mom) for getting us the crib!! Thanks to our friend Becky too for helping us pick it up and move it in!

On another note, I passed my gestational diabetes test and my iron is normal (I was anemic with Jonah) so, that's good news. I'm not sure where I'm getting my iron from because I'm struggling to eat meat. We didn't get the placenta checked at the last visit, but will at the next appt. on Monday. We are all confident that it has moved up, but would welcome any positive thoughts, energy and prayer that anyone wants to send our way!

Also, our first baby shower is this weekend so, we are VERY excited about that!! I will be seeing some friends that I haven't seen in a long time so, that makes it even better!!

Finally, some pics!

me, deb (who's also pregnant) and missy in the middle :)

almost 22 wks

17 weeks

7 weeks

Padding the Nest

Cindy admitted that she has started to feel the nesting urge! She really wanted to get things ready for the baby's room. Unfortunately, I'm not quite finished with the basement yet. (I know, I know...its been forever in the making, but I'm almost done! Then we can move the basement furniture back to its rightful place and move the guest bedroom furniture as well to make room for nursery furniture.) So, instead of preparing the room, she had to settle for crocheting a baby blanket. I've been teasing her about nesting for a while. One of my co-workers is also pregnant, due in May, and at the beginning of her nesting phase she baked a made-from-scratch blackberry pie and brought it in to work to share. It was amazing! I keep asking Cindy if she feels like baking anything, but she keeps insisting she doesn't... :)

Hey, DJ, play my song!

Cindy really likes techno music. On the way home from the store the other night, a techno remix came on the radio. Cindy turned the music up louder in the car and said, "Do you hear that, baby? You need to like this kind of music. Then you can grow up and be a DJ - DJ MEATLOAF- and mix mommy some good music." Just a day in our lives... :)

The baby is still moving and kicking like crazy. Cindy said that I just might get my little soccer player! I've felt the baby kick pretty hard and Cindy has actually been able to look down and see the baby moving. It's so amazing. It is also amazing how quickly time is passing. Only 4 months left to go! Thankfully, Mom and Danny came up this weekend to help us work on the basement. We sanded the floor to prepare it for staining. I can't wait to have it all done. Once everything is finished down there, we can start preparing the nursery! Speaking of which, we haven't decided on one yet, but here are the beddings we really like:

Head and toes :)

You can click on any of these pictures to make them larger!! ;)

It might be a little hard to see, but here are the feet - one is labeled and the other foot is the right in the black area. It's the top of the toes

This was a perfect shot of the baby's face, but before the tech could still the frame, Meatloaf moved again! So, the big round thing on the left is the baby's head and the black spot is the baby's eye :)

Our mover and shaker!!

Well, we finally got to see our baby again today!! The baby was moving all over the place so, we didn't get very many good pictures. We will post the two we did get hopefully tomorrow. Everything looks great!! The tech checked all the baby parts and organs and said everything looks great! Right now, she estimated the baby weighs approx. 12oz so, s/he's right on target. In case you don't know - we decided not to find out the gender so, it will be a surprise come June!

The only problem we saw was that the placenta is low-lying near the cervix. This is apparently not uncommon at this stage and it typically corrects itself. We will get another ultrasound at our next appt. in Feb. to make sure that it is moving up away from the cervix. Hopefully, we will get some better pictures with that one!!

It was wonderful to see the baby!! It is so amazing to see that little life moving around inside of you. We did get to see some clear shots of the baby's legs, toes and face - it was awesome! I am feeling the baby move pretty regularly now and s/he seems to really like to punch/kick my bladder!! :) It's such a strange feeling to have your bladder poked from the inside.

Finally!

I felt the baby move for the first time last night! I was so excited!! Cindy felt the strongest punch she has felt so far, so she grabbed my hand and put it on her belly to see if the baby would do it again. It wasn't as strong, but I distinctly felt a little poke in the palm of my hand. I can't wait to feel it regularly! I was also happy to hear that the baby was moving around quite a bit while I was reading some Spanish children's poems to the belly. :)

I've been watching coverage of the upcoming Inauguration. I am trying to breathe in every moment of this historic occasion and let it really soak in. It is amazing to think that our child will be born during the first term of the first ever US President who is a person of color. That deserves reiteration: Our child will never know what it is like to live in an America that has never had a person of color as our commander-in-chief. Cindy and I can't wait to explain exactly what that means to our child. We also can't wait to see how that play's out in our child's life and what it will mean for the future of justice and equality in our nation.

The Meatloaf's first picture!

Ok, this is a little late getting posted, but here is the first picture of our Meatloaf! True, the baby looks a little more like a cashew, but here is how the Meatloaf story came about....

We were laying in bed the night before we took our first home pregnancy test and I said, "I sure hope there's a bun in the oven!" To which Lindsay replied, "or a biscuit!" This went on until Lindsay said, "or a meatloaf!" It sort of stuck - especially since I started craving meat shortly after that!

Pumpkin Patch - Oct. 4, 2008

A few days after we found out we were pregnant! Showing off our "pumpkin"!!

Lapse

Cindy created this blog soon after we learned we were pregnant, but then decided to wait and publish it until we were out of the first trimester . We were a bit cautious about things for the first 12-13wks, despite telling everyone and their mother that we were pregnant. :)


So, let me try to briefly recap the last 11wks... Elation, nausea, fear, anxiety, joy, and french fries. I think that about covers it. :) Just kidding, I'll add a little more detail.


We have had 3 visits to the doctor's office now. Instead of an OB/GYN we are using a wonderful Midwife, Melissa Courtney. At all of our visits we have gotten to hear the baby's heartbeat. Each time it has been both reassuring and amazing! We both teared up - big surprise! - when we got to hear it for the first time during the ultrasound at 8wks. It sounded a lot like the Kentucky Derby. :)


Aside from the occasional craving for McDonald's fries, Cindy is doing a great job of taking care of our baby! She is trying to drink lots of water and eat a balanced diet. (If anyone knows where we can get a good watermelon this time of year, Cindy would be eternally greatful for that information.) She is also going to prenatal yoga classes. The baby must like it because Cindy said Meatloaf was moving around a lot during the last session. :) I'm so jealous that she can feel the baby already and I can't! She started to feel the little flutters around 13 weeks, but I probably won't get to feel them on the outside until 20 or 21 weeks. Even though that's only a few weeks away, it's still driving me crazy!


Stay tuned for a post next week. We will be having another ultrasound on Monday and we can't wait to share the new picture of our Meatloaf!