Sixteen Weeks and Counting!

Well, Niki is at 16 weeks here, which means this baby is due in about 24. We are very close to the halfway point. At this point, the baby has developed to the point shown in the picture. The baby is the size of an avocado, but will double in size in the next three weeks! Wow!

Anyway, Niki is doing very well. Her nausea seems to have eased up, and even though she is always happy to take an extra nap, she seems to have a little more energy. She insists that she does not have any food cravings, but only food aversions. This works out nicely for me, because Niki is much too sensible to wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me she does NOT want to eat olives, for example. On the other hand, on Saturday night at the Vandy game, Niki had a hot dog . . . dipped in nacho cheese sauce. She insisted that the nacho cheese helped meet her calcium quota for the day. Then today she put cream cheese on her turkey dog. Same excuse . . .

Quad Screen Results Normal!

Last week, I had blood drawn for a "quad screen" prenatal test, which looks for abnormal levels of alpha-fetalprotein ("AFP"). Levels too high could indicate a neural tube defect like spina bifida or anencephaly. Low levels of AFP and abnormal levels of human chorionic gonadotropin ("hCG") indicate the potential for Down Syndrome or Edwards Syndrome. There's a couple of other chemicals the screen looks for, and interpreting those in conjunction with the AFP levels can indicate other potential problems.

Luckily, the test showed that I was negative for "abnormal AFP levels", which is (according to the nurse who called me) another way of saying my test results showed no abnormality. Had the test shown an abnormality, we would have considered an amniocentesis. Luckily, I get to avoid the big long needle and we can feel a little more confident about having a healthy baby!

Click here for a neat site that explains more about what the quad screen testing does.

Job for Everyone

Statistics show that a pregnant woman who is hugged a lot is more like to hug her baby after it is born.

So, when you see Niki, hug her.

Thank you.

Learning the News

I wrote this the first day that I knew that Niki was pregnant and thought I'd share it with you:

I was in the anteroom for the Hamilton County Circuit Court, Division 4, when Niki called this morning. She told me that she's pregnant. She has missed a period and taken a pregnancy test. I told her to take another pregnancy test and give me a call. I spent the motion hearing in a haze. After the hearing, and on the way back to Nashville, Niki called to confirm that a second pregnancy test said she was pregnant. She called a doctor to schedule an appointment. They told her that if two tests told her she is pregnant, then she is pregnant. Due date is March 13. We think the kid was conceived in mid-June.

Niki and I decided that until 12 weeks, we will consider this to be a medical condition of Niki's. After 12 weeks, it's on! We agreed to tell our parents and siblings, but ask that they keep it quiet until 12 weeks. . . .

On my way back to Nashville, I had the following thoughts:

1. Thank God I've got the Mustang now. It'll be paid off in December, so that bad boy is "grandfathered" in.

2. I'll be 32 when the baby is born. That means when I'm 50, the kid will be 18. That's plenty of time to resume the "couple's life" with Niki again.

3. Nine months is not a lot of time.

4. We're pretty damn lucky.

5. I think it is going to be a girl.

Chewie the cat has been very affectionate with Niki the past few days and was there for the "test." Is he going to play a big role in this?

We are both completely floored. We knew we wanted to get pregnant, but were not officially trying. This happened REALLY quick.

We took one more pregnancy test tonight. She's definitely pregnant. In less than a year, my wife is going to be somebody's mother.

Crib and Glider

We found a baby store MUCH more pleasant to shop in than Babies 'r' Us (and it's a lot closer, too!) and went there this morning. It's called USA Baby (www.usababy.com), and it's terrific. We found both a crib and a glider that we loved. They were both very reasonable, especially because the store had its "Once a Trimester" sale going on. Now all we need is for Corey to build the top for the dresser that will serve as a changing table, and all of the major pieces of the baby's room will be in place. I guess we should start getting all of the crap out of that room now, shouldn't we?

The crib is a Munire and is made out of solid hardwood. The glider is a BestChair and my mom will be happy to hear that it will be built in Southern Indiana! We got it in a textured fabric in a color called "ginger", which is nice and soft but easily washable. I already have my eye on some bedding that has the same color in it.

15 Weeks

Looks like we have hit the 15 week mark! According to one website:

"At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. He's busy inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which will help develop the air sacs in his lungs. His legs are growing longer than his arms now, and he can move all his joints and limbs. That means his hands are more functional, too. Sweat glands are appearing, and although his eyelids are fused shut, he can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, he's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but his taste buds are beginning to form."

Great. Now Corey is going to be chasing me around with a flashlight and asking me how the sweaty baby is doing. I'm still not showing a whole lot, and people don't know I'm pregnant unless I tell them. I have read that some people don't "pop out" until they are 5 or 6 months pregnant with their first child, so I must be one of those "lucky"(?) people.

Barb & Larry's Big Announcement

Barb and Larry wanted to tell their dance group friends in a special way that B&L were soon to be grandparents. Each week after their dance class, the group heads back to Wendy & Tom's house for refreshments. Barb offered to bring the food this time, and made these adorable cupcakes, served with the hilariously cute baby boy and girl napkins. Barb reports that it didn't take the group long to figure out what was going on!

Corey's Birthday Present

I guess only a new father-to-be would want a "manly diaper bag" for a birthday present, but I was happy to oblige! He chose the one above (only the one he got is tan) because of all of its cool features and decidedly non-diaper-bag look. It's got all of the standard features, like a changing pad and an insulated bottle pocket, but there are no teddy bears or hearts on it. Now we just have to teach him to change a diaper...

And I wouldn't want to miss out on wishing Grandfather-to-be Larry happy 60th birthday today! We had the big birthday blowout a couple of weeks ago, but I'm hoping he pulls a bottle or two out of his new wine fridge tonight to celebrate.

More about names

...and this is why picking a name is so important! We don't want our kid to get any strange reactions when he/she tells people his/her name. ;)

Heartbeat!

Poor Corey didn't get to go with me to my OB appointment this morning because he had a meeting, but I told him it would be fine because they were only drawing blood anyway. When I got there though, Dr. Bell whipped out a little hand-held device and let me hear the baby's heartbeat. It was at a rate somewhere in the 140s, which Dr. Bell said was perfect. We could also hear little blips, which she explained were kicks. She told me not to expect to feel any kicking until closer to the 20th week, so I'm going to quit obsessing about that.

We go back on October 17th to do the in-depth sonagram and will hopefully find out the gender of the baby that day! If the baby cooperates (everyone keeps warning me about uncooperative babies that thwart your hopes of determining gender) we will make the announcement on the blog for you all to see.

Happy Birthday!!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish my sweet husband, Corey, a happy 32nd birthday! He is lucky enough to share his birthday with his mom (Happy birthday, Barb!!) and Uncle Doug (Happy birthday to you, too, Doug!!). As someone who also shares a birthday with a close family member, I know how fun it can be. Above is a photo of Corey with his favorite guy in the whole world, Sparty.

Addendum to Previous Post on Dogs and Babies

Connie has just informed us that OF COURSE she will be slurping on the baby, especially if there is food stuck to his or her face. Duke just wagged his tail and winked at me when I asked for his thoughts.

Dogs and Babies

I found the above photo on www.cuteoverload.com (one of my favorite sites) and sent it to all of the Taylor family, since they all love golden retrievers. I wrote some comment beneath remarking on how we weren't going to let Connie and Duke lick OUR baby and asking if Sevvie the golden retirever ever licked Corey's cousin, Ellie, when she was a baby. Here was Ellie's response (which cracked Corey and me up considerably):

OH of course Sevvie licked me on the face like that and of course Dukie and Con-Con will! You were kidding right right right? Cause if you weren’t what kind of baby would your baby be if she or he didn’t have doggie breath on their face. That’s how I turned out so beautiful. And I’m sure that baby will be.

Ellie

Officially in the Second Trimester

As of today, I'm 14 weeks and one day pregnant (which, according to the baby books, is the official start of the second trimester). Here's a drawing of what the baby is supposed to look like. Still no kicking, but Kristin Banz just told me she didn't feel anything until 18 1/2 weeks (she's due about 8 weeks before me!), so I guess I should just be patient. I have determined that I no longer fit into any of the non-maternity pants I own (except for the ones with elastic waists and drawstrings!), so it looks like it's time to do some more shopping.

184 more days

According to www.BabyZone.com, I only have 184 more days to go until the due date. The above drawing is a representation of what the baby is supposed to look like at 13 weeks. He/she looks a little less like an alien, which is good news!

Waiting for the kick

The books all say that I should be able to feel the baby kick starting as early as this week. I keep trying to sit or lie very still and concentrate on trying to feel a kick, but so far no luck. After seeing how active the baby was at the last ultrasound, I think it should be any day now that I will feel something.

Names

We're set on Charlotte JoAnn Stringer as the name for our child if female. We're struggling with names for the baby if male though. My current favorite is Evan James Stringer (since Evan is close to my maiden name and is the name of my great-grandpa, although I never did meet him). Corey really likes Colby James Stringer.

We both like the name Scott (my mom's maiden name), but have reservations about using it (probably not best discussed on a blog). Corey keeps pushing for Corey James Stringer Jr. and Leonidas James Stringer, but I think he's kidding about the second one. Taylor would be a natural choice since it was Barb's maiden name, but Taylor Stringer sounds a little goofy (any name ending in an "er" sound is too rhyme-y to me) and Taylor has really become a girl's name in the past decade or so. Corey also keeps pushing for Hudson James Stringer, but I (and everyone else who has heard it) think it sounds lame.

We bought a baby names book that talks about the popularity and reputation of each name, and that has been very fun to look at (mostly to research the names of family members and giggle if, as in the case of poor Don, his/her name peaked in popularity LONG before he/she was born).

If anyone as any suggestions, please leave them for us in the comments!!

Ellie's Reaction

Our trip to Michigan this weekend was fabulous (more on that later), but the best part might have been when we told Corey's cousin, Ellie, that she was no longer going to be the youngest in the family. We stole an idea from Larry & Barb (who told Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Sims that they were pregnant with Corey by playing a game at a family party) and played a little game with her. We wrote down the name of each family member at the family party on 11 different index cards, shuffled them, and then taped one to each person's back. We each had to run around asking other people yes or no questions about the name on our own backs (like "Do I live in Michigan?" or "Do I own a cat?") to try and figure out which family member was on our backs.

Corey made a card for Ellie's back that said something like "Corey & Niki's new baby that will be born in March." He handed it to Aunt Lisa to tape on Ellie's back, and that's how Aunt Lisa found out we were pregnant. Then, we all played the game while keeping a close eye on Ellie to see what questions she asked. She stumped everyone by asking "Am I a boy or a girl?" Aunt Lisa replied "yes!" Ellie looked a little confused. She then asked Don, "Am I a girl?" Don said, "I don't know." She asked someone else if she was a boy and got the same response.

Once Ellie was COMPLETELY frustrated, we told her to take the card off her back to see what it said. Her jaw dropped open and she got all teary. She ran up to Corey and gave him a bear hug, then found me for a hug. We all laughed and Granny got the great shots above.