Our First Father's Day

Our first Father's Day was a mixture of fun and stress in the Faber house. For his Father's Day gift, Chris got a new radio controlled helicopter. Mind you, this is Chris we're talking about, so this is no rinky dink helicopter! This is a bad mamma jamma, folks, with a radio controller that has more switches, buttons and joysticks than three or four xbox controllers put together. Naturally, something this complicated is bound to be pretty sensitive and prone to breakage. Here's the irony, though... he didn't break the HELICOPTER on his maiden voyage (he did really well, as a matter of fact!). No, he broke the CONTROLLER! He actually only broke a couple of switches on it, but he was still pretty mad at himself for it. Hence... the stress...In the end, he was able to get a part from Radio Shack and fix it, but he was a bit of an irritated Daddy until he did. 

Otherwise, we met some friends out for Father's Day lunch at Gordon Biersch (brewery... man drink) and Father's Day dinner at Texas Land & Cattle (steak... man food). Fun!

In honor of Father's Day, here are some Daddy/Annabel photos for your viewing pleasure.

Daddy wears Annabel in her fabulous sling for the first time! This was taken in the family restroom at Willow Bend Mall. It was actually clean!

Daddy burping Annabel during a visit to his office. Look at those chipmunk cheeks!

A Father's Day photo. Chris loves his little Annabel!

Picture-perfect Daddy and Daughter.

Ok, ok... I just had to stick Mommy and Annabel in here too! There's no Mother's Day post, so I just wanted join in the photo fun :-)

I'm baaaaack!

I know, can you believe it? I'm back! And I promise to be better about providing updates this time around. Between the pregnancy, the holidays, and wrapping things up at work to prepare for maternity leave, I just neglected my blog.

But, now, I have this beautiful baby girl to motivate me to provide updates, and this beautiful new MacBook laptop too! So keep on the lookout, and I'll give you the latest on what's happening with the Fabers in Frisco!

Also, thanks to fellow blogger and childbirth class goer for this photo of the Fabers. It was taken at our childbirth class reunion dinner at La Hacienda earlier this month.

An Energy Uplift

I'm officially 18w1d pregnant now, and I've noticed a lift in my energy level. I still get some nausea attacks now and then, but overall, I feel much closer to normal than I have since this whole thing started!

We had another Dr's visit last Wednesday, and this time, the baby was much more cooperative. We were able to hear the heartbeat loud and clear! The baby still was moving around quite a bit, so that was fun to hear too. They also drew my blood to check my protein levels, which is the follow-up to the test we did at 13 weeks to ensure the baby is developing normally. I got a call on Friday, and they told me everything's A-OK!

Mark your calendars! On Friday, November 30, we're going in for the full anatomical sonogram. This means that it's the major sono where they'll be checking that the heart, spine and brain are developing normally... and... the sex of the baby! That's right, we'll be able to report whether we're having a boy or a girl on that date! We're pretty excited. :-)

We're trying to purchase a camcorder by then so that we can film the whole sonogram to post for you. If we can't do that, at least we'll have the pictures.

So until next time, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Nothin' But Trouble

So the last time I blogged, we were about to go camping, and let me tell you... what fun! We went to Dinosaur Valley State Park, which is just outside Glen Rose, TX. It was definitely family camping, as all our vehicles were parked right next to our campsites, and there were toilets and showers just a short walk away. My DH borrowed a cot for me to sleep on, but it turned out to be much too large for our little 2-person tent, so I ended up sleeping on the ground (albeit on my Thermarest pad!) after all. It was fine while I was there, but ended up having a sore back for a few days afterwards! That wasn't quite as fun.

Then the following weekend, we flew to Evansville, Indiana for a friend's wedding. This baby is getting well-traveled already! A couple of days before that, we had another Dr's visit, for which my DH was able to make it this time. My regular OB was on vacation, so we saw one of the other OBs in her practice (which we were going to have to do anyways, in case something happened when the baby's due and my OB couldn't make it). She was great also, answered more questions for us, and then took that little heart rate monitor out for us to hear the baby's heartbeat. UNLIKE last time, though, Beaker was not very cooperative! The baby was very active, so every time we finally zoned in on the heartbeat, it would almost immediately disappear and move to another spot. The Dr was chasing it all around my belly! So we know Beaker's going to be a little feisty one already :-)

The Dr said it was entirely normal for the baby to be doing that, because the monitor actually pushes sound waves into my belly which sometimes bothers the baby. So it's not surprising that they try to get away from those sound waves. Still, it was pretty funny, and the Dr wasn't able to get a definitive heart rate. She could only say between 140-150 bpms, which is still in the normal range.

So as of today, I'm 16w6d pregnant! Our next major sonogram will be at around 20 weeks, when they'll do a full "anatomical" sonogram. The Dr said that means we'll be able to actually see the heart and make sure all the chambers are forming normally, and the brain, spine, and other major body parts... including sex organs! That's right folks, we'll be finding out for sure the sex of the baby at that critical juncture. We won't be able to make an announcement by Thanksgiving, but definitely by the end of the month. Anyone care to guess what it'll be?

I'm doing well... I don't feel as "glowy" as some of the books and websites say I should be, and I still get tired a little more easily than usual, but at least I'm not falling asleep at the drop of a hat like before. Nausea still strikes every now and then, but my pills and peppermint gum have kept the throwing up at bay. And my belly is definitely pooching, which thrills my DH to no end. He's constantly rubbing my belly and kissing it every chance he gets! It's so cute... and THAT makes me feel glowy.

Hugs and kisses to you all... will check back in soon!

What a week!

So I've almost made it through my first official week of my second trimester! That's right, I'm 14w4d today, and what a week it's been. At work, we moved offices, so it kind of felt like the first day of school. A new building, a new floor, a new cube... It was mostly a smooth move, although of course there were some snafus. As for my symptoms, Monday wasn't too bad until the train ride home. I didn't feel so great coming off the train. And yesterday and today I had some pretty bad cramps. Grow, uterus, grow!

This past weekend, DH and I did some shopping for the house. We finally got a buffet for the dining room so we can store our wedding china and get it out of the closet that will soon be the baby's. We also bought a table for the patio. We're going to wait on the chairs for a couple of months, but those will come soon! I'm pretty excited that we're really fixing up the house.

This coming weekend (tomorrow), we're going on a camping trip! Don't worry, it's not serious camping. Our church group does this camping trip every year, so since we just joined it'll be our first time. There's water, electricity hook-up, restrooms and showers. We'll be sleeping in our tents, so at least that part will feel like real camping! Hopefully the baby won't make me have to get up ten times at night to pee! I'll be sure to tell you all about it next week.

Til next time, then!

A quick update

I had another OB appointment today, and it was my first one without my DH. It's OK that he wasn't there because it was just a check-up. Funnily, it was a pretty quick appointment, and he's been so annoyed at our recent appointments because we've ended up waiting for so long! So the one he DOESN'T go to is the quick one... hehehe...

Anyways, it was a good check-up. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat -- a steady 145bpm! I asked my OB about the fact that the heartrate seems to decrease each time we visit. She said that it's normal, and that it should decrease as the baby matures. Of course, it makes sense since when we're born, our hearts aren't going that fast!

That's it from me for now. Just wanted to say Hi!

Sonogram Redux

My DH has been on my case about updating my blog, so here I am! I apologize profusely to you all. I know I keep using the same excuse, but really, I think these pregnancy symptoms (particularly the nausea and the tiredness) just keep getting more intense as the weeks go on! I will make myself be more diligent about keeping you in the loop. The whole reason I started this blog is to make you more a part of this pregnancy since you can't be here with us, and I'm not doing very well at it. So, for this post, I'm going to take you through the sonograms that we've had since my last post (3 of them).

Remember that scene in Friends when Ross and Rachel went to their first sonogram? They "oohed" and "aahed" as the sonogram tech pointed out their precious peanut on the screen. And then as soon as the sono tech left the room, Rachel broke out in tears because she said she couldn't recognize a single thing on the screen! Well, let me just say that I can completely empathize with her! Except I actually asked questions, so that I can describe these sonos to you! Still, I totally understand if you have a Rachel reaction to the pictures! :-) You can click on the photo to enlarge it and hopefully see it better.

This sonogram was done on September 17, when I was 9 weeks, 1 day pregnant (9w1d in shorthand). What a cute little kidney bean! The head is the big rounded end on the left (it's facing down) and the butt is the smaller rounded end on the right. The little squiggly things that look like their dropping out from underneath it is actually the umbilical cord (my DH identified that right off, while I thought maybe it was part of the yolk sac). The baby is about 2.3cm long (about an inch!) and the heartbeat was measured at 169 bpm, which we were told was well within the normal limits. Also, it's hard to see, but in the middle, just below the upper curve is a white line that is actually the baby's spinal cord and there's a small (small small) dark spot next to it that is the baby's heart. It had to be physically pointed out to me, so hopefully you'll be able to see it, seeing as I can't draw my finger onto the screen!

This sonogram was done on September 28, when I was 10w5d pregnant. We normally wouldn't have had another sonogram so soon after the last one, but a couple of days before, I had experienced a serious amount of pain and cramping. Fortunately, there was no bleeding, so my OB wasn't overly worried, but she had me come in for the sono, just in case. Everything turned out to be OK! She said it was likely due to constipation (so far my LEAST favorite pregnancy symptom -- yes, I hate it even more than the nausea!) and my uterus stretching and growing to accomodate my growing baby. Now this was a quick sono (since we were squeezed in at the last minute), so I'm not quite as confident in my description. I do know for certain that the head is the big rounded end on the left (facing down again, or maybe because I see 2 dark spots on the head, maybe looking straight at us! -- my DH doesn't think that's the case, though) and the butt is the smaller rounded end on the right. Again, the white squiggly thing underneath the head is the umbilical cord, and the spinal cord is pretty visible on the upper curve. The baby is about an inch and a half at this point, and the heartrate was 160bpm. What was really fun about this visit was that we saw the baby do a little roll/flip on the screen! That was an emotional moment, let me tell you...

This sonogram was done this past Friday on October 12, and I was 12w5d pregnant. This is the first of 3 photos I'm attaching. We had this sonogram done as part of an early screening test for chromosal anomolies like Down's Syndrome and Trisomy 13. They measure the neck fold (babies with Down's have a thicker-than-normal neck fold, apparently) and then test my blood. It's only an early test and not as accurate as an amniocentesis, which is done at about 20 weeks and has a higher risk for miscarriage. Still, we thought it'd be a good idea to go ahead and get it done. In this one, the baby is facing up, with its head being the big round end on the right and the butt being the smaller round end on the left. You can barely see its bump of a nose! Oh yeah, the heartrate was 153bpm, and we forgot to ask for the length of the baby. It should be a little over 2 inches by now, though.

In this photo, we got a little closer, and the baby's profile is a little easier to see. Also, you can see some bright white dots above its forehead, which are the baby's fingers on its right hand! It's holding its left hand just under its chin. Just after this photo was taken, we were commenting about how the baby was active during the last sonogram but so still during this one. The perinatologist said the baby was probably sleeping, and then all of sudden we saw it scratch its forehead with its right hand! It was so cute!

And finally, we come to the final photo. In this one, the perinatologist zoomed in even more so that we could get a good look at the baby's profile. See the nose? That could be the beginnings of DH's nose! What a cutie patootie!

OK friends and family. That's enough from me for now. I hope you've enjoyed these photos. We've really had so much fun seeing the baby's progress and feel so lucky and blessed.