Tuesday, December 30, 2008

It's a GIRL!!!

Derek and I are VERY excited to announce that we are having a GIRL!!! The ultrasound and doctor appointment went well, she is big and healthy! She weighs about 13 ounces...almost a pound, and she is in the 76th percentile. They are thinking the due date might be about 5 days earlier than expected, but they aren't changing the "official" due date just quite yet.

The first picture below is the 10 week ultrasound...it is amazing how much SHE (he he he) has grown.

Now the 20 week pictures....I like the profile picture below, because you can see pretty clearly the head (to the right) and the butt (to the left) with the leg sticking up.



This one is cool to....she is giving us the "thumbs up" sign...it looks like thumbs down...but she is upside down...sooooo thumbs up it is!!!!


The ultrasound appointment was definitely a highlight! They took video and pictures for about 30 minutes. It was so cool to be able to see her...she stayed put and gave us the definitive "girl" shot and a few profile pics, then she started moving around like crazy...probably because she was tired of getting poked! :) I was sad when she stopped...I could have watched the baby move around all day.
As for me...I have gained 10 pounds, which is right where I should be, not too much, not too little. All of our tests and bloodwork have come back clear of any diseases or complications...no down syndrome or cystic fibrosis etc. Derek and I are just happy to know that Peanut is a little girl and healthy as can be. Thanks to everyone for your love and support!


Monday, December 29, 2008

Get your Vote on....

Tomorrow is the big day!! By this time tomorrow, we will know whether our little baby is a boy or girl. But in the mean time...what do you think?? It may be tough since I haven't seen a lot of you....but give it the ole college try anyways.

So far, this is how the Lloyd side of the family and a few friends have weighed in:
Emily - Girl
Derek - Girl
Ryan - Boy
Katie - Boy
Mom - Boy
Dad - Boy
Allison B. - Boy
Julie - Girl
Shannon - Boy

So as you can see...there are a lot of boy votes out there...let me know what you think!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

More evidence to Mom's theory....

So my mom has a theory that our little Peanut is going to have Red hair. At first I thought...well, maaayyyybe....two of my uncles and two of my cousins have red hair...it could be possible. Then, Derek's brother Chad came to town this past weekend and he had scanned some of the family pictures when he was back in Kansas City for Thanksgiving, and after seeing the picture below of my husband, I think my Mom might be on to something!!!
I think this is the cutest picture of Derek I have ever seen. :)

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Pregnancy Update

We are 16 weeks along! For those non-parents out there, that is 4 months. :) I was happy to get out of the first trimester, not because of sickness, just because that is when most of the bad stuff happens, so now I can relax.

I had a doctor appointment yesterday and Peanut is healthy with a strong heartbeat. She actually kicked the microphone when we were listening to the heartbeat, it was pretty funny. You will note, I alternate between calling it "he" and "she" because I really don't like calling Peanut "it"....just doesn't seem right.

I seemed to sail through the first trimester, with almost no sickness, but a lot of fatigue. Derek and I are definitely on different schedules.... I want to go to bed at 8:30pm and he is just getting home from practice. That is getting better, I can actually stay up all the way until 10 pm now! :)

It is now finally starting to sink in that we are having a baby, I didn't go to a maternity clothes store or a baby store until about 3 weeks ago! I think I was trying not to jinx it. Last Saturday Mom and I went shopping and actually went in a baby store, now that was FUN!! Everything is so cute and little! That got me really fired up. :)

Baby names - we are going to keep these under wraps until he is born, Derek and I have a hard time agreeing on names to begin with, and it is hard to try to take everyone's opinions and make them happy. We are going to pick a name that we feel is right for our baby boy or girl. We love suggestions as we really don't have any favorites yet though! Ryan has come up with quite a few good ones.

Mom is convined that there is a good chance Peanut could have red hair. Why you ask? Both of my Uncle's have red hair, and two of my cousins. My Uncle Rob and cousin Micah on my Dad's side and my Uncle Tom and Cousin Jeff on my Mom's side. Who knows.....those recessive gene's are hard to predict. I am still not quite sure how I got curly hair! lol.

The baby will be born at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland Washington, where my Mom has worked in their Family Maternity Center for the past....20+ years. Has it been 25 Mom? I can't remember. Anyhow, I know we will be taken care of, we got our "VIP" tour yesterday when we went to the doctor. Mom is busy picking out our nurses and she already picked out our doctor. It is nice to have someone on the "inside".

I am happy to say I have only gained about 6-7 pounds. Not too bad! I did finally get a couple of maternity tops that are a tad more comfortable. With the baby growing, all of my intestines, stomach etc. are all shifting up, and the top part of my belly is sticking out. I think that is annoying...the bottom part of my belly should stick out...not the top! Not that you all need to know this, but my boobs are obnoxiously big, Derek doesn't think so, but I do! That was the main reason for the maternity tops. lol.

Derek has been really supportive, not commenting on my fat rolls or stretch marks, but being really enthusiastic about the weight gain in my chest! :) It has to be hard for guys, women go through all these crazy changes week by week and men have to just sit there and watch. There really isn't anything you can do until the baby gets here, it has to be a long 9 months with a crazy wife.

That is the latest and greatest! I promise to keep you updated more often, December 30th is the big day for the ultrasound to determine if it is a He or a She. Can't wait!

Turkey Day

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! Dad hosted at his house, with some decorating assistance from Mom (of course!). Derek had a few basketball players and I had a friend from work that couldn't go home for the Holiday, so we had our "Orphan" thanksgiving. So in total we had Mom, Dad, Katie, Derek, Ryan, Allison, Valeeta, Phee and myself. Dad cooked the biggest turkey I have ever seen....30 pounds!! Dinner was fabulous. We hung out, played some Uno attack and Phase 10. It was a good Turkey day all around. :)

Mom gave out personalized Christmas ornaments to everyone, she used to do this at Christmas, but it was kind of a bummer to get an ornament when Christmas was basically over, so she decided to do it at Thanksgiving...and all of them were fantastic!

I got a ceramic "snowman couple", and the snowlady had a baby bump! It said Derek and Emily, Christmas 2008. VERY CUTE! Her and my sister also made an ornament of Peanut! They took a peanut, drew a face on it, put curly red hair (see pregnancy update blog) and wrapped it in part of my baby blanket from when I was little. It is very special. I actually got teary eyed putting it on the tree on Sunday.

Katie, Dad and Allison all got cat ornaments, Katie has a new kitten and Dad has his Lucy. Random side note - where did all these CAT people come from!!!!!. Ryan, Valeeta and Phee got baketball ornaments, and Derek got an ornament of a Dolphin holding a ball....very cool!