The First Appointment

Wow!! What an incredible day yesterday! Amanda and I had our first appointment with the ObGyn...well, actually Amanda had her first appointment with the ObGyn...I was just the amazed and awe-struck bystander while she went through the initial examination. The overall outcome of the exam is that Amanda and the baby are doing just fine. Please note I said baby, not babies...meaning there is only one child on the way. That's just fine with me! I'd prefer to take this one step (and baby) at a time, thank you very much! Here are a couple of the ultrasound pictures. There are four others...if you're interested in seeing them, please let me know and I'd be glad to send them all to you:




As you would expect, it's rather difficult to pick out too many details this early in the pregnancy. It may help to know that the baby's head is pointed down toward the bottom of the pictures. The baby is 1.8 centimeters (or just under 3/4 of an inch) long in these pictures. The doctor made an excellent size approximation...the baby is about the size of a gummy bear right now. The highlight of the visit was being able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. After hearing that, it took Amanda and me a long time to wipe the smiles off our faces! It's a very fast heartbeat compared to an adult (172 beats per minute)....and using the ultrasound wand, it sounds like rapid "whoosh"ing. It was amazing!!

The doctor has approximated the due date to be March 25th...which is pretty much in line with our initial thought of mid to late March. The next appointment will be in four weeks on September 14th. I'll keep everyone posted as events occur and situations arise, but if you have any specific questions, feel free to post 'em and I'll be happy to answer them! Y'all take care!

Not Much Has Changed

At this point, things are going along very well. Amanda has been quite fatigued all week (and most of last week as well). From the stuff we've read (and we've read a lot already), being extremely tired is a common characteristic of the first trimester. Of course, another common occurrence is "morning sickness"...which is a general nauseated feeling that usually lasts far beyond the morning hours. Amanda has been fairly fortunate in this department...so far. She's had waves of nausea...even going as far as kneeling before the porcelain goddess...but hasn't had to "complete the prayer." Amen for that! :-)

We've started making a few preliminary plans for getting the house baby ready. As with most couples, this will definitely include a garage sale. So, I spent the day cleaning the garage...after all, Amanda needed a place to put all the stuff going into the sale. Our house is a one-story, no-basement-having, Texas-brick special with only about 1250 square feet. So, we need to be efficient with the little space we have. So, we're going to purge stuff until we're at least semi comfy. One thing about having a baby...all the things in your life you thought were important before knowing a baby is on the way rapidly become secondary and insignificant once you know a little one is on the way. So many people have told me being a parent changes your life...but one detail frequently left out is how much your life changes long before the baby comes...about eight months before to be exact.

I'll post a picture of Amanda sometime next week. The first doctor's appointment is still slated for August 17th and we're eagerly awaiting the arrival of that day. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

A Baby is on the Way!

Welcome to the wonderful adventure that is Brian and Amanda headed down the road to becoming parents for the first time! I found out Amanda was pregnant back on July 14th. Now, keep in mind, Amanda knew she was pregnant the day before that...after taking 3 pregnancy test and all three of them coming back positive. Yet, my darling wife couldn't believe that any one of those 99.9% accurate tests were correct, so she didn't say anything to me until the following day. Even after telling me, she was still in a state of denial. So, after dinner that Friday (the 15th), we stopped by Walgreen's and got another pregnancy test. However, this one wasn't just the simple "plus or minus sign" type test. This one had to be a digital readout. In other words, Amanda had to see the word "PREGNANT" for her to finally believe it. After the test came back positive, I felt the need to take a picture of it so we could have it as the starting point of this magnificent stage in our life together. Here is that image:

To say the least, Amanda and I are incredibly excited. We're also trying not to be too overwhelmed with what's in front of us, so we're doing our best to take it one day at a time. So, that's where we stand right now. We're in the process of letting everyone know the wonderful news and trying to get an idea of what we want to do to the house to prepare it for this new arrival. Amanda's first appointment with the doctor will be on August 17th. By our rough approximation, the due date should be mid to late March. After the appointment, we should have a better idea on that. Also, twins does run in the family on Amanda's Dad's side, so there is that possibility as well. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted as we get new pictures and information. Until then, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers! Take care!