More Ultrasound Pictures!

I'm actually posting this blog entry from a remote location. Amanda and I are currently in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico...which are about an hour north-northwest of Albuquerque. With the baby on the way, we decided now was a good time to try to get a little extra vacation time in. Amanda loves this area because she spent many summers at a YMCA camp just a few miles north of where we are right now. In addition to Amanda getting to revisit her youth, we get a chance to do some fly fishing up here. I caught two brown trout yesterday and am looking very forward to catching some more today! Here's a pic of one of the spetacular fish I caught yesterday:


Okay...now back to Tuesday and our second visit to the ObGyn. In the words of the doctor, the pregnancy is going along perfectly! Amanda's bloodwork and other tests came back just fine...and we now know Amanda's bloodtype: A negative. I am also A negative, so I guess we at least know what the baby's bloodtype is going to be. He also estimated that she is 12 weeks and 3 days along...so the due date is still around March 25th. Then we had the second ultrasound. What a difference a month can make! Very definitive features are now visible and it made us so happy to see some of the things we saw! When the doctor measured the baby, it was 5.7 centimeters from head to butt...so throwing on a centimeter or so for the legs and the baby is roughly 3 to 3 and a half inches long. Here are a couple of the clearer pictures we got from the ultrasound (the pictures are labeled for those of you who are ultrasound-picture-reading challenged...just click on the pic to get the full size version):




The question everyone asks is, "Do you know what you're having yet?" The answer is no, but we will find out once the time comes...in about a month and a half to two months. Right now, Amanda and I are both on cloud nine enjoying this experience together...especially given the fact that Amanda is sleeping much better now too. We'll be up here in the mountains for a few more days, then it's back to "the real world". Our next appointment will be October 11th. Between now and then, I'll post another entry with an updated picture of Amanda. Until then, y'all take care!

Brian Turns 30 & Amanda's Belly Grows!

That's right ladies and gentleman, I've hit the milestone of 30 years on this planet. To be honest, I really don't feel 30. Age really is nothing more than a number. It's all about how you feel...and with all the wonderful things going on in our lives, I feel absolutely awesome! A special thank you goes out to all the people in the Amarillo area who conspired together for my surprise birthday party last weekend. Amanda worked so hard on getting it together...a feat made even more difficult by being pregnant. Lots of people helped her get everything accomplished for the party...and it was an incredible and very memorable party!

Ok, enough about me. This is supposed to be about me and Amanda and "gummy bear". Amanda is just about at the end of the first trimester at week #12 right now. This past week, she actually got a good week of sleep. The reason is two fold and straightforward: 1. I'm no longer on the morning schedule at the TV station...and 2. Amanda was sleeping in our guest room all last week. Let me go into a little more detail on both points. At the station, we were down to two meteorologists since early July. Steve (the Chief Meteorologist) and I have been working 6-day weeks since July. I was doing the morning and noon newscasts (plus Saturdays) and Steve was doing the 5, 6, and 10pm newscasts (and Sundays). Working that morning show schedule meant I had to get up at 2:30am...and I would often inadvertently wake Amanda up. She would frequently have trouble going back to sleep, so she really lost quite a bit of sleep over the past month or so. On the point of sleeping in the other room, that was because for the last week and a half I've been dealing with a pretty intense allergy attack. It left me stuffed up worse than a Thanksgiving turkey. So, Amanda opted to sleep in our guest room. Now, don't get the wrong idea...the bed in our guest room is soooooo comfortable, so she's really sitting (or sleeping) pretty right now. The good news is I'm off the morning schedule and the allergies aren't nearly as bad as they were earlier in the week. Even with that development, my guess is Amanda is enjoying being able to spread out in the guest bed (and admittedly, I'm liking the ability to spread out myself), so she may not return to the bed in the near future. We'll see how long that lasts.

The number one thing people want to know is...how does Amanda look? As you would guess, she looks absolutely beautiful! She's glowing and gorgeous...of course, I have a slight bias. People have been asking for a picture and it's finally time to post one. Here's Amanda at 12-weeks pregnant:

Isn't she cute??? Such an adorable little pouch belly! Overall, things are going really well right now. The next appointment has been bumped up a day to September 13th because Amanda and I are going to go on a mini vacation into the mountains of New Mexico starting on the 14th. I'll try to post new ultrasound pics before we leave for New Mexico. Until then, y'all take care!