Happy Early Birthday to the Daddy-To-Be

Although his actual birthday isn't until Sunday, I wanted to take this time to wish my wonderful husband a happy birthday. We have friends coming from out of town this weekend and a fun-filled day with the Weiland family on Sunday so I wanted to make sure that this post made the blog before his big day.

I can't thank him enough for how patient, supportive and positive he has been throughout my pregnancy and in our overall relationship of almost 9 years. Within the past 5 months he has sacrificed sleep to stay up with me when I wasn't feeling well, drove across town to pick up the one food that sounded appealing to me and has picked up my slack around the house even though I'm home during the day. Needless to say, he has been so understanding and I can't even begin to describe how grateful I am to have him as a husband.

As wonderful of a husband he is, I also know that he will be the best father. I can say from experience that kids absolutely love him and there is no doubt in my mind that our child/children will look up to him with great respect and admiration. I'm anxious to see him in action because I know that he will be great!

Happy early birthday, Love! Baby Weiland and I love you very much!

Feel Those Kicks, He's Gonna be a Soccer Player!

Just a quick note, when Shelly and I got home from the seminar last night we watched the heart-breaker of a Wings game. Obviously, the baby was very upset about the loss because he/she was "tossing and turning" inside Shelly. The wonderful news though, *I* was able to feel the baby kick for the very first time last night!

It was yet another moment I'll never forget!

Bob & Jillian Would Not Be Pleased

I can officially say I am 24 weeks along and my belly can certainly prove it. John and I had our monthly doctors appointment on the 5th and our doctor was pleased to see I had gained 4 pounds since my last visit. This was the first time she measured my uterus and reiterated that I need to eat, eat, eat as the size of my uterus was two weeks behind where it should be. She also confirmed that I'm anemic so I now need to add another iron supplement to my prenatal cocktail!

Unfortunately, I saw her a week later as I experienced some sharp pains in my right side, lower right abdomen and lower back. Given I have a history of kidney stones and to ensure the baby was alright, I called the doctor to make sure it was round ligament pains and nothing else. Everything checked out fine, but I was shocked to see I had gained an additional three pounds in that one week! Of course, my doctor was elated and she absolutely loves John as he makes sure I meet my caloric count each day. I don't think I've ever had so much chinese, Dairy Queen and pizza in my life!

John and I had such a wonderful weekend together as it was spent registering and picking out a paint color for our nursery. While registering was completely overwhelming, it was an exciting experience and we are very fortunate to have great moms among our family and friends that offered us some advice.

We have a busy, yet very exciting week ahead of us. Tomorrow we are completing our registry and attending a "Breastfeeding 101" course. I might be looking forward to this class more than John, but I am thankful he's attending this with me so we can both learn together. Wednesday evening we will be attending a "Baby U" course for first-time parents offered by Bellin hospital. This course features a car seat safety class, a separate class for moms and dads and then we get a tour of the maternity ward. The tour will be helpful as we are still deciding where to deliver. Needless to say, John and I are very excited about these educational classes and everything they have to offer.

I would also like to take this time to wish my biggest bro, Scott, a happy belated birthday. I won't unveil his age, but I will say that Scott and his wife, Jen, will be the godparents for our little bundle of joy. They have two boys and have been very helpful and instrumental as John and I go through this new adventure. Happy belated birthday, Scooter! :)

With everything that's going on this week, we'll have plenty to report in the near future so check back soon!

Ultrasound Pictures

Well, its hard to believe but the holidays have officially come and gone. That being said, we're thrilled by the thought that our new addition will be here this year!

As promised, here are the first pictures of Baby Weiland. When Shelly and I went in for the ultrasound, the Technician asked if we wanted to know the sex, to which we replied "no." They say when you want to find out what the sex is, the baby tends to not show what its going to be. Since we didn't want to know (and according to our UT) our bundle-of-joy was "trying to flaunt it" to us. The UT must have asked us 5-6 times to look away since Baby Weiland was beyond active the moment the ultrasound started. In fact, within a couple seconds of the beginning of the ultrasound Shelly and I got to see our baby actually wave at us. Not only that, the baby's hand was wide open so we could see all the little fingers. It was beyond amazing and something the two of us will never forget and cherish forever.

As for the pictures, the top one is obviously a full view of our baby. This was actually the last picture the UT took, since he was trying to get the baby to roll over on its back. However, at that point Baby Weiland must have decided it was time to take a nap after the earlier performance. You'll notice the baby's head peacefully resting on Mommy's bladder catching up on some "Zzzz's."

The next picture shows the baby's head, body and his or her right arm, elbow and hand.

The last one was actually our first-ever baby picture. Shelly and I, along with the UT got a nice chuckle out of this one. Apparently, our baby is going to be a future rocker and as a result the UT decided to entitle this picture "Ozzy." If you look at the center you'll notice the baby's hand with its pinkie and index fingers sticking up while the middle and ring fingers are tucked down. Apparently, our baby was jamming that morning. Needless to say, it was yet another wonderful moment that only made us happier.

Well, that's it for now. We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and coming soon will be pics of the nursery furniture!

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! John and I had a wonderful holiday that was spent with both of our families. It was exciting to show off my ever growing baby bump to both sides and receive further thoughts on whether this little one will be a boy or a girl.

We received an early Christmas present when we had our first ultrasound on the 22nd (pics to follow). Everything looked great and we feel so blessed to have received such great news.

Another present we received came the day after Christmas when I felt the baby kick for the first time! I had been asked several times if I had felt anything and I was beginning to think I was never going to be able to distinguish if what I was feeling was indeed the baby or if it was just me. I kept hearing about these "flutters" and found myself analyzing every little thing I felt. Sure enough, I felt that little "flutter" and a smile instantly appeared.

As the year comes to an end, John and I have plenty to be thankful for as we look back on 2009. This past year brought us good health, continued love and support from family and friends and of course, the wonderful news that our family will be expanding. We look forward to ending the year and starting a new one with the entire Burch family in West Bend. With our niece and nephews around, it will give John and I plenty of opportunities to get our "baby practice" in!

We would also like to wish Unkie Jeffy and Benjamin "Button" Burch a big happy birthday tomorrow! The Godfather/son share the same birthday because we all know that sharing is caring! Happy birthday! We love you both!

Good News!

Today Shelly and I got a very welcomed letter in the mail from our Doctor's office. As we referred to in our post last week, we had some common tests taken to determine if our soon-to-be bundle of joy was subject to a few specific birth defects. Those tests included a screen for Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida and Trisomy 18. Well, we are thrilled to announce everything came back negative! It was definitely a wonderful way to start the day.

Other than that, Shelly and I have started to narrow down a theme for our nursery, including paint colors, a crib and other furniture. With how fast Thanksgiving has come and gone and with Christmas right around the corner, its amazing to think how close May 8th is getting. Speaking of which, I guess that means our little one is due exactly 5 months from today! Score!

Where Did That Come From?

It's amazing what a difference three weeks can make - or better yet, 24 hours. I woke up this morning only to find that my baby bump grew overnight. With this expanding belly, I found that my hand just had to gently rest on it all day due to this new feeling. While the nausea I've experienced has reassured me that I am pregnant, the physical changes are much more exciting!

John and I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and everything still looks great. You wouldn't believe it by looking at the picture, but my weight has remained the same since prior to getting pregnant. While my doctor stated that she was okay with that, she did add that if I don't start to gain a couple of pounds she is going to put me on the "Snickers and ice cream" diet. Um, can someone say fabulous?!

For those of you that believe this little one will be a girl, you will be happy to know that the heartbeat was at 150. I also received the H1N1 vaccine and after some discussion, John and I agreed to have some tests run to see if the baby is subject to a few specific birth defects. We have to wait a week until we receive the results so we are praying that everything comes back normal.

Given that I am 17 weeks along, we have an ultrasound scheduled in three weeks. Needless to say, we are thrilled and simply cannot wait! What better Christmas present than to see a picture of our baby!

We hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! And yes, I do realize that I'm wearing a tank top while the fireplace is on. :)