We've got movement!

I felt the baby! Well, we both did of course. Steph said she was starting to feel something while she was at work. We weren't sure if it was just gas...or something else. The first time I felt it, it was just like a little pulse.

I wonder what the baby was doin in there....was it a Jackie Chan style kick?

Or was it more like a Mike Tyson punch?

Whatever it really was, I just like the think of it as my little player giving his/her coach a high five.

Remind me after the baby's born that I need to teach him/her that the chest bump and fist dap are much more in style nowadays.

Shopper Stopper Storm 2009

The last time I remember DC being hit with more than 10 inches of snow was in 1996...I was a sophomore in high school. Does this mean it'll be another 13 years before the next massive storm hits? Poppy will almost be 13 years old - excited for sledding, snowball fights and hot chocolate on breaks from the winter wonderland.

While we both wish the little one was already here to play in the snow, we were kids at heart today on her behalf. We went out multiple times to measure how many inches had fallen, debated on whether or not we'll have work/school on Monday, baked a cake and had a mini snowball fight....(well, Michael threw one ball at me, which hit my arm and I pulled the pregnant card).

While Poppy couldn't see it, or feel the snow - s/he made her first snow angel today.....

It's here!

I'm still fitting in my clothes....but it's arrived. The much anticipated baby bump is finally here.

10 weeks....

16 weeks....

Happy Birthday Carrie & Mitchell

I know our blog is about our journey to becoming parents, but I feel like I'm already a mom......just to two little kittuns. It took a LOT of convincing to get Michael to agree to bring cats into our home. After begging and pleading, we started our search. We quickly found out that it wasn't "kitten" season - we were looking in January, and the influx of kittens wouldn't be until May. Determined to extend our family, I continued our search. We finally found someone who had a brother and sister in West Virginia. The boy was nameless and the girl was named "Flower". Based off two pictures, we made our way to Frederick to pick up our new "kids". I immediately fell in love with these two.....

It's been a fun four years with Carrie Bradshaw & Mitchell Hedberg. Some of my fondest memories:

- Their first night in our home - we had dinner plans, so we spent a good 30 minutes barricading them into a small space because I read that letting them loose in your home could be too much at first. Mitchell cleared the 3 foot wall on his first try.

- Mitchell escaping our Rockville apartment, ultimately locking both of us out. I had to take him down to the lobby to get a spare key. That was the first and last time he's ever seen a dog. He ripped a couple of holes in my shirt and skin from clawing into me so deep, fearing for his life.

- (This isn't quite "fond", but I'll never forget it) Michael brought them home after their "big" surgery - Mitchell acted like nothing happened to him, encouraging Carebear to play. Carrie couldn't walk a step without falling over. It was really sad :(

- Watching them chase toys on the hard woods and sliding 4 feet because they couldn't grip the floor to stop themselves.

- Carrie's "rolls" - When she is happy, she'll walk up to you and collapse on her side and roll on her back. I'll know somethings wrong when she stops doing this.

- Their obsession with meme (if you don't know who meme is and are wondering, email me).

- Their first day in our new home. While it's a little bit bigger, it's pretty much the same....just more carpet to destroy.

- Their first overnight trip at Mom & Dad's - which was also their first time they've ever been up or down stairs!

- Their unconditional love. After the worst day, I come home to two kittuns who are ALWAYS happy to see me (it's probably because they know they are about to be fed)....but there's nothing like cuddling with them at night while I watch my girlie shows.

Happy 4th Birthday Carebear & Mitchell - you've caught up with Michael in human years....but you haven't caught me yet....You'll always be my baby shnookes.

Will Poppy look like Michael or Stephanie at birth....

(Michael on the left, Stephanie on the right)

There's no place like home....

For all those that are wondering, we are not moving before the baby arrives. Michael and I live in a cozy two bedroom (with walk in closets)/two bath condo in Germantown. While the "second bedroom" has been home to our OTHER huge flat screen TV and our guests when they arrive, it's the perfect spot for Poppy to call home. She'll have her own bathroom, walk in closet & view of Target to boot! What else could a girl ask for!? (If Pop is a boy, I'm sure he'll be just as excited about the storage space for his wardrobe and to know that Modell's is just around the corner from Target)

We were not the first owners of the condo and when we moved in the carpet was in okay condition. Shortly after we settled in, our beloved cats Carrie & Mitchell started to do a number to it. We let it slide because we knew we'd eventually have to get it replaced when we moved on to a bigger place. Since the housing market has been as bad as the Redskins the last couple of years, we've come to terms with the fact that we'll be at Eton Place for longer than we initially anticipated. As soon as this realization hit me, I started thinking about the floors. Begging and pleading with Michael, he strongly said, "Let's save our money and wait until we move". I reluctantly agreed. Until Poppy came into the picture :)

I think our kid would have died from cat hair inhalation if we let one toe touch the carpet. Not only that - I was getting pretty embarrassed to have people over with the stains/torn up sections (Thank you Carebear). Grinning from ear to ear, we purchased our carpet from Lowes - making our first step to baby proofing our home.

While our carpet was being installed, there was no way that Carrie & Mitchell could have stayed at home. They freak out when they hear a phone ring, so I could have only imagined what they would have been like if they stuck around to see their 1100 square foot scratching post ripped up and thrown out the door. So we packed their things, forced them into their crates and took a ride down to my parents house. Was this a practice round for a weekend away kid-free? Would I make it through the night without having to call and check in?

I failed miserably. They were so scared when we got there they wouldn't even come out of their crates. When they finally did emerge, they cautiously scurried around to get familiar with their surroundings and found comfort in my dad's workroom. After a few attempts to have them come out from their EXTREMELY secret hiding places to say goodbye, I left with a heavy heart. Will they eat? Are they scared? Will they rip up my parents carpet? I fretted about them all night and all day. Of course they were absolutely fine and as soon as I let them loose back at home, they were back to the good old Carebear & Mitch.

Mom/Dad - Thanks for kittunsitting! As much as they looked scared, I'm sure they had a great time exploring a place that is twice the size of anywhere they've ever been. And I'm sure Mitch shed a few pounds going up and down the steps for the first time in his life :)

Now, I know my baby won't be able to hide from me and I know that Poppy will need my parents to make it through the night, but omg! If I was this upset about leaving my CATS - how the heck am I going to be able to leave my KID!? Sigh - I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

So I've heard that people start nesting right before the baby arrives....is that true? Because I think I've probably gone through every inch of our place and reorganized, donated or trashed something since finding out I was going to be a Mom. I guess I'm just a little anxious for the baby to arrive. I'm sure in about 37 days from now, I'll be grateful that I worked so hard to organize. The day we find out the sex - I'll just obsess over the nursery :)

We heart Poppy's heartbeat

13 weeks, 2 days.... 155 bpm (beats per minute)

I always knew 12 was a good number :)

Michael and I have been extremely excited to become parents ever since we found out Poppy existed, but my level of excitement reached new heights after we announced the future addition to our family. So many people have told me that being a Mom is the best thing in life.... I cannot wait!

While the nausea has subsided, I'm still waiting for this surge of energy that I was told I would feel once I passed 12 weeks (not that I'm calling you liars, I just haven't felt it yet). I do feel like I've actually slept the night before when I wake up, but I still find myself crawling into bed as soon as I get home from work. I still have hope that I'll turn the corner soon and will get motivated to, say go for a long walk, or make a dinner that takes longer than 10 minutes to prepare, cook & clean up. But for now, I'll keep on enjoying our new TV in our bedroom (equipped with the DVR box!) and the simple dinners :)

Last Monday was a bit of a whirlwind. We both woke up excited that we had reached 12 weeks, anxious for the 4:15 pm doctors appointment, and pretty much dying to get home and start calling/emailing our friends and family to share the great news. My work day consisted of staring at the clock and starting to "fill" my bladder (the fuller the bladder the better the picture) at around 2pm. You can only imagine the pain I was in once I reached the doctors office. They could tell I was overflowing because they told me to use the bathroom as soon as I arrived. I hesitantly went, wondering if now that my bladder was empty, our picture of Pop would be ruined. But who knew.....your bladder refills pretty quickly if you are hydrated, and by the time we were called back, I was overflowing again.

Our first sonogram experience was a bit different than this one.

A - The nurse:

Sonogram #1 - we were just another patient

Sonogram #2- it was like I was the first pregnant person she'd ever seen

B- The room:

Sonogram #1 - only the nurse could look at the screen, so in turn we had to react to her facial expression (see A - you can imagine her excitement and our anxiety)

Sonogram #2- not only did the nurse have a screen, we had a 32'+ flat screen TV to watch our baby

C- Poppy

Sonogram #1 - Pop was only 6.5 weeks old - while amazing, all we could see was the heart beating and the beginning of the shape of a human

Sonogram #2 - Pop was now a mature 12 weeks - the size of a lime.....arms and legs flailing. Our little one became a bit camera shy when it came time to measure the neck. Already has a personality!

D - The pictures

Sonogram #1 - We walked away with one picture that we knew was our baby...but it was hard to make out what was what from the picture we brought home.

Sonogram #2 - 7....we walked away with SEVEN pictures...3 were of Poppy's feet (because s/he was showing them off) but 4 were the profile of our soon to be son or daughter.

We received confirmation that Poppy is doing well, growing big and has a strong and steady heartbeat (159 beats per minute). We were up until 11:30 sharing our news, listening to advice and grinning from ear to ear knowing that Poppy's existence was now public. Our next appointment is tomorrow (yay!) - we're going to get a recording of the heartbeat for you to hear - it's simply amazing!

For your enjoyment, Poppy Seed at 12 weeks (I couldn't post all 7 because the files are too large!):

Covering her (his) face with her arm (her hand is sticking up over her head) - legs are bent at the knee (maybe it's a little too crowded in there to stretch out.....or maybe we've got a tall baby...I'm going with the former)

Do we have a soccer player on our hands? The nurse kept saying that Poppy was showing off his (her) feet! (The bottom of the feet - you can see the right leg)....

And.....we're public

Let's all breathe a huge sigh of relief.....

Not because Poppy is safe and sound inside my belly.....
Not because I've made it to the second trimester
but because we're ABLE TO TALK ABOUT IT!

So welcome to our blog - We are in the middle of calling/emailing all of you, but I wanted to open this up to the public.

We've been blogging since we found out about Poppy on September 19th, so why don't you all catch up on what's been going on, and we'll post in a few days (ok, maybe hours) with some more exciting updates.

Love,
Stephanie & Michael

Do I see a bump?!

Week 5 (carrying a sesame seed)

Week 11 (Carrying a fig)

the most amazing sound....

I'm an extremely inpatient person. I also am VERY bad at keeping things from people. Hiding this pregnancy and having to wait weeks to see how Poppy is doing is agonizing. It doesn't help the comments I'm getting at work (and I'm NOT exaggerating here- these were ALL said after we found out I was pregnant):

"Steph, how's your baby?" "Um, I don't have a baby"

"Steph, we're going to have a party when you get pregnant" (I'm the only person in my department that doesn't have kids)

"Steph's pregnant! Just kidding - she's just sitting in Brandi's chair so I thought maybe she was" (Brandi had a baby girl Oct 1st, so maybe I caught the pregnancy bug from her chair)

(I can't wait to see their faces when I tell them I'm pregnant and 12 weeks along!!!!)

While Michael and I just want Poppy to be here already, we've realized we have a ways to go. We've started to focus on milestones - getting to hear the heartbeat, making the big announcement, finding out the sex, etc. etc. On 11/5/09 - we heard the most amazing sound that verified the little girl or guy is still growing strong inside.

We arrived at the doctor's office early because I had a full bladder and couldn't wait any longer to empty it :) After peeing in the cup and weighing myself 4 times, I sat down next to Michael and reported that I hadn't gained a single ounce in the last four weeks. The books say you're supposed to gain 5 pounds in the first trimester, so immediately I got nervous that something was wrong. I've been eating whatever I can get down....not the healthiest foods, but more than I typically eat so I was (and still am) floored that I still weighed the same I did 4 weeks ago. Especially because Poppy has been growing so much! Never in my life have I been so concerned with my lack of weight gain. The nurse and doctor both reassured me that everything is fine - as long as I'm eating and taking my vitamins, for now, it's fine. There is something different about hearing your baby's heartbeat for the first time. Yeah, it was AMAZING to see Poppy's heart beating away, but to hear it. I could have listened to it forever. It's strong and fast - I did "forget" to ask the BPM (which they say can help figure out the sex)...but this time it was enough to know that Poppy's doing well.

Our next appointment is on the day we reach 12 weeks and enter the much anticipated second trimester. Let's hope the exhaustion miraculously disappears as everyone says it will :)

As you can imagine (from the lack of weight gain), I look pretty much the same week after week (even though my doctor says my uterus is shifting "up"...whatever that means!)

4 weeks (9.19.09)

10 weeks (11.2.09)

Just FYI, the blog will become public for sharing next week!

Love,

Stephanie

4 weeks.....It's only been 4 weeks?!

It's hard to believe that we've known about Poppy for only 4 weeks. I feel like I've been pregnant for a year....

While the nausea has somewhat subsided, the exhaustion is still going strong. I'll sleep the entire night, only to wake up feeling like I've slept 10 minutes. I'd like to personally thank Kane, Sarah & Sammy of The Kane Show on 99.5 and Mom & Dad (I love our morning talks!) for keeping me awake every morning during my annoying commute from Germantown to Bethesda. I struggle through work and on most days, find myself in bed within 30 minutes of coming home and barely staying awake to watch my 10pm shows (thank goodness for DVR!)

I haven't had a chance to blog since our first appointment, but Michael did a great job of relaying what we found out. I've been going to the same OB/GYN for 7 years now - it's still unbelievable to me that now I'll be going to see my doctor for a different reason. I used to pass by the "baby wall" (pictures of babies that have been delivered by the doctors at the practice) and wonder when my kid would make it's grand appearance into the world and get his/her picture displayed. Dr. Alter was SUPER excited to hear the news and said that if I can assure him that I'm delivering on May 31st, he'll make sure he's on call that day.

With all the physical changes I'm feeling, I'm not sure you can notice that our future child is slowly growing inside of my belly by just looking at me. You be the judge....

The first doc appointment

Going to the gyno was definitely a weird experience. I felt like I was 7 years old and I had accidentally walked down the "pink" section of the toy store. That place is supposed to be only for girls. But I'm so glad I was there for our first appointment. As a matter of fact, I plan to be there for as many as I can.

We found out a lot about our little poppy seed. Most importantly, she/he is healthy as an ox. We got to see a picture from the sonogram and it was amazing. It was almost like confirmation that this whole thing is really happening. It's no longer just a faint blue line on a stick, if you know what I mean.

Her heart is beating at 132 beats per minute, which I astutely pointed out is within the normal range at this point in her life (the website said it should be between 120 and 160 beats per minute).

She is about a quarter inch long and living inside a healthy uterus. Everything we're doing so far to insure that we have a healthy baby was confirmed as kosher by doctor Israel.

Our next appointment is scheduled for 4:30 PM on November 5th. Look for more updates then.

What's in a name?

Although Poppy is only 5.5 weeks "old", we're already starting to wonder what we're going to call her/him permanently...

So I bought a book (of course).....it has 25,000+ options.

We've got a lot of reading to do...

I love it when you call me big poppa...

Yeah that's right. I'm a poppa. To a poppy seed sized human whose intenstines are still located outside its body. It's a good thing the baby doesn't have to live through this terrible era of Redskins history. Hopefully by the time he or she is old enough to understand things like chicken wings, High Definition television, and football, Dan Snyder will have relinquished full responsibility for the decision making about football related matters within the organization and will have fired that greasy Pantaliano look-alike named Vinny.

I'm so excited to have a kid. Plus, you gotta hand it to my boys. First try! Those guys are faster swimmers than Michael Phelps.

I've already read the first 3 chapters of "The Expectant Father" and learned some important things. First of all, right now is the most crucial time for development for the baby. That makes us really curious but also really nervous at the same time. One day, it's the size of a poppy seed and then a week later its brain is the size of a poppy seed?

We can't wait till we can tell everyone about this...right now it's really hard to have conversations with friends and not tell them. But I'll wait until Poppy is Big Poppy to start celebrating with them.

Our first doctor's appointment is on Oct. 8 so we'll update more then.

Are we really having a baby?!

You would think it would have already sunk in after seeing the positive pregnancy test 9 days ago, but nope... I still find it hard to believe that a baby is growing inside of me.

That's right, Michael and I are expecting a little one around May 31st, 2010. There are a couple of reasons why I'm SUPER excited (some warranted, some pretty ridiculous):

1- I'm going to be a Mom.

2- I'm going to be a Mom before I'm 30.

3- My baby is going to be born in 2010. I was fortunate enough to be born in 1980...it makes it very easy to remember how old you are. Think about it.......

4- My baby is going to have the best father (he promises the baby will be reading by 12 months).

We found out about Poppy on 9.19.09. It happened to be Rosh Hashannah (the Jewish New Year). As I mentioned, neither of us can really believe this is happening...but we are super excited. I really don't know much about babies so any and all advice on the best way of doing things, best diapers, best toys, etc. etc. is welcomed!

We have started the weekly photos - I'm dying to start showing so I can actually feel & look preggers - right now it's just waves of exhaustion and nausea.

Week 4

Week 5

As you can see, nothing is really changing on the outside - probably because right now, Poppy is the size of a sesame seed and her heart is the size of a poppy seed.

You are probably wondering why I'm referring to the baby as Poppy...

I signed up for weekly updates to find out what's going on inside of me, how big the baby is, what I can expect to feel, etc. etc. and the first email we received said "Your baby is the size of a poppy seed this week". And there you have it....our little one's first nickname.

Love, Stephanie

Disclaimer: Not everyone knows we are expecting - you have been invited as our family or very closest of friends to view this blog. Please do NOT share this website with anyone. We started this as an easy way to share our journey with you - but again, not everyone knows we're already started it...so please keep it to yourself. Thank you :)