A Confession....

For those of you that don't know yet, Chris and I kept a secret for almost a full three weeks! We had our "big" ultrasound on December 11th, but wanted to wait until we saw our family for Christmas to share the results. Thinking it would be easier if people didn't even know we went, we kept that mostly a secret, too.

So... the results! Bambino was VERY active during the ultrasound, playing with toes and kicking mommy. The ultrasound tech had to work harder at her job, but she was able to confirm that everything was growing properly and we left with absolutely no concerns about the health of our baby.

And.... that she's a GIRL!! We've seen the "goods" and we can confirm that we actually have a BambinA on the way, not a bambino :)

Here's a side view that gives a great shot of her head, body, spine and one foot kicking mommy:

Week 21!

Week 21 -- Baby is a Banana! Average baby is about 10.5 inches and 12.5 ounces.
Week 21 seems crazy to me! I've sort of looked at the first 20 weeks as an uphill climb, and the second 20 weeks as a downhill coast.... so this is a bit scary to me.

Chris is working on the nursery this week. Our theme is "froggy tales" and we're using the colors of pale green, pale yellow and pale pink throughout the room. The walls will be yellow, with a few thick green stripes and thin pink stripes on each wall. Nothing crazy - more whimsical. So he's over there sanding and painting like crazy, with the hopes of our furniture arriving in about a month, to tie it all together.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from Chris, Julie and Bambino! We wish everyone happy holidays and safe travel!

Bambino is LOVING Christmas. I eat anything yummy and I get instant gratification of a few kicks within a minute or so :)

Week 20

Week 20 - Baby is a cantaloupe! I know, I know, mango to cantaloupe?? Remember, it's all about length and weight. Average baby at this point is 6.5 inches and 10.5 ounces.

Baby is doing great. It's active every day and I feel it on and off all day long. I was getting angry with mall traffic yesterday and was chastised by 4 kicks in a row - like "mom, chill out." No feeling from the outside yet, but I can sure feel it on the inside!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Week 19

Monday night the baby knew I was wondering what it was up to..... so it gave me my first night of major activity! I could feel it squirming around and kicking and generally just letting me know it was there. Ever since then, I feel the baby daily.

Week 19 - Baby is a mango! Average size at this point = six inches; Average weight = 8.5 ounces.

Next week = Halfway! :)

Week 18

Last week was a big week of change! I'm feeling the baby just about every day now - lots of tiny kicks. :) Also, Chris seems to be bonding more with the baby, because I think it feels more real to him, too.

Week 18 - Baby is the size of a sweet potato! Average baby at 18 weeks is 5.6 inches and 6.7 ounces. Developmentally, babies at this stage are a lot more active: moving, kicking, yawning, hiccuping, etc.

*Kick Kick* Baby's mad!

My back was hurting, so I was (being bad, I know) laying on my stomach. It doesn't feel particularly uncomfortable to me, and I was going to ask my OB about it tomorrow, to see when it starts being iffy for the baby.

I was just thinking to myself that I was in a prime position to feel the baby, because I usually feel it when there's pressure on my stomach, when *kick, kick*! It felt like I was being flicked on the inside.

I took the hint and got off my stomach.

Week 17

Baby is the size of an onion (length and weight)! We did the measurement conversions of what my website said the average size would be at this point, and that's about 5 inches and 5 ounces. Wow.
Developmental milestones typical for week 17:

*Baby's growing fat, its cartilage is turning to bone, and it now has fingerprints!

*Baby can now start hearing things outside the womb pretty clearly now. I'm sure it liked the Vivaldi at the church Christmas program today much more than the Romanian techno music it heard last night at Tommy Keegan's (yes that's an irish pub, but it's owned by a Romanian and yesterday was their national holiday).

I had someone tell me last night that I "look wonderful" and am "glowing". Nice time for me, huh? :)

Big news!

I felt the first baby movement last night. Just an internal flutter, but to a first time mom, it means the world! Soon will come the time when I'll feel real kicks and turns, and even be able to feel them on the outside!

Oh yeah....

I've been going to the chiropractor weekly since week 14 and it's really helped with the sciatic nerve pain - almost gone, except for when I push myself too hard!

Week 16

Wow, last weekend was crazy!

16 people in and out of my parents' house all weekend - mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, 2 brothers, 1 sister-in-law, 1 future sister-in-law, 3 nephews, 2 nieces, 1 future nephew, Chris and I.... and that's not counting the two unborn babies!

I did a lot of cooking, cleaning and entertaining, but had a good time. But boy, was I lazy on Sunday!

Week 16 - Baby is an avocado! YUM. I'd really like an avocado right now. According to the website, the baby is growing eyelashes and eyebrows and the ears are now starting to pick up sounds... eek - gotta start watching what I say! :)

Week 15!

Baby is a navel orange! Wow, that really seems big.
I guess that explains why it feels like my stomach is expanding all the time, but I've not gained too much weight - baby's making room! Baby is starting to make bones this week, so the lengthening will really start now -- especially if it takes after the taller members of its family (Roberts's in particular are tall folk).

Mommy has been terribly spoiled by everyone around her:

----Chris has been diving back into his love for cooking, and I've been benefitting! He's made an incredible chicken/black bean/rice soup a few times and last night he made a great chicken dish with root vegetables (butternut squash, turnips, carrots, potatos...yum). He takes a recipe that looks interesting and tweaks it to fit what he knows I'll like and what ingredients he can find.

----Grandpa Tom and Linda (Chris's dad and step-mom) came down last week, with a small pile of baby gifts :) There's nothing like a teeny little outfit or a soft blanket to make a future-mom melt! We had a good time while they were in town and Chris cooked for them, too! Linda's mom is working on a blanket for the baby, which I think is too sweet.

----"Granny D" (Chris's mom) sent me a massaging/heating chair seat to help with my back pain/sciatic nerve pain. I was chillin on that all afternoon yesterday.

See how spoiled I am? I know it's all for the baby, but the incubator is definitely benefitting. And all the grandparents have offered to each buy a piece of furniture for the nursery, so we feel SO blessed to not have to worry about those items. Life is good.

13.5 week OB appt

Baby is doing well, mommy is gaining the appropriate amount of weight.... woohoo!

Our OB is wonderful. She went to find the heart beat and warned us that it may take a few minutes to find it. Nope, it popped up right away! But the baby was not as cooperative as she originally thought.... it kept moving on her! Every time she found the heartbeat, it would get out a few good beats and disappear.

It's like the baby was saying: "Leave me alone, I'm not in the mood for your cooing and happiness!"

Week 14...

Baby is a... lemon? Hmm... I thought peaches were larger than lemons? I checked on this, and it seems they are referring to length and weight. I understand now!
Update on mommy: I've been experiencing the dreaded sciatic nerve pain for about a week now (translation= pain in the butt). It's terribly painful and has limited my mobility somewhat. I'm hoping that when things slow down a bit next week, Chris and I can work on stretching and such to move whatever's pinching the nerve.

Moving into Week 13 - PEACH!

Ahh... the elusive second trimester. When I'll supposedly get my groove back... or my energy at least.

What's happening to baby: "Forming teeth and vocal cords (for future fun) and setting up the first kick." Baby is the size of a peach

Week 12 - Baby is a Plum!

Plum-- wow, that seems big.

The weeks have gone by so fast, and it seems weird that I'm almost in my second trimester!

I'm finally getting around to posting the following picture....

This was taken during the weekend with Chris's mother, during which we told her about the baby. I was taking their picture and this time, instead of "say cheese!", I said "say....Julie's pregnant!" I think this picture is funny, because it looks like (in my opinion) my mother-in-law is looking at Chris like "did you know this?". Perhaps not, perhaps she's just looking at him in happiness, but it seems funny to me.

I've been feeling good this week. My job stabilized, after a busy week of transferring out 80% of my Franklin County cases for those in our new stomping grounds. Busy, nerve-wracking, but good in the long run.

And how is daddy feeling??

I think this picture says it all-- he's feeling happy... and well fed. He finishes all my meals for me, when baby says "enough!" We're both quite well.

What fruit/veggie is the baby today?

Several have asked me to post what fruit/veggie the baby is each week. I get it off a baby website, a weekly log of what size the baby is. So, to bring you up to speed....

Week 4- Poppyseed

Week 5- Appleseed

Week 6- Sweet pea

Week 7- Blueberry

Week 8- Raspberry

Week 9- Green olive

Week 10- Prune

Week 11- Lime

NYC Wrap-up

The trip was great, but a bit much on my exhausted pregnant body. I can't wait for the second trimester - they say I'll get some energy back! The city is great, and we saw a lot of great things.
We got to have dinner with my friend, Jill, before her show - Curtains. Then, we got to go backstage afterwards. We also saw our friend, Carrie, for a night of walking around and sight-seeing.

Jill and I before her show - Curtains was great!

Chris by the Statue of Liberty

Carrie and I in Central Park

Start spreading the news....

.... we're off to NYC tomorrow!

Going to see an old friend, Jill, in her Broadway show, Curtains! We'll spend 3 nights paying a dirt cheap price for a swank hotel on Madison Ave (thanks Christine!) and seeing the sights. We'll also get to see our friend Carrie, who's working out in the country somewhere.... she's coming in for a few hours on Sunday.

I'm still exhausted every day, so I'm very thankful we have a hotel right in Manhattan, for afternoon naps! :) Wish us luck!

Baby looks good!

Yeah, the baby is awfully small, but a beautiful sight. We saw the heart beating before we could really make anything else out. It was going crazy - somewhere in the mid-170's. They we could start making out the head and...well... the rest of the blob :)

Turns out, Bambino was casually resting against the uterine wall, so it made making out any details a big tricky. But there was no mistaking the noggin of the offspring of two people with 5 college degrees between them ;) He/she looks smart already.

We'll go back monthly, and then have the "big" ultrasound (where they try to make out the gender amongst other things) sometime in late December, when I'm 20 weeks.

My due date was changed to Mother's Day! May 11th

If you click on the pic, it makes it larger. I swear you can make out a nose and an ear... but that's probably my imagination.

Finally telling Chris's family

So we told my family early, because of the unexpected gathering for the funeral, and now we have the planned second half of "the telling of the grandparents". We knew we'd see Chris's mom this weekend, and were hoping to see Chris's dad another weekend, but they're having trouble finding a good time to come down, because of a weekend class that Linda's taking.

Thus, "Grandma" will find out in person, and sadly "Grandpa" will find out via the telephone. Not what we imagined, but good news is good news however you get it, right? :)

Wish us luck!

What a weekend!

It was a long weekend of travelling and time with family. But it was very nice to have an opportunity to see everyone and celebrate my grandma's life. She lived a long, full life, and I know she's very happy to be in heaven with my grandpa.

We took the opportunity to tell my parents. We wanted to wait until after our first OB appointment (and ultrasound), but it seemed like a good opportunity to celebrate the gain of new life after the loss of another.

My parents took the news very well -- very happy to be getting their 6th grandchild! My brothers are excited -- Jeff especially kept following me around with food, to keep his niece/nephew full of necessary nutrients. They promised to keep it a secret for a few weeks, until we tell Chris's family, but that didn't last long.... the aunts/uncles/cousins/etc that were in town for the funeral all found out and are very happy, too. Our baby will be the 14th Roberts great-grandchild.

On my end, I'm happy to be home in my own bed. Travelling while pregnant adds extra discomfort and double the bathroom stops!

Sad news

My Grandma passed away last night, after a devastating stroke almost 2 weeks ago. She was a great lady, and I know she missed her husband, my grandpa.

I take comfort in that, even though she did not know our big news, she now knows - and I know she must be very happy for us. Our baby shared the earth with her Great-Grandma Jackie for 5 weeks! :)

And the next question..... "How are you feeling?"

The day before I tested, I was exhausted and took an uncharacteristic (for me) 2 hour nap. That should have been my first clue. The next day, and a few other days this week, I've taken 1 hour naps. Fatigue is definitely my #1 symptom! Next in line is the bloating. I feel like everything is already tight, but that's a very common symptom in the first few weeks of pregnancy. That should subside in a couple weeks, leading way to the all-famous morning sickness! :(

I've been trying to eat as well as possible, and have cut out any "diety" stuff that includes artificial sweeteners. I'm following the guidelines given to me by all the big pregnancy gurus, including drinking decaf and limiting to a mere cup of caffeine every couple days. That's rough.

Guess what?? We're having a baby!!

I certainly hope that no one finds out the news this way, but just in case... here's the news :)

Chris and I found out last week - on Labor Day, no less - that I was 4 weeks pregnant! Yes, this means that Bambino 1.0 was on hand to experience his/her daddy's graduation from OSU!

How I found out: I had my suspicions, and I waited for him to go to work (yes, he had to work on a holiday...) and took a test. Then I drove to the store and bought two more. Took one more cheapo test that morning, saving the "all-powerful" digital for the next morning.

How Chris found out: Feeling somewhat domestic and "nesty", I cooked a big lunch for Chris. When he came home, I trained the video camera on his unsuspecting face and gave him a present. It was a bag of scooter-themed baby items.

A reinactment of his response....

him: "what's this?"
me: "a present"
him: "a labor day present?"
me: "in a way..."
him (finding baby items): "this stuff's too small for me... what's it for?....wait, what?...really?....really?" (I was giggling and letting him come to his own conclusion)

Of course he was happy, but perhaps a bit skeptical. I took the digital test the next morning (and another test this week for good measure) and the news is the same!

Due date: 5/12
First appointment (including an ultrasound!): 10/1

The purpose of this blog is to keep family and friends involved with all the fun and not-so-fun parts of my pregnancy.