Meet our Baby GIRL!!

Baby Tad is a girl!! We couldn't be more excited, she is absolutely perfect! The ultrasound tech gave her soaring marks (What can I say, she is a perfectionist like her mommy!) and she is 100% healthy. Andrew and I are already so in love with her! I get giddy every time I think about the fact that the baby growing in my tummy is a SHE baby! She doesn't have a name yet, but we are working on it! I can't wait to start buying her little tiny pink things... she is going to have a closet full!

We now PROUDLY introduce you to our beautiful daughter... she is absolutely amazing!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow is the big day! FINALLY! Patience is a virtue I do not possess! :)

Not only am I super stoked to hopefully get a money shot of Tad and start doing some serious shopping, but I am also really excited to see him/her again. At this ultrasound they are going to check all of Tad's vital organs and make sure everything is developing properly. I am sure they will find a very large brain! :)

Speaking of milestone developments, research has shown that babies at about 19 weeks gestation are beginning to hear. As soon as I read that, I started talking to him/her directly. I may have even sung Tad the famous banana song. (Don't know what I'm talking about? Call me, I will sing it for you!) Feel free to call and I will let you talk/sing too!

Tad is growing away - I hear I can expect to get bigger and bigger. S/he may be moving around in there, but I am having a hard time distinguishing movement from bubbles! This week, Tad is THIS big.... much more appetizing than a turnip or onion! (Its a mango people!)

How far along? 19w (holy moly, almost half way there)

Total Weight Gain? Official weigh in tomorrow - my new love of vanilla ice cream with blueberries and granola may affect the outcome! :)

Maternity Clothes? Still just pants... and bathing suits!

Stretch Marks? Nope. I don't want to say too much for fear of jinxing it!

Sleep? Again, what?! I do sleep with an extra pillow under my bump now. Super exciting, I know.

Best Moment this week? Duh. Hopefully finding out what parts Tad has... and seeing him/her again. Also we are going to order our nursery furniture this weekend. (I will post more about nursery plans soon!)

Food Cravings? Peaches, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Egg Sandwich (Plain egg, salt, pepper, wheat bread). YUM!!

Sex of baby? 22 hours to go!

Belly Button? Still "shallowing" out. Ew.

What am I looking forward to the most? Tomorrow's ultrasound (I bet you didn't know that!) and SHOPPING for baby Tad! Believe it or not, I haven't bought ANYTHING yet. I plan to remedy that this weekend in a major way. (Mom is coming!!)
Milestones? I bet you can't guess!

Wanna see a pic of my bump? The look on my face is because it took the camera awhile to take the picture - I was kind of over it!

17w1d

... and exactly 2 weeks until we know if Baby Tad is a boy or a girl. Is it just me or is time crawling by??

I sign up for multiple baby email newsletter things (basically just to clog my inbox since I don't really get any other emails!) and two of them always compare the baby's size to a fruit or veggie. It was cute when baby was the size of a blueberry and a raspberry. A lime was a big favorite for my friend Katie (I think that was 12 weeks). So yesterday I get the 17 week emails, and do you want to know what these silly websites are comparing the size of my beautiful, sweet baby to? A turnip! Gross... my poor baby. Don't worry - we won't call you Turnip. I quickly, quickly go to check the other site, thinking they would compare my baby to something much more desirable... and this is what I get:
An ONION!?!?! Seriously... and I LOVE onions. But let's think of something a little sweeter! :) It was, however, very exciting to read that Tad now has distincitive prints on his/her tiny little fingers and toes. And his/her skeleton is turning to bone, which seems like a pretty important developmental milestone. All in all, a big week for baby Tad, the turnip, er, onion.

I have been seeing this weekly survey on some blogs that I follow, so I thought I would give it a whirl. Because I am lazy, I probably won't do it weekly, but it will be fun every now and then!

How far along? 17w1d

Total Weight Gain? about 3 pounds 2 weeks ago... so maybe 4 or 5?

Maternity Clothes? Just pants - I still rock my regular tank tops.

Stretch Marks? Nope. Andrew keeps me pretty well stocked in Palmer's cocoa butter, so hopefully that will do the trick.

Sleep? I am not quite sure what this is asking. Yes, I still sleep! :)

Best Moment this week? I *might* have felt Tad on Friday. I don't really know what I should be feeling, and it certainly wasn't a kick or anything, but a tiny little flutter. I am on the look-out (feel-out?) for more!

Food Cravings? Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, Strawberries - Yum.

Sex of baby? We find out sooooon!

Belly Button? This question prompted Andrew and I to look at my belly button more closely. I think it is getting more shallow, and he agrees. Kind of gross, actually.

What am I looking forward to the most? Our big anatomy scan in 2 weeks - not just to find out the gender, but I am really just super stoked to see Tad again. S/he is a cool kid!
Milestones? I guess the maybe movement moment!

15 weeks!

Ok, I was going to try to update this thing every Tuesday as our "week" changed, but I already fell off the wagon. In my defense, the last week of school is insane and I was exhausted every night last week!

We had our monthly doctor's appointment today (I call it my "normal pregnant person" appointment). It was pretty ordinary, which I am not complaining about at all! I have only gained 3 pounds so far, which my OB said was great. In fact, he said I could gain about 5 more. Woohoo... bring on the queso! We listened to Tad, he answered my questions... pretty normal!

The exciting part was scheduling our anatomy scan!! Andrew and I are pretty lucky that we have gotten to see Tad 4 times already - that is way more than "normal" pregnant people get to see their babies! At 6 weeks, Tad was just a blog with a tiny flickering heart. At 7w2d, we could see and hear the heartbeat and make out arm buds and leg buds. At 8w1d, the arms and legs were very clear and we could make out the heartbeat without the doctor pointing it out! :) Our NT scan at 12w2d showed us that Tad really is a baby and not just some alien in my belly... those are the pictures you can see in the video. Well - at our anatomy scan, not only will the check the chambers of Tad's heart, his spine and brain, but they will be able to tell us if Tad is a boy or a girl!! July 15th - 3:30 EST. Mark your calendars people - I am stoked!

One more thing: Remember how I said I had only gained 3 pounds? Well check out this picture! Being five feet tall certainly makes baby bellies pop out sooner! (Taken at 14w4d)

So... here's Tad!

We thought blogging might be a good way to keep everybody involved in the life and times of Tad, so here we are! Welcome to the 21st century everyone!

It looks like we're having a baby! I can't speak for anyone else, but I am so stoked to meet this little person. S/he is totally worth the wait. :) We will post pictures and updates on this blog and hopefully you will all feel in the loop with Tad.

He's doing great so far! We got to see him last Thursday at our first trimester screening. He was being stubborn and a ham (who does that sound like?!), dancing all around and not getting in the right position to get the necessary measurements, but he eventually settled down. He is quite the head butter, and I think he may may be cursed with the Katz nose. Still, by far, the cutest baby I have ever seen. We got the results from the screening and it looks like Tad is at a very low risk for Down's syndrome and Trisomy 13 - s/he looked perfectly healthy!

Andrew let me buy a home doppler, so I am very lucky that I can hear Tad's heartbeat whenever I want. For someone as paranoid and neurotic as me, it has been a lifesaver. Most nights before bed, we listen to him swish, swish, swishing away. It is pretty amazing. The heartbeat stays pretty consistent around 163 bpm, which is perfect for where we are.

I can not even put into words how lucky I think we are to have this baby. I know s/he is going to be amazing - and we are excited to take you all on this journey with us!

We leave you with a little montage of Tad. That is actually his heartbeat in the background... we recorded it! Soooo cool :)