Baby mecca and a perk of pregnancy

Finally, something to do! As evidenced by the lack of posts on our family blog, the last month or so has been relatively uneventful, at least on the baby front. We went in for another checkup (Squirtle's heartbeat is still the most wonderful sound in the world) and Miranda's morning, noon and night sickness has begun to subside (a huge relief, as you might imagine).



This weekend, Miranda and I decided to start our baby registry. So, we ventured to the land of baby stuff, Babies "R" Us. Two separate in-store trips and several hours of online research later, Squirtle's registry had nearly 90 items. And that doesn't even include everything we plan to get. Who knew that a kid needed so much stuff? Surprisingly, when you add up the cost of it all, it actually doesn't come out to that much. Thank goodness for small miracles.

If you'd like to check out the registry, click here.

During our trips to Babies "R" Us, as well as the mall across the street, we got to experience one of the few perks of pregnancy (which I will sorely miss after Squirtle graces us with his presence): Expectant Mother Parking.



These spaces are like Handicap parking, except you feel proud and excited as you walk away from your car. The expectant mother parking at Babies "R" Us is especially fun, as it is plentiful and adorably marked.

Remember when Squirtle was just the size of a little blueberry?!?

Last Friday Geoff and I went in for my 12 week check up. As a side note, can I just mention how much I adore that my husband is as excited as I am about this pregnancy and how he insists on going to all of the appointments with me? I'm sure I'll have a long mushy post soon all about how amazing he is in general and how he's so beautifully stepped up to the plate as the father-to-be/husband of a crazy pregnant lady.

Anyway, the checkup. First came my oh so favorite part: the weigh in. Now, I know the number on the scale is going to sore fairly soon, but I was fairly worried about gaining too much in the first trimester. Everything I've read said that most women gain from 2-5 lbs. At my last appointment, at 8 weeks, I had gained 2 lbs. So for a month I kept telling myself I could only afford to gain 3 lbs, max. However, a lot of the fruit and other healthy food I had been craving early on had lost its appeal due to my morning/afternoon/night sickness. I felt I was eating a lot of bready foods and starchy potatoes so I was slightly uneasy when I stepped on the scale. However, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I had lost 3 lbs. The nurse assured me that this was very common and that I was still right on track. Yay!

We then went into our exam room, which was inexplicably decorated with beach decor, and perused some pamphlets while waiting for the doctor. By the way, my actual doctor is named Nadine Gravens. She's been my OB-GYN for about 8 years and was the surgeon for my laporoscopy a few years ago. She, or course, is extremely busy and while we were supposed to meet with her this visit she was called to the hospital for a surgery. Instead, we met with Erica Brown, a PA-C, whom we've seen at each of our previous appointments. Erica came in with a little Doppler device and proceeded to prod my belly searching for Squirtle. It's a little unnerving those first few minutes when you don't hear anything, or you do but she tells you it's my heartbeat. But THEN there it was: the most precious little sound I've ever heard. The sound of the littlest member of the Tuttle family's heart happily beating away.

Squirtle was moving around a lot that morning, causing the Doppler to emit an odd sound every so often. Erica told us that everything sounded perfect and that s/he sounded pretty happy in there. When she was done she asked if we had any questions. The only thing we weren't sure about was when we could find out the gender. Erica told us at about 22 weeks. We'll most likely continue to have an appointment every 4 weeks, so we'll probably find out at our 24 week appointment which just so happens to fall on Halloween. This seems like forever from now as we're fairly anxious to find out, but we'll just try to enjoy the speculation until then. With that our appointment was over. Our next doctors visit will be September 4 and I'll be just under 16 weeks.

Just like that we had passed our first big milestone: the first trimester. Wow.

Ah, the power of eBay

Direct from Hong Kong, Squirtle has arrived! No, we didn't adopt a Chinese baby. We acquired a plush toy (no longer available in the states at retail) of our actual baby's current namesake. It's the turtle Pokemon from the original game. He's cute, he has a funny voice, and his toy form is now officially our kid's first stuffed animal. Or, it will be once they're born. Hopefully, by renaming our baby before he/she meets the "real" Squirtle, we can avoid a cataclysmic explosion due to some sort of space-time anomaly as worlds collide. Uh... right.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Here's a still shot from today's ultrasound. Sorry for the quality, it's from my cell phone camera. Note that Squirtle's head is on the left.

According to the doctor's measurement during the ultrasound, Miranda is currently 7 weeks, 6 days pregnant. That puts the official EDD at February 21st, 2009.



Kinda looks like a spaceship, right? No? Maybe it's just me.

Like a Deer in Headlights

The waiting game just got a little more bearable.

Today, we went in for the second doctor's appointment, the main purpose of which was to get an ultrasound that would hopefully reveal Squirtle in all his/her glory. And glorious it was. Not only could we actually see our blueberry-sized embryo, we also saw AND heard its heartbeat! The effect this had on me (and Miranda, I'm sure) is indescribable. I didn't know what to do or say. I could only stand there and stare at the monitor, mouth agape, periodically mumbling pathetic understatements like "cool" and "awesome". I vaguely remember squeezing Miranda's hand really really hard.

So it's confirmed: Squirtle is alive and kicking.