Hola, everyone! Today we had our 4th? baby appointment... I am 13 weeks and 5 days. The doctor said I should start trying to eat more. I haven't gained anything since my last appointment. We decided to go for the test that checks for Spina Bifida and Downs... the doc said it's only around $70. and they believe it's covered by insurance. They just take some blood, so no biggie. That will happen in two weeks. I guess the test checks for neural tube defects. Everyone cross your fingers for us.

Noel and I have been invited to a convention tonight at our local civic center. It's being hosted by a pro-life group, and while I've never delved into the abortion issues, not caring to get hard core for one side or the other, the cause they are supporting is pretty neat. It's a group called Birth Rite, which is an organization made up of families that volunteer to take a pregnant woman into their homes for the duration of the pregnancy and for 3 months beyond the birth. It's extended mainly to women who are in desparate need and have no other place to go. The organization is trying to get word out about it's cause because from what I've been told by a friend of mine, pamphlets used to be handed out at clinics where abortions are done, letting women know of their alternatives - naming Birth Rite as an option. Evidently this isn't done anymore, and the reason is mainly political. As little as I know right now, I'll probably know much more after tonights talk. I'm looking forward to it... I'll have more to share later on this topic.

On another note, I think I mentioned that we've been looking into getting a new home. We've looked online and have driven around to see houses. Nothing has really grabbed us yet, but I think now is as good a time as any to do it if we're going to... we're looking at trying to do something about our landscaping, too for when we try to sell our house.

Speaking of landscaping, last night when we were coming home from looking at a house nearby, our neighbor came strolling over from next door. (I say strolling, but with her elbows and feet stuck way out from her sides, she reminded me of a duck coming over for a little social!--she's very cool.) Anyway, she leads us over to the side of our house where my husband has some roses planted, and tells us in as nice a way as possible that we really need to think of chopping these monstors back. (I trimmed them a week ago, but they're still as tall as me) She explained that they should be trimmed back between waist and knee level unless we want rose bushes as tall as the roof line! I had no clue they would get that tall, and I mentioned that they are already leafing out, but she said something like "while the forsythia blooms, it's okay to prune" Anyone ever hear of that!? Evidently the yellow-blooming bushes around our neighborhood are forsythia. Hmmm... anyway, Noel's doing some pruning today, so I'm almost scared to see what we'll have in our front yard when I get home! Okay, nuf for now.

Yesterday, the sonogram machine arrived! Very quickly! I was nicely suprised and I tried it that night. Found the heartbeat with a bit of work, but it was there! Next morning Noel came home and I had him try to find it. Not only did he locate a nice strong beat (better than I did!) but for a couple of seconds I could swear I heard TWO heart beats... I'm thinking it might be a fluke though... maybe an echo? I think I would be bigger by now if I had twins. I'm at thirteen weeks now. I'll keep playing with it and see what develops... it's very cool being able to use it whenever the urge strikes! I'll probably keep it until I start feeling junior moving around. Also a couple of gifts arrived to my home from my friend Jacque... made it feel like Christmas morning! Well, I was very good and just took a long walk and now I'll be very bad and sit and play computer games for awhile... chat w/you later!

Well, I went to a book club meeting last night that I joined a while back. There's 5 of us... one of the girls brought her baby, and I just drooled! Well, not literally. But almost! :) It was nice getting away to talk with other estrogen-producing bodies for awile. Husbands are awesome, but they can't produce a genuine "girl talk" session.

On another note, Noel and I have decided to start looking for a bigger house. We went around the city yesterday morning, just driving around and picking up flyers. Seems like the nicest stuff with a bit of land is all over $200,000 and we're looking at around $120,000 on what we can afford. It's very frustrating, but I suppose sooner or later we'll contact a realtor. At least so we can get access to the MLS listings, although you CAN find some listings online. Noel even mentioned the possibility of using our 401K accounts so we can get more house. When we eventually sell, we could stick it into an IRA... we've got to work out the details, and I think Noel would only want to do that if it would reduce our mortgage payments dramatically... and if that happened, it would be easier for me to stay at home! But just so you don't think we're being flippant about it, we are considering contacting some sort of financial advisor before doing anything drastic like that. My ex-realtor father would be a good source, too.

Anyway, lots to think of lately... baby-wise everything is going fine, except for my upset stomach. At least it's not nausea! Thank God! Oh, and I found out that you can rent sonogram machines so I can listen to the babies heart beat! I might try that out... from what I've heard, they're around $30. a month.

All right, we're registered! Yay, I feel like we've hit a major turning point! Okay, so it's at Babies R Us... Target was too far away, and Noel wanted Walmart, which I just flat-out refused. We had fun! Went around scanning everything in sight. Noel was really into the safety aisle for awhile, until I managed to drag him away to look at strollers and stuff. They have an amazing variety there! The crib sets are unbelievable... so many kinds. I think we went with the cheapest one that turns into a day bed. We liked the Winnie the Pooh stuff, so that will probably be our main theme. I almost lost Noel in the chair department. He sat in a really nice rocking chair/ottoman set that looked as though it was made of some sort of imitation suede. I didn't even sit in it... just looked at his face and decided it would be JUST fine! As long as the daddy's happy with the chair, right? More comfy rocking/singing/feeding time for him and baby! And by the way, have I ever mentioned what a scoundrel I married!!? I love a lot of yellow stuff that they sell, which I'd make him scan, but then he'd go scan other colors of the same item! He's not fond of yellow, but for those of you reading this that might be buying something for me at Babies R Us for the baby shower... get the yellow item if it's listed! Ignore the rest! I think he thinks we're having a boy... he was avoiding yellow and pink as though it were the plague! Don't get me wrong, I like blue, but I want a little variety in life! I'm sure the baby will, too!
I'm not sure if we'll know the sex of the baby at the next appointment (March 30th), but I'm thinking it might be too early. That's okay, it's the spice of life, right? Okay, that's it for now. Love you all!

Well, I'm back on nights and having stomach problems. (Not related to nights) First time in my life I've had indigestion. (I'm assuming that's it, anyway) I get really hungry, then can't eat too much. That's the way it will go for awhile, though.

I just purchased a gift for Noel online. I'm thinking I may not have allowed enough time for it to get here... his birthday is only about 10 days away. I'll cross my fingers and make it up to him if it doesn't arrive on time. I should have bought him a years worth of housekeeping, but I don't think he'd appreciate it as much as I would! Our kitchen is in shambles. I have off Monday and Tuesday and so does he, so we'll make it a joint effort and take care of it. I would rather be the sole person responsible for laundry than have to do kitchen clean-up! But I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way.

People at work have started commenting on my pregnancy - things like, "I hear congrats are in order" and "how far along are you?" I'm starting to get the downward glances as people check out the size of my waistline. Nope, nothing yet. Although when I press down on my lower belly I like to think that I feel a bit of a swelling. I'm starting to have problems with getting some of my jeans buttoned up. If I can get away with it, I wear big sweatshirts and leave the top of my jeans undone. I don't think anyone's caught me yet, but when and if they do, my attitude will be pretty philosophical. I want to be comfy, and that's that!

So regarding names, Noel and I have been paying extra attention to the credits when they go by on the shows we watch. He saw "Amanda" and actually liked it! I think the only other girl name he really likes is Emily. I like Amanda better, but it still doesn't grab me... however, if Noel and I have some really sticky problems coming up with names we both like, I may have to compromise. Watching the TV credits helps, though. It's easy looking for names when you're also doing something you like! We plan to register at Target for the baby shower coming up in AZ, and I think we'll do that Monday or Tuesday as well. That's all for now, I think. I've got my next appointment coming up end of March and I think at that time we'll test for Down's Syndrome and Spina Bifida on the baby because of the seizure meds I'm on. The only one I'm semi-worried about is the Spina Bifida. We'll be thinking positively!

Oh my gosh, I can't believe how hungry I can get! I stuffed myself with a yummy, huge, New York Burrito at 5:30pm, and by 8:30pm I'm ready to eat an elephant! I ate an orange instead... I'm saving my leftovers for later in the evening. I'm working nights, so I'll probably try to eat around 1 or 2 in the morning. Good thing I keep food here at work! Anything that's not nailed down would be fair game!

Well,

I've had the last 5 days off from work which has been exceptionally nice! I've relaxed like you wouldn't believe, gone for my 20 minute walks a day (or tried to), and have kept myself full of good nutritious food when possible. I'm still not showing, which is driving me batty! I'm not sure how my mother did it - not showing until her 6th month! That would make me crazy. Ah well. I had a book club meeting on Thursday, where the hostess and myself were the only one's who made it. We stayed up till 11pm talking about kids and husbands and all sorts of different things related to family. Besides that, I finally started taking down some fish tanks in the guest bedroom. I've got two ten gallons on a stand that are 90 percent of the way taken down. The rest depends on how the wrench feels about helping me out today. If that goes bust, then there's always the husband. He's definitely good for that! :) And honey, if you're reading this, YES you're good for other things, too! xoxo This Monday I start my night rotation, so I'm trying to get used to staying up a bit later in the evening instead of conking out at 8pm. My body's been wanting to sleep for 10-11hours at night, which I know can't be good. At least, I get pretty bad headaches when I go that route. Ah well... other than that, I'm in hog heaven!

Well, two days ago on March 2nd, Noel and I went to the doctor ( I actually met Dr. Kaiser for the first time) and we got to hear the baby's heart beat for the first time! I was so excited that I started crying, then laughing. I think Noel was pretty excited, as well. He's calling the baby "the cadet"... That's fine with me as long as we've got something more permanent picked out in the next few months. And no, we haven't been doing much with names quite yet. We're still agreeing to disagree in that department. That's okay. Today and the next 4 days I'm off, and planning to do some work in the guest bedroom. Today was my lounging around the house day. I did take my 15 minute walk around the block that the doc recommended. I've got to admit, a little excersice can really go a long way. Okay, enough for now. I'm thinking about tackling a fish tank and getting it torn down and into the shed.