Elliott's First Photoshoot

First, I finally got my scanner to work! Hooray!

Second, here are a couple of shots of Elliott from our ultrasound yesterday.

- J & M (and soon to be E).

Elliott Zachary

Yesterday was our 20-week / mid-pregnancy ultrasound, and we got one of our first real glimpses at our little one.

It's going to be a boy!

When we found out we were pregnant, one of the first things we discussed was if we would find out the gender at this point. Jason was adamant: He had to know. I, however, was firmly in the other court (following in the footsteps of almost my entire generation in my family): No way. As time wore on though, I wanted to know more and more about this little being who made my mornings interesting and was making my clothes tighter. I started to waver. Jason knew it was time to make his case and convince me to know the gender ahead of time. I caved.

Part of the reason I switched teams was because while I get to carry the baby and know the baby, Jason doesn't get a lot of these experiences. He wants to be a really involved dad. If we could afford it, he would be a stay-at-home dad and be the happiest man on earth. So, this seemed like something I could provide him at this point.

So, it's a boy. His name is Elliott Zachary. He is perfect in terms of growth (after she measured, she asked my due date again, and he is right on track to the day). He weighs 15 ounces. He loves to roll around and flip. We even saw him do it on the ultrasound. Everything is 100% good. We'll post some pictures soon. He's perfect.

- J & M.

Week 19

Baby Yinger is in the midst of week number 19. For one of the first times in my pregnancy, I can tell that serious growth and progress is being made.

First, my body is growing at a much higher rate than before. I have a lot more stretching pains, and my clothes are fitting less well. I bought my first maternity dress (Old Navy was having a sale and I need a dress for work / special occasions). It's adorable and I can't wait for the weather to warm up slightly so I can wear it out.

Second, Baby Yinger is starting to get the hang of kicking and moving in a more definite way than before. Now, movement is less flutters and more definite punches or whatnot. He / She even had a case of the hiccups the other day, which was awesome / kinda wild. After dance rehearsal today, he / she wanted to keep going, I think. Someone was doing the cha-cha in there.

Finally, other baby related things are moving along. We found a new apartment, which we are super excited about. We have a hold on it and we are just waiting for the credit checks to go through. Pictures later. I know when my baby shower is and I'm helping to plan that as well. I'm almost half way through the school semester too, so my "leave-of-absence", as my boss calls it, is getting closer and closer.

Thanks for all the comments. I do have two questions for my readers.
1. For mamas (or other baby care-givers): What was the one thing you could not live without on your registry? We are planning on cloth diapers and breastfeeding, so take that into consideration.
2. For everyone: I'm looking for great recipes, including some to freeze for the early days of baby-life. I have some in mind (my spaghetti sauce, taco soup, and chili), but I could use others. Thoughts?

- J & M.

Right on Track

Baby Yinger is right on track, as is Mama.

We had our monthly doctor's appointment today, and it went well. Baby's heartbeat is 145 b/min., I am finally gaining weight, and the baby measured right on track as well. The doctor said I just need to continue eating right.

Dr. B also reminded me to be VERY careful with the icy sidewalks and such. She was on call the other day and so many of her patients were pregnant women who had slipped and fell. As she put it: "Be careful. Don't be a 'trauma'." If I fall, I'm supposed to call and come in ASAP. This makes me so nervous! I've been very careful, but some of our neighbors have not been very diligent with the snow and ice clean-up on their sidewalks, so I do risk it sometimes. La Salle and Philly U have been wonderful with snow clean-up and salt, and as a result, I feel pretty safe. Last Wednesday, I was battling a cold and they sent us home early, so I called security to shuttle me to the parking lot. I just didn't feel like "sucking it up" and walking. I don't like giving in to what looks like the "pregnant lazies*," but sometimes I think it's for the best.

Not much else is going on here. We're gearing up for a busy weekend (the show I'm in has a number of activities and fittings going on this weekend) and we're already feeling tired.

- J & M.

*Pregnant lazies: asking for help when you are just feeling lazy and use pregnancy as an excuse. Not to be confused with actually being really tired, sick, or in pain. I also want to feel like a 25-year old as long as possible and being pregnant makes you feel physically old very quickly. :/ All week last week I felt like I had to tell complete strangers that I was pregnant to explain why I wasn't helping my roommates or husband shovel the heavy snow or push the car out of ice. I don't know why I have that impulse. I guess I don't want people to think I'm lazy.

There is a method to our madness...

When we first got Barney (the kitten), he had this tendency to lick the shower and other similar surfaces, sometimes just after I had cleaned them. While he never got sick, this definitely made me nervous. I decided to check into more natural cleaning products. I found a spray from Method for everyday in the shower, so I bought it. After that, I was hooked. If I needed to buy a new cleaning supply, it was Method. Recently, my cousin (who is also expecting) and I were discussing what kind of products to use around baby, and she also suggested Method. That's kind of how I got Jason on board. He wasn't against them, but he also didn't see why I was suddenly obsessed with them.

To boot, everything smells really good. The first product I actually bought a while ago was hand soap, just because it was one of the best smelling on the shelf. These are the products I have personally used and can vouch for:

- Cucumber Multi-Surface: I use this for glass and for casual cleaning on the surfaces in our bathroom. It is fantastic on the mirrors.

- Ylang-Ylang Daily Shower Spray: The ventilation in our last two bathrooms has been terrible, but this product still seems to make a difference. If nothing else, it makes the bathroom smell nice.

- Eucalyptus Mint "le scrub": This is their bathroom scrub, and considering the remark about our bathroom ventilation, it is a miracle worker. It also comes equipped with this handy sponge holder on top. The top of the bottle is notched so you can put a sponge in it and let it dry properly. This is especially nice because we have a stall shower (read: no faucet to rinse while cleaning), so we leave it all in the shower in order to clean it while we shower. We also use it on the tub, sink, and potty.

- Sea Minerals Hand Wash: It's hand soap. It works well and smells nice. It also comes in a ton of other scents, if sea minerals isn't your thing. Finally, if you have nice soap dispensers in your bathrooms, they have these scents in a refill bag.

No matter what surfaces you may have in your home, they have a cleaner for it. Jason was especially impressed that they have granite and steel cleaners. If you have little ones with allergies or sensitivities, the website provides a breakdown of each ingredient, its purpose, and its health and environmental impacts. Aside from traditional cleaning products, they have a baby line and laundry line, which we might try soon, but the laundry line seems a little expensive for the amount we need.

Is there a product you can't live without and you think I should know about? Let me know...I'm new to the happy homemaker thing.

- J & M.

Bubbles.

On Sunday, Jason and I traveled to Whitehall, PA (just outside Allentown) to meet up with my family and my aunt and cousins for Christmas lunch. We always do this, since it's easier than traveling all the way to Aunt Rosemary's or all the way to Mom and Dad's. We usually do this earlier in the Christmas holiday, but my cousin Michael spent December in India, and he was stranded by the huge blizzard and couldn't fly into Newark.

After lunch, my parents, sister, Jason and I went to Babies R Us to look at my cousin Liz's registry (Jason and I are one of three couples in my mom's family to be expecting.) I'm making Liz her gift, so Jason and I took the opportunity to do a little baby browsing of our own. We tried out a bunch of gliders and actually chose a nursery theme!

We think this is a totally gender neutral theme with a lot of character. Jason and I both love blue and green, and with the furniture we already have (we're using my current dresser and my crib from when I was a baby...don't worry, we had it checked), and a little yellow on the walls, this will be a nice, bright place for the baby.

I also had a doctor's appointment today. While I didn't gain any weight (actually, I lost a pound), my tummy is growing right on track and the baby's heartbeat was 150 b/m, which is right in the correct range. Baby was hiding in the back, apparently near my heartbeat, and it was awesome to hear that little heart go. We only got to see the heart beating last time, but now we get to hear it at every visit. We also got the paperwork to schedule our "anatomy scan" ultrasound, which is when we get to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. It's also the half-way point of the pregnancy, which is crazy to think about.

Today was a big baby day. With the snow coming tomorrow, we'll probably stay in most of the weekend and get things done around the house....or not.

- J & M.

"You're Like Real People!"

So, it was not that long ago that I posted about our wedding. Little did we know that we'd be posting about this so soon.

We're having a baby!

I'm 14 weeks along, and while the first trimester has been challenging to say the least, I think the second trimester will be so much easier. I have a better work schedule, and from what I understand, the second trimester is the easiest of the three.

Jason and I are both so excited. We had been keeping this to ourselves and just telling close friends and family face-to-face. However, I think it's OK to put it here. Also, I haven't posted here in forever, partly because once we found out, there wasn't anything else to post about! We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, which is good because I need something for these sinus headaches I've been getting.

Otherwise, we are on the hunt for a new apartment. We need a little more space than in the last one, but we also can't stay here at the 4640.

Hopefully I'll keep you updated on all the baby things...I'm terrible at updating my blogs.

- J & M.

EDIT: I totally forgot to mention that our due date is July 7th! (thanks Marjorie!)