Does this picture make my stuff look big?

That's right -- it's a boy! And since we aren't keeping that a secret, we can also tell you his full name (we're planners). It's Jude August Heyer.

The pictures are incredible, but they don't do justice of what it was like to see the baby move on the screen! You can see his hands, fingers, unbelievable.

The nurse spent about 45 minutes with the ultrasound machine showing us all kinds of different views of the baby. We were able to measure his waist (15cm) and his head (17cm). And we could see all four chambers of his heart and heart his heart beating at 168 beats per minute (bpm to those in the biz).

The technician took all of the measurements that she needed to take while the baby showed off his left and right profile. Third time's the charm, and he was a wiggler again. He did an entire somersault during the ultrasound. You could watch his body move in real time as Liz was feeling it.

Here are the photos from our ultrasound. Of course, he looks beautiful to me.

Okay, so the technician said that it was like he was sitting on a glass table and we were looking up from the bottom. So, those aren't his full legs, and it is a little misleading.

Don't you think that is a REALLY cute foot? Not just any regular foot, right? I know. He's a foot model.

A great detailed picture of the baby -- you can see how cute the profile is! Liz and I think that is his ear (the white part where an ear would be), but the technician said no. Hmph.

Cute, right?

Check out these two photos of Liz we took last night. Look how cute and pregnant she is!


"Hey, you see that bump? Do the horizontal stripes help?"


"There's a BABY in there!"

I think it's gonna be the most important day so far in my life.

Tuesday is the day that we find out whether Smalls is a boy or a girl. Hopefully, unless Smalls is being private and modest like Owen was when they went to check on him. I am pretty convinced that it is going to be the most important day of my life so far.

Not because Smalls is going to be dressed in blue with sports or pink with princess hats. No matter how much I support gender neutrality, there are still some things that are going to be different in my life depending on the news that I get on Tuesday. But nothing significant comes to mind. The things that I can think of are what color gdiaper covers I am going to get. Or if the storage boxes will have flowers or another pattern.

What does come to mind is the common threads between what I want my son or my daughter to be like.

Funky
Intelligent
Passionate
Independent
Free-spirited

Either way, I am going to be completely overwhelmed with anticipation waiting to find out if it is going to be Jude or Nora.

Smalls is One Lucky Duck

Smalls is only 19 weeks and the size of a large heirloom tomato, but one thing is clear - Smalls is one lucky baby. We've already been given so many special gifts already... here's a sampling:

(Super squishy soft activity center)(Frenchie little lovey with snail)(A little reminder of our Northern California days...)(A spoon that stores the baby food then squeezes it onto the spoon.. genius!)(Custom-made Dixon, IL onesie!)
(Snuggly flannel blanket - I wish it was in my size!)
(Hooded towel... perfect for bathtime!)

We are lucky, lucky moms and it feels so amazing to have so many people who have already made our baby so welcome into this world! Thank you!

And now we nest.

I never understood the word "nesting." You know, people throw it around all the time like everyone should know what it means. Nesting blocks, nesting mothers. I never understood. Now, I understand.

For the past three weeks, Liz and I have been nesting like fools (not quite like the insane birds in our tree outside our window, but pretty close. Not as loudly or as early in the morning.). This nesting has included:

• Two trips to IKEA
• Two Craigslist purchases
• One trip to Loews
• One overflowing garbage can
• One trip to the reupholsterer
• Three bags full of clothes to donate to goodwill
• Several nervous breakdowns
• Countless hours spend internet searching

The exciting part is that the fruits of our labor are beginning to show. Oh, yeah, that Smalls fruit is starting to show, too, but I was talking about the nursery.

Since we decided that we would stick with the bright green (Shrek green) that Dana so lovingly painted about 3 years ago. I mean, the guy basically used a watercolor brush to get that paint as perfect as possible. (Sometimes I worry that it may have some impacts on his sight later in life - I mean, the color is really bright - and I wouldn't want to take that for granted.) We just wanted to add black and white and have a color instead of a theme baby room. Like, it's not animals, robots, trains...it's green, black and white.

So, this weekend was the first time that we started to assemble things in the nursery instead of just dumping things up there like some sort of baby fairy is going to clean it up. And man, I am EXCITED about the progress we made. The beginning started a little rough. The IKEA directions showed the picture of a man with a rumpled mouth because he had questions about what's in the box. But we weren't scared, because we are true experts at putting together furniture. It all started back in '04 with putting together the sideboard with Erin.

Soon, though we were into it. Railings were already in place, and all we really needed to do was slap the pieces together. No need for rumpled face after all!

All of the animals helped us put together the crib...especially Sully. Now, he thinks it is his bed for sure.

With the crib finished, the room is actually starting to look like a real nursery! We think that our $99 crib from IKEA (of course, approved by Consumer Reports...I told you, countless hours doing research) looks pretty good! Next stop, ohdeehoh!

The first of Liz's crib sheets she is making is finished. We've bought several black, white, and green fabrics and found a great pattern to make crib sheets. The first one is hippo fabric from IKEA...I think that she did a fabulous job.

And then is our first Craigslist find, a black and white table for next to the glider (which we dropped off at the reupholsterer on Friday). I think that it is adorable and I love the $6 Ikea Light on top of it! Smalls and I are going to have some great times next to that table. Late, great times.

Before we collapsed, we put some of Smalls' stuff up on the shelves. Can you believe how many books Smalls has already? I know, you can hardly tell that one of Smalls' moms is a teacher.

More pictures to come soon, in the next episode of As the Mommies Nest.

The Nose Knows

We have had a major turn of events - Liz's sense of smell has developed a life of its own. I have heard before about the heightened sense of smell that many women develop when they are pregnant, and, like pickles and ice cream, I always thought that it was a myth. That is, until now that I have my very own pregnant woman.

Yesterday, our neighbor was grilling outside, and Liz couldn't stop talking about how it smelled like fish. Important note: it didn't really smell like fish. I couldn't even tell that it was fish at all.

This morning, Liz decided that our house smelled bad. "The whole house?" I asked. "Yuppers," she said. "The whole house." It didn't.

Liz is now like a bloodhound. My very own bloodhoud that will sniff out barbequed fish or regular house smells from a mile away.

Fruit? Is that all you've got?

I know that babies grow at a very fast pace, and it is all the rage for pregnant ladies and their partners to follow their baby "week by week." We, of course, always trying to be on the edge of what is fashionable for pregnant ladies, have signed up for these week-by-week emails from babycenter.com. We look forward to getting the email every week and learning what should be going on -- how E can expect to be feeling, different quizzes we can take, naming suggestions for Smalls, all that fun stuff.

What I can't understand is the weekly update on the size of the Smalls. It is amazing to me the details that they know about Smalls' development, so why can't they find something better to compare Smalls to than small fruits, legumes, and nuts? This produce aisle extravaganza started in week 4!

Week 4: Poppyseed. Really, like the size of those annoying things that get stuck in my teeth? C'mon.
Week 5: Seasame seed. I was hungry for bagels this whole week.
Week 6: Lentil. Just one lentil? Like A lentil in the soup?
Week 7: Blueberry. I want to know what happened to lima bean. Where's lima?
Week 8: Kidney bean. Phew.
Week 9: Grape. Green, red, globe? Who knows.
Week 10: Kumquat. We've moved into exotic fruit now. And I always thought that a kumquat and a grape were the same size.

I wonder if this is where they get they saying that giving birth is like trying to push out a watermelon. Do you think by the end of this fruit salad we'll arrive at watermelon?

We've got a wiggler!

So, Smalls is a wiggler. We had our very first ultra sound today, and Smalls moved around so much that it was hard to get a picture of her!! I thought that wasn't supposed to happen until much later, but obviously, Smalls is active.

I am not sure if E has told you where the name Smalls came from, so I wanted to test my best multi-media skills and post a video for you. Keep in mind, this was all Liz -- and yes, she regularly quotes the movie "The Sandlot."



We are so excited to begin the next part of our lives together. I can't believe it is real!!

Smalls First Picture!

Today was our first prenatal appointment today and we were SO surprised that we would get an ultrasound! We were expecting to get to hear the heartbeat (which did not happen) but it was way more exciting to get to see Smalls on the screen! Our nurse practitioner saw the heart beating (though neither TOM nor I could make it out) at 160 beats per minute (just right!). Smalls was wiggling all around but I can't feel it just yet.

Everything else from the appointment went well. My official due date is Feb. 27 and my next appointment (with the OB) is in 4 weeks.

It's REALLY real now!!!!!

No Growing, No Knowing

I'm 8 weeks in, but I haven't officially started growing yet. Well, my belly, anyway. My boobs... they've been INSANELY SORE and have grown to the point where I'll soon need a new bra and any non-stretchy shirts no longer fit. My belly, well, it's getting kind of bloated, but no real "growth" yet. I'll probably need to wait another month or so before that starts happening. I've been super lucky to not have terrible morning sickness, but that doesn't mean I haven't been nauseous and been TOTALLY adverse to some foods (melty, gooey cheese? BLECH!). I've managed to gain 5 lbs already (I'm dreading what the Dr. will have to say about that), but all but one pair of pants are still fitting just fine. I did buy a "Bella Band" which is basically a giant stretchy band that allows me to cruise around with my pants unbuttoned without them falling off (awe-some).

I guess the lack of being able to "tell" just by looking at me is good, however, because we still have only shared our news with our closest of friends. I'm really dying to tell, but I know we're not out of the woods yet and my first appt isn't for two more weeks. We're hoping we'll get to hear the heartbeat and get an update that all is well. Until then, we're in the ignorance is bliss stage and just hoping that all these symptoms I'm having are proof enough. The fatigue is getting somewhat better, though I did fall asleep at work the other day for 30 minutes. Good thing no one noticed!

So for now, it's you and me, blog.