Totally not about Bean...

I have a program that analyzes visits to this website. It can tell me how many visits the site has had total, how many each day, where the hits are coming from, and even if you're using dial-up or broadband! It's really fun to see all the reports. The one thing it can't tell me though, is who is visiting. For example, since I installed the program a week ago, we have had visits from Rochester (Hi Mom & Reeves Family!), Ft. Bragg (Hi Jodi & Jay!), Syracuse (Hi Nodines!), various places in Pennsylvania (Hi friends!), San Francisco (Hi Diana!) & No. California (Hi Gina & David!). The most confusing hits, however, are the visits from someone in Tampa. How exciting! I had no idea we knew anyone in Tampa! Ben thinks it could be his uncle & aunt, but we're not sure. So rather than driving myself (& Ben) crazy trying to figure out who's checking us out from the Tampa area, I'm just going to put up this message. Whoever it is visiting our site from beautiful Florida, would you please either email us or put up a comment on this message so we know who you are? We'd be ever so appreciative. I love that Bean is going global. :)

***UPDATE*** We know who is hitting us up from Tampa! Turns out they're not in Florida or anywhere near it. It's Len, Suzy & baby Griffin in Iowa!! Why if they live in Iowa does it show they're looking at the blog from Tampa, you ask? We don't know. Maybe it's just wishful thinking now that they're getting closer to those horribly frigid northern winters. :)

Too Wonderful For Words

We had an ultrasound today and it was incredible!!

I am in awe. We were in the ultrasound watching our baby for about 30 minutes. Honestly, I don't think I've ever witnessed something so miraculous. Hearing the heartbeat was amazing, but seeing this perfect little one bouncing around like an astronaut in space was indescribable. Our baby is still so tiny, and yet we could see each finger, each vertebra, each little rib. We watched as he/she moved, jumped, stretched, & somersaulted. We watched the heart beating (145 beats/min!) and saw him/her opening and closing her mouth! The doctor said everything looks wonderful. Bone structure is good, nuchal translucency is normal, baby is measuring 13w2d...right on schedule.

After we left, Ben just sat in silence, shaking his head. I asked if he wanted to call anyone to tell them about it. His reply? "No, I don't. I don't think I could even come up with words to describe it. Wow." Exactly how I feel, honey. :o)

The empty "hole" in the middle of Bean's body is the stomach! It's full of amniotic fluid so it appears black. A little further down is another tiny "hole"...that's the bladder.

Shhh...the baby's sleeping!

When I was born, my dad built me a cradle. It's made of solid oak and it weighs a ton! Ok, not a ton, but around 50 lbs. He shipped it to mom's house and it arrived without a problem or any damage. Woohoo! So this wil be Bean's first bed. Ben is currently trying to devise a support system for it so it can sit up higher, closer to the level of our bed. I love this cradle. It will be the most beautiful piece of furniture we own, by far. It's the kind of piece that you pass down for generations. We're waiting for mom to find the liner she had made for it when I was born as well. How's that going, mom? :)

In addition to the cradle, Bean has another bed. We've purchased a crib! A little early...I know, I know...but it was such a great deal that we decided why pass it up?! So this is where our little one will lay his/her (honestly, I think it's going to be a her) head when they arrive. Maybe it's wishful thinking that the baby will actually sleep in the crib, but it sure does make us feel like this whole baby thing is really happening!

More beautiful than Jodi in her wedding dress...

Jodi and Jay's wedding (#2) this past weekend was beautiful. Jodi was the most beautiful bride I've ever seen - myself included! Jay looked amazingly handsome in his uniform too.

Even more beautiful than my sister in her wedding dress, however, is the sound I heard at the doctor's office again today. Our baby's heartbeat is so strong and so steady! :) I didn't get to have an ultrasound at the office, but the doctor is sending us for a screening ultrasound in two weeks. Hopefully we'll get to see our little jumping Bean then. Until then, take a look at THIS website! The ultrasound shows a baby at 10 weeks which is where I am now. Isn't it amazing that all that movement is going on already?! This pregnancy thing will never cease to amaze me. How unbelievably blessed we are that we get to experience it!!!

We told the rest of our family and friends about our baby this weekend. Jodi got Ben a "Dad-To-Be" button and me a "Mom-To-Be" button that we wore to tell my side of the family. The award for the best reaction goes hands-down to Aunt Lisa! I'll just say that screaming, yelling and lots of tears were involved. Anyone who knows Aunt Lisa can imagine how exuberant her response was! :) Both sides of the family have been so supportive and so excited about this baby. We've loved telling everyone. I've been asked often how I'm feeling. I'm feeling really really good! A few weeks ago, I was pretty miserable. As a result, I've lost weight so far. When they did the dreaded weigh-in at the doctor's office today, I was surprised at how much weight I've lost since this pregnancy began. The doctor didn't seem worried though. She figured I'd start gaining soon enough. I always wanted to be that beautifully glowing pregnant woman, but at the beginning I was afraid that I might be green and nauseous instead! Maybe the fact that I only felt really sick for a week or two is a little perk since it took so long to get pregnant. :) Maybe I'll get to glow. Either way, I'm thankful that I'm feeling so good and so thankful for the technology that allows me to hear my baby's heartbeat!!