The Name Game

Okay... it's time for some fun! After much deliberation, we've decided on two names (one for a boy, one for a girl).

We had this idea that it would be really neat to name our kids after us, but in reverse. The name we came up with for a girl named after her daddy was Jasey and we loved it! Jason means "healer; to heal" and Jasey means the same, but also means "a gift." So we just liked the name all around and it was a go.

Coming up with a name for a boy named after his mommy was a little harder. Of course, we originally thought of the obvious... Kristopher.... and considered Kristian... but for whatever reason, I just wasn't really "sold" on either of those names. I don't know whether they felt too common to me or what, but they just weren't sinking in as much, as quickly, or as deeply as "Jasey" had.

So..... I kept pondering........................

Kristy is derived from Christian (which isn't news to anyone...) so I started looking up Christian and trying to find other derivatives of the name. The first one I read was Carson and the wheels started turning!

I thought... Karson.... oooooh, I like that a lot! Karson is also derived from Christian (it sort of sounds like it a little if you think about it... makes sense), so Karson, like Kristy, means "bearer/follower of Christ."

The coolest thing (I think) about this whole thing is that Jasey and Kristy have the same ring to them as do Karson & Jason. Both names just seem to really fit!

So, as of now, we're pretty set on those names as our top choices. We thought it would be pretty fun to post a poll for everyone to try to guess what we would choose for middle names. But before we send you into the game blindly, let us explain a little bit about each middle name we're listing so you can make a better-informed decision.

Middle names for Karson:

• James - "to follow" - James is Jason's father's name.
• Josiah - "healed/supported by God" - Jason's middle name is Joseph. Sort of sounds similar, plus we like the meaning.
• Micah - "who is like God?" - with this name, Karson's initials would be the same as mommy's! K.M.S.
• Elijah - "my God is Jehovah" - This has been one of mommy's favorite names for years.
  

Middle names for Jasey:

• Margaret - "pearl" - Margaret is Kristy's mother's name.
• Jordan - "the descender/the watering place" - with this middle name, Jasey's initials would be the same as daddy's! J.J.S.
  
• Hannah - "favor/grace" - This is a name mommy really likes. Aside from being pretty, I think it would be a really fun way to teach Jasey what a palendrome means! :)
  
• Rebekah - "captivating/beautiful" - This is a name daddy really likes; plus one of Jasey's meaning is "a gift"... so a "a beautiful gift" is a pretty cool first & middle name.

So, now that you've been given all of this education/information... vote wisely! There will be great prizes for our winners...... (umm...... except voting is anonymous). Feel free to leave comments as well explaining why you voted the way you did! Have fun! (we sure did!)

Week 16

So I'm starting to feel like my belly is feeling more bloated than usual. It's a little hard to get a good breath sometimes... and that could also be because I'm completely congested as well... I love that I feel every single symptom listed on websites... of course I couldn't just feel a few... or a couple; every single one. Jason said it's because I'm an over-achiever. ha. ha. ha........

Good news is that the baby is bulking up too, now weighing close to 3 to 5 ounces and about 4 to 5 inches in (crown to rump) length, about the size of a granny smith apple. His/Her tiny muscles, especially the ones in his/her back, are gaining strength so he/she can straighten out a little more soon (at which point we'll start measuring head to feet).


The baby has eyebrows and eyelashes! And his/her vision is developing very quickly and the eyes are finally working able to perceive light and make small side-to-side movements (although the eyelids are still sealed). So, technically, we could play peek-a-boo with a flashlight! lol.

So, I know I read before on some other site that the baby's hearing develops at 13 weeks but what-to-expect.com says it's during this week! So, who knows! At least we can say the baby can DEFINITELY hear us now even if it couldn't the first 2 or 3 weeks we were playing Norah for him/her! Apparently it is THIS week that the bones in the baby's ears are in place, which make it possible to hear our voices or Norah's.

The baby's skin is practically translucent now, so if you took a peek inside my uterus, you'd be able to see the baby's blood vessels under his/her thin skin!!! It won't be until the last few weeks (as far as I understand) that the skin becomes less see-through as it develops pigment and as the baby gains more fat on its little body.

I just added tickers to the bottom of the site! Yay!

That pregnancy "glow"............ or jaundice.

Tonight I was at a Chinese Buffet for my cousin for her graduation party. My sister, Brooke, (pictured with me below) brought her camera and we took tons of pictures... and when I saw them I was like wow... I definitely have that preggo look. lol. That... ugh,-even-Chinese-food-is-unappealing-right-now-look!

I also felt like I look like I'm 12 yrs old (that may be an exaggeration)... but it explains the you-have-7-heads look I got at Walgreen's when I told the woman I was married & pregnant. I felt like she thought I was 16. I was thinking... do I really look or come off as that young? What's the deal? (feel free to leave comments... "yeah you look 12"...."you look your age".... "you look like a 43 yr old haggared mother of 7"....whatever.)

Psalm 78:4, 6-8; NIV

^"4 We will not hide [what we have heard & known] from our children;
we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.

⁶ so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.

⁷ Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.

⁸ They would not be like their forefathers—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him."

Psalm 78:4, 6-8; New International Version

This is one of many prayers Jason and I are praying for our little one (we especially love the line "even the children yet to be born"). Just that we will always remember to teach our children of the things God has done in our lives in hopes that their generation will be more loyal and faithful than our generation has been!

Dancing

This video was taken during our ultrasound. It was just an experiment... we could have gotten much more entertaining "footage" of el bambino, had we recorded it sooner, but we're hoping that next time we'll get a cool video! It's still pretty neat to watch him/her dance around in there... Hope you enjoy!

Week 15

Okay so it's week 15 now and the baby is about the size of an orange! The ears have migrated to the sides of the head from their original resting place; the neck. Thank God they don't stay there... how weird looking that'd be! The eyes are also moving to the front of the face and now the baby can wiggle his/her fingers and curl his/her toes and is starting to make breathing movements in preparation for life outside the womb. He/she is flexing those little arms & kicking those little legs... (I saw that on the ultrasound and couldn't BELIEVE I couldn't feel the calisthenics I was watching go on inside my abdominal gym!)

As for me, I again appear to be right on schedule, as I'm coping with a chronic stuffy nose as progesterone surges through my system (which is frequently mentioned in week 15). My "round ligament pain" is becoming more bothersome every time I change positions, stand up, etc... and my stinkin lower back (particularly the left side) is KILLING me!

Speaking of surging hormones and a sore back... poor Jason. He was rubbing my back for me yesterday and I was saying how this whole pregnancy thing is really rough on your body! He jokingly told me I was "such a complainer" and I just started bawling. He felt horrible... because he really was kidding and playfully messing with me as he listened to my ailments and massaged my sore back... poor guy. It was like he broke me and was trying to figure out how to put it back together! lol. He's such a good hubby...

Rough Day...

Ugh. I had a migraine that started yesterday at 1 pm and persisted through the night and ALL DAY today. I slept so much and it didn’t matter. Tylenol stinks when it comes to migraines and nothing helped.

It just so happened that I had a pre-natal appointment today and I had to go with sunglasses on (even though it was rainy) and I wore them inside for my visit. (Jason kept saying it looked like I had a hang-over....lol). The doctor told me to take an Excedrin, which I was surprised about… but she said it’s like a cup of coffee and the aspirin isn’t good to be taking all the time but if it might relieve the migraine, it’s worth it… just don’t take them very often (like one a day if necessary). It was the first time I felt normal in 2 days! And the headache is gone now! yay for Excedrin! One of my best friends in this world. As Tara said... "Excedrin [not beer] is proof that God loves us!" Amen Sistah!

We recorded the heartbeat and will be getting a Build-A-Bear monkey today! I’ll post pictures as soon as he/she is made! :)

OUR FIRST ULTRASOUND!!!

Okay, so we cheated… we just couldn’t wait for 18 weeks! (Especially when we had the opportunity to have an ultrasound sooner for free!)

Today, we went to Jefferson University Hospital in Philly and participated in a “study” that students in ultrasound class are doing. It was very very cool!

I was the first “patient” the students had on their own besides themselves so they were really excited and were so happy to explain everything they were learning to us! They took measurements of the baby and all of the measurements were indicating that the baby is growing at just the right pace! Each measurement showed the baby to be just over 14 weeks (one 14 weeks, 3 days… another 14 weeks, 2 days… another 14 weeks even…) so our proposed due-date is probably pretty accurate, since by that estimate we should be 14 weeks, 4 days!

The baby was moving around SO much when we first started! It was amazing to see a face and movements… waving, kicking, squirming… unbelievable! I wished the baby could see me too, but I guess we’ll just have to wait! The baby will see me when I hear him/her; it’ll be a trade-off.

This first picture (below) is one of the best… The pictures appear to be losing quality as I load them to this blog, but if you’d like to see them a bit clearer, go to facebook or come over! This picture is a full-body shot… a head with a defined chin and jaw line… a few little white lines for ribs, a leg, and either a hand, or a foot peeking from the other side of the body. Take a gander, will you?

This picture (below) is one of our favorites! The people who did the ultrasound let Jason and I take control of the little ultra-sounder and snap any shots we thought were cool. This one is one I took, but Jason really LOVES it because the baby is laying just like I do when I sleep; on the side with one hand under the head. These pictures aren’t as easy to see on here, for some reason, but this shot is definitely cute!



Baby Sucking his/her thumb…. not the clearest… the next one (scroll down) is a little clearer...
The above picture is a cool shot of the spine… but the main attraction is the butt (just kidding)…. the main attraction is the thumb sucking action! Again… right on schedule according to our week-by-week progression. The baby was moving around so much… almost waving to us! holding his/her ear…. touching his/her feet… sucking his/her thumb… kicking and squirming. It was amazing to watch but I couldn’t believe that I couldn’t feel it as I was watching it on the screen. It was very strange!



The photo below shows a pretty great shot of the baby’s spine, ribs, head, arm, etc. The chin is pretty defined in this shot… I wonder if it’s a butt-chin like Daddy’s!



The picture below (not very clear on here, unfortunately) is of the baby’s full arm, hand, and fingers!

Mozart Effect

I felt the most connected I have ever felt with the baby last night… even moreso than when we heard the heartbeat, believe it or not! Jason and I got out my headphones and I randomly picked an artist for the baby to listen to. I figured… Norah Jones would be great… She’s soothing, there’s a lot of piano and her vocals are great. She’s very talented and I am always relaxed by her music so I figured it’d be perfect. But… something happened when I put the headphones to my belly… I just started wondering what the baby was thinking… what the music sounded like to him/her and if he/she liked it. I was sure he/she did…because why wouldn’t anyone? It was just very apparent to me that there was a listening human inside of me and we were both grooving to the same tunes! It was an awesome feeling! I fell asleep with the headphones on my belly!

Right before I dozed, I had this really cool idea. Jason and I agreed that we’d like to do an experiment: We’ll pick a quality artist to play for each baby and only play that artist…until they’re born, of course; at which point we’d expose them to many different artists… Now, this is a two-part experiment. One: we’d like to see if that particular artist would be more soothing/calming for the baby than any other artist and Two: we’d like to see if each kid shows a preference for that artist later in life before we tell them who their special artist-of-choice was. We just thought it’d be interesting to see if they subconsciously favor their chosen artist as they get older.

Get back to us in like 10 or 15 years and we’ll tell you how it’s turning out. It’s one of those long-term studies, of course. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is Valentine's Day and it's also Jantzi's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUPPERS!!!
TWO YEARS OLD! I can't believe it! It seems like just yesterday when Aunt Candace dragged you across the country in the back of her Honda and brought you to our house on April Fool's Day! You were so traumatized by the car for so long, but we knew you'd pull through! We're so proud of you! :)


Happy Valentine's Day, everyone else!

Week 14

Okay, so I was mistaken… for some reason, I thought the 13^th week was the first week of the second trimester, but I haven’t “officially” entered into the second trimester until THIS week. (my bad). But… my nausea is certainly subsiding and my energy level is making a comeback.

One thing I started experiencing very frequently this week has been these sharp pains in my lower abdomen (usually when I suddenly change positions or when I get up too quickly…). I wasn’t quite sure why this was happening but I just figured it was normal. Turns out I’m RIGHT ON TIME…. That this pain starts to appear around 14 weeks and it has an official name: round ligament pain. It’s basically what I figured it was; the muscles and ligaments of the lower abdomen stretching to accommodate the rise of the uterus into the abdomen. So, I’m not crazy, abnormal, or anything like that… I’m a perfectly punctual pregnant person. (p-p-p-p-pppp-p-p).

In week 14, the baby is about the size of a lemon and is becoming extremely active, moving almost constantly! The baby is learning “better posture” now… not slouching or crunching up anymore… His/her neck is getting longer and the baby is looking much more straightened out (if we could see it).

It’s very possible that the baby has hair now that could possibly be his/her final color! The eyebrows are filling in too. The baby is also growing hair all over… a downy coating of hair called “lanugo” that keeps him/her warm & toasty! The monkey fuzz will shed after the baby packs on some pounds… but if it’s anything like me, it’ll still have black hair all over when it’s born!!! Lol. My mom held me for the first time and then cried and said “She looks like a monkeyyyyyyyy” to my dad. Lol. It all went away during my first bath (Thank you, Jesus!)

The baby is also able to clench his/her fists. It can wiggle his/her fingers and toes and even suck his/her thumb! SO CUTE!

Week 14, but sweet... not sour

Build-A-Baby

Today I stopped into Build-A-Bear to pick up one of the sound recorders so that we can record the baby’s heartbeat at our next pre-natal visit (next wednesday, 2/18). We’re so excited! We’re going to put it into a little monkey and wait to buy clothes for it until we know the gender of the bambino. Such a cute idea, right???!!!

So we’re full of exciting news! Let me see if I can remember it all.

One of our friends told us about one of her friends who is an ultrasound technician in training at Jefferson University right over the bridge in Philly. They’re looking for “pregnant models” to come in and let them do ultrasounds as practice & for educational purposes. I can go as many times as I’d like, as they’re pretty desperate for “models” and each time, they pay for my parking, give me free pictures & videos and let us listen to the heartbeat! How cool is that!!! Our first visit is on Monday (2/16) at 5:30! If the baby is extra cooperative, they MAY be able to tell the gender or at least give us a good guess! It’d be especially easier if it is a boy, obviously… but how exciting! There’s a possibility we may know as soon as Monday!!!

Next, one of my friend’s aunts had twins a few years ago and is trying to get rid of two cribs and some other baby stuff depending on the gender (she has stuff for both!) She’s going to sell us the cribs and throw in a bunch of extra stuff for really really cheap! So, we don’t have to worry about a crib and my mom can have a crib downstairs! So cool!

Jason’s sisters have given us all these neutral clothes that are SOOOO adorable! We have like 5 outfits for newborn and 0-3 months and a few for 3-6 months! It’s so cute to look at the clothes and fold them and we set up a little drawer in our dresser for those clothes! It’s so cool to be able to see the clothes and picture a little baby in them! It feel so far away yet so close at the same time….

Also, Jason’s sisters helped me find a diaper bag that I LOVE and I’ll post a link to it if anyone wants to take a peek! I LOVE it!

Petunia Pickle Bottom

This image to the side here is pretty crappy quality but if you click on the link above, it will take you to Petunia Pickle Bottom's site which has all the bag's specs and you can enlarge a better image (if you're interested!). I LOVE IT!

Week 13

Well, it’s week 13 already and the baby is about 3 inches long and the size of a peach. Now comes the time for the baby’s body to grow grow grow to catch up with the head in terms of size. (Let’s hope it accomplishes this task efficiently and doesn’t come out looking like Aunt Kacy!!!). The intestines are now moving from the umbilical cord into their permanent resting place; the abdomen. Daddy is especially excited this week, as this is the week the baby’s vocal chords are developing and it should now be able to hear us! You know what this means…. Mozart Effect! Daddy’s been talking to Mommy’s belly like a crazy person and will soon start singing and playing music through headphones to develop the baby’s brain musically as far as tone, pitch, and rhythm are concerned. He’s been waiting weeks for this day!

The baby has fingerprints now! How cool is that!!! Also, if it’s a girl, she has over 2 million eggs! Crazy!

Yesterday we opened up our registry at Babies R Us, just to get the ball rolling. We were told by a good friend that we should register early (before we know the gender) for as much as we can so we’re sure to pick as many neutral things as possible (so we can reuse them when we have more kiddies). So, we registered for some of the big stuff… and got totally overwhelmed by all the millions of little things on our registry checklist. I have a feeling the registry process will take 4 or 5 trips! It was totally intimidating! There are just so many things on the list, SO many choices and we (never having a baby before) have no idea which kind/brand/etc will be the best. We felt totally clueless for the first time. (I’m sure that will become a very familiar feeling in the months to come).

Lisa & Laura (Jason’s sisters) have been giving us newborn and 0-3 baby clothes in neutral colors… We’ll really only need maybe a couple newborn outfits, but we’re basically already set! It’s awesome! We’re making a list of all we have so that we know what to ask for or register for as far as sizes go. It’s also really cool to be able to look at the clothes and imagine a little tiny body in them!!! (Thanks guys!!!)

Still waiting for the random nausea and chronic fatigue to ease up……… should be any day now………………

Wow........

So, of course (since my body hates me right now) I’ve been picking up every little bug; sniffles here, sore throat there… Well, sometime this weekend I caught the mother of all bugs. I can’t even call it a bug… it was a plague! It started off with a sore throat and stuffy nose… I went to sleep and woke up with a very sore throat, very stuffy nose, huge headache, body aches all over, and stomach pains. The stomach pains were what kept me from being able to sleep so I just laid in pain wherever I was… I spent about 4 hours laying on the bathroom floor because I was sure I was going to need to call Ralph on the big white phone. Of course, that didn’t happen until I was back in my bed with my little trash can.

I hadn’t eaten anything so being violently ill was extremely painful… after this episode, I sucked on a starburst (it’s what was close) to get the taste out of my mouth and in about an hour it started all over again. It was this knot in my chest that hurt so bad… then seemed to grow and grow (ever so slowly) until it was time. I couldn’t keep anything down… clear liquids, beef broth, tomato juice (which is supposed to be a sure bet… it always stays down)… nothing. I was getting so upset because I knew that the baby was starving inside of me (not to mention probably dehydrated as well) but I couldn’t do anything about it. It was terrible. Jason was seriously considering taking me to the hospital because we didn’t know what else to do.

Suddenly, I had an idea. Why don’t I try something solid like crackers? I know I can’t hold liquids down and that’s supposed to be the first step, but maybe the problem is partly being caused by this post nasal drip thing I’ve got going on here… and maybe something solid would absorb that a little. So, Jason went out to the kitchen and came back with Goldfish Crackers… Meanwhile the next knot had already been forming and growing so I was a little nervous to try the crackers quite yet, but I did it anyway…. I was amazed!

With each cracker I ate, the knot grew smaller and smaller again and finally disappeared… I hadn’t been without that stomach pain since the morning so I was finally able to sleep for a few hours (on the floor of my closet, right outside the bathroom where I had moved…). Ah, man I was quite a mess… and still feel pretty horrible but now it’s only full-body achiness, severe headache, and congestion. That’s NOTHIN! (not compared to last night, anyway).

Let’s hear it for Jason, my mom, and Pepperidge Farm!!!