Nearly as big as the christmas tree!!! 100 days till the EDD! Grow, grow baby Rother!

Not too much new to share... belly still expanding at an alarming rate, due in part this week to the tremendous quantities of food consumed over the Thanksgiving weekend!
As you can see Rick and I were having fun with digital filters!
Baby's moving more and more every day... what a cool sensation!
Oh- found out my sister's having a girl- so one of each in our family now! Congrats to her and JT!

Pregnant in pink!

At our monthly brunch club we also celebrated Heidi's soon-to-be new addition... another boy for the group! For some reason we all decided to wear pink! Breakfast was delicious and the lemon cupcakes were the perfect finish- thanks Erin!

Little kicks!

It's official... the baby is moving and we can finally feel it- for sure this time! No more confusing those odd little twitches for gas or my imagination- and Rick can confirm it! The other night we were lying in bed and there it was again, that strange little flutter, unlike any other sensation I have experienced. I held Rick's hand to my ever-expanding belly and viola... he kicked! (the baby that is- not Rick!) It was a very cool moment- it felt like we were a little family for the first time- the three of us present and kicking ( : Just wanted to share the fun news!

21 weeks and growing, growing, growing!!! People keep telling me it will come right off- they better be right! I'd hate to thing all my extra lumps and bump will stick around too much after the baby comes!

Here are two pics of our little boy still baking in my tummy... the first is a foot- very sweet! The next is a picture of the face, an arm and a little body with the heart beating a mile-a- minute inside! Pretty cool, although the image is a bit strange! Apparently we have quite the little acrobat in there as he refused to be still hardly at all for dozens of pictures the nice tech was trying to take. The little bugger did flips, kicked, punched and even rolled away from us! This made catching a good picture of his sweet little face a bit of a challenge but our tech tried her hardest! It was just so amazing to see all that movement and yet not feel a thing (although I think I felt something today... more on that later). In any case, our little bundle is about 12 oz- the size of that lovely can of diet coke I have given up in the name of a healthy pregnancy! Hope he appreciates it!

IT'S A BOY!!!

The Magic 8-Ball says... "Signs point to yes" when asked this question:
"Are the Rother's having a boy?"

The polls are closed and the voters, although mostly on the wrong side of the gender fence, are thanked for playing along!

We visited the ultra-sound tech this past Friday and it was plain to see, even to our untrained eyes, that we are indeed having a boy! Now we need names...

The baby goes to Memphis...

May be hard to tell, but there's quite a baby bump growing under that lime-green sweater! The baby, actually babies as my sister is expecting too, and the four of us visited our uncle Mike in Memphis, TN. This picture was taken in front of the duck fountain in the lobby of the Peabody hotel- a landmark not only for Memphis but our childhood.

18 weeks today

We had our 18 week appointment today. Apparently I am gaining weight like a champ! A champ who eats three very large meals and many, many calorie packed snacks!The doctor was quite impressed with my growth! The baby's heart rate was 157 beats per minute today- must have been very active at that time I guess! I still can't feel any movements yet, but hopefully soon...

The baby at about 10 weeks...

This was taken around 8 weeks ago. At least in this new picture you can see what looks to be a head, body and little arms- so cute!

Our little peanut...

When we went in for our first appointment, I sort of by chance already had a regular OB appointment made with Dr. Su but when I found out I was pregnant, I called to ask what we should do and they told me to just go ahead and come in. Instead of the usual pap, I took yet another pregnancy test, turns out fancy Dr. pee-sticks are the exact same thing that can be purchased at Walgreens, only they cost 100 times more!
To my delight, Dr. Su went ahead and did an early ultrasound, just to see what was going on in there. Low and behold, there really was something growing inside me! All that was visible at that point was a tiny little sack with what could be assumed were the makings of a baby. It didn't look like much, but still it was terribly exciting to see!

2 pink lines...

So... it's been a while... a loooong while since last I posted. I guess I got rather caught up in a very major side effect of the original point of this blog- the "gift", when I found out we are expecting! That's right, Rick and I are expecting a baby this coming March. Turns out sex often times equals baby- who knew?!
After an initial shock, we are beginning to settle into the idea of ourselves as parents and are actually daring to become a little excited about the prospect! I want to write a little about the day I found out and then how I told Rick, so here goes...
It was Saturday, July the 12th in the p.m. Rick was at work. I took a test prior to my evening shower and waited... one pink line- "okay, not pregnant, too soon anyway." After all, we had only been "trying" for a couple weeks. Showered. Got out to towel off and glanced down at the test, still sitting on the rim of the sink... "What’s that? TWO pink lines?!" WOW!!! The second line was sooooo faint, hardly visible and yet still undeniable. But I wasn't convinced... I searched the internet for answers... what does a faint 2nd line mean, how reliable are these things anyway?!
I went to bed before Rick got home and got up moments after he walked out the door for work at 6:00 a.m., rushing to the bathroom to double check the previous night's findings... sure enough- 2 pink lines again. This time, very slightly more distinct.
I don't think I was 100% convinced at this point, but I was getting there. I decided I should tell Rick, but how? I searched the mall for some way to tell him without actually "telling" him. Some little token that would say, "Hey, I know this is rather sudden but turns out you are going to be a father- what do you think about that?!" Nothing jumped out at me. Later that day, while doing a little shopping at Wal-Mart I found it- the perfect way to tell my husband... a tiny little batman onesie- complete with cape. (For those of you who didn't know, Rick is a batman freak). So I put the tiny little superhero outfit in a bag with a dad-to-be book, She's Having a Baby and I'm Having a Nervous Breakdown, stuck my pregnancy test in the front cover and waited for him to come home.
It took me awhile to get up the courage to spit it out. Finally, when we were both upstairs finishing up packing for our trip to Chicago the next day, I gave him the gift. I think at first, he thought it was something for him to wear, but as he held up the onesie and examined it more closely; the amused smile gave way to a look of confusion and perhaps terror as he opened the book and studied the little stick with two pink lines. "I'm pregnant" I told him, just to confirm the conclusion he was slowly drawing in his mind. I think he said something like, "wow, oh, wow..." Not with joy exactly, just with pure shock.
He has come a long way since that night, we both have! From almost 100% anxiety and surprise to acceptance and anticipation. It took a couple more tests for me to be completely convinced we were indeed having a baby, but when my period didn't show up and we visited the doctor a few weeks later for a first peek at the tiny peanut growing inside me, we both came to terms with the reality of what was happening and what was coming. We are going to be parents... what a thought.

In the beginning...

It never occurred to me to start a blog about this most personal of experiences... until just yesterday. The pieces came together in parts: first a class I took on politics in the media got me thinking about blogging as a sort of digital diary and then yesterday, over a couple pints with a friend, we started talking about this crazy idea of mine and she suggested I start a blog... as so here I am.
40 days have passed since I began my own 365 days of intimacy and I haven't recorded anything about those first few weeks- until now! I will recount some general feelings and experiences that I have encountered up until this point and from now on, I would like to log the specifics more regularly, if for no other reason than to sort out my feelings and have a record of this year to refer to in future years of marriage.
Soooo... it all started when I read an article in Newsweek about this fabled book. I was intrigued. The author claimed that having sex with her husband every night for a year completely changed their marriage and relationship- for the better. Not that my relationship was terrible, because it wasn't at all- but it was far from perfect- especially where intimacy and communication was concerned. I tried to get my hands on said book, but alas it wasn't out in stores yet so I had to improvise and go on what I already knew: wife offers gift of sex every day for a year to husband, husband of course does not refuse this present and they set forth on their magical journey of sex and all things that this encompasses.
Rick was sceptical, to say the least. Don't get me wrong, he was interested and definitely all for it, but he didn't seem to take me seriously, which could be because of my lack of interest in the big "S" up until this point. We both agreed that sex would still be optional, for both parties. With these basic guidelines we got started right away on his birthday night in our quint B and B!
The first night was great- no problems as it had been a LONG time since relations prior to this event. However, in the back of mind I was thinking, "can I really do this EVERY NIGHT for a year?!?!" The next day came and when he made his moves, for the first time in a long time, I didn't brush him off or resist. And so we had begun...
We are up to day 40 now and I want to start keeping tabs on our progress, but here's a brief summary of what I have learned up until this point:
We had to change some of the rules... when he is gone all day, until late at night (we're talking 1 or 2 in the morning) sex just isn't going to happen- he didn't seem to think this was welshing on my part.
I have loosened up a LOT... , which is a big switch from how I was before we started this.
The big "O"- honestly I wasn't expecting too much. I figured every now and again I might actually "fully" enjoy our daily encounters- but not regularly. I was wrong there... even now I go into it thinking, "probably won't this time- but that's okay" but the next thing you know, there it is!
We are closer. I feel closer anyway. We touch more in general- not just in a sexual way. We hold hands, caress, hug, kiss and snuggle and it's been really a nice change.
So far anyway, I don't stress as much about chores and he seems to be doing more to help out without resentment or bitterness.
Basically- we are getting along really well and are happy to be around each other.
I know this will get harder, we are both on summer break right now and have a LOT more time to work on this. When we start back to work, we will have to schedule sex in, which may prove to be difficult. But at least we will have a few months underway before we are back to the grind.
So that leaves us here, on day 40. Rick's still in bed and here I sit in front of this computer typing away details of my personal life... I hope to continue this though, I think it will be a good way to sort out all the emotions that will go along with such a lofty goal. So in other words... there will be more to come...