Prego/1st Time Mom Moment

Ok, so I had my first true "Prego/1st Time Mom" moment this morning. I've heard of the emotional roller coaster you're supposed to be on as a pregnant woman, but up until now, I feel like I've handled my emotions quite well. Yes, I may have had some mini moments, but I have wondered each time: was that the hormones talkin or would I have reacted the very same way prego or not? That is, until this morning!!

I left my house early, pre-warned that today was the first day of school, prepared to hit the "20 mph" zones while leaving Rowlett, one just as you turn out of my neighborhood. Immediately after jumping in my car and backing out of the drive, I flipped on the radio and turned on the Kidd Kraddick In The Morning show, as I do almost every morning on my way to work. They were welcoming parents to call in to tell about their experiences of the 1st day of school...especially parents dropping kids off for their true 1ST day of school (kindergarten, pre-k, etc). And, this started my mind racing about my little one...

Do you know that in six short years, I'll be dropping my little girl off for her first day of Kindergarten?!?! I sent Eddie a text to ensure that he knows it's only 6 short years away...he, of course, replied "{that's} a long time"...I, of course, being the prego that I am, thought "it will be here before we know it!!" And a tear came to my eye.

But if that wasn't enough, then Kidd began reading a "poem" called "I Trust You'll Treat Her Well." Why o why did I not change the channel?!?! Why would I want to put myself thru the torture?!?!? But I wanted to hear it, maybe deep down in side I knew I needed a good cry!! And so he began...

Dear World, I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crisp dress ... with two blue eyes ... and a happy laugh that ripples all day long ... and a flash of light blond hair that bounces in the sun when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well. She's slipping out the backyard of my heart this morning ... and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Goodbye" and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse. Now she'll learn to stand in lines ... and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of school-bells ... and deadlines ... and she'll learn to giggle ... and gossip ... and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy 'cross the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And, now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry. No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in the sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn and kiss lilac blooms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about those important things ... like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes. For five full years now I've been her sage and pal and father and Santa Claus and playmate and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers ... which is only right. But, no longer will I be the smartest, greatest man in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time ... she'll learn what it means to be a member of the group ... with all its privileges and its disadvantages, too. She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud ... or kiss dogs ... or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms ... or even watch ants scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer. Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to becoming a woman. So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl ... in a crisp dress ... with two blue eyes ... and a flash of light blond hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well. - Dad

I don't think I made it through the first 15 or so words and the tears came flowing!! I thought back on the moment when I was talking to my girlfriend Brynn, shortly after her son Cayden was born, and she started crying on the phone, because she was thinking about how he would be grown up soon, graduating from high school. I remember giggling at the idea of crying about such a thing...he was like a week old, maybe less...I just thought it was silly for her to even be thinking of him as a man, when he was only days old. I smiled...now I understood, it was clear to me now, it's a "Mom Thing!!" I don't think any one will get it, that is, til they jump in these shoes.

Well, if that wasn't torture enough, what followed next was the torture of all tortures. Immediately following Kidd's poem came "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle. And was Kidd satisfied playing the regular version of the song? Noooooo, he had to play the version with the extra commentation between the lyrics. As soon as I heard the sound of the little kids laughing that starts the song off, I knew what it was, and immediately I heard a voice in my head screaming "TURN IT OFF!!" But did I listen? Yes, but not to the voice in my head, I listened to the entire "tear-jerking for any parent" version of "Butterfly Kisses" and completely bawled my eyes out, mascara running down my face, no back up make up in the car, puffy eyes and all, ending just minutes before I would walk through the door of my office. And as each stage of the girl's life (in the song) passed, I imagined my little girl in that stage of her life. Uggghhh!! Ladies, why do we do these sort of things to ourselves?

Yup, Baby Webb is Definitely a She!!

Eddie and I had our 4th appointment with Dr. Denning today. We had a little bit further to drive, this time, because Dr. Denning moved to the Baylor Frisco location...so Eddie picked me up around 25-30 minutes til. After I jumped in his jeep, we immediately hit the road (no lunch today, our appointment wasn't til 1:00, so we both decided to have lunch on our own). We arrived just in time, parked the car, and went in. Baylor Frisco is very nice...I believe it's fairly new.

After checking in, Eddie and I sat down, and he started digging through the magazines. He felt a little left out, as you can imagine the magazine selection was very tailored toward women, pregnant women of course. But, after a little searching, I found an article for my Dad-to-be. He grinned!! As he read his article, I thumbed through a few other magazines, looking for fun baby ideas. However, we didn't have to wait long, they called us back within a few minutes.

Immediately, we were invited into the sonogram room. The woman conducting today's sonogram was very nice. I really liked her!! She took a lot of measurements of baby and then came the news: yup, she's a girl!! I feel a lot more confident after today's visit. This time Baby Webb was sitting in a completely different angle. We got quite a few pictures, but the "shot that tells all" was wonderful...it was if our baby was sitting in a glass chair and we were looking up through the bottom of the chair...I don't think there is much room for error with this one. We also found out that the baby's foot is about 3.08 centimeters, she currently weighs about 10 ounces, and her heartbeat is around 153. Baby Webb was still being difficult with some of the angles that she needed to be in for the measurements they were getting, so we get to have another sonogram at our next appointment (which will be in four weeks). I really enjoy the sonograms...it's so amazing to see how much our baby has grown from one visit to the next!!

So, I guess the next step is shopping for lots of pink!! How fun...I can't wait!!

Baby Webb Is Healthier Than Ever!! And It Can't Get Healthier Than This!!

As reported in my last blog, Eddie and I visited Dr. Koster's office again, this past Monday. We went in for our second round of testing. The whole process had me very nervous, that is until after the reported results of our 1st visit, and because of the great results of Round 1, I felt very at ease going in on Monday. However, all of my fears were set completely in comfort mode this morning, after receiving my results phone call from Dr. Koster's office:

I was told that not only were our results good, but that they actually could NOT be any better: we had the best results possible from that level of testing. And even better, the 2nd round has a 90% accuracy, as opposed to the 80% accuracy of the first round. Our little girl only has a 1 in 10,000 chance of being born with Down Syndrome, a 1 in 10,000 chance of having Trisomy 18 and a 1 in 6000 chance of Spina Bifida.

Eddie and I have always said that the most important thing to us is that our baby is healthy, so these results couldn't be prettier “Music To Our Ears”!!

We have our next appointment with Dr. Denning on August 18th. I'm quite interested in that appointment, as well. With the not so great angle of Baby Webb during Dr. Koster's revealing, I'm eager to hear what Dr. Denning's office has to say about the sex of our baby. Before rushing out to buy pink, pink and more pink, I just want to make sure we won't be buying the wrong color.

It's a Girl!!!

Eddie and I had our second appointment with Dr. Koster yesterday. All weekend, we were more excited than ever about the appointment, because it was the day we were going to find out Boy OR Girl?!?!

Eddie picked me up, as usual, looking quite handsome, I might add...he worked yesterday and just took part of the day off, so he was all dressed up in his work uniform...he looked hot!! Despite our usual routine, it was a little early for lunch, so we just decided to head straight to the doctors office and have lunch later. On the drive there, so many thoughts ran through my head: "Baby Webb, are you a boy or girl? Will you cooperate during the sonogram?" And then I started to imagine our life with a boy and our life with a girl: what will we name him/her, what will he/she be like, will he/she take after one or both of us, what kind of activities will he/she participate in (when he/she gets older), etc? As we approached the doctors office, I gently rubbed my belly and said “Baby Webb, please cooperate today. We want to know if we should plan for a boy or a girl.” Eddie laughed.

We walked in to Dr. Koster's office and I signed us in. I think we were both excited but a little nervous, as we looked at one another and just smiled...I think we both knew what the other was thinking.

We didn't have to wait long. We were called back within minutes and found ourselves in one of the examination rooms. Shortly after, Dr. Koster walked in and invited me up to the examination area. As she started the sonogram, I immediately saw Baby Webb practically doing a head stand. I giggled and was like, “what is he/she doing?” It looked so uncomfortable, but yet cute and playful like. Dr. Koster assured me that the baby was fine, for that is the position the baby will be in before delivery...I guess I hadn't thought about that. Baby Webb was just kicking away...I can't believe I don't feel that. The legs had grown quite a bit since the last sonogram, too...I wondered where those came from...Eddie and I are both so short. Baby Webb had decided to give us another side view...Dr. Koster did her best, going back and forth and up and down with the sonogram monitor-thingy, but it was all sides and no frontal. Dr. Koster spent a lot of time just trying to get a good angle. Finally, she got a shot, not of the front, but a shot, and said “You have a little girl!!” I looked at Eddie, somewhat expecting a look of disappointment...he had told me previously that he would be happy either way and all that matter was that our baby was healthy...but I know every man wants his little boy...he just smiled. I squeezed his hand, gave him a grin, and then turned back to the monitor. It's amazing how fast they grow!!

We have another sonogram scheduled with Dr. Denning in a week and ½. Since we couldn't get a great shot of the front, I'm going to use it as a confirmation sonogram...just to be sure. But for now, we're planning on a girl.

As we left the doctors office, I asked Eddie if he was disappointed and he assured me he was excited...adding in that we would just have to keep trying til we got a little boy...and then he cracked a smile.

I couldn't wait to share the news...but I decided I'd rather do it in person...so I waited until after work. Tiffany asked all day, but I told her she would have to wait...I think she got a little antsy. I went up to Michaels at the end of the day and purchased a box of their pink bubblegum cigars to announce the news. Tiffany met me up there and was so excited when she saw the pink. Everyone was excited. When I went by Brynn's, we told her son Cayden that he already has a girlfriend...he just gave us the “what are you talking about” glare (he's 2 ½...don't think he's quite ready for a girlfriend, yet).

Now, I can't wait to pick out the nursery theme and the colors and baby girl outfits. It's so exciting!! I still can't believe we're having a girl!!