Its A...... ;-)

Ok, yesterday was our big ultrasound!! We were able to see the baby in pretty good detail. The technician looked at all different organs and took measurements to make sure everything is developing properly. Everything looked great!! We saw the heart and its chambers, the lungs, kidneys, stomach, mouth, hands, feet, bones in the legs/arms, and brain. The baby is measuring 13oz!! She said that is right on track for about 20 weeks which is what I am. I have my follow up appointment with my doctor on Friday so I'm sure she will talk to me more then. Here are some pictures from the latest ultrasound!



A good profile shot!



Little mouth open!!



Cute little feet!!

After the ultrasound, Matt, Cassie and I drove to the beach for the day! We had never taken Cassie to the beach before, so it was kind of a birthday present for her (She turned 2 on Sunday). It was so beautiful!! Cass loved the beach! Her nose was going so fast!! She couldn't believe all the new smels. Here are a couple of pictures from our trip:



When we got back, we went to my parents house for dinner!! We brought a cake to tell them the exciting news about the baby!! I frosted the outside with chocolate (of course!) and the inside with a very gender specific color. Here is the cake:



OK, stop reading if you don't want to know!! We found out that our baby is a...............................................

 

GIRL!!! WE are so excited!! So the inside of the cake was frosted pink. Here is the after picture!!



See the pink frosting??!! Mom, Dad, Brian and Scott were all there to celebrate the big news. Janet & Jim and Matt K got pink flowers yesterday in Houston & Sacramento!! What used to be a family with mostly boys is quickly adding to the girl side!! Two sisters in laws this year and a baby girl! Watch out boys!! ;-)

Boy or Girl?

Everyone is very excited to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. Of course my brothers and brother-in-law and Matt are all saying it is a boy! I don't have a feeling about it one way or the other!! Our appointment with our next ultrasound is coming up on Monday, so the wait is getting shorter. Hopefully we will find out at that appointment..... if the baby cooperates! I had my kindergarten students make guesses before they left for Spring Vacation on Friday. They are pretty split on their guesses. I thought all the girls would pick girl and boys would pick boy, but as you can see that is not the case! They wanted to take a picture too so the baby can have it when it gets older. In the picture, they are saying "We don't know!" 

Their guesses in a graph form! As you can see, girl got 2 more guesses than boy! 

"We don't know!!"

Furniture!!

A Big Huge THANK YOU to our parents who went in together to buy us the furniture for the baby's room!! After MUCH careful research and thought, we decided on a crib and dresser in Cherry made by Bonavita. We got them last weekend at a store in Beaverton called Segal's for Children. The dresser came all put together but the crib will require some assembly!! I think that job will still be here waiting for Jim & Matt in April!! Here are some pictures from the delivery and unpacking of the boxes...

Matt's favorite thing....BOXES!!

 

Thank goodness the dresser is assembled!! But that does make it HEAVY!

The dresser with the changing pad on top.

The crib waiting to be put together!!

 It is so exciting to have our first things for the baby!

17 Week appointment

Happy Friday! I am home doing report cards today and I just wanted to update you all on our latest appointment. First of all, can I say that my kindergarten kids have been so cute this week! I explained to them when I went back to work on Tuesday that I had to be careful about germs because if I get a certain type of sickness it could hurt the baby. I asked for their help keeping our classroom clean and washing their hands. We talked about how to cough into their sleeves so that the germs stay away from their hands. So all week, I have had 22 little helpers! If they accidentally forget and cough into their hand, they immediately ask if they can go wash their hand!! They are so sweet! I also sent a letter home explaining the situation to the parents and I have had several phone calls of concern and support. It makes me feel good that so many people are looking out for the baby and helping me protect it.

My appointment yesterday went very well! I got to hear the baby's heartbeat using the Doppler machine. It was 150 bpm and the doctor said it sounded strong! I talked to the doctor about lots questions I had. She told me that I should be able to feel the baby anytime. I may be feeling it already and I just don't know what it is! I told her I feel flutters at times, but I am not sure if it is the baby or not. She said that the movements will become stronger and more apparent. I asked her if it was concerning that I haven't gained much weight yet and she said not to worry. The baby still weighs almost nothing, so as long as it is growing and looks good and I am eating, she was not concerned. As for the Fifth Disease scare, she said that at my next appointment (March 24th) we will take blood and test again for exposure. If it is still negative, and there have been no more cases of it in my classroom she will assume the scare is over. I jokingly said that after I have this baby I am going to go find a child with Fifth Disease and expose myself so this is not a concern for any future pregnancies! She said that actually is a good idea and she was shocked that as a Kindergarten teacher I haven't had this disease before. So next Fall if anyone you know comes down with Fifth Disease, let me know!! I'm coming over to share an ice cream cone with them!!! ;-)

  In other news, Matt and I are attacking the furniture shopping project this weekend. We want to get a crib & dresser ordered so that we can have help setting it all up when Janet and Jim come to visit in April!  Matt heard about the book called "Baby Bargains" from a coworker of his. It is a book that explains the different types and brands of baby products and tells you what features are important and what brands are best.  so I instructed him to read the LONG chapter on cribs and dressers so we are ready to go look at stores this weekend. I, of course, just skimmed the chapter and the important parts!! 

I hope you all have a great weekend!! Don't forget to change your clocks on Sunday!! ;-)

Half Good News!

I got the results of the blood test back today and the news was half good. There is no sign of Fifth's disease in my system at all, so hopefully that means I wasn't infected. The bad news is that I am NOT immune to it. They found no antibodies to protect me from future exposure. So with that in mind I am heading back to work tomorrow and just planning to take extra precautions in terms of sanitation. Antibacterial spray on the tables & handles etc. The school staff know to alert me if any children are known to come down with the disease so I can stay away again. A lot of people are looking out for me!! The Dr. said that in 3 weeks or so we will do another blood test just to monitor for the infection. I haven't gotten the disease in 29 years and 8 years of teaching Kindergarten, so hopefully this won't be the year I do!! Thanks for the good thoughts!! I will update you after my regular appointment on Thursday! ;-)

The Hazards of being a Kindergarten Teacher....

This past week I have had MANY students out sick. One even developed walking pneumonia. One of the cons about being a teacher is being exposed to so many illnesses. On the flip side, one of the pros of being a teacher is that is builds up your immune system! Matt calls me the "carrier" because I bring home the illness without getting it and then he gets it!

Well, on Thursday night, we had Kindergarten Math night where many children came and did math activities with their families. One student who had been out sick since Tuesday came with her family. Her mom mentioned she was feeling better and not contagious anymore. Her mom said she would still keep her home Friday just to be safe because she had Fifth's Disease. Now if you don't know what that particular disease is, it is one of 5 common childhood diseases. It is a very mild disease where the child gets a fever for a few days and then develops a rash on their cheeks chest and arms that is red and lacy. The child is most contagious BEFORE and DURING the fever. Once the rash develops, they are no longer contagious. Fifth's disease is not harmful to adults or children, just a typical illness. However, for pregnant women there is a chance of miscarriage if you pass the disease on to the fetus. I knew this from past experience when another teacher in our school was pregnant. I mentioned this to my secretary (who was also at math night) and she said to call my Dr. right away to say I had been exposed on Tuesday when this child was last in school.  

Long story short, I called and the Dr. who was on-call on Thursday night told me to come in for a blood test on Friday to make sure I have previously had the disease or been exposed because that would create antibodies and immunity for me and the baby. If those antibodies are not present, they have to monitor if and when I get the disease and if it gets passed to the fetus. 90% of the time everything is fine, but they just want to be safe. Also she told me I should stay away from school until I know that I am immune because of the risk of other students in my class catching the disease and spreading it. So I got an unexpected day off yesterday, and since the blood test won't be back until Monday at the earliest, it looks like I get Monday off as well.

 This is such a busy time of year with report cards due on Friday and conferences next week. I am really stressed to be missing so much work. But I guess this is the first time where I have to put the needs of my child before my own. It is not worth the risk to the baby to go back before I know it is safe. I am quite confident that the blood test on Monday will show that I am perfectly fine, but for now all we can do is wait! I will keep you posted! ;-)