Christmas Goodies for Baby M

Welcome to the third trimester. Time is zipping by and in about 12 weeks this little bundle of joy is going to make its presence in the world.



Christmas was good to Baby McCormick!  It started with Auntie Candice and Uncle Jon visiting from London.  They gave the baby-to-be the cutest Paddington Bear and onsie to remind the little bugger of their family far away in the U.K.  Thanks for the visit and we can't wait to see you again!

Then on Christmas we spent a wonderful day in Wilton with the McCormick side of the family.  Baby M was given the most adorable onsie that says "Best Gift Ever" on it.  We couldn't agree with you more!  Thanks soon-to-be Uncle Rick, Aunt Paula, and Cousins Kevin and Ryan.

Next steps...finishing up our registries at Lullabye Lane, Target, and Pottery Barn Kids, painting the baby's room, and assembling the crib! 

Week 27: Glucose Test

We had our glucose test the other day to rule out gestational diabetes. At my previous appointment, the nurse handed me this orange drink and with a disgusted look on her face and informed me that I needed to drink this at the next appointment. She then proceeded to tell me how terrible the taste was and that a lot of women don't like it.


Ummm, thanks for the pep talk!

The big day came and with advice from my friends who have already taken the test, I chilled the drink and downed it in the 15 minute time span they require. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. Ok, it wasn't great; especially on an empty stomach, but I survived. The best way to describe it would be like drinking Orange Crush but with more sugar - and for breakfast, bleh!

By the time I arrived at the doctor's office for my blood draw I was pretty nauseous. My body isn't used to that much sugar and those of you who know me know that sugar is my vice. While also at the doctor, we were able to hear the baby's heart beat again - always a treat! We also learned that the little bugger is about two pounds and about 14 inches. I'm feeling kicks, rolls, and hiccups all of the time.

And the best news of all...my tests came back fine. I'm slightly anemic but I can take some supplements to support that. Phew, another successful milestone for our miracle baby

Oh, Christmas Tree!

We bought the cutest "Charlie Brown" tree to showcase our newest ornament.  Take a peek!   Happy Holidays, everyone!!

Baby's first ornament

Mom was in San Francisco with her friend Linda for some retail therapy and to soak in the holiday spirit the city has to offer.  We were fortunate enough to meet them for the evening, along with Kevin (who just had a birthday). 

Being the excited grandma, which we love, she found the CUTEST ornament for us to place on our Christmas tree.  Since we don't know the sex of the baby we call "it" Baby Mack. 

We just love the ornament and are now inspired to actually go get a tree and decorate the house.  Thanks, Mom!!!  You've officially inspired us to get into the holiday spirit!!

An especially thankful Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving we hit a milestone in the pregnancy; six months! The pictures attached prove that I am in fact pregnant and not just feeling big after an overindulgent meal of lasagna and turkey (yes, lasagna is always on the menu at the McCormick/Vitale functions - no complaints here!).

Update on Little Mack -
This kid has been super active as of late. This morning in yoga I was in a pose most similar to that of a pretzel and as soon as I got out of the pose, the most uncomfortable complete body roll let me know the kid didn't approve of me cramping his/her space. I wish Brian could have been there to feel the baby moving because I'm pretty sure I felt a limb of some sort sticking out of my body. Kind of creepy and definitely reminded me of the movie “Alien”, but nonetheless, exciting to know our baby is healthy and active.

We have so much to be thankful for, especially this Thanksgiving. We have our health, the love of our friends and family, a roof over our heads to shelter us from the cold, abundant healthy food for our bellies, and the excitement of a new member of our family arriving in a few short months. Be thankful for the little things. They are what truly matter. The rest is just gravy…

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

Here's a few added pictures taken at six months, one day. 

Visit to the doctor

I hadn't fully embraced the benefits of my iphone and question whether I really need all of the applications and unnecessary tools. After today, I can officially say I'm so thankful for the iphone and the "voice memo" application.

Brian wasn't able to make our OBGYN appointment because of a business trip but with the help of my handy iphone application, I was able to record the sound of the baby's heart beat. Unfortunately I can't figure out how to include the link on this blog but I was able to email it so he could still be a part of the experience. In the recording, you can hear the heart beating and kicking. Very cool!

Speaking of kicking, this kid is definitely active. I've been feeling kicks and somersaults. Yesterday for the first time, Brian felt a kick and it was pretty exciting. There are moments in the day, especially after I've worked out or have been active that the baby is more responsive. In fact, this morning, during a yoga pose, the baby gave me a big kick which I am interpreting as disapproval (it was a pretzel like twist). When the baby kicks I like to push on my belly to play with it. The more I push, the more it responds. Brian says this is child abuse. I say it's me interacting and bonding with our baby. :-)

Overall, the doctor said the baby and my pregnancy are very healthy. Our amnio results indicated that there are NO health problems (big sigh of relief!) we should be concerned about, I'm gaining weight at a healthy pace, and the baby is developing right on track.

Oh, and Mom, in case you are reading this, I have had my seasonal and H1N1 shots so don’t worry!

Almost Half Way

We're almost half way through the pregnancy!  Time is really whizzing by.

We've been a high risk pregnancy so we weren't too alarmed to learn that we've fallen into the range of having a higher chance that the baby has Down's syndrome. Although we sort of knew this would happen, it's not any less reassuring. So we decided to go ahead with the amniocentesis to get a more accurate result. The results aren't in yet but we're optimistic things will be fine. If not, then we have a few months to prepare to welcome a baby who has special needs into our home. Either way, we're already in love with this little bugger!

Because of our genetic test result hiccup we had our 20-week ultrasound during our 19th week. Apparently while I was getting stabbed with a very unpleasant needle, Brian told me the baby was playing with its foot. I'm bummed I couldn't see that but relieved to know that the baby had no clue what was going on.

Baby Mack weighs a whopping 10 oz and is about the size of an heirloom tomato and growing bigger and stronger each day. Of course, we think the baby is adorable and darn near perfect; even though it's still blobby looking on the monitor.  Here are some "glam" shots so you can decide for yourself.



Pictures are of the face, foot and two profile shots.  There is also a picture of Momma at week 18.5

 

Dancing Turnip

We're half way through week 17 and so far, so good! 

Every week we get an update from babycenter.com and this week, the baby is the size of a turnip. 

We're also in the early stages of feeling movement.  At first I thought I felt something but couldn't decipher if it was my stomach breaking down meals, etc. or the baby moving.  But the more I felt the fluttering feeling, the stronger I sensed it was the baby.  Three nights ago Brian felt my stomach and confirmed that he too felt the movement so now I'm convinced those flutters are our dancing turnip! 

Aside from my usual headaches and being tired, which I contribute to my new job and its long hours working as a College Advisor, I feel good.   And I love my new job.  I am helping 33 underrepresented high school seniors apply to colleges and I'm SO PROUD of them! 

This week has also spurred a sense of panic.  We're having a baby!!  I want (need, really) a running stroller (BOB is supposedly the best?) but other than that, I don't know what to buy or what to register for.  We've started making a list.  Feel free to share your favorite "must have" item with us!  Also, being environmentally conscious, we're hoping to buy a lot of our items previously owned.  Reuse = Reduce.  I put our name on a waitlist for a compostable diaper deliver service ran by a Northern CA based company called Earth Baby.  It's super exciting to know our baby will be wearing diapers that will never, ever touch a landfill but instead be composted into topsoil for planting. 

Here are some pictures taken at 17.5 weeks:

Updated Poll

I was just informed that our poll was closed.  The poll is updated.  Please cast your vote!!

A mini-update...

The reality of having a baby has sank in. We have less than five months to organize ourselves and prepare our home for our new arrival.

Yikes!

Six-Months to go!

According to our latest OBGYN appointment, our due date has been pushed back from March 18th to March 20. That means in theory, six-months from today we'll be meeting Baby McCormick!


Here's a picture of me at 14.5 weeks - don't snicker too much at my bulging belly and loss of muscle definition. :-(

In-Betweener

I'm in that stage where my normal clothes are too tight (totally pulling an Al Bundy and nightly unzipping the pants with a huge sigh of relief; ahhhh!) and maternity clothes are too loose.

I'm an "in-betweener".

I'm also in that stage where people who know me think I'm either hitting the desserts a little too often and feel an intervention is needed or something else is developing in that growing bulge of a belly.

Again, that in-between stage is just so funky! Ladies who've had babies, you get it, right?

Thankfully most of my friends have already had children and they collectively shared their maternity clothes. The last pregnant friend, Kim, sent me two large bags of clothes (thanks Kimmy!) which I've been sorting through and trying on. Brian affectionately called it the Sisterhood of Travelling Maternity Clothes - hilarious! But what a lifesaver! Huge shout out to my ladies in So Cal who are saving me from buying a ton of clothes. Double shout out to the designer jeans - niiiiiccceee! The Citizen's are fitting perfectly!

How am I feeling - Week 13

Week 11 hit and bam! I went from feeling pretty good to awful most days. Unfortunately I haven't had any issues with eating (mmmm, fooooood) but insomnia and raging headaches are my newest symptoms.

I think these symptoms might be partly due to a new job I accepted and the stresses of ramping up during the busiest season of my work year. I've worked the past 13 days in a row with no break in sight. Sigh...

Week 12

Wow, we're already at week 12. Time is zipping by. Here are some "glam" shots of the kid. This ultrasound was very cool. The technician was actually checking the baby as part of the nuchal translucency test series (not really sure how to explain all this but it's to provide us stats on our odds of having a baby with Down's or other health issues).

Anywhooooo, the baby wasn't positioned in a way where they could get a clear shot of its neck. So, they bumped my belly a few times to wake the baby. Our little fig (that's the approximate size of the kiddo) wiggled around, repositioned itself and went back to napping.

They assured us the baby looked healthy. Good news, indeed!!

Here is the fig at week 12.

Oh, and an update on how I'm feeling...

I go through stages of insomnia coupled with migraines to bouts of sheer fatigue where I can literally sleep a day away. This whole pregnancy thing is bizarre.

On being pregnant

It's been fun posting pictures of our growing bean with updates of its progress but I haven't mentioned how pregnancy is affecting our lives.

To start, let me say I'm pretty darn lucky. Aside from a few days here and there of pretty annoying nausea and being in a constant state of drowsiness, I feel good. In fact, really good.

I don't have any data to back this, but I attribute my minimal bouts of morning sickness to all the fertility drugs I've taken. Oh trust me, at the beginning, I was a lunatic. But now, I think my hormones are so elevated that my new level of crazy is just my new normal. Scary, but true. So I didn't have that spike in hormones that most newly pregnant women get; I got mine about 11 months ago when I started my first (of three) rounds of fertility drugs.

I remember one day shortly after starting up my 3rd cycle of hormone therapy being at the gym (a place near and dear to me) and having to leave after my 2nd set because someone wanted to work in with me and I couldn't deal with people. Poor Brian just watched me rant, then waved bye-bye as I stormed out of there. Wow, I must have looked insane (Brian is nodding his head in agreement right about now...).

Anyway, the point is not that I'm a raging hormonal lunatic, which I probably am; the point is I feel that this pregnancy is going along quite smoothly. Even as I type this post at almost at 10.5 weeks, I'm amazed how fast it's progressing. Only 30 more weeks!


Wait, 30 more weeks? Hmm, maybe it's not going so fast...



Here's a shot of me at almost 10.5 weeks.

Graduation Day!

Today is a milestone in our pregnancy; we graduated from our fertility physician to an OB/GYN.

We've been with our fertility center since May 2008 so it's bittersweet to be moving on. Dr. Abusief and our "Dream Team" (Shawnda, the best IVF Coordinator ever, Diana, Nurse Extraordinaire, and Eleanor, all things office related and always with a smile) have become an extension of our family and without their support and expertise, we would not be on the road to parenthood. Needless to say, this graduation comes with bittersweet feelings.

But, we did have a wonderful reason to celebrate today; we saw the baby for the first time where it actually looked "real". In addition to actually being able to make out the shape of the baby, it was wiggling around during the ultrasound; doing an Irish jig for us already! It's truly amazing to watch this unborn child develop. Some of the key things we saw today were it's heartbeat, it's head, it's limbs, it's forming spinal cord, and Dr. Abusief pointed out the dark white spots on the ultrasound were it's bones forming. Fascinating! Words cannot express the joy and awe we are experiencing.

I love to bake so in honor of our graduation, I made a plate of goodies for the team to enjoy. Below is pictures of our graduation celebration and a Week 10 ultrasound of Baby McCormick.

8 Weeks and Counting

We had our 8-week ultrasound today and after last week's scare, we were quite pleased with the results.

Baby Mack's little heart was beating between 120-130 beats per minute and although still measuring a little bit smaller than expected (7 weeks, 5 days), the bean is within the normal range. And, our doctor said focus on how much the baby grew this week rather than the measurement. He said, and I appreciate him saying this, that the baby is catching up.

We're making progress!

Here a shot of Baby McCormick at 8 weeks.

Sick n' tired and lovin' every moment

After trying to get pregnant for so long, walking through a sleepy haze and having twinges of nausea that can last for hours and hours are a blessed and warm welcome to my world.


Well, I have to admit, in the realm of pregnancy, I'm quite lucky. Most days I feel sluggish and maybe every three days I feel utterly nauseous that lingers for hours and hours. Unfortunately, food (carbs in particular) seem to help. So, I keep cracked wheat crackers within arm's reach at all times.


The crazy girl mood swings...well, that's been going on for 10 months thanks to the ridiculous amounts of hormones I've been injecting. Poor Brian never knows what to expect when he enters the room. I'm sure Brian would say I'm just as sweet as can be, but that's because he doesn't want to sleep with one eye open.


In spite of the not so fun feeling days and the bouts of crazy lady mood swings, I welcome the queasiness and crabiness because after having gone through such leaps to get pregnant, I just relish in the fact that I can finally say I'm pregnant!

Be still, my beating heart

Today we saw the baby's heart beating on the ultrasound. It's one thing to read about what's going on developmentally but to actually SEE the development is truly amazing. The heart was beating very fast (this is a good thing). We didn't get a count from our doctor but research has indicated the heart should be beating somewhere between 100-160 beats per minute. It's also about the size of a lima bean.

But, as any early pregnancy, it's still too soon to entirely exhale and feel relieved. We discovered our bean is measuring at 6 weeks, and 4 days instead of 7 weeks. We're a little concerened but are trying to stay positive and hope next week's ultrasound indicates we're back on track and hitting our markers.


Grow little bean, grow!!



Here's two pictures of our little miracle at 7 weeks

The Science of Making a Baby

First comes love,

Then comes marriage,


Then comes a baby in the carriage.

Right? Maybe for some folks, but certainly not for us.

We'll tell ya what makes a baby... a really great fertility specialist!

Fast forward 14 months...


July 8th, 2009, we got the call from our fertility doctor. "You're pregnant! Maybe. Maybe?

Your hcg levels are above the norm so come back on Monday to make sure the levels are increasing, but you're basically pregnant."

Yay! Wait. Yay? What if...

Fast forward two weeks...

Two hcg tests indicate your pregnant but let's take an ultrasound before we finally confirm you are in fact, 100% pregnant.

Whilst having the ultrasound...

Look, do you see that?

What?

That little black blob...

That's a baby!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we'd like to introduce you to Baby McCormick.

Perhaps we're biased but we think that little blob on the ultrasound monitor is darn cute for a 6-week old!