Archive for November, 2006

  • 20 Nov

    Posted by
    Jillian Frank


    Category

    Wump wump, Wump wump…

    1

    On Wednesday of last week – what the midwife has determined is the 14th week of the pregnancy – we had the thrill of hearing our baby’s heartbeat for the first time! It was freakin’ amazing!!! I know I’ve never heard one live and in person, and I think I’ve barely ever paid attention to hearing one during a TV show or educational video or what not. But man, was this cool.

    And the midwife found it, like, immediately. It was almost as if as soon as she put the ultrasound goop on the instrument and plopped it on Jill’s belly that the heartbeat came galloping out of the speaker.

    Our baby’s heartbeat clocked in at around 160 beats per minute – fast in terms of grown-ups, but at the top end of the normal range for babies at this stage. Does that mean our baby is high-strung? Rip-roaring ready to go? Excited to be heard for the first time? Who knows, but this Daddy-to-be was in awe.

    The ultrasound is up on January 2nd. If our little bugger cooperates, we want to know the sex. What a great late Christmas/New Year gift that will be!

  • 06 Nov

    Posted by
    Jillian Frank


    Category

    Practicing/Baby Envy

    1

    This adorable little lady bug is Hannah. We met Hannah while attending Elm Park UMC. And, I must say, she may be the most well-behaved, easy-going, happy little baby I have ever met. And cute? Puh-leeeeeease. She’s adorable!

    Anyway, Jill was able to visit Elm Park a week ago, and she invited our friend Melissa (mommy) to stop by our new house while they were out trick or treating.We thought perhaps that they had run out of time, but just before we were getting ready to leave to go to Northern Light for coffee, they turned up! It was really great to see Jill oohing and aweing over Hannah, and to watch them on the floor and on the couch playing together. Hannah takes particular interest in our cats, and she was very insistent upon petting Graham. Graham, you know, the fearless orange tabby who isn’t phased by chewing threw electrical wires even when they’re plugged in? Yeah, that boy scampered under the papasan chair and stayed for most of the visit. Hannah persisted, running over and squatting under and scrunching up her hand to entice the kitty out.

    So, that’s Hannah. And we want one. One like her would be great. Although we both think we’ll end up with a lovable little terror!

    The bumble bee is the amazing little Everly Skye with her proud and happy daddy Jeremy. We had the pleasure of being at her baptism on Saturday, which was a touching affair. She’s a little young yet to see how she’ll be when she’s mobile; but if the Friday nights at the Peacemeal gatherings are any indication, she’s going to love our house! She seems very happy and peaceful and cozy there. I hope our little one feels the same way!

    So, what’s up with babies and parents dressing them up as bugs? Must be in this year. Next year, we’ll have our own little one to dress ridiculously and take gazillions of pictures of.

    I can’t wait!

  • 03 Nov

    Posted by
    Jillian Frank


    Category

    My turn to update

    0

    Well, today marks 12 weeks of our big journey! I’m excited to be moving away from the first trimester. After we hear baby’s heartbeat, I’ll be even more excited (and relaxed!).

    So, like Josh said, we met with a midwife named Shelley Rosenberg on Wednesday afternoon. I think she’s fabulous. We seem to be on the same wavelength, and she assures me that Mercy doesn’t have a lot of procedures it does across the board for every mother (for example, not every mother needs to have an IV). I am a bit disappointed that she isn’t on-call anymore. Because of this fact, I think I’m going to have to really consider hiring a doula. Hopefully Josh will get on board with that! (Thanks for posting the picture, Grumpy!)

    I’ve been feeling pretty so/so. By the time evening rolls around, I’m pretty well spent… even if I did get to bed at 9:30 the night before. I get really nauseous if I allow myself to get tired, so now I’ve resigned myself to going to bed at 8:30 PM, if that’s what my body is telling me I need to do. We’re supposed to be going to a movie tonight… I don’t think I’m going to make it!

    In short order, I’m looking forward to getting some of my energy back and to leaving my nausea behind. I’m really excited to hear my baby’s heartbeat and really excited to have found someone like Shelley to care for us during this time in our lives. My belly seems to be getting bigger, and though I blame it on not having run in more than a month, all of the other mothers I know tell me that it really is the beginning of a pregnant belly. Oh well…I knew I would never get into a bikini again anyway.

  • 03 Nov

    Posted by
    Jillian Frank


    Category

    12 weeks!

    0

    So, we’re at 12 weeks! And, after a great consultation on Wednesday this week, we’ve settled in on who will be providing Jillian and the baby with care throughout the pregnancy (and, if the little bugger cooperates, during delivery). I finally found a Certified Nurse Midwife included in our health care plan, and she was great! Her name is Shelly Rosenberg and she delivers at Mercy Hospital in Scranton. The one downside is she no longer is on-call, so unless Jill is in labor during her normal office days/hours, there will be an OB helping with the delivery. But Shelly seems to be comfortable with the 3 or 4 doctors that work at Mercy, so that’s good. We’re glad to find someone who is going to be supportive and extremely knowledgeable about natural births. At one point Shelly even said it took her a long time to get past thinking a home birth is the only way to go!

    So, we’re moving right along. Jill’s next appointment is on the 15th, and we’re hoping they’ll try to find the heartbeat then, even though we’re anticipating more of a basic intake/phsyical kind of appointment.

    That’s all for now…maybe Jill will update a bit with how she’s been feeling, what she’s thinking (ahem, cough, cough, nudge, nudge).