Renesmee Jacob Fleming, 10.5 weeks
Yeah, so I’m 10.5 weeks pregnant. We’ve known for about 6 weeks. And this is the single hardest secret I’ve ever kept! We weren’t going to tell until 12 weeks, but the stats were all really good today, so we gave in early.
Oh, um, did you know they take the ultrasound through your hoo-hah? Yeah, just a heads up there. And the wand is cold.
Anyway. The baby’s heartbeat was 167 bpm, which the ultrasound tech declared “perfect.” And she’s the perfect size for 10.5 weeks.
This post feels scattered, but this is me ever since we saw the heartbeat. All I have to do is see the word heartbeat, and I start crying. It’s a magical thing, seeing that. I can’t even describe how wonderful it is and how much your whole world just shifts. My tears have been on a hair trigger all afternoon.
Frank, of course, cried during “Up” and one episode of “Scrubs” but did not cry at our baby’s heartbeat. Soulless monster. Really, though, he saw the heartbeat before the tech even mentioned it, and he was so animated, like a kid. “Oh! There’s the heart! Do you see the heartbeat?” And that’s when everything became real for him.
At one point, I laughed, and the baby jumped and waved her little hand around. That was an amazing thing to see. So next time we go for an ultrasound, I’m definitely drinking a Coke right beforehand like I did today. Keep baby awake and moving.
I can’t stop looking at the ultrasound pictures. I’ll post more later. There’s an awesome one with her hand waving right next to her face, and it just looks like she has this long alien jaw with razor sharp alien teeth. She kind of looks like the creature from Alien. It’s my favorite one.
When we came out of the ultrasound and sat waiting for the doctor’s appointment, I saw a girl from behind, and her hair looked just like my hairdresser’s. I told Frank, “That looks like my hairdresser from behind.” She turned around, and it was her. Haha. She’s three weeks away from her due date and pretty much the most precious pregnant woman you’ll ever see.
I love the OB/GYN. He’s wonderful. He told me that looking at all my food allergies/issues, he knows that I know my body really well, so if I feel like something’s wrong, I should come in and see him. That scored him MAJOR points, because y’all know I like props and respect from docs.
He said I don’t have to gain 25-35 pounds, that the bulk of the weight gain is so I have fat stores for when breastfeeding sucks the life out of me (he said it’s like the calorie output of running a 10K 3x a day!). I patted my thighs and told him I had plenty of that, and he said it’s totally fine if I don’t gain all that weight. Which is good, since I lost 2 pounds since seeing my primary doc at 4.5 weeks. My goal is to gain only 10-15, and if you think that’s unrealistic and think I can’t do it, just keep it to yourself, because I’m hormonal and emotional, and I will cut you.
I’m supposed to up my thyroid med by half, which is great, because I live in Exhaustedland these days.
They took 5 tubes of blood from me after we saw the doc. They better not put it in some national DNA database.
As you can see, I may call the baby Renesmee Jacob Fleming on the blog until s/he is born, and yes, it’s a joke, as only the biggest tool in the world would name her baby Renesmee. My other thought is Alien J. Fleming.
I’m gonna stop now, since this is so disjointed and stilted.
congrats, you crazy kids!
March 16th, 2010 at 5:16 pmI know you are actually gonna name the baby Kellie or Elvis. But seriously, congratulations to you and Frank. I was thankful that I had an uncomplicated pregnancy and certainly didn’t want any problems, but was sometimes jealous of those with high risk pregnancies that got to have lots of ultrasounds. Back when I was pregnant they only did the 3D ultrasounds in special cases so we never got one of those. So so happy for you!
March 16th, 2010 at 5:30 pmWow! Congratulations!
March 16th, 2010 at 5:30 pm(I gained 19 1/2 pounds with each of my kids, so I don’t think you need the 25+ pounds either.)
I don’t have kids, so it’s fun to read about other’s experiences. Happy for you! Be blessed & over-joyed through it all!
March 16th, 2010 at 5:39 pmCongrats.
March 16th, 2010 at 6:14 pm(And I know which episode of Scrubs got to Frank. That one gets me too.)
congratulations!!! how very exciting for you two!
March 16th, 2010 at 7:27 pmWOW!!! YAY!!! YIPPEE!!!
March 16th, 2010 at 7:33 pma new mommy and daddy!
(sniff) congrats to you guys, get ready for all the names that will be thrown at you.
get behind that plate, take your time and catch just the right one.
why yes…yes i am ready for baseball season.
Congratulation! ;)
A little Nuke-The-Moon-Unit Fleming!!!
[happy dancing]
March 16th, 2010 at 8:09 pmcongratulations you crazy kids! I am so happy for you!
March 16th, 2010 at 8:29 pmOMG, you’re my #3 (re: it happens in threes)! congratulations. How very exciting for you and Frank! I really can’t believe you kept it a secret that long.
March 16th, 2010 at 8:36 pmRenesmee Jacob Fleming is the perfect (blog) baby name!
That’s awesome! Congratulations.
March 16th, 2010 at 9:37 pmThis was super excited and funny!
March 16th, 2010 at 9:55 pmOh, how exciting! :D I just found out in February I’m pregnant, and am now somewhere between 6 and 9 weeks. This is my second one, though.
I had been warned about the “hoo-hah” scan with my first child, but everyone told me it was going to be horrible. I think my doctor alleviated the discomfort by giving me the most intrusive pelvic exam of my life (I could have sworn she stuck both hands in there), so the wand was not so bad by comparison. ;)
ANYWAY–I’m so happy for you guys! :D Praise God! :D
March 16th, 2010 at 10:40 pmCongratulations!
March 16th, 2010 at 11:20 pmCONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!
I’m so, so, so happy for you!
March 17th, 2010 at 12:39 amCongratulations! I’m so happy for you guys!
March 17th, 2010 at 4:16 amCongratulations to you and Frank!
March 17th, 2010 at 4:22 amOh, um, did you know they take the ultrasound through your hoo-hah?
Don’t worry: the next one will be external, which you will probably appreciate as much as my wife.
Actually, she didn’t think that the wand was cold. Instead, it was the jelly that bugged her; the jelly heater was broken that day.
Congratulations. I assume that first Halloween costume is a monkey?
March 17th, 2010 at 5:21 amCongratulations! Who’s gonna start the mommy-blogging countdown? I guess technically you’ve already begun…
March 17th, 2010 at 5:26 amMay God Bless you and protect you and your child. May you always be centered in God’s will.
March 17th, 2010 at 6:10 amCongrats & best wishes for a happy, healthy pregnancy!
March 17th, 2010 at 6:21 amExcellent! We need more people like y’all!
March 17th, 2010 at 6:45 amI’m so excited for you! Congratulations!
Might I also suggest some further names for your perusal?
Olga
Antioch
Trogdor
Osca de Maiya
Rick Moranis
I am totally awesome at coming up with baby names, so if you want more, just let me know.
:D
March 17th, 2010 at 6:53 amOh my goodness - been busy and didn’t see this until today - CONGRATS!!! You will make wonderful parents - you can so totally do the only gaining 10-15 lbs thing - I did. I am so excited for you guys!
March 17th, 2010 at 7:02 am[…] house of J is expecting a new little bundle of jokes joy on 100810. I’m rooting for 101010 since that was what I was […]
March 17th, 2010 at 7:43 amCongrats! Your whole world is about to change….and it’s the best change you can imagine :) Enjoy every minute of it!
March 17th, 2010 at 9:20 amThree babies and we never got more than the slight threat of a hoohah-invasion ultrasound. Babies all cooperated enough Lucky you.
March 17th, 2010 at 9:26 amYIPPEEE!!!!! MY BABY IS HAVING A BABY! I AM SO EXCITED I CAN HARDLY WAIT! AND SISTER IS WALKING ON AIR!!! SHE IS SO IN LOVE WITH YOU RIGHT NOW!!!
March 17th, 2010 at 10:09 amThank you, everyone!
@Lorie, LOL! No, I could never name my child Kellie or Elvis–I want him/her to be a good singer! Yeah, I’m glad that my pregnancy is considered low risk, but I’d love to have an ultrasound every day.
@Laura, we already have our names mostly picked out. And no, we’re not telling!
@Devon, congratulations! And I’d read that they only did the hoo-hah ultrasound if they couldn’t find a heartbeat, but no, this place does it if you’re less than 12 weeks.
@physics geek, the only outfit we’ve bought so far is a footed monkey onesie. Natch.
@Jay, yes. Lucky me.
March 17th, 2010 at 11:02 amWhile I can’t imagine any more of a masculine, overall amazing name than Cullen, I second Elvis and Trogdor.
March 17th, 2010 at 11:33 amMy wife experienced the internal ultrasound, too, but only once–with our first. I was profoundly chagrined for Mrs. Feelgood. The next three didn’t need such early exams, I guess, since she didn’t go for ultrasounds until mid-term. At 20-24 weeks it really is amazing how individual they already are, but the early pictures of super tiny babies are something special.
If you’re thinking of doing any at-home monitoring, I’ll highly recommend BabyBeat. We rented a fetal doppler for each of our kids, and it was comforting for my wife and fun for me. I even rigged up a complicated set of cables to record the sound directly to my PC. Chasing that little heartbeat around the tummy is better than Xbox.
March 17th, 2010 at 1:14 pmHappy, Happy, Joy, Joy… congratulations!!!
March 17th, 2010 at 3:33 pmOMG!!!! SarahK and FrankJ I’m so happy and excited to read this news! Yea! Congrats!
March 17th, 2010 at 7:29 pmYay!! Congratulations! What wonderful, wonderful news.
March 17th, 2010 at 9:38 pmcongratulations - and as my wife told me, its good that we will have more conservative, laughing children.
March 18th, 2010 at 9:31 amSo happy for you! Three cheers for your doc saying you’ll know if something is wrong. Been there, done that, I *knew*.
You’re going to hear a million labor horror stories. I guess it’s the female equivalent of a war story. Kind of a macho thing, if you’ll pardon the expression. I think every body exaggerates. All labors are different. I had one really easy one (when is the hard part going to start? “it’s over. You can start pushing whenever you feel ready”) and one worser one, but that’s why the good lord have us brains to discover pain killers. Say yes to drugs.
Had lots of ultrasounds, but never through the hoohaw. Must be some new-fangled 21st century thing.
March 18th, 2010 at 1:24 pmCongratulations!!!!
I lost 5 and gained 10 so you can do it! (I would not recommend loosing the weight since it drives OBGYNs up the wall. But I was too nauseated to eat the first 1.5 trimesters.
Oh and plant tall things you aren’t allergic too in the garden, amaranth, quinoa and tomatoes, that way you can just stand up to harvest them.
March 18th, 2010 at 1:37 pmCongratulations, SarahK!! I am so happy for you - such a blessing!
March 18th, 2010 at 6:29 pmOh, congrats so much!!!
March 19th, 2010 at 12:19 pmI’ve been visiting imao for years, even before you and Frank got engaged. I’m so excited for you guys! Congratulations!
March 23rd, 2010 at 9:46 amMy hubby and I just had our second baby boy…he’s 5 weeks old. Our older one is two years.
As for names, Fred of Frank Jr for a boy, Reagan for a girl. Just sayin’.