November (San Diego/San Francisco)

Texas (September)

Newport (August)

Another Appointment: 23 weeks

This appointment was pretty quick. The nurse checked ET's heart rate (120) and went over some of the notes that the doctor had written in after our minor scare a few weeks ago. We did have another sonogram then, but it was just to make sure everything was still okay. It turned out to be nothing and ET is still healthy and happy. All of the genetic tests were fine so now all we have left is the glucose one in a few more weeks.
We still don't know the sex, but I've convinced myself that it is definitely a boy. He moves around a lot now and seems to be most active at night. Justin was able to feel him move a few weeks ago and Ashley just felt him, too.
I'm getting really big and have started to walk more to counter some of the weight gain. The nurse was not so sweet when she alerted me that my rate of weight gain was too much (ugh) so I'm hoping to have gained much less when I go to my next appointment.

Next appointment: January 2, 2009 (week 27)

Denver

19 weeks

We had another sonogram done today. The nurse took a lot of pictures of ET's different organs and bones. So far everything is looking good. We turned down the opportunity to learn the sex so it's still ET. Tifah joked that ET stands for Earl Terrell so maybe she's willing it to be a boy! Because everything appears to be normal, we dont have anymore scheduled sonograms, but we will probably look into getting a 3D pr 4D one done at some point. I haven't figured out how to post a slideshow yet so here are 2 of the 4 new pics. I know, the face is a little scary! :)

A pea in the pod

Ok, everyone has been asking about the belly! So far we've only taken a couple of pictures, but ET is definitely growing. We've heard so many wives' tales about what we're going to have. Since we are waiting to find out, we thought it'd be interesting to hear your opinions as well!

Here is some info to help you:
I don't have any food cravings. I usually have to eat something different each day, so leftovers aren't working out so well! However, I do prefer salads and fruits to anything else.
While we're talking about food, I do have a food aversion to most meats (especially red meat).
I've already gained a lot of weight outside of my belly area (ugh).
I had some nausea the first few weeks, but I've been myself for the majority of the preg so far.
The heartbeat hasn't been higher than 150.

The belly pics will go up later today!

Another Appointment: 16 weeks

This appointment didn't give us new pics since we have to get our next sono at the hospital. We really liked this NP better than the last one, so we'll keep seeing her until the actual birth.

She prescribed some cream to stop my constant belly itching and really encouraged Justin to give me back massages whenever my back starts to ache. See? What wasn't there to like about her?!

The heartbeat this time was 138 when she first put it on, but it jumped to 150 really quickly. She said that the baby was moving a lot and was probably resting when she started. Justin joked that at least someone liked to exercise! I should've expected him to tell on me! For the record, I walk Patty and I'll sometimes take our treadmill for a spin. Every little bit counts.
Next Appointment: November 7

The Summer of Justin

This has definitely been Justin's big year. For awhile it seemed like we were celebrating yet another one of his accomplishments every week!
Here's the breakdown of how awesome Justino's summer was:

May 9 &10 - Justin graduated from Point Loma Nazarene (B.S. Nursing)
June 5 - Justin takes the RN exam (NCLEX)
June 12 - Justin passes the RN exam and is officially a Registered Nurse!
June 14 - ENS Justin commissions into the US Navy
July 16 - Off he goes to Newport for Officer Training
August 29 - ODS Graduation in Newport, RI
September 8 - Justin's first day at Balboa Naval Hospital
September 9 - Happy 31st birthday!

Our first peek at Baby Allen

Well, we finally made an appointment to see how our baby was doing. To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the century! I had stopped having any sort of nausea or fatigue a few weeks before the appointment so I was mostly worried that the home tests might have been wrong! Justin seemed to be amused by my "what if attitude" and was far more excited than concerned.

They took my vitals and then led us to our room so that I could prepare for the exam.

Everything was an uncomfortable blur until the little alien popped up on the screen! The hormones kept telling me to cry, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to regain any semblance of control once I started so I fought that urge.

The NP took his/her measurements and guessed that we were approximately 12 weeks (3 months) along. She took a lot of pictures and our favorite is posted at the top of this page! :)
Next Appointment: October 17