We have decided to wait....

So Harris and I have decided to wait to find out the sex of the baby. We were talking about how excited we were to have a baby and realized that having a baby is like being a child during Christmas. You know you are going to get a gift but you just don't know what exactly. And we realized that if we find out the sex of the baby before the baby is born, then it would be like opening some of the gift wrap on a present and taking a peek before Christmas. We then asked ourselves, "why cheat and take a peek when its only going to show us what we can't have yet"? We also realized that we could be missing out on such a special moment when the Doctor yells out "It's a boy or a girl!" So we then decided together that is a truly a surprise that cannot be ruined... Unless of course our Doctor spills the beans but we are hoping she is pretty good at what she does and can respect the fact that we really really want this to be a surprise.

There are only so many true surprises in life and we have decided not to cheat ourselves of this precious gift...

Daddy Harris is so excited, it's funny...

So we went to our monthly check up on May 12, 2009 and we were a bit anxious and very excited because we thought that there may be a chance we would find out what we are having. I know. I know. We aren't scheduled to find out until June 1st but we figured if we were going to get a sonogram, 2 weeks wouldn't make much of a difference and the Doctor would be able to tell us. Little did we know when we were asked to wait in one of the examining rooms that we wouldn't even get an ultrasound that day. After a few routine questions, the Doc asked me to lift up my shirt to check the heart rate. She pulled out this hand held device and voila! A heartbeat... She said "Great. 160." And that was it. We could hardly believe it was over and we wouldn't even be able to see baby Vuadens. So Harris dared to ask if we could possibly have an ultrasound done today to see the baby. She explained that we were not scheduled for one and so the Sonographer did not plan to be there. We had to explain that we were really hoping to see the baby and check the gender. She looked at my file and told us that we are due to come back in only 2 weeks. She giggled and thought it was funny we were so anxious. Then Harris asked where he could buy one of those hand held heart monitors. I just started to crack up inside. He told the Doctor that he would like to have one at home to check the heart beat more often. She told him that those could cost quite a bit of money and don't recommend we waste our money on cheaper devices. So we left the office a little disappointed but very excited to hear that the baby seemed to be doing great.

Cant wait to update you all with what we are having....

Can someone please make June 1st already?

So today our family got some very exciting news... Jennifer and Dax are going to have a baby girl. If she takes after her mom, she is going to be an absolute beauty. I can't wait to meet little Macyn Ali. If you know our family, we are a family of 4 daughters and for the most part we are all dying for some boys in this family. You would think my Dad would be praying for a boy but he is so excited to have another little princess in the family. What can I say, Kim girls rule...

So now that we know Jen and Dax are having a girl, the pressure is on me. Let's just pray the Pineda/Vuadens gene gives this female dominant family a little man. I am so excited, I can hardly wait until June 1st. I love being pregnant and I want to cherish every moment of every day of my pregnancy but I really wish I could just fast forward time to get to June 1st sooner.

Yes. I know. I am so impatient but what else is new....

Why can't I remember things from 5 minutes ago??

Okay, so I really wish someone would have warned me about "prego memory". Apparently, the more pregnant I get the worse my memory gets. I would say my short term memory is equivalent to an aging 100 year old with a serious chronic deteriorating memory . I can't seem to remember conversations from 5 minutes ago. This is very frustrating for me but can you imagine what it's like for those who have to deal with me constantly asking, "did I already say that?" I have had brain farts before but this is craziness. It is almost like I wasn't ever mentally there for the moment and totally blanked. Most people are very understanding because I guess this is not very unusual but I cant help but wonder how and why this happens to pregnant women.

To everyone who has to deal with me on a regular basis, I'm sorry for my unusual behavior but what can I say.... I'm pregnant and I can only expect that this will get worse....

Morning sickness returns?

Okay so I like to consider myself very lucky when it comes to my "morning sickness" (inshallah--that's like knock on wood) because I was only sick for about one month and when I hit 12 weeks, it literally went away all together. Of course, I would still gag every once and awhile especially when I would brush my teeth in the morning but no biggie. But 2 weeks ago, I felt terrible. I was sick all morning. Of course being the first time parents we are, we freaked out and I called the Doctor. Actually, Harris wanted me to drive straight to their office instead of going to work but I figured I would call to see what they say first. My doctor's nurse said that unless it continues then I am probably just experiencing a recurrence of morning sickness. Could it be?? "morning sickness" can return???? This is the nightmare answer I did not want to hear.... The next day I was fine.

This past Friday, on my day off, I felt that queasy feeling again and was sick all day. "Oh God" I really don't want to go through all of this again. I'm not sure whether or not this was going to be something that happens once week but I guess we will have to see this week.

All I can say is that if it isn't "morning sickness" returning then my baby sure as heck does not enjoy Chipotle and BBQ chicken for sure because that is what I ate the night before the 2 days that I got sick.

Ah... Oh well.

150 beats per minute

Went to the doctor's on April 13, 2009. I was officially 14 weeks and 3 days. We heard our baby's heart beat and it was amazing. I was little scared at first because it seemed like the Doctor had a hard time finding it but she did say it was like "finding a needle in a haystack". We managed to find it and it was a racing 150 beats per minute. Apparently, that is normal for babies and the Dr. said it was a strong healthy heart and that we were doing really good. Cant wait for the next appointment....

Our growing bundle of joy

Only 3 weeks later and you can already see how the baby has grown. I cant wait until our next appointment. We won't have a chance to see the little one but we will be able to hear his/her heart beat. I can't believe how much he/she grew in the last 3 weeks. My last picture of my baby is hardly recognizable and now you can see their head and body. When we went to the doctor's to take this picture, our little one was tumbling around and wiggling their little arms and legs. I'm a swimmer and Harris is a runner so we were debating whether or not our baby was kicking and waving their arms and legs like their were swimming or running... It was amazing to see what my little one is doing in my belly all day. Keeping growing little one....

The first look

Our first look at baby Vuadens. On February 19, 2009 (my daddy's birthday) we got to meet our little one for the very first time. He/She is too small to tell its a baby but in the picture above it was the size of a gummy bear. We watched the monitor of our little baby and the fluttering on the screen which was their heartbeat and I cried. I couldn't believe I was now carrying something so precious.

We are pregnant!!!!

Harris and Mij are pregnant and we couldn't be more excited. We found out the day after the Steelers won the Super Bowl. What a great way to start off 2009.

This is our home pregnancy test that we bought after we got the call from the Doctor saying we were pregnant. We couldn't believe it so we had to see it for ourselves.

This was one of the happiest days of our lives....