Anatomy Scan & Monthly Checkup

Dear Munchkin,

This morning's doctor visit went really well. We saw all of you that we didn't get a good look at couple weeks ago and you are completely adorable! I am falling more deeply in love with you each day and I can't wait to be your Mommy. Don't worry, we didn't look at anything below the waist except your feet. Your heart is beating strongly with 4 good looking chambers. We listened to it for about 30 seconds and it was music to my ears. We also got a few good peeks at your face, but most of time you held up your hands in protest. The 4-D pictures don't have a super clear face shot because you weren't cooperating all the time and you were laying head down behind my belly button. We'll have to work on that. After the sonogram, we meet with Doctor Davis for a quick chat, scheduled the next couple appointments, and then we were on our way to get some lunch. Here's are today's stats and photos:

Weight= -1.5 Pounds (Which brings my total weight gain to....nothing. It seems I weight exactly the same as the day I got pregnant. I had them look up all my monthly weight-ins and I have just fluctuated back and forth within 4 pounds. Maybe it's water weight? It's so strange because I have this big belly which I know is growing, but the scale says differently. Oh well, I guess I just gained all my weight prior to pregnancy!)

Blood Pressure= 110/70 (Normal)

Heart Rate= 154 BPM (Nice and strong)

Profile:

Feet:

Face:

I love you very much! Love, Mom

Pediatrician Visit

Dear Munchkin,
Your Daddy and I took part of yesterday afternoon off to take care of some Baby Beale appointments.
The next thing we did was check out your Pediatrician, Dr. Davis. He came recommended by Emily and it turns out that we have several friends who take their kids to this practice. It is very reassuring to know that a lot of our friends trust the doctors there and we were really confident about choosing him. You had already been accepted as a new patient, so this was just a meet and greet. We were impressed with Doctor D and he struck us as very easy going. They are moving to a new building next week, so things were a little chaotic and I can't wait to check out there new place. He basically just gave us an overview of how things worked within their practice (they have 9 doctors) followed by a quick rundown on the first couple years of checkups. Of course anytime you are sick it will be a whole different ball game! We asked him a few questions. I am sure once you are here with us, we will have lots and lots more questions! We are really pleased with our decision and know that you will be in capable hands with Doctor D. Another check marked off the Baby Beale to-do-list!
We have another ultrasound and doctor's appointment scheduled for mid-morning tomorrow, so I will write later with the details from the visit.
I love you very much,
Mom

Nursery Paint Job

Dear Munchkin,

This weekend your Daddy painted the nursery for us. I have to say, I think it looks fantastic! The color that your Grandma Lumsden and I picked out looks really great on the walls. It is so bright and fun. We love it and I hope you will also. The room looks so much bigger and brighter with this color. This week we will clean up the house and put everything baby related back in your room. Then next month, during our family reunion, we will pick all the bedding that your Grandma already has picked out for us. When Grandma comes for your baby shower this fall, she will help put her finishing touches on the room. So by the end of summer/early fall everything should be ready for your arrival. We still need to pick up a dresser sometime between now and then, but we have already been checking out the sales. Here is a look at the progress this weekend:

Original Color:

Daddy Priming the Walls:
Hard at Work:
Saturday Morning 1st Coat:
Finishing Touches: End Result:
I hope you like it as much as we do. We are looking forward to having you sleeping beside us soon!

I love you,

Mom

First School Tour

Dear Munchkin,
This morning your Daddy and I toured the First School located in First Presbyterian Church downtown. Upon entering the building, I realized that this center was very different from some others we have looked at. Admittedly, I am still not entirely comfortable with this child care option, but this school seems to fit our needs really well. We were greeted by the director Gail and assistant director Rosetta. Rosetta showed us around the school. There were huge open classrooms, lots of outdoor play areas, and plenty of smiling kids running around. We went to the nursery room where there are a maximum of eight babies and three teachers. All three of the teachers were on the floor playing with the babies or holding the ones that were awake. The room was bright, cheerful, and there were lots of toys or activities for the babies. I was already wound up and defensive about asking about cloth diapers. So I just came right out said, "We are going to use cloth diapers if that is going to be an issue for you, I need to know now..." She just smiled and told me that they were more than happy to work with us if we used them. Whew! That is a load off my mind since your butt is too important to me to mess around with. We walked and talked some more about the different classrooms and their philosophies about teaching children. All in all, I felt pretty comfortable there. We are currently on the waiting list there and still need to explore all of our options. There might not even be a spot available when the time comes for us to need child care. So for now we wait and check back every month or so. We also need to further investigate other places, people, and examine our budget again. Your Daddy said to me on the way out "At least you are not crying!" But still feel like crying on the inside because finding the best care for you is so important to me. Hopefully God will provide us with an answer that will make all of us happy.
I love you very much.
Love, Mom

Engaged

Dear Munchkin,
I have very exciting news. Your Uncle Ross and Aunt Amber are getting married! Your Daddy and I could not be more thrilled to welcome Amber to our family. She has been part of "our gang" for a while now, but this ring makes it official!!!

Isn't it gorgeous? You are so lucky to have such a special aunt who will love you your entire life. I wonder how old you will be when they tie the knot?

The Happy Couple
Uncle Ross & I circa 1980

I love you, Mom

Registry

Dear Munchkin,
There is so much going on in Munchkin-land right now! I feel like have about four letters to write to you. But this one is going to be devoted entirely to your registry. A funny thing happens when you get married or have baby, you end up getting lots of presents! And I have the added bonus of letting people know what you will need or enjoy playing with. Since your Daddy and I are branding spanking new at all of this, I enlisted the help of my good friend Emily. She and I tackled the task of making sure we had a list of all the necessities (and a lot of the not-so-necessities) you will need during your first years of life. I can not tell you how grateful I was for her help. She basically guided me up and down the aisles pointing out all the "stuff" that goes along with having a baby. Whew. It was tiring! But, I assure you that I am more informed now and was happy to soak up all of her knowledge of baby items that work for her in the T household. There were so many choices and everything came with bells and whistles. I am not sure what I would have done without Emily whispering to me, "It's OK. Babies don't need everything. I know it's overwhelming." I still ended up with a list of over 75 items to choose from. Some of the highlights include a high chair, pack-n-play, swing, bath items, breast pump, bottles, sheets, and clothes. For my complete list click here: Babies-R-Us . When you are old enough please remember say thank you to Mrs. Thompson for helping us out!
I love you,
Mom

Songram Pictures

Dear Baby,
Here are some snapshots from yesterday's photoshot. Aren't you adorable?
Love, Mom

Change In Due Date

Dearest Munchkin,
Yesterday your Daddy and I went to the doctor for my mid-pregnancy anatomy scan. It turns out that I am actually more pregnant then we had anticipated! Based on this sonogram and the previous ultrasound measurements, the doctor confirmed that you are a 8 days older than we thought and officially changed your due date to October 30th, 2008. But your Daddy and I know you will arrive whenever you see fit! So I am about a week ahead of "my schedule" but I will just have to change a few things in my calender. Everything looked great on the sonogram. The technician couldn't get all the shots she wanted, so I have to repeat the scan in two weeks when you are a little bigger. You are laying sideways with your head on my left side and toes pointed to the right. You have all your hands, fingers, legs, toes, bladder, kidneys, and all the rest of you looks completely adorable. We took home some 4-D pictures of your face and you are even waving to us in a couple of the pictures. Here are some stats from the visit:
Weight= +3.3 Pounds (Total weight gain 4.5 Pounds)
Blood Pressure= 122/60
Heart Rate= 158 BPM
All in all, it was a good visit and we will get to repeat in everything two weeks. I am feeling pretty lucky to get to see you quite a few times before you are born. This afternoon, I am heading out with Emily to do your registry and your Daddy is picking up the paint for your nursery. Grandma Lumsden and I have decided on a color based on all the cool bedding and decorating she is doing. Hopefully next weekend, we will start working on your nursery. Lots of exciting things going on in the next few weeks!
I love you,
Mom

Glider Assembly

Dear Munchkin-

I thought maybe you would like to see what your Daddy looked like while he was hard at work assembling the glider for your nursery. It arrived in less than 2 weeks and was really easy to put together. We really lucked out on finding the right piece of furniture at the right price. It looks great and is so comfy to sit in. I am sure that you and I will be spending many nights rocking together. Thanks again Grandma Wickham!

We have an sonogram & doctor's appointment late tomorrow afternoon. Then, this weekend Emily and I will be getting together to work on your registry, so I will have alot to write about in the next few days. I love you. Love, Mom

Party Time

Dear Baby-
There's a party in my belly and you are the guest of honor! You have been rocking and rolling for about three solid minutes. I just close my eyes and imagine you are spinning around enjoying the ride. I am not sure if you can smile yet, but this afternoon's antics have sure made me grin ear to ear. Rock on Baby Beale! Rock on.
Love, Mom

Is That What I Think It Was?

Dearest Baby,
A few minutes ago, I was sitting here-at my desk-and I felt a tiny "flip-flop". It was right below my bellybutton near where I heard your heartbeat last week. Could it be what I think it was??? Everything I have read says that this is about the time I should start feeling you move and it starts with little butterflies or flutters. I had a similar feeling last night while trying to fall asleep but I think this time was the real deal.
Oh. WOW. I am so excited. Hopefully there is more to come. Soon.
Love, Mom

16 Week Checkup

Dearest Baby-
What a beautiful morning! I woke up this morning feeling excited about you and how well my doctor's appointment went yesterday afternoon. Here are some stats from the visit:
Weight= +1.2 pounds (But I had lost 2 pounds, so I am not sure if that's considering gaining 3.2 pounds or just 1.2 pounds total. Either way is fine with me and still well within a healthy range at this point in the pregnancy)
Blood Pressure= 100/70 (Which was excellent since my last few visits measured slightly on the high side and I was a little concerned that it might be creeping up)
Heart Rate= 152 beats per minute (Perfectly average for your age)
Other than those few little measurements, the doctor took some blood/urine to send off for testing and asked me how I was feeling. I told me that we were excellent and then we were on our way home! The next appointments are the mid-pregnancy anatomy scan and another monthly checkup in June. So far, so good......
I love you very much!
Love, Mom
PS- Please start kicking me soon so I can feel you moving. I am really looking forward to that happening in the next couple weeks. It's going to be great!

Glider

Dear Muchkin,
Your Daddy just ordered a glider for your nursery which should arrive in 4-6 weeks. This chair is a gift to us from your Great-Grandma Wickham. Thanks Grandma! During our family visit this past weekend, we talked a lot about you and our preparation for your arrival. We just need a few pieces of furniture to make the nursery complete and this was one of them. We are so grateful for this nice surprise gift! We shopped around a bit and sat in quite a few chairs before settling on this one from Costco:

It's very comfortable, sturdy, and affordable. Practical enough for your Dad and stylish enough for your Mom. Also, your Grandma and Grandpa Wilkin loaded us up with a great big gift bag full of goodies for you to take home with us. There were tons of cute clothes, bibs, bottles, wipes, a blanket, shampoo, and some diapers. It was like having a little mini baby shower! I have already washed and folded all the clothes to be put away once we get a dresser. You are so lucky to Grandparents who are going to spoil you! This afternoon I have a checkup with Doctor Davis, so I will write tomorrow and let you know how it went.
I love you,
Mom

16 Weeks

Dear Muchkin,

Today I am 16 weeks pregnant. We are 4/9 of the way through our pregnancy journey together. That's pretty close to half-way done! This month you have grown a lot and it's pretty obvious that I am with child. I love feeling the bump grow and not being able to see my feet in the shower. Your Daddy makes fun of me because I am always touching or rubbing my belly. I can't feel you moving quite yet, but it shouldn't be long now. Everything I have read says that I should begin to feel movement within the next couple weeks. I am psyched for that! I am no longer allowed to sleep on my back anymore, which is taking some getting used to. But most nights, I am still tired enough to fall asleep on my side without a problem. This month has been pretty uneventful (pregnancy-wise) other than getting some "things" ready for your arrival. We have purchased a few baby items, signed up for all our baby classes, picked out a nursery theme, researched a possible pediatrician, talked through child care vs. stay at home possibilities, and committed to the idea of cloth diapering (Props to Emily for helping me out on a lot of things things). So I am feeling a little more "in control" of the situation. At least, we have some what of a plan of action in place. Although I am very aware that most of it will go out the window once you arrive! Here's what your Mama looks like at four months pregnant:

This weekend, your Grandpa & Grandma Wilkin and Uncle Ross will be in town visiting your Great-Grandma, so it should be a fun family weekend get together. I am sure they will be shocked to see all the changes in me since the last time we saw each other! I will write again next week after the weekend and my next doctor's appointment.

I love you with all my heart,

Mom

Baby Deals

Dearest Babe-

We finally got all of your "new" stuff cleaned up, put together, and your crib mattress arrived from Costco. Right now everything is just randomly thrown in the your room, but Grandma Lumsden and I have already narrowed down a plan to make your nursery look oh-so-adorable! You are very lucky to have such a crafty, creative, and talented Grandma. I have no doubt that everyone will be thrilled with the outcome of your nursery sometime this summer. Here's a sneak peek at our baby bargains:
Crib:

Stroller:

Car Seat and Bases:

Changing Table:

Aren't they great?

Love, Mom

Baby Buys

Dear Munchkin,
Last week we made our first official baby purchases. I really wanted to take some pictures before I wrote about them, but we just didn't have time this weekend to get it all together. Hopefully we can work on that this week, so you I can post of pictures of all your "new" stuff. We bought: a crib, changing table, stroller, car seat, and two bases for the car seat. All for the low low price of $200 dollars! We certainly don't need all these items right now, but in the end, we couldn't pass up such a great bargain. Plus we ordered a crib mattress from Costco that only ended costing us $30. (That's after we bought new tires and a gift certificate was applied!). Your Daddy's company sends out an email announcement where people post items that they want to either buy or sell. Kinda like an online garage sale of sorts. Last week, there were tons of baby items for sale and we managed to score these items. All of them are gently used, but in great shape. Our priority is that you are safe and comfortable. These items fit the bill perfectly without strangling our budget. I will try to get some pictures posted soon when everything gets cleaned up and put together.
I love you,
Mom
PS- I had the best Mother's Day ever just thinking about you and how happy I am to be your Mom.

Scared

Dear Munchkin,
Sometimes you will feel scared. Sometimes you might feel alone. Sometimes you will worry about things you can't control. Sometimes you might wonder why you or someone you love is feeling hurt. And that could make you feel sad. This morning your Uncle Geoff had heart surgery. Not to worry, everything turned out just fine and he is in the hospital recovering as I type. But all day, your Daddy and I felt scared, worried, nervous, and helpless. These are all feelings that you will have when you love someone and they are hurting. I want you to understand that it is OK to have these feelings and sometimes we all feel that way. Life is not always a bed of roses. But in the end, you will be surrounded by a family that loves you and will support each other during hard times. That's what families do, we lean on each other during the rough times and do our best until things seem a better.
I love you,
Mom

2nd Ultrasound

Dearest Babe-
Yesterday, I fell in love with you all over again. Your Daddy and I got another glimpse of you and you have changed so much already. I know it is hard to tell from the ultrasound pictures, but you look like a real baby now. We saw your head, tiny body, your arm, and even a small hand. You moved around quite a bit for us and your heartbeat is going strong at 169 beats per minute. At one point, you even looked like you were hitting yourself in the head with your little hand. I imagine you were shaking your fist at us for disrupting your sleep with all of the poking and prodding. The ultrasound technician took all kinds of measurements and pictures which told Doctor Davis that everything looked good. The blood work came back with great results and that definitely put our minds at ease. I am trying not to worry to much about things I can't control, but my desire for you to be healthy and safe sometimes gets the better of me! You will soon learn that I am a bit of a worrywart, but I assure you it's only because I love you so much. We chatted briefly with Doctor Davis after the ultrasound and set up our next couple appointments. At the end of this month, I have a 16 week checkup which will be quick and easy. Just some more blood work and a few questions. Then on June 13th, we have our big ultrasound which makes sure all of your anatomy is developing the way it should. That ultrasound will be exciting, because you will be a lot easier to see and so much bigger! I can't believe that in June, my pregnancy will be half-way over. As excited as I am to meet you, I still feel selfish because I don't want to share you with the rest of the world yet! Here are some more pictures from yesterday's photo shoot:

Show Off



Alleged Profile

Big Brain



Cutie Pie

Love, Mom

PS- Yesterday you hit the big time when we were mentioned on Emily's blog!

Washington Weekend

Dearest Munchkin,
This past weekend we traveled to Washington DC to tell the rest of our families about your upcoming arrival. It was an awesome surprise and everyone was totally over the moon with joy. We left on Friday afternoon and made excellent time on the drive. Your Grandma and Grandpa called a few times to make sure we were all traveling safely and that we were all buckled in. When we got to my cousin Amy's house, the whole gang was waiting for us and we were able to tell them everything about you within the first five minutes. I am pretty sure we didn't talk about anything else for the rest of the evening. It was overwhelming to feel all the love that our family already has for you. I spent a lot of time chatting with your Aunt Amber, who is just starting her career as a Labor & Delivery Nurse. She is just the kind of person we need on Team Baby Beale. She had loads of good advice and funny stories for me. I am 100% percent positive that I will be relying on her a lot during the next 6 months and beyond. Needless to say...I wish she lived closer or vice versa. Your Uncle Ross is very proud of us and can't wait to become an Uncle. Hopefully you can learn a lot of good life lessons from him. He always knows a little something about everything and is very wise. You can count on him to give you good advice. He has lots of interesting life experiences and is a great storyteller.
On Saturday, we meet up with your Aunt Kristi to tell her the news. Of course, she is also excited to become an Aunt for the third time! That afternoon, we started some mild investigation of baby furniture but decided we will need some time to really research what we will use. Your safety and comfort are the most important things to us, so we don't want to rush into anything. I already assigned your Dad the job of researching car seats and strollers. It was a good starting point and I am glad we took advantage of some of the stores in the DC area. Saturday night was your first official Cubs game and they won! You must be good luck. It was a great game and the rain held off until we left the stadium. Then we were in a complete down pour. Luckily, your Mom won't melt and we were home pretty quickly. It was a long day, but we had so much fun!
Sunday morning, we all had brunch together before we hit the road. There is never enough time together and I am always so sad to leave. My heart breaks a little when I think about how much I miss them and the laughter we share. I hope and pray that you will be as close with your siblings and cousins, as we are. It is an incredible bond we share. They are truly some of the most special people in my life and I can't wait for them to meet you.
Tomorrow afternoon we have our second ultrasound and sneak peek at you. How fun is that? You will truly look like a baby now! I will write again with all the details from the appointment.
I love you very much,
Mom

12 Weeks

Dearest Baby,
Today I am 12 weeks pregnant. We are 3/9 of the way through our pregnancy journey together. Today also marks the end of my first trimester and the beginning of a period of rapid physical growth for us. During the next few months, both you and I will be gaining a lot of weight! This past month has been very exciting because you are no longer a precious secret, but a tiny being that everyone already loves. We got to tell our family (the few remaining will find out tonight), our friends, our church family, and our co-workers. I am in heaven. It is so nice to share this joyful feeling with all of those who are close to our family. You have also started to expanded my waistline a little already. Most of clothes are now feeling snug but not too constricting. I have started to feel some "pressure" inside which means a lot more standing up and stretching happens during the day. Every time I look down, I hope to see more of my belly staring back at me. Next week, we will have our 12 week sonogram and get the result of all the genetic testing. I can't wait to see what you look like now. What a huge difference it will be from the 6 week ultrasound. You will look like a actual baby and we will get to hear your heart beating. I am sure it will be the sweetest sound I have ever heard. Speaking of looking different, here is my 12 week picture. (Please ignore my face since I seem to be stuck in teenage acne land these days!)

You can see that a little bump has started forming. Go Team Beale! We are headed to Washington DC this afternoon for a weekend of fun and laughs. You will also be attending your very first Cubs game and hopefully you will grow up to be as big of a fan as I am. The Cubs will teach you a lot of about patience and learning how to be a gracious winner and loser. I will write you again on Monday to give you the scoop on all your Aunt and Uncle's reaction to your arrival.

Until then, I love you,

Mom

Beale Surprise

Dearest Munchkin,
Today I received some pictures via email from when we told your Grandma and Pa-Pa Beale about your upcoming arrival. Look how thrilled they are! I will write more tomorrow (you will be 12 weeks old) before we jet off to Washington DC for the weekend. We can't wait to tell everyone up there about you. I am sure it will another joyous celebration and then finally everyone will know all about you!

Grandma Beale grinning proudly...

Pa-Pa looking confused as he figures it out!

I Love you,

Mom

Fortunant

Dearest Child,
Today I got a fortune cookie and inside it was this message: "There is plenty of promise & hope floating around you." I couldn't have said it better myself. You are always with me.
I love you,
Mom

What A Weekend

Dearest Babe-

What a wonderful weekend for our families! By now, most everyone of our family and friends know that you will be joining our family. The only people still left in the dark are the Washington DC crowd (Uncle Ross, Aunt Amber, Aunt Kristi, and favorite Caster cousins). We will be visiting them weekend after next and then the secret is officially out! It is so exciting to be able to talk about you and share all of the joy we have kept to ourselves. I don't think I have stopped smiling since Thursday night. I can think of a few other family members that have the same silly grin! Allow me to walk you through the chain of events this past weekend, starting with Thursday evening. Your Grandma and Grandpa Lumsden arrived in Raleigh (long story) after 11 PM. I was pretty overtired and emotional by that point. We greeted them with this sign:

I think your Grandma was pretty dazed and shocked. Of course, we all shared lots of tears and hugs. It was truly a magical moment that I will never forget. Within the first five minutes, your Grandma was already upset about being far away from you and missing the special moments of your life. Here are some more photos of the sign:

This last one shows your Grandma on the phone telling Aunt Diane the good news! She couldn't even wait for the picture to be taken to talk to her.

Friday morning got off to a bang when your Grandma and Grandpa Wilkin found out about you. We knew surprising my Dad was going to be a challenge, but your Dad and I came up with a great idea. We sent a giant chocolate fortune cookie with a message inside. It read "Congratulations, Grandma and Grandpa Wilkin. We are having a baby!". Here are the pictures (Many thanks to Grandpa's assistant who took the photos for us) and check out the look of shock on his face!

He immediately called and was speechless. It was great. You will soon find out that Grandpa Wilkin is never at a loss for words. So we really pulled off a feat. Then Friday evening, we meet for dinner with Grandma and Pa-Pa Beale. We held up the same sign (slightly modified of course) in the restaurant. I think it took a moment to register because they are already Grandparents. But after they figured it out, they too were overjoyed. We don't have any photos from that surprise, just video which we can watch together someday.

On Saturday I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Grandma & Grandpa Wilkin.

Saturday night, we went to a Greensboro Grasshoppers game and we were able to tell a large group of our friends. Everyone was so excited and you will have so many people who love you! It is sometimes overwhelming to think about how much love you are already getting from our family and friends. Sunday meant more of our church family finding out and more tears of joy. Oh, how they will cherish you. Our church is a wonderful place to raise a child and I am so looking forward to it. I know I probably left out a lot of detail from the weekend, but I wanted to get the basics down before I forget. I will write more in detail later this week. Until then sweetie pie....

I love you,
Mom

10 Week Checkup

Dearest Munchkin,
This morning I had my first checkup with Doctor Davis. I was feeling really tired and a little apprehensive this morning (nothing you did, just a rough night's sleep due to a pinched nerve). My appointment didn't get off to the greatest start when I dropped my urine sample all over the bathroom floor! My favorite nurse Anna, assured me that I wasn't the first person to do this and we all had a good laugh. But I didn't think it was all that funny, maybe it will be tomorrow. Then Doctor Davis talked to us about how and when we will see him. I will come in at the end of month for a genetic screen ultrasound at 12 weeks followed by a check up at 16 weeks. Next comes another ultrasound around 18-20 weeks to make sure you are developing the way you should be. So I will get to see you three times before you are born! How lucky am I? Following are monthly visits, then every two weeks, and finally weekly trips to the office. It all seems so far away now, but I am sure the next six months will fly by. Doctor Davis did his exam (which was really quick!) and tried to hear your heartbeat with the Doppler. It wasn't very clear today, but it will grow stronger everyday. Next time we see you, we should have no trouble hearing you. Finally, I went off to the lab to give some more blood which will be used in conjunction with the 12 week ultrasound.
In other exciting news, your Grandma and Grandpa Lumsden arrive this Thursday night and I have been bursting with excitement. This is going to be so much fun to see the look on their faces when we tell them about you. This week, you will start to become public knowledge and I can't wait! I see my circle girls tomorrow evening and I am sure they will so excited to learn about you. (Although some might have to fake their surprise....you know who you are...). I am sure I will have a great letter to write after this weekend!
Love,
Mom