33 Weeks

33 week picture

His movements are still fascinating but also getting uncomfortable. Apparently that's due to the lack of increase in amniotic fluid at this point, which was previously helping to cushion the blows. The little stinker seems to enjoy pushing on/kicking/punching my bladder and right side of my rib cage. But it's still fun to watch. Also for the past week or so I've been able to tell when he's hiccuping and THAT'S rather cute.

We had our free-bee ultrasound today (since some of their equipment wasn't working for our 20 week ultrasound).
It turned out ok. Not SPECTACULAR but not bad. Also, we we're excited about getting it on DVD (which they usually do at 20 weeks) but I came home and put it in the computer and it doesn't seem to work. Awesome. Oh well.

His little linus
3D profile. Kind of hard to see. His face occupies the left side of the picture and he's facing in the opposite direction of my hand that is holding the picture. The black area on the left side of the picture looks like a big hole in his head (...it's not). Once you figure it out, it's actually pretty cool. You can see his right eye (which appears to be closed), his nose, mouth and chin. It's a real baby!

Profile (looking at left side of face; he is looking towards the upper left corner of picture)

The Chicco Travel System (car seat/carrier and stroller) that we bought used for $85 (thanks KSL.com)! Significantly cheaper than the retail price of approximately $300. Don't worry, the seller (who is married to a brother of a friend of Brett's) informed us it's never been in a car accident.

Graco Bassinet/Travel Lite Crib. This is what he'll be sleeping in for probably about the first month, in our room. It will likely also be used (while he's still small enough to fit) as a porta-crib if he ever sleeps at one of his many loving grandparents' houses :) Received from the P-town girls at the cute shower they threw for me on Saturday Dec. 4th. Thanks Francom, Whitney, Kelsey, Megan and Makell!!! You're the best. :)

The Medela dual electric breast pump that we were able to afford thanks to Grandma Ann!

Some have asked what we need, and the easiest way to know is to check out our registries! I've been doing my homework comparing prices web-wide and at local stores and tried to register accordingly.

Once at one of the websites, look for a link labeled "Baby registry" or "Gift registry". Then look for the option to "find a registry" and type in either Emily Tingey or Brett Tingey.

Albeebaby.com

Diapers.com

Target.com (I think registry is also accessible at any Target store)

30 weeks!

Woops. Like I said. I'm no good at the blogging game.

So I only have 10 weeks to go!! WOW! The past couple months have actually gone by relatively fast, I think because I've been feeling pretty great. Not dealing with a whole lot of symptoms except for occasional heartburn, braxton hicks, and irritability. One fun/sometimes uncomfortable symptom is the frequent movement I feel from within. It never fails to be fascinating to me.

Pictures from the past while:

23 weeks

26 weeks

27 weeks

Our Doctor is allowing us to get another ultrasound at our 32 week check up (in 2 weeks) since some of their equipment wasn't working when we went in for the 20 week ultrasound (so we didn't get to record it OR get 3D pictures). YAY DOCTOR! She's great. So at 32 weeks, I'm sure the ultrasound pictures will be pretty neat. Hopefully.

I can't think of what else to write (and I'm being distracted by "Notting Hill" which I'm currently watching) so...until next time (hopefully there IS a next)!!

P.S.!! Out of curiosity, I wouldn't mind knowing who voted for which names so if you did/do vote, please comment and let me know which you chose/choose!! Just for fun. We pretty much have our minds made up but I'd still like to know. Thanks!

22 weeks and 4 days

So I suck at updating my blog. I knew I would be bad at this once I got it started. I've always procrastinated journal writing, I've never kept a scrapbook and I'm not a huge picture taker. So blogging is a bit of a challenge.

If you're extremely observant you may have noticed I put 22 weeks and 4 days instead of 22 weeks and 2 days. Probably noooooot a big deal (since due dates are sooooo accurate...), but the doctor is just keeping the due date at January 26th instead of putting it at January 28th. I had been counting on and telling people Jan. 28th because the 10 week ultrasound showed (by the size of the baby) that I was a few days behind the calculated date of Jan. 26th. But I am certainly not going to argue with the doctor especially since it means, if I'm "late" I would be induced earlier than I would if I were due Jan. 28th. :)

Since I last wrote we found out that I am carrying a wee boy! At the beginning of the ultrasound we had at 19 weeks, he was not very cooperative. The ultrasound technician had to repeatedly jab my abdomen (full of urine waiting to be released, mind you) with the ultrasound wand to get him to move. He finally, coyly showed us his Linus (Arrested Development anyone?). We concluded that this either ment he would grow to be very proper and well mannered or stubborn and defiant. Crossing our fingers for the prior. Brett was convinced at first that the technician saw it wrong. He always believed he'd be cursed with 8 girls. In fact, a lot of people (including me) thought it would be a girl for some reason but...nope! A boy, it be.

Unfortunately, the day we went, most of their equipment wasn't working (awesome.) so we didn't get 3D pics like most people around us have received and they weren't able to make a recording of the ultrasound on the DVDR we had brought with us. Ces la vie.

19-week ultrasound pics:

A bum shot! The white spot is actually an arrow pointing to the gender give-away. :)

A foot! I hope its squishy and chubby.

Both pics above are profiles. Good luck figuring out where/what everything is.

A more decipherable profile pic. Also illustrates his cute alien-ness.

We're pretty positive on what we want to name him, but I'm keeping the voting poll on the sidebar open just for kicks. So please vote!! :)

I don't know when exactly the "quickening" (when I can feel him moving) began because there were times I didn't know if it was him or just normal stomach happenings like gas bubbles. I am CERTAIN now that I'm feeling him. It is so fun. Now that he's bigger (about 1 lb. and nearly 8 inches from crown-to-rump) I feel him all the time. In fact, yesterday, I was watching "Benny and June" and had just eaten a bowl of cereal (he tends to kick more after I've eaten something. Also kicks a lot when I'm sitting still) and I decided to watch my belly. As sure as day I was WATCHING him kicking. SOOOOOOOO weird to watch my abdomen jump and roll without my own brain's command. I texted Brett after I knew he was off work, "Hurry! Hurry! Come watch the alien move!" He got home and was able to watch as well. I tried to show this exciting weirdness to others such as my mom and my cousin, Marla--but to no avail. I've been warned to expect this to happen anytime in the future when I want people to see something my kid has been doing as of late--apparently they will frequently make a liar out of me.

Belly shots:

Let the nesting begin!

We wanted to do something else with the wall where the Led Zeppelin beauty hangs (pictured behind me in the belly shots), so we bought a slab of white board from a home improvement store (I don't want to do any free advertising here :) ) and sprayed chalkboard paint on the wood side of the white board. Since the first little while, babies see in mainly black and white, I used white chalk. As his color vision increases, we'll do more colorful drawings.

The lovely crib (thanks mom and dad!) featuring the sage toile bedding I bought from Target.com on SALE. Also the green dresser behind, Brett and I bought from D.I. and painted and put handles on ourselves. Pretty proud.


Nursery with the lamps on (one of which should look familiar to my Liz-friend :) ).

THEE coolest swing ever (thanks dad!).

Swing with the lights out...and featuring cute little Oliver (Michelle-friend's beeba).

Features of swing: cool fort-like netting, projected moon and stars as part of mobile, songs and nature sounds (love the nature sounds), swings front to back AND side to side (cradle), adjusts to have baby propped up or laying back, has a hook on play...bar? that sits in front of child (not pictured), several swing speeds, seat is super soft and cushiony, not-too-shabby fold-up-and-store abilities....

Bottom line: AWESOME swing that I wish I could sit in, myself. But can't wait to try out on the little man. :D


Pregnancy symptoms my body has discarded by now:

- daily nausea

- rather frequent mood swings

- very frequent potty breaks

- extreme fatigue/laziness

- little to no appetite

- frequent headaches

Pregnancy symptoms my body has kept/gained:

- occasional lack of energy

- continued nasal congestion

- continued nasal bleeding

- heartburn

- continued breast enlargement (wuh hoo!)

- continued skin clearing (wuh hoo!)

- relatively uncontrollable gassyness

- joint pain (particularly in hips)

- low back pain

- calf cramps/spasms in the middle of night resulting in soreness for a few days (thumbs down)

- constipation

- continued breathlessness/asthmatic-ness

- occasional dizziness

- nail and hair growth

- continued lack of being "in the mood"....

- continued forgetfulness

- continued round ligament pain: the stretching of muscles and ligaments supporting uterus

- continued ease of feeling hot

PHEW! done complaining. Really though, this 2nd trimester has been a significant improvement on my overall happiness. I feel much more cheery, perky, excited and am probably more pleasant to be around, than I was a month or so ago. Can't wait 'til the last couple months which most people have been saying is the worst. Yikes. But I'm sure I'll look back with a certainty that it was all well worth it! :)

18 Weeks, 3 days

I knew I'd be bad at blogging if I didn't keep up with it regularly. I'm doing this grudgingly but I really want to have record of my pregnancy.
Last week my family and I went to Lake Powell. Being in a swimming suit made me realize just how little my belly has grown. It was frustrating (I hope I don't sound like one of those people that say "oh I'm such a nerd" but really mean "oh I'm really smart." My complaints probably come across as "oh I don't have a belly" as in "oo look at me I'm skinny." Ew! Annoying! So REALLY I just yearn for the growth because I think the pregnancy will feel/seem more real to me once I've got a distinct pregnant tummy).
However it HAS gotten a little bigger over the past 4 days. It seems to have finally sprouted a little.

While in Lake Powell my brother and his girlfriend tried out wakeboarding for...sort of the first time. Apparently they had tried it once or twice before but it had been a while. So Brett and I were trying to coach them on how to do it. It was getting frustrating coaching them since it had been probably about 2 years since I had last tried wakeboarding and I was itching to try it just to make sure the tips I was giving them were accurate. After lots of coercion, Brett finally agreed to let me try it...as long as he was the one driving the boat, going slow. I wouldn't have done it if I thought I would crash but I knew I wouldn't. :) Cocky, I know.Anyhow, we all had a great time in Lake Powell (even though I am still slightly mood-swinging and ended up getting irritated with every single person there at one time or another. Got annoyed with Brett the least though, of course. ha).
Picture: Brett and I at Rainbow Bridge

So I haven't felt any movement yet.....I don't think....

Over the weekend my bosom buddy Lee-uhz (Liz) came up from California where she is currently living. The week prior, my cousin/other bosom buddy returned home from her summer in St. Petersburg. It was so good to have some feminine bonding. :)
They both say that I'm starting to look pregnant. Meh. To me, I think right now I just look like I've had way too many pints of Ben & Jerry's coffee heath bar crunch.

Ultrasound this Thursday!!! We will finally be able to stop calling it, it. SOOOOOO EXCIIIIIITEEEEDDDD!!!

Intro to the wee Tingey

I started officially blogging a few weeks ago on a blog called "Pensieve" (just random thoughts and journal-ing for my own benefit) and decided it would be best to also have one a little more focused....around the babe within. :)

My speculation is that we conceived on May 8th (is that weird to share??). On May 21st I decided to take an at home pregnancy test because I hadn't TECHNICALLY missed my period yet, but was pushing it. My period can come anywhere between every 24 to 30 days and I decided to take the test on day 30. I remember feeling my stomach the day before while I was in the car with my parents, thinking to myself, "what IF??" Brett and I hadn't REALLY been trying but we had decided about 3-4 months prior to leave it in God's hands.

So ANYway. Day 30--May 21st-- I took the test thinking "oh who am I kidding? ME??? PREGNANT?? Naaahh." 10 minutes later, sure enough, 2 little lines. I immediately responded by laughing and saying "Oh my gosh" over and over, which is what I do when I'm completely shocked (this is exactly what happened when Brett proposed until he politely asked that I answer him). I came out in the living room and got Brett's attention, and then just started giggling. He asked what I was laughing about. I tried to give him hints with facial expressions and kept laughing. He wasn't on board. Finally he said "WhAT?!?!???!!" so I showed him the test (for some reason I felt weird just coming out and saying I was pregnant). He laughed and said "What? Are you serious? Noooooo. Maybe it's wrong!??!?"

"Brett. It's not wrong."

"Take another one just in case."

I knew if it predicted negative it could still mean you're pregnant, but if it predicts positive, "your eggo is preggo." I decided to humor him and took a second. It changed!! This time it showed only one!! Just kidding. Ha. It showed two lines aaaaaagain.

We were both bursting at the seams wanting to tell eVeRYoNE. We settled for telling my parents and Brett's mom at dinner before the Celtic Woman concert we were attending together the next day (however I also accidentally told 3 of my best friends as well...oops).
We waited a couple more weeks before telling the rest of our families.

On June 29th we had our first official Doctor's appointment where we heard the heartbeat and even got to see it wiggling around like a real baby! So neat.

July 29th we had our second appointment where we just checked to make sure the heart was doing well AND made our appointment for the find-out-what-the-heck-it-is appointment! (Sept. 2--about 4 weeks from now).

So here we are: 3 vomiting sessions (about 500 NEAR-vomiting sessions), hours of laziness due to fatigue, and 15 weeks later (and happy to be finished with the vomiting, but still experiencing occasional mild nausea).

Names we have picked out:

Boy - Phippen Hans (We know. You probably hate it)
- Asher (middle name T.B.D.)
Girl - Penelope Ann
- Ruby Jeanette (for our second girl if we have one)