What Really Matters

From Toby:

I've had a rough few days. Without going into details I have had a lot of depressing thoughts that I'm dealing with. They are not fully gone, but there is one thing that keeps putting things into perspective. Last night at Heather's birthday party, Natalie grabbed my hand and put it on her belly. I felt a slight thump against my hand. This was the first time I was able to feel my little monkey. At that moment my heart lit up and things were put into perspective. I have an answer to prayer that is being manifest in my wife's womb. Mia is an answer to many prayers and tears. For a year and a half Natalie and I tried to conceive to no avail. We were on the verge of looking into adoption and then God blessed us with a child. When Mia pushed against my hand last night all of my problems took a back seat to the blessing at hand. Whenever I think about the crap going on inside I try to focus back on my little monkey and dream of the day I get to touch her and see her face to face. Natalie and Mia are what really matter.

Mia seems to be more awake at night. Saturday night Natalie was downstairs after I went to bed and just began talking to her. Mia responded by moving around. That was the first time that Natalie was able to feel her push against her hand. She also wakes Natalie up early in the morning by moving around as well. I sure hope this isn't going to be her regular sleep patterns. She needs to learn to sleep at night and stay awake during the day.

Natalie is almost 21 weeks and here is how Mia is developing:

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. His eyebrows and eyelids are fully developed. And you can certainly feel him move. He's oblivious to your schedule, though, so don't be surprised if he starts working out just when you're settling down for the night. If you're having a girl, her vagina is formed now, though it will continue to develop until birth.

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It's A Girl!!!!!!!!!!

Well, bring on the pink! We're having a girl!
Tuesday Toby and I saw our little girl for the first time. She had her hands near her face and was playing peek-a-boo with us. We got a beautiful profile picture where you can see her face, her nose and even her ears. Yvette (Nina), Lyzette (Gigi), Aunt Heather and Cousin Alison were all present as we glimpsed her for the first time, though Alison slept through it! Everything is in the right place and she looks and acts healthy. I can feel her moving around. It feels like she is flicking me and she stays up all night with me as I work.
Daddy Toby has exercised his right to buy. He has already purchased two outfits for this little girl who already is winding him around her little finger! And he has been calling her his little monkey. So, needless to say, he actually found a sleeper set that is hot pink with monkeys on it. She can wear that around the house...maybe not out in public. He couldn't resist. I have a feeling she's going to get anything she asks for. Oh, boy! I'm in trouble.
I'm busy researching baby bedding and strollers and oogling over BabysRus. So many things to chose, but we have plenty of time!
As you can see, I'm getting a bigger bump. I'm 19 weeks today, so we're practically half way through! Time is passing slowly yet quickly at the same time!
Please leave us comments, we want to know who is checking us out! Love you all!

Bob Marley and the Bump

Hey All,
So, my bump isn't much, but I worked hard for it! I'm feeling great and eating a lot of yummy food. I'm enjoying taste and it is wonderful! Toby is easy to persuade for us to go get ice cream or chicken nachos. Yes!
Me and baby bump got to spend the weekend with Alison and Aunt Heather, Gigi(Lyzette) and Grandpa(my dad). We had a great time relaxing and oogling over Alison, my sister's two month old. We went out to the Winter Park Art Festival and listened to Swingerhead, a local swing band in the park and enjoyed the cooler weather. It is nice to be outside in Florida sometime when it's not too hot.
Here's a little update on the baby, how it's forming and what it's doing now that I am 17 weeks, or a little over four months. Again, it's from babycenter.com . Hard to believe I'm so far along, yet have so far to go. Two more weeks til we know if it's a boy or a girl. I can't wait!
I'm learning to focus on the present, though there is so much to look forward to. I'm enjoying my husband and my family and trying not to freak out too much about the future. Gigi just told me that it's ok to not know how to do all of this (motherhood, pregnancy, relationships, my house, just about everything), that no one knows how to do it and to stop putting so much pressure on myself to do all and be all. I can only do the best I can with what I have and that's enough. I'm taking lots of deep breaths as Toby reminds me all too often in the words of Bob Marley, "Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be all right!" I have many wise voices encouraging me and surrounding me with their love, and I am so thankful for it all. So, I'm trying to be a little easier on myself and enjoy this time. It is a good time right now. Tomorrow will take care of itself...

Your baby weighs about 5 ounces now, and he's around 5 inches long — about the size of a large onion. He can move his joints, and his skeleton — until now rubbery cartilage — is starting to harden to bone. His sense of hearing is also developing. The umbilical cord, his lifeline to the placenta, is growing stronger and thicker.

Maybe baby bump likes Bob Marley too, now that he/she can hear...

My first bump pictures!

Friday Natalie finally started showing. It was so exciting to see the growth of the belly. For the last couple of days I haven't been able to keep my hands off Natalie's bump. I've also included a picture of the crib we purchased. I'm so excited, I wish March would hurry up but I know that we need this time to prepare. Thanks for reading.

Toby

14 Weeks and Growing!

Hello All,
It's Natalie. Wanted to fill you in on what is happening with us. Friday I went to the doctor and everything is going well. I heard the heartbeat and it was beating about 150 times a minute. I love hearing that sound! It's one of the best sounds in the world. Hearing it makes it so much more real that there is someone growing in there. I'm still not showing right now, but I know I will have to get into new clothes sometime soon. The nurse practitioner said I should be showing in about three weeks. We'll start posting pictures once I start showing.

I have started to feel a little bit of movement. It feels like a butterfly fluttering. You have to pay really close attention to it, or you'll miss it. Here's how he or she is growing right now. I got this from babycenter.com if you want to check out some more information. We don't know if it's a boy or girl yet. Our appointment is October 30th, I'll be 18 weeks along. We're super excited! So is the family!

Head to bottom, your baby's 3 1/2 inches long — about the length of a lemon — and weighs about 1 1/2 ounces. Her body's growing faster than her head, which now sits upon a more well-defined neck. By the end of this week, her arms will have lengthened and will be in proportion to the rest of her body. (Her legs still have some growing to do, though.) She's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair all over her body (called lanugo). Her liver starts secreting bile this week, a sign that it's already functioning properly, and her spleen starts contributing to the production of red blood cells. She's also producing and discharging urine into the amniotic fluid, a normal process that she'll keep up until birth. You still can't feel your baby's movements, but her hands and feet (which are now half an inch long) are more flexible and active. Thanks to brain impulses, her little facial muscles are getting a workout as she squints, frowns, and grimaces. She can grasp now, too, and she may be able to suck her thumb.

We purchased our first item for our baby. We got a crib! It's beautiful and I got a great deal on it! We'll post some pics on that too. It's solid and a dark espresso color. We've been clearing out the second bedroom, which will be our nursery. It's hard to imagine the finished product with it such a wreck right now, but it will happen.

Thanks for your support and your prayers. I am feeling much better. Very little trips to the bathroom, and I'm able to eat. I've been warned that I'll want to eat everything in about three weeks. I'm ready for it! I appreciate taste so much more now. Right now I'm stuck on chocolate milk and potato chips and french onion dip. Not all together, but they taste good right now.
Love you all.

8 week update

Natalie has been suffering some of the "morning" sickness that so many have. Although I don't really understand why they call it morning sickness because it comes all times of the day. Maybe for some people it comes in the morning.

Today we go for the first sonogram. We are both so excited to hear the heartbeat for the first time. I think this will really make it sink in that we will be parents. We are hoping to hear only one heartbeat today. I'm not sure what we would do if the Dr. says "twins." Natalie said she would laugh, but I would probably cry.

I will post a an update with a picture about the sonogram in a couple of days. Thanks for reading.

Toby

Telling immediate family

Now that the initial shock had worn off we had to figure out how to tell our immediate family. A few days earlier my brother Nathan and I talked about grabbing a pint and hanging out sometime because it had been a while since we've seen each other. Nate calls me that morning and wanted to see if I would meet him at Fiddler's Green, a local Irish Pub, that afternoon. On my way out of the door Natalie told me not to tell him. I told her that was impossible that he's my brother and there would be no way for me to hide the excitement. She conceded. When it comes to hiding exciting secrets I'm not the best. If I get Natalie a gift for Christmas too early there's a good chance she gets it early. So I went to the pub and told Nathan, he was extremely excited. The following evening we were going over to Titusville to see Natalie's sister Heather. When we got to their house we were sitting around talking and Natalie asked Heather if she could borrow her maternity clothes and Heather looked puzzled for a second and then Natalie told her. Heather, who was 9 months pregnant herself, starting jumping up and down while screaming for half of the neighborhood to hear. It was a great reaction. That night we went to the best restaurant in Titusville known as El Leoncito. There they make some strong margaritas. We stayed the night at their place that night because we were going to Jacksonville the next day. We found out that Natalie's parents, Larry and Lyzette, were coming over that evening so we decided to stay and tell them when they got there. Natalie and I picked out a picture frame that said "so another adventure begins." Inside the frame we put a picture of Natalie and Heather each pointing to Natalie's tummy. Larry and Lyzette opened up the package and looked quite confused, both afraid to assume anything just awkwardly looked at Natalie. Finally, Natalie said I'm pregnant. Tears filled the eyes of two proud grandparents. That weekend we went to Jacksonville to visit some friends, Nick and Heather, and had set up a dinner time with my parents, Wayne and Yvette, and Nana for Monday evening. Natalie and I arrived at their house like two hours before dinner just to hang out. It was killing the both of us not to say anything but we wanted to wait for Nana to get their. Dinner was ready and I volunteered to pray for the food and while I was praying I asked God for protection over Natalie's pregnancy. Eyes quickly flew open in the room and Mom began crying, Dad was overwhelmed and pissed we didn't tell him two hours ago, and Nana was saying "Oh My." It was a great time telling our family and our friends.