Window into the Womb

For the first time I was actually able to get a good view of baby. I found it rather amazing that I was able to get a glimpse of our little bundle, who isn't so little anymore! The ultrasound technichian had to move the sensor around a substantial bit to get a complete view of the baby. It was kind of like looking at a huge pdf document piece by piece, but it was also 3D, so it was layer by layer as well.

From what I could see, baby is developing beautifully, although it took a little bit of orientation to figure out what the heck I was looking at.
Thankfully, the tech was eager to point out what each white blotch represented (and labeled the picture we bought). The cervix and the placenta didn't really grab my attention, nor any recognition, because I see those things every day. Yeah. OR NOT.

It didn't take long for me to recognize shapes of the arms, legs, feet, head, elbows, spine (which was very straight). It was really neat when baby twitched her (that's the assumption of the tech, which could be wrong) feet. I've felt baby move, and I've seen Caitlin's tummy burble, but actually seeing the image of the foot move independently... bit of a magic moment.

Truth be known, I should have updated a couple of weeks ago, November 24 or there abouts. That was the day we went to the West end for a prenatal appointment. Embrassingly enough, it was also techinically our first official appointment. While we were there, the doctor got out the Doppler (mike/speaker) unit that allowed us to listen to baby's heartbeat. I made a recording, and I was trying to figure out a way to post it on the blog. Then I learned that audioblog was discontinued on Nov 1, 2006. Bleh. I could just email it to those who want to hear it, or use that wonderful invention of the telephone.

Then again, I update this blog almost as often as I call people. Huh. I don't think that's a good sign.

Moving into the final strech

As the third trimester comes we can expect things to get crazy. Rick and Karen Bennett have offered to give us a crib, and one of Caitlin's coworkers has offered to give us some bedding.

Okay, I'm really tired and I can't think of much to say right now.
Here's a picture of Caitlin showing how much she's showing. She might be stressing it a little there, but baby is starting to get more prominent. In a couple weeks I think it's going to much more obvious.

Showing, but not obviously

Last night Cailtin and I went to see a dinner theatre production by the Beaumont Drama Society of "Charley's Aunt". We learned quite quickly that the word has not got around that we're pregnant. I thought that it would be obvious since Caitlin was wearing her U of A Mom shirt, but we had to point it out to almost everyone.

Pretty pics

I finally decided to purchase some kind of paraphanalia that indicates that I spent 13% of my life at the educational institution commonly know as the U of A. The trick was to find something that was nice, but not extravagant, cute, but not nauseating, proud, but not unabashed. I came to a compromise when I found Caitlin's shirt, and discovered that there is a matching one for me. They are just sold out for the moment, and the new shipment should arrive in three weeks with some more. I thought it was appropo since I went to the University of Alberta, and I'm going to be a dad, and Caitlin a mom. However, some people read the shirt "University of Mom, Alberta." I suppose that works too.
It requires higher learning, and you don't understand the lessons until you take the tests, which you pass or fail depending on how much patience and luck you have that day. Or so I've heard. More often then not you have to work in groups to make any progress whatsoever, and you have to invest large amounts of money.
Hence we have our kitty fund! I thought it was a very cute representation of our family as it will be in a couple months. Tomcat, KittyKat, and our kitten! Mew mew mew!

Epilogue to ER visit

Now we're home, and I'm just going to sleep off this adventurous trip.
I once heard, "If one does not time for recreation, sooner or later they will find time for illness." The ironic thing is that recreation is something you enjoy, while illness is something you suffer through. Not exactly the most fun thing in the world! Caitlin was discharged at 3pm, but after a failed attempt to get a cab and wasting an hour trying to convince myself that I'm not that tired, I called up Dustin again and he gave us a ride home. I took care of a few things that I've been putting off, like checking the mail (the box was stuffed), and renewing a video that was due back tomorrow, I'm going to bed, and I don't really care when I wake up, so long as I get a long sleep.

Get up and go home

Doctor has gave go-ahead to go home. Caitlin suggested that she finish the IV bag that she's on. Doctor agreed, but noted the drip wasn't flowing. Nurse came. IV fixed, but slow. Nurse investigating whether entire liter needed or not.

I myself want to get the heck out of here. We've been here 10 hours already, and there are others who need the bed. If it is just a virus, like the doctor suspects, Caitlin can recover at home as well as the hospital. I wonder if we can get Gravol over the counter. Then again ginger is a good one too.

I hope this had not been due to the stress at Caitlin's work. She mentioned that she might have got a bug from someone at work, and that she's been really stressed as of late. Then there's me with my situation at work and school. Doing both has not been the brightest thing to do.

I know I shouldn't blame myself for this ER visit, but I can't help but wonder if it would have made a difference had I not watched "Howl's Moving Castle" last night, and I spent the time comforting Caitlin. I didn't think anything of it when she threw up at 11pm, nor at 1am, but around the fifth time, at 3am, I was getting concerned.

Caitlin asked for a blessing, and I did my best, but at 4am, I was on the phone with my hometeacher. I am so grateful he gave us a ride. I should give him a call and let him know how we're doing.

It's funny, even when Caitlin is feeling at her worst, she always thinks of others. Yesterday she bought a plush puppy, and today she gave it to a little boy who was quite scared and upset. Rightly so since he came in with parents who had been in a collision. I hope things turn out ok for them. The puppy helped, but I admire the work the nurses have done in taking care of him.

No cause for alarm

After the ultrasound at 9:30am, we were a lot more relaxed. There doesn't seem to be any trouble related to baby, or Caitlin. At least nothing critical. The radiologist did note that Caitlin was gassy, and I passed that along to mom Tolley. I did not expect the reaction I got.

She asked me what Caitlin has been eating, and I was hard pressed to think of anything but popcorn. Mom Tolley had trouble with starches and the problem was resolved by eating fruits and vegetables. Go figure. Sensible eating is the solution to quite a few problems.

Trouble of the second worst kind

I would suppose that knowledge of imminent death would be classified as trouble of the worst kind. The reason I say "Trouble of the second worst kind" is because we don't know what's wrong. But something is wrong. Seriously enough that I called up our hometeacher this morning at 4am and graciously asked him to give us, specifically Caitlin, a ride to the ER.

Caitlin has been throwing up bile since 2am, and she also has a sharp poking pain in her abdomen. She was admitted right away, but it took awhile for a doctor to see her. From his prognosis, there shouldn't be anything wrong with baby, but Caitlin may have developed gall stones. She's going to have an ultrasound today to find out for sure, but I'm still freaked out.

If I wasn't, that might be more cause for concern.

I'll update later today, possibly tomorrow, with results.

Doctor's appointment or not

It was a pleasant surprise when Caitlin showed up for Friday Forum, but very confusing at the same time. I had called the doctor's office to confirm the appointment for today, but when Caitlin got to the office, the door was locked. She knocked, and there was no answer.

Turns out, the doctor was out of the country for a couple of days, and subsequently was not in the office. We'll have to call to arrange another appointment.

Five months pregnant, and we have yet to have our first official prenatal appointment! Some would say that's a bad thing. I'm just taking this with a grain of salt, and hope that baby will not suffer from this.

Getting a move on

The baby is getting more and more active now. Or so Caitlin's told me. I have yet to feel the baby move, but I'm sure I'll get my chance soon enough!

We have a doctor's appointment scheduled for Oct 27. I think. That was the date that Caitlin requested when she called last week, yet when the secretary left a message on our machine to confirm the appointment, she said it was for the Oct 17. Ummm... I'm hoping it was the 27th. Either way, I can't go. I'm working that day, and I work in the northeast area of town, and the doctor is on the west end, right by Meadowlark. If I did go, I would be very late for work, and Fridays get crazy. I would trade a shift and work Wednesday, since I usually have it off, but next week, I'm working Tuesday to Saturday solid. Boo.

Something tells me I need to plan things better, because I also didn't go to the first ultrasound. Mind you that was in Sherwood Park, and I was working at Kingsway. All the same, I'm missing important events of my child's life, and my wife is still pregnant! I just hope I don't keep this up once the child is born.

Shalmanezer

Why on earth would I mention the King of Assyria on this blog? Perhaps it's because that's the name that my father-in-law has picked out for our unborn child. A previous name for another one of his grandchildren is Ataxerxes. Yeah. I don't get it either. All the same, it will be easy to identify your child in a huge crowd. Unless we went to the Middle East. Maybe I'm just uneducated.

We have rumour that we are having a girl, because Caitlin has found herself craving milk, a tell-tale sign for carrying a girl. In that case, Erini Tiana comes to the front. Just today we were pondering the spelling, and thought that we could go with Erene, or Arene, or Arini. I think we'll be fine, so long as we don't give our child a l33t name, like 3r3n3, or 4r1n1, or 3]^1]\[1. That would be something to have on a birth certificate. I wonder if there is a law against that...

IT'S ALIVE!

We kind of knew that Caitlin had life growing inside her when she got the ultrasound, and the heartbeat was 146 bpm. But now, the baby is actually moving around! This is good, and bad. Good because baby is supposed to move. This shows that baby is active and healthy. This is bad, because now Caitlin has something flopping around inside her, randomly pressing her organs here and there, not to mention expanding her uterus. I don't like it when someone pulls at my skin and streches it more than it should. I can't fathom what it would be like to have someone pushing from the other side of the skin!

Telling it all over again

I just got back to school today, and I met up with some friends and profs that I haven't seen in four months. The usual conversation starts up, and then we come to the interesting note when I realize that I haven't told them about the blog, or the event that that started it! It feels a little weird, because I thought I was done with telling everyone that we're expecting a baby.

Weird, but fun! Some people are really happy for you, and... getting the attention is a bit of a rush. I suppose I should savour the flavour, because life is taking a dramatic change. Very soon.

Growing Pains

Who'd a' thunk it? When your body streches to accomidate for another living being inside, you start to get pains in the area that streches and grows to accomidate for it! That's the new ouchie on Caitlin's list of annoyances. Sore feet is not new, since she works retail and is on her feet for her entire shift most days. But abdomen pains, that's new. Her belly is going to grow out, and streching skin does involve some resistance from the body, which hurts.

When the skin expands gradually, I suppose it's not that bad. But when it's a sudden burst of expansion, such as when the uterus expands to the size of your hand, when it's usually the size of a potato chip, that's going to hurt substantially.

At least the morning sickness is under control. Sort of. It's still a gamble as to what will stay down and what won't.

Swimming will definitely help out though. We still have seven visits left on the card, and I don't think they ever expire. Being in the water helps Caitlin relax, and I like the whole bouyant feeling too. Hopefully next time we'll be in the pool for longer than 25 minutes.

I love Aromatherapy

In July, we had Capital Ex in Edmonton (it used to be Klondike Days, and I think I prefer calling it K-Days). While there, we found some aromatherapy oils at one of the kiosks there, and MAN! Are they ever great! We got a Mint-scented one that is supposed to help with headaches (we haven't tried that one yet) and a Mandarin-scented one that has done WONDERS with my nausea! I haven't done more than get dry heaves since we started using it!

In other news, I am two days short of my 12-week mark, and baby is about the size of my palm. The heart rate is almost that of a hummingbird's, according to Doctor Litchfield! Not anything to panic about, apparently, but the heart rate was about 180 bpms!

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I am pregnant, there is a life growing inside of me, and that in about six months or so, that life will become an independent lifeform outside of me that I will need to raise as well and lovingly as I can. With the help of Steven, I hope that we will be good parents, as well as husband and wife.

I've often heard that one of the best things a father can do for his children is to love their mother. I don't think that'll be a problem! ;)

Trump card

I didn't feel like writing anything, because I was a little frustrated about the financial situation we've gotten ourselves into. I was prepared to calm down, and discuss it with Caitlin when she got home from work around 3:30pm.

She got home at 1pm. She had lost breakfast twice, and was not feeling very well at all. All of a sudden, the finances didn't matter. All I could think about was getting her in bed and making sure the bucket was nearby.

She thought popcorn would stay down, as it has before, but it didn't. Thankfully, we're entering week 12, so the morning sickness should subside within a fortnight. Ugh. I wish it was over with now. I'm not ill, but I hate watching my wife in pain.

Pack rat to the rescue

Some people would say that it's a bad thing to be a pack rat, because you carry around a ton of junk that you're never going to use. For the most part, they are right, but the other day, when Caitlin had a hard time getting to sleep, I remembered that there was something that I bought almost 10 years ago that might help. It's called a body pillow. I found it handy at the time I bought it, since I had a queen sized bed and the pillow went across the entire width. Call me lazy, but it worked. I remembered that I had it stowed in the closet, and I dug it out in an effort to make Caitlin more comfortable so she could sleep. It seems to work, because she can keep her knees supported. Also, she has something to snuggle with that doesn't generate more heat. In the winter the pillow will probably go, and she'll make do with her usual sleep accessory, me.

Small side note here

It's mine and Steven's 3rd anniversary today, and we're looking forward to being able to actually celebrate within the month! We're going to Banff with some of my family the last full week of August, and I must say, I've been needing this vacation for a very long time now! Each adult (or whoever) will be in charge of at least one meal, probably more, but Steve and I have this really great, REALLY simple recipe for chicken casserole that you can also make as a stew! Really tasty!

Amazingly enough, chicken stew seems to work the best for me right now. Especially with lots of veggies and broth...

Mmm...

I'm still trying to figure this whole pregnancy thing out...

Learning with literature

I seem to recall an article in the newspaper awhile back by Todd Babiak which he told of his desire to hide under a desk and weep everytime he hears an educated well employed person state that they do not watch the news, nor read a local newspaper. People just don't read enough these days I suppose. If you can read, you should!

Last night I picked up and read some of a book that I picked up at the library entitled, It's Your Pregnancy Too! I found a lot of the typical things that we've heard about morning sickness, and there was some mention about the medication that is available. When we went to our prenatal visit today with Dr. Litchfield, we discussed the meds, and he wrote a perscription for Caitlin. The meds, of which the name I'll write when we pick some up, are really good for alieviating nausea, but they do come at a price. Each pill costs about $1.50 and she would have to take three a day, maybe two. Woof.

I also picked up a copy of the Spring 2006 Today's Parent: Pregnancy and Birth magazine from Dr. Litchfield's office. They get dozens of them when they publish every quarter, so he was more than happy to let me take it home.

Determining the sex of the baby is an interesting process. I asked Dr. Litchfield before we left if there was any truth to the story that if you avoid tomatoes you'll have a boy. His response was that there was a study done in Montreal where they determined that if a mother has a high intake of potassium before conceiving, then she'll have a boy. If she bones up on dairy, she has a girl. The outcomes were 87% accurate, so you get a better result than flipping a coin!

Bungie-licious

We have never imbibed in alcohol, nor do we ever plan to, and even if we had previously, I do not think watching someone puke would make morning sickness any less uneasy. I almost feel helpless to see my wife on her knees giving sacrifice to the porcelain diety, even if she eats something simple like soda crackers. Caitlin and I are still trying to figure out what she can eat or drink and keep down.
One way we have found to get around the pregnancy axiom "What goes down, must come up" is taking in small quantities of food at frequent intervals. Go figure, that sounds a lot like what nutritionists recommend. We are also considering stocking up on ginger ale. My sister told me that ginger is good for settling the stomach, and she also speaks from experience. Peppermint is a good stomach pacifier too, but Caitlin never had much of a taste for peppermint before, and still holds to that distaste. This is still early and her tastes could change.

The good news is the heat wave is over, so we don't have to worry about that for the moment. We can be very grateful that she's not carrying full term right now! We can also be grateful that the air conditioning works at her job. Seems anywhere is cooler than at our apartment right now. She hopes that she will still be able to perform at her job for a few months more, but if things continue the way they are, that may come to a screeching halt, and I might be forced to do a bit more paid work that I anticipated I would be doing over the Fall 2006 semester.

Worry alert level has dropped, a bit

Here we have the first offical picture of baby! Taken on Friday, July 21, 2006. It says that on the picture as well, but it's tough to read. Just like it's hard to see baby (it's on the lower left side). Baby is only a centimeter or so (1/2") long right now, but the heart rate was at 146 bpm. I wasn't there, but I've been told that you could actually see the heart flutter too! Optimal range, according to the nurse who looked after Caitlin, is between 140 and 150 bpm. The funny thing is, one of my co-workers said that it's probably going to be a boy because of the strong heart rate, and Brenda said it was going to be a girl because of the strong heart rate. All I know is that baby is not stuck in one of the tubes, but in the uterus where it can grow to term. Hence I'm not worried about that anymore!

I'm also very grateful that Brenda took Caitlin to the appointment. Not only because I had to work, but also because Brenda knew where the place was and had a car to take Caitlin there! I knew the address, and we could have taken the bus, but this worked better I think. I'm also glad that Caitlin didn't have to go there alone. Hopefully I'll be able to go to the next ultrasound test. I don't know when that will be, but since it's not an ectopic, I'm guessing that it will be in a couple of months.

Caitlin has lost a good chunk of weight since the doctor's appointment, and that may be in part to the fact that pregnancy is in full gear, and that it's been so hot! When she stepped on Brenda's scales on Friday, she weighed around 170 lbs. That's 20 lbs. lighter than she was at the doctor's! She might also be losing weight with the morning sickness that's been plagueing her too. This morning when we were coming back from Beaumont, I was very glad that we brought a bucket with us. It was put to use around 10 am, right when we got to downtown. Although she had dry heaves all the way from Millwoods, I thought she might be able to make it home. I was wrong.

I also didn't expect her to puke on the bus yesterday when we went down to Millwoods. Then again, I didn't expect it to be 35C (about 93F) outside, and even warmer inside the bus! The buses have heat, oh yes, because eight months of the year you need it. No A/C though, and Caitlin has had heat exhaustion before, which makes her all the more succeptable to it again. We also didn't have the empty ice cream bucket with us, so she used a Rubbermaid bottle. Good thing that only cost us a couple bucks. I'm beginning to sense that I shouldn't worry about lost expenses like that. If we need to spend so much money now, it's only going to be more once baby arrives!

Caitlin is trying things to keep her stomach settled. She eats soda crackers, since they stay down, and she drinks a goodly amount of water. We were told by someone on the bus yesterday, after the puking episode, that moderately cool water with a few pinches of salt would keep Caitlin well hydrated. It's one thing to have water, but if your system doesn't absorb it, where does it go? Back up the way it came? Down the drain? Both?

March 6, 2007 suddenly seems a long ways away.

One of these days . . .

I have been aching from my shoulders down all day today. I was late for work because I was ill this morning, but luckily I was able to call in and let them know so I wouldn't get in trouble.

Yeah. My body really does NOT like milk right now. Or spicy stuff. Or food, for that matter. Soup is still fine, and chicken will actually stay down, as will fruit juices and water, but anything else right now, FORGET IT.

Although ice cream is really nice on occasion...

Meh. I'm going to go lie down and read for the rest of the evening.

What exactly constitutes a good title?

My belly is really sore this morning. I've been getting stretch pains for the last couple of days, but they're nowhere near as bad as I figure they'll be when I actually start to show a bump. That'll be a whole new set of interesting sensations.

Now if only I could get my stomach to lighten up. Ever see "Little Shop Of Horrors"? My stomach is kinda like Audrey Two, the plant, saying "Feed me!" And then right on the tail of that comment, it pipes up with "But don't you dare give me food!" Yeah. I'm in the semi-nauseated state right now. Fun fun.

I've been getting a lot of advice about how to counteract nausea, but to tell you the truth, I'd really rather not have anything to do with food until lunchtime. By then, my stomach's complaints are so mild as to be nonexistant. Until I actually feed it. Then it's like: WOAH! Hold up! What's all this nourishment doing here?

And I cannot stress how MUCH I want to eat well and ensure my baby gets all the nutrients it needs.

I'm curious now

Why is it that pregnancy is both highly desired and yet extremely scary at one and the same time? Change?

Anyone know another word for exhausted?

Because I am, and I can't think of anything else to describe sheer tiredness.

And I'm not even through the first trimester yet!

It seems like everyone and their dog is all of a sudden a wellspring of advice about pregnancy. Some I can tell is good, well-meant advice, but the rest of the time, I'm kinda like "Oooooo-kay, sure, whatever" in my head while smiling and nodding on the outside. One thing I've learned about advice is that if you stop listening, they just try harder and get more annoying, but if you listen and tell the person "Oh really?" or "Huh, I didn't know that," they tend to smile and stop talking sooner. Bonus.

Work is going to be interesting as this pregnancy progresses. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a replacement for my job BEFORE I go on maternity leave. It shouldn't be too hard to find someone who wants to work retail, doesn't want to sell too much, likes to work with the stock, handle special orders and shipments, and basically know EVERYTHING about the store, except for the management parts. Right?

I need food. I'm gonna go have some lunch. Later.

I cherish these days, for they are too few

In spite of possible circumstances, I'm actually feeling quite well. I'm as queasy as Steven is about the possibility of another ectopic pregnancy, but not entirely nervous. I will be VERY upset if it is another ectopic, because I was hoping we could start our family by now. Steven will be done his degree before I'm slated to go into labour, so I have no worries about that.

What I AM nervous about is making sure I get a balanced diet, all the things baby needs to grow up into a beautiful son or daughter of God. Well, baby will always be a beautiful son or daughter of God, but proper eating right now will ensure that baby will grow up properly.

Every now and again I get these stretch pains in my belly, and occasionally they're rather painful, but nothing that's really alarmed me, seeing as we'll be getting details next Friday.

Here's hoping.

Now it's my turn

My blood pressure was not taken, I was not weighed, and I was not asked to undress, but I still had a bit of an adventure with my doctor's appointment today. First I was fasting going into the blood lab today. I was not happy! Right after the blood samples were taken I ate the food I brought with me. Leftover Pizza Hut Chicken Deluxe never tasted so good. I did not much care that it was cold or a bit greasy. It was food and I needed it like a pregnant woman needs to pee after an ultrasound. If someone would have been offended by that as I was eating, I would have ignored their grievances until I was finished satisfying my need for metabolic energy.

Briefly about the ultrasound, we have an appointment scheduled for next Friday, out in Sherwood Park, in the middle of the day. A day I am working. The appointment is also at the exact same time that I'm supposed to start my shift. There is an imaging lab at the Hys Center, really close to where we live, but that appointment was the earliest one that was available in the Capital Health area. Time is of the essence, since we are not sure whether baby is secure in the uterus or not. I would hope yes, but we need to be sure. The last thing we want is for history to repeat itself. My manager is really understanding of my circumstance, and might let me have a shorter shift so I can get to the appointment. I would ask if it was at the Hys Center not Sherwood Park. I am not as familiar with Sherwood Park as I am with Edmonton, and we would have to take our bicycles out there so we could get to the clinic. If only we had a car. Maybe I could rent one for the day, or the weekend since the appointment is on a Friday. What am I saying? We need to save money! But we need to get there. Maybe I should return the scooter to get a little extra cash.

Questions answered with uncertainty

First pre-natal appointment went as well as could be, given our circumstances. My greatest worry has resurfaced, the fact that we might have complications, namely the fetus might not have attached to the uterus. We are in the process of getting an appointment for an ultrasound to rule out an ectopic, but I'm still on edge.

Also, we got another surprise. According to the doctor, Caitlin is about seven weeks pregnant. If that's true, then the original estimate of a early March deliver is inaccurate by about a month, and we can expect baby at the end of January! Oh boy (or girl)! That won't be confirmed until we get the ultrasound, which could be a couple weeks from now. However, since we will have "Clear for ectopic" on our request, we might get bumped in line.

Apart from all that, the appointment went fine!

Starting the preparations

I bought a book today, which I thought would be appropriate for our situation. It's called The Baby Book, and it was highly recommended from a former co-worker. Foolish me didn't realize that the book deals with baby life from birth to 2 years.

Our due date, according to my crude calculations, is March 7, 2007. I could have put off buying the book until next year and I think I would have been fine. Heck, I could have saved some money and put the book on my Christmas wish list. But then I would have to take the Wii off to make room. Hmmm... Meh. I have it now, and at the rate I read books, I should be through it come February.

Caitlin also bought a book, and of course her choice was more directed towards pregnancy. I also saw another book that I thought was hilarious, but puts parenting into guy-speak including 3-month, 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month checklists. Heck, YES.

Cailtin and I are off to sleep now to recover from our aqua-aerobics class. Felt good to swim around! And we got a drop-in 10 pack, so we can go again in the near future. Caitlin loves to swim, and we need a good exercise that will keep her healthy throughout the pregnancy too.

We have a doctor's appointment scheduled tomorrow, so we'll get a lot more info and have a better idea of what to do, what percautions to take and the like.

It's confirmed

I originally wanted to call this blog "Oh sh**, you're pregnant" but that was bound to offend people, namely myself, my own family, and especially those who consider "fetch", "flip", and "oh my heck" to be offensive language. Even though that initial title was pretty much the first thing that came to my mind when I was greeted by my wife with the news of her blood test results. As of today she is two weeks late on her period, has been feeling sick to her stomach for the past three days, and has been feeling tender around her mid-section for awhile too.

Although I was half right when I thought that she was experiencing some pain that was not associated with pregnancy. That's a bit of a moot point now, since she has finished her prescription for her bladder infection, and she's also feeling much better in that department. But for some odd reason, I was still holding onto the idea that she had stomach flu, and she was experiencing some rare case of amenorrhea that wasn't associated with pregnancy.

Turns out I was living in denial. The blood test confirms that my dear wife of nearly three years is pregnant for the second time. Hopefully this will fair much better than the previous time, and since we found out the results of the pregnancy test at home rather than an ER, things are looking quite good.

Nothing is showing right now, and that's probably a good thing! I've heard most women don't start to show until the 2nd trimester, sometimes the 3rd. Seeing that Caitlin is 5'10", I'm also supposing that she'll carry baby quite well. I could be talking out of my ear on that one. We'll have to talk to my mother-in-law about getting some maternity clothing, like a swimsuit. We plan to get involved in some aqua aerobic classes at Grant MacEwan College, and right now she's okay for swimwear, but by January... Maybe not. The reason I mention my mother-in-law and not a maternity store, is because commercially available maternity swimwear is terrible, according to my wife. Works out better for us because it'll be cheaper for us, and if my wife prefers something homemade over store bought, all the better.

Now it's just a matter of letting the masses know. Hence this blog. I don't know how many of our friends and family are going to want to know how we're doing every hour of every day, but this should make things easier. I will be talking to my parents and siblings on a fairly consistent basis (maybe semi-monthly instead of bi-monthly), but pictures are a little harder to show over the phone. Unless your have ADSL, which works over a phone line, but that's beside the point.

The next nine, possibly eight, months are going to be interesting. I will be done my Electrical Engineering degree by December, so I could be in the workforce as early as January. I'll have to take time off when baby comes in February/March, but that's normal. I suppose working retail has some kind of benifit of preparing me for what's coming. Hmmm... yeah. Like how countless hours of drill would have helped the front line soldiers at the beaches of Normandy.

Perhaps our family motto is thing to reflect on right now. After all it's what helped pull us through a car accident, the miscarriage, and May 16.
"We're going to be okay."