I've been able to feel the baby move around inside my belly for weeks now.  At first, it was just some flutters or something (hard to describe) that started and I wasn't even sure it was the baby.  But as the weeks went on, the feelings became more consistent and move noticable.  Eventually, with some patience, Jack was even able to feel the little one move around when he put his hand on my belly.  His expression the first time it happened was one I hope I never forget.  I knew he'd be surprised, but he was utterly speechless for almost a full minute, his eyes were as wide as I've ever seen them and his mouth just dropped open.  Truly priceless.

As the weeks have continued, it has gotten much more frequent that I feel the baby move throughout the day and a lot easier for Jack to feel as well.  We've had a couple "firsts" though in regards to the baby moving though lately.  For starters, one night when we were laying in bed relaxing before going to sleep, I felt the baby move but with a very regular beat in the exact same spot.  I couldn't figure out what was happening, but when Jack felt it, he figured it out- our baby had the hiccups!

And a couple nights after that, we were again laying in bed working on the laptop.  I wasn't feeling the baby kick so much as just move and shift around.  Our of the corner of my eye I thought I saw my stomach move, so I started to watch more and sure enough, it happened again.  I told Jack and we both patiently stared at my belly.  When it finally happened again he said "You've got an alien in there!".  Of course, that statement would be funny regardless, but since we first found out I was pregnant I would tell Jack that it just seems to odd that there is a human growing inside of me- that to me it almost seemed alien-like and he would brush it off and always tell me that it is the most natural thing that has been happening for hundreds of years, etc.  Now of course I know and understand this, but for me, knowing there is a human inside of me was just something my brain could not grasp for a while.  So when he had this exclamation at actually seeing something move inside my stomach, I got quite a chuckle.

Speaking of painting....I was finally able to get to painting the second bathroom a couple weeks ago.  It wasn't so much that we didn't like the color, we just didn't like it in that room.  Mary helped me do the taping on a Friday night.  I spent most of the day the following Saturday and Sunday priming and painting, four coats in total.  Now we think we're done painting!

Up until last week, Mary and I had been sleeping on her six year old bed.  Don't get me wrong, it was comfortable enough, but it was only a full and we were ready for an upgrade!  We didn't go with a king because it would have been a pretty tight fit in our bedroom, and we still need space for things like dressers, nightstands, shoes and a baby (not in order of importance).  We ended up with a nice, middle-of-the-road Simmons queen.  Now, an extra three inches on each side may not sound like a lot, but it is just right for us.  It gives us a little more room, but doesn't make us feel like we're miles apart, either.

Phew, a major item on the list we can cross off (hopefully)!  Mary and I made our first baby furniture purchase (kind of) on Monday.  Why all the indefinites? 

Well, we were able to decide on a specific model of crib from Babies-R-Us.  They don't actually stock the crib, though, so we ordered it and it is supposed to be delivered within 7-14 business days.  We have also heard that cribs can sometimes get backordered and not show up until the last minute.  The crib we picked, however, is somewhat of a newer model, so hopefully it will come in as expected.

When it comes in, it will get delivered to the store.  At that point, we'll need to pick it up and make sure it didn't get damaged in transit.  If all goes well, we'll have the crib home and ready to assemble next month.  We just have to find a place for it...

Ok, I know it's been a long time.  I think once we found out Mary was pregnant, there was so much on my mind, I could never decide where to start!  So now, instead of catching up, I'm just going to jump back into it.

Last Thursday at about 4pm at work, I started having some minor abdominal pains that seemed to surge periodically.  I didn't think much of it, as it had happened before, usually as a result of some kind of stress.  As the evening went on, the pain grew slightly worse, so at about 10pm I decided I should just go to bed and hope to sleep it off.  Not so much.

I tossed and turned and woke up twice because the pain was so agonizing.  At about 5:00am, Mary insisted we go to the hospital.  I agreed because I was nervous about appendicitis or pancreatitis or something else.  At 6am, we were at the ER and I was in a curtain-walled room within 10 minutes.  I answered all kinds of questions, had blood tests, an ultrasound, x-rays, and a CT scan, all revealing nothing that would require surgery.  Now, I summed that up in one sentence, but the reality was that the whole process took 13 hours.  It was 13 hours with lots of ups and downs and no answers as to what was causing my physical pain, but at least I left the ER feeling a lot better than when I arrived. While the pain was excruciating at points, I always felt comforted knowing that Mary was with me the whole time.

The whole thing was very bizzare.  Although I had some general soreness throughout the remainder of the weekend, the twisting pain never came back.  After I was released, Mary and I got some dinner and went home to go to bed.  Mary was concerned it may be an ulcer, however, the doctors didn't seem to think the symptoms matched.  For now, it remains a mystery.  Ok, that's that, let's move on to the fun stuff!

On Saturday afternoon, we made our first trip to Babies-R-Us to try and get an initial grasp on what we're getting ourselves into!  We spent two hours walking around and looking at all kinds of things like car seats, strollers, bottles, bath toys, cribs, bedding sets, diaper disposal systems, monitors, swings.....this list could go on forever.  Actually, it was kind of fun, and the time really flew by.  We didn't register for or buy anything, however, we did reach an important milestone.  We decided on a crib!  So, now we just have to order it and hope that it really will arrive in 7-14 days.

Next step, baby registry....